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UNIVERSITY  OF   PITTSBURGH 


-Darlington  Memorial  Library- 


I*  c  ■ 


M  P  f  R  C  R       :   r 


""  '  Ir."    I    f«Kr<Y    LMHUNOrON 
Mf.MOKIAl    LMJKAHY 

'  '   OF   FITT3SUKG'' 


, 


. 


WILLIAM'/ 


THE 


FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR: 

ITS  CAUSES,  INCIDENTS,  AND  CONSEQUENCES. 


,     EDITED  BY 

CAPTAIN  H:  M.  HOZIER,  F.C.S.,  F.G.S., 

AUTHOR    OF    "THE    SEVEN    WEEKS'  WAR,"   "THE    BRITISH    EXPEDITION    TO    ABYSSINIA,"   ETC. 


WITH    THE 


TOPOGRAPHY  AND   HISTORY   OF  THE  RHINE  VALLEY, 

By  W.   H.  DAVENPORT  ADAMS, 

AUTHOR    OF    "BEFORE    THE    CONQUEST,"    "  BURIED    CITIES    OF    CAMPANIA,"    ETC. 


VOL.    I. 


LONDON: 
WILLIAM    MACKENZIE,    22    PATERNOSTER    ROW; 

43  to  51  HOWARD   STREET,  GLASGOW;   59  SOUTH   BRIDGE,   EDINBURGH. 


PRINTED    BY    WILLIAM    MACKENZIE,    LONDON,    EDINBURGH      AND    GLASGOW 


TO    THE   BINDER. 


THE  PLATES  ARE  TO  BE  PLACED  IN  THE  FOLLOWING  ORDER:— 


TO   FACE  PAGK 

VOL.   I. 
William    I.    King    of    Prussia,   and    Emperor    of 

Germany, (To  Face  Title.) 

Title,     ..." 1 

Napoleon  III 15 

The  Right  Honourable  Viscount  Palmerston,  .       .  48 

Crown  Prince  of  Prussia, 118 

Prince  Frederick  Charles, 120 

General  Von  Moltke, 121 

Von  Roon, 122 

Map  of  Prussia, 125 

Emperor  of  Austria 127 

Map  of  South  Germany, 145 

Lord  Stanley  (Derby), 148 

Earl  Russell, 211 

Bismarck, 21G 

Krupp's  1000-Pounder  Gun, 24S 

Small  Arms, 263 

French  Mitrailleuse, 265 

Gatling  Mitrailleuse, 266 

Map  of  France, 290 

Battle  of  Saarbruck, 302 

Battle  of  Wissemburg, 306 

Battle  of  Woerth, 309 

Maeshal  MacMahon, .  319 

Battle  of  Forbach 322 

Marshal  Bazaine, 353 

Metz  and  its  Fortifications 358 

Battle  of  Courcelles, 362 

Battle  of  Vionville, 368 

Battle  of  Gravelotte, 377 

Battle  of  Beaumont 413 

Battle  of  Camgnan, 416 

Battle  of  Sedan, 419 

VOL.  II. 

Empress  Eugenie, (To  Face  Title.) 

Title, 1 

General  Trochu, 18 

W.  E.  Gladstone 35 


TO  FACE  PAGE 

Siege  of  Strassburg, 57 

Siege  of  Strassburg  (Enlarged  Sketch),    ...  65 

Gambetta, 79 

Garibaldi, 81 

Bourbaki, 89 

Map  of  Orleans, 171 

Paris  and  its  Environs, 1S3 

Map  Showing  Faidherbe's  Campaign 217 

Battle  of  Le  Mans 237 

Campaign  in  East  France, 241 

Battle  of  Belfort, 245 

General  Von  Werder, 247 

Manteuffel, 249 

Thiers 267 

RHINE   VALLEY. 
Lake  of  Constanz  and  the  Islands  of  Mainau  and 

Reichenau, 13 

Bregenz 14 

Friedrichsiiafen 15 

schaffhausen, 27 

The  Rhine  Falls,  Scuaffhausen, 29 

Lauffenberg, 32 

Rheinfelden, 33 

Eglisau, 34 

Basle 35 

Freiburg, 59 

Strassburg, 64 

Speier, 80 

Heidelberg, 85 

Mannheim,   .                       8S 

Oppenheim, 90 

Mayence, 95 

Elfeldt, 100 

St.  Goarshausen 102 

llebenstein  sterneneels, 103 

Bacharach, 106 

Ehrenbreitstein 10S 

Bonn, 112 

Cologne, 114 


THE 


Franco-Prussian   War. 


PART     I. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


CHAPTER    I. 


Perception  of  Cause  and  Effect  in  History — Prussia  and  German  Unity — France  and  Revolution — The  Treaty  of  Vienna — Its  inefficiency — 
France  under  Louis  Philippe — The  revolutionary  spirit  in  Italy  and  Spain — -Russia  and  Turkey — Austria  and  Prussia — Congress  of  Laybach 
— Congress  of  Verona— French  Interference  in  Spain — English  Recognition  of  South  American  Free  States — Temporary  Suppression  of 
Revolts — Rise  and  Independence  of  Greece — Russian  Influence — The  Czar  Alexander  I.  and  the  Holy  Alliance — Capture  of  Missolonghi — 
Battle  of  Navarino — -War  of  Czar  Nicholas  with  Turkey — Treaty  of  Adrianople — Erection  of  Belgium  into  an  Independent  Kingdom,  Prince 
Leopold  of  Saxe  Coburg  king — General  Recognition  by  Treaty  of  1839 — Reforms  in  England  in  Taxation,  Criminal  Law,  Religious 
Disabilities,  Parliamentary  Representation,  Municipal  Corporations,  Poor-law,  Charities,  Free  Trade,  Irish  Land  Tenure,  Education  of 
the  People — Constitutions  given  to  British  Colonies — Wars,  Colonial,  Indian,  and  Crimean — Revolution  in  Europe  in  1848 — Action  and 
Reaction  of  Opinion — Radicalism,  Chartism,  Socialism,  Republicanism — 10th  April  in  London — Lord  Palmerston — Switzerland — Cracow 
— Metternich — Italy — Pope  Pius  IX.,  his  Amnesty,  Reforms,  Dangers — Rome  a  Revolutionary  Centre — Leopold  Grand  Duke  of 
Tuscany — Charles  Albert  King  of  Piedmont  and  Sardinia — Austrian  influence — Occupation  of  Ferrara — Ferment  among  Italians — The 
Cry  of  ( Independence  of  Italy  ' — Guizot's  Policy — English  Policy — Lord  Minto's  Mission — Demonstrations  at  Turin,  Lucca,  Rome,  Naples 
—  Concession  of  a  Liberal  Constitution  by  the  King  of  Naples — Increased  Excitement — Prevalence  of  the  Revolution  throughout  Italy — 
Parliamentary  Government  in  France — Charges  of  Corruption — Foreign  Policy — Electoral  Reform — Banquets — King's  Speech,  December, 
1847 — Stubbornness  of  Louis  Philippe — 24th  February,  1848 — Republican  Manoeuvres — Soldiers  and  National  Guard— King's  Unwillingness 
to  shed  Blood — Guizot's  Resignation — Thiers — Odillon  Barrot — Abdication  of  Louis  Philippe — His  Flight  to  England — Another  Exile  in 
London  buys  a  Newspaper — French  Republic — Lamartine — National  Assembly— Organization  of  Labour — Insurrection  of  June — Four 
Days'  Battle — Four  Thousand  Barricades — General  Cavaignac  Dictator — French  Intervention  at  Rome — Assassination  of  Rossi — Roman 
Republic — Flight  of  the  Pope — War  in  Lombardy — Radetzky — Battle  of  Novara — Abdication  of  Charles  Albert — Restoration  of  Austrian 
Supremacy — War  in  Hungary — All  Germany  in  Revolt — National  Unity — King  Frederic  William  at  Berlin— The  '  Vor-Parlament '  at 
Frankfort — General  Collapse  of  Revolutionary  Projects. 


Posterity  will  judge  far  more  easily  and  accurately 
than  the  present  generation  possibly  can,  the 
relation  of  cause  and  effect,  in  the  series  of  events 
culminating  this  year,  1870,  in  the  tremendous 
struggle  of  nations  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine. 
After  the  lapse  of  ages,  the  occurrences  of  a  cen- 
tury are  narrated  in  a  few  pregnant  sentences, 
stating  what  was  the  germ,  growth,  and  culmina- 
tion of  one  or  two  fecund  ideas,  one  or  two  national 
aspirations.  The  present  decade,  so  memorable  in 
Prussian  history,  commenced  a  hundred  years 
after  the  triumphs  of  Frederic  the  Great  in  the 
Seven  Years'  War  (1756-63).  That  far-off  indica- 
tion of  Prussia's  military  power  marked  her  as 
the  leader  of  Germany,  and  the  humiliations  she 


endured  at  the  hands  of  the  first  Napoleon  served 
only  to  intensify  in  her  a  disposition  to  restore  the 
German  race  to  the  honour  and  dignity  which  is 
its  due.  On  the  other  hand,  the  revolutionary 
ideas  which  in  France  and  neighbouring  states 
produced  astounding  results,  both  for  good  and 
evil,  eighty  years  ago,  re-appeared  in  great  force 
in  the  European  uprisings  of  1848.  Again  the 
French  people,  after  a  vain  effort  at  self-government 
and  liberty  of  action,  yielded  to  the  despotic  sway 
of  personal  government,  while  the  Germans  strove 
for  national  unity  with  a  national  Parliament,  also 
in  vain.  Yet  the  patient  Germanic  spirit,  abiding 
its  time,  looked  forward  hopefully  and  eagerly  to 
the  day  when  unity  should  endow  the  nation  with 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


commanding  strength.  To  accomplish  this  great 
end  many  sacrifices  were  necessary,  and  much 
boldness,  both  civil  and  political,  in  the  leaders. 
Above  all,  the  elimination  of  foreign  and  hetero- 
geneous elements  from  the  national  life  was 
essential.  France  under  the  second  Empire,  as 
the  child  of  Revolution,  had  raised  the  cry  of 
"nationalities,"  and  by  a  rude  stroke  at  Austrian 
and  papal  power  had  brought  about  the  unity  of 
Italy.  Germany,  the  seat  of  learning  and  of  the 
highest  civilisation,  sighed  at  its  own  confederated 
impotence.  There  it  lay,  rich  in  all  the  elements 
of  political  greatness,  but  unable  to  combine  them 
by  reason  of  its  division  into  petty  principalities 
and  dukedoms.  The  national  aspirations  pointed 
to  the  welding  of  these  parts  into  one  solid  whole ; 
but  a  great  leader  was  wanting  to  give  form  and 
vitality  to  these  aspirations.  At  length  came  the 
hour  and  the  man.  Count  von  Bismarck  was  made 
prime  minister  and  minister  for  foreign  affairs  to 
the  king  of  Prussia.  He  had  deeply  pondered  all 
the  intricate  problems  which  the  state  of  Germany 
presented.  With  profound  insight  he  saw  the 
causes  of  national  weakness  and  laboured  assi- 
duously to  remove  them.  With  his  one  object  in 
view,  and  with  little  tenderness  for  other  courts 
or  other  princes,  he  began  his  great  task  at  the 
easiest  end,  by  despoiling  the  Danish  crown  of  its 
German  appanages.  After  a  brief  pause,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  get  rid,  as  far  as  possible,  of  the  non-German 
elements  existing  in  the  Austrian  empire,  and  by 
a  reconstruction  of  the  German  Confederation  ex- 
cluded that  Slavonic  and  Hungarian  compound  of 
peoples  from  Germany  proper.  His  wonderful 
success  in  these  great  achievements  waited  but  the 
crowning  step  of  a  close  federal  union  with  the 
states  of  South  Germany,  when  the  emperor  of 
the  French,  goaded  by  the  jealous  murmurs  of  his 
people,  who  can  bear  no  rival  near  the  throne  of 
their  supremacy,  rushed  into  a  war  that  seems 
destined  to  complete  all  Count  Bismarck's  designs, 
and  make  Germany  the  chief  military  power  of 
Europe. 

Of  this  general  outline  a  few  explanatory  details 
will  be  necessary.  The  grand  product  of  the 
Revolutionary  and  Napoleonic  wars  which  ended 
in  1814  was  that  celebrated  instrument,  the  Treaty 
of  Vienna.  Such  at  least  it  seemed  in  the  eyes 
of  men  who  do  not  observe  the  under-currents 
of  history.  It  has  been  the  vain  boast  of  the 
admirers    of    this    document    that    it    preserved 


the  peace  of  Europe  for  forty  years  ;  it  had 
in  truth  very  little  to  do  with  preserving  the 
peace  of  Europe,  and  unquestionably  it  failed  to 
secure  the  observance  of  its  own  provisions  for 
even  half  that  time.  Even  while  the  plenipoten- 
tiaries were  seated  round  the  Congress  table,  an 
ominous  interruption  compelled  them  to  throw 
down  their  protocols  and  provisos,  and  hasten  to 
their  respective  courts.  The  great  disturber  of 
the  equilibrium  which  the  Congress  was  attempt- 
ing to  restore  had  broken  loose  from  Elba.  His 
name  once  more  inflamed  the  martial  ardour  of 
France,  and  he  cast  his  last  bloody  die  for  empire 
on  the  field  of  Waterloo,  forfeiting  for  ever  his 
liberty  and  crown.  The  Congress  was  resumed — 
the  Treaty  solemnly  signed  and  ratified.  Its  leading 
provision,  in  accordance  with  the  ostensible  pur- 
pose of  the  allied  powers  in  making  war  against 
the  usurper,  was  that  the  elder  branch  of  the 
Bourbons  should  reign  over  France.  This  ar- 
rangement made  no  allowance  for  the  vast  change 
wrought  in  the  French  people,  morally,  intellect- 
ually, and  socially,  by  the  Revolution;  and  after  a 
painful  duration  of  fifteen  years  it  crumbled  into 
dust  before  the  three  July  days  of  revolution 
in   1830. 

Louis  Philippe,  the  elected  citizen  king,  with 
all  his  merits  and  accomplishments,  did  not  suit 
the  excitable  nation  over  which  he  reigned  for 
eighteen  years.  His  government  by  party,  in  regu- 
lar constitutional  form,  with  a  Right  and  a  Left, 
a  Centre,  Right  Centre,  and  Left  Centre,  was  not 
adapted  to  the  genius  of  Frenchmen.  "La  Gloire" 
seemed  wanting  in  this  system,  and  Beranger  was 
still  trumpeting  forth  in  his  songs  the  renown  of 
their  famous  Corsican  soldier.  The  name  of 
Xapoleon  Bonaparte  was  a  name  of  power  when, 
in  a  feverish  fit  which  seized  them  in  February, 
1848,  the  populace  of  Paris  drove  away  the  able 
and  respectable  family  of  Orleans,  and  prepared  a 
way  to  the  throne  for  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 
The  French,  endowed  with  so  much  keen  com- 
mon sense  in  the  transactions  of  private  life,  are 
lamentably  under  the  sway  of  their  imagination 
in  matters  of  public  concern.  Thus  came  about 
another  grievous  infraction  of  the  Treaty  of  Vienna, 
which  had  decreed  in  the  most  stringent  manner 
that  no  Bonaparte  should  again  reign  in  Europe. 

The  revolutionary  spirit  that  wrought  these 
changes  in  France,  and  rent  in  twain  the  artificial 
instrument  elaborated  by  the  Congress,  had  been 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


for  years  fermenting  in  all  the  countries  of  Europe. 
Organized  by  the  Carbonari  and  other  secret 
societies,  it  broke  out  in  Italy  and  Spain  with 
great  violence  in  1821,  and  virtually  reduced 
King  Ferdinand  to  a  nonentity.  At  the  same 
time  Greece  rose  against  her  Turkish  rulers, 
and  sought  to  establish  her  independence.  These 
events  excited  lively  apprehensions  at  all  the 
courts  of  Europe.  France,  in  defence  of  royalty, 
would  supjDress  the  revolution  in  Spain,  and  put 
down  the  communeros  (communists)  and  descami- 
sados  (shirtless)  at  all  cost.  Russia  was  not  sorry 
to  see  Turkey  embarrassed  by  the  Greek  insur- 
rection, and  England  was  favourable  to  the  cause 
of  liberty  in  both  countries.  Austria,  in  the 
person  of  her  foreign  minister,  represented  the 
principle  of  pure  absolutism,  and  Prussia  held  a 
somewhat  neutral  position,  siding  now  with 
Austria,  anon  with  Russia.  Austria  with  a  strong 
hand  suppressed  the  rising  liberties  of  Italy,  and  at 
the  Congress  ofLaybach  (January,  1821)  concluded 
arrangements  which  gave  her  virtual  possession  of 
the  fairest  parts  of  that  peninsula.  Another  congress 
was  erelong  proposed  to  settle  the  difficulties  of 
the  hour,  and  in  1822  representatives  of  the  various 
powers  met  at  Verona.  Divergence  of  opinion 
soon  made  itself  apparent  at  this  assembly.  France, 
with  her  traditional  jealousy  of  any  foreign  influ- 
ence in  Spain,  would  interfere  in  the  Spanish 
question,  and  would  allow  no  one  else  to  do  so. 
England  deprecated  interference,  but  the  French 
views  were  supported  by  Russia,  Austria,  and 
Prussia.  England  desired  the  recognition  as 
independent  states  of  the  revolted  Spanish  colonies 
in  South  America,  which  none  of  the  other  powers 
would  agree  to  without  the  consent  of  the  king 
of  Spain.  The  result  was  that  the  duke  of  Wel- 
lington, the  English  plenipotentiary,  refused  to 
sign  the  proces  verbalise  of  the  conference,  and  the 
French  government  gained  its  point.  The  hero 
of  Waterloo,  on  his  way  home,  had  an  interview 
with  Louis  XVIII.,  and  well  nigh  persuaded  that 
monarch  to  abandon  the  line  of  policy  marked 
out  by  the  Verona  Congress.  But  the  current  of 
public  opinion  setting  the  other  way,  the  Due 
d'Angouleme,  at  the  head  of  a  hundred  thousand 
men,  entered  Spain  on  April  5,  1823,  for  the 
purpose  of  defending  its  Bourbon  king  against  his 
own  subjects.  French  soldiers  once  more  marched 
along  roads  which  they  had  disputed  mile  by  mile 
with  the  soldiers  of  Wellington  ten  years  before, 


between  the  Bidassoa  and  Madrid.  This  event 
excited  not  only  lively  scenes  in  the  French 
Chamber,  from  which  Manuel,  an  opposition  mem- 
ber, was  forcibly  dragged  by  the  gend'armes,  but 
called  forth  expressions  of  loud  indignation  in  the 
English  House  of  Commons,  where  Mr.  Brougham, 
in  allusion  to  the  help  proffered  to  France  by 
Russia  and  the  German  Powers,  uttered  the  follow- 
ing prognostication : — "I  say  that  if  the  king  of 
France  calls  in  the  modern  Teutones,  or  the 
modern  Scythians,  to  assist  him  in  this  unholy 
war,  judgment  will  that  moment  go  forth  against 
him  and  his  family,  and  the  dynasty  of  Gaul  will 
be  changed  at  once  and  for  ever." 

For  all  this,  however,  the  French  were  success- 
ful in  suppressing  the  revolution,  and  restoring 
Ferdinand  unshackled  to  his  throne.  When  the 
Due  d'Angouleme  had  returned  in  triumph  to  Paris, 
the  English  government,  considering  that  they  had 
sustained  a  defeat,  carried  out  the  measure  they 
advocated  at  the  Congress  of  Verona,  and  formally 
recognized  the  independence  of  the  revolted 
Spanish  colonies  in  South  America.  Spain  "  with 
the  Indies"  had  been  a  power  formidable  to  Eng- 
land. By  finally  separating  from  her  "  the  Indies" 
she  would  be  no  longer  formidable.  "  I  called  the 
new  world  into  existence,"  said  Mr.  Canning, 
melo-dramatically,  "  to  redress  the  balance  of  the 
old."  Curiously  enough,  Chateaubriand,  who  was 
then  the  French  minister  for  foreign  affairs,  has 
admitted  in  his  memoirs,  that  his  government 
had  a  plan  for  "  breaking  through  or  modifying 
the  Treaty  of  Vienna,  by  establishing  Bourbon 
monarchies  in  South  America." 

Poor  Treaty  of  Vienna  !  its  power  for  keeping 
the  peace  of  Europe  for  forty  years  seems  to  have 
been  but  small. 

Early  in  1821,  and  not  many  months  after  the 
outbreak  of  the  Spanish  revolution,  the  Greeks, 
after  four  centuries  of  submission,  rose  against 
their  masters  the  Turks.  This  insurrection  was 
fomented  by  a  secret  society  of  "  Hetairists,"  and 
supported  by  the  friends  of  Greece  in  various  parts 
of  Europe  calling  themselves  Philhellenes.  Capo 
d'Istria,  a  Greek,  who  occupied  the  post  of  private 
secretary  to  Alexander,  emperor  of  Russia,  was  a 
member  of  the  society  of  Hetairists.  The  English 
poet  Byron  was  an  eminent  Philhellene.  Bound 
together  by  community  of  interest,  religious  and 
secular,  it  was  supposed  that  Russia  gave  secret 
aid  to  this  movement ;  but  it  is  on  re-cord  that  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Czar  had  so  great  a  horror  of  insurrection,  and  felt 
so  completely  bound  by  the  principles  of  the  Holy 
Alliance,  that  he  refused  altogether  to  countenance 
the  Greeks  in  their  rebellion  against  the  Sublime 
Porte.  Not  until  his  death  and  the  accession  of 
his  more  ambitious  brother,  the  Emperor  Nicholas, 
did  the  Greeks  succeed  in  establishing  that  in- 
dependence on  behalf  of  which  they  had  exhibited 
heroism  suipassing  the  dreams  of  romance,  and  had 
committed  atrocities  exceeded  only  by  the  cruelties 
of  their  fierce  Moslem  oppressors.  In  1822  the 
provisional  Greek  government  had  made  an  earnest 
application  to  the  Congress  at  Verona,  to  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  European  family  of  nations,  and 
to  be  taken  under  the  protection  of  the  Western 
powers ;  but  the  members  of  the  Holy  Alliance, 
so  powerful  in  that  Congress,  rejected  the  appli- 
cation of  rebels,  insisting  upon  the  maintenance 
of  sovereign  rights  even  when  symbolized  by 
the  domination  of  the  crescent  over  the  cross — 
the  figure  of  Islam  trampling  upon  the  church  of 
Christ.  Four  years'  prolongation  of  the  contest 
however,  and  the  awful  scenes  which  characterized 
the  fall  of  Missolonghi  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks, 
fully  aroused  the  sympathies  of  western  Europe. 
The  representatives  of  the  people  having  signed  a 
solemn  act,  in  virtue  of  which  "  the  Greek  nation 
placed  the  sacred  deposit  of  its  liberty,  indepen- 
dence, and  political  existence,  under  the  absolute 
protection  of  Great  Britain,"  Mr.  Canning  took 
steps  to  make  the  desired  protection  effective. 
Terms  of  accommodation  were  arranged  at  a  secret 
interview  held  in  January,  1826,  on  an  island  near 
Hydra,  between  Mr.  Stratford  Canning  (the  present 
Lord  Stratford  de  Eedcliffe),  British  envoy  at 
Constantinople,  and  Prince  Mavrocordato,  president 
of  the  Greek  government.  The  duke  of  Welling- 
ton, on  an  embassy  of  congratulation  to  the  Czar 
Nicholas  on  his  accession,  concluded  with  the 
Russian  government  a  convention  for  the  pro- 
tection of  Greece,  which  was  signed  on  the  4th 
April,  1826.  More  than  a  year  of  negotiation 
however  elapsed  before  the  treaty  between  England, 
France,  and  Russia  was  signed  (6th  July,  1827) 
for  the  protection  of  Greece  as  an  independent 
state.  Meanwhile  the  Greeks  had  been  reduced 
to  a  very  low  condition  by  Ibrahim  Pasha  and  his 
Egyptian  troops,  and  the  Sultan,  naturally  indig- 
nant at  the  interference  of  the  three  allied  powers, 
made  preparations  for  resistance.  A  combined  fleet 
of  English,  French,  and   Russian  men-of-war,  in 


all  twenty-six  sail,  entered  the  Bay  of  Navarino, 
on  the  20th  October,  1827,  and  destroyed  the 
Turkish  fleet,  while  Ibrahim  Pasha  was  away  doing 
his  best  to  exterminate  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Morea  and  render  their  homes  desolate.  The  in- 
dependence of  Greece  was  secured  by  the  battle  of 
Navarino,  but  the  pride  of  the  Sultan  and  his  divan 
was  not  subdued.  Stiff-necked  as  ever,  the  in- 
domitable tone  of  his  reply  to  the  allied  ministers 
after  his  misfortune  was  worthy  of  a  better  cause, 
"  My  positive,  absolute,  definitive,  unchangeable, 
eternal  answer  is,  that  the  Sublime  Porte  does  not 
accept  any  proposition  regarding  the  Greeks,  and 
will  persist  in  its  own  will  regarding  them  even  to 
the  day  of  the  last  judgment."  That  day,  so  rashly 
appealed  to,  seemed  about  to  dawn  upon  Turkey 
in  the  war  which  shortly  ensued  between  her  and 
Russia.  The  contest  bears  little  upon  the  questions 
agitating  Europe  in  this  year,  1870,  excepting  as 
showing  the  direction  of  Russian  ambition,  and  as 
giving  England  a  reason  for  watching  the  progress 
of  that  colossal  power  in  the  East.  The  war  broke 
out  in  1828,  after  the  conclusion  of  a  war  with 
Persia,  in  which  the  Czar  had  been  triumphant. 
After  a  series  of  brilliant  successes,  the  Moslems 
were  again  humbled,  and  Russian  superiority 
acknowledged  in  a  treaty  dictated  by  Marshal 
Diebitsch  at  Adrian ople  itself,  in  the  closing 
month  of  1829. 

When  Greece,  in  1830,  assumed  the  form  of  a 
constitutional  monarchy,  its  throne  was  offered 
to  Prince  Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg,  the  widowed 
husband  of  Princess  Charlotte  of  England.  He 
declined  the  honour,  but  accepted  a  similar  proposal 
made  in  June,  1831,  on  behalf  of  the  people  of 
Belgium.  By  the  settlement  of  1815  this  country 
formed  part  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Netherlands. 
Dutchmen  and  Belgians,  however,  found  themselves 
but  ill-mated;  and  on  the  4th  October,  1830, another 
infringement  of  the  great  treaty  took  place  by  the 
secession  of  the  Belgians  from  the  kingdom  of  Hol- 
land, and  the  formation  of  a  provisional  government 
with  the  sanction  of  Great  Britain  and  France.  The 
crown  was  offered  to  and  refused  by  the  Due  de 
Nemours,  second  son  of  Louis  Philippe  king  of  the 
French,  and  was  finally  bestowed  upon  Leopold. 
Some  years  elapsed  before  the  recognition  of  this 
new  and  prosperous  little  kingdom  was  made  by  all 
the  great  powers.  On  the  19th  April,  1839,  a  treaty 
was  signed  at  London  which  established  peaceful 
relations  between  King  Leopold  I.  and  the  sovereign 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


of  the  Netherlands,  and  obtained  the  recognition 
of  the  kingdom  of  Belgium  by  all  the  states  of 
Europe.  It  is  by  this  treaty  that  Great  Britain 
deems  herself  morally  bound  to  protect  the  integrity 
ot  the  state,  and  her  neutrality  when  neighbouring 
kingdoms  are  at  war.  The  special  treaties  of  1870 
between  England  on  one  side,  and  France  and 
Prussia  severally  on  the  other,  extend  only  to  the 
period  of  one  year  after  the  conclusion  of  peace 
between  those  belligerent  powers. 

The  spirit  of  revolution,  it  will  be  seen,  was  not 
effectively  restrained  on  the  continent  of  Europe 
by  the  virtue  of  the  Holy  Alliance.  In  England 
that  spirit  accomplished  changes  and  improvements 
of  great  national  and  social  importance,  but  by 
gentler  and  more  benignant  courses  than  those 
employed  in  France,  Italy,  Spain,  and  Greece. 
The  heavy  burdens  of  taxation  entailed  by  a  long 
and  costly  war  were  gradually  lightened,  the  abuses 
of  a  paper  currency  were  restrained,  and  trade  was 
developed.  A  criminal  law  of  Draconian  severity 
was  rendered  more  humane,  while  a  corrupt  and 
inefficient  system  of  police  was  replaced  by  one 
that  for  more  than  forty  years  has  fully  justified 
the  change.  Gross  injustice  to  a  large  section  of 
the  community  was  removed  by  the  passing,  after 
some  violent  agitation,  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Emancipation  Bill,  and  some  years  later  by  a  law 
relieving  Jews  from  disabilities  laid  upon  them  by 
theological  prejudice.  This  class  of  legislation  was 
carried  on  by  the  regulation  of  ecclesiastical  in- 
comes in  the  church  of  England,  by  means  of  a 
standmg  commission;  by  the  abolition  of  tests,  and 
quite  recently  by  the  disestablishment  of  a  Pro- 
testant state  church  in  Ireland,  a  Roman  Catholic 
country.  In  order  to  achieve  most  of  these  bene- 
ficent ameliorations  of  the  law,  it  was  essential  to 
improve,  first  of  all,  the  instrument  of  legislation 
itself.  The  Reform  Act  of  1832  abolished  a  large 
number  of  pocket  boroughs,  and  gave  represen- 
tatives to  large  towns  and  important  centres  of 
trade  which  had  been  left  unrepresented.  By  the 
later  Act  for  reforming  the  representation  of  the 
people  passed  in  1867—68,  the  constituencies  were 
indefinitely  enlarged  by  the  extension  of  the 
franchise  to  every  rate-payer,  and  to  lodgers.  The 
Parliaments  under  the  first  Reform  Act  accom- 
plished great  things.  Besides  the  measures  men- 
tioned above,  there  were  the  final  abolition  of  the 
slave  trade,  the  reform  of  the  municipal  corpora- 
tions, the  new  poor  law,  the  charity  commission, 


the  repeal  of  the  corn  laws,  and  the  adoption  of 
free  trade  with  respect  to  almost  every  article  of 
export  and  import.  The  partial  substitution  of 
direct  for  indirect  taxation  in  the  form  of  an 
income-tax,  is  not  yet  acknowledged  as  a  public 
benefit  with  entire  unanimity.  The  abolition  of 
the  newspaper  stamp,  and  of  the  duty  on  paper, 
increased  in  an  extraordinary  degree  the  scope  and 
influence  of  that  great  educator  the  press.  The 
first  Parliament  under  the  new  Reform  Act  has 
already  performed  great  tasks  : — The  disestablish- 
ment of  the  church  in  Ireland,  the  adaptation  of 
the  law  of  land  tenure  in  that  country  to  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  people,  and  finally,  the  education 
of  the  people  of  every  parish  by  rate-supported 
schools.  The  adoption  of  the  last-named  measure 
is  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  progress  made  by 
public  opinion  in  the  direction  of  religious  toler- 
ance, and  as  an  indication  of  the  enlightenment 
and  elevation  of  mind  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
serves  to  rebut  the  charge  of  "  Philistinism "  so 
conceitedly  brought  forward  against  Englishmen 
by  certain  writers  of  the  day. 

Legislation  has  also  been  most  beneficially  em- 
ployed in  conferring  upon  the  colonies  of  Great 
Britain  free  constitutions  of  their  own,  by  which 
they  will  be  fitted  to  stand  alone  when  the  time 
shall  come  for  snapping  asunder  the  slender  thread 
that  binds  them  to  the  mother  country.  The 
discovery  of  gold  in  many  of  these  distant  depen- 
dencies gave  a  vigorous  impulse  to  the  tide  of 
emigration  from  home.  As  many  as  seven  million 
emigrants  have  quitted  the  United  Kingdom  since 
1815,  the  greater  number  directing  their  steps 
to  the  boundless  and  fertile  territories  of  the  United 
States. 

All  the  wars  in  which  England  has  engaged 
since  the  Congress  of  Vienna  have  been,  with  the 
exception  of  Navarino,  the  China,  and  the  Crimean 
wars,  on  behalf  of  her  colonies  or  her  Indian  pos- 
sessions. The  Kafirs  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
the  Maoris  in  New  Zealand,  the  Affghans  of 
Northern  India,  the  warriors  of  Scinde,  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Burmah,  and  most  formidable  of  all,  the 
mutinous  Sepoys  of  Hindostan,  have  all  in  turn 
come  into  deadly  collision  with  England's  military 
power,  and  have  all  been  compelled  to  yield.  After 
the  suppression  of  the  Indian  mutiny  of  1857,  the 
government  of  that  vast  dependency,  which  had 
been  vested  in  the  East  Indian  Company,  under 
the  control  of  a  government  board,  was  formally 


THE  FKANCO-PEUSSIAN  WAR 


transferred  by  Act  of  Parliament,  in  1858,  to  the 
crown.  The  war  with  China,  not  highly  honour- 
able in  its  commencement,  had  the  noteworthy 
effect  of  giving  to  Europeans  tolerably  free  access 
to  that  jealously  guarded  country,  and  of  opening 
up  a  commerce  of  yearly  increasing  magnitude. 
The  Crimean  war  was  a  development  of  the  Eastern 
question,  in  which  England  became  entangled 
through  a  careful  jealousy  of  Russia's  power 
in  the  East.  In  1854  was  seen  the  singular  spec- 
tacle of  a  deadly  quarrel  on  account  of  Turkey,  by 
the  three  powers  who  twenty-seven  years  previously 
united  at  Navarino  to  secure  the  infant  kingdom 
of  Greece  against  the  oppression  of  Turkey. 
England  and  France  stood  forward  as  protectors 
of  the  quondam  oppressor  against  his  powerful  and 
ambitious  assailant,  Czar  Nicholas.  All  the  bel- 
ligerents suffered  severely  in  this  war,  which  lasted 
more  than  two  years,  the  heavy  losses  sustained 
by  the  Russians,  and  the  fatal  discovery  made 
by  the  Czar,  that  his  apparently  boundless  re- 
sources were  cankered  and  eaten  away  by  official 
corruption,  broke  the  proud  sovereign's  heart 
and  induced  his  successor,  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander II.,  to  sue  for  peace.  The  main  result 
of  the  war  was  the  dissipation  of  an  illusive  and 
vague  dread  that  lay  like  an  incubus  on  the 
mind  of  Europe,  to  the  effect  that  the  "  Colossus 
of  the  North  "  was  irresistible.  Germany  especi- 
ally was  supposed  to  be  paralyzed  by  this  tremen- 
dous overhanging  power.  The  hollowness  of  these 
vast  pretensions  was  made  manifest  in  the  Crimean 
war;  but  the  Western  Powers  had  to  pay  a  high 
price  for  the  dismissal  of  their  vain  fears,  and  for 
the  knowledge  that  the  dreaded  Colossus  had 
his  weak  points.  The  principal  gainer  by  this  war 
was  England's  ally,  the  emperor  of  the  French, 
who  acquired  by  it  that  which  he  so  much  wanted 
— prestige. 

It  will  now  be  necessary  to  recur  to  the  rise 
of  this  prince  to  power,  and  to  the  violent  dis- 
turbances which  shook  Europe  like  an  earth- 
quake in  1848,  before  proceeding  to  explain  the 
complication  of  German  politics  in  Holstein,  Aus- 
tria, and  Prussia,  and  the  vigorous  development 
of  the  last-named  power,  which  has  excited  the 
jealousy  of  other  nations,  and  has  brought  it  into 
such  violent  collision  with  military  France. 

During  the  thirty  years  succeeding  the  peace 
of  1815  a  new  generation  of  men  had  come  into 
existence  in  Europe,  who  felt  little  of  the  misery 


produced  by  the  revolutionary  wars,  and  who  yet 
learned  by  hearsay  and  by  reading  what  a  glorious 
struggle  had  taken  place  on  behalf  of  the  rights  of 
man.  By  the  Treaty  of  Vienna  an  attempt  was 
made  to  restore  that  balance  of  power  which  had 
kept  Europe  steady  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  had  served  to  protect 
small  states  as  well  as  large,  with  the  notable 
exception  of  Silesia,  which  was  annexed  by  Prus- 
sia, and  of  Poland,  which  was  partitioned.  Under 
the  old  system  nations  were  too  exclusively  iden- 
tified with  their  nominal  rulers,  and  the  interests 
of  the  empire,  kingdom,  or  duchy  were  too 
liberally  presumed  to  be  the  same  as  the  interests 
of  the  emperor,  king,  or  duke.  The  revolution 
of  1789  was  a  protest  against  this  presumption; 
but  a  protest  of  so  violent  a  kind  that  reaction  was 
inevitable,  and  the  triumph  of  the  sans  culottes 
at  Jemappes  led  ultimately  to  the  Holy  Alliance  of 
the  absolute  monarchs  of  Europe.  The  first  great 
rebound  of  public  opinion  from  this  union  of 
absolutists  brought  about  the  revolution  of  July, 
1830,  in  France.  The  next  swing  of  the  political 
pendulum  produced  the  tremendous  concussion, 
or  rather  series  of  concussions,  of  1848. 

All  Europe  was  convulsed.  Under  the  several 
standards  of  Radicalism,  Chartism,  Socialism, 
Communism,  Republicanism,  the  masses  of  the 
people,  with  one  consent,  rose  against  their  rulers, 
and  demanded  a  new  programme  of  fife.  In 
England  the  forms  of  regulated  freedom  per- 
mitted the  Chartists  to  make  a  harmless  show 
of  strength,  that  evaporated  with  the  display. 
On  occasion  of  the  monster  procession  (10th 
April,  1848)  which  bore  the  people's  charter,  in 
the  shape  of  a  huge  petition  to  the  House  of 
Commons,  a  counter  demonstration,  equally  harm- 
less, was  made  by  the  easier  classes  of  society, 
who  took  the  oath  and  staff  of  special  constables 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  peace  of  London. 
Among  these  improvised  officials  stood,  accord- 
ing to  authentic  report,  Lord  Palmerston  and 
Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  Anti-chartist  as  Lord 
Palmerston  showed  himself  at  home,  he  was 
radical  enough  abroad.  Only  a  few  months  before 
this,  at  the  close  of  1847,  he  had,  as  English 
secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  incurred  the  resent- 
ment of  the  potentates  of  Europe  by  his  open 
encouragement  of  the  Radicals  of  Switzerland, 
who  triumphed  over  the  reactionists  in  a  civil 
war.     Words  written  at  this  time  by  the  Vaudois 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


deputy,  M.  Druey,  expressed  the  thoughts  of  many 
thousands  of  his  contemporaries.  Addressing  a 
French  radical,  he  said  : — -"  We  sympathize  with 
you,  and  you  sympathize  with  us.  The  time  lias 
now  arrived  when  it  is  necessary,  on  both  sides 
the  Jura,  to  transfer  from  the  region  of  ideas  to 
that  of  action  the  great  principles  of  liberty, 
•equality,  fraternity,  which  constitute  the  happiness 
of  men,  as  well  as  the  glory  of  societies."  Here 
was  the  watchword  of  the  insurgent  nations.  To 
the  credit  of  Switzerland  it  must  be  said,  that  she 
alone,  of  all  competitors  in  the  race  for  freedom, 
achieved  anything  like  a  realization  of  the  great 
principles  of  liberty  and  equality.  Meanwhile 
the  rupture  of  the  entente  cordiale  between  Eng- 
land and  France,  in  consequence  of  the  Spanish 
marriages,  gave  Austria  an  opportunity  of  absorb- 
ing the  republic  of  Cracow,  the  last  remnant  of 
independent  Poland.  Metternich,  the  Austrian 
minister,  seemed  supreme  in  European  affairs,  and 
his  country  at  the  height  of  prosperity  and  power, 
when  suddenly  the  absolutist  system  gave  way, 
and  the  mighty  dominion  of  the  emperor  of 
Austria  fell  gradually  to  pieces,  only  to  be  recon- 
structed partially,  and  after  many  humiliations. 

The  revolutionary  explosion  was  first  heard  in 
Italy,  and  the  hand  that  applied  the  spark  to  the 
combustible  mass  of  liberalism,  which  lay  ready 
to  receive  it,  was  that  of  the  pope  of  Borne — 
Pius  IX — after  his  election  in  June,  1846.  The 
particulars  of  this  extensive  outbreak,  as  derived 
from  Alison's  History,  will  serve  to  explain  with 
tolerable  accuracy  the  course  taken  by  the  revolu- 
tionary eruptions  in  the  other  countries  of  Europe. 
•'The  first  important  act  of  the  new  pontiff," 
says  the  conservative  historian,  "  was  one  eminently 
popular.  An  amnesty  for  the  large  number  of 
persons  convicted  of  political  offences  was  greatly 
desired.  Yielding  alike  to  his  own  inclination 
and  the  general  wish,  Pius  IX.  proclaimed  the 
desired  act  of  oblivion,  and  the  joyous  news  was 
early  on  the  morning  of  the  16th  July  placarded 
all  over  Rome.  No  words  can  paint  the  transports 
which  ensued.  The  prison  doors  were  opened ; 
their  country  was  restored  to  1500  captives  or 
exiles.  From  morning  to  night  crowds  of  all  ranks 
and  professions  hastened  to  the  Quirinal  to  express 
to  the  holy  father  the  unbounded  joy  which  the  act 
of  mercy  had  diffused.  Twice  in  the  space  of  a  few 
hours  the  pope  gave  his  blessing  to  successive  multi- 
tudes which  filled  the  place,  and  on  their  knees 


received  the  sacred  benediction  ;  and  as  a  third 
crowd  arrived  from  the  more  distant  parts  of  the 
city,  he  came  out,  contrary  to  etiquette,  after 
nightfall,  and  by  torchlight  again  bestowed  it 
amidst  tears  of  joy.  A  spontaneous  illumination 
lighted  up  the  whole  city." 

The  general  hopes  thus  awakened  were  not 
damped  by  the  first  administrative  acts  of  the 
new  pope.  On  the  8th  November  three  com- 
missions were  issued,  composed  of  prelates  and 
laymen,  to  report  on  the  reform  required  in  the 
criminal  procedure,  on  the  amelioration  of  the 
municipal  system,  and  on  the  repression  of  vag- 
rant mendicity,  and  various  decrees  were  shortly 
after  published  for  the  establishment  of  primary 
schools,  agricultural  institutions,  hospitals  for  the 
poor,  the  reorganization  of  the  army,  and  that  of 
the  ancient  and  far-famed  university  of  Bologna. 

The  holy  father  speedily  found  himself  beset 
with  difficulties  inseparable  from  the  new  state  of 
affairs — difficulties  which  were  much  enhanced  by 
the  personal  character  of  the  pope,  who  yielded 
alternately  to  the  solicitations  of  opposite  parties, 
and  deprived  government  of  all  real  consideration 
by  taking  from  it  the  character  of  consistency. 

The  dangers  of  the  situation  were  much  aug- 
mented in  the  close  of  1846,  by  the  great  con- 
fluence of  refugees  who,  taking  advantage  of  the 
amnesty,  flocked  to  Borne,  and  brought  with  them 
not  only  the  liberalism  of  their  own  country, 
but  the  concentrated  spirit  of  revolution  from 
all  other  states.  The  Eternal  City  became  the 
headquarters  of  the  movement  from  all  parts 
of  Europe.  Liberals  from  France,  Spain,  Poland, 
Germany,  the  Austrian  states — all  flocked  thither, 
as  at  once  to  an  asylum  from  the  persecution  of 
the  governments  which  they  had  offended,  and 
a  central  point  from  which  they  could  renew  their 
machinations  for  ulterior  aggressions.  No  practical 
or  useful  reforms  by  the  Papal  government  could 
keep  pace  with  the  heated  imaginations  of  this 
band  of  enthusiasts.  They  openly  aspired,  not 
merely  to  reform  the  Holy  See,  but  to  subvert 
the  government  in  all  the  adjoining  states,  and 
realize  the  dream  of  a  united  Italian  Eepublic, 
one  and  indivisible. 

Several  also  of  the  temporal  princes  of  Italy 
embarked  in  a  liberal  policy.  Leopold,  grand-duke 
of  Tuscany,  was  the  first  to  adventure  on  the  in- 
viting but  perilous  path.  That  beautiful  duchy  had 
long  been  more  lightly  and  equitably  governed 


8 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


than  any  of  the  other  Italian  states,  and  it  em- 
braced a  greater  number  of  highly  educated  and 
enlightened  persons.  To  them  a  certain  intervention 
in  the  affairs  of  government  had  long  been  the 
subject  of  desire,  and  the  moderation  of  their 
temperament  and  extent  of  their  information 
pointed  them  out  as  peculiarly  fitted  for  this 
enjoyment.  Their  aspirations  were  now  in  a 
great  measure  realized.  Leopold  emancipated  the 
press  from  its  shackles,  and  adopted  other  reforms 
which  were  acceptable  to  his  subjects. 

Sardinia  also  shared  in  the  movement.  Charles 
Albert,  who  in  early  youth  had  fought  by  the  side 
of  the  Liberals  in  1823,  looked  to  that  party  alone 
for  the  support  of  his  favourite  project  of  turning 
the  Austrians  out  of  Italy.  To  conciliate  them 
during  the  general  ferment  of  men's  minds  in  the 
peninsula  consequent  on  the  amnesty  and  reform 
of  Pius  IX.,  he  commenced  some  changes,  and  pro- 
mised more.  Seeing  that  Sardinia  was  the  power 
which  could  alone  in  the  peninsula  face  the  Austrian 
bayonets,  and  which  must  necessarily  take  the  lead 
in  any  efforts  to  assert  the  independence  of  Italy, 
these  symptoms  excited  the  utmost  interest  in  the 
inhabitants  of  the  whole  country.  The  hopes  that 
had  been  excited  by  the  general  enthusiasm,  and 
the  direction  it  was  taking,  were  clearly  evinced 
by  what  occurred  in  the  beginning  of  winter.  On  a 
given  night  in  December  bale-fires  were  simul- 
taneously lighted  on  the  principal  heights  of  the 
Apennines,  which  reflected  the  ruddy  glow  from 
the  mountains  of  Bologna  to  the  extreme  point  of 
the  Calabrian  peninsula. 

Meanwhile  the  pope  grew  alarmed  at  the  storm 
he  had  raised,  and  on  the  12th  June,  1847,  a  Motu 
Proprio  appeared,  which  was  soon  after  followed  by 
a  more  detailed  exposition  of  the  views  of  the  Papal 
government.  "The  holy  father,"  said  this  document, 
"  has  not  beheld  without  grief  the  doctrines  and 
the  attempts  of  some  excited  persons,  who  aim 
at  introducing  into  the  measures  of  government 
maxims  subversive  of  the  elevated  and  pacific 
character  of  the  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  to 
awaken  in  the  people  ideas  and  hopes  incon- 
sistent with  the  pontifical  government."  These 
decided  words  seemed  a  mortal  stroke  to  the  exalted 
Liberals;  they  immediately  lost  all  confidence  in 
the  pope,  who,  they  declared,  had  fallen  entirely 
under  the  Austrian  influence ;  and  to  the  enthusi- 
astic transports  which  had  signalized  his  accession 
a  year  before  succeeded  a  cold  indifference. 


Metternich  and  the  cabinet  of  Vienna  made  a 
movement  professedly  to  support  the  government 
of  the  pope,  really  to  terminate  the  ascendancy  of 
the  Liberals  in  his  councils,  which  threatened  to 
prove  so  dangerous  to  Austrian  rule  in  Italy.  By 
the  sixty-third  article  of  the  Treaty  of  Vienna 
the  Austrians  were  authorized  to  keep  a  garrison 
in  the  citadel  of  Ferrara;  but  the  custody  of  the 
gates  of  the  town  was  still  intrusted  to  the  ponti- 
fical troops.  Now,  however,  a  more  decided 
demonstration  was  deemed  necessary.  On  the 
10th  August  a  division  of  Austrian  troops  crossed 
the  Po,  and  took  entire  possession  of  the  fortress, 
threatening  to  put  to  the  sword  whoever  offered 
any  resistance. 

The  Papal  liberal  government,  assured  of  the 
support  of  France,  protested  energetically  against 
this  occupation,  and  the  general  feeling  under- 
went a  change  attended  with  important  effects. 
The  holy  father  was  no  longer  regarded  as  the 
head  of  the  revolutionary,  but  of  the  national  party; 
and  to  the  cry  of  "  Long  live  reform !"  succeeded 
the  still  more  thrilling  one  of  "  Italian  indepen- 
dence ! "  which  soon  spread  beyond  the  Roman 
states;  animating  all  the  states  of  the  peninsula, 
and  embracing  numbers  of  the  higher  and  educated 
classes,  who,  albeit  opposed  to  organic  changes 
in  the  form  of  government,  were  yet  passion- 
ately desirous  of  emancipating  the  country  from 
the  degrading  state  of  tutelage  in  which  it  had 
so  long  been  kept  to  the  northern  powers. 

In  Turin  especially,  at  the  cry  "  Independence 
of  Italy ! "  a  general  enthusiasm  seized  all  classes, 
and  Charles  Albert  let  drop  hints  that  the  time 
was  not  far  distant  when  he  would  draw  his  sword 
for  the  "  Sacred  cause." 

In  France  M.  Guizot's  policy  at  this  period  was 
directed  to  the  double  object  of  preventing  an  ex- 
plosion of  revolutionary  violence  in  Italy,  and  of 
taking  away  all  pretext  for  Austrian  interference. 
We  are  at  peace  and  on  good  terms  with  Austria, 
he  said,  and  we  wish  to  continue  on  such;  for  a 
war  with  Austria  is  a  general  war  and  universal 
revolution. 

The  English  government  resolved  to  send  out  a 
confidential  diplomatic  agent  to  examine  the  state  of 
the  peninsula,  and  give  such  counsel  to  its  various 
governments  as  might  best  tend  to  bring  them  in 
safety  through  the  dangers  by  which  they  were 
surrounded.  Lord  Minto,  who  was  selected  for 
the  mission,   was  looked  upon  as   the  champion 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


of  Italian  independence;  manifestations  of  popular 
feeling  preceded  or  followed  him  wherever  he 
went;  Turin,  Genoa,  Florence,  Rome,  Naples, 
Sicily,  had  no  sooner  hailed  his  arrival  than  they 
became  violently  agitated;  and  at  Milan  the 
people  broke  out  into  open  riot  amidst  cries  of 
"Down  with  the  Austrians!"  which  were  only 
repressed  after  collision  and  bloodshed. 

At  Turin  the  king  issued  a  very  liberal  pro- 
gramme of  the  changes  which  the  government 
were  about  to  introduce  into  the  internal  admin- 
istration of  the  kingdom.  These  concessions 
produced  universal  transports ;  the  popularity 
of  Charles  Albert  equalled  that  which  Pius  IX. 
had  enjoyed  a  year  before;  the  whole  capital  was 
spontaneously  illuminated  for  several  nights;  he 
could  not  leave  his  palace  without  being  surrounded 
by  an  enthusiastic  crowd;  and  when  later  in  the 
autumn  he  set  out  for  Genoa,  the  greater  part  of 
the  inhabitants  of  both  cities  attended  him  with 
joyous  acclamations,  both  on  his  departure  and 
return.  Nor  did  the  acts  of  the  sovereign  belie 
these  flattering  appearances;  for  he  communicated 
at  this  time  to  the  French  government  his  resolu- 
tion, in  the  event  of  the  pope  requiring  his 
assistance  against  the  Austrians,  not  to  refuse  his 
armed  support. 

A  demonstration  in  favour  of  Liberal  opinions 
and  Italian  independence  in  Lucca,  brought  that 
beautiful  little  duchy  into  unison  with  Tuscany, 
much  to  the  joy  of  the  inhabitants  of  both 
duchies. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  effervescence  caused 
by  these  events  that  Lord  Minto  arrived  at  Rome, 
and  at  once  became  the  object  of  a  popular  ovation. 
A  few  days  after  his  arrival  a  vast  crowd,  which 
assembled  in  the  Corso,  suddenly  entered  the  Piazza 
di  Spagna,  and  soon  filled  the  inner  court  of  the 
Hotel  Melza,  where  Lord  Minto  resided.  Cries  of 
"  Long  live  Lord  Minto  !  "  "  Long  live  Italian 
Independence!"  were  heard  on  all  sides.  White 
handkerchiefs  were  seen  to  wave  in  reply  from 
the  windows  of  the  hotel,  and  augmented  the 
general  enthusiasm.  The  Radical  journals  in 
France  immediately  published  an  inflated  account 
of  the  event,  accompanied  by  a  statement  that 
England  had  openly  put  itself  at  the  head  of  the 
league  for  promoting  Italian  independence;  and 
the  appearance  of  some  leading  Liberals  in  Lord 
Minto's  box  at  the  opera  a  few  nights  after,  when 
they  were  received  with  thunders'  of  applause,  dis- 


pelled all  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the  ardent  patriots 
of  the  truth  of  the  report. 

Seriously  alarmed  at  the  turn  which  affairs  were 
taking,  which  threatened  not  only  a  revolutionary 
convulsion  in  Italy,  but  the  lighting  up  of  a  general 
conflagration  in  Europe,  M.  Rossi,  the  French 
ambassador,  in  several  conferences  with  the  pope, 
endeavoured  to  convince  his  Holiness  of  the 
necessity  of  admitting  some  laymen  into  his 
cabinet,  and  after  considerable  difficulty  succeeded 
in  extorting  this  concession  from  the  monopolizing 
ecclesiastics.  At  the  same  time  he  used  his 
utmost  endeavours  to  point  out  to  the  Liberals 
the  danger  which  they  were  incurring,  not  only 
for  their  country,  but  for  Europe,  by  rushing 
headlong  into  a  war  with  Austria,  with  the  feeble 
warlike  elements  which  were  alone  at  their  disposal. 

The  times  were  past,  however,  when  these 
warnings  could  produce  any  effect.  The  train 
had  been  kid,  the  torch  applied,  and  the  explosion 
was  inevitable.  Power  had  changed  hands  at 
Rome.  It  had  slipped  from  the  feeble  grasp  of 
the  pope  and  the  cardinals,  and  been  seized  by 
the  hands  of  violent  men,  destitute  alike  of  infor- 
mation or  prudence.  Hardly  a  day  passed  without 
something  occurring  which  demonstrated  the 
deplorable  prostration  of  government,  and  the 
entire  contempt  into  which  the  pope,  recently  so 
popular,  had  fallen. 

At  Naples,  whither  Lord  Minto  proceeded  from 
Rome,  the  king  outstripped  all  the  concessions 
of  the  other  Italian  sovereigns  by  the  publication 
of  a  constitution,  by  a  decree  which  removed 
nearly  all  the  restrictions  on  the  liberty  of  the 
press,  and  by  a  large  amnesty  for  political  offenders. 

It  is  difficult  for  a  stranger,  especially  in  a  free 
country  to  the  north  of  the  Alps,  to  form  a  con- 
ception of  the  sensation  which  these  decrees, 
following  each  other  in  rapid  succession,  and  all 
breathing  so  liberal  a  spirit,  produced  in  Italy. 
It  seemed  impossible  that  the  antiquated  fabric 
of  superstition  and  despotism  could  any  longer 
be  maintained  in  the  peninsula,  when  the  most 
absolute  monarch  within  its  bounds  had  become 
the  first  to  stretch  forth  his  hand  to  pull  it  down. 
The  cabinets  in  the  centre  and  northern  parts 
of  the  country  were  thunderstruck  at  the  intelli- 
gence; but  ere  long  the  enthusiasm  became  so 
general,  the  torrent  so  powerful,  that  they  saw 
no  chance  of  escape  but  in  yielding  to  it.  Con- 
stitutions  on  the  model  of  that  of  Naples  were 


10 


THE   FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


speedily  published  at  Turin  and  Florence.  In 
Rome,  even,  the  extreme  difficulty  of  reconciling 
the  forms  and  popular  powers  of  a  constitutional 
monarchy  with  an  absolute  government  based  on 
theocracy,  yielded  to  the  same  necessity.  In  a 
word,  Italy,  save  where  kept  down  by  Austrian 
bayonets,  from  the  base  of  the  Alps  to  the  point 
of  Calabria,  was  as  completely  revolutionized, 
though  as  yet  without  the  shedding  of  blood, 
as  France  had  been  by  the  innovations  of  the 
Constituent  Assembly. 

Meanwhile,  in  France  parliamentary  govern- 
ment was  undergoing  a  severe  strain.  The  king 
as  he  advanced  in  years,  yielding  to  the  tempta- 
tions of  his  position,  strove  to  keep  the  reins  of 
government  more  and  more  in  his  own  hands. 
His  cabinet,  which  was  conservative  in  politics, 
seemed  a  tool  in  his  hands.  Rightly  or  wrongly, 
it  was  said  that  the  subserviency  of  his  ministers 
and  the  fidelity  of  the  majority  in  the  two 
Chambers  were  bought  with  a  price.  Charges  of 
peculation  and  corruption  were  openly  brought 
against  officials,  and  scandalous  trials  ensued.  The 
peerage,  at  the  same  time,  was  greatly  disgraced  in 
the  popular  mind  on  the  murder  of  Marshal 
Sebastiani's  daughter  by  her  own  husband,  the 
Due  de  Praslin,  who  had  conceived  a  guilty  passion 
for  their  children's  governess.  There  was  scarcity 
in  the  country,  also,  to  stimulate  the  rising  exas- 
peration. The  foreign  policy  of  the  government, 
so  tender  towards  Austria,  so  timid  on  behalf  of 
the  movement  in  Italy,  exposed  the  king  and  his 
ministers  to  the  charge  of  pusillanimity.  "Yes," 
said  Lamartine,  "a  revolution  is  approaching,  and 
it  is  the  revolution  of  contempt." 

In  this  state  of  things  the  liberal  party  then  in 
opposition  raised  the  question  of  parliamentary 
reform.  The  constitutional  liberals,  with  their 
leader  M.  Thiers,  fondly  imagined  that  the 
question  would  be  argued  within  the  limits  of  due 
parliamentary  order,  and  end  in  a  peaceable  party 
triumph.  But  the  vivacious  sections  of  Com- 
munists, Socialists,  and  Red  Republicans  had 
other  views,  which  they  resolved  audaciously  to 
carry  out  if  opportunity  offered.  The  opportunity 
was  not  long  in  arriving.  The  approved  mode  of 
carrying  on  a  political  agitation  was  by  means  of 
banquets  in  the  principal  cities,  at  which  leading 
men  delivered  orations  of  more  or  less  power  and 
effect.  The  speeches,  printed  in  the  newspapers, 
exercised  a  wide  influence.     Thus  Odillon  Barret 


and  Duvergier  de  Haurane  invited  the  Parisians, 
at  Chateau  Rouge,  to  return  to  the  pure  principles 
of  the  July  government;  while  Lamartine,  at 
Macon,  set  forth  in  glowing  colours  the  virtues 
of  a  beneficent  communism.  The  movement  was 
sufficiently  pronounced  to  require  notice  in  the 
king's  speech  at  the  opening  of  the  Chambers,  in 
December,  1847.  "  In  the  midst  of  the  agitation," 
he  said,  "which  hostile  and  blind  passions  have 
fostered,  one  conviction  has  animated  and  supported 
me;  it  is,  that  we  possess  in  the  constitutional  mon- 
archy, in  the  union  of  the  three  powers  of  the  state, 
the  most  effectual  means  of  surmounting  all  our 
difficulties  and  of  providing  for  all  the  moral  and 
material  interests  of  our  dear  country."  A  long 
and  animated  debate  on  the  address  ensued.  It 
was  moved  that  the  words  "hostile  and  blind," 
which  were  repeated  in  the  address,  should  be  left 
out.  The  ministry,  however,  defeated  the  amend- 
ment by  a  majority  of  43,  and  the  Liberals  began 
anew  their  agitation  out  of  doors.  It  was  deter- 
mined to  hold  a  great  meeting  in  the  capital,  at  a 
banquet  which  had  already  been  forbidden  by  the 
police,  and  the  day  fixed  for  it  was  the  22nd  of 
February.  This  defiance  of  the  executive  gave 
hopes  to  the  turbulent,  which  were  raised  still 
higher  when  a  monster  procession  was  also  agreed 
upon.  The  king  was  firm  to  obstinacy.  "Re- 
form," he  said,  "  meant  a  change  of  ministry,  and 
a  change  of  ministry  meant  war  with  foreign 
powers;"  that  is  to  say,  encouragement  of  the 
revolutionary  parties  in  Europe  and  defiance  of 
the  absolute  monarchies.  The  22nd  of  February, 
however,  passed  with  small  disturbance,  yet  enough 
to  induce  the  government  to  occupy  the  streets 
with  soldiers  on  the  23rd,  and  to  call  out  the 
national  guard.  This  force,  to  which  the  king 
was  thought  to  owe  his  throne,  had  grown  dis- 
satisfied, and  some  radical  leaders  persuaded  them 
to  take  up  a  position  of  apparent  neutrality  between 
the  military  and  the  populace. 

That  this  neutrality  was  not  impartial  may  be 
gathered  from  the  following  passage  in  Alison's 
history : — 

"  The  23rd  February  opened  upon  a  city  agitated 
but  undecided,  ready  to  obey  the  strongest  impulse, 
to  surrender  the  direction  to  whoever  had  the 
courage  to  seize  it.  The  presence  of  the  military 
in  all  the  principal  quarters  sufficiently  revealed 
the  apprehensions  of  government — the  conduct  of 
the  civic  force  too  clearly  evinced  to  which  side  it 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


11 


would  incline.  At  ten,  M.  Flocon,  a  determined 
revolutionist,  entered  in  haste  the  office  of  the 
Reforme,  and  exclaimed,  '  Quick,  all  clothe  your- 
selves in  the  uniform  of  the  national  guard :  never 
mind  whether  they  are  your  own  or  not :  intimate 
to  all  patriots  to  do  the  same.  As  soon  as  you 
are  dressed,  hasten  to  the  mayor's,  calling  out, 
Vive  la  reTorme !  Directly  you  are  there,  put 
yourselves  at  the  head  of  the  detachments  as  tbey 
arrive,  and  interpose  them  between  the  soldiers  and 
the  people.  Quick,  quick !  the  Republic  is  to  be 
had  for  the  taking.'  These  directions,  emanating 
from  the  headquarters  of  the  movement,  were  too 
faithfully  adopted ;  and  the  national  guard,  timid, 
desirous  to  avoid  a  collision  and  avert  the  shedding 
of  blood,  were  in  general  too  happy  to  follow 
them.  The  orders  of  government  being  that  all 
the  posts  should  be  occupied  by  the  troops  of  the 
line  and  the  civic  forces  jointly,  the  latter  were 
everywhere  on  the  spot  with  the  soldiers,  and,  in 
conformity  with  their  injunction,  they  constantly 
interposed  between  the  military  and  the  populace, 
so  as  to  render  any  attempt  to  disperse  the 
assemblages  impossible,  as  no  officer  would  incur 
the  responsibility  of  engaging  in  a  conflict  with 
the  national  guard  of  the  capital.  Several  of  the 
legions  openly  joined  the  people,  at  least  in  words, 
and  traversed  the  streets,  crying  out,  'Vive  la 
reTorme !' 

The  Kepublic  was  had  for  the  taking.  The 
agitation  in  the  capital  became  greater  every  hour, 
and  with  it  grew  the  alarm  at  the  Tuileries.  The 
queen  having  suggested  the  resignation  of  M. 
Guizot,  that  statesman  proudly  gave  up  his  office 
and  announced  the  fact  in  the  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties. The  Liberals  and  Ultra-liberals  received  this 
concession  with  transports  of  delight.  The  former 
trusted  that  the  battle  was  over,  and  that  new  men 
and  new  measures  would  restore  tranquillity.  The 
latter  thought  there  was  a  chance  for  establishing 
their  cherished  form  of  government — a  republic. 
The  untamed  classes  of  society  emerged  from  their 
squalid  homes  and  swelled  the  crowds  around  the 
Tuileries,  the  Palais  Bourbon,  where  the  Chambers 
sat,  and  the  offices  of  the  radical  newspapers. 
Such  power  as  the  secret  societies  possessed  was 
brought  into  play.  The  national  guard  had  gone 
home  content  and  eager  to  illuminate  their  houses 
in  honour  of  victory,  when  a  ragged  crowd,  armed 
with  sabres  and  pikes,  was  led  by  one  Charles 
Lagrange  to  the  Foreign  Office,  still  occupied  by 


M.  Guizot  and  guarded  by  a  detachment  of  in- 
fantry. Lagrange  fired  a  pistol  in  the  direction 
of  the  military,  who  deeming  themselves  attacked 
replied  with  a  volley,  which  brought  down  some 
fifty  men.  The  revolution  had  begun.  All  that 
night  Paris  continued  in  a  state  of  frantic  excite- 
ment. Marshal  Bugeaud  was  appointed  com- 
mander of  the  forces,  and  by  seven  o'clock  in  the 
morning  of  the  24th  had  taken  military  possession 
of  the  capital.  M.  Thiers,  however,  who  had 
succeeded  Guizot  as  prime  minister,  disapproved 
of  the  employment  of  military  force,  and  requested 
the  withdrawal  of  the  troops.  This  step,  instead 
of  calming,  served  but  to  intensify  the  public 
excitement.  At  ten  o'clock  Thiers  resigned  office 
in  favour  of  Odillon  Barrot.  The  king  was  very 
unwilling  to  shed  blood.  The  military,  surrounded 
and  pressed  upon  by  the  populace,  received  no 
orders  to  fire,  and  began  to  fraternize  with  the 
mob.  A  rabble  broke  into  the  Palais  Royal,  and 
did  great  damage.  Matters  grew  rapidly  worse. 
In  a  few  hours  the  reins  of  government  had  slipped 
out  of  the  king's  hands.  Change  of  ministers 
availed  nothing.  Abdication  was  mentioned,  and 
the  king  abdicated ;  and  by  one  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  of  that  24th  February  his  discrowned 
Majesty,  with  the  queen  and  princesses,  quietly 
escaped  from  Paris  to  the  sea-coast,  on  their  way 
to  England.  Never,  perhaps,  in  the  history  of 
the  world  did  so  great  an  event  happen  so  unex- 
pectedly as  this  sudden  fall  of  Louis  Philippe. 
The  news  spread  like  wildfire,  and  as  the  newsmen 
of  London  were  bawhng  it  through  the  streets  of 
that  metropolis  it  was  heard  by  a  lonely  refugee 
there,  at  the  moment  he  was  undergoing  the 
manipulations  of  his  barber.  He  sprang  from  Ms 
seat  to  buy  the  printed  message,  which  Destiny 
at  length  had  sent  to  call  him  to  a  splendid  throne. 
It  was  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  of  whom  much 
yet  will  have  to  be  said.  In  Paris,  after  a  brave 
attempt  to  secure  the  appointment  of  the  infant 
Comte  de  Paris  as  successor  to  his  grandfather, 
with  his  mother,  the  duchess  of  Orleans,  for 
regent,  a  provisional  government  was  formed  and 
the  Republic  proclaimed. 

The  republican  sentiment,  however,  as  Lamar- 
tine,  the  chief  of  the  provisional  government, 
afterwards  admitted,  was  weak  in  France.  The 
National  Assembly  that  met  on  the  4th  May,  and 
which  was  elected  by  universal  suffrage,  showed  a 
majority  against  the  socialists  and  ultra  liberals. 


12 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


A  vain  attempt  was  made  to  "organize  labour;" 
but  the  national  workshops  established  at  the 
public  expense  developed  more  idleness  than 
industry  in  the  population.  It  soon  became 
necessary  to  abolish  these  burdensome  institutions, 
which  the  people  were  very  unwilling  to  abandon. 
A  most  sanguinary  struggle  in  consequence  took 
place  in  Paris  between  the  populace  on  the 
one  side,  and  on  the  other  the  executive  gov- 
ernment, supported  by  the  national  guard  and 
the  regular  soldiery.  The  contest  lasted  from 
the  23rd  to  the  26th  of  June,  forced  the  nomin- 
ation of  General  Cavaignac  to  a  dictatorship, 
engaged  some  fifty  thousand  men  on  each  side 
in  bloody  conflict,  and  caused  the  death  of  about 
twenty  thousand  men  of  all  ranks,  who  had 
fought  for  the  possession  of  about  four  thousand 
barricades,  erected  in  the  different  streets  of  Paris. 
.Never  were  the  fighting  qualities  of  the  Parisians 
more  fiercely  displayed  than  in  this  stubborn  effort 
to  destroy  each  other.  The  most  striking  incident 
of  the  insurrection  was  the  death  of  the  archbishop 
of  Paris,  who  was  shot  while  surmounting  a 
barricade,  cross  in  hand,  with  a  view  to  negotiate 
an  accommodation.  General  Cavaignac's  conduct 
on  this  occasion  exposed  him  to  blame  from  both 
parties.  The  Red  Republicans  condemned  his 
resolute  suppression  of  the  insurrection,  while  the 
moderate  party  openly  accused  him  of  wilful  tardi- 
ness in  attacking  the  insurgents,  when  in  truth  the 
force  at  his  command  was  not  sufficient  to  insure 
victory.  He  incurred  additional  unpopularity 
by  acceding  to  a  request,  made  by  the  pope,  for 
assistance  against  his  rebellious  subjects.  The 
revolution  at  Rome  had  been  stained  by  the  cruel 
assassination  of  M.  Rossi  as  he  entered  the  Cham- 
ber of  Representatives.  He  had  been  ambassador 
for  France  at  the  Papal  court,  and  was  induced  to 
accept  office  as  minister  of  the  Interior  and  of 
Finance  under  the  pontiff.  He  meditated  many 
useful  reforms,  but  seeming  to  be  disposed  to  a 
compromise  with  Austria,  the  national  enemy,  he 
was  slain  by  order  of  the  secret  societies.  The 
pope  fled  to  Gaeta.  A  republic  was  established  in 
Rome,  and  the  assistance  of  France  invoked  against 
it.  The  conflict  between  her  domestic  and  foreign 
policy  exhibited  by  France  at  this  juncture,  is  to 
be  explained  by  jealousy  of  Austria,  and  the  fear 
lest  that  power  should  be  beforehand  in  assuming 
a  protectorate  of  the  pope  and  his  church.  Mean- 
while Austria  had  been  hotly  engaged  in  strife  for 


the  preservation  of  her  power  in  Lombardy  and 
Venice.  The  veteran  Marshal  Radetsky  had 
retreated  from  Milan  before  the  Italians,  under 
the  leadership  of  Charles  Albert,  king  of  Sardinia 
and  Piedmont.  But  the  old  soldier  after  a  time 
avenged  this  blow  by  the  battle  of  Xovara,  at  which 
Charles  Albert  was  humbled  to  the  dust,  and  the 
Austrian  sway  in  Lombardy  was  restored. 

On  the  evening  of  his  defeat,  the  23rd  March, 
1849,  the  unhappy  king  of  Sardinia  abdicated  in 
favour  of  his  son,  Victor  Emmanuel.  "This 
is  my  last  day,"  he  said ;  "  let  me  die.  I  have 
sacrificed  myself  to  the  Italian  cause.  For  it  I 
have  exposed  my  life,  that  of  my  children,  and 
my  throne.  I  have  failed,  and  remain  the  sole 
obstacle  to  a  peace  now  necessary  to  the  state." 
Having  said  these  words,  he  dismissed  his  atten- 
dants, wrote  a  farewell  letter  to  his  wife,  and  at 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning  went  over  to  the 
Austrian  lines.  As  Count  de  Barge,  a  Pied- 
montese  officer  on  leave,  he  was  allowed  to  pass 
on  to  Nice,  whence  he  reached  Portugal,  where 
he  remained  until  his  death.  His  son  has  lived 
to  fulfil  more  than  all  the  hopes  and  wishes  of 
this  patriot  king.  The  democrats  of  Italy  fought 
hard  for  their  principles,  but  strove  in  vain  to 
keep  the  trophies.  Lombardy,  Tuscany,  and 
the  Two  Sicilies,  yielded  one  after  the  other 
to  the  power  of  Austria,  until  Rome  remained 
the  sole  refuge  of  the  Italian  republic.  The 
triumvirate  which  governed  her,  consisting 
of  Mazzini,  Armellini,  and  Saffi,  was  greatly 
strengthened  by  Garibaldi,  who  had  returned 
from  the  war  in  Sardinia,  and  by  Avczzana,  who 
had  been  driven  from  Genoa.  But  France  (now 
under  the  government  of  Prince  Louis  Napoleon) 
sent  a  military  force  under  General  Oudinot  to 
take  possession  of  the  Eternal  City.  The  Italian 
patriots,  strongly  suspecting  that  their  neighbour 
republicans  were  not  altogether  friendly  to  their 
cause,  resisted  and  repelled  their  invasion,  only, 
however,  to  be  again  attacked  with  fatal  success. 
The  French  possession  of  Rome  dates  from  3rd  July, 
1849.  In  the  following  month  Venice,  and  the 
gallant  Daniel  Manin,  capitulated  to  the  Austrians, 
and  Italy  returned  once  more  under  the  dominion 
of  her  ancient  rulers,  conscious,  nevertheless,  of 
having  made  a  great  advance  morally  towards 
national  unity  and  independence.  The  fulfilment 
of  her  aspirations  she  was  destined  to  owe  in  great 
measure    to    the   ruler   of  France,  who  in  exile 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


13 


had  been  a  member  of  her  secret  societies,  and 
had  there  learned  the  art  that  enabled  him  to 
maintain  a  lofty  position  in  the  world  for  more 
than  twenty  years.  The  Austrian  government, 
however,  had  to  encounter  rebellion  in  other 
quarters  besides  Italy.  Her  German  and  Hun- 
garian subjects  raised  the  standard  of  revolt,  and 
achieved  so  many  important  successes,  that  the 
house  of  Hapsburg  seemed  doomed,  when  Nicholas, 
the  autocrat  of  all  the  Russias,  came  to  the  rescue 
with  overwhelming  force,  and  overturned  the 
democratic  government  established  in  Hungary 
under  the  presidency  of  the  great  orator  Kossuth. 
The  civil  war  in  Hungary,  be  it  noted,  turned 
upon  questions  of  race  and  nationality,  rather 
than  on  the  distribution  of  political  power,  just 
as  national  unity  was  found  ultimately  to  be  a 
stronger  motive  to  revolution  with  the  Italians 
and  Germans  than  mere  forms  of  government.  In 
the  smaller  German  states  the  revolutionary  shock 
which  overthrew  Louis  Philippe  acted  with  extraor- 
dinary rapidity  and  force.  The  sovereigns  taken 
by  surprise  offered  no  resistance,  and  the  conser- 
vative element  of  society,  though  destined  soon 
to  recover  its  vigour,  seemed  suddenly  dissolved. 
The  grand  duke  of  Baden  publicly  acknowledged 
the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  and  established  a 
national  guard ;  the  king  of  Wiirtemburg  abolished 
feudal  rights,  and  also  accepted  civic  guards;  the 
king  of  Saxony  appointed  a  liberal  ministry,  and 
convoked  the  Chambers  for  the  purpose  of  settling 
a  new  constitution;  the  king  of  Bavaria  not  only 
parted  for  a  time  with  his  unworthy  favourite 
Lola  Montes,  but  subsequently  abdicated  his  throne. 
Belgium  and  Holland  escaped  the  convulsion  by 
reasonable  concessions.  King  Leopold  frankly 
told  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  at  Brussels,  that  he 
only  valued  his  crown  because  it  had  been  given 
to  him  by  popular  election ;  and  that  if  they  liked 
to  have  it  back  again,  it  was  at  their  disposal.  In 
Prussia  the  agitation  was  very  great.  The  scholarly 
and  amiable  king  sympathized  in  many  points 
with  the  German  liberals,  and  committed  himself 
somewhat  too  hastily  to  the  popular  view.  In  a 
proclamation  issued  by  him  on  the  18th  March, 
1848,  he  said:  "Above  all  we  demand  that  Ger- 
many shall  be  transformed  from  a  federation  of 
states  into  one  federal  state.  We  demand  a  general 
military  system  for  Germany — a  federal  army 
assembled  under  one  federal  banner,  and  we  hope 
to  see  a  federal  commander-in-chief  at  its  head." 


A  federal  tribunal,  a  common  law  of  settlement, 
the  abolition  of  all  custom-houses  impeding  in- 
ternal commerce,  a  general  Zollverein  for  the  whole 
of  Germany,  and  uniformity  of  weights,  measures, 
and  money,  formed  other  material  points  of  the 
royal  proclamation.  For  the  execution  of  this 
just  and  liberal  programme  a  firm  hand  was  needed, 
and  a  mind  thoroughly  made  up  as  to  the  course 
to  be  followed.  Such  was  not  the  case  with  King 
Frederick  William.  In  the  midst  of  the  joyful 
demonstration  caused  by  his  prompt  concessions,  a 
tumult  arose,  in  which  several  persons  were  killed 
by  the  troops,  and  more  wounded.  The  sincere 
regret  of  the  king  at  what  he  thought  a  lamentable 
accident,  emboldened  the  republican  party  to  push 
forward  their  pretensions.  The  dead  bodies  of  the 
citizens  killed  on  the  18th  March  were  on  the 
22nd  paraded  with  great  pomp  before  the  royal 
palace,  where  his  majesty  from  the  balcony  bowed 
his  head  as  the  lifeless  remains  were  carried  by. 
A  national  guard  was  established  in  Berlin,  and 
the  king  announced  his  intention  of  putting  him- 
self at  the  head  of  a  restored  and  united  Germany. 
"  His  Majesty,"  said  his  minister  in  the  assembly 
of  Prussian  Estates,  "has  promised  a  real  consti- 
tutional charter,  and  we  are  assembled  to  lay  the 
foundation  stone  of  the  enduring  edifice.  We 
hope  that  the  work  will  proceed  rapidly,  and  that 
it  will  perfect  a  great  constitutional  system  for  the 
whole  German  race."  Prussia,  however,  was  not 
as  yet  destined  to  be  the  instrument  of  this  great 
work. 

The  popular  party  had  succeeded  in  gathering  at 
Frankfort  an  assembly  of  three  hundred  representa- 
tives, to  which  was  given  the  nameof  the  "  VorParla- 
ment."  This  body  decided  the  form  of  election  to 
the  German  National  Assembly,  which  was  to  meet 
at  Frankfort  in  May,  the  members  being  returned 
on  the  radical  principle  of  electoral  districts — one 
deputy  for  every  7000  voters.  The  Assembly, 
when  duly  constituted,  elected  a  regent  of  United 
Germany  in  the  person  of  Archduke  John  of 
Austria.  The  choice  was  highly  distasteful  to 
the  Prussian  court,  and  King  Frederick  William 
soon  began  to  show  that  his  ardent  liberalism  was 
tempered  by  events.  The  counsels  of  his  brother, 
then  Crown  Prince,  now  King  William,  a  con- 
servative in  principle,  exercised  considerable  in- 
fluence over  him.  Armed  force  was  employed 
to  control  the  radical  members  of  the  Parliament 
assembled  in  Berlin,  and  it  was  not  long  before 


14 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  "WAR. 


similar  treatment  was  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
national  representatives  gathered  at  Frankfort.  In 
September,  1848,  a  revolt  of  the  democrats  in 
Frankfort  against  the  national  government  was 
put  down  by  Prussian  and  other  federal  soldiers. 
A  similar  insurrection  in  Baden,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Struve,  was  suppressed  with  corresponding 
vigour.  Altogether  the  German  National  Assembly 
did  not  prosper.  Its  aims  were  greater  than  its  power 
to  attain  them.  To  Austria,  especially,  the  demo- 
cratic nature  of  the  constitution  propounded  was 
extremely  distasteful.  So  also  was  the  growing 
importance  of  Prussia,  whom  Austria,  in  Metter- 
nich's  time,  had  succeeded  in  relegating  to  a 
subordinate  position  in  German  affairs.  As  the 
dangers  which  threatened  monarchy  in  1848  dimi- 
nished, the  dualism  of  Austria  and  Prussia  came 
out  in  stronger  light,  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
National  Assembly  and  its  great  work — German 
unification.  The  men  assembled  at  Frankfort 
were  stigmatized  as  a  body  of  professors  unac- 
quainted with  practical  politics.  AVhile  the  revo- 
lutionary impulse  was  upon  them  and  behind  them, 
the  idea  of  unity  exercised  a  potency  that  seemed 
likely  to  give  it  permanence  in  the  heart  and  mind 
of  the  nation.  But  these  worthy  gentlemen  lost 
invaluable  time  in  debating  over  paragraphs  of 
the  constitution,  and  fencing  round  principles  of 
law  and  right,  until  their  antagonists,  the  existing 
governments,  regained  strength,  and  "  the  ideal 
fabric  of  a  new  Germany  dissolved  like  a  castle  in 
the  clouds."  In  March,  1849,  when  the  Assembly 
voted  that  the  king  of  Prussia  should  be  requested 
to  become  emperor  of  Germany,  that  monarch 
politely  declined  the  honour;  the  Archduke  John 
immediately  resigned  the  office  of  regent,  and  the 
government  at  Vienna  openly  set  at  nought  the 
Assembly,  from  which  a  few  days  later  121  Aus- 
trian members  altogether  withdrew.  The  rest  of  the 
Assembly  split  in  two — part  remaining  in  Frank- 
fort, part  going  to  Stuttgard.  The  latter  made 
some  noisy  attempts  to  democratize  the  institutions 
of  the  country,  and  were  extinguished  by  the  Wiir- 
temburg  police.  Thus  the  celebrated  Frankfort 
assembly  finally  broke  up,  having  sown  precious  seed 
in  the  popular  mind,  and  laid  the  groundwork  of  a 
federal  constitution  which  one  day  or  other  should 
be  made  compatible  with  the  benefit  of  the  whole 
country  and  the  rights  of  single  states — noeasy  task. 
It  became  more  and  more  evident  that  no  unity 
.vas  possible  in  Germanv  while  two  powers  so  nearly 


matched  were  rival  competitors  for  the  leadership. 
Whatever  was  undertaken  or  promoted  by  Prussia 
was  either  secretly  or  openly  opposed  by  Austria. 
"  Germany,"  says  Dr.  Strauss,  "  fell  into  the  condi- 
tion of  a  waggon  with  one  horse  before  and  another 
of  equal  strength  behind,  pulling  one  against  the 
other,  with  no  hope  of  moving."  In  1850  these 
powers  went  so  far  as  to  attempt  to  make  two  con- 
federacies :  Prussia  had  her  union  of  princes  (twenty- 
two  and  more)  at  Erfurth,  while  Austria  collected 
her  royal  supporters  at  Munich,  and  matters  were 
brought  to  a  crisis  by  both  parties  interfering  in  a 
dispute  which  the  elector  of  Cassel  had  with  his 
Chamber  of  Representatives.  Prussia  having  sided 
witli  the  Chamber,  and  Austria  with  the  sovereign, 
both  sent  into  his  territory  troops,  which  were  on 
the  verge  of  a  collision  that  would  have  anticipated 
18C6,  when  the  emperor  of  Russia  interposed  his 
authority,  and  secured  the  treaty  of  Olmutz.  Ger- 
many resumed  for  a  time  its  former  shape,  as  settled 
by  the  Confederation  treaty  of  1815,  and  the  old 
Diet  met  again  at  Frankfort  in  May,  1851.  The 
vexed  question  of  Schleswig  and  Holstein  was 
also  settled  upon  its  ancient  basis.  After  a  sharp 
war,  in  which  the  Danes  gained  the  victories  of 
Fredericia  and  Idstedt,  the  insurgent  German 
population  returned  to  their  allegiance  without 
abandoning  their  claim  to  separate  constitutions, 
as  parts  of  the  German  Confederation.  The  battle 
of  Idstedt  was  one  of  the  first  occasions  on  which 
the  needle  gun  was  employed  in  war.  That  ter- 
rible instrument  was  destined  to  play  no  mean  part 
in  the  work  of  "  blood  and  iron,"  by  which  alone 
the  "  thirty-seven  rags"  of  Central  Europe,  as  Max 
Midler  expresses  it,  were  to  be  sewed  together  in 
one  strong  garment  of  German  unity.  One  im- 
portant bond  uniting  the  separate  states  had  been 
patiently  woven  by  Prussia  in  the  course  of  years. 
It  was  the  Zollverein,  or  Custom's  Union,  com- 
menced in  1818,  and  gradually  extended  by  treaty 
to  an  extent  of  country  bounded  by  the  Nether- 
lands and  Russia,  by  the  Baltic,  Switzerland,  and 
Bohemia.  Throughout  this  wide  territory  free- 
dom of  commerce  has  now  prevailed  for  years, 
and  a  commodity,  whether  for  consumption  or 
transit,  that  has  once  passed  the  frontier  of  the 
league,  may  be  conveyed  without  let  or  hindrance 
throughout  its  whole  extent.  The  trials  endured  by 
Austria  in  the  year  of  revolution,  and  her  war  of 
nationalities  between  Teuton  and  Magyar,  have  been 
alluded  to,  and  will  be  again  treated  of  hereafter. 


TLgrayefl.  try  TV;  HoU,  team.  a.  Hiotofrs 


A  [Pi  L 


CHAPTER      II. 


Rise  of  Napoleon  III — His  youth  and  training— Worship  of  Napoleon  I. — Descent  on  Strasburg — His  capture  and  examination — His  character 
drawn  by  Sir.  Kinglake — Expedition  to  Boulogne — Louis  Napoleon  a  prisoner — Tried  by  Chamber  of  Peers — His  defence — Imprisonment 
at  Ham — Faith  in  his  Star — Promoter  of  the  Nicaragnan  Canal — Escape  from  prison  not  much  regarded — Residence  in  England — 
Revolution  of  February — Election  of  Louis  Napoleon  to  the  Assembly — Unfavourable  impression  made  by  him — Elected  President  by 
Universal  Suffrage — Differences  with  the  Assembly — Coup  d'Etat  of  2nd  December,  1851 — Arrest  of  leading  Generals  and  Deputies — 
Massacre  of  the  people  in  Paris — The  President's  oath  and  speech — Antagonism  of  rural  and  urban  population  of  France — Proclamation 
of  2nd  December — The  Empire  is  peace — Napoleon  III.  voted  Emperor — Harried  to  Countess  Eugenie  Teba — Difficulties  in  the  East — 
Keys  of  the  Church  in  Jerusalem — Differences  with  Russia — Crimean  War — Peace  of  Paris — De  Tocqueville  on  Napoleon — Austria  and 
Italy — Felice  Orsini — Attempt  to  assassinate  the  Emperor  and  Empress — Vapouring  of  French  Colonels  against  England— Lord  Palmer- 
ston's  Conspiracy  Bill  defeated — Sardinia — Her  Minister  at  the  Paris  Congress — Sketch  of  Count  Cavour  and  his  Policy — His  opposition 
to  Mazzini — Gioberti — D'Azeglio — Victor  Emmanuel — Cavonr's  interview  with  the  Emperor  at  Plombieres — Differences  between  France 
and  Austria — New  Year's  Day,  1859 — Baron  Hilbner — Retrospect  of  events  in  Austria  from  1848  to  1859—  Preparations  in  Piedmont — 
Ultimatum  sent  from  Vienna  to  Piedmont — War  begun — Battles  of  Magenta,  Solferino,  San  Martino — -Armistice — Interview  of  the 
Emperors  at  Villafranca — Peace  preliminaries — Treaty  of  Zurich — Indignation  in  Italy — Resignation  of  Cavour — Rulers  of  the  Central 
Provinces  deposed — Farini — Ricasoli — Cipriani — Cavour  reinstated  in  office — Parliament  of  Italy — Garibaldi — Sicily — Naples — Tbe 
Kingdom  of  Italy — Rome. 


It  is  necessary  now  to  give  an  outline  of  the 
career  of  that  remarkable  man  who  exercised  so 
much  influence  over  events  in  Europe  for  the  fol- 
lowing twenty  years — •Napoleon  III. 

Born  at  Paris  in  1808,  he  was  but  seven 
years  old  when  he  last  saw  hh  uncle  the  em- 
peror, at  Malmaison,  during  the  Hundred  Days. 
On  the  banishment  of  his  family  from  France 
the  same  year,  he  accompanied  his  mother 
Hortense,  ex-queen  of  Holland,  to  Geneva,  thence 
to  Aix  in  Savoy,  to  Carlsruhe,  and  to  Augs- 
bourg.  In  the  last-named  ancient  German  city 
he  was  a  student  at  the  gymnasium,  and  became 
an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  Schiller,  one  of  whose 
poems  he  subsequently  translated  into  French. 
When  of  sufficient  age  he  served  as  an  officer  in 
the  Swiss  federal  army.  After  the  French  revo- 
lution of  1830  he  asked  permission  to  re-enter 
France,  which  was  refused.  He  and  his  elder 
brother  then  joined  the  Italians  of  Romagna  in  a 
struggle  for  independence.  The  brother  died  of 
his  wounds,  and  Louis,  after  a  dangerous  illness, 
escaped  with  his  mother  to  Paris,  which  they  were 
ordered  forthwith  to  quit.  After  a  brief  visit  to 
England,  he  returned  to  his  mother's  house  on 
Lake  Constance,  the  Chateau  dArenenberg.  In 
1831  the  Poles  offered  him  the  dangerous  dis- 
tinction of  being  their  leader  in  insurrection  against 
Russia,  but  before  he  could  reach  Warsaw  that 
city  had  been  captured.  The  death  of  the  duke 
of  Reichstadt  in  1832  left  him  heir  to  the  first 
Xapoleon ;  and  as  Louis  Philippe  persistently  turned 


a  deaf  ear  to  his  solicitations  for  leave  to  reside  in 
France,  thoughts  of  entering  his  native  country 
by  other  means  began  to  press  upon  his  mind. 
That  the  prince  had  reasons  for  wishing  to 
re-enter  France  that  fully  justified  the  king's 
prohibition,  the  sequel  will  show.  He  was  a 
diligent  student  and  a  busy  writer,  with  a 
subtle  and  penetrating  brain,  subject  to  the  in- 
fluences of  a  vague,  cloudy  imagination,  and  an 
indecisive,  not  to  say  irresolute  will.  He  paid 
great  attention  to  artillery  and  engineering,  and 
though  he  wrote  and  published  many  things  of 
historical  and  literary  interest,  his  best  work  is 
one  entitled  "  Studies  on  the  Past  and  Future  of 
Artillery."  For  the  memory  of  his  uncle  he 
entertained  a  feeling  nearly  allied  to  worship,  and 
relied  upon  the  magic  of  his  name  for  doing  great 
things  some  clay.  The  throne  of  the  citizen  king 
was  not  very  firm.  Abominable  plots  and  attempts 
at  regicide  were  frequently  coming  to  light,  and 
the  king,  with  a  shortsighted  deference  to  the 
national  vanity,  encouraged  the  popular  worship 
of  Napoleon  I.  by  erecting  monuments  to  his 
memory,  placing  his  portrait  in  public  buildings, 
and  finally  by  bringing  his  remains  from  the  grave 
in  St.  Helena  to  be  buried  with  great  pomp  in 
Paris.  This  was  playing  into  the  hands  of  the 
sombre  watcher  on  the  Castle  of  Arenenberg.  The 
first  attempt  made  by  the  young  pretender  to  seize 
the  throne  of  France  was  ridiculously  inadequate 
to  the  occasion.  He  trusted  almost  entirely 
to   the  magic  of  the  name   Napoleon,   which   he 


16 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


seemed  to  think  would  produce  as  startling  an 
effect  as  did  the  emperor's  return  from  Elba  in 
1815.  Leaving  his  home  on  the  25th  October, 
1836,  for  Strasburg,  the  wheel  of  his  carriage 
came  off  at  Lahr,  delaying  his  project  for  a  day, 
and  filling  a  mind  much  given  to  ponderings 
on  destiny  with  the  weight  of  an  evil  omen. 
He  reached  Strasburg  on  the  28  th,  at  eleven 
o'clock  at  night,  and  having  gained  over  Colonel 
Vaudrey  and  about  a  dozen  officers,  he  went 
next  morning  at  six  o'clock  to  the  artillery  bar- 
racks, where  he  was  received  with  some  cheers. 
Proceeding  further  with  a  band  of  music  before 
him,  he  tried  to  impose  himself  and  his  cause  on 
General  Voirol,  but  without  success.  That  stout- 
hearted soldier  had  the  prince  arrested.  The 
examination  which  followed  throws  some  light 
on  the  Napoleonian  ideas  of  that  time  : — "  What 
urged  you  to  act  as  you  have  done?"  "My 
political  opinions  and  a  wish  to  see  my  country 
again,  of  which  foreign  invasion  had  deprived  me. 
In  1830  I  asked  to  be  received  as  a  simple  citizen, 
and  1  was  treated  as  a  pretender  ;  very  well,  I  have 
now  behaved  like  a  pretender."  "You  wanted 
to  set  up  a  military  government?"  I  wished  to 
set  up  a  government  founded  on  popular  election." 
Having  declared  that  he  alone  assumed  all  respon- 
sibility of  the  movement,  he  was  removed  to  Paris, 
and  by  the  21st  November  was  on  board  a  frigate 
bound  for  America,  dismissed  from  custody  with  a 
royal  clemency  that  smacked  strongly  of  contempt. 
Here  will  be  seen  the  force  of  Mr.  Kmglake's 
estimate  of  the  prince's  character: — "He  had 
boldness  of  the  kind  which  is  produced  by 
reflection,  rather  than  that  which  is  the  result 
of  temperament.  In  order  to  cope  with  the 
extraordinary  perils  into  which  he  now  and  then 
thrust  himself,  and  to  cope  with  them  dexter- 
ously, there  was  wanted  a  fiery  quality  which 
nature  had  refused  to  the  great  bulk  of  mankind 
as  well  as  to  him.  But  it  was  only  in  emer- 
gencies of  a  really  trying  sort,  and  involving 
instant  physical  danger,  that  his  boldness  fell 
short.  He  had  all  the  courage  which  would 
have  enabled  him  in  a  private  station  of  life  to 
pass  through  the  common  trials  of  the  world 
with  honour  unquestioned  ;  but  he  had  besides 
now  and  then  a  factitious  kind  of  audacity  pro- 
duced by  long  dreamy  meditation  ;  and  when 
he  had  wrought  himself  into  that  state,  he  was 
apt  to  expose  his  firmness   to   trials  beyond  his 


strength.  His  imagination  had  so  great  a  sway 
over  him  as  to  make  him  love  the  idea  of  enter- 
prises, but  it  had  not  strength  enough  to  give 
him  a  foreknowledge  of  what  his  sensations  would 
be  in  the  hour  of  trial."  There  is  much  justice 
in  this  elaborate  analysis  of  character,  as  events 
have  amply  proved.  The  love  of  imaginary  en- 
terprise, which  made  the  prince  a  participator  in 
the  Eglinton  Tournament,  was  the  same  ingredient 
in  his  character  as  that  which  led  him  to  his 
second  descent  upon  France.  This  singular 
transaction,  which  only  escapes  the  epithet  of 
ludicrous  from  its  having  been  the  cause  of  an 
honest  man's  death,  took  place  at  Boulogne  on 
the  6th  of  August,  1840.  After  a  few  months' 
stay  in  New  York  the  prince  had  returned  to 
Europe  in  the  autumn  of  1837,  to  be  present  at 
his  mother's  death,  and  subsequently,  in  conse- 
quence of  representations  made  by  the  French 
government  to  the  government  of  Switzerland, 
he  had  quitted  the  latter  country  to  reside  in 
England. 

The  following  is  a  contemporary  account  of 
what  was  characterized  as  an  "  insane  expedition:" 
The  prince  having  hired,  as  for  a  voyage  of  pleasure, 
the  Edinburgh  Castle  steamer  from  the  Commercial 
Steam  Navigation  Company,  embarked  from  Lon- 
don in  August,  accompanied  by  about  fifty  men, 
among  whom  were  General  Montholon,  Colonels 
Yoisin,  Laborde,  Montauban,  and  Parquin,  and 
several  other  officers  of  inferior  rank.  At  three 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  sixth  they  landed 
at  Wimereux,  a  small  port  about  two  leagues  from 
Boulogne,  and  directed  their  march  to  that  town, 
where  they  arrived  about  five  o'clock.  They  dis- 
tributed their  proclamations  to  every  body  they 
met,  and  strewed  five  franc  pieces  to  a  rabble 
which  preceded  them.  After  traversing  the  lower 
town,  they  at  length  reached  the  barracks,  where 
they  found  a  company  or  two  of  the  42nd  regi- 
ment of  the  line  just  rising  from  their  beds.  The 
soldiers,  assured  that  a  revolution  had  been  effected 
in  Paris,  and  summoned  to  join  the  eagle  of  the 
Empire,  were  for  some  time  puzzled  as  to  how  they 
should  act.  One  of  their  officers,  however,  hurry- 
ing to  the  barracks,  relieved  the  men  from  their 
perplexity,  and  they  recognized  his  authority. 
Louis  Napoleon  drew  a  pistol,  and  attempted  to 
shoot  the  inopportune  intruder ;  the  shot  took 
effect  upon  a  soldier,  who  died  in  the  course  of  the 
day.     After  this  fruitless  experiment,  an  attempt 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


17 


was  made  on  the  post  of  St.  Nicholas,  which  was 
occupied  by  four  men  and  a  sergeant.  This  post 
was  firm,  and  would  not  yield.  The  prince  then 
directed  his  march  on  the  Upper  Town,  but  found 
the  gate  which  opens  on  the  Esplanade  shut  before 
he  reached  it.  Forced  to  make  a  tour  round  the 
town,  the  prince  took  the  Calais  road  to  the  Colonne 
de  Napoleon,  which  one  of  his  party  entered  by 
breaking  open  the  door  at  the  foot,  and,  mounting 
to  the  top,  placed  their  flag  upon  it.  General 
Montholon  and  Colonel  Parquin  went  to  the  port, 
expecting  to  have  better  success  with  the  maritime 
part  of  the  population,  but  they  were  there  arrested 
by  the  commissary  of  police. 

The  town  authorities  and  national  guard  then 
went  in  pursuit  of  the  prince,  who,  being  inter- 
cepted on  the  side  of  the  column,  made  for  the 
beach,  with  the  view  to  embark  and  regain  the 
packet  in  which  he  had  arrived.  He  took  posses- 
sion of  the  life-boat;  but  scarcely  had  his  followers 
got  into  it  when  the  national  guard  also  arrived  on 
the  beach,  and  discharged  a  volley  on  the  boat, 
which  immediately  upset,  and  the  whole  company 
tumbled  into  the  sea.  In  the  meantime,  the  steam- 
packet  was  already  taken  possession  of  by  the 
lieutenant  of  the  port.  The  prince  was  then  made 
prisoner,  and  three  hours  after  his  attempt  on 
Boulogne  he  and  his  followers  were  in  the  castle 
prison. 

The  prince  was  removed  to  the  castle  of  Ham, 
and  placed  in  the  rooms  once  occupied  by 
Prince  Polignac.  The  most  ludicrous  feature 
of  the  exhibition  is  omitted  by  the  chronicler ; 
namely,  that  the  pretender  bore  with  him  a  trained 
eagle,  that  was  to  fly  from  his  arms  to  Paris,  an 
emblem  of  his  victorious  march  thither,  and  a 
living  souvenir  of  the  first  empire.  Tried  before 
the  Chamber  of  Peers,  in  September,  the  prince 
delivered  an  able  speech,  evidently  the  fruit  of 
much  study,  and  intended  to  interest  his  hearers 
in  the  Bonapartist  claims.  His  peroration  termi- 
nated with  words  that  have  been  often  quoted; 
words  that  made  a  profound,  if  unwholesome  im- 
pression, on  the  martial  mind  of  France,  while 
they  revealed  the  secret  of  a  line  of  conduct  that 
was  to  lead  the  utterer  to  a  throne,  and  of  a  sub- 
sequent policy  that  was  to  end  in  his  captivity. 
"  One  last  word,  gentlemen !  "  he  said;  "I  represent 
before  you  a  principle,  a  cause,  and  a  defeat:  the 
principle  is  the  sovereignty  of  the  people;  the 
cause  is  the  empire;  the  defeat,  Waterloo.     The 


principle  you  have  acknowledged;  the  cause  you 
have  served.  The  defeat  you  wish  to  avenge." 
This  appeal  to  the  coarsest  national  instincts  sank 
into  the  minds  of  numberless  Frenchmen,  and 
bore  fruit  after  many  days.  The  prince  was  con- 
demned to  perpetual  imprisonment,  and  removed 
with  General  Montholon  and  Dr.  Conneau  to  the 
castle  of  Ham,  where  he  employed  his  enforced 
leisure  in  study  and  literary  composition.  One  of 
his  lucubrations,  viewed  by  the  light  of  recent 
events,  possesses  just  now  a  peculiar  interest.  It 
was  a  paper  contributed  by  him  on  the  7  th  May, 
1843,  to  a  journal  called  Progres  du  Pas  de  Calais, 
for  which  he  wrote  several  articles  at  different 
times,  and  it  sets  forth  very  clearly  the  great 
superiority  of  the  military  organization  of  Prussia 
over  that  of  France.  He  describes  the  four  great 
elements  of  the  Prussian  forces,  the  army,  the 
reserve,  the  landwehr,  and  the  landsturm,  and 
adds,  "  Thus  Prussia,  whose  population  scarcely 
amounts  to  two-fifths  of  that  of  France,  is  enabled 
for  the  defence  of  her  territory  to  call  into  action 
530,000  trained  men,  and  this  armed  force  does 
not  cost  her  50,000,000  francs  a  year,  while  a  few 
taps  of  the  drum  suffice  to  make  these  troops 
assemble  or  return  to  their  homes."  After  con- 
demning the  conscription  as  a  "  white  slave  trade, 
briefly  defined  as  the  purchase  of  a  man  by  him 
who  has  the  means  to  obtain  remission  from  mili- 
tary service,  and  thus  to  send  a  man  of  the  people 
to  be  killed  in  his  stead;"  he  says,  "In  Prussia 
there  are  no  substitutes,"  and  proceeds  to  develop 
a  plan  by  which  France,  if  she  were  to  adopt  the 
Prussian  system,  would  possess  for  the  defence  of 
the  country  an  army  of  a  million  and  a  half  of  men, 
and  costing  less  to  the  national  exchequer  than 
the  then  existing  army  of  344,000  men.  Most 
remarkable  is  the  conclusion  of  the  article: — 
"  Subtracting  the  30,000  men  required  in  Algeria, 
14,000  gendarmes,  the  veterans  and  the  garrisons 
of  Paris  and  of  Lyons,  France  would  not  be  able 
to  bring  200,000  men  into  line  upon  the  frontiers, 
while  upon  the  line  of  the  Ehine  alone  upwards  of 
500,000  could  be  collected  against  her  in  less 
than  a  fortnight."  What  strange  mental  blindness 
and  perversity  can  it  have  been  that  hid  from  the 
eyes  of  the  emperor  of  1870  the  momentous  facts 
which  were  so  clearly  visible  to  the  meditative 
prisoner  of  Ham  twenty-seven  years  before?  An 
authentic  anecdote  is  related  of  him  at  this  time, 
which  serves  to  illustrate  the  strong  faith  he  had 
c 


18 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


in  Ms  star  or  destiny.  The  leading  dentist  in 
Paris,  an  American,  went  to  see  the  prince  pro- 
fessionally during  his  incarceration  at  Ham.  At 
the  moment  of  separating  there  happened  to  be 
a  heavy  shower  of  rain.  "  I  have  not  even  an 
umbrella  to  lend  you,"  said  the  captive;  "yet,  do 
you  know,  I  am  persuaded  that  I  shall  one  day  be 
emperor  of  the  French ! " 

In  1846  the  prince  was  invited  to  undertake 
the  guidance  of  a  project  for  uniting  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  Oceans  by  a  ship  canal  in  Nicaragua. 
At  the  same  period  his  father,  the  ex-king  of 
Holland,  fell  seriously  ill  at  Florence.  Unable  to 
obtain  his  release  from  the  French  government,  he 
took  measures  for  escaping  from  prison,  and  with 
the  aid  of  his  physician,  Conneau,  he  walked  out 
of  the  prison  gate  in  the  disguise  of  a  workman  on 
the  morning  of  the  25th  May,  1846.  "We  can- 
not," said  a  writer  of  the  time,  and  a  supporter  of 
the  government  of  M.  Thiers,  "  we  cannot  speak  of 
the  escape  of  the  Prince  Louis  Napoleon  as  of  a 
political  event.  The  liberty  of  that  singidar  pre- 
tender is  no  more  a  danger  to  public  order  than  his 
captivity  was  a  guarantee  of  it."  The  writer  of 
these  contemptuous  words  shared  with  many  others 
in  the  ignorance  of  a  potential  element  of  mischief 
that  was  latent  in  the  mass  of  French  society,  in 
the  form  of  worship  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  M. 
Thiers  himself  was  one  of  those  who  by  their  writ- 
ings encouraged  this  false  idolatry,  and  revived  a 
cruel  lust  for  military  glory,  by  playing  upon  which 
Prince  Louis  at  length  gained  his  ends.  After 
his  escape,  abandoning  the  Nicaraguan  scheme,  he 
resided  in  England,  awaiting  and  watching  events. 
At  length,  on  the  24th  of  February,  1848,  he  learnt 
in  the  manner  already  described,  that  his  hour  had 
come.  With  characteristic  indecision,  however,  he 
still  waited,  and  even  after  being  elected  a  member 
of  the  National  Assembly  by  five  or  six  different 
constituencies  he  declined,  in  the  face  of  a  very 
slight  opposition,  to  take  his  place  in  the  Chamber. 
After  the  awful  purification  which  the  Republic 
underwent  in  the  murderous  insurrection  of  June, 
fresh  elections  ensued,  and  Louis  Napoleon,  re- 
turned by  five  several  departments  at  once,  took 
his  seat  on  the  17th  September.  He  found  him- 
self, says  one  biographer,  face  to  face  with  three 
clearly  defined  conditions ;  to  wit,  the  hostility  of 
the  Executive,  the  distrust  of  the  Assembly,  the 
confidence  of  the  Electorate.  The  two  first  he 
had  to  subdue,  the  last  to  strengthen  and  extend. 


His  reception  by  the  Chamber  was  not  encourag- 
ing. His  impassive  countenance,  German  accent, 
and  slow  utterance,  gave  little  promise  of  intellec- 
tual power.  "  He  is  a  wooden-headed  fellow,"  said 
M.  Thiers.  "  I  will  not,"  said  M.  Thouret  in  his 
presence,  "  do  pretenders  the  honour  to  think  aught 
of  them  individually."  Nevertheless,  the  election 
of  President  of  the  Republic  by  universal  suffrage 
was  at  hand,  and  on  the  10th  December  the  prince 
was  raised  to  that  distinction  by  five  and  a  half 
million  votes.  Having  thus  conquered  the  "  hos- 
tility of  the  Executive,"  whom  he  had  supplanted, 
he  prepared  for  his  encounter  with  the  mistrustful 
Assembly,  whom  he  overthrew  after  three  years' 
struggle  by  a  conspiracy  that  has  been  described 
with  highly  coloured  embellishments  in  the  first 
volume  of  Mr.  Kinglake's  celebrated  "  History  of 
the  Invasion  of  the  Crimea."  The  actual  Assembly 
called  the  Constituent,  to  which  Louis  Napoleon 
was  first  sent  as  deputy,  was  dissolved  in  May,  1849, 
and  a  new  Assembly — the  Legislative — elected. 
It  was  in  this  body,  better  disposed  though  it  was 
to  the  chief  of  the  state,  that  M.  Ledru  Rollin  and 
the  Mountain  proposed  an  impeachment  of  the  pre- 
sident and  his  ministers  for  having  violated  the 
constitution  by  their  intervention  at  Rome.  Some 
tumult  ensued  (13th  June,  1849),  and  Paris  for  a 
while  was  placed  under  martial  law.  The  Right 
or  moderate  section  of  the  Chamber  succeeded,  on 
the  other  hand,  in  placing  some  restriction  on  the 
universality  of  the  suffrage,  and  evinced  a  deter- 
mination to  control  the  supplies.  The  president, 
on  his  side,  made  progresses  through  the  provinces, 
where  he  delivered  conciliatory  speeches.  He  also 
caressed  the  army,  granting  them  indulgences  of 
wine  and  cigars,  and  sought  popularity  in  every 
possible  way.  Not  having  obtained  the  confidence 
of  any  leading  statesmen  or  distinguished  members 
of  the  best  class  of  society,  he  was  resolved  to  place 
his  reliance  on  the  "  confidence  of  the  Electorate  " 
already  spoken  of;  and  associating  himself  with 
certain  adventurous  spirits,  who  had  everything  to 
gain  by  the  change,  and  little  to  lose  in  case  of 
failure,  he  prepared  the  celebrated  coup  d'dtat  of 
1851.  On  the  Monday  night,  says  Mr.  Kinglake, 
between  the  1st  and  the  2nd  of  December,  the 
president  had  his  usual  assembly  at  the  Elysee. 
Ministers  who  were  loyally  ignorant  of  what  was 
going  on,  were  mingled  with  those  who  were  in 
the  plot.  Vieyra  was  present.  He  was  spoken 
to   by  the  president,  and  he  undertook  that  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


19 


national  guard  should  not  beat  to  arms  that  night. 
He  went  away,  and  it  is  said  that  he  fulfilled  his 
humble  task  by  causing  the  drums  to  be  mutilated. 
At  the  usual  hour  the  assembly  began  to  disperse, 
and  by  eleven  o'clock  there  were  only  three  guests 
who  remained.  These  were  Morny  (who  had  pre- 
viously taken  care  to  show  himself  at  one  of  the 
theatres),  Maupas,  and  St.  Arnaud,  formerly  Le 
Roy.  There  was,  besides,  an  orderly  officer  of  the 
president,  called  Colonel  Beville,  who  was  initi- 
ated in  the  secret.  Persigny,  it  seems,  was  not 
present. 

Morny,  Maupas,  and  St.  Arnaud  went  with  the 
president  into  his  cabinet ;  Colonel  Beville  followed 
them.  Mocquard,  the  private  secretary  of  the 
president,  was  in  the  secret,  but  it  does  not  appear 
that  he  was  in  the  room  at  this  time.  Fleury 
too,  it  seems,  was  away;  he  was  probably  on  an 
errand  which  tended  to  put  an  end  to  the  hesita- 
tion of  his  more  elderly  comrades,  and  drive  them 
to  make  the  venture.  They  were  to  strike  the 
blow  that  night. 

The  president  intrusted  a  packet  of  letters  to 
Colonel  Beville,  and  despatched  him  to  the  state 
printing  office.  These  papers  were  the  proclama- 
tions required  for  the  early  morning,  and  M.  St. 
Georges,  the  director,  gave  orders  to  put  them  into 
type.  They  said  that  there  was  something  like 
resistance;  but  in  the  end,  if  not  at  first,  the 
printers  obeyed.  Each  compositor  stood,  whilst 
he  worked,  between  two  policemen,  and  the  manu- 
script being  cut  into  many  pieces,  no  one  could 
make  out  what  he  was  printing.  By  these  procla- 
mations the  president  asserted  that  the  Assembly 
was  a  hot-bed  of  plots ;  declared  it  dissolved ;  pro- 
nounced for  universal  suffrage;  proposed  a  new 
constitution;  vowed  anew  that  his  duty  was  to 
maintain  the  Republic;  and  placed  Paris  and  the 
twelve  surrounding  departments  under  martial  law. 

In  one  of  the  proclamations  he  appealed  to  the 
army,  and  strove  to  whet  its  enmity  against 
civilians,  by  reminding  it  of  the  defeats  inflicted 
upon  the  troops  in  1830  and  1848.  The  presi- 
dent wrote  letters  dismissing  the  members  of  the 
government  who  were  not  in  the  plot;  but  he  did 
not  cause  these  letters  to  be  delivered  until  the 
following  morning.  He  also  signed  a  paper  ap- 
pointing Morny  to  the  Home  Office. 

At  six  o'clock  a  brigade  of  infantry,  under  Forey, 
occupied  the  Quai  d'Orsay,  and  other  troops  in 
considerable  force   occupied  important   points  in 


the  capital.  Almost  at  the  same  time  Maupas, 
chief  of  the  police,  who  had  been  instructed  to 
arrest  the  disaffected,  had  his  orders  carefully 
obeyed.  At  the  appointed  minute,  and  whilst  it 
was  still  dark,  the  designated  houses  were  entered. 
The  most  famous  generals  of  France  were  seized. 
General  Changarnier,  General  Bedeau,  General 
Lamoriciere,  General  Cavaignac,  and  General  Leflo, 
were  taken  from  their  beds  and  carried  away 
through  the  sleeping  city,  and  thrown  into  prison. 
In  the  same  minute  the  like  was  done  with  some 
of  the  chief  officers  of  the  Assembly,  and  amongst 
others  with  Thiers,  Miot,  Baze,  Colonel  Charras, 
Roger  du  Nord,  and  several  of  the  democratic 
leaders.  Some  men,  believed  to  be  the  chiefs  of 
secret  societies,  were  also  seized.  The  number  of 
men  thus  seized  in  the  dark  was  seventy-eight. 
Eighteen  of  these  were  members  of  the  Assembly. 
When  the  fight  of  the  morning  dawned,  people 
saw  the  proclamations  on  the  walls,  and  slowly 
came  to  hear  that  numbers  of  the  foremost  men  of 
France  had  been  seized  in  the  night-time,  and  that 
every  general  to  whom  the  friends  of  law  and 
order  could  look  for  help  was  lying  in  one  or 
other  of  the  prisons.  The  newspapers  to  which  a 
man  might  run  in  order  to  know,  and  know  truly, 
what  others  thought  and  intended,  were  all  seized 
and  stopped.  The  gates  of  the  Assembly  were 
closed  and  guarded.  In  the  course  of  the  morning 
the  president,  accompanied  by  his  uncle  Jerome 
Bonaparte  and  Count  Flahault,  and  attended  by 
many  general  officers  and  a  numerous  staff,  rode 
through  some  of  the  streets  of  Paris.  Upon  the 
whole,  the  reception  he  met  with  seems  to  have 
been  neither  friendly  nor  violently  hostile,  but 
chilling,  and  in  a  quiet  way  scornful.  Prince 
Louis  rode  home,  and  went  in  out  of  sight. 
Thenceforth,  for  the  most  part,  he  remained  close 
shut  up  in  the  Elys^e.  There,  in  an  inner  room, 
still  decked  in  red  trousers,  but  with  his  back  to 
the  day-light,  they  say  he  sat  bent  over  a  fire- 
place for  hours  and  hours  together,  resting  his 
elbows  on  his  knees,  and  burying  his  face  in  his 
hands. 

The  remnant  of  the  Assembly,  to  the  number  of 
220  deputies,  having  met  at  the  mayoralty  of  the 
tenth  arrondissement,  was  driven  out  and  marched 
between  files  of  soldiery  through  the  streets  to  the 
D'Orsay  barracks,  where  they  were  held  in  custody. 
At  a  quarter  before  ten  o'clock  at  night  a  large 
number  of  the  windowless  vans  which  are  used  for 


20 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  "WAR. 


the  transport  of  felons  were  brought  into  the  court 
of  the  barracks,  and  into  these  230  members  were 
thrust.  They  were  carried  off,  some  to  the  fort  of 
Mount  Valerian,  some  to  the  fortress  of  Vincennes, 
and  some  to  the  prison  of  Mazas.  Still,  there  was 
a  remnant  of  the  old  insurrectionary  forces,  which 
was  willing  to  try  the  experiment  of  throwing  up 
a  few  barricades.  Having  formed  a  Committee  of 
Eesistance,  several  members  of  the  Assembly  went 
into  the  Faubourg  St.  Antoine,  and  strove  to  raise 
the  people.  They  also  caused  barricades  to  be 
thrown  up  in  that  mass  of  streets  between  the 
Hotel  de  Ville  and  the  Bouvelard,  which  is  the 
accustomed  centre  of  an  insurrection  in  Paris. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  4th,  numbers  of  specta- 
tors, including  many  women,  crowded  the  foot 
pavement.  These  gazers  had  no  reason  for  sup- 
posing that  they  incurred  any  danger,  for  they 
could  see  no  one  with  whom  the  army  would  have 
to  contend.  According  to  some,  a  shot  was  fired 
from  a  window  or  a  house-top  near  the  Eue  du 
Sentier.  Some  of  the  soldiery  in  reply  fired  point 
blank  into  the  mass  of  spectators  who  stood  gazing 
upon  them  from  the  foot  pavement,  and  the  rest  of 
the  troops  fired  up  at  the  gay  crowded  windows 
and  balconies.  Of  the  people  on  the  foot  pavement 
who  were  not  struck  down  at  first,  some  rushed 
away  and  strove  to  find  a  shelter,  or  even  a  half 
shelter,  at  any  spot  within  reach.  Others  tried  to 
crawl  away  on  their  hands  and  knees,  for  they 
hoped  that  perhaps  the  balls  might  fly  over  them. 
The  impulse  to  shoot  people  had  been  sudden,  but 
was  not  momentary.  The  soldiers  loaded  and 
reloaded  with  a  strange  industry,  and  made  haste 
to  kill  and  kill,  as  though  their  lives  depended 
upon  the  quantity  of  the  slaughter  they  could  get 
through  in  some  given  period  of  time.  They 
broke  into  many  houses,  hunted  the  inmates  from 
floor  to  floor,  caught  them  at  last  and  slaughtered 
them.  These  things,  no  doubt,  they  did  under  a 
notion  that  shots  had  been  fired  from  the  house 
which  they  entered,  but  it  is  certain  that  in  almost 
all  these  instances,  if  not  in  every  one  of  them,  the 
impression  was  false.  The  whole  number  of  people 
killed  by  the  troops  during  the  forty  hours  which 
followed  upon  the  commencement  of  the  massacre 
of  the  Boulevards  will  never  be  known.  The  bury- 
ing of  the  bodies  was  done  for  the  most  part  at  night. 
In  the  army  which  did  these  things,  the  whole 
number  of  killed  was  twenty-five.  Before  the 
morning  of  the  5th,  the  armed  insurrection  had 


ceased.  The  fate  of  the  provinces  resembled  the 
fate  of  the  capital. 

These  are  the  things  which  Charles  Louis  Napo- 
leon did.  What  he  had  sworn  to  do  was  set  forth 
in  the  oath  which  he  took  on  the  20th  of  December, 
1848.  On  that  day  he  stood  before  the  National 
Assembly,  and  lifting  his  right  arm  towards 
Heaven  thus  swore: — "In  the  presence  of  God, 
and  before  the  French  people  represented  by  the 
National  Assembly,  I  swear  to  remain  faithful  to 
the  democratic  republic,  one  and  indivisible,  and 
to  fulfil  all  the  duties  which  the  constitution  im- 
poses upon  me." 

What  he  had  pledged  his  honour  to  do  was  set 
forth  in  the  promise  which  of  his  own  free  will  he 
addressed  to  the  Assembly.  Beading  from  a  paper 
which  he  had  prepared,  he  uttered  these  words : — 
"  The  votes  of  the  nation,  and  the  oath  which  I 
have  just  taken,  command  my  future  conduct. 
My  duty  is  clear.  I  will  fulfil  it  as  a  man  of  hon- 
our. I  shall  regard  as  enemies  of  the  country  all 
those  who  endeavour  to  change,  by  illegal  means, 
that  which  all  France  has  established." 

So  little  did  oaths  and  declarations  avail  to 
secure  the  constitution,  when  craft  and  force 
united  to  overturn  it.  Yet  all  the  guile  and  vio- 
lence of  the  world  would  not  have  achieved  this 
sad  victory  had  there  not  been  developed  in  the 
French  nation  principles  of  division,  that  form  a 
potent  auxiliary  to  every  usurper  and  every  politi- 
cal adventurer  that  knows  but  how  to  use  them. 
There  are,  says  an  able  publicist,  in  France  two 
intense  political  passions — the  passion  of  property 
among  the  country  peasants,  and  the  passion  for 
socialism  among  the  town  ouvriers.  And,  unhap- 
pily, these  passions  are  entirely  opposed.  "  So- 
cialism" is  an  obscure  term,  and  the  idea  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  cleave  to  it  is  of  the  vaguest 
and  wildest  kind;  still,  on  the  whole,  it  means  a 
system  wishing  to  amend  property — a  system  in- 
compatible with  present  property.  The  passionate 
part  of  the  Bepublicans  in  1848,  the  only  part  of 
them  who  were  eager  and  many,  meant  more  or 
less  distinctly  what  Louis  Blanc  said  distinctly. 
He  aimed  avowedly  at  a  system  in  which  wages 
received  should  be  proportionate,  not  to  work  done, 
but  to  wants  felt.  He  would  have  given  a  man 
with  many  children  much,  and  a  man  with  few 
children  little;  and  he  would  have  taxed  without 
limit  existing  property  for  that  object.  A  still 
more   violent    reasoner    invented    the    celebrated 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


21 


phrase  La  proprie'te,  cest  le  vol,  or  "  Property  is 
robbery."  And  this  is  only  a  strict  deduction 
from  the  elementary  wish  of  socialists  that  all  men 
are  to  "  start  fair."  In  that  case  all  inherited  pro- 
perty is  unjust,  and  all  gifts  among  the  living 
by  which  the  children  of  the  rich  become  better  off 
than  the  children  of  the  poor  are  unjust  too.  Both 
violate  the  equality  of  the  start ;  both  make  life  an 
adjusted  and  "handicapped"  race — an  existence 
where  accidental  advantages  impair  or  outweigh 
intrinsic  qualities.  Roughly  it  may  be  said  that 
the  main  desire  of  the  city  socialists  in  France,  on 
grounds  more  or  less  honest,  is  to  attack  property; 
and  that  the  sole  desire  of  the  country  peasants 
is,  on  grounds  more  or  less  selfish,  to  maintain 
property.  And  between  the  two  how  can  you 
mediate  ?  or  out  of  the  two  combined  how  can  you 
make  anything?  The  antagonism  is  as  perfect  as 
between  plus  and  minus :  you  can  make  up  no 
compound;  you  can  find  no  intermediate  term;  you 
must  choose  between  the  two. 

The  selection  can,  we  fear,  only  be  made  by 
force;  hitherto  at  least  it  has  been  so.  Paris  is 
France  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  government, 
but  it  is  not  France  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  a 
government.  The  Parisians  put  in  a  Republic  by 
revolution  resting  more  or  less  on  socialism  and  the 
artisans.  The  Republic,  as  its  nature  requires, 
appeals  to  the  people — that  is,  to  the  country.  In 
response  to  the  appeal  back  comes  an  assembly 
full  of  dislike  to  the  socialistic  Republic,  above  all 
things  anxious  for  property,  full  of  the  panic  of 
the  proprietary  peasantry.  And  then  begins  the 
strife  between  the  conservative  Chamber  and  the 
innovating  mob — a  strife  which  is  too  keen  and 
internecine  to  be  confined  to  words  only,  which 
soon  takes  to  arms  and  to  the  streets,  and  settles 
the  victory  there.  If  the  Republic  asks  France 
not  for  a  Chamber,  but  for  a  president,  the  result 
will  be  the  same  in  essence.  The  President  Louis 
Napoleon  was  the  nominee  of  the  country,  while 
the  Republic  was  the  choice  of  the  towns. 

The  proclamation  which  greeted  the  waking 
eyes  of  the  Parisians  on  that  2nd  December,  1851, 
contained  the  following  five  propositions,  on  which 
France  was  required  to  vote  "aye"  or  "no"  by 
universal  suffrage.  1.  A  responsible  chief,  elected 
for  ten  years.  2.  A  cabinet  appointed  by  him 
alone.  3.  A  council  of  state,  consisting  of  the 
most  eminent  men,  who  are  to  prepare  the  laws 
which  are  to  be  introduced,  and    support   them 


before  the  legislative  body.  4.  A  legislative  body 
named  by  universal  suffrage,  without  any  scrutiny 
of  the  votes.  5.  A  second  assembly  formed  of 
all  the  eminent  men  in  the  country,  at  once 
the  guardians  of  the  fundamental  paction  and  the 
public  liberties.  These  proposals,  which,  to  a 
people  in  mortal  terror  of  socialism  and  the  red 
revolution,  seemed  plausible  enough,  were  voted  for 
by  7,481,231  hands, and  practically  secured  imperial 
power  to  Louis  Napoleon.  The  simple  issue  of 
aye  or  no  left  the  people  little  choice.  A  large 
deportation  also  of  ultra-republicans,  to  the  extent 
of  30,000  men,  helped  to  paralyze  the  intellectual 
and  political  independence  of  the  country.  The 
voters  of  no  amounted  to  no  more  than  684,399. 
Thus  by  an  overwhelming  majority  France  closed 
the  convulsions  of  the  revolution  of  1848  by  a 
military  despotism  based  on  universal  suffrage. 
A  great  crime  was  committed,  but  surviving 
France  had  peace  for  a  time,  and  material  pros- 
perity returned  to  her.  Again,  in  the  summer 
of  1852,  the  president  made  a  progress  through 
the  provinces,  and  at  Bordeaux  delivered  a  speech 
which  revealed  his  intention  to  make  further 
changes: — "  France  seems  to  wish  to  return 
to  the  Empire"  he  said,  "but  a  certain  fear 
exists  which  I  would  dispel.  Certain  persons  say 
that  the  Empire  means  war,  but  I  say  the  Empire 
means  peace  !  Peace  because  France  wishes  it; 
and  when  France  is  satisfied,  the  world  is  tran- 
quil." After  this  the  senate,  on  the  7th  of  Novem- 
ber, voted  there-establishment  of  the  Empire,  which 
decision  was  confirmed  by  another  plebiscitum,  in 
which  there  were  7,824,189  affirmative  votes;  and 
on  the  1st  December,  1852,  the  prince  president 
was  solemnly  proclaimed  at  St.  Cloud  to  be 
"Napoleon  111.,  by  the  grace  of  God  and  the  will 
of  the  people,  Emperor  of  the  French."  In  the  fol- 
lowing month  (29th  January,  1853),  the  emperor 
married  Eugenie  Marie  de  Guzman,  comtesse  de 
Teba,  a  lady  with  Scotch  blood  in  her  veins,  and 
twenty-seven  years  of  age.  Thus  enthroned  and 
domesticated  the  parvenu,  as  his  Majesty  described 
himself,  in  announcing  his  marriage  to  the 
Senate,  sought  to  strengthen  his  position  by 
occupying  his  people  in  a  foreign  war.  England, 
in  the  person  of  Lord  Palmerston,  had  been  in 
haste  to  recognize  his  accession  to  the  imperial 
throne,  and  England  would  serve  well  if  she  could 
be  drawn  into  a  close  alliance,  offensive  and  defen- 
sive.    The  reader  who  wishes  to  know  how  such 


22 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


an  alliance  was  brought  about,  is  referred  to  Mr. 
Kinglake's  History,  which,  though  exaggerated  in 
tone  and  bitter  in  temper,  is  substantially  correct 
as  regards  the  main  facts.  English  jealousy  of 
Russian  power  in  the  East  was  the  moral  engine 
used  to  draw  her  into  the  Crimean  war.  That 
England  "drifted"  into  that  war  without  good 
reason,  and  at  a  vain  sacrifice  of  blood  and  treasure, 
is  now  generally  admitted.  Its  history  in  brief  is 
this: — It  had  long  been  the  annual  practice  of 
Christians  of  the  Latin  and  of  the  Greek  church 
to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem,  and  when  there  in  numbers 
sufficient,  to  show  their  mutual  animosity  by  a  quar- 
relsome tumult  that  had  to  be  suppressed  by  the 
Mahometan  soldiers  of  the  Sultan.  The  czar  of 
Russia,  self-elected  protector  of  the  Greek  Church, 
demanded  possession  of  this  church,  and  the 
emperor  of  the  French,  self- elected  patron  of 
the  Romish  church,  also  demanded  the  key. 
The  general  question  of  the  protection  of  and 
influence  with  the  Christian  subjects  of  the 
Sublime  Porte  underlay  this  petty  squabble.  The 
Czar,  with  a  covetous  eye  on  Constantinople, 
revealed  to  the  English  ambassador  at  his  court, 
that  in  his  opinion  Turkey  was  like  a  sick  man, 
the  division  of  whose  inheritance  it  woidd  be  well 
to  anticipate.  He  hinted  pretty  plainly  that  Eng- 
land might  take  Egypt,  if  Russia  were  allowed 
to  take  Constantinople.  The  publication  of  this 
imprudent  conversation  created  much  ill  feeling 
between  the  countries.  Russia  pushed  her  claims 
upon  Turkey  for  fresh  privileges  to  the  Christians 
under  Ottoman  rule.  The  Porte,  learning  that 
France  and  England  would  give  support,  assumed  a 
determined  aspect,  and  resented  an  affront  offered  to 
the  Sultan  by  the  Czar's  envoy  Prince  Mentschikoff. 
Hereupon  Russian  troops  crossing  the  river  Pruth 
entered  Turkish  territory,  and  the  English  and 
French  fleets  approached  the  Dardanelles.  The 
Turks  had  a  fleet  at  Sinope  in  the  Black  Sea, 
which  the  Russians  surprised  and  burnt  to  the 
water's  edge.  Indignation  was  roused  in  the 
West  by  this  act  of  destruction,  and  war  began 
in  earnest.  At  Sevastopol  in  the  Crimea  the 
Russians  had  built  at  enormous  cost  a  very 
strong  fortress,  which,  commanding  the  Black 
Sea,  was  a  perpetual  menace  to  Turkey.  Against 
this  a  joint  expedition  was  undertaken  in  Septem- 
ber, 1854,  by  the  naval  and  military  forces  of 
England,  France,  and  Turkey,  with  the  subsequent 


addition,  early  in  1855,  of  a  contingent  furnished 
by  the  king  of  Sardinia.  The  victorious  battle  of 
the  Alma  (20th  September,  1854),  was  followed  by 
the  tedious  siege  of  Sevastopol,  which  lasted  330 
days,  having  cost  many  thousand  lives  from  cold  and 
disease,  as  much  as  from  the  bullet  and  the  sword. 
The  battles  of  Balaclava,  Inkermann,  and  Tcher- 
naya  were  brilliant  episodes  in  this  siege.  Czar 
Nicholas  being  dead,  his  son  Alexander  II.,  after 
the  fall  of  Sevastopol  (September  8,  1855),  made 
peace  on  easy  terms  with  the  allied  powers  at  a 
congress  which  met  at  Paris  in  February,  1856. 
England  gained  little  in  this  contest  but  the 
honour  of  having  fought.  To  the  Emperor  Napo- 
leon such  honour  was  of  great  value,  as  it  placed  him 
on  a  level  with  the  ancient  sovereigns  of  Europe, 
and  revived  in  a  faint  degree  the  remembrance  of  the 
first  Napoleon.  Yet  a  keen-sighted  man  and  pro- 
found politician,  the  late  M.  de  Tocqueville,  formed 
no  high  opinion  of  the  emperor's  capacity  for  con- 
ducting a  great  war  like  this.  Speaking  of  it  in 
1854,  he  said: — "  The  real  prime  minister  is, 
without  doubt,  Louis  Napoleon  himself.  But  he 
is  not  a  man  of  business.  He  does  not  understand 
details.  He  may  order  certain  things  to  be  done; 
but  he  will  not  be  able  to  ascertain  whether  the 
proper  means  have  been  taken.  He  does  not  know, 
indeed,  what  these  means  are.  He  does  not  trust 
those  who  do.  A  war  which  would  have  tasked 
all  the  power  of  Napoleon,  and  of  Napoleon's 
ministers  and  generals,  is  to  be  carried  on,  without 
any  master  mind  to  direct  it,  or  any  good  instruments 
to  execute  it.  I  fear  some  great  disaster."  If  these 
words  had  been  spoken  of  the  Prussian  war,  in 
1870,  they  would  have  been  more  apt  and  prophetic. 
Since  the  reconquest  of  Italy  by  Austria  in  1849, 
the  elements  of  revolt  had  been  fermenting.  The 
secret  societies  laboured  to  bring  about  a  republic 
in  obedience  to  the  promptings  of  their  indefatig- 
able leader  Mazzini.  But  the  prospects  of  success 
seemed  to  diminish  daily,  and  a  rancorous  feeling 
against  the  man  who  had  driven  the  triumvirate 
from  Rome,  and  still  held  the  possession  of  the 
Eternal  City,  urged  these  impetuous  spirits  to 
avenge  their  wrongs  by  his  death.  A  plot  for  the 
assassination  of  Napoleon  III.  was  arranged  in 
London,  and  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  Felice  Orsini,  an 
enthusiastic  republican  of  good  education,  to  be  the 
emperor's  executioner.  Evading  the  vigilance  of 
the  French  police,  he  and  three  accomplices  reached 
Paris  in  February,  1858,  and  on  the  14th  of  that 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


23 


month,  as  the  emperor  and  empress  were  going  to 
the  opera  in  state,  three  bombs  were  flung  at  the 
cortege  and  exploded  with  fatal  effect.  The  imperial 
carriage  was  broken,  and  several  passers  by  and 
soldiers  of  the  escort  were  killed  and  wounded,  but 
the  emperor  and  empress  remained  unhurt.  Great 
was  the  indignation  that  this  criminal  attempt 
caused  throughout  France,  not  only  against  the 
conspirators  but  against  the  place  of  their  refuge. 
England  was  vilified  as  being  a  nest  of  assassins, 
and  certain  vapouring  French  colonels  talked  of 
avenging  Waterloo  there  and  then.  To  the  sur- 
prise of  Englishmen  a  somewhat  dictatorial  letter 
of  Count  Walewski's  on  the  subject,  was  not 
answered  with  the  spirit  that  men  expected  from 
Lord  Palmerston,  the  then  minister.  On  the  con- 
trary, a  bill  was  brought  into  Parliament,  in  com- 
pliance with  the  wish  of  the  French  government, 
in  order  to  strengthen  the  law  against  aliens  who 
should  plot  against  sovereigns  in  friendly  alliance 
with  England.  The  offence,  which  had  previously 
been  a  misdemeanour,  was  to  be  made  a  felony, 
and  to  be  visited  with  a  punishment  proportionately 
condign.  Not  unfair  in  itself,  this  bill  by  its 
occasion  excited  the  anger  of  the  English  public; 
and  the  House  of  Commons,  responsive  to  the 
popular  feeling,  threw  out  the  bill,  and  with  it 
Lord  Palmerston  and  the  ministry.  It  is  not 
impossible  that  this  sharp  rebuff  taught  the  French 
emperor,  that  the  defeat  of  which  he  styled  him- 
self the  representative,  namely,  Waterloo,  was  not 
just  then  to  be  avenged  with  advantage  to  himself. 
The  next  January  revealed  other  schemes,  result- 
ing it  may  be  in  part  from  impressions  produced 
on  the  mind  of  the  old  Carbonaroby  Orsini's  attack, 
his  language  when  in  prison,  and  the  letter  written 
by  him  on  the  eve  of  execution,  in  which  he  called 
upon  the  emperor  to  deliver  his  country  from  the 
yoke  of  the  foreigner.  Italy  should  be  freed,  and 
Austria  humbled. 

Europe  had  not  seen  without  surprise  Sardinian 
troops  taking  part  in  the  expedition  to  the  Crimea. 
The  presence  of  Cavour,  the  minister  of  Victor 
Emmanuel,  at  the  Paris  congress,  and  the  language 
he  held  there,  led  sagacious  observers  to  think  that 
more  would  come  of  this  alliance  between  Sardinia, 
France,  and  England,  than  then  appeared  on  the 
surface.  At  the  congress  he  protested  in  the  name 
of  his  government  against  the  new  extension  of 
Austrian  influence  in  the  Italian  peninsula  in 
defiance  of  treaty  stipulations,  and  averred  that  if 


nothing  were  done  to  remedy  this  state  of  things, 
grave  dangers  to  the  peace  of  the  world  might 
ensue.  Count  Walewski,  president  of  the  congress, 
taking  this  protest  into  consideration,  invited  the 
attentive  solicitude  of  the  assembled  plenipoten- 
tiaries to  the  internal  condition  of  Italy,  and  in 
this  he  was  warmly  supported  by  Lord  Clarendon, 
the  English  envoy.  A  word  or  two  on  Count 
Cavour  will  not  be  misplaced  here. 

Camillo  Benso  di  Cavour  was  born  at  Turin  in 
1810,  five  years  before  the  Congress  of  Vienna  had 
concocted  that  treaty,  the  deadly  effects  of  which  in 
Italy  he  was  destined  within  half  a  century  to  coun- 
teract. His  father  held  office  in  Piedmont  under 
Prince  Borghese,  who  married  Pauline  Bonaparte, 
the  sister  of  Napoleon  I.  Young  Camillo,  being 
god-child  to  these  high  personages,  had  an  early 
predilection  in  favour  of  the  Bonaparte  family.  The 
revolutionary  changes  accomplished  in  Italy  under 
the  first  Napoleon,  in  which  so  many  of  the 
divisions  of  territory  disappeared,  planted  in  his 
mind  fruitful  ideas  favourable  to  Italian  unity. 
As  a  boy  he  served  Charles  Albert,  then  known  as 
a  liberal,  in  the  capacity  of  page.  While  an  officer 
of  engineers  he  was  for  his  free  speech  on  political 
topics  ordered  to  the  fort  of  Bard  for  a  year,  at 
the  expiration  of  which  he  resigned  his  commis- 
sion, and  devoted  his  mind  to  the  social  and  political 
questions  of  the  day.  In  reply  to  a  letter  of  con- 
dolence at  this  time  (1832),  he  wrote  these  pro- 
phetic words: — "  I  thank  you  for  the  interest  you 
take  in  my  misfortune;  but  believe  me  I  shall  still 
accomplish  my  career  in  spite  of  it.  I  am  a  very, 
an  enormously  ambitious  man,  and  when  I  am 
minister  I  shall  justify  my  ambition ;  for  I  tell  you, 
in  my  dreams  I  already  see  myself  minister  of  the 
kingdom  of  Italy."  On  the  accession  of  Charles 
Albert,  the  father  of  Cavour  was  appointed  vicario 
of  Turin,  an  office  involving  the  charge  of  the 
police  and  the  duty  of  watching  the  liberal  party. 
The  odium  connected  with  this  office  was  partly 
reflected  on  the  enthusiastic  young  liberal,  who,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  disliked  by  the  aristocratic 
party  for  his  opinions.  He  went  to  Geneva,  to 
Paris,  to  London,  and  studied  the  English  con- 
stitution with  great  satisfaction  and  profit.  Ee- 
turning  to  Italy  in  1842,  he  took  part  in  such 
social  reforms  as  were  feasible,  and  published  many 
valuable  papers  on  historical  subjects  and  on  ques- 
tions of  political  economy.  As  the  year  1848 
approached,  more  momentous  interests  came  into 


24 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


view.  Cavour,  says  Signor  Botta,  in  his  admirable 
discourse  on  this  statesman,  regarded  the  projects 
of  Mazzini  as  utterly  powerless  to  lighten  the 
burden  of  domestic  rule,  and  to  emancipate  the 
country  from  foreign  domination.  A  practical 
man  by  nature,  and  a  statesman  of  the  school 
which  acknowledges  Machiavelli  as  its  founder, 
and  Richelieu  and  Burke  as  its  great  represen- 
tatives, his  policy  was  not  engendered  in  the  secret 
chambers  of  conspiracy,  but  was  moulded  on  a  com- 
prehensive knowledge  of  the  forces  which  patriotism 
could  command,  and  on  the  just  appreciation  of  the 
necessity  of  the  time.  Accordingly  he  believed  that 
the  conquest  of  nationality  could  only  be  effected 
through  the  harmonizing  of  many  antagonistic 
interests,  and  the  combination  of  many  clashing 
tendencies,  the  control  of  which  depended  entirely 
on  slow,  patient,  and  steady  action.  From  the 
first  appearance  of  Mazzini,  he  had  not  only 
refused  to  take  any  part  in  his  futile  and  spasmodic 
efforts,  but  he  had  unreservedly  discouraged  and 
condemned  his  policy  as  anti-national,  and  big 
with  calamities.  Regarding  the  growth  of  public 
sentiment  as  the  true  regenerative  force,  he  now 
hailed  with  delight  the  favour  with  which  the 
more  conservative  views  of  Cesare  Balbo,  Massimo 
dAzeglio,  and  Vincenzo  Gioberti  were  received. 
These  writers,  however  discordant  in  minor 
points,  all  agreed  in  urging  upon  their  country- 
men the  necessity  of  radically  changing  the  method 
of  revolutionary  action,  of  doing  away  with  all 
secret  conspiracies,  and  of  openly  labouring  for 
the  attainment  of  national  independence.  They 
strove  to  enlist  in  the  cause  the  interest  and 
ambition  of  the  Italian  princes,  and  insisted  on 
the  possibility  of  a  compact  between  them  and 
the  states,  by  which  the  rulers  were  to  grant 
concessions  calculated  to  infuse  new  life  into  the 
country,  and  the  people  to  extend  to  them  the 
tenure  of  their  power.  Had  the  princes  followed 
that  course  they  would  have  been  thrown  into 
the  onward  current,  and,  soon  separated  from 
Austria,  they  would  have  been  forced  into  a 
confederation  in  order  to  protect  themselves  from 
the  common  enemy,  who  sooner  or  later  would 
have  been  expelled  from  the  peninsula.  So,  while 
Mazzini  struggled  for  nationality  by  attempting 
to  establish  a  republic — an  enterprise  rendered 
impossible  by  the  condition  of  Europe  and  Italy 
herself — the  chiefs  of  the  new  party  proposed  to 
accomplish  the  same  object  through  the  existing 


monarchy,  renovated,  however,  by  constitutional 
liberty. 

Prominent  among  these  leaders  was  Gioberti. 
A  man  of  lofty  patriotism  and  saintly  character,  a 
philosophical  writer  of  great  renown,  distinguished 
by  depth,  breadth,  and  novelty  of  thought,  as  well 
as  by  brilliancy  of  style,  his  influence  was  power- 
ful and  salutary.  Considering  the  papal  and  the 
Austrian  governments  as  the  two  main  stumbling- 
blocks  to  Italian  independence,  in  his  works  he 
aimed  at  the  overthrow  of  both.  The  Papacy  he 
did  not  directly  attack,  as  his  predecessors  in 
philosophy  had  done,  but  he  attempted  to  flank 
and  turn  it  into  the  service  of  the  nation.  He 
sketched  an  ideal  Papacy,  youthful  and  vigorous, 
which  he  endeavoured  to  assimilate  to  the  old  and 
worn-out  institution  of  the  Vatican,  and  to  place 
at  the  head  of  the  Italian  movement.  The  appear- 
ance of  Pius  IX.  in  the  garb  of  a  reformer  seemed 
for  a  moment  to  reduce  his  theory  to  fact,  though 
in  reality  it  rendered  the  discrepancies  and  incon- 
gruities between  the  ideal  and  the  real  Papacy 
more  conspicuous  and  irreconcilable.  When  Pius 
IX.  abandoned  the  Italian  cause,  which  as  pope  he 
could  not  consistently  support,  Gioberti,  leaving 
at  once  the  Papacy  to  its  own  destiny,  sought 
other  more  substantial  bases  for  national  existence, 
and  pointed  out  the  house  of  Savoy  as  the  only 
hope  of  Italy. 

The  project  of  an  Italian  confederacy,  under  the 
nominal  presidency  of  the  pope,  and  the  actual 
leadership  of  Sardinia,  being  the  only  form  of 
national  existence  which  at  that  time  appeared 
practicable,  was  accepted  by  Cavour,  and  he 
shaped  his  policy  accordingly,  giving,  however, 
but  little  importance  to  the  papal  element.  When 
the  censorship  of  the  press  was  somewhat  relaxed, 
he  established  in  Turin,  in  connection  with  Cesare 
Balbo  and  others,  the  Risorgimento,  a  daily 
paper,  of  which  he  became  the  chief  editor,  and 
which,  owing  to  his  skilful  management,  exerted 
a  great  influence  on  the  course  of  events.  In  this 
paper  he  advocated  the  independence  of  Italy, 
union  between  princes  and  people,  progressive 
reform,  and  a  confederation  of  the  Italian  states; 
he  developed  also  those  more  general  principles 
of  free  government  which  he  afterwards  carried 
out  in  his  administration.  In  the  beginning  of 
1848  Cavour  took  the  still  more  important  step 
of  demanding  from  Charles  Albert  a  constitution 
for  his  native  state,  till  then  under  absolute  sway. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


25 


Whatever  may  have  been  the  effect  of  this  com- 
munication, it  is  certain  that  the  constitution  was 
soon  after  granted,  and  he  who  was  first  to  demand 
it  was,  within  a  few  years,  called  to  mould  it  into 
the  corner  stone  of  the  liberties  of  the  whole  Italian 
people.  Had  Charles  Albert  longer  resisted  the 
advancing  tide  of  public  opinion,  his  dynasty  would 
in  all  probability  have  been  swept  away  with  those  of 
the  other  Italian  rulers.  In  1848  he  waged  war,  and 
issued  the  famous  proclamation  by  which  he  placed 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  revolution,  and  secured 
for  his  state  the  leadership  of  the  nation.  Occupy- 
ing a  commanding  position  between  the  Alps  and 
the  Mediterranean,  inhabited  by  a  people  dis- 
tinguished by  their  practical  sense,  vigour  of  char- 
acter, and  warlike  spirit,  and  ruled  by  a  dynasty 
whose  power  in  Italy  had  been  gradually  aug- 
mented during  eight  centuries,  Sardinia  seemed 
peculiarly  fitted  for  the  destiny  assigned  her. 
From  this  time  she  made  common  cause  with  the 
whole  nation;  and  bravely  entering  into  the  arena, 
staked  her  own  existence  on  the  issue.  Believing 
the  democratic  tendencies  of  the  times  utterly  ruin- 
ous to  the  national  cause,  Cavour  fearlessly  threw 
himself  against  the  prevailing  current  of  opinion, 
and  thus  greatly  increased  his  unpopularity.  But 
this  could  not  deter  him  from  performing  what 
he  considered  his  duty,  for  he  did  not  belong 
to  that  class  of  politicians  whose  love  of  country 
is  subservient  to  self-interest,  and  whose  object 
is  confined  to  flattering  popular  passions  and 
prejudices.  It  was  a  striking  spectacle  to  see 
him  at  that  time,  from  his  seat  in  the  Chamber, 
defying  the  storm  of  hisses  and  yells  with  which 
he  was  frequently  assailed  from  the  galleries. 
Often  he  called  them  to  order,  or  moved  that  they 
should  be  cleared,  according  to  the  rules.  "  I  am 
not  to  be  prevented  from  speaking,"  said  he  on  one 
occasion,  "  by  shouts  and  hisses.  What  I  believe 
to  be  true,  that  will  I  speak  out.  If  you  compel 
me  to  silence,  you  insult  not  me  alone,  but  the 
Chamber;  and  now  I  shall  proceed:"  and  with  his 
usual  self-possession  he  resumed  his  discourse. 
The  disasters  of  1848  and  1849  were  mainly  owing 
to  the  want  of  unity  in  the  pursuit  of  national 
independence.  As  the  first  campaign  had  failed 
through  the  defection  of  Pius  IX.  and  other  princes, 
the  misfortunes  of  the  second  were  chiefly  due  to 
the  attempts  of  the  minority  to  introduce  republi- 
can governments  into  some  of  the  states.  So  Italy 
fell;  on  the  plains  of  Novara,  on  the  lagoons  of 


Venice,  within  the  walls  of  her  ancient  capital,  she 
was  defeated  because  she  was  not  united;  because 
while  Nice  was  fighting  for  the  common  cause, 
Naples  and  Palermo  bowed  under  the  iron  yoke 
of  the  Bourbon,  and  Kome  and  Florence  allowed 
themselves  to  be  led  astray  by  the  mad  hallucina- 
tions of  Mazzini.  With  Italy  Sardinia  was  crushed ; 
she  saw  her  king  in  disguise  pass  through  the  camp 
of  the  enemy  on  his  way  to  exile,  her  standards 
trailed  in  the  dust,  the  stronghold  of  Alessandria 
garrisoned  by  the  Austrians,  her  army  almost 
destroyed,  her  finances  ruined,  her  commerce 
obstructed,  her  people  distracted,  her  very  exist- 
ence imperilled.  Victor  Emmanuel  pledged  his 
word  to  uphold  the  free  institutions  of  the  state, 
and  to  retain  the  leadership  of  the  nation ;  he  in- 
trusted himself  and  the  administration  of  the  coun- 
try to  Massimo  dAzeglio,  whose  name  alone  was 
a  symbol  of  nationality.  No  man  represented  the 
cause  more  entirely,  and  none  was  more  fitted  to 
guide  the  state  through  that  dangerous  period. 
Though  born  in  Turin,  he  had  passed  his  life 
chiefly  in  Eome  and  Florence,  and  from  the 
study  of  Italian  history,  literature,  and  art,  he 
had  derived  that  national  character  by  which  his 
career  has  been  so  singularly  marked. 

In  1848  he  had  laid  aside  the  pencil  and  the 
pen  for  the  sword ;  he  had  fought  gaUantly,  and 
had  been  wounded  on  the  field ;  and  thus  prepared 
both  by  thought  and  action,  on  the  accession  of 
Victor  Emmanuel  he  was  called  to  the  premiership 
of  the  cabinet.  His  high  moral  nature,  his  earnest- 
ness, his  accomplishments,  the  simplicity  and  the 
refinement  of  his  manners,  softened  by  the  influ- 
ence of  literature  and  the  arts,  his  eloquence,  and 
his  devotion  to  the  country,  endeared  him  to  the 
people  ;  while  his  aristocratic  connections,  his  well 
known  moderation  and  prudence,  and  his  open 
opposition  to  the  Mazzini  party,  rendered  him 
acceptable  to  the  courts  of  Europe.  When  reac- 
tion menaced  the  only  free  state  of  the  peninsula, 
and  the  republicans  by  their  futile  attempts  at 
revolution  seemed  bent  on  precipitating  a  crisis 
that  would  involve  the  armed  intervention  of 
Europe,  the  constitutional  party  stood  by  Azeglio, 
and  opposed  the  enemies  of  the  constitution  both 
at  home  and  abroad.  Thus  Sardinia  was  saved 
from  the  dire  calamities  prepared  for  her  by  the 
conspiracies  concocted,  at  the  same  time  and  for 
the  same  purpose,  in  the  cabinets  of  diplomacy 
and  in  the  secret  councils  of  agitators.     The  con- 


26 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


stitutional  party  found  in  Cavour  its  most  power- 
ful and  devoted  supporter;  and  when  the  storm  had 
somewhat  subsided,  he  at  once  urged  upon  the 
government  more  progressive  measures.  Vastly 
surpassed  by  Azeglio  in  aesthetic  attainments, 
Cavour  towered  over  him  in  extent  of  knowledge, 
comprehensiveness  of  intellect,  quickness  of  percep- 
tion, force  of  character,  and  energy  of  action  ;  and 
while  the  one  in  great  crises  advanced  timidly 
and  slowly,  feeling  his  way,  the  other,  with  his 
object  clearly  in  view,  and  the  full  consciousness 
of  his  power,  overleaped  all  impediments. 

These  peculiarities  in  the  character  of  the  two 
statesmen  nature  had  impressed  even  on  their 
external  appearance.  The  slender  form,  the  delicate 
features,  and  the  poetical  expression  of  Azeglio, 
marked  him  as  a  man  of  refined  sensibility  and 
romantic  sentiments;  as  the  keen  eye,  the  broad 
brow,  and  the  sturdy  figure  of  Cavour  indicated  at 
once  the  iron  will  and  the  power  to  enforce  it. 
Cavour  urged  on  Azeglio  vigorous  measures  of 
reform,  and  advocating  a  progressive  policy,  he  thus  | 
addressed  the  administration,  "  Go  on  boldly,  then, 
in  the  path  of  reform.  Do  not  hesitate  because  you 
are  told  that  the  time  is  inexpedient ;  do  not  fear 
lest  you  should  weaken  the  constitutional  monarchy 
intrusted  to  your  charge.  Instead  of  weakening  it  j 
you  will  cause  it  to  take  such  firm  root  in  the  I 
country,  that  even  if  the  storm  of  revolution  should 
arise  around  us,  the  monarchy  will  not  only  not 
succumb  to  the  onslaught,  but,  collecting  around  it 
all  the  vital  forces  of  Italy,  will  lead  our  nation  to 
the  lofty  destiny  prepared  for  her." 

In  the  autumn  of  1850,  on  the  death  of  Count 
Santa  Rosa,  Cavour  was  named  his  successor  as 
minister  of  agricultural  and  commercial  affairs ;  he 
was  soon  after  charged  with  the  department  of 
the  navy,  and  later  with  the  still  more  important 
one  of  finance.  It  is  said  that  when  his  appoint- 
ment was  suggested  by  Azeglio  to  the  king,  he 
remarked  with  striking  foresight,  "  It  is  very  well, 
but  this  man  will  soon  supplant  you  all;"  and 
indeed  Cavour  was  not  long  in  the  cabinet  before 
he  became  its  ruling  spirit.  He  was  scarcely 
seated  in  his  ministerial  chair  before  he  made  over- 
tures to  all  the  principal  governments  of  Europe, 
which  soon  resulted  in  commercial  treaties  with 
England,  France,  Belgium,  Sweden,  Denmark, 
the  Zollverein,  Switzerland,  Holland,  and  even  with 
Austria.  He  strove  to  open  new  avenues  to  com- 
merce, planted  a  consulate  wherever  he  could  find 


a  ship,  and  urged  the  establishment  of  a  line  of 
steamers  between  the  Mediterranean  and  the  two 
Americas.  Indeed,  free  trade  became  in  the 
hands  of  Cavour  a  political  engine  as  well  as  an 
economical  principle;  and  by  making  Sardinia  a 
free  market,  and  connecting  her  with  the  com- 
merce of  other  nations,  he  rendered  her  expansion 
and  prosperity  an  object  of  interest  to  them  all.  The 
principle  of  free  trade  has  probably  nowhere  been  so 
successfully  tested  as  in  Sardinia,  although  it  had 
its  first  trial  at  a  time  when  the  resources  of  the 
country  were  crippled  by  two  disastrous  wars,  by 
mysterious  diseases  which  long  affected  the  two 
staples,  silkworms  and  vines,  and  by  various  com- 
mercial crises  in  Europe  and  America.  To  Cavour 
Sardinia  is  also  chiefly  indebted  for  the  network  of 
railroads  which  furrows  her  territory.  It  was  only 
one  year  from  the  time  when  he  entered  the 
cabinet,  and  so  vigorously  commenced  the  work  of 
retrieving  the  country  from  its  prostrate  condition, 
when  the  night  of  the  2nd  of  December,  1851,  closed 
upon  the  grave  of  the  French  Republic.  Three  years 
before  the  coup  d'etat  took  place,  pointing  out  the 
dangers  by  which  France  was  menaced,  Cavour 
had  predicted  in  so  many  words,  that  the  socialis- 
tic tendencies  which  then  prevailed  would  bring 
the  nephew  of  the  great  emperor  to  the  imperial 
throne. 

The  political  condition  of  France  has  always 
reacted  on  other  nations,  and  after  the  coup 
d'etat  despotism  became  more  threatening  towards 
Sardinia.  News  of  that  event  had  scarcely  reached 
the  capitals  of  Europe  before  remonstrances  from 
various  governments  were  addressed  to  the  court 
of  Turin,  urging  the  necessity  of  abolishing  or 
curtailing  the  guarantees  of  liberty  secured  by  the 
constitution.  The  cabinets  of  Vienna,  Florence, 
and  Naples  went  so  far  as  to  intrude  their  advice 
on  the  king,  and  to  insist  that  Sardinian  institutions 
should  be  brought  into  conformity  with  those  of 
the  other  states,  for  despotism  abhors  all  contact 
with  liberty. 

In  c  onsequence  of  a  political  alliance  that  he  formed 
with  Ratazzi,  Cavour  had  to  retire  from  office,  and 
during  the  parliamentary  recess  again  visited  Eng- 
land and  Scotland.  While  in  London  he  made  a 
midnight  tour  of  inspection,  under  the  guidance  of 
a  detective,  through  the  lowest  haunts  of  vice  and 
crime  in  that  metropolis,  in  order  to  make  himself 
acquainted  by  personal  observation  with  the  actual 
condition  of  the  lower  classes.     On  his  return  to 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


27 


Paris  he  met  Ratazzi  by  appointment,  and  the 
two  statesmen  had  important  interviews  with  the 
emperor,  to  whom  they  had  the  opportunity  of 
representing  the  true  condition  of  affairs  in  Sar- 
dinia, and  of  urging  upon  him  the  claims  of  Italy. 
On  the  resignation  of  Azeglio,  Cavour  became 
president  of  the  council,  and  from  this  time  to  the 
period  of  his  death,  with  the  exception  of  a  short 
interval,  continued  to  hold  the  reins  of  government, 
and  at  once  impressed  a  deeper  character  of  nation- 
ality upon  foreign  policy. 

The  Crimean  war  was  the  first  event  which  opened 
the  way  to  this  more  extended  arena.  Although 
the  alliance  of  the  two  western  powers  of  Europe 
originated  in  the  necessity  of  checking  the  mena- 
cing preponderance  of  Russia  in  the  East,  Napoleon 
had  another  object  in  view,  that  of  breaking  the 
union  of  those  governments  which  by  the  Treaty 
of  Vienna  had  dishonoured  France,  and  brought 
about  the  downfall  of  his  dynasty.  Cavour  per- 
ceived at  once  the  motives  and  bearings  of  the 
Anglo-French  alliance ;  he  saw  that  Sardinia  had  a 
paramount  interest  in  excluding  Russia  from  the 
Bosphorus  and  the  Dardanelles,  the  keys  of  the 
Mediterranean,  and  that  the  time  had  come  when  the 
Treaty  of  Vienna,  the  rock  on  which  Italy  had  been 
wrecked,  was  about  to  be  shivered  into  fragments. 
The  treaty  of  alliance  was  signed,  and  an  army 
greater  than  had  even  been  stipulated  was  despatched 
to  the  Crimea.  The  day  when  the  Sardinian  troops 
withstood  the  first  shock  of  the  enemy  at  the 
battle  of  Tchernaya,  and  so  bravely  contributed 
to  his  defeat,  was  the  dawn  of  Italian  independence. 
There,  in  the  far  east,  where  once  flourished  the 
Italian  colonies,  Sardinia,  by  the  side  of  the  French 
and  English  armies,  consecrated  in  the  blood  of 
her  sons  the  right  of  leadership  in  the  national 
cause,  and  won  the  recognition  of  that  right  from 
the  allied  powers. 

After  the  fall  of  Sevastopol  Cavour  accompanied 
the  king  on  his  visit  to  France  and  England. 
Everywhere  received  with  marks  of  that  regard 
secured  to  him  by  his  high  character  and  position, 
he  availed  himself  of  this  opportunity  to  unite  in 
closer  ties  of  friendship  the  house  of  Savoy  with 
the  sovereigns  of  those  countries,  and  to  place 
before  the  representatives  of  public  opinion  the 
true  aspect  of  affairs  in  Italy,  as  yet  greatly 
misunderstood. 

Meanwhile  the  government  of  Vienna  felt  that 
a  revolution   was  brooding,  the  more  formidable 


because  under  the  auspices  of  monarchical  insti- 
tutions. That  an  insignificant  state,  which  a  few 
years  since  had  been  entirely  under  her  control, 
and  twice  crushed  beneath  her  iron  heel,  should 
dare  to  summon  the  Austrian  empire  before  the 
bar  of  the  civilized  world,  and  to  denounce  it  as 
the  disturber  of  the  public  peace,  and  the  violator 
of  those  very  treaties  by  which  it  held  its  domin- 
ions, was  more  than  the  proud  house  of  Hapsburg 
could  bear. 

A  brisk  interchange  of  diplomatic  notes  between 
Vienna  and  Turin  followed,  in  which  the  pedantry 
and  the  dullness  of  Count  Buol  were  ill  matched 
against  the  power  and  cutting  irony  of  Cavour. 
At  length  the  Austrian  charge  was  recalled,  and 
one  fine  morning  it  was  whispered  among  the 
Turinese  that  Cavour  had  left  for  Plombieres. 

This  visit  to  Napoleon  had  been  planned  and 
brought  about  by  Cavour  himself;  and  it  was 
on  this  occasion  that  the  preliminaries  of  the 
alliance  between  France  and  Sardinia  was  settled, 
and  the  marriage  of  the  Princess  Clotilde  with 
Prince  Napoleon  determined  on  as  the  symbol 
and  bond  of  the  alliance.  Whatever  might  have 
been  at  that  time  the  opinion  of  Napoleon  on  the 
possibility  of  avoiding  the  conflict  between  Aus- 
tria and  Sardinia,  it  is  certain  that  Cavour  consi- 
dered war  as  inevitable.  The  principles  represented 
by  the  two  countries  were  so  opposed,  and  their 
estrangement  was  so  complete,  that  from  the  first 
he  saw  that  no  compromise  was  possible,  and  that 
Italy  must  submit  to  Austrian  rule,  or  be  free  from 
the  Alps  to  the  Adriatic.  He,  however,  adhered 
to  the  terms  of  mediation  which  England  sent  to 
Vienna,  and  afterward  to  the  proposal  of  a  congress 
made  by  Russia,  simply  to  prove  to  Europe  that 
Italy  was  disposed  to  maintain  peace,  if  by  peace 
she  could  obtain  satisfaction. 

The  first  indication  of  the  approaching  storm 
was  the  emperor's  new  year's  greeting  to  Baron 
Hiibner,  the  Austrian  ambassador  at  Paris.  It  was 
one  of  those  theatrical  displays  that  Napoleon 
delighted  in,  and  almost  a  repetition  of  the  first 
Napoleon's  scene  with  Lord  Whitworth,  when  he 
wished  to  break  the  peace  with  England.  "  I 
regret,"  said  his  Majesty  to  the  astonished  envoy, 
in  the  hearing  of  all  the  diplomatic  circle,  "  I 
regret  that  our  relations  with  your  government 
are  not  as  good  as  they  have  been  heretofore;  but 
I  beg  you  to  tell  the  emperor  that  my  personal 
sentiments  in  regard  to  him  have  not  changed." 


28 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


This  startling  language  was  followed  by  a  speech 
from  the  throne  to  the  Parliament  at  Turin,  in 
which  Victor  Emmanuel  announced  that  the  poli- 
tical horizon  was  not  entirely  serene.  Professing 
himself  not  insensible  to  the  cry  of  anguish  which 
reached  him  from  all  parts  of  Italy,  he  pledged  him- 
self to  march  resolutely  forward  to  meet  the  events 
of  the  future;  "afuture"  said  he,  "  which  could  not 
but  be  prosperous,  since  the  policy  of  my  govern- 
ment rests  on  justice,  love  of  country,  and  liberty, 
and  on  the  sympathy  which  these  ideas  inspire." 
In  the  meantime,  Cavour,  holding  a  kind  of  dic- 
tatorship under  the  king,  was  vigorously  urging 
on  preparations  for  war.  He  replenished  the  trea- 
sury, increased  the  army,  strengthened  the  fortifi- 
cations, reorganized  the  militia,  and  intrusted  to 
Garibaldi  the  enlistment  and  command  of  the 
volunteers  who  from  all  parts  of  the  peninsula 
were  flocking  to  the  national  standard;  while  in 
his  foreign  policy  he  strove  to  secure  the  friend- 
ship, or  at  least  the  neutrality,  of  the  European 
governments,  and  to  cast  upon  the  court  of 
Vienna  the  responsibility  of  approaching  hos- 
tilities. To  the  same  end,  on  his  return  from 
Ploinbieres  he  had  made  a  tour  to  Baden,  to  visit 
the  regent  of  Prussia  (now  King  William),  and 
had  granted  to  Russia  the  privilege  of  making 
Villafranca  a  coal  depot  and  a  harbour  for  her 
steamers;  a  concession  intended  both  to  gratify 
that  power  and  to  deal  a  blow  to  Austria,  whose 
interests  in  the  Mediterranean  were  thus  counter- 
balanced by  those  of  a  rival  empire. 

Although  the  war  against  Austria,  says  Count 
Arrivabene,  had  been  decided  upon  by  the  emperor 
of  the  French,  intelligence  reached  Cavour  about 
the  end  of  March,  1859,  that  a  change  had  occurred 
in  the  imperial  mind.  On  the  25  th  of  that  month, 
therefore,  the  count  went  in  all  haste  to  Paris  to 
judge  for  himself  how  matters  stood.  He  found 
the  emperor  wavering,  as  was  his  wont  on  the  eve  of 
great  enterprises,  and  as  if  he  were  almost  afraid  of 
engaging  in  the  war  he  had  promised  to  under- 
take for  the  independence  of  Italy.  Indeed,  after 
Ms  first  interview,  Cavour  thought  that  Napoleon 
was  desirous  of  withdrawing  from  his  solemn 
engagement;  and  he  made  up  his  mind  to  carry 
out  the  plan  of  his  country's  redemption  by  rousing 
all  the  revolutionary  elements  of  Italy,  and  trust- 
ting  to  the  strength  of  his  cause  and  the  valour 
of  his  countrymen. 

Baron    Hiibner,   the    Austrian   ambassador    at 


Paris,  had  got  scent  of  the  change  in  Louis  Napo- 
leon's mind,  and  desired  Count  Buol  to  adopt  a  tone 
of  greater  hostility,  as  he  assured  him  that  both 
the  ruler  of  France  and  his  ministers  had  decided 
on  abandoning  Sardinia  to  her  fate. 

The  advice  of  Baron  Hiibner  was  so  far  accepted 
at  Vienna,  that  Austrian  indolence  soon  gave  place 
to  decision.  However,  though  the  Austrian  repre- 
sentative was  well  informed  at  the  beginning  of 
the  transaction,  he  was  not  so  at  its  end.  Italy 
had  two  powerful  friends  in  Prince  Napoleon  and 
Count  Persigny ;  and  Cavour,  having  had  a  second 
conversation  with  the  emperor,  succeeded  in  making 
him  change  his  mind.  It  was  then  decided  that 
the  first  pretext  should  be  seized  upon  to  declare 
war  against  Austria.  Count  Cavour  returned  to 
Turin  completely  victorious,  while  Baron  Hiibner 
still  thought  that  his  adversary  had  failed  in  his 
negotiations. 

It  was  toward  the  middle  of  April,  1859,  that 
Garibaldi  was  suddenly  summoned  to  Turin  by 
Count  Cavour.  The  famous  Italian  leader  was,  as 
usual,  in  bad  humour  with  the  prime  minister  of 
the  king.  Distinguished  by  courage,  disinterested- 
ness, and  public  spirit;  bred  to  simple  and  daring 
occupations;  endowed  with  an  unbounded  frank- 
ness— Garibaldi  had  no  great  liking  for  Cavour. 
He  thought  him  too  proud  of  his  descent  and 
of  his  intellectual  superiority.  In  the  opinion  of 
this  honest  and  fearless  republican,  Count  Cavour 
bore  a  lively  resemblance  to  those  noblemen  of 
the  ancien  regime  who  looked  down  with  disdain 
on  the  common  people,  and  governed  them  ac- 
cordingly. But  the  little  sympathy  he  felt  with 
Cavour  did  not  prevent  him  from  hastening  to  his 
summons.  Garibaldi  arrived  at  the  palace  of  Piazza 
Castello  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning.  He  was 
shown  into  the  well-known  red  room,  where  he 
found  himself  in  the  presence  of  Victor  Emmanuel, 
of  his  prime  minister,  and  of  Farini. 

"  Well,  general,"  said  Cavour,  "  the  long  expected 
day  is  near  at  hand:  we  want  you.  The  patience 
of  Count  Buol  is  nearly  exhausted,  and  we  are 
only  awaiting  the  moment  when  he  will  have  lost 
it  altogether." 

"  I  am  always  ready  to  serve  my  country,"  re- 
plied Garibaldi,  "  and  you  know  that  I  shall  put 
all  my  heart  into  the  work.  Here  in  the  presence 
of  our  Re  galantuomo  I  must,  however,  be  permitted 
to  speak  my  mind  openly.  Am  I  to  understand 
that  you  are  going  to  summon  all  the  forces  of  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


29 


country,  and  declaring  war  against  Austria,  to 
attack  her  with  the  irresistible  power  of  a  national 
insurrection?" 

"  That  is  not  precisely  our  plan,"  answered 
Count  Cavour.  "  I  have  not  an  illimitable  faith 
in  the  power  of  the  insurrectionary  element  against 
the  well-drilled  legions  of  Austria.  I  think,  more- 
over, our  regular  army  too  small  to  match  the 
200,000  men  our  enemy  has  massed  on  the  frontier. 
We  must  therefore  have  the  assistance  of  a  power- 
ful ally;  and  this  is  already  secured.  You  will 
now,"  added  the  count,  "fully  understand  the 
meaning  of  the  words  addressed  by  the  French 
emperor  to  the  Austrian  ambassador  on  the  1st 
of  January." 

"  Although  my  principles  are  known  both  to 
you  and  to  the  king,"  Garibaldi  is  reported  to 
have  answered,  "  I  feel  that  my  first  duty  is  that 
of  offering  my  sword  to  my  country.  My  war 
cry  shall  therefore  be  '  Italian  unity,  under  the 
constitutional  rule  of  Victor  Emmanuel ! '  Mind, 
however,  what  you  are  about,  and  do  not  forget 
that  the  aid  of  foreign  armies  must  always  be  paid 
for  dearly.  As  for  the  man  who  has  promised  to 
help  us,  I  ardently  wish  he  may  redeem  himself  in 
the  eyes  of  posterity  by  achieving  the  noble  task 
of  '  Italian  liberation.' "  Garibaldi  could  not  for- 
get the  French  expedition  against  Rome  ten  years 
before.  At  this  moment  the  king,  who  always 
felt  a  deep  regard  for  Garibaldi,  took  him  by  the 
hand,  assured  him  that  Louis  Napoleon  had  always 
desired  to  see  Italy  free  and  happy,  and  added 
that  he  (the  king)  had  consented  to  the  marriage 
of  his  daughter  with  Prince  Napoleon,  because  he 
was  certain  of  the  emperor's  good  intentions 
towards  Italy.  The  campaign  of  Garibaldi  and 
his  Cacciatori  delle  Alpi,  a  corps  of  volunteers 
organized  by  General  Cialdini,  is  not  the  least  inter- 
esting part  of  this  war.  With  scarcely  3000  men 
in  the  picturesque  and  mountainous  scenery  of 
Northern  Italy,  he  baffled  and  defeated  the  man- 
oeuvres of  the  Austrian  General  Urban,  who  had 
10,000  regular  soldiers  under  his  command. 

It  was  while  the  preliminaries  of  a  European  con- 
gress were  under  discussion,  that  Francis  Joseph 
suddenly  broke  off  all  negotiations  and  sent  his 
ultimatum  to  Turin,  requiring  the  government  to 
•disarm  immediately,  on  penalty  of  an  invasion. 
Ten  years  had  elapsed  since  Austria,  by  a  prodi- 
gious effort,  and  by  help  of  the  skill  and  courage 
•of  her  army,  had  recovered  from  a  state  of  prostra- 


tion that  to  many  observers  had  seemed  final 
and  irremediable.  In  the  revolution  of  1848  her 
ancient  and  despotic  government  was  assailed, 
not  only  as  other  German  governments  were,  by 
political  malcontents  seeking  reforms  in  domestic 
administration,  but  the  animosities  of  race  came  in 
and  threatened  the  heterogeneous  dominion  of  the 
Kaiser  with  absolute  dissolution. 

On  the  first  tumultuous  outbreak  in  Vienna  in 
March,  1848,  the  universal  cry  was  for  the  liberty 
of  the  press,  religious  liberty,  universal  education, 
a  general  arming  of  the  people,  a  constitution,  and 
the  unity  of  Germany.  "  Long  live  free  and  inde- 
pendent Germany !"  "  Long  live  the  Italians  in 
arms!"  " Long  live  the  Magyars  !"  "  Long  live 
the  patriots  of  Prague !"  Such  were  the  cries  which 
rose  from  the  crowd,  and  were  no  sooner  heard 
than  they  were  frantically  cheered.  Though  the 
insurgents  were  for  the  most  part  cultured  men, 
students  from  the  university  and  professors,  Prince 
Metternich  was  subjected  to  personal  outrage;  and 
having  resigned  his  office,  he  retreated  into  England. 
The  insurrection  conquered  the  government  at 
Vienna,  at  Presburg,  and  at  Prague.  The  Mag- 
yars of  Hungary,  under  the  leadership  of  Kossuth, 
and  the  Tchecks  of  Bohemia,  endeavoured  to 
secure  the  independence  of  their  several  countries, 
retaining  the  emperor  of  Austria  as  their  nominal 
king.  The  Tchecks,  being  of  Sclavonic  race, 
sought  a  union  of  all  the  Sclaves  of  Europe, 
including  the  inhabitants  of  Croatia,  Sclavonia, 
Servia,  Bohemia,  Moravia,  Livonia,  and  Gallicia, 
and  looked  ultimately  to  the  czar  of  Kussia  as 
their  chief.  Panslavism,  however,  was  a  doctrine 
that  was  not  sustained  by  any  practical  or  vital 
force.  A  violent  revolt  of  the  people  took  place 
at  Prague,  where  the  governor's  wife,  the  Princess 
Windischgratz,  was  killed  in  a  cowardly  manner  as 
she  stood  at  a  window,  by  a  shot  fired  from  the  crowd, 
and  soon  after  the  town  was  bombarded  into  sub- 
mission. The  proud,  aristocratic  Magyars,  on  their 
side,  demanded  the  elimination  of  every  German 
element  from  the  administration  of  Hungary,  and 
the  concession  of  self-government  to  their  race. 
The  emperor  yielded  so  far  as  to  grant  a  constitu- 
tion, by  which  Hungary,  Transylvania,  and  Croatia 
were  erected  into  a  separate  kingdom,  having  its 
own  ministers,  legislature,  taxes,  its  own  army  and 
civil  and  municipal  government.  Other  parts  of 
the  empire  participated  in  the  benefits  of  like  con- 
cessions.   But  a  reaction  soon  commenced.    The 


30 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


four  or  five  million  Magyars  wished  to  be  themselves 
free  from  German  control,  hut  they  grudged  theposi- 
tion  of  equality  granted  to  their  ruder  neighbours, 
the  Croats.  United  by  the  Hungarian  constitution 
with  that  kingdom,  the  Croatians,  Sclavonians  by 
descent,  perceived  only  a  fatal  deterioration  of 
their  position  in  the  predominance  of  the  Magyar 
magnates  and  race  in  the  National  Assembly  at 
Pesth.  The  ancient  hatred  of  Sclavonian  to 
Magyar  broke  forth  with  unextinguishable  fury 
at  this  prospect.  Too  weak  to  contend,  either 
in  the  field  or  the  Assembly,  with  the  Hunga- 
rian power,  the  Croatians  saw  no  prospect  of  pro- 
tection but  in  the  German  race  and  the  shield 
of  the  emperor.  "  The  emperor,  and  the  unity 
of  the  empire,"  became  in  this  manner  the  war- 
cry  of  the  Croatians,  as  that  of  "  the  unity  and 
independence  of  Hungary  "  was  of  the  Magyars. 
No  sooner,  accordingly,  did  it  distinctly  appear 
what  turn  affairs  were  taking,  and  the  pretensions  of 
the  Magyars  were  openly  declared,  than  a  deputation 
from  Croatia  set  out  for  Vienna,  to  lay  before  the 
emperor  the  assurances  of  their  devotion  and  the 
expression  of  their  apprehensions.  They  were 
willing  to  spend  the  last  drop  of  their  blood  in 
behalf  of  the  imperial  crown,  and  to  preserve  the 
integrity  of  the  empire;  but  they  could  not  hope 
for  success  unless  he  placed  at  their  head  a  chief 
in  whom  they  had  confidence.  Jellachich  alone 
was  this  man.  The  deputation  met  with  the  most 
favourable  reception ;  mutual  confidence  was  at 
once  established  from  the  perception  of  common 
danger.  Jellachich  was  immediately  elevated 
to  the  rank  of  Ban,  or  governor  of  Croatia,  and 
shortly  afterwards  created  field-marshal,  council- 
lor of  the  empire,  colonel- commandant  of  two 
regiments,  and  commander-in-chief  of  the  provinces 
of  Bannat,  Warasdin,  and  Carlsbadt,  in  the 
Illyrian  districts. 

The  emperor  now  fled  from  Vienna  to  the 
Tyrol,  and  thence  issued  a  proclamation  con- 
demning the  violence  of  his  German  and  Hunga- 
rian subjects.  The  Croats,  on  their  side,  publicly 
declared  that  they  would  never  consent  to  the 
separation  of  Hungary  from  the  imperial  crown, 
and  prepared  to  support  their  declaration  by  force 
of  arms,  averring  that  they  would  prefer  the  knout 
of  the  Russians  to  the  insolence  of  the  Magyar. 
The  bitterness  of  feeling  between  the  opposing 
parties  found  expression  at  a  conference  which 
took  place  at  Vienna  on  the  29th  of  July.     M. 


Bach,  the  minister  of  justice,  and  Baron  Jellachich, 
supported  it,  on  the  one  side ;  Count  Louis  Bathiany 
and  Prince  Esterhazy,  on  the  other.  It  began  in 
a  solemn  manner,  and  with  measured  expressions 
on  both  sides ;  but  ere  long  the  intensity  of  feeling 
broke  through  their  courtly  restraints,  and  the 
debate  became  animated  and  violent  in  the  highest 
degree.  "  Between  the  cabinets  of  Pesth  and 
Vienna,"  said  Count  Bathiany,  "  there  is  now  an 
insurmountable  barrier."  ' :  Which  you  have  raised 
up  yourselves,"  replied  Bach.  Take  care,  count, 
there  is  behind  that  barrier  on  your  side  an  abyss, 
the  name  of  which  is  Revolution."  "  And  who 
has  dug  that  abyss?"  "  You  know  better  than  we 
do;  ask  Kossuth.  Meanwhile,  I  will  tell  you  what 
will  fill  it  up,  oceans  of  blood,  thousands  of  corpses; 
perhaps  your  own,  count."  Before  separating, 
Count  Bathiany  approached  Jellachich,  and  taking 
him  by  the  hand,  said,  "  For  the  last  time,  do  you 
wish  peace  or  war?"  "  We  wish  for  peace,"  replied 
the  Ban,  "  if  the  Magyars,  better  inspired  than  they 
now  are,  are  willing  to  render  to  Caesar  what  be- 
longs to  Caesar,  and  to  Austria  what  belongs  to 
Austria ;  but  if  they  persist  in  wishing  to  shiver  to 
pieces  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  empire,  then 
we  are  for  war."  "May  God  protect  the  right," 
replied  Bathiany ;  "  the  sabre  must  now  decide 
betwixt  us.  Adieu,  baron;  I  assign  a  rendezvous 
on  the  banks  of  the  Drave."  "  We  shall  meet  be- 
fore on  those  of  the  Danube,"  replied  Jellachich ;  and 
he  was  as  good  as  his  word.  With  these  words 
they  separated,  and  both  sides  prepared  for  war. 

Taking  advantage  of  this  national  animosity, 
and  acting  upon  their  old  maxim,  Divide  et  impera, 
the  Austrian  government  set  about  reducing  Hun- 
gary to  submission  by  means  of  Jellachich  and  his 
Croats.  The  ultimatum  they  sent  to  Pesth  was 
that  the  ministries  of  war,  finance,  and  foreign 
affairs  in  Hungary  should  be  united  to  those  of 
Vienna,  and  that  an  entire  community  of  right 
should  be  established  between  all  the  inhabitants 
of  Austria  and  Hungary,  be  they  Magyars,  Ger- 
mans, Croats,  Slovaks,  or  Servians.  The  last 
clause  was  especially  distasteful  to  the  proud 
Magyar.  Hostilities  were  precipitated  by  the 
barbarous  murder  of  Count  Lamberg  on  the 
bridge  at  Pesth,  where  he  was  attacked  by  an 
infuriated  mob  as  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  Diet 
to  present  the  emperor's  rescripts.  The  fear  of 
being  deprived  of  their  newly-recovered  nation- 
ality, and  of  being  again  absorbed  in  the  despotism 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


31 


of  Austria,  maddened  the  populace.     The  war  in 
Hungary  had   scarce  begun  when  a  fresh  revo- 
lution, aided  by  a  mutiny  of  the  soldiers,  broke 
out  in  Vienna,  resulting  in  fearful  carnage,  and  the 
murder  of  Count  Latour,  the  minister  of  war.    The 
emperor  again  fled  from  his   capital  (October  7, 
1848),  which  was  left  in  the  hands  of  the  insur- 
gents until  the  arrival  of  Jellachich  from  Hungary, 
and  Windischgratz  from  Bohemia,  each  with  an 
army,  turned  the  scale  against  them.      The  barri- 
cades were  stormed,  and  after  a  stubborn  resistance 
carried  with  great  slaughter.     The  town  was  set 
on  fire  in  six  and  twenty  different  places,  and  the 
rebels,  with  their  leader,  the  Polish  General  Bern, 
capitulated.     While  the  terms  of  capitulation  were 
being  carried  out,  however,  an  army  of  Hungarians 
was  seen  approaching  the  city  to  assist  the  insur- 
gents; and  all  the  tumultuous  excitement  began 
again,  to  be  rigorously  and  finally  suppressed  with 
fire  and  sword.      Though  the  imperial  authority 
was  thus  far  restored,  the  burden  of  government 
was  too  heavy  for  the  Emperor  Ferdinand  to  bear. 
On  the  2nd  December,  at  Olmutz,  he  abdicated 
the   throne    in    favour   of  Francis   Joseph,   then 
eighteen  years  of  age,  and  the  son  of  Francis  Carl, 
the   emperor's  brother,  who  also   renounced  his 
right  to  the  crown.     In  his  first  proclamation  the 
young  emperor  boasted  that  "  Austria  had  crushed 
the  rebellion  in  Lombardy,  driven  back  the  Pied- 
montese    into    their    own    territory,    planted    the 
Austrian  flag  again  in  triumph  on  the  walls  of 
Milan,  which  had  for  centuries  been  a  fief  of  the 
house  of  Hapsburg."     In  Hungary,  too,  he  added, 
"  the  imperial  arms  have  been  uniformly  success- 
ful, and  there  is  every  reason  to  expect  a  victorious 
issue  to  the  campaign."     Much  had  to  be  done 
before  that  expectation  was   fulfilled.      Kossuth, 
the    president    of    Hungary,    Bern,    Dembinski, 
Georgey,  Klapka,  and  other  military  leaders,  with 
their  brave  troops,  taxed  all  the  energies  of  the 
veteran   Windischgratz,  who   strove  manfully  to 
restore  imperial  authority  in  the  rebellious  king- 
dom.    At   length    General   Piickner  being    in   a 
strait   solicited   the   aid   of  the  Russian   General 
Luders,  who  at  once  sent  troops  across  the  fron- 
tier   from    Wallachia,    where    he    was    stationed. 
This  happened  in  the  month  of  February,  1849, 
yet  in  April  the  Hungarians  recovered  possession 
of  their  capital  Pesth,  and  threatened  the  safety 
of  Vienna  itself.     On  the  14th  of  April  Kossuth 
issued  the  proclamation  of  Hungarian  independ- 


ence, to  the  great  displeasure  of  Georgey  and  the 
Magyar  aristocratic  party,  who  desired  to  maintain 
the  union  with  Austria.  Russian  aid  was  once 
more  invoked  by  the  Kaiser,  and  the  Emperor 
Nicholas,  hating  democracy  and  uneasy  about 
Poland,  was  only  too  glad  to  assist  in  crushing 
the  independence  of  such  dangerous  neighbours 
as  the  Magyar  republicans,  while  he  laid  an 
onerous  obligation  upon  the  emperor  of  Austria. 

Unfortunately  for  the  Hungarian  cause,  General 
Georgey  had  an  invincible  repugnance  to  Kossuth 
and  his  schemes  for  independence,  and  was  as  a 
matter  of  course  not  trusted  by  him  with  the 
command  of  all  the  troops.  This  division  in 
the  camp  proved  a  more  potent  auxiliary  to 
the  Austrians  than  even  the  Muscovite  bayonets. 
After  several  bloody  battles,  in  which  prodigies  of 
valour  were  performed,  the  cause  of  the  Magyars 
was  by  the  month  of  August  rendered  utterly 
desperate.  Kossuth's  eloquent  proclamation  of 
that  date  well  expresses  the  condition  into  which 
they  had  fallen : — 

"  After  several  unfortunate  battles,  in  which 
God,  in  the  latter  days,  has  proved  the  Hungarian 
nation,  we  have  no  longer  any  hope  of  continuing 
with  success  our  defensive  struggles  against  the 
considerable  forces  of  the  Austrians  and  Russians. 
In  this  state  of  affairs,  the  safety  of  the  nation 
and  the  security  for  its  future  have  come  to 
depend  entirely  on  the  general  who  is  at  the  head 
of  the  army;  and  I  am  profoundly  convinced  that 
the  prolonged  existence  of  the  present  government 
would  not  only  be  useless  to  the  nation,  but  might 
be  attended  with  serious  evils.  I  make  known  to 
the  nation,  as  well  in  the  name  of  myself  as  of  the 
entire  ministry,  that,  animated  by  the  same  senti- 
ments which  have  guided  all  my  steps,  and  induced 
the  sacrifice  of  my  entire  existence  to  the  good 
of  our  country,  I  retire  from  the  government,  and 
invest  with  supreme  military  and  civil  power  the 
general,  Arthur  Georgey,  until  the  nation,  in  the 
exercise  of  its  rights,  sees  fit  to  dispose  of  it  other- 
wise. May  he  love  his  fatherland  as  disinterestedly 
as  I  have  done,  and  may  he  be  more  fortunate 
than  I  have  been  in  securing  the  prosperity  of  the 
nation  !  I  can  no  longer  be  of  use  to  the  country 
by  my  actions ;  if  my  death  can  be  of  any  service  to 
it,  I  willingly  give  it  the  sacrifice  of  my  life.  May 
the  God  of  justice  and  mercy  be  with  the  nation! 
"  KOSSUTH. 

"Dated,  Foktkess  of  Aead,  August  11,  1849." 


32 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


This  transfer  of  authority  was  effected  in  the 
hope  that  Georgey  would  obtain  better  terms  from 
the  Kussians  than  the  democrat  leader  was  likely 
to  do.  On  the  13th  of  August  the  Hungarian 
army,  28,000  strong,  laid  down  their  arms,  and 
Georgey  surrendered  to  Count  Eudiger.  Austria 
once  more  swayed  the  country,  and  glutted  her 
vengeance  by  the  death  of  many  of  the  brave 
Magyar  officers  on  the  scaffold.  They  were  in 
some  sort  avenged  by  the  acrimonious  feelings 
that  arose  between  the  conquerors,  the  Austrians 
and  Eussians,  each  of  whom  affected  to  ignore  the 
services  of  the  other  during  the  campaign.  The 
sore  feeling  that  arose  from  this  unlucky  alliance 
engendered  a  covert  enmity  that  did  effective  mis- 
chief to  Eussia  during  the  Crimean  war,  and  of 
which  the  world  may  possibly  yet  see  bitter  fruit. 

Austria  had  barely  passed  ten  years'  breathing 
time  when  Eussia  had  the  grim  satisfaction  of  seeing 
her  exposed  to  a  violent  and  unjustifiable  attack 
from  France.  By  the  joint  action  of  French  and 
Italian  diplomacy  matters  were  so  contrived  that 
Austria  was  led  to  take  the  first  warlike  step  ;  and 
in  the  hope  of  repeating  Eadetzky's  Novara  cam- 
paign, her  army  crossed  the  Ticino  into  Piedmontese 
territory  on  the  26th  of  April,  1859.  This  was 
made  the  ostensible  ground  of  French  interference, 
and  on  the  3rd  of  May  Napoleon  III.  issued  a  pro- 
clamation declaring  war  against  Austria.  It  was 
in  this  proclamation  that  he  charged  the  Austrian 
government  with  having  brought  things  to  that 
extremity  "that  either  she  must  rule  right  up  to 
the  Alps,  or  Italy  must  be  free  as  far  as  the  Adriatic." 
"  The  end  of  this  war,"  he  continued,  "is  to  restore 
Italy  to  herself,  not  to  give  her  a  change  of  masters  ; 
and  we  shall  have  on  our  frontiers  a  friendly  people 
who  will  owe  to  us  their  independence." 

The  French  emperor  did  feel,  nevertheless,  the 
sting  of  certain  expressions  in  the  manifesto  of 
Francis  Joseph,  that  seemed  aimed  at  the  Bona- 
partist  policy.  "  When  the  shadows  of  revolution," 
said  the  Kaiser,  "  which  imperil  the  most  precious 
gifts  of  humanity,  threatened  the  whole  of  Europe, 
Providence  made  use  of  the  sword  of  Austria  to 
dissipate  those  shadows.  We  are  again  on  the  eve 
of  one  of  those  epochs,  in  which  doctrines  subversive 
of  all  order  are  preached,  not  only  by  sectarians, 
but  are  hurled  upon  the  world  from  the  height  of 
thrones.'"  This  was  the  voice  of  a  champion  of 
legitimacy  challenging  the  monarch  who  reigned 
by  the  will  of  the  nation,  and  who  represented  in 


some  sort  the  principles  of  the  Eevolution  of  1789. 
The  emperor  quitted  the  Tuileries  on  the  10th  of 
May  to  join  his  army,  which  had  entered  Piedmont 
by  Mont  Cenis,  the  Col  de  Genevre,  and  by  Genoa, 
and  established  his  head-quarters  at  Alessandria. 
The  first  engagement  took  place  at  Montebello  on 
the  20th  of  May,  and  on  the  4th  of  June  occurred 
the  general  action  of  Magenta,  in  which  the 
Austrians  were  defeated  by  General  MacMahon, 
who  won  the  title  of  duke  and  the  baton  of  a  field- 
marshal.  The  emperor  had  directed  the  previous 
movements  of  the  army,  and  in  order  to  signalize 
his  mastery  of  the  art  of  war  had  placed  the  French 
army  in  a  position  that  a  prompt  and  skilful  enemy 
might  have  used  to  his  ruin — a  movement  not 
unlike  that  which  has  led  to  the  disaster  of  Sedan. 
To  avoid  making  a  direct  attack  on  Giulay's  two 
strongest  positions  at  Pavia  and  Piacenza,  the 
Austrian  left,  Napoleon  led  the  whole  of  his  army 
against  the  enemy's  right  at  Buffalora,  on  the  upper 
Ticino ;  his  object  being  to  make  the  Austrians 
abandon  their  positions  and  accept  battle  on  ground 
that  was  not  of  their  own  choice.  The  danger  of 
this  movement,  which  began  on  the  28th  of  May 
and  was  not  completed  till  the  2nd  of  June,  was 
extreme,  as  it  was  performed  at  a  very  short  distance 
from  the  enemy,  who,  with  but  a  small  display  of 
alertness,  might  have  attacked  the  French  on  their 
march  and  destroyed  them  in  detail.  The  victory 
of  Magenta  followed  by  that  of  Melcgnano  dislodged 
the  Austrians  from  Milanese  territory;  and  on  the 
9th  of  June  Napoleon  and  Victor  Emmanuel  made 
their  solemn  entry  into  Milan.  The  emperor,  in 
an  address  to  the  Milanese,  defended  himself  from 
the  charge  of  personal  ambition.  "If  there  are 
men,"  said  he,  "  who  do  not  understand  their  epoch, 
I  am  not  of  the  number.  In  the  enlightened  state 
of  public  opinion,  a  man  is  greater  nowadays  by 
the  moral  influence  he  exercises  than  by  sterile 
conquests ;  and  this  moral  influence  I  seek,  proud  to 
aid  in  giving  Hberty  to  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
parts  of  Europe."  The  master  of  legions  was  also 
a  great  master  of  phrases.  But  the  war  was  not 
over,  and  the  decisive  battle  of  the  campaign  was 
fought  on  ground  that  had  long  been  con- 
secrated to  war.  The  Austrian  General  Giulay 
having  proved  his  incompetence  at  Magenta,  the 
young  Kaiser  himself  assumed  the  command  of  the 
army,  with  General  Hess  for  his  right  hand.  The 
army  of  Germans  had  retired  to  Mantua  and  Verona, 
and  the  French  emperor  with  Iris  marshals,  together 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


with  Victor  Emmanuel  and  the  Sardinian  army, 
went  marching  on  secure  in  the  thought  that  their 
antagonists  were  on  the  other  side  the  Mincio,  when 
suddenly  they  found  themselves  opposed  by  140,000 
armed  men.  On  the  23rd  of  June  General  Hess 
had  caused  this  vast  army  to  sally  out  from  the 
Quadrilateral,  and  re-occupy  positions  which  they 
had  but  partially  abandoned  three  days  before. 
Though  uninformed  as  to  the  exact  whereabouts 
of  his  enemy,  the  general  had  formed  a  skilful  plan 
to  be  executed  on  the  battlefield,  near  Castiglione, 
where  Prince  Eugene  in  Marlborough's  day,  and 
Napoleon  I.  more  recently,  had  severally  exhibited 
their  military  genius.  The  Austrians  occupied  a 
space  of  hilly  ground  ahnost  in  the  form  of  a  paral- 
lelogram about  twelve  miles  long  and  nine  wide, 
the  centre  of  which  was  Cavriana,  where  Francis 
Joseph  established  his  headquarters.  The  key  of 
the  position  was  the  village  of  Solferino,  which 
stands  on  an  eminence  commanding  a  most  exten- 
sive view  of  the  country.  From  the  summit  of  a 
tower  in  this  village,  named  the  "  watch-tower  of 
Italy,"  the  eye  embraces  an  extent  of  country 
reaching  from  the  Alps  to  the  Apennines.  Man- 
tua, Verona,  Ceresara,  Bozzolo,  Cremona,  and 
the  broad  plain  beside  it  are  distinctly  visible. 
The  Lake  of  Garda,  the  bluest  and  most  trans- 
parent sheet  of  water  in  the  Italian  peninsula, 
appears  on  the  edge  of  the  farthest  slope  of  hills 
stretching  away  into  the  heart  of  the  Tyrolese 
Alps.  The  battle  to  which  this  village  has  given 
a  name,  identified  as  it  is  with  the  liberation  of 
Italy  from  the  Austrian  yoke,  merits  a  brief  notice. 
The  French  troops  began  their  forward  movement 
before  dawn  on  Midsummer  day,  and  by  five 
o'clock  had  commenced  a  battle  which  lasted  alto- 
gether sixteen  hours.  When  Napoleon  arrived  at 
Castiglione,  ascending  the  steeple  of  St.  Peter's 
church,  he  surveyed  the  whole  ground,  being 
directed  by  the  smoke  of  the  guns  to  the  move- 
ments of  the  different  corps.  To  the  left  Baraguay 
d'Hilliers  was  encountering  a  tremendous  artillery 
fire  from  the  enemy,  while  MacMahon  was  advan- 
cing towards  him  through  the  fields  bordering  the 
Mantua  road.  The  several  French  corps  had  been 
marching  too  widely  apart,  and  the  Austrians  had 
very  nearly  succeeded  in  separating  them  one  from 
the  other.  General  Niel  was  in  such  expectation 
of  being  outflanked  by  the  enemy,  that  he  sent 
word  to  Canrobert  that  it  was  impossible  to  afford 
him  any  support  until  their  respective  corps  had 


effected  a  junction.  As  the  battle  proceeded,  the 
hill  of  Solferino  became  the  object  of  the  severest 
contest.  Regiment  after  regiment  was  driven 
back  by  the  Austrians,  under  Stadion,  with 
fearful  loss  to  the  French  as  they  ascended  the 
slopes,  but  at  length  the  mount  was  occupied  and 
the  Austrian  artillery  captured.  The  Tower  Hill, 
still  higher  up,  continued  to  be  most  vigorously 
defended.  At  length  General  Forey  gave  orders 
to  storm  the  steep  ascent.  The  drums  beat,  the 
trumpets  sounded;  shouts  of  "Vive  l'Empereur" 
rent  the  air;  voltigeurs  of  the  imperial  guard, 
chasseurs,  and  battalions  of  the  line,  rushed  to  the 
assault  with  an  impetuosity  that  the  Austrians 
could  not  withstand.  The  heights  were  covered 
in  a  moment  by  thousands  of  French  troops,  and 
the  tower  of  Solferino  was  won.  Leboeuf  brought 
his  artillery  to  bear  on  the  retreating  regiments,  but 
the  battle  still  raged  furiously  along  the  extensive 
field.  The  Sardinians  and  their  king  at  San  Martino 
had  a  fierce  struggle  with  his  terrible  antagonist, 
Benedek,  and  20,000  Austrians.  About  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  the  Algerian  sharpshooters  and 
the  voltigeurs  of  the  guard,  after  a  hand  to  hand 
fight  with  the  prince  of  Hesse's  division,  carried 
Cavriana,  the  Kaiser's  headquarters,  and  a  general 
retreat  of  the  Austrians  became  inevitable.  Two 
hours  afterwards  the  house  which  had  been  the 
temporary  dwelling  of  Francis  Joseph  opened  its 
doors  to  receive  the  rival  emperor.  When  the 
retreat  began  the  scene  of  battle  was  visited  by 
a  fearful  tempest — one  of  those  summer  storms 
which  envelope  in  a  whirlwind  of  rain  and  fire 
the  region  they  fall  on.  Dark  clouds  hung  over, 
and  thunder  and  lightning  rivalled  with  their  ele- 
mental horror  the  glare  and  clamour  of  the  contend- 
ing artillery  below.  When  the  storm  abated,  the 
French  resumed  the  offensive,  and  Canrobert,  who 
had  been  inactive  all  day,  came  to  continue,  in  the 
plain  below  Cavriana,the  conflict  that  had  been  car- 
ried on  with  so  much  stubborn  valour  all  day  upon 
the  hills.  Night  came  at  last  to  close  the  dreadful 
scene,  the  Austrians  retiring  in  good  order,  and 
with  a  feeling  that  though  they  had  been  defeated, 
the  French  had  paid  dearly  for  their  victory.  The 
Austrians  retired  beyond  the  Adige,  and  after  a 
short  week's  pause  the  French  army  followed 
them,  crossing  the  Mincio  on  the  30th  of  June. 
Another  battle  seemed  at  hand,  which,  as  the 
Italians  hoped,  would  drive  their  German  masters 
out  of  the  country,  and  liberate  the  peninsula  from 


34 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  Alps  to  the  Adriatic.  But  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  had  a  surprise  in  store  for  them.  Two 
days  after  the  battle  of  Solferino,  Count  Cavour 
and  his  secretary  Nigra  had  a  long  interview  with 
the  emperor,  whom  they  found  very  proud  of  the 
achievements  of  his  army  and  its  triumphs  over 
the  Austrians,  but  much  disgusted  with  the  quar- 
rels of  his  generals,  and  deeply  impressed  with  the 
horrible  nature  of  the  scenes  he  had  for  the  first  time 
witnessed  on  the  battlefield.  They  were  made  to 
understand,  however,  that  the  war  would  proceed, 
and  that  his  Majesty  was  lending  a  favourable  ear 
to  the  requests  of  the  Hungarian  refugees,  who 
demanded  help  for  the  liberation  of  their  country 
from  Austrian  domination. 

But  there  was  work  enough  yet  in  Italy  if  the 
formidable  fortresses  of  the  Quadrilateral  were  to 
be  taken.  On  the  7th  of  May  the  French  were 
ranged  about  Valeggio  in  strong  military  array 
in  expectation  of  a  general  engagement,  which  it 
was  thought  the  enemy  was  not  unwilling  to  com- 
mence, when  General  Floury  returned  from  a  secret 
mission  on  which  he  had  been  sent  to  Verona. 
This  was  no  less  than  a  proposal  for  peace, 
which  Napoleon,  in  his  mysterious,  theatrical  way, 
had  sent  the  night  before  to  the  Emperor  Francis 
Joseph,  without  saying  a  word  to  his  ally  Victor 
Emmanuel,  or  to  any  of  his  marshals  save  Vaillant. 
He  had  soon  tired  of  the  war,  and  probably  began 
to  feel  that  he  might  do  too  much  for  Sardinia, 
which  now  showed  signs  of  absorbing  all  Italy, 
and  that  a  show  of  generosity  to  Austria  might 
secure  him  a  powerful  friend  in  the  person  of  a 
legitimate  emperor,  to  say  nothing  of  hints  and 
rumours  that  Prussia  might  interfere.  So,  as  his 
biographer  says,  "by  a  sudden  inspiration,  he 
resolved  to  propose  an  armistice  in  the  middle 
of  his  victorious  army's  march.  The  conqueror 
asks  for  peace,  what  grandeur !  moderation  in  vic- 
tory is  so  rare."  The  Kaiser  was  taken  so  much 
by  surprise,  that  he  suspected  a  snare,  and  deferred 
his  answer  to  Napoleon's  letter,  which  he  received 
on  the  6th  July,  till  the  morrow.  An  interview 
was  agreed  upon,  and  the  two  sovereigns  met  on 
the  11th  at  Villafranca,  a  village  half-way  between 
Solferino  and  Verona.  It  was  arranged  with  all 
those  accessories  that  the  French  know  so  well 
how  to  employ,  in  order  to  produce  a  dramatic 
effect.  Napoleon  rode  at  the  head  of  his  troops 
until  he  saw  Francis  Joseph  approaching  at  the 
head   of  his    escort,    when    he   galloped   forward 


alone  to  meet  him,  and  the  two  emperors  having 
shaken  hands,  dismounted,  entered  the  house  of 
a  M.  Morelli,  in  Villafranca,  and  in  a  conversa- 
tion of  nearly  two  hours,  settled  the  preliminaries 
of  the  peace  of  Villafranca,  which  were  ratified 
subsequently  by  the  treaty  of  Zurich.  These 
preliminaries  consisted  of  seven  clauses: — 1.  The 
two  sovereigns  are  favourable  to  the  creation  of 
an  Italian  confederation.  2.  This  confederation 
shall  be  under  the  honorary  presidency  of  the 
Holy  Father.  3.  The  emperor  of  Austria  cedes 
to  the  emperor  of  the  French  his  rights  over 
Lombardy,  with  the  exception  of  the  fortresses  of 
Mantua  and  Peschiera,  in  such  a  manner  as  that 
the  frontier  of  the  Austrian  possessions  shall  start 
from  the  farthest  radius  of  the  fortress  of  Peschiera, 
and  extend  in  a  straight  line  along  the  Mincio  as 
far  as  Grazia;  from  thence  to  Scarzarola  and  Suzana 
to  the  Po,  whence  the  existing  frontier  line  shall 
continue  to  form  the  borders  of  Austria.  The 
emperor  of  the  French  will  transfer  the  ceded 
territory  to  the  king  of  Sardinia.  4.  Venetia 
shall  form  part  of  the  Italian  confederation  while 
remaining  under  the  crown  of  the  emperor  of 
Austria.  5.  The  grand  duke  of  Tuscany  and 
the  duke  of  Modena  shall  re-enter  their  states  on 
granting  a  general  amnesty.  6.  The  two  emperors 
will  request  the  Holy  Father  to  introduce  the 
reforms  that  are  indispensable  in  his  states.  7. 
A  full  and  complete  amnesty  is  granted  on  both 
sides  to  all  persons  compromised  by  recent  events 
in  the  territories  of  the  belligerents. 

What  a  falling  off  was  here  from  the  mighty 
plan  on  which  the  Italians  had  built  their  lofty  and 
sanguine  hopes !  Deep  and  bitter  was  the  dis- 
appointment to  them.  The  people  felt  that  the 
dignity  of  their  honest  king,  and  of  the  whole 
nation,  had  been  lowered,  and  their  most  cherished 
ambitions  thwarted.  Victor  Emmanuel  bore 
himself  with  the  composure  of  a  king,  and  coldly 
thanked  Louis  Napoleon  for  the  service  he  had 
rendered  to  Italy.  To  Cavour  the  news  of  the 
peace  was  a  crushing  blow.  He  seemed,  says 
Professor  Botta,  to  feel  the  concentrated  bitterness 
of  the  nation.  The  cry  of  anguish  which  arose 
from  the  Italians  fell  upon  his  heart  like  a  reproach, 
and  the  blood  of  those  who  had  fallen  on  the 
plains  of  Lombardy  cried  to  him  from  the  ground. 
The  very  darkness  in  which  he  was  left  as  to  the 
motives  of  that  sudden  interview  made  him  suspect 
that  he  and  his  country  had  been  betrayed.     For 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


35 


a  time  lie  lost  his  usual  self-control,  and  in  a  stormy 
interview  with  his  royal  master,  declined  to  see 
the  emperor,  urged  the  king  to  reject  the  terms  of 
peace,  to  recall  his  army,  and  to  leave  Napoleon 
to  his  designs.  His  advice  not  being  accepted,  he 
resigned  office,  and  retired  to  his  country  seat  at 
Leri,  feeling  that  the  destinies  of  Italy  had  been 
transferred  from  the  hands  of  men  of  action  to 
those  of  diplomatists  with  whom  he  knew  himself 
to  be  in  bad  odour.  The  whole  story  and  its 
moral  are  well  summed  up  in  a  simple  poem  by 
Mrs.  Barrett  Browning,  entitled  "  A  Tale  of  Villa- 
franca:" — 

My  little  son,  my  Florentine, 

Sit  down  beside  my  knee, 
And  I  will  tell  you  why  the  sign 

Of  joy  which  flushed  our  Italy 
Has  faded  since  but  yesternight; 
And  why  your  Florence  of  delight 

Is  mourning  as  you  see. 

A  great  man  (who  was  crowned  one  day) 

Imagined  a  great  deed  : 
He  shaped  it  out  of  cloud  and  clay; 

He  touched  it  finely  till  the  seed 
Possessed  the  flower:  from  heart  and  brain 
He  fed  it  with  large  thoughts  humane, 

To  help  a  people's  need. 

He  brought  it  out  into  the  sun — 

They  blessed  it  to  his  face : 
"  Oh,  great  pure  deed,  that  hast  undone 

So  many  bad  and  base ! 
0  generous  deed,  heroic  deed, 
Come  forth,  be  perfected,  succeed, 

Deliver  by  God's  grace ! " 

Then  sovereigns,  statesmen,  north  and  south, 

Rose  up  in  wrath  and  fear, 
And  cried,  protesting  by  one  mouth, 

What  monster  have  we  here  ? 
A  great  deed  at  this  hour  of  day  ? 
A  great  just  deed,  and  not  for  pay  ? 

Absurd or  insincere  ! 

"  And  if  sincere,  the  heavier  blow 

In  that  case  we  shall  bear ; 
For  where's  our  blessed  status  quo, 

Our  holy  treaties,  where 
Our  rights  to  sell  a  race,  or  buy, 
Protect  and  pillage,  occupy, 

And  civilize  despair?" 

Some  muttered  that  the  great  deed  meant 

A  great  pretest  to  sin ; 
And  others,  the  pretext,  so  lent, 

Was  heinous  (to  begin). 
Volcanic  terms  of  great  and  just? 
Admit  such  tongues  of  flame,  the  crust 

Of  time  and  law  falls  in. 

A  great  deed  in  this  world  of  ours 

Unheard  of  the  pretence  is  : 
It  threatens  plainly  the  great  powers  ; 

Is  fatal  in  all  senses. 
A  great  just  deed  in  the  world  ? — call  out 
The  rifles !  be  not  slack  about 

The  national  defences. 

And  many  murmured,  "  From  this  source 

What  red  blood  must  be  poured  ! " 
And  some  rejoined,  "Tis  even  worse; 

What  red  tape  is  ignored!" 


All  cursed  the  doer  for  an  evil, 
Called  here,  enlarging  on  the  devil, 
There,  monkeying  the  Lord. 

Some  said,  it  could  not  be  explained  ; 

Some,  could  not  be  excused ; 
And  others,  "  Leave  it  unrestrained, 

Gehenna's  self  is  loosed." 
And  all  cried,  '*  Crush  it,  maim  it,  gag  it ! 
Set  dog-toothed  lies  to  tear  it  ragged, 

Truncated,  and  traduced!" 

But  he  stood  sad  before  the  sun: 

(The  peoples  felt  their  fate). 
"  The  world  is  many,  I  am  one ; 

My  great  deed  was  too  great. 
God's  fruit  of  justice  ripens  slow  ; 
Men's  souls  are  narrow;  let  them  grow. 

My  brothers,  we  must  wait." 

The  tale  is  ended,  child  of  mine, 

Turned  graver  at  my  knee. 
They  say  your  eyes,  my  Florentine, 

Are  English  :  it  may  be : 
And  yet  I've  marked  as  blue  a  pair 
Following  the  doves  across  the  square, 

At  Venice  by  the  sea. 

Ah  child,  ah  child  !   I  cannot  say 

A  word  more.     You  conceive 
The  reason  now  why  just  to-day 

We  see  our  Florence  grieve. 
Ah  child,  look  up  into  the  sky  ! 
In  this  low  world,  where  great  deeds  die, 

What  matter  if  we  live? 

The  most  humiliating  part  of  the  transaction  to 
Sardinia  was  the  sacrifice  it  had  to  make  to  France, 
in  compliance  with  a  secret  treaty,  of  its  ancient 
possessions,  Savoy  and  Nice,  given  by  vote  of  the 
population,  be  it  said,  to  its  powerful  friend,  as 
a  "  compensation  and  for  the  rectification  of  his 
frontier."  On  the  other  hand  a  secret  stipulation 
made  by  Napoleon  at  Villafranca  was  of  immense 
service  to  Italy,  inaugurating  as  it  did  the  great 
principle  of  popular  sovereignty.  It  was  to  the 
effect  that  no  coercion  should  be  employed  to 
enforce  the  offensive  terms  of  the  treaty  there 
agreed  upon,  a  proviso  that  came  to  be  the  keystone 
of  Italian  nationality.  The  provinces  which  had 
been  freed  from  their  petty  tyrants  were,  said  the 
letter  of  the  treaty,  to  be  restored  to  them ;  but  the 
restoration  of  the  runaway  dukes  and  duchesses, 
and  the  re-establishment  of  his  Holiness's  authority 
over  the  Legations,  were  only  to  take  place  with 
the  concurrence  of  the  populations,  uninfluenced  by 
the  armed  force  of  foreign  powers.  The  Italians, 
in  fact,  for  the  first  time  since  the  middle  ages, 
were  really  left  to  themselves.  Alarmed  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  and  the  accompanying  mani- 
festations of  popular  feeling,  the  smaller  sovereigns 
had  fled  to  the  protecting  wing  of  Austria.  The 
government  of  their  states  then  devolved  upon  the 
Constitutional  Assemblies,  who  acted  with  promp- 


36 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


titude  and  vigour.  In  Modena  and  Parma  a  dic- 
tator was  appointed  in  the  person  of  Farini,  while 
the  Tuscans  conferred  similar  authority  on  Baron 
Ricasoli,  a  noble  of  the  antique  Koman  type.  The 
Legations,  which  had  cut  themselves  free  from 
the  papal  dominion,  acted  under  the  directions  of 
Cipriani.  With  these  men  Cavour  kept  up  continual 
communication,  for  though  no  longer  minister, 
he  was  the  recognized  leader  of  the  national  move- 
ment. When  he  discovered  that  non-intervention 
was  the  principle  of  the  Zurich  treaty,  he  felt  that 
Italy  would  be  able  after  all  to  achieve  unity  and 
consolidation,  spite  of  Napoleon's  schemes  for  a 
confederation.  The  people  of  the  Tuscan  and 
^Emihan  provinces  positively  refused  to  receive 
back  their  princes,  notwithstanding  the  urgent 
entreaties  of  the  emperor  of  the  French,  and 
declined  every  plan  of  adjustment  save  that  of 
annexation  to  Sardinia.  At  this  juncture,  in 
the  spring  of  1860,  Cavour  was  recalled  to  power, 
and  having  previously  mapped  out  the  central 
provinces  into  electoral  districts,  he  appealed  to  the 
inhabitants  to  elect  representatives  who  should  take 
their  seats  in  the  Parliament  of  Italy.  This  was 
done,  and  the  northern  part  of  the  peninsula  was 
united  under  Victor  Emmanuel,  the  constitutional 
king  of  Italy.  Well  might  the  king,  in  addressing 
the  new  Parliament,  congratulate  the  country  that 
"  Italy  was  no  longer  the  Italy  of  municipal  govern- 
ments, or  that  of  the  middle  ages,  but  the  Italy  of 
the  Italians."  Attended  by  his  minister,  he  went 
to  visit  the  new  dominions,  which  not  the  sword, 
says  Signor  Botta,  but  the  hearts  of  the  people, 
had  bestowed  upon  him.  The  enthusiasm  with 
which  the  visitors  were  received  in  the  ncwT  pro- 
vinces exceeds  description.  For  the  first  time  the 
sentiment  which  before  had  been  so  long  restrained 
by  the  boundaries  of  cities  and  states  overleaped  all 
barriers,  and  was  merged  in  the  deep  emotion  of 
patriotism;  all  traces  of  ancient  feuds  vanished; 
the  once' rival  cities  emulated  each  other  in  then- 
expressions  of  mutual  affection.  Genoa  restored 
to  Pisa  the  chains  of  her  harbour,  which  seized 
centuries  before,  had  been  retained  as  a  trophy ;  the 
sword  bequeathed  in  the  fourteenth  century  by 
Castruccio  Castracanito  him  who  should  deliver  the 
country,  was  presented  to  Victor  Emmanuel,  and 
Niccolini,  the  venerable  poet,  carried  to  the  king 
with  tottering  steps  his  master-piece,  the  "  Arnaldo 
de  Brescia,"  blessing  the  "kind  fate  that  had 
allowed  him,  before  his  eyes  closed  on  the  sweet 


air  of  Italy,  to  see  the  aspiration  of  his  life  accom- 
plished." 

But  another  act  of  the  great  drama  now  opens, 
another  hero  appears  on  the  stage  —  Guiseppe 
Garibaldi.  AVe  search  in  vain  the  archives  of 
history  for  heroic  deeds  and  marvellous  achieve- 
ments like  those  which,  at  the  time  here  spoken 
of,  sent  a  thrill  of  admiration  and  joy  through  the 
hearts  of  all  the  friends  of  liberty.  For  this, 
says  Sig.  Botta,  we  must  go  back  to  the  legendary 
ages,  when  the  gods  mingled  with  men,  the  ages 
of  Hercules  and  Theseus,  of  Odin  and  Thor. 
When  centuries  shall  have  passed,  and  Italy 
shall  again  have  reached  the  summit  of  her 
greatness,  the  memory  of  the  great  chieftain  will 
be  embellished  by  popular  imagination,  and  the 
name  of  Garibaldi  will  be  invested  with  a  mythical 
glory  surpassing  that  of  the  Cid  in  Spain,  and  Joan 
of  Arc  in  France.  On  the  11th  of  May,  1860, 
Garibaldi,  at  the  head  of  one  thousand  patriots, 
landed  at  Marsala.  He  came,  he  saw,  he  con- 
quered. Within  less  than  four  months  he  had 
delivered  ten  millions  of  Italians  from  the  hated 
yoke  of  the  Bourbons.  For  a  work  like  that 
which  Garibaldi  had  accomplished  Cavour  had  no 
power.  A  statesman  far  removed  from  revolutionary 
impulses,  his  genius  consisted  rather  in  directing 
events  than  forcing  them.  Believing  in  the  ulti- 
mate union  of  the  nations,  his  original  plan  had 
been  the  consolidation  of  northern  Italy  into  one 
kingdom,  which  should  gradually  absorb  the  entire 
peninsula.  But  the  peace  of  Villafranca  having 
defeated  that  design,  his  next  object  became  the 
annexation  of  central  Italy.  The  instinct  of  the 
people,  however,  outstripped  this  process  of  gradual 
absorption,  and  hastened  to  precipitate  the  imme- 
diate union  of  the  whole  country.  Of  this  instinct 
Garibaldi  was  the  great  representative.  Essentially 
a  man  of  the  masses,  sharing  their  virtues  as  well 
as  their  faults,  with  the  heart  of  a  Hon  in  the  frame 
of  an  athlete,  trained  amidst  the  tempests  of  the 
ocean,  and  on  the  battlefields  of  the  old  and  new 
worlds,  and  burning  with  the  fire  of  liberty  and 
patriotism,  the  hero  of  Caprera  became  the  leader 
of  the  national  movement  at  the  time  when  it 
began  to  assume  a  more  revolutionary  character. 

This  was  the  most  embarrassing  period  of  the 
political  career  of  Cavour.  On  one  hand  it  was  im- 
possible for  Sardinia  openly  to  take  part  in  the  expe- 
ditions of  Garibaldi,  directed  against  the  king  of  the 
Two  Sicilies,  still   on  his  throne,  and  with  whom 


THE  FRANCO-PKUSSIAN  WAR. 


37 


Victor  Emmanuel  held  neutral,  if  not  friendly  rela- 
tions. Such  a  step  would  prohably  have  induced 
Austria  again  to  take  the  field,  and  in  the  face 
of  such  a  flagrant  violation  of  international  law, 
France  would  have  been  unable  to  protect  the 
country  from  an  armed  intervention.  On  the 
other  hand,  that  movement  could  not  be  prevented 
without  seriously  endangering  the  national  cause. 
The  idea  of  political  unity  had  taken  such  deep 
hold  on  the  public  mind,  that  any  attempt  to 
check  its  development  would  have  resulted  in 
revolution.  Again,  the  court  of  Rome  was  gathering 
the  papist  mercenaries  of  Europe  to  its  support, 
and  having  secured  the  services  of  General  Lamor- 
iciere,  it  threatened  the  new  kingdom  with  an  alli- 
ance with  Francis  11.,  openly  supported  by  Austria 
and  other  powers.  In  this  emergency  Garibaldi 
appeared,  and  organized  his  expeditions  for  the 
deliverance  of  Southern  Italy.  Although  his  suc- 
cess might  be  doubtful,  his  bold  attempt  would 
spread  terror  among  the  enemy,  divide  the  forces 
of  Naples  and  Rome,  and  drive  them  from  their 
threatening  attitude.  So,  without  either  encour- 
aging or  preventing  the  departure  of  Garibaldi, 
Cavour  awaited  events,  ready  to  avail  himself  of  all 
the  advantages  which  might  result  from  the  daring 
enterprise,  or  to  avert  any  danger  which  it  might 
provoke.  This  policy  evinced  scarcely  less  bold- 
ness than  the  achievements  of  the  dashing  leader 
himself.  The  principle  of  national  rights  over 
dynastic  interests  was  regarded  as  so  heretical  by 
the  cabinets  of  Europe,  that  it  was  mainly  due 
to  the  skill  of  Cavour  that  their  opposition  on 
this  occasion  was  confined  to  protest.  By  appeal- 
ing to  their  conservative  tendencies,  and  by 
representing  that  an  effort  to  put  down  the 
movement  by  force  of  arms  would  cause  a  revolu- 
tion throughout  the  peninsula,  and  endanger  the 
existence  of  monarchical  institutions,  he  saved 
the  expeditions  from  an  armed  intervention.  But 
when  success  appeared  certain,  Cavour  changed 
his  policy  of  inaction  to  one  of  active  sympathy, 
and  not  only  allowed  volunteers  to  depart  from 
the  ports  of  the  state,  and  subscriptions  for  their 
aid  to  be  widely  circulated,  but  he  himself  afforded 
the  enterprise  direct  assistance.  Before  the  war 
of  1859,  Sardinia  had  proposed  an  alliance  with 
the  king  of  Napiles  on  condition  of  his  granting 
a  constitution  to  his  people  and  joining  in  the 
war  against  Austria.  Hitherto  he  had  resisted  all 
advances.     But  now  that  Garibaldi,   having  pos- 


sessed himself  of  Sicily,  was  knocking  at  the  gates 
of  Naples,  Francis  II.  hastened  to  accede  to  those 
terms,  and  proposed  to  share  with  Sardinia  the 
pontifical  dominions.  But  it  was  too  late.  Since 
the  war  had  commenced  such  changes  had  occurred 
in  the  peninsula,  that  Cavour  in  turn  declined 
the  proposed  alliance;  and  as  England,  France,  and 
Russia  urged  upon  him  its  acceptance,  he  wisely 
insisted  on  delaying  all  negotiations  on  the  subject 
until  that  sovereign  should  rjrove  himself  able  to 
maintain  his  throne;  and  in  the  meantime  claimed 
as  a  preliminary  that  he  should  recognize  the  inde- 
pendence of  Sicily.  But  Garibaldi  left  no  time  for 
decision;  he  at  once  made  his  triumphant  entry 
into  Naples,  while  the  fugitive  king  took  refuge 
in  Gaeta. 

Between  Cavour  and  Garibaldi,  as  has  been 
already  said,  there  existed  great  differences  of 
character,  which  are  pointed  out  with  admirable 
discrimination  by  Signor  Botta.  The  one  was 
endowed  with  comprehensive  genius,  with  a  clear, 
keen  intellect,  that  neither  imagination  nor  impulse 
could  seduce;  affluent,  aristocratic,  reserved,  often 
satirical  and  imperious,  unyielding  in  his  opinions, 
with  power  to  bend  the  convictions  of  others  to  his 
own;  too  confident  in  himself  to  court  popular 
favour,  and  devoted  to  labours  more  calculated 
to  excite  the  admiration  of  the  thoughtful  than  to 
dazzle  the  multitude.  The  other,  of  more  limited 
capacity,  but  of  wider  sympathies,  was  ruled  by 
imagination  and  impulse;  disposed  to  regard  all 
questions  from  a  single  point  of  view;  democratic 
by  birth  and  principles,  of  Spartan  simplicity  of 
life  and  manners,  despising  rank  and  wealth ;  kind, 
straightforward,  easily  influenced  by  all  who  ap- 
proached him  in  the  name  of  patriotism,  and  from 
his  wonderful  success  as  well  as  from  his  rare 
personal  qualities,  the  idol  of  the  masses. 

Both  true  patriots,  both  equally  courageous  and 
energetic,  while  the  one  exerted  his  genius  in  diplo- 
matic strategy,  the  other  was  engaged  in  irregular 
warfare.  Both  equally  ambitious  to  serve  their 
country,  while  one  accepted  the  honours  bestowed 
on  him,  the  other  disclaimed  all  distinctions,  but 
delighted  to  appear  in  public  in  his  worn  red  shirt. 
Both  of  sterling  integrity,  while  the  one  on  entering 
office  disposed  of  his  shares  in  the  public  stocks  to 
place  himself  beyond  the  reach  of  suspicion,  the 
other  during  his  dictatorship  received  but  two 
dollars  a  day  from  the  public  treasury,  and  after 
conquering  a  kingdom,  retired,  like  Cincinnatus  of 


38 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


old,  to  his  farm,  to  live  by  the  labour  of  his  hands. 
These  characteristics,  combined  with  an  intense 
hatred  of  all  diplomacy,  produced  in  Garibaldi  a 
personal  antipathy  to  Cavour,  which  on  the  sur- 
render of  Nice  culminated  in  open  hostility.  That 
his  birthplace  should  have  been  ceded  to  Napoleon, 
whom  he  disliked  still  more  than  Cavour,  he  regarded 
almost  as  a  personal  insult ;  and  although  that  sur- 
render had  been  approved  by  the  Parliament  and 
the  king,  and  voted  for  by  the  people,  Cavour 
appeared  to  him  as  its  sole  author.  He  did  not  see 
that  had  Nice  been  refused  the  Italian  cause  would 
have  been  in  danger,  and  that  the  minister  who 
should  have  incurred  the  responsibility  of  the 
refusal  would  have  been  liable  to  impeachment 
as  a  traitor.  He  overlooked  the  fact  that  his 
expeditions  had  found  a  supporter  in  Cavour,  who 
had  protected  them  from  foreign  intervention ;  and 
that  it  was  in  no  small  degree  due  to  his  efforts  that 
he  was  enabled  to  enter  Naples  alone,  and  to  be 
received  with  open  arms  by  the  Neapolitan  troops, 
who  still  held  possession  of  the  city.  His  prejudice 
was  no  doubt,  in  great  measure,  the  effect  of  the 
influences  by  which  he  was  surrounded.  He  had 
early  in  life  been  connected  with  Mazzini,  and  long 
continued  to  manifest  his  sympathy  with  the 
republican  party.  But  when  Manin,  the  Venetian 
patriot,  urged  the  union  of  all  parties  under  the 
leadership  of  the  house  of  Savoy,  he  renounced  his 
former  alliance,  and  generously  gave  his  adherence 
to  the  constitutional  monarchy  of  Victor  Emmanuel. 
Later,  on  becoming  personally  acquainted  with  the 
king,  he  found  in  his  character  simplicity,  straight- 
forwardness, and  patriotism,  much  that  was  con- 
genial to  himself,  and  he  conceived  for  him  a  loyal 
attachment. 

This  course  was  at  the  time  bitterly  condemned 
by  his  former  associates,  and  by  Mazzini  himself. 
But  now,  in  the  hour  of  his  triumph,  those  who 
not  long  before  had  been  engaged  in  vilifying  his 
name  in  Europe  and  in  America  flocked  to  Naples, 
insinuated  themselves  again  into  his  confidence, 
and  by  playing  on  his  real  or  fancied  grievances, 
strove  to  widen  the  breach  between  him  and  Cavour, 
whom  they  justly  regarded  as  the  great  supporter 
of  constitutional  monarchy,  and  the  staunch  oppo- 
nent of  their  schemes.  Good,  unsophisticated, 
generous,  and  new  in  the  art  of  government, 
the  hero  of  the  battlefield  became  a  child  in  the 
hands  of  those  adventurers.  Naples  and  Sicily 
fell  under  their  control,  and  exhibited  more  com- 


pletely than  ever  the  effects  of  that  disorganization 
to  which  they  had  been  previously  reduced  by  a 
long  reign  of  despotism.  From  Gaeta,  Francis  II. 
now  threatened  an  invasion  of  his  former  dominions, 
whilst  Austria  from  Verona  and  Mantua,  and 
Lamoriciere  from  Ancona,  were  preparing  to  act 
in  concert  with  him.  In  this  state  of  things  it 
was  necessary  that  Southern  Italy  should  at  once 
declare  her  union  with  the  northern  and  central 
provinces,  and  thus  justify  the  intervention  of 
Sardinia,  by  which  alone  regularity  could  be 
introduced  into  the  administration,  and  the  invasion 
repelled.  The  great  majority  demanded  annexa- 
tion; but  Garibaldi,  who  had  taken  possession  of 
the  kingdom  in  the  name  of  Victor  Emmanuel, 
seemed  to  waver  between  his  former  adherence 
to  Mazzini  and  his  fidelity  to  the  king.  Pressed 
by  public  opinion  to  consult  the  vote  of  the  people, 
he  at  last  consented  to  open  the  ballot-box,  but 
only  on  condition  of  the  dismissal  of  Cavour  from 
the  cabinet.  Such  a  request,  destructive  of  all 
constitutional  liberty,  found  no  favour  with  the 
king;  and  Cavour,  receiving  new  assurances  of 
confidence  from  the  Parliament,  decided  on  a  bold 
movement.  The  situation  was  growing  every 
day  more  alarming;  while  anarchy  threatened 
Naples,  the  mercenaries  of  the  pope  were  pouring 
in  from  all  quarters,  and  Garibaldi  himself  was 
held  in  check  on  the  Volturno;  the  republicans 
began  to  speak  openly  of  attacking  the  French 
garrison  at  Rome,  and  the  Austrians  in  the  for- 
tresses of  the  Quadrilateral.  Baffled  in  their  plan 
of  removing  Cavour  from  the  government,  the 
same  party  prevailed  on  Garibaldi  to  subordinate 
the  annexation  of  Southern  Italy  to  the  deliver- 
ance of  Rome  and  Venice,  and  he,  in  fact,  pro- 
claimed that  he  would  allow  the  union  to  be 
consummated  only  when  he  could  crown  Victor 
Emmanuel  king  of  Italy  on  the  Quirinal.  Cavour 
saw  that  the  attempt  to  carry  out  this  plan  would 
bring  certain  defeat,  involve  Sardinia  in  a  war 
with  Austria,  break  up  the  French  alliance, 
cause  the  abandonment  of  the  non-intervention 
policy,  and  probably  sacrifice  the  conquests 
already  achieved.  Had  Garibaldi  been  able  to 
carry  out  his  dream,  to  make  his  triumphal 
passage  across  Umbria  and  the  Marches,  rout  the 
troops  of  Lamoriciere,  put  to  flight  the  French 
army,  expel  Austria,  and  bring  aid  to  Hungary 
and  Poland,  his  very  successes  would  have  pro- 
voked an  armed  intervention.      His  triumphs    as 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


39 


well  as  his  defeats  appeared  equally  fatal  to  Italy. 
There  was  no  time  to  lose;  "  If  we  do  not  reach 
the  Cattolica  before  Garibaldi,  we  are  lost,"  said 
Cavour.  By  a  master  stroke  of  policy,  he  deter- 
mined at  once  to  take  possession  of  Umbria  and 
the  Marches,  push  forward  the  army  to  Naples  and 
Sicily,  and  wrest  from  Garibaldi  the  leadership  of 
the  nation.  The  deputations  from  these  provinces, 
demanding  immediate  annexation,  were  at  once 
favourably  listened  to.  Cardinal  Antonelli  was 
summoned,  in  the  name  of  Italy,  to  disband  his 
mercenaries,  the  Sardinian  army  crossed  the 
frontier,  and  the  fleet  set  sail  for  the  Adriatic. 
By  the  victory  of  Castelfidardo  and  the  siege  of 
Ancona  the  papal  army  was  scattered  to  the  winds, 
Lamoriciere  taken  prisoner,  Perugia  avenged,  and 
the  national  flag  unfurled  over  the  papal  dominions. 

Victor  Emmanuel,  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  now 
entered  the  Neapolitan  territory,  and  on  approach- 
ing the  camp  at  Capua  was  met  by  Garibaldi,  who, 
amidst  the  enthusiastic  cheers  of  the  two  armies, 
saluted  him  King  of  Italy.  The  wisdom  of  the 
policy  followed  by  Cavour  on  this  occasion  can 
only  be  questioned  by  those  who  make  the  prin- 
ciple of  nationality  subservient  to  the  interests  of 
dynasties  and  to  the  claims  of  despotism. 

By  taking  possession  of  Umbria  and  the 
Marches,  and  by  occupying  Southern  Italy,  he 
defeated  the  rash  designs  of  the  Republicans,  and 
put  an  end  to  the  not  less  menacing  projects  of 
Lamoriciere  and  Francis  II.  He  showed  also  a 
just  appreciation  of  the  character  of  Garibaldi,  on 
whose  patriotism,  loyalty,  and  generous  instincts 
he  confidently  relied;  and  he  was  not  mistaken; 
for  scarcely  had  the  king  announced  his  intention 
to  proceed  to  Naples  when  the  great  chieftain, 
listening  to  the  voice  of  his  heart,  summoned  the 
people  to  the  ballot  box,  and  the  annexation  being 
voted  for  by  a  large  majority,  he  at  once  resigned 
his  dictatorship  and  retired  to  his  humble  home. 

On  the  18th  of  February,  1861,  the  first  Italian 
Parliament  representing  united  Italy  was  convened 
in  the  old  capital  of  Sardinia.  The  roar  of  the 
cannon  which  celebrated  its  first  meeting  mingled 
with  that  which  announced  the  fall  of  Gaeta;  the 
sound  echoed  throughout  the  peninsula,  and  bore 
to  Austria  and  the  papacy  a  warning  of  their 
approaching  downfall.  Italy  at  last  revived  in 
the  unity  of  her  people,  her  constitution,  and 
monarchy.  She  rose  from  beneath  the  ruins  of 
thrones  which  crushed  her  and  divided  her  as  by 


barriers,  and  now  she  has  taken  her  place  among 
the  nations.  Her  standard  proudly  waves  from 
Milan  to  Palermo;  her  army  marches  in  triumph 
from  Monte  Rosa  to  -<Etna;  her  navy  rides  joyfully 
on  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Adriatic.  Another 
war  in  later  years  fought  unsuccessfully  by  Austria 
against  other  enemies,  bore  fruit  to  Italy  in  the 
restoration  of  Venice  and  the  Quadrilateral;  and 
as  these  lines  are  penned,  the  troops  of  Victor 
Emmanuel  are  taking  possession  of  Rome  in  the 
name  of  the  Italian  people. 

But  Cavour  did  not  live  to  see  this  wondrous 
conclusion,  which  gave  so  marvellous  a  complete- 
ness to  his  plans  for  the  regeneration  of  his 
country.  The  ill  feeling  entertained  towards  him 
by  Garibaldi  was  one  among  several  causes  to 
which  his  last  fatal  illness  has  been  attributed. 
The  occupation  of  Naples  by  Sardinian  troops,  the 
yielding  to  Louis  Napoleon  on  the  Roman  question, 
and  government  measures  for  disbanding  the  volun- 
teers when  the  war  was  over,  were  three  sources  of 
the  increased  bitterness  which  the  hero  of  the  volun- 
teers felt  toward  the  statesman.  Garibaldi,  with 
his  contempt  for  policy,  declined  at  first  to  sit  in 
the  Italian  Parliament,  to  which  he  was  elected  by 
several  constituencies ;  but  at  length  he  consented 
to  represent  a  district  of  Naples,  and  on  the  18th 
April,  1861,  he  made  his  first  appearance  in  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  for  the  purpose,  as  it  soon 
appeared,  of  making  an  attack  on  the  prime  minister. 
The  debate  that  arose  was  upon  the  subject  of  the 
volunteers,  concerning  whom  Baron  Ricasoli  had 
moved  for  papers,  with  a  view  to  bring  about  a 
reconciliation  between  the  two  eminent  men  in 
question.  Garibaldi  entered  the  hall  in  his  worn 
red  shirt,  surrounded  by  his  friends,  amid  the  cheers 
of  the  house  and  the  galleries,  and  after  hearing 
Ricasoli  and  the  secretary  of  war,  he  rose  to  address 
the  Chamber.  He  thanked  Ricasoli  for  introducing 
a  subject  of  such  vital  importance  to  him,  as  it  con- 
cerned the  interests  of  his  companions  in  arms  ;  he 
admitted  the  disagreement  existing  between  him 
and  Cavour,  but  declared  that  he  was  always  ready  to 
yield  whenever  the  welfare  of  the  country  demanded 
it.  Then,  instigated,  it  is  said,  by  some  of  his  most 
reckless  adherents,  he  gave  way  to  a  lamentable 
burst  of  ill  feeling.  He  repeated  an  old  taunt  that 
Cavour  had  made  him  a  foreigner  in  his  native  land 
(Nice) ;  reproached  him  for  having  blighted  his 
success  in  Naples  by  his  cold  and  baneful  influence  ; 
and  rising  to  a  climax  of  bitterness,  he  accused  him 


40 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


of  having  instigated  civil  war  and  of  being  the 
enemy  of  his  country.  Wounded  to  the  quick, 
Cavour  rose  to  protest.  But  the  Chamber  protested 
for  him  ;  the  members  sprang  to  their  feet  as  one 
man,  and  amidst  the  general  confusion  and  shouts 
of  an  indignant  assembly,  the  chairman  declared 
the  house  adjourned.  This  protest  found  an  echo 
through  the  civilized  world ;  and  the  press  of  Europe 
and  America,  while  they  bestowed  their  tribute  of 
admiration  on  the  great  volunteer,  were  unanimous 
in  the  expression  of  their  sorrow,  that  he  who 
represented  the  arm  of  Italy  should  have  indulged 
in  such  an  attack  upon  him  who  represented  the 
national  mind.  Order  being  restored  in  the  house, 
General  Bixio,  a  warm  friend  of  Garibaldi  and  one  of 
his  bravest  lieutenants,  made  an  earnest  appeal  to 
him  not  to  sacrifice  to  his  feeling  the  holy  cause  in 
which  they  all  with  equal  patriotism  were  engaged  ; 
he  implored  Cavour  to  forgive  his  chief,  and  both 
to  unite  their  efforts  in  accomplishing  the  great 
work  which  Providence  had  intrusted  to  their 
hands.  Cavour  was  the  first  to  accept  the  proposed 
reconciliation,  and  with  his  usual  urbanity  offered 
not  only  forgiveness  but  oblivion  of  what  had  just 
occurred  ;  he  had  even  the  magnanimity  to  justify 
the  attack  of  his  adversary  by  remarking  that 
"from  the  grief  which  he  himself  felt,  wdien  he 
thought  it  his  duty  to  advise  the  king  to  cede  Nice 
and  Savoy,  he  could  well  understand  the  feelings 
of  the  general  and  the  resentment  he  had  shown." 
The  house  by  an  overwhelming  majority  expressed 
its  adhesion  to  Cavour's  policy,  but  Garibaldi  still 
showed  distrust,  even  after  the  king  had  made  a 
personal  effort  to  reconcile  him  to  the  great  states- 
man. Cavour,  though  victorious  in  Parliament, 
felt  deeply  the  wound  inflicted  on  him  by  the  mis- 
appreciation  of  his  labours  proclaimed  so  loudly 
and  persistently  by  Garibaldi  and  the  most  extreme 
among  his  followers.  Incessant  labour,  immense 
responsibility,  and  bitter  disappointment,  began  to 
affect  his  health,  and  he  had  two  or  three  attacks  of 
brain  congestion.  For  the  first  time  he  complained 
of  fatigue,  of  the  inability  to  rest,  and  confessed  to 
the  feeling  that  "his  frame  was  giving  way  beneath 
his  mind  and  will."  He  wished  for  time  to  finish 
his  work.  Then  he  would  care  little  what  might 
happen  ;  "indeed,"  he  said,  "I  should  be  glad  to 
die."  Still  he  worked  on  with  redoubled  zeal  till 
the  last ;  he  was  every  day  at  his  post  in  the  Par- 
liament, answering  questions,  initiating  the  new 
house  into  the  proceedings  of  constitutional  govern- 


ment, urging  forward  measures  best  adapted  to 
accomplish  the  unity  of  the  nation,  and  explaining 
his  policy  with  increased  power  and  earnestness,  as 
if  a  secret  voice  told  him  it  was  the  legacy  he  was 
to  bequeath  to  his  country.  As  the  head  of  the 
executive  department,  his  labours  were  still  greater ; 
the  sudden  annexation  of  so  many  new  provinces 
increased  his  duties  to  a  prodigious  extent.  Old 
abuses  were  to  be  done  away  with,  new  institutions 
introduced,  clashing  interests  reconciled,  finances 
systematized,  taxes  revised,  ways  and  means  pro- 
vided, the  codes  reformed,  railroads  marked  out 
and  built,  telegraphs  extended,  the  army  and  navy 
increased,  every  department  re-organized,  and,  in 
short,  order  created  out  of  chaos.  As  minister  of 
foreign  affairs  the  whole  burden  of  the  complicated 
relations  with  other  countries  rested  upon  him  ;  and 
he  was  forced  to  keep  a  constant  watch  over  the 
chess-board  of  European  diplomacy,  in  order  that 
he  might  influence  the  movements  of  friendly 
powers,  ward  off  the  attacks  of  enemies,  and  seize 
the  moment  in  which  he  might  checkmate  the 
emperor  of  Austria  and  the  government  of  Rome. 
In  fact,  he  had  the  control  of  a  Titanic  revolution, 
which  his  position  obliged  him  to  direct  solely 
through  diplomatic  skill  and  energy. 

On  Thursday,  the  4th  of  June,  alarming  sj'mp- 
toms  began  to  appear  in  the  sufferer,  and  the  news 
of  his  dangerous  condition  spreading  through 
Turin,  cast  a  deep  gloom  over  the  city.  The  streets 
leading  to  his  palace  were  soon  filled  with  a  silent 
and  sorrowful  multitude,  eagerly  awaiting  reports 
from  the  sick  chamber.  Those  who  but  the  day 
before  had  been  his  bitter  opponents,  now  laying 
aside  all  party  considerations,  mingled  with  that 
anxious  crowd  ;  eyes  which  had  regarded  him  with 
coldness  or  envy  were  now  wet  with  tears,  and 
many  a  one  among  that  throng  would  willingly 
have  given  himself  a  sacrifice  to  save  the  life  on 
which  the  fate  of  the  nation  seemed  to  hang.  And 
when,  toward  the  last,  that  deep  sdence  was  broken 
by  the  sound  of  the  bell  of  the  Viaticum,  alternating 
with  the  prayers  for  the  dying  ;  and  the  solemn 
procession  of  torch-bearers,  led  by  the  good  Fra 
Giacomo  bearing  the  Host,  was  seen  entering  the 
palace — a  sob  of  anguish  arose  from  that  multitude, 
as  if  the  last  hope  of  the  country  was  about  to  be 
extinguished  for  ever.  Within,  beneath  the  roof 
under  which  he  was  born,  conscious  that  his  last 
hour  had  come,  yet  calm,  confident,  and  serene, 
lay  the  dying  statesman,  dying  at  the  close  of  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


41 


first  festival  of  the  national  birthday,  thus  rendered 
doubly  sacred  to  posterity ;  surrounded  by  his 
household  and  friends,  in  the  embrace  of  the  king 
to  whom  he  had  given  the  crown  of  Italy  ;  amidst 
the  anxiety  of  all  Europe,  expressed  by  the  hourly 
telegrams  received  from  the  various  capitals  ;  dying 
as  he  lived — an  honest  man,  a  true  patriot,  opposing 
to  the  last  the  papal  church,  whose  sacraments,  the 
symbols  of  Christianity,  he  received  in  spite  of  her 
excommunication,  thus  showing  that  he  could  be 
a  Christian  without  being  a  Papist.  Whether  in 
the  full  possession  of  his  faculties  or  in  the  wan- 
derings of  delirium,  no  bitterness  or  rancour  escaped 
his  lips,  but  he  spake  words  of  cheer  and  consolation 
to  his  friends,  assuring  them  that  all  was  saved, 
that  Italy  was  secure  ;  and  as  the  morning  of  the 
6th  June  dawned  he  gradually  sank,  still  absorbed 
in  the  one  thought  of  his  country,  for  whose  great- 
ness he  had  lived,  and  uttering  faintly  and  at  in- 
tervals the  darling  names  of  Italy,  Venice,  Eome. 
The  grandeur  of  Cavour's  character  as  a  states- 
man must  be  estimated  by  the  magnitude  of  his 
object,  the  boldness  and  the  prudence  with  which 
he  executed  his  designs,  and  the  extraordinary 
power  which  he  possessed  of  foreseeing  results, 
and  of  converting  obstacles  into  means.  He 
combined  the  originality  and  depth  of  a  theorist 
with  the  practical  genius  of  a  true  reformer ;  he 
understood  the  character  of  the  age  in  which  he 
lived,  and  made  it  tributary  to  his  great  purposes. 
He  made  self-government  the  object  of  legislation, 
political  economy  the  source  of  liberty,  and  liberty 
the  basis  of  nationality.  Aware  that  neither  revo- 
lution nor  conservatism  alone  could  produce  the 
regeneration  of  his  country,  he  opposed  them  in 
their  separate  action,  while  he  grasped  them  both 
with  a  firm  hand,  yoked  them  together,  and  led  them 
on  to  conquest.  He  saw  that  Italian  independ- 
ence could  only  be  attained  through  the  aid  of 
foreign  alliance.  He  recognized  in  Napoleon  III. 
the  personification  of  organized  revolution,  and 
the  natural  ally  of  the  Italian  people ;  and  the 
work  which  he  foreshadowed  in  the  union  of  the 
Sardinian  troops  with  the  armies  of  England  and 
France  in  the  Crimea,  and  for  which  he  laid  the 
foundation  in  the  Congress  of  Paris,  was  achieved 
with  the  victories  of  Magenta  and  Solferino,  and 
was  followed  by  the  recognition  of  the  new  king- 
dom of  Italy  by  all  the  states  of  Europe  save  two 
— Austria  and  Spain.  The  thought  of  Venice 
and  the  Quadrilateral  lay  heavy  on  his  heart  in 


his  last  hours.  Another  and  a  foreign  statesman 
was  destined  to  accomplish  the  completion  of  the 
new  kingdom  on  that  side — a  statesman  who 
doubtless  pondered  deeply  over  the  career  of  Count 
Cavour,  and  who  undertook  a  task  of  kindred 
nature  to  his,  of  yet  larger  scope,  the  task  of  unify- 
ing the  German  nation.  Of  that  statesman,  Count 
von  Bismarck,  and  of  his  work  for  Italy  as  well  as 
for  his  own  country,  much  will  have  to  be  said  in 
future  chapters.  It  is  enough  to  indicate  here  the 
resemblance  of  the  work  he  had  to  do  with  that 
which  was  so  admirably  performed  by  the  long- 
lamented  Cavour. 

The  Roman  question,  unsolved  at  the  time  of 
Cavour's  death,  was  taken  up  by  his  successor  in 
the  ministry,  Baron  Ricasoli,  who,  full  of  respect  for 
the  church,  endeavoured  to  reconcile  its  head  with 
the  state  and  the  king.  In  August,  1861,  he  wrote 
a  most  conciliatory  letter  to  the  pope,  in  which  he 
reminded  his  Holiness  of  the  events  of  1848  and 
1849,  when  "  Italy,  moved  by  words  of  gentleness 
and  pardon  which  came  from  your  lips,  conceived 
the  hope  of  closing  the  series  of  its  secular  misfor- 
tunes, and  beginning  the  era  of  its  regeneration." 
The  pope's  resistance,  he  went  on  to  say,  or  rather 
his  want  of  co-operation  with  the  cause  of  inde- 
pendence, filled  the  minds  of  the  Italians  with 
bitterness.  "  But  the  rights  of  nationality  are  im- 
perishable, and  the  See  of  Holy  Peter,  by  virtue 
of  a  divine  promise,  is  imperishable  also.  Since 
neither  of  the  two  adversaries  can  disappear  from 
the  field  of  battle,  they  must  become  reconciled,  so 
that  the  world  may  not  be  thrown  into  terrible  and 
endless  perturbations."  The  good  baron  proceeds 
to  argue  that  a  free  church  in  a  free  state  would 
be  the  very  thing  to  suit  both  pope  and  people. 
"  You  can,"  he  concluded,  "  you  can,  Holy  Father, 
once  more  change  the  face  of  the  world ;  you  can 
raise  the  Apostolic  See  to  a  height  unknown  to  the 
church  in  past  ages.  If  you  wish  to  be  greater 
than  kings  of  the  earth,  free  yourself  from  the  mis- 
eries of  this  royalty  which  makes  you  only  their 
equal.  Italy  will  give  you  a  secure  see,  an  entire 
liberty,  a  new  grandeur.  She  venerates  the  pon- 
tiff, but  she  cannot  arrest  her  march  before  the 
prince;  she  wishes  to  remain  Catholic,  but  she 
wishes  to  be  a  nation  free  and  independent.  If 
you  listen  to  the  prayer  of  this  favourite  daughter, 
you  will  gain  in  souls  more  power  than  you  have 
lost  as  a  prince;  and  from  the  height  of  the  Vati- 
can, when  stretching  your  hand  over  Rome  and 


42 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


the  world  to  bless  them,  you  will  see  the  nations 
re-established  in  their  rights,  bending  before  you 
their  defender  and  protector."  Impressive  words 
and  true,  but  the  pope  was  too  much  a  man  of 
the  world  not  to  know  that  his  temporalities  were 
worth  having  as  long  as  he  could  keep  them; 
and  neither  the  blandishments  of  Ricasoli  nor 
the  abuse  of  Petrucelli  made  his  Holiness  loose 
his  hold  on  the  temporal  power,  so  long  as  there 
was  protection  at  hand.  The  letters  were  sent 
through  the  French  government,  and  all  the  answer 
vouchsafed  to  them  was  that  the  pope  was  "  not  in 
a  humour  "  to  entertain  such  proposals.  The  "  most 
holy  Janus,"  as  Petrucelli  styled  him  in  the  Italian 
Parliament,  relied  on  French  bayonets,  and  answered 
every  appeal  of  his  fellow-countrymen  for  friendly 
alliance  by  a  non  possicmus.  A  Janus  indeed, 
"  with  two  faces,  one  that  of  the  pontiff,  serene 
and  august;  the  other,  that  of  the  king  of  Rome, 
idiotic,  ferocious,  brutal."  Still  the  French  held 
Rome,  and  bound  over  the  Italians  to  keep  the 
peace  with  the  spiritual  "  head  of  all  the  faithful." 
Garibaldi,  however,  was  not  restrained  by  the  same 
power,  and  about  a  year  after  the  rejection  of  Rica- 
soli's  proposals,  the  volunteer  chief  improvised  an 
expedition  that,  starting  from  Genoa,  landed  in 
Sicily,  passed  thence  into  Calabria,  and  marched 
towards  Rome,  in  the  hope  of  planting  the  flag  of 
Italy  on  the  walls  of  the  Eternal  City.  He  en- 
deavoured to  secure  the  sympathy  and  assistance  of 
the  Hungarians,  upon  whom  the  Austrian  rule  still 
pressed  heavily,  and  who,  as  Garibaldi  trusted,  would 
rise  in  thousands  at  the  trumpet  call  of  revolution. 
But  the  "  sons  of  Arpad  "  were  deaf  to  the  voice 
of  the  charmer,  and  their  feelings  were  expressed 
in  a  very  sober,  sensible  letter,  addressed  by  Klapka 
from  Turin  to  the  Italian  chief,  and  pointing  out 
that  neither  time  nor  place  were  propitious  to 
revolution,  and  that  the  Hungarians  would  do  well 
to  wait  for  a  more  favourable  opportunity.  King 
Victor  Emmanuel  issued  a  proclamation  condemn- 
ing the  expedition  in  grave  and  emphatic  terms, 
and  General  Cialdini  was  sent  to  oppose  it  with 
Italian  troops.  The  latter  sent  forward  Major- 
general  Pallavicino  from  Reggio  to  overtake  Gari- 
baldi. He  found  him  on  the  morning  of  the  29th 
of  August  encamped  at  the  foot  of  the  plateau  of 
Aspromonte.  An  engagement  ensued,  in  which 
the  rebels  had  no  chance.  They  were  surrounded 
on  all  sides,  and  both  Garibaldi  and  his  son  Menotti 
were  wounded,  the  former  having  a  bullet  in  his 


ankle,  which  was  not  extracted  without  consider- 
able difficulty.  A  very  characteristic  letter  from 
Garibaldi  bewailing  the  conflict  of  Italian  against 
Italian,  appeared  in  the  month  of  September. 
"  They  thirsted  for  blood,  and  I  wished  to  spare  it. 
I  ran  to  the  front  of  our  line  crying  out  to  them 
not  to  fire,  and  from  the  centre  to  the  left  where 
my  voice  and  those  of  my  aides-de-camp  could  be 
heard,  not  a  trigger  was  pulled.  It  was  not  thus 
on  the  attacking  side.  .  .  .  If  I  had  not  been 
wounded  at  the  outset,  and  if  my  people  had  not 
received  the  order  under  all  circumstances  to  avoid 
any  collision  with  the  regular  troops,  the  contest 
between  men  of  the  same  race  would  have  been 
terrible.  However,  far  better  as  it  is.  Whatever 
may  be  the  result  of  my  wounds,  whatever  fate  the 
government  prepares  for  me,  I  have  the  conscious- 
ness of  having  done  my  duty ;  and  the  sacrifice  of 
my  life  is  a  very  little  tiling  if  it  has  contributed  to 
save  that  of  a  great  number  of  my  fellow-country- 
men." A  prisoner  so  simple-minded,  and  so  illustri- 
ous by  deeds  of  heroism,  could  not  be  dealt  with 
harshly,  and  the  king  with  the  consent  of  his 
ministers  granted  a  slightly  qualified  amnesty  to 
all  the  prisoners,  and  a  free  pardon  to  their  leader, 
who  again  returned  to  his  island  home  at  Caprera. 
Thus  the  pope  continued  to  sit  on  his  temporal 
throne  at  Rome,  or  rather  upon  French  bayonets, 
performing  agreeably  to  his  high  pretensions  what 
Talleyrand  pronounced  to  be  an  impossibility. 
"You  can  do  anything  with  bayonets  but  sit  upon 
them,"  said  the  witty  diplomatist  when  speaking 
once  of  the  military  occupation  of  a  foreign  territory'. 
The  French  emperor,  to  obviate  the  inconvenience 
of  further  expeditions  like  Garibaldi's,  contracted 
a  treaty  with  the  king  of  Italy,  which  is  generally 
known  as  the  September  Convention.  It  defined 
the  period  within  which  the  Papal  States  were  to 
be  evacuated  by  the  French  troops,  and  contained 
the  following  four  articles : — 1 ,  Italy  engages  not 
to  attack  the  present  territory  of  the  Holy  Father, 
and  to  prevent,  even  by  force,  every  attack  upon 
the  said  territory  coming  from  without;  2,  France 
will  withdraw  her  troops  from  the  Pontifical  States 
gradually,  and  in  proportion  as  the  army  of  the 
Holy  Father  shall  be  organized.  The  evacuation 
shall  nevertheless  be  accomplished  within  the  space 
of  two  years;  3,  The  Italian  government  engages 
to  raise  no  protest  against  the  organization  of  a 
Papal  army,  even  if  composed  of  foreign  Catholic 
volunteers,  sufficing  to  maintain  the  authority  of 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


43 


the  Holy  Father,  and  tranquillity  as  well  in  the 
interior  as  upon  the  frontier  of  his  states,  provided 
that  this  force  should  not  degenerate  into  a  means 
of  attack  against  the  Italian  government;  4,  Italy 
declares  herself  ready  to  enter  into  an  arrangement 
to  take  under  her  charge  a  proportionate  part  of  the 
debt  of  the  former  states  of  the  church.  This 
convention,  as  its  name  implies,  was  dated  on  the 
15th  of  September,  1864. 

At  the  same  time  it  was  determined  to  remove 
the  capital  of  Italy  from  Turin  to  Florence. 
Several  reasons  conspired  to  make  this  a  desirable 
change,  but  the  chief  was  the  exposed  situation 
of  Turin,  in  case  of  war,  to  attack  either  by 
France  or  Austria.  Florence  is  beneath  the  shelter 
of  the  Apennines;  and  except  Eome,  which  at 
that  time  was  unattainable,  it  is,  amongst  the  prin- 
cipal towns  of  Italy,  the  one  that  lies  nearest  the 
centre  of  the  kingdom.  But  the  population  of 
Turin  were  naturally  opposed  to  a  measure  which 
would  reduce  their  fair  city  from  a  capital  to  a 
provincial  town,  and  the  demeanour  of  the  crowd 
assembled  in  the  square  or  place  opposite  the 
palace  was  so  turbulent,  that  the  soldiers  fired 
upon  it  and  several  lives  were  lost. 

A  bill  brought  into  the  Chamber  to  authorize 
the  transfer  of  the  capital,  gave  rise  to  a  long 
debate  at  the  end  of  November,  in  the  course  of 
which  General  Cialdini  delivered  a  speech  re- 
markable for  its  spirit  and  eloquence.  "  Italy," 
he  said,  "  has  two-thirds  and  more  of  her  frontier 
washed  by  the  sea.  The  other  third  is  joined  to 
the  continent  by  the  circle  of  the  Alps.  In  a 
sublime  contrast  at  the  foot  of  these  gigantic 
and  snowy  Alps  stretch  out  the  vast  and  fertile 
plains  of  Lombardy  and  Piedmont.  The  Apen- 
nines, as  if  weary  of  the  Mediterranean,  bend  back 
and  cross  over  to  the  Adriatic,  forming  a  great, 
curtain,  an  immense  towering  curtain,  between  the 
two  seas,  from  Genoa  to  La  Cattolica.  In  front  of 
the  Apennines  you  have  the  vast  and  beautiful 
valley  of  the  Po,  in  which  you  find  the  Austrian 
encamped  in  his  strong  Quadrilateral,  and  of  which 
— I  mean  the  valley  of  the  Po — we  can  neither 
fortify  nor  defend  the  principal  outlets,  because 
they  are  not"  (this  was  spoken  in  1864)  "  in  our 
hands.  The  valley  of  the  Po,  therefore,  shows  us 
an  enemy  solidly  established  in  a  house  which  has 
its  door  open  to  whoever  chooses  to  enter.  Can 
it  be  pretended  or  desired  that  the  capital  of  the 
kingdom  should  be  in  this  valley  of  the  Po?     Let 


us  hasten  to  remove  behind  the  Apennines,  not 
only  the  capital,  but  the  arsenals,  the  depots,  the 
reserves,  all  our  resources,  all  our  most  vital 
interests;  then  let  the  passes  of  the  Apennines 
be  put  in  a  state  of  defence.  From  Genoa  to  La 
Cattolica  the  roads  across  them  are  only  seven  or 
eight.  All  these  roads  offer  gorges,  defiles,  which 
are  real  Thermopylae,  where  a  few  earthworks,  a 
few  guns,  and  a  handful  of  brave  men,  can  arrest 
a  whole  army.  Let  us  erect  some  solid  fortifica- 
tions at  La  Cattolica  to  secure  the  flank,  and  then 
multiply  as  far  as  possible  the  permanent  and 
portable  means  of  passing  from  one  bank  of  the  Po 
to  the  other,  and  thus  prepare  the  possibility  of 
useful,  rapid,  and  decisive  manoeuvres.  Whenever 
this  general  system  of  defence  of  the  state  is 
accepted  and  carried  out,  the  destinies  of  Italy  can 
never  depend  on  the  uncertain  issue  of  a  battle. 
At  our  pleasure,  and  according  to  circumstances, 
we  can  retire  behind  the  Po,  and  beyond  the 
Apennines  to  await  better  days;  or,  if  it  suits  us, 
if  we  are  in  a  position  to  fight,  we  may  come  down 
and  try  the  fate  of  arms  in  the  valley  of  the  Po.  I 
too,"  he  continued,  in  allusion  to  the  grievance  of 
the  Turinese,  "  have  a  heart  which  profoundly  feels 
the  bitterness  of  political  life,  and  can  understand 
great  affections  and  great  sorrows.  Heaven  forbid, 
therefore,  that  a  word,  a  single  syllable,  should 
fall  from  my  lips  which  should  in  any  degree 
wound  those  affections,  those  sorrows,  which  I 
fully  comprehend  and  thoroughly  respect.  But 
when  the  security,  the  greatness,  the  future  life  of 
Italy  are  at  stake,  affection  must  be  silent,  the  heart 
must  not  speak;  logic  alone,  cold  and  inexorable, 
must  reason.  An  eye  filled  with  tears  does  not  see. 
A  heart  wrung  by  profound  pain  has  only  sad  pre- 
visions, mournful  presentiments.  A  suffering  brain 
is  oppressed  by  black  images,  by  sorrowful  ideas. 
But  are  we  to  pause,  dismayed  by  presentiments, 
previsions,  fears  ?  Oh !  if  all  the  prophecies  of 
misfortune  had  been  verified,  what  would  have 
become  of  us,  what  would  have  become  of  Italy? 
Let  us  take  heart,  and  recognize  that  a  secret 
force,  more  quick-sighted,  stronger,  more  enlight- 
ened than  we,  guides  Italy  on  a  determined  course; 
let  us  acknowledge  that  the  Italian  revolution 
pursues  its  march,  slow  and  pacific,  but  more 
irresistible  than  we  could  have  imagined  or  de- 
sired, beyond  the  limits  which  we  ourselves  had 
imagined  and  traced  out.  I  deplore  the  injury  to 
Turin  as  much  as  any  one,  as  on  the  field  of  battle 


41 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


I  have  often  wept  over  fallen  soldiers  and  friends ; 
but,  not  to  lose  soldiers  and  friends,  ought  we  to 
renounce  combats  and  victories  !  Not  to  cause 
local  injuries  and  sorrows,  shall  we  sacrifice  the 
general  interest,  shall  we  sacrifice  the  public  weal? 
With  Turin,  seated  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  at  the 
extremity  of  the  state,  but  a  few  miles  from  the 
French  frontier,  in  the  most  eccentric  conditions 
which  can  be  laid  down,  I  dispute  with  pain,  but 
with  entire  conviction,  the  title  of  a  capital.  If 
from  this  solemn  place  you  tell  the  cities  and  pro- 
vinces whence  you  come,  that  the  sacrifices  asked 
are  indispensable  for  the  safety,  the  strength,  the 
future  of  Italy,  be  sure  the  people  will  believe 
you.  If  you  tell  them  that  liberty,  independence, 
national  unity,  are  blessings  for  which  too  high 
a  price  can  never  be  paid,  the  people  will  believe 


you.  Tell  them  so,  I  implore  you.  The  school 
of  sacrifice  ennobles  great  causes,  retempers  the 
soul,  and  magnifies  the  national  character  of 
peoples.  Prometheus  could  transform  clay  into 
men.  Sacrifice  alone  changes  men  into  heroes?" 
Such  noble  eloquence,  vivid  even  in  a  bald  trans- 
lation, was  borne,  in  the  gallant  general's  native 
tongue,  to  the  inmost  hearts  of  his  hearers.  The 
bill  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  134  to  47,  and 
on  the  11th  of  December  appeared  a  royal  decree, 
declaring  that  the  capital  of  the  kingdom  should 
be  transferred  to  Florence  within  six  months, 
which  decree  was  duly  carried  into  effect  in  the 
year  1865.  Rome  and  Venice  only  were  wanting 
to  complete  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  and  already  had 
begun  that  solemn  march  of  events  which  was  to 
lead  to  the  fulfilment  of  the  Italian  patriot's  dream. 


CHaPTEK     III. 


Prussian  history  from  1848  to  1864 — Queen  Louisa  and  her  two  sons — Death  of  Frederick  William  IV. — Accession  of  William — His  political 
inheritance — Triumph  of  Prince  Schwartzenberg  at  Olmutz — Humiliation  of  the  Prussian  Army — Desire  for  revenge — Effect  on  Germany 
of  the  war  in  Italy — Growing  feeling  for  German  unity — Cavour  and  Bismarck — Schleswig  and  Holstein — An  old  Historical  Question 
— Holstein  the  northern  frontier  of  Charlemagne's  empire — Settlement  of  Germans  in  Schleswig — Separate  administration  of  the  Elbe 
Duchies  and  Denmark — Prussia  retires  from  the  Duchies  in  1850 — Treaty  of  London,  1852,  guarantees  tho  integrity  of  Denmark — Ratified 
by  all  the  Powers  save  by  the  Diet  of  the  German  Confederation — European  opinion — Outcry  against  England — Political  intrigues — Herr 
Otto  von  Bismarck — Lord  Russell's  innocuous  interference — His  Gotha  despatch — His  "Forfeiture"  Letter  from  Blairgowrie — Its  stoppage 
— Bismarck's  change  of  policy — Re-combination  of  the  European  cabinets — King  Christian  IX. — Prince  of  Augustenburg — Federal 
execution — Austria  and  Prussia  in  the  Diet — Troops  in  Holstein  and  in  Schleswig  enter  Jutland — The  London  Conference — The  war 
before  and  alter  the  Conference — Action  at  Mysunde — March  on  Fredericia — Siege  of  Dybbol — Its  storm  and  capture  by  the  Prussians — 
Suspension  of  hostilities — Break-up  of  the  Conference — Hostilities  renewed — Attack  upon  Alsen — The  Rolf-Krake — Defeat  of  the  Danes — 
Prussians  expel  the  Federal  troops  from  Rendsburg — Negotiations  at  Vienna — Treaty  of  Peace — Remarks — Co-occupation  of  the  Duchies 
by  Austria  and  Prussia — Dissensions  between  the  two  Powers — Convention  of  Gastein — Division  of  the  Duchies — Anger  of  the  Cabinets 
of  London  and  Paris — Dissatisfaction  of  Austria — Preparations  of  Prussia — The  Prussian  Army — Its  reconstruction  by  Scharnhorst — Its 
defects  visible  in  1850,  1854,  and  1859 — -Reorganization — The  Needle  Gun — Austrian  ascendancy  undermined. 


The  spirit  of  Louisa,  the  heroic  queen  of  Prussia, 
would  have  been  soothed  in  the  darkest  hour  of 
her  depression  and  her  country's  humiliation  had 
she  been  able  to  foresee,  that  on  two  of  her  sons 
in  succession  the  eyes  of  all  Germany  were  to  be 
steadfastly  fixed  as  leaders  in  the  great  movement 
for  the  unification  of  the  Fatherland.  The  eldest 
son,  King  Frederick  William  IV.,  trusted  to  have 
accomplished  the  great  task  by  placing  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  liberalism  of  Central  Europe;  but 
he  failed.  The  second  son,  King  William  I.,  allied 
himself  with  the  conservatism  of  his  country,  and 
by  military  prowess  succeeds  in  the  great  achieve- 
ment. "  Prussia  disappears,  Germany  is  called  into 
existence,"  was  one  of  the  significant  utterances  of 
Frederick  William  during  the  revolutionary  epoch  of 
1848-49.  His  refined  and  cultured  nature  shrank, 
however,  from  the  excesses  committed  by  the  in- 
surgents of  that  '.lay,  and  he  refused  the  proffered 
crown  of  Germany,  on  the  plea  that  it  was  the  fruit 
of  revolution.  The  liberal  constitution  granted  by 
him  to  his  own  subjects,  and  proclaimed  in  the 
first  month  of  the  year  1850,  was  subsequently 
modified  by  him  on  eight  different  occasions: 
namely,  once  in  April,  1851;  once  in  May,  and 
again  in  June,  1852;  after  that  twice  in  May,  1853; 
then  in  June,  1854;  and  in  the  following  May, 
1855;  and  finally  in  May,  1857.  The  result  of 
these  numerous  modifications  by  royal  decree  was 
a  tolerably  conservative  constitution,  vesting  con- 
siderable power  in  the  executive.  The  king  did 
not  long  survive  the  last  change  that  was  made. 
His  health  had  suffered  from  the  excitement  pro- 


duced by  the  scenes  in  which  he  participated  at  the 
time  of  the  national  convulsions,  and  in  the  autumn 
of  1858  he  was  unfitted  for  the  duties  of  govern- 
ment by  an  attack  of  apoplexy.  He  died  in  January, 
1861,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six,  and  was  succeeded  on 
the  throne  by  his  brother  William,  who  had  been 
regent  for  more  than  two  years,  and  who  at  the  time 
of  his  coronation  was  in  the  sixty-fifth  year  ofhis  age. 
Two  political  legacies  bequeathed  to  the  new 
king  were  destined  to  be  fruitful  of  important 
consequences  :  they  were  the  Schleswig  and 
Holstein  question,  and  the  humiliation  which  the 
late  king  had  received  from  Prince  Schwartzen- 
berg, the  Austrian  prime  minister,  in  the  matter  of 
Hesse-Cassel.  As  already  mentioned,  Austria  had 
insisted  that  Frederick  William  should  withdraw 
his  troops,  both  from  the  duchies  north  of  the 
Elbe  and  from  Hesse.  The  king  was  undecided 
and  unhappy.  For  a  moment  he  thought  of  re- 
sistance, delivered  a  warlike  speech  at  the  opening 
of  the  Chambers,  and  nominated  Herr  Kadowitz  to 
the  ministry.  The  army  was  put  on  a  war  footing, 
and  the  landwehr  called  out.  A  warlike  spirit 
breathed  through  the  nation,  which  began  to 
recall  the  glorious  days  of  the  Great  Frederick. 
But  Schwartzenberg  drew  closer  his  alliance  with 
Bavaria,  and  gathered  a  formidable  army  of  180,000 
men  on  the  Hessian  frontier  with  a  promptitude 
that  astonished  Europe,  and  revealed  for  the  first 
time  the  great  change  that  the  use  of  railways  had 
introduced  into  strategy.  War  seemed  inevitable. 
The  heir  to  the  Prussian  throne  and  the  conservative 
party  wished  for  it.     Already  shots  had  been  ex- 


46 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


changed  by  the  outposts,  when  M.  Prokesch,  the 
Austrian  envoy,  summoned  Prussia  to  quit  Hesse  in 
four  and  twenty  hours.  At  the  critical  moment  the 
king's  kindly  nature  made  him  shrink  from  the 
responsibility  of  war  between  German  and  German. 
He  gave  way,  dismissed  the  Radowitz  ministry,  and 
sent  M.  Manteuffel  to  Olmutz  to  submit  to  the 
dictation  of  Prince  Schwartzenberg.  Prussia  was 
obliged  to  sacrifice  her  allies,  the  popular  party 
in  Hesse  and  in  Schleswig  respectively,  and  to 
recognize  the  authority  of  that  Diet  in  which  her 
rival  reigned  supreme. 

The  day  of  the  treaty  of  Olmutz  sank  deep  into 
the  heart  of  Prussia,  and  was  remembered  by  the 
army  especially  as  a  time  of  shame  and  ridicule 
that  called  for  vengeance — a  vengeance  that  was 
not  slaked  until  the  "  crowning  mercy"  of  Sadowa 
had  visited  their  arms.  For  a  time  Austria  was 
triumphant,  and  endeavoured  even  to  incorporate 
all  her  various  populations,  German,  Magyar, 
and  Sclavonic,  in  the  German  Confederation,  with 
a  view  to  perpetuate  her  absolute  preponderance 
in  central  Europe.  But  France  and  other  foreign 
powers  were  so  strongly  opposed  to  this  scheme 
that  it  was  given  up.  Indeed,  every  step  that 
had  been  taken  towards  national  unity  seemed  to 
end  only  in  greater  disunion.  "  German  unity," 
said  an  Austrian  pamphleteer  of  this  time,  "  is  like 
squaring  the  circle;  when  you  think  you  have  got 
hold  of  it  you  discover  that  it  is  impossible.  It  is 
like  our  cathedrals ;  there  is  not  one  that  is  finished." 

The  war  which  Louis  Napoleon  carried  into 
Italy  brought  new  hope  to  the  German  unionists, 
although  it  excited  the  anger  of  the  sovereigns, 
and  almost  drove  Bavaria  into  an  alliance  with 
Austria.  "  The  Italian  war,"  wrote  the  demo- 
cratic socialist  Lasalle,  "  is  not  only  sanctified  by 
every  principle  of  democracy,  but  it  is  an  enormous 
advantage  for  Germany,  to  whom  it  brings  salva- 
tion. Napoleon  III.,  when  he  invites  the  Italians 
to  drive  the  Austrians  out  of  the  peninsula,  per- 
forms a  German  mission;  he  overthrows  Austria, 
the  eternal  obstacle  that  prevents  the  unity  of  our 
country.  If  the  map  of  Europe  is  reconstructed 
on  behalf  of  the  nationalities  of  the  south,  let  us 
apply  the  same  principle  to  the  north.  Let  Prus- 
sia act  without  hesitation.  If  she  does  not  she 
will  have  given  a  proof  that  monarchy  is  incapable 
of  national  action."  Did  this  challenge  of  the 
socialist  and  democrat  sink  into  the  heart  of  the 
trenchant  conservative  Karl  Otto  von  Bismarck? 


Unquestionably  he  pondered  deeply  on  the  Italian 
war,  and  was  himself  the  author,  as  it  is  confidently 
reported,  of  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "  La  Prusse  et  la 
Question  Italienne."  To  him  the  career  of  Count 
Cavour  must  have  been  profoundly  instructive 
and  full  of  suggestion,  as  will  be  seen  anon. 

It  behoves  now  to  speak  of  that  second  unpleasant 
political  heritage  which  had  descended  to  King 
William  from  his  brother — the  Schleswig-Hol- 
stein  question,  the  intricacy  of  which  demands 
some  care  on  the  part  of  the  writer  to  unravel, 
and  on  the  part  of  the  reader  some  patience  to 
follow.  Lord  Palmcrston  used  to  say  there  was 
only  one  man  besides  himself  who  understood  the 
Schleswig-Holstein  question,  and  that  man  was 
dead.  It  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  character 
of  the  most  learned  people  of  Europe  that  the  first 
appeal  to  arms  made  on  behalf  of  German  national 
unity  should  rest  on  historical  questions  nearly  a 
thousand  years  old.  Was  the  duchy  of  Holstein 
a  fief  of  the  empire,  and  therefore  part  of  the 
Germanic  empire?  If  it  was,  could  Schleswig  be 
said  to  exist  in  the  same  dependence  by  virtue 
of  a  union  with  Holstein  that  had  existed  from  a 
remote  period  of  time?  Schleswig,  it  was  clear, 
never  had,  per  se,  been  a  fief  of  the  empire,  for 
the  northern  boundary  of  Charlemagne's  territory 
was  known  to  be  the  river  Eider,  which  divides 
Schleswig  from  Holstein.  Only  part  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Schleswig,  moreover,  was  of  German 
race,  settlers  who  at  various  times  had  straggled 
across  the  river  from  the  southern  duchy;  and  nc 
theory  of  nationality  can  justly  demand  the  absorp- 
tion of  the  Danish  population  of  North  Schleswig 
by  the  Germanic  Confederation.  Such  were  the 
questions  discussed  with  great  heat  and  learning 
in  all  the  German  universities,  but  in  none  more 
hotly  or  more  learnedly  than  in  the  university  of 
Kiel  in  Holstein;  nor  did  the  most  accomplished 
civilians  of  Europe  disdain  to  attempt  an  elucida- 
tion of  a  subject  so  thorny  and  so  obscure.  It 
has  been  seen  on  a  previous  page  that,  in  the  year 
of  universal  revolution  (1848),  the  Holsteiners, 
prompted  by  the  men  of  Kiel,  had  risen  in  insur- 
rection against  the  Danish  government,  had  been 
assisted  by  the  Prussians  armed  with  the  authority 
of  the  German  Diet,  had  achieved  a  temporary 
independence,  and  finally  had  succumbed  to  the 
Danes  after  two  pitched  battles  in  which  they  were 
grievously  defeated.  The  conquerors,  following 
up  their  advantage,  resolved  to  deprive  the  duchies 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


47 


of  the  separate  constitution  under  which  they  had 
been  governed,  and  to  incorporate  the  duchy  of 
Schleswig  at  least  in  a  common  constitution  with 
the  kingdom  of  Denmark.  This  proceeding  was 
deeply  resented  by  the  German  population  of  the 
duchies,  and  by  their  kindred  on  the  continent  of 
Europe.     In  view  of  the  death  of  King  Frederick 

VII.  without  male  heirs,  the  great  powers  of 
Europe,  "  taking  into  consideration  that  the  main- 
tenance of  the  integrity  of  the  Danish  monarchy, 
as  connected  with  the  general  interests  of  the 
balance  of  power  in  Europe,  is  of  high  importance 
to  the  preservation  of  peace,  signed  a  treaty  at 
London  on  May  8,  1852,  by  the  terms  of  which 
the  succession  to  the  crown  of  Denmark  was  made 
over  to  Prince  Christian  of  Schleswig- Holstein- 
Sonderburg-Gllicksburg,  and  to  the  direct  male 
descendants  of  his  union  with  the  Princess  Louise 
of  Hesse-Cassel,  granddaughter  of  King  Christian 

VIII.  of  Denmark."  This  unfortunate  treaty,  the 
latest  production  of  the  effete  "  balance  of  power  " 
doctrine,  was  soon  brought  to  the  test,  having  to 
face  the  new  and  infinitely  more  potent  principles 
known  by  the  names  of  "  nationality"  and  "  non- 
intervention." In  the  month  of  November,  1863, 
King  Frederick  died,  and  Prince  Christian  ascended 
the  throne  of  Denmark,  with  the  style  and  title  of 
King  Christian  IX.  The  signatories  of  the  treaty 
of  London  of  1852  were  England,  France,  Eussia, 
Austria,  and  Prussia,  who  aU  by  their  governments 
ratified  the  provisions  of  it — provisions  made  for 
dynastic  purposes,  and  in  complete  disregard  of 
the  wishes  of  the  German  population  of  the  Elbe 
duchies.  The  treaty,  in  fact,  ought  not  to  have 
been  made,  and  as  events  are  sometimes  stronger 
than  promises,  even  the  most  solemn,  so  it  proved 
in  this  case.  All  the  five  powers  found  themselves 
under  the  necessity  of  breaking  faith  with  their 
brave  ally  Denmark.  Yet,  in  the  nature  of  things,  it 
was  hardly  possible  to  do  otherwise.  The  Germans 
of  Schleswig  and  Holstein  had  every  right  to  be 
freed  from  the  yoke  which  the  Danes  were  striving 
to  render  more  galling  every  day.  The  common 
constitution,  of  which  more  anon,  proved  to  be, 
among  other  things,  a  means  of  giving  all  the  offices 
of  the  duchies  into  the  hands  of  Danes,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  Germans.  Christian  IX.,  when  king  of  Den- 
mark, practically  ceased  to  be  duke  of  Schleswig 
and  Holstein.  Yet  the  treaty  and  the  five  powers 
upheld  this  anomalous  state  of  things.  One  poli- 
tical body  alone  had  declined  to  ratify  the  treaty, 


the  Diet  of  the  Germanic  Confederation,  and  that 
body,  strong  in  two  of  its  members,  Austria  and 
Prussia,  took  action  in  the  Schleswig-Holstein 
matter,  and  brought  about  the  war  with  Denmark 
of  1864.  The  strange  spectacle  offered  by  Austria 
and  Prussia,  of  two  states  that  individually  acknow- 
ledged the  validity  of  the  treaty  of  1852,  yet  jointly 
trampled  upon  it  at  the  bidding  of  the  Diet,  was 
not  edifying.  Russia  was  not  anxious  to  see  the 
nationality  theory  applied  in  the  north  of  Europe, 
yet  abstained  from  interference.  France  had  cooled 
towards  England  because  the  latter  had  declined 
to  share  in  the  support  of  the  Polish  insurgents, 
and  had  rejected  her  proposal  for  a  general  congress; 
while  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  consistently  with  the 
principles  of  the  treaty  of  Zurich,  again  practised 
the  doctrine  of  non-intervention  towards  a  nation 
shaking  off  the  yoke  of  a  foreign  race,  and  would 
not  second  the  English  cabinet  in  its  endeavours 
to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  Danish  kingdom. 
Upon  England  fell  the  greatest  amount  of  obloquy 
in  this  matter,  because  the  government — wisely,  in 
the  interest  of  the  nation,  yet  not  without  igno- 
miny— failed  to  maintain  the  guarantee  inconsider- 
ately given  by  treaty.  That  she  failed  in  company 
with  her  co-signatories  was  rightly  held  to  have 
been  no  sufficient  excuse. 

The  reasoning  on  the  subject  at  the  time  bears 
upon  a  somewhat  analogous  state  of  things  at  the 
present  day,  and  may  not  unprofitably  be  briefly 
reviewed. 

"  They  haven't  heart  of  grace  to  fight."  "  Was 
ever  England  brought  into  such  a  contemptible 
position?"  "  No  language  can  describe  the  degree 
of  ignominious  shame  and  degradation  to  which  we 
have  fallen."  "What  must  Europe  think  of  us?" 
Such  were  a  few  of  the  mildest  phrases  current  in 
the  social  and  political  circles  of  Westminster  and 
the  surrounding  neighbourhood.  They  expressed 
feelings  that  properly  belong  to  the  days  of  Pitt 
and  of  Castlereagh.  In  some  instances  they  were 
uttered  by  relics  of  that  age.  That  was  the  time 
of  England's  greatest  glory.  Standing  for  a  while 
alone  against  the  mighty  power  of  Napoleon,  she 
succeeded  in  forming  a  vast  combination  by  which 
the  proud  Corsican  was  at  length  overthrown,  and 
England  became  the  first  of  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  The  cost  was  great,  a  heavy  debt  had  to 
be  repaid  or  to  be  borne  for  an  indefinite  number 
of  years,  with  an  annual  charge  of  twenty-eight 
millions  sterling.     What  of  that?     Has  not  our 


48 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


country  prospered  ever  since?  Did  not  the  influ- 
ence then  secured  make  her  voice  potent  for  the 
settling  of  many  a  dispute  without  recourse  to  arms, 
open  new  regions  to  our  commerce,  and  make  us 
feel  so  safe  that  the  council  of  the  nation  could 
settle  down  to  wise  and  liberal  legislation  which 
lias  borne  fruit  a  thousand-fold  ?  We  have  surely 
got  our  equivalent  for  the  cost  of  the  war;  and, 
taking  their  own  base  view  of  the  matter,  the 
peace-at-any-price  men  ought  to  consider  that  trade 
and  industry  and  the  material  wealth  of  the  coun- 
try have  been  developed  to  their  highest  pitch  since 
our  great  naval  and  military  triumphs  in  the  Napo- 
leonic war.  Viewed  from  higher  ground,  the  truth 
that  a  nation  cannot  live  by  commerce  only  is  as 
certain  as  that  man  cannot  live  by  bread  alone. 
Look  at  Holland !  With  a  glorious  beginning 
leading  to  power  that  made  her  respected  by  the 
greatest  and  most  ancient  nations,  having  rich 
dependencies  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  she 
has  become,  by  a  too  exclusive  devotion  to  trade 
interests — what  she  is. 

Let  us  save  England  from  sinking  like  that. 

This  is  a  fair  statement  of  the  doctrine  of  "  vig- 
orous measures,"  a  doctrine  which  Lord  Palmerston, 
with  his  motto  "  Civis  Romanus  sum"  and  Lord 
Kussell,  with  his  waving-banner-like  inscription  of 
"  God  defend  the  right,"  both  had  opportunities  of 
applying  on  behalf  of  Don  Pacifico,  the  Sultan,  his 
Danubian  provinces,  &c. 

Happily  for  mankind,  however,  the  opposite 
political  doctrine  of  non-intervention,  which  some 
years  ago  could  hardly  hold  its  ground  at  all,  took 
deep  root  in  the  popular  mind,  and  rapidly  spread 
among  all  classes  of  society. 

The  difficulties  of  the  British  government  in 
1864  sprang  from  a  want  of  courage  in  declaring 
boldly  and  distinctly  at  the  outset  of  the  Danish 
quarrel,  that  England  did  not  mean  again  to  inter- 
vene by  force  of  arms  in  mere  European  squabbles. 
The  senior  members  of  the  cabinet  were  hampered 
with  the  traditions  of  English  policy,  as  it  was  half 
a  century  earlier.  They  knew  that  the  country  was 
opposed  to  intervention,  and  as  representatives  of 
the  national  will  acted  rightly  in  abstaining  from 
warlike  demonstrations,  but  as  exponents  of  that 
will  they  failed.  They  used  threatening  language 
and  made  confident  boastings  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Schleswig-Holstein  dispute,  in  the  hope  that 
Germany  would  pause  before  it  encountered  the 
phantom  terrors  of  British  wrath.      But  the  Polish 


correspondence  had  revealed  the  emptiness  of  min- 
isterial "  tall  talk,"  and  the  Germans  felt  safe  in 
pursuing  their  own  course.  A  truly  brave  English 
minister  had  only  to  say,  "  I  hold  my  office  by 
virtue  of  that  public  opinion  which  has  intrusted 
to  me  the  interests  of  the  British  nation.  Those 
interests  demand  a  friendly  intercourse  with  all 
nations,  interference  in  the  affairs  of  none.  Our 
commercial  and  political  relations  are  so  extensive 
in  all  the  quarters  of  the  globe,  in  America,  in 
Asia,  in  Australia,  in  Africa,  that  really  it  is  of 
very  little  moment  what  Europe  may  say  or  think 
of  us.  We  can  better  do  without  Europe,  than 
Europe  can  do  without  us.  Therefore  if  you  wish 
to  be  friendly  with  us  we  shall  be  happy  to  recipro- 
cate amity;  if  not,  we  shall  know  how  to  defend 
ourselves.  In  a  great  cause  we  will  assist  our 
neighbours,  but  your  own  dynastic  quarrels  you 
must,  if  you  please,  settle  at  home  without  British 
interference."  Such  language  would  have  been 
fully  understood  by  the  youngest  generation  of  our 
politicians  as  being  quite  consistent  with  the  honour 
and  dignity  of  England  on  the  one  hand,  and  with 
the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  world  on  the  other. 
Let  the  last  rags  of  the  old  flag  of  intervention  be 
flung  away,  and  let  the  principles  of  non-interven- 
tion be  openly  avowed  without  fear  of  the  loss 
of  influence.  Halting  between  two  opinions, 
divided  by  feelings  of  the  past  and  feelings  of 
the  present,  our  ministers  spoke  ill  and  wrote 
ill,  but,  thank  God,  they  acted  right.  Whether 
to  save  their  own  credit  or  from  an  abstract 
love  of  truth  and  justice,  they  obtained  a  con- 
ference, at  which  all  that  could  be  done  was 
done  to  induce  the  belligerent  powers  to  come  to 
terms.  This  was  humane  and  deserving  of  credit. 
By  what  secret  schemes  and  intrigues  they  were 
foiled  it  is  impossible  to  say.  The  passions  of  the 
antagonists  alone  suffice  to  account  for  the  resump- 
tion of  hostilities.  Surmises  of  many  kinds  were 
floating  in  the  air.  "  Cousin  Bernadotte "  was 
directed  in  1807  by  Napoleon  I.  to  occupy  Den- 
mark either  as  friend  or  foe,  according  to  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  hour.  The  descendant  of  that 
French  general  was  from  the  throne  of  Sweden  a 
spectator  of  the  dismemberment  of  Denmark  with- 
out the  smallest  loss  of  sang  froid.  Had  he  been 
inspired  from  the  Tuileries  with  the  notion,  that  if 
he  waited  the  ripe  pear  would  drop  into  his  mouth  ? 
If  so,  the  approval  of  the  German  invasion  of  Hol- 
stein  and  Schleswig  by  Napoleon  III.  would  become 


1E1M:7.  U        iLTOGiMl  IFMfi     - 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


49 


intelligible.  By  the  small  sacrifice  of  King  Chris- 
tian IX.  and  the  annexation  of  Jutland  and  the 
islands  to  Sweden  and  Norway,  France  as  she  faces 
Europe  would  have  had  on  her  advanced  left  a 
mighty  ally  in  the  new  Scandinavian  kingdom,  as 
she  had  already  on  her  advanced  right  a  pretty 
strong  friend  in  the  new  kingdom  of  Italy.  A 
formidable  neighbour  indeed  would  France,  under 
such  circumstances,  appear,  were  English  interests 
in  north-eastern  Europe  of  a  nature  to  be  endan- 
gered by  French  preponderance !  Eussia,  it  is  to 
be  hoped,  however,  will  take  care  of  that  part  of  the 
world.  This  political  surmise  must  be  taken  for 
no  more  than  it  is  worth.  Meanwhile,  let  Eng- 
land not  fail  to  maintain  her  ancient  alliance  with 
Germany,  as  long  as  she  can  do  so  with  a  good 
conscience. 

The  conflict  had  long  been  inevitable.  It  was 
a  struggle,  not  for  the  uplifting  of  every  different 
nationality  into  independence,  but  for  the  absorp- 
tion of  the  small  nations  by  the  great.  German 
literature,  science,  and  art  had  long  before  invaded 
Denmark,  and  must  ultimately  conquer  it,  unless 
the  Scandinavian  mind  derive  new  force  from  a 
union  of  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Norway.  The 
tendency  of  our  age  is  the  destruction,  not  the  res- 
toration, of  small  separate  nationalities;  and  it  is 
not  a  tendency  to  evil. 

Since  the  times  shadowed  forth  in  the  history  of 
the  Tower  of  Babel,  mankind  has  been  striving 
to  recover  from  that  fearful  curse  of  dispersion  and 
division  of  tongues  which  constitute  the  principal 
element  of  distinct  nationalities.  It  is  not  good 
to  attempt  to  thwart  this  process  of  amalgamation. 
Its  success  will  be  the  strongest  guarantee  of  the 
permanency  of  modern  European  civilization.  The 
Roman  empire  maintained  its  great  power  for 
five  centuries  under  atrocious  tyrants  and  corrupt 
governors  by  virtue  of  the  cohesion  derived  from 
the  amalgamation  of  the  provinces  with  Rome, 
that  is,  by  the  total  destruction  of  nationalities, 
accompanied  by  a  large  measure  of  municipal 
freedom. 

What  Julius  and  the  other  Caesars  did  for  the 
pagan  world  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  railways, 
steamboats,  the  electric  telegraph,  and  the  public 
press  are  now  doing  for  Christendom.  Puny 
efforts  to  arrest  the  march  of  events  by  recurring 
to  old  systems,  traditionary  policies,  and  the  like, 
will  be  not  only  futile,  but  fatal  to  those  who  make 
the  attempt.     England  has  more  weighty  duties  to 


perform  than  to  defend  gallant  little  nations  that 
run  their  heads  into  danger.  Private  feeling  may 
lament  the  result  of  an  unequal  struggle  between 
Danes  and  Germans,  but  public  duty  teaches  that 
war  on  merely  chivalrous  grounds  must  be  avoided. 
The  Prussian  monarch  believed  that  his  mission 
was  to  liberate  Schleswig  and  Holstein  from  the 
Danes.  England  has  nothing  to  fear  from  Prussian 
ambition,  her  advantage  lying  rather  in  the  forma- 
tion of  a  strong,  united  Germany,  that  will  divide 
Russia  from  France. 

The  future  destiny  of  England  is  bound  up  with 
vaster  interests  and  wider  regions  than  Europe 
possesses.  Animated  with  a  nobler  ambition  than 
that  which  war  engenders,  the  people  of  these 
islands  are  qualified  by  their  freedom,  their  know- 
ledge, their  wealth,  and  even  by  their  geographical 
position,  to  make  England  the  real  metropolis 
of  the  world,  the  centre  and  fountain-head  of 
the  civilization  of  mankind.  To  peril  so  great 
a  destiny  by  engaging  in  disputes  concerning 
other  people's  boundaries,  on  principles  that  place 
"honour"  (the  offspring  of  lawless  ages)  above 
the  Christian  duty  which  we  profess  to  follow,  is 
not  only  impolitic  and  unpatriotic,  but  inhuman. 
Such  was  the  train  of  reasoning  that  shaped  the 
conduct  of  the  English  government  in  the  Dano- 
German  dispute,  with  certain  qualifying  protests 
made  by  the  foreign  secretary,  Lord  Russell. 

To  return  to  the  duchies.  In  March,  1863, 
a  proclamation  had  been  issued  from  Copenhagen, 
establishing  an  administrative  separation  between 
Holstein  and  the  rest  of  the  monarchy.  The 
laws  of  Holstein,  the  budget  of  Holstein,  even 
the  army  of  Holstein,  were  to  be  under  the  control 
of  the  Holstein  Estates,  and  made  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  the  Rigsraad,  which  was  only  allowed 
to  deliberate  on  those  subjects  so  far  as  they 
regarded  Denmark  Proper  and  Schleswig.  The 
object  of  this  arrangement  was  evidently  to  cut  off 
Schleswig  from  the  German  influence  of  Holstein, 
by  separating  the  latter  as  much  as  possible  from 
the  rest  of  the  state,  and  thus  leaving  the  Danes 
unimpeded  in  their  attempts  to  make  Schleswig 
Danish.  On  the  14th  of  July,  Frederick  VII. 
being  still  alive,  the  Federal  Diet  protested  against 
the  proclamation,  and  threatened  execution  unless 
it  was  withdrawn.  The  Danish  government, 
however,  disregarding  both  protest  and  threat, 
submitted  their  scheme,  which  included  the  "com- 
mon constitution"  of  Schleswig  and  Denmark 
G 


50 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Proper,  to  the  Rigsraad,  by  whom  it  was  adopted. 
On  the  14th  November,  1863,  it  was  embodied  in 
a  charter,  and  became  the  ostensible  cause  of  a  war 
that  led  to  the  dismemberment  of  Denmark. 

In  the  diplomatic  campaign  which  preceded  and 
accompanied  the  military  one,  the  palm  for  political 
insight  and  strategic  skill  fell  to  Herr  von  Bis- 
marck, the  king  of  Prussia's  prime  minister.  It  is 
true  that  he  derived  a  great  advantage  over  some 
of  his  antagonists,  by  the  facility  with  which  he 
seemed  to  shift  his  policy  to  suit  his  ends;  but 
underneath  this  apparent  unscrupulousness  lay 
the  one  grand  aim  of  his  life,  the  healing  of  the 
divisions  of  his  country — the  welding  together  of 
Germany  into  one  grand  whole.  When  Prussian 
envoy  at  the  Diet,  of  which  Count  Kechberg,  the 
Austrian  envoy,  was  president,  Bismarck  made 
no  secret  of  his  opinion  that  the  policy  of  Austria 
should  be  turned  in  an  eastern  direction,  and  that 
her  intervention  in  the  affairs  of  Germany  was 
misplaced  and  unnatural.  Count  Rechberg  doubt- 
less smiled  at  his  colleague's  presumption,  and 
abated  not  one  jot  of  the  Kaiser's  pretensions  to 
absolute  preponderance  in  the  Diet  and  in  Ger- 
many. It  is  believed  that  the  meeting  of  sovereigns 
at  Frankfort  in  1863,  on  the  invitation  of  Austria, 
to  deliberate  on  the  reform  of  the  Federal  Union, 
was  the  occasion  on  which  Bismarck  resolved  to 
labour  with  all  his  energy  at  the  exclusion  of 
Austria  from  all  participation  in  German  affairs. 
The  king  of  Prussia  did  not  attend  that  meeting, 
which  when  not  under  the  influence  of  his  minister 
he  seemed  disposed  to  favour.  Herr  von  Bismarck's 
first  step  on  coming  to  power  was  to  secure  the  sup- 
port of  .Russia  while  he  followed  his  own  bent,  by 
a  policy  that  was  strongly  condemned  by  the  rest  of 
Europe.  In  February,  1863,  he  made  a  conven- 
tion with  the  stern  master  of  Poland,  that  any 
Polish  insurgents  who  might  take  refuge  in  Posen 
or  other  parts  of  Prussia,  should  be  sent  back 
across  the  frontier  into  Russian  Poland;  that  is, 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  from  whom  they 
fled.  This  convention  brought  much  obloquy  on 
its  author;  but  he  knew  well  what  the  alliance  of 
Russia  was  worth,  and  the  result  proved  that  he 
had  no  cause  to  fear  the  hostility  of  France  and 
England.  In  the  Danish  question,  his  predecessors 
left  him  the  opportunity  of  attacking  a  weak  power, 
and  he  was  not  the  man  to  throw  away  such  an 
opportunity.  He  began  by  cautiously  feeling  his 
way  with  some   modest   expressions   of  opinion, 


such  as  that  Denmark  was  bound  in  honour  to 
fulfil  her  engagements  towards  Germany,  and  that 
she  was  blameable  for  having  resisted  the  media- 
tion of  England.  After  the  proclamation  of  the 
13th  of  March,  he  joined  in  the  protests  of  Austria 
against  the  new  Danish  projects.  When  execution 
was  threatened  by  the  Federal  Diet,  Lord  Russell 
in  alarm  suggested  to  that  body,  that  it  would  be 
"  desirable  that  nothing  should  occur  to  augment 
the  already  existing  dangers  and  complications  of 
Europe."  Upon  this  all  the  German  governments 
hastened  to  calm  the  fears  of  his  lordship  by  the 
allegation  that  an  execution  did  not  mean  a  war; 
and  Herr  von  Bismarck  went  so  far  as  to  declare 
that  "  if  a  war  did  take  place,  it  would  be  an 
offensive  war  on  the  part  of  Denmark  against 
the  Germanic  Confederation." 

The  situation  was,  indeed,  at  that  time  sufficiently 
perilous  for  Prussia  to  necessitate  the  greatest  caution 
on  the  part  of  her  ministers.  England,  France, 
and  Austria  were  united  on  the  Polish  question,  and 
it  almost  seemed  as  if  a  general  crusade  was  prepar- 
ing against  Russia  and  her  audacious  ally.  There 
is  now  no  doubt  that  the  unfortunate  declarations 
made  by  Lords  Russell  and  Palmerston  in  July, 
1863,  which  were  afterwards  appealed  to  as  giving 
Denmark  a  claim  to  the  armed  assistance  of  Eng- 
land, were  the  fruit  of  the  general  feeling  that,  in 
any  European  difficulty,  the  policy  of  France  and 
England  would  be  identical;  and  if  Prussia  had 
then  taken  any  precipitate  step  in  the  Danish 
affair,  it  is  pretty  certain  she  would  at  once 
have  received  a  humiliating  check.  But  Herr 
von  Bismarck  was  too  wary  to  expose  himself 
to  such  a  danger.  He  quietly  bided  his  time, 
expressing  himself  to  foreign  powers  in  ambi- 
guous terms  about  the  duchies,  firmly  adhering 
to  the  Russian  alliance,  and  rivalizing  with  Austria 
for  influence  in  Germany.  He  had  not  to  wait 
long.  The  failure  of  the  Polish  negotiations  pro- 
duced a  coolness  between  France  and  England,  and 
when  Lord  Russell  proposed  to  the  French  govern- 
ment, on  the  16th  of  September,  a  common  inter- 
vention in  favour  of  Denmark,  he  was  answered 
with  a  refusal.  Herr  von  Bismarck  now  began  to 
assume  a  more  decisive  attitude,  and  proposed  to 
the  Diet  that  Prussian  troops  only  should  be  em- 
ployed in  the  execution  which  was  now  imminent. 
But,  towards  the  end  of  September,  the  famous 
speech  of  Lord  Russell  at  Blairgowrie  seemed  to 
offer  a  chance  of  reviving  the  Anglo-French  alii- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


51 


ance.  The  despatch  declaring  that  the  Czar  had 
forfeited  his  rights  to  Poland  was  fully  agreed 
to  by  France;  and  Herr  von  Bismarck,  with  that 
ready  adaptation  to  circumstances  which  is  so 
characteristic  of  him,  immediately  proposed,  much 
to  the  disappointment  of  Germany,  a  compromise 
with  Denmark.  The  terms  of  this  compromise — 
namely,  that  Denmark  should  declare  herself  ready 
to  give  satisfaction  to  the  Diet  in  regard  to  the 
claim  of  Holstein  and  Lauenburg  to  control  their 
own  legislation  and  expenditure  of  all  money  raised 
in  the  duchies,  and  to  accept  the  mediation  of  Great 
Britain  for  the  arrangement  of  the  international  or 
Schleswig  question — were  agreed  to  by  Denmark ; 
and  all  seemed  to  be  going  well  when  Herr  von 
Bismarck  dropped  his  plan,  and  prepared  to  carry 
out  the  "execution."  This  apparently  unaccount- 
able conduct  was  thus  explained  by  those  who  were 
said  to  be  behind  the  scenes.  The  "  forfeiture  " 
despatch  of  Lord  Russell,  which  was  to  have 
consolidated  the  Anglo-French  alliance,  never 
reached  its  destination,  but  at  the  earnest  repre- 
sentation of  Herr  von  Bismarck,  who  expressed  his 
conviction  that  Russia  would  regard  it  as  a  casus 
belli,  was  stopped  on  its  way  to  St.  Petersburg,  and 
a  meaningless  document,  without  object  or  conclu- 
sion, was  sent  in  its  place.  The  situation  was  now 
completely  changed.  France  and  England  were 
isolated,  Prussia  had  the  support  of  Russia  and  the 
Confederation,  and  Austria,  though  unwillingly,  was 
forced  by  the  break-up  of  the  Western  alliance  to 
join  Prussia.  Bismarck  triumphed  on  every  side, 
and  could  now  give  full  scope  to  the  audacious 
policy  most  in  accordance  with  his  character  and 
abilities.  The  proposal  of  the  congress,  which 
followed  close  upon  the  affair  of  the  "  forfeiture  " 
despatch,  strikingly  displayed  the  changes  which  a 
few  months  had  brought  about  in  the  relative  posi- 
tions of  the  European  powers.  England  refused 
the  proposal  of  France,  and  these  two  powers, 
which  in  the  summer  of  that  very  year  had  rebuked 
Prussia  and  Russia  for  their  conduct  towards  Poland 
and  Denmark,  now  sought  the  aid  of  the  cabinets 
of  Berlin  and  St.  Petersburg  for  carrying  out  their 
respective  views.  After  a  long  negotiation  Russia 
adopted  the  English  view,  and  talked  of  the  "per- 
fect harmony"  with  which  "the  four  govern- 
ments (i.e.,  Russia,  Austria,  Prussia,  and  England) 
thought  and  acted."  Herr  von  Bismarck  was  more 
difficult  to  manage.  He  had  his  policy  to  carry 
out  on  the  Eider,  and  was  in  no  hurry  to  put  an 


end  to  a  situation  where  France  and  England  both 
strove  for  his  favour;  he  therefore  coquetted  with 
them  both,  and  satisfied  neither,  until  the  matter 
dropped  of  itself.  His  "moderate  views,-'  as  they 
were  called  by  Prince  Gortschakoff,  however,  soon 
changed  when  the  publication  of  the  November 
charter  and  the  death  of  King  Frederick  VII.  made 
it  necessary  for  him  to  assume  a  more  active 
attitude. 

The  right  of  succession  established  by  the 
treaty  of  London  now  came  into  force,  and  under 
the  treaty  Christian  IX.  became  the  new  king  of 
Denmark  and  the  duchies;  but  the  Confederation 
refused  to  be  bound  by  the  treaty  which  it  had  not 
signed,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  inquire  into 
the  pretensions  of  the  young  duke  of  Augusten- 
burg,  who  now  claimed  the  sovereignty  in  Schleswig 
and  Holstein.  No  blame  could  be  attached  to  him 
for  advancing  a  claim,  as  he  had  not  joined  in  his 
father's  renunciation;  nor  could  the  Confederation 
be  bound  by  a  treaty  to  which  it  had  not  adhered, 
and  which  was  in  direct  opposition  to  the  wishes  of 
the  German  nation.  The  fault  really  lay  with  Aus- 
tria and  Prussia,  who  ought  not  to  have  signed  the 
treaty  of  London  (a  treaty  regulating  the  succession 
in  a  German  federal  state)  except  as  representa- 
tives of  the  Confederation,  and  with  the  mediating 
powers,  who  did  not  negotiate  in  this  question  with 
the  Confederation,  but  with  Austria  and  Prussia. 
These  two  powers  had  now  determined  not  to  let 
the  matter  out  of  their  hands.  Count  Rechberg, 
dreading  above  all  things  the  democratic  tendencies 
of  the  rest  of  the  minor  states  of  Germany,  agreed  to 
the  views  of  Herr  von  Bismarck,  and  rashly  asso- 
ciated himself  with  Prussian  policy  in  the  duchies. 
Both  Austria  and  Prussia  held  firmly  to  the  treaty  of 
London,  and  both  overtly  rejected  the  pretensions 
of  Prince  Frederick.  After  the  occupation  of 
Holstein  by  federal  troops  on  the  21st  of  Decem- 
ber, Bismarck  openly  declared  that  Prussia  could 
not  bind  herself  to  any  particular  line  of  policy 
in  a  question,  the  aspect  of  which  was  constantly 
changing;  and  proposed  to  the  Diet  that  the 
Austrian  and  Prussian  troops  should  occupy  Schles- 
wig as  a  guarantee  for  the  performance  by  Denmark 
of  her  engagements  of  185 1-52.  The  smaller  Ger- 
man states  meanwhile  organized  a  strong  opposition 
against  Prussia,  but  after  fruitless  struggles  were 
forced  to  yield  her  the  ascendancy.  Bismarck 
marched  his  troops  on  Holstein,  and  became  master 
of   the   situation.     On   the    16th   of  January  he 


52 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


summoned  King  Christian  to  abolish  the  November 
constitution  in  two  days,  and  on  a  hesitating 
response  sent  the  Prussian  troops  into  Schleswig. 
He  compelled  the  recalcitrant  middle  states  to 
comply  with  his  views,  and  on  the  25th  February 
Prussia  and  Austria  declared  to  the  Diet  that  they 
were  about  to  assume  the  military  and  civil  com- 
mand in  the  duchies,  which  had  hitherto  been 
under  the  authority  of  the  Confederation,  an 
announcement  to  which  no  one  dared  object. 
Bismarck  further  strengthened  his  position  by 
concluding  a  convention  with  Austria,  binding 
his  government  to  give  her  material  assistance  in 
case  her  possessions  in  Italy  should  be  attacked, 
and  at  the  same  time  consolidated  the  alliance 
between  the  three  northern  courts,  by  persuading 
Count  Rechberg  to  proclaim  a  state  of  siege  in 
Galicia,  and  thus  give  the  final  blow  to  the  Polish 
insurrection.  Seven  days  afterwards  the  troops  of 
Austria  and  Prussia  entered  Jutland. 

When  Denmark  was  all  but  overrun,  one 
effort  more  was  made  to  obtain  peace,  by  the 
assembly  of  plenipotentiaries  at  a  conference  in 
London.  They  met  on  the  29th  of  April,  and 
after  a  session  of  six  weeks  broke  up  without  com- 
ing to  any  decision.  The  only  purpose  served  by 
this  diplomatic  assemblage  was,  that  it  gave  Prussia 
and  Austria  an  opportunity  of  formally  declaring 
that  the  state  of  war  with  Denmark  absolved  them 
from  all  engagements  entered  into  before  the  war 
began.  The  conference  also  brought  into  view 
the  by-play  of  the  great  powers,  when  the  Czar  of 
Russia  ceded  all  his  family  claims  on  Holstein  to 
the  duke  of  Oldenburg,  who  was  put  forward  as 
a  rival  to  the  prince  of  Augustenburg.  The  plan 
for  making  an  independent  sovereignty  of  the 
united  duchies  under  one  of  these  princes,  was 
quite  opposite  to  Bismarck's  scheme  of  national 
unification,  and  he  was  only  ready  to  accede  to  it 
provided  that  the  nominal  sovereign  gave  up  the 
control  of  the  naval  and  military  forces,  the  principal 
ports,  and  the  projected  sea-canal,  to  Prussia.  These 
conditions  Augustenburg,  the  popular  candidate 
in  the  duchies,  declined  to  accept.  The  course 
of  the  history  has  here  been  somewhat  anticipated 
in  order  to  bring  the  military  narrative  into  a  con- 
secutive story.  The  war  now  to  be  described  began 
two  months  before  the  conference  at  London,  and 
was  ended  about  two  months  after  that  confer- 
ence, by  the  severance  of  Holstein,  Schleswig,  and 
Lauenberg  from  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Denmark. 


On  Tuesday,  2nd  February,  1864,  hostilities 
were  begun  by  the  Austro-Prussians  attacking 
the  Danes  at  Misunde.  Misunde,  or  Mysunde,  is 
situated  on  the  narrowest  part  of  the  Schlei,  just 
before  it  widens  into  the  large  lake  which  forms 
the  natural  protection  of  the  town  of  Schleswig. 
It  consists  of  a  group  of  five  or  six  forts,  which  com- 
pletes the  line  of  the  Dannewerk  on  the  east.  The 
Dannewerk,  or  as  the  Danes  call  it,  Dannevirke,  is 
one  of  the  two  strongholds  of  Schleswig;  the  other 
being  the  island  of  Alsen  with  its  approaches.  This 
line  of  fortification,  which  is  made  up  of  twenty- 
seven  forts,  runs  some  thirteen  miles  in  a  south- 
westerly direction  as  far  as  Hollingsted,  a  town  on 
the  river  Freene,  midway  between  Frederickstadt, 
on  the  Eider,  and  Misunde.  Besides  the  defences 
of  the  Dannewerk,  the  Danes  had  batteries  round 
the  north  bank  of  the  great  pond,  or  lake,  made  by 
the  Schlei  between  Misunde  and  Schleswig.  The 
Austrians  and  Prussians,  under  the  command  of 
Field-marshal  von  Wrangel,  marched  from  Kiel, 
by  way  of  Eckenforde,  and  met  with  some  resist- 
ance from  the  Danes,  under  Lieutenant-general 
Gerlach,  at  the  outposts  of  Misunde.  The  next 
day  the  Austrians  made  an  attack  at  Bustrup,  a 
point  in  the  Dannewerk  about  three  miles  from 
the  town  of  Schleswig.  Xight  prevented  the 
assailants  from  reaping  the  benefit  of  whatever 
advantage  they  had  over  their  enemies.  It  is 
probable  that,  had  daylight  lasted,  or  had  they 
known  the  extent  of  their  success,  they  might 
have  taken  the  town.  Nothing  further  was  done 
on  the  one  side  or  the  other  till  the  5th  February, 
when  the  Danes  evacuated  the  Dannewerk.  The 
abandonment  of  this  stronghold  was  decided  upon 
by  the  council  of  war  very  suddenly.  As  late  as 
ten  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the  day  that  this  step 
was  taken,  one  of  the  brigadiers,  who  had  placed 
himself  at  the  head  of  his  columns,  with  the  full 
understanding  that  he  was  to  make  to  the  advanced 
posts  at  Fredericksburg  and  Bustrup,  received 
orders  to  change  his  march  to  Flensburg.  The 
news  of  this  resolution  created  great  dissatisfaction 
among  the  Danes,  both  soldiers  and  people  gene- 
rally. The  government  at  Copenhagen  so  far 
gave  way  to  public  opinion,  as  to  recall  the  com- 
mander-in-chief, General  de  Meza,  and  appoint 
Lieutenant-general  Gerlach  in  his  place,  seemingly 
for  no  other  reason  than  because,  by  some  accident, 
the  latter  happened  to  be  absent  from  the  council 
that  determined  on  the  evacuation.      When  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


53 


strength  of  their  army,  the  condition  of  their 
artillery,  and  their  resources  are  considered,  the 
wisdom  of  the  decision  will  remain  unchal- 
lenged by  every  one  acquainted  with  the  great 
superiority  of  the  German  army  in  numbers  and 
artillery.  To  defend  thirteen  miles  of  forts,  and 
the  unprotected  line  beyond  them  to  Frederickstadt, 
the  Danes  had  biit  30,000  men.  In  all  the  forts 
there  was  not  one  rifled  gun;  and  no  gun  had 
more  than  100  charges  of  powder.  The  question 
of  the  expediency  of  the  retreat  to  Alsen,  where 
their  defences  presented  a  far  more  contracted 
front,  is  not  doubtful.  Alsen,  too,  was  nearer 
Jutland,  and  proportionately  more  inclined  to  the 
Danish  cause.  In  Schleswig  there  was  the  great 
disadvantage  of  the  presence  of  much  unsympa- 
thetic feeling.  In  some  instances  the  carelessness 
of  the  Schleswigers  for  their  defenders  took  the 
more  positive  form  of  rendering  secret  assistance  to 
the  Austro-Prussians.  With  this  half  hostile  popu- 
lation around  them  the  Danes  could  not  make  any 
movement  without  the  enemy's  knowledge.  The 
weather,  which  for  five  or  six  days  before  the  5th 
had  been  soft  and  sloppy,  on  this  day  changed.  A 
boisterous  north-east  wind  set  in,  bringing  frost, 
accompanied  with  a  heavy  fall  of  snow.  The  roads 
soon  became  difficult  for  locomotion.  In  this 
inclement  weather  the  Danish  army  set  out  on  its 
march  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night.  No  prepara- 
tion had  been  made  for  the  slipperiness  of  the  roads 
by  roughing  the  horses'  shoes.  Neither  horses  nor 
men  could  keep  their  feet.  The  cavalry  had  to 
dismount  and  lead  their  beasts.  The  artillery  had 
to  be  drawn  by  the  men.  The  progress  of  the 
army  was  soon  checked  by  the  fallen  horses.  Guns, 
waggons,  and  ambulance  vans  had  soon  to  be  left 
with  them,  encumbering  the  way  still  more.  The 
first  part  of  the  journey  was  the  most  calamitous. 
In  nine  hours  little  more  than  six  miles  were  made. 
Flensburg  was  not  reached  till  four  o'clock  the 
next  day.  They  halted  here  for  two  hours,  and 
then  continued  their  march  to  Alsen  by  way  of 
Krasan  and  Gravenstein.  The  difficulties  of  the 
preceding  night  had  to  be  encountered  in  a  more 
aggravated  form.  At  length,  after  eight  and  forty 
hours  of  toiling  and  suffering,  they  arrived  at  their 
destination.  That  their  retreat  was  not  more  dis- 
astrous was  owing  to  the  comparatively  short  distance 
they  had  to  traverse.  Time  was  the  only  element 
wanting  to  have  made  this  march  rival  in  horrors 
the  retreat  from  Moscow.     As  it  was,  many  died 


from  exposure  to  the  cold  and  from  fatigue.  If, 
however,  the  loss  of  life  was  not  very  great,  that 
of  materiel  was  very  serious,  and  was  one  that 
could  be  ill  afforded.  Everything  they  had  to 
abandon  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Austrians. 
Their  retreat  did  not  escape  the  attention  of  the 
Austro-Prussians,  who  entered  Schleswig  about 
five  hours  after  they  had  left  the  town,  and  with- 
out any  delay  set  out  after  them.  The  inclemency 
of  the  weather,  which  had  put  such  an  obstacle  in 
the  way  of  the  retreat  of  the  Danes,  was  no  less 
unfavourable  to  their  enemies'  pursuit.  Although 
the  Austrians  when  they  started  were  ten  miles 
only  in  the  rear,  they  did  not  come  up  with  the 
Danes  till  Saturday  afternoon,  the  6th.  About 
five  miles  from  Flensburg  they  came  into  collision 
with  two  regiments,  the  first  and  eleventh,  under 
the  command  of  Colonels  Miiller  and  Beck.  The 
Austrians  greatly  overmatched  the  Danes  in  num- 
bers. They  had,  moreover,  with  them  some 
squadrons  of  hussars  and  sixteen  cannon ;  while 
their  opponents  had  but  two  field  pieces  and  no 
horse.  The  Danes  offered  a  brave  resistance, 
meeting  the  cavalry  with  the  bayonet.  They  had 
to  fall  back  at  last,  after  suffering  severe  losses, 
especially  among  their  officers.  One  of  the 
companies  of  the  first  regiment  lost  its  whole 
staff.  This  was  the  only  engagement  between 
the  Austrians  and  Danes  worthy  of  mention. 
The  result  of  this  contest  is  a  sample  of  the 
fortune  that  pursued  them  in  every  open 
field.  Their  very  resistance  insured  their  defeat. 
To  make  any  stand  against  their  enemy  was  to 
give  him  time  to  gather  fresh  strength,  like 
another  Antaeus.  As  the  whole  force  of  the  Danish 
army  was  not  thought  necessary  to  defend  Alsen, 
4000  men,  chiefly  cavalry,  received  orders  from 
Copenhagen  to  march  to  Fredericia  in  Jutland. 
Shortly  after,  the  third  division,  under  General 
Wilster,  was  directed  to  embark  for  the  same 
town.  This  division  consisted  of  about  10,000 
men,  including  two  field  batteries  and  half  a  regi- 
ment of  dragoons.  Their  forces  were  thus  divided 
into  two.  Their  example  was  followed  by  the 
Austrians  and  Prussians,  who  parted  company, 
the  former  making  for  Jutland,  and  the  latter 
proceeding  to  the  reduction  of  the  Danish  position 
at  Dybbol. 

This  siege  was  the  greatest  event  of  the  war. 
In  fact,  it  was  the  only  place  in  Schleswig  at 
which   the    Danes    made    a    decided    stand.      A 


5-1 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


description  of  the  defences  of  Dybbol  will  render 
more  intelligible  the  plan  of  attack  which  was 
carried  out  to  so  successful  an  issue  by  the  Prus- 
sians. The  island  of  Alsen  is  separated  from  the 
continent  by  a  sound  about  thirteen  miles  in 
length,  and  about  two  or  three  miles  in  width 
at  its  entrance.  At  Sb'nderborg  the  width  of  the 
sound  narrows  to  about  150  yards.  Here  the 
mainland  of  Sondered  is  connected  with  the  island 
by  a  bridge.  On  the  mainland,  beyond  the  bridge, 
was  the  Dybbol  stronghold,  consisting  of  four 
distinct  lines.  First,  there  was  the  tete  du  font 
proper,  immediately  across  the  water,  a  narrow 
gorge  or  defile  winding  between  two  hills  of 
moderate  height,  flanked  on  either  side  by  two 
batteries,  and  barred  by  a  double  range  of  palisades. 
Beyond  that,  after  an  esplanade  of  about  half  a 
mile,  there  was  the  second  line,  or  Dybbol  line 
proper,  on  Dybbol  Hill,  consisting  of  ten  forts, 
disposed  on  a  somewhat  circular  line  from  No.  1, 
close  to  the  water's  edge,  on  the  Vemmingbund  to 
No.  10,  at  a  very  little  distance  from  the  Alsund 
shore.  The  Dybbol  windmill  was  nearly  in  the 
middle  of  this  arc,  somewhat  in  the  rear  of 
forts  Nos.  4,  5,  6,  and  7,  and  close  to  the  main 
road  leading  from  Sb'nderborg  to  Nybbl,  Graas- 
ten,  and  Flensburg.  The  third  line  was  made 
by  the  broad  skirts  and  summit  of  the  Arnbjerg, 
by  the  village  of  Dybbol,  and  by  the  some- 
what broken  and  uncleared  ground  of  Ragebb'l. 
The  fourth  line  was  drawn  across  two  woods, 
called  Stenterupskov  and  Boffel  Kobbel,  lining  the 
above-mentioned  road  on  either  side.  All  these 
four  lines  stretched  out  in  concentric  arcs,  and 
had  their  centre  at  the  Sbnderborg  bridges,  from 
which  they  were  placed  at  the  respective  distance 
of  half  a  mile,  one  mile,  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  two 
miles.  About  half  a  mile  from  the  fourth  line,  on 
the  north,  was  Nybbl,  and  at  the  southern  was  the 
isthmus  which  joins  the  little  peninsula  of  Broager- 
land  to  the  Sondered  mainland.  The  second  line 
extended  for  about  one  and  a  half  mile,  and  its 
ten  forts  were  mounted  with  one  hundred  heavy 
cannon.  The  Dybbol  position,  taken  altogether, 
was  very  strong  by  nature.  In  1849  the  Danes 
successfully  withstood  a  siege  here ;  and  they  had 
great  confidence  in  the  result  of  one  in  1864. 
Little  or  nothing  was  done  this  year  toward 
strengthening  their  position.  They  contented 
themselves  with  restoring  their  old  works  and 
batteries  of  1849.     In   fifteen  years,  however,  a 


revolution  had  taken  place  in  the  art  of  war,  to 
which  they  had  paid  no  heed.  The  little  pen- 
insula of  Broagerland  was  left  unprotected,  and 
became  the  key  by  which  the  Prussians  opened 
the  stronghold.  Before  the  days  of  rifled  guns 
Dybbol  was  quite  safe  on  this  side;  but  the 
case  was  different  in  1864.  The  Danes  manned 
the  first  and  second  lines  only,  using  the  third 
and  fourth  as  outposts.  Flensburg  was  the 
headquarters  of  the  Prussian  army ;  but  their 
outposts  extended  as  far  as  Nybbl  on  the  south, 
and  Sattrup  on  the  north.  At  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  Danes'  fourth  line  was  the  neck 
of  the  Broager  peninsula,  which  was  covered  with 
the  woods  of  Stenterup  and  Boffel  above  mentioned. 
These  woods  were,  by  an  unpardonable  supineness 
of  the  Danes,  occupied  by  pickets  only.  The  im- 
portance of  the  position  was  seen  by  the  Prussians, 
who  during  the  whole  campaign  showed  themselves 
superior  to  the  Danes  in  foresight.  The  Danish 
outposts  were  driven  back,  and  the  peninsula  seized 
by  the  Prussians.  The  same  want  of  providence 
on  the  part  of  the  Danes  in  the  case  of  the  village 
of  Dybbol,  which  they  had  not  fortified,  stood  the 
Prussians  in  good  stead  on  the  22nd  February.  On 
this  day,  coming  up  by  the  woods  of  Stenterup 
Skov  and  Boffel  Kobbel,  which  they  now  held,  they 
attacked  the  Danes  in  great  force  and  drove  them 
from  Dybbol  village.  Although  at  the  end  of 
the  day  the  Danes  succeeded  in  recovering  their 
position,  it  was  only  at  a  great  sacrifice  of  life. 
For  some  time  after  this  reconnaissance  of  the 
Prussians  there  was  almost  a  complete  cessation  of 
arms.  Indeed,  the  whole  war  evinced  such  a  list- 
lessness  on  the  part  of  invaders  and  defenders,  that 
it  is  difficult  at  times  to  believe  that  either  one  side 
or  the  other  was  in  earnest.  It  was  the  custom  of 
the  pickets,  when  being  changed,  to  send  a  parting 
shot  to  the  enemy,  and  this  for  a  long  time  was  the 
extent  of  the  firing  on  both  sides.  On  one  occasion, 
even,  the  Danes  and  Prussians  were  seen  snow- 
balling each  other.  Meanwhile  the  Austrians  had 
made  their  way  towards  Fredericia.  They  drove 
the  Danes  before  them  from  Gudsb,  Taarup,  Bred- 
strap,  and  other  places,  all  across  the  isthmus  of  the 
peninsula  to  Fredericia.  This  fortress  was  invested, 
and  the  towns  of  Stoutstrup  and  Erritso  occupied 
by  their  forces.  From  these  places  their  artillery 
commanded  the  whole  sound  of  the  Little  Belt,  so 
that  all  intercourse  between  Jutland  and  Alsen  had 
to  be  carried  on  by  the  other  side  of  Fiinen.     As 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


55 


at  Dybbol,  no  affair  of  any  importance  occurred. 
In  one  or  two  skirmishes,  however,  the  Danes  lost 
rather  heavily.  At  Erritso  General  Wilster,  the 
commander-in-chief  at  Fredericia,  was  wounded, 
and  at  Gudso  Captain  Tane  was  surprised  by  a 
superior  force  of  Austrians,  and  had  to  surrender. 
As  soon  as  Fredericia  was  invested  and  its  garrison 
masked,  the  same  inactivity  prevailed  as  at  Dybbol. 
The  fires  of  war  blazed  out  afresh  at  Dybbol  on  the 
17th  of  March.  The  Prussians  had  not  neglected 
the  advantages  which  the  possession  of  the  penin- 
sula of  Broagerland  gave.  They  erected  batteries 
all  along  the  cliffs  that  lined  the  sound.  From 
these  batteries  they  could  throw  shot  or  shell  into 
the  town  of  So'nderborg,  and  could  reach  the  most 
distant  bastion  of  the  Dybbol  forts,  while  they 
themselves  were  entirely  out  of  the  range  of  the 
Danish  guns.  Batteries  also  were  built  on  the 
heights  of  Ragebb'l,  a  hill  to  the  right  of  the  Danish 
position.  On  the  morning  of  the  17th  the  Prussians 
opened  fire  on  both  town  and  forts.  During  the 
cannonade  they  advanced  with  great  force  against 
the  village  of  Dybbol  and  the  heights  of  Arnbjerg. 
Warned  by  their  previous  attack  on  the  22nd 
of  February,  the  Danes  had  done  their  best  to 
strengthen  this  position.  The  churchyard,  which 
had  a  commanding  situation,  had  been  fortified,  and 
here  they  entrenched  themselves.  The  defence 
was  as  obstinate  as  the  attack  was  violent,  and  the 
Danes  reconquered  lost  ground  by  three  successive 
charges.  They  had,  however,  to  give  way  before 
overwhelming  numbers,  and  as  the  day  closed  the 
Prussians  remained  masters  of  the  field.  The 
heights  of  Arnbjerg,  as  was  explained  above,  closed 
in  the  third  line  of  the  defensive  works  of  Dybbol. 
It  is  on  the  left  of  the  road,  and  about  the  same 
distance  from  the  Danish  bastions  as  Dybbol.  The 
Danes  disputed  the  possession  of  this  hill  with 
great  gallantry.  It  was  taken  and  retaken,  again 
and  again ;  but  the  victory  in  the  end  remained 
with  the  Prussians.  With  the  loss  of  Arnbjerg 
the  doom  of  Alsen  was  sounded,  the  first  knell  of 
which  might  have  been  heard  when  the  Prussians 
ivere  allowed  to  occupy  the  Broagerland  peninsula. 
As  a  strategic  position  it  was  of  more  importance 
than  the  possession  of  the  village  ;  for  from  the 
top  the  whole  line  of  forts  could  be  swept  by  the 
Prussian  fire  with  ease. 

An  attempt  was  made  next  day  by  the  Danes  to 
recover  their  lost  ground  ;  but  the  value  of  their  late 
acquisitions  was  too  well  recognized  by  the  Prussians 


for  them  to  be  taken  unprepared,  and  the  Danes 
were  repulsed.  The  Danes  made  no  other  attempt 
to  disturb  the  Prussians  in  their  possessions  by 
assault ;  but  confined  themselves  to  keeping  up 
an  incessant  firing,  to  prevent  the  erection  of  any 
batteries.  Their  guns,  however,  did  not  delay  their 
enemies,  who  proceeded  steadily  with  the  work, 
using  field  artillery  till  they  mounted  their  heavy 
rifled  ordnance. 

As  soon  as  these  guns  were  placed  in  position, 
they  began  a  cannonade  which  they  kept  up  day 
after  day  with  great  precision  and  effect. 

On  the  28th  March,  under  cover  of  a  fire  from 
all  their  batteries,  the  Prussians  made  an  assault  on 
the  Danish  lines.  Their  chief  efforts  were  directed 
against  the  bastions  on  the  extreme  left,  which 
they  thought  had  been  silenced  by  the  previous 
day's  firing.  The  Danes  had,  however,  repaired 
then  works,  and  remounted  their  guns,  which, 
though  smooth  bores,  were  of  a  very  heavy  calibre, 
and  made  great  havoc  among  the  Prussian  infantry. 
An  iron-clad  of  the  Danes,  the  Rolf-Krake,  steamed 
into  the  Vemmingbund  Bay,  and  by  keeping  under 
the  cliffs  of  Broagerland  succeeded  in  escaping  the 
guns  of  the  Prussian  batteries.  When  she  was  in 
range,  she  opened  a  most  destructive  fire  upon  the 
flank  of  the  Prussians,  who  were  then  obliged  to 
make  a  precipitate  retreat. 

After  this  repulse  the  Prussians  renewed  their 
former  operations,  and  kept  up  an  incessant  storm 
of  shot  and  shell  against  the  Danish  batteries. 
Bastion  after  bastion  was  shattered  and  the  guns 
dismounted,  which  the  Danes  in  the  lulls  of  the 
firing  endeavoured,  with  only  partial  success,  to 
remount.  The  Prussians  were  not  merely  content 
with  this  employment  of  their  guns,  but  turned 
them  against  the  town  of  So'nderborg.  This  they 
bombarded  till  two-thirds  were  either  burnt  or 
levelled  to  the  ground.  Nor  did  the  town  only 
suffer,  but  outlying  farmhouses  and  buildings 
shared  its  misfortunes.  Nothing  was  respected  that 
was  in  the  range  of  the  Prussian  guns.  Besides 
the  destruction  of  private  property,  as  no  notice 
had  been  given  to  the  inhabitants  to  quit  the  town, 
a  serious  loss  of  life  occurred  amongst  them.  It  is 
difficult  to  discover  what  object  the  Prussians  had 
in  thus  disregarding  what  has  become  almost  an 
article  of  war — the  respect  due  to  an  unarmed  town. 
Even  war  has  not  escaped  the  influence  of  civiliza- 
tion, but  has  grown  merciful,  in  the  case  of  non- 
combatants   and  wounded  soldiers,   to  an   extent 


56 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


perhaps  hardly  anticipated  in  former  times.  The 
horrors  of  war  were,  however,  in  1864,  brought 
bitterly  home  to  the  defenceless  inhabitants  of 
Sb'nderborg  by  the  Prussians. 

The  condition  of  the  Dybbol  forts  had  now  got 
so  desperate,  that  it  was  not  without  murmurs  that 
the  Danish  soldiers  marched  to  their  appointed 
posts.  Nor  were  their  complaints  without  reason. 
The  hopelessness  of  holding  out  any  longer  was 
seen  by  every  one  in  Alsen  ;  but  orders  had  come 
from  the  government  at  Copenhagen,  that  Dybbol 
was  to  be  held  at  all  costs  ;  and  the  Danes  had 
no  other  course  open  to  them  than  to  seek  what 
shelter  their  fast-falling  ramparts  gave  them  from 
the  enemy's  shot  and  shell.  They  could  them- 
selves do  no  harm  to  the  Prussians,  yet  even  in 
their  batteries  their  numbers  were  diminished  by 
a  hundred  a  day. 

At  length  the  day  came  that  was  to  end  the 
sufferings  and  toil  of  the  besieged  and  besiegers. 
On  the  18th  of  April  the  Prussians  swarmed  up 
against  Dybbol,  accompanied  by  a  furious  cannon- 
ade from  their  whole  line  of  batteries,  to  which  the 
Danes  returned  what  answer  their  few  remaining 
guns  enabled  them  to  make.  The  ironclad  Rolf- 
Krake  which  had  done  such  service  on  the  occasion 
of  the  previous  assault  of  the  Prussians,  again  steamed 
into  the  Vemmingbund  Bay.  But  this  time  the 
ill-fortune  of  her  owners  followed  her.  As  she 
was  passing  the  Prussian  batteries  she  was  struck 
by  two  shells.  Her  deck,  which  was  of  one  and  a 
half  inch  plate  only,  was  broken  through.  Several 
men  were  killed,  and  so  much  damage  done,  that 
she  was  compelled  to  return  to  her  anchorage  in 
Hdrup  Hav. 

The  Danes  made  every  resistance  in  their  power, 
but  all  was  useless.  They  were  borne  down  by  the 
superior  numbers  of  the  Prussians  from  fort  to  fort ; 
till  step  by  step  they  were  thrust  beyond  their 
defences,  and  over  the  sound  into  Alsen.  Here 
they  gained  a  little  breathing  time  by  destroying 
the  bridges  they  had  crossed.  Their  losses  in 
killed  and  wounded  were  very  serious ;  and  great 
numbers  were  left  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the 
Prussians.  Certainly  less  than  half  the  army 
escaped  into  Alsen.  Among  the  many  officers 
that  fell  in  this  engagement  was  gallant  General 
du  Plat.  He  was  at  the  rear  of  his  retreating 
columns,  encouraging  and  cheering  on  his  men, 
when  he  was  struck  down  by  several  rifle  bullets. 
The  last  words  he  uttered  as  he  fell  were:  "  Hold 


out,  my  friends  !  Hold  out  for  God  and  Denmark  " ! 
The  Prussians  paid  the  respect  due  to  his  bravery, 
and  sent  his  body,  with  those  of  several  other 
officers,  to  the  Danes  for  burial.  On  his  head  two 
wreaths  of  laurel  were  placed  by  Prince  Frede- 
rick Charles  and  Marshal  Wrangel;  a  token  of  the 
high  estimation  in  which  they  held  his  heroic 
resistance.  The  Prussian  loss  was  comparatively 
slight. 

With  the  fall  of  Dybbol  the  cause  of  the  Danes 
in  Schleswig  was  lost.  The  whole  province  was 
in  the  undisturbed  possession  of  the  Austro-Prus- 
sians;  and  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  Danish  reverses, 
shortly  after  the  fortress  of  Fredericia  had  to  be 
evacuated  and  abandoned  to  the  Austrians.  There 
was  nothing  now  to  prevent  the  Austrians  from 
overrunning  the  whole  Cimbrian  Peninsula  from 
end  to  end. 

To  console  them  in  their  defeat,  the  Danes  had 
the  consciousness  of  having  done  their  best  to  keep 
what  they  considered,  rightfully  or  wrongfully,  as 
their  lawful  possession,  and  of  having  succumbed 
only  to  superior  numbers. 

Whatever  differences  of  opinion  there  may  be  on 
the  questions  involved  in  the  war,  no  side  will 
hesitate  to  give  the  Danes  due  meed  of  praise  for 
the  manful  stand  they  made  in  a  struggle  in  which 
they  were  over-matched. 

Meanwhile  it  was  at  length  resolved  at  the  con- 
ference, that  hostilities  should  be  suspended  by  land 
and  sea  from  the  12th  of  May  to  the  12th  of  June, 
Denmark  raising  her  blockades  ;  and  at  the  sitting 
of  the  2nd  June  this  armistice  was  prolonged,  after 
some  difficulty,  until  the  26th  of  June.  The  con- 
ference terminated  on  the  22nd  of  June,  all  the 
belligerents  rejecting  the  mediatory  proposals  of 
Great  Britain,  and  at  the  end  of  the  month  hostili- 
ties were  renewed. 

On  the  29th  the  Prussians  crossed  over  to  Alsen 
soon  after  midnight  in  considerable  force,  and 
landed  on  the  opposite  shore  without  much  opposi- 
tion. The  Danish  troops  in  the  island  soon  after- 
wards came  up;  but  after  a  sharp  engagement  they 
were  compelled  to  retreat  with  a  loss  in  killed  and 
wounded  of  between  2500  and  3000  men.  The 
ironclad  Danish  man-of-war,  Rolf-Krake,  lay  in 
Augustenburg  Bay,  and  attempted  to  prevent  the 
crossing  of  the  enemy;  but  she  was  met  by  such  a 
concentrated  fire  from  the  Prussian  batteries,  that 
she  was  compelled  to  retire  and  seek  shelter  behind 
an  intervening  promontory.      The  Prussians  were 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


57 


very  proud  of  their  victory,  and  an  official  account 
of  the  capture  of  Alsen,  which  appeared  in  Berlin, 
stated  that  the  difficulties  of  this  undertaking  were 
very  considerable,  and  apparent  even  to  an  unprac- 
tised eye.  History  contains  few  examples  of  the 
passage  of  a  river  in  front  of  the  enemy.  Here 
it  was  requisite  to  cross  an  arm  of  the  sea,  whose 
width,  depth,  and  rapid  current  prevented  the 
erection  of  a  bridge,  and  whose  hostile  shore 
bristled  with  numerous  well-armed  batteries  and 
intrenchments.  It  was  necessary  to  expose  the 
troops  to  a  foreign  element  in  a  number  of  slight 
boats,  not  only  threatened  by  wind  and  weather, 
but  by  many  hostile  war  ships  commanding  the 
sea,  the  ironclad  vessels  in  particular  capable  of 
inflicting  serious  losses.  Even  if  the  landing  of 
the  first  battalion  succeeded,  it  was  necessary  to  be 
prepared  for  encountering  a  superior  enemy  who, 
long  since  expecting  this  attack,  would  have  had 
time  enough,  during  the  suspension  of  arms,  to 
reorganize  his  troops  and  make  every  preparation 
for  energetically  repulsing  all  attempts  to  land. 
When  the  boats  were  about  200  yards  distant  from 
the  hostile  shore,  the  first  shots  of  the  enemy's 
outposts  blazed  at  them  through  the  twilight. 
The  forces  in  the  boats  returned  the  fire,  and 
replied  to  the  first  hail  of  grape  from  the  enemy's 
batteries  with  a  thundering  hurrah.  Springing 
out  of  the  boats,  and  wading  through  the  shallows, 
the  brave  Brandenburgers  rapidly  gained  the  oppo- 
site bank,  stormed  the  hostile  batteries,  and  drove 
the  enemy  back  into  the  Fohlen-koppel  wood,  not- 
withstanding his  desperate  attempts  to  hold  his 
rifle  pits.  The  capture  of  Alsen  and  abandonment 
of  Fredericia  decided  the  issue  of  the  struggle, 
and  Denmark,  isolated  as  she  was  in  the  un- 
equal war,  found  herself  compelled  to  yield  and 
consent  to  peace. 

But  her  enemies  were  not  at  perfect  peace 
among  themselves.  In  the  middle  of  July  an 
ominous  quarrel  arose  at  Rendsburg  in  Schleswig 
between  some  Prussian  soldiers  on  the  one  hand, 
and  some  Saxon  and  Hanoverian  soldiers  on  the 
other.  Much  bad  feeling  had  already  existed 
between  the  Federal  and  Prussian  troops,  and 
the  result  of  the  squabble  was,  that  a  strong 
Prussian  force  was  marched  into  Rendsburg,  and 
Prince  Frederick  Charles  of  Prussia,  acting  upon 
orders  from  Berlin,  took  military  possession  of 
the  place.  General  von  Hake,  who  commanded 
the  Saxons,  protested  against  this  as  an  unwar- 


ranted act  of  usurpation,  saying  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  him  to  consent  to  the  occupation  of 
Rendsburg  by  Prussian  troops,  but  also  clearly  out 
of  his  power,  independent  of  other  important  rea- 
sons, to  think  of  offering  military  opposition  with 
a  weak  garrison  of  four  companies.  He  declared, 
therefore,  that  he  should  withdraw  for  the  present 
the  Saxon  troops  from  Rendsburg,  to  avoid  a 
conflict.  This  affair  caused  much  ill  blood 
against  Prussia  in  Saxony  and  the  minor  states 
of  Germany,  but  in  the  end  good  sense  prevailed, 
and  possibly  a  feeling  that  Prussia  was  leading 
them  to  unity  and  greatness  induced  submission 
to  her  lead. 

Negotiations  for  peace  took  place  at  Vienna 
between  the  plenipotentiaries  of  Austria,  Prussia, 
and  Denmark,  for  the  purpose  of  settling  the  pre- 
liminaries between  those  powers;  and  at  last,  on 
the  1st  of  August,  they  were  signed  by  the  respec- 
tive parties,  and  were  as  follows: — 1.  His  Majesty 
the  king  of  Denmark  renounces  all  his  rights 
to  the  duchies  of  Schleswig,  Holstein,  and  Lauen- 
burg,  in  favour  of  their  Majesties  the  king  of 
Prussia  and  the  emperor  of  Austria,  engaging  to 
recognize  the  arrangements  their  said  Majesties 
shall  make  in  respect  of  those  duchies.  2.  The 
cession  of  the  duchy  of  Schleswig  comprehends 
all  the  islands  belonging  to  that  duchy,  as  well 
as  the  territory  situated  upon  the  mainland.  To 
simplify  the  boundary  question,  and  put  an  end  to 
the  inconveniences  resulting  from  the  portion  of 
Jutland  territory  situated  within  Schleswig,  his 
Majesty  the  king  of  Denmark  cedes  to  their  Majes- 
ties the  king  of  Prussia  and  the  emperor  of  Austria 
the  Jutland  possessions  situated  to  the  south  of  the 
frontier  line  of  the  district  of  Ribe,  laid  down  on  the 
maps.  On  the  other  hand,  their  Majesties  the  king 
of  Prussia  and  the  emperor  of  Austria  consent  that 
an  equivalent  portion  of  Schleswig,  comprising, 
in  addition  to  the  island  of  Arroe,  the  territories 
connecting  the  above-mentioned  district  of  Ribe 
with  the  remainder  of  Jutland,  and  rectifying  the 
frontier  line  between  Jutland  and  Schleswig  from 
the  side  of  Colding,  shall  be  detached  from  the 
duchy  of  Schleswig  and  incorporated  in  the  king- 
dom of  Denmark.  The  island  of  Arroe  will  not 
make  part  of  the  compensation  by  reason  of  its 
geographical  extent.  The  details  of  the  demarca- 
tion of  the  frontiers  shall  be  settled  by  the  defini- 
tive treaty  of  peace.  3.  The  debts  contracted 
either  by  Denmark  or  any  of  the  duchies,  to  remain 


58 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  charge  of  each  country.  All  war  expenses  of 
the  allied  powers  to  be  paid  by  the  duchies. 

A  protocol  was  at  the  same  time  signed  respect- 
ing the  terms  and  duration  of  the  armistice.  This 
provided  that  there  should  be  a  complete  sus- 
pension of  hostilities  by  land  and  sea,  until  the 
conclusion  of  the  peace.  The  king  of  Denmark 
engaged  to  raise  the  blockade  of  the  German  ports, 
and  the  king  of  Prussia  and  the  emperor  of  Aus- 
tria, while  maintaining  the  occupation  of  Jutland, 
under  the  existing  conditions  of  the  itti-possiiletis, 
declared  themselves  ready  to  keep  in  that  country 
no  larger  number  of  troops  than  their  majesties 
might  judge  necessary,  according  to  purely  mili- 
tary considerations.  A  treaty  of  peace  in  accord- 
ance with  the  above  preliminaries  was  signed  at 
Vienna  on  the  1st  of  October,  1864.  The  rati- 
fication of  the  treaty  was  followed  by  a  sharp 
correspondence  between  the  Prussian  minister  and 
the  ministers  of  foreign  powers,  in  which  the 
English  minister  especially  indulged  in  splenetic 
observations,  which  may  have  been  deserved,  but 
were  of  no  use  to  any  person  or  to  any  cause. 
The  game  to  be  played  out  was  only  begun,  and 
the  mighty  task  which  Herr  von  Bismarck  had 
undertaken  was  to  be  accomplished  by  steps  more 
arduous,  if  not  so  unscrupulous,  as  this  conquest 
of  the  Elbe  duchies. 

In  a  history  of  the  Seven  Weeks'  War  of  1866, 
it  has  been  observed  on  this  subject,  that  when, 
in  the  first  instance,  the  Germanic  Confederation 
undertook  the  Danish  war,  Prussia  was  not  suffi- 
ciently confident  in  her  strength  to  set  aside,  with 
her  own  hand  alone,  the  decrees  of  the  Diet.  To 
have  done  so  would  have  raised  a  storm  against 
her,  against  which  she  had  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  she  could  successfully  bear  up.  England  was 
excited,  and  the  warlike  people  of  that  country 
eager  to  rush  to  arms  in  the  cause  of  the  father 
of  the  young  princess  of  Wales.  France  was  dis- 
contented with  the  refusal  of  the  English  cabinet 
to  join  her  proposed  congress,  but  might  have 
accepted  a  balm  for  her  wounded  pride  in  a  free 
permission  to  push  her  frontier  up  to  the  Rhine. 
Austria  would  have  opposed  the  aggrandizement  of 
Prussia,  and  all  Germany  would  at  that  time  have 
supported  the  great  power  of  the  south  in  the  battle 
for  the  liberation  of  Holstcin  from  the  supremacy  of 
the  Hohenzollerns,  as  eagerly  as  from  that  of  the 
House  of  Denmark.  The  efforts  made  for  the  inde- 
pendence of  Holstcin,  which  could  not  be  opposed 


by  open  force,  had  to  be  thwarted  by  stratagem. 
Prussia  sought  the  alliance  of  Austria  with  a 
proposal  that  those  two  great  powers  should  con- 
stitute themselves  the  executors  of  the  Federal 
decree,  in  order  to  put  aside  the  troops  of  the 
minor  states.  Austria  agreed,  and  rues  at  this 
hour  the  signature  of  that  convention.  Yet  she 
had  much  cause  of  excuse.  To  allow  Prussia  to 
step  forward  alone  as  the  champion  of  German 
national  feeling,  would  have  been  for  Austria  to 
resign  for  ever  into  the  hands  of  her  rival  the 
supremacy  of  Germany.  Old  traditions,  chivalrous 
feeling,  and  inherited  memories  caused  Austrians 
to  look  upon  their  emperor  as  the  head  of  Germany, 
the  modern  representative  of  the  elected  holder  of 
the  crown  and  sceptre  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire. 
Prussia  was  approaching  that  supremacy  with 
gigantic  strides.  Austria  was  already  reduced  to 
the  position  of  being  the  advocate  of  German 
division  and  of  small  states,  purely  because  amal- 
gamation and  union  would  have  drawn  the  scattered 
particles  not  towards  herself,  but  within  the  boun- 
daries of  her  northern  neighbour.  To  permit 
Prussia  to  act  alone  in  the  matter  of  the  Elbe 
duchies,  would  have  been  to  see  her  surely  obtain 
important  territorial  aggrandizement,  and  also  to 
lose  the  opportunity  of  creating  another  indepen- 
dent minor  German  state,  which,  if  not  a  source 
of  strength  to  Austria,  might  prove  an  obstacle 
in  the  path  of  Prussia. 

The  war  against  Denmark  was  undertaken.  The 
Danes,  terribly  inferior  in  numbers,  organization, 
equipment,  armament,  and  wealth,  after  a  most 
gallant  resistance  lost  their  last  strongholds;  while 
the  Western  powers,  which  had  encouraged  the 
cabinet  of  Copenhagen  in  the  delusion  that  other 
soldiers  than  Danes  woidd  be  opposed  to  the 
German  invaders  of  Schleswig,  calmly  looked  on. 
The  Danish  war  terminated  in  the  treaty  signed 
at  Vienna  in  October,  1864;  and  the  duchies  ol 
Schleswig,  Holstein,  and  Lauenburg  were  handed 
over  to  the  sovereigns  of  Austria  and  Prussia. 
It  is  noteworthy,  says  Sir  Alexander  Malet,  that 
before  the  invasion  of  the  duchies  no  precise 
stipulations  had  taken  place  between  Austria 
and  Prussia  as  to  the  disposal  of  the  conquests 
which  they  might  safely  reckon  upon  making. 
This  was  a  grave  fault  on  the  part  of  Austria, 
and  most  probably,  continues  Sir  Alexander,  a 
calculated  omission  on  the  side  of  her  Prussian 
ally.     Though  the  condominate  rights  of  the  two 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


59 


sovereigns  in  whose  favour  the  cession  of  terri- 
tory was  made  were  equal,  the  military  forces  left 
by  each  for  its  occupation  differed  in  strength. 
Of  Prussians  there  remained  eighteen  battalions 
of  infantry  to  five  battalions  of  the  Austrians, 
eighteen  squadrons  of  cavalry  to  two  of  theirs, 
and  three  batteries  of  artillery  to  one  of  theirs. 
After  the  military  occupation  and  a  provisional 
government  were  settled  the  popular  will  was 
consulted,  in  a  hasty  superficial  way,  as  to  the 
future  government  of  the  land.  At  the  public 
meetings  held  in  different  parts  of  Holstein,  the 
generally  expressed  wish  of  the  population  was 
in  favour  of  a  union  with  the  Germanic  Con- 
federation, under  the  sovereignty  of  the  prince 
of  Augustenburg.  A  small  fraction,  however,  of 
landed  proprietors,  led  by  Baron  Scheel  Plessen, 
put  forward  the  wish  for  annexation  to  Prussia, 
which  was  met  by  many  vehement  declarations  of 
a  contrary  opinion.  Against  these  demonstrations 
the  Prussian  government  acted  in  a  manner  that 
showed  she  would  not  suffer  any  overt  assertion 
of  independence.  During  a  debate  on  the  subject 
in  the  Prussian  Chamber,  Herr  von  Bismarck  said 
that  Kiel,  and  indeed  the  entire  duchies,  were 
owned  by  Prussia.  True,  they  were  owned  in 
common  with  the  Kaiser;  but  the  share  Prussia 
had  in  the  property  would  never  be  abandoned 
except  on  condition  of  Kiel  harbour  being  handed 
over  to  her  for  good.  This  port  was  ardently 
coveted  as  a  nursery  for  the  German  navy  which 
would  grow  out  of  the  Prussian  fleet,  by  develop- 
ing the  maritime  resources  of  the  other  states  of 
northern  Germany.  On  a  similar  occasion  the 
minister  of  state  replied  in  remarkable  words  to 
the  reproaches  of  the  public  press,  and  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  who  assailed  the  government 
for  having  formed  an  alliance  with  Austria.  "  On 
this  question  the  future  will  throw  a  clearer  light. 
Any  other  course  of  policy  would  have  made  the 
late  war  a  war  between  the  Federal  Diet  and  Den- 
mark. The  former  would  have  intrusted  to  us 
the  conduct  of  the  war,  but  would  not  have  taken 
into  consideration  our  plans  for  the  organization 
of  the  duchies,  as  does  Austria  who  is  friendly  to 
us.  ...  I  am  bound,"  he  said  in  conclusion, 
"  to  limit  myself  to  these  statements,  on  account  of 
the  publicity  which  will  be  given  to  my  speech." 
This  was  spoken  in  January,  1865,  when  with  all 
his  extreme  candour  the  speaker  had  things  in  his 
mind  which  Austria,  however  "  friendly  to  us," 


would  have  learned  with  dismay — things  upon 
which  a  future  of  not  much  more  than  a  year 
threw  a  terribly  clear  light. 

A  new  complexion  was  ostentatiously  given  to 
the  co-possession  in  the  month  of  June,  when 
Herr  Wagner,  during  a  discussion  in  the  Chamber 
at  Berlin  oh  the  bill  for  defraying  the  expenses 
of  the  late  war,  moved  an  amendment  to  the 
effect,  "  that  the  government  be  requested  to 
endeavour  to  bring  about  the  annexation  of  the 
duchies  to  Prussia,  even  by  indemnifying,  if 
necessary,  any  claimant  to  their  possession."  The 
words  -of  the  prime  minister,  in  reply,  were 
significant.  "  The  programme  for  the  solution 
of  the  question  of  the  duchies,"  he  said,  "has 
been  completely  carried  out,  excepting  the  installa- 
tion of  the  prince  of  Augustenburg  as  duke  of 
Schleswig-Holstein.  This  can  take  place  any 
day  upon  the  prince  proving  his  hereditary  right 
to  the  duchies,  which  up  to  the  present  time  he 
has  failed  to  do.  In  a  conversation  with  me  last 
year,  his  Highness  rejected  the  moderate  demands 
of  Prussia,  and  expressed  himself  as  follows: — 
'  Why  did  you  come  to  the  duchies?  We  did 
not  call  you.  Matters  would  have  been  settled 
without  Prussia.'  Annexation  to  Prussia  is  the 
best  thing  for  Schleswig-Holstein ;  but  there  is  no 
prospect  of  its  accomplishment,  on  account  of  the 
large  debts  for  which  it  would  be  necessary  for 
Prussia  to  render  herself  liable.  After  the  refusal 
of  our  moderate  demands  by  the  prince  of  Augus- 
tenburg, we  shall  be  justified  in  subsequently  in- 
creasing them."  On  another  occasion  the  minister 
declared  again  and  again,  that  nothing  would  be 
abated  of  the  claims  which  Prussia  had  on  the 
duchies  she  had  rescued  for  Germany  from  Den- 
mark. He  professed  not  to  grudge  them  their 
duke,  nor  to  trouble  himself  about  any  democratic 
institutions  they  might  be  tempted  to  establish; 
but  it  was  his  duty,  he  said,  to  prevent  a  third 
Schleswig-Holstein  campaign,  and  to  arrange 
matters  in  a  way  which  should  not  expose  him  to 
the  necessity  of  taking  Dybbol  again.  As  to  the 
concessions  made  by  the  duke  of  Augustenburg, 
they  were  dependent  on  the  sanction  of  the  Schles- 
wig-Holstein Estates,  even  supposing  them  to  be 
sufficient  for  Prussian  purposes.  In  reality,  no 
concessions  whatever  had  been  made,  and  nothing 
remained  for  Prussia  to  do  but  effect  an  arrange- 
ment with  the  Kaiser  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
future  duke  on  the  other;  if  indeed  the  title  of  a 


60 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


single  person  to  the  whole  of  the  duchies  could 
ever  be  established.  It  was  growing  very  clear 
that  neither  duke  nor  Kaiser  would  stand  in  the 
way  of  Prussian  claims  while  Prussia  had  the 
force  to  prevent  it.  No  votes  of  the  Schleswig- 
Holstein  Estates,  no  proclamations  of  the  pretenders, 
would  drive  Prussia  from  the  duchies.'  She  would 
stick  to  her  programme,  and  defend  its  justice  and 
necessity  to  her  very  last  man.  The  people  of 
Prussia  and  the  Chamber  at  Berlin  were  no  less 
loath  than  the  minister  to  give  up  their  hold  on 
the  fair  prize  within  their  grasp.  They  too  wanted 
to  place  Germany  in  a  defensible  condition  by  sea, 
and  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  another  attack  upon 
the  Dybbb'l  fortifications.  So  eager  were  the 
Chambers  for  annexation,  that  Bismarck  endea- 
voured to  wring  a  money  vote  from  them,  by 
promising  that  Kiel  should  become  Prussian,  adding, 
"  If  you  doubt  our  right  to  it,  make  a  condition 
with  us,  and  say,  "  No  Kiel,  no  money."  If  the 
pretenders  could  prove  no  better  title  to  the  duke- 
dom than  the  right  of  conquest  which  Prussia 
claimed,  their  pretensions  would  be  disregarded, 
and  no  one  should  contest  the  right  of  the  sove- 
reigns of  Prussia  and  Austria  to  make  an  arrange- 
ment between  themselves  for  the  disposal  of  the 
spoil.  Such  an  arrangement,  as  will  be  presently 
seen,  was  ere  long  brought  to  pass. 

Meanwhile  co-possession  soon  disturbed  the  har- 
mony that  seemed  to  exist  between  the  two  great 
German  powers.  The  double  government  under  an 
Austrian  and  Prussian  commissioner  offered  endless 
opportunities  for  the  old  rivalry  between  the  two 
countries  to  break  out;  and  the  manifest  desire  of 
the  Prussians  to  annex  the  convenient  territory 
served  to  aggravate  the  natural  jealousy  of  their 
ally,  who  strove  to  countermine  the  project  by 
secretly  but  efficaciously  supporting  the  Augus- 
tenburg  party.  The  estrangement  between  the  two 
powers  greatly  increased  when,  on  the  announce- 
ment of  the  September  convention  concluded 
between  Italy  and  France,  the  Prussian  minister 
refused  to  acknowledge  Austria's  claim  for  assist- 
ance founded  on  promises  made  during  the  Danish 
war.  Herr  von  Bismarck  said  that  their  agree- 
ment was  to  assist  Austria  in  case  her  Italian  pos- 
sessions were  attacked  in  consequence  of  her  share 
in  the  Danish  war,  not  otherwise,  and  that  such 
an  engagement  could  in  no  way  apply  to  the 
September  convention.  The  Austrian  govern- 
ment felt  itself  duped,  and  Count  Rechberg,  the 


prime  minister,  resigned  office.  The  ieeling 
between  the  two  nations  increased  in  soreness,  and 
opportunities  were  sought  for  breaking  off  the 
now  detested  alliance.  Although  several  disputes 
led  them  to  the  very  verge  of  a  rupture,  war  was 
avoided,  more  especially  by  Austria,  whose  finances 
were  so  much  crippled,  and  her  various  subjects  so 
discontented,  that  she  saw  how  a  war  at  that  time 
would  inevitably  have  led  her  to  bankruptcy  and 
dismemberment.  The  middle  states  were  willing  to 
help  her,  but  their  assistance  had  very  little  military 
or  political  value,  and  their  opposition  to  Prussia 
in  the  Diet  only  served  to  whet  the  resolution  of 
Herr  von  Bismarck  to  accomplish  in  his  own  good 
time  a  very  radical  reformation  both  of  the  Diet 
and  of  the  Confederation  it  proposed  to  represent. 

A  commission  of  crown  lawyers  was  appointed 
by  the  two  powers  to  examine  into  the  merits 
of  the  claims  severally  made  to  sovereign  power 
in  the  duchies  by  the  king  of  Denmark,  the  duke 
of  Augustenburg — the  popular  candidate,  espe- 
cially in  Holstein,  who  would  certainly  have  been 
elected  duke  had  the  matter  been  decided  by  a 
plebiscitum — and  the  duke  of  Oldenburg.  Their 
decision  was,  that  King  Christian  IX.  was  by  right 
of  succession  the  undoubted  possessor,  and  that 
from  him  the  duchies  had  passed  by  right  of  con- 
quest to  the  victors  in  the  war — the  emperor  of 
Austria  and  the  king  of  Prussia.  The  three 
claimants  being  thus  swept  out  of  the  way,  the 
scheme  of  annexation  was  further  developed  by  a 
treaty  between  the  conquerors  regulating  a  division 
of  the  spoil. 

On  the  14th  of  August,  1865,  this  important 
convention  was  signed  at  Gastein  by  Herr  von 
Bismarck  and  Count  Blome;  and  it  was  afterwards 
signed  at  Salzburg  by  the  king  of  Prussia  and 
the  emperor  of  Austria.  The  convention  began 
by  stating  that  "  their  Majesties  the  king  of  Prussia 
and  the  emperor  of  Austria,  having  become  con- 
vinced that  the  co-dominion  hitherto  existing  in 
the  countries  ceded  by  Denmark,  through  the 
treaty  of  peace  of  the  30th  of  October,  1864,  leads 
to  inconveniences  which  endanger  the  good  un- 
derstanding between  their  governments,  and  also 
the  interests  of  the  duchies;  their  Majesties  have, 
therefore,  come  to  the  determination  no  longer  to 
exercise  in  common  the  rights  accruing  to  them 
from  the  third  article  of  the  above-mentioned 
treaty,  but  to  divide  geographically  the  exercise 
of  the  same  until  further  agreement." 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


61 


The  following  articles  were  then  agreed  upon : — 

Article  I. — The  exercise  of  the  rights  jointly 
acquired  by  the  high  contracting  parties,  through 
the  Vienna  treaty  of  peace  of  the  30th  of  October, 
1864,  will,  without  prejudice  to  the  continuance  of 
these  rights  of  both  powers  to  the  whole  of  both 
duchies,  be  transferred  as  regards  the  duchy  of 
Schleswig  to  his  Majesty  the  king  of  Prussia,  and 
as  regards  the  duchy  of  Holstein  to  his  Majesty 
the  emperor  of  Austria. 

Article  II. — The  high  contracting  powers  will 
propose  in  the  Federal  Diet  the  establishment  of  a 
German  fleet,  and  the  appointment  for  that  purpose 
of  the  harbour  of  Kiel  as  a  federal  harbour.  Until 
the  execution  of  the  Diet's  resolutions  referring 
thereto,  the  war-vessels  of  both  powers  will  use 
this  port,  and  the  command  and  police  of  the 
same  will  be  exercised  by  Prussia.  Prussia  is 
authorized  not  only  to  construct  the  necessary 
fortifications  for  the  defence  of  the  entrance 
opposite  Friedrichsort,  but  also  to  erect  marine 
establishments  corresponding  with  the  object  of 
the  military  port  upon  the  Holstein  shore  of  the 
bay.  These  fortifications  and  establishments  are 
also  placed  under  Prussian  command,  and  the 
requisite  Prussian  naval  troops  and  men  for  their 
garrison  and  guard  may  be  quartered  in  Kiel  and 
the  neighbourhood. 

Article  III. — The  high  contracting  parties  will 
propose  at  Frankfort  to  raise  Eendsburg  into  a 
German  federal  fortress.  Until  the  settlement  by 
the  Diet  of  the  garrison  relations  of  this  fortress, 
its  garrison  will  consist  of  Prussian  and  Austrian 
troops,  with  the  command  alternating  annually 
upon  the  1st  of  July. 

Article  IV. — During  the  continuance  of  the 
division  agreed  upon  by  Art.  I.  of  the  present 
convention,  the  Prussian  government  will  retain 
two  military  roads  through  Holstein;  one  from 
Lubeck  to  Kiel,  the  other  from  Hamburg  to 
Rendsburg.  The  more  detailed  regulations  re- 
specting the  halting  places  for  the  troops,  and  also 
respecting  their  transport  and  maintenance,  will 
be  settled  as  early  as  possible  by  a  special  con- 
vention. Until  this  takes  place,  the  existing 
regulations  for  Prussian  halting  places  on  the 
roads  through  Hanover  will  be  in  force. 

Article  V. — The  Prussian  government  retains 
control  over  a  telegraph  line  for  communica- 
tion with  Kiel  and  Eendsburg,  and  the  right  to 
send   Prussian   post  vans  with    Prussian   officials 


over  both  routes  through  the  duchy  of  Hol- 
stein. Inasmuch  as  the  construction  of  a  railway 
direct  from  Lubeck  through  Kiel  to  the  Schles- 
wig frontier  is  not  yet  assured,  the  concession  for 
that  object  for  the  Holstein  territory  will  be  given 
at  the  request  of  Prussia  upon  the  usual  terms, 
without  Prussia  making  any  claim  to  rights  of 
sovereignty  with  respect  to  the  line. 

Article  VI — The  high  contracting  parties  are 
both  agreed  that  the  duchies  shall  join  the  Zoll- 
verein.  Until  this  takes  place,  or  until  some  further 
understanding,  the  system  hitherto  in  vogue,  and 
including  both  duchies,  shall  remain  in  force,  with 
equal  partition  of  the  revenues.  In  case  it  should 
appear  advisable  to  the  Prussian  government, 
pending  the  duration  of  the  division  agreed  upon 
in  Art.  I.  of  this  present  treaty,  to  open  nego- 
tiations with  respect  to  the  accession  of  the 
duchies  to  the  Zollverein,  his  Majesty  the  em- 
peror of  Austria  is  ready  to  empower  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  duchy  of  Holstein  to  take  part  in 
such  negotiations. 

Article  VII — Prussia  is  authorized  to  carry 
through  Holstein  territory  the  German  Ocean  and 
Baltic  Canal,  to  be  constructed  according  to  the 
results  of  the  technical  examinations  directed  by 
the  king's  government.  So  far  as  this  may  be  the 
case,  Prussia  shall  have  the  right  of  determining  the 
direction  and  dimensions  of  the  canal ;  of  acquiring 
the  plots  of  ground  requisite  for  its  site,  by  way 
of  pre-emption  in  exchange  for  their  value;  of 
directing  the  construction;  of  exercising  super- 
vision over  the  canal,  and  its  being  kept  in  repair; 
and  of  giving  assent  to  all  orders  and  regulations 
affecting  the  same.  No  other  transit  dues  or  tolls 
upon  ships  and  cargo  shall  be  levied  throughout 
the  whole  of  the  canal  than  the  navigation  duty, 
to  be  imposed  by  Prussia  equally  upon  the  ships 
of  all  nations  for  the  use  of  the  passage. 

Article  VIII — No  alteration  is  made  by  this 
present  convention  in  the  arrangements  of  the 
Vienna  peace  treaty  of  October  30,  1864,  with 
regard  to  the  financial  obligations  to  be  undertaken 
by  the  duchies,  as  well  towards  Denmark  as  towards 
Austria  and  Prussia,  save  that  the  duchy  of 
Lauenburg  shall  be  released  from  all  duty  of 
contribution  to  the  expenses  of  the  war.  The 
division  of  these  obligations  between  the  duchies 
of  Holstein  and  Schleswig  shall  be  based  upon  a 
standard  of  population. 

Article  IX. — His  Majesty  the  emperor  of  Aus- 


02 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


tria  makes  over  the  rights  acquired  by  the 
above  cited  Vienna  peace  treaty  to  the  duchy  of 
Lauenburg  to  his  Majesty  the  king  of  Prussia,  in 
exchange  for  which  the  Prussian  government  binds 
itself  to  pay  to  the  Austrian  government  the  sum 
of  2,500,000  Danish  dollars,  payable  at  Berlin  in 
Prussian  silver  coin,  four  weeks  after  the  confirma- 
tion of  this  present  convention  by  their  Majesties 
the  king  of  Prussia  and  the  emperor  of  Austria. 

Article  X. — The  execution  of  the  above  agreed 
division  of  the  co-dominion  shall  commence  as 
early  as  possible  after  the  approval  of  this  conven- 
tion by  their  Majesties  the  king  of  Prussia  and  the 
emperor  of  Austria,  and  be  terminated  at  latest  by 
the  15th  of  September.  The  command-in-chief, 
hitherto  existing  in  common,  shall,  after  the  com- 
pleted evacuation  of  Holstein  by  the  Prussian,  and 
of  Schleswig  by  the  Austrian  troops,  be  dissolved, 
and  at  latest  by  the  15th  of  September. 

It  will  be  seen  through  all  the  specious  wording 
of  the  treaty,  that  Austria  had  not  the  best  of  the 
bargain,  and  that  Prussia  derived  immense  advan- 
tage from  her  purchase  of  the  imperial  rights  in 
Lauenburg  for  two  million  and  a  half  dollars  in 
silver,  money  down.  The  frugal  management  of 
her  finances,  which  kept  ready  cash  in  the  treasury, 
for  good  investments,  was  never  more  signally  re- 
warded. The  possession  of  Lauenburg  was  like 
the  thin  end  of  the  wedge,  opening  the  way  to 
further  acquisitions  of  territory.  Great  was  the 
anger  of  the  other  European  cabinets  when  the 
Gastein  convention  became  known,  and  another 
proof  was  given  that  all  the  learned  arguing  ex- 
hibited at  the  London  conference  was  so  much 
breath  thrown  away.  It  is  extremely  disagree- 
able to  statesmen,  as  to  other  men,  to  have  their 
cherished  ideas  and  traditions  summarily  and  un- 
ceremoniously overthrown.  Lord  Russell  wrote 
to  British  diplomatic  agents  abroad  a  severe 
letter,  in  which,  among  other  things,  he  said,  "  All 
rights,  old  or  new,  whether  based  upon  a  solemn 
agreement  between  sovereigns,  or  on  the  clear  and 
precise  expression  of  the  popular  will,  have  been 
trodden  under  foot  by  the  Gastein  convention,  and 
the  authority  of  force  is  the  sole  power  which 
has  been  consulted  and  recognized.  Violence  and 
conquest,  such  are  the  only  bases  upon  which  the 
dividing  powers  have  established  their  convention." 

M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  the  French  minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  was  even  more  cutting  in  his  tone. 
"  Upon    what    principle,"    he    asked,    "  does    the 


Austro-Prussian  combination  rest  ?  We  regret  to 
find  no  other  foundation  for  it  than  force,  no  other 
justification  for  it  than  the  reciprocal  convenience 
of  the  co-partners.  This  is  a  mode  of  dealing  to 
which  the  Europe  of  to-day  has  become  unaccus- 
tomed, and  precedents  for  it  must  be  sought  for  in 
the  darkest  ages  of  history.  Violence  and  con- 
quest pervert  the  notion  of  right,  and  the  con- 
science of  nations.  Substituted  for  the  principles 
which  govern  modern  society,  they  are  an  element 
of  trouble  and  dissolution,  and  can  only  overthrow 
the  past  without  solidly  building  up  anything 
new."  But  though  the  English  fleet  was  recalled 
from  the  Mediterranean,  to  manoeuvre,  by  way  of 
menace,  with  the  French  fleet  at  Cherbourg,  the 
great  consolidator,  Herr  von  Bismarck,  held  steadily 
on  his  way,  and,  for  all  these  marks  of  discontent, 
firmly  resolved  to  build  up  something  very  new 
and  very  solid — a  united  German  Fatherland. 

The  plans  of  the  Prussian  premier  were  ripen- 
ing ;  a  project  he  had  formed  for  making  an  alli- 
ance with  Italy,  at  once  the  oldest  and  most  recent 
foe  of  the  Kaiser,  was  becoming  feasible.  Friend- 
ship with  the  Emperor  Napoleon  was  also  being 
sedulously  and  successfully  cultivated.  But  above 
all,  the  re-organization  of  the  Prussian  army,  which, 
since  its  delects  became  apparent  in  1859,  had  been 
proceeding  under  the  able  direction  of  General  von 
Eoon,  was  tolerably  complete.  This  indispensable 
task  had  been  an  arduous  one,  accomplished  in 
opposition  to  the  repeated  decision  of  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies,  who  on  this  point  were  in  a  state  of 
chronic  variance  with  the  king  and  his  minister 
session  after  session. 

It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  the  popular 
constitution  of  the  Prussian  army,  that  renders 
it  now  so  formidable  to  France,  should  derive 
its  origin  from  the  arbitrary  conditions  of  peace 
exacted  by  the  French  emperor,  Napoleon  I.,  after 
the  battle  of  Jena.  Baron  Scharnhorst,  says  Ali- 
son, contrived  to  elude'the  hard  conditions  imposed 
on  Prussia  in  the  treaty  forced  upon  it  by  Napoleon 
in  1806.  One  condition  Avas  to  the  effect  that  she 
must  have  only  40,000  men  under  arms,  a  condi- 
tion which  was  kept  to  the  letter,  but  evaded  in 
the  principle  by  retaining  the  soldiers  only  three 
years  with  their  colours,  and  training  thereby  to 
the  use  of  arms  triple  the  number  at  any  one  tune 
present  with  the  standards.  It  was  this  admirable 
system,  gradually  adopted  in  other  German  state?. 
which  was  the  main  cause  of  the  successful  resur- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


G3 


rcction  of  Prussia  in  1813,  and  the  glorious  stand 
she  then  made  on  behalf  of  the  liberties  of  Europe. 
Everywhere  the  whole  male  inhabitants,  without 
distinction  of  social  position,  between  eighteen  and 
twenty  years  of  age,  were  liable  to  serve  in  the 
ranks  of  the  regular  army,  in  which  they  did  duty 
for  three  years.  They  then  retired  into  pacific 
life,  to  make  way  for  others,  who  had  to  go 
through  the  same  system  of  military  training  and 
discipline,  and  dismissal.  Thus  the  whole  male 
population  was  trained  to  the  use  of  arms,  an 
admirable  system  for  purposes  of  defence  and 
under  a  wise  and  beneficent  government,  but  ter- 
rible to  bad  rulers  in  times  of  commotion  and 
revolution.  During  the  convulsions  of  1848-49, 
it  was  a  common  saying  in  Germany  that  the  sove- 
reigns must  be  overthrown,  for  their  enemies  were 
old  soldiers,  and  their  defenders  young  recruits. 

The  organization  of  this  army,  which  will  be 
fully  treated  of  in  the  second  part  of  this  work, 
underwent  considerable  changes  in  1860  and  the 
following  years.  These  changes  made  the  standing 
army  as  large  in  peace  as  it  would  have  been 
before  with  the  addition  of  the  whole  first  call 
of  landwehr.  They  were  very  unpopular  changes 
nevertheless,  and  for  six  successive  years  en- 
countered the  firm  remonstrance  of  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies,  while  the  Upper  House  as  steadily 
applauded  and  supported  them.  The  popular 
party  failed  to  shake  the  position  which  had  been 
taken  up  by  the  cabinet,  and  their  efforts  had 
little  other  effect  than  to  hurry  on  the  foreign 
policy  of  the  government  to  the  rupture  with 
Austria,  for  which  the  transformation  of  the  army 
had  been  expressly  made. 

The  Kaiser's  vain  attempt  in  1863  to  create  a 
German  Parliament,  prince-governed  and  ready  to 
prolong  his  Imperial  Majesty's  presidency,  taught 
the  bold  Prussian  minister  that  the  time  for  action 
was  drawing  near,  and  made  him  determine  to 
have  his  instruments  of  war  ready  and  well  in  hand. 
In  the  Schleswig-Holstein  campaign,  Prussia,  by  a 
bold  spring,  took  the  lead  in  action  against  Den- 
mark, and  placed  Austria  in  the  secondary  position 
of  a  half-willing  ally.  At  the  same  time  the  Bund 
was  made  to  see  its  own  impotence  by  the  joint 
occupation  of  the  duchies  by  the  two  powers,  in 
spite  of  the  decrees  of  the  Diet.  Austria  was 
forced  from  one  concession  to  another,  and  yet 
Prussia,  while  degrading  her  by  policy,  feigned  just 
so  much  unwillingness  to  quarrel  as  might  avoid 


giving  pretext  for  foreign  interference,  or  an  excuse 
for  the  Kaiser  to  arm. 

By  the  year  1866  the  military  system  of  1859 
was  fairly  complete  in  all  its  parts.  The  active 
forces  were  complete  in  their  cadres ;  the  reserve 
lists  full  of  trained  men  ;  and  the  whole  could 
be  made  ready  for  the  field  at  less  than  a  month's 
notice.  The  officers  were  entirely  devoted  to  the 
crown,  and  the  power  of  discipline  was  relied  on 
for  carrying  the  mass  as  boldly  forward  through 
a  campaign  as  though  the  whole  nation  had  gone 
to  war.  The  needle  gun  gave  evidence  of  its 
enormous  power  in  the  Danish  war,  though  its  first 
employment  had  been  against  the  Baden  insurgents 
in  1849.  It  was  generally  thought  that  its  use 
would  tend  to  so  much  waste  of  ammunition  as  to 
render  it  unavailable  for  general  use.  By  careful 
instruction,  however,  and  a  distribution  of  small- 
arm  reserves  of  ammunition,  the  danger  of  exhaust- 
ing the  supply  before  an  action  is  concluded  has 
been  avoided,  and  observers  can  only  wonder  at 
the  supineness  of  other  governments  and  military 
chiefs  who  waited  to  see  Prussia  gain  over  Austria 
the  most  astounding  victories,  before  they  took 
steps  to  provide  their  own  soldiers  with  some 
weapon  as  easily  managed  and  as  destructive  as 
the  breech-loader. 

It  has  just  been  intimated  that  the  resolution 
to  attempt  the  forcible  expulsion  of  Austria  from 
the  Confederation,  took  date  in  Herr  von  Bismarck's 
mind  from  the  meeting  of  the  sovereigns  in 
Frankfort,  in  1863.  Before  that,  however,  in 
1862,  while  exercising  for  a  brief  period  the  func- 
tions of  Prussian  representative  in  Paris,  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  he  had  found  occasion  to 
broach  his  views  on  German  affairs  to  the  Emperor 
Napoleon.  This  at  least  is  the  opinion  of  Sir 
Alexander  Malet,  an  old  diplomatist  himself,  who 
was  personally  acquainted  with  the  Prussian 
and  with  many  other  German  ministers  at  the 
Frankfort  Diet.  The  same  writer  goes  on  to 
say  that  Bismarck  had  taken  special  care  to  make 
Prussian  policy  agreeable  to  France,  in  the  matter 
of  the  treaty  of  commerce,  so  soon  as,  by  taking 
office  at  Berlin,  the  power  of  influencing  his 
country's  counsels  fell  into  his  hands.  In  1864 
a  meeting  took  place  between  him,  then  holding 
office  as  Prussian  premier,  and  M.  Rouher  at 
Carlsbad.  Some  fraction  of  the  many  conversa- 
tions which  are  said  to  have  there  passed  between 
the    two    statesmen    on    European    affairs,    have 


61 


THE  FRANCO- PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


taken  their  place  in  the  domain  of  public  belief, 
and  Herr  von  Bismarck's  habit  of  speaking  his 
thoughts  is  so  well  known,  that  credence  may 
be  given  to  utterances  attributed  to  him,  which 
from  almost  any  other  person  living  would  be 
counted  as  extravagances  of  indiscretion  and  au- 
dacity. Of  this  nature  was  the  suggestion  which 
he  is  generally  supposed  to  have  thrown  out,  that 
France  might  indemnify  herself  by  taking  posses- 
sion of  Belgium,  for  the  contemplated  Prussian 
aggrandizements  in  Germany  and  those  to  be  made 
at  the  expense  of  Denmark.  Herr  von  Bismarck's 
aim  was  to  impress  the  French  minister  with  the 
idea,  that  the  advantages  he  was  aiming  at  for  his 
own  country  might  be  compensated  to  France  by 
equivalent  territorial  acquisitions.  Whether  the 
bait  held  out  was  a  possible  cession  of  the  coal 
basin  of  the  Saar,  of  the  duchy  of  Luxemburg, 
or  even  the  prospect  of  active  assistance  in  annex- 
ing Belgium  to  France,  is  immaterial.  The  general 
impression  sought  to  be  produced,  continues  Sir 
Alexander,  that  Prussia  was  by  no  means  hostile, 
that  she  might  indeed  be  helpful  to  France,  was 
adroitly  produced;  and  subsequent  conversations 
with  the  emperor  at  Biarritz  took,  there  can  be 
little  doubt,  the  same  direction,  and  confirmed  the 
effect.  Herr  von  Bismarck,  on  his  second  visit  to 
Biarritz,  met  indeed  with  some  difficulties.  The 
French  circular  referring  to  the  treaty  of  Gastein 
had  been  followed  by  the  meeting  of  the  English 
and  French  fleets  at  Cherbourg,  apparently  as  a 
threat  to  Prussia,  and  the  king  of  Prussia  raised 
objections  to  his  minister's  taking  a  journey  which, 
under  such  circumstances,  seemed  incompatible 
with  the  dignity  of  Prussia.  In  this  conjuncture, 
seeing  the  indispensable  need  of  removing  the 
mistrust  of  the  emperor  of  the  French,  Herr  von 
Bismarck  contrived  to  induce  the  French  cabinet 
to  modify  the  terms  of  their  circular;  and  the 
king's  consent  being  thereupon  given,  he  went 
at  once  to  Paris,  and  thence  continued  his  journey 
to  Biarritz.  His  success  was  complete:  how 
brought  about  can  only  be  vaguely  surmised.  One 
point,  however,  may  be  shrewdly  guessed  at  with 
tolerable  certainty,  that  the  alliance  of  Prussia 
with  Italy,  for  the  purpose  of  war  with  Austria, 
was  promised.  The  emperor  did  not  insist  on 
any  positive  engagements  for  contingent  advantages 
to  accrue  to  France.  He  had  not  that  superb 
confidence  in  the  ability  of  Prussia  to  vanquish 


Austria,  even  with  Italian  aid,  indulged  in  by 
Bismarck.  It  is  much  more  likely  that  he  looked 
forward  to  the  exhaustion  of  the  combatants,  when 
both  or  either  of  them  might  appeal  to  his  not 
altogether  disinterested  good  offices  to  appease  their 
strife.  The  emperor  foresaw,  however,  with  toler- 
able certainty,  the  probable  liberation  of  Venetia,  an 
object  he  had  greatly  at  heart;  and  it  is  perfectly 
well  known  that  Herr  von  Bismarck  returned 
to  Berlin  with  such  assurances  of  sympathy  and 
absolutely  benevolent  neutrality  on  the  part  of 
France,  that  he  could  make  his  arrangements  for 
employing  the  Rhenish  garrisons,  and  leaving  Saar- 
Louis,  Coblentz,  Luxemburg,  and  Cologne  par- 
tially stripped  of  artillery,  and  with  a  small  force 
of  landwehr  for  their  protection,  all  which  would 
have  been  impossible  had  he  been  insecure  as  to 
the  dispositions  of  France. 

These  confidences  of  the  veteran  British  envoy, 
tinged  though  they  be  with  a  jealous  prejudice 
against  the  Prussian  minister  of  state,  are  valuable 
as  evidence  of  the  secret  workings  of  diplomacy 
in  the  arrangement  of  state  affairs,  and  especially 
in  the  bringing  about  of  great  wars.  They  recall, 
too,  an  expression  attributed  to  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  while  at  Wilhelmshohe,  which  merits 
a  permanent  record  as  indicating,  by  presumption  at 
least,  his  Majesty's  opinion  of  a  formidable  antagonist. 
"  The  minister  of  King  William,"  he  is  reported  to 
have  said,  "will  wind  Jules  Favre  round  his  finger. 
I  have  been  quite  duped  by  him — I  to  whom 
everybody  agrees  in  attributing  penetration  and 
taciturnity.  How  then  will  it  fare  with  Monsieur 
Favre,  whose  strength  lies  in  fluency  of  speech  ? 
All  his  words  will  be  turned  against  him  in  the  form 
of  an  agreement  with  his  pacific  intentions.  Count 
von  Bismarck  will  throw  the  responsibility  of  a 
refusal  on  his  august  Majesty.  The  talent  of  this 
diplomatist  consists  in  his  knowing  how  to  throw  on 
others  the  responsibility  of  resolutions  that  have 
been  taken."  Surely  there  is  a  souvenir  here  of 
the  interviews  at  Paris  and  Biarritz  that  were  so 
fruitful  of  consequences.  "Count  von  Bismarck," 
said  the  ex-emperor  in  conclusion,  "  is  an  able  man, 
but  it  is  his  audacity  that  makes  him  so.  This  is 
what  distinguishes  him  from  Cavour,  the  greatest 
politician  I  have  ever  met.  If  Cavour  had  been 
the  minister  of  King  William,  the  German  empire 
would  have  been  completed,  and  that  without 
a  shot."' 


CHAPTER     IV. 


War  between  Austria  and  Prnssia — Premonitory  Symptoms— Bismarck  at  Carlsbad  in  1865 — His  conversation  with  Due  de  Gramont — 
His  observations  to  Herr  von  der  Pfortden — Dalliance  with  the  Central  States  of  Germany— Freiherr  von  Beust — His  desire  to  reduce 
Prussia  to  a  level  with  the  minor  states — Mental  Conflicts  of  Count  von  Bismarck — His  Impression  that  he  was  providentially  saved  from 
the  Assassin  Blind — The  Second  Chamber  at  Berlin — Annexation  of  Lauenberg— The  King's  reluctance  to  War  with  a  German  State- 
Gloomy  opening  of  the  year  18G6 — Austrian  Liberalism  in  Holstein  antagonistic  to  Prussian  Conservatism — Meeting  of  Delegates  from 
Schleswig  and  Holstein  Associations  countenanced  by  Austria — Protest  of  Count  von  Bismarck  and  threat  of  separate  policy — Severe 
decrees  of  the  King  of  Prnssia  in  Schleswig  against  supporters  of  the  Prince  of  Augustenburg — Vienna  Government  resolve  to  lay  the 
matter  before  the  Diet — Support  of  the  minor  states  requested  by  Austria— Count  Karolyi's  interview  with  the  Prussian  Premier — 
Alliance  between  Prussia  and  Italy — Austria  cautiously  makes  military  preparations — The  Prussian  Minister  complains  that  Austria  is 
arming — Aims  a  first  blow  at  the  Diet,  and  recounts  in  a  Circular  (24th  March,  1866)  Prussia's  grounds  of  complaint  against  Austria — 
Suggests  Reformation  of  the  Bund — Austria  unwilling  to  break  the  Peace — Prussia's  readiness  for  War — Preparations  in  Italy — Proposal 
for  a  common  reduction  of  Armaments — Italy  the  stumbling-block — Austrian  statement  of  the  26th  April — Prussian  statement — The 
negotiations  exhausted — Attempt  at  intervention  on  the  part  of  other  powers — Conference  proposed  and  consented  to  save  by  Austria,  who 
objects  to  the  discussion  of  a  cession  of  territory — Manteuffel  marches  from  Schleswig  into  Holstein  with  Prussian  troops — Gablenz  with 
the  Austrians  retires  to  Altona,  crosses  the  Elbe,  and  reaches  friendly  territory — Prussia  declares  war  against  Saxony,  Hauover,  and  Hesse 
— First  Prussian  army  enters  Saxony — Overruns  Hesse — Proclamation  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles — Second  army  under  the  Crown  Prince 
— Third  army  (of  the  Elbe)  under  General  Herwarth — Movements  in  Silesia  and  Bohemia — General  Benedek — Crown  Prince  of  Saxony — 
Clam  Gallas — Prussians  cross  the  mountains — Communications  kept  up  by  telegraphic  wires — Muncbengratz — Turnau — Louwitz — Nachod — 
Skaliz — Koniginhof— Schweinschadei— Capture  of  Jicin — General  order  of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  at  Prausnitz — Junction  of  the  Prussian 
armies — Pursuit  of  the  Austrians  to  Gitschin— Koniggr&tz — King  of  Prussia  arrives  at  Gitschin — His  address  to  the  municipal  authorities 
— Great  battle — Account  of  an  eye-witness — Village  of  Chlum — Austrian  force  and  commanders — Artillery  contest — Village  of  Sadowa — 
Benetak  in  flames — Attack  on  Sadowa — Tremendous  fire  of  artillery  and  needle-guns — Great  havoc — Fransky's  attack  on  the  wood  above 
Sadowa — 3000  Prussians  and  90  officers  enter  the  wood,  300  men  and  2  officers  only  leave  it — Herewarth's  army  is  engaged  with  the 
Saxons  at  Nechanitz — The  first  and  third  Prussian  armies  brought  nearly  to  a  standstill— The  moment  critical— Village  of  Chlum  on  fire — 
Timely  arrival  of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  with  the  second  army  on  the  field  of  battle — Austrians  at  a  disadvantage — Their  obstinate 
resistance — "All  is  lost" — Austrian  request  for  an  armistice  rejected — Forward  movement  of  the  Prussians — Remarks  on  the  battle  of 
Koniggratz  or  Sadowa — The  corps  of  Knobelsdorf  and  Stabberg  in  Silesia — Generals  Goeben  and  Manteuffel  in  Hanover — Beyer  in  Hesse- 
Cassel — Allies  of  Austria  at  Gottingen,  Bamberg,  and  Frankfort — Prince  Charles  of  Bavaria — General  von  Falkenstein — Campaign  in 
Hanover — Armistice — Terms  proposed  to  King  George  rejected — Battle  of  Langensalza  on  the  27th  June — Hanoverians  masters  of  the 
field — Hemmed  in,  nevertheless,  by  superior  numbers,  they  capitulate  to  the  Prussians,  and  the  king  becomes  an  exile — Campaign  of  the 
Main — Bavarian  army — Federal  army — Battle  of  Wiesenthai — Victory  of  the  Prussians  over  Bavarians — Battle  at  Hammelburg  on  the 
Saale — Severe  engagement  at  Kissingen — Actions  on  the  Main  between  Prussians  and  the  Federal  forces  under  Prince  Alexander  of  Hesse 
— Battle  of  Lanfach — Prussians  capture  Aschaffenburg — Federals  evacuate  Frankfort,  which  Falkenstein  enters  at  the  head  of  the  Prussians 
— Large  sums  of  money  exacted  from  the  burghers — March  from  Frankfort  southwards — Actions  on  the  Tauber —  Occupation  of  Franconia 
by  Duke  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin— Armistice  accorded  at  Wurzburg  to  the  Central  States— March  of  Prussians  on  Brunn,  Pressburg,  and 
Vienna — Preliminaries  of  Nikolsburg — Peace  of  Prague — Italian  Campaign. 


The  historian  Schmidt  says  that,  as  early  as  the 
month  of  July,  1865,  Count  von  Bismarck  at  Carls- 
bad had  said  to  the  French  ambassador  at  Vienna, 
the  now  too  famous  Due  de  Gramont,  that  he  con- 
sidered war  between  Prussia  and  Austria  to  have 
become  a  necessity.  The  statement  is  disputed, 
but  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  thought  was  at 
that  time  in  Bismarck's  mind.  His  reported  con- 
versation, in  the  same  month,  with  Herr  von  der 
Pfordten,  the  Bavarian  prime  minister,  is  still  more 
remarkable.  He  said,  avers  Schmidt,  "  that  war 
between  Austria  and  Prussia  was  very  likely,  and 
close  at  hand.  It  would  be  a  duel  between  the 
two  powers  only,  and  the  rest  of  Germany  might 
stand  by  as  passive  spectators.  Prussia  never 
contemplated  extending  her  power  beyond  the  line 


of  the  Main.  The  settlement  of  the  controversy 
would  not  take  long.  One  blow,  one  pitched 
battle,  and  Prussia  would  be  in  a  position  to  dic- 
tate conditions.  The  most  urgent  need  of  the 
central  states  was  to  range  themselves  on  the  side 
of  Prussia.  A  localization  of  the  war  in  Silesia 
was  determined  upon,  and  was  deemed  feasible  by 
the  best  military  authorities.  The  central  states, 
by  proclaiming  neutrality,  might  contribute  to 
this  desirable  localization,  and  Bavaria  had  only 
to  remember  that  she  was  the  natural  heir  to  the 
position  of  Austria  in  South  Germany."  How 
deep  and  far-seeing  were  these  tempting  sugges- 
tions thrown  into  the  minds  of  men  who  were 
possible  allies  or  probable  foes!  The  treaty  of 
Gastein,  by  leaving  the  central  states  in  an 
i 


66 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


ambiguous  position,  had  already  proved  that  Austria 
had  not  their  interests  very  deeply  at  heart. 

The  leader  of  what  was  called  the  central  state 
policy  was  Freiherr  von  Beust,  prime  minister  of 
the  king  of  Saxony.  His  endeavour  was  to  keep 
alive  the  old  dualism  of  Austria  and  Prussia,  con- 
ceding nothing  to  either  power,  but  labouring 
solely  to  preserve  the  independence  of  the  smaller 
central  states.  So  long  as  this  policy  prevailed, 
the  unification  of  Germany  was  impossible.  Had 
the  ideas  of  the  central  state  party  been  large  and 
bold,  they  might  have  decided  the  question  of 
national  union,  and  kept  Prussia  in  a  subordinate 
place,  by  agreeing  with  Austria  to  form  a  great 
state,  by  means  of  a  solid  combination  of  her  Ger- 
man territory  and  population,  with  their  own  numer- 
ous states.  But  there  was  no  leader  among  them 
with  power  to  conceive  and  energy  to  carry  out  to 
the  end  any  scheme  of  this  kind,  and  the  genius  of 
the  Prussian  minister  forestalled  them.  Sacrifices 
for  the  sake  of  unity  were  demanded  of  the  princes; 
sacrifices  for  Germany,  not  for  Prussia,  who  would 
have  herself  to  make  greater  sacrifices  than  any  of 
them.  In  the  struggles  at  the  Diet,  while  Austria 
maintained  her  ascendancy,  great  efforts  were  made 
to  reduce  Prussia  to  an  equality  with  the  central 
states,  to  their  intense  gratification.  They  were 
ready  to  make  any  sacrifice,  except  independence, 
if  Prussia  were  subjected  to  the  same;  such  was 
their  jealousy  of  Prussian  greatness,  and  their 
desire  to  magnify  the  power  of  the  Federal  Diet. 
For  this  reason  it  was  that  the  majority  of  votes 
was  constantly  in  support  of  Austria.  They 
strove  to  deceive  themselves  and  the  world  with 
the  notion  that  Germany  and  the  Federal  Diet 
were  identical,  and  that  Prussia  was  non-German 
and  refractory  when  she  refused  to  submit  to  the 
decrees  of  Austria  and  her  supporters  in  the  Diet. 
In  combating  these  principles  at  Frankfort,  Count 
von  Bismarck  schooled  himself  for  the  greater  and 
more  active  conflicts  that  were  to  follow. 

Of  extreme  interest  is  the  history  of  the 
conflicts  in  the  minister's  own  mind,  as  the 
great  crisis  of  his  public  life  approached.  The 
mixture  in  him  of  worldly  wisdom  with  unsus- 
pected religious  fervour,  recalls  the  history  of 
Oliver  Cromwell's  great  strivings  and  searchings 
of  heart.  The  inward  strife  and  agitation  which 
he  suffered  throughout  the  spring  of  1866  is  said 
actually  to  have  been  calmed  by  the  attempt  to 
assassinate   him   made    by   the   crazy    enthusiast, 


young  Blind,  on  the  7  th  of  May  in  that  year. 
Bismarck  looked  upon  his  escape  from  death  as 
a  sign  from  heaven,  encouraging  him  to  pursue 
the  path  on  which  he  had  set  out.  How  severe  had 
been  the  six  years'  struggle  with  the  second  cham- 
ber of  the  Diet  on  the  question  of  re-organizing  the 
army,  can  only  be  known  to  the  participators  in 
that  contest.  The  chamber  had  both  the  letter 
and  the  spirit  of  the  constitution  on  its  side,  and 
was  justified  in  complaining  that  the  political  part 
of  legislation  had  been  brought  to  a  standstill. 
Important  questions  of  education,  trade,  and  pro- 
vincial administration,  awaiting  settlement,  were 
unceremoniously  shunted  on  one  side,  on  account 
of  this  unexplained  zeal  for  reforming  the  army. 
Bismarck's  personal  influence  could  not  be  exer- 
cised over  a  large  assembly,  to  which  it  was 
impossible  to  reveal  a  bold  and  comprehensive 
plan  for  revolutionizing  Germany  without  ex- 
posing the  plan  to  ruin.  The  opposition,  there- 
fore, in  the  second  chamber  was  stronger  than 
ever,  and  early  in  February  manifested  itself  by 
voting  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  the  annex- 
ation of  the  duchy  of  Lauenberg  to  the  crown 
of  Prussia  should  not  take  place  until  it  had 
been  approved  of  by  both  the  chambers.  Such 
an  interference  with  the  great  scheme  could  not  be 
brooked,  and  the  session  was  abruptly  terminated 
by  the  king  on  the  23rd  February.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  faithful 
commons  helped  to  precipitate  the  international 
crisis  that  was  approaching.  The  minister  knew 
that  he  was  doing  right  in  combating  their  consti- 
tutional views.  He  alone  seems  to  have  had  his 
scheme  planned  out  clearly  before  him,  and  when 
he  had  successfully  defied  the  Parliament,  he  had 
the  difficult  task  of  conquering  the  king.  His 
Majesty's  reluctance  to  go  to  war  with  a  German 
state,  and  with  a  friendly  young  monarch  like  the 
emperor  of  Austria,  was  not  easily  overcome,  but 
yielded  at  last  to  urgent  reasons  of  policy,  brought 
to  bear  upon  his  mind  with  consummate  skill  and 
characteristic  ardour,  by  his  able  minister. 

On  the  opening  of  the  year  1866,  symptoms 
were  visible  of  the  dissolution  of  that  hollow 
friendship  between  Prussia  and  Austria,  which 
had  been  ostensibly  cemented  at  Gastein  not 
many  months  before.  Singularly  enough,  the 
first  overt  ground  of  offence  arose  from  the  liberal- 
ism of  aristocratic  Austria;  but  it  was  liberalism 
in    Holstein,    where    Prussian    interests   required 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


67 


a  strictly  conservative  and  repressive  policy. 
Austria  secretly  favoured  the  pretensions  of  the 
duke  of  Augustenburg,  which  Prussia  would 
not  for  a  moment  countenance  after  the  adverse 
decision  of  the  commission  upon  the  claims  to  the 
duchies.  The  Prussian  ministry,  moreover,  were 
irritated  at  perceiving  the  sympathy  expressed  by 
the  Austrians  for  the  recalcitrant  members  of  the 
Berlin  parliament,  whose  opposition  to  the  gov- 
ernment seemed  a  source  of  weakness  in  Prussia 
that  was  far  from  disagreeable  to  the  statesmen  of 
Vienna.  Thus  when  the  Austrian  government 
was  informed  of  a  project  for  assembling  delegates 
of  Holstein  and  Schleswig  associations  on  January 
23,  in  Altona,  it  issued  a  warning  against  the 
holding  of  any  such  meeting,  as  calculated  to 
bring  new  dangers  on  the  country.  Upon  an 
assurance,  however,  being  given  by  the  promoters 
of  the  meeting,  that  all  agitating  questions  should 
be  avoided,  the  Austrian  government  did  not 
prevent  the  meeting  from  taking  place.  This 
occurrence  drew  forth  a  note  from  the  Berlin 
cabinet,  dated  January  26,  to  their  envoy  at 
Vienna,  complaining  of  the  conduct  of  the  Holstein 
government  as  seriously  impairing  the  relations  of 
the  two  states.  Count  von  Bismarck  appealed  to 
the  recollections  of  the  meetings  of  Gastein  and 
Salzburg,  and  remarked,  that  he  had  allowed  him- 
self to  hope  that  at  that  period  Austria  was  not 
only  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  combating  the 
revolution,  but  had  agreed  as  to  the  mode  of  combat. 
The  conduct  of  Austria  in  the  affair  of  the  notes 
to  the  Frankfort  senate  had  already  somewhat 
shaken  this  agreeable  persuasion ;  matters,  however, 
now  assumed  a  far  graver  aspect.  The  conduct 
of  the  Holstein  government  could  only  be  desig- 
nated as  aggressive.  It  ill  became  the  imperial 
government  openly  to  use  against  Prussia  the 
same  means  of  agitation  against  which  they  fought 
together  at  Frankfort.  If  at  Vienna  it  was  thought 
that  they  might  tranquilly  contemplate  the  revo- 
lutionary transformation  of  the  people  of  Holstein, 
so  distinguished  by  their  conservative  spirit,  Prussia 
was  resolved  not  to  act  in  a  similar  manner.  The 
treaty  of  Gastein  had  indeed  provisionally  divided 
the  administration  of  the  two  duchies.  But 
Prussia  had  the  right  of  claiming  that  Austria 
should  maintain  Holstein  in  statu  quo,  just  as  much 
as  Prussia  was  bound  to  keep  Schleswig  in  that 
state.  The  royal  government  saw  no  difficulty  in 
putting  an  end  to  the  agitation,  the  scandals,  and 


injuries  to  the  principle  of  royalty  going  on  in  the 
duchies.  The  Prussian  government  entreated  the 
Vienna  cabinet  to  weigh  the  situation,  and  to 
act  accordingly.  If  a  negative  or  evasive  reply 
was  given,  Prussia  would  at  least  be  assured  that, 
influenced  by  her  ancient  antagonism,  Austria 
could  not  durably  act  together  with  her.  This 
conviction  would  be  a  painful  one,  but  Prussia 
needed  to  see  clearly.  Should  it  be  rendered 
impracticable  for  her  to  act  with  Austria,  she  would 
at  least  gain  full  freedom  for  her  policy,  and  might 
make  such  use  thereof  as  suited  her  interests. 

This  ominous  threat  of  a  rupture,  which  seemed 
to  produce  little  impression  at  Vienna,  was  ere  long 
followed  by  acts  of  unmistakable  self-assertion  in 
the  duchies.  Early  in  March  the  king  of  Prussia 
issued  a  decree  in  Schleswig,  which  declared  that 
any  Schleswiger  signing  an  address  or  delivering 
a  speech  in  favour  of  the  duke  of  Augustenburg, 
would  thenceforth  be  liable  to  be  imprisoned  for  a 
period  varying  from  three  months  to  five  years; 
while  the  actual  attempt  to  abolish  the  Austro- 
Prussian  sovereignty  over  the  duchies,  and  hand 
over  the  country  to  any  of  the  rival  pretenders, 
rendered  the  offender  liable  to  a  penalty  of  from 
five  to  ten  years'  hard  labour.  This  was  asserting 
an  authority  in  matters  pertaining  to  Holstein 
which  Austria  could  not  but  resent,  as  it  was 
tantamount  to  declaring  the  treaty  of  Gastein  to 
be  abolished.  The  government  at  Vienna,  there- 
fore, resolved  to  bring  the  matter  before  the  Diet, 
and  let  that  body  decide  the  question  of  appro- 
priating the  duchies.  The  minor  states  were 
requested  to  support  Austria  in  the  Diet,  and  to 
vote  for  making  a  summons  to  Prussia  to  declare 
herself;  and  in  case  the  danger  of  a  rupture  of 
peace  became  more  imminent,  they  were  asked  to 
vote  for  setting  in  motion  the  several  army  corps, 
under  the  command  of  the  Diet,  and  placing  them 
in  communication  with  the  Austrian  army.  It 
was  in  March,  according  to  Sir  A.  Malet,  that 
Count  Karolyi,  the  Austrian  ambassador  at  Berlin, 
received  orders  to  ask  the  Prussian  premier  if  he 
meant  to  break  the  treaty  of  Gastein.  "  No ! "  said 
his  Excellency  very  decidedly  in  reply;  adding, 
however,  "  If  I  had  the  intention,  do  you  think  I 
should  tell  you?"  Karolyi  hastened  to  inform  his 
government,  which  seemed  blind  to  the  fact,  that 
he  considered  war  inevitable. 

Meanwhile,  before  the  end  of  March,  a  secret 
treaty  of  alliance  was  entered  into  between  Prussia 


68 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  "WAR 


and  Italy,  the  terms  of  which,  so  far  as  they  were 
known,  show  how  resolved  the  two  countries  were 
to  engage  in  war  with  Austria.  According  to 
these,  Italy  engaged  to  declare  war  against  Aus- 
tria as  soon  as  Prussia  should  have  either  declared 
war  or  committed  an  act  of  hostility.  Prussia 
engaged  to  carry  on  the  war  until  the  mainland  of 
Venetia,  with  the  exception  of  the  fortresses  and 
the  city  of  Venice,  either  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Italians,  or  until  Austria  declared  herself  ready  to 
cede  it  voluntarily;  and  King  Victor  Emmanuel 
promised  not  to  lay  down  his  arms  until  the  Prus- 
sians should  be  in  legal  possession  of  the  Elbe 
duchies. 

Austria  could  not  mistake  acts  of  such  extraor- 
dinary significance  as  an  alliance  between  Italy 
and  Prussia,  although  she  remained  in  ignorance 
of  the  terms  of  the  treaty.  Slowly  and  hesitatingly 
she  commenced  military  preparations,  which  though 
conducted  with  great  caution,  and  not  calculated 
to  excite  serious  alarm,  were  sufficient  to  furnish 
Count  von  Bismarck  with  grounds  of  complaint 
against  Ms  Gastein  ally,  and  induce  him  to  make 
the  first  openly  hostile  demonstration. 

The  Prussian  premier  struck  his  first  blow  at 
the  Diet,  and  warned  the  several  states  of  the 
Confederation,  in  a  circular  letter.  He  complained 
that  Austria  had  acted  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
treaties  of  Vienna  and  Gastein,  by  which  the  Elbe 
duchies  had  been  legally  transferred  to  the  two 
powers,  and  had  sought  to  hand  it  over  to  the 
prince  of  Augustenburg,  "  who  had  no  right 
thereto."  The  intimate  relations  of  the  two  powers 
were  endangered  by  the  manifest  symptoms  of  ill- 
will  on  the  part  of  the  Vienna  cabinet.  Corres- 
pondence had  ceased,  but  no  reference  to  war  had 
been  made,  nor  was  war  intended.  But  Austria, 
while  reproaching  Prussia  with  intentions  of  dis- 
turbing the  peace,  was  herself  arming  and  sending 
from  her  eastern  and  southern  provinces  consider- 
able forces,  north  and  west,  towards  the  Prussian 
frontier.  The  gratuitous  Prussian  supposition 
that  the  Kaiser  wanted  to  compel  the  continuance 
of  the  Gastein  intimacy,  is  ludicrously  flimsy. 
Prussia  at  all  events  would  arm,  it  being  impos- 
sible that  she  could  allow  Silesia  to  be  beset  with 
troops  without  making  counter  preparations  of 
defence.  This  was  not  enough;  the  cabinet  at 
Berlin,  having  experienced  the  slight  trust  to  be 
placed  in  the  Austrian  alliance,  was  bound  to  look 
to  other   quarters    for    guarantees  of  safety   and 


peace.  National  independence  was  only  to  be 
found  in  the  basis  of  German  nationality,  and  in 
strengthening  the  ties  which  bound  the  purely 
German  states  together.  The  Bund  or  Confedera- 
tion was  manifestly  insufficient  for  this  purpose, 
and  for  the  active  policy  which  important  crises  in 
Europe  might  require.  Prussia  could  not  rely 
on  the  slow-moving  Bund  for  help  in  the  time  of 
need,  but  must  trust  to  her  own  good  arm  and  the 
support  of  such  German  states  as  were  friendly  to 
her.  The  Bund  must  be  reformed,  and  in  a  sense 
that  would  be  for  the  interest  of  other  German 
states  as  much  as  of  Prussia.  The  interests  of  the 
latter  state  were,  by  geographical  situation,  iden- 
tical with  those  of  Germany,  whose  fate  was  in- 
volved in  Prussia's.  If  the  power  of  Prussia  were 
broken,  Germany  would  exist  on  sufferance,  and 
in  a  great  European  crisis  might  undergo  the  fate 
of  Poland.  Strong  arguments  these  to  address  to 
a  reflective  people  like  the  Germans,  and  they  had 
their  effect.  In  the  rupture  between  the  two  great 
powers,  the  decision  of  each  of  the  smaller  states  as 
to  which  it  would  take  was  of  vital  importance  to 
itself.  Prussia  was  evidently  able  and  willing  to 
fight,  and  if  she  gained  the  victory  it  was  clear 
that  she  meant  to  have  the  command  of  the  mili- 
tary force  of  the  proposed  new  Confederation,  at 
which  Count  von  Bismarck  hinted  in  his  circular. 
Count  Karolyi  was  instructed  to  answer  that  circu- 
lar, by  formally  assuring  the  king  that  the  emperor 
of  Austria  had  not  the  slightest  intention  to  make 
a  breach  of  the  peace.  The  reply  sent  to  Vienna 
was,  that  nothing  could  explain  away  the  extensive 
military  preparations  made  by  Austria  in  the  direc- 
tion of  her  northern  frontier.  Owing  to  the 
admirably  organized  military  system  which  they 
had  perfected,  the  Berlin  statesmen  were  able  to 
make  this  charge  without  fear  of  a  retort,  for  their 
own  army  could  be  mobilized  and  brought  to  the 
field  of  action  in  rather  less  than  three  weeks'  time. 
The  Prussian  force  quartered  in  Silesia  at  the  end 
of  March  was  about  25,000  men,  with  eighteen  batter- 
ies of  artillery,  while  the  Austrians  had,  according 
to  the  official  Prussian  accounts,  an  army  of  80,000 
men,  with  240  guns  in  Bohemia,  not  far  from  the 
Silesian  frontier.  By  orders  issued  between  the 
28th  of  March  and  the  1st  of  April,  Prussia  was 
enabled  to  put  on  a  war  footing  considerably 
larger  forces  than  Austria  could  possibly  oppose  to 
them.  On  the  25th  of  March  the  Italian  minister 
of  war  gave  orders  to  increase  the  national  force 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSI AN  WAR. 


69 


by  100,000  men.  Having  advanced  so  far  with 
their  preparations,  neither  party  was  willing  to 
recede,  though  King  and  Kaiser  both  declared 
their  intention  not  to  commit  an  act  of  aggression. 
Meanwhile,  Count  von  Bismarck  created  a  great 
ferment  throughout  Germany  by  submitting  to 
the  Diet  at  Frankfort  his  proposition  that  the  Diet 
should  be  reformed,  and  that  a  national  German 
Assembly  should  be  convoked  to  consider  the 
means  and  methods  of  this  said  reform.  On  18th 
April  the  emperor  proposed  to  reduce  his  arma- 
ments if  King  William  would  do  the  same,  and 
the  proposal  was  joyfully  accepted  by  the  old 
king.  But  other  events  and  other  influences  were 
working  in  a  less  peaceful  direction.  Italy  was 
excited  in  the  highest  degree  at  the  prospect  of 
another  war  with  Austria,  in  which  the  Italians 
felt  presumptuously  confident  that,  with  or  with- 
out the  aid  of  Prussia,  they  would  recover  Venetia 
and  the  Quadrilateral.  Their  attitude  could  not 
be  disregarded  by  the  imperial  government,  and 
on  the  26  th  of  April  a  missive  from  Vienna 
reached  Berlin,  which,  while  expressing  the 
emperor's  deep  satisfaction  at  the  covenanted  dis- 
armament on  the  Bohemian  frontier,  informed  the 
royal  government  that  the  Austrian  army  in  Italy 
would  have  to  be  put  on  a  war  footing,  in  order 
to  defend  the  river  Po  and  the  sea-coast  against 
the  subjects  of  Victor  Emmanuel.  The  Prussian 
government  expressed  grievous  disappointment  at 
this  announcement,  and  declined  further  negotia- 
tions unless  all  the  imperial  army  were  reduced  to 
a  peace  footing.  The  correspondence  rapidly 
became  warm,  and  Count  Karolyi,  on  the  4th  of 
May,  informed  the  Prussian  minister  that  Austria 
had  now  exhausted  the  negotiation  for  the  simul- 
taneous withdrawal  of  military  preparations  on 
both  sides. 

The  following  is  the  statement  made  on  the 
26th  of  April  by  the  Austrian  minister  at  Berlin: 
— "  The  emperor  has  received  with  sincere  satis- 
faction the  announcement  that  Prussia  has  accepted 
the  proposition  for  a  simultaneous  disarmament  of 
the  two  powers.  His  Majesty  had  expected  nothing 
less  from  the  conciliatory  sentiments  of  King  Wil- 
liam. The  emperor  is  now  perfectly  ready  to  give 
orders  that  the  troops  which  have  been  directed 
upon  Bohemia  for  the  reinforcements  of  the  garri- 
sons there,  shall  be  withdrawn  into  the  interior  of 
the  empire,  and  thus  put  an  end  to  any  appearance 
of  a  concentration  of  force  against  Prussia.      But 


we  are  now  in  a  position  which  requires  us  to  in- 
crease our  means  of  defence  in  another  direction, 
and  we  ought  to  be  assured  that  this  circumstance 
will  not  prevent  the  Prussian  government  from 
responding  to  the  retirement  of  our  troops  from 
the  Bohemian  frontier  by  the  reduction  of  the 
Prussian  corps  which  have  been  mobilized.  In 
fact,  the  latest  intelligence  from  Italy  evidently 
proves  that  the  army  of  King  Victor  Emmanuel 
is  preparing  for  an  attack  upon  Venetia;  Austria, 
therefore,  is  forced  to  place  its  Italian  army  upon 
a  war  footing,  by  calling  in  the  men  on  furlough, 
and  by  making  proper  provisions  for  the  defence, 
not  only  of  its  frontier  upon  the  Po,  but  also  of 
its  extended  coast  line,  which  cannot  be  done 
without  the  movement  of  considerable  bodies  of 
troops  within  the  interior  of  the  monarchy.  We 
think  it  necessary  to  acquaint  the  cabinet  of  Berlin 
with  these  facts,  in  order  that  we  may  not  be 
exposed  to  the  false  interpretations  which  might 
be  placed  upon  the  circumstance  that,  while  we 
are  withdrawing  our  troops  from  Bohemia,  we  are 
at  the  same  time  making  military  preparations  in 
another  part  of  the  empire. 

"I  request  you,  therefore,  to  explain  to  the 
king's  government  that  these  preparations  are 
being  made  solely  with  a  view  to  the  eventuality 
of  a  conflict  with  the  Italians,  and  that  we  shall 
begin  at  once  to  carry  out  the  proposition  of  recip- 
rocal disarmament,  as  soon  as  we  shall  be  assured 
that  the  king's  government  will  not  permit  the 
measures  which  we  are  compelled  to  take  in  our 
own  defence  against  an  attack  from  the  south,  to 
exercise  any  influence  adverse  to  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  normal  state  of  relations  between 
Austria   and    Prussia." 

Count  von  Bismarck  framed  on  the  30th  of 
April  the  following  reply  to  this  despatch: — 
"  The  Austrian  government  thus  demands  that 
Prussia  shall  countermand  her,  in  themselves, 
modest  defensive  armaments,  which  have  re- 
mained unchanged  since  the  28th  of  March,  while 
Austria  certainly  withdraws  her  reinforcements 
of  garrisons  from  Bohemia,  but  extends  and 
hastens  her  arrangements  for  the  establishment  of 
an  army  upon  a  war  footing.  I  cannot  conceal 
from  your  excellency  that,  after  the  exchange  of 
mutual  declarations  upon  the  18th  and  21st,  hailed 
by  us  and  by  Europe  as  a  guarantee  of  peace,  we 
were  not  prepared  for  this  demand.  In  justifica- 
tion of  the  altered  attitude  it  takes  up  in  the  des- 


70 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


patch  of  the  26th,  the  imperial  government  adduces 
the  intelligence  it  has  received  from  Italy.  Ac- 
cording to  this,  the  army  of  King  Victor  Emmanuel 
is  said  to  have  been  placed  upon  a  war  footing  to 
proceed  to  an  attack  upon  Yenetia.  The  informa- 
tion which  has  reached  us  direct  from  Italy,  and 
that  we  have  received  through  the  medium  of  other 
courts,  coincides  in  stating  that  armaments  of  a 
threatening  character  against  Austria  have  not 
taken  place  in  Italy,  and  confirm  us  in  the  convic- 
tion that  an  unprovoked  attack  upon  the  empire  is 
far  distant  from  the  intentions  of  the  cabinet  of 
Florence.  If,  in  the  meantime  and  recently,  mili- 
tary preparations  may  have  commenced  in  Italy, 
these,  as  well  as  the  measures  adopted  by  us  upon 
the  28th  of  March,  may  probably  be  regarded 
as  the  consequence  of  the  armaments  begun  by 
Austria.  We  are  persuaded  that  the  Italian  arma- 
ments would  be  as  readily  discontinued  as  our  own, 
provided  the  causes  through  which  they  have  been 
occasioned  ceased. 

"  In  the  interest  of  the  preservation  of  peace,  and 
the  cessation  of  the  pressure  which  at  present 
weighs  upon  the  relations  of  policies  and  trade, 
we  therefore  again  request  the  imperial  govern- 
ment to  adhere  without  wavering  to  the  programme 
it  laid  down  itself  in  its  despatch  of  the  18th, 
and  which  his  Majesty  the  king  accepted  without 
delay,  in  the  most  conciliatory  sense,  and  as  a  mark 
of  his  personal  confidence  in  his  Majesty  the 
emperor.  In  execution  of  the  same,  we  should 
expect,  first,  that  all  the  troops  sent  to  Bohemia, 
Moravia,  Cracow,  and  Austrian  Silesia,  since  the 
middle  of  March,  should  not  only  return  to  their 
former  garrisons,  but  also  that  all  bodies  of  troops 
stationed  in  those  provinces  should  be  replaced 
upon  the  former  peace  footing.  We  await  a 
speedy  authentic  communication  as  to  the  execu- 
tion of  these  measures,  i.e.,  of  the  restoration  of 
the  status  quo  ante,  as  the  term  of  the  25th  of 
April,  fixed  by  the  imperial  government  itself  for 
the  return  to  a  peace  footing  of  the  troops  assem- 
bled against  our  frontiers,  has  long  since  expired. 
We  hope  that  the  imperial  government  will  at 
once,  by  further  inquiry,  arrive  at  the  conviction 
that  its  intelligence  as  to  the  aggressive  intentions 
of  Italy  was  unfounded;  that  it  will  then  proceed 
to  the  effective  restoration  of  a  peace  footing 
throughout  the  imperial  army,  and  thereby  enable 
us  to  take  the  same  step,  to  his  Majesty's  satis- 
faction." 


The  manner  in  which  this  despatch  was  received 
by  the  cabinet  of  Vienna,  is  best  explained  by  the 
orders  issued  early  in  May  by  the  emperor  of  Aus- 
tria, authorizing  the  whole  army  to  be  placed  on  a 
footing  of  war,  and  for  directing  a  part  of  it  to  be 
concentrated  upon  the  frontiers  of  Bohemia  and 
Silesia;  and  as  early  as  the  4th  of  May,  Count 
Mensdorff  forwarded  an  address  which  he  had 
drawn  up,  to  the  Austrian  minister  at  Berlin, 
which,  after  referring  to  the  despatch  of  Count 
von  Bismarck,  dated  the  30th  of  April,  proceeds, 
"  According  to  this  despatch,  the  government  of 
his  Majesty  the  king  of  Prussia  thinks  there  is  no 
reason  why  Austria  should  prepare  to  ward  off  an 
attack  on  her  possessions  in  Italy.  It  declares  that, 
if  Austria  should  not  think  fit  to  place  the  whole 
imperial  army  on  a  real  peace  footing,  it  wiil  not  be 
possible  for  Prussia  to  carry  on  the  important  and 
momentous  negotiations  with  the  imperial  govern- 
ment in  any  other  way  than  by  maintaining  an 
equilibrium  in  the  warlike  preparations  of  the  two 
powers.  Your  excellency  will  understand  that  we, 
after  this  declaration,  must  consider  the  negotia- 
tions for  a  simultaneous  disarmament  on  the  part 
of  Prussia  on  the  one  side,  and  of  Austria  on  the 
other,  as  being  at  an  end.  After  the  solemn  assur- 
ances given  by  us  in  Berlin  and  in  Frankfort, 
Prussia  can  have  no  reason  to  apprehend  aggres- 
sive proceedings  on  our  part,  and  Germany  can 
have  no  cause  to  fear  that  we  shall  disturb  the 
peace  of  the  German  Confederation.  Just  as  little 
does  Austria  think  of  attacking  Italy,  although 
on  all  occasions  the  forcible  detachment  of  a  part 
of  the  Austrian  territory  has  been  the  already  pro- 
nounced programme  of  the  Florence  government. 
It  is  our  duty  to  provide  for  the  defence  of  the 
monarchy,  and  if  the  Prussian  government  finds 
in  our  measures  against  Italy  a  motive  for  uphold- 
ing her  own  readiness  for  war,  we  can  but  fulfil 
that  duty — which  admits  of  no  foreign  control — 
without  entering  into  any  further  discussion  as  to 
the  priority  or  magnitude  of  the  several  military 
measures.  In  Berlin  it  cannot  be  unknown  that 
we  have  not  only  to  provide  for  the  integrity  of 
our  own  empire,  but  also  to  protect  the  territory 
of  the  German  Bund  against  an  aggressive  move- 
ment on  the  part  of  Italy ;  and  we  therefore  may, 
and  must,  in  the  interest  of  Germany,  seriously 
ask  of  Prussia  whether  she  thinks  the  demand  that 
the  frontiers  of  Germany  shall  be  left  unguarded, 
compatible  with  the  duties  of  a  German  power." 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


71 


The  two  opposite  influences  at  work,  antag- 
onistic to  the  welfare  of  Austria,  were  shortly  to 
undermine  the  monarchy,  and  by  their  united 
effect  exalt  the  two  countries  that  exercised  them. 
Italy  was  to  gain  a  triumphant  freedom  from  Aus- 
trian rule,  and  Prussia  an  ascendancy  long  desired, 
but  almost  unlooked  for.  Yet,  had  the  power  of 
Prussia  in  the  north  proved  as  weak  as  that  of  her 
Italian  ally  in  the  south,  Austria  would  have  had  a 
comparatively  easy  task,  and  have  gained  a  double 
triumph.  Austria's  mistake  was  in  having  almost 
a  needless  fear  of  Italy,  mixed  with  contempt  and 
an  affectation  of  slighting  the  strength  of  Prussia. 

On  another  question  of  moment,  that  of  the  Elbe 
duchies,  Austria  made  a  proposal  that  was  exces- 
sively disagreeable  to  Prussia.  The  proposal  was 
to  the  effect  that  the  two  powers  should  make  a 
common  declaration,  that  they  would  cede  the  rights 
over  the  duchies  which  they  had  acquired  by  the 
treaty  of  Vienna,  to  that  claimant  of  the  sovereignty 
whom  the  Diet  should  recognize  as  lawful.  Prus- 
sia should  have  the  military  position  of  Kiel,  Eends- 
burg,  and  Sonderburg  given  to  her  by  the  treaty 
of  Gastein ;  and  Kiel  should  become  a  federal  fort. 
Austria  also  would  support  Prussia's  reasonable 
demands  for  territory  requisite  to  complete  the 
fortifications  of  Dybbol  and  Alsen,  and  obtain  facili- 
ties for  making  the  projected  ship  canal  between  the 
Baltic  and  North  seas.  Prussia  declined  to  treat 
with  a  third  party  like  the  Diet  on  the  subject 
of  the  duchies,  but  was  willing  to  make  a  bargain 
with  Austria  if  she  were  disposed  to  cede  her  share 
of  the  rights  accruing  by  the  treaty  of  Vienna. 

Saxony,  having  made  military  preparations  with 
a  view,  as  Herr  von  Beust  affirmed,  to  support  her 
position  in  the  Diet,  the  Prussian  cabinet  com- 
plained and  warned  the  Saxon  government  of  the 
consequences.  Austria  began  to  arm  in  earnest. 
The  fortresses  of  Theresienstadt  and  Josephstadt 
were  equipped,  Cracow  strengthened,  Koniggratz 
made  defensible.  The  regiments  in  Bohemia, 
Moravia,  and  Galicia,  were  raised  to  their  full  war 
complement. 

Early  in  May  a  motion  was  made  and  carried 
in  the  Diet  at  Frankfort,  by  the  representative 
of  Saxony,  to  the  effect  that  the  Bund  should 
summon  Prussia  to  give  a  formal  declaration 
that  her  intentions  were  of  a  pacific  nature.  A 
week  or  ten  days  later  there  was  a  conference 
held  at  Bamberg,  of  the  middle  states,  in 
which   the  representatives    of  Bavaria,    Wlirtem- 


burg,  Baden,  and  Grand-ducal  Hesse  took  part 
with  those  of  the  Saxon  duchies,  Brunswick  and 
Nassau,  in  formulating  the  following  propositions 
for  the  decision  of  the  Diet: — The  Diet  will  re- 
quest those  members  of  the  Confederation  which 
have  taken  any  steps  for  military  preparations 
beyond  their  peace  establishment,  to  declare  in  the 
next  sitting  of  the  Diet,  whether,  and  on  what 
conditions,  they  will  be  prepared  simultaneously 
to  reduce  their  armed  force  to  the  peace  establish- 
ment, and  on  a  day  to  be  agreed  upon  in  the 
Diet's  sitting.  The  vote  was  to  be  taken  on  the 
1st  June,  on  which  day  Baron  Kiibeck,  on  the 
part  of  Austria,  charged  Prussia  with  having  made 
a  "  lamentable  alliance  with  a  foreign  opponent  of 
the  empire;"  adding,  that  his  government,  being 
imperilled  on  two  sides,  and  uncertain  whether  the 
first  attack  would  take  place  on  the  south  or  on 
the  north,  must  preserve  an  attitude  of  defence. 
Their  efforts,  he  continued,  to  come  to  an  under- 
standing with  Prussia  for  a  settlement  on  Federal 
principles  of  the  question  of  the  Elbe  duchies,  had 
been  frustrated,  and  they  should  leave  all  future 
decisions  with  respect  to  it  to  the  Diet,  seeing  that 
all  Germany  had  a  common  interest  in  Schleswig 
and  Holstein.  This  last  fling  at  Prussia's  known 
desire  to  annex  the  provinces,  struck  home,  and 
was  followed  by  orders  to  General  Gablenz,  the 
Austrian  governor  of  Holstein,  to  convene  an 
assembly  of  the  states  for  the  11th  of  June, 
for  the  purpose  of  deciding  on  their  future 
form  of  government.  By  this  act,  accord- 
ing to  Prussian  jurists,  the  treaty  of  Gastein  was 
abrogated,  and  the  cabinet  of  Berlin,  falling  back 
upon  the  treaty  of  Vienna,  and  the  rights  of 
co-possession  which  it  conferred,  ordered  General 
Manteuffel  to  lead  a  sufficient  military  force  from 
Schleswig  into  Holstein.  This  was  done  on  the 
8th  and  9th  of  June,  and  Gablenz,  finding  himself 
outnumbered,  and  in  danger  of  being  caught  in 
a  trap  the  moment  war  should  be  declared,  wisely 
withdrew  from  the  duchy  to  a  place  of  safety.  As 
for  the  Frankfort  Diet,  it  was  informed  by  Baron 
Savigny  that  since  they  could  not  restrain  Austria 
and  Saxony  from  threatening  Prussia  by  their  for- 
midable armaments,  Prussia  would  protect  her  own 
interests  without  regard  to  the  decisions  of  the 
Diet.  One  more  sitting  only,  of  great  importance, 
was  the  Diet  destined  to  hold.  Her  decrees  were 
like  the  fibres  of  a  spider's  web,  strong  enough  to 
hold  small  flies,  but  torn  to  shreds  by  a  bee  or  a 


72 


TUE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


wasp.  On  the  11th  of  June,  at  this  memorable 
meeting,  Austria  moved  that  all  the  Federal  con- 
tingents saving  that  of  Prussia  should  be  mobilized 
and  placed  on  their  full  war  establishment,  con- 
centrated within  fourteen  days,  and  then  be  ready- 
to  take  the  field  within  twenty-four  hours.  This 
was  tantamount  to  a  declaration  of  war  by  the 
whole  Confederation  against  Prussia.  Undismayed 
however,  by  the  formidable  aspect  of  the  situation, 
Prussia  replied  by  the  counter  proposition  of  a 
scheme  for  reforming  the  Bund,  of  which  she 
moved  the  immediate  adoption.  This  bold  scheme 
consisted  of  ten  articles,  the  most  salient  of  which 
were  the  convocation  of  a  national  representative 
body  to  be  elected  by  universal  suffrage,  and  to  sit 
periodically,  and  the  exclusion  of  Austria  from  the 
Confederation.  The  representative  of  the  Kaiser, 
so  long  paramount  in  the  Diet  as  by  right  prescrip- 
tive, must  have  indeed  felt  on  this  occasion  that  the 
genius  of  Count  von  Bismarck,  as  Louis  Napoleon 
says,  lies  in  his  audacity.  The  Austrian  proposal, 
however,  was  carried  on  a  division  by  nine  against 
six  votes.  Thereupon  Baron  Savigny  said  that 
his  master  the  king  now  considered  the  breach 
of  the  Federal  compact  to  be  consummated,  and 
his  participation  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Diet 
came  to  an  end.  The  assembly  dispersed  on  the 
14th,  never  to  meet  for  independent  action  again, 
being  destroyed,  after  an  existence  of  fifty  years, 
by  the  minority  of  its  members.  Prussia  lost  no 
time  in  summoning  the  governments  of  Saxony, 
Hanover,  and  Hesse-Cassel,  to  declare  for  or 
against  her,  offering  to  guarantee  the  sovereign 
rights  of  their  rulers  if  they  took  her  side.  Saxony 
refused  peremptorily;  the  other  two  states  delayed 
their  answers;  and  all  three  received  from  Prussia 
an  immediate  declaration  of  war. 

One  more  effort  in  favour  of  peace  was  made  by 
the  other  great  powers,  who  united  in  proposing  a 
conference.  Prussia,  Italy,  and  the  Diet  agreed  to 
the  proposal,  but  Austria  accepted  only  on  con- 
dition that  the  negotiations  should  exclude  all  pre- 
tensions on  the  part  of  any  one  of  the  powers  to 
obtain  an  aggrandizement  of  territory.  The  fulfil- 
ment of  this  condition  would  have  foiled  Prussia 
in  her  hopes  of  annexing  the  Duchies,  Italy  in  her 
expectation  of  recovering  Venetia,  and  France  in  her 
general  views;  she  being  favourable  to  both  of  those 
projects.  The  idea  of  a  conference  was  therefore 
abandoned,  and  the  trumpet  sounded  for  war. 
"  With  God,  for  King  and  Fatherland,"  resounded 


through  Berlin  and  in  every  town  and  village  of 
Prussia,  while  an  Austrian  archduke,  assuming 
for  the  first  time  a  national  tone,  closed  an 
order  of  the  day  in  Italy  with  the  words,  "  For 
God,  with  Emperor  and  Fatherland."  Bismarck, 
Moltke,  and  Boon  were  now  frequently  to  be  seen 
walking  together  in  the  summer  evenings  under 
the  fine  trees  of  the  garden  attached  to  the 
Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs  at  Berlin.  There, 
on  the  night  of  Thursday  the  14th  June,  the 
thought  flashed  upon  Count  von  Bismarck  to  set 
the  Prussian  army  in  motion  twenty-  four  hours 
sooner  than  was  intended.  Moltke  retired  to  his 
cabinet,  opened  a  drawer  from  which  he  took  out 
orders  that  had  been  carefully  prepared,  and  by 
means  of  the  telegraph  wires  delivered  those  orders 
to  every  corner  of  the  kingdom  ere  the  next  day 
had  fully  dawned.  All  that  thought,  knowledge, 
foresight  could  do  in  preparation  for  a  great  war, 
was  done  by  the  Prussian  government.  Austria, 
on  her  side,  was  also  full  of  confidence.  She  was 
leader  of  Germany  by  prescription,  and  she  cer- 
tainly did  not  expect  to  be  overthrown  by  a  power 
long  treated  by  her  as  an  inferior. 

When  the  prospect  of  a  war,  says  the  "  History 
of  the  Seven  Weeks'  War,"  arose  between  Austria 
and  Prussia  in  the  spring  of  1866,  then  came 
Italy's  opportunity  to  complete  the  work  which 
had  been  commenced  at  Magenta,  to  secure  and 
unite  to  herself  the  only  province  which,  still  under 
the  rule  of  the  foreigner,  prevented  her  from  being 
free  from  the  Alps  to  the  Adriatic.  Italy  naturally 
drew  as  close  to  Prussia  as  she  possibly  could. 
Austria  requires  a  long  time  to  mobilize  her 
army,  and  had  begun  her  preparations  for  war 
in  the  middle  of  February.  Public  attention  was 
directed  to  this  fact  by  a  council  of  war  held  at 
Vienna  as  early  as  the  10th  of  March,  to  which 
Feldzeugmeister  (general  of  artillery)  Benedek  was 
summoned  from  Verona.  At  this  council  the 
party  in  favour  of  war  was  strongly  predominant, 
and  decided  that  Austria  was  powerful  enough  to 
take  the  field  against  Prussia  and  Italy  at  the  same 
time,  provided  that  measures  were  taken  to  isolate 
Prussia  in  Germany,  and  to  draw  the  states  of  the 
Confederation  to  the  Austrian  side.  The  grand 
error  of  this  council  was  that  too  high  an  estimate 
was  formed  of  the  strength  of  Austria,  and  far  too 
low  a  calculation  made  of  the  powers  of  Prussia ; 
no  doubt  seems  to  have  been  entertained  but  that 
Austria  would  emerge  from  such  a  war  decidedly 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


73 


the  victor.  Italy  was  so  detested  that  every  Aus- 
trian wished  for  an  Italian  war.  Prussia,  it  was 
thought,  weakened  by  an  internal  political  conflict, 
could  hardly  unite  her  contending  parties  in  a 
common  foreign  policy.  Nor  was  a  high  opinion 
entertained  of  her  military  resources  and  organiza- 
tion. The  professional  papers  and  periodicals  of 
Austria  ingeniously  demonstrated  that  Prussia, 
however  hardly  pressed,  could  not  place  her  normal 
army  on  a  complete  war  footing,  because  trained 
men  would  be  wanting.  The  writers  of  these 
articles  calculated  that  the  battalions  of  infantry 
could  only  be  brought  into  the  field  with  a  muster- 
roll  of  eight  hundred  men  ;  no  consideration  was 
paid  to  the  landwehr  ;  in  fact,  doubts  were  in  some 
cases  thrown  upon  the  existence  of  the  landwehr 
soldiers  at  all,  and  those  who  believed  in  their 
existence  entertained  no  doubts  of  their  certain 
disloyalty.  It  was  also  calculated  that  the  Prussian 
army  would  have  to  make  such  strong  detachments 
for  the  garrisons  of  fortresses,  that  a  very  small 
force  would  be  left  for  operations  in  the  field. 
These  false  calculations,  the  first  step  and  perhaps 
the  most  certain  to  the  bitter  defeat  which  ensued, 
were  due  to  defective  information.  The  war 
office  at  Vienna  was  lamentably  deficient  in  those 
detailed  accounts  of  foreign  military  statistics, 
without  which  any  government  that  undertakes 
great  military  operations  must  necessarily  grope  in 
the  dark. 

Meanwhile  the  government  of  Prussia  was 
not  idle.  By  order  of  the  king  the  entire 
army  was  mobilized,  five  corps  d'armee  being 
placed  upon  a  war  strength  by  the  4th  of  May, 
while  the  remaining  four  corps  of  the  stand- 
ing army  received  orders  to  be  augmented  and 
mobilized.  The  execution  of  these  orders  was 
conducted  with  such  remarkable  alacrity  and  pre- 
cision as  indicated  how  careful  Prussia  had  been 
for  a  considerable  period  to  prepare,  in  case  of 
the  outbreak  of  war,  a  force  adequate  to  the  sev- 
erest exigencies  of  either  defence  or  attack.  The 
equipment  of  the  entire  Prussian  army  was  fully 
effected  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight,  when  it  mus- 
tered 490,000  men,  unsurpassed  in  efficiency,  and 
fully  provided  for  a  campaign.  It  was  on  the 
7th  of  May  that  the  Prussian  troops  concentrated 
in  Schleswig  crossed  the  frontier,  and  occupied 
Holstein ;  while  the  Austrians,  not  having  at  this 
point  a  sufficient  body  of  men  to  resist  their  entry, 
retired  to  Altona.    General  Manteuffel,  the  Prussian 


governor  of  Schleswig,  then  published  a  procla- 
mation declaring  to  the  inhabitants  of  Holstein 
that  the  provisional  government  established  in 
1866  was  discarded,  and  a  Prussian  president  was 
appointed  for  the  general  administration  of  the 
affairs  of  both  the  duchies  of  Schleswig  and  Hol- 
stein. The  expedition  with  which  Prussia  made 
her  preparations  appeared  a  matter  of  almost  as 
much  surprise  to  themselves  as  to  the  Austrians. 
The  army  of  the  latter  power,  however,  although 
starting  with  a  priority  of  ten  weeks  for  its 
formation,  was  in  an  incompetent  state  to  open 
the  campaign  when  the  day  for  action  arrived. 
Had  the  Prussians  then  taken  advantage  of  the 
backward  state  of  their  enemy's  preparations,  the 
campaign  might  have  been  even  more  marvellously 
brief  and  decisive  than  it  was.  Why  Prussia  did 
not  avail  herself  of  the  opportunity  thus  afforded 
has  not  been  clearly  explained.  Was  Prussia,  it 
has  been  asked,  really  so  moderate  as  her  advocates 
would  have  the  world  believe?  Was  it  desire  of 
peace  or  fear  of  failure  which  stayed  her  hand, 
and  held  her  marshalled  corps  on  the  north  of  the 
mountain  frontier  of  Bohemia?  It  may  have  been 
both,  but  the  results  of  the  war  show  that  the 
latter  entered  into  the  calculations  of  those  who 
planned  the  Prussian  strategy.  The  army  was 
ready  and  might  have  attacked  Austria;  but  it 
would  in  its  advance  have  exposed  its  communica- 
tions to  the  assault  of  the  minor  states,  and  until 
forces  were  prepared  to  quell  these,  the  main  army 
could  not  assume  the  offensive.  This  was  probably 
the  cause  why  the  troops  were  not  at  once  con- 
centrated, and  pushed  immediately  into  Bohemia. 
At  the  very  beginning  the  Prussian  army  confined 
itself  to  taking  up  defensive  positions  to  cover  the 
provinces  most  exposed  to  attack,  especially  towards 
Bohemia.  The  Austrian  army  of  the  north  had 
commenced  its  concentration  in  Bohemia  on  the 
13th  May,  and  Feldzeugmeister  Benedek  had  there 
taken  over  the  command-in-chief  on  the  18th. 
The  first,  fifth,  and  sixth  Prussian  corps  d'armee 
were  posted  in  Silesia,  the  second  and  third  corps  in 
Lusatia,  and  the  fourth  corps  round  Erfurt.  The 
o-uards  corps  was  still  left  at  Berlin,  and  the  seventh 
and  eighth  corps  were  retained  in  Westphalia  and 
the  Rhine  provinces,  respectively. 

Italy  had  made  such  progress  in  her  preparations 
for  the  coming  struggle,  that  by  the  end  of  May 
her  armaments  were  fully  formed.  A  decree  pub- 
lished at  Florence  having  appointed  General  Gari- 


74 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


baldi,  the  great  guerilla  chieftain,  to  the  immediate 
command  of  twenty  volunteer  battalions,  which 
were  ordered  to  form  under  that  patriot's  standard, 
the  volunteers  responded  to  the  call  in  such  num- 
bers that  the  battalions  had  to  be  doubled.  Upon 
this  Austria  committed  towards  her  Italian  depen- 
dency one  of  her  last  acts  of  tyranny,  by  raising 
a  compulsory  loan  in  Venetia  of  twelve  million 
gulden.  This  act  excited  Italian  feeling  to  such 
a  state  of  desperation,  that  Victor  Emmanuel  found 
the  utmost  difficulty  in  restraining  his  troops  from 
striking  the  blow  for  liberty  till  the  proper  hour 
had  arrived.  Thus  Austria  was  placed  between 
two  menacing  foes,  both  acting  in  concerted  mea- 
sures, yet  each  relying  upon  its  own  strength. 

Notwithstanding  these  active  preparations,  the 
actual  commencement  of  hostilites  was  still  averted, 
and  though  swords  were  not  imbrued  with  blood, 
diplomatic  pens,  as  we  have  seen,  were  actively 
engaged  in  paper  war.  Prussia  was  engaged  in 
putting  forward  her  motion  for  reform  of  the  Ger- 
manic Confederation.  The  attempt  made  by  the 
other  great  powers  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation 
between  the  rival  claimants  for  supremacy  in  Ger- 
many having  failed,  war  became  inevitable. 

The  subjoined  chronological  table  of  the  prin- 
cipal features  of  the  political  prologue  is  taken 
from  the  "  History  of  the  Seven  Week's  War:" — 

October  20,  1864. — Treaty  of  Vienna. 

August  14,  1865. — Convention  of  Gastein. 

March  12,  1866. — First  preparations  of  Austria 
for  war  in  Bohemia  and  Moravia. 

March  30,  1866. — First  preparations  of  Prussia. 

April,  1866. — Negotiations  concerning  those 
armaments. 

April  23,  1866. — Great  armament  of  Austria 
in  Venetia. 

April  26,  1866. — Proposal  of  Austria  to  submit 
the  question  in  dispute  to  the  Diet. 

May  7,  1866. — Declaration  of  Prussia  of  the 
incompetency  of  the  Diet  to  decide  in  inter- 
national questions,  and  suggestion  of  the  desir- 
ability of  the  reform  of  the  Confederation. 

Until  May  28,  1866. — Armaments  in  all  Ger- 
many and  Italy. 

May  28,  1866. — Proposal  of  a  Conference  by 
the  three  non-Germanic  powers. 

May  29,  1866. — Prussian  acceptance  of  this 
proposal. 

June  1,  1866.- — Submission  of  the  Schleswig- 
Holstein  question  to  the  Diet. 


June  5,  1866. — Summons  by  General  Gablenz 
for  assembly  of  Holstein  Estates. 

June  10,  1866. — Prussian  proposal  for  the 
reform  of  the  Federal  constitution. 

June  11,  1866. — Austrian  motion  for  the  de- 
cree of  Federal  execution  against  Prussia. 

June  14,  18 66. -^Acceptance  of  the  Austrian 
motion  by  the  Diet. 

June  15,  1866. — Declaration  of  war  by  Prussia 
against  Hanover,  Electoral  Hesse,  and  Saxony. 

June  20,  1866. — Declaration  of  war  by  Italy 
against  Austria  and  Bavaria. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Westphalian 
and  Bhenish  provinces  of  Prussia  were  divided 
from  the  rest  of  the  kingdom  by  the  interlying 
territories  of  Hanover,  Hesse-Cassel,  and  Nassau. 
Of  these  powers,  all  favouring  Austria,  the  first 
possessed  a  well-armed,  well -trained  force  of 
20,000  men — more  than  a  match,  it  was  thought, 
for  the  Prussian  landwehr,  and  fit  to  be  a  powerful 
advanced  guard  to  the  forces  which  Bavaria  and 
her  allies  upon  the  Main  were  about  to  raise.  To 
meet  this  danger  the  Prussian  chief  ordered  half 
of  Vogel's  corps  to  assemble  at  Minden,  where, 
aided  by  the  southward  march  of  Manteuffel's 
regiments  from  Holstein,  they  were  soon  in  a 
position  to  occupy  Hanover  and  overrun  Hesse- 
Cassel.  The  other  half  of  Vogel's  corps  was 
united  to  Herwarth's,  and  formed  the  third  or 
Elbe  army,  which,  after  occupying  Saxony,  became 
part  of  the  general  force  employed  in  the  invasion 
of  Bohemia. 

The  actual  commencement  of  hostilities  took 
place  on  the  15th  June,  the  day  after  that  on 
which  the  Diet  had  decreed  the  mobilization  of 
the  Federal  forces.  The  Prussians  marched  into 
Saxony,  and  took  possession  of  Leipsic.  On  com- 
mitting this  bold  act  of  invasion,  Prince  Frederick 
Charles,  who  commanded  the  Prussians,  issued  to 
the  inhabitants  of  Saxony  a  proclamation,  dated 
Gb'rlitz,  June  16,  in  which  he  said,  "We  are  not 
at  war  with  the  people  and  country  of  Saxony,  but 
only  with  the  government,  which  by  its  inveterate 
hostility  has  forced  us  to  take  up  arms."  At  the 
same  time  Hesse-Cassel  was  also  overrun  by  the 
Prussians,  who  met  with  no  impediment.  The 
entire  Prussian  force  was  formed  into  three  distinct 
armies.  The  first  army,  under  the  command  of 
Prince  Frederick  Charles,  was  in  occupation  of 
Saxony,  and  threatened  the  Bohemian  frontier. 
The   second   army,  under  the    command  of   the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


75 


Crown  Prince,  was  in  movement  in  Silesia;  and  a 
third  army,  designated  the  army  of  the  Elbe,  and 
commanded  by  General  Herwarth,  was  prepared  to 
march  on  the  right  flank  of  the  first  army. 

The  emperor  of  Austria,  on  the  17th  of  June, 
issued  an  address  "  To  my  Peoples,"  in  which  the 
circumstances  which  brought  about  the  impending 
hostilities  were  reviewed,  and  reasons  given  why 
Austria  was  under  the  necessity  of  entering  into 
the  combat.  "While  engaged  in  a  work  of  peace," 
said  his  Majesty,  "  which  was  undertaken  for  the 
purpose  of  laying  the  foundation  for  a  constitution 
which  should  augment  the  unity  and  power  of  the 
empire,  and,  at  the  same  time,  secure  to  my  several 
countries  and  peoples  free  internal  development, 
my  duties  as  a  sovereign  have  obliged  me  to  place 
my  whole  army  under  arms.  On  the  frontiers 
of  my  empire,  in  the  south  and  in  the  north, 
stand  the  armies  of  two  enemies,  who  are  allied 
together  with  the  intention  of  breaking  the 
power  of  Austria  as  a  great  European  state. 
To  neither  of  these  enemies  have  I  given  cause 
for  war.  I  call  on  my  Omniscient  God  to  bear 
witness  that  I  have  always  considered  it  my  first, 
my  most  sacred  duty,  to  do  all  in  my  power  to 
secure  for  my  people  the  blessings  of  peace." 

After  alluding  to  his  former  alliance  with  Prus- 
sia, and  to  some  minor  topics,  he  says,  "  The 
assurances  given  by  my  government  of  my  love 
of  peace,  and  the  repeated  declarations  which  were 
made  of  my  readiness  to  disarm  at  the  same  time 
with  Prussia,  were  replied  to  by  propositions 
which  could  not  be  accepted  without  sacrificing 
the  honour  and  safety  of  the  monarchy.  Prussia 
not  only  insisted  on  complete  disarmament  in  the 
northern  provinces  of  the  empire,  but  also  in  those 
parts  of  it  which  touch  on  Italy,  where  a  hostile 
army  was  standing,  for  whose  love  of  peace  no 
guarantee  could  either  be  given  or  offered.  The 
negotiations  with  Prussia  in  respect  to  the  Elbe 
duchies,  clearly  proved  that  a  settlement  of  the 
question  in  a  way  compatible  with  the  dignity 
of  Austria,  and  with  the  rights  and  interests  of 
Germany  and  the  duchies,  could  not  be  brought 
about,  as  Prussia  was  violently  intent  on  conquest. 
The  negotiations  were  therefore  broken  off,  the 
whole  affair  was  referred  to  the  Bund,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  legal  representatives  of  Holstein 
were  convoked." 

The  emperor  then  refers  to  the  intervention 
of   the    three   powers   to    avert    if  possible    the 


outbreak  of  war,  and  he  attributes  the  failure 
of  the  attempt  to  the  ambitious  aims  of  Prussia. 
"  The  recent  events  clearly  prove  that  Prussia 
substitutes  open  violence  for  right  and  justice. 
The  rights  and  the  honour  of  Austria,  the  rights 
and  the  honour  of  the  whole  German  nation, 
are  no  longer  a  barrier  against  the  inordi- 
nate ambition  of  Prussia.  Prussian  troops  have 
entered  Holstein,  the  estates  convoked  by  the 
imperial  stadtholder  have  been  violently  dissolved. 
The  government  of  Holstein,  which  the  treaty  of 
Vienna  gives  to  Austria  and  Prussia  in  common, 
has  been  claimed  for  Prussia  alone;  and  the  Aus- 
trian garrison  has  been  obliged  to  give  way  to  a 
force  ten  times  as  strong  as  itself.  When  the 
German  Bund  accepted  the  Austrian  proposition 
to  mobilize  the  Federal  troops,  Prussia,  who  prides 
herself  upon  being  the  defender  of  the  interests  of 
Germany,  resolved  to  complete  the  work  she  had 
begun,  by  violently  severing  the  tie  which  unites 
the  German  races.  Suddenly  announcing  her 
secession  from  the  Bund,  she  required  from  the 
German  government  the  acceptance  of  a  so-called 
project  of  reform,  which  in  reality  is  a  division 
of  Germany,  and  now  she  employs  military  force 
against  those  sovereigns  who  have  faithfully  dis- 
charged their  federal  duties. 

"  The  most  pernicious  of  wars,  a  war  of  Germans 
against  Germans,  has  become  inevitable,  and  I 
now  summon  before  the  tribunal  of  history,  before 
the  tribunal  of  an  eternal  and  all-powerful  God, 
those  persons  who  have  brought  it  about,  and 
make  them  responsible  for  the  misfortunes  which 
may  fall  on  individuals,  families,  districts,  and 
countries."  Turning  from  this  ahnost  pathetic 
strain,  the  Kaiser  expresses  his  delight  at  the 
patriotic  spirit  evinced  by  his  people: — "  My  heart 
beats  high  at  the  sight  of  my  gallant  and  well- 
appointed  army — the  bulwark  against  which  the 
force  of  the  enemies  of  Austria  will  be  broken — 
and  of  my  faithful  peoples,  who  are  full  of  loyal 
confidence  and  self-devotion.  The  pure  fire  of 
patriotic  enthusiasm  burns  with  equal  strength 
and  steadiness  in  all  parts  of  my  vast  empire. 
Joyfully  do  the  furlough  men  and  reserves  take  their 
places  in  the  ranks  of  the  army;  numerous  volun- 
teers present  themselves;  the  whole  of  the  able- 
bodied  population  of  the  countries  which  are  most 
exposed  are  preparing  to  take  the  field."  He 
also  flatters  his  people  with  the  prospect,  that  "  we 
shall  not  be  alone  in  the  stru2ff;le  which  is  about 


76 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR, 


to  take  place.  The  princes  and  peoples  of  Germany- 
know  that  their  liberty  and  independence  are 
menaced  by  a  power,  which  listens  but  to  the 
dictates  of  egotism,  and  is  under  the  influence  of 
an  ungovernable  craving  after  aggrandizement." 
The  emperor  ends  his  lengthy  manifesto  by  testi- 
fying his  implicit  faith  in  the  justness  of  his  cause, 
and  his  belief  in  a  consequent  success. 

On  the  day  of  its  publication  a  general  order 
was  also  issued  by  Benedek,  the  commander-in- 
chief,  to  the  Austrian  army  of  the  North,  from 
his  head-quarters  at  Olmiitz.  In  this  document 
the  Austrian  commander  betrays  woful  ignorance 
of  the  quality  of  the  army  opposed  to  him.  "  Sol- 
diers," he  says,  "  we  are  on  the  eve  of  grave  and 
sanguinary  events.  I  have  the  full  and  entire 
conviction  that  you  are  aware  of  and  are  worthy 
of  the  mission  confided  to  you.  Have  confidence 
also  in  me,  and  be  assured  that  on  my  part  I  will 
exert  my  best  efforts  to  bring  this  campaign  to  a 
speedy  and  glorious  termination.  We  are  now 
faced  by  inimical  forces,  composed  partly  of  troops 
of  the  line  and  partly  of  landwehr.  The  first 
comprise  young  men  not  accustomed  to  priva- 
tions and  fatigues,  and  who  have  never  yet  made 
an  important  campaign.  The  latter  is  composed 
of  doubtful  and  dissatisfied  elements,  which  rather 
than  fight  against  us  would  prefer  the  downfall 
of  their  government.  In  consequence  of  a  long 
course  of  years  of  peace,  the  enemy  does  not 
possess  a  single  general  who  has  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  learning  his  duties  on  the  field  of  battle. 
Veterans  of  the  Mincio  and  of  Palestro,  I  hope 
that  with  tried  leaders  you  will  not  allow  the 
slightest  advantage  to  such  an  adversary.  On  the 
day  of  battle  the  infantry  will  adopt  their  lightest 
campaign  accoutrement,  and  will  leave  behind 
their  knapsacks  and  camping  material,  in  order 
that  they  may  be  able  to  throw  themselves  with 
rapidity  and  promptitude  upon  the  heavily-laden 
enemy.  The  officers  will  discontinue  the  use  of 
their  wide  scarves,  and  all  the  useless  insignia  of 
their  ranks,  which  but  renders  them  too  easily 
distinguishable  in  action.  Every  man,  without 
distinction  of  name  or  position,  shall  be  promoted 
whenever  he  shall  distinguish  himself  on  the  field 
of  battle.  The  enemy  have  for  some  time  vaunted 
the  excellence  of  their  fire-arms;  but,  soldiers,  I 
do  not  think  that  will  be  of  much  avail  to  them. 
We  will  give  them  no  time  for  fire-arms,  but  attack 
them  with  the  bayonet  and  with  cross  muskets; 


and  when,  with  God's  help,  we  shall  have  beaten 
and  compelled  them  to  retreat,  we  will  pursue 
them  without  intermission,  until  you  find  repose 
upon  the  enemy's  soil,  and  those  compensations 
which  a  glorious  and  victorious  army  has  a  right 
to  demand." 

General  Benedek  distributed  his  forces  along 
the  frontier  separating  Moravia  from  Saxony  and 
Silesia ;  he  evidently  had  no  conception  of  the 
rapidity  of  the  Prussian  movements,  but  contemp- 
lated meeting  them  at  his  leisure  and  cutting  them 
off  in  detail,  while  they  were  traversing  the  moun- 
tain passes  that  separate  the  two  countries,  and 
entering  at  various  points  the  Austrian  territory. 

General  von  Moltke  arranged  the  plan  of  the 
Prussian  campaign  in  Berlin,  and  to  his  remarkable 
foresight  and  skilful  arrangements  its  crowning 
success  is  mainly  due.  But  the  shrewd  combin- 
ations of  the  able  general  derived  extraordinary 
strength  from  the  unexpected  efficiency  of  the  new 
weapon  that  the  Prussian  government  had  adopted, 
the  now  famous  "  needle-gun  " — a  breech-loading 
arm,  which,  by  the  fearful  rapidity  of  its  fire,  utterly 
paralyzed  the  Austrians,  and  proved  to  them  a 
terrible  engine  of  destruction.  It  had  been  used 
to  some  extent  in  the  war  against  Denmark,  but  its 
marked  superiority  was  not  made  universally  mani- 
fest till  now.  The  promptness  of  the  Prussians  in 
action  was  much  commented  upon  at  the  time.  A 
writer  already  quoted  says,  they  "  were  all  alert. 
For  some  years  the  king  has  been  fighting  his  Par- 
liament in  order  to  be  in  a  position  to  fight  Austria 
and  take  possession  of  Germany,  and  has  thus  been 
able  to  form  a  regular  army.  He  first  used  this 
force  to  overawe  his  subjects,  and  compel  them  to 
submit  to  the  new  military  organization,  and  then, 
by  calling  up  the  whole  adult  population  of  his 
kingdom,  he  began  the  war  with  an  overwhelming 
force.  Austria  suddenly  found  herself  overmatched 
in  numbers,  while  those  numbers  were  trebly  mul- 
tiplied by  the  superior  weapons  of  the  foe.  The 
Prussians  came  on  at  a  double  quick  with  ambu- 
lances, transports,  and  munitions  complete,  and 
even  timbers  cut  to  the  size  of  the  railway  bridges 
which  they  expected  to  find  destroyed."  Prince 
Frederick  Charles,  with  the  first  armyr,  established 
his  headquarters  at  the  village  of  Hirschfeld, 
situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Xeisse,  a  short  dis- 
tance east  of  the  frontier  town  of  Zittau,  com- 
manding the  outlet  of  the  passes  stretching  from 
Peichenberg  and  Friedland,  in  Bohemia,  through 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


77 


the  range  of  mountains  into  the  district  in  Saxony 
called  Lusatia.  It  overlooks  also  the  railway  lines 
from  Pardubitz  to  Bautzen. 

On  the  following  day  the  first  Prussian  army 
crossed  the  Bohemian  frontier  in  two  columns, 
one  marching  by  way  of  Gorlitz,  and  the  other 
by  Zittau ;  it  reached,  after  a  few  skirmishes  with 
cavalry,  the  Bohemian  town  of  Reichenberg.  On 
the  26th  of  June  an  artillery  engagement  took 
place  between  an  Austrian  battery  and  the  Prus- 
sian advanced  lines,  which  resulted  in  the  Aus- 
trians  withdrawing  to  Miinchengratz.  Here,  on 
the  28th,  a  desperate  struggle  ensued,  and  the 
Austrians,  aided  by  the  Saxons,  offered  a  most 
strenuous  resistance ;  but  the  Prussians  finally 
drove  them  back,  and  pursuing  them  towards  i 
Gitschin,  formed  in  position  on  the  high  ground 
facing  that  town. 

While  these  engagements  were  taking  place  the 
second  Prussian  army,  commanded  by  the  Crown 
Prince,  had  to  march  into  Bohemia  from  Silesia, 
through  the  long  and  narrow  passes  of  the  Sude- 
tian  mountains.  For  the  purpose  of  deceiving  the 
enemy  various  feigned  movements  were  made  on 
the  south-east  frontiers  of  Silesia,  the  object  of  the 
Prussians  being  to  lead  the  enemy  to  prepare  to 
meet  them  crossing  into  Bohemia  from  Neisse, 
through  Weidenau.  While,  however,  the  Aus- 
trians were  looking  this  way  for  the  approach  of 
the  invaders,  the  main  body  of  the  second  army 
faced  to  the  right,  and  appeared,  with  considerable 
alacrity  on  the  west  at  Nachod  and  Trautenau  in 
Bohemia,  having  in  their  march  passed  the  fron- 
tier at  Reinerz  and  Landshut  without  meeting  any 
opposition.  The  Crown  Prince,  before  traversing 
the  defiles  of  the  mountains  separating  Silesia  from 
Moravia,  on  the  20th  June,  issued  from  Neisse 
a  general  order  to  his  troops,  in  which  he  said, 
"  Soldiers  of  the  Second  Army — You  have  heard 
the  words  of  our  king  and  commander-in-chief. 
The  attempts  of  his  Majesty  to  preserve  peace  to 
our  country  having  proved  fruitless,  with  a  heavy 
heart,  but  with  strong  confidence  in  the  spirit  and 
valour  of  his  army,  the  king  has  determined  to  do 
battle  for  the  honour  and  independence  of  Prussia, 
and  for  a  new  organization  of  Germany  on  a  power- 
ful basis.  I,  placed  by  the  grace  and  confidence  of 
my  royal  father  at  your  head,  am  proud,  as  the 
first  servant  of  our  king,  to  risk  with  you  my  blood 
and  property  for  the  most  sacred  rights  of  our 
native  country.      Soldiers !    for  the  first  time  for 


fifty  years  a  worthy  foeman  is  opposed  to  our 
army.  Confident  in  your  prowess,  and  in  our 
excellent  and  approved  arms,  it  behoves  us  to 
conquer  the  same  enemy  as  our  greatest  king 
defeated  with  a  small  army.  And  now,  forward 
with  the  old  Prussian  battle  cry — '  With  God, 
lor  King  and  Fatherland.'  " 

The  reason  why  the  armies  of  Prussia  debouched 
into  the  Austrian  territory  by  different  roads,  will 
be  understood  when  it  is  known  that  the  troops, 
carriages,  &c,  of  the  first  army  alone,  when  enter- 
ing Bohemia,  on  two  lines,  covered  twelve  miles 
of  road  ;  and  had  the  second  army  and  the  army  of 
the  Elbe  marched  the  same  road,  any  obstructions 
would  have  made  progress  extremely  difficult. 
Nor  could  the  Austrian  general  hope  effectually  to 
repel  the  invaders  by  blocking  each  pass  through 
the  mountains,  since  he  would  have  had  to  make 
too  many  divisions  in  his  forces,  and  have  thus 
exposed  them  to  the  risk  of  being  beaten  in  detail. 

Lieutenant-colonel  Cooke,  in  a  sketch  of  this 
campaign,  says,  "  The  position  of  the  Austrian 
corps  was  made  known  to  the  Prussians  on  the 
11th  June,  by  means  of  a  little  book  which  had 
been  printed  and  distributed  to  the  superior  officers 
of  the  Prussian  army.  In  this  srnall  volume  the 
positions  of  the  Austrian  corps  and  their  organiza- 
tion were  given  with  great  minuteness.  Whether 
the  information  was  obtained  by  the  treachery  of 
some  Austrian,  or  by  the  exertions  of  the  Prussian 
Intelligence  department,  is  not  known.  According 
to  this  book,  the  first  corps  was  at  Prague,  the 
second  at  Hohenmauth  and  Zwittau,  the  third  at 
Briinn,  the  fourth  and  sixth  at  Olmiitz,  the  eighth 
at  Auspitz,  and  the  tenth  at  Briinn.  The  crown 
prince  of  Saxony  was  to  join  the  first  Austrian 
corps  with  his  army,  and  take  command  of  both. 

On  the  22nd  the  first  Prussian  army,  and  the 
army  of  the  Elbe,  prepared  to  advance.  The  first 
army  broke  up  from  Gorlitz,  and  moved  to  the 
frontier  of  Bohemia  on  the  Zittau  and  Friedland 
roads.  The  army  of  the  Elbe  advanced  by  the 
Eumberg  road.  On  the  23rd  the  "first  army 
entered  Bohemia,  marching  on  fine  roads  towards 
Reichenberg,  and  after  a  halt  there  made  another 
advance  on  the  26th,  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
the  passage  of  the  Iser,  over  which  are  bridges  at 
Turnau,  Podol,  and  Miinchengratz.  The  road 
from  Reichenberg,  by  which  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  was  advancing,  passes  through  Liebenau, 
and,  when  near  the  Iser,  forks  to  the  left  to  the 


78 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


bridge  at  Turnau,  and  to  the  right  to  the  bridge 
at  Podol,  where  the  road  crosses  the  river,  and 
continues  to  Munchengratz.  The  portion  of  the 
Austrian  army  opposed  to  the  Prussians  on  this 
side  were  behind  the  lser,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Miinchengriitz.  They  consisted  of  the  first 
corps,  under  Clam  Gallas,  and  the  Saxons  under 
their  crown  prince.  They  held  the  bridges  at 
Munchengratz  and  at  Podol,  and  had  an  advanced 
guard  consisting  of  cavalry  and  artillery  at  Lieb- 
enau,  but  they  seem  to  have  omitted  to  occupy 
Turnau  in  any  force.  At  Liebenau  the  advanced 
guard  of  the  Prussian  army,  consisting  of  the  first 
division  under  Horn,  met  the  Austrian  advanced 
guard,  and,  after  some  resistance,  drove  them  back. 
The  latter  retreated  across  the  lser  at  Turnau,  and 
broke  the  bridge  there ;  but  the  Prussians  threw 
a  bridge  over  the  river,  and  occupied  the  place  on 
the  same  night  with  two  divisions. 

At  the  same  time  the  Prussians  marched  on 
Podol,  which  they  reached  at  about  eight  p.m.  A 
severe  fight  ensued  here,  which  ended  in  the 
victory  of  the  Prussians,  who  drove  the  Austrians 
across  the  lser,  and  seized  the  road  and  railway 
bridges.  They  thus  secured  the  passage  of  that 
river,  both  at  Turnau  and  Podol.  Meanwhile  the 
army  of  the  Elbe  had  continued  its  advance,  and 
on  this  day  had  a  successful  encounter  with  the 
Austrians  at  Hiinerwasser.  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  determined  to  endeavour  to  turn  the  Aus- 
trian right  flank  by  an  advance  along  the  Turnau 
road,  while  a  portion  of  his  army  attacked  them  in 
front  at  Podol,  and  the  army  of  the  Elbe  assailed 
them  at  Munchengriitz.  He  accordingly  advanced 
on  the  morning  of  the  28th  with  this  object ;  but 
the  Austrians,  after  a  severe  fight,  in  which  they 
lost  2000  men,  of  whom  1400  were  prisoners, 
abandoned  their  position  in  time,  and  retired 
towards  Jicin. 

It  is  now  time  to  turn  to  the  second  army, 
which  entered  Bohemia  by  three  different  routes  ; 
the  first  corps  by  the  Trautenau  road  ;  the  guards 
by  Braunau ;  the  fifth  corps  (followed  by  the 
sixth)  by  Nachod.  It  had  a  more  difficult  task 
to  perform  than  the  first  army,  as  it  was  nearer 
the  bulk  of  the  Austrian  forces.  Benedek's  head- 
quarters were  at  Bohmish  Trlibau  on  the  25th, 
and  were  moved  a  day  or  two  after  to  Josephstadt. 
He  appears  to  have  had  three  corps  immediately 
available,  with  which  to  dispute  the  Crown  Prince's 
advance ;    the  tenth  at  Trautenau  ;    the    sixth  at 


Opoino,  to  the  south  of  Neustadt ;  and  the  eighth 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Josephstadt. 

It  is  necessary  to  trace  the  passage  of  the 
left  columns  of  the  Prince's  army  through  the 
mountains,  and  to  show  how,  on  the  30th  of  June, 
it  was  able  to  effect  a  junction  with  the  right  and 
central  columns  on  the  bank  of  the  Elbe. 

On  the  27th  of  June  the  first  corps  of  the  Crown 
Prince's  army,  under  General  von  Bonin,  seized 
Trautenau,  a  town  lying  on  the  river  Aupa,  in  a 
basin  surrounded  by  mountains.  A  barricade  on 
the  bridge  having  been  broken  down  by  the  Prus- 
sians, the  town  was  entered  and  a  severe  street 
fight  ensued,  the  Austrians  being  gradually  driven 
back  from  house  to  house.  After  a  heavy  loss  on 
both  sides,  the  Austrians  were  thrust  out  into  the 
open  country.  There  the  celebrated  AVindischgriitz 
dragoons  stood  waiting  to  sweep  the  Prussians 
from  the  ground,  as  soon  as  they  should  emerge 
from  the  town.  They  met  their  match,  however,. 
in  the  first  Prussian  dragoon  regiment,  composed 
of  young  Lithuanians,  who  spend  their  life  on 
horseback.  The  two  regiments  advanced  to  the 
encounter  without  exchanging  a  shot,  and  as  they 
closed,  both  sides  raised  a  cheer,  welcoming  the 
hug  of  battle.  For  a  few  minutes  the  mass  of  com- 
batants swayed  slowly  backwards  and  forwards,  and 
then  the  Austrians  suddenly  gave  way,  scattering 
in  their  flight  and  leaving  the  Prussians  masters  of 
the  field.  Mondel's  Austrian  brigade  of  infantry, 
posted  on  the  hillside  of  Capcllenberg,  were  forced 
to  retire  by  an' attack  of  Prussian  foot.  The  village 
of  Hohenbriick  was  occupied  by  the  Prussians,  and 
so  confident  of  victory  was  Von  Bonin,  that  he 
declined  an  offer  of  assistance  made  to  him  by  the 
commander  of  the  Prussian  guards,  who  marching 
by  way  of  Stcinthal  had  reached  Qualitch,  and 
heard  the  heavy  firing  at  Trautenau.  At  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  action  seemed  to  be 
over.  Half  an  hour,  however,  had  scarcely  elapsed  t 
when  the  commander  of  the  tenth  corps  of  Aus- 
trians, General  Gablenz,  advanced  with  his  whole 
force  from  Pilnikau  and  attacked  the  weary  Prus- 
sians. After  an  hour's  combat  he  had  retaken  the 
village  of  Hohenbriick,  and  by  five  o'clock  the 
Prussians  had  begun  to  retreat.  This  operation 
was  covered  by  the  forty-third  Prussian  regiment 
stationed  on  the  hills  north  of  Capcllenberg,  and 
supported  by  the  third  grenadiers.  For  some  time 
these  regiments,  at  great  loss  to  themselves,  stopped 
the  Austrian  pursuit.    General  von  Bonin  intended 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR, 


79 


to  hold  the  line  of  the  Aupa  on  the  north  of 
Trautcnau,  but  Gablenz  pressed  upon  him  and  he 
was  forced  to  continue  his  retreat  to  the  position 
he  had  occupied  on  the  morning  of  the  27th. 
The  first  Prussian  corps  lost  in  this  action,  in  killed 
and  wounded,  sixty- three  officers  and  1214  men, 
while  the  Austrian  tenth  corps,  owing  to  the 
murderous  effect  of  the  Prussian  needle-gun,  lost 
196  officers  with  5536  men.  The  victory  of  the 
muzzle-loader  was  purchased  at  a  cost  well  nigh  as 
great  as  that  of  a  defeat. 

The  reverse  which  the  Prussians  had  sustained 
under  Von  Bonin  was  promptly  rectified  by  the 
advance  of  the  prince  of  Wurtemberg  from  Eypel 
-at  the  head  of  the  first  corps  of  guards  early  in 
the  morning  of  the  28th  of  June.  General  Gablenz, 
finding  his  right  flank  threatened,  had  to  change 
his  front,  a  movement  which  he  protected  by  the 
heavy  fire  of  sixty-four  pieces  of  artillery  that  did 
much  damage  to  the  advancing  Prussians.  The 
advance  of  the  latter  nevertheless  was  steadily 
maintained,  the  Austrians  were  driven  back  at 
Burgersdorf,  Alt-Rognitz,  towards  Koniginhof, 
and  one  brigade  into  Trautenau  itself,  which  the 
Prussians  took  by  storm,  capturing  3000  prisoners 
and  a  stand  of  colours. 

To  the  fifth  Prussian  corps,  which  formed  the 
head  of  the  left  column  of  the  army  of  the  Crown 
Prince,  was  the  most  difficult  task  given.  Only  one 
narrow  road  leads  from  the  county  of  Glatz  to 
Nachod,  a  road  which  beyond  the  Bohemian  frontier 
runs  in  a  winding  course  near  the  town  of  Nachod, 
through  a  difficult  defile.  A  corps  d'armee,  with 
all  its  trains  and  baggage  advancing  by  one  road, 
forms  a  column  of  march  twenty  miles  long.  If 
only  the  combatants  themselves  and  the  most 
necessary  train,  such  as  ammunition  waggons  and 
field  hospitals,  form  the  corps,  it  still  will  stretch 
over  ten  miles ;  so  that  if  the  head  of  the  column  is 
attacked  as  it  issues  from  a  defile  where  the  troops 
cannot  move  off  the  road,  the  rearmost  battalion 
will  not  be  able  to  support  the  most  advanced 
until  four  hours  have  passed. 

In  order  to  insure  the  safe  issue  from  the  moun- 
tain passes,  the  advanced  guard  of  the  fifth  corps, 
under  General  von  Lowenfeld,  was  pushed  forward 
as  far  as  Nachod,  on  the  evening  of  the  26th  June. 
The  Austrians  held  the  defile  with  a  very  weak 
force,  and  did  not  stand  obstinately  in  the  castle 
of  Nachod,  so  that  the  Prussian  advanced  guard 
occupied  that  strong  post  with  very  slight  opposi- 


tion. General  Bamming,  who  had  been  posted 
with  the  sixth  Austrian  corps,  and  a  portion  of 
the  first  division  of  reserve  cavalry  at  Opoino, 
about  ten  miles  to  the  south  of  Nachod,  marched 
on  the  26th  towards  Skalitz,  by  order  of  Feldzeug- 
meister  Benedek.  The  next  day  the  advanced 
guard  of  the  Prussian  fifth  corps  brought  on  the 
action  of  Nachod. 

On  the  27th,  the  same  day  that  the  first  corps 
of  the  Prussians  was  defeated  at  Trautenau,  the 
advanced  guard  of  the  fifth  Prussian  corps  d'armee 
was,  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  moving  out 
of  Nachod  towards  Skalitz,  when  it  was  suddenly 
assailed  by  a  heavy  fire  from  the  Austrian  artillery, 
and  two  Austrian  cuirassier  regiments  drew  up 
across  the  road  to  bar  the  way  against  the  Prussian 
infantry.  These  were  supported  by  two  infantry 
brigades,  while  a  third  stood  in  the  rear  as  a  reserve. 
The  Prussians  were  then  in  a  dangerous  position, 
for  the  road  through  the  defile  at  Nachod  behind 
them  was  choked  with  the  carriages  of  the  artillery, 
and  only  a  few  battalions  and  two  squadrons  had 
gained  the  open  ground.  General  von  Lowenfeld, 
who  commanded  the  advanced  guard,  threw  his 
infantry  into  a  wood  which  was  beside  the  road, 
where,  protected  by  the  trees  to  a  certain  extent 
from  the  shells  of  the  Austrian  guns,  they  main- 
tained their  position  until  their  artillery  had  cleared 
the  defile.  At  the  same  time  the  small  body 
of  Prussian  cavalry  who  were  with  the  infantry 
charged  straight  down  the  road  against  the  centre 
of  the  line  of  the  cuirassier  regiments.  The  Aus- 
trians numbered  eight  times  as  many  sabres  as  the 
Prussians,  and  their  cavalry  bore  the  highest  repu- 
tation in  Europe.  All  expected  to  see  the  Prussians 
hurled  back,  broken  and  destroyed,  by  their  colli- 
sion with  the  Austrian  line,  but  the  result  was 
far  different;  the  Prussian  squadrons  thundered 
down  the  road,  and  seemed  merely  by  the  speed 
at  which  they  were  galloping  to  cut  clean  through 
the  centre  of  the  fine  of  cuirassiers.  But  though 
they  were  thus  far  successful  in  their  first  onslaught, 
they  were  quickly  assailed  in  flank  and  rear  by 
overwhelming  numbers,  and  with  difficulty  escaped 
being  cut  to  pieces.  Many,  however,  managed  to 
shake  themselves  free  from  the  mttie,  and,  gallop- 
ing back,  rallied  under  the  protection  of  the  fire 
of  their  infantry  in  the  wood.  The  Austrians 
pressed  forward,  forcing  their  foes  to  retire;  and 
it  seemed  that  the  mouth  of  the  defile  would  be 
lost,  for  the  Austrian  infantry  were  quickly  coming 


80 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


up,  and  were  preparing  to  attack  the  wood  held 
by  the  Prussians.  Thus  upon  Lowenfeld's  bat- 
talions depended  not  only  the  safe  passage  of  the 
fifth  corps  through  the  defile,  but  also  the  preser- 
vation of  the  whole  of  the  artillery,  for  so  crowded 
with  carriages  was  the  road  that,  had  the  Austrians 
pressed  on,  every  gun  and  waggon  must  have 
fallen  into  their  hands.  But  the  Prussian  infantry 
proved  worthy  of  the  trust  placed  in  them,  and 
nothing  availed  to  dislodge  them  from  the  trees, 
though  the  shells  went  whistling  in  quick  succes- 
sion through  the  trunks,  and  the  splinters  carried 
away  the  branches  above  the  heads  of  the  soldiers, 
and  tore  up  the  turf  beneath  their  feet. 

The  Crown  Prince  was  in  Kachod  when  the 
firing  commenced ;  he  pushed  his  way  with 
difficulty  through  the  crowded  defile,  and  came  to 
his  advanced  guard  in  order  to  show  himself  to  his 
soldiers  in  their  time  of  trial.  Behind  him  fol- 
lowed as  quickly  as  possible  the  battalions  of  the 
main  body  of  the  corps,  and  the  guns  of  the  artil- 
lery were  also  pushed  forward;  but  the  road  was 
long  and  crowded,  and  both  regiments  and  guns 
made  their  way  with  difficulty.  In  the  meantime 
the  Austrians  pressed  hard  upon  the  little  band 
in  the  wood,  and  seemed  as  though  they  would 
pass  it  by,  and  close  the  defile  with  their  columns. 
But  before  they  could  do  so  the  battalions  of  the 
main  body  gained  the  end  of  the  defile,  and  the 
Prussian  guns  began  to  come  quickly  forward;  for 
waggons  and  all  encumbrances  had  been  pushed 
off  the  road  into  the  ditches,  to  facilitate  the  free 
passage  of  the  troops  going  into  action.  The 
newly-arrived  troops  reinforced  those  in  the  wood, 
and  the  artillery  replied  to  the  Austrian  batteries; 
yet  at  noon  the  battle  was  still  stationary,  the 
Prussians  not  having  advanced  their  position  since 
the  beginning  of  the  fight,  and  the  Austrian  cav- 
alry standing  prepared  to  charge  the  Prussian  in- 
fantry if  it  attempted  to  move  forward  on  the  open 
ground.  The  Crown  Prince  knew  that  on  break- 
ing that  cavalry  line  depended  the  passage  of  the 
fifth  corps  into  Bohemia,  and  he  sent  against  it  the 
eighth  Prussian  regiment  of  dragoons,  and  the  first 
regiment  of  Uhlans.  It  was  an  exciting  moment. 
The  Prussians,  nerved  by  the  importance  of  the 
issue  of  their  charge,  and  with  the  eyes  of  their 
infantry  upon  them,  sprang  forward  readily.  The 
Austrian  horsemen,  proud  of  their  high  renown, 
and  eager  to  wipe  out  the  memory  of  the  former 
skirmish,  also  bounded  forward  as  soon  as  they 


saw  the  Prussians  approaching.  The  two  lines 
met  about  half  way,  for  one  moment  formed  a 
tangled  struggling  crowd,  and  then  the  Prussian 
Uhlans,  with  their  lance  points  low  and  heads 
bent  down,  were  seen  pursuing.  The  most  famous 
cavalry  in  Europe  had  been  overthrown. 

Before  and  during  this  charge,  both  divisions  of 
the  fifth  Prussian  corps  had  cleared  the  defile;  and 
scarcely  had  the  effect  of  the  cavalry  charge  been 
seen  when  General  Steinmetz,  who  commanded, 
determined  to  assume  the  offensive.  The  Prus- 
sian infantry  and  artillery  dashed  forward  after 
their  cavalry.  Some  of  the  battalions,  turning 
aside,  marched  against  the  village  of  Wisokow, 
already  in  flames  from  a  Prussian  shell,  with 
their  bayonets  at  the  charge.  Among  the  burning 
houses  the  Austrians  waited  for  them;  a  sharp 
struggle  ensued,  but  the  village  was  carried,  and 
the  Austrians  driven  out. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Austrian  heavy  horsemen 
had  rallied,  and  again  returned  to  the  charge. 
This  time  they  advanced  with  skill  as  well  as 
courage,  and  bore  down  upon  the  flanks  of  the 
Uhlans;  but  their  approach  was  seen,  and  before 
they  had  reached  the  Prussian  line  it  had  quickly 
changed  its  front,  and  met  the  advancing  squad- 
rons face  to  face.  Again  the  Austrians  recoiled, 
but  now  without  a  chance  of  rallying;  they  were 
broken  and  scattered,  and  the  Uhlans,  spreading 
out  in  pursuit,  went  dashing  in  small  knots  over 
the  plain  after  them,  and  captured  two  guns  from 
their  horse  artillery.  This  cavalry  charge  decided 
the  fortune  of  the  day,  and  the  Austrians  retired, 
pressed  by  the  Prussian  infantry.  General  Stein- 
metz, who  commanded  the  fifth  corps,  which  was 
here  engaged,  led  forward  all  his  troops,  having 
only  three  battalions  of  the  royal  regiment  in  re- 
serve ;  and  pushed  the  enemy  back.  But  the  most 
of  his  men,  after  a  long  march  and  severe  action, 
being  too  much  fatigued  to  pursue,  were  halted, 
and  the  cavalry,  with  one  or  two  battalions,  alone 
followed  up  the  pursuit,  from  which  they  brought 
back  two  thousand  prisoners  and  three  guns,  be- 
sides the  two  taken  by  the  Uhlans.  The  Crown 
Prince  thanked  General  Steinmetz  on  the  field  in 
the  name  of  the  king  for  the  victory,  and  well  did 
the  general  and  his  troops  merit  the  compliment, 
for  all  the  first  part  of  the  action  was  fought  with 
twenty-two  battalions  against  twenty-nine,  and 
with  an  inferior  force  of  cavalry  and  artillery. 

This  victory  cost  the  Prussians  a  loss  of  900 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


81 


men  killed  and  wounded;  among  the  latter  were  the 
two  generals,  Von  Ollech  and  Von  "Wunck.  The 
fifth  corps,  notwithstanding  its  march  on  the  27th 
over  fifteen  miles  through  a  narrow  defile,  and  an 
engagement  that  lasted  eight  hours,  was  still  so 
strong  and  so  confident  that  General  Steinmetz 
resolved  to  resume  the  attack  without  loss  of  time. 
General  Ramming,  who  had  deservedly  the 
reputation  of  being  one  of  the  most  able  and 
talented  generals  of  the  imperial  army,  after  Hav- 
ing engaged  the  Prussians  at  Nachod  with  his 
whole  force,  retreated  to  Skalitz  on  the  evening 
of  the  27th.  On  arriving  at  that  place  he  sent 
a  despatch  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  army,  in 
which  he  requested  that  the  eighth  Austrian 
corps,  which  was  posted  at  Josephstadt,  might 
be  allowed  to  assist  him  with  two  brigades. 
Benedek  thereupon  ordered  the  eiglith  corps  to 
advance  to  Skalitz,  and  be  prepared  to  engage 
in  the  first  line,  while  that  of  General  Bamming 
should  form  its  reserve.  One  brigade  of  the 
Prussian  sixth  corps,  which  was  to  follow  the 
fifth  corps  through  the  defile  of  Nachod,  had 
reached  Nachod  on  the  evening  of  the  27th,  and 
was  ready  to  advance  with  General  Steinmetz. 
At  the  same  time  the  Austrian  General  Ramming, 
who  had  been  reinforced  by  the  eighth  corps, 
also  advanced  from  Skalitz  in  order  to  drive  the 
Prussians  back  into  the  defile  of  Nachod.  Hence 
arose  the  action  of  Skalitz. 

The  Austrians  were  soon  forced  to  quit  the 
offensive,  and  energetically  to  assume  the  defen- 
sive in  front  of  Skalitz,  on  the  road  and  railway, 
which  are  flanked  on  the  north  and  south  by 
two  woods.  The  country  was  entirely  unfavour- 
able for  the  action  of  cavalry.  Either  side  brought 
up  as  much  force  as  possible.  The  battle  swayed 
hither  and  thither,  but  ultimately  the  superior 
strength  and  armament  of  the  Prussian  soldier 
told  against  his  weaker  antagonist. 

On  the  north  of  the  railway  the  thirty-seventh 
and  fifty -eiglith  Prussian  regiments,  and  the 
twelfth  brigade  advanced  ;  while  on  the  south 
the  king's  own  regiment,  though  exposed  to  a 
terrible  fire  of  artillery,  gained  the  wood  on  the 
south  of  the  town,  and  there  succeeded  in  sus- 
taining the  assaults  of  far  superior  numbers,  until 
the  forty-sixth  and  fifty-second  regiments  could 
come  up  to  its  aid,  and  join  in  an  attack  on 
Skalitz. 

The    Austrian    position    was    forced,   and    the 


Archduke  Leopold  compelled  to  fall  back  to  a 
strong  position  behind  the  Aupa,  where  he  in- 
tended to  hold  his  ground,  supported  by  his 
numerous  artillery.  The  position  was,  however, 
carried  by  the  Prussians,  after  hard  fighting,  and 
by  it  they  gained  the  command  of  the  defile  of 
the  Aupa.  General  Steinmetz,  by  this  victory, 
captured  four  thousand  prisoners,  eight  guns, 
and  several  stands  of  colours.  In  the  mean- 
time the  first  Prussian  corps  had  reached  Trau- 
tenau,  and  found  the  Austrian  tenth  corps 
posted  immediately  to  the  south  of  the  town. 
They  attacked  them  at  once,  but  were  driven 
back,  and  not  only  failed  to  recover  their  ground, 
but  were  obliged  to  retire  in  the  night  to  Liebau. 
The  guards  on  this  day  had  advanced  without 
opposition  to  Eypel  and  Kosteletz.  They  had 
offered  to  come  to  the  assistance  of  the  first 
corps;  but,  as  the  day  was  then  favourable  to  the 
Prussians,  their  offer  had  been  declined.  The 
guards,  however,  hearing  of  the  check  which  the 
first  corps  had  received,  advanced  at  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning  of  the  28th  to  their  assistance. 
They  took  the  Austrians  in  flank  and  rear,  surprised 
them,  and  drove  them  over  the  Elbe  at  Neuschloss, 
with  immense  loss.  The  fifth  corps  again  advanced, 
and  finding  the  sixth  and  eighth  corps  of  the 
enemy  drawn  up  at  Skalitz  to  oppose  their  pro- 
gress, they  attacked  and  defeated  them.  On  the 
actions  of  the  27th  and  28th  depended  the  success 
of  the  army  of  Silesia  in  effecting  its  passage  over 
the  mountains  of  Bohemia.  The  corps  of  the  guards 
was  engaged  at  Trautenau,  the  fifth  corps  at  Nachod 
and  Skalitz.  The  Crown  Prince,  in  person,  could 
not  be  present  at  either  action.  He  was  obliged  to 
choose  a  position  between  the  two,  whence  he  could 
proceed  to  any  point  where  his  presence  might  be 
necessary.  He  accordingly  posted  himself  on  a 
hill  near  Kosteletz,  where  the  heavy  cavalry  of  the 
guards  took  up  its  position  on  coming  through  the 
hills,  and  where  it  was  joined  at  a  later  period 
of  the  day  by  the  reserve  artillery  of  the  guards. 
The  time  passed  heavily  on  that  hill  of  Kosteletz. 
The  thunder  of  cannon  rose  ever  louder  from 
Skalitz  on  the  south,  and  from  the  direction  of 
Trautenau  on  the  north.  With  anxious  ears  the 
commander-in-chief  and  his  staff  Hstened  to  the 
progress  of  the  cannonade,  and  with  eager  eyes 
scanned  the  positions  of  the  eddying  clouds  of 
white  smoke  which  rose  from  the  engaged  artil- 
lery. It  was  the  instruction  of  the  Crown  Prince, 
L 


82 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


if  an  unfavourable  report  of  the  progress  of  the 
action  on  either  side  was  brought  to  him,  to  repair 
to  that  point,  and  in  person  to  encourage  his  pressed 
troops.  But  every  orderly  officer,  every  aide-de- 
camp, brought  the  intelligence  that  the  battles  in 
both  places  were  going  well  for  the  Prussians. 

At  last,  between  three  and  four  o'clock,  the 
commander-in-chief  received  the  positive  report 
from  General  Steinmetz,  that  he  had  stormed  Ska- 
litz,  and  driven  back  two  of  the  enemy's  corps. 
No  longer  had  the  Crown  Prince  to  give  a  thought 
to  this  side.  He  immediately  started  for  Eypel, 
in  order  to  be  present  at  the  action  in  which  the 
guards  were  engaged.  At  this  place  the  news 
reached  him  that  the  guard  had  also  victoriously 
achieved  its  task,  and  not  only  had  forced  the  de- 
file from  Eypel,  but  had  also  opened  the  pass  from 
Trautenau.  Here,  then,  were  the  three  issues  from 
the  mountains,  the  defiles  of  Trautenau,  Eypel,  and 
Xachod,  popularly  called  the  gates  of  Bohemia, 
in  the  secure  possession  of  the  second  Prussian 
army,  and  the  junction  of  the  hitherto  separated 
corps  almost  certain  to  be  effected  on  the  following 
day.  To  accomplish  the  junction  of  his  united 
army  with  that  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  the 
Crown  Prince  ordered  the  advance  the  next  morn- 
ing to  be  made  as  far  as  the  Elbe.  The  Crown 
Prince  had  thus  successfully  brought  his  whole 
army  across  the  mountains,  and  had  secured  as 
trophies  9000  prisoners  and  twenty-four  guns. 

The  Austrians  and  Saxons,  on  retreating  from 
Munchengratz,  had  taken  up  an  extended  position 
to  the  north-west  of  Jicin,  between  Lochow  on  the 
Munchengratz  road,  and  Diletz  on  the  Turnau 
road.  The  crown  prince  of  Saxony  is  said  to 
have  received  from  Benedek  at  noon  on  this  day, 
the  29th,  a  despatch  written  on  the  previous  day, 
to  the  effect  that  "  the  third  corps  would  arrive  at 
Jicin  on  the  29th,  and  that  four  corps  of  the  main 
army  would  advance  on  the  30th  against  Turnau 
and  Lomnitz."  The  Crown  Prince  and  Clam 
Gallas,  therefore,  prepared  to  maintain  their  posi- 
tions in  front  of  the  Jicin.  They  were  attacked 
in  force  by  the  Prussians  at  about  three  o'clock. 
At  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  a  second  message 
was  received  from  Benedek,  *'  to  avoid  engaging 
with  a  superior  force,  and  to  effect  a  junction  with 
the  main  army,  by  Horitz  and  Miletin,  and  that 
the  four  army  corps  had  in  the  meantime  received 
other  instructions."  The  allied  force  was,  how- 
ever, already  engaged  with  superior  numbers,  and 


only  succeeded  in  ellccting  a  retreat  in  great 
disorder,  and  with  the  loss  of  5000  men,  of  whom 
2000  were  prisoners.  The  Prussians  entered  Jicin 
about  midnight.  On  the  same  day  the  army  of 
the  Elbe  made  a  forward  movement  towards  Jung 
Bunzlaw,  and  the  advanced  guard  of  the  first 
division  of  guards  drove  the  Austrians  on  this  day 
out  of  Koniginhof,  near  which  place  the  corps  of 
guards  encamped.  The  first  corps  advanced  to 
Pilnikau,  the  fifth  corps  towards  Gradlitz,  defeating 
three  brigades  of  the  fourth  Austrian  corps  at 
Schweinschadel,  and  forcing  them  to  retreat  to 
Jeromir.  On  the  30th  the  first  Prussian  army 
was  concentrated  round  Jicin,  where  it  opened 
communication  with  the  second  army,  which  was 
between  Arnau  and  Gradlitz,  the  head-quarters 
of  the  Crown  Prince  being  at  Prausnitz,  the  sixth 
corps  having  already  joined  the  second  army  from 
Xachod. 

Benedek  had  taken  up  his  position  along  the 
railroad  fronting  the  Elbe,  between  Koniginhof 
and  Josephstadt;  but  the  capture  of  Jicin  having 
exposed  his  left  flank,  he  quitted  his  position  on 
the  morning  of  the  1st  July,  and  prepared  to  take 
up  a  new  one  behind  the  Bistritz. 

The  strategical  operation  of  concentrating  their 
armies  on  the  other  side  of  the  frontier,  may  now 
be  said  to  have  been  successfully  accomphshed  by 
the  Prussians;  for  although  the  junction  was  only 
actually  effected  on  the  field  of  Koniggratz,  yet 
they  were  now  sufficiently  near  to  afford  each 
other  mutual  support  in  case  of  attack.  Before 
entering  upon  the  description  of  the  battle  fought 
on  that  field,  it  will  be  well  to  review  the  opera- 
tions on  both  sides  which  led  to  it. 

The  operation  which  the  Prussians  undertook 
was,  as  before  stated,  a  dangerous  one.  They 
entered  the  mountains  at  points  sixty  or  seventy 
miles  apart,  separated  by  lofty  mountain  ranges, 
and  allowing  of  no  lateral  communication,  and 
they  had  to  concentrate  their  armies  on  some  point 
in  the  plain  which  was  held  by  the  Austrians. 

The  control  of  the  operations  is  generally  at- 
tributed to  General  von  Moltke.  At  Berlin  the 
telegraph  wires  flashed  to  him  from  day  to  day 
the  positions  of  the  armies,  and  he  was  able  to 
regulate  their  movements  so  that  they  should 
advance  by  proportionate  steps.  Had  one  of  the 
armies  met  with  so  serious  a  check  as  to  have 
compelled  it  to  retreat,  he  would  probably  have 
prevented  the  others  from  being  compromised  by 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


83 


too  forward  an  advance;  and  the  danger  of  any 
serious  disaster  was  much  diminished  by  this  use 
of  the  telegraphic  wires.  To  adopt  a  homely  pro- 
verb, he  would  not  let  the  hand  be  stretched  out 
farther  than  the  arm  could  bring  it  back.  But 
the  most  important  questions  in  considering  the 
danger  and  merit  of  the  movements  are,  how  far 
was  the  Austrian  general  prepared  to  meet  them, 
and  what  knowledge  had  the  Prussian  generals  of 
their  enemy's  positions?  It  has  been  shown  that 
the  best  situation  for  the  Austrian  general  would 
be  to  have  the  enemy  advancing  on  him  at  unequal 
distances,  to  keep  the  one  farthest  off  in  check,  and 
to  throw  himself  on  the  other  and  crush  it  before 
it  could  receive  assistance  ;  and  an  additional  ele- 
ment of  success  would  be,  that  he  should  be  able 
to  advance  on  the  army  nearest  him  without  throw- 
ing open  his  communications  to  the  other. 

On  July  1  the  Crown  Prince  issued  a  general 
order  from  Prausnitz,  in  which  the  brief  events 
of  this  famous  campaign  are  heralded  forth,  but 
without  arrogance  or  vain  boasting.  "  But  a  few 
days,"  he  said,  "  have  elapsed  since  our  entering 
Bohemia,  and  already  brilliant  victories  have  been 
won,  giving  us  command  over  the  Elbe,  and 
enabling  us  to  effect  a  junction  with  the  first 
army.  With  this  our  primary  task  is  fulfilled. 
The  brave  fifth  corps  d'armee,  under  the  command 
of  its  heroic  leader,  with  distinguished  gallantry, 
on  three  successive  days  defeated  three  different 
corps  of  the  enemy.  The  guards  gave  battle 
twice,  each  time  discomfiting  the  enemy  with 
signal  triumph.  The  first  corps  d'armee,  under 
the  most  trying  circumstances,  displayed  extraor- 
dinary hardihood.  Five  colours,  two  standards, 
twenty  guns,  and  8000  prisoners,  have  been  cap- 
tured by  us,  added  to  which  are  many  thousand 
dead  and  wounded,  proving  the  total  loss  of  the 
foe  to  be  greater  than  can  now  be  calculated. 
We,  too,  regret  the  loss  of  many  a  brave  comrade, 
removed  by  death  or  wounds  from  our  ranks. 
The  consciousness  of  dying  for  king  and  country, 
and  as  victors,  will  have  given  them  comfort  in 
death,  and  will  tend  to  alleviate  the  anguish  of 
the  sufferers.  I  pray  God  to  grant  future  victories 
to  our  arms.  I  thank  the  generals  and  officers,  as 
well  as  soldiers,  of  the  second  army,  for  their  gal- 
lantry in  battle  and  their  steadiness  in  overcoming 
the  most  adverse  circumstances,  and  I  am  proud  to 
lead  such  troops." 

As  before  observed,  Benedek  had  taken  up  his 


position,  on  July  1,  fronting  the  Elbe,  between 
Koniginhof  and  Josephstadt ;  but  Count  Clam 
Gallas  having  attacked  the  Prussians  contrary 
to  orders,  was  driven  out  of  his  position,  pursued 
by  the  victorious  Prussians  through  the  town  of 
Gitschin,  and  followed  the  next  day  by  their 
cavalry  to  the  river  Bistritz.  The  consequence 
was  that  General  Benedek's  left  flank  at  Dubenec 
was  exposed,  and  he  was  compelled  to  order  his 
army  to  retire  in  the  direction  of  Kb'niggratz.  In 
the  words  of  "  a  special  correspondent,"  Benedek, 
who  had  taken  up  a  strong  position,  with  his 
centre  near  Dubenec,  his  left  towards  Miletin,  and 
his  right  covered  by  the  river  and  by  Josephstadt, 
found  himself  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  placed 
in  a  position  of  the  greatest  danger;  his  left  was 
"  in  the  air."  The  Prussians  were  not  only  on  his 
left,  but  in  his  rear;  and  at  the  same  time  another 
great  army  was  marching  to  effect  its  junction 
with  them  in  a  direction  where  he  was  altogether 
exposed.  He  instantly  wheeled  back  his  left  and 
centre,  and  then  retiring  his  right,  took  up  a 
fine  at  Koniggriitz  at  right  angles  to  the  line  he 
had  occupied  to  the  west  of  Josephstadt. 

Fully  aware  of  the  dangers  to  which  his  new 
position  exposed  him,  Benedek  seems  to  have 
questioned  the  morale  of  his  troops;  for  prior  to 
the  impending  battle  he  sent  a  telegram  to  the 
emperor  at  Vienna,  bearing  the  foreboding  words, 
"  Sire,  you  must  make  peace." 

The  arrival  of  the  king  of  Prussia,  on  the  2nd 
July,  at  Gitschin,  had  a  twofold  effect,  inspirit- 
ing his  already  elated  troops,  who,  flushed  with 
conquest,  were  prepared  to  triumph  over  all  im- 
pediments. It  also  had  a  salutary  influence  over 
the  tributary  states  through  which  his  legions  had 
marched.  The  authorities  of  Gitschin  drew  up  a 
petition  and  laid  it  before  him,  when  his  Majesty 
thus  addressed  them : — "  I  carry  on  no  war  against 
your  nation,  but  only  against  the  armies  opposed 
to  me.  If,  however,  the  inhabitants  will  commit 
acts  of  hostility  against  my  troops  without  any 
cause,  I  shall  be  forced  to  make  reprisals.  My 
troops  are  not  savage  hordes,  and  require  simply 
the  supplies  necessary  for  subsistence.  It  must  be 
your  care  to  give  them  no  cause  for  just  complaint. 
Tell  the  inhabitants  that  I  have  not  come  to  make 
war  upon  peaceable  citizens,  but  to  defend  the 
honour  of  Prussia  against  insult." 

On  July  2  the  disposition  of  the  combined 
armies    of   Prussia    was    as    follows :  —  The    first 


84 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


army,  commanded  by  Prince  Frederick  Charles, 
formed  the  centre ;  the  Elbe  army,  commanded 
by  General  Herwarth,  the  right;  and  the  second 
army,  commanded  by  the  Crown  Prince,  the  left 
wing.  The  seventh  division  marched  in  front 
of  the  first  army,  through  Goritz,  Czerkwitz,  and 
Sadowa,  to  effect  a  junction  with  the  Crown 
Prince's  right  wing.  The  eighth  division  marched 
upon  Milowitz,  its  destination  being  Koniggratz. 
The  second  army  was  to  base  its  operations  upon 
Donalitz,  south  of  Sadowa.  The  third  army  corps 
formed  the  centre  reserve  force.  The  Elbe  army 
advanced  from  Smidar  towards  Xechanitz.  The 
Crown  Prince's  army  was  directed  from  Kb'nigin- 
hof,  in  a  direct  line,  upon  Koniggriitz. 

The  Austrian  army  was  extended  on  a  range  of 
small  hills  between  Smiritz  and  Xechanitz,  and 
ranged  over  an  extent  of  about  nine  miles  ;  the 
position  of  the  centre  was  on  a  hill,  on  which  is 
situate  the  village  of  Klum,  which  formed  the  key 
of  the  manoeuvres;  the  site  was,  moreover,  dis- 
tinguished by  a  group  of  trees. 

The  scene  of  the  memorable  battle  fought  here 
has  been  well  described  by  one  who  had  the 
advantage  of  being  an  eye-witness  of  the  conflict 
with  the  army  of  Austria,  and  who  obtained  a 
complete  prospect  of  the  scene  from  the  top  of  a 
tower  in  the  stronghold  of  Koniggratz. 

Lying  nearly  north  of  Koniggratz,  says  this 
writer,  is  Josephstadt;  but  there  was  nothing  going 
on  in  thatdirection  ateighto'clock.  From  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Josephstadt  a  continuous  line  of  low 
undulating  hills,  with  plateau-like  tops,  or  of  roll- 
ing fields,  extends  from  the  right  till  it  slopes 
away  on  the  left  into  the  meadows  watered  by 
the  Elbe.  Beyond  this  line,  again,  and  running 
nearly  parallel  with  the  first,  about  half  way  where 
it  recedes  towards  the  west  and  north,  is  a  similar 
ridge,  appearing  to  be  of  greater  elevation.  Fur- 
ther back  is  still  the  picturesque  broken  country, 
formed  by  the  projecting  spurs  and  lower  ranges 
of  the  Fuesengebirge.  This  must  be  taken  as  a 
general  description  of  the  appearance  of  the  land- 
scape from  the  spot  where  I  stood.  There  are 
many  cross  valleys  permeating  both  ridges  towards 
the  Elbe,  and  on  both  there  are  hills  or  hillocks, 
some  almost  like  tumuli,  on  which  villages  and 
their  little  churches  nestle  in  the  woods.  In  the 
valley  between  the  first  and  second  ridge  runs  the 
Bistritz  rivulet,  on  which  Sadowa  and  Xechanitz 
are  situated.     It  is  traversed  nearly  at  right  angles 


by  the  main  road  from  Jicin  to  Koniggratz.  In 
the  valley  between  the  first  ridge  and  the  rolling 
ground  which  lies  towards  the  Elbe  runs  a  road 
from  Smiritz,  or  Smiric,  to  Koniggratz,  coming 
out  on  the  Jicin  road;  and  more  to  the  west  is 
another  road,  branching  from  the  Jicin  road,  and 
running  by  Xechanitz  to  the  main  road  between 
Prague  and  Koniggratz.  There  are  numerous  other 
small  roads,  connecting  the  nests  of  villages  which 
are  to  be  seen  in  all  -directions.  Immediately 
below  the  city  of  Koniggriitz  the  land  is  level 
and  marshy;  but  towards  Smiritz,  which  is  nearly 
halfway  to  Josephstadt,  there  is  a  projecting  spur 
approaching  the  river,  which  is  one  outshoot  of 
the  first  line  of  hills,  and  thence  in  front  of  us 
from  left  to  right  a  gradual  elevation  from  the 
river  takes  place,  in  a  series  of  irregular  terraces. 
On  the  top  of  this  first  ridge  there  is  the  village 
named  Smiritz.  This  is  near  the  right  of  the 
scene  of  the  battle.  Then  the  ridge  runs  south- 
westward  (to  the  left)  without  any  more  remark- 
able object  on  the  sky-line  than  a  very  large  tree, 
which  stands  quite  alone.  There  are  several 
villages  on  the  inner  side  of  the  slope  between 
Koniggratz  and  the  river.  From  the  big  tree  the 
line  continues  to  the  left  hand  till  about  the  centre, 
where  its  undulating  contour  is  broken  by  a 
wooded  knoll  or  hill,  rising  rather  steeply,  on 
which  is  placed  the  church  and  village  of  Klum, 
or  Chlum,  embowered  in  thick  trees  and  gardens. 
Thence  to  the  left  the  line  of  the  ridges  is  de- 
pressed and  carried  towards  the  village  of  Xech- 
anitz, and  gets  lost  in  broken  hills,  among  which 
are,  or  rather  were,  villages  unknown  to  our 
geographers ;  now  heaps  of  cinders  and  ashes, 
surrounded  by  dead  and  dying,  for  these  were 
the  very  centres  of  the  tremendous  battle.  The 
army  with  which  General  Benedek  had  to  defend 
his  position  consisted  of  at  least  225,000  men; 
but  a  large  deduction  must  be  made  for  the 
baggage  guards,  the  various  escorts,  the  garrisons 
of  Josephstadt  and  Koniggratz,  the  sick  and 
those  tired  by  marching,  and  the  killed,  wounded, 
and  prisoners  in  recent  actions;  so  that  probably 
he  had  not  more  than  190,000,  or  195,000,  actually 
in  hand.  The  ground  he  had  to  cover  from  right 
to  left  was  about  nine  miles  in  length.  On  his 
extreme  left  in  his  first  line,  near  the  rear  of 
Xechanitz  and  towards  the  Prague  road,  he  put 
the  Saxons;  the  tenth  army  corps,  under  Field- 
marshal  Lieutenant  Gablenz ;  the  third  corps  d'armee, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


under  Field-marshal  Lieutenant  Count  Tliun;  the 
fourth  army  corps,  under  Field-marshal  Lieutenant 
Count  Festetics  (who  was  wounded  early  in  the 
day);  and  the  second  army  corps,  under  Field- 
marshal  Lieutenant  Archduke  Ernest — were  placed 
from  left  to  right  on  the  slope  on  the  second  range 
or  ridge.  His  second  line  and  his  reserves  con- 
sisted of  the  eighth  corps  d'arme'e,  under  Field- 
marshal  Lieutenant  the  Archduke  Leopold;  the 
first  army  corps  was  under  Cavalry-general  Count 
Clam  Gallas,  and  the  sixth  army  corps  under 
Field-marshal  Lieutenant  Ramming.  He  had  at 
his  disposal  a  grand  army  of  cavalry,  composed  of 
the  first  light  cavalry  division,  under  General- 
major  Edelsheim;  the  second  light  cavalry  division, 
under  Count  Taxis;  the  first  heavy  cavalry  divi- 
sion, under  the  prince  of  Holstein;  the  second 
heavy  cavalry  division,  under  General  -  major 
Faitseck;  and  the  third  heavy  cavalry  division, 
under  General -major  Count  Coudenhove.  His 
artillery  consisted  of  about  540  guns. 

The  Prussian  cavalry  and  horse-artillery  were 
preparing  early  in  the  morning  of  the  3rd  of 
July  to  commence  the  attack,  and  by  seven 
o'clock  they  commenced  their  advance  down  the 
declivity  towards  the  Bistritz.  Here  the  guns  of 
the  Austrians  commenced  playing  upon  them,  from 
a  battery  near  the  village  of  Sadowa,  at  a  point 
where  the  main  road  crosses  the  little  river. 
The  seventh  division  of  Prussian  artillery  bom- 
barded the  Austrian  right,  directing  their  fire  to 
the  village  of  Benatek,  and  from  the  centre  of  both 
lines  a  fearful  cannonade  was  commenced,  and 
equally  sustained;  neither  side  appearing  to  give 
way.  A  writer  who  witnessed  the  battle  from  the 
Prussian  side,  says: — 

While  the  cannonade  had  been  going  on,  some 
of  the  infantry  had  been  moved  down  towards  the 
river,  where  they  took  shelter  from  the  fire  under 
a  convenient  undulation  of  ground.  The  eighth 
division  came  down  on  the  left-hand  side  of  the 
causeway,  and  under  the  cover  of  the  rising 
ground  formed  its  columns  for  an  attack  on  the 
village  of  Sadowa ;  while  the  third  and  fourth  divi- 
sion, on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  road,  prepared  to 
storm  Dohilnitz  and  Mokrowens.  A  short  time 
before  their  preparations  were  complete,  the  village 
of  Benatek,  on  the  Austrian  right,  caught  fire, 
and  the  seventh  Prussian  division  made  a  dash 
to  secure  it.  The  Austrians,  however,  were  not 
driven   out  by  the   flames,  and  here  for  the  first 


time  in  the  battle  was  there  hand-to-hand  fighting. 
The  twenty-seventh  regiment  led  the  attack,  and 
rushed  into  the  orchards  of  the  village,  where  the 
burning  houses  having  separated  the  combatants, 
they  poured  volley  after  volley  at  each  other 
through  the  flames,  until  the  Prussians  found 
means  to  get  round  the  burning  houses,  and 
taking  the  defenders  in  the  reverse,  forced  them 
to  retire  with  the  loss  of  many  prisoners. 

It  was  ten  o'clock  when  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  sent  General  Stuhnapl  to  order  the  attack 
on  Sadowa,  Dohilnitz,  and  Mokrowens.  The 
columns  advanced  covered  by  skirmishers,  and 
reached  the  river  bank  without  much  loss;  but 
from  thence  they  had  to  fight  every  inch  of 
their  way.  The  Austrian  infantry  held  the 
bridges  and  villages  in  force,  and  fired  fast  upon 
their  enemies  as  they  approached.  The  Prussians 
could  advance  but  slowly  along  the  narrow  ways 
and  against  the  defences  of  the  houses ;  and  the 
volleys  sweeping  through  their  ranks  seemed  to 
mow  the  soldiers  down.  The  Prussians  fired  much 
more  quickly  than  their  opponents,  but  they  could 
not  see  to  take  their  aim;  the  houses,  trees,  and 
smoke  from  the  Austrian  discharges  shrouding 
the  villages  in  obscurity.  Sheltered  by  this,  the 
Austrian  jagers  fired  blindly  at  the  places  where 
they  could  tell  by  hearing  that  the  attacking 
columns  were,  and  the  shots  told  tremendously  on 
the  Prussians  in  their  close  formation.  The  latter, 
however,  unproved  their  positions,  although  slowly, 
and  by  dint  of  sheer  courage  and  perseverance; 
for  they  lost  men  at  every  yard  of  their  advance, 
and  in  some  places  almost  paved  the  way  with 
wounded.  To  help  their  infantry,  the  Prussian 
artillery  turned  its  fire,  regardless  of  the  enemy's 
batteries,  on  the  villages,  and  made  tremendous 
havoc  among  the  houses.  Mokrowens  and  Dohil- 
nitz both  caught  fire,  and  the  shells  fell  quickly 
and  with  fearful  effect  among  the  defenders  of 
the  flaming  hamlets.  The  Austrian  guns  on  their 
side  also  played  upon  the  attacking  infantry,  but 
at  this  time  these  were  sheltered  from  the  fire  by 
the  intervening  houses  and  trees. 

In  and  around  the  villages  the  fighting  continued 
for  nearly  an  hour,  until  the  Austrian  infantry, 
driven  out  by  a  rush  of  the  Prussians,  retired, 
but  only  a  short  way  up  the  slope  into  a  line  with 
their  batteries.  One  wood  above  Sadowa  was 
strongly  held,  and  another  stood  between  Sadowa 
and  Benatek,  teeming  with   riflemen,  to   bar   the 


86 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


way  of  the  seventh  division.  But  General  Fransky, 
who  commanded  this  division,  was  not  to  be  easily 
stopped.  He  sent  his  infantry  at  the  wood,  and 
turned  his  artillery  on  the  Austrian  batteries.  The 
assailants,  firing  into  the  trees,  found  they  could 
not  make  any  impression,  for  the  defenders  were 
concealed,  and  musketry  fire  was  useless  against 
them.  Then  Fransky  letting  them  go,  they  dashed 
in  with  the  bayonet.  The  Austrians  waited  for 
the  onslaught,  and  in  the  wood  above  Benatek  was 
fought  out  one  of  the  fiercest  combats  known  in  that 
war.  The  twenty-seventh  Prussian  regiment  went 
in  nearly  3000  strong,  with  90  officers,  and  came  out 
on  the  further  side  with  only  2  officers  and  between 
300  and  400  men  standing  ;  all  the  rest  were  killed 
or  wounded.  The  other  regiments  of  the  division 
also  suffered  much,  though  not  in  the  same  propor- 
tion ;  but  the  wood  was  carried.  The  Austrian 
line  being  now  driven  in  on  both  flanks,  its  com- 
mander formed  a  new  line  of  battle  a  little  higher 
up  the  hill,  round  Lipa,  still  holding  the  wood 
which  lies  above  Sadowa. 

General  Herwarth,  the  commander  of  the 
Prussian  army  of  the  Elbe,  on  the  left  of  the 
Austrians,  was  also  engaged  in  an  attack  on  the 
Saxon  troops  at  the  village  of  Nechanitz,  situate 
on  the  Bistritz,  seven  miles  from  Sadowa.  The 
Saxons  fought  bravely,  but  were  at  length  driven 
back  slowly  and  with  great  difficulty  towards  Lipa, 
contesting  every  inch  of  the  ground  with  great 
tenacity.  The  Austrians  had  placed  artillery  in  a 
wood  above  the  villages  of  Sadowa  and  Dohilnitz, 
which  being  fired  through  the  trees  occasioned  con- 
siderable losses  in  the  ranks  of  the  Prussian  infantry, 
now  making  a  rapid  advance  to  carry  the  wood. 
After  a  vigorous  attack  the  Austrians  were  driven 
back  ;  but  at  once  forming  their  batteries  beyond 
the  trees,  their  fire  told  terribly  on  the  Prussians, 
who  were  advancing  in  the  wood. 

The  whole  battle  line  of  the  Prussians  was 
unable  to  gain  more  ground,  being  obliged  to  fight 
hard  to  retain  the  position  it  had  won.  At  one 
time  it  seemed  as  if  they  wTould  lose  that.  Some 
of  their  guns  had  been  dismounted  by  the  Austrian 
fire;  in  the  wooded  ground  the  needle  gun  had  not 
a  good  field  for  the  display  of  its  superiority,  and 
the  infantry  fighting  was  very  equal. 

Herwarth,  too,  seemed  checked  upon  the  right ; 
the  smoke  of  his  musketry  and  artillery,  which  had 
hitherto  been  pushing  forward  steadily,  stood  still 
for  a  time.      Fransky's  men,  cut  to  pieces,  could 


not  be  sent  forward  to  attack  the  Sadowa  wood, 
for  they  would  have  exposed  themselves  to  be 
attacked  in  the  rear  by  the  artillery  on  the  right 
of  the  Austrian  line  formed  in  front  of  Lipa.  All 
the  artillery  was  engaged  except  eight  batteries, 
and  these  had  to  be  retained  in  case  of  a  reverse ; 
for  at  one  time  the  firing  in  the  Sadowa  wood, 
and  of  the  Prussian  artillery  on  the  slope,  seemed 
almost  as  if  drawing  back  towards  Bistritz.  The 
first  army  was  certainly  checked  in  its  advance,  if 
not  actually  being  pushed  back. 

It  was  an  eminently  critical  moment,  and  the 
Prussian  generals  were  waiting  in  trepidation  for 
tidings  of  the  Crown  Prince,  who  was  to  attack 
the  Austrians  on  the  right.  This  incident  recalls 
that  of  Napoleon  on  the  field  of  Waterloo,  anx- 
iously awaiting  the  approach  of  Grouchy,  but  with 
better  results  for  the  Prussians  than  for  the  French . 
The  Austrian  centre  was  retained  by  the  third 
and  fourth  corps  in  front  of  Klum  and  Lipa, 
constrained  to  make  a  backward  movement  with 
the  first  corps  in  reserve,  as  was  also  the  sixth 
corps,  on  the  right  facing  Smiralitz.  The  army 
of  the  Crown  Prince  came  up  at  about  half  past 
one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  attacked  the 
right  flank  of  the  Austrians.  The  village  of 
Klum  had  caught  fire,  and  the  troops  of  the  Prus- 
sian centre  were  making  desperate  efforts  to  drive 
the  Austrians  out  of  it,  when  the  latter  suddenly 
found  their  right  exposed  to  a  withering  cross  fire 
from  the  advancing  army  of  the  Crown  Prince. 
The  Austrian  army  was  now  in  a  critical  position. 
The  observer  who  was  watching  the  action  from 
the  top  of  the  tower  in  Ko'niggratz  says,  "  Sud- 
denly a  sputtering  of  musketry  breaks  out  of  the 
trees  and  houses  of  Klum  right  down  on  the  Aus- 
trian gunners,  and  on  the  columns  of  infantry 
drawn  up  on  the  slopes  below.  The  gunners  fall 
on  ail  sides,  their  horses  are  disabled,  the  firing 
increases  in  intensity,  the  Prussians  press  on  over 
the  plateau.  This  is  an  awful  catastrophe;  two 
columns  of  Austrians  are  led  against  the  village, 
but  they  cannot  stand  the  fire,  and  after  three 
attempts  to  carry  it,  retreat,  leaving  the  hillside 
covered  with  the  fallen.  It  is  a  terrible  moment. 
The  Prussians  see  their  advantage,  and  enter  at 
once  into  the  very  centre  of  the  position.  In  vain 
the  Austrian  staff  officers  fly  to  the.  reserves,  and 
hasten  to  call  back  some  of  the  artillery  from  the 
front.  The  dark  blue  regiments  multiply  on  all 
sides,  and  from  their  edges  roll  perpetually  spark- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


87 


ling  musketry.  Their  guns  hurry  up,  and  from 
the  slope  take  both  the  Austrian  main  body  on  the 
extreme  right,  and  the  reserves  in  flank.  They 
spread  away  to  the  woods  near  the  Prague  road, 
and  fire  into  the  rear  of  the  Austrian  gunners.  .  . 
The  lines  of  dark  blue  which  came  in  sight  from 
the  right  teemed  from  the  vales  below,  as  if 
the  earth  yielded  them.  They  filled  the  whole 
background  of  the  awful  picture,  of  which 
Klum  was  the  centre.  They  pressed  down  on 
the  left  of  the  Prague  road.  In  square,  in 
column,  deployed,  or  wheeling  hither  and  thi- 
ther, everywhere  pouring  in  showers  of  deadly 
precision,  penetrating  the  whole  line  of  the 
Austrians,  still  they  could  not  force  their  stubborn 
enemy  to  fly.  On  all  sides  they  met  brave  but 
unfortunate  men,  ready  to  die  if  they  could  do  no 
more.  At  the  side  of  the  Prague  road  the  fight 
went  on  with  incredible  vehemence.  The  Aus- 
trians had  still  an  immense  force  of  artillery,  and 
although  its  concentrated  fire  swept  the  ground 
before  it,  its  effect  was  lost  in  some  degree  by 
reason  of  the  rising  ground  above,  and  at  last  by 
its  divergence  to  so  many  points,  to  answer  the 
enemy's  cannon.  .  .  Cheste  and  Visa  were  now 
burning,  so  that  from  right  to  left  the  flames  of 
ten  villages  and  the  flashes  of  guns  and  musketry 
contended  with  the  sun  that  pierced  the  clouds,  for 
the  honour  of  illuminating  the  seas  of  steel,  and 
the  fields  of  carnage.  It  was  three  o'clock.  The 
efforts  of  the  Austrians  to  occupy  Klum,  and  free 
their  centre  had  failed ;  their  right  was  driven  down 
in  a  helpless  mass  towards  Koniggratz,  quivering 
and  palpitating,  as  shot  and  shell  tore  through  it. 
Alles  ist  verloren!  "All  is  lost!"  Artillery  still 
thundered  with  a  force  and  violence  which  might 
have  led  a  stranger  to  such  scenes  to  think  no 
enemy  could  withstand  it.  The  Austrian  cavalry, 
however,  hung  like  white  thunder  clouds  on  the 
flanks,  and  threatened  the  front  of  the  Prussians, 
keeping  them  in  square  and  solid  columns.  But 
already  the  trains  were  streaming  away  from 
Koniggratz,  placing  the  Elbe  and  Adler  between 
them  and  the  enemy. 

General  von  Gablenz,  a  brief  while  after  this 
terrible  defeat,  was  despatched  from  the  Austrian 
centre  to  the  Prussian  head-quarters,  to  solicit  an 
armistice  ;  but  his  proposal  was  at  once  rejected, 
as  the  entire  ranks  of  Prussia  were  preparing  to 
advance.  Prince  Frederick  Charles  directed  his 
army  for  the  road  leading  to  Briinn,  the  capital  of 


Moravia,  the  army  of  the  Crown  Prince  took  the 
course  to  Olmiitz,  and  the  army  of  the  Elbe,  under 
General  Herwarth,  proceeded  to  advance  westward 
toward  Iglau. 

The  extreme  importance  of  this  battle,  whether 
viewed  in  a  political  or  military  light,  will  be  more 
strikingly  apparent  as  time  goes  on.  Variously 
named  Koniggratz  and  Sadowa,  the  conflict  has 
been  the  theme  of  much  military  criticism.  One 
anonymous  writer  says,  "  The  Austrians  should 
have  been  victors  here,  if  positions  could  win  a 
battle,  for  better  positions  they  could  hardly  have 
had.  Their  line  extended  over  nine  miles,  and  was 
throughout  one  stretch  of  high  ground;  while  the 
Prussians  advanced  through  a  country  rather  un- 
favourable —  through  woods  and  villages  that 
afforded  cover  here  and  there.  Benedek  had  offered 
battle  at  Debenec,  but  the  Prussians  having  the 
option  in  their  hands,  declined  the  conflict.  This 
new  position  left  them  no  choice,  and  they  boldly 
accepted  the  gage,  though  defeat  would  have  been 
annihilation.  They  had  taken  the  measure  of  the 
Austrian  commander;  they  knew  their  own  strength, 
and  they  made  their  dispositions  with  a  view  to 
victory,  not  to  provide  for  a  retreat.  Their  line 
extended  from  Jicin  to  Skalitz,  but  it  was  of  such 
length  that  the  two  divisions  wore  practically  dis- 
tinct armies,  and  for  some  hours  were  without 
communication.  The  centre  of  the  Austrian  line 
was  Klum,  the  head- quarters  were  at  Koniggratz, 
a  city  at  the  junction  of  the  Elbe  and  Adler, 
strongly  fortified,  and  surrounded  by  well-filled 
moats,  while  a  certain  area  round  was  inundated 
by  the  river.  The  Austrian  line  covered  the  rail- 
way station ;  and  while  its  left  was  guarded  by  the 
fortress  of  Josephstadt,  Koniggratz  protected  the 
right.  Their  force  was  about  200,000,  and  that  of  the 
Prussians  260,000,  a  numerical  superiority  greatly 
enhanced  by  the  Prussian  arm,  the  needle  gun. 
The  battle  commenced  about  eight  in  the  morning ; 
the  Austrians  having  the  advantage  till  about  two 
o'clock,  when  a  fatal  oversight  gave  the  victory  to 
the  Prussians.  The  whole  line  was  engaged  by 
ten  o'clock,  though  the  division  of  the  Crown 
Prince  had  not  come  up,  as  it  was  to  approach  the 
field  by  a  detour,  so  as  to  fall  on  the  Austrian  line 
at  Lipa.  The  Prussians  attacked  with  superior 
numbers,  yet  the  Austrians  faced  the  needle-gun 
without  availing  themselves  of  the  cover  afforded 
by  their  position,  and  again  and  again  drove  the 
enemy  back.     In  like  manner  the  Austrian  artillery 


88 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


did  yeoman's  service  in  these  onslaughts ;  but 
from  being  too  closely  packed  the  eight-pounder 
field-pieces,  which  are  very  effective  and  very  well 
served,  did  not  produce  the  impression  which  they 
are  capable  of  making.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Prussian  needle-gun  was  very  efficient,  killing  at 
close  quarters,  and  disabling  where  it  did  not  kill, 
though  owing  to  the  smallness  of  the  ball  the 
wounds  were  of  a  character  easily  cured.  The 
Austrian  column  bore  steadily  down  through  vol- 
leys of  shot,  and  through  flaming  villages,  and 
everywhere  beat  back  the  advancing  Prussians, 
who  at  eleven  o'clock  were  flung  panting  on  the 
slopes  of  the  opposite  hills. 

"  The  Prussians  then  called  in  their  reserves,  and, 
urged  on  by  their  officers,  made  a  furious  rush  on 
the  Austrian  left  and  centre,  at  the  same  time 
dashing  round  the  Prague  road,  with  the  intention 
of  turning  the  left.  They  were  met  with  equal 
ardour,  and  a  desperate  conflict  ensued,  when  the 
Prussians  gave  way,  and  were  driven  further  back 
than  before.  There  was  a  momentary  pause  in  the 
struggle.  The  smoke  gathered  thick,  and  hid  the 
armies  from  each  other;  then  cleared  to  show 
the  Prussians  again  reinlbrced,  and  once  more  in 
battle  array.  The  next  assault  shook  the  wearied 
Austrians ;  but  they  yielded  no  ground,  and 
after  a  murderous  conflict  the  Prussians  recoiled. 
Here  both  sides  brought  up  their  artillery,  and 
the  smoke  again  favoured  the  Prussians,  who 
bore  down  on  the  Austrian  right  with  irresistible 
force.  The  Austrians,  victorious  on  the  left  and 
centre,  were  pushing  their  advantage,  when  the 
success  of  the  Prussians  on  their  right  threatened 
to  sever  them  from  Kb'niggriitz.  At  this  juncture 
the  Prussians  were  joined  by  their  second  army, 
under  the  Crown  Prince,  who  advanced  on  the 
very  point  the  Austrians  had  left  open.  The  gap 
seems  to  have  reminded  the  Prussian  commander 
of  Key's  project  at  Waterloo,  where  the  French 
general,  deluded  by  the  ground,  thought  the  Eng- 
lish centre  unguarded,  and  rushed  to  destruction. 
Xor  was  the  centre  at  Sadowa  really  unwatched. 
The  Austrian  commander  could  have  confronted 
the  Prussian  battalions  with  20,000  of  the  finest 
cavalry  in  Europe,  cavalry  which  had  already 
saved  his  army,  and  might  now  have  given  it  the 
victory.  But  this  supreme  moment  found  the 
general  at  the  end  of  his  resources,  hesitating  and 
bewildered.  With  the  battle  won  on  the  left,  and 
in  his  own  hands   on   the   rifjht,  he   allowed  the 


enemy  to  reach  his  centre — to  pierce  the  heart  of 
his  army,  and  thus  lost  the  dav.  The  Austrians 
retreated  hurriedly,  but  not  in  disorder,  and  the 
cavalry,  which  might  have  secured  the  victory, 
kept  the  victors  at  a  respectful  distance.  Benedek 
was  still  at  the  head  of  an  army,  though  he  left 
a  third  of  it  on  the  field,  or  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  and  his  abandoned  guns  were  enough  to 
equip  another  army  for  a  campaign." 

Captain  Webber,  K.E.,  who  visited  the  scene  of 
carnage,  says:—"  On  the  tenure  of  the  woods  and 
villages  depended  the  success  of  the  Austrians  in 
the  battle  on  the  west  front.  The  former  appears 
to  have  been  retained  long  after  the  latter  had  been 
evacuated.  The  villages  were  not  placed  in  a  proper 
state  of  defence,  the  entrances  not  having  been  even 
closed.  Abattis  were  insufficiently  used,  and  the 
strong  stone  buildings,  which  were  quite  capable 
of  resisting  field  artillery,  not  loopholed.  As 
some  portion  of  the  Austrian  army  was  at 
Sadowa  two  days  before  the  battle  this  would  have 
been  practicable.  The  defences  of  Chlum  were 
incomplete,  the  north  and  north-west  only  being 
touched.  The  Crown  Prince  attacked  it  on  the 
north-east  side.  Breastworks  without  abattis  may 
be  useful  to  cover  a  handful  of  determined  men, 
but  advancing  troops  will  run  over  them.  If 
possible,  the  one  kind  of  defence  should  never  be 
used  without  the  other." 

The  battle,  indeed,  was  a  great  victory  for  the 
Prussians,  though  its  full  advantages  were  not 
known  by  them  until  the  following  day.  One 
hundred  and  seventy-four  guns,  twenty  thousand 
prisoners,  and  eleven  standards,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  conquerors.  The  total  loss  of  the  Austrian 
army  was  nearly  40,000  men,  while  that  of  the 
Prussians  was  not  10,000.  The  morale  of  the 
Austrian  army  was  destroyed,  and  their  infantry 
found  that  in  open  column  they  could  not  stand 
against  the  better-armed  Prussians.  The  Austrians 
had  hoped  to  be  able  to  close  with  the  bayonet, 
and  so  neutralize  the  effects  of  the  needle-gun ;  but 
the  idea  of  superiority  in  the  use  of  the  bayonet, 
in  which  the  Austrian  army  prided  itself,  is  one  of 
those  vanities  which  are  common  to  every  nation; 
and  this  was  proved,  that  at  close  quarters  the 
stronger  men  of  Prussia  invariably  overcame  the 
lighter  and  smaller  Austrians.  The  number  of 
cartridges  fired  by  the  Prussian  army  in  the  battle 
barely  exceeded  one  per  man  on  the  ground. 
Hardly  any  soldier  fired  so  many  as  ninety,  and 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


89 


few  more  than  sixty.  Tne  average  number  of 
rounds  fired  by  the  artillery  of  Prince  Frederick 
Charles'  army  was  forty-two  per  gun,  and  no  gun  of 
that  army  fired  more  than  eighty  rounds.  Excellent 
as  was  the  Prussian  artillery  it  would  not  have  won 
the  battle  without  brave  men  to  guide  and  follow 
it.  The  quality  of  the  Prussian  troops  may  be 
illustrated  by  one  anecdote.  On  the  evening  of 
the  battle  an  officer  of  the  Ziethen  hussars,  who 
were  forward  in  the  pursuit,  rode  alone  as  far  as  the 
gates  of  Koniggratz,  and  finding  there  was  no  sentry 
outside,  rode  in.  The  guard,  immediately  on  see- 
ing him  in  his  Prussian  uniform,  turned  out  and 
seized  him,  when,  with  admirable  presence  of  mind, 
he  declared  he  had  come  to  demand  the  capitu- 
lation of  the  fortress.  He  was  conducted  to  the 
commandant,  and  made  the  same  demand  to  him, 
adding  that  the  town  would  be  bombarded  if  not 
surrendered  within  an  hour  ;  the  commandant, 
unconscious  that  he  was  not  dealing  with  a  legiti- 
mate messenger,  courteously  refused  to  capitulate ; 
but  the  hussar  was  conducted  out  of  the  town, 
passed  through  the  guard  at  the  entrance,  and  got 
off  safely  to  his  troop.  The  vigilance  of  the  Aus- 
trians  was  often  at  fault.  From  the  high  bank 
above  Kb'niginhof,  a  staff-officer,  lying  hidden  in 
the  fir-wood,  could  almost  with  the  naked  eye  have 
counted  every  Prussian  gun,  every  Prussian  soldier 
that  the  Crown  Prince  moved  towards  Miletin. 
Yet  the  arrival  of  the  second  Prussian  army  on 
the  scene  of  action  seems  to  have  been  a  complete 
surprise.  The  eyes  of  the  Austrian  army  failed 
on  more  than  one  occasion  during  the  campaign. 
The  inferiority  of  their  patrol  system  to  that  of 
the  Prussians  seems  to  have  been  due  to  the  want 
of  military  education  among  the  officers  to  whom 
patrols  were  intrusted.  In  the  Prussian  army 
special  officers  of  high  intelligence  were  always 
chosen  to  reconnoitre — properly  so,  for  the  task 
is  no  easy  one.  An  eye  unskilled,  or  a  mind  un- 
tutored, can  see  little,  when  a  tried  observer  detects 
important  movements.  The  Prussian  system  never 
failed,  never  allowed  a  surprise.  The  Austrians 
were  repeatedly  surprised,  and  taken  unprepared. 
The  telegram  in  which  Benedek  first  announced 
to  Vienna  the  loss  of  the  battle,  stated  that 
some  of  the  enemy's  troops,  under  cover  of  the 
mist,  estabfished  themselves  on  his  flank,  and  so 
caused  the  defeat.  How  the  Prussian  guards 
were  allowed  to  get  into  Chlum  appears  inexpli- 
cable.    From  the  top  of  Chlum  church  tower  the 


whole  country  can  be  clearly  seen  as  far  as  the 
top  of  the  high  bank  of  the  Elbe.  A  staff-officer 
posted  there,  even  through  the  mist,  which  was 
not  so  heavy  as  is  generally  supposed,  could  have 
easily  seen  any  movement  of  the  troops  as  far  as 
Choteborek.  A  person  near  Sadowa  could  see 
quite  distinctly  Herwarth's  attack  at  Hradek,  and, 
except  during  occasional  squalls,  there  was  no  limit 
to  the  view  over  the  surrounding  country  except 
where  the  configuration  of  the  ground  or  the  heavy 
smoke  overcame  the  sight.  The  top  of  Chlum 
church  spire  generally  stood  out  clear  over  the 
heavy  curtain  of  hanging  smoke  which,  above  the 
heads  of  the  combatants,  fringed  the  side  of  the 
Lipa  hill  from  Benatek  to  Nechanitz.  So  little 
apprehensive,  however,  was  Benedek  of  an  attack 
on  his  right,  that  he  stationed  no  officer  in  the 
tower;  and  himself  took  up  a  position  above  Lipa, 
where  any  view  towards  the  north  was  entirely 
shut  out  by  the  hill  and  houses  of  Chlum.  No 
report  appears  to  have  reached  him  of  the  advance 
of  the  guards,  yet  they  were  engaged  at  Hore- 
nowes,  and  passed  through  Maslowed.  From  that 
village,  without  opposition,  they  marched  along 
the  rear  of  the  Austrian  line,  apparently  unob- 
served, until  they  flung  themselves  into  Chlum 
and  Kosberitz.  It  seems  that  the  fourth  corps,  to 
whom  the  defence  of  the  ground  between  Maslowed 
and  Nedelitz  was  intrusted,  seeing  their  comrades 
heavily  engaged  with  Fran  sky  in  the  Maslowed 
wood,  turned  to  their  aid,  and  pressing  forwards 
towards  Benatek,  quitted  their  proper  ground.  A 
short  time  afterwards  the  second  Austrian  corps 
was  defeated  by  the  Prussian  eleventh  division, 
and  retreated  towards  the  bridge  at  Lochenitz. 
The  advance  of  the  fourth  corps,  and  the  retreat 
of  the  second,  left  a  clear  gap  in  the  Austrian  line, 
through  which  the  Prussian  guards  marched  un- 
molested, and  without  a  shot  seized  the  key  of  the 
position.  Once  installed  they  could  not  be  ejected, 
and  the  battle  was  practically  lost  to  the  Austrians. 
The  Prussian  pursuit  was  tardy,  and  not  pushed, 
for  the  men  were  fatigued,  night  was  coming  on, 
and  the  Prussian  cavalry  of  the  first  army  had  suf- 
fered severely.  The  Austrian  cavalry  was  moving 
sullenly  towards  Pardubitz.  The  Elbe  lay  between 
the  retreating  Austrians  and  the  victorious  Prus- 
sians. The  victory,  although  fortuitously  decisive, 
was  not  improved  to  such  advantage  as  it  ought 
to  have  been. 

Before  proceeding  to  review  the  events  which, 


90 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


in  the  meantime,  were  taking  place  in  the  western 
theatre  of  war,  it  is  requisite  to  cast  a  glance  upon 
the  operations  of  the  two  Prussian  corps  which  had 
been  left  to  guard  the  province  of  Silesia.  On  the 
concentration  of  the  Austrian  army  in  Bohemia, 
a  corps  of  6000  men,  under  General  Trentin- 
aglia,  had  been  left  at  Cracow.  Two  Prussian  in- 
dependent corps  had  been  stationed  at  Ratibor  and 
Nicolai,  to  shield  south-eastern  Silesia  against  a 
probable  attack  from  this  corps.  The  former  was 
commanded  by  General  Knobelsdorf,  and  consisted 
of  the  sixty-second  regiment  of  infantry,  the  second 
regiment  of  Uhlans,  a  lew  battalions  of  landwehr, 
and  one  battery.  The  latter,  under  General  Count 
Stolberg,  was  formed  of  landwehr  alone,  and  mus- 
tered six  battalions,  two  regiments  of  cavalry,  two 
companies  of  jiigers,  and  one  battery.  The  corps 
of  Knobelsdorf  was  to  defend  the  Moravian  frontier, 
that  of  Stolberg  the  Galician ;  and  both,  in  case  of 
attack  by  overwhelming  numbers,  were  to  fall  back 
under  the  protection  of  the  fortress  of  Kosel.  On 
the  21st  June,  Stolberg's  corps  obtained  its  first  im- 
portant although  bloodless  success.  On  that  day  it 
marched  rapidly,  many  of  the  men  being  conveyed 
in  waggons,  to  Pruchna,  blew  up  the  railway  viaduct 
there,  and  so  destroyed  the  communication  between 
General  Trentinaglia  and  the  main  Austrian  army. 

On  the  24th  and  26th  June,  as  well  as  on  the 
intermediate  days,  several  parties  of  Austrians  made 
demonstrations  of  crossing  the  frontier  near  Oswie- 
cin,  and  large  bodies  of  troops  appeared  to  be  in 
the  act  of  concentration  at  that  place.  General 
Stolberg  determined  to  assure  himself  of  the  actual 
strength  of  the  enemy  there,  by  a  reconnaissance 
in  force.  To  aid  this,  General  Knobelsdorf  sent  a 
part  of  his  troops  to  Myslowitz,  to  cover  the  rear 
of  Stolberg's  corps,  while  it  marched  on  Oswiecin. 
Stolberg,  finding  in  the  latter  place  a  considerable 
force  of  the  enemy,  seized  the  buildings  of  the  rail- 
way station,  placed  them  hastily  in  a  state  of  defence, 
and  determined  by  a  long  halt  here  to  force  the 
Austrians  to  develop  their  full  force.  After  he 
had  achieved  this  object,  he  retired  to  his  position 
near  Nicolai.  The  detachment  at  Myslowitz  had, 
at  the  same  time,  to  sustain  an  action  there,  and 
fulfilled  completely  its  purpose  of  holding  the  enemy 
back  from  Oswiecin. 

On  the  30th  June,  Stolberg's  detachment  was 
so  weakened  by  the  withdrawal  of  his  landwehr 
battalions,  which  were  called  up  in  order  to  aid  in 
the  formation  of  a  fourth  battalion  to  every  regi- 


ment, that  it  could  no  longer  hold  its  own  against 
the  superior  Austrian  force  near  Myslowitz.  It  re- 
tired accordingly  nearer  to  Ratibor  in  the  direction 
of  Plesz,  and  from  this  place  undertook,  in  con- 
nection with  General  Knobelsdorf,  expeditions  into 
Moravia  against  Teschen,  Biala,  and  Skotschau, 
annoying  the  Austrians  considerably,  and  making 
the  inhabitants  of  Moravia  regard  the  war  with 
aversion. 

CAMPAIGN   IN    HANOVER. 

We  turn  now  to  the  operations  in  the  western 
theatre  of  the  German  war.  The  Prussian  troops 
which  had  invaded  Hanover  and  Hesse-Cassel 
occupied  on  the  19th  June  the  following  positions: 
— The  divisions  of  General  Goeben  and  General 
Manteuffel  were  in  the  town  of  Hanover,  and  that 
of  General  Beyer  in  Cassel.  Of  the  allies  of 
Austria  the  Hanoverian  army  was  at  Gottingen, 
the  Bavarian  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Wiirzburg 
and  Bamberg;  the  eighth  federal  corps  in  the 
vicinity  of  Frankfort.  The  latter  consisted  of 
the  troops  of  Wiirtemburg,  Baden,  Hesse  Darms- 
tadt, Xassau,  and  Hesse-Cassel,  to  which  was 
added  an  Austrian  division.  The  soldiers  of 
the  (Hanoverian)  reserve,  and  those  who  had 
been  absent  on  furlough,  nobly  responded  to 
the  call  of  their  king,  and  made  their  way 
through  the  country,  which  was  in  Prussian  pos- 
session, and  sometimes  even  through  the  lines  of 
the  enemy,  to  join  the  ranks  at  Gottingen.  By 
their  firm  determination  to  reach  their  regiments, 
they  afforded  an  earnest  of  the  gallantry  and  cour- 
age which  they  afterwards  displayed  upon  the  field 
of  battle.  On  the  arrival  of  these  men  the  army 
at  Gottingen  mustered  about  20,000  combatants, 
with  fifty  guns. 

Southern  Germany  expected  great  deeds  of  the 
Bavarian  army.  It  might  have  thrown  serious 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  Prussian  successes, 
had  not  uncertainty  and  vacillation  pervaded  all 
its  operations.  Prince  Charles  of  Bavaria,  the 
commander-in-chief,  under  whose  orders  the  eighth 
federal  corps  was  also  afterwards  placed,  seems  to 
have  conducted  his  campaign  without  a  definite 
strategical  object,  and  without  energy  in  its  prose- 
cution. Against  him,  in  command  of  the  Prussian 
army  of  the  Maine,  was  a  general  gifted  with  pru- 
dence and  clear  foresight,  who  pursued  his  aim  with 
iron  rigour.  The  Bavarian  is  a  smart  soldier  in 
time  of  peace,  and  conducts  himself  well  in  battle; 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


91 


but  lie  is  too  much  dependent  urjon  good  diet,  the 
want  of  which  grievously  maims  his  capacity  for 
undergoing  the  fatigues  of  war.  Nor  do  the  ranks 
of  Bavaria  contain  such  intelligence  as  do  those  of 
Prussia;  for  men  drawn  for  military  service  are 
allowed  to  provide  substitutes,  so  that  only  the 
poorer  and  less  educated  classes  of  society  furnish 
recruits  for  the  army.  The  troops  had  no  know- 
ledge of  the  causes  for  which  they  were  to  shed 
their  blood,  and  in  this  respect  contrasted  with  the 
Prussian  soldiery,  which  held  that  the  honour,  inte- 
grity, even  the  existence  of  their  Fatherland,  was 
in  jeopardy.  The  reader  will  remember  the  anec- 
dote current  during  the  recent  Rhine  campaign,  of 
the  Bavarian  soldier,  who,  addressing  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Prussia  after  a  victory,  exclaimed: — 
"Ah!  your  royal  highness,  if  you  had  been  our 
commander  in  the  last  war,  we  should  have 
beaten  those  pestilent  Prussians."  The  Federal 
troops  did  not  fail  in  bravery;  but  no  enthusiasm 
thrilled  through  their  ranks.  Individual  bodies  were 
doubtless  animated  by  high  courage,  and  in  many 
cases  displayed  a  heroic  devotion  to  their  leaders 
and  their  princes.  But  the  mass  did  not  work 
evenly;  a  want  of  harmony  existed  among  its  heter- 
ogeneous units,  which,  together  with  the  clouded 
plans  of  the  federal  chiefs,  facilitated  the  task  of 
the  Prussian  general,  Von  Falckenstein.  There  was 
also  dissension  in  the  federal  councils.  Prince 
Alexander  not  only  habitually  disagreed  with  his 
superior,  Prince  Charles,  but  was  often  engaged  in 
petty  squabbles  with  the  lieutenants  who  commanded 
the  different  contingents.  All  these  things  conduced 
to  the  catastrophe  of  the  Hanoverian  army,  which 
marched  from  its  capital  almost  totally  unprepared 
to  undertake  a  campaign.  It  stood  in  dire  need  of 
several  days'  rest  to  allow  time  for  the  formation  of 
a  transport  train,  as  well  as  for  the  clothing  and 
armament  of  the  soldiers  of  reserve  who  had  been 
recalled  to  the  ranks,  and  also  for  the  horsing  of 
part  of  the  artillery.  It  was  forced  on  this  account 
to  halt  until  the  20th  June  at  Gb'ttingen,  and  the 
favourable  moment  for  an  unmolested  march  to 
unite  with  the  troops  of  Bavaria  was  allowed  to 
slip  away.  The  Prussian  staff  took  most  prompt 
measures  to  cut  off  the  Hanoverian  retreat,  and  to 
occupy  the  principal  points  on  their  line  of  march 
with  troops.  The  duke  of  Coburg  had  declared 
openly  and  decidedly  on  the  side  of  Prussia,  and  his 
troops  were  in  consequence  at  the  service  of  the  Prus- 
sian government.     On  the  20th  June  Colonel  von 


Fabeck,  the  commandant  of  the  Coburg  contingent, 
received  a  telegraphic  order  from  Berlin,  to  post 
himself  with  his  two  battalions  at  Eisenach,  where 
it  was  expected  the  Hanoverians  would  first  attempt 
to  break  through.  Three  battalions  of  landwehr, 
one  squadron  of  landwehr  cavalry,  and  a  battery 
of  four  guns,  were  sent  from  the  garrison  to  rein- 
force him.  A  battalion  of  the  fourth  regiment  of 
the  Prussian  guard,  which  had  reached  Leipzig  on 
the  19th,  was  also  despatched  to  his  aid,  a  detach- 
ment of  which,  on  the  20th,  rendered  the  railway 
tunnel  near  Eisenach  impassable.  By  these  move- 
ments the  king  of  Hanover  was  compelled  to  give 
up  the  idea  of  uniting  with  the  Bavarians,  and 
instead  of  marching  from  Heiligenstadt  by  Esche- 
wege  and  Fulda,  he,  on  the  21st,  ordered  his  whole 
army  to  move  upon  Gotha,  and  crossed  the  Prussian 
frontier  with  his  troops.  He  took  leave  of  his 
people  in  a  proclamation,  in  which  he  mournfully 
expressed  his  hope  soon  to  return  victorious  at  the 
head  of  his  army,  to  the  land  which  he  was  then 
temporarily  forced  to  quit. 

The  Hanoverian  army  reached  Langensalza  on 
the  24th  of  June.  The  force  opposed  to  the 
Hanoverians  consisted  only  of  six  weak  battalions, 
two  squadrons,  and  four  guns.  There  can  hardly 
be  any  question  but  that,  if  the  king  of  Hanover- 
had  marched  rapidly  on  Gotha  that  day,  Colonel 
von  Fabeck  would  have  been  quite  unable  to  hold 
his  position.  But  the  Hanoverian  leaders  failed  to 
take  advantage  of  this  last  opportunity.  The  king 
rejected  a  proposal  made  by  Colonel  von  Fabeck, 
that  his  army  should  capitulate;  but  he  applied 
to  the  duke  of  Coburg,  and  asked  him  to  act  as 
a  mediator  with  the  Prussian  government.  An 
armistice  was  agreed  upon,  but  upon  some  mis- 
understanding was  quickly  violated  on  the  night 
of  the  24th  by  the  Hanoverians,  who  advanced  to 
the  Gotha  and  Eisenach  Railway,  and  broke  up  the 
line  near  Frotestadt.  General  von  Alvensleben 
then  sent  a  proposal  from  Gotha  to  the  king  of 
Hanover,  that  he  should  capitulate.  To  this  no 
answer  was  returned;  but  the  king  expressed  a 
wish  that  General  von  Alvensleben  should  repair 
to  his  camp,  in  order  to  treat  with  him.  His  wish 
was  complied  with  early  on  the  25th,  when  an 
extension  of  the  armistice  was  agreed  upon,  and 
General  von  Alvensleben  hurried  back  to  Berlin 
for  further  instructions.  It  was  not  at  this  time 
the  interest  of  the  Prussians  to  push  matters  to 
extremities.     The  Hanoverians  seem  to  have  been 


92 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


ignorant  of  how  small  a  body  alone  barred  the  way 
to  Bavaria,  and  to  have  hoped  that  time  might  be 
afforded  for  aid  to  reach  them.  On  the  night  of 
the  24th  a  messenger  was  sent  to  the  Bavarian 
head-quarters  to  report  the  situation  of  the  Hano- 
verian army,  and  to  solicit  speedy  assistance.  To 
this  request  Prince  Charles  only  replied  that  an 
army  of  19,000  men  ought  to  be  able  to  cut 
its  way  through.  In  consequence  of  this  opinion 
only  one  Bavarian  brigade  of  light  cavalry  was 
advanced  on  the  25th  of  June  to  Mciningen, 
in  the  valley  of  the  Wcrra,  while  a  few  Bavarian 
detachments  were  pushed  along  the  high  road  as 
far  as  Vacha.  This  procedure  of  Prince  Charles 
of  Bavaria  was  alone  sufficient  to  condemn  him  as 
a  general;  he  held  his  army  inactive,  when,  by  a 
bold  advance,  not  only  could  he  have  insured  the 
safety  of  the  Hanoverians,  but  could  in  all  pro- 
bability have  captured  the  whole  of  the  enemy's 
troops  at  Gotha.  Thus  he  would  have  saved 
19,000  allies,  have  captured  6000  of  his  adver- 
sary's men,  have  turned  the  scale  of  war  by  25,000 
combatants,  and  have  preserved  to  his  own  cause 
a  skilled  and  highly-trained  army,  proud  of  its 
ancient  military  reputation,  and  only  placed  in 
this  most  precarious  and  unfortunate  position  by 
the  faults  of  politicians. 

On  the  25  th  the  Prussians  were  closing  in  upon 
the  devoted  Hanoverians:  but  telegraphic  orders 
were  forwarded  from  Berlin  to  all  their  commanders, 
not  to  engage  in  hostilities  until  ten  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  the  26th.  Colonel  von  Doring  was 
despatched  to  Langensalza  by  the  Prussian  govern- 
ment, with  full  powers  to  treat  with  the  king  of 
Hanover;  he  proposed  an  alliance  with  Prussia,  on 
the  basis  of  the  recognition  of  the  Prussian  project 
for  reform  of  the  Germanic  Confederation,  and 
of  the  disbandment  by  Hanover  of  its  army.  To 
these  terms  King  George  would  not  agree ;  though 
deserted  by  his  allies,  to  them  he  was  still  faithful, 
and  still  expected  that  the  Bavarians  must  come 
to  his  aid. 

By  the  morning  of  the  26th  42,000  Prussians 
were  placed  on  the  south,  west,  and  north  of  this 
devoted  army,  within  a  day's  march  of  its  position, 
and  all  hopes  of  escape  into  Bavaria,  or  of  aid  from 
its  southern  allies,  appeared  to  be  vain.  On  the 
26th  the  armistice  expired  at  ten  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  but  the  Prussian  commander-in-chief 
did  not  immediately  commence  hostilities.  His 
dispositions  were  not  yet  perfected.     The  Hano- 


verian army  drew  more  closely  together,  either 
with  the  object  of  accepting  battle,  or  as  some 
say,  with  the  intention  of  moving  by  Tennstadt, 
and  endeavouring  to  join  the  Bavarians  by  a 
circuitous  route.  In  the  evening  the  Hanoverians 
took  up  a  position  between  the  villages  of  Thams- 
briick,  Merxleben,  and  the  town  of  Langensalza. 
None  of  these  places  were  well  suited  for  defence, 
and  no  artificial  fortifications  were  thrown  up  on 
the  southern  side  of  the  position,  where  General 
Flics  lay.  On  the  northern  side  a  few  insignificant 
earthworks  and  one  battery  were  erected,  to  guard 
the  rear  and  right  flank  of  the  army  against  the 
Prussian  corps  under  General  Manteuffel,  which 
lay  in  the  direction  of  Miihlhausen.  The  soldiers 
were  weary  with  marching  and  privations,  but 
eager  to  join  battle  with  the  Prussians,  who  of  late 
years  had  spoken  in  a  disparaging  and  patronizing 
tone  of  the  Hanoverian  army.  The  27th  of  June 
had  been  appointed  by  royal  command  to  be  ob- 
served as  a  solemn  day  of  fast  and  humiliation 
throughout  Prussia,  and  the  Hanoverian  leaders 
appear  to  have  imagined  that  on  this  account  the 
Prussian  generals  would  not  attack.  In  this  they 
were  deceived,  for  before  evening  there  had  been 
fought  the  bloody  battle  of  Langensalza. 

The  position  occupied  by  the  Hanoverian  army 
on  the  morning  of  the  27th,  lay  along  the  sloping 
side  of  the  line  of  hills  which  rises  from  the  left 
bank  of  the  river  Unstrut.  The  right  wing  and 
centre  rested  on  the  villages  of  Thamsbriick  and 
Merxleben,  the  left  wing  between  the  villages  of 
Xagelstadt  and  Merxleben.  The  third  brigade 
(Yon  Blilow)  formed  the  right  wing,  the  fourth 
brigade  (Von  Bothmer)  the  left,  while  in  the 
centre  was  posted  the  first  brigade  (Von  der 
Knesebeck),  which  at  the  beginning  of  the  action 
was  held  in  rear  of  the  general  line.  The  village 
of  Merxleben,  and  the  ground  in  front  of  it,  was 
occupied  by  the  second  brigade  (De  Vaux),  which 
had  its  outposts  pushed  as  far  as  Henningsleben, 
along  the  road  to  Warza.  The  artillery  and 
cavalry  of  the  reserve  were  posted  behind  Merx- 
leben, near  the  road  to  Lundhausen,  where  the 
scanty  depots  of  ammunition  and  stores  were 
established.  The  front  of  the  position  was  covered 
by  the  river,  which  with  its  steep  banks  impeded 
at  first  the  Prussian  attack,  but  afterwards  was 
an  obstacle  to  the  offensive  advance  and  counter- 
attack of  the  Hanoverians. 

At  about   one   o'clock   on  the  morning  of  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


93 


27th,  the  two  Coburg  battalions,  which  formed  the 
advanced  guard  of  General  Flies'  column,  reached 
Henningsleben,  and  attacked  the  Hanoverian  out- 
posts there.  These  withdrew  to  Langensalza, 
occasionally  checking  their  pursuers  by  the  fire 
of  their  skirmishers.  One  Hanoverian  battalion 
remained  for  a  short  time  in  Langensalza;  but  then 
the  whole  Hanoverian  troops,  which  had  been 
pushed  along  the  Gotha  road,  withdrew  across  the 
Unstrut  to  Merxleben,  and  the  Prussians  occupied 
Langensalza  before  ten  o'clock.  General  Flies 
then  made  his  arrangements  for  an  attack  on  the 
main  Hanoverian  position.  His  artillery  was  very 
inferior  numerically  to  that  of  the  enemy,  so  he 
relied  chiefly  on  his  infanty  fire.  He  sent  a  small 
column  to  make  a  feint  against  Thamsbrlick,  while 
he  advanced  two  regiments  of  infantry  against 
Merxleben,  and  detached  a  column  of  landwehr 
to  his  right  in  order  to  outflank,  if  possible,  and 
turn  the  Hanoverian  left. 

On  the  Hanoverian  side  the  first  gun  was  fired 
between  ten  and  eleven,  from  a  battery  of  rifled 
six-pounders  attached  to  the  second  brigade,  and 
posted  on  the  left  of  Merxleben.  The  first  brigade 
was  immediately  pushed  forward  to  the  support 
of  the  second  brigade,  and  took  up  its  position  on 
the  right  of  that  village.  By  a  singular  error,  the 
Hanoverians  failed  to  hold  a  wood  and  bathing- 
establishment,  close  to  the  river,  on  the  right 
bank  opposite  Merxleben.  Into  these  the  Prussian 
regiments  threw  themselves  as  they  advanced 
against  the  village,  and  sheltered  by  the  cover, 
they  opened  a  biting  musketry  fire  on  the  Hano- 
verian gunners  and  troops  near  the  village.  This 
fire  caused  great  loss  to  the  Hanoverians,  and 
rendered  their  subsequent  passage  of  the  bridge 
most  difficult  and  dangerous.  The  Prussian 
columns  on  the  right,  pressing  forward  against 
the  Hanoverian  left,  bore  on  their  line  of  retreat, 
and  threatened  their  flank.  The  Hanoverian 
leader  seizing  his  opportunity,  resolved  to  attack 
with  vigour  the  wide-spread  Prussian  fine.  At 
mid-day  the  first  brigade  in  the  centre,  with  the 
third  brigade  on  the  right  wing,  advanced  from 
Merxleben,  while  the  fourth  brigade  on  the  left 
moved  forward  at  the  same  time  against  the 
Prussian  right.  Here,  however,  the  sides  of  the 
river  were  steep,  and  the  time  occupied  in  descend- 
ing and  ascending  the  banks,  and  wading  through 
the  stream,  permitted  only  one  battalion  of  rifles 
of  this  brigade  to  take  a  share  in  the  onset.     The 


rest  of  the  troops,  however,  supported  by  their 
artillery,  pressed  steadily  forward,  and  bore  down 
upon  the  Prussians,  who  retreated.  Many  prisoners 
were  taken,  but  not  without  severe  loss  to  the 
assailants,  who  soon  occupied  the  wood  and  bathing 
establishment  beside  the  river. 

The  Prussians  then  drew  off  from  every  point, 
and  a  favourable  opportunity  occurred  for  a  vigor- 
ous pursuit.  But  the  disadvantage  of  a  river  in 
front  of  a  position  now  became  apparent.  The 
cavalry  could  not  ford  the  stream,  nor  approach 
it  closely,  on  account  of  the  boggy  nature  of  its 
banks,  and  had  to  depend  upon  the  bridges  at 
Thamsbruck,  Merxleben,  and  Niigelstadt.  The 
duke  of  Cambridge's  regiment  of  dragoons  issued 
from  the  latter  village  and  dashed  forward  quickly, 
but  unsupported,  against  the  Prussians,  taking 
several  prisoners.  As  soon  as  the  heavy  cavalry 
of  the  reserve  had  threaded  its  way  across  the 
bridge  of  Merxleben,  it  also  rushed  upon  the  re- 
treating Prussians.  Two  squares  broke  before 
the  advancing  horsemen,  and  many  prisoners  were 
made,  while  Captain  von  Einein,  with  his  squadron 
of  cuirassiers,  captured  a  Prussian  battery.  But 
the  Hanoverians  suffered  fearfully  from  the  deadly 
rapidity  of  the  needle-gun,  and  Von  Einein  fell 
amidst  the  cannon  he  had  captured.  About  five 
o'clock  the  pursuit  came  to  an  end,  and  the 
Hanoverians,  masters  of  the  field  of  battle,  posted 
their  outlying  pickets  on  the  south  of  Langensalza. 
Their  total  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  1392. 
The  Prussians  lost  912  prisoners,  and  not  much 
less  than  their  enemies  in  killed  and  wounded. 
It  is  said  that  the  Hanoverian  infantry  engaged 
did  not  number  more  than  10,000  men,  because 
the  recruits  were  sent  to  the  rear,  and  during  the 
day  1000  men  were  employed  in  throwing  up 
earthworks.  The  Hanoverian  cavalry  consisted 
of  twenty-four  squadrons,  of  which  eighteen  cer- 
tainly took  part  in  the  pursuit,  mustering  at  least 
1900  sabres.  The  artillery  in  action  on  that  side 
consisted  of  forty-two  guns.  The  Prussian  force 
numbered  about  12,000  combatants,  with  twenty- 
two  guns.  It  is  extremely  questionable  how  far 
General  Flies  was  justified  under  these  circum- 
stances in  precipitating  an  action.  The  battle 
of  Langensalza  was  of  little  avail  to  the  gallant 
army  which  had  won  it.  The  Hanoverians  were 
too  intricately  involved  in  the  meshes  of  Falck- 
enstein's  strategy.  This  general  on  the  28th 
closed    in   his   divisions,   and  drew   them   tightly 


94 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


round  the  beleaguered  enemy,  who,  by  the  action 
of  Langensalza,  had  repulsed  but  not  cut  through 
their  assailants.  The  division  of  General  Man- 
teuffel,  and  the  brigade  of  General  Wrangel, 
were  pushed  into  the  Hanoverian  rear,  and  took 
up  positions  at  Alt-Gottern,  Rothen,  Helligau,  and 
Bollestedt.  The  division  of  General  Beyer  was 
advanced  from  Eisenach  to  Hayna.  General  Flies 
was  at  Warza,  and  the  brigade  of  General  Kummer 
at  Gotha  was  held  ready  to  move  by  railway  to 
Weimar,  in  order  to  head  King  George,  in  case 
he  should  march  to  the  eastward  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Unstrut.  Forty  thousand  hostile  combat- 
ants were  knitted  round  the  unfortunate  monarch 
and  his  starving  but  devoted  troops. 

When  these  positions  of  the  Prussians  were 
reported  to  the  king,  he  determined  to  avoid  a 
holocaust  of  his  soldiery.  An  action  could  hardly 
have  been  successful ;  it  must  have  been  desperate. 
The  terms  of  capitulation  which  had  been  formerly 
proposed  by  Prussia  were  agreed  to  on  the  evening 
of  the  29th.  Arms,  carriages,  and  military  stores 
were  handed  over  to  the  Prussians :  the  Hanoverian 
soldiers  were  dismissed  to  their  homes:  the  officers 
were  allowed  to  retain  their  horses  and  their  swords, 
on  condition  of  not  again  serving  against  Prussia 
during  the  war.  The  king  himself  and  the  crown 
prince  were  allowed  to  depart  whither  they  pleased 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  Hanover.  Political 
errors,  and  the  supinencss  of  Prince  Charles  of 
Bavaria,  had  thus  suddenly  made  a  whole  army 
captive,  and  blotted  out  from  the  roll  of  independ- 
ent states  one  of  the  most  renowned  of  continental 
principalities.  Hanoverians  look  with  a  mournful 
satisfaction  on  Langensalza,  and  British  soldiers 
feel  a  generous  pride  in  the  last  campaign  of  an 
army  which  mingled  its  blood  with  that  of  their 
ancestors  on  the  battle-fields  of  Spain  and  Belgium. 

CAMPAIGN    OF    THE    MAINE. 

Opposed  to  the  Prussian  army  of  the  Maine 
stood,  after  the  capitulation  of  the  Hanoverians, 
the  seventh  and  eighth  corps  of  the  Germanic  Con- 
federation. The  seventh  federal  corps  consisted  of 
the  army  of  Bavaria,  which  was  under  the  command 
of  Prince  Charles  of  Bavaria,  who  was  also  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  two  corps.  The  Bavarian 
army  was  divided  into  three  divisions,  each  of 
which  consisted  of  two  brigades.  A  brigade  was 
formed  of  two  regiments  of  infantry  of  the  line, 
each  of  three  battalions  ;  a  battalion  of  light  infan- 


try, a  regiment  of  cavalry,  and  a  battery  of  artillery. 
There  was  also  a  reserve  brigade  of  iniantry,  which 
consisted  of  five  line  regiments  and  two  battalions 
of  rifles.  The  reserve  cavalry  consisted  of  six 
regiments,  the  reserve  artillery  of  two  batteries. 
The  first  division  was  under  the  command  of 
General  Stephan,  the  second  under  General  Feder, 
and  the  third  under  General  Zoller.  The  infantry 
of  the  reserve  was  commanded  by  General  Hart- 
mann,  the  cavalry  by  a  prince  of  the  house  of 
Thurn  and  Taxis.  The  whole  army  numbered 
over  50,000  sabres  and  bayonets,  with  136  guns. 
The  chief  of  the  staif  of  Prince  Charles  was 
General  von  der  Tann,  who  was  a  tried  com- 
mander of  division,  but  failed  to  meet  the  necessities 
of  a  position  even  more  arduous  than  that  of  com- 
mander-in-chief. The  Bavarian  army  in  the  middle 
of  June  was  posted  along  the  northern  frontier  of 
its  own  kingdom,  in  positions  intended  to  cover 
that  country  from  an  invasion  from  the  north  or 
east.  Its  head-quarters  were  at  Bamberg,  its  ex- 
treme right  wing  at  Hof,  and  its  extreme  left  wing 
near  the  confluence  of  the  Franconian  Saale  with 
the  Maine,  between  Schweinfurt  and  Gemlinden. 

The  eighth  federal  corps,  under  the  command 
of  Prince  Alexander  of  Hesse,  consisted  of  the 
Federal  contingents  of  Wiirtemburg,  Baden, 
Hesse,  and  a  combined  division  which  included 
the  Austrian  auxiliary  brigade  and  the  troops  of 
Nassau.  The  whole  corps  mustered  49,800  sabres 
and  bayonets,  with  134  guns.  Prince  Alexander 
assumed  the  command  of  this  corps  on  the  18th 
June,  and  established  his  head-quarters  at  Darm- 
stadt. The  elector  of  Hesse-Cassel  had  sent  his 
troops  to  the  south  as  soon  as  the  Prussians  invaded 
his  territory.  By  a  decree  of  the  Diet  of  the  22nd 
June,  they  were  placed  under  the  orders  of  the 
commander  of  the  eighth  federal  corps.  On 
account  of  their  rapid  retreat  from  Cassel,  their 
preparations  for  war  were  incomplete,  and  little 
could  as  yet  be  expected  from  them  in  the  open 
field.  The  troops  of  Wiirtemburg  and  Baden  also 
still  wanted  time  ;  those  of  Baden  particularly, 
for  their  duchy  entered  unwillingly  into  the  war 
against  Prussia.  Wiirtemburg  had  sent  an  infantry 
brigade,  a  regiment  of  cavalry,  and  two  batteries 
on  the  17th  June  to  Frankfort.  These  were  in- 
tended to  unite  with  the  troops  of  Hesse- Darmstadt 
already  assembling  there.  The  next  Wiirtem- 
burg brigade  joined  the  corps  only  on  the  28th 
June,    and    the   last    brigade   on    the    5th    July. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


95 


The  first  Baden  brigade  reached  Frankfort  on 
the  25th  June,  where  the  Austrian  brigade  had 
arrived  only  a  few  days  before.  The  rest  of  the 
troops  and  the  transport  trains  did  not  come  in 
till  the  8th  July,  so  that  the  9th  July  must  be 
considered  to  have  been  the  earliest  day  on  which 
the  eighth  federal  corps  was  ready  to  take  the 
field.  While  these  minor  governments  were  still 
assembling  their  small  contingents,  the  troops  of 
Prussia  had  entered  into  possession  of  Saxony  and 
Hesse,  had  caused  the  surrender  of  the  Hanoverian 
army,  and  inflicted  a  crushing  defeat  on  the  main 
forces  of  Austria. 

The  Bavarian  army  lay  along  the  Maine,  with 
its  first  division  towards  Hof,  and  its  fourth  towards 
Gemiinden.  The  Bavarian  government  was  anxi- 
ous to  make  an  advance  upon  Berlin,  by  way  of 
Hof ;  but  the  general  strategical  movements  of  all 
the  allies  of  Austria  were,  in  virtue  of  a  convention 
concluded  between  Austria  and  Bavaria  on  the 
14th  June,  directed  from  Vienna.  The  directing 
genius  decided  against  any  offensive  movements 
in  a  north-easterly  direction,  and  insisted  strongly 
on  a  junction  of  the  Bavarian  and  eighth  federal 
corps  between  Wiirzburg  and  Frankfort,  in  order 
to  make  a  move  against  the  Prussian  provinces  on 
the  north-west.  The  aim  of  Austria  was  to  compel 
Prussia  to  detach  strong  bodies  from  her  troops 
engaged  with  Benedek,  and  so  to  weaken  her  main 
army.  In  his  own  immediate  command  Prince 
Charles  showed  vacillation  and  uncertainty.  He 
did  not  strive  with  energy  to  liberate  the  Hano- 
verians, and  failed  to  unite  them  with  his  own  force. 
Nor,  when  he  found  himself  too  late  to  achieve  this 
object,  did  he  take  rapid  measures  for  a  concentra- 
tion of  his  forces  with  the  eighth  corps.  On  the 
contrary,  instead  of  making  towards  his  left,  he 
drew  away  to  his  right,  apparently  with  the  object 
of  crossing  the  difficult  country  of  the  Thuringian 
forest,  and  placing  that  obstacle  between  himself 
and  his  allies,  whilst  he  left  the  valley  of  the 
Werra  open  to  his  antagonist  as  a  groove,  down 
which  to  drive  the  wedge  that  should  separate 
the  Bavarians  entirely  from  Prince  Alexander.  On 
the  4th  July  news  came  to  the  head-quarters  of 
this  prince,  to  the  effect  that  strong  Prussian 
columns  were  moving  on  Fulda  from  Hunfeld 
and  Gerze,  towns  which  lie  between  the  Werra 
and  the  Fulda.  An  advance  of  the  eighth  corps, 
with  all  precautions  and  in  preparation  for  battle, 
was  ordered  for  the  next  day.     Meanwhile,  how- 


ever, the  Prussian  and  Bavarian  troops  had  come 
into  contact. 

General  Falckenstein,  after  the  capitulation  of 
the  Hanoverians,  had  on  the  1st  July  concentrated 
his  three  divisions  at  Eisenach.  To  this  united 
corps  was  given  the  name  of  the  Army  of  the 
Maine.  On  the  2nd  July  he  took  the  road  which 
leads  from  Eisenach  by  Fulda,  to  Frankfort,  and 
reached  Marksahl  that  day.  His  intention  was 
to  press  the  Bavarians  eastward.  These  occupied 
a  position  at  that  time  with  their  main  body  near 
Meiningen,  on  the  west  of  the  Werra.  Two  divi- 
sions were  posted  on  that  river  near  Schmalkalden, 
to  cover  the  passage  of  the  stream  against  a  Prus- 
sian corps  which  was  expected  from  Erfurt.  The 
cavalry  was  intended  to  open  communication  with 
the  eighth  corps  in  the  direction  of  Fulda.  On 
the  night  of  the  2nd  July,  the  same  night  that  the 
troops  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles  in  Bohemia 
were  moving  towards  the  field  of  Koniggratz,  a 
Bavarian  reconnoitring  party  fell  in  with  one  of 
Falckenstein's  patrols,  and  on  the  following  day  the 
Prussian  reconnoitring  officers  brought  in  reports 
that  the  Bavarians  were  in  force  round  Wiesenthal, 
on  the  river  Felde.  It  was  clear  to  Falckenstein 
that  this  position  was  held  by  the  heads  of  the 
Bavarian  columns,  which  were  moving  to  unite 
with  the  eighth  corps.  The  Prussian  general 
could  not  afford  to  let  the  enemy  lie  in  a  position 
so  close  and  threatening,  on  the  left  flank  of  his 
advance.  He  ordered  General  Goeben  to  push 
them  back  on  the  following  morning  by  forming 
to  his  left,  and  attacking  the  villages  on  the  Felde 
in  front,  while  General  Manteuffel's  division  should 
move  up  the  stream,  and  assail  them  on  the  right 
flank.  The  third  division,  under  General  Beyer, 
was  in  the  meantime  to  push  its  march  towards 
Fulda. 

On  the  3rd,  the  Bavarian  general  having  been 
informed  of  the  vicinity  of  the  Prussians,  concen- 
trated his  army,  and  in  the  evening  occupied  the 
villages  of  Wiesenthal,  Xeidhartshausen,  Zella,  and 
Diedorf,  in  considerable  strength.  His  main  body 
bivouacked  round  Rossdorf,  and  in  rear  of  that 
village.  At  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the 
4th  July,  General  Goeben  sent  Wrangel's  brigade 
against  Wiesenthal,  and  Kummer's  against  Neid- 
hartshausen.  The  latter  village,  as  well  as  the 
neighbouring  heights,  were  found  strongly  occupied 
by  the  enemy.  They  were  carried  only  after  a 
long  and  hard  struggle,  the  scene  of  which  was 


96 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


marked  by  the  numbers  of  Prussian  killed  and 
wounded.  Towards  noon  the  Bavarian  detach- 
ments which  had  been  driven  from  Neidhartshausen 
and  Zella  received  reinforcements.  Prince  Charles 
determined  to  hold  Diedorf.  He  ordered  a  brigade 
to  advance  beyond  this  village,  and  take  up  a 
position  on  the  hills  on  the  further  side.  The 
Prussians  opened  a  heavy  fire  of  artillery  and 
small-arms  from  Zella  upon  the  advancing  Bava- 
rians, who  could  gain  no  ground  under  such  a 
shower  of  missiles,  nor  produce  any  change  in  the 
positions  of  the  combatants  at  this  point,  until 
the  termination  of  the  action.  A  severe  combat, 
meanwhile,  was  being  fought  at  Wiesenthal.  When 
General  Kummer  left  Dermbach,  he  detached  two 
battalions  to  his  left,  with  orders  to  occupy  the 
defile  of  Lindenau,  while  Wrangcl's  brigade  ad- 
vanced against  Wiesenthal.  Wrangcl's  advanced 
guard  consisted  of  a  squadron  of  cavalry  and  a 
battalion  of  infantry,  which  moved  along  the  road 
in  column  of  companies.  Hardly  had  it  reached 
the  high  ground  in  front  of  the  village,  when  it 
was  sharply  assailed  by  a  well-directed  fire  of  bullets 
and  round  shot.  Heavy  rain  prevented  the  men 
from  seeing  clearly  what  was  in  their  front,  but 
they  pressed  on,  and  the  enemy  was  pushed  back 
into  the  barricaded  villages,  and  up  the  hills  on  its 
southern  side.  Before  the  Prussian  advanced  guard 
reached  Wiesenthal,  the  rain  cleared  up,  and  the 
Bavarians  could  be  seen  hurrying  away  from  the 
place,  in  order  to  take  up  a  position  with  four 
battalions,  a  battery,  and  several  squadrons  at  the 
foot  of  the  Nebelsberg.  The  Prussian  battalion 
from  Lindenau  had  arrived  on  the  south  flank 
of  Wiesenthal ;  another  came  up  with  that  of 
the  advanced  guard,  and  the  Prussians  occupied 
the  village.  The  Prussian  artillery  also  arrived, 
and  came  into  action  with  great  effect  against  a 
Bavarian  battery  posted  on  the  south-west  of 
Wiesenthal.  At  the  same  time  the  needle-gun 
told  severely  on  the  Bavarian  battalions  at  the  foot 
of  the  Nebelsberg.  Three  of  these  retired  into  the 
woods  which  cover  the  summit  of  that  hill,  while 
the  fourth  took  post  behind  the  rising  ground. 
Swarms  of  Prussian  skirmishers  swept  swiftly 
across  the  plain  in  front,  and  made  themselves 
masters  of  the  edge  of  the  wood  ;  but  the  Bavarians 
held  fast  to  the  trees  inside,  and  would  not  be 
ousted.  Two  fresh  batteries  of  Bavarian  artillery, 
and  several  new  battalions,  were  seen  hurrying  up 
from  Rossdorf.     At  this  moment  it  was  supposed 


that  Manteuffci's  cannonade  was  heard  opening  in 
the  direction  of  Nornshausen.  It  was  in  truth  but 
the  echo  of  the  engaged  artillery;  but  the  Prussian 
columns,  animated  by  the  sound,  hurried  forward, 
and  dashed  with  the  bayonet  against  the  wood- 
crested  hill.  The  Bavarians  awaited  the  charge, 
and  their  riflemen  made  a  serious  impression  upon 
the  advancing  masses,  but  the  men  of  Westphalia 
still  rushed  on.  After  a  short,  sharp  struggle,  the 
hill  was  carried ;  and  the  Bavarians  fled  down 
the  reverse  slope,  leaving  hundreds  of  corpses, 
grisly  sacrifices  to  the  needle-gun,  to  mark  the  line 
of  their  flight.  General  Goeben,  having  achieved 
his  object,  halted  his  troops  and  prepared  to  rejoin 
Falckenstein.  Leaving  a  rear-guard  of  one  battalion, 
three  squadrons,  and  a  battery  to  cover  his  move- 
ment, and  the  removal  of  the  killed  and  wounded, 
he  withdrew  his  two  brigades  to  Dermbach.  The 
Bavarian  march,  undertaken  for  the  purpose  of 
uniting  with  the  eighth  corps,  had  been  checked, 
and  Falckenstein  had  lodged  his  leading  columns 
securely  between  the  separated  portions  of  his 
adversary's  army.  The  Bavarians  in  the  night, 
finding  their  road  barred,  retired,  to  seek  a  junc- 
tion with  Prince  Alexander  by  some  other  route. 
They  did  not,  however,  move  over  the  western 
spurs  of  the  Hohe  Rhone,  in  the  direction  of 
Bruckenau,  whence  they  might  have  stretched 
a  hand  to  Prince  Alexander,  who  on  the  night 
between  the  5th  and  6th  July  was  only  seven 
miles  from  Fulda.  They  preferred  moving  by 
the  woods  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  mountains 
towards  the  Franconian  Saale  and  Kissingen.  This 
movement  separated  them  from  their  allies,  instead 
of  bringing  the  two  corps  closer  together.  Prince 
Alexander  had  sent  an  officer  to  the  Bavarian  camp, 
who  was  present  at  the  action  at  Wiesenthal,  and 
returned  to  his  head-quarters  with  a  report  of 
the  failure  of  the  Bavarians.  On  the  receipt  of 
this  intelligence,  Prince  Alexander  appears  to  have 
abandoned  all  hope  of  effecting  a  junction  with 
Prince  Charles  north  of  the  Maine.  He  faced 
about  and  moved  back  to  Frankfort,  a  town, 
which,  until  its  subsequent  occupation  by  the 
Prussians,  appears  always  to  have  had  a  singular 
attraction  for  the  eighth  federal  corps. 

On  the  same  4th  July  that  General  Goeben 
pressed  the  Bavarians  back  at  Wiesenthal,  the  lead- 
ing division  of  Falckenstcin's  army  had  a  singular 
skirmish  in  the  direction  of  Hiinfeld.  As  General 
Beyer,  who   commanded  the    Prussian   advanced 


THE  FEANGO-PKUSSIAN  WAR 


97 


guard,  approached  that  town,  he  found  two  squad- 
rons of  Bavarian  cavalry  in  front  of  him.  Two 
guns  accompanying  these  horsemen  opened  fire  on 
the  Prussians.  The  weather  was  wet,  and  a  clammy 
mist  held  the  smoke  of  the  cannon,  so  that  it 
hung  like  a  weighty  cloud  over  the  mouths  of  the 
pieces.  A  Prussian  battery  opened  in  reply.  The 
first  shot  so  surprised  the  Bavarians,  who  had 
not  anticipated  that  there  was  artillery  with  the 
advanced  guard,  that  the  cuirassiers  turned  about 
and  sought  safety  in  a  wild  flight.  They  left  one 
of  their  guns,  which  in  their  haste  they  had  not 
limbered  up.  Beyer  pressed  forward,  and  found 
Hiinfeld  evacuated  by  the  enemy.  It  is  said  that 
these  cuirassiers,  who  had  been  pushed  forward 
by  Prince  Alexander  to  open  communication  with 
Prince  Charles,  were  so  dismayed  by  one  well- 
aimed  cannon  shot,  that  many  of  them  did  not 
draw  rein  till  they  reached  Wiirzburg.  As  Prince 
Alexander  withdrew  towards  Frankfort,  Falcken- 
stein  pushed  forward.  On  the  6th  he  occupied 
Fulda  with  Beyer's  division,  while  Goeben  and 
Manteuffel  encamped  on  the  north  towards  Hiin- 
feld, and  the  object  of  the  Prussian  advance  was 
obtained.  On  the  5th  July  the  Bavarians  and  the 
eighth  Federal  corps  were  separated  from  each 
other  by  only  thirty  miles ;  on  the  7th,  seventy 
miles  lay  between  them. 

On  the  8th  General  Falckenstein  commenced 
his  march  from  Fulda.  He  did  not  turn  towards 
Gelnhausen,  as  was  expected  in  the  Bavarian  camp, 
but  moved  against  the  position  of  Prince  Charles, 
reaching  Briickenau  on  the  9th,  when  orders  were 
given  for  a  flank  march  to  the  left  over  the  Hohe 
Rhon  against  the  Bavarians  on  the  Saale.  Beyer's 
division  moved  as  the  right  wing  along  the  road 
to  Hammelburg ;  Goeben  advanced  in  the  centre 
towards  Kissingen ;  and  Manteuffel  on  the  left  upon 
Waldaschach.  On  the  morning  of  the  10th,  at 
nine  o'clock,  Beyer's  division,  which  had  received 
very  doubtful  intelligence  of  the  presence  of  the 
Bavarians  in  Hammelburg,  began  its  march  to- 
wards that  town,  and  in  an  hour's  time  the  head 
of  the  advanced  guard  fell  in  with  the  first  patrols 
of  the  enemy's  cavalry  in  front  of  Unter  Erthal, 
a  small  village  on  the  road  from  Briickenau,  about 
two  miles  south  of  Hammelburg.  The  patrols 
retired  on  the  Prussian  advance,  but  unmasked  a 
rifled  battery  posted  between  the  houses.  A  Prus- 
sian field  battery  quickly  unlimbered  and  came 
into  action.     Under  cover  of  its  fire  an  infantry 


regiment  made  a  dash  at  the  bridge  by  which  the 
road  from  Briickenau  crosses  the  Thulba  stream, 
which  was  not  seriously  defended ;  and  after 
a  short  cannonade  the  Bavarians  drew  back  to 
Hammelburg.  At  mid-day  three  Prussian  batteries 
topped  the  Hobels  Berg,  and  after  a  few  rounds 
from  them,  the  infantry  rushed  down  with  loud 
cheers  to  carry  the  houses.  This  was  not  an  easy 
task,  for  part  of  the  Bavarian  division  Zoller,  num- 
bering some  3000  men,  held  the  town,  and  deter- 
mined to  bar  the  passage  of  the  Saale.  The  odds, 
however,  were  too  unequal,  for  the  Prussians 
numbered  about  15,000  men.  Yet  the  Bavarians 
clung  with  courage  to  the  houses,  and  opened 
a  sharp  fire  of  small -arms  on  the  assailants. 
Their  artillery,  too,  well  supported  the  infantry 
defence.  Two  Prussian  infantry  regiments  threw 
out  skirmishers,  and  attempted  to  put  down  the 
fire  of  the  Bavarian  riflemen.  But  these  were 
under  cover  of  the  houses,  and  their  artillery  from 
the  hill  of  Saalch  splintered  its  shells  among  the 
ranks  of  the  Prussian  sharp-shooters.  For  about 
an  hour  the  fight  was  equally  sustained;  then 
two  more  Prussian  regiments  and  two  additional 
batteries  came  into  play.  The  Prussian  pieces 
threw  their  heavy  metal  upon  the  Bavarian  guns 
at  Saalch,  until  the  fire  of  the  latter  grew  wreaker, 
and  was  at  length  silenced  by  superior  weight. 
Some  houses,  kindled  by  the  Prussian  shells,  at  the 
same  time  caught  fire,  and  the  town  began  to  burn 
fiercely  in  three  places.  Still  the  Bavarians  clung 
to  the  bridge,  and  stood  their  ground,  careless 
equally  of  the  flames  and  of  the  heavy  cannonade. 
Beyer  sent  forth  his  jiigers  to  storm  the  place,  and 
the  defenders  could  not  endure  the  assault.  The 
quick  bullets  of  the  needle-gun  rained  in  showers 
among  the  burning  buildings,  scattering  death 
among  the  garrison.  The  stoutly  defended  town 
was  abandoned,  and  the  Bavarians,  pursued  by 
salvos  of  artillery,  drew  off  to  the  south-east,  while 
the  Prussians  gained  the  passage  of  the  Saale  at 
Hammelburg. 

On  the  day  that  General  Beyer  fought  the  action 
of  Hammelburg  on  the  right,  Falckenstein's  central 
column  was  heavily  engaged  with  the  main  body 
of  the  Bavarians  at  the  celebrated  bathing-place 
of  Kissingen.  On  the  5th  July  eighty  Bavarian 
troopers,  flying  from  Hiinfeld,  passed  in  hot  haste 
through  the  town.  Visitors  and  inhabitants  were 
much  alarmed ;  but  the  burgomaster  quieted  them 
by  a  promise  that  he  would  give  twenty-four  hours' 


98 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


warning  if  the  place  were  in  danger  of  being 
attacked  by  the  Prussians.  This  assurance  had  all 
the  more  weight,  because  even  so  late  as  on  the 
8th  July  Bavarian  staff-officers  were  sauntering 
about  the  Kurgarten  as  quietly  as  if  in  time  of  the 
most  profound  peace.  Some  of  the  troops  which 
had  been  quartered  in  Kissingen  and  its  neigh- 
bourhood were,  on  the  9th,  sent  to  Hammelburg. 
All  appeared  still,  yet  the  inhabitants  of  the  neigh- 
bouring villages  were  flying  from  their  houses  to 
avoid  the  Prussians.  The  Bavarian  intelligence 
department  does  not  appear  to  have  been  well 
served.  By  mid-day  on  the  9th  it  was  too  late 
for  the  burgomaster  to  give  his  warning,  that  the 
Prussians  were  near.  The  Bavarians  concentrated 
about  20,000  men,  and  took  up  their  position. 
Neither  visitors  nor  inhabitants  could  now  retire, 
but  had  to  remain  involuntary  witnesses  of  a 
battle.  Those  who  lived  in  the  Hotel  Sanner, 
which,  lies  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Saale,  were 
allowed  to  move  into  the  less  exposed  part  of  the 
town.  No  one  was  permitted  to  quit  the  place, 
lest  he  should  convey  intelligence  to  the  enemy 
of  the  dispositions  of  the  Bavarian  army.  Three 
of  the  bridges  over  the  Saale  were  destroyed;  but 
the  supports  were  left  to  one  made  of  iron,  in  front 
of  the  Alten  Berg.  It  was  by  the  assistance  of 
these  supports  that  the  Prussians  gained  the  first 
passage  of  the  river;  for  they  knew  the  localities 
well,  many  of  their  staff-officers  having  frequented 
the  fashionable  watering  place.  The  stone  bridge 
was  barricaded  as  hastily  as  possible,  and  its 
approach  protected  by  two  twelve-pounder  guns. 
Five  battalions,  with  twelve  guns,  held  the  town 
itself.  The  Bavarians,  who  were  commanded  by 
Zoller,  general  of  the  division,  had  chosen  a  very 
strong  position;  they  held  the  houses  next  to  the 
bridge,  as  well  as  the  bank  of  the  Saale  beyond  the 
bridge.  Their  artillery  was  posted  on  the  Stadt 
Berg,  but  not  on  the  important  Finster  Berg.  A 
battery  on  the  latter  hill  would  have  prevented 
the  Prussians  from  gaining  the  passages  of  the 
river  from  the  Alten  Berg.  Behind  the  village 
of  Haussen  guns  were  also  in  position.  All  the 
bridges  outside  of  Kissingen  were  destroyed,  and 
all  points  favourable  for  defence  occupied  by 
infantry. 

On  the  10th  July,  at  early  morning,  Prussian 
hussars  made  their  appearance,  and  were  followed 
by  columns  advancing  on  the  roads  towards  Klaus- 
hof  and  Garitz,  west  of  Kissingen,  while  a  battery 


came  into  position  on  a  hill  between  Garitz  and 
the  river.  At  half  past  seven  in  the  morning, 
the  Bavarian  guns  near  Winkels  and  the  two 
twelve-pounders  at  the  bridge  opened  on  the 
leading  Prussian  columns,  which  consisted  of 
General  Kummcr's  brigade.  Kummer's  artillery 
replied,  and  in  a  short  time  the  rattle  of  musketry, 
mingling  with  the  heavier  booming  of  the  guns, 
told  that  he  was  sharply  engaged. 

The  main  body  of  Goeben's  division  had,  in  the 
meantime,  reached  Schlimhoff.  Here  it  received 
orders  to  detach  three  battalions  by  Poppenroth 
and  Klaushof,  who  were  to  attack  Friedrichshall 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Goltza.  When 
General  Wrangel's  brigade  approached  Kissingen 
it  received  orders  to  advance  on  the  right  wing  of 
Kummer's  brigade  to  seize  the  Alten  Berg,  and 
if  possible,  extending  to  its  right,  to  outflank  the 
Bavarian  position.  The  Alten  Berg  being  quickly 
cleared  of  Bavarian  riflemen  by  the  Prussian 
jiigers,  a  company  under  Captain  von  Busche 
was  sent  against  the  bridge  to  the  south  of 
Kissingen,  where,  though  partially  destroyed, 
the  piers  had  been  left  standing.  Tables,  forms, 
and  timber  were  seized  from  some  neighbouring 
houses,  with  which  very  secretly  and  rapidly  the 
broken  bridge  was  restored  so  far  that  before  mid- 
day men  could  cross  it  in  single  file.  Von  Busche 
led  his  company  over  the  stream,  and  into  a  road 
on  the  further  side,  from  the  corner  of  which  the 
enemy's  marksmen  annoyed  his  men  considerably. 
This  company  was  followed  by  a  second,  and  as 
quickly  as  possible  the  whole  battalion  was  thrown 
across  the  stream  and  gained  the  wood  on  the 
south-east  of  Kissingen,  where  a  column  was  formed, 
and  under  the  cover  of  skirmishers  advanced  against 
the  town.  More  men  were  pushed  across  the  re- 
paired bridge,  and  ere  long  two  battalions  and  a 
half  of  Prussians  were  engaged  among  the  houses  in 
a  street  fight.  The  remaining  portion  of  Wrangel's 
brigade  was  at  this  time  directed  in  support  of 
Kumnier  against  the  principal  bridge.  Infantry 
and  artillery  fire  caused  the  Prussians  severe  losses; 
but  they  pushed  on  towards  the  barricade.  Their 
artillery  outnumbered  that  of  the  defending  force, 
and  protected  by  it  they  carried  the  bridge. 

The  passage  of  the  stream  by  the  Prussians 
decided  the  action.  They  secured  the  Finster 
Berg  and  the  Bodenlaube,  with  the  old  castle  of 
that  name,  and  pushed  forward  with  loud  cheers 
into  the  heart  of  the  town.     Here  the  Bavarian 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


99 


light  infantry  fought  hard,  and,  suffering  heavy 
sacrifices  themselves,  inflicted  grievous  loss  upon 
the  Prussians.  The  Kurgarten,  held  by  300 
riflemen,  stormed  unsuccessfully  three  times  by 
Wrangel's  men,  was  carried  on  the  fourth  as- 
sault. A  young  lieutenant,  who  commanded  the 
Bavarians,  refusing  with  the  whole  of  his  men 
to  ask  quarter,  fell  in  the  place  they  held  so  well. 
At  a  little  after  three  the  whole  town  was  in 
possession  of  the  Prussians. 

The  Bavarians  did  not  yet  renounce  the  com- 
bat. The  corps  which  retreated  from  Kissingen 
took  up  a  position  on  the  hill  east  of  the  town, 
and  renewed  the  battle.  Wrangel's  brigade  re- 
ceived orders  to  clear  the  hills  south  of  the  road 
which  leads  to  Nullingen.  The  Bavarians  had 
taken  up  a  position  on  both  sides  of  the  road,  and 
greeted  the  Prussians  with  an  artillery  fire  from 
the  Linn  Berg.  They  continued  the  fight  till 
seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  Wrangel  occu- 
pied Winkels.  The  Bavarians  were  supposed  to 
be  retiring,  and  Wrangel's  troops  were  about  to 
bivouac,  when  a  report  came  in  that  the  Bavarians 
were  advancing  in  force.  General  Wrangel  in 
person  went  to  the  outposts,  and  was  receiving 
the  reports  from  the  commanding  officer  of  the 
nineteenth  regiment,  when  some  rifle  bullets  came 
from  the  southern  hill  into  his  closed  columns. 
The  Bavarians,  under  Prince  Charles  himself,  had 
come  down  with  nine  fresh  battalions  of  their  first 
division,  had  seized  the  hills  which  lie  to  the  north 
of  the  road,  and  were  pressing  rapidly  forward  un- 
der cover  of  their  artillery.  The  Prussians  were 
pushed  back,  and  took  up  a  position  on  the  heights 
south-east  of  Winkels,  where  two  batteries  came 
into  play.  From  thence  troops  were  sent  by 
Wrangel  into  the  hills  north  and  south  of  the 
road  flanking  the  enemy,  and  immediately  after- 
wards the  whole  brigade  advanced  in  double-quick 
time,  with  drums  beating,  to  a  charge  that  suc- 
ceeded, though  with  loss.  The  Bavarians  were 
driven  back,  the  Prussians  regained  their  former 
position,  and  Prince  Charles  relinquished  his  attack. 

The  Prussian  left  column,  which  was  formed 
by  Manteuffel's  division,  on  the  10th  July  secured 
the  passage  of  the  river  at  Waldaschach  about 
five  miles  above  Kissingen,  and  at  Haussen.  At 
neither  place  did  the  Bavarians  make  any  obstinate 
stand.  In  these  actions  on  the  Saale  the  Bavarians 
appear  to  have  been  taken  by  surprise.  The 
Prussian  march,  previous  to  the  battle  of  Kissingen, 


was  so  rapid  that  their  attack  was  not  expected  till 
the  following  day.  In  consequence,  the  Bavarian 
force  was  not  concentrated  on  the  river.  The 
troops  which  held  Kissingen  and  Hammelburg 
were  unsupported,  those  which  should  have  acted 
as  their  reserves  being  too  far  distant  to  be  of 
any  service.  Not  reaching  the  scene  of  action  till 
their  comrades  had  been  defeated,  they,  instead  of 
acting  as  reinforcements,  met  with  a  similar  fate. 

The  army  of  Bavaria  boasted  to  have  had  at 
that  time  126  cannon.  Of  these  only  twelve  came 
into  action  at  Kissingen,  five  at  Hammelburg. 
The  rest  were  uselessly  scattered  along  the  bank 
of  the  Saale,  between  these  two  places.  The 
staff  was  unprepared,  having  no  maps  of  the 
country,  except  one  which  the  chief  of  the  staff, 
General  von  der  Tann,  had  borrowed  from  a  native 
of  one  of  the  small  towns  near  the  field. 

When  Prince  Alexander  of  Hesse  turned  to 
retreat  on  the  5th  July,  he  might  still,  by  a  rapid 
march  along  the  road  which  leads  from  Lauterbach 
to  Briickenau,  have  made  an  attempt  to  unite 
with  the  Bavarians  before  they  were  attacked  at 
Kissingen  by  the  Prussians.  This  course  he 
appears,  however,  to  have  considered  too  hazard- 
ous, for  he  retired  to  Frankfort,  and  on  the  9th 
July  concentrated  his  troops  round  that  town. 
Frequent  alarms  made  it  evident  how  little  con- 
fidence pervaded  the  federal  corps  of  Prince 
Alexander.  The  news  of  the  victory  won  by 
the  Prussians  at  Koniggratz  was  widely  circulated 
through  the  ranks  by  the  Frankfort  journals. 
Every  moment  reports  were  rife  that  Prussian 
columns  were  advancing  towards  Frankfort  from 
Wetzlar,  or  Giessen ;  and  on  one  occasion  an 
officer,  by  spreading  the  alarm,  caused  a  whole 
division  to  lose  their  night's  rest,  and  take  up  a 
position  in  order  of  battle. 

No  firm  union  existed  between  the  different 
divisions  of  the  eighth  corps,  which  h&d  not  been 
concentrated  for  twenty-four  years.  The  organi- 
zation, the  arms,  the  uniforms,  were  all  different. 
The  hussars  of  Hesse-Cassel,  for  instance,  were 
dressed  and  accoutred  so  similarly  to  Prussian 
cavalry,  that  the  Austrians  fired  upon  them  at 
Asschaffenburg. 

The  day  after  the  victory  at  Kissingen,  General 
Falckenstein  turned  his  attention  against  this 
heterogeneous  mass  without  fear  of  any  assault 
on  his  rear  by  the  Bavarians,  who  after  the 
battle    of    Kissincren   had   retired    in    such   haste 


100 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


towards  the  Maine,  that  Manteuffel's  division,  sent 
in  pursuit,  could  not  reach  them.  On  the  11th 
duly  Beyer's  division  marched  by  way  of  Ham- 
melburg  and  Gelnhausen  on  Hanau,  without  fall- 
ing in  with  the  Wiirtemburg  division  which  held 
Gelnhausen.  On  the  14th  the  Wurtemburgers 
retired  in  great  haste,  without  throwing  any 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  advancing  Prussians, 
either  by  breaking  the  bridges  or  by  any  other 
means.  The  division  of  General  Goeben  was 
directed,  at  the  same  time,  through  the  defile  of 
the  Spessart,  upon  Aschaffenburg,  and  found  the 
passes  unoccupied  and  unbarricaded.  Notwith- 
standing the  presence  in  the  district  of  large 
numbers  of  foresters,  no  abattis  or  entanglements 
were  placed  across  the  road.  Xone  of  the  almost 
unassailable  heights  were  occupied,  either  to  pre- 
vent the  direct  progress  of  the  Prussians,  or  to 
threaten  their  line  of  march  in  flank.  The  rail- 
way, which  was  still  serviceable,  was  not  used  to 
convey  the  small  number  of  riflemen  and  guns, 
which  at  Gemunden,  as  at  many  other  points, 
might  have  thrown  some  difficulties  in  Goeben's 
way.  ManteufFel's  division  followed  Goeben's, 
and  scoured  the  country  in  the  direction  of 
Wiirzburg.  Between  Gemunden  and  Aschaffen- 
burg the  river  Maine  makes  a  deep  bend  to  the 
south.  Into  the  bow  thus  formed,  the  mountain- 
ous region  of  the  Spessart  protrudes,  through 
which  the  road  and  railway  lead  directly  west- 
ward from  Gemunden  to  the  latter  town.  On 
the  13th  July,  Wrangel's  brigade  was  approaching 
Hayn,  when  a  report  came  in  that  the  enemy's 
cavalry  and  infantry  were  advancing  from  Laufach. 
They  were  troops  of  Hesse-Darmstadt,  and  were 
without  difficulty  pushed  back,  while  the  village 
of  Laufach  was  taken,  and  the  railway  station 
occupied.  The  enemy  with  eight  or  nine  bat- 
talions— about  8000  men — and  two  batteries, 
resumed  the  offensive.  The  Prussians  occupied 
the  churchyard  and  the  village  of  Frohnhb'fen, 
and  after  a  severe  contest,  in  which  all  Wrangel's 
available  troops  were  engaged,  not  only  repulsed 
all  the  assaults  of  the  Hessians,  but  made  a 
counter-attack  which  was  attended  with  complete 
success.  The  Hessians  drew  off  from  all  points 
towards  Aschaffenburg,  leaving  more  than  100 
prisoners,  with  500  killed  and  wounded,  in  the 
hands  of  the  victors.  On  the  Prussian  side  the 
loss  was  very  small,  twenty  men  and  one  officer. 
The   advantages    of    ground,   disposition,    and 


leading  were  all  on  the  side  of  the  Prussians,  who 
gained  their  success,  although  very  weary  from 
a  long  march,  without  any  exertions  worthy  of 
mention.  They  had  so  quickly  and  skilfully 
availed  themselves  of  each  local  advantage,  for  the 
defence  of  their  line  by  infantry  and  artillery  fire, 
that  all  the  reckless  bravery  of  the  Hessians  had  no 
other  result  than  to  inflict  upon  themselves  very 
severe  losses.  After  the  action  of  the  13th  July, 
Wrangel's  brigade  bivouacked  at  Laufach,  with  an 
advanced  post  of  three  battalions  round  Frohn- 
hofen.  On  the  14th,  at  seven  in  the  morning,  the 
further  march  on  Aschaffenburg  commenced.  On 
the  hill  of  Weiberhofen,  Wrangel's  brigade  fell  in 
with  that  of  General  Kummer,  which  had  moved 
by  a  route  on  the  south  of  the  railway.  General 
Goeben  then  ordered  a  general  advance.  He  moved 
Wrangel's  brigade  along  the  road,  Kummer's  on 
the  railway  embankment ;  and  with  a  hussar  and 
cuirassier  regiment  drawn  from  the  reserve,  covered 

I  his  right  flank  by  moving  them  through  the  open 
fields  on    the   south    of  the  road.     Hosbach  was 

I  found  unoccupied  by  the  enemy,  as  was  also  Gold- 
bach.      On  the  further  side  of  the  latter  village  the 

j  infantry  fire  opened.  The  Prussian  regiments 
pushed  forward  to  the  wooded  bank  of  the  Laufach 
stream.     The  Federal  corps  here  consisted  of  the 

'  Austrian  division  under  General  Count  Xeipperg, 
formed  of  troops  which  had  originally  garrisoned 
Mainz,  Rastadt,  and  Frankfort.  There  were  also 
some  of  the  Hesse-Darmstadt  troops,  whose  fire 
caused  the  Prussians  little  loss.  An  Austrian 
battery,  posted  on  a  hill  south  of  Aschaffenburg  and 
admirably  served,  greatly  annoyed  the  Prussians, 
and  held  them  at  bay  until  three  of  their  battalions 
pushed  along  the  stream  nearer  to  the  village  of 
Daurm,  and  made  themselves  masters  of  a  hill 
surrounded  by  a  tower  walled  in.  Protected  by 
this  the  infantry  succeeded  in  forcing  the  enemy's 
artillery  to  retire,  and  in  checking  the  advance 
of  some  squadrons  of  Federal  cavalry.  As  soon  as 
the  Austrian  battery  drew  back,  a  general  advance 
was  made  against  Aschaffenburg,  which  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  high  wall  that  offered  the  Austrians 
cover,  and  a  convenient  opportunity  for  defence. 
The  Prussian  artillery  coming  into  action  on  the 
top  of  a  hill,  soon  showed  itself  superior  to  that  of 
the  Austrians;  and  after  shelling  the  environs  of 
the  town,  and  the  gardens  which  lay  in  front  of 
the  walls,  the  Prussians  stormed  and  gained  the 
walls   without  much  loss.      There   was 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR, 


101 


conflict  at  the  railway  station,  but  nowhere  else  in 
the  town.  AschafFenburg  having  only  two  gates, 
the  Anstrians  in  their  retreat  towards  the  bridge 
over  the  Maine  came  to  a  dead  lock;  2000  of  their 
number,  mostly  Italians,  were  made  prisoners. 
Reconnoitring  parties  were  at  once  pushed  on 
towards  Frankfort,  and  the  reward  of  victory  was 
reaped  in  the  evacuation  of  that  important  town, 
and  of  the  line  of  the  Maine,  by  the  Federal  forces. 
Wrangel's  brigade  was  pushed  forward  by  forced 
marches  to  Hanau.  About  five  o'clock  on  the 
evening  of  the  16th  July,  the  first  Prussians,  a 
regiment  of  cuirassiers  and  a  regiment  of  hussars, 
arrived  near  Frankfort,  brought  in  a  train  from 
AschafFenburg.  They  got  out  of  the  carriages 
a  short  distance  from  the  city  gates,  and  took  up 
a  position  on  the  Hanau  road.  At  seven  a  patrol 
of  the  hussars,  led  by  an  officer,  halted  before  the 
city  gate,  and  in  another  quarter  of  an  hour  the 
head  of  the  vanguard  passed  in.  The  populace 
were  for  the  most  part  sullenly  silent.  A  few 
insulting  cries  to  the  Prussians  were  occasionally 
heard  from  some  of  the  windows,  but  the  soldiers 
took  no  notice  of  them.  Generals  Vogel  von 
Falckenstein,  Goeben,  Wrangel,  and  Treskow, 
surrounded  by  the  officers  of  the  staff,  rode  in 
at  the  head  of  the  main  body,  while  the  bands 
of  the  regiments  played  Prussian  national  airs. 
Before  ten  o'clock  the  whole  line  of  march  had 
entered.  The  telegraph  and  post-office  were  occu- 
pied. The  railway  station  was  garrisoned,  and 
guards  established  over  all  the  principal  buildings. 
The  town  of  Frankfort  was  virtually  annexed  to 
the  Prussian  monarchy.  Next  day  the  remainder 
of  Falckenstein's  force  entered  the  town,  and 
some  troops,  pushing  forward  south  of  the  city, 
captured  a  Hessian  bridge  train.  The  general 
established  his  head-quarters  in  Frankfort,  and 
published  a  proclamation  announcing  that  he  had 
assumed  temporarily  the  government  of  the  duchy 
of  Nassau,  the  town  and  territory  of  Frankfort, 
and  the  portions  of  Bavaria  and  Hesse-Darmstadt 
which  his  troops  had  occupied.  The  civil  func- 
tionaries of  these  districts  were  retained  in  their 
posts,  but  were  directed  to  receive  no  order  except 
from  the  Prussian  commander-in-chief.  Several 
of  the  Frankfort  papers,  which  had  always  been 
distinguished  for  strong  anti-Prussian  feeling,  were 
suppressed.  The  eleven  armed  unions  (  Vereine) 
which  had  existed  in  the  city  were  abolished;  and 
the  functions  of  the  senate  and  college  of  burghers 


established  by  a  general  order.  Six  millions  of 
gulden  (£600,000)  were  demanded  from  the  town 
as  a  war  contribution,  and  after  much  grumbling 
paid  by  the  citizens.  When  afterwards,  on  the 
20th  of  July,  an  additional  contribution  of  twenty 
millions  of  gulden  (£2,000,000  sterling)  was  de- 
manded, a  universal  cry  of  indignation  and  horror 
arose.  In  the  meantime,  General  von  Roedcr 
had  been  appointed  governor  of  the  town,  and  to 
him  the  burgomaster  represented,  on  the  23rd 
of  July,  that  the  town  had  already  furnished 
six  millions  of  gulden,  and  about  two  millions  of 
rations,  and  begged  to  appeal  to  the  king  against 
the  second  tax.  So  much  did  this  misfortune 
of  his  city  weigh  on  the  burgomaster's  mind,  that 
he  committed  suicide  the  same  night.  The  town 
sent  a  deputation  to  Berlin,  which  supported  by 
the  foreign  press  succeeded  in  averting  the  second 
contribution.  Frankfort  shortly  afterwards  was 
united  definitively  to  Prussia,  and  the  first  contri- 
bution of  six  millions,  though  not  actually  returned 
to  the  citizens,  was  retained  by  the  government 
to  be  expended  in  public  works  for  the  benefit 
of  the  city. 

On  the  14th  July  General  Falckenstein  issued 
a  general  order  to  his  troops,  recapitulating  their 
victories  and  expressing  his  thanks.  The  thirteenth 
division,  he  said,  was  "fortunate"  in  being  generally 
at  the  head  of  the  corps,  and  the  first  to  come  into 
collision  with  the  enemy.  It  showed  itself  wortby 
of  this  honourable  post,  as  did  the  intelligence  and 
energy  of  its  leader  in  taking  advantage  of  his 
opportunities.  In  less  than  fourteen  days  this 
fortunate  general  had  defeated  two  armies,  each 
as  strong  as  his  own,  and  in  a  country  by  no 
means  advantageous  for  the  offensive,  had  so 
manoeuvred  as  to  separate  by  seventy  miles  adver- 
saries who  at  the  beginning  of  the  contest  were 
within  thirty  miles  of  each  other.  On  the  16th  of 
July  he  was  able  to  report  to  the  king,  that  all  the 
German  territory  north  of  the  Maine  was  in  pos- 
session of  the  Prussians. 

CAMPAIGN   SOUTH   OF  THE   MAINE. 

The  day  that  General  Falckenstein  published 
his  general  order  to  the  troops,  the  army  of  the 
Maine  lost  its  commander.  For  some  as  yet  unex- 
plained offence  to  the  king  or  his  courtiers  the 
rough  old  general  was  recalled,  and  was  offered 
the  appointment  of  military  governor-general  of 
Bohemia,  an  appointment  which  he  did  not  accept 


102 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


until  solicited  by  the  king  to  do  so.  The  import- 
ance of  the  communications  of  the  main  Prussian 
armies  with  the  provinces  of  Saxony  and  Silesia, 
which  were  threatened  by  the  three  fortresses  of 
Theresienstadt,  Josephstadt,  and  Koniggriitz,  led 
the  king  of  Prussia  to  appoint  General  Falckenstein 
as  military  governor-general  of  that  province. 

General  Manteuffel  assumed  the  command  of  the 
army  of  the  Maine,  and  on  the  18th  July  occupied 
Wiesbaden.  On  the  20th,  Kummer's  brigade  was 
pushed  southwards  as  an  advanced  guard,  and 
entered  Darmstadt ;  but  the  main  body  of  the  army 
halted  at  Frankfort  until  the  21st,  for  reinforce- 
ments. Of  the  12,000  auxiliaries  which  came  up 
from  the  Hanse  towns  and  other  places,  5000  men 
were  left  to  hold  the  line  of  the  Maine  at  Frank- 
fort, Hanau,  and  Aschaffenburg,  and  the  remainder 
served  to  raise  the  active  army  to  a  strength  of 
60,000  combatants. 

A  second  reserve  corps  to  the  number  of  23,000 
men  was  formed  at  the  same  tune  at  Leipzig,  under 
the  command  of  the  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg- 
Schwerin.  It  was  intended  to  enter  Bavaria  by 
way  of  Hof,  and  either  to  act  against  the  rear 
of  the  united  Bavarian  or  federal  corps,  while 
engaged  with  General  Manteuffel,  or  to  force  the 
Bavarian  army  to  form  front  towards  the  east,  and 
prevent  Prince  Charles  of  Bavaria  from  acting  in 
concert  with  Prince  Alexander  against  Manteuffel. 

By  the  21st  July  the  railroad  from  Frankfort 
to  Cassel  had  been  repaired  and  was  available 
throughout  its  whole  length,  not  only  for  mili- 
tary transport,  but  also  for  private  traffic.  On  that 
day  the  main  body  of  the  army  of  the  Maine 
quitted  Frankfort,  and  moved  towards  the  south, 
while  Beyer's  division  advanced  from  Hanau.  The 
Bavarians  had  concentrated,  and  were  in  position 
near  Wiirzburg.  It  appeared  probable  that  part 
of  the  eighth  federal  corps  intended  to  hold  the 
defiles  of  the  Odenwald,  and  the  line  of  the  Neckar, 
while  the  remainder  joined  the  Bavarians  near  the 
Tauber.  To  take  advantage  of  two  roads,  in  order 
to  move  quickly  upon  Prince  Alexander  before 
he  was  firmly  linked  with  the  Bavarians,  and  to 
shield  his  own  right  flank  against  any  detachments 
lurking  in  the  Odenwald,  General  Manteuffel  moved 
Goeben's  division  by  Darmstadt  on  Konieg,  while 
Flies  and  Beyer  pushed  up  the  valley  of  the  Maine 
by  Woerth. 

On  the  23rd  the  army  of  the  Maine  occupied 
a  position  near  Mottenberg  and    Amorbach.      It 


was  found  that  the  enemy  was  in  force  on  the 
Tauber,  and  that  his  advanced  posts  were  pushed 
over  the  river  as  far  as  Hundheim.  On  the 
24th  two  actions  took  place  on  the  Tauber,  an 
affluent  of  the  Maine,  which  falls  into  the  lat- 
ter stream  below  Wertheim.  General  Manteuffel 
moved  against  the  Tauber  in  three  columns.  At 
Tauberbischofsheim  the  Wiirtemburg  division, 
under  General  Hardegg,  was  posted,  to  hold  the 
place  itself,  and  then  issue  from  the  valley  on  the 
road  towards  Wiirzburg,  in  case  of  an  attack  by 
the  Prussians.  The  artillery  fire  of  the  advanced 
guard  brigade  of  Goeben's  division  caused  great 
loss  among  the  defenders,  and  soon  forced  them 
to  retire  from  the  village.  General  Hardegg 
withdrew  his  troops,  but  endeavoured  to  hold  the 
Prussians  in  the  houses,  and  to  prevent  the  ad- 
vance of  their  batteries,  by  blowing  up  the  bridge 
over  the  Tauber;  he  thus  for  a  time  prevented  the 
progress  of  the  Prussian  artillery.  After  a  hot 
combat,  which  lasted  three  hours,  the  Wiirtem- 
burgers  were  relieved  by  the  fourth  division  of 
the  eighth  federal  corps.  The  action  increased 
in  fury,  but  ultimately  the  Prussians  gained  the 
passage  of  the  Tauber  at  Bishopsheim,  and  pushed 
their  outposts  a  short  distance  along  the  road  to 
Wiirzburg. 

After  several  other  conflicts,  in  which  the 
Prussians  were  always  victorious,  the  crowning 
engagement  took  place  when  Kummer  pushed  his 
skirmishers  close  up  to  Marienberg,  and  with  them 
forced  the  enemy  to  quit  some  earthworks  which 
they  had  begun  to  throw  up.  The  whole  artillery 
of  the  army  of  the  Maine  was  then  posted  on  the 
right  and  left  of  the  road,  and  opened  a  cannonade 
on  the  houses,  to  which  the  enemy's  guns  actively 
replied.  The  arsenal  and  the  castle  of  Marienberg 
were  set  on  flames,  after  which  the  batteries  ceased 
firing.  The  day  after  that  cannonade  a  flag  of 
truce  was  sent  from  the  Bavarians  to  General 
Manteuffel,  who  announced  that  an  armistice  had 
been  concluded  between  the  king  of  Prussia  and 
the  Bavarian  government.  The  cessation  of  hos- 
tilities rescued  the  allied  army  from  a  very  pre- 
carious situation  in  the  elbow  of  the  Maine,  where 
it  was  all  but  cut  off  from  the  territories  which 
it  had  been  intended  to  defend.  In  these  engage- 
ments the  strength  of  the  Bavarian  and  eighth 
Federal  corps,  which  mustered  together  at  least 
100,000  men,  was  frittered  away  in  isolated  con- 
flicts,  instead  of  being   concentrated  for  a  great 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


103 


battle.  Such  conflicts  could  have  had  no  import- 
ant result,  even  if  they  had  been  successful. 

A  word  or  two  remains  to  be  said  on  the  occupa- 
tion of  Franconia  by  the  second  reserve  corps. 
On  the  18th  July  the  Grand-duke  Frederick 
Franz  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin  assumed  com- 
mand of  the  second  Prussian  reserve  corps  at 
Leipzig,  and  on  the  same  day  ordered  this  corps 
to  move  upon  Hof,  in  Bavaria.  On  the  23rd  a 
battalion  of  the  guard  crossed  the  Bavarian  fron- 
tier, capturing  a  detachment  of  sixty-five  Bavarian 
infantry,  and  on  the  day  following  the  grand- 
duke  fixed  his  head-quarters  at  Hof.  There  he 
published  a  proclamation  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Upper  Franconia,  informing  them  that  his  inva- 
sion of  their  country  was  only  directed  against 
their  government,  and  that  private  property  and 
interests  would  be  entirely  respected  by  his  troops. 
In  consequence  of  this  assurance  he  was  able  to 
draw  from  the  inhabitants  the  means  of  supplying 
his  men  with  rations.  The  fine  old  city  of  Niirn- 
berg  being  declared  an  open  town,  was  occupied 
without  resistance  by  the  Prussian  advance  guard, 
and  spared  the  havoc  of  a  bombardment.  The 
Prussian  troops  were  everywhere  victoriously 
pressing  forward,  and  the  disruption  of  the  Ger- 
man Confederation  became  daily  more  complete. 

On  the  1st  August  General  Manteuffel,  at  Wiirz- 
burg  his  head-quarters,  concluded  an  armistice  with 
General  von  Hardegg,  for  Wlirtemburg  and  with 
the  representatives  of  Hesse-Darmstadt.  On  the 
3rd  a  plenipotentiary  from  Baden  came  to  Wiirz- 
burg,  and  obtained  terms  for  the  grand -duchy. 
The  relics  of  the  Diet  advanced  rapidly  towards 
dissolution.  On  the  28th  July  the  troops  of 
Saxe-Meiningen  had  already  been  permitted  by 
the  governor  of  Mainz  to  leave  that  fortress,  which, 
in  virtue  of  subsequent  treaties,  was  given  over,  as 
was  Frankfort,  by  a  decree  of  the  Diet,  entirely  to 
Prussia.  This  decree,  dated  the  26th  cf  August, 
1866,  was  the  last  act  of  the  Diet  of  that  Ger- 
manic Confederation  which  had  been  constructed 
after  the  fall  of  the  first  French  empire.  In  this 
self-denying  document  the  Diet  practically  pub- 
lished its  own  death-warrant. 

MOVEMENTS   IN   MOEAVIA. 

To  return  to  the  Prussian  advance  from  Konig- 
gratz.  After  Benedek's  disastrous  retreat  from 
the  field  of  battle  he  dispatched  the  tenth  corps, 
which  had  suffered  most  severely,  to  Vienna  by 


railway,  and  ordered  the  remainder  of  his  army  to 
move  on  the  entrenched  camp  at  Olmiitz,  while 
he  left  his  light  infantry  division  to  watch  the 
road  from  Pardubitz  to  Iglam,  and  his  second  to 
delay  the  enemy,  if  possible,  on  the  road  between 
Pardubitz  and  Briinn. 

On  the  4th  July  he  also  sent  General  Gablenz, 
one  of  the  most  able  of  the  Austrian  gen- 
erals, to  the  Prussian  head-quarters,  in  order  to 
treat  for  a  suspension  of  hostilities,  as  a  pre- 
liminary to  the  conclusion  of  peace.  This  was 
a  new  proof  of  the  desperate  condition  of  the 
Austrian  army.  Gablenz  reported  himself  at 
mid-day  on  the  4th  at  the  outposts  of  the  Crown 
Prince's  army,  and  received  permission  to  go  to 
the  king's  head-quarters.  He  was  conducted 
blindfold  through  the  army  to  Horitz,  and  when 
he  reached  that  town,  found  the  king  absent  on 
a  visit  to  his  troops  in  the  field  of  battle.  Being 
taken  on  to  meet  him,  the  general  fell  in  with 
his  Majesty  between  Sadowa  and  Chlum,  and  was 
thought  to  be  a  wounded  Austrian  general,  fit 
object  of  royal  condolence.  King  William,  being 
informed  of  his  visitor's  mission,  ordered  the 
bandage  to  be  removed  from  his  eyes,  and  bade 
the  Austrian  general  return  with  him  to  Horitz. 
Here  Gablenz  expressed  Benedek's  desire  of  an 
armistice;  but  no  truce  could  be  granted,  for 
Prussia  and  Italy  were  mutually  bound  to  consent 
to  no  suspension  of  hostilities  without  a  common 
agreement.  General  Gablenz  returned  unsuc- 
cessful to  the  Austrian  head-quarters,  and  the 
Prussians  commenced  their  victorious  march  to 
Briinn,  where  they  halted  on  the  13th  July;  having 
given  proofs  of  power  of  endurance  which  have 
rarely  been  equalled  in  the  annals  of  war.  Their 
marches  had  not  been  made  by  small  detachments, 
or  over  open  ground,  but  in  large  masses  over  deep 
and  heavy  roads,  encumbered  with  artillery  and 
crowded  with  carriages. 

While  the  army  halted  here,  reserve  troops  were 
being  advanced  into  Bohemia  to  secure  the  com- 
munications with  Saxony,  and  to  keep  order  in 
rear  of  the  armies,  where  the  peasantry,  having 
possessed  themselves  with  weapons  from  the  field 
of  battle,  had  began  to  plunder  convoys  and  to 
attack  small  escorts  or  patrols.  General  Falcken- 
stein,  as  we  have  seen,  was  summoned  from  the 
army  of  the  Maine  to  be  the  commandant  of 
Bohemia.  Still  it  was  thought  that  these  prepara- 
tions were  useless,  and  that  the  army  would  never 


104 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


move  south  of  Briinn.  The  visit  of  the  French 
ambassador  to  this  town,  quickly  reported  from 
billet  to  billet,  fell  like  a  cold  chill  on  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  troops,  who  longed  to  conclude  the 
campaign  by  an  entrance  into  the  Austrian  capital. 
The  mediation  of  the  emperor  of  the  French  with 
the  Prussian  court  in  favour  of  peace,  they  looked 
upon  with  aversion,  and  anticipated  with  disgust 
an  armistice  by  the  conditions  of  which  the  army 
might  be  retained  at  Briinn  for  a  considerable  time. 

Benedek,  as  observed,  did  not  offer  to  rally  his 
army  beyond  the  line  of  the  Elbe,  or  to  fortify  any 
position  to  retard  the  advancing  Prussians.  He 
despatched  the  tenth  corps,  the  Saxons,  and  part 
of  the  cavalry,  to  Vienna,  and  effected  a  hasty 
retreat  with  the  remains  of  his  army  to  Olmiitz, 
expecting  the  Prussians  would  not  venture  to  steal 
a  march  upon  Vienna,  with  a  fortress  and  army  in 
their  flank.  He  was,  however,  greatly  deceived  ; 
for  on  the  5th  the  Prussians  had  crossed  the  Elbe 
at  three  points,  and  in  three  columns  were  advanc- 
ing towards  Vienna. 

Archduke  Albert,  who  had  recently  won  a  vic- 
tory at  Custozza,  superseded  General  Benedek,  on 
the  12th  July,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  army 
of  the  north.  He  at  once  transmitted  orders  to 
Benedek  to  bring  his  entire  force  of  five  corps  to 
Vienna.  But  as  the  railroad  and  nearest  road 
from  his  position  at  Olmiitz  to  Vienna  were  seized 
by  the  Prussians,  the  unlucky  general  had  to 
effect  a  difficult  march  through  mountain  roads 
and  passes  over  the  lesser  Carpathians.  The 
second  and  fourth  corps  commenced  marching 
from  Olmiitz  by  Tobitschau  on  the  14th,  and 
Benedek  with  the  first  and  eighth  corps,  and  the 
cavalry  division  of  Taxis,  followed  on  the  15th, 
whilst  the  sixth  corps  was  sent  by  Meiszkirchen. 

General  Bonin,  commander  of  the  first  corps  of 
the  second  Prussian  army,  who  was  at  Pressnitz, 
received  orders  on  the  14th  to  destroy  the  railway 
bridge  at  Brerau,  south-east  of  Olmiitz,  and  in 
following  out  these  orders  his  troops  came  into  col- 
lision with  the  retreating  Austrian  divisions  not  far 
from  Tobitschau.  An  engagement  took  place,  in 
which  the  latter  were  defeated  with  a  loss  of  1200 
men,  including  500  prisoners  and  eighteen  guns. 

Benedek  quickened  his  retreat  across  the  little 
Carpathians  to  Pressburg,  at  which  place  the 
second  corps  arrived  on  the  22nd ;  but  the  advanced 
guard  of  the  ex-commander-in-chief  only  reached 
Tirnau  on  the  same  day,  and  Benedek  himself,  with 


the  first,  sixth,  and  eighth  corps,  did  not  arrive  at 
Pressburg  till  the  26th. 

The  Prussians  learnt  by  the  evening  of  the  14th 
that  the  negotiations  for  an  armistice  had  failed, 
upon  which  Von  Moltke  retired  to  his  quarters 
and  was  closeted  with  his  maps,  making  new  plans 
for  the  further  progress  of  the  campaign,  and  for 
the  occupation  of  Vienna.  With  such  leaders, 
with  a  better  arm  than  their  enemies,  with  every 
mechanical  contrivance  which  modern  science 
could  suggest,  adapted  to  aid  the  operations  of  the 
army,  it  is  little  wonder  that  the  stout-hearted  and 
long-enduring  Prussian  soldiers  proved  victorious 
on  every  occasion  on  which  they  went  into  action. 
The  Prussian  march  to  the  Danube  was  resumed 
on  the  19th.  The  advance  had  been  so  rapid,  that 
it  was  almost  impossible  to  realize  that  the  army 
was  within  thirty  miles  of  Vienna.  The  men  of 
the  first  army  would  have  been  glad  of  some 
visible  proof  assuring  them  of  its  proximity  ;  but 
as  yet  they  could  have  none.  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  knew  that  on  the  22nd  General  Benedek 
would  throw  his  leading  divisions  over  the  Danube 
at  Pressburg.  If  then  he  could  seize  that  place, 
the  remainder  of  the  Austrian  force  would  have 
to  make  a  detour  by  Komorn  before  arriving  at 
Vienna. 

The  seventh  and  eighth  divisions  advancing  on 
Pressburg,  engaged  the  Austrians  at  Blumeneau 
on  the  22nd.  A  brigade  having  crossed  the 
mountains  were  occupying  a  position  in  the  Aus- 
trian rear,  when  orders  were  received  that  an 
armistice  had  been  concluded.  But  the  battle  had 
commenced  and  the  fire  could  not  be  checked,  till 
an  Austrian  officer  advanced  towards  the  Prussian 
lines  with  a  flag  of  truce;  the  signal  to  cease  firing 
was  sounded  along  the  Prussian  ranks,  and  the 
combat  was  broken  off.  But  for  this  truce  the 
Prussians  would  undoubtedly  have  obtained  a 
victory  at  Blumeneau  which  would  have  jeopar- 
dized Benedek's  army  ;  for  on  the  day  of  the  con- 
clusion of  the  truce  he  was  at  some  distance  from 
Pressburg  with  two  of  his  corps,  and  in  all  prob- 
ability he  would  have  been  compelled  to  fall  back. 
A  curious  scene  occurred  directly  the  action 
was  over,  that  illustrates  the  artificial  nature  of 
warfare  produced  by  state  policy,  and  its  freedom 
from  personal  animosity.  The  men  of  Bose's 
Prussian  brigade,  who  had  been  planted  across 
the  Pressburg  road,  and  a  few  hours  before  had 
been  standing  ready,  rifle  in  hand,  to  fire  upon 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


105 


the  retreating  Austrian  battalions,  -were  sur- 
rounded by  groups  of  those  very  Austrian  soldiers 
whom  they  had  been  waiting  to  destroy.  The 
men  of  the  two  nations  mingled  together,  ex- 
changed tobacco,  drank  out  of  each  other's  flasks, 
talked  and  laughed  over  the  war  in  groups  equally 
composed  of  blue  and  white  uniforms,  cooked  their 
rations  at  the  same  fires,  and  lay  down  that  night, 
Austrian  and  Prussian  battalions  bivouacked  close 
together,  without  fear,  and  in  perfect  security. 

For  five  days  longer  the  Prussian  troops  remained 
in  the  March  Feld.  The  preliminaries  of  peace 
had  been  agreed  upon  at  Nikolsburg  on  the 
evening  of  the  26th,  and  the  war  was  certainly 
at  an  end,  as  far  as  Austria  and  the  North  Ger- 
man States  were  concerned.  Late  at  night  on 
the  26th  a  courier  arrived  from  the  king's  head- 
quarters at  Nikolsburg,  with  a  letter  from  General 
Moltke  to  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  stating  simply 
and  without  details  that  a  glorious  peace  had  been 
arranged.  The  preliminaries,  signed  that  evening 
at  Nikolsburg  between  Prussia  and  Austria,  in- 
cluded the  following  terms: — That  Austria  should 
go  out  of  the  Germanic  Confederation,  should  pay 
a  contribution  towards  Prussia's  expenses  in  the 
late  war,  and  should  offer  no  opposition  to  the 
steps  which  Prussia  might  take  with  regard  to 
Northern  Germany.  These  steps  were,  to  annex 
Hanover,  Hesse-Cassel,  Nassau,  and  the  portion  of 
Hesse-Darmstadt  which  lies  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  Maine;  to  secure  the  reversion  of  Brunswick 
on  the  death  of  the  present  duke,  who  has  no 
children;  to  force  Saxony  to  enter  into  the  new 
North  German  Confederation  headed  by  Prussia; 
and  to  hold  the  entire  military  and  diplomatic 
leadership  in  that  confederation.  The  war  con- 
tribution to  be  paid  by  Austria  was  fixed  at 
40,000,000  thalers,  of  which  15,000,000  were  to 
be  paid  up:  15,000,000  were  credited  to  Austria 
for  the  Schleswig-Holstein  expenses,  5,000,000 
for  the  support  of  the  Prussian  armies  in  Bohemia 
and  Moravia,  and  5,000,000  to  be  paid  at  a  future 
date  to  be  afterwards  settled.  The  Prussian  armies 
were,  on  the  2nd  of  August,  to  retire  to  the  north 
of  the  Thaya,  but  were  to  occupy  Bohemia  and 
Moravia  till  the  signature  of  the  final  treaty  of 
peace,  and  to  hold  Austrian  Silesia  until  the  war 
contribution  was  paid. 

It  was  a  strange  coincidence,  says  a  recent 
German  writer,  that  the  magnificent  castle  of 
Nikolsburg  had   passed  through  the  female  line 


from  the  house  of  Dietrichstein  to  Count  Mens- 
dorff  of  Lothringian  descent,  like  the  Hapsburgs, 
so  that  peace  was  actually  negotiated  in  the  country 
house  of  the  Kaiser's  minister  for  foreign  affairs. 
Other  historical  recollections  belong  to  the  place. 
Napoleon  I.  sojourned  here  after  Austerlitz,  just  as 
William  I.  did  after  Sadowa.  Bismarck,  on  his 
arrival,  gazed  at  the  magnificent  pile  intently,  and 
remarked,  with  his  grim  humour,  "  My  old  man- 
sion of  Schonhausen  is  certainly  insignificant  in 
comparison  with  this  splendid  building,  and  I  am 
better  pleased  that  we  should  be  here  at  Count 
Mensdorffs  than  that  he  should  now  be  at  my 
house."  After  the  excitement  of  the  battle  of 
Sadowa,  and  the  exposure  in  the  marching  which 
followed,  the  minister  president  was  assailed  by 
his  old  complaint  of  nervous  rheumatism.  His 
difficulties  at  Nikolsburg  were  neither  few  nor 
small.  In  a  letter  he  wrote  in  Bohemia,  on 
the  9th  July,  occur  these  words :  "  If  we  do 
not  become  extravagant  in  our  demands,  and  do 
not  imagine  that  we  have  conquered  the  world, 
we  shall  obtain  a  peace  worth  the  having.  But 
we  are  as  easily  intoxicated  as  cast  down  ;  and 
I  have  the  unthankful  office  of  pouring  water 
into  this  foaming  wine,  and  of  making  it  clear 
that  we  do  not  inhabit  Europe  alone,  but  with 
three  neighbours."  Wise  words  that  bore  good 
fruit  in  1866,  in  a  peace  glorious  for  Prussia  and 
beneficial  to  the  rest  of  Germany. 

The  definitive  treaty  of  peace  between  Austria 
and  Prussia  was  signed  at  the  Blue  Star  Hotel 
at  Prague,  on  the  23rd  August,  and  consisted  of 
fourteen  articles.  The  ratifications  of  this  treaty 
were  exchanged  on  the  29th  August,  also  at 
Prague.  As  a  consequence  of  the  exchange  of 
the  ratifications  the  Prussian  troops  began  to  vacate 
Austrian  territory,  and  by  the  18th  of  September 
there  was  not  a  spiked  helmet  or  a  needle-gun  in 
Bohemia  or  Moravia.  There  were  great  rejoicings 
in  Berlin  to  celebrate  the  return  of  the  army,  and 
on  the  19th  of  September  a  public  festival  in  their 
honour  took  place.  On  the  evening  of  the  21st 
the  king  assembled  at  dinner,  in  the  Schloss,  1200 
of  the  generals  and  principal  officers  who  had 
served  in  the  campaign.  Directly  after  dark  the 
whole  city  was  lighted  up.  Special  performances 
were  given  in  all  the  theatres  in  honour  of  the 
triumphant  termination  of  the  war.  Prologues 
were  delivered  which  detailed  the  glorious  deeds 
of  the  army;  and  the  plays  which  were  written 
o 


106 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


for  the  occasion  dwelt  upon  the  actions  and  per- 
sonal adventures  of  the  heroes  of  the  campaign, 
and  recalled  the  memories  of  the  concluding  wars 
of  the  first  French  empire. 

The  Prussian  government  now  concluded  the 
programme  of  events  by  the  formation  of  the 
North  German  Confederation ;  measures  were  at 
once  proceeded  with,  and  practically  northern 
Germany  was  united  into  one  confederate  power, 
under  the  sceptre  of  the  house  of  Hohenzollern, 
by  the  end  of  October,  1866. 

The  fortune  that  attended  Italy  during  the  war 
will  now  be  briefly  touched  upon.  Her  arms  had 
suffered  defeat  both  by  land  and  sea;  yet  the 
glorious  victories  of  her  Prussian  allies  procured 
her  the  benefits  of  the  peace. 

THE    WAR   LN    ITALY. 

When  Prussia  had  declared  that  she  regarded 
the  Austrian  proceedings  at  Frankfort  as  a  declara- 
tion of  war,  King  Victor  Emmanuel,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  alliance  with  the  government  of 
Berlin,  declared  war  against  Austria;  and  on  the 
20th  of  June  General  La  Marmora,  chief  of  the 
staff  of  the  Italian  army,  sent  an  intimation  to 
the  commandant  of  Mantua  that  hostilities  would 
commence  on  the  23rd.  The  Archduke  Albrecht 
accepted  the  intimation,  and  made  ready  for  action. 

The  theatre  of  war  in  which  the  troops  of  Italy 
and  the  Austrian  army  of  the  south  were  about  to 
engage,  has  often  been  the  battle-field  of  Europe. 
It  communicates  with  Vienna  by  two  lines  ;  by  the 
railway,  via  Trieste,  through  Goerz,  Udine,  Tre- 
viso,  and  Padua  to  Verona,  connecting  the  Quad- 
rilateral with  the  capital;  and  by  a  line  through 
Salzburg,  Innsbruck,  Botzen,  and  Roveredo, 
which  though  not  completed  between  Innsbruck 
and  Botzen,  afforded  a  subsidiary  way  for  the 
supply  of  troops  camped  under  the  protection  of 
the  fortresses.  The  Quadrilateral  itself  consisted, 
as  our  readers  know,  of  the  strongly  entrenched 
camp  of  Verona  on  the  Adige,  the  less  important 
fortress  of  Legnano  on  the  same  river,  the  lately 
strengthened  fortifications  of  Peschiera  at  the 
issue  of  the  Mincio  from  the  Lago  di  Garcia,  and 
the  fortress  of  Mantua,  which  lies  further  down 
the  Mincio,  with  its  citadel  and  fort  St.  George  on 
the  left  bank,  and  its  minor  works  on  the  right  of 
the  stream.  The  fortified  Borgo  Forte  supports 
the  line  of  the  Mincio  in  front  of  the  confluence 
of  that  river   with  the   Po;   while  Venice,  with 


many  adjacent  forts,  protected  the  rear  of  the 
Quadrilateral  towards  the  sea. 

The  Italians,  in  acting  against  the  Quadrilateral, 
might  either  advance  across  the  Mincio,  and  rush 
headlong  against  its  parapets  and  embrasures,  or, 
by  advancing  from  the  Lower  Po,  push  towards 
Padua,  and  endeavour  to  cut  the  main  fine  of 
communication  with  Vienna.  General  La  Marmora 
had  a  very  difficult  problem  to  solve,  and  was  not 
fortunate  in  the  conditions  he  introduced  into 
its  solution.  His  information  as  to  the  Austrian 
designs  was  greatly  at  fault,  while  that  of  the 
Archduke  Albrecht  was  excellent.  The  Italian 
general  was  bound  to  assume  the  offensive  for 
political  reasons.  Neglecting  a  plan  of  campaign 
which  had  been  forwarded  from  Berlin,  he  adopted 
one  that  had,  it  is  said,  been  determined  upon  in 
1859  by  a  mixed  council  of  French  and  Italian 
officers.  The  main  attack  was  to  be  made  against 
the  Mincio  and  Adige,  by  the  principal  army, 
under  the  personal  command  of  King  Victor  Em- 
manuel. The  whole  army,  including  the  division 
of  reserve  cavalry,  mustered  about  146,000  men, 
with  228  guns.  The  Italian  staff,  presuming  that 
the  Archduke  Albrecht  would  await  an  attack 
behind  the  Adige,  determined  to  cross  the  Mincio, 
and  occupy  within  the  Quadrilateral  the  ground 
not  held  by  the  Austrians.  After  taking  up  this 
position,  and  so  separating  the  fortresses  from  one 
another,  the  main  army  was  to  give  a  hand  across 
the  Adige  to  General  Cialdini,  who  was  to  lead  his 
corps  across  the  Lower  Po,  from  the  direction  of 
Ferrara.  General  Garibaldi,  with  his  volunteers, 
was  to  support  the  movement  on  the  left  by  attacks 
on  the  passes  leading  from  Northern  Lombardy 
to  the  Tyrol.  The  day  before  the  declaration  of 
war,  the  main  body  of  the  king's  army  was  moved 
towards  the  Mincio,  and  on  the  22nd  June  the  head- 
quarters of  the  first  corps  were  at  Cavriana,  those 
of  the  third  at  Gazzoldo,  those  of  the  second  at 
Castelluccio,  while  the  king  himself  went  to  Goito. 

On  the  morning  of  the  23rd  Cerale's  division 
crossed  the  Mincio  at  Monzambano;  Sirtori's,  at 
Borghetto  and  Valeggio;  Brignone's,  at  Molino  di 
Volta;  and  the  reserve  division  of  cavalry,  followed 
by  the  four  divisions  of  the  third  corps,  at  Goito. 
The  two  divisions  of  Bixio  and  of  Prince  Humbert 
were  pushed  to  Belvedere  and  Roverbella,  while 
the  divisions  of  Govone  and  Cugia  encamped  near 
Pozzolo  and  Massinbona. 

Confident  of  his  information,  General  La  Mar- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


107 


mora  on  the  24th  ordered  the  advance  without 
any  preparation  having  been  made  for  combat. 
Scouts  even  were  not  sent  out  to  observe  the  roads 
from  the  fortresses,  and  the  soldiers  were  hungry 
and  weary  under  the  broiling  sun  of  an  Italian 
midsummer.  This  negligence  and  temerity  met 
with  its  just  reward.  The  moment  news  reached 
the  archduke  of  the  entry  of  the  Prussians  into 
Holstein,  he  concentrated  his  troops  between 
Pastrengo  and  San  Bonifacio,  so  that  they  could 
easily  be  united  on  either  bank  of  the  Adige,  in 
case  of  need,  and  mustered,  after  deductions  for 
necessary  detachments,  about  60,000  foot,  2500 
horse,  and  270  guns. 

BATTLE    OF   CDSTOZZA. 

In  the  night  between  the  23rd  and  24th  a 
heavy  fall  of  rain  took  place,  which  laid  the  dust, 
and  made  the  air  cool  on  the  following  day. 

At  three  o'clock  on  midsummer  morning  the 
sixth  Austrian  corps  moved  on  Somma  Campagna, 
the  fifth  on  San  Giorgio,  and  the  reserve  division 
on  Castelnuovo.  The  cavalry  brigades  spread  over 
the  plain,  on  the  left  of  the  ninth  corps,  while  the 
advanced  guards  pushing  forward  fell  in  with  those 
of  Victor  Emmanuel,  which  were  moving  in  the 
opposite  direction  The  Italian  divisions  were 
engaged  under  pressure  of  superior  force,  and  were 
compelled  to  retire  to  Oliosi,  where  Cerale  made 
a  determined  stand.  The  archduke  reinforced  his 
reserved  division,  and  after  a  hot  fight,  in  which 
great  bravery  was  displayed  on  both  sides,  Oliosi 
caught  fire,  and  Cerale,  who  was  wounded,  was 
forced  to  retreat  to  Monte  Vento.  Here,  though 
reinforced  by  Sirtori's  division,  whose  advance 
from  Valeggio  to  Santa  Lucia  covered  his  right 
wing,  he  could  not  withstand  the  assault  of  the 
Austrians,  who  took  Monte  Vento  by  storm,  and 
forced  Cerale  to  retreat  on  Valeggio. 

As  soon  as  the  Austrians  advanced  against 
Sirtori  at  Santa  Lucia,  the  Italian  general  quitted 
his  position,  and  also  retreated  to  Valeggio.  Mean- 
while General  Hartung,  having  occupied  Berettara 
and  Casa  del  Sole  in  force,  advanced  on  Custozza, 
where  he  fell  in  with  Cugia's  division,  supported  on 
the  right  by  that  of  Prince  Humbert.  The  latter 
was  exposed  to  frequent  attacks  of  the  Austrian 
cavalry,  and  was  often  obliged  to  throw  its  bat- 
talions into  square,  in  one  of  which  the  prince 
himself  found  shelter  from  the  enemy's  horsemen. 
On  Curia's  left  Bri^none's  division  was  led  into 


action  by  La  Marmora  himself  against  the  Austrian 
brigade  of  Sardier,  supported  by  two  other  brigades. 
Shortly  after  mid-day,  and  after  two  commanders 
of  brigades,  Gozzani  and  Prince  Amadeus,  had  been 
wounded,  Brignone  was  forced  to  retreat  to  Cus- 
tozza, making  room  for  Govone's  division,  which 
soon  found  itself  hard  pressed  by  the  Austrian 
seventh  corps.  Cerale  had  been  driven  from  Vento, 
Sirtori  from  Santa  Lucia;  and  now  Cugia,  out- 
flanked on  his  left,  was  forced  to  quit  Madonna 
Delia  Croce,  so  that  at  five  o'clock  the  retreat  of 
the  Italian  army  was  general.  But  so  slowly  did 
the  third  corps  retire  from  the  field  of  action,  that 
it  was  not  till  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  that 
the  Austrians  occupied  the  heights  of  Custozza. 
Bixio's  division  and  the  reserve  cavalry  covered 
the  retreat  across  the  plain,  where  some  detach- 
ments of  the  second  corps  also  came  to  blows 
with  the  enemy. 

The  Austrians  lost  960  killed,  3690  wounded, 
and  nearly  1000  prisoners,  who  were  for  the  most 
part  captured  by  Pianelli.  The  Italians  lost  720 
killed,  3112  wounded,  and  4315  missing.  The 
Italian  army  required  time  to  recover  from  this 
disaster.  On  the  30th  detachments  of  the  Austrian 
cavalry  crossed  the  Mincio,  and  pushed  as  far  as 
the  Chiese;  but  the  Archduke  Albrecht  had  no 
intention  or  design  of  invading  Lombardy. 

The  volunteers  under  General  Garibaldi  amounted 
to  about  6000  men,  the  main  body  of  which  was 
collected  by  the  20th  of  June  in  front  of  Rocca 
d'Ans,  while  a  small  detachment  was  placed  near 
Edolo,  on  the  road  leading  through  the  pass  of  the 
Monte  Tonale  into  the  Tyrol,  and  another  detach- 
ment near  Bormio  on  the  road  which  leads  over 
the  Stelvio.  The  main  body  crossing  the  frontier 
near  Storo,  found  the  population  of  the  Tyrol 
entirely  opposed  to  them,  and  staunchly  loyal  to 
the  house  of  Hapsburg.  On  the  25th  of  June  a 
sharp  combat  took  place  at  the  frontier  bridge  of 
Cassarobach,  in  which  the  Italians  were  worsted. 
They  retired  towards  Bogolino,  when  they  were 
attacked  by  an  Austrian  detachment  on  the  3rd 
July,  again  suffered  a  reverse,  and  saw  their  general 
wounded. 

When,  after  the  battle  of  Koniggriitz,  Venetia 
was  offered  by  the  government  of  Vienna  to  the 
emperor  of  the  French,  the  fifth  and  ninth  Aus- 
trian corps  were  withdrawn  from  Italy,  and  for- 
warded to  the  Danube,  leaving,  besides  the  garri- 
sons of  the  fortresses,  only  one  Austrian  corps  in 


108 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Venetia,  and  in  the  Tyrol  a  weak  detachment 
under  General  Ivuhn. 

The  Italian  army  rested  for  a  while  after  the 
battle  of  Custozza;  but  an  advance  was  rendered 
necessary  by  the  treaty  with  Prussia.  La  Mar- 
mora's defeat  having  deprived  him  of  the  con- 
fidence both  of  the  country  and  the  army,  the 
command-in-chief  was  given  to  General  Cialdini, 
who  was  ordered  to  cross  the  Lower  Po,  and  push 
troops  against  the  Tyrol  and  into  Eastern  Yenetia. 
Accordingly  on  the  evening  of  the  7th  July,  leaving 
a  division  to  watch  Borgo  Forte,  and  another  near 
Ferrara,  he  concentrated  seven  divisions  near  Car- 
bonara  and  Felonica,  and  threw  some  detachments 
of  light  troops  across  the  Po  at  Massa.  On  the 
night  following  three  bridges  of  boats  were  thrown 
across  the  stream  at  Carbanarola,  Sermide,  and 
Felonica,  and  on  the  9  th  the  army  crossed  at 
three  points,  covered  from  any  attack  by  the 
marshes  which  here  lie  between  the  Po  and  the 
Adige.  Cialdini  then  made  a  flank  march  to  his 
right,  gained  the  high  road  which  leads  from 
Ferrara  by  Kovigo  to  Padua,  and  opened  his 
communication  with  Ferrara  by  military  bridges 
thrown  across  the  river,  to  replace  the  road  and 
railway  bridges  which  the  Austrians  had  blown 
up.  On  the  10th  his  head  -  quarters  were  at 
Eovigo,  and  on  the  14th,  after  securing  the  passage 
of  the  Adige  at  Monselice,  his  advanced  guard 
occupied  Padua.  Meanwhile  the  division  which 
he  had  left  under  Nunziante,  in  front  of  Borgo 
Forte,  besieged  that  place,  which  on  the  night  of 
the  18th  was  evacuated  by  the  Austrian  garrison, 
and  occupied  by  the  Italians,  who  captured  seventy 
guns,  and  magazines  of  all  kinds. 

As  the  progress  of  events  in  the  north  pointed  to 
the  conclusion  of  an  armistice,  the  terms  of  which 
would  compel,  in  all  probability,  the  troops  on  both 
sides  to  remain  in  their  actual  positions,  the  Italians 
determined  to  gain  as  much  ground  as  possible 
before  diplomacy  might  cause  their  army  to  halt. 
Cialdini,  on  the  19th,  had  with  him  about  70,000 
men,  and  an  expeditionary  army  of  70,000  more 
was  being  prepared  to  reinforce  him.  The  Austrian 
troops  in  Italy  which  could  take  the  field  mustered 
little  over  30,000  men.  The  Italian  general  ad- 
vanced from  Padua  to  Vicenza,  along  the  left  bank 
of  the  Brenta  to  Mestre,  so  as  to  cut  Venice  off  on 
the  land  side,  while  the  fleet  should  attack  it  from 
the  sea.  At  the  same  time  the  Austrian  field  troops 
under  General  Maroicie  withdrew  from  the  Quad- 


rilateral, and  retired  gradually  behind  the  Piave, 
the  Livenza,  the  Tagliamento,  and  finally  behind 
the  Isonzo.  On  the  22nd  they  evacuated  Udine, 
which,  two  days  later,  was  occupied  by  the  Italians. 
No  resistance  was  made  by  the  Austrians  until 
the  Italian  advanced  guard  passed  beyond  Palma- 
noro,  when  a  sharp  skirmish  took  place  with  the 
Austrian  rear-guard,  but  it  led  to  no  results.  In 
the  meantime,  Cialdini  had  pushed  detachments  by 
Schio  towards  Roveredo  and  by  Bclluno,  as  far  as 
Avronzo,  on  his  left,  while  on  his  right  his  troops 
were  close  up  to  Venice  and  Chioggia.  A  truce 
was  agreed  to  on  22nd  July,  which  was  extended 
from  week  to  week,  until  on  the  12th  August  an 
armistice  was  concluded.  The  line  of  the  Indrio 
was  fixed  as  the  line  of  demarcation  between  the 
troops  on  either  side.  The  conclusion  of  the 
armistice  between  Prussia  and  Austria  had  already 
liberated  the  Austrian  troops  which  had  been  trans- 
ferred from  Venetia  to  the  Danube,  and  they  were 
immediately  sent  back  to  the  Isonzo,  but  were  not 
called  upon  to  act. 

In  the  meantime,  operations  had  been  carried  on 
against  the  Southern  Tyrol.  On  the  22nd  July 
Medici  with  his  main  body  marched  against  the 
Austrian  works  at  Primolano,  which  were  promptly 
evacuated.  Next  day  he  entered  Borgo,  and  on 
the  24th  pushed  his  advanced  guards  to  Pergine 
and  Vigolo.  General  Kuhn  being  reinforced  by 
8000  men  from  Verona,  determined  to  fall  upon 
Medici,  and  thrust  him  back.  A  slight  combat  took 
place  between  some  of  Kuhn's  outposts  and  the 
Italian  advanced  guard  near  Sorda  on  the  25th, 
but  news  of  the  armistice  prevented  further  con- 
flict. Garibaldi  had  made  some  movements  from 
the  west  against  the  Tyrol,  but  without  great 
success.  He  had  captured  the  small  fort  of 
Ampola,  and  resisted  several  attacks  made  by  the 
Austrians  ;  but,  though  he  attempted  to  gain  as 
much  ground  as  possible,  he  occupied  at  the  time 
of  the  armistice  only  the  valley  of  the  Chiese 
for  a  length  of  ten  miles  from  the  Italian  frontier, 
and  the  Val  di  Conzei,  two  miles  north  of  Eiva. 

NAVAL   OPERATIONS. 

Of  the  Italian  fleet  great  things  were  expected. 
The  long  coast  line  of  Italy,  and  the  mercantile 
habits  of  the  natives  of  many  of  her  sea-board 
towns,  had  for  a  long  succession  of  years  been 
calculated  to  foster  seamen,  and  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion for  an  efficient  navy.     The  result  of  the  war, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


109 


in  its  naval  operations,  caused  bitter  disappoint- 
ment to  the  Italian  people. 

The  Italian  fleet  was  assembled  at  Tarento  in  the 
middle  of  May,  under  the  command  of  Admiral 
Persano,  who  divided  his  force  into  three  squadrons. 
The  first,  under  his  own  immediate  command,  con- 
sisted of  seven  iron-clad  vessels,  and  a  flotilla  of  five 
gun-boats.  The  second,  or  auxiliary  squadron, 
was  formed  of  seven  unplated  frigates,  and  five 
corvettes.  The  third  squadron  consisted  of  three 
battering  vessels  and  two  gun-boats,  while  the 
transport  squadron  included  fifteen  vessels,  capable 
of  conveying  20,000  men  across  the  Adriatic. 

On  the  declaration  of  war,  the  fleets  sailed  from 
Tarento  to  Ancona,  where  Persano  having  heard 
of  the  disaster  of  Custozza,  resolved  to  wait  until 
a  new  plan  of  operations  had  been  decided  on. 
On  the  29th  of  June  the  Austrian  fleet,  under 
the  command  of  Admiral  TegethofF,  appeared  in 
front  of  Ancona.  Some  shots  were  exchanged 
between  an  Italian  cruiser  and  the  leading  Austrian 
vessel,  but  no  further  engagement  took  place ;  for 
before  Persano  could  weigh  anchor  the  Austrian 
fleet  retired.  Persano  remained  inactive  in  Ancona 
until  Cialdini  advanced  into  Venetia,  when  being 
ordered  to  act  he  determined  to  attack  Lissa. 
The  island  of  Lissa  lies  in  the  Adriatic,  some 
thirty  miles  south  of  Spalatro.  Between  it  and 
the  mainland  lie  the  islands  of  Lesina,  Brazza, 
and  Solta.  Between  Lissa  and  Lesina  there  is  a 
strait  about  fifteen  miles  broad.  The  two  ports 
of  Lissa  are  San  Giorgio  and  Comisa.  On  the 
16th  July  Persano  left  Ancona  with  a  fleet  of 
twenty-eight  vessels,  of  which  eleven  were  iron- 
plated,  four  screw  frigates,  two  paddle-wheel  cor- 
vettes, one  a  screw  corvette,  four  despatch  boats, 
four  gun-boats,  one  hospital  ship,  and  one  store 
ship.  The  frigate  Garibaldi  remained  at  Ancona 
for  repairs.  Messages  were  sent  to  all  vessels  at 
Tarento  or  Brindisi  to  sail  towards  Lissa,  the 
Affondatore  especially  being  ordered  up. 

On  the  evening  of  the  17th  Persano  issued 
orders  that  Admiral  Vacca,  with  three  iron-clad 
vessels  and  a  corvette,  should  bombard  Comisa ; 
that  the  main  force,  consisting  of  eight  iron-clads, 
a  corvette,  and  despatch  boat,  should  assail  San 
Giorgio ;  and  that  Admiral  Albini,  with  four 
wooden  frigates  and  a  despatch  boat,  should  effect 
a  landing  at  the  port  of  Manego  on  the  south  side 
of  the  island,  in  rear  of  the  works  of  San  Giorgio. 
Two  vessels  were  to  cruise  on  the  north  and  east 


of  Lissa  during  these  operations,  in  order  to  give 
timely  warning  of  the  approach  of  the  Austrian 
fleet.  Vacca  finding  that  his  guns  could  not 
attain  sufficient  elevation  to  do  much  damage  to 
the  works  at  Comisa,  gave  up  the  attack  and  sailed 
for  Port  Manego,  where  Albini  attempted  in  vain 
to  effect  a  landing.  Persano  had  begun  to  bombard 
San  Giorgio  at  eleven  in  the  morning  of  the  18th, 
by  three  o'clock,  when  joined  by  Vacca,  he  had 
blown  up  two  magazines,  and  silenced  several  Aus- 
trian batteries.  He  could  not,  however,  succeed  in 
sending  his  ships  into  the  harbour,  and  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  attack  was  postponed  till  the  next  day. 

The  whole  of  Persano's  fleet  was  now  assembled 
in  front  of  San  Giorgio,  strengthened  by  the  ram 
Affondatore  and  three  wooden  vessels.  That  even- 
ing the  admiral  was  informed  that  the  Austrian 
fleet  was  leaving  Fasana  to  attack  him.  Calcula- 
ting that  the  enemy  could  not  approach  Lissa 
before  nightfall  on  the  19th,  Persano  determined 
to  make  a  second  attack  upon  the  island.  But  the 
attack,  though  well  planned,  was  postponed  from 
hour  to  hour,  in  case  Tegethoff  might  arrive  ;  and 
when  in  the  afternoon  the  cruisers  signalled  that 
no  smoke  was  to  be  made  out  on  the  horizon,  the 
cannonade  began.  The  floating  battery  the  For- 
midabile  entered  the  harbour,  and  taking  post 
at  the  extreme  end,  400  yards  distant  from  the 
Austrian  batteries,  opened  fire.  A  battery  on  the 
northern  side  told  severely  upon  her,  and  Persano 
ordered  the  Affondatore  to  open  upon  this  battery 
through  the  mouth  of  the  harbour.  This  was 
done,  but  without  much  effect. 

Vacca  formed  his  three  iron-clads  in  single 
line,  steamed  into  the  harbour,  and  opened  on 
the  batteries  inside ;  but  he  could  not  effectually 
support  the  Formidabile,  both  because  she  herself 
covered  the  Austrian  batteries,  and  on  account  of 
the  difficulty  of  manoeuvring  in  the  narrow  space 
within  the  harbour,  which  is  only  about  100 
fathoms  wide.  He  was  soon  forced  to  quit  the 
harbour,  and  was  followed  by  the  Formidabile, 
which  had  lost  sixty  men,  and  suffered  so  con- 
siderably that  it  was  sent  the  same  evening  to 
Ancona  for  repairs.  Equally  unsuccessful  was 
the  attempt  at  landing.  The  wind  blew  fresh 
from  the  south-east,  and  the  boats  could  with 
difficulty  approach  the  beach  on  account  of  the 
surf.  The  next  day  at  daybreak,  though  the 
weather  was  still  stormy,  Persano  again  ordered  a 
landing  to  be  made.      Two  iron-clads  bombarded 


110 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Comisa.  Albini  and  Sandri,  with  the  wooden 
vessels  and  gunboats,  supported  the  landing  at 
Port  Carobert.  But  the  surf  was  so  high  that  the 
landing  could  not  be  effected,  and  it  was  about  to 
be  abandoned  when  a  cruiser  bore  hastily  down 
through  the  rainy  mist,  and  signalled  that  the 
enemy  was  approaching  from  the  north.  Tegethoff 
with  the  Austrian  fleet  was  at  hand  to  relieve  the 
beleaguered  island. 

BATTLE    OF   LISSA. 

On  the  17th  July  Admiral  Tegethoff  at  Fasana 
heard,  by  telegram,  of  the  Italian  fleet  being  near 
Lissa.  He  concluded  that  its  appearance  there 
was  but  a  demonstration,  to  draw  him  away  from 
the  coast  of  Istria.  On  the  19th,  however,  being 
assured  by  fresh  telegrams  that  the  attack  on  the 
island  was  serious,  he  determined  to  proceed 
thither.  His  fleet  was  in  three  divisions,  and  con- 
sisted of  seven  ironclads  under  his  own  immediate 
command ;  seven  large  wooden  vessels  led  by 
Commodore  Petz;  and  a  third  division  of  seven 
smaller  wooden  vessels  and  four  despatch  boats — 
making  up  the  number  of  twenty-five  vessels, 
mounting  about  five  hundred  guns. 

The  Austrian  admiral  left  the  roads  of  Fasana 
about  mid-day  on  the  19th  of  June,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  20th  his  despatch  boats  reported 
a  vessel  of  the  enemy  hi  sight.  The  wind  was 
blowing  strong  from  the  north-west.  At  first 
Tegethoff  steered  a  course  from  the  north-west  to 
south-east,  parallel  to  the  Istrian  coast;  but  off 
Lirona  and  Solta  he  altered  his  course  to  one 
directly  from  north  to  south.  Persano  on  hearing 
of  the  Austrian  approach,  ordered  his  vessels  to  form 
in  line  of  battle ;  and  by  nine  o'clock  his  ironclads 
formed  in  a  straight  line,  while  steering  almost  from 
west-south-west  to  east-north-east  in  three  divisions. 
Persano,  at  the  same  time,  moved  in  person  from 
the  Re  d 'Italia  to  the  Affondatore,  which  he  ordered 
to  take  up  a  position  on  the  flank  of  the  column 
furthest  from  the  Austrian  attack.  When  Admi- 
ral Tegethoff  could  clearly  make  out  the  Italian 
fleet,  it  was  steering  from  west  to  east.  He  bore 
down  upon  it  in  the  following  order: — His  twenty- 
one  vessels  were  arranged  in  three  divisions  of 
seven  ships  each,  the  first  consisting  of  iron-clads; 
the  two  others  of  wooden  vessels.  The  line 
of  iron-clads  led,  with  the  admiral's  flag-ship 
slightly  in  advance,  from  which  the  other  vessels, 
falliusr  a  little  astern,  formed  a  wedcre-like  order. 


The  seven  heaviest  wooden  vessels  followed  the 
iron-clads,  and  were  themselves  followed  by  the 
lighter  vessels  in  a  similar  formation. 

Tegethoff  bore  down  upon  the  gap  between 
Vacca's  three  vessels  and  the  central  Italian  group, 
and  drove  his  own  flag-ship,  the  Ferdinand  Max, 
straight  upon  the  Re  d'ltalia,  which  he  rammed 
several  times  and  sank.  Only  a  small  portion  of 
the  crew  were  saved.  The  Palestro  attempted  to 
aid  the  Re  d Italia,  but  Tegethoff  turning  upon  her, 
ruined  her  steering  apparatus.  At  the  same  time 
she  was  attacked  by  other  ironclads,  and  quickly 
caught  fire.  She  fell  away  before  the  wind,  and 
as  the  fire  could  not  be  got  under,  she  with  all  her 
ship's  company,  save  sixteen  men,  was  blown  into 
the  air.  Thus  of  the  Italian  central  division  two 
vessels  were  lost,  while  the  Affondatore  remained 
inactive,  apart  from  the  battle.  The  third  vessel 
of  this  division,  attacked  by  the  seven  Austrian 
ironclads,  as  well  as  by  the  three  wooden  vessels, 
was  severely  handled,  and  forced  to  retreat. 

The  Italian  division  under  Vacca  had,  with  a 
north-easterly  course,  sailed  along  the  flank  of  the 
Austrian  iron-clads  as  they  advanced,  and  ex- 
changed some  broadsides  with  them.  When  his 
leading  ship,  the  Carignano,  was  clear  of  Teget- 
hofFs  iron-clads,  Vacca  ordered  a  change  of  direc- 
tion, and  brought  his  three  vessels  in  line  between 
the  second  and  third  Austrian  divisions.  His 
fire  told  severely  on  both,  especially  on  the  Kaiser, 
the  flag-ship  of  the  Austrian  second  division. 
The  Italian  division  under  Ribbotty,  when  it 
saw  the  central  division  engaged,  altered  its  own 
course,  and  moved  against  the  Austrian  wooden 
ships,  which  were  thus  brought  between  two  fires. 
Ribotty  fiercely  attacked  the  Kaiser,  commanded 
by  Commodore  Petz.  The  latter  using  his  wooden 
vessel  as  a  ram,  ran  with  full  steam  against  the 
Re  di  Portagallo,  and  then  lay  alongside  of  her. 
At  the  same  time  he  was  attacked  by  the  Maria 
Pia,  and  his  vessel  suffered  severely.  Tegethoff, 
by  this  time,  had  disposed  of  the  Italian  central 
division,  and  he  brought  his  iron-clads  back  to 
aid  his  wooden  vessels.  Under  their  protection 
the  Kaiser  got  away,  and  was  taken  to  Lissa.  After 
this  a  closer  and  fiercer  battle  was  maintained 
between  the  whole  of  the  Austrian  vessels  and 
the  six  Italian  iron-clads,  while  the  Italian  wooden 
squadron,  and  the  Affondatore  looked  on  from  the 
distance.  The  smoke  was  so  thick  that  either  side 
could  with  difficulty  tell  their  own  vessels ;   and 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Ill 


Tegethoff,  hauling  off,  signalled  to  his  fleet  to  form 
in  three  columns,  with  a  north-easterly  course  so 
that  the  iron-clads  formed  the  northernmost  line, 
nearest  to  the  Italians.  By  this  manoeuvre  the  Aus- 
trian fleet  was  brought  in  front  of  the  strait  between 
Lissa  and  Lesina.  Vacca,  under  the  impression 
that  Persano  had  gone  down  in  the  Re  cCItalia, 
ordered  the  Italian  iron-clads  to  assemble,  and  with 
them  in  a  single  line  steered  slowly  towards  the  west, 
waiting  for  the  Palestro.  She  soon  blew  up.  It 
was  now  about  two  o'clock,  and  the  action  had 
lasted  four  hours.  At  this  time  Persano  joined 
Vacca's  squadron  with  the  Affondatore,  placed  her 
at  the  head  of  the  line,  and  ordered  the  other  vessels 
to  follow  her  movements.  These  movements  appear 
to  have  consisted  in  no  more  than  a  steady  pursuit 
of  a  westerly  course  to  the  harbour  of  Ancona. 
By  the  battle  of  Lissa  the  Italians  lost  two  iron- 
clads, the  Re  cC  Italia  and  the  Palestro.  The  Affon- 
datore sunk  at  Ancona,  after  reaching  harbour. 
For  three  days  the  Italian  people  were  led  to  believe 
that  a  victory  had  been  won  at  Lissa.  The  morti- 
fication of  the  defeat,  which  then  became  known, 
was  thereby  increased.  Persano  was  summoned 
before  the  Senate,  and  was  deprived  of  all  com- 
mand in  the  Italian  navy.  One  remark  appears 
patent,  even  to  those  who  are  quite  unskilled  in 
naval  matters,  that  in  the  sea-fight  Tegethoff  led 
his  fleet,  Persano  only  directed  his ;  another,  that 
the  Italian  admiral,  with  superior  forces  at  his  com- 
mand, allowed  a  section  of  his  own  fleet  to  be 
attacked  and  defeated  at  the  decisive  moment  by  a 
smaller  force  of  his  adversary. 

On  the  21st,  the  Austrian  admiral  returned, 
without  a  vessel  missing,  to  the  roads  of  Fasana. 

PEACE    BETWEEN    ITALY   AND   AUSTRIA. 

The  armistice  concluded  between  Austria  and 
Italy  was  to  last  from  mid-day  on  the  13th  August 
to  the  9  th  September. 

In  the  meantime  negotiations  for  peace  were 
opened  at  Vienna;  and  on  the  3rd  October  a  defi- 
nitive treaty  was  signed.  By  it  Austria  recognized 
the  kingdom  of  Italy,  and  sanctioned  the  cession 
of  Venetia  to  that  power  by  the  emperor  of  the 
French.  The  ratifications  were  exchanged  as  soon 
as  possible.  The  Austrian  commissioner-general 
Moring  formally  gave  over  Venetia  to  the  French 
commissioner -general  Lebosuf,  when  a  plebiscite 
took  place.  The  annexation  to  the  kingdom  of 
Victor  Emmanuel  was  ahnost  unanimously  voted 


by  the  people  of  Venetia,  and  Italy  became  one 
great  country,  united  under  the  sceptre  of  the 
House  of  Piedmont,  and  free  of  any  foreign 
dominion,  "  from  the  Alps  to  the  Adriatic." 

The  Austrian  surrender  of  Venetia  to  the  em- 
peror of  the  French,  and  not  to  the  king  of  Italy, 
was  considered  at  the  time  a  gratuitous  insult  to 
the  latter  power;  but  whether  it  was  initiated  by 
Austrian  or  French  politicians  has  not  yet  been 
clearly  ascertained.  Louis  Napoleon  had  reasons 
for  wishing  to  play  the  patron  to  Italy,  and  may 
have  thought  of  reviving  his  plan  of  an  Italian 
Confederation,  with  Venetia  as  a  nucleus.  Austria, 
at  least,  was  compelled  to  show  deference  to  France 
in  some  way,  if  she  would  make  terms  with  Prus- 
sia short  of  total  ruin;  and  France  accepted  the 
present  of  Venetia  for  the  sake,  it  is  to  be  hoped, 
of  the  magnanimous  pleasure  of  giving  it  back 
to  its  right  owner.  How  far  the  emperor  yielded 
to  the  pressure  of  united  Prussia  and  Italy  it 
would,  perhaps,  not  be  polite  to  surmise ;  but  that 
the  Kaiser  was  disappointed  with  the  use  made  of 
his  gift,  and  the  cheapness  with  which  Italy  made 
its  acquisition,  was  generally  believed.  Yet  there 
can  be  no  doubt,  and  the  Austrians  by  this  time 
must  be  willing  to  admit  the  fact,  that  they  are 
as  much  stronger,  safer,  and  happier  without  Vene- 
tia, as  Italy  is  stronger,  safer,  and  happier  with  it. 
To  the  one  nation  it  was  a  fretting  incumbrance, 
always  breeding  sores  in  the  body  politic.  To  the 
other  it  is  the  completion,  on  one  of  its  sides,  of  an 
organic  body  that  will  grow  and  develop  with  all 
the  more  success  that  its  component  parts  are 
fairly  welded  together.  Something,  no  doubt,  was 
due  to  the  policy  which  dictated  Cialdini's  march 
towards  Venice  after  Austria's  cession  of  the  ter- 
ritory to  France.  Viennese  politicians  imagined 
that  the  Italians  would  not  dare  to  invade  "  French 
territory;"  but  the  army  of  Victor  Emmanuel  and 
its  leaders  were  not  so  easily  frightened,  and  their 
constancy  was  rewarded  by  the  non-intervention 
of  the  French.  The  influence  exercised  by  Louis 
Napoleon  on  the  settlement  of  the  Austro-Prussian 
quarrel  was  not  so  great  as  had  been  expected. 
He  secured  a  nominal  independence  for  the  king- 
dom of  Saxony,  and  a  vague  promise  that  the 
people  of  North  Schleswig,  who  for  the  most  part 
are  Danes,  should  some  day  or  other  be  allowed 
to  settle  their  nationality,  whether  they  would  be 
German  or  Danish,  by  a  popular  vote.  That  day 
has  not  arrived  yet,  after  a  lapse  of  four  years. 


112 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Prussia's  gain  by  the  war  was  enormous.  Her 
rival  Austria  was  absolutely  turned  out  of  Ger- 
many, almost  as  completely  as  she  had  been  turned 
out  of  Italy.  Saxony  was  completely  subordinate  to 
Prussia.  Hanover,  Cassel,  Darmstadt,  and  Nassau 
were  bodily  annexed  to  her.  With  a  large  com- 
pact territory  north  of  the  Maine,  with  some  thirty 
millions  of  people  homogeneous  in  language,  cul- 
ture, taste,  and  mainly  in  religion,  trained  to 
arms  and  inspirited  with  the  remembrance  of 
great  successes,  she  found  herself  at  the  doors 
of  the  smaller  states  south  of  the  Maine  who  were 
unable  to  resist  her  influence  or  her  arms,  and 
felt  constrained  to  agree  to  the  military  con- 
ventions which,  for  all  purposes  of  peace  and  war, 
made  the  Germans  a  mighty  irresistible  nation. 
Prussia  emerged  from  the  war  powerful  abroad  as 
well  as  at  home.  She  could  show  that,  having 
crushed  Austria,  she  was  afraid  neither  of  France 
or  Eussia,  and  those  great  domineering  powers 
found  themselves  compelled  to  respect  the  new 
power  that  had  arisen  in  Europe.  Well  for  France 
had  she  seen  as  clearly  as  her  ruler  the  power  of 
the  neighbour  who  quickly  defied  him,  and  denied 
him  the  smallest  concession  by  way  of  restoring 
the  equilibrium  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe. 

Much  as  Prussia  has  done  by  her  military  power 
and  her  excellent  organization,  English  readers 
will  do  well  to  recollect  the  price  that  is  paid 
for  that  state  of  national  drill,  which  makes  the 
whole  population  a  powerful  machine  in  the  hands 
of  a  king,  his  ministers,  and  generals.  We  as 
a  people  should  be  very  loath  to  sacrifice  our 
personal  freedom  and  individual  independence 
to  the  exigencies  of  a  rigorous  military  system, 
that  with  harsh  if  equal  legality  takes  the  squire 
from  the  hall,  the  peasant  from  the  plough,  the 
merchant  from  his  counting  house,  the  clerk  from 
his  desk,  the  artist  from  his  studio,  the  tradesman 
from  his  shop,  the  artizan  and  the  operative  from 


their  bench  and  from  their  loom,  to  serve  an 
apprenticeship  to  the  bloody  genius  of  war.  The 
battle  for  freedom  which  England  fights  most 
successfully  has  to  be  waged  in  the  region  of 
opinion  and  moral  influence  ;  though  she  is 
obliged  by  the  practices  of  her  neighbours  to 
maintain  a  large  reserve  of  physical  force,  she 
will  by  her  legislation,  her  literature,  and  her  com- 
merce, encourage  peace  among  nations  and  the 
domestic  development  of  individual  prosperity  in 
all  parts  of  the  world.  The  glory  of  carrying  on 
such  a  work  will  be  far  greater  than  the  barbarous 
prestige  conceded  to  military  conquerors — a  false 
glory,  which  it  is  fervently  to  be  desired  will  at 
no  distant  date  disappear,  as  the  renown  of  being 
a  successful  duellist  has  already  ceased  to  be  an 
object  of  honourable  ambition  in  civilized  society. 
The  great  power  and  influence  acquired  by 
Prussia  in  her  war  with  Austria  and  the  overthrow 
of  so  many  of  the  princelets  of  Germany  was,  men 
feared,  to  be  used  in  favour  of  a  feudal  reaction, 
that  should  once  more  build  up  society  on  the 
basis  of  the  divine  right  of  kings,  the  blessedness 
of  privilege,  and  the  virtue  of  blue  blood.  But 
there  is  too  much  culture  on  the  one  hand,  and 
too  thorough  a  love  of  liberty  on  the  other,  for 
such  a  reaction  to  be  possible  in  a  territory  in- 
habited by  thirty  or  forty  million  people  of  Teu- 
tonic race.  Despotism  tempered  by  humanity, 
knowledge,  and  wisdom  may  be  submitted  to  by 
a  nation  in  times  of  crisis  and  transition,  but  its 
permanent  enthronement  will  never  be  endured. 
Nor  is  it  likely  that  unbridled  democracy  will 
gain  possession  of  united  Germany ;  but  a  peaceful, 
orderly,  representative  government,  in  which  every 
interest  is  allowed  a  voice,  and  a  career  is  open  to  all 
talent,  is  that  which  seems  destined  to  bind  together 
for  ages  those  parts  of  the  great  German  family 
which  have  been  so  long  separated  by  the  narrow 
selfishness  of  feudal  lords  and  petty  princes. 


CHAPTER     V. 


Leading  Actors  in  the  great  Drama — The  King-President  of  the  North  German  Confederation — His  Ancestry  and  their  labours  for  Prussia— Pro- 
gressive enlargement  of  Territory  and  increase  of  Population — Conquests  of  Napoleon  I. — Restorations  and  Additions  at  the  Congress  of 
Vienna — Birth  of  William — Flight  from  Berlin  with  Queen  Louise — Maxim  of  Kant  the  Philosopher — Death  of  Louise — William  in  the 
War  of  Liberation — His  sister  Charlotte  married  to  Nicholas  of  Russia — Friendship  of  the  Brothers-in-law — Journey  to  Russia — Bite  from 
a  chained  mastiff — Amateur  actor  in  "Lalla  Rookh" — Journey  into  Italy — Marriage  with  Princess  Augusta  of  Saxe  Weimar — William 
becomes  Crown  Prince  and  Governor  of  Pomerania — Opposed  to  violent  Chaages  of  the  Constitution — Intercourse  with  Bunsen — Tour 
in  England  and  Scotland — Conversation  with  the  Duke  of  Wellington — Attitude  of  the  Crown  Prince  in  1848— Sudden  visit  to  England — 
10th  April,  1848,  in  London — Election  to  the  Constituent  Assembly — Command  in  Baden — Political  Re-action— Governor  of  Westphalia 
and  the  Rhinelands — Residence  at  Coblentz — Illness  of  his  brother  the  King — William  made  Regent — His  first  acquaintance  with  Bismarck 
— Accession  to  the  Throne — Appoints  Bismarck  Prime  Minister — In  Denmark,  1864— At  Gastein — Receives  an  ovation  in  Berlin,  29th 
June,  1866 — Goes  into  Bohemia — Risk  of  Capture — Anxious  suspense  at  Sadowa — The  King  under  fire — Triumphal  Return  to  Berlin 
— The  King's  Brothers,  Son,  and  Nephews — The  Crown  Prince— His  Popularity— Military  Talent— Domesticity — Prince  Frederick  Charles 
— "Always  in  the  Front" — His  Campaigns — Important  Remarks  on  the  Reformation  of  Military  Tactics — Grand  Duke  of  Mecklenburg, 
son  of  the  King's  sister — General  Baron  von  Moltke — Sketch  of  his  life — In  Denmark,  Prussia,  Turkey,  and  Bohemia — His  Lesson  to  a 
French  officer— General  von  Roon,  Minister  of  War — Vogel  von  Falckenstein  in  the  War  of  Liberation — In  Denmark— On  the  Maine — In 
Silesia — Austrian  Notabilities — Archduke  Albert — General  Benedek — Results  of  the  War  to  the  two  Antagonists — Prussia's  gain — In 
Territory  incorporated — In  Influence  over  the  New  Confederation  of  North  Germany — Sketch  of  the  Confederation  and  its  Constitution — 
Austria's  loss— Of  Territory  in  Italy— Of  Influence  in  Germany— Her  gain  in  Union  with  Hungary — New  Constitution  of  the  Double 
Austro-Hungarian  Empire — Provincial  Diets— Reichsrath— The  Executive— Hungarian  Chamber  of  Magnates  and  Deputies— County 
Meetings — Executive — Sketch  of  Count  Beust — Speeches  of  Beust  and  of  the  Emperor — Deak  Ferencz — History  of  his  Labours  for  Hungary 
— Proceedings  in  Berlin — King's  Speech — Coolness  towards  France — Address  of  the  Chamber — Speech  of  Count  von  Bismarck — Applica- 
tion of  the  Prussian  Constitution  to  the  Incorporated  States — Possibility  of  a  renewal  of  War — The  right  of  Prussia  to  annex  is  the  right 
of  Germany — Bill  of  Indemnity  passed  in  favour  of  the  Prussian  Government — Reconciliation  of  the  Chambers  and  the  Government — The 
King's  apology  for  annexing  Hanover,  &c. — Bismarck  on  the  attitude  of  France  in  December,  1866 — Prussian  Indulgence  and  Modesty- 
Austria's  severance  from  the  Confederation  a  positive  advantage  to  France — France  a  match  for  the  North  German  Confederation — 
Difficulty  of  ceding  North  Schleswig  to  the  Danes  with  an  Ethnological  Frontier — Pressure  on  the  Subject  from  France  at  Nikolsburg 
and  Prague— Italy's  fidelity  to  Prussia  under  temptation  of  the  cession  of  Venetia  through  France — Remarks  on  the  Delay  of  Prussia 
in  fulfilling  her  Engagements  with  respect  to  North  Schleswig — Germans  not  likely  to  prove  an  Aggressive  Nation— Their  Enthusiasm 
for  the  Unity  of  their  Country  traced  back— Sufferings  from  Disunion— The  Literature  of  Patriotism— Karl  Theodor  KOrner — "Father, 
on  Thee  I  Call  "—Professor  Jahn— The  poet  Arndt— "What  is  the  German  Fatherland  ?  "— Niklas  Becker— Max  Schneckinger— The 
Rhine  Watch,  or  "Who'll  Guard  the  Rhine?"— A  Song  by  Ruckert—  Uhland. 


The  elaborate  narration  of  the  events  recorded 
in  the  last  chapter  was  due  not  only  to  their  in- 
trinsic importance,  but  also  to  their  especial  bear- 
ing upon  the  history  which  forms  the  substance 
of  the  present  work.  The  Seven  Week's  War 
turned  into  a  channel  of  practical  effort  all  the 
streaming  patriotism  that  had  agitated  the  German 
mind  for  a  century.  The  changes  resulting  from 
the  successful  conclusion  of  the  war  were  preg- 
nant with  other  results  very  momentous,  but  not 
necessarily  disastrous  to  Europe.  It  is  necessary 
now  to  give  a  more  personal  account  of  the  leading 
actors  in  that  great  drama,  since  they  have  all 
survived  to  play  principal  parts  in  the  more 
tremendous  tragedy  yet  to  be  described. 

To  begin  with  King  William,  the  President  of 
the  North  German  Confederation.  The  kings  of 
Prussia,  says  Mr.  Martin  in  his  excellent  "  States- 
man's   Year  Book,"  trace  their   origin   to    Count 


Thassilo  of  Zollern,  one  of  the  generals  of  Charle- 
magne. His  successor,  Count  Frederick  I.,  built 
the  family  castle  of  Hohenzollern,  near  the  Danube, 
in  the  year  980.  A  subsequent  Zollern  or  Hohen- 
zollern, Frederick  HI.,  was  elevated  to  the  rank  of 
a  prince  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  in  1273,  and 
received  the  burgraviate  of  Nuremberg  in  fief; 
and  his  great  grandson  Frederick  VI.,  being  in- 
vested by  Kaiser  Sigismund,  in  1411,  with  the 
province  of  Brandenburg,  obtained  the  rank  of 
elector  in  1417.  A  century  after,  in  1511,  the 
Teutonic  Knights,  owners  of  the  large  province 
of  Prussia  on  the  Baltic,  elected  Margrave  Albert, 
a  younger  son  of  the  family  of  Hohenzollern,  to 
the  post  of  grandmaster,  and  he,  after  a  while, 
declared  himself  hereditary  prince.  The  early 
extinction  of  Albert's  fine  brought  the  province 
of  Prussia  to  the  electors  of  Brandenburg,  whose 
own  territories   meanwhile  had  been   greatly  en- 


114 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


larged  by  the  valour  and  wisdom  of  Friedrich 
Wilhelm,  the  "  Great  Elector,"  under  whose  foster- 
ing care  rose  the  first  standing  army  in  central 
Europe.  The  great  elector,  dying  in  1688,  left  a 
country  of  one  and  a  half  millions,  a  vast  treasure, 
and  38,000  of  well  drilled  troops  to  his  son 
Frederick  I.,  who  put  the  kingly  crown  on  his 
head  at  Konigsberg,  on  the  18th  of  January, 
1701.  The  first  king  of  Prussia  made  few  efforts 
to  increase  the  territory  left  him  by  the  great 
elector;  but  his  successor,  Frederick  William  I., 
acquired  a  treasure  of  9,000,000  of  thalers,  or 
nearly  a  million  and  a  half  sterling,  bought  family 
domains  to  the  amount  of  5,000,000  thalers,  and 
raised  the  annual  income  of  the  country  to 
6,000,000,  three-fourths  of  which,  however,  had 
to  be  spent  on  the  army.  After  adding  part 
of  Pomerania  to  the  possessions  of  the  house,  he 
left  his  son  and  successor  Frederick  II.,  called 
"  the  Great,"  a  state  of  47,770  square  miles, 
with  2,500,000  inhabitants.  Frederick  II.  added 
Silesia,  an  area  of  14,200  square  miles,  with 
1,250,000  souls.  This,  and  the  large  territory 
gained  in  the  first  partition  of  Poland,  increased 
Prussia  to  74,340  square  miles,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  more  than  5,500,000.  Under  the  reign 
of  Frederick's  successor,  Frederick  William  II., 
the  state  was  enlarged  by  the  acquisition  of  the 
principalities  of  Anspach  and  Baireuth,  as  well 
as  the  vast  territory  acquired  in  another  par- 
tition of  Poland,  which  raised  its  area  to  the 
extent  of  nearly  100,000  square  miles,  with  about 
9,000,000  souls.  Under  Frederick  William  III., 
nearly  one  half  of  this  state  and  population 
was  taken  by  Napoleon  I.  At  the  Congress  of 
Vienna,  however,  not  only  was  the  loss  restored, 
but  much  territory  was  added ;  to  wit,  parts  of  the 
kingdom  of  Saxony,  the  Rhinelands,  and  Swedish 
Pomerania,  moulding  Prussia  into  two  separated 
districts  of  a  total  area  of  107,300  square  miles. 

King  William  of  Prussia,  as  already  stated,  is 
the  second  son  of  King  Frederick  William  III.,  and 
of  the  heroic  Queen  Louise,  who  sustained  the 
spirits  of  her  husband  and  her  countrymen  during 
the  terrible  trial  they  underwent  at  the  hands  of 
Napoleon  I.  He  was  born  in  1797,  nine  months 
before  his  father's  accession  to  the  throne.  He 
is  therefore  old  enough  to  remember  the  anguish 
of  his  parents  and  the  humiliation  of  his  native 
land.  He  was  one  of  the  children  who  fled  with 
the  beautiful  queen,  their  mother,  after  the  battle 


of  Jena,  from  Berlin  to  Stettin,  from  Stettin  to 
Konigsberg,  from  Konigsberg  to  Memel.  Here 
the  royal  family  lived  in  a  simplicity  that  ap- 
proached penury  ;  the  king  having  coined  his 
plate  to  assist  in  the  contribution  exacted  by  the 
French.  The  queen  and  her  eldest  daughter  were 
not  above  helping  in  affairs  of  the  house.  She 
looked  more  charming  then,  says  an  eye-witness, 
seated  near  a  shabby  table  in  a  simple  room,  than 
at  the  grandest  court  festival  crowded  with  golden 
uniforms  and  stars. 

The  tutor  of  the  young  folks  at  this  time  was 
a  Monsieur  Chambeau  from  the  French  colony, 
who  accompanied  the  family  in  their  flight.  One 
maxim  of  Kant's,  the  Konigsberg  philosopher,  was 
thoroughly  inculcated  into  the  minds  of  both  the 
princes  and  princesses — "  What  a  state  loses  in 
outward  importance,  must  be  replaced  by  inward 
greatness  and  development."  Precious  are  the 
uses  of  adversity !  and  wisely  did  Prussia,  under 
the  guidance  of  men  like  Stein,  Gneisenau,  Har- 
denberg,  and  others,  apply  to  practice  the  profound 
maxim  of  her  great  thinker.  It  was  at  Konigsberg, 
to  which  the  simple  court  returned  from  Memel 
after  the  treaty  of  Tilsit,  that  the  queen  gathered 
learned  Germans  to  her  evening  parties,  discussed 
methods  of  education,  and  encouraged  outbursts 
of  patriotic  song,  destined  to  penetrate  and  elevate 
the  down-trodden  nation.  To  all  this  young 
William  was  not  insensible.  Bitter  to  him  and  to 
them  all  was  the  premature  death  of  their  mother, 
in  1810,  a  year  after  her  return  to  Berlin.  The 
prince  was  bred  to  arms,  and  bore  a  part  in  the 
famous  campaigns  of  1813  and  1814,  in  which  the 
power  of  the  Corsican  conqueror  was  broken  at 
Leipzig  and  other  places.  The  Westphalian  king- 
dom of  Jerome  Bonaparte  was  restored  with  other 
spoils  to  the  Prussian  crown,  and  the  four  bronze 
horses  were  replaced  in  their  rightful  position  over 
the  Brandenburg  gate  at  Berlin. 

When  the  Grand -duke  Nicholas  of  Russia 
sought  the  hand  of  the  Princess  Charlotte  of 
Prussia,  she  made  a  confidant  of  her  brother 
William,  who  was  able  to  tell  the  Puissian  prince 
that  his  advances  were  not  disagreeable  to  the  young 
lady.  From  that  time  a  fast  friendship  subsisted 
between  the  two  princes,  who,  a  year  or  two  after- 
wards, became  brothers-in-law.  Their  predilection 
for  military  occupations  knitted  their  friendship 
with  the  bond  of  a  common  sympathy,  as  did  their 
high  notions  of  the  royal  prerogative  and  the  right 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


115 


divine  of  kings.  When  the  princess,  in  1817, 
after  two  years'  probation  in  the  mysteries  of  the 
Busso-Greek  Church,  proceeded  to  Russia  to  her 
marriage,  her  brother  William  bore  her  company, 
and  participated  in  the  great  bridal  festivals  that 
took  place  in  Petersburg  and  Moscow.  On  their 
arrival  at  the  Eussian  capital,  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ander introduced  the  young  prince  to  the  empress- 
mother,  with  the  words,  "  Allow  me  to  present 
to  you  my  new  brother ; "  on  which  the  sorely- 
tried  widow  of  Paul  I.  replied,  as  she  embraced 
him,  "  And  I,  too,  gain  a  son."  This  simple 
record  of  an  act  of  courtesy  is  a  slender  his- 
torical link  uniting  the  invader  of  France  in 
1870  with  the  murdered  monarch  of  Eussia,  who 
perished  in  1801.  The  gorgeous  splendour  of  the 
Eussian  court  offered  a  strong  contrast  to  that 
of  Berlin  ;  but  Prince  William's  mind  was  always 
more  set  on  solid  advantage  than  on  showy  ap- 
pearance, and  he  was  little  affected  by  the  oriental 
display  of  magnificence  that  he  witnessed  in  the 
ancient  and  modern  capitals  of  the  Czar.  His 
natural  easy  bearing  in  his  intercourse  with  Eus- 
sian society,  his  activity  in  movement  and  liveli- 
ness of  spirits,  contrasted  favourably  with  the  stiff 
and  formal  manners  of  the  Eussian  archdukes,  and 
won  him  golden  opinions.  While  at  his  sister's 
country  palace  of  Pavlosk  he  was  one  day  bitten 
by  a  chained  mastiff.  As  no  one  could  say  what 
the  consequences  might  be,  he  was  cauterized,  and 
bore  the  operation  with  a  good  humour  that  caused 
the  dowager-empress  to  exclaim,  "No  wonder!  for 
he  is  a  Prussian  prince." 

In  his  old  age  the  gallant  king  suffers,  in  the 
person  of  his  subjects,  from  a  chained  mastiff 
of  a  fiercer  kind,  who  has  both  inflicted  and 
received  wounds  that  nothing  but  the  Lethean 
influence  of  time  can  heal  or  obliterate.  Prince 
William  was  again  in  Petersburg  in  1819,  and 
was  one  of  the  few  recipients  of  that  momentous 
secret  which  the  Emperor  Alexander  then  first 
communicated  to  his  second  brother,  to  the  effect 
that  he  proposed  abdicating  his  throne  in  favour  of 
Nicholas.  Constantine  had  consented  to  the  arrange- 
ment, and  the  king  of  Prussia  was  credited  with 
a  similar  plan  in  favour  of  his  eldest  son.  Neither 
plan  came  into  operation ;  but  on  Alexander's 
death,  six  years'  later,  Nicholas  did  supersede 
Constantine,  the  rightful  heir  to  the  throne,  and 
had  to  suppress  a  military  revolt  in  consequence. 
It  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  stern  King  William 


of  the  present  playing  a  part  on  the  mimic  stage 
even  fifty  years  ago;  yet  such  was  the  case  in 
1820,  when  he  and  his  elder  brother  appeared  at 
a  court  spectacle  in  Berlin  as  sons  of  Aurungzebe 
in  Moore's  "Lalla  Eookh."  Ernest,  duke  of  Cum- 
berland, played  Abdallah  in  the  same  representa- 
tion, little  dreaming  doubtless  that  the  pleasant 
young  man  elbowing  him  in  the  crowd  would  one 
day  oust  his  son  and  grandson  from  the  crown 
and  kingdom  of  Hanover.  Not  long  after  this,  in 
1822,  the  prince  went  into  Italy  with  his  father 
and  brother  At  Eome,  while  the  learned  Niebuhr 
conducted  the  king  to  all  objects  of  interest  in  the 
city,  the  young  prince's  guide  was  the  scholarly 
Bunsen,  who  found  Prince  William  "  a  sober  and 
manly"  young  gentleman.  The  marriage  of  the  latter, 
in  1829,  to  the  Princess  Augusta  of  Saxe  Weimar, 
sister  to  his  brother  Karl's  wife,  was  the  occasion 
of  festivities  as  brilliant  in  their  way,  that  is,  in 
the  frugal,  practical,  Prussian  way,  as  had  been  the 
wedding  ceremonies  of  his  sister  the  empress  of 
Eussia.  During  the  life  of  his  frugal  father,  the 
prince  seems  to  have  received  little  or  no  advance- 
ment in  the  public  service.  Yet  his  mind,  though 
given  principally  to  military  studies,  was  not  indif- 
ferent to  the  art  and  literature  which  flourished 
with  so  much  lustre  at  his  father's  and  his  brother's 
court.  On  a  visit  to  Peterhof  in  1847  he  is  found 
advising  with  his  brother-in-law,  the  Czar,  upon 
architectural  improvements,  and  discussing  the 
merits  of  the  public  buildings,  not  of  Italy  only, 
but  of  England,  a  country  not  generally  credited 
abroad  with  fine  architecture.  By  the  accession 
of  his  brother  to  the  throne  in  1840  William 
became  Crown  Prince,  and  was  that  year  made 
governor  of  Pomerania. 

During  the  discussions  on  the  new  Prussian 
constitution,  which  took  place  in  1844,  so 
decidedly  opposed  was  the  Crown  Prince  to 
certain  liberal  proposals  which  the  king  seemed 
inclined  to  adopt,  that  he  avowed  his  intention 
of  quitting  the  country  if  they  were  adopted. 
These  proposals,  it  was  said  at  court,  emanated 
from  Bunsen,  who  had  been  summoned  from  the 
embassy  in  London,  and  was  daily  closeted  with 
the  king,  a  circumstance  that  disposed  the  prince 
to  regard  the  ambassador  with  an  unfriendly  eye. 
The  feeling,  however,  quickly  passed  away  ;  for  in 
August  that  year  his  royal  highness  paid  a  visit 
to  Queen  Victoria  on  the  birth  of  her  second  son, 
and  seized  the  opportunity  of  making  a  rapid  tour 


116 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


through  England  and  Scotland,  with  Bunsen  for 
his  guide.  The  king,  who  had  a  great  liking  for 
Bunsen  and  reverenced  his  character,  was  anxious 
that  his  brother  should  profit  by  the  intercourse 
which  this  English  trip  afforded  him.  In  a  letter 
to  his  ambassador  he  wrote,  "  Talk  over  with 
William  all  things  as  much  as  possible,  politics, 
church  matters,  the  arts,  Jerusalem  in  particular. 
I  have  begged  him,  on  his  part,  to  discuss  every- 
thing unreservedly  with  you  ;  that  will  be  most 
useful  and  very  necessary."  His  present  Prussian 
Majesty  does  not  appear  to  have  been  deeply 
impressed  with  the  "  Jerusalem  "  part  of  the  con- 
versations. He  took  an  affection  for  England, 
however,  and  admired  her  greatness,  which  he 
attributed  to  her  religious  and  political  institutions. 
He  took  every  opportunity  of  exchanging  ideas 
with  English  notabilities,  Bunsen  acting  as  inter- 
preter. The  duke  of  Wellington  readily  replied 
to  questions  on  military  subjects.  Only  one  of 
his  answers  unfortunately  is  recorded,  and  is  a 
reply  to  a  question  about  military  regulations : — 
"  I  know  of  none  more  important,"  he  said,  "  than 
closely  to  attend  to  the  comfort  of  the  soldier :  let 
him  be  well  clothed,  sheltered,  and  fed.  How 
should  he  fight,  poor  fellow !  if,  besides  risking 
his  life,  he  has  to  struggle  with  unnecessary  hard- 
ships? Also  he  must  not,  if  it  can  be  helped,  be 
struck  by  the  balls  before  he  is  fairly  in  action. 
One  ought  to  look  sharp  after  the  young  officers, 
and  be  very  indulgent  to  the  soldiers."  These 
words  of  the  veteran  were  not  forgotten  by  the 
prince. 

Conservative  in  politics,  his  royal  highness 
met  the  democratic  outbreak  of  1848  with  a  very 
different  countenance  from  that  of  his  brother  the 
king,  who  had  dreams  of  universal  philanthropy. 
So  notoriously  unpopular  was  he  with  the  masses, 
that  on  news  of  the  revolution  being  communi- 
cated to  the  alarmed  empress  of  Russia,  she  fainted 
away,  after  exclaiming,  "  And  my  brother  Wil- 
liam !"  He  did,  in  fact,  take  temporary  refuge 
in  England,  and  was  in  London  on  the  famous 
10th  of  April,  when  the  Chartists  carried  their 
monster  petition  through  the  streets,  and  tumults 
were  anticipated.  His  royal  highness  was  much 
struck  with  the  duke  of  Wellington's  reply  to 
Bunsen's  inquiry,  "  Your  grace  will  take  us  all 
in  charge,  and  London  too,  on  Monday  the  10th?" 
"Yes,"  was  the  answer,  "we  have  taken  our 
measures  ;  but  not  a  soldier  nor  a  piece  of  artillery 


shall  you  see,  unless  in  actual  need.  Should  the 
force  of  law — the  mounted  and  unmounted  police 
— be  overpowered  or  in  danger,  then  is  their 
time.  But  it  is  not  fair,  on  either  side,  to  call  them 
in  to  do  the  work  of  police  ;  the  military  must 
not  be  confounded  with  the  police,  nor  merged 
in  the  police."  The  prince  had  arrived  in  London 
unexpectedly  on  the  27th  of  March,  and  after  a 
stay  of  exactly  two  months  he  returned  to  Berlin, 
having  been  elected,  in  May,  member  of  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly  by  the  constituency  of  Wiisitz 
in  Posen,  and  he  took  his  seat  in  that  assembly  on 
the  8th  of  June.  The  main  cause  of  his  unpopu- 
larity was  doubtless  due  to  his  fondness  for  arms 
and  the  armed  force,  and  his  readiness  to  make 
use  of  them  lor  the  maintenance  of  order.  To  him 
in  the  main  is  Prussia  indebted  for  coming  out  of  the 
crisis  of  1848—49  in  her  ancient  form  of  a  kingdom, 
although  it  was  with  modifications.  In  June,  1849, 
he  was  appointed  commander-in-chief  of  the  forces 
sent  against  the  revolutionists  of  Baden  ;  when 
with  the  partial  use  of  the  needle-gun  he  quelled 
the  insurrection,  and  contributed  no  little  to  the 
return  of  the  tide  of  re-action  throughout  Europe. 
He  was  soon  after  appointed  military  governor  of 
Westphalia  and  the  Rhine  provinces,  and  settled 
in  Coblentz.  His  regard  for  Prince  Albert  and  the 
Queen  brought  him  again  to  England  "  straight 
from  Russia,"  in  1850,  in  order  to  be  present  at 
the  christening  of  their  son,  his  godchild,  Prince 
Arthur.  At  the  time  of  the  war  between  Russia 
and  the  Western  Powers  he  openly  expressed 
an  opinion,  that  if  Prussia  had  assumed  a  firm 
attitude  the  Czar  would  not  have  proceeded  with 
his  aggression,  and  war  would  have  been  pre- 
vented. In  that  j'ear,  1854,  he  was  appointed 
colonel-general  of  Prussian  infantry,  and  governor 
of  the  federal  fortress  of  Mayence.  The  mental 
disorder  of  his  brother,  the  king,  had  reached  a 
very  advanced  stage  in  1857,  and  long  before  the 
men  in  office  would  admit  his  incapacity.  The 
Crown  Prince,  however,  would  not  accept  the 
responsibilities  of  a  ruler  without  the  full  power 
of  regent,  to  which  office  he  was  at  length  called 
in  October,  1858. 

His  first  acquaintance  with  his  now  celebrated 
minister  dates  as  far  back  as  1836,  when  Bismarck 
and  another  law  student  of  equally  great  stature 
were  introduced  to  Prince  William.  "Well!" 
said  the  prince,  gaily,  "  Justice  seeks  her  young 
advocates  according  to  the  standard  of  the  guards  ;" 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


117 


a  chance  remark  that,  so  far  as  Bismarck  is  con- 
cerned, has  been  verified  in  more  senses  than  one. 
Yet,  in  1851,  when  the  Crown  Prince  was  received 
at  Frankfort  by  the  Diet,  he  rather  disapproved 
of  "that  militia  lieutenant" — for  Bismarck  had 
appeared  in  uniform — being  the  representative 
of  Prussia  in  the  Diet  of  the  Confederation.  He 
also  thought  him  too  young  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
six  for  so  responsible  an  office.  He  was  not  long, 
however,  in  discovering  the  ripeness  of  the  minis- 
ter's understanding,  the  vivacity  of  his  ideas,  and 
the  strength  of  his  character,  which  rapidly  at- 
tracted the  prince's  good  will,  and  a  regard  which 
soon  ripened  into  intimate  friendship.  King 
Frederick  William  IV.  died  on  2nd  January,  1861, 
and  William  ascended  the  throne.  He  spent  part 
of  the  summer  at  Baden-Baden,  where  Bismarck,  on 
leave  from  his  Petersburg  mission,  had  much  con- 
versation with  his  new  majesty.  Upon  one  sub- 
ject these  two  were  thoroughly  agreed,  that  unless 
a  total  re-organization  of  their  army  were  to  take 
place,  Prussia  would  not  attain  to  a  high  position 
in  the  world.  The  consequence  of  this  agreement 
became  apparent  the  following  year,  when  the  king, 
after  sending  his  friend  on  a  brief  embassy  to  Paris, 
appointed  him  minister-president.  Here  was  the 
man  to  battle  with  liberalism  and  parliamentarian- 
ism,  and  to  make  a  good  army  and  a  strong  govern- 
ment! and  the  liberal  ministry  had  to  make  way 
for  him.  It  is  a  coup  cCitat!  exclaimed  the  demo- 
crats, and  fiercely  angry  was  the  opposition  which 
the  appointment  roused.  Such  strife  as  ensued  in 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies  for  the  six  years  following 
has  no  parallel  in  parliamentary  annals  ;  but  the 
courage  and  constancy  of  the  king  and  his  minister 
triumphed  over  the  fiery  eloquence,  and  the  really 
popular  cause,  of  the  opposition  deputies.  The 
king  owned  on  one  occasion  the  extent  of  his  debt 
to  his  minister's  pluck  and  perseverance.  On  being 
complimented  during  those  troublous  days  on  his 
own  good  looks,  he  pointed  to  Bismarck,  and  said, 
"  There's  my  doctor!"  In  1863  his  Majesty  ac- 
cepted the  invitation  of  the  emperor  of  Austria  to  a 
congress  of  princes  at  Gastein,  where  a  reform  of 
the  Federation  was  proposed,  under  the  direction 
of  Austria.  To  this  Prussia  would  not  consent, 
nor  would  King  William  attend  the  subsequent 
meeting  of  German  sovereigns  at  Frankfort,  which 
was  thus  rendered  inoperative.  After  the  storming 
of  Diippel  by  Prince  Frederick  Charles  in  1864, 
the  king  proceeded  to  the  seat  of  war,  in  order  to 


congratulate  his  troops  on  the  field  of  victory.  In 
the  autumn  of  the  following  year  was  concluded 
with  Austria  the  Convention  of  Gastein,  for  reasons 
that  probably  were  based  on  the  king's  personal  regard 
for  the  emperor  rather  than  from  motives  of  policy, 
for  it  was  plain  that  it  must  from  political  necessity 
soon  be  set  at  nought.  The  king's  life  was  not 
an  easy  one.  Working  incessantly  with  his  minis- 
ters at  negotiation,  and  at  administration,  military, 
financial,  and  general,  he  had  also  frequent  occasion 
to  know  that  his  life  was  in  danger  at  the  hands 
of  excited  enthusiasts  of  the  liberal  and  democratic 
party. 

At  length,  in  1866,  came  the  great  event,  the 
war  with  Austria,  the  triumph  and  enlargement 
of  Prussia,  which,  in  the  eyes  of  his  subjects, 
condoned  all  past  errors,  and  made  them  proud 
of  their  king,  his  ministers,  and  his  generals. 
The  first  news  of  victory  over  the  Austrians  was 
received  in  Berlin  on  the  29th  June,  while  the 
king  and  Count  von  Bismarck  were  still  in  Berlin. 
The  excitement  among  the  people  was  tremendous. 
They  sang  Luther's  hymn  in  front  of  the  palace, 
"A  strong  tower  is  our  God,  a  trusty  shield  and 
weapon,"  that  hymn  which  ever  since  the  battle 
of  Leuthen  has  time  after  time  aroused  and  sus- 
tained the  Prussian  soldier  on  the  march  to  battle; 
and  the  king  spoke  to  them  from  his  balcony 
words  known  to  be  of  thanks  and  congratulation, 
but  inaudible  in  the  deafening  roar  of  human 
voices  below.  The  minister-president  also  re- 
ceived an  ovation,  and  ended  his  reply  with  a 
salute  to  the  king  and  army.  As  he  spoke,  a 
tremendous  peal  of  thunder  reverberated  over 
the  city,  which  was  illuminated  by  the  accom- 
panying flash  of  lightning,  and  Bismarck's  ringing 
voice  was  heard  shouting  above  the  multitude, 
"The  heavens  fire  a  salute."  Next  day  the 
king  set  out  for  the  seat  of  war,  accompanied 
by  his  ministers.  On  the  way  they  were  so  little 
guarded,  that  by  the  admission  of  Count  von 
Bismarck  himself,  the  Austrians,  "  had  they  sent 
cavalry  from  Leitmeritz,  might  have  caught  the 
king  and  all  the  rest  of  us."  They  met  Prince  Fre- 
derick Charles  on  the  road  to  Gitchin  on  the  2nd 
July,  and  after  a  council  of  war  held  at  midnight, 
resolved  on  the  momentous  battle  of  Kb'niggratz, 
or  Sadowa,  which  began  amid  fog  and  rain  at  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  3rd.  Till  mid-day 
the  battle  went  on  furiously,  and  the  Austrians 
were  certainly  not  worsted.     "  Noon  arrived,  says 


118 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


Ilezekiel,  in  a  striking  picture  of  the  scene,  "  but 
no  decisive  news  from  the  Crown  Prince.  Many 
a  brave  heart  feared  at  that  time  for  beloved 
Prussia.  Dark  were  the  looks  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  king  ;  old  Roon,  and  Moltke  of  the 
bright  face,  sat  there  like  two  statues  of  bronze. 
It  was  whispered  that  Prince  Frederick  Charles 
would  have  to  let  loose  against  the  foe  his  Bran- 
denburghers — his  own  beloved  third  corps,  whom 
he  had  held  in  reserve — his  stormers  of  Diippel, 
which  would  be  setting  his  hazard  on  the  die  in 
very  deed.  Suddenly  Bismarck  lowered  the  glass 
through  which  he  had  been  observing  the  country 
along  which  the  Crown  Prince  was  expected  to 
come,  and  drew  the  attention  of  his  neighbours 
to  some  lines  in  the  far  distance.  All  telescopes 
were  pointed  thitherward,  but  the  lines  were  pro- 
nounced to  be  ploughed  fields.  There  was  a  deep 
silence  till  the  minister-president,  lowering  his 
glass  again,  said  decidedly,  '  They  are  not  plough 
furrows,  the  spaces  are  not  equal;  they  are 
marching  lines!'  He  had  been  the  first  to  dis- 
cover the  advance  of  the  second  army.  In  a  little 
while  the  adjutants  with  the  intelligence  flew 
about  in  every  direction — The  Crown  Prince  and 
victory  are  at  hand ! "  The  -warlike  old  monarch 
dashed  into  the  grenade  fire  of  the  enemy,  on  which 
Bismarck,  who  kept  close  to  him,  begged  him  to 
pause.  '  As  a  major,'  he  said,  '  I  have  no  right 
to  counsel  your  Majesty  on  the  battlefield ;  but  as 
minister-president,  it  is  my  duty  to  beg  your 
Majesty  not  to  seek  evident  danger. '  '  How  can 
I  ride  off  when  my  army  is  under  fire?'  replied 
the  stout-hearted  king."  The  march  on  Vienna 
and  the  armistice  of  Xikolsburg  soon  followed. 

On  the  20th  September  the  victorious  troops 
made  their  triumphal  entry  into  Berlin,  with  the 
king,  the  royal  princes,  the  ministers,  and  principal 
generals  at  their  head.  There  rode  Bismarck, 
Roon,  and  Moltke,  Voigts-Rheetz,  chief  of  the 
staff  of  the  first  army,  Blumenthal,  chief  of  the 
staff  of  the  second  army,  and  other  personages 
almost  as  distinguished.  Rejoicings  and  feastings 
ensued,  and  the  now  popular  king  anticipated  a 
long  and  steadfast  repose  on  his  laurels. 

"We  have  always,"  said  Count  von  Bismarck,  in 
a  speech  delivered  to  some  Holsteiners  in  Decem- 
ber, 1866,  some  three  months  after  the  peace  of 
Prague,  "we  have  always  belonged  to  each  other  as 
Germans ;  we  have  ever  been  brothers  ;  but  we 
were  unconscious  of  it.     In  this  country  there  were 


different  races — Schleswigers,  Holsteiners,  Lauen- 
burgers  ;  elsewhere  too,  there  are  Mecklenburgers, 
Hanoverians,  Liibeckcrs,  and  Hamburgers.  They 
are  all  free  to  remain  what  they  are,  in  the  know- 
ledge that  they  are  Germans — that  they  are 
brothers.  To  the  wisdom  and  energy  of  one  man 
we  owe  it,  that  at  length  we  are  able  to  recognize, 
vividly  and  with  joy,  our  common  German  descent 
and  solidarity.  Him  we  must  thank— our  lord 
and  king — with  a  hearty  cheer,  lor  having  ren- 
dered this  consciousness  of  our  common  relation- 
ship a  truth  and  a  fact.  Long  live  his  Majesty, 
our  most  gracious  king  and  sovereign,  William 
I. ! "  This  pithy  expression  of  satisfaction  at  the- 
great  work  achieved  is  as  honourable  to  the  min- 
ister who  prompted  the  task  as  to  the  sovereign 
who  responded  to  the  call  made  on  his  energies 
in  carrying  it  out. 

Other  skilful  aid  he  had  besides  that  of  his 
minister-president.  More  fortunate  than  many 
kings,  he  found  conspicuous  valour  and  ability  in 
members  of  his  own  family.  To  say  nothing  of 
his  brothers  Karl,  commander  of  the  Prussian  artil- 
lery, and  Albrecht,  general  of  cavalry,  who  held 
high  military  command  with  credit,  there  were 
his  son  the  Crown  Prince,  and  his  two  nephews, 
Prince  Friedrich  Karl  and  the  Grand-duke  of 
Mecklenburg,  who  distinguished  themselves  in  the 
field  of  battle. 

THE    CBOWN    PRINCE. 

The  Hohenzollerns,  says  Carlyle  in  his  "  His- 
tory of  Frederick  the  Great,"  are  men  who  seek  no 
fighting  where  such  can  be  avoided;  but  who  can, 
when  it  is  necessary,  carry  on  a  brisk  and  vigorous 
attack.  These  words  apply  not  only  to  the  present 
head  of  the  family,  but  peculiarly  to  the  person  of 
his  son.  Prince  Friedrich  Wilhelm  of  Prussia  was 
born  on  the  18th  October,  1831,  the  anniversary 
of  the  day  on  which  the  great  battle  of  Leipzig 
was  fought,  the  battle  of  German  deliverance 
from  the  Gallic  yoke.  This  anniversary  has 
always  been  marked  by  the  fires  which  burn 
on  the  German  hills,  and  in  the  year  1831 
these  fires  proclaimed  a  happy  day.  From  his 
mother,  Queen  Augusta  of  the  royal  house  of 
Weimar,  the  prince  inherited  the  unassuming 
kindness  and  true-heartedness  of  disposition 
which  distinguish  him,  together  with  a  certain 
gentleness  in  judging  others,  and  liberality  in 
political   affairs,  which  have  not  hitherto  charac- 


•aiyTC  KolL  from  a  Bvttofcxgh. 


N     P  US  Q  Kl  E  E    (B  [F    P  1  U  S  S  D  A\ 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


119 


terized  members  of  the  family.  The  prince  was 
educated  at  the  University  of  Bonn,  and  after 
finishing  college  studies,  he  began  the  service  of 
the  pike  and  drum.  He  married  on  the  28th 
January,  1858,  Victoria,  princess  royal  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  who  has  borne  him  a  nume- 
rous offspring.  A  pleasant  and  genuinely  German 
family  life  is  that  of  the  prince.  Art  and  science 
are  much  encouraged  by  him.  A  tall  stately 
man,  says  one  who  saw  him  at  Berlin  in  1867, 
with  a  brave  handsome  countenance,  and  looking 
•taller  in  his  light  blue  dragoon  uniform  with  the 
yellow  collar,  which  he  wears  but  seldom.  When 
■engaged  in  conversation  the  serious,  almost  solemn, 
look  which  marks  his  face  in  repose,  gives  way 
to  an  expression  of  pleasant  animation. 

The  inexhaustible  humour  and  good  temper 
with  which  the  prince  took  part  in  the  winter 
•campaign  against  Denmark,  made  him  beloved 
by  the  soldiers.  The  year  1866  strengthened  the 
confidence  he  had  already  won.  On  the  day  of 
Koniggratz  he  had  the  difficult  task,  described 
in  the  previous  chapter,  of  debouching  with  the 
second  army  through  narrow  dales  and  vast  forests, 
until  towards  mid-day  he  succeeded  in  surrounding 
the  left  wing  of  the  enemy.  The  movement  that 
he  effected  despite  so  many  difficulties  determined 
the  issue  of  the  battle.  The  correct  eye  of  the  prince, 
which  sees  quickly  the  right  thing  to  be  done, 
his  indefatigableness  and  energy,  are  the  theme  of 
admiration  to  those  who  know  him.  One  striking 
proof  of  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  his 
father's  subjects,  is  the  exclamation  not  seldom 
heard  uttered  by  parents  of  the  youths  summoned 
to  march  under  the  standard:  "It's  all  right  if 
they  join  the  Crown  Prince,  they  will  be  in  good 
hands."  The  emphatic  testimony  of  one  of  the 
German  historians  of  the  war,  who  compares  the 
generalship  of  the  Crown  Prince  with  that  of  his 
cousin  Friedrich,  is  to  the  effect  that  the  method 
of  the  former  in  conducting  the  campaign  calls 
to  mind  the  masterly  enterprise  of  renowned 
captains.  The  conflict  between  the  Government 
and  the  House  of  Deputies  brought  him  trouble  too. 
It  was  to  the  Crown  Prince,  whose  predilection 
for  free  parliamentary  government  he  well  knew, 
that  Count  von  Bismarck  on  one  occasion  made 
the  remarkable  statement  of  his  devotion  to 
the  idea  of  German  unity.  "What  matter,"  he 
said,  "  if  they  hang  me,  provided  that  the  rope 
bv  which  I  am  hung,  bind  this  new  Germany  to 


your  throne."  Worthy  son  of  a  worthy  sire,  the 
prince  gives  promise  that  the  splendid  crown 
awaiting  him,  will  rest  on  brows  which,  however 
they  may  ache  with  toil  and  care,  will  never 
harbour  an  ignoble  thought  or  unmanly  purpose. 

PRINCE    FREDERICK    CHARLES. 

"  Prince  always  in  the  front"  (Prim  allzeit 
vorauf),  thus  the  people  named  the  Hohenzollern 
cavalry  general  in  the  year  1866,  and  even  as 
"  allzeit  vorauf "  he  has  lived  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  ever  since  cannon  shot  for  the  first  time 
crashed  around  him  at  Missunde.  The  German 
soldiery  have  a  more  affectionate  regard  for 
that  sobriquet  than  for  the  newer  title  given  by 
the  people,  of  "  Red  Prince."  Born  in  1828,  as  the 
son  of  Prince  Karl,  brother  of  the  king,  he  quickly 
ascended  the  step-ladder  of  military  honour.  With 
the  Hohenzollerns  it  is  an  old  piece  of  family  pride 
to  show  themselves  worthy  of  such  honours  by 
unwearied  care  and  study,  and  in  the  service  of 
their  house  to  use  it  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
army.  In  the  year  1864  the  prince  first  had  an 
opportunity  of  showing  the  world  that  Prussian  skill 
and  bravery  had  not  degenerated  during  a  long 
time  of  peace.  In  1866  he  led  the  first  army  into 
Bohemia,  and  won  the  unreserved  confidence  of 
his  soldiers  and  the  fame  of  a  bold  general.  A 
critic,  already  quoted,  says  of  this  prince's  conduct 
of  this  campaign,  that  he  pursued  his  way  with 
extraordinary  circumspection,  following  the  tactics 
of  a  wary  general,  anxious  for  the  security  of  his 
flanks,  driving  the  enemy  quietly  before  him,  but 
leaving  little  to  chance ;  doing  his  work  cleanly, 
but  too  slowly  for  the  attainment  of  the  combined 
plans.  In  his  operations,  as  well  as  in  battle,  he 
was  always  concentrated,  and  moved  frontwise, 
whereas  the  Crown  Prince  generally  took  up  a 
broad  front,  threatening  and  attacking  the  enemy 
in  flank,  forgetting  his  own  line  of  retreat,  but 
looking  sharply  after  that  of  his  opponent.  Prince 
Frederick's  method  is  correct  according  to  the 
systematic  teaching  of  the  school  of  Archduke 
Charles.  His  leisure  after  the  Bohemian  campaign 
was  employed  in  preparing  a  pamphlet  about  French 
military  science,  the  delicate  thorough  observations 
of  which  show  that  his  courage  was  coupled  with 
superior  intellectual  power.  Up  to  1859  the 
Prussian  tactics,  says  Colonel  Chesney,  remained 
as  they  were  left  after  Waterloo,  and  thought 
was  first  bestowed  upon  them   when  the  French 


120 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


fought  and  won  the  battle  of  Solferino.  This 
battle  aroused  the  deepest  anxiety  in  the  minds 
of  the  Prussians,  and  the  well-known  lecture  of 
Prince  Frederick  Charles,  who  put  before  the 
Prussians  the  principles  upon  which  the  French 
had  fought  and  conquered,  took  a  deep  hold, 
not  merely  because  the  lecturer  was  a  prince, 
but  because  men  felt  that  he  dealt  with  a 
want  of  their  time.  The  prince  pointed  out  that 
the  French  fought  in  loose  formation,  but  above 
all,  with  a  design;  and  from  that  time  the  great 
subject  of  study  was,  "  How  to  beat  the  French 
by  using  their  own  freedom  of  movement."  The 
result  was  that  the  Prussian  system  was  changed 
in  1861.  The  Prussian  Tactical  Instructions  of 
1861  laid  aside  all  attempts  to  teach  men  by  rule 
— officers  were  given  principles,  and  left  to  work 
out  their  applications  by  themselves.  The  pro- 
posals of  Prince  Frederick  Charles  led  to  breaking 
up  battalions,  so  as  to  allow  of  the  formation  of 
company  columns,  gaining  thereby  elasticity  in 
the  movements  of  infantry.  The  Austro-Prussian 
war,  which  followed  soon  after,  was  too  short 
to  display  fully  the  effect  of  the  new  tactics  ; 
but  there  were  two  remarkable  mistakes  and  fail- 
ures, at  Langensalza  and  Trautenau,  where  the 
defeat  of  the  Prussians  occurred  from  special  causes. 
It  is  a  remarkable  fact  in  favour  of  the  Prussian 
system,  that  the  general  in  command  at  Trautenau 
is  in  high  favour  at  the  present  time,  and  the 
subject  of  that  defeat  has  been  a  matter  of  special 
study  by  the  Prussians  since,  showing  that  they 
are  not  ashamed  of  profiting  by  their  own  mis- 
takes. If  to  know  his  enemy  accurately  be  a 
condition  of  victory,  the  Prussian  commander  of 
the  first  army  in  Bohemia  was  well  qualified  for 
his  position. 

GRAND   DUKE    OF    MECKLENBURG. 

Another  nephew  of  the  king  distinguished  as  a 
military  commander  is  Frederick  Francis,  grand- 
duke  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin,  son  of  the  Grand- 
duke  Paul  Frederick,  and  of  the  Princess  Alexandra 
of  Prussia.  He  was  born  on  the  18th  February, 
1823,  and  carried  on  his  studies  at  the  university 
of  Bonn,  when  the  death  of  his  father,  on  the 
7th  of  March,  1842,  left  him  possessor  of  the 
grand-ducal  throne.  The  revolutionary  move- 
ment of  1848  obliged  him  to  make  some  liberal 
modifications  of  the  constitution;  but  in  1851  the 
aristocratic  party  among  his  subjects  managed  to 


get  the  old  state  of  things  re-established.  In 
1849  the  grand-duke  married  Augusta  Mathilda 
Wilhelmina,  daughter  of  Henry,  prince  of  Beuss- 
Schleiss.  By  her  he  has  had  several  children, 
the  eldest  of  whom,  Francis  Paul,  was  born  on 
the  19th  March,  1851.  In  1866  he  was  appointed 
to  the  command  of  the  second  Prussian  reserved 
corps  at  Leipzig,  and  on  the  18th  of  July  was 
charged  with  the  duty  of  occupying  Franconia,  a 
task  he  accomplished  with  as  much  promptitude 
and  skill  as  humanity  and  kind  feeling  towards  the 
inhabitants  of  the  invaded  territory.  He  was  on 
his  way  to  unite  his  forces  with  those  of  General 
Manteuffel,  when  news  of  the  armistice  put  a  stop 
to  further  operations.  .  The  king  of  Prussia  on 
this  occasion  sent  the  "  order  of  merit "  to  the 
grand-duke  with  an  autograph  letter. 

GENERAL  BARON  VON  MOLTKE. 

The  first  rank  after  the  royal  commanders  of 
the  Prussian  forces  is  unquestionably  due  to 
General  von  Moltke.  So  unobtrusive  has  been  the 
life  of  this  eminent  man  and  so  opposed  to  display 
is  his  character,  that  materials  for  his  biography 
are  extremely  scanty.  "  And  that  is  really  Von 
Moltke ! "  said  one  who  saw  the  great  strate- 
gist for  the  first  time;  "  that  tall  thin  man  without 
any  moustache  or  whiskers,  his  hands  behind  his 
back — the  officer  with  very  short  gTeyish  hair, 
and  a  face  cut  with  many  fine  lines,  his  head 
slightly  stooped,  his  eyebrows  pronounced,  and 
the  eyes  deep  set."  Yes.  there  is  the  man  whom 
the  Junkers  of  Berlin  called  "  the  old  school- 
master." "  What  a  lesson  he  has  taught  the 
enemies  of  his  country !  "  He  is  the  man  who 
caught  Benedek  in  a  vice  at  Ko'niggratz,  and  pre- 
pared for  greater  things  to  come.  "  He  always 
looks  very  grave."  He  is  pre-eminently  a  nine- 
teenth century  man,  having  been  born  in  the  year 
1800,  and  a  self-made  man,  having  been  a  soldier 
since  his  twentieth  year,  owing  his  advancement 
to  his  own  efforts.  "  I  like  self-made  men,"  once 
remarked  Count  von  Bismarck,  "it  is  the  best  sort 
of  manufacture  in  our  race."  The  birthplace  of 
Moltke  is  Gnewitz  in  Mecklenburg,  the  Slavonic 
name  of  which  signifies  "  anger."  The  Christian 
names  of  the  baron  are  Helrnuth  Charles  Bernard, 
the  first  of  which  being  purely  German  may  be 
interpreted  by  the  word  "  heroism."  If  the 
general's  history  should  pass,  in  a  remote  future, 
into  the  mythic  stage,  here  are  two  points  that 


Bii^r  ared.  "by  WML  from  a  Bwto  graph. 


POM  RISE    [FiEIIDEIMM    (DM  MQ.E5S. 


* 

gig 

JJEffiM    f  GD  W 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


121 


will  be  valued  by  the  epic  poet  who  may  treat  the 
subject. 

On  completing  his  college  career  young  Moltke 
entered  the  military  service  of  the  king  of  Denmark, 
but  in  1822  passed  over  to  that  of  Prussia.  By  a 
process  of  self-teaching  he  acquired  a  remarkable 
knowledge  of  modern  languages,  an  accomplish- 
ment which  gave  rise  to  the  familiar  saying  that 
he  was  "  silent  in  seven  tongues."  When  he  had 
been  ten  years  in  the  Prussian  service  his  talents 
and  large  information  procured  him  an  appoint- 
ment on  the  staff.  In  1835  he  travelled  in  the 
East  and  was  presented  to  Sultan  Mahmoud.  That 
sovereign,  full  of  schemes  of  military  reform  in 
his  empire,  requested  the  German  officer  to  enter 
his  service;  and  failing  in  that  request  persuaded 
him  to  obtain  a  long  furlough  for  service  of  a 
limited  period,  that  he  might  initiate  the  Father 
of  the  faithful  in  new  theories  of  strategy,  and 
direct  the  military  reforms  his  Majesty  had  so 
much  at  heart.  The  earnest  and  fruitful  study  he 
made  of  the  military  art  at  this  time  may  be  seen 
in  his  excellent  "History  of  the  Russo-Turkish 
Campaign,  1828—29,"  which  is  full  of  shrewd 
observation  and  practical  instruction.  This  work 
was  published  in  1845,  after  his  return  to  Berlin, 
and  was  translated  into  English  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Crimean  war  in  1854;  the  translator, 
who  is  anonymous,  makes  a  statement  in  his 
preface  that  proves  how  thoroughly  Moltke  kept 
out  of  the  sight  of  the  world.  "  Baron  von  Moltke, 
who  is  now  dead,  was  despatched  to  the  Turkish 
army  by  order  of  his  own  sovereign,  at  the  express 
request  of  Sultan  Mahmoud,  and  served  with  it 
through  the  campaigns  here  described."  The  cam- 
paign he  did  serve  in  was  that  of  Syria,  which  took 
place  in  1839.  He  published  another  work  in 
184*1  concerning  Turkey,  entitled  "  Letters  on  the 
Occurrences  in  Turkey  from  1835  to  1839."  Two 
earlier  literary  productions  attributed  to  him  may 
be  mentioned  here,  namely,  an  historical  view  of 
Belgium  and  Holland,  published  in  1831 ;  and  the 
year  following  a  paper  upon  Poland.  Soon  after 
his  return  from  Turkey  to  Prussia  he  was  appointed 
in  1846  aide-de-camp  to  Prince  Henry,  who  lived 
in  retirement  at  Rome,  and  died  there  the  ensuing 
year.  After  executing  missions  intrusted  to  him 
in  his  capacity  of  an  officer  on  the  staff,  Moltke 
in  1856  became  aide-de-camp  to  Prince  Friedrich 
Wilhelm,  the  present  Crown  Prince,  who  doubtless 
owes   to  him  much   of    that   military  knowledge 


and  skill  of  which  he  has  proved  himself  master. 
Three  years  later  Moltke  was  made  chief  of  the 
staff  of  the  army,  and  his  first  important  task  was 
to  draw  up  a  plan  of  operations  with  a  view  to 
intervention  in  the  Franco-Austrian  war  in  Italy 
of  1859.  The  peace  of  Villafranca  obviated  the 
necessity  of  any  military  movements  at  that  time; 
but  the  effort  to  be  in  readiness  had  revealed 
to  the  practised  eye  of  the  chief  of  the  staff 
defects  that  needed  absolute  cure  ere  the  Prussian 
army  could  become  an  instrument  of  any  consider- 
able weight  in  Europe.  The  maxim  of  the  great 
Kb'nigsberger  already  quoted  fermented  in  a  power- 
ful mind,  and  "  the  loss  that  the  Prussian  state  had 
sustained  in  outward  importance  was  now  to  be 
rapidly  replaced  by  inward  greatness  and  develop- 
ment in  a  military  sense."  The  first  successful 
operations  of  the  re-organized  army  in  the  Danish 
campaign  of  1864  were  conducted  on  a  plan 
advised  by  Baron  von  Moltke,  who  accompanied 
Prince  Friedrich  Karl,  the  commander-in-chief, 
throughout  the  expedition. 

The  very  next  year  he  was  actively  engaged  in 
preparing  a  plan  of  campaign  in  anticipation  of 
war  with  Austria,  and  when  war  was  declared  some- 
what later,  in  1866,  his  plan  was  faithfully  carried 
out.  Accompanying  the  king  into  Bohemia,  he 
directed  the  march  on  Vienna  which  had  such  a 
stimulating  effect  on  the  Austrian  authorities,  and 
induced  the  acceptance  of  the  preliminaries  of 
Nikolsburg.  It  was  Moltke  who  on  the  22nd 
June  granted  the  truce  of  five  days,  that  led  to 
the  armistice.  The  entire  confidence  of  the  king 
in  his  able  lieutenant  was  pleasantly  illustrated  by 
his  Majesty's  reply  to  some  general  who  wanted 
troops  detached  for  his  reinforcement,  "Ask  him 
there !  "  pointing  to  Moltke,  with  a  smile,  "  he 
wants  them  all ;  I  dont  know  if  he  will  let  me  have 
my  body  guard  for  long."  It  was  on  the  occasion 
of  the  armistice  of  Nikolsburg  that  the  king 
decorated  Baron  von  Moltke  with  the  distinguished 
order  of  the  Black  Eagle.  That  short  and  sharp 
campaign  did  indeed  render  fully  manifest  the 
remarkable  powers  of  the  general,  and  enforced  the 
claims  made  for  him  by  his  admirers  to  be  the 
greatest  strategist  of  the  age.  War  has  been  to 
him  a  purely  scientific  study,  wholly  devoid  of 
passion,  of  political  or  personal  feeling.  He  has 
acquired  his  knowledge  as  a  skilful  chemist  comes 
to  know  chemistry — by  study,  by  experiment,  and 
by  combination.  All  possible  aids  that  he  can 
Q 


122 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


discover  or  think  of  are  brought  in  as  auxiliaries 
to  victory.  The  remarkable  use  made  of  the 
telegraph  wires  in  the  Bohemian  campaign  is  an 
instance  of  this.  The  carriages  conveying  the 
telegraphic  instruments  formed  a  nearer  adjunct 
of  the  staff  at  head-quarters  than  the  ammunition 
or  provision  waggons. 

The  following  interesting  glimpse  of  the  general 
as  a  teacher  is  from  the  pen  of  a  recent  French 
writer  : — "  MacMahon  is  supposed  to  have  adopted 
tactics  which  are  not  new ;  namely,  to  act  above 
all  with  his  artillery,  said  to  be  formidable,  and  to 
spare  his  men  as  much  as  possible.  Napoleon  I., 
of  whom  General  de  Moltke  is  only  the  pupil, 
never  proceeded  otherwise.  He  it  was  who  first 
imagined  the  great  concentration  of  troops  by 
rapid  marches.  M.  de  Moltke,  his  fervent  admirer, 
has  always  manifested  the  greatest  contempt  for 
our  strategy.  I  remember  having  heard  quoted 
some  of  his  very  words  addressed  to  a  French 
officer  on  a  mission  to  Berlin — '  Do  not  talk  to 
me  of  your  military  education  in  Africa.  If  you 
have  never  been  there,  so  much  the  better ;  when 
you  become  general  you  will  be  glad  of  it.  The 
war  you  have  been  carrying  on  for  forty  years 
against  the  Arabs  is  a  guerillerie  of  an  inferior 
order.  Never  any  skilful  marches,  no  feints, 
no  countermarches,  rarely  any  surprises.  With 
that  school  you  will  do  nothing  more  than  form 
other  schools  like  it.  The  first  great  war  will 
demonstrate  your  inefficiency;  and  were  I  not  in 
presence  of  a  man  of  your  merit,  sir,  I  should  not 
hesitate  to  laugh  at  your  ignorance  of  the  trade  to 
which  you  devote  yourselves.  Amongst  you — do 
not  deny  it — a  pioneer  is  almost  a  ridiculous  per- 
son, and  in  general  the  working  man  is  one  of 
mean  intelligence.  Here,  on  the  contrary,  the 
most  conscientious  studies  are  in  the  order  of  the 
day,  and  the  lowest  captain  knows  as  much  as  your 
staff-officers  who  are  so  brilliant  in  the  ball-room. 
Have  you  even  a  superficial  smattering  of  the 
elements  of  the  military  art  on  leaving  your 
special  schools?  I  am  tempted  to  doubt  it. 
Come  now,'  continued  General  de  Moltke,  taking 
the  other  by  the  hand,  '  I  wager  that  you  do  not 
know  what  is  the  most  valuable  piece  of  furniture 
for  the  chamber  of  an  officer  in  garrison.  Come 
with  me.'  So  saying,  the  old  Prussian  led  his 
interlocutor  into  a  small  bed-chamber  suited  to  a 
sub-lieutenant ;  a  small  bed  without  curtains,  three 
straw  chairs,  shelves  of  books  from  the  floor  to 


the  roof,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  room  a  black 
wooden  board  on  an  easel,  the  ground  strewed  with 
morsels  of  chalk.  '  It  is  with  this  that  we  beat 
our  adversaries  every  morning,'  murmured  the 
old  tactician.  'And  for  drawing,  here  is  all  we 
want,'  and  M.  de  Moltke  exhibited  some  geo- 
graphical maps." 

GENERAL  VON  BOON. 

Albert  Theodore  Emile  von  Boon  is  a  general,  a 
statesman,  and  a  man  of  letters.  He  was  born  on 
the  30th  of  April,  1803,  and  after  an  education  at 
the  cadet  school,  entered  the  army  as  an  officer 
in  1821.  From  1824  to  1827  he  followed  the 
higher  course  of  the  general  military  school,  and 
became  instructor  in  the  cadet  school  at  Berlin. 
He  soon  acquired  the  reputation  of  a  master  in 
geography  and  military  science.  Some  of  his 
works  published  at  this  time  obtained  a  large 
circulation,  notably,  "  Principles  of  Ethnographical 
and  Political  Geography,"  published  in  1832,  of 
which  an  elementary  abridgment  appeared  two 
years  afterwards.  He  also  published,  in  1837, 
"  Military  Geography  of  Europe;"  and  in  1839, 
"  The  Iberian  Peninsula  in  its  Military  Aspect." 
This  last  work  refers  more  especially  to  the  civil 
wars  of  Spain.  Notwithstanding  his  literary  la- 
bours, Herr  von  Boon  pursued  his  professional 
career  with  the  utmost  regularity.  Having  made 
in  1832  a  campaign  of  observation  in  Belgium  at 
the  time  of  the  siege  of  Antwerp,  he  was  attached 
first  to  the  topographical  department,  then  to  the 
general  staff,  and  in  1836  became  captain.  His 
succeeding  grades  came  at  intervals  of  a  few  years ; 
major  in  1842,  chief  of  the  staff  in  1848,  lieuten- 
ant-colonel the  year  following,  major-general  in 
1856,  and  lieutenant-general  in  1859.  From  the 
year  1848  he  held  various  commands,  and  fulfilled 
several  important  missions.  On  two  occasions  he 
was  charged  with  the  duty  of  mobilizing  the  army, 
particularly  in  1859,  when  the  French  emperor's 
precipitate  peace  with  the  Kaiser  obviated  the 
necessity  of  assembling  the  Prussian  army.  To 
Boon  was  confided  the  education  of  Prince  Fred- 
erick Charles,  whom  he  accompanied  to  the  uni- 
versity of  Bonn,  and  in  divers  voyages  about 
Europe.  On  the  16th  April,  1861,  he  was  called 
to  preside  over  the  ministry  of  marine,  to  which 
a  few  months  later  was  added  the  more  responsible 
function  of  minister  of  war,  which  he  has  retained 
ever  since.     At  the  head  of  these  united  sendees 


avel  Ty  Sol  fi»m  a-  Hiotograjl-. 


N        UR 


:  -iCOH.   EDINBL  RGH 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


123 


he  displayed  much  energy  and  perseverance  during 
the  ensuing  troublous  years  of  parliamentary  war- 
fare, heartily  seconding  the  king's  projects  for 
military  re-organization.  These,  as  we  have  seen, 
he  realized,  spite  of  the  adverse  majority  in  the 
Chamber.  He  had  much  to  do  in  preparing  for 
the  Bohemian  and  other  campaigns  of  1866, 
accompanied  the  king  with  other  ministers  to 
Sadowa,  and  contributed  no  small  share  to  the 
greatness  which  his  country  achieved  in  that 
eventful  year.  Well  did  the  king  say  of  him  and 
his  distinguished  colleague,  "  Von  Roon  has  sharp- 
ened our  sword,  Von  Moltke  has  guided  it." 

EDWARD   VOGEL   VON   FAI.CKENSTEIN 

is  one  of  the  most  popular  men  in  Germany.  He 
is  admired  as  the  veteran  soldier  of  the  war  of 
liberation,  and  for  the  inexhaustible  vigour  of 
youth  which  leads  him  at  a  great  age  from  fight  to 
fight,  and  from  victory  to  victory.  The  general 
was  born  on  the  5th  January,  1797,  the  same  year 
with  the  king,  and  at  sixteen  years  of  age  entered 
the  West  Prussian  grenadier  regiment  as  volunteer 
jager,  only  to  be  promoted  to  lieutenant,  after  he  had 
fought  in  the  battles  of  Gross-Gb'rschen,  Bautzen, 
and  Hatzbach.  The  campaign  of  1814,  in  which 
he  fought  at  Montmirail,  Chateau-Thierry,  Thion- 
ville,  Mercy,  and  Laon,  brought  him  the  iron 
cross.  In  the  year  1815  he  was  on  duty  in  front 
of  Paris.  He  was  in  Schleswig  for  the  first  time 
in  1848,  and  again  in  1864.  He  was  appointed 
in  1866  to  be  commander  general  of  the  army 
of  the  Maine,  end  after  a  display  of  consum- 
mate generalship  entered  Frankfort,  as  we  have 
shown,  at  the  head  of  the  cuirassiers,  with  his 
trumpeters  pealing  out  the  Prussian  national  song. 
A  bitter  hour  was  it  for  the  general  when  he 
was  called  away  from  the  command  of  the 
army  of  the  Maine,  in  consequence  of  events  not 
yet  fully  explained.  He  was  appointed  military 
governor  of  Bohemia,  which  appointment  he 
declined,  until  reconciled  by  the  kind  advances  of 
King  William  at  Nikolsburg.  In  the  autumn  of 
1866  he  received  the  command  of  the  first  army 
corps,  from  which  the  king  called  him  to  the  shores 
of  the  Baltic. 

Many  other  eminent  leaders  were  there  in  the 
Prussian  army — Manteuffel,  Steinmetz,  Goben, 
Voigts  Rhetz,  and  others  whose  names  are  em- 
blazoned on  the  roll  of  military  renown.  Of  the 
great  mover  of  this  momentous  war,  the  schemer 


of  the  mighty  changes  which  have  followed  it, 
Count  von  Bismarck,  a  detailed  biographical  sketch 
is  given  at  the  end  of  Chapter  III.,  in  the  second 
portion  of  this  work.  To  turn  to  the  Austrian 
side,  there  were  three  commanders  of  their  army 
more  distinguished  than  the  rest,  though  but  one 
of  them  enjoyed  the  glory  of  a  victory.  They 
are  the  Archduke  Albert,  who  was  victorious  at 
Custozza,  the  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony,  and  General 
Benedek.  Of  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  him- 
self a  sufficient  account  has  already  been  given  in 
the  course  of  this  historical  introduction. 

ARCHDUKE    ALBERT. 

The  archduke  was  the  inheritor  of  military 
fame  if  not  of  ability,  being  the  son  of  that 
Archduke  Charles  who  was  the  most  successful 
antagonist  of  Napoleon  I.  in  the  early  part  of 
the  conqueror's  career.  Albert  was  born  in  1817, 
and  educated  for  the  army,  in  which  he  obtained 
early  command,  not  only  as  a  privilege  of  his 
rank,  but  in  deference  to  his  knowledge  and 
merit.  He  first  distinguished  himself  as  a 
general  of  cavalry.  In  the  troublous  days  of 
1849  he  served  under  the  veteran  Kadetzky,  and 
bore  an  important  part  in  the  battle  of  Novara, 
so  fatal  to  the  Piedmontese.  At  the  end  of  the 
Italian  campaign  he  was  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  third  Austrian  army  corps.  On  the 
reduction  of  Hungary  to  submission  he  was  ap- 
pointed governor  general  of  that  kingdom,  an 
office  which  he  retained  until  1860.  The  previous 
year  he  had  been  sent  on  a  mission  to  Prussia,  which 
proved  fruitless,  and  in  the  Franco- Austrian  war  he 
commanded  a  force  that  was  not  called  into  action. 
For  a  short  time  he  took  the  place  of  Count 
Griiner  at  the  head  of  the  war  office.  In  1861 
he  replaced  Benedek,  during  a  temporary  absence, 
in  the  command  of  the  Austrian  forces  in  the 
Lombardo- Venetian  kingdom.  In  the  war  of 
1866  he  held  the  supreme  command  of  the  im- 
perial Austrian  army  of  the  South,  and,  as  already 
described,  inflicted  upon  the  Italians  a  severe 
blow  in  the  battle  of  Custozza.  After  the  defeat 
of  Sadowa  he  superseded  Benedek  as  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  imperial  forces. 

THE   CROWN   PRINCE    OF   SAXONY. 

This  prince  was  possessed  of  excellent  mili- 
tary qualities,  and  would  probably  have  been 
more  fortunate   in  the  war  of  Bohemia  had  he 


124 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


not  been  fighting,  in  the  opinion  of  many  of 
his  father's  subjects  and  soldiers,  against  the 
German  cause.  Descended  from  one  of  the  oldest 
reigning  houses  in  Europe,  which  gave  an  emperor 
to  Germany  in  the  tenth  century,  the  prince, 
whose  name  is  Frederick  Augustus  Albert,  was 
born  in  1828.  Though  his  father  is  known  as 
the  German  translator  of  Dante,  and  his  uncle  the 
late  king  was  celebrated  as  a  botanist,  the  present 
crown  prince  was  trained  to  the  profession  of  arms, 
and  as  lieutenant-general  was  made  commander 
of  the  infantry  force  of  Saxony.  Commander 
of  the  Saxon  army  in  1866,  he  found  himself 
obliged  to  retire  from  his  own  country  before  the 
superior  force  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles  of 
Prussia,  and  he  joined  the  Austrian  army  in 
Bohemia  with  a  force  of  25,000  combatants  and 
sixty  guns.  He  was  hotly  engaged  in  the  battle 
of  Gitschin,  and  obstinately  defended  the  village 
of  Diletz,  but  his  gallant  troops  fell  in  heaps  before 
the  murderous  needle-gun,  and  he,  his  father,  and 
country  had  to  submit  to  the  will  of  the  conqueror, 
whose  terms,  though  hard  enough,  would  have 
been  still  more  humiliating  to  Saxony  but  for  the 
intervention  of  the  French  emperor. 

FELDZEUGMEISTER    LOtTS   VON    BENEDEK. 

This  general  was  born  in  180-1  at  (Edenbourg 
in  Hungary,  the  son  of  a  doctor.  He  studied 
military  science  in  the  academy  at  Neustadt, 
entered  the  Austrian  army  in  1822  as  cornet, 
and  rose  rapidly  to  the  rank  of  colonel,  which 
he  attained  in  1843.  Two  years  later,  at  the 
time  of  the  insurrection  in  Galicia,  having  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  his  courage  and  military 
talents,  he  was  commissioned  by  the  Archduke 
Ferdinand  d'Este  to  make  peace  with  the  western 
part  of  the  province.  His  skilful  movements 
there  enabled  General  Collin  to  march  forward 
and  take  Podgorze  by  storm.  On  this  occasion 
Benedek  obtained  the  insignia  of  the  Order  of 
Leopold.  In  1847  he  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Comte  de  Giulai's  regiment  of  infantry,  when  he 
received  orders  to  rejoin  the  army  of  Italy.  Dur- 
ing the  campaign  of  1848  he  showed  much  pres- 
ence of  mind  in  the  retreat  from  Milan,  at  Osone, 
and  especially  at  the  battle  of  Curtatone,  where 
he  was  the  last  to  withstand  the  enemy's  attacks. 
Lauded  for  distinguished  service  in  the  order  of 
the  day  by  Marshal  Eadetzki,  he  was  presented 
with  the  Order  of  Maria  Theresa. 


On  the  renewal  of  hostilities  in  1849  he  was 
present  at  the  surrender  of  Mortara,  and  fought  at 
the  head  of  his  regiment  at  Xovara.  On  the  3rd 
April,  1849,  Benedek  was  appointed  major-general 
and  brigadier  of  the  first  reserve  corps  of  the  army 
of  the  Danube,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  mili- 
tary affairs  of  Hungary.  At  Kaab  and  at  Oszony 
he  commanded  the  vanguard,  and  was  slightly 
wounded  at  Uj-Szegcdin.  At  the  battle  of  Szorn- 
yeozs-Iviiny  he  was  hurt  by  the  explosion  of  a 
shell.  At  the  end  of  this  war  he  went  into  the 
second  corps  of  the  army  in  Italy,  in  the  capacity 
of  chief  of  the  staff. 

During  the  war  of  1859  against  Piedmont  and 
France  he  covered  the  Austrian  retreat  from  Milan 
to  the  Mincio,  and  at  the  battle  of  Solferino  he 
commanded  the  right  Austrian  wing,  which  at 
one  instant  had  the  advantage  over  the  left  wing 
of  the  allies.  He  afterwards  supplied  the  place  of 
Marshal  Hess  in  the  chief  command  of  the  army. 
After  the  peace  of  Yillafranca  the  feldzeugmeister 
remained  in  Venetia  at  the  head  of  the  Austrian 
troops,  and  the  proclamations  which  he  made  to  his 
soldiers  attracted  much  notice,  as  eloquent  appeals, 
calculated  to  keep  them  faithful  to  their  allegiance, 
despite  the  variety  of  nationalities  and  the  differ- 
ences of  their  political  opinions.  In  1866,  after 
much  caballing  and  opposition  on  the  part  of  the 
aristocratic  party  at  the  court  of  Vienna,  which 
would  confer  high  rank  and  supreme  power  on 
nobody  less  than  an  archduke,  he  was  raised  to 
the  command  of  the  army,  which  consisted  of 
250,000  men,  and  had  a  fine  artillery  of  600  guns. 
That  he  was  beaten  so  disastrously  by  the  Prus- 
sians was  due  perhaps  as  much  to  the  defective 
organization  of  the  force  he  commanded,  and,  as 
is  said,  to  the  reluctant  obedience  of  some  of  his 
high-titled  subordinates,  as  to  the  superior  strategy 
of  the  Prussian  generals. 

RESULTS   OF   THE    WAR   TO    THE    TWO   COMBATANTS. 

The  results  of  the  contest  carried  on  by 
these  men  and  their  followers  was  to  Prussia, 
first  of  all,  a  gain  of  territory  to  the  following 
extent.  To  the  nine  provinces  of  which  the 
kingdom  previously  consisted  were  added  by 
incorporation,  Hanover,  Hesse  -  Cassel,  Xassau, 
Hesse-Homburg,  Schleswig-Holstein,  and  Lauen- 
burg;  that  part  of  Hesse-Darmstadt  that  lies  to 
the  north  of  the  Maine,  and  the  little  principality 
of  Hohenzollern — the  cradle  of  the  Prussian  royal 


kCKENZIE.  ..: 


N. EDINBURGH    S    iLASGOW 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


125 


house,  situated  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Constance, 
between  Wiirtemburg  and  Switzerland.  Prussia 
was  thus  formed  into  a  compact  state  of  137,066 
square  miles,  with  a  population  of  22,769,436  souls. 
Added  to  this  was  her  leadership  of  the  new  Con- 
federation into  which  Saxony  and  other  minor 
powers  were  compelled  to  fall  after  the  victory  of 
Sadowa.  The  basis  of  a  new  German  empire  was 
firmly  laid  by  Prussian  genius  and  valour  ;  and  to 
Prussia  rightly  belonged  the  headship  which  it  is 
fervently  to  be  hoped  she  will  not  abuse. 

The  ancient  Germanic  empire  was  dissolved  in 
1806  by  the  Conqueror  Napoleon  I.,  reconstituted 
as  a  confederacy  of  thirty-nine  states  by  the  peace- 
makers of  Vienna  in  1815,  again  dissolved  in  1866, 
and  partially  restored,  without  Austria,  after  the 
treaty  of  Prague,  as  the  North  German  Confedera- 
tion. Pending  their  final  union  under  one  govern- 
ment, presciently  wrote  Mr.  Martin  in  his  Year-book 
of  1869 — pending  that  union  which  every  patriotic 
German  felt  to  be  certain  of  speedy  accomplish- 
ment— the  old  states  of  the  Confederation  were 
ranged  provisionally  in  two  groups,  North  Germany 
and  South  Germany.  The  former,  including  twenty- 
one  states,  was  placed  under  the  absolute  undi- 
vided leadership  of  Prussia;  while  South  Germany, 
numbering  five  states,  formed  an  unconnected 
cluster  of  semi-independent  sovereignties.  The 
two  divisions  were  to  some  extent  bound  together 
by  treaties  of  peace  and  alliance  between  Prussia 
and  the  three  principal  states  of  the  south,  Bavaria, 
Wiirtemburg,  and  Baden.  By  the  treaty  between 
Prussia  and  Bavaria,  dated  August  22,  1866,  the 
two  contracting  powers  mutually  guaranteed  the 
integrity  of  their  respective  territories,  with  all 
the  military  forces  at  their  disposal;  it  being 
further  stipulated  that,  in  case  of  war,  the  king  of 
Prussia  should  have  the  supreme  command  of  the 
Bavarian  army.  The  treaties  between  Prussia  and 
Wiirtemburg,  and  Prussia  and  Baden,  dated  26th 
August  and  18th  August,  1866,  were  precisely  of 
the  same  tenour,  both  providing  a  strict  military 
alliance  and  union  of  armies  in  time  of  war.  These 
diplomatic  achievements,  which  in  the  autumn  of 
1866  crowned  the  victorious  war,  were  followed 
in  the  spring  of  1867  by  legislative  acts  of  no  less 
importance.  A  representative  assembly  elected 
by  universal  suffrage,  at  the  rate  of  one  member 
for  100,000  souls,  met  at  Berlin  on  the  24th  of 
February,  and  by  the  16th  of  April  had  discussed 
and  adopted  a  constitutional  charter,  by  which  the 


whole  of  the  states  of  North  Germany  were  united 
into  a  federative  empire.  The  charter  entitled  "the 
constitution  of  the  North  German  Confederation," 
consists  of  fifteen  chapters,  comprising  seventy- 
nine  articles,  with  a  preamble  declaring  that  the 
governments  of  the  states  enumerated  form  them- 
selves into  a  perpetual  confederation  or  union  for 
the  protection  of  the  territory  and  institutions  of 
the  union,  and  for  the  care  of  the  German  people's 
welfare.  The  twenty-one  states  enumerated  in 
the  charter  are,  Prussia,  Saxony,  Mecklenburg- 
Schwerin,  Oldenburg,  Brunswick,  Saxe-Weimar, 
Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  Saxe-Meiningen,  Anhalt, 
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,  Saxe-Altenburg,  Waldeck, 
Lippe  -  Detmold,  Schwarzburg  -  Sondershausen, 
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,  Eeuss-Schleiz,  Beuss- 
Greiz,  Schaumburg-Lippe,  Hamburg,  Lubeck,  and 
Bremen.  When  it  is  recollected  that  Henry,  the 
twenty-second  Prince  of  Reuss-Greiz,  reigned  over 
a  population  of  about  40,000  souls,  and  that  the 
public  income  of  his  realm  was  less  than  £30,000, 
and  that  six  or  seven  of  his  co-princelets  were 
in  no  better  condition,  the  reader  will  doubtless 
sympathize  with  the  strong  German  feeling  that 
desired  to  see  these  frittered  atoms  of  power 
welded  together  in  one  mighty  sceptre.  The  execu- 
tive power  of  the  confederation  was  vested  in  the 
Prussian  crown.  The  king  of  Prussia,  under  the 
title  of  Lord  President,  had  to  act  on  behalf  of  the 
Confederation  in  its  intercourse  with  foreign  states. 
To  him  was  given  the  right  of  appointing  ambas- 
sadors, of  declaring  war,  or  of  concluding  peace. 
He  also  had  to  appoint  a  chancellor  of  the  Con- 
federation, who  should  preside  over  the  Federal 
council,  and  his  first  and  inevitable  choice  was 
Count  von  Bismarck.  The  lord  president  enforces 
the  observance  of  federal  laws,  and  has  the  right 
to  compel  disobedient  or  negligent  members  to 
fulfil  their  federal  duties.  He  has  also  the  un- 
restricted command  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the 
federation,  the  organization  of  the  naval  service, 
and  the  appointment  of  all  officers  and  civil 
functionaries.  The  contributions  of  the  several 
states  in  the  Confederation  to  the  cost  of  the 
general  administration,  is  regulated  by  the  rate 
of  population. 

By  the  terms  of  the  charter  the  legislative 
power  of  the  Confederation  was  vested  in  two 
representative  bodies;  the  first  delegated  by  the 
various  governments,  called  the  Federal  Council, 
or   Bundesrath,    and   the    second  elected   by   the 


126 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


population,  and  styled  the  Diet  of  the  realm, 
or  "  Reichstag."  To  the  council  each  of  the 
twenty-one  governments  of  the  Confederation  sends 
a  deputy,  who  has  one  vote  with  the  following 
exceptions: — The  deputies  from  Brunswick  and 
Mecklenburg-Schwerin  have  two  votes  each,  the 
delegate  of  Saxony  has  four  votes,  and  the  repre- 
sentative of  Prussia  seventeen;  making  a  total  of 
forty-two  votes,  and  giving  the  Prussian  govern- 
ment a  preponderance  that  may  easily  be  turned 
into  an  absolute  majority,  by  the  subservience  of 
one  or  two  neighbouring  states.  The  Diet  is 
elected  by  universal  suffrage  for  the  term  of  three 
years,  and  meets  in  annual  session.  It  is  indepen- 
dent of  the  council,  but  the  members  of  that  body 
have  the  right  to  be  present  at  the  sittings,  in 
order  to  make  known  the  views  of  their  respec- 
tive governments.  The  initiative  of  legislative 
acts  belongs  to  the  Diet. 

Austria,  the  other  antagonist  in  the  war  of  1866, 
though  suffering  deeply  in  every  point  that  was 
dear  to  her  ancient  traditionary  policy,  was  yet 
not  irreparably  injured.  Indeed,  in  many  respects, 
she  will  no  doubt  discover  in  the  course  of  time 
that  her  disasters  of  that  year  were  pregnant 
with  future  national  benefits.  She  lost  Venetia, 
and  with  it  happily  the  Lombardo- Venetian  debt, 
which  was  transferred  to  Italy  by  the  terms  of 
the  treaty  of  Prague;  but  her  own  debt  was 
augmented  by  the  addition  of  three  hundred 
million  florins  (£30,000,000),  by  reason  of  the 
war.  Her  military  and  financial  position  was 
severely  shaken,  and  for  a  time  there  was  danger 
of  internal  disruption,  owing  to  the  universal 
dissatisfaction  of  the  people  of  Hungary.  She  was 
thrust  out,  too,  of  the  German  Confederation,  a 
circumstance  far  from  agreeable  to  her  8,000,000 
German  subjects.  Grown  -wiser  at  last,  and  pro- 
fiting by  the  hard  lessons  they  had  received, 
the  emperor  and  his  ministers  set  sincerely  to 
work  at  reforming  the  evils  complained  of  by 
the  several  nationalities  of  the  empire.  To  the 
Germans  were  granted  free  speech,  free  press, 
free  education,  and  a  popular  Parliament.  The 
pope  and  his  cardinals  were  told  that  perfect 
toleration  in  matteis  of  religion  would  henceforth 
be  observed  throughout  the  empire,  and  that  the 
stringent  provisions  of  the  last  concordat  would 
cease  to  operate.  To  Hungary  was  restored  her 
national  constitution,  which  is  of  very  ancient 
date,   and  is  based  mainly  upon  unwritten  laws 


that  have  acquired  authority  in  the  course  of 
centuries.  Austria,  in  fact,  became  a  bipartite 
state,  consisting  of  a  German  monarchy  headed 
by  the  emperor,  and  a  Magyar  kingdom,  with 
the  self-same  chieftain  bearing  the  ancient  title 
of  king. 

The  constitution  granted  in  1849,  after  the 
great  revolutionary  outbreak,  had  been  repealed 
by  an  imperial  decree  of  the  31st  of  December,. 
1851,  which  substituted  a  more  absolute  form 
of  government.  New  edicts  in  the  ensuing  years 
altered  the  national  charter,  until  by  a  patent  of 
February  26,  1861,  the  constitution  was  estab- 
lished which,  though  suspended  in  the  years 
1865  and  1866,  has  been  since  1867  the  form  of 
government  prevailing  in  the  empire.  Very  signi- 
ficantly the  path  of  political  reform  in  Austria, 
and  of  reconciliation  with  Hungary,  was  entered 
upon  by  a  ministry  led  by  Baron  von  Beust, 
an  ancient  rival  of  Count  von  Bismarck  in  the 
old  Diet,  and  for  some  time  the  prime  minister 
of  the  king  of  Saxony.  The  main  features  of 
the  new  constitution  are  a  double  legislature, 
connected  together  under  one  sovereign,  the 
hereditary  emperor-king,  by  a  common  army  and 
navy  and  by  a  governing  body  known  as  the 
Delegations.  The  Delegations  form  a  Parliament 
of  120  members,  of  whom  one  half  are  chosen  by 
the  legislature  of  German  or  Cisleithan  Austria, 
and  the  other  half  represent  Hungary,  the  Trans- 
leithan  kingdom.  The  Upper  House  of  each 
kingdom  returns  twenty  deputies,  the  Lower  House 
forty.  In  all  matters  affecting  the  affairs  of  the 
whole  empire,  the  Delegations  have  a  decisive  vote, 
which  requires  neither  the  confirmation  nor  appro- 
bation of  the  assemblies  from  which  they  spring 
Austrians  and  Hungarians  sit  generally  in  separate 
chambers;  but  when  disagreements  arise,  the  two 
bodies  of  delegates  meet  together,  and  without 
further  debate  give  a  final  vote,  which  is  binding 
for  the  whole  empire.  Specially  within  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Delegations  are  all  matters  affecting 
foreign  affairs,  war,  and  finance,  involving  an 
executive  of  three  ministers  representing  those 
three  departments,  who  are  severally  and  solely 
responsible  to  the  Delegations. 

The  separate  constitution  of  German  Austria,  or 
Cisleithania,  consists,  first,  of  the  Provincial  Diets, 
representing  the  various  states  of  the  monarchy; 
and  secondly',  a  Central  Diet,  called  the  Eeichsrath, 
or  Council   of   the  Empire.     There  are  fourteen 


E    R    0 


U      S      T 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


127 


Provincial  Diets,  namely,  for  Bohemia,  Dalmatia, 
Galicia,  Higher  Austria,  Lower  Austria,  Salzburg, 
Styria,  Carinthia,  Carniola,  Bukowina,  Moravia, 
Silesia,  Tyrol  and  Vorarlberg,  Istria  and  Trieste; 
all  which  are  formed  in  nearly  the  same  manner, 
differing  only  in  the  number  of  deputies.  Each 
•consists  of  one  assembly  only,  composed,  first,  of 
the  archbishop  and  bishops  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
■and  Oriental  Greek  churches,  and  the  chancellors 
of  universities ;  secondly,  of  the  representatives  of 
great  estates,  elected  by  all  landowners  paying 
not  less  than  100  florins,  or  £10,  taxes;  thirdly, 
of  the  representatives  of  towns,  elected  by  those 
citizens  who  possess  municipal  rights;  fourthly, 
of  the  representatives  of  boards  of  commerce  and 
trade  unions,  chosen  by  the  respective  members; 
and  fifthly,  of  the  representatives  of  rural  com- 
munes, elected  by  such  inhabitants  as  pay  a  small 
amount  of  direct  taxation.  The  Provincial  Diets 
are  competent  to  make  laws  concerning  local 
administration,  particularly  those  affecting  county 
taxation,  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  educational, 
church,  and  charitable  institutions,  and  public 
works  executed  at  the  public  expense. 

The  Reichsrath,  or  Parliament  of  the  western 
part  of  the  empire,  consists  of  an  Upper  and  a 
Lower  House.  The  Upper  House  is  formed — 1st, 
of  the  princes  of  the  imperial  family  who  are  of 
age ;  2nd,  -of  a  number  of  nobles — sixty-two  in 
the  present  Reichsrath — possessing  large  landed 
property,  on  whom  the  emperor  may  confer  the 
dignity  of  state  councillors  ;  3rd,  of  the  arch- 
bishops and  bishops  who  are  of  princely  rank  ; 
and  4th,  of  any  other  life-members,  nominated  by 
the  emperor  on  account  of  being  distinguished  in 
art  or  science,  or  who  have  rendered  signal  ser- 
vices to  church  or  state,  of  whom  there  are  forty- 
seven  in  the  present  Reichsrath.  The  Lower 
House  is  composed  of  203  members,  elected  by 
the  fourteen  Provincial  Diets  of  the  empire,  in  the 
following  proportions  : — Bohemia,  54  ;  Dalmatia, 
5 ;  Galicia,  38 ;  Higher  Austria,  10  ;  Lower  Aus- 
tria, 18  ;  Salzburg,  3  ;  Styria,  13  ;  Carinthia,  5  ; 
Carniola,  6  ;  Bukowina,  5  ;  Moravia,  22  ;  Silesia, 
6;  Tyrol  and  Vorarlberg,  12;  Istria  and  Trieste, 
6.  The  election  for  the  Lower  House  of  the 
Reichsrath  is  made  in  the  assembled  Provincial 
Diets,  the  elected  deputies  to  be  members  of 
such  Diets.  The  emperor  has  the  right,  how- 
ever, to  order  the  elections  to  take  place  directly 
by  the  varioiis    constituencies    of  the  provincial 


representatives,  should  the  Diets  refuse  or  neglect 
to  send  members  to  the  Reichsrath.  The  emperor 
nominates  the  presidents  and  vice-presidents  of 
both  chambers  of  the  Reichsrath,  the  remaining 
functionaries  being  chosen  by  the  members  of  the 
two  Houses.  It  is  incumbent  upon  the  head  of 
the  state  to  assemble  the  Reichsrath  annually. 
The  rights  which,  in  consequence  of  the  diploma 
of  October  20,  1860,  and  the  patent  of  February 
26,  1861,  are  conferred  upon  the  Reichsrath,  are 
as  follows  :  —  1st,  Consentient  authority  with 
respect  to  all  laws  relating  to  military  duty ; 
2nd,  Co-operation  in  the  legislature  on  trade 
and  commerce,  customs,  banking,  posting,  tele- 
graph, and  railway  matters  ;  3rd,  Examination  of 
the  estimates  of  the  income  and  expenditure  of 
the  state;  of  the  bills  on  taxation,  public  loans, 
and  conversion  of  the  funds  ;  and  general  control 
of  the  public  debt.  To  give  validity  to  bills 
passed  by  the  Reichsrath,  the  consent  of  both 
chambers  is  required,  as  well  as  the  sanction  of 
the  head  of  the  state.  The  members  of  both  the 
Upper  and  the  Lower  House  have  the  right  to 
propose  new  laws  on  subjects  within  the  compe- 
tence of  the  Reichsrath,  but  in  all  other  matters 
the  initiative  belongs  solely  to  the  government. 

The  executive  of  Austria  Proper  consists,  under 
the  emperor,  of  the  following  branches  of  admin- 
istration:— 1st,  the  president  of  the  council ;  2nd, 
the  ministry  of  finance  ;  3rd,  the  ministry  of  the 
interior  and  national  defence ;  4th,  the  ministry 
of  public  education  and  ecclesiastical  affairs  ;  5th, 
the  ministry  of  commerce  and  agriculture;  6th,  the 
ministry  of  justice.  The  responsibility  of  mini- 
sters for  acts  committed  in  the  discharge  of  their 
official  functions  was  established,  for  the  first  time, 
by  a  bill  which  passed  the  Reichsrath  in  July, 
1867,  and  received  the  sanction  of  the  emperor. 

The  constitution  of  the  eastern  part  of  the 
empire,  or  the  kingdom  of  Hungary,  including 
Hungary  Proper,  Croatia,  Slavonia,  and  Tran- 
sylvania, is  of  very  ancient  date,  and  based  mainly 
upon  unwritten  laws  that  grew  up  in  the  course 
of  centuries.  There  exists  no  charter,  or  con- 
stitutional code,  but  in  place  of  it  are  fundamental 
statutes,  published  at  long  intervals  of  time.  The 
principal  of  them,  the  "  Aurea  Bulla"  of  King 
Andrew  II.,  was  granted  in  1222,  and  changed 
the  form  of  government,  which  had  until  then 
been  completely  autocratic,  into  an  aristocratic 
monarchy.     Almost  all   subsequent  rulers  endeav- 


128 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


oared,  though  with  little  or  no  success,  to  extend 
the  royal  prerogatives,  the  struggle  lasting,  with 
more  or  less  interruption,  till  the  year  1867,  when 
the  present  king,  having  failed  in  his  attempt 
to  weld  Hungary  to  his  imperial  dominions, 
acknowledged  and  took  oath  upon  the  ancient 
constitution.  The  form  of  government  established 
by  it  is  oligarchical  in  essence,  leaving  the  whole 
legislation  and  internal  administration  of  the 
country  in  the  hands  of  the  native  nobility,  com- 
prising above  half  a  million  individuals,  and  giving 
to  the  king  little  more  than  the  chief  command 
of  the  army,  and  the  right  and  duty  to  protect 
the  realm  against  foreign  enemies.  The  power  of 
legislation  and  of  taxation  is  vested  in  two  great 
representative  bodies;  the  first  the  Diet,  or  Par- 
liament, and  the  second  the  County  Meetings. 
Since  1562  the  Diet  consists  of  an  upper  and 
lower  house,  the  first  known  as  the  Chamber  of 
Magnates,  and  the  second  as  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies.  The  Chamber  of  Magnates  is  com- 
posed, first,  of  the  prelates,  comprising  thirty-five 
Roman  Catholic  and  twelve  Greek  archbishops  and 
bishops,  headed  by  the  primate,  the  archbishop 
of  Gran;  secondly,  of  the  "  barones  et  comites 
regni"  or  peers  of  the  realm,  in  two  classes; 
thirdly,  of  the  great  officers  of  the  crown,  with 
the  lords-lieutenant  of  the  fifty-two  counties;  and 
fourthly,  the  barons  summoned  by  royal  letters, 
including  every  prime  count  and  baron  of  twenty- 
five  years  of  age.  Magnates  who  are  absent  depute 
representatives,  as  do  also  the  widows  of  magnates ; 
but  these  deputies  sit  in  the  second  Chamber,  where 
they  can  speak,  but  have  no  vote.  The  Lower  Cham- 
ber is  made  up  of  representatives  of  the  towns  and 
rural  districts  of  the  kingdom,  the  latter  elected  at 
the  County  Meetings.  Much  of  the  business  of 
the  Lower  Chamber  is  previously  discussed  in  a 
committee  of  the  whole  house,  called  a  "  circular 
session,"  in  which  strict  forms  are  not  observed, 
and  each  member  speaks  as  often  as  he  can  get 
a  hearing.  The  speeches  in  both  chambers  are 
usually  made  in  Hungarian.  Among  the  mag- 
nates some  few  speak  Latin ;  but  this  language  has 
almost  entirely  fallen  into  disuse.  The  "personal" 
or  president  of  the  Lower  Chamber,  who  is  also 
chief  judge  of  the  "  royal  table,"  is  appointed  by 
the  crown.  When  the  Diet  assembles  the  "  proposi- 
tions "  of  the  crown  are  first  presented  to  it  for  con- 
sideration, and  these  form  the  great  business  of  each 
session;  but  proposals  also  originate  in  the  Lower 


Chamber,  which,  when  agreed  to  by  the  Magnates, 
are  sent  to  the  king,  who  communicates  his  assent 
by  a  royal  "  resolution."  Many  propositions  re- 
jected by  the  crown  are  voted  anew  in  every  Diet, 
under  the  title  of  "  Gravamina."  Scarcely  inferior 
in  political  importance  to  the  Diet  are  the  County 
Meetings.  They  are  of  two  kinds,  called  respect- 
ively "  Eestorations "  and  "Congregations."  In 
the  former  the  parliamentary  deputies,  as  well  as 
all  county  officers,  are  chosen,  while  the  latter 
are  occupied  wyith  local  legislation  and  taxation, 
and  the  general  business  of  the  district.  A  large 
amount  of  this  business  consists  in  iraming  instruc- 
tions for  the  representatives  at  the  Diet,  who  are 
considered  mere  delegates,  bound  to  adhere  to  the 
will  of  their  constituents,  to  whom  they  apply  for 
directions  in  all  difficult  or  doubtful  questions. 
The  County  Meeting  may  even  recall  a  refractory 
member,  and  send  another  in  his  place,  thus  assum- 
ing direct  control  over  the  Diet.  The  executive 
is  exercised,  in  the  name  of  the  king,  by  a  res- 
ponsible ministry,  consisting  of  eight  departments, 
namely: — 1st,  the  presidency  of  the  council; 
2nd,  the  ministry  of  national  defence;  3rd,  the 
ministry  of  finance  ;  4th,  the  ministry  of  the 
interior ;  5th,  the  ministry  of  education  and  of 
public  worship  ;  6th,  the  ministry  of  justice  ; 
7th,  the  ministry  of  public  works  ;  8th,  the 
ministry  of  agriculture,  industry,  and  commerce; 
9th,  the  ministry  for  Croatia  and  Slavonia. 

The  sovereign  of  Hungary,  though  emperor  of 
Austria,  is  styled  "  king  "  in  all  public  acts,  and  the 
regalia  of  the  crown  are  guarded  by  a  special  corps 
of  halberdiers  in  the  palace  at  Buda,  whence  they 
are  only  removed  for  the  sovereign's  use  on  state 
occasions.  The  grand  officers  of  the  court  and 
household  are  numerous,  and  are  termed  "  aulae 
ministeriales."  These  are  the  grand  justiciary,  or 
"  index  curia?;"  the  ban  of  Croatia  ;  the  arch-trea- 
surer, or  "  tavernicorum  regalium  magister;"  the 
great  cup-bearer,  or  "pincernarum  reg.  mag;"  the 
grand  carver,  or  "  dapiferorum  reg.  mag.;"  the 
master  of  the  household,  or  "agazonum  reg.  mag.;" 
the  grand  porter,  or  "janitorum  reg.  mag.;"  the 
master  of  the  ceremonies,  or  "  curias  reg.  mag. ;" 
and  the  captain  of  the  body  guard,  or  "  capitaneus 
nobilis  turmae  prretorianse."  The  exchequer  is 
managed  by  the  "  Hofkammer,"  which  has  its 
seat  at  Buda,  and  under  which  are  the  collectors 
of  taxes,  the  mining  boards,  and  the  directors  of 
the  crown  domains. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


129 


Modern  history,  says  a  recent  writer,  exhibits 
no  such  example  of  the  hopeless  confusion  and 
seemingly  inevitable  dissolution  of  a  great  histor- 
ical power,  as  Austria  afforded  after  the  defeat  of 
Sadowa.  At  the  close  of  1866  men  thought  that 
the  empire  was  falling  asunder,  and  that  nowhere 
among  its  fifteen  nationalities,  all  strangers  to  each 
other  in  language  and  race,  was  there  any  conscious 
principle  of  Austrian  unity  and  independence. 
At  least,  no  such  idea  showed  anywhere  signs  of 
life.  Many  able  politicians  considered  that  the  dis- 
appearance of  Austria  from  the  map  was  only  a 
question  of  time  ;  and  prudent  statesmen  thought 
it  necessary  to  make  this  eventuality  a  factor  in 
their  calculations  of  the  future.  Neither  Prussia 
after  Jena,  nor  the  French  empire  after  Moscow, 
Leipzig,  and  Waterloo,  nor  Austria  herself  during 
the  Revolution  of  1848,  can  be  compared  with 
Austria  after  the  peace  of  Prague.  Conquered 
and  prostrate,  owing  her  nominal  existence  to  the 
selfish  intercession  of  doubtful  friends,  shut  out 
from  Germany,  despaired  of  but  hardly  regretted 
by  her  peoples,  with  her  forces  demoralized  and 
dissolved  in  spite  of  their  victories  in  Italy  and  on 
the  Adriatic,  and  on  the  brink  of  national  bank- 
ruptcy, Austria  saw  her  rival  and  conqueror  rise  in 
a  few  weeks  from  a  dubious  rank  to  be  supreme 
over  Germany,  and  the  dictator  of  Central  Europe, 
whose  commands  no  one  of  the  great  powers  ven- 
tured to  gainsay,  and  whose  apparent  tendencies  to 
national  unity  found  a  ready  echo  either  in  the 
hopes  and  admiration,  or  in  the  fears  and  hallucin- 
ations, of  the  German  populations  and  their  princes. 

COUNT   VON   BEUST. 

Three  years  passed,  and  the  relative  position  of 
the  two  German  powers  was  greatly  modified  by 
the  revival  of  Austria  and  the  reform  of  her  institu- 
tions. The  principal  author  of  these  reforms  was 
Count  von  Beust,  whose  name  will  henceforth  be 
inseparably  connected  with  this  remarkable  epoch 
in  Austrian  history.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war 
of  1866  he  accompanied  his  then  master,  the  king 
of  Saxony,  into  Austria  to  oppose  the  Prussian  in- 
vasion. There  was  an  ancient  antagonism,  dating 
from  long  past  discussions  in  the  Frankfort  Diet, 
between  Beust  and  Bismarck ;  and  when  peace  was 
made  between  Saxony  and  Prussia  after  Sadowa, 
the  latter  insisted  upon  the  dismissal  of  the  former 
from  the  council  of  the  Saxon  king.  Though  the 
minister  of  a  small  state,  he  had  frequently  been 


concerned  in  questions  of  European  importance. 
By  a  curious  coincidence,  he  had  taken  a  peculiar 
part  in  the  Prussian  crisis  which  ended  in  the 
elevation  of  Count  von  Bismarck  to  the  premier- 
ship, and  the  count's  hostility  was  not  diminished 
by  these  little  known  circumstances. 

Frederick  Ferdinand,  Baron  von  Beust,  was 
born  at  Dresden  on  the  13th  January,  1809. 
Brother  to  the  eminent  Saxon  geologist,  Frederick 
Constantine  Beust,  he  studied  with  him  at  Got- 
tingen,  where  he  acquired  a  taste  for  politics  and 
diplomacy,  under  the  teaching  of  Sartorius,  Heeren, 
Eichorn,  and  men  of  like  calibre.  He  underwent 
his  examinations  and  took  his  degrees  at  Leipzig, 
and  on  his  return  to  Dresden,  in  1831,  he  entered 
the  foreign  office  of  the  Saxon  government.  After 
holding  the  post  of  assessor  of  land-survey  in  1832, 
he  spent  between  two  and  three  years  in  visiting 
Switzerland,  France,  and  England.  He  became 
secretary  of  the  Saxon  legation  at  Berlin  in  1836, 
occupied  the  same  post  at  Paris  in  1838,  was 
charge1  d'affaires  at  Munich  in  1841,  resident  min- 
ister in  London  in  1846,  and  ambassador  to  the 
court  of  Berlin  in  1848.  In  February,  1849, 
he  was  appointed  minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  for 
Saxony  in  the  so-called  Held  cabinet,  and  received 
the  portfolio  for  Agriculture  in  the  following  May. 
He  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  discussions  pre- 
ceding' the  treaty  of  1852,  and  in  1853  became 
minister  of  the  Interior,  when  he  resigned  his  post 
as  minister  of  Agriculture.  At  the  time  of  the 
crisis  brought  on  by  the  question  of  constitutional 
organization,  he  declared  himself  opposed  to  the 
constitution,  claimed  the  support  of  Prussia,  and 
became  a  member  of  the  Zchinsky  cabinet  as  min- 
ister for  Foreign  Affairs,  and  of  Public  Worship  also. 
In  this  latter  capacity  he  introduced  several  im- 
provements into  the  administration  of  ecclesiastical 
affairs.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Danish  war  in 
1863,  Baron  von  Beust  distinguished  himself  by 
his  fidelity  to  Federal  interests,  and  by  a  rebuke 
he  administered  to  Lord  Russell  in  answer  to  a 
despatch  from  the  latter.  He  represented  the  Ger- 
manic Diet  at  the  London  Conference  of  1864, 
during  the  continuance  of  which  he  twice  visited 
Paris  to  confer  with  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  whose 
guest  he  was  afterwards  at  Fontainebleau. 

A  short  time  after  the  peace  of  Prague,  it  was 
proposed  to  make  him  foreign  minister  at  Vienna. 
He  had  had  ample  means  of  studying  the  affairs  of 
Austria,  and  had  also  become  acquainted  with  her 


130 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


populations.  But  his  position  only  gave  him  a 
single  voice  in  the  council  of  ministers,  and  that 
not  a  decisive  one  in  home  affairs.  There  were 
many  people  who,  at  his  accession  to  office, 
thought  it  safe  to  predict  for  him  a  speedy  fall, 
as  soon  as  he  proved  an  obstacle  to  Belcredi  and 
Esterhazy.  The  public  at  large  received  him 
with  little  confidence,  and  with  small  expectation 
of  his  liberal  principles  being  carried  out.  For 
they  did  not  reflect  on  the  peculiar  conditions 
which  affected  the  system  he  had  administered 
amongst  the  middle  states.  Napoleon  III.  showed 
that  he  understood  him  better,  when  he  said  to 
him,  "  Saxony  is  too  small  for  you."  His  first 
act  as  minister  was  to  issue  the  pacific  circular 
of  the  2nd  November,  in  which  he  defined  his 
position.  In  this  circular  he  protested  that  he 
came  to  his  post  perfectly  free  from  all  resent- 
ment and  all  predilection,  and  that  the  imperial 
government,  whose  urgent  duty  it  was  to  efface 
the  traces  of  a  disastrous  war,  would  remain  faith- 
ful to  its  policy  of  peace  and  conciliation.  On 
the  emperor's  return  to  Vienna,  Baron  von  Beust 
received  the  further  appointment  of  minister  of 
the  household. 

To  the  new  minister  a  hearty  reconciliation 
with  Hungary  was  a  matter  of  primary  import- 
ance. Renewed  negotiations  were  opened  at 
Vienna  with  the  deputation  from  Pesth,  to  which 
place  Baron  von  Beust  went  on  the  21st  Decem- 
ber with  the  Hungarian  chancellor.  It  appeared 
certain  that  this  business  had  been  taken  out  of 
the  irresolute  hands  of  Belcredi  and  the  reac- 
tionists, and  the  lock  in  the  cabinet  was  at  an 
end.  Still  Beust's  original  and  comprehensive 
ideas  had  by  no  means  prevailed.  Many  such 
brave  beginnings  had  within  the  last  twenty 
years  withered  beneath  the  powerful  court  influ- 
ence of  the  Austrian  nobility  and  clergy.  It 
was  not  likely  that  a  foreigner,  a  Protestant,  a 
"  small  baron,"  should  succeed  in  breaking  down 
the  bulwark  of  tenacious  traditions,  exclusive  in- 
terests, and  inveterate  prejudices.  Or  if  he  gained 
a  momentary  success,  there  were  still  intriguers 
and  flatterers  to  catch  him  in  their  more  deceitful 
toils.  Again,  there  was  no  demonstration  that 
he  was  master  of  any  extraordinary  ideas,  bold 
schemes,  or  daring  resolutions,  or  that  he  had 
the  energy  and  prudence  to  carry  them  out.  In 
his  new  career  he  had  not  yet  succeeded:  in  his 
old    one   he  had   been   baffled.      Thus   the   year 


1866  was  drawing  to  a  close,  amidst  the  intense 
expectation  of  the  patriots,  when  suddenly,  just  at 
its  end,  on  the  28th  December,  a  purely  absolutist 
decree  ordered  the  immediate  completion  of  the 
army,  and  a  new  regulation  of  public  defence  for 
the  whole  empire,  except  the  Military  Frontier. 
This  blunder  of  his  rivals,  and  similar  unconsti- 
tutional propositions,  brought  on  a  crisis  in  the 
cabinet,  and  Baron  von  Beust  threatened  to  resign. 
He  gained  his  point.  A  complete  rupture  was 
made  with  the  system  hitherto  prevailing;  and  an 
imperial  decree  of  the  4th  of  February  restored 
the  operation  of  the  constitution  so  far  as  it  did 
not  affect  the  compromise  with  Hungary.  Three 
days  afterwards  Belcredi  and  Esterhazy  were 
dismissed;  and  Beust  then  became  president  of 
the  council,  minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  and  chan- 
cellor of  the  empire.  Deak  was  called  to  Vienna, 
and  had  an  interview  of  special  importance  with 
the  emperor.  The  principles  of  the  revived  con- 
stitution were  clearly  defined;  and  the  question 
now  was,  whether  the  practice  would  answer  to 
the  theory.  It  was  a  time  of  deliberate  and  de- 
cisive measures,  and  complete  reconciliation  with 
Hungary  was  resolved  on. 

The  Rcichsrath  was  not  assembled  before  the 
20th  of  May,  nor  the  convoking  patent  issued 
before  the  26th  of  April,  because  it  was  necessary 
that  the  Hungarian  Parliament  should  have  pre- 
viously accepted  a  compromise  compatible  with 
imperial  government.  Here  also  there  were  diffi- 
culties; the  democratic  party  in  the  Hungarian 
Parliament  maintained  an  obstinate  fight  for  ten 
days  in  favour  of  the  merely  personal  union;  and 
the  victory,  at  one  time  considered  doubtful,  was 
only  obtained  by  a  brilliant  speech  from  Deak, 
which  was  followed  by  a  division  of  257  against 
117  on  the  30th  of  March,  1867. 

In  the  Upper  House  the  compromise  was  unani- 
mously accepted,  after  an  insignificant  opposition, 
on  the  3rd  of  April.  And  now  the  regeneration 
of  the  eastern  part  of  the  monarchy  seemed  to  be 
accomplished ;  and  Baron  von  Beust  was  entitled  to 
regard  with  complacency  the  results  of  his  system 
and  of  his  efforts.  But  he  could  not  forget  that 
as  yet  he  had  only  half  finished  his  task  of  recon- 
struction; for  he  had  to  persuade  the  Eeichsrath 
to  accept,  aprfo  coup,  a  compromise  on  which  it 
had  not  been  consulted,  and  he  had  to  establish 
the  constitutional  institutions  of  the  western  por- 
tion   of    the    empire    on    another  basis    of    com- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


131 


promise  altogether  foreign  to  Hungarian  wants 
and  tendencies. 

The  chancellor's  popularity  was  rapidly  increas- 
ing, but  he  could  not  easily  make  a  strong  minis- 
terial party  in  the  Austrian  Chambers.  Hungarian 
jealousy  being  allayed,  however,  the  questions 
connected  with  the  army,  finance,  and  foreign 
affairs  were  settled  in  the  Reichsrath  without 
much  opposition.  A  very  important  novelty  was 
introduced  at  the  same  time  into  the  administra- 
tion by  the  baron,  in  the  form  of  the  Red  Book — 
the  first  of  a  series  of  publications  of  diplomatic 
papers  and  parliamentary  debates,  on  the  affairs 
of  the  whole  Austro- Hungarian  monarchy.  The 
documents  gave  evidence  of  a  clear,  consequent, 
and  uniform  policy,  that  inspired  confidence  both 
by  its  directness  and  its  freedom.  The  Prussian 
press  attacked  the  Red  Book,  and  suggested  to 
the  Hungarians  that  it  was  a  covert  for  imperial 
intrigues;  but  their  inuendoes  did  no  harm  to 
Austria.  The  Reichsrath,  under  the  guidance  of 
the  chancellor,  did  noble  work  in  the  session  of 
1868;  confirmed  the  compromise  with  Hungary, 
reviewed  the  concordat  with  Rome,  and  in  fine, 
rebuilt  the  constitution  of  the  Austrian  empire. 
The  following  extracts  from  speeches  of  the 
chancellor  and  of  the  emperor  will  show  how 
minister  and  master  agreed  in  their  views,  and 
what  great  things  they  were  enabled  thus  to  work 
out  for  their  country. 

At  the  end  of  October,  Baron  von  Beust  having 
in  his  speech  on  the  army  budget  represented 
the  political  situation  of  Europe  as  rather  critical, 
was  reminded  that  Lord  Stanley,  the  English  for- 
eign minister,  had  a  short  timo  before  spoken  of 
it  in  more  favourable  terms  ;  upon  which  he  said, 
"  My  position  differs  materially  from  that  of  the 
English  secretary  of  State.  Lord  Stanley  is  the 
minister  of  a  country  surrounded  and  protected 
by  the  sea:  I  have  the  honour  of  directing  the 
affairs  of  a  state  which  has  every  reason  to  beware 
of  its  neighbours.  We  should,  of  course,  be  glad 
to  be  on  friendly  terms  with  Prussia,  and  are  even 
endeavouring  to  improve  our  relations  with  the  St. 
Petersburg  cabinet;  but,  as  I  said,  we  must  be  on 
our  guard,  though  there  is  nothing  to  excite  our 
immediate  fears." 

There  was,  however,  little  confidence  at  Vienna 
in  either  Prussia  or  Russia.  "  That  Austria's 
military  preparations  are  merely  defensive,  re- 
marked the  semi-official  journal,  must  be  plain  to 


any  one  that  is  not  wilfully  blind.  To  assume 
the  contrary  is  simply  to  offend  against  common 
sense,  or  to  enact  over  again  the  old  story  of  the 
lamb  and  the  wolf.  But,  of  course,  we  owe  it 
to  our  own  interests  not  to  allow  ourselves  to 
be  netted  and  bagged.  Our  rival  is  showing  an 
unmistakable  intention  of  reviving  the  Oriental 
question,  to  enable  him  to  cross  the  Maine.  It  is 
this  policy  which  encourages  Russia  to  assume  a 
haughty  and  menacing  attitude  towards  Western 
Europe,  and  which  is  evidently  intent  on  encom- 
passing Austria  with  flames  of  revolutionary  fire, 
from  the  Red  Tower  Pass  to  the  Alps,  from  the 
River  Save  to  the  Boeca  di  Cattaro."  In  October, 
Baron  von  Beust  made  a  speech,  justifyingthe  neces- 
sity of  keeping  the  Austrian  army  on  the  war  footing 
of  800,000  men.  "Austria,"  he  said,  "maintains 
the  best  relations  with  France  and  England,  and 
is  also  upon  the  most  friendly  footing  with  Italy. 
The  latter  power,  however,  has  not  always  complete 
freedom  of  action.  Austria  remains  unchanged  in 
her  resolve  to  abandon  all  policy  of  revenge  against 
Prussia,  while  with  Russia  she  seeks  to  maintain 
friendly  relations.  In  view,  however,  of  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  conflict  between  France  and  Prussia, 
Austria  is  obliged  to  remain  armed,  as  much  to 
cause  her  own  neutrality  to  be  respected,  as  to 
keep  back  other  powers  who  might  be  inclined 
to  attack." 

To  the  same  effect  was  the  emperor's  address 
to  the  army  on  the  8th  December: — "The  mon- 
archy wants  peace  ;  we  must  know  how  to  main- 
tain it.  For  this  purpose  I  have  had  presented 
to  both  legislatures  a  bill  by  which,  in  case  of 
necessity,  the  whole  population  may  rise  in  arms 
to  defend  the  dearest  interests  of  the  country. 
Both  legislatures  have  passed  it,  and  I  have  sanc- 
tioned it.  The  re-organization  of  the  empire  has 
been  effected  on  those  historical  bases  on  which 
it  reposed  in  the  times  when  it  fought  out  the 
most  difficult  wars  successfully.  Both  sides  of  my 
empire  will  have  henceforth  the  same  interests  in 
defending  its  security  and  power.  My  army  thereby 
gains  an  auxiliary  which  will  support  it  in  good 
and  ill  fortune.  My  people,  without  distinction 
of  class,  will  now,  according  to  the  law,  rank 
under  my  colours  proudly.  Let  the  army  be  the 
school  of  that  courage  without  which  empires 
cannot  maintain  themselves.  My  army  has  gone 
through  hard  trials,  but  its  courage  is  not  broken, 
and  my  faith  in  it  is  not  shaken.     The  path  of 


132 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


honour  and  loyalty,  on  which  the  hrave  sons  of 
my  empire  have  followed  hitherto,  may  be  their 
path  henceforth  too.  Let  them  be  faithful  to 
their  past,  and  bring  with  them  the  glorious  tradi- 
tions of  former  times.  Progressing  in  science,  and 
in  the  spirit  of  the  times  strengthened  by  new 
elements,  it  will  inspire  respect  to  the  enemy,  and 
be  a  stronghold  of  throne  and  empire." 

In  his  speech  on  closing  the  Diet,  as  king  of 
Hungary,  he  said,  "  We  called  you  together  three 
years  ago,  under  difficult  and  anxious  circum- 
stances, to  accomplish  a  great  task.  Our  common 
aim  and  endeavour  has  been  to  solve  all  those 
questions  which,  not  only  in  these  last  times,  but 
for  centuries,  have  been  the  sources  of  distrust 
and  of  collisions.  I  having  been  crowned  with 
the  crown  of  St.  Stephen,  inherited  from  my 
ancestors,  the  Hungarian  constitution  has  become 
a  full  reality.  The  union  of  Hungary  and  Tran- 
sylvania, of  Croatia  and  Sclavonia,  has  become 
an  accomplished  fact,  and  the  integrity  of  the 
empire  of  St.  Stephen  has  been  restored  in  a 
way  in  which  it  has  not  existed  for  the  last 
three  hundred  years.  You  have  recognized  the 
necessity  of  a  common  army ;  you  have  inaugu- 
rated a  system  of  education  which  will  serve  as 
a  support  to  material  and  intellectual  progress. 
You  have  extended  the  civil  and  political  rights 
which  the  citizens  belonging  to  the  different  races 
had  already  enjoyed,  to  the  use  of  their  language 
likewise,  granting  all  those  wishes  which  are  not 
in  opposition  to  the  law  and  good  government. 
You  have  extended  political  rights  to  the  Israelites, 
who,  until  now,  knew  only  the  charges,  and  not 
the  advantages,  of  the  constitution.  You  have 
regulated  the  relations  of  the  different  confessions 
on  the  basis  of  civil  and  religious  equality.  By 
the  new  regulation  of  judicial  procedure  you  have 
facilitated  the  prompt  administration  of  justice 
and  the  consolidation  of  private  credit.  The 
symptoms  of  material  and  moral  improvement 
which  are  apparent  everywhere  may  fill  your 
hearts  with  joy,  and  if  once  the  success  follows 
with  which  Providence  rewards  perseverance 
and  energy,  posterity  will  gratefully  remember 
those  who  have  been  the  instruments  of  the  wel- 
fare of  the  country.  May  the  Almighty  make 
this  loyal  understanding  lasting- — this  understand- 
ing which  has  not  only  produced  great  political 
results,  but  which  has  linked  together  sovereign 
and    people    in    the   bonds  of  mutual  confidence 


and  love,  and  which  has  made  us  feel  that  only 
a  happy  nation  can  have  a  happy  sovereign." 
Noble  words  spoken  with  royal  frankness  and 
sincerity,  and  exhibiting  a  picture  of  national 
revival  in  the  space  of  three  years,  hardly  to  be 
paralleled  in  the  history  of  nations. 

DEAK    FERENCZ. 

The  peaceful  restoration  of  Austria  to  the  rank 
of  a  great  power  could  hardly  have  been  brought 
about  in  so  brief  a  space  of  time,  spite  of  the  able 
efforts  of  Count  von  Beust,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  extraordinary  influence  and  wise  moderation 
of  one  man,  Deak  the  Hungarian  patriot.  In 
him,  says  M.  de  Laveleye,  we  see  a  simple 
lawyer,  unknown  to  Europe,  borne  to  the  head 
of  an  heroic  nation  by  dint  of  his  public  virtue 
alone,  dictate  the  conditions  of  the  reconstitution 
of  the  Austrian  empire,  confirm  to  the  descendant 
of  so  many  emperors  the  crown  of  St.  Stephen, 
and  by  wielding  the  confidence  of  his  fellow 
citizens,  determine  the  fate  of  that  powerful 
state  at  a  time  of  momentous  crisis.  A  sketch 
of  his  life  and  opinions  cannot  but  be  instructive 
and  interesting.  Francis  Deak,  or  Deak  Ferencz 
(for  in  Hungary  the  practice  is  to  place  the 
baptismal  name  after  that  of  the  family),  was  born 
on  the  13th  of  October,  1803,  at  Sojtor  in  the 
county  of  Zala,  the  son  of  a  country  gentleman, 
who  farmed  his  own  land.  He  was  educated  at 
Kaab,  where  also  he  entered  the  profession  of  law, 
and  followed  at  the  same  time  with  eagerness  the 
politics  of  the  day.  The  resistance  of  the  Magyars 
to  the  encroachments  of  the  court  at  Vienna  had 
been  suspended  during  the  Napoleonic  wars,  but 
broke  out  with  fresh  vigour  about  the  time  when 
the  young  advocate  attained  his  majority.  When 
after  long  delay  the  Diet  was  assembled  at  Presburg 
in  1825,  a  spirit  of  independence  was  manifested 
that  thoroughly  alarmed  the  imperial  government. 
That  was  the  "  revival  Diet."  Deak  engaged  heart 
and  soul  in  the  contest.  Entitled  to  take  part 
in  county  meetings  by  his  rank  of  gentleman  (of 
whom  there  were  600,000  in  the  kingdom,  for  the 
most  part  poor  as  Job),  and  also  by  his  position 
as  member  of  a  liberal  profession,  he  soon  dis- 
tinguished himself  as  an  orator  at  those  quarterly 
assemblies.  The  appointment  to  local  offices  in 
Hungary  is  made  almost  always  by  popular  election, 
and  gives  frequent  occasion  to  animated  debates. 
A  strong  supporter  of  modern  ideas  on  the  subject 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


133 


of  personal  freedom  and  equal  justice  for  all,  he 
was  at  the  same  time  a  staunch  maintainer  of  the 
ancient  privileges  of  his  country,  her  language, 
her  institutions,  her  nationality.  He  soon  became 
the  leader  of  his  party  in  the  county,  and  a  fit 
and  proper  person  to  represent  it  in  the  National 
Assembly.  He  was  elected,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two,  to  succeed  his  brother  as  member  for  their 
native  county  in  the  Diet  of  1825.  He  was  well 
received  by  the  opposition  party,  the  party  of 
progress,  to  which  he  belonged,  at  the  head  of 
which  was  the  celebrated  Count  Sze'chenyi,  and  he 
was  complimented  by  his  first  opponent  in  debate, 
Pazmandy.  It  was,  however,  in  the  Diet  which  sat 
from  1832  to  1836  that  he  came  to  the  front  rank. 
His  speeches  were  lucid  and  convincing  rather  than 
brilliant,  replete  with  knowledge  and  sound  logic 
without  much  ornament.  With  these  he  came 
by  degrees  to  master  a  most  excitable  assembly, 
which  he  patiently  educated  up  to  his  own  point 
of  view.  At  the  close  of  that  Diet  a  word  from 
Deak  would  command  a  majority.  The  govern- 
ment at  Vienna  obstinately  opposed  all  the  demands 
of  the  Magyars,  and  the  Diet  of  1839  came  together 
full  of  anger.  Deak,  at  the  head  of  the  opposition, 
forced  an"  amnesty  from  the  government  for  the 
politicians  of  his  party  who  had  been  imprisoned; 
and  the  ministry  found  it  prudent  to  concert 
measures  with  him  in  order  to  secure  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  country.  This  eminent  position 
he  had  attained  at  the  age  of  thirty-six.  A  robust 
broad-shouldered  man,  with  short  neck  and  round 
head,  full  of  humour  and  geniality,  thick  eye- 
brows shading  his  shrewd  yet  kindly  eyes.  Like 
his  celebrated  English  contemporary,  Mr.  Bright, 
there  was  no -indication  in  his  external  appearance 
of  the  masterly  intellect  that  controls  popular 
assemblies,  and  wields  them  at  pleasure  by  the 
power  of  oratory.  Dressed  in  black,  with  an  ivory- 
headed  cane  in  his  hand  like  a  good  Presburg 
burgher,  he  would  meet  the  members  of  his  party 
on  the  eve  of  a  great  debate  in  a  club  smoking- 
room.  After  hearing  all  they  had  to  say,  he 
would  give  his  opinion  in  a  conversational  tone, 
show  the  points  on  which  all  were  agreed,  and 
how  the  end  was  to  be  attained;  indicate  with 
precision  the  way  to  success,  the  weak  point  of  the 
other  side,  what  concessions  could  be  made,  and 
those  points  on  which  his  friends  must  stand  firm. 
He  enlivened  this  common-sense  exposition  of 
the  matter  in  hand  with  jocular  comparisons  and 


anecdotes,  and  ruled  his  fellow  men  with  a  sceptre 
of  which  the  weight  was  not  perceptible. 

At  the  election  of  1843  Deak  had  the  courage 
to  give  his  supporters  a  lesson  which  they  would 
not  soon  forget.  He  had  been  thrown  out  at  one 
election,  by  means  of  the  unscrupulous  employ- 
ment of  corruption  and  intimidation  on  the  part 
of  his  adversaries.  He  was  put  up  again,  and  his 
friends  resolved  to  employ  similar  means  to  secure 
his  return.  Deak  protested  against  this  course, 
and  vowed  that  he  would  not  sit  if  returned,  but 
they  refused  to  believe  him.  He  kept  his  word 
nevertheless,  was  elected  and  declined  the  seat,  to 
the  bitter  chagrin  of  men  who  had  spent  them- 
selves in  conquering  success  for  him,  and  who 
could  see  nothing  but  overstrained  and  inflated 
virtue  in  this  desertion  of  his  party.  Deak's 
absence  from  the  Chamber  was  deeply  felt,  and 
generally  bewailed.  In  1846  he  was  obliged  to 
travel  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  and  the  years 
that  immediately  followed  were  occupied  with  the 
sad  events  of  the  revolutionary  outbreak,  and  its 
suppression.  He  could  not  agree  with  the  ad- 
vanced opinions  of  Kossuth.  "I  am  a  reformer," 
he  said,  "  not  a  revolutionist."  Yet  he  would 
not  oppose  altogether  the  national  party,  though 
he  was  a  firm  supporter  of  union  with  Austria. 
The  overthrow  of  1848  and  1849  filled  him 
with  sadness,  and  drew  from  him  the  frequent 
exclamation,  "  It  is  the  beginning  of  the  end ! " 
He  formed  part,  however,  as  minister  of  Justice, 
of  the  ministry  of  Count  Louis  Batthyani,  and 
found  the  labours  of  office  at  that  period  of  change 
in  legislation  very  great  indeed.  He  worked  at 
the  emancipation  of  the  peasantry,  the  amelioration 
of  the  criminal  law,  and  the  adoption  of  trial  by 
jury.  His  desire  to  accomplish  reconciliation 
and  union  with  Austria  by  legal  means,  exposed 
him  in  those  days  of  revolution  to  the  charge 
of  treachery,  hurled  against  him  by  the  demo- 
crats. He  quitted  the  ministry  in  October,  1848, 
but  not  the  Chamber.  On  the  31st  December 
he  was  appointed,  by  a  vote  of  both  houses, 
one  of  the  deputation  that  attempted  to  open  a 
negotiation  with  Windischgriitz  in  his  camp.  When 
that  misguided  general  refused  to  see  the  delegates, 
on  the  plea  that  he  could  not  treat  with  rebels,  the 
dogs  of  war  were  let  loose,  and  Deak,  who  had  not 
wished  the  revolution,  but,  on  the  contrary,  had 
done  his  best  to  prevent  it,  withdrew  from  public 
life.     He  remained  in  retirement  full   ten  years, 


134 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


living  chiefly  at  Pesth,  studying  the  progress  of 
events  around,  distributing  a  share  of  his  modest 
income  in  alms,  and  enjoying  the  society  of  his 
friends.  In  December,  1860,  after  the  Austrian 
constitution  had  been  decreed,  Deak  and  his  friend 
Eotvos  had  a  long  private  conference  with  the 
emperor  at  Vienna,  which  seems  to  have  given 
him  hope  that  the  breach  between  his  country 
and  the  imperial  government  would  soon  be  closed. 
On  reaching  home  he  at  once  re-entered  public 
life  with  his  old  vigour.  He  was  elected  member 
for  Pesth  in  the  Diet  of  1861,  and  had  to  exert 
all  his  talent  and  influence  to  induce  the  extreme 
radical  party  to  follow  moderate  counsels.  He 
achieved  a  great  parliamentary  triumph  on  the 
13th  May  of  that  year,  carrying  his  address  to 
the  emperor  in  the  face  of  an  adverse  majority. 
This  address  was  laid,  as  was  well  said  at  the 
time,  on  the  threshold  which  divides  Hungary 
from  Austria,  to  be  taken  up  by  every  emperor  who 
goes  to  the  "hill  of  coronation"  to  be  crowned 
king  of  Hungary.  The  address  was  ill-received 
at  Vienna,  and  met  by  an  imperial  rescript  that 
irritated  the  Chamber  at  Pesth.  The  main  point 
of  difference  was  on  the  subject  of  representation — 
whether  the  Hungarians  would,  or  would  not,  send 
their  representatives  to  the  German  Eeichsrath, 
and  abandon  their  own  ancient  Diet;  a  decided 
negative  was  skilfully  and  respectfully  drawn  up 
by  Deak.  The  Diet  was  dissolved  on  the  21st 
August,  but  Deak  felt  sure  of  victory  sooner  or 
later,  and  went  to  play  his  favourite  game  of 
quilles,  or  skittles,  much  to  the  disgust  of  his 
more  excitable  friends.  Things  went  on  thus, 
Deak  keeping  his  people  from  insurrection,  until 
1865,  when  the  emperor,  aware  that  danger  was 
thickening  around  him,  made  overtures  to  Deak, 
and  paid  a  visit  to  Buda,  where  he  was  heartily 
received.  A  few  months  afterwards  his  Majesty 
in  person  opened  the  Diet  in  Pesth.  Still  the 
separate  Hungarian  ministry  was  not  accorded, 
and  the  war  of  1866  had  to  be  borne  with  Hun- 
gary in  a  bad  humour.  After  the  peace  of 
Prague,  and  the  subsequent  accession  of  Baron  von 
Beust  to  the  head  of  the  ministry  of  Vienna,  Deak's 
programme  was  accepted  without  discussion,  and 
the  dual  form  of  government  for  the  empire  was 
established,  practically  leading  to  what,  accord- 
ing to  the  Hungarians,  was  the  only  bond 
between  the  two  countries  of  old,  a  personal  union 
embodied  in  the  sovereign.     The  Austrian  chan- 


cellor and  the  Pesth  deputy  settled  the  matter 
between  them.  Imperfections  in  the  scheme  of 
dual  government  there  were,  which  Deak  felt 
equally  with  other  men;  but  the  agreement  arrived 
at  by  him  and  Baron  von  Beust,  in  all  probability, 
saved  Austria  from  dissolution  and  Hungary  from 
a  dangerous  decline.  The  sage  of  Hungary,  as 
he  was  called,  would  receive  no  other  reward  for 
his  services  than  the  satisfaction  of  having  ren- 
dered them.  The  emperor,  the  Diet,  the  ministry, 
pressed  upon  him  various  offers,  but  he  declined 
them  all.  At  the  coronation  of  the  king  of 
Hungary,  it  is  an  ancient  custom  for  the  Count 
Palatine  to  ask  the  assembly  present  if  they  accept 
the  sovereign  elect,  and  then  to  place  the  crown 
upon  the  king's  head.  In  1867  there  was  no 
Count  Palatine,  the  office  being  about  to  be 
abolished.  A  question  arose  as  to  who  should 
have  the  honour  of  performing  the  ancient  cere- 
monial. Every  voice  pronounced  in  favour  of 
Deak,  the  creator  of  the  new  state  of  things,  and 
the  Diet  by  a  unanimous  vote  appointed  him  to 
the  honour.  The  patriot  declined,  gently  at  first, 
but  when  insistance  was  made,  furiously;  declaring 
that  he  would  rather  resign  his  seat  in  the  House 
than  consent  to  take  so  prominent  and  ostentatious 
a  position.  Though  holding  no  office,  Deak  dic- 
tates the  policy  of  the  Hungarian  government, 
whose  supporters  are  known  by  the  name  of 
the  "  Deak  party."  His  high  position  in  the 
opinion  of  his  countrymen  does  honour  to  the 
Hungarians,  for  he  has  neither  the  eloquence  of 
Kossuth  nor  the  brilliancy  of  Szechenyi;  but  he 
appeals  to  the  reason  with  all  the  force  of  sound 
logic,  and  persuades  by  force  of  common  sense. 
He  offers  a  striking  contrast  to  the  generality 
of  his  countrymen,  fiery  and  romantic  as  they 
are;  but  it  is  by  simplicity  and  purity  of  life, 
by  earnestness  of  purpose  and  thorough  disin- 
terestedness, that  he  has  so  completely  conquered 
their  esteem  and  respect. 

PRUSSIA  AFTER  THE  PEACE  OF  PRAGUE. 

The  seal  and  sanction  of  public  opinion  in  Ger- 
many was  given  to  the  great  changes  wrought  by 
Prussia,  by  the  Chambers  which  met  in  new  session 
at  Berlin  on  the  5th  of  August,  1866.  The  treaty 
of  peace  had  not  yet  been  ratified,  and  some  of  the 
speeches  delivered  in  the  Chambers  exhibited  a 
certain  distrust  of  Austria  and  other  powers.  But 
the   king   and   his   ministers   were   forgiven   their 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


135 


unparliamentary  offences  of  preceding  years;  and 
the  annexation  of  territory,  as  well  as  the  subjec- 
tion of  minor  states  to  absolute  dependence  on 
Prussia,  by  the  formation  of  the  new  League  or 
Confederation  of  North  Germany,  was  cordially,  if 
not  unanimously  approved.  In  the  king's  speech 
at  the  opening  of  the  Chambers,  not  a  word  was 
said  about  France  and  the  important  part  taken 
by  the  French  emperor  in  bringing  the  war  to  a 
close  by  his  mediation.  Nor  was  Italy  even  men- 
tioned. All  that  the  king  said  was,  that  his  army 
was  supported  "by  few  but  faithful  allies."  These 
omissions  naturally  gave  great  offence  both  to  Italy 
and  France;  and  in  France  especially  much  irrita- 
tion was  felt  in  consequence. 

The  address  of  the  Upper  House  sought  to 
remedy  the  omission,  and  expressed  its  recognition 
of  the  disinterested  mediation  of  a  foreign  power 
in  the  peace  preliminaries.  It  declared  the  hopes 
of  the  Upper  House  that  the  separated  portions  of 
the  monarchy  would  be  united,  and  that  the  future 
frontier  line  of  Prussia  would  form  a  guarantee  for 
her  security  and  her  position  as  a  great  power. 
The  noble  "  Herren,"  or  Lords,  were  further  of 
opinion,  that  after  the  withdrawal  of  Austria  from 
the  Germanic  Confederation  friendly  relations  would 
subsist  between  her  and  Prussia.  The  new  organi- 
zation of  Germany  would  be  the  means  of  pre- 
venting any  future  bloodshed  in  conflicts  between 
German  states.  The  reform  of  the  military 
organization,  too,  had  been  put  to  the  test,  and 
had  been  completely  justified  by  the  brilliant 
results  obtained. 

In  bringing  forward  a  bill  for  the  incor- 
poration of  Hanover,  Electoral  Hesse,  Nassau,  and 
Frankfort,  with  the  Prussian  dominions,  Count 
von  Bismarck  said  that  he  hoped  the  Chambers 
would  leave  the  details  in  the  hands  of  the  king, 
who  would  act  with  the  necessary  consideration. 
The  preamble  of  the  bill  stated,  that  "  Prussia  did 
not  embark  in  the  war  with  the  intention  of 
acquiring  territory.  The  hostile  attitude  of  the 
above-named  states  required  that  their  indepen- 
dence should  cease.  It  was  to  be  hoped  that,  in 
course  of  time,  the  populations  of  the  annexed 
countries  would  be  thoroughly  satisfied  with  the 
incorporation."  But  a  strong  feeling  was  mani- 
fested by  the  Chamber  that  the  Prussian  constitu- 
tional charter  should  be  introduced  into  the  new 
provinces  before  the  expiration  of  a  year,  instead 
of  being   postponed   indefinitely,  as   the  bill  pro- 


posed. Count  von  Bismarck  at  once  assented  to 
this  view,  and  said  that,  without  consulting  his 
colleagues,  he  would  take  it  upon  himself,  in  the 
name  of  the  government,  to  approve  of  it.  A 
few  days  afterwards  (August  28)  he  accepted  an 
amendment,  which  provided  that  the  Prussian 
constitution  should  become  law  in  Hanover,  Nassau, 
Hesse-Cassel,  and  Frankfort,  on  the  1st  October, 
1867  ;  and  in  the  course  of  his  speech  he  made 
some  remarks  that  have  a  certain  historical  value. 

"  It  was  just  possible,"  he  said,  "  that  Prussia 
would  be  called  upon  to  vindicate  the  possession 
of  what  she  had  acquired.  The  first  Silesian  war 
produced  a  second  and  a  third,  and  there  was  no 
telling  whether  they  might  not  have  to  go  through 
a  similar  succession  of  campaigns  in  the  present 
instance.  He  therefore  wished  to  have  the  matter 
promptly  settled,  so  as  to  give  foreign  powers 
no  further  opportunity  for  interference.  To  do  a 
necessary  thing  at  once  was  to  gain  a  double 
advantage  from  it.  The  cabinet  had  difficulties 
to  contend  with  in  various  quarters,  and  might 
well  expect  the  House  to  second  its  action,  con- 
sidering what  the  circumstances  of  the  times  were. 
The  right  of  Prussia  to  annex  the  states  men- 
tioned was  a  more  sacred  right  than  that  of  con- 
quest. It  was  from  the  right  of  Germany  to  live, 
breathe,  and  exist,  that  Prussia  derived  her  com- 
mission to  incorporate  with  her  own  body  politic 
such  disjecta  membra  of  the  nation  as  had  been 
won  in  honest  warfare.  The  interval  between 
now  and  the  extension  of  the  Prussian  constitu- 
tion to  the  new  provinces  he  would  employ  to 
proclaim  the  laws  of  military  service  in  them,  and 
establish  the  right  of  all  subjects  of  the  crown 
to  reside  and  carry  on  trade  in  any  part  of  the 
united  kingdom.  He  had  no  doubt  that,  before 
loner,  all  classes  in  the  states  annexed  would  unite 
in  acknowledging  the  wisdom  of  this  proceeding. 
This  was  a  transition  period  ;  but  its  attendant 
difficulties  could  be  easily  overcome  by  the  adop- 
tion of  the  proper  means.  He  was  not  surprised 
to  find  that,  when  people  in  the  minor  states  had 
so  long  enjoyed  an  existence  undisturbed  by  great 
political  cares,  there  should  be  some  among  them 
averse  to  the  duties  of  a  more  responsible  position. 
But  the  great  majority  took  a  more  extended  view 
even  now,  and  the  rest  would  come  round  soon 
enough.  In  point  of  fact,  the  only  choice  they 
had  was  to  become  the  citizens  of  a  great  German 
state,  or  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  foreign  powers." 


136 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


At  a  later  period,  a  bill  of  indemnity  to  save 
the  government  from  the  consequences  of  having 
acted  in  violation  of  the  law  in  preceding  years, 
by  collecting  taxes  which  had  not  been  voted 
by  the  Chambers,  was  passed  by  a  large  majority. 
The  minister  of  the  Interior  stated,  that  by  the 
adoption  of  the  bill  the  government  would  be 
morally  compelled  to  act  in  a  friendly  spirit 
towards  the  House.  The  indemnity  was  not  an 
armistice  with  the  government;  its  adoption  would 
be  the  preliminaries  of  a  real  and  lasting  peace. 
This  anxious  desire  on  the  part  of  a  so-called 
despotic  king  and  minister,  for  the  sanction  of 
their  high-handed  dealings  by  a  law  to  be  voted 
by  Parliament,  is  very  significant  of  the  force  of 
public  opinion  in  Germany,  and  contains  excellent 
promise  for  the  future  development  of  well-ordered 
freedom  in  that  newly  united  country. 

The  king's  reply  to  the  address  of  the  Lower 
House  contained  a  sort  of  apology  for  the  annex- 
ation of  neighbouring  territories: — "  I  thank  you, 
gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  for  communicating  to  me 
the  feelings  of  your  illustrious  body.  To  God  alone 
be  all  honour.  On  setting  out  for  the  seat  of  war, 
I  certainly  hoped  that  we  should  be  able  to  hold 
our  own,  as  we  always  have.  But  I  did  not 
expect  the  rapid  victories  we  achieved,  and  am 
doubly  grateful  to  my  gallant  army  for  accomp- 
lishing them.  Since  the  war  I  have  been  obliged 
to  dispossess  certain  sovereigns,  and  annex  their 
territories.  I  was  born  the  son  of  a  king,  and 
taught  to  respect  hereditary  rights.  If,  in  the 
present  instance,  I  have  nevertheless-  profited  by 
the  fortune  of  war  to  extend  my  territory  at  the 
cost  of  other  sovereigns,  you  will  appreciate  the 
imperative  necessity  of  the  step.  We  cannot 
permit  hostile  armies  to  be  raised  in  our  rear,  or 
in  localities  intervening  between  our  provinces. 
To  preclude  the  recurrence  of  such  an  event  was 
a  duty  imposed  upon  me  by  the  law  of  self-preser- 
vation. I  have  acted  for  the  good  of  the  country, 
and  I  beg  you  to  convey  my  sentiments  to  the 
House." 

To  a  deprecatory  address  from  a  Hanoverian 
deputation  his  Majesty  used  similar  language,  to 
the  effect  that  annexation  had  become  a  duty 
on  account  of  geographical  position,  and  that 
the  rapid  victories  which  led  to  it  were  a  visible 
interposition  of  Providence.  Indeed,  the  national 
appetite  for  conquest  was  clearly  not  yet  satisfied. 
In  the  debate  on  the  bill  for  determining  the  mode 


of  election  to  the  new  German  Parliament  (Sep- 
tember 12),  Count  von  Bismarck  had  to  delend 
the  government  against  a  charge  of  not  having 
profited  sufficiently  by  the  late  victories.  Again, 
in  December  he  made  a  long  and  instructive 
speech  in  the  Lower  House  on  the  question  of 
the  union  of  the  duchies  of  Schlcswig  and  Holstein 
with  Prussia.  It  will  be  remembered  that  French 
influence  was  exerted  to  secure  the  cession  of  the 
northern  part  of  Schleswig  to  Denmark,  if,  on 
an  appeal  to  the  inhabitants,  they  determined  by 
a  plebiscite  in  favour  of  such  a  re-annexation. 
The  passages  of  the  president's  speech  which 
relate  to  the  attitude  of  France,  and  seem  to 
excuse  the  deference  shown  to  her  in  the  negoti- 
ations at  Prague,  have  no  unimportant  bearing  on 
the  present  history.  "  Foreign  nations,''  said  the 
minister,  "  were  accustomed  to  look  upon  us  as 
abandoned  to  the  tender  mercies  of  France,  and  to 
make  the  permanent  necessity  of  help,  under  which 
they  fancied  we  were,  their  reason  for  speculating 
upon  our  indulgence  and  modesty.  By  Austria 
and  a  portion  of  our  German  allies,  this  speculation 
had  been  carried  very  far  during  the  last  ten 
years.  But  were  they  at  all  right  in  their  fancies? 
War  with  France  is  not  in  the  interests  of  this 
country.  We  have  little  to  gain  even  by  beating 
her.  The  Emperor  Napoleon  himself,  differing 
in  this  from  the  accepted  politics  of  other  French 
dynasties,  wisely  recognized  the  fact  that  peace 
and  mutual  confidence  should  prevail  between  the 
two  neighbouring  nations.  But  to  maintain  such 
relations  with  France,  a  strong  and  independent 
Prussia  is  alone  competent.  If  this  truth  is  not 
admitted  by  all  subjects  of  Napoleon  III.,  it  is 
a  consolation  to  know  that  his  cabinet,  at  least, 
thinks  differently,  and  that  we  officially,  at  any 
rate,  have  to  deal  with  his  cabinet  only.  Looking 
upon  this  vast  country  of  Germany  from  the 
French  point  of  view,  his  cabinet  cannot  but  tell 
themselves  that,  to  combine  it  again  with  Austria 
into  one  political  whole,  and  make  it  a  realm  of 
75,000,000  inhabitants,  would  be  contrary  to  the 
French  interests.  Even  if  France  could  make  the 
Ehine  her  boundary,  she  would  be  no  match  for 
so  formidable  a  power,  were  it  ever  established 
beside  her.  To  France  it  is  an  advantage  that 
Austria  does  not  participate  any  longer  in  our 
common  Germanic  institutions,  and  that  a  state 
whose  interests  conflict  with  her  own  in  Italv  and 
in   the   East,    cannot    henceforth   constitutionally 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


137 


rely  upon  our  armed  assistance  in  war.  It  is 
natural  for  France  to  prefer  a  neighbour  of  less 
overwhelming  might — a  neighbour,  in  fact,  whom 
35,000,000  or  38,000,000  of  French  are  quite 
strong  enough  to  ward  off  from  their  boundary 
line  in  defensive  war.  If  France  justly  appreciates 
her  interests,  she  will  as  little  allow  the  power  of 
Prussia  as  that  of  Austria  to  be  swept  away.  The 
present  dynasty  of  France  having  identified  itself 
with  the  principle  of  nationality,  always  looked 
upon  the  question  of  the  duchies  in  a  temperate 
way,  and  from  the  very  outset  was  less  adverse  to 
our  claims  than  any  of  the  other  powers. 

"  You  are  aware  that  to  carry  that  principle 
through  on  the  Dano-German  frontier  is  simply 
impossible.  Germans  and  Danes  so  intermingle 
there,  that  no  line  of  demarcation  can  be  drawn 
which  will  separate  all  members  of  the  one  race 
from  those  of  the  other.  Yet  France,  wishing  to 
see  her  adopted  principle  acknowledged  in  this 
particular  instance,  as  in  so  many  preceding  ones, 
mooted  the  question,  repeatedly  bringing  on  a 
discussion  between  us,  Denmark,  and  other  powers. 
In  all  our  communications  with  the  powers,  we 
never  concealed  it  from  them,  that  we  would  not 
allow  our  line  of  defence  to  be  impaired  by  any 
territorial  re-arrangement  of  the  kind ;  but  we  also 
intimated  that,  under  certain  circumstances,  we 
might  be  inclined  to  pay  some  regard  to  wishes 
assiduously  uttered  by  the  population,  and  un- 
doubtedly ascertained  by  us.  Thus  the  matter 
stood  when,  in  July  last,  France  was  enabled,  by 
the  general  situation  of  Europe,  to  urge  her  views 
more  forcibly  than  before.  I  need  not  depict  the 
situation  of  this  country  at  the  time  I  am  speaking 
of.  You  all  know  what  I  mean.  Nobody  could 
expect  us  to  carry  on  two  wars  at.  the  same  time. 
Peace  with  Austria  had  not  yet  been  concluded; 
were,  we  to  imperil  the  fruits  of  our  glorious 
campaign  by  plunging  headlong  into  hostilities 
with  a  new,  a  second  enemy  ?  France,  then,  being 
called  on  by  Austria  to  mediate  between  the  con- 
tending parties,  as  a  matter  of  course  did  not  omit 
to  urge  some  wishes  of  her  own  upon  us.  We 
had  to  determine,  not  whether  we  thought  the 
terms  offered  compatible  with  the  expressed  desires 
of  the  Schleswig-Holsteiners,  but  whether  we 
were  to  accept  or  to  reject  in  a  body  the  overtures 
of  Austria,  as  imparted  through  France.  Long 
negotiations  were  impracticable  under  the  circum- 
stances.    Our   communications   were   interrupted, 


telegrams  requiring  three,  or  even  six  days  to 
travel  from  our  headquarters  to  Berlin.  In  this 
condition  his  Majesty  determined  to  adopt  the 
programme  submitted  to  his  decision.  It  is  true 
we  were  strongly  backed  by  Italy  remaining  true 
to  her  engagements,  and  standing  by  us  with  a 
fidelity  which  I  cannot  too  highly  appreciate  and 
extol.  The  Italian  government  resisted  the  temp- 
tation thrown  in  its  way  by  a  present  from  Austria, 
of  renouncing  its  alliance  with  us,  and  suspending 
military  operations  against  the  common  enemy. 
This  is  a  fact  which  I  hope  guarantees  the  con- 
tinuance of  friendly  relations  between  Italy  and 
Germany.  But,  notwithstanding  the  valuable  aid 
rendered  us  by  our  Italian  allies,  both  on  the  battle- 
field and  in  our  diplomatic  negotiations  with 
friend  and  foe,  we  did  not  think  ourselves  jus- 
tified in  proceeding  to  extremities,  and  involving 
all  Europe  in  war,  merely  because  a  single  item 
of  the'terms  proffered  was  unpalatable.  Had  we 
insisted  upon  having  every  thing  our  own  way, 
the  most  serious  complications  might  have  arisen. 
I  thought  it  my  duty  to  advise  his  Majesty  to 
sanction  the  terms  submitted  as  they  stood,  rather 
than  jeopardize  our  previous  success  and  gamble 
for  more." 

In  the  result,  the  House  resolved  to  postpone 
the  question  of  the  cession  of  Northern  Schleswig 
to  a  later  period.  It  has  been  stated  quite  recently 
by  an  Austrian  in  authority,  that  the  Vienna 
cabinet  committed  an  error  in  accepting  French 
mediation  so  hastily.  The  Prussian  minister  had 
made  proposals  for  a  direct  negotiation,  in  which 
no  mention  of  any  indemnity  was  made;  and 
Austria  would  have  been  spared  a  fine  of  thirty 
million  florins  if  she  had  only  declined  to  avail 
herself  of  the  assistance  of  France. 

The  failure  to  carry  out  the  stipulations  of  the 
treaty  of  Prague  relating  to  North  Schleswig,  has 
no  doubt  drawn  much  obloquy  upon  the  govern- 
ment of  King  William.  Germans  in  high  station 
have  openly  disapproved,  and  some  publicists  have 
placed  it  side  by  side  with  the  French  occupa- 
tion of  Eome  as  an  act  politically  immoral.  The 
continued  occupation,  says  one  writer,  of  North 
Schleswig,  which  is  Danish,  by  Prussia,  not  as 
resulting  from  a  compliance  with,  but  in  defiance 
of,  the  provisions  of  the  fifth  article  of  the  treaty 
of  Prague  in  1866,  is  not  only  a  wrong  done  to 
Denmark,  but  it  does  violence  to  that  European 
public  opinion  which  Prussia,  like  France,  is  so 
s 


1S8 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


anxious  to  conciliate.  And  not  merely  is  this 
continued  occupation  a  wrong,  but  it  is  a  wrong 
of  which  the  treatment  and  persecution  of  the 
Danish  inhabitants  by  Prussia  has  largely  increased 
the  magnitude  and  intensity.  Persecutions  are 
spoken  of,  and  the  expulsion  of  clergymen  and 
others,  either  actual  or  virtual,  as  the  result  of 
arbitrary  and  oppressive  measures,  in  the  teeth 
of  the  provisions  of  most  solemn  treaties.  It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  the  conclusion  of  war  will 
witness  the  payment  by  Count  von  Bismarck  .of  a 
debt  of  strict  though  tardy  justice  to  Denmark,  at 
the  instance  of  Germans  themselves,  who  are  not 
found  wanting  as  individuals  in  a  sense  of  justice 
or  in  genuine  kindness  both  of  heart  and  senti- 
ment. There  can  be  no  reason  why  the  relations 
between  Prussia  and  Denmark  should  not  be 
friendly  for  the  future.  If,  as  matter  of  fact, 
Germans  have,  by  peaceful  emigration,  superseded 
in  certain  parts  of  Schleswig  the  earlier  Danish 
population;  and  Germany,  having  taken  possession 
of  those  parts  by  conquest,  is  now  desirous  of 
retaining  them — that  surely  is  no  reason  why,  in 
defiance  of  recent  treaty  obligations,  those  parts  of 
Schleswig  in  which  the  Danish  element  is  all  but 
unmixed,  or  at  all  events,  very  largely  preponder- 
ant, should  be  incorporated  with  Germany,  although 
the  inhabitants  most  earnestly  desire,  and  have  a 
treaty  right,  to  return  to  their  old  allegiance. 

That  appetite  for  annexation,  which  has  hitherto 
distinguished  Prussia,  will  not,  it  may  be  well 
hoped,  characterize  the  policy  of  a  strong  united 
Germany.  Germany  has  won  success  enough  in 
the  field,  not  merely  to  immortalize  the  prowess 
of  her  sons  and  Von  Moltke's  matchless  organizing 
skill  and  strategy,  but  to  protect  her  from  all  risk 
through  future  aggression.  It  is  contrary  to  her 
interest  to  inspire  in  other  nations,  by  territorial 
cupidity  in  Denmark  or  elsewhere,  distrust  and 
suspicion  which  might  lead  to  a  European  coali- 
tion against  her.  The  prospect  for  Europe  would 
then  be  a  dark  one.  To  protect  the  independent 
and  unmutilated  existence  of  a  certain  number  of 
small  states,  and  to  prevent  their  absorption  in 
the  military  monarchies,  is  to  maintain  the  best  of 
guarantees  for  peace  and  liberty  in  Europe.  It  is 
this  consideration  which  would  seem  to  have  actu- 
ated England  and  the  English  government  in  their 
efforts  to  maintain  inviolate  the  neutrality  and 
independence  of  Belgium.  Prussia  is  strong 
enough  to  be  just  in  the  case  of  North  Schleswig, 


without  fear  of  consequences.  She  is  victorious, 
and  she  is  rich  enough  to  be  generous.  She 
might  now  find  in  North  Schleswig  and  Germany 
— perhaps  may  find  elsewhere — a  fit  opportunity 
for  giving  to  the  world  an  example  of  those  qualities 
of  moderation  and  magnanimity  which  form  the 
brightest  jewels  in  the  victor's  crown.  The  heart 
which  great  successes  leave  untouched  is  cold 
indeed.     But  such  is  not  the  heart  of  Germany. 

The  really  difficult  part  of  the  question  so 
warmly  argued  is,  doubtless,  as  it  was  in  the 
case  of  Hanover,  a  geographical  one.  It  must 
be  well  nigh  impossible  to  draw  a  distinct  line  of 
demarcation  between  two  races  that  intermingle, 
and  having  drawn  it,  to  preserve  it.  The  suspicion 
that  Germany,  under  the  guidance  of  Prussia,  may 
become  an  aggressive  military  nation  has  almost 
no  foundation.  Her  power  rests  upon  a  military 
system  so  onerous  to  a  studious  and  a  commercial 
people,  that  it  cannot  be  imposed  upon  millions 
of  men  like  the.  Germans,  save  for  the  most 
sacred  of  causes — the  spirit-stirring  cause  of  their 
native  country  in  danger.  The  vast  Teutonic 
population  of  Central  Europe  has  been  possessed 
with  a  dominant  idea  of  unity,  that  has  rapidly 
increased  in  intensity  in  recent  years.  Germany, 
one  and  indivisible,  homogeneous,  united  in  policy 
and  in  principle,  is  the  thought  which  inspires 
the  bosom  of  every  ardent  German  patriot.  The 
realization  of  this  thought  involves  sacrifice  on 
the  part  of  princes  and  people.  The  victory  of 
an  idea  means  the  extinction  of  existing  rights. 
All  claims  and  appeals  are  silenced  before  it. 
The  old  order  perishes  to  give  place  to  the  new. 
The  unity  of  Germany  is  inevitable,  even  though 
France,  the  only  possible  opponent  of  the  unifica- 
tion, should  declare  herself  hostile  to  it.  If  France 
declare  war  against  Germany,  wrote  a  French 
writer  in  1869,  she  will  act  for  the  advantage  of 
militarism  and  Prussia ;  if  she  prove  friendly  to 
German  unity,  she  will  act  for  the  advantage  of 
European  freedom. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE   GERMAN  FEELL\G  FOR  UNITY. 

The  origin  of  the  enthusiasm  that  possesses  the 
German  race  for  the  unity  of  their  Fatherland,  must 
be  sought  in  past  history.  The  people  of  Germany 
have  had  to  undergo  a  harsh  training  in  the  school 
of  adversity,  before  the  need  and  advantage  of 
having  but  one  common  interest  have  been  fully 
realised.     The  teachings  of  this  school  were,  un- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


139 


happily  for  Germany,  barren  of  results  for  nearly 
four  hundred  years.  From  the  time  of  Kaiser 
Maximilian,  the  "  white  king,"  through  the  reigns 
of  Charles  V.  and  of  the  later  emperors  and 
empresses  antagonists  of  Louis  XIV.,  XV.,  and 
of  Frederick,  called  the  Great,  down  to  the  era 
of  the  French  Revolution  and  the  conquests  of 
Napoleon  I.,  Germany  was,  politically  speaking,  a 
sea  of  trouble,  chiefly  for  want  of  political  cohesion. 
Not  till  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
when,  perhaps,  the  cruelest  lesson  was  given  to 
the  Germans,  did  they  begin  taking  the  precepts 
of  calamity  to  heart,  and  endeavour  to  find  some 
good  in  evil.  The  sad  condition  to  which  their 
country  had  been  brought  by  disunion,  at  length 
startled  them  from  their  apathy.  Then  was  born 
that  passionate  patriotism,  of  which  the  embers 
now  burn  with  a  brightness  and  steadfastness  un- 
equalled in  any  other  nation. 

The  utter  subjection  to  which  Germany  had  been 
brought  while  the  first  Napoleon's  star  was  at  its 
zenith,  was  the  immediate  cause  that  kindled  this 
glowing  virtue.  Nothing  less  than  a  national 
enthusiasm  had  the  power  to  join  discordant 
elements,  and  inspire  men  with  that  singleness  of 
purpose  necessary  to  break  the  chains  that  fettered 
a  great  people.  The  patriot  Arndt  thus  described  the 
manner  in  which  he  was  affected  by  the  sad  conse- 
quences of  disunion,  "  When  after  vain  struggles 
Austria  and  Prussia  both  were  fallen  ;  then  first 
my  soul  began  to  love  them  and  Germany  with 
real  love,  and  to  hate  the  French  with  a  true 
and  righteous  rage.  Just  when  Germany  had 
perished  by  its  disunion,  my  heart  embraced  the 
full  notion  of  its  oneness  and  its  unity."  This 
was  spoken  immediately  after  the  heavy  blows 
inflicted  on  his  country  by  the  battles  of  Auster- 
litz  and  Jena ;  when  similar  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings began  to  agitate  the  hearts  of  the  whole 
German-speaking  folk.  Compelled  at  last  by  the 
disastrous  plight  in  which  their  country  lay,  to 
sink  their  political  differences  and  act  in  unison, 
the  Germans  succeeded  in  removing  the  ban  of 
servitude  under  which  they  had  so  severely  suf- 
fered. Thinking  men,  too,  looked  beyond  the 
simple  rescue  of  their  land  from  the  tyranny  of  a 
foreign  yoke  in  181 3.  They  looked  into  the  future, 
and  saw  Germany  occupying  the  place  among  the 
powers  of  Europe  she  was  entitled  to,  secured  by 
her  strength  and  concord  against  interruption  from 
other  nations  in  working  out  internal  reform. 


Voices  were  not  wanting  to  express  in  ever  living 
words  the  feelings  that  then  swayed  the  German 
race.  Nor  were  the  writers  of  that  period  singers 
and  preachers  only.  They  were  the  great  movers 
in  the  regeneration  of  Germany  ;  by  books  and 
deeds  they  aroused  and  fanned  the  patriotic  spirit  of 
their  countrymen  to  enthusiasm.  Where  statesmen 
had  failed,  poets  met  with  success,  and  created 
a  monument  of  their  labours  in  the  literature  of 
patriotism — the  most  precious  record  of  that  time 
of  Germany's  struggle  for  freedom.  Here  may  be 
read  how  the  longing  ol  Germans  for  unity  was 
engraven  in  their  hearts,  and  acquired  the  sanctity 
of  a  religion.  That,  in  spite  of  all  opposition  made 
by  the  jealousy  of  statecraft,  in  spite  of  the  long 
frustration  of  their  hopes,  this  desire  is  still  so 
active,  may  be  easily  understood,  when  the  influ- 
ence of  popular  poetry  is  understood.  "  Give  me 
the  making  of  a  nation's  ballads,  and  I  care  not  who 
makes  its  laws,"  said  Fletcher  of  Saltoun,  whom 
this  sentence  has  perhaps  made  more  memorable 
than  any  other  act  or  speech  of  his.  The  history 
of  the  patriotic  feeling  that  has  pervaded  Germany 
during  the  last  fifty  years,  is  an  argument  for 
the  justice  of  the  aphorism. 

The  literature  of  Germany  is  peculiarly  rich  in 
its  store  of  patriotic  songs,  forming  a  reflex  of 
events  that  have  happened  from  the  earliest  times. 
So  early  as  the  first  century,  the  Roman  historian 
Tacitus  considered  the  war  songs  of  the  Germans 
worthy  of  mention,  from  the  influence  they  exer- 
cised on  their  spirits  in  battle.  There  are  very  few 
salient  features  in  German  history  which  will  not  be 
found  registered  in  popular  ballads.  Whenever  the 
people  have  been  strongly  moved  by  disaster  or 
triumph,  their  feelings  have  sought  expression  in 
this  shape.  During  the  War  of  Independence  in 
1813  this  was  particularly  the  case,  and  from  that 
period  till  the  present  day  numerous  song-writers 
have  appeared,  whose  productions  have  acquired  a 
popularity  that  has  been  owing  as  much  to  the  fact 
of  their  having  given  a  channel  for  the  thoughts 
of  the  Germans,  as  to  the  intrinsic  merit  of  the 
songs  themselves. 

Among  the  most  distinguished  of  modern 
patriotic  writers  of  Germany  who  stirred  their 
countrymen  from  base  submission,  and  moved 
them  to  throw  ofF  the  yoke  of  the  stranger, 
was  Karl  Theodor  Koerner.  Although  the 
youngest  of  the  band,  his  influence  was  not  the 
least.      Perhaps  his  years  and  standing  lent  power 


140 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


to  the  effect  of  his  poetical  talents.  He  shines 
out  as  the  representative  youth  of  the  time  of 
the  war  of  liberation,  and  especially  of  the  student 
class,  which  has  always  formed  an  important 
element  in  German  society.  The  manner  in 
which  death  took  him,  as  he  was  fighting  his 
country's  foes,  gave  additional  lustre  to  his 
writings.  He  had  lived  but  twenty-two  years, 
when  Germany  put  forth  her  greatest  efforts,  and, 
in  that  short  life  he  had  experience  enough  of  the 
miseries  entailed  on  her  by  the  mischievous  policy 
of  the  ruling  states.  What  impression  these 
lamentable  circumstances  made  on  him,  and  what 
influence  they  had  on  his  genius,  can  be  read  in 
his  works.  In  1813  he  joined  the  Prussian  army 
as  a  volunteer. 

The  regiment  in  which  Koerner  enrolled  himself 
began  the  campaign  with  a  kind  of  consecration 
service,  when  a  hymn  of  his  composition  was  sung. 
It  was  while  he  was  performing  soldier's  duty,  at 
the  watch  fire,  on  the  march,  in  the  battle  even, 
that  most  of  his  battle  songs  were  written,  and 
they  were  repeated  by  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  as  they  joyously  marched  to  the  places 
of  rendezvous.  In  the  very  heart  of  conflict  he 
bursts  out  with  the  following  prayer: — 

"  Father,  on  Thee  I  call ! 
Heavy  around  me  the  cannon  smoke  lies ; 
Like  spray  is  the  flash  of  the  guns  in  my  eyes. 

Ruler  of  battles,  I  call  on  Thee  I 

Father,  oh  lead  me ! 

Father,  oh  lead  Thou  me ! 
Lead  me  as  victor,  by  death  when  I'm  riven. 
Lord,  I  acknowledge  the  law  Thon  hast  given, 

E'en  as  thou  wilt,  Lord,  so  lead  Thou  me! 

God,  I  acknowledge  Thee. 

God,  I  acknowledge  Thee ! 
So  when  the  autumn  leaves  rustle  around  me, 
So  when  the  thunders  of  battle  surround  me, 

Fountain  of  grace,  I  acknowledge  Thee ! 

Father,  oh  bless  Thon  me ! 

Father,  oh  bless  Thou  me ! 
Into  Thy  care  I  commend  my  spirit ; 
Thou  canst  reclaim  what  from  Thee  I  inherit, 

Living  or  dying,  still  bless  Thou  me ! 

Father,  I  worship  Thee  ! 

Father,  I  worship  Thee! 
Not  for  earth's  riches  Thy  servants  are  fighting, 
Holiest  cause  with  our  swords  we  are  righting ; 

Conq'ring  or  falling,  I  worship  Thee. 

God,  I  submit  to  Thee. 

God,  I  submit  to  Thee  ! 
When  all  the  terrors  of  death  are  assailing, 
When  in  the  veins  e'en  the  life-blood  is  failing. 

Lord,  nnto  Thee  will  I  bow  the  knee. 

Father,  I  cry  to  Thee  ! " 

The  same  spirit  of  religious  fervour  breathes   in 


all  his  songs.  With  Koerner  it  was  no  war  of 
kings  to  which  he  had  devoted  himself — 

"  It  is  no  war  of  which  but  kings  are  'ware — 
'Tis  a  crusade,  a  people's  holy  war." 

He  calls  to  his  companions,  you  are  "  fighting 
for  your  sanctuary."  That  old  world  virtue  of 
patriotism  cannot  be  said  to  be  lost  to  us  of  this 
later  time ;  nor  while  Koerner's  words  live  in  his 
countrymen's  hearts  will  it  ever  die. 

"  One  lasting  German  virtue  have  we  still, 
That  breaks  all  fetters  with  its  mighty  wilL 

Let  Hell  belch  out  its  threats,  its  power 
Reaches  not  hitherto.     It  no  star  can  lowei 
From  Heav'n,  where  our  star  is  steadfast  set ; 
And  tho'  the  night  o'ershadow  for  an  hour 
Our  virtue's  joyance,  yet  our  will  lives  yet!" 

So  inspired,  the  German  soldier  could  meet  death 
joyfully,  with  "  Vaterland  "  upon  his  lips. 

There  were  other  and  older  men  to  fan  the  flame 
of  patriotism,  and  to  prevent  disaster  and  defeat 
quenching  its  brightness;  who,  if  more  moderate 
than  young  poetical  students  like  Koerner,  were  yet 
better  able  to  guide  this  ardour  into  some  practical 
path.  Professors  not  only  shared  and  fostered, 
but  also  directed,  their  pupils'  zeal.  In  the  history 
of  this  outburst  of  enthusiasm  the  name  of  Jahn, 
to  which  Germany  delighted  to  add  the  epithet 
"  father,"  must  not  be  passed  over  in  silence. 
Though  not  with  songs,  he  gave  much  help  to 
the  great  cause.  From  his  professor's  chair  he 
taught  that  great  love  of  all  that  was  German, 
which  is  yet  extant  in  a  later  generation.  That 
he  might  give  greater  force  to  his  teachings, 
and  show  by  his  example  that  words  were  worth- 
less if  unaccompanied  by  actions,  he  served  his 
country  as  a  soldier,  nor  did  he  lay  down  his 
arms  till  its  foes  were  conquered.  Such  was  the 
character  of  the  leading  spirits  of  Germany  in  the 
movement  that  brought  about  the  decisive  battle 
of  Leipzig.  Others,  too,  there  were,  whose  names 
have  become  a  household  possession  in  Germany, 
as  Arndt  and  Uhland,  who  set  to  music  the  aspira- 
tions of  their  countryman.  The  time,  as  Koerner 
said,  demanded  great  hearts  ;  and  hearts  were  there 
to  answer. 

Arndt  was  one  of  the  first  to  perceive  the  signi- 
ficance of  the  events  of  his  time,  and  to  recognize 
the  forces  that  under  skilful  leadership  would  bring 
the  German  people  into  a  haven  of  safety.  With 
this  conviction,  he  put  out  all  his  energies  to 
procure  for  his  fatherland  more  than  present  sal- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


141 


vation;  and  resolutely  taking  his  stand,  worked  for 
trie  present,  while  he  looked  to  the  consequences 
of  his  labours  in  the  future.  To  him  belongs 
the  honour  of  the  authorship  of  that  most  famous 
song,  "  What  is  the  German  Fatherland?"  a 
composition  which  alone  would  have  made  his 
name  memorable,  from  the  great  part  it  played  in 
the  German  War  of  Independence.  This  song  has 
become  the  national  anthem  of  Germany,  the  text- 
book of  patriotism  and  of  the  aspirations  of  the 
German  race  for  unity.  For  the  impression  it  made 
and  the  popularity  it  acquired  at  the  time  of  its. 
production,  it  can  only  be  compared  to  the  "Mar- 
seillaise," or  that  old  ballad  of  "  Lillibullero," 
which,  its  author  boasted,  had  sung  king  James  II. 
out  of  three  kingdoms  ;  but  it  has  surpassed  every 
other  national  song,  by  the  hold  it  has  ever  since 
retained  on  the  minds  of  the  Germans.  This 
inspiration  of  Arndt's,  which  deserves  to  be  as 
well  known  as  that  of  Rouget  de  Lisle,  is  quoted 
as  a  fact  in  the  history  of  his  country,  as  worthy 
to  be  noticed  as  any  broken  treaty  or  ponderous 
protocol. 

"  What  is  the  German  Fatherland  ? 
Is't  Prussian  land  or  Snabian  land  ? 
Where  grapes  grow  thick  on  Rhine's  rich  trees? 
Where  sea-mews  skim  the  Baltic  seas? 

Oh!  no!  for  thee 

The  Fatherland  must  greater  be. 

What  is  the  German  Fatherland? 
Bavarian  or  Styrian  land  ? 
Where  kine  on  Holstein's  marshes  graze? 
Where  toiling  miners  iron  raise? 

Oh  !  no  !  for  thee 

The  Fatherland  must  greater  be. 

What  is  the  German  Fatherland  ? 
Westphalian,  Pomeranian  land  ? 
Where  sand  from  northern  headland  blows  ? 
Where  Danube's  mighty  water  flows? 

Oh  !  no  !  for  thee 

The  Fatherland  must  greater  be. 

What  is  the  German  Fatherland  ? 
Oh  !  name  to  me  that  glorious  land  ! 
Can  Austria,  proud,  the  title  claim, 
So  rich  in  victory  and  in  fame  ? 

Oh  !  no !  for  thee 

The  Fatherland  must  greater  be. 

What  is  the  German  Fatherland? 
Tell  me,  at  last,  that  mighty  land ! 
Wide  as  is  heard  the  German  tongue, 
And  songs  to  God  in  heaven  are  sung — 

That  shall  it  be  ; 

That,  valiant  German,  shall  it  be. 

That  is  the  German  Fatherland, 
Where  close  will  be  the  clasp  of  hand, 
Where  truth  will  from  the  bright  eyes  start, 
And  love  live  warm  within  the  heart. 

That  shall  it  be  ; 

That,  valiant  German,  shall  it  be. 


One  whole  great  nation  shall  it  be. 
0  God  in  heaven,  we  look  to  Thee ; 
Give  us  the  courage,  strength,  and  will, 
To  keep  it  safe  from  woe  and  ilk 

That  shall  it  be  ; 

One  whole  great  nation  shall  it  be." 

In  1813,  the  year  of  Germany's  deliverance  from 
Napoleon,  the  subject  of  the  most  popular  song 
was  the  Ehine,  which  has  always  been  associated 
with  the  German's  patriotic  utterances.  When,  in 
driving  Napoleon  back  into  France,  the  German 
soldiers  saw  the  Rhine  for  the  first  time,  they  are 
said  to  have  broken  out  into  uncontrollable  joy. 
Tears  trickled  down  many  cheeks,  and  the  enthusi- 
asm passing  from  rank  to  rank,  soon  a  hundred 
thousand  voices  joined  in  one  "  hurrah  !"  At  this 
time  the  Germans  began  to  cast  their  eyes  on  the 
country  that  lay  beyond  the  Rhine,  as  the  follow- 
ing lines  added  to  the  song  above  referred  to  will 
show : — 

"The  Rhine  shall  no  longer  he  our  boundary; 
It  is  the  great  artery  of  the  state, 
And  it  shall  flow  through  the  heart  of  our  empire." 

On  this  favourite  subject  the  song  of  Niklas  Becker, 

"Ono!  they  ne'er  shall  have  it, 
The  free  and  German  Rhine," 

long  possessed  the  greatest  popularity.  It  is  said 
to  have  been  set  to  music  by  no  less  than  seventy 
different  composers,  and  owed  its  inspiration  to 
the  preparations  and  menaces  of  Thiers  in  1840. 
Arndt  sent  Becker  a  congratulation  on  his  suc- 
cessful composition: — 

"  At  once,  from  north  to  south, 
Its  echo  clear  and  strong, 
Became  in  every  German's  mouth 
The  nation's  charter  song." 

Becker's  song  subsequently  yielded  in  popularity 
to  one  by  a  man  but  little  known,  named  Max 
Schneckinger.  This  is  the  famous  "  Rhine 
Watch,"  which  has  become  the  lyrical  watch-word 
of  the  Germans  in  the  present  war.  The  musical 
setting  of  the  "  Rhine  Watch  "  is  far  superior  to 
any  of  the  seventy  to  which  Becker's  song  is  sung, 
and  is  one  of  the  causes  of  the  great  hold  it  has 
on  the  Germans.  The  words  of  the  song,  as  far 
as  is  possible  in  another  tongue,  shall  speak  for 
themselves. 

WHO'LL   GUARD   THE    RHINE? 

A  cry  ascends  die  thunder  crash, 

Like  ocean's  roar,  like  sabre  clash : 

"  Who'll  guard  the  Rhine,  the  German  Rhine, 

To  whom  shall  we  the  task  assign?" 
Dear  Fatherland,  no  fear  be  thine, 
Firm  stand  thy  sons  to  guard  the  Rhine. 


142 


THE   FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


From  mouth  to  mouth  the  word  goes  round, 
With  gleaming  eyes  we  greet  the  sound  ; 
And  old  and  young  we  join  the  hand 
That  flies  to  guard  the  sacred  strand. 
Dear  Fatherland,  &c. 

And  tho'  grim  death  should  lay  me  low, 
No  prey  wouldst  thou  be  to  the  foe  j 
For  rich,  as  thy  resistless  flood, 
Is  Germany  in  heroes'  blood. 
Dear  Fatherland,  &c 

To  Heav'n  we  solemnly  appeal, 
And  swear — inflamed  by  warlike  zeal: 
"Thou  Rhine,  for  all  their  flippant  jests, 
Shalt  still  be  German,  as  our  breasts, 
Dear  Fatherland,  &c. 

"  While  there's  a  drop  of  blood  to  run, 
While  there's  an  arm  to  bear  a  gun, 
While  there's  a  hand  to  wield  a  sword. 
No  foe  shall  dare  thy  stream  to  ford." 
Dear  Fatherland,  &c. 

The  oath  is  sworn — the  masses  surge, 
The  flags  wave  proudly — on  we  urge ; 
And  all  with  heart  and  soul  combine 
To  guard  the  Rhine,  our  German  Rhine. 
Dear  Fatherland,  &c. 

A  song  by  Ruckert,  published  in  1865,  the  year 
belbre  the  battle  of  Sadowa,  will  show  what  devel- 
opment the  love  of  Fatherland  reached,  in  the  shape 
of  the  idea  of  unity.  The  events  that  happened 
in  the  year  following  its  appearance  were,  how- 
ever, a  practical  contradiction  to  the  spirit  of 
Ruckert's  composition,  which  seems  to  assign  to 
Austria  the  leading  position  in  the  approaching 
effort  to  attain  national  unification : — 


"Against  the  foe  went  marching 
Three  comrades  staunch  and  good, 
Who  side  by  side  together 
In  many  a  fight  had  stood. 

The  first  a  sturdy  Austrian, 
The  next  a  Prussian  brave, 
And  each  one  praised  his  country 
As  the  best  a  man  could  have. 

And  where  was  born  the  other  ? 
No  Austrian  was  he, 
Nor  yet  of  Prussian  rearing, 
But  a  son  of  Germany." 

Then  as  the  three  were  fighting  together  they 
were  all  struck  down  by  the  enemy's  bullets. 
The  first,  in  falling,  raises  a  cheer  for  Austria. 

"  '  Hurrah  !  for  Prussia,'  cried  the  nest, 
His  iifeblood  ebbing  fast ; 
Undaunted  by  his  mortal  wound. 
What  cry  escaped  the  last? 

He  cried  '  Hurrah  for  Germany  ! ' 
His  comrades  heard  the  sound 
As  right  and  left  beside  him 
They  sank  upon  the  ground. 


And  as  they  sank,  they  nearer  came 
And  close  together  pressed, 
At  right  of  him  and  left  of  him, 
As  brothers,  breast  to  breast 

And  once  more  cried  the  centre  one 
'  Hurrah  for  Germany ! ' 
The  others  echoed  back  the  cry, 
And  louder  still  than  he." 


The  love  of  their  land  and  of  freedom,  which 
their  poets  have  raised  to  the  height  of  a  passion, 
has  begotten  the  all-pervading  longing  for  unity 
that  now  possesses  the  Germans.  The  disunion, 
that  had  rendered  humiliation  so  easy,  and  that 
no  enemy  hitherto  had  entirely  effaced,  was  a 
giant  which  taxed  all  the  strength  that  enthusiasm 
gave.  Difficulty  after  difficulty  had  to  be  en- 
countered and  conquered ;  now  by  the  slow  and 
doubtful  ways  of  policy,  now  even  by  bloodshed  of 
kindred  peoples.  Those  who  first  worked  for  this 
object  died  without  seeing  the  accomplishment  of 
their  desires,  and  almost  despairing  of  the  possibility 
of  an  undivided  empire.  Now  perhaps  the  end  is 
not  far  off,  and  the  shores  of  the  promised  land  can 
be  descried  without  straining  of  eyes.  Aspirations  of 
patriots  were  despised  and  looked  on  with  suspicion, 
if  no  worse  befell.  Statesman  could  understand  or 
recognize  no  form  of  thought,  that  did  not  emanate 
from  themselves.  Arndt,  who  for  his  services 
had  in  1818  been  appointed  professor  of  history 
at  Bonn,  fell  under  the  displeasure  of  the  Prussian 
government,  because  he  continued  to  display  the 
same  zeal  for  Germany's  welfare,  in  peaceful  times, 
as  that  which  had  effected  so  much  towards  her 
deliverance  from  the  yoke  of  Napoleon.  He  had 
not  filled  his  professor's  chair  for  more  than 
two  years,  when  he  was  suspected  of  harbouring 
designs  and  thoughts  that  savoured  of  republic- 
anism. His  papers  were  seized,  and  charges 
brought  against  him  of  favouring  the  formation 
of  secret  societies  and  associations ;  of  mislead- 
ing the  youth,  over  whom  his  influence  was  so 
great;  of  dreaming  of  a  rebuilding  of  the  state  on 
republican  plans,  and  reforming  the  Fatherland. 
The  right  and  justice  of  a  trial  were  not  ac- 
corded to  him  ;  he  was  removed  from  his  post,  and 
lay  under  the  ban  of  accusation  for  more  than 
two  and  twenty  years,  when,  to  the  unbounded 
joy  of  Germany,  he  was  reinstated  by  the  late 
king  of  Prussia.  In  his  "  Recollections,"  which 
he  wrote  when  he  was  past  seventy  years  of  age, 
he  discusses,  at  length,  the  offences  of  which  he 
was  accused.    "I  have,  indeed,"  says  he,  "preached 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


143 


a  dangerous  unity  of  the  German  people.  I  am, 
however,  but  a  miserable  late  growth,  a  poor 
after-preacher,  when  I  recall  the  many  renowned 
preachers  that  have  spoken  before  me  from  quite 
other  hearts  and  minds.  I  mean,  this  sermon  is  as 
old  as  the  history  of  our  people."  He  almost  thinks 
it  necessary  to  write  his  apology  for  the  vehemence 
with  which  he  had  pursued  his  idea  of  an  united 
Germany ;  and  he  reiterates  in  detail  the  position 
of  his  country  in  Europe,  and  her  many  assailable 
points,  for  which  there  was  no  other  defence  or 
protection  than  the  concerted  action  that  a  perfect 
union  alone  made  possible.  To  his  patriarchal 
years,  however,  was  granted,  at  last,  a  glimpse  of 
the  goal  for  which  he  had  so  long  and  so  hope- 
lessly yearned  and  striven. 

The  conservative  spirit  of  the  policy  of  the 
ruling  states  of  Germany  has  always  been  a  great 
impediment  in  the  way  of  plans  prompted  by  the 
popular  enthusiasm.  In  vain  might  a  patriot  like 
Uhland  raise  his  voice  in  the  cause  of  liberty.  He 
was  met  everywhere  by  an  overwhelming  opposi- 
tion, against  which  public  opinion  was  powerless. 
Whether  he  combated  laws  to  restrain  the  freedom 
of  the  press,  or  laws  against  "public  associations," 
which  had  been  referred  to  the  Diet,  the  antagonism 
of  the  leaders  of  Germany  bore  down  the  weight  of 
his  objections.  On  every  possible  occasion  patrio- 
tism met  with  rebuffs,  since  it  had  gravitated  to 
the  liberal  section  in  politics,  of  which  it  seemed 
at  last  to  become  almost  the  peculiar  possession. 
Uhland,  in  a  speech  made  at  the  Diet  in  October, 
1848,  laid  bare  the  stumbling-block  that  obstructed 
the  agreement  of  the  German  people  and  their 
rulers.  The  subject  of  the  debate  was  the  proposi- 
tion to  exclude  Austria,  the  favourite  candidate  for 
the  imperial  sceptre,  from  the  Germanic  Confedera- 


tion ;  and  to  make  the  leadership  hereditary  with 
Prussia.  Uhland  took  the  popular  side,  and 
declared  himself  in  favour  of  a  periodical  election 
of  the  empire's  chief,  by  a  national  assembly  of 
the  German  people.  "No  head,"  said  he,  "can 
give  light  to  Germany,  that  is  not  anointed  with 
a  full  drop  of  democratic  oil."  It  was  this  drop 
of  democratic  oil  in  which  the  great  difficulty 
lay.  All  the  plans  made  for  Germany's  regen- 
eration, that  had  the  sympathy  of  liberal  opinion, 
were  discouraged  and  frustrated  by  Prussia  and 
other  states.  Unity,  in  the  eyes  of  the  men  who 
held  the  helm  of  government,  appeared  to  be  shorn 
of  its  advantages,  if  it  could  not  be  compassed 
without  the  alloy  of  democracy  and  the  admission 
of  the  element  of  personal  freedom.  While  popular 
enthusiasm  contented  itself  with  singing  national 
and  patriotic  airs,  it  was  borne  with  ;  or  if  it  moved 
men  to  subscribe  towards  the  purchase  of  ships 
to  protect  the  commerce  of  the  Fatherland,  under 
the  fostering  care  of  Prussia,  the  vessels  were 
bought,  and  the  charge  accepted. 

However  wise  or  unwise  the  method  of  the 
German  governments  has  been,  it  has  certainly 
made  the  idea  of  the  unity  of  the  German  race  a 
tangible  fact  to  the  present  generation,  which 
owes  no  small  share  of  gratitude  and  praise  to  those 
men  who  were  the  first  to  conceive  the  idea  in  all  its 
force,  and  who  in  fighting  against  foreign  oppres- 
sion were  conscious  of  the  great  interests  at  stake, 
beyond  their  own  present  deliverance.  In  the 
words  of  a  biographer  of  the  poet  Koerner,  they 
could  see  that  "  the  further  fruit  of  the  struggle 
would  ripen,  gradually  only,  yet  surely,  in  ever- 
developing  freedom  ;  and  that  no  power  on  earth 
would  be  able  to  hinder  or  limit  its  grand  con- 
summation." 


CHAPTER      VI. 

Effect  of  the  Prussian  triumphs  on  the  rest  of  Europe— Proposed  division  of  Germany  into  a  Northern  and  a  Southern  Confederation  forced  upon 

Prussia  by  France Failure  of  the  Plan  owing  to  the  Mutual  Jealousies  of  the  Southern  States  and  the  separate  Treaties  of  each  with 

Prussia — Danger  to  the  Southern  States  from  the  Demands  of  France — Saving  Clause  in  the  Treaty  on  "  National  Ties  " — Parties  in 
Germany  that  looked  to  France— Saxony  profited  by  French  Interference,  and  paid  a  smaller  Fine  than  other  States — Meeting  of  Southern 
Powers  at  Nordlingeu,  in  1868 — Dispute  over  the  Federal  Fortresses — Rejection  of  Bavaria's  claim  to  precedence — Project  of  a  Southern 
Confederation  abortive — Austria's  patient  determination  not  to  re-open  the  quarrel — The  local  limitation  of  Modern  Wars  due  to  Commerce, 
Education,  and  Public  Opinion— Peculiar  Situation  of  the  Great  Powers  affecting  International  Policy — Warlike  Attitude  of  France  alone — 
Her  Demands  for  a  Rectification  of  Frontier  in  Compensation  for  the  Aggrandizement  of  Germany — Incapacity  of  the  French  Emperor  to 
resist  the  Spirit  of  Nationality — Bearing  of  the  Changes  in  Germany  on  the  smaller  Neutral  States — Switzerland  a  Conservative  Republic 
— A  Refuge  and  a  School  for  the  Democrats  of  Europe — Its  Neutrality  to  be  observed  strictly  by  neighbouring  Nations — Luxemburg  gives 
rise  to  a  Controversy  that  threatens  War— Anecdote  of  Count  von  Bismarck — History  of  the  "  Luxemburg  Question  " — Transfer  of  the  Duchy 
to  Belgium — Eastern  portion  restored  to  Germany  and  the  House  of  Orange — Fortress  occupied  by  a  Federal  Garrison  of  Prussians — 
Neutrality  in  1866 — Proposal  of  the  King  of  Holland,  Duke  of  Lnxemburg,  to  sell  the  Duchy  to  the  Emperor  Napoleon — The  Proposal 
entertained,  but  the  Consent  of  Prussia  withheld — War  between  France  and  Prussia  imminent — Conference  proposed  by  King  of  Holland — 
Assembled  in  London — Guarantee  by  the  Powers  of  the  Neutrality  of  the  Duchy — Fortifications  demolished — Roumania — Election  of 
Charles  of  Hohenzollern  Sigmaringen  to  be  Reigning  Prince — Attitude  of  Russia  and  Turkey — Internal  State  of  Russia  after  Emancipation 
of  the  Serfs — Attempt  on  the  Czar's  Life — Reorganization  of  the  Russian  Army — Explosive  Bullet  Treaty  signed  at  St.  Petersburg — 
Erroneous  Policy  of  Russia  towards  her  German  Subjects — In  England  Domestic  Affairs  divert  Attention  from  Germany — Reform  Bill — 
Change  of  Ministry — Another  Reform  Bill — Commercial  Panic — Fenians — Foreign  Policy  of  Great  Britain — Alabama  Claims — Abyssinian 
War — King  Theodore — General  Napier — The  Nations  of  Latin  Race  in  Europe  and  their  Attitude  to  Germany — Italy — Spain — Unpopu- 
larity of  Queen  Isabella — Successive  Ministries — Death  of  Narvaez — Appointment  of  Bravo — His  Arbitrary  Conduct — Banishment  of  the 
Generals  and  the  Duke  and  Duchess  Montpensier — Insurrection — Admiral  Topete  and  the  Fleet — Marshal  Serrano — General  Prim — Flight 
of  Queen  Isabella  into  France — Provisional  Government — The  Principle  of  Monarchy  adopted — No  Monarch  to  be  obtained — Serrano  made 
Regent — Prim,  Prime  Minister — Duke  of  Genoa  invited  to  be  King;  declines — Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern  accepts  the  offer — To  avert 
a  War  he  afterwards  withdraws — Prince  Amadens,  Second  Sou  of  Victor  Emmanuel,  proclaimed  King  of  Spain — Marshal  Prim  assassinated 
on  the  day  before  the  new  King's  Landing — Sketch  of  Prim's  Career — The  thread  of  French  History  resumed  with  the  year  1860 — 
Expedition  to  China — Syria — Mexico — Withdrawal  from  the  latter  of  the  English  and  Spanish  Contingents— Arrival  of  General  Forey — 
Capture  of  Puebla  and  Mexico — Offer  of  the  Crown  to  Archduke  Maximilian — His  Acceptance  on  Promise  of  French  Support — Unpopu- 
larity of  the  Expedition  in  France — Menacing  Attitude  of  the  United  States'  Government — Withdrawal  of  French  Troops — Desperate 
Situation  of  Maximilian — Journey  of  Empress  Charlotte  to  Europe — Failure  of  her  Mission — Capture  of  Maximilian  by  the  Juarists — His 
Sentence  and  Execution— Outcry  against  Napoleon  III. — French  Policy  in  Italy — Insurrection  in  Poland — Probability  of  French  Interven- 
tion on  behalf  of  the  Poles — Nothing  done — Prestige  of  the  Empire  rapidly  declining — Efforts  made  by  the  Emperor  to  restore  Prestige 
and  establish  his  Dynasty— Concession  of  Parliamentary  Government  and  Responsibility  of  Ministers — Appointment  of  M.  Ollivier — 
General  Jubilation  checked  by  the  Emperor's  recourse  to  the  Plebiscitum — Servility  of  the  Ministry — M.  Thiers'  Expression  of  the 
National  Jealousy  of  Germany — Secret  Manufacture  of  the  New  Weapon,  the  Mitrailleuse — Confidence  of  the  Emperor  in  its  Formidable 
Powers,  and  in  his  Complete  Readiness  for  War — Germany,  the  only  possible  Antagonist,  apparently  unprepared  and  engaged  in  the 
Pursuits  of  Learning  or  the  Peaceful  Avocations  of  Commerce  and  Agriculture. 


It  is  necessary  now  to  show  the  effects  produced 
by  the  Prussian  triumphs  of  1866  upon  other 
countries  of  Europe.  It  has  been  stated  that 
Austria,  when  expelled  from  Germany  by  the  treaty 
of  Prague,  stipulated  that  the  country  should  be 
divided  into  two  confederacies,  a  northern  and  a 
southern.  It  was,  in  fact,  France  that  made  this 
stipulation,  Austria  being  then  too  thoroughly 
humbled  to  prescribe  terms,  or  do  more  than  appeal 
for  help  to  France,  who  gave  the  solicited  aid. 
Prussia,  not  wishing  to  provoke  a  second  war 
before  the  first  was  at  an  end,  accepted  the  con- 
ditions forced  upon  her ;  and  bisection  instead  of 


The  Northern  Confederacy,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
forthwith  organized  under  Prussian  auspices,  and 
speedily  gained  strength  and  solidity.  Xot  so  the 
Southern.  Being  too  much  alike  in  power  and 
size,  none  of  the  southern  states  were  prepared 
to  invest  one  of  their  number  with  the  superior 
dignity  and  influence  of  carrying  on  their  common 
affairs.  Meanwhile,  Count  von  Bismarck  had 
boldly  and  skilfully  neutralized  the  impending 
danger  of  a  new  dualism  in  Germany,  by  secretly 
contracting  offensive  and  defensive  alliances  indi- 
vidually with  each  state  south  of  the  Maine.  They 
thus  enjoyed  the  protection  of  the  Northern  Con- 


unity  seemed  to  await  Germany,  notwithstanding  j  federacy,  in  exchange  for  the  chief  command  of 
the  brilliant  victories  achieved  by  the   Prussians.  |  their  armies  in  time  of  war,  conceded  to  the  kin 


Longitude     East    10   from    (>«■ 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


145 


of  Prussia.  Under  these  circumstances  they  had 
nothing  to  gain  by  the  additional  formation  of  a 
southern  bund. 

The  arguments  used  by  Prussian  diplomatists 
to  persuade  Bavaria,  Wiirtemburg,  and  Baden  to 
sign  the  treaties  just  mentioned,  brought  forcibly 
into  relief  the  danger  to  which  they  were  exposed 
from  the  probable  demands  of  France  for  com- 
pensation and  rectification  of  the  frontier  on  the 
Rhine,  in  consequence  of  the  unification  and 
aggrandisement  of  North  Germany.  France,  tor- 
mented by  envy  at  the  steady  growth  of  German 
power,  might  any  day  fall  upon  Germany  in  the 
midst  of  peace  on  the  flimsiest  pretext.  In  such 
case,  it  was  but  too  evident  that  Prussia  would 
rather  let  her  neighbours  be  sacrificed  than  pay 
the  required  compensation  with  her  own  territory. 
Looking  forward,  however,  with  some  confidence 
to  the  result  of  a  struggle  if  it  should  come,  the 
Prussian  minister  had  secured  a  reservation  in  the 
objectionable  clause  of  the  treaty  of  Prague,  which 
he  hoped  would  one  day  subserve  the  great  interests 
of  German  unity.  Though  north  and  south  were 
only  to  be  at  liberty  each  to  form  a  separate  union, 
they  were  at  the  same  time  allowed  the  benefit  of 
"  national  ties  "  to  bind  them  together.  This  is 
one  of  those  convenient  phrases  in  a  treaty,  which 
are  found  to  yield  the  interpretation  most  agreeable 
to  the  strongest  party  in  any  controversy  about  it. 
Yet  the  relations  between  the  North  German  Con- 
federation and  Austria  and  the  South  Germans 
were  not  very  satisfactory  during  the  three  years 
that  followed  the  treaty  of  Prague.  There  was 
a  strong  party  in  the  minor  states  that  dreaded 
absorption  by  Prussia,  and  looked  to  France  for  suc- 
cour. Saxony  had  profited  considerably  by  French 
interference,  retaining  her  king  and  court  and  the 
management  of  her  domestic  affairs.  Her  contribu- 
tion to  Prussia  for  the  expenses  of  the  war  was  but 
10,000,000  thalers  (£1,500,000),  while  that  of  Ba- 
varia was  30,000,000  florins  (£3,000,000).  Wiir- 
temburg had  to  pay  8,000,000  florins ;  Baden, 
6,000,000;  and  Hesse,  3,000,000.  Bavaria  had 
also  to  cede  territory — two  districts  near  Orb  and 
Karlsdorf,  containing  34,000  souls.  Hesse-Darm- 
stadt gave  up  the  landgraviate  of  Hesse-Homburg, 
with  some  other  fragments  of  territory,  and  as  far 
as  concerned  her  possessions  north  of  the  Maine, 
she  entered  into  the  confederation  of  North  Ger- 
many. True,  she  acquired  in  return  some  portions 
of  Upper  Hesse. 


One  feeble  attempt  at  united  action  was  made 
by  the  southern  states  in  1868,  at  the  meeting  at 
Nordlingen,  and  it  ended  in  a  lamentable  failure. 
The  question  was  how  the  old  Federal  fortresses 
situated  in  Southern  Germany  were  to  be  managed 
in  future.  There  was  Ingolstadt  in  Bavaria,  Ulm 
in  Wiirtemburg,  Eastadt  in  Baden,  and  in  part 
Mayence,  where  Electoral  Hesse  was  obliged  to 
furnish  a  part  of  the  garrison.  Both  Ulm  and 
Rastadt  are  more  expensive  than  Ingolstadt;  the 
tendency,  therefore,  of  both  Baden  and  Wiirtem- 
burg was  to  keep  the  right  of  garrisoning  these 
fortresses  within  their  territory,  and  get  Bavaria, 
which  is  the  largest,  to  pay  a  part  of  the  expense 
of  keeping  them  up.  Bavaria  objected  to  this 
unless  it  was  allowed  a  corresponding  influence 
in  the  management  of  these  fortresses,  to  which 
the  others  objected.  A  most  original  expedient, 
which  well  characterizes  the  whole  spirit  of  this 
conference,  was  proposed ;  namely,  to  call  on 
Prussia,  who  contributed  most  to  the  garrison  of 
Mayence,  to  take  a  share  in  the  expense  of  main- 
taining the  other  fortresses  likewise,  but  without 
having  any  voice  in  the  management  of  the  fort- 
resses themselves.  All  the  fortresses  in  Germany 
were  thus  to  have  been  kept  up  by  common 
expense,  to  which  naturally  the  North  would  have 
contributed  most;  but  all  the  southern  fortresses 
were  to  have  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  sove- 
reign in  whose  territory  they  were  situated.  This 
liberal  offer  was  gratefully  declined  by  Prussia ; 
and  the  only  result  of  the  conference  of  Nordlingen 
was  to  prove  that  it  was  a  hopeless  task  to  try  and 
bring  about  an  understanding  between  the  southern 
states  of  Germany  on  any  point  whatever. 

It  was  the  old  story  of  family  feuds  and  family 
jealousies,  which  are  invariably  more  bitter  than 
those  with  strangers.  Bavaria,  which  is  larger 
in  territory  and  population  than  all  the  other 
three  taken  together,  claimed  naturally  more  or 
less  the  position  which  Prussia  held  in  North 
Germany,  and  the  others,  if  they  could  not  main- 
tain their  entire  independence,  would  rather  make 
an  arrangement  with  the  Northern  Confederation 
than  allow  Bavaria  the  precedence.  Thus,  the 
project  for  a  Southern  Confederation  suggested  by 
the  fourth  article  of  the  treaty  of  Prague  proved 
still-born ;  for  Hesse  could  not  bring  it  into  being, 
Baden  would  not,  and  Wiirtemburg  and  Bavaria 
would  never  agree.  The  idea  of  such  a  confedera- 
tion  was  nothing  more  than   a  sort  of  political 


146 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


plaster  to  soothe  the  wounds  of  Austria  and  of  the 
southern  states. 

While  Prussia  brooded  over  the  new  state  of 
things  resulting  from  her  successful  war,  uncertain 
whether  she  should  absorb  the  neighbouring  states 
into  her  own  system,  or  herself  sink  into  the  vast 
hegemony  of  anew  German  empire,  Austria  patiently 
and  prudently  observed  a  pacific,  if  not  a  friendly, 
line  of  conduct  towards  her  recent  and  powerful 
antagonist.  The  revelation  of  the  secret  military 
treaties  between  Prussia  and  the  southern  states 
did  not  rouse  her.  Prussia's  disregard  of  the 
treaty  of  Prague  relating  to  North  Schlcswig  did 
not  provoke  her.  In  the  Luxemburg  difficulty  she 
sided  neither  with  France  nor  Prussia.  She  made 
friendly  advances  to  the  king  and  government  of 
Italy,  and  while  anxious  for  the  inviolability  of 
Koine  and  the  pope,  would  do  nothing  for  his 
holiness  in  the  way  of  armed  intervention.  Indeed, 
the  new  laws  passed  by  the  legislature  at  Vienna, 
on  marriage  and  on  education,  withdrawing  them 
both  from  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  did  virtually 
abolish  the  concordat,  and  establish  religious  free- 
dom in  Austria.  That  the  Prussian  victories 
should  result  in  substantial  benefit  to  Austria  is  a 
fact  that,  whether  foreseen  or  not  by  the  cabinet  of 
Berlin,  is  an  additional  justification  of  the  policy 
by  which  they  revolutionized  Germany. 

The  great  changes  that  ensued  could  not  but 
excite  fears  and  apprehensions  in  other  neighbour- 
ing states  of  smaller  dimensions.  Upon  former 
occasions,  the  slightest  concussion  of  arms  on 
the  Danube  or  the  Rhine  was  the  signal  for  a 
general  appeal  to  the  sword  throughout  Europe. 
No  sooner  did  warriors  of  Saxony  measure  swords 
with  Tilly  and  "Wallenstein,  than  France,  Swe- 
den, Spain,  and  Savoy  rushed  to  the  encounter, 
thinking  to  make  some  profit  out  of  the  trans- 
action. It  was  the  same  when  Daun  and  the  great 
Frederick  were  pitted  against  each  other ;  the 
Czar  and  Louis  XIV.  took  part,  and  ultimately 
changed  sides,  in  the  quarrel.  In  fact,  when  a 
musket  was  fired  on  the  Rhine,  the  quarrel  went 
on  multiplying  itself,  until  the  whole  world  was 
involved  in  it.  Happily  for  the  rest  of  Europe, 
the  general  conflagration  which  one  spark  of  war 
could  formerly  excite,  was  not  brought  on  by  the 
very  fiery  brand  of  the  Bohemian  war.  Govern- 
ments had  other  occupations  besides  intrigue  and 
war ;  commerce  opened  a  new  sphere  for  their 
energies,  which  were  greatly  influenced  also  by 


the  advanced  education  of  the  people,  and  the 
public  opinion  that  makes  itself  felt  through  the 
press,  as  well  as  through  representative  institu- 
tions. Both  rulers  and  the  ruled  have  come 
to  consider  it  the  wisest  policy  to  leave  foreign 
nations  to  settle  their  own  disputes  among  them- 
selves, and  to  adopt  whatever  institutions  are 
congenial  to  their  tastes,  provided  these  do  not 
become  an  offence  to  their  neighbours.  The 
peculiar  situation  of  the  great  powers  favoured 
these  views.  Spain  weakened  ;  Britain  pacific; 
Russia  too  glad  to  have  a  strong  barrier  against 
France,  in  Prussia,  and  a  weak  barrier,  in  Austria, 
against  her  own  aggressions  in  the  East ;  Italy 
only  interfering  in  the  dispute  to  secure  Venice 
as  a  copestone  to  the  edifice  of  her  own  country — 
all  these  things  gave  uncontrolled  action  to  the 
principles  of  international  policy. 

France  alone,  at  the  threshold  of  the  dispute, 
with  her  hand  on  the  sword,  spoke  about  the 
necessity  of  a  rectification  of  frontiers  in  the 
event  of  an  aggrandized  Prussia.  But  the  French 
emperor,  isolated,  felt  too  weak  to  struggle  alone 
with  the  law  of  inevitable  necessity.  Outwitted 
by  Cavour  in  Italy,  and  foiled  by  Bismarck  in 
Germany,  he  was,  by  the  moral  forces  wliich 
those  ministers  arrayed  against  him,  incapaci- 
tated from  preventing  the  universal  rally  round 
a  national  banner  of  either  Germans  or  Italians. 
The  spirit  of  nationality,  wliich  he  was  the  first  to 
raise  effectually,  became  too  mighty  for  his  exor- 
cism when  he  sought  to  allay  it.  For  a  time, 
indeed,  it  was  feared  that  the  changes  in  the 
political  relation  and  geographical  boundaries  of 
the  chief  continental  powers  would  bear  injuriously 
on  the  smaller  neutral  powers,  one  of  which, 
Switzerland,  lies  in  the  midst  of  three  great  con- 
tinental nations,  and  has  a  share  in  the  speech 
and  nationality  of  all  three.  Germany  and  Italy 
might  think  of  claiming  the  annexation  of  the 
German  and  Italian  cantons,  while  France,  it  was 
thought,  would  hardly  be  prevented  from  making 
attempts  on  Switzerland  or  Belgium.  But  Ger- 
many and  Italy  better  understood  the  teaching 
of  past  history,  of  international  law,  and  of 
national  interest  in  the  higher  and  wider  sense. 
No  design  against  Switzerland  seems  to  have 
been  entertained  by  either  of  these  governments. 
On  the  ground  of  nationality  France  could  not 
claim  a  single  Swiss  canton.  The  small,  ancient,  con- 
servative republic,  in  no  way  threatened  the  neigh- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


147 


bouring  monarchies,  the  republican  propaganda 
forming  no  part  of  its  policy.  For  centuries  it  had 
ceased  to  be  proselytizing  or  conquering,  and  aimed 
only  at  preserving  its  own  boundaries  and  its  own 
liberties.  Experience  shows  that  Switzerland  can, 
as  a  republic,  live  on  the  best  terms  with  the 
neighbouring  monarchies.  Princes  who  rooted 
up  commonwealths  everywhere  else,  have  shown 
Switzerland  special  favour.  The  elder  Bonaparte, 
who  overthrew  republics  of  every  variety,  from 
France  to  Kagusa,  showed  a  real  regard  for  Switzer- 
land, gave  her  a  constitution  which  was  at  least  an 
improvement  on  the  previously  existing  state  of 
things,  and  inflicted  less  damage  on  her  than  on 
any  other  of  his  dependencies.  So,  the  allied 
princes  who  overthrew  him  showed  no  jealousy 
of  the  republican  state,  but  enlarged  its  borders 
and  guaranteed  its  independence  and  neutrality. 
Should  monarchical  Prussia  feel  jealous  of  the 
little  state,  let  her  call  to  mind  that  the  republican 
spirit  which  exists  in  Germany  alongside  of  the 
monarchic  spirit,  and  which  in  times  past  pro- 
duced German  commonweaths  and  leagues,  needs 
an  expression  somewhere,  and  that  expression  is 
now  found  in  the  Swiss  republic.  Switzerland 
has  often  proved,  not  only  a  safe  refuge,  but  a 
useful  school  for  German  democrats.  Those  who 
had  been  dreaming  extravagant  republican  dreams, 
have  gone  back  to  their  own  country  a  great  deal 
wiser  for  their  experience  of  an  established  and 
rational  republican  government,  following  not  the 
dictates  of  theory,  but  those  of  common  sense. 
It  is  well  for  many  reasons  that  Switzerland 
should  remain  a  neutral  ground  for  all  nations, 
and  to  this  end  she  must  carefully  guard  the 
neutrality  which  she  has  guarded  so  long,  and 
which,  among  other  advantages,  saved  her  from 
the  horrors  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  "  She 
must  stand,"  says  the  writer  from  whom  we  have 
quoted,  "  ready  to  repel,  whether  by  arms  or  by 
diplomacy,  any  encroachment  on  her  own  rights; 
she  must  not,  whether  by  arms  or  by  diplomacy, 
meddle  in  any  way  in  any  possible  quarrels  of  her 
mightier  neighbours." 

The  fate  of  another  small  state  locked  in  between 
two  of  the  great  powers  became,  in  1867,  the 
cause  of  great  commotion  in  the  cabinets  of  Europe, 
and  excited  very  general  apprehensions  of  war  be- 
tween Prussia  and  France.  To  Count  von  Bismarck's 
firmness  and  moderation  at  that  tune,  is  probably 
due  the  maintenance  of  peace  for  three  years  more. 


At  his  dinner-table,  a  short  time  after  Luxemburg 
had  been  declared  neutral,  a  learned  man  gave  an 
opinion,  that  Prussia  ought  to  have  made  the  ques- 
tion a  casus  belli  with  France.  Bismarck  answered 
very  seriously: — "My  dear  professor,  such  a  war 
would  have  cost  us  at  least  30,000  brave  soldiers, 
and  in  the  best  event  would  have  brought  us  no 
gain.  Whoever  has  once  looked  into  the  breaking 
eye  of  a  dying  warrior  on  the  battle-field,  will 
pause  ere  he  begins  a  war."  And,  after  dinner, 
when  he  was  walking  in  the  garden  with  some 
guests,  he  stopped  on  a  lawn,  and  related  how  he 
had  paced  to  and  fro  upon  this  place  in  disquiet 
and  deep  emotion,  in  those  momentous  days  of 
June,  1867,  when  he  awaited  the  royal  decision  in 
an  anguish  of  fear.  When  he  came  indoors  again, 
his  wife  asked  what  had  happened  that  he  looked 
so  overcome.  "  I  am  excited,"  he  replied,  "  for 
the  very  reason  that  nothing  has  happened." 

The  history  of  the  Luxemburg  question  was 
briefly  as  follows: — By  the  treaties  of  1815  the 
whole  of  Luxemburg  was  assigned  to  the  king  of 
the  Netherlands,  while  at  the  same  time  the  grand 
duchy  was  included  in  the  German  Confederation. 
After  the  secession  of  Belgium  from  the  Nether- 
lands, it  was  provided  by  the  treaty  of  London 
in  1831,  that  the  western  portion  of  Luxemburg 
should  be  assigned  to  the  king  of  the  Belgians  in 
full  sovereignty,  the  federal  relations  of  that  part 
of  the  duchy  being  transferred  to  Limburg,  which, 
together  with  Eastern  Luxemburg,  was  secured 
to  the  king  of  the  Netherlands.  The  refusal  of 
Holland  to  accede  to  the  treaty  caused  the  French 
siege  of  Antwerp,  and  the  blockade  of  the  Scheldt: 
and  after  the  termination  of  hostilities,  the  whole 
of  Luxemburg  remained  provisionally  in  possession 
of  Belgium.  In  1839  negotiations  for  a  definite 
peace  were  renewed,  and  Austria  and  Prussia,  on 
behalf  of  the  confederation,  required  Belgium  to 
comply  with  the  stipulations  of  1831.  The  west- 
ern part  of  Luxemburg  was  accordingly  detached 
from  the  confederation,  while  the  remaining  por- 
tion continued  to  form  a  German  state  under  the 
sovereignty  of  the  house  of  Orange.  The  town  of 
Luxemburg,  from  1815  to  1866,  was  a  Federal  fort- 
ress occupied  by  a  Prussian  garrison.  The  pleni- 
potentiary of  the  grand-duke  voted  for  the  motion 
which  provoked  from  Prussia,  in  1866,  the  declara- 
tion that  the  Bund  was  dissolved,  but  no  hostile 
measures  were  taken  on  either  side;  and  at  the  close 
of  the  war  the  Prussian  government  abstained  from 


148 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


including  the  grand-duchy  in  the  Northern  Confed- 
eration. The  garrison  still  occupied  the  fortress, 
and  the  king  of  Holland  seemed  to  take  possession 
of  the  vacant  sovereignty  as  of  a  derelict  without  a 
claimant.  After  assuming  the  right  of  succession 
to  this  member  of  the  defunct  confederacy,  the 
king  seemed  to  infer  that  he  had  a  selling  as  well 
as  a  holding  title  ;  and  through  the  medium,  it  is 
said,  of  a  lady  residing  at  Paris,  he  proposed  to 
transfer  Luxemburg  to  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  who 
was  willing,  if  not  anxious,  to  make  the  bargain. 
But  the  defence  of  the  fortress  of  Luxemburg 
had  for  half  a  century  been  intrusted  to  Prussia, 
who  could  scarcely  abandon  the  place  in  deference 
to  the  demand  of  France. 

The  Emperor  Napoleon  committed  an  error  in 
demanding  a  concession  which  could  not  be  granted 
by  Prussia,  except  at  the  cost  of  wounding  the 
national  feeling  of  Germany ;  while  Count  von 
Bismarck,  on  his  side,  had  been  guilty  of  an  over- 
sight in  allowing  Dutch  Luxemburg  to  remain, 
even  for  a  time,  outside  the  confederacy.  War 
seemed  imminent,  for  the  French  emperor  having 
once  stated  his  willingness  to  bargain  for  the 
duchy  could  not  recede  without  seeming  to  fear 
Prussia,  and  grievously  wounding  the  sensitiveness 
of  the  French  nation.  In  order,  however,  to  give 
him  the  means  of  drawing  back  without  discredit, 
a  conference,  proposed  by  the  king  of  the  Nether- 
lands, was  sanctioned  by  the  neutral  powers,  and 
assembled  in  London,  under  the  presidency  of 
Lord  Stanley,  the  minister  for  Foreign  Affairs. 
The  conference  ended  in  a  compromise,  in  which 
Prussia  conceded  something.  The  duchy  was 
declared  neutral,  with  the  guarantee  of  all  the 
powers  represented  at  the  conference.  Prussia 
withdrew  her  troops  from  the  fortress,  and  the 
fortifications  were  demolished.  Thus  the  crisis 
was  tided  over,  and  hopes  began  to  be  once  more 
entertained  that  Europe  was  entering  upon  a  lono- 
term  of  peace. 

Meanwhile,  by  a  curious  coincidence,  a  prince 
of  a  junior  branch  of  the  house  of  Hohenzollern 
had  been  raised  from  comparative  obscurity  to 
sovereign  power,  in  the  early  part  of  that  year 
which  had  proved  so  eventful  to  the  royal  family 
of  Prussia.  Prince  Charles  of  Hohenzollern 
Sigmaringen  was  elected  reigning  Prince  of  Rou- 
mania  in  March,  1866,  in  the  twenty -seventh 
year  of  his  age.  He  was  installed  in  May,  and 
recognized  by  the  Turkish  government  in  July. 


Roumania  is  the  name  that  was  given  to  the  two 
principalities  of  Wallachia  and  Moldavia  when 
they  were  united  by  a  firman  of  the  Sultan,  in 
December,  1861,  under  Colonel  Couza,  who  had 
been  hospodar  of  both  principalities  and  assumed 
the  style  and  title  of  Prince  Alexander  John  I. 
With  a  constitutional  form  of  government,  an 
annual  revenue  of  nearly  £3,000,000,  a  population 
of  about  4,000,000  spread  over  an  area  of  45,000 
English  square  miles,  Roumania  contains  the  ele- 
ments of  prosperity  which  wise  government  may 
develop  and  confirm.  The  reign  of  Prince  Alex- 
ander, however,  was  not  a  happy  one.  His  govern- 
ment and  the  popular  assembly  fell  into  a  state  of 
chronic  antagonism  on  the  subject  of  finance, 
parliamentary  representation,  and  legislation  in 
general.  In  May,  1864,  the  prince  issued  a  de- 
cree, proclaiming  a  new  electoral  law  and  certain 
changes  in  the  constitutional  charter.  His  conduct 
was  approved  by  a  plebiscitum,  or  vote  of  the 
people,  and  the  prince  began  to  rule  as  a  dictator, 
to  the  depletion  of  the  treasury  and  the  misery  of 
his  subjects.  In  the  month  of  February,  1866, 
a  general  insurrection  broke  out,  and  the  prince, 
abandoned  by  the  army,  was  compelled  to  abdi- 
cate and  surrender  himself  a  prisoner.  After 
a  brief  detention,  he  was  allowed  to  leave  the 
country.  The  Chambers  then  proclaimed  the  Count 
of  Flanders,  brother  of  the  king  of  the  Belgians, 
as  prince  of  Roumania;  but  the  count  declined  the 
uneasy  throne.  The  lot  then  fell  upon  Prince 
Charles,  whose  brother,  Prince  Leopold,  was  des- 
tined to  make  so  great  a  commotion  in  Europe 
four  years  later,  by  his  acceptance  of  the  offer  of 
the  crown  of  Spain. 

It  did  not  at  the  time  appear  that  the  suscepti- 
bilities of  either  the  Russian  or  the  Turkish  gov- 
ernments were  excited  by  the  apparent  extension 
of  Prussian  influence  to  the  region  where  the 
"  Eastern  Question "  might  become  the  object 
of  renewed  complications.  Russia,  indeed,  had 
her  own  cares  in  rebuilding  the  fabric  of  her 
society,  which  had  been  seriously  dislocated  by  the 
humane,  but  somewhat  hasty,  scheme  of  emanci- 
pating the  serfs.  The  reckless  and  profuse  members 
of  the  upper  classes  suddenly  found  themselves 
brought  to  the  verge  of  pauperism,  their  vast 
estates  deprived  of  labourers,  their  serfs  converted 
into  small  landowners,  with  no  capitalists  at  hand 
to  undertake  the  farming  of  the  masters'  land. 
The   peasantry,    however,    with    few   exceptions, 


ie  08DM-;         iimile  immw  mm  Wkilky, 

EAil    in)  [F     DD  E  E{  DB  Y„ 


■It.  GLASGOW.  E0'N6UR:H    J 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


149 


used  their  newly-acquired  freedom  wisely  and 
moderately.  In  the  communal  assemblies  they 
quietly  voted  for  the  abolition  of  all  class  privileges 
that  pressed  unequally  on  local  taxation,  and  they 
were  generally  victorious.  By  degrees  the  land- 
holders grew  reconciled  to  the  new  state  of  things, 
finding  that  with  good  management  their  position 
was  materially  as  well  as  morally  improved  by 
the  independence  of  their  peasantry.  For  awhile 
the  career  of  reform  which  the  czar  had  pursued 
since  his  accession  to  the  throne  was  threatened 
with  interruption  in  1866,  when  his  majesty's  life 
was  attempted  by  a  wild  fanatic  imbued  with  the 
notions  of  a  party  styled  "  the  Nihilists,"  a  party  that 
aimed  at  destroying  all  existing  social  differences 
and  distinctions,  church  and  state  together,  by 
physical  force.  The  emperor  dismissed  his  reform- 
ing ministers,  and  called  conservatives  and  reac- 
tionists to  his  council.  A  curb  was  put  on  the 
public  press,  and  governors  with  repressive  ten- 
dencies were  appointed  to  all  the  northern  and 
western  provinces,  save  Poland,  which  was  in- 
dulged with  a  liberal  secretary  of  state.  Public 
opinion,  however,  reasserted  itself  ere  long,  and  a 
vigorous  effort  was  made  to  reform  the  military 
administration  and  reorganize  the  army.  The  old 
lengthened  service  of  twenty-five  years,  by  which 
a  soldier,  before  the  emancipation,  had  been  able  to 
earn  freedom  for  himself  and  his  posterity,  was 
abolished,  and  a  short  term  adopted.  Corporal 
punishment  was  abandoned  ;  new  arms  of  pre- 
cision were  introduced,  and  improved  artillery 
adopted ;  the  militia  was  reconstituted  on  a  more 
popular  basis ;  the  cadet  schools  were  reformed, 
and  a  more  scientific  training  afforded  to  the  youths 
destined  to  become  officers.  Nor  were  the  Cos- 
sacks overlooked ;  but  certain  ameliorations  in 
discipline,  and  improvement  in  supplies  at  the 
military  colonies,  served  to  reconcile  them  to  the 
hardships  of  their  service. 

A  signal  mark  of  the  high  position  as  humani- 
tarians of  the  leading  men  in  Eussia,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  "Explosive  Bullet 
Treaty  "  was  signed  at  St.  Petersburg  in  November 
by  the  representatives  of  Bavaria,  Belgium,  Den- 
mark, England,  France,  Greece,  Holland,  Italy, 
Persia,  Portugal,  Austria,  Prussia,  Russia,  Swe- 
den, Switzerland,  Turkey,  and  Wurtemburg.  The 
document  thus  drawn  up  with  a  view  to  mitigate 
the  horrors  of  war,  marks  an  epoch  in  civilization 
and  merits  record.    It  is  to  the  following  effect: — 


"  Considering  that  the  progress  of  civilization 
ought  to  result  in  diminishing  as  much  as  possible 
the  sufferings  inseparable  from  war  ;  that  the  only 
legitimate  object  pursued  in  war  is  to  weaken  the 
force  of  the  enemy  ;  that  to  attain  this  it  suffices  to 
place  as  many  men  as  possible  '  Jiors  de  combat;' 
that  to  make  use  of  expedients  which  will  unneces- 
sarily enlarge  the  wounds  of  the  men  placed  hors 
de  combat,  or  entail  inevitable  death,  is  incompatible 
with  the  before-mentioned  object ;  that  to  make 
use  of  such  expedients  would,  moreover,  be  con- 
trary to  the  teachings  of  humanity  ;  the  under- 
signed, in  virtue  of  the  instructions  given  them  by 
their  governments,  are  authorized  to  declare  as 
follows  : — 

"  1st.  The  contracting  parties  engage,  in  the 
event  of  war  between  any  of  them,  to  abstain  from 
the  use  of  missiles  of  any  description  possessing 
explosive  power,  or  filled  with  explosive  or  inflam- 
mable material,  weighing  less  than  400  grammes. 
This  restriction  to  apply  to  the  army  and  navy 
alike. 

"  2nd.  They  likewise  invite  all  those  states  not 
represented  at  the  deliberations  of  the  military 
commission  assembled  at  St.  Petersburg,  to  sub- 
scribe to  this  mutual  engagement. 

"  3rd.  In  the  event  of  war  this  engagement  is 
to  be  observed  only  towards  the  contracting  parties, 
and  those  that  may  subsequently  subscribe  to  it. 
It  need  not  be  observed  towards  any  who  have  not 
signified  their  assent  to  the  above  stipulations. 

"  4th.  The  above  engagement  likewise  ceases  to 
be  valid  if  a  state  that  has  not  signed  it  takes  part 
in  a  war  between  parties  that  have  signed  it. 

"  5th.  Whenever  the  progress  of  science  results 
in  any  new  definite  proposals  being  made  for  im- 
proving the  equipment  of  the  troops,  the  contracting 
parties,  as  well  as  those  who  have  subsequently 
joined  this  engagement,  will  assemble  to  maintain 
the  principles  laid  down  to  reconcile  the  acquire- 
ments of  war  with  the  demands  of  humanity." 

Turkey,  who  had  not  been  unprosperous  since 
the  Crimean  war,  not  only  held  Egypt  well  in 
check,  but  showed  signs  of  weariness  of  her  pro- 
tectors, the  western  powers.  The  peace  of  Paris, 
in  1856,  in  laying  heavy  conditions  on  Eussia  with 
regard  to  the  Black  Sea,  imposed  disabilities  on 
Turkey  also.  The  Sublime  Porte  did  not  like  its 
men-of-war  to  be  kept  out  of  the  Euxine,  nor  that 
the  mouths  of  the  Danube  and  the  navigation  of 
that  river  should  be  under  the  control  of  a  European 


150 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  "WAR. 


commission.  Bather  let  us  have  the  old  state  of 
things  back  again,  muttered  the  Divan,  we  have  a 
good  army  and  a  good  fleet,  and  Kussia  will  not 
be  in  a  hurry  to  quarrel  with  us.  As  the  govern- 
ment of  the  czar  feels  the  resentment  of  that  treaty 
even  still  more  keenly,  it  is  not  impossible  that  the 
long  pending  Eastern  Question  may  find  a  peaceful 
solution.  The  war  of  1866,  though  in  strengthen- 
ing Prussia  it  crippled  Austria  on  the  west,  yet 
left  the  latter  power  strong  on  the  east,  and  with 
a  fresh  stimulus  for  extending  its  influence  in 
that  direction,  to  the  detriment  of  Russian  influence 
in  the  same  quarter.  Forces  round  the  Euxine 
being  thus  rendered  more  equal,  the  temptation  to 
any  one  of  the  powers  to  make  a  war  of  conquest 
is  proportionately  diminished. 

One  most  unfortunate  popular  error  has  been 
dangerously  encouraged  by  politicians  in  Russia, 
who  have  more  zeal  for  their  "  nationality  "  than 
discretion.  It  is  the  prejudice  of  race  against  the 
Germans.  The  exclusion  of  Germans  from  offices 
of  trust  has  become  a  popular  cry,  the  fulfilment  of 
which  would  give  a  most  injurious,  if  not  a  fatal 
check,  to  the  progress  of  culture  and  civilization  in 
Russia.  How  much  the  development  of  Russia's 
power  and  enlightenment  is  due  to  foreigners,  and 
especially  to  Germans,  every  student  of  her  his- 
tory must  know.  The  attempt  to  develop  a 
Slavonic  culture,  unsustained  by  the  vigorous 
qualities  of  German  thought  and  learning,  cannot 
but  end  in  ridiculous  or  disastrous  failure.  In  this 
respect  the  brotherhood  of  nations  will  assert  itself; 
and  the  Russian,  who  by  nature  is  volatile  and 
superficial,  has  more  need  than  other  Europeans  of 
the  compensating  ballast  which  the  deep,  medita- 
tive character  of  the  German  alone  can  give. 

To  turn  our  view  homewards,  the  German  war  of 
1866,  fortunately,  did  not  in  any  way  involve  the 
British  government  in  its  toils.  Occupied  by  a  lively 
discussion  on  the  domestic  question  of  parliamentary 
reform,  the  country  paid  little  more  attention  to 
the  politics  of  Germany  than  that  of  spectators  of 
the  war.  Mr.  Gladstone,  leader  of  the  House  of 
Commons  in  the  ministry  of  Earl  Russell,  intro- 
duced on  the  12th  of  March  a  reform  bill,  which 
was  vigorously  opposed,  not  only  by  the  Conserva- 
tives, but  by  the  more  timid  Whigs,  as  represented 
by  Mr.  Horsman,  Mr.  Lowe,  and  Earl  Grosvenor. 
Ministers  being  defeated  on  a  division  by  315  votes 
against  304,  resigned  on  the  26th  of  June,  not 
without  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  queen  to  retain 


them.  The  earl  of  Derby  became  prime  minister, 
with  Mr.  Disraeli  for  chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 
and  leader  of  the  House  of  Commons,  the  cabinet 
being  completed  a  few  days  after  the  battle  of 
Sadowa.  The  defeat  of  the  reform  bill  produced 
some  excitement  among  the  working  classes,  who 
felt  that  they  were  unjustly  deprived  of  the  right 
of  voting  for  members  of  Parliament.  By  way  of 
demonstrating  the  popular  feeling,  the  Reform 
League  organized  a  long  procession  of  trades' 
unions  and  other  societies  of  working  men,  to 
march  into  Hyde  Park.  Some  foolish  writers  in 
the  newspapers  raised  a  cry  against  this  meeting, 
as  an  improper  interference  with  the  comfort  of 
pleasure-seekers  in  the  park.  The  government 
ordered  the  park  gates  to  be  shut,  and  sent  a  posse 
of  policemen  to  protect  them.  The  crowd  waited 
patiently  outside,  until,  finding  the  exclusion  con- 
tinued, they  pressed  against  the  feebly  rooted  iron 
railings  and  swayed  them  from  their  fastenings. 
Entrance  thus  obtained  on  one  side  of  the  park,  the 
railings  were  uprooted  in  other  quarters,  and  with 
little  resistance  from  the  police  the  whole  crowd 
entered  the  park  and  held  their  meeting.  Every 
advantage  was  sought  to  be  taken  by  the  reactionary 
press  of  this  scene  of  violence,  such  as  it  was  ; 
the  Reform  League,  Mr.  Bright,  and  the  Russell 
ministry  incurred  much  obloquy.  Meanwhile  the 
Fenians  began  to  break  the  peace  in  Ireland,  and 
a  bill  was  passed  for  the  suspension  of  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Act.  A  tremendous  commercial  crisis,  too, 
commenced  with  the  failure,  on  the  10th  of  May, 
1867,  of  the  celebrated  discounting  firm,  Overend, 
Gurney,  and  Co.  The  widespread  ruin  that  followed 
penetrated,  with  various  degrees  of  intensity,  to 
nearly  every  family  in  the  British  islands.  Early 
in  the  parliamentary  session  of  1867  Mr.  Disraeli 
introduced  a  reform  bill  so  very  liberal  in  its  prin- 
ciples that  three  of  his  most  conservative  colleagues 
resigned  office.  The  rest  of  his  party  he  had 
"  educated,"  as  he  said,  up  to  a  point  that  lowered 
the  suffrage  to  a  degree  far  beyond  anything 
attempted  by  the  Liberals  in  the  previous  session. 
Of  this  the  Liberals  could  not  complain,  and  they 
helped  the  Conservative  ministry  to  pass  a  measure 
that  practically  led  to  household  and  lodger  suf- 
frage. The  result  was  seen  after  the  dissolution  of 
Parliament,  in  the  return  to  the  House  of  Commons 
of  a  large  majority  of  Liberals,  which  in  the  session 
of  1868  displaced  Mr.  Disraeli  and  his  friends,  and 
restored  to  power  the  liberal  leaders. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


151 


The  reform  agitation,  the  commercial  panic,  and 
the  Fenian  insurrection,  diverted  the  attention 
which  might  possibly  have  otherwise  been  given 
to  German  affairs.  Neither  the  traditional  friend- 
ship with  Austria,  nor  the  dynastic  connection  with 
Hanover,  served  to  rouse  England  from  the  policy 
of  non-intervention  that  she  had  learnt  from  Mr. 
Cobden ;  Whig  and  Tory,  Liberal  and  Conservative, 
when  in  office,  alike  observed  this  attitude  of 
abstention.  The  English  government,  indeed, 
offered  its  services  to  the  belligerents  in  the 
interests  of  peace,  and  supported  France  both  in 
the  proposal  of  a  conference  before  the  war,  and 
in  suggesting  an  armistice  soon  after  the  battle 
of  Sadowa.  In  the  Luxemburg  question,  which 
seemed  likely  to  lead  to  a  war  between  Prussia 
and  France,  the  British  cabinet  intervened  with 
effect.  The  conference  proposed  by  the  king  of 
Holland  was,  as  before  stated,  held  in  London,  and 
by  the  treaty  then  and  there  signed  England, 
in  common  with  the  other  powers  represented, 
engaged  to  guarantee  the  neutrality  of  Luxem- 
burg. Favouring  the  change  that  had  taken  place 
in  the  Roumanian  provinces,  yet  not  encouraging 
the  revolt  of  the  Cretans,  England  pursued  with 
regard  to  the  Ottoman  empire  her  traditional  policy 
of  upholding  the  strength  of  Turkey  while  pro- 
moting the  improvement  of  her  administration. 
Crete  was  not  to  be  made  independent,  while 
Moldavia  and  Wallachia  were  placed  on  a  vantage 
ground  by  the  government  of  Prince  Charles, 
under  the  nominal  suzerainty  of  the  sultan.  The 
relations  between  Great  Britain  and  France  con- 
tinued very  friendly,  as  did  those  we  had  with 
all  the  European  powers ;  but  there  was  a  coolness 
in  the  official  intercourse  of  the  United  States  with 
the  British  government,  on  account  of  what  are 
called  the  "  Alabama  claims."  These  claims 
arose  out  of  the  depredations  committed  during 
the  American  civil  war  by  the  Confederate 
cruiser,  the  Alabama,  which  having  been  built 
in  England,  had  sailed  away  before  the  government 
in  London  knew  for  certain  her  character  and 
destination.  She  was  far  away  from  England 
when  she  received  a  warlike  armament  and  crew, 
and  commenced  a  cruise  that  was  fatal  to  many 
merchantmen  belonging  to  the  Northerners  of 
America.  The  owners  of  the  merchantmen 
demanded  compensation  from  the  British  govern- 
ment, on  the  ground  that  it  was  their  duty  to 
prevent  the  Alabama  from  quitting  the  English 


shores.  In  consequence  of  this  soreness  of  the 
Americans,  the  insurrection  of  the  Fenians  was 
not  heartily  discouraged  in  the  United  States. 
Raids  into  Canada  were  winked  at,  and  the 
annexation  of  that  colony  became  a  subject  of 
public  talk.  The  subsequent  welding  together 
of  all  the  British  provinces  of  North  America  into 
one  dominion,  did  much  to  avert  a  danger  that 
might  have  become  threatening. 

In  one  memorable  instance,  England  broke 
through  her  resolution  to  maintain  peace,  and 
showed  to  the  world  how  well  she  could  conduct 
an  arduous  expedition,  when  the  safety  and  free- 
dom of  her  citizens  were  at  stake.  The  Abyssinian 
expedition,  from  its  inception  to  its  successful  con- 
clusion, is  a  signal  proof  that  the  much  decried 
military  administration  of  Great  Britain  is  quite 
capable  of  planning  with  skill,  and  executing  with 
vigorous  courage,  great  and  warlike  enterprises. 
For  four  years  Theodore,  king  or  negus  of  Abys- 
sinia, had  held  in  captivity  certain  British  subjects, 
including  an  envoy  from  the  queen.  Every  means 
of  reconciliation  were  tried  with  him  in  vain,  and 
that  respect  paid  to  Englishmen  in  various  parts 
of  the  world,  which  is  the  security  for  her  com- 
mercial transactions,  was  in  danger  of  being  for- 
feited in  the  East.  In  the  summer,  therefore,  of 
1867,  it  was  resolved  that  an  expedition  should 
be  sent  from  India  into  Abyssinia,  under  the  able 
guidance  of  Sir  Robert  Napier ;  and  a  special 
session  of  Parliament  was  held  in  November,  to 
vote  the  sums  necessary  for  the  conduct  of  the 
war.  An  additional  penny  in  the  pound  income- 
tax  was  agreed  to,  which  produced  £1,500,000. 
There  was  also  a  surplus  in  the  treasury,  and  the 
Indian  government  had  to  pay  a  large  part  of  the 
cost.  The  estimate  that  £3,500,000  would  suffice 
proved  delusive. 

The  merit  of  the  expedition  lay  in  the  com- 
pleteness of  its  organization,  not  in  any  brilliancy 
of  action.  A  force  of  some  twelve  thousand  men, 
infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery,  with  followers  at 
least  equally  numerous  in  the  transport,  commis- 
sariat, and  kindred  services,  were  conveyed  by 
ships  from  Bombay  to  Annesley  Bay,  and  thence 
marched  across  the  rugged  highlands  of  Abyssinia 
to  Magdala,  the  mountain  fortress  of  King  Theo- 
dore, which  was  stormed  and  taken  without  the  loss 
of  a  man,  and  with  only  thirty  wounded.  Theodore 
having  shot  himself  rather  than  be  taken  prisoner, 
General  Napier  returned  to  the  sea-coast  with  the 


152 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


rescued  British  subjects,  after  burning  down 
Magdala  and  its  fortifications,  lest  it  should  become 
a  nest  of  tyranny  in  the  hands  of  some  chief- 
tain of  the  neighbouring  tribes.  So  well  satisfied 
was  England  with  the  completeness  of  the 
achievement,  and  with  the  respect  it  procured  her 
among  foreign  powers,  that  there  was  much  less 
murmuring  than  might  have  been  expected  at 
the  undue  measure  in  which  the  cost  of  the 
expedition  exceeded  the  estimate.  The  total 
amount  of  outlay  was  fully  three  times  as  much 
as  the  three  millions  first  voted  by  Parliament. 
The  pasha  of  Egypt  was  perhaps  not  sorry  to 
see  this  formidable  expedition  leave  the  African 
shore.  His  relations  with  the  sultan  his  suzerain 
were  not  very  cordial,  and  an  old  ally  of  the 
Ottoman  Porte  might  mean  mischief  to  the 
commander  of  the  Red  Sea.  Nothing  happened, 
however,  to  justify  these  suspicions. 

If  the  effect  produced  by  the  Prussian  triumphs 
was  not  very  distinctly  marked  in  Great  Britain, 
Russia,  or  Turkey,  the  Latin  race  inhabiting 
Europe  was  strangely  influenced  by  this  new 
development  of  Teutonic  power.  Italy,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  a  gainer  by  the  defeat  of  Austria; 
France,  as  we  shall  see,  was  strangely  moved  by 
the  same  series  of  events;  and  Spain,  dissevered 
as  she  seemed  from  German  interests,  became  in 
a  singular  manner  entangled  in  the  mesh  of 
intrigues  which  rival  politicians  were  weaving. 
The  kingdom  of  Spain  has  during  these  latter 
years  undergone  many  trials,  much  suffering,  and 
one  great  and  wholesome  change  wrought,  not 
by  the  hands  of  a  foreign  enemy  or  interfering 
neighbour,  but  by  her  native  population.  The 
people,  spontaneously  breaking  through  the  bonds 
and  fetters  that  held  them,  hurled  the  last  of 
the  Bourbons  from  a  throne  which  she  had  in 
every  sense  disgraced.  The  ague  of  revolt  had 
afflicted  this  magnificent  country  at  pretty  regu- 
lar intervals  for  many  years  with  no  positive 
results,  until  in  April,  1868,  an  insurrection  broke 
out  in  Catalonia,  and  that  province  was  placed 
in  a  state  of  siege.  On  the  23rd  of  the  month 
Marshal  Narvaez,  the  prime  minister  of  Queen 
Isabella  Maria,  died.  In  consequence  of  this 
event,  the  ministry  resigned  and  were  replaced  by 
a  new  cabinet  under  Gonzalez  Bravo,  whose  first 
important  act  was  to  banish  the  chiefs  of  the 
army,  and  to  send  them,  without  trial  or  notice  of 
any  kind,  across  the  sea  to  the  Canary  Islands.     At 


the  same  time  her  most  Catholic  Majesty's  sister, 
with  her  husband  the  Due  de  Montpensier,  were 
ordered  to  leave  Spain.  On  their  refusal  to  com- 
ply with  the  ministerial  order,  on  the  ground  that 
an  Infanta  of  Spain  could  receive  orders  only  from 
the  sovereign,  the  queen  signed  a  decree  exiling 
the  royal  pair,  who  were  conveyed  in  a  Spanish 
man-of-war,  the  Ville  de  Madrid,  to  Lisbon.  Some 
idea  of  the  feeling  existing  in  the  navy,  and 
indeed  through  the  entire  country,  in  consequence 
of  the  arbitrary  proceedings  of  the  new  ministry, 
may  be  formed  from  what  occurred  on  board  the 
Ville  de  Madrid.  The  captain-general  of  Anda- 
lusia was  ordered  to  accompany  the  royal  exiles 
to  the  ship,  the  commander  of  which,  on  receiving 
them,  whispered  to  the  duke,  "  Say  but  one  word, 
and  the  captain -general  shall  remain  a  prisoner 
on  board,  while  we  sail  to  the  Canaries  and  bring 
back  the  banished  generals."  The  duke  declined 
to  utter  this  word,  and  lost  the  crown  of  Spain,  as 
his  father  by  a  similar  tenderness  of  conscience 
had  lost  the  crown  of  France.  Not  long  after  the 
perpetration  of  this  arbitrary  act,  in  the  month  of 
September,  a  revolution  broke  out.  The  exiled 
generals  were  summoned  home  from  the  Canaries 
by  the  revolutionary  leaders,  and  General  Prim, 
who  had  escaped  to  England,  returned  to  his  native 
country.  When  the  latter  reached  Cadiz  the 
Spanish  fleet  lying  in  that  port,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Admiral  Topete,  and  the  troops  of  the 
garrison,  declared  for  the  revolution.  A  pro- 
clamation was  issued  by  General  Prim  in  which 
he  said,  "  Yesterday  you  were  groaning  under 
the  yoke  of  a  despotic  government;  to-day  the 
flag  of  liberty  waves  over  your  walls.  Until  the 
moment  arrives  when  Spain,  freely  convoked,  shall 
decide  upon  her  destinies,  it  is  incumbent  upon 
us  to  organize  ourselves  to  carry  on  the  struggle, 
and  to  save  the  people  from  being  bereft  of  all 
law  and  authority."  A  prominent  leader  of  the  re- 
volutionary movement  was  Marshal  Serrano,  duke 
de  la  Torre. 

When  the  province  of  Andalusia  pronounced 
against  the  government,  the  ministry  under 
Gonzalez  resigned,  and  General  Concha  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  queen  to  the  presidency  of  the 
council.  The  royal  army  under  the  command 
of  the  marquis  de  Novaliches  marched  upon 
Cordova,  where  the  insurgents  were  in  force. 
Upon  the  issue  of  this  movement  depended  the 
future  of  Spain,  and  th«  most  strenuous  exertions 


THE  FRANCO -PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


153 


were  made  by  both  parties  in  preparing  for  action. 
A  severe  skirmish  occurred  at  Burgos,  at  the  close 
of  which  the  royal  troops  fraternized  with  the 
people,  a  circumstance  by  no  means  inspiriting 
to  the  gallant  and  loyal  marquis  in  command, 
whose  fate  was  worthy  of  a  better  cause.  Before 
the  end  of  the  month  he  had  reached  the  river 
Guadalquiver,  and  found  the  insurgents  posted 
at  the  bridge  of  Alcolea,  about  fifteen  miles  from 
Cordova,  under  the  command  of  General  Serrano. 
In  the  action  which  ensued  the  royalist  troops 
were  defeated,  and  their  gallant  commander  fell 
mortally  wounded.  The  army  of  the  queen  broke 
up  and  dispersed,  while  its  royal  mistress  fled  from 
Spain  across  the  Pyrenees  into  France,  reaching 
Biarritz  on  the  30th  of  September.  Here  she 
met  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  and  after  a  short 
interview  with  him  proceeded  on  her  journey 
to  Bayonne.  On  the  20th  October  a  manifesto 
was  issued  by  the  Provisional  Government  estab- 
lished on  the  departure  of  the  queen,  explaining 
to  the  people  the  necessity  which  had  forced 
them  to  rise  and  expel  the  Bourbon  dynasty. 
"  The  people,"  it  said,  "  must  now  regain  the  time 
which  it  has  lost;  the  principle  of  popular  sove- 
reignty which  is  now  naturalized  in  Spain  is 
the  principle  of  national  life,  and  the  ideal  type 
of  the  nation's  operations."  The  document  also 
expressed  the  desire  of  the  government  to  keep 
on  good  terms  with  foreign  powers,  "but  if  even 
the  example  of  America  in  recognizing  the  re- 
volution were  not  followed,  Spanish  independence 
was  not  threatened,  and  there  was  no  foreign 
intervention  to  fear." 

In  another  manifesto  the  government  said  they 
should  quietly  proceed  to  choose  a  form  of  govern- 
ment, without  pretending  to  prejudice  such  serious 
questions  ;  though  they  noticed  as  very  significant 
the  silence  maintained  by  the  Juntas  respecting 
monarchical  institutions  :  "  if  the  popular  decision 
should  be  against  a  monarchy,  the  provisional 
government  will  respect  the  will  of  the  national 
sovereignty."  On  the  3rd  October,  Marshal  Ser- 
rano entered  Madrid  at  the  head  of  the  revolu- 
tionary army,  and  was  received  with  enthusiasm 
by  the  people,  to  whom  he  announced,  that  after 
communications  with  General  Espartero,  he  had 
been  authorized  to  exercise  supreme  power  and  to 
appoint  a  ministry  provisionally  until  a  constituent 
assembly  should  meet.  "  Let  tranquillity,"  he  said, 
"  continue  to  prevail,  and  do  not  allow  your  con- 


fidence in  the  issue  of  our  efforts  to  diminish  ;  the 
unity  and  discipline  of  the  army,  its  fraternization 
with  the  people,  and  the  patriotism  of  all,  will 
accomplish  the  work  of  the  revolution,  avoiding 
equally  the  impulse  of  reaction  and  the  discredit 
of  disorder."  The  affairs  of  the  country  were  now 
carried  on  by  a  provisional  government,  a  govern- 
ment, as  its  name  implies,  existing  from  hand  to 
mouth,  ruling  much  by  circulars  and  manifestoes. 
In  one  of  these  it  was  said,  "  The  government  has 
taken  in  hand  the  reins  of  the  state,  in  order  to 
lead  the  nation  to  liberty,  and  not  allow  it  to  perish 
in  anarchy."  A  protest  issued  by  the  queen  from 
her  asylum  in  France,  met  with  the  following 
comment: — "Queen  Isabella  has  addressed  a  mani- 
festo to  the  Spaniards.  The  Junta  refrains  from 
making  any  criticism  on  it.  The  people  have 
passed  their  judgment  on  the  acts  of  the  queen,  and 
can  now  pass  their  verdict  on  her  words."  Mean- 
while the  Society  of  Jesuits  was  suppressed  through- 
out the  kingdom  and  colonies  ;  their  colleges  and 
institutions  were  ordered  to  be  closed  within  three 
days,  and  their  property  sequestrated  to  the  state. 
The  censorship  on  literary  publications  was  also 
suppressed,  and  the  absolute  liberty  of  the  press 
proclaimed. 

The  ministers  of  France,  Prussia,  Portugal, 
and  Great  Britain,  forwarded  despatches  recog- 
nizing the  provisional  government.  Prim,  the 
guiding  spirit  of  the  revolution,  was  appointed 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  and  immediately 
issued  an  order,  forbidding  soldiers  to  interfere  in 
politics,  or  to  attend  meetings  connected  with 
political  objects.  A  reform  bill,  or  electoral  law, 
was  passed  by  the  government,  entitling  every 
citizen  of  twenty-five  years  to  vote  at  municipal 
elections,  and  at  elections  for  the  Cortes.  An 
electoral  committee,  formed  to  carry  out  the  pro- 
visions of  the  bill,  pointed  out  in  a  manifesto  the 
form  and  shape  of  the  future  government.  "  The 
monarchical  form,"  it  said,  "  is  imposed  upon  us  by 
the  exigencies  of  the  revolution,  and  the  necessity 
of  consolidating  the  liberties  we  have  acquired. 
Monarchy,  by  divine  right,  is  for  ever  dead.  Our 
future  monarchy,  in  deriving  its  origin  from  popu- 
lar rights,  will  be  a  consecration  of  universal  suff- 
rage. It  will  symbolize  the  national  sovereignty 
and  consolidate  public  liberty,  the  right  of  the 
people  being  superior  to  all  institutions  and 
powers.  This  monarchy,  surrounded  by  demo- 
cratic  institutions,    cannot    fail   to   be    popular." 

D 


154 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


When  the  provisional  government  had,  as  they 
believed,  finally  decided  on  the  permanent  form  of 
government  under  which  Spain  could  flourish,  the 
difficulty  was  to  find  a  man  of  noble  blood,  possess- 
ing the  qualities  necessary  for  a  ruler  of  Spaniards 
— one  who  would  be  acceptable  to  the  Spanish 
nation,  and  who  would  be  acceptable  also  to  the 
various  governments  of  the  Old  and  New  World  ; 
one  who  could  steer  himself  and  the  country 
through  the  crooked  intrigues  and  diplomacies  con- 
tinually in  action  at  the  European  courts,  and  who 
could  strengthen  and  consolidate  the  power  of 
Spain  before  the  eyes  of  Europe. 

At  the  general  election  in  January,  1869,  the 
monarchical  party  obtained  a  large  majority  of 
votes  in  the  Cortes,  a  majority,  however,  which 
was  divided  into  two  parties — the  Unionists, 
quondam  followers  of  O'Donnell,  and  the  Pro- 
gressistas,  who  were  attached  to  Espartero.  At 
the  end  of  this  month  the  governor  of  Burgos  was 
murdered  in  the  cathedral  by  some  priests,  to  the 
great  scandal  of  the  church ;  the  pope's  nuncio 
narrowly  escaped  death  by  the  mob  in  conse- 
quence, and  great  excitement  prevailed.  The 
occasion  was  not  lost  by  the  liberal  party,  some 
of  whom  stimulated  the  passions  of  the  people 
against  the  clergy.  Order  was  at  length  restored 
by  the  trial  of  the  assassins  by  court-martial, 
and  by  the  execution  of  one  who  was  found 
guilty.  On  opening  the  Cortes  on  the  11th 
February,  Marshal  Serrano,  the  president,  invited 
the  representatives  of  the  nation,  now  that  the 
obstacles  to  progress  were  removed,  to  construct  a 
new  edifice,  of  which  the  provisional  government 
had  prepared  the  foundations  and  designed  the 
plan.  It  proclaimed  with  enthusiasm  the  essential 
principles  of  the  most  radical  liberalism,  namely, 
liberty  of  worship,  of  the  press,  of  public  educa- 
tion, of  public  meeting  and  association.  On  the 
25th  February  the  marshal  announced  his  assump- 
tion of  the  executive  power,  simply  from  patriotic 
motives  and  utterly  without  selfishness  ;  it  was 
impossible,  he  said,  for  him  to  abuse  his  power,  as 
neither  the  right  of  veto  or  the  power  of  makino- 
peace  or  war  had  been  given  to  him,  so  that  he 
had  very  little  power  to  abuse  had  he  wished  to  do 
so.  The  government,  it  was  said,  would  endeavour 
to  disarm  the  republican  party  by  a  most  liberal 
policy  ;  yet  Senor  Castelar's  proposal  for  an  amnesty 
for  political  offences  was  opposed  by  the  govern- 
ment and  lost  by  a  large  majority. 


Questions  arose  from  the  republican  ranks  as 
to  the  right  of  the  Due  de  Montpensier  to  hold 
the  position  of  captain-general  of  Spain,  he  being 
brother-in-law  of  the  late  queen  and  son  of  Louis 
Philippe,  a  Bourbon  by  birth.  Prim  answered 
that  the  appointment  was  made  by  the  late  dynasty, 
and  that  the  provisional  government  had  no  right  to 
interfere.  Admiral  Topete  declared  that  he  would 
rather  have  Montpensier  as  king  than  a  republic. 
Subsequently  when  the  articles  of  the  new  constitu- 
tion were  carried,  the  minister  for  the  colonies 
declared  that  the  authors  of  the  revolution  would 
never  have  undertaken  the  task,  had  they  suspected 
that  the  result  would  have  been  the  establishment  of 
a  republic.  In  reply  to  Senor  Castelar,  Admiral 
Topete,  minister  of  marine,  declared  the  Due  de 
Montpensier  to  be  the  most  eligible  candidate  for 
the  throne ;  a  monarchy,  a  regency,  or  a  republic, 
he  said,  seemed  equally  impossible.  "  Beware," 
said  he,  "  lest  if  you  make  every  solution  impos- 
sible, some  insolent  daring  man  undertake  to  cut 
the  knot  you  are  unable  to  solve.  You  will  not 
applaud  me  now,  but  you  will  understand  me." 
This  remarkably  strong  hint  had  an  effect,  and  on 
the  6th  June  Marshal  Serrano  was  elected  by  a 
large  majority  regent  of  the  kingdom.  The  Cortes 
with  much  noise  and  ceremony  sware  to  support 
him,  and  Prim  his  prime  minister.  This  state 
of  things  did  not  last  long ;  the  old  difficulty  as 
to  who  should  be  king  continually  cropped  up 
until,  on  the  28th  September,  it  was  resolved  to 
propose  the  young  duke  of  Genoa  as  a  candidate 
for  the  vacant  throne.  The  young  gentleman  was 
at  this  time  a  student  at  Harrow  school,  in  Mid- 
dlesex. His  father,  the  brother  of  King  Victor 
Emmanuel,  died  in  1855.  His  mother  was  a 
daughter  of  John,  king  of  Saxony,  and  his  sister 
was  wife  to  the  heir  apparent  of  the  Italian  crown. 
Neither  the  prince,  however,  or  his  relatives  would 
have  anything  to  do  at  this  time  with  the  Spanish 
crown.  His  refusal  of  the  proffered  dignity  occa- 
sioned a  split  in  the  ministry  of  General  Prim,  and 
the  republicans  throughout  the  country,  taking 
advantage  of  the  unsettled  state  of  things,  broke 
out  into  open  insurrection.  The  regular  troops 
marched  against  the  disaffected,  who  being  once 
more  overthrown,  all  moderate  men  became  con- 
vinced of  the  necessity  of  a  governing  head, 
capable  of  wielding  supreme  power.  Prim  ad- 
vised delay,  but  professed  himself  a  monarchist ; 
"  such  I  was,  such  I  am,  and  such  I  will  continue 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


155 


to  be.  The  country  requires  a  dynasty."  Senor 
Castelar,  professor  of  history,  and  leader  of  the 
republican  party,  made  a  powerful  speech,  histori- 
cally memorable,  showing  that  the  soil  of  Spain 
had  never  been  favourable  to  dynasties,  and  that 
the  ancient  system  of  monarchies  having  died  out, 
nothing  was  left  by  which  men  could  enjoy  their 
right  of  freedom  but  a  republic.  In  consequence  of 
these  cabals  and  discussions,  the  year  1869  passed 
away  without  giving  Spain  a  king.  Matters  were, 
however,  rapidly  approaching  a  crisis. 

In  July,  1870,  a  deputation  was  sent  from  the 
Spanish  Cortes  through  the  prime  minister,  General 
Prim,  offering  the  crown  to  Prince  Leopold 
Hohenzollern  Sigmaringen,  a  very  distant  relative 
of  the  king  of  Prussia,  with,  as  Prim  had  every 
reason  to  believe,  the  concurrence  of  the  emperor 
of  the  French ;  this  belief  is  supported  by  the 
statement  that  the  prince  had  offered  to  com- 
municate his  nomination  to  the  court  of  the 
Tuileries  in  person.  There  had  been  satisfactory 
communications  with  the  Spanish  minister  on  the 
subject,  but  it  has  been  whispered  that,  at  the 
last  moment,  the  Empress  Eugenie  determined  to 
support  the  pretensions  of  the  ex-Queen  Isabella, 
and  of  her  son.  The  deplorable  result  of  this 
most  unfortunate  determination  is  before  us. 
M.  Benedetti,  the  French  ambassador  at  Berlin, 
informed  the  king  of  Prussia  that  his  master, 
Louis  Napoleon,  would  not  permit  the  candida- 
ture of  Prince  Leopold  Hohenzollern  Sigmaringen 
to  the  crown  of  Spain,  and  would  hold  the  Prussian 
government  responsible  for  the  consequences  if  it 
was  persisted  in.  Prince  Leopold,  through  his 
father,  withdrew  as  a  candidate  for  the  crown  of 
Spain,  to  the  annoyance  of  the  monarchical  party  in 
Madrid  and  the  surprise  of  Europe ;  but  so  deter- 
mined was  the  Napoleon  party  in  the  French 
government  to  pick  a  quarrel,  that  King  William 
of  Prussia  had  to  give  a  rebuff  to  the  French 
ambassador  in  the  public  gardens  of  Ems.  The 
ambassadors  returned  to  their  respective  courts,  and 
in  a  few  days  it  was  known  throughout  Europe 
that  France  had  declared  war  upon  Prussia.  The 
powers  of  Europe  stood  aloof,  as  it  were,  until 
the  fierce  onset  of  the  belligerents  had  shown  by 
its  result  how  greatly  the  prowess  of  France 
had  been  over-estimated,  and  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment being  freed  from  any  further  dictation  from 
Louis  Napoleon,  brought  their  own  affairs  to  a 
crisis  by  electing  Prince  Amadeus  of  Savoy,  duke 


of  Aosta,  and  younger  son  of  Victor  Emanuel,  king 
of  Italy,  to  the  crown  of  Spain.  He  had  been  pro- 
posed by  General  Prim  in  1868 ;  the  offer  was  then 
declined  by  the  Italian  government  in  consequence, 
partly,  of  the  disordered  state  of  Spain  at  that 
time,  and  partly  by  his  position  as  heir  presumptive 
to  the  crown  of  Italy.  These  difficulties  no  longer 
exist.  Spain  is  reduced  into  order  by  the  energy 
and  patience  of  General  Prim's  government,  and 
the  crown  of  Italy  is  provided  for  by  the  birth  of 
a  son  and  heir  to  the  prince's  elder  brother.  We 
may  therefore  look  forward  with  hope  to  an  era  of 
increasing  power  and  prosperity  to  Spain,  under 
the  guidance  of  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Savoy. 

General  Prim  has  unfortunately  fallen  a  victim 
to  his  fidelity  to  the  cause  of  monarchy,  having 
been  assassinated  by  political  enemies  in  Madrid, 
on  the  very  day  before  the  landing  of  King  Ama- 
deus at  Carthagena.  He  was  a  man  holding  one 
of  the  most  exceptional  positions  known  to  the 
students  of  modern  history — that  of  ruler  during 
an  interregnum  ;  a  king  who  was  not  a  king,  and 
never  meant  to  be  a  king.  He  ruled  a  great 
country  with  success  for  two  years,  yet  never 
looked  upon  himself  as  a  possible  candidate  for 
the  permanent  sovereignty.  He  was  born  in 
December,  1814,  at  Reuss  in  Catalonia,  not  far 
from  Tarragona,  the  son  of  a  colonel  who  had 
grown  old  in  the  Spanish  service.  With  a  strong 
inclination  for  a  soldier's  career,  Prim  at  an  early 
period  enlisted  in  the  Spanish  service  as  a  cadet. 
Scarcely  had  he  entered  the  service  when  the  war 
of  the  Spanish  succession  broke  out,  which  lasted 
from  the  death  of  King  Ferdinand,  in  1833,  down 
to  the  peace  of  Bergara,  in  1839.  In  this  strug- 
gle Prim  ranged  himself  under  the  constitutional 
standard,  against  Don  Carlos.  He  first  distin- 
guished himself,  not  in  the  regular  army,  but  in 
one  of  the  free  corps.  He  came  to  Madrid  at  the 
head  of  one  of  those  wild  and  lawless  bands,  the 
"  Marseillais  of  Spain,"  which  astonished  the  more 
sober  Castilians  by  their  fierceness  of  look  and 
bearing,  no  less  than  by  the  strangeness  of  their 
attire.  Before  his  twenty-second  year  he  gained 
his  promotion  to  the  rank  of  captain,  and  three 
years  later  that  of  colonel,  with  other  military 
distinctions. 

At  the  end  of  the  civil  war,  Prim  began  to 
devote  himself  to  politics,  and  was  elected  a  deputy 
in  several  successive  parliaments.  In  this  capacity 
he  was  busy,  active,  and  intelligent,  and  took  a  very 


156 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


prominent  part  in  the  organization  and  manage- 
ment of  political  clubs.  He  gained  rapid  promotion, 
both  professional  and  political,  being  advanced  to 
the  rank  of  brigadier-general  and  to  the  dignity 
of  Comte  de  Reuss.  The  year  1844  found  him 
implicated  in  a  conspiracy  against  Narvaez,  then 
at  the  head  of  the  Spanish  government,  who  escaped 
assassination  at  the  cost  of  his  aide-de-camp  Easetti's 
life.  Prim  was  convicted  of  participation  in  the 
murder,  but  his  sentence  was  revoked  by  the 
queen,  and  he  was  afterwards  appointed  captain- 
general  and  governor  of  Porto  Rico.  On  the 
breaking  out  of  a  negro  insurrection  at  Santa  Cruz, 
he  went  at  once  to  the  rescue  of  the  Danes,  and 
was  mainly  instrumental  in  the  subjugation  of  the 
rebels.  His  conduct,  however,  was  not  satisfactory 
to  the  colonial  minister  at  home,  who  recalled  him 
because  he  had  removed  the  garrison,  and  exposed 
Porto  Rico  to  the  attacks  of  the  negroes  there,  who 
were  as  ready  for  a  revolt  as  their  brethren  in  the 
Danish  colony.  Prim's  next  step  was  to  become 
involved  in  a  conspiracy  against  Bravo  Murillo, 
by  whom  he  was  banished.  However,  after  a 
short  absence  he  returned,  and  in  1854  was  sent 
as  Spanish  military  commissioner  to  the  camp 
of  the  allies  during  the  Crimean  war.  On  his 
return  from  the  East  he  passed  through  Paris, 
where,  in  1856,  he  married  a  Mexican  lady,  Senora 
Echevarria ;  the  marriage  was  solemnized  under 
the  auspices  and  in  the  presence  of  Queen  Christina. 
On  the  31st  cf  January  of  that  year  Prim  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general,  and  in 
1858  he  was  raised  to  the  senate,  where  he  soon 
distinguished  himself  by  a  very  remarkable  speech 
on  the  Mexican  question.  The  war  of  Morocco 
broke  out  soon  afterwards,  and  Prim,  who  com- 
manded, attained  a  high  reputation  by  a  variety  of 
exploits,  which  were  crowned  by  the  battle  of 
Castillejos,  near  Melilla,  where,  seeing  the  regi- 
ment of  Cordova  broken  and  turned  to  flight,  he 
threw  himself  on  the  path  of  the  fugitives,  rallied 
them,  and,  with  their  colours  in  his  hand,  led  them 
with  such  impetuosity  against  the  enemy  that  he 
secured  the  victory  for  the  Spanish  arms.  This 
heroic  deed  was  rewarded  with  the  title  of  marquis 
de  los  Castillejos,  and  the  rank  of  grandee  of  Spain 
of  the  first  class.  In  1861  the  joint  expedition  to 
Mexico  of  England,  France,  and  Spain  was  pro- 
jected, and  Prim  was  sent  out  in  command  of  the 
Spanish  contingent,  being  charged  at  the  same  time 
with   the   duties   of  a   minister    plenipotentiary. 


How  Prim  proceeded  to  Mexico  with  the  French 
and  English  contingents,  and  came  back  with  the 
latter,  leaving  to  the  former  alone  the  task  of  a 
complete  subjugation  of  Mexico,  and  the  instal- 
ment of  an  Austrian  dynasty  there,  is  related 
elsewhere.  Prim's  conduct  at  this  juncture,  how- 
ever severely  censured  by  some  of  his  country- 
men, received  the  fullest  sanction  of  the  Cortes. 
We  have  not  space  to  follow  the  career  of  Prim 
under  the  ministry  of  Senor  Mon,  or  under  the 
Narvaez  and  O'Donnell  administrations.  Soon  after 
O'Donnell's  accession  to  power,  Prim  seemed  to 
recall  to  memory  his  former  political  predilections. 
He  leagued  himself  with  Espartero,  and  threw 
himself  with  all  his  influence  into  the  interests  of 
the  Progressistas.  In  January,  1866,  several  regi- 
ments in  various  parts  of  Spain  made  demonstra- 
tions against  the  government.  Placing  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  revolted  regiments,  Prim  succeeded 
in  reaching  the  mountains  of  Toledo.  The  royal 
power,  however,  was  at  that  time  too  strong  to  be 
overcome.  The  people  failed  to  respond  to  the 
movement;  and  finding  himself  unable  to  cope 
with  the  forces  brought  against  him,  the  leader  of 
the  insurrection  retreated  into  Portugal  with  the 
bulk  of  his  followers.  Prim  afterwards  repaired  to 
London,  where  he  remained  in  seclusion  until  the 
organization  of  a  counter-movement  afforded  him 
the  opportunity  of  re-entering  Spain. 

After  the  insurrection  which  drove  Queen 
Isabella  from  the  Spanish  throne,  Prim  had  the 
singular  honour  of  offering  the  Spanish  crown  to 
some  half  dozen  "  eligible  candidates,"  and  the 
mortification  of  meeting  with  refusals  from  all, 
except  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern  (who  with- 
drew his  acceptance  almost  as  soon  as  he  had  notified 
it),  and  Prince  Amadeus,  the  present  king  of  Spain. 
During  these  twenty-seven  months  of  difficulty 
and  danger,  when  a  sound  head  and  nerve  were 
required,  Marshal  Prim  was  not  found  wanting 
in  tact  and  administrative  talent.  Indeed,  it  may 
be  safely  said  that  to  his  firm  hand,  in  a  very 
great  measure,  Spain  owed  such  tranquillity,  as, 
in  spite  of  at  least  one  insurrection,  fell  to  her 
lot  during  the  long  abeyance  of  regal  authority. 
In  Spain  it  is  as  indispensable  for  every  political 
party  to  have  a  military  champion,  as  for  a  troop 
of  bullfighters  to  have  its  own  matador.  Espartero 
once  held  that  place  among  the  old  Progressists, 
Narvaez  among  the  Moderados,  and  O'Donnell 
among  those  who  would  call  themselves  Liberal 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


157 


Conservatives,  or  moderate  Liberals.  The  more 
advanced  Liberals  always  claimed  Prim  as  their 
typical  hero,  and  such  in  reality  he  was,  though 
some  men  accused  him  of  inconsistency  for  accept- 
ing the  title  of  Count,  while  he  professed  ultra- 
democratic  opinions.  The  marshal  was  very 
strongly  addicted  to  the  pleasures  of  the  chase,  for 
the  gratification  of  which  taste  he  kept  up  a  mag- 
nificent house  and  establishment. 

In  person  he  was  considerably  below  the 
middle  size,  with  a  small  and  slender,  but  wiry 
and  active  frame,  a  lively  intelligent  countenance, 
with  a  very  bad  complexion.  His  eyes  were  large 
and  expressive,  his  features  tolerably  regular,  with 
no  other  marked  peculiarity  than  the  high  cheek- 
bones. His  manners  were  courteous  and  winning; 
his  speech  fluent,  forcible,  and  not  inelegant,  both 
in  his  native  language  and  in  French.  He  was 
not  a  great  genius,  yet  occupied  a  position  very 
remarkable  for  a  man  of  ordinary  capacity.  He 
was  a  good  officer,  possessing  that  valuable  quality 
of  bravery  that  increases  as  danger  grows  more 
imminent.  His  idea  of  government  was  to  main- 
tain military  order,  and  to  leave  the  rest  to  his 
colleagues.  The  wants  and  grievances  of  Spain 
seemed  to  trouble  him  but  little.  He  knew  the 
limit  of  his  own  powers,  and  his  ambition  led  him 
to  make  a  king  rather  than  be  a  king.  His 
assassination  was  due,  perhaps,  as  much  to  the 
popular  hatred  of  a  foreign  monarch  as  to  republi- 
can hatred  of  royalty.  Anyhow  it  was  a  dastardly 
deed,  disgraceful  to  the  party  by  whom  it  was 
instigated  or  permitted. 

Meanwhile  France,  the  greatest  power  among 
the  Latin  races,  was  successfully  developing  her 
material  prosperity,  if  not  her  political  institutions, 
under  the  rule  of  Napoleon  III.  We  resume  the 
thread  of  her  history  where  we  left  it  in  Chapter  III., 
namely,  in  the  year  1860.  The  alliance  of  France 
and  England  continued  to  grow  more  close  and 
friendly.  The  treaty  of  commerce  successfully 
negotiated  by  Mr.  Cobden  gave  the  two  nations  a 
community  of  interests,  and  the  feeling  of  amity 
was  strengthened  by  certain  joint  expeditions  of 
a  warlike  nature.  In  1880  public  attention  in 
France  was,  for  a  time,  diverted  from  the  Italian 
question  to  events  in  the  remote  East.  Notwith- 
standing the  great  distance  of  China  from  the  West, 
that  country  has  long  enjoyed  the  advantages, 
or  disadvantages,  of  foreign  intervention.  Unlike 
Mexico,  it  has  no  powerful  and  civilized  neighbour 


jealous  of  European  interference.  Both  China  and 
Japan  are  in  an  unfortunate  position  in  this  re- 
spect. Possessing  no  effective  means  of  resistance 
against  the  improved  appliances  of  war  and  the 
training  of  the  West,  they  have  been  unable  to  with- 
stand the  imposition  of  treaties  of  trade,  and  have 
been  compelled,  in  spite  of  themselves,  to  abandon 
their  seclusion  and  open  their  ports  to  foreign 
commerce.  Whatever  good  may  eventually  accrue 
by  the  opening  of  the  country  to  Europeans,  it 
is  surely  the  right  of  the  Chinese  government  to 
determine  whether  or  not  it  is  for  the  advantage 
of  their  country  to  open  their  doors  to  other 
nations.  Before  commercial  interests,  however, 
many  scruples  have  to  give  way.  The  conduct 
of  Europeans  in  China,  and  not  least  that  of 
the  English,  cannot  be  regarded  as  free  from 
violence  and  wrong. 

When  a  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  Tientsin 
was  refused,  and  the  Chinese  treacherously  opened 
fire  upon  the  English  forces  in  time  of  peace,  war 
was  again  declared  by  England  and  France  against 
the  government  at  Pekin.  Two  separate  expe- 
ditions were  organized  without  delay,  General 
Montauban,  afterwards  created  Comte  de  Palikao, 
commanding  the  French,  and  General  Sir  Hope 
Grant  the  English  contingent.  Baron  Gros  and 
Lord  Elgin,  the  English  and  French  ambassadors, 
suffered  shipwreck  on  their  voyage  to  China,  and 
narrowly  escaped  with  their  lives.  The  allied 
forces  opened  the  campaign  with  an  attack  on  a 
fort  at  Tangku,  which,  after  an  assault,  was  entered 
by  both  armies  at  the  same  time.  The  Taku  forts 
gallantly  withstood  an  assault  made  by  the  French, 
and  only  yielded  to  a  combined  attack  of  both 
French  and  English,  leaving  the  whole  of  their  war 
material  in  the  hands  of  the  allies.  The  Chinese 
government  then,  as  a  pretext  for  delay,  entered 
into  negotiations  for  peace,  but  faithlessly  seized  the 
English  commissioners,  together  with  some  other 
gentlemen,  and  subjected  them  to  many  indignities 
and  cruelties.  All  negotiations  were  at  once 
broken  off,  and  the  allied  forces  advanced  into 
the  country,  overcoming  all  opposition,  until  they 
reached  the  neighbourhood  of  Pekin,  which  Lord 
Elgin  threatened  to  storm  unless  his  terms  were 
acceded  to.  The  Chinese  evaded  these  demands, 
and  the  armies  advanced,  the  French  making  their 
entry  into  the  emperor's  summer  palace.  The 
conquerors  did  not  show  the  virtues  of  their  supe- 
rior civilization  in  the  face  of  a  semi-barbarous 


158 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


enemy.  The  acts  of  the  French  troops  recall  the 
depredations  of  the  early  English  navigators  on  the 
Spanish  coast  of  America.  The  pillage  was  whole- 
sale, the  destruction  most  wanton.  The  public 
reception  hall,  the  state  and  private  bedrooms, 
ante-rooms,  boudoirs,  and  every  other  apartment, 
were  ransacked ;  articles  of  virtu,  of  native  and 
foreign  workmanship,  taken  or  broken,  if  too  large 
to  be  carried  away ;  ornamental  lattice-work, 
screens,  jade-stone  ornaments,  jars,  clocks,  watches, 
and  other  pieces  of  mechanism,  curtains  and  furni- 
ture— none  escaped  destruction.  There  were  ex- 
tensive wardrobes  of  every  article  of  dress  ;  coats 
richly  embroidered  in  silk  and  gold  thread,  in  the 
imperial  dragon  pattern,  boots,  head-dresses,  fans, 
&c,  in  fact,  rooms  all  but  filled  with  them,  store- 
rooms of  manufactured  silk  in  rolls,  all  destroyed. 

The  English  followed  the  French,  and  in  order 
to  intimidate  the  Chinese,  and  to  make  it  plain 
to  them  that  their  semi-barbarism  gave  them  no 
advantage  in  the  face  of  Western  civilization,  burnt 
the  palace  to  the  ground.  The  Chinese  government, 
now  convinced,  against  their  will,  of  the  useless- 
ness  of  further  resistance,  accepted  the  conditions 
offered  by  the  allies. 

It  deserves  notice  that  the  Emperor  Napoleon, 
in  his  speech  on  the  opening  of  the  French  Cham- 
bers in  March,  1860,  vindicated  himself  against  the 
charge  of  meanness  in  exacting  Nice  and  Savoy  as 
the  price  of  his  aid  to  Italy.  "  Looking  at  the  trans- 
formation of  North  Italy,  which  gives  to  a  powerful 
state  all  the  passes  of  the  Alps,  it  was  my  duty,  for 
the  security  of  our  frontiers,  to  claim  the  French 
slopes  of  the  mountains.  The  re-assertion  of  a 
claim  to  a  territory  of  small  extent  has  nothing 
in  it  to  alarm  Europe,  and  give  a  denial  to  the 
policy  of  disinterestedness  which  I  have  proclaimed 
more  than  once;  for  France  does  not  wish  to 
proceed  to  this  aggrandizement,  however  small 
it  may  be,  either  by  military  occupation,  or  by 
provoking  insurrections,  or  by  under-hand  man- 
oeuvres, but  by  frankly  explaining  the  question  to 
the  great  powers.  They  will  doubtless  understand 
in  their  equity,  as  France  would  certainly  under- 
stand it  for  each  of  them  under  similar  circum- 
stances, that  the  important  territorial  re-arrangement 
which  is  about  to  take  place,  gives  us  a  right  to 
a  guarantee  indicated  by  nature  herself." 

Neighbouring  nations  did  not  take  the  view  of 
the  annexation  which  the  emperor  would  have 
had  them  take.     But  what  could  they  say  when 


an  appeal  to  universal  suffrage  among  the  natives 
confirmed  the  annexation? 

Switzerland  raised  a  feeble  protest  against  the 
absorption  of  these  provinces  into  the  empire  of 
France ;  but  she  met  with  a  response  due  to  her 
weakness.  About  this  time  the  massacre  of  Chris- 
tians in  Syria  by  the  Mohammedans  called  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Western  powers  to  that  part  of  the  world. 
Armed  intervention  was  acknowledged  to  be  the 
only  effective  means  to  quell  the  disturbances ;  and 
a  convention  was  signed  by  England  and  France, 
in  virtue  of  which  France,  with  the  consent  of 
Turkey,  sent  a  brigade,  under  the  command  of 
General  de  Beaufort  d'Hautpool,  to  the  scene  of 
disorder,  in  August,  1860.  The  appearance  of  the 
French  flag  speedily  put  an  end  to  the  evils  under 
which  the  Cliristians  were  suffering.  By  the  terms 
of  the  convention  the  time  of  the  French  occupa- 
tion had  been  fixed  for  six  months.  During  this 
time  it  had  been  arranged,  that  a  commission  made 
up  of  representatives  of  France  and  England  was 
to  meet  at  Beyrout,  and  to  concert  measures  for 
the  maintenance  of  order,  and  the  safety  of  the 
Christian  inhabitants  of  Lebanon.  The  six  months 
expired  on  the  3rd  March,  1861,  and  in  February 
the  commissioners  had  not  completed  their  labours. 
The  English  government  was  little  disposed  to 
favour  an  extension  of  the  stay  of  the  French 
brigade,  but  consented  to  a  limited  delay  of 
four  months.  On  the  5th  July  the  French 
troops  evacuated  Syria.  A  good  deal  of  ill-feeling 
was  excited  in  France  by  the  conduct  of  England 
in  this  matter.  The  French  could  not  understand 
the  jealousy  with  which  their  sole  interference 
in  the  affairs  of  the  East  was  regarded  by  English 
politicians. 

The  French  troops  had  hardly  returned  from 
Syria,  when  fresh  employment  was  found  for  them 
in  the  Western  hemisphere.  For  some  years  the 
internal  affairs  in  Mexico  had  presented  nothing 
but  a  scene  of  confusion.  Eevolution  succeeded 
revolution.  Anarchy  alone  seemed  to  possess  any 
stability.  This  state  of  things  finally  called  for  the 
intervention  of  those  governments  whose  subjects 
had  been  the  chief  victims  of  the  exactions  of  the 
various  Mexican  rulers.  On  the  10th  November, 
1861,  a  convention  was  signed  by  France,  Spain, 
and  England,  by  which  these  powers  agreed  to 
demand  by  force  of  arms  redress  for  their  injured 
countrymen.  This  undertaking  by  no  means  met 
with  universal  approval  in  France.       The  French 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


159 


people  had  grown  tired  of  distant  campaigns,  and 
showed  small  desire  to  have  in  America  a  pendant 
to  the  wars  in  Asia.  The  successes  of  the  French 
army  in  Cochin  China,  where  some  few  thousand 
men  strove  bravely  against  superior  numbers  and 
the  dangers  of  the  climate,  for  the  sake  of  establish- 
ing a  French  colony,  had  not  been  received  with 
general  approbation.  It  was  felt  that  the  losses 
and  the  expenses  of  the  expedition  would  far 
exceed  any  substantial  gain,  and  the  imperial 
government  was  accused  of  being  swayed  too 
easily  by  the  national  taste  for  military  affairs. 
It  was  thought,  moreover,  unwise  to  create  com- 
plications in  America,  when  so  many  beset  the 
very  borders  of  France. 

At  the  time  the  allied  expedition  set  out, 
Juarez,  the  chief  of  the  liberal  party,  held  the 
reins  of  power.  The  intentions  of  the  European 
governments,  as  officially  declared,  were  "to  compel 
Mexico  to  fulfil  the  obligations  already  solemnly 
contracted,  and  to  give  a  guarantee  of  a  more 
efficient  protection  for  the  persons  and  property 
of  their  respective  countrymen  ; "  but  the  allied 
powers  declined  any  intervention  in  the  domestic 
affairs  of  the  country,  and  especially  any  exercise 
of  pressure  on  the  will  of  the  population  with' 
regard  to  their  choice  of  a  government.  The  first 
act  of  the  allies  was  to  sign  a  convention  with 
Juarez  at  La  Soledad,  confirming  the  president's 
authority.  The  allied  forces  were  allowed,  during 
the  progress  of  negotiations,  to  occupy  the  towns 
of  Cordova,  Orizaba,  and  Tehuacan,  places  favour- 
able to  the  health  of  the  soldiers,  while  the  Mexican 
flag,  which  had  been  lowered  at  the  approach  of 
the  allies,  was  allowed  to  float  over  Vera  Cruz. 
England,  abandoning  all  intention  of  advancing 
into  the  country,  ratified  the  signature  of  its  pleni- 
potentiary. Spain,  though  not  giving  up  the 
enterprise  so  readily,  did  not  disavow  the  signature 
of  General  Prim.  France,  however,  declared  boldly 
that  she  could  not  accept  the  convention  of  La  Sole- 
dad,  which  was  "counter  to  the  national  dignity." 

This  step  of  the  French  government  at  once 
roused  the  suspicion  that  its  interference  in  Mexi- 
can affairs  was  prompted  by  other  considerations 
than  the  simple  interests  of  Frenchmen  residing  in 
Mexico.  As  soon  as  the  Spanish  and  English 
realized  the  awkwardness  of  their  position,  their 
only  anxiety  was  not  to  let  slip  any  opportunity 
of  breaking  with  their  ally.  A  pretext  soon 
came.       Among   the   French    staff  had   come   a 


Mexican  exile,  by  name  Almonte,  who  was  an 
object  of  suspicion  to  Juarez  on  account  of  his 
monarchical  opinions.  Juarez  demanded  his  sur- 
render as  a  traitor,  and  was  supported  in  his 
demands  by  England.  The  French  could  not  in 
honour,  even  if  they  had  been  willing,  listen  to  a 
demand  of  this  kind.  The  result  of  this  difference 
was  that  the  French,  about  5000  in  number,  were 
left  alone,  while  the  English  and  Spaniards  re- 
turned to  Europe  together.  Hostilities  soon  broke 
out,  and  an  attempt  made  by  the  French  to  take 
Puebla  signally  failed.  In  the  winter  of  1862, 
however,  General  Forey  arrived  with  30,000  men, 
captured  that  city,  and  then  marched  to  Mexico, 
where  he  met  with  no  opposition.  The  programme 
of  French  policy  was  now  fully  declared,  and  the 
Archduke  Maximilian  of  Austria  was  announced  as 
a  candidate  for  the  throne  of  Mexico  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  the  church  or  reactionist  paTty,  whose  motto, 
"  God  and  order,"  was  opposed  to  that  of  the 
liberals  or  Juarists,  "  Liberty  and  independence." 

Maximilian,  on  receiving  the  offer  of  the  sceptre 
of  Mexico,  hesitated  long  ere  he  yielded  to  the  per- 
suasions of  the  Mexican  commissioners,  backed  by 
the  French  cabinet.  His  acceptance  of  the  throne 
took  place  on  April  10,  1864,  and  was  followed  by 
the  treaty  of  Miramar,  concluded  between  him  and 
France,  which  bound  the  latter  power  to  maintain  a 
military  force  in  Mexico  on  certain  settled  conditions. 
By  the  beginning  of  the  year  1865,  thanks  to 
General  Bazaine's  zeal  and  activity,  Mexico,  for  the 
first  time  since  its  independence,  was  almost  at 
peace.  A  national  army  had  been  organized;  im- 
portant towns  had  been  put  into  a  state  of  defence, 
so  far  as  earthworks  and  guns  availed  for  that  end, 
and  the  various  government  factories  of  arms  had 
been  re-organized  and  refurnished.  Could  Maxi- 
milian have  insured  the  continued  presence  of  a 
European  force,  his  plans  might  have  been  carried 
out  to  a  successful  issue,  and  order  established  in 
Mexico  on  a  firm  basis;  but,  unfortunately,  he 
soon  discovered  the  futility  of  single  attempts  to 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  a  degenerate  people. 
Wherever  the  French  troops  put  down  opposition, 
and  confided  their  conquests  to  Mexican  troops, 
liberals  would  immediately  reappear  in  arms  and 
retake  their  old  positions.  Not  till  the  end  of 
1865  was  Juarez,  who  still  styled  himself  the 
president  of  the  republic,  at  length  subdued.  He 
was  driven  from  Chihuahua,  the  last  stronghold  of 
the  liberal  cause,  into  the  territory  of  the  United 


160 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


States.  The  spring  of  1866,  however,  opened 
unhappily  on  the  new  empire.  Its  resources  were 
not  equal  to  the  strain  of  constant  warfare,  and 
the  troops,  not  receiving  their  pay,  resumed  their 
more  natural  character  of  marauders.  The  im- 
perial finances  fell  into  such  a  critical  position, 
that  Bazaine  took  upon  himself  to  advance  Maxi- 
milian money,  to  the  no  small  displeasure  of 
the  cabinet  of  the  Tuileries.  In  fact,  the  govern- 
ment and  people  of  France  were  beginning  to 
regret  their  share  in  the  founding  of  the  new 
Mexican  empire.  The  French  people,  who  had 
been  induced  by  the  statements  of  the  minis- 
ters to  take  up  two  Mexican  loans,  had  gra- 
dually been  enlightened  as  to  the  real  state  of 
matters,  both  military  and  political,  in  Mexico. 
Other  causes  influenced  the  French  government. 
On  the  one  hand,  events  happened  in  Germany  in 
1866  that  made  France  anxious  to  have  all  her  avail- 
able strength  within  reach;  and,  on  the  other,  the 
United  States'  government  had  informed  the  French 
cabinet,  even  in  1864,  that  the  unanimous  feeling 
of  the  American  people  was  opposed  to  the  recog- 
nition of  a  monarchy  in  Mexico.  As  time  wore 
on,  and  the  Washington  government  had  more 
leisure  for  external  affairs,  they  expressed  them- 
selves in  more  decided  terms.  To  a  note  addressed 
to  the  Tuileries  in  December,  1865,  the  French 
government  was  constrained  to  answer  that  it 
was  disposed  to  hasten  as  much  as  possible  the 
recall  of  its  troops  from  Mexico.  Emboldened 
his  success,  Mr.  Seward,  the  American  minister, 
on  the  12th  February,  1866,  worded  a  still  more 
pressing  message,  the  rudeness  of  which  was  very 
galling  to  French  dignity.  Mr.  Seward,  however, 
gained  the  day,  and  the  emperor  agreed  to  make 
arrangements  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  French 
troops  from  Mexico,  a  step  that  would  leave 
Maximilian  to  his  own  resources,  by  the  autumn 
of  1867. 

Bazaine  had  the  unpleasant  task  of  communi- 
cating his  orders  to  Maximilian.  The  return  of 
Almonte,  whom  the  emperor  had  sent  to  Napoleon 
to  endeavour  to  procure  fairer  terms,  and  on  whose 
embassy  both  he  and  the  empress  had  built  great 
hopes,  in  nowise  changed  the  aspect  of  affairs. 
The  imperial  family  naturally  complained  of  the 
breach  of  faith  on  the  part  of  France.  Maximilian 
asserted  that  he  had  been  tricked;  that  a  formal 
convention  had  been  entered  into  between  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  and  himself,  which  guaranteed 


the  assistance  of  the  French  troops  till  the  end  of 
the  year  1868.  He  felt  that  but  one  course  was 
left  for  him.  On  July  7  he  took  pen  in  hand 
to  sign  his  abdication.  The  empress,  however, 
prevailed  ■  on  him  to  delay  this  step  till  she  had 
tried  in  her  own  person  to  gain  a  favourable  hear- 
ing from  the  ruler  of  the  destinies  of  France. 
With  this  design  the  Empress  Charlotte  landed 
in  France  on  the  18th  August,  1866,  and  hastened 
to  Paris,  where  her  success  was  as  small  as  might 
have  been  expected.  Napoleon  tried  to  evade 
giving  her  an  audience;  but  her  entreaties  were 
so  passionate  that  he  was  compelled  at  last  to 
give  way.  The  answer  she  received  crushed  all 
her  hopes,  and  completely  unhinged  the  poor 
lady's  mind.  In  the  meantime  the  dissolution  of 
the  Mexican  empire  went  on.  Maximilian  per- 
haps hastened  its  pace,  by  leaving  the  party  which 
had  supported  liim,  because  it  was  the  French 
party,  and  by  selecting  his  cabinet  from  the 
extreme  clerical  party.  The  effect  was  to  imme- 
diately increase  the  growing  disaffection.  On 
December  1,  1866,  Maximilian  further  crippled 
himself  by  signing  a  convention  extorted  by 
France,  by  which  half  the  proceeds  of  the  custom- 
houses of  Vera  Cruz  and  Tampico  were  assigned 
to  France  in  payment  of  her  debt.  The  evacua- 
tion of  Mexico  by  the  French  troops  was  the 
signal  for  risings  and  desertions.  To  the  trouble 
of  his  empire  was  added  the  anguish  caused  by 
the  intelligence  of  his  wife's  illness.  He  then 
recurred  to  his  former  purpose,  and  prepared  to 
leave  for  Europe;  but  the  members  of  the  extreme 
clerical  party  prevailed  on  him,  by  offers  of  active 
support  in  money  and  men,  to  change  his  inten- 
tion and  return  to  Mexico.  The  clerical  party 
kept  their  promises;  but  their  measures  excited 
the  opposition  of  almost  every  class  in  the  country 
but  the  priests.  The  French  withdrew  from 
Mexico  even  before  the  time  announced  to  the 
United  States  as  the  term  of  the  French  occupa- 
tion, exacting  from  their  unfortunate  protege 
heavy  pecuniary  claims  ere  they  left  him.  Bereft 
of  every  aid  save  that  of  native  Mexicans,  Maxi- 
milian's empire  quickly  fell.  His  troops,  which 
the  presence  of  French  soldiers  had  not  been 
sufficient  to  keep  in  thorough  subordination, 
yielded  everywhere  to  the  successful  liberals. 
Town  after  town  fell  into  the  hands  of  Juarez 
or  of  his  generals.  On  the  19th  June,  1867,  the 
final  act  of  the  tragedy  was  played,  Maximilian, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


161 


who  liad  foolishly  left  Mexico  for  Queretaro,  an 
unfortified  town,  fell  into  the  hands  of  Juarez, 
was  tried  by  court  martial,  and  by  the  president's 
orders  condemned  to  be  shot.  This  heinous 
crime  was  not  without  excuse.  The  refusal  of 
the  imperialists  in  Mexico  to  look  upon  Juarez  in 
any  other  light  than  as  a  guerilla  chief  in  rebellion, 
naturally  exasperated  the  feelings  of  the  liberals, 
who,  as  events  showed,  possessed  the  sympathies 
of  the  majority  of  the  Mexican  nation.  Juarez 
was,  as  he  persisted  in  proclaiming  himself,  presi- 
dent of  the  Eepublic.  A  decree  of  Maximilian's 
issued  in  October,  1865,  had  excited  feelings  of 
revenge,  for  it  declared  that  execution  awaited 
every  man  taken  in  arms  against  the  emperor,  and 
by  virtue  of  it  Generals  Arteaga  and  Salazzar 
were  executed.  A  few  days  after  Maximilian's 
death  Mexico  capitulated;  and  on  the  27th  June 
Vera  Cruz  was  occupied,  as  the  last  of  the  foreign 
troops  were  embarking.  Thus  the  attempt  to 
establish  monarchical  government  in  Mexico  ended 
in  a  failure,  of  which  one  of  the  terrible  conse- 
quences was  the  cruel  death  of  a  distinguished 
representative  of  one  of  the  noblest  families  in 
Europe.  His  tragical  end,  and  the  scarcely  less 
mournful  fate  of  his  brave  and  amiable  consort, 
must  ever  remain  a  dark  stain  on  the  history  of 
the  second  French  empire. 

Both  the  military  and  the  political  prestige  of 
Napoleon  III.  were  dimmed  by  the  melancholy 
issue  of  the  Mexican  expedition.  Complications, 
too,  in  other  quarters  troubled  him.  His  relations 
with  Italy  were  not  the  least  embarrassing.  Com- 
mitted to  the  support  of  the  political  unity  of  Italy, 
he  was  yet  fully  aware  that  the  critical  position  of 
the  pope,  in  regard  to  his  temporal  power,  exas- 
perated the  Catholic  feeling  in  France.  The  clergy 
gave  the  signal  of  opposition,  and  seized  every 
opportunity  to  hamper  the  imperial  government. 
In  fact,  the  policy  of  the  French  cabinet,  like  most 
temporizing  measures,  was  pleasing  to  hardly  any 
party,  either  in  France  or  Italy.  The  friends  of 
Italy  in  France  demanded  the  recall  of  the  French 
troops  from  Rome,  while  the  opposite  party  still 
more  vehemently  urged  an  energetic  intervention 
in  favour  of  the  pope  and  the  dispossessed  Italian 
sovereigns.  The  emperor  had  no  easy  task  in 
mediating  between  these  two  extremes.  It  was 
not  without  hesitation  and  delay  that  the  emperor 
had  recognized  Victor  Emanuel  as  king  of  Italy. 
In  notifying  this  determination  to  the  cabinet  at 


Turin,  the  imperial  government  declared  that  it 
declined  beforehand  every  responsibility  in  enter- 
prises likely  to  disturb  the  peace  of  Europe ;  and 
that  the  French  troops  would  continue  the  occu- 
pation of  Rome  until  the  interests  which  had  brought 
them  there  were  covered  by  sufficient  guarantees. 
The  recognition  of  the  kingdom  of  Italy  put  an  end 
to  many  doubts  and  uncertainties.  Diplomatic 
relations  were  renewed  with  Turin,  where  M.  Bene- 
detti  was  accredited  in  quality  of  minister  plenipo- 
tentiary. The  principal  difficulty  was,  however, 
with  Rome.  On  the  28  th  May,  the  ambassadors  of 
Spain  and  Austria  had  addressed  joint  despatches 
to  offer  the  aid  of  their  governments,  should  France 
think  the  opportunity  a  fit  one,  to  unite  the  efforts 
of  the  Catholic  powers  in  securing  the  pope's 
temporal  power.  This  proposition  rested  on  the 
assumption  that  Rome  was  the  property  of  Catho- 
licism/and that  its  sovereignty  could  not  be  placed 
under  the  protection  of  any  but  the  spiritual  head 
of  the  Catholic  church.  The  French  minister  of 
foreign  affairs  evaded  the  difficulties  raised  by  this 
step  of  Spain  and  Austria,  by  declaring  that  the 
French  government,  in  its  general  policy  towards 
Italy,  would  not  join  any  combination  that  would 
be  incompatible  with  its  respect  for  the  dignity 
and  independence  of  the  papacy.  For  that  answer 
the  Italians  expressed  themselves  grateful,  and  the 
Catholic  party  could  offer  no  further  opposition  to 
French  policy. 

Napoleon  addressed  excellent  advice  to  the  pope ; 
but  his  holiness  was  not  of  a  character  amenable  to 
any  advice  that  clashed  with  his  cherished  opin- 
ions. "  The  Holy  Father,"  he  said,  "  cannot  con- 
sent to  anything  which,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
ratifies  in  any  manner  the  spoliation  of  which  he 
has  been  the  victim."  The  Gordian  knot  which 
diplomatists  were  endeavouring  slowly  to  untie, 
Garibaldi  resolved  to  cut  with  the  sword,  by  the 
expedition  already  described,  that  terminated  so 
unfortunately  for  him  at  Aspromonte.  It  was 
on  the  15th  September,  1864,  that  Napoleon 
signed,  with  the  Italian  government,  the  treaty 
which  is  known  as  the  September  Convention,  the 
articles  of  which  were  as  follows: — 1st,  Italy  en- 
gaged not  to  attack  the  papal  dominions,  and  to 
prevent  even,  by  force,  eveTy  attack  upon  the  said 
territory  coming  from  without.  2nd,  France  agreed 
gradually  to  withdraw  her  army  from  the  pontifical 
states  in  proportion  as  the  pope's  army  should  be 
organized.     The  evacuation,  nevertheless,  was  to 


162 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


be  accomplished  within  the  space  of  two  years. 
3rd,  The  Italian  government  undertook  to  raise 
no  protest  against  the  organization  of  a  papal  army, 
even  if  composed  of  foreign  Catholic  volunteers, 
sufficing  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  frontier 
of  the  papal  states,  provided  that  the  force  should 
not  degenerate  into  a  means  of  attack  against  the 
Italian  government.  4th,  Italy  declared  herself  ready 
to  enter  into  an  arrangement  to  take  the  burden  of  a 
proportionate  part  of  the  debt  of  the  former  states 
of  the  church. 

In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  this  convention, 
on  the  11th  December,  1866,  the  French  troops 
left  Rome  for  Civita  Vecchia,  and  embarked  for 
France.  The  Italians  soon  began  to  exhibit  signs 
of  impatience  at  the  restraint  diplomacy  had  put 
on  their  movements.  Insurrectionary  committees 
were  formed  throughout  Italy,  with  no  attempt  at 
repression  on  the  part  of  the  government.  Men 
were  openly  enlisted  by  them.  Eatazzi,  the  Italian 
minister,  at  length  bestirred  himself  to  check  any 
measures  the  Italian  nation  might  take  without  the 
sanction  of  the  government.  Garibaldi  was  arrested 
on  his  way  to  the  papal  frontier.  Everywhere, 
however,  and  from  all  classes,  Garibaldi  received 
an  ovation,  while  Eatazzi  met  with  proportionate 
disfavour.  Bowing  to  this  expression  of  the  popular 
will,  he  allowed  Garibaldi  to  return  to  Caprera. 
He  endeavoured  to  palliate  his  conduct  to  the 
French  ambassador  by  intimating  to  him  that 
Garibaldi  had  given  it  to  be  understood  that  he 
would  not  leave  his  island  again  without  the  per- 
mission of  the  Italian  government — a  statement 
that  was  denied  by  Garibaldi  as  soon  as  it  reached 
his  ears.  At  the  request  of  Victor  Emanuel, 
Napoleon,  who  had  ordered  the  French  fleet  to 
return  to  Italy,  rescinded  his  order.  Garibaldi, 
meantime,  contrived  in  a  small  boat  to  pass  the 
ships  set  to  watch  Caprera,  and  getting  on  board 
an  American  vessel,  landed  on  the  continent. 
He  made  no  secret  of  his  design,  but  publicly 
harangued  the  populace  at  Florence.  Eejecting 
the  advice  offered  him  by  General  Cialdini,  he  set 
out  in  a  special  train  for  the  frontier.  His  presence 
soon  united  the  scattered  elements  of  disaffec- 
tion; and  entering  the  papal  dominions,  on  the 
25th  October  he  gave  battle  to  3000  pontifical 
troops,  whom  he  defeated,  at  Monte  Eotondo.  His 
aim  was  to  push  on  to  Eome  without  delay,  and  get 
possession  of  the  city  by  a  coup  de  main,  before 
the  arrival  of  the  French  troops.      His  plan  was 


frustrated,  however,  by  the  resistance  he  met  with 
from  the  pope's  forces.  The  French  army,  which 
on  the  receipt  of  the  intelligence  of  Garibaldi's 
escape  from  Caprera  had  at  once  embarked  for 
Italy,  landed  at  Civita  Vecchia  on  the  29th  October, 
and  hastened  to  the  scene  of  action.  This  second 
occupation  of  Eome  by  foreigners  sorely  wounded 
Italian  pride ;  and  Menabrea,  the  general  of  the 
regular  Italian  army,  was  ordered  to  enter  the 
pontifical  states.  Commands  were  issued  to  Gari- 
baldi, at  the  same  time,  to  fall  behind  the  royal 
lines.  In  carrying  out  this  order,  Garibaldi, 
with  5000  men,  was  attacked  on  the  3rd  November 
at  Mentana,  by  3000  of  the  papal  soldiers,  and 
2000  French,  under  the  command  of  Generals 
Kanzler  and  Polhes.  The  fight  lasted  four  hours. 
At  night,  so  little  was  known  for  certain  of  the 
issue  of  the  engagement,  that  fresh  troops  were 
sent  from  Eome.  A  little  later,  however,  Mentana 
capitulated,  and  Garibaldi,  leaving  500  dead  on 
the  field  and  1600  prisoners  in  the  hands  of 
his  opponents,  effected  his  retreat  into  Italian 
territory,  and  surrendered  with  his  followers  to 
General  Eicotti,  by  whom  he  was  sent  to  Fort 
Varignano,  near  Spezzia.  He  was  soon  after 
allowed  to  return  once  more  to  Caprera.  The  vic- 
tory of  Mentana  was  in  a  great  measure  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  French  contingent  was  armed  with 
Chassepot  rifles.  The  advantage  the  possession  of 
this  weapon  gave  may  be  estimated  by  the  fact 
that  the  Garibaldians  left  600  dead  and  200  wounded 
behind  them,  while  the  French  losses  amounted  to 
only  two  men  killed  and  thirty-six  wounded.  The 
pope's  soldiers  lost  twenty  men  killed  and  had 
123  wounded.  After  the  episode  of  Mentana  the 
Italians  made  no  further  attempt  forcibly  to  dis- 
possess the  pope  of  his  temporal  power,  but  resigned 
themselves  to  the  tedious  ways  of  diplomacy.  The 
only  consequence  of  Garibaldi's  efforts  in  1867  was 
that  the  French  tricolor  again  waved  over  Italian 
soil. 

In  the  rest  of  Europe  France  had  not  played 
the  high-handed  part  she  did  in  Italy.  The  year 
1863  witnessed  an  act  of  Napoleon  which  deserves 
mention,  notwithstanding  its  failure,  as  giving 
signs  of  a  wiser  policy  than  had  hitherto  prevailed 
in  European  councils.  The  emperor  issued  to  the 
various  sovereigns  of  Europe  letters  of  invitation 
to  a  congress,  at  which  all  the  questions  that  were 
filling  the  minds  of  politicians  with  anxiety  were 
i  to  be  settled,  and  tottering  peace  established  on 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


163 


a  surer  basis.  While  the  embers  of  war  were 
smouldering,  and  before  they  had  kindled  into  a 
blaze,  Napoleon  hoped  by  an  appeal  of  this  nature 
to  stay  a  conflagration  of  which  he  could  see  the 
disastrous  effects.  It  seemed,  too,  reasonable  to 
expect  that  the  patching  up  of  continually  widening 
rents  in  the  old  treaties,  or  their  recasting,  which 
would  have  to  follow  a  war,  could  be  done  better 
and  with  a  greater  hope  of  durability  than  if  the 
work  were  left  till  conflict  had  exasperated  the 
tempers  of  nations.  To  the  surprise  of  France 
the  first  refusal,  not  too  courteously  expressed, 
of  the  emperor's  proposal  came  from  England,  and 
produced  a  soreness  in  the  relations  between  the 
two  countries.  The  example  of  England  was 
soon  followed,  on  various  pretexts,  by  the  other 
great  powers.  The  good  intentions  of  the  French 
emperor  were  not  questioned  by  any,  as  every 
minister  in  his  reply  took  pains  to  assure  him,  but 
doubts  were  freely  expressed  as  to  any  substantial 
results  of  the  congress.  Moreover,  Napoleon  was 
informed  that  no  state  could  allow  a  representative 
to  take  part  in  any  proceedings  without  a  previous 
knowledge  of  the  questions  to  be  discussed,  and 
their  proposed  settlements. 

The  idea  of  French  intervention  in  Poland  had 
been  found  impracticable.  The  insurrection  which 
broke  out  in  that  country  in  1863  was  suppressed 
by  the  Russian  government  with  great  harshness. 
Sympathy  for  the  cause  of  the  Poles  was  pretty 
general,  but  in  France  great  indignation  was 
expressed  at  the  treatment  they  were  receiving 
at  the  hands  of  their  conquerors.  The  French 
government  was  ready  to  go  to  war  for  Poland, 
if  they  could  have  secured  the  co-operation  of 
England  and  Austria.  A  proposal  was,  in  fact, 
made  to  these  countries  to  form  an  alliance  with 
France,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  in  concert 
from  Russia  some  guarantees  for  the  better  regula- 
tion of  Polish  affairs.  The  diplomatic  methods 
were  first  to  be  followed,  and  if  these  did  not 
succeed  other  means  were  to  be  resorted  to.  No 
country  except  France,  however,  was  prepared 
to  go  this  length,  and  the  emperor's  proposal  was 
declined,  though  each  of  the  three  powers  made 
separate  representations  to  Russia,  couched  in  simi- 
lar terms.  They  severally  asked  Russia  to  agree 
to  an  armistice,  that  negotiations  might  be  entered 
into  with  a  view  of  restoring  order  in  the  insurgent 
provinces,  and  thus  great  bloodshed  be  stayed. 
Russia   replied   with    an    absolute   refusal.       She 


would  not  recognize  the  right  of  any  other  nation 
to  offer  advice,  or  interfere  in  any  manner  with 
her  internal  policy,  and  pursued  the  strong 
measures  which  had  called  forth  their  remon- 
strances, with  no  less  harshness  than  before. 

The  year  1866  was  an  eventful  year,  and  full  of 
serious  import  for  all  countries  in  Europe;  but 
nowhere  did  the  circumstances  that  took  place  in 
Germany  attract  more  attention  than  they  did  in 
France.  The  settlement  of  the  question  of  the 
duchies  of  the  Elbe,  about  which  Austria  and 
Prussia  had  fought  side  by  side  two  years  before, 
attracted  the  attention  of  France  in  the  beginning 
of  1866  to  Germany.  The  conduct  of  Prussia 
in  this  affair,  and  the  consequences  to  the  peace 
of  Europe  that  many  foreboded  from  it,  added  to 
ignorance  of  the  policy  likely  to  be  pursued  by 
the  government  in  the  expected  crisis,  created 
great  uneasiness  amongst  all  classes  in  France. 
The  mercantile  world  suffered  a  panic  from  this 
general  feeling  of  insecurity.  The  funds  and 
personal  securities  were  affected  to  as  great  an 
extent  as  if  France  herself  had  been  at  war.  When, 
later  in  the  year,  the  worst  anticipations  were 
realized,  and  the  six  weeks'  war  between  the  lead- 
ing powers  of  Germany  was  waged,  the  feeling  of 
anxiety  and  alarm  was  not  lessened  by  the  success 
of  Prussia.  With  the  exception  of  the  actors  in 
this  event,  no  country  felt  the  effects  of  the  victory 
of  Prussia  so  much  as  France.  For  when  the 
North  German  Confederation  became  nominally  a 
league  of  independent  states,  but  really  an  empire 
of  which  Prussia  held  the  entire  control,  the  posi- 
tion of  ascendancy  in  Europe  that  France  had  so 
long  occupied  was  shaken.  In  face  of  the  new 
power,  which  had  shown  itself  possessed  of  such 
capital  military  organization,  and  had  evinced  such 
ability  in  conducting  the  operations  of  war,  the 
French  people  began  to  feel  distrust  in  the  capacity 
of  the  imperial  government  to  vindicate  the  interests 
of  their  country.  Suspicions,  indeed,  floated  about, 
that  the  neutrality  of  France  in  the  struggle 
between  Austria  and  Prussia  had  been  bought 
with  a  promise  that  was  not  to  be  fulfilled. 
The  price  was  even  hinted  at.  There  was  to  be, 
so  went  the  rumours,  a  rectification  of  the  frontier 
at  the  expense  of  either  Germany  or  Belgium. 
The  emperor  was  believed  to  have  been  over- 
reached, and  to  have  been  unable  to  get  the 
compensation,  whatever  it  was,  which  Prussia  had 
engaged   to   give.       Thiers  did   not   hesitate    to 


164 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


upbraid  the  government  for  its  tolerance  of 
Prussia's  acts.  This  statesman's  patriotism,  which 
objected  to  the  unity  of  Italy,  would  have  had 
France  oppose  by  force  the  amalgamation  into  one 
nation  of  the  separate  and  independent  states  be- 
yond the  Ehine.  Now  that  Germany  had  achieved 
her  unity,  with  the  co-operation  of  the  emperor,  as 
he  said,  Thiers  pressed  upon  the  government  the 
adoption  of  a  firm  policy,  supported  by  a  vigorous 
organization  of  the  military  forces  of  France.  It 
was  in  vain  that  the  emperor  by  his  despatches 
tried  to  reassure  the  people  of  the  unaltered  posi- 
tion of  their  country.  Popular  opinion  was  on 
the  side  of  Thiers.  With  the  intent  to  inspire  the 
people  with  greater  confidence,  a  new  map  of 
Europe  was  published  in  1868,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  government.  In  this  map  was  shown  how 
France  in  resources  and  population  still  surpassed 
Germany,  after  all  the  changes  that  had  taken 
place  in  that  country.  Had  only  these  resources 
been  handled  with  ability  and  honesty,  France 
would,  indeed,  have  had  no  just  cause  for  fear. 

The  ill-gotten  power  which  Napoleon  had 
wielded  for  eighteen  years  in  France  and  Europe 
was  evidently  on  the  wane,  and  he  cast  about 
anxiously  for  an  opportunity  of  re-establishing  his 
authority,  if  he  could  not  recover  his  fame  for 
successful  cleverness.  Germany,  the  object  of 
such  burning  jealousy  ever  since  Sadowa,  offered 
itself  as  a  field  for  some  striking  warlike  achieve- 
ment. France  has  been  an  evil  neighbour  to 
Germany  for  nearly  400  years,  says  an  eminent 
writer.  All  readers  of  history  know  what  a  per- 
sistent spirit  of  universal  aggression  and  dictation 
set  in  with  the  ministry  of  Richelieu  and  the 
reign  of  Louis  XIV.  Both  the  Napoleons  upheld 
France's  right  to  give  law  to  Europe.  Details  of 
the  negotiations  between  England  and  France 
in  1831  and  in  1840,  prove  that  under  the 
Orleanists  and  the  peace-loving  monarch,  Louis 
Philippe,  the  encroaching  and  dictatorial  spirit  of 
the  nation  was  as  rampant  and  ingrained  as  ever. 
The  whole  life  of  M.  Thiers,  an  eminently  repre- 
sentative man,  a  typical  Frenchmen;  all  his  writ- 
ings, all  his  speeches,  every  action  of  his  ministerial 
career,  have  been  inspired  by  this  spirit,  and  have 
breathed  the  pretension,  that  France's  voice  ought 
to  be,  and  must  be  made,  paramount  in  determin- 
ing all  political  and  international  arrangements, 
and  that  no  other  nation  must  be  suffered  to  grow 
strong  lest  France  should  grow  relatively  weak. 


The  unfortunate  Prevost  Paradol,  also  a  leading 
spirit  among  the  better  class  of  Frenchmen,  in  the 
last  melancholy  chapter  of  his  "  France  Nouvelle,' 
warned  his  countrymen  in  the  most  solemn  manner, 
that  the  unity  of  Germany,  if  once  accomplished, 
would  be  the  fall  and  humiliation  of  France;  that 
talent,  literature,  the  graces  and  the  pleasures  of 
existence,  might  still  remain  to  her,  but  that  life, 
power,  splendour,  and  glory  would  be  gone.  At 
the  unification  of  Germany  France  would  disappear 
from  the  political  scene. 

The  Great  Frederick  of  Prussia,  wrote  one  of 
the  most  moderate  of  French  organs  of  public 
opinion  after  Sadowa,  perfectly  comprehended  that 
the  expansive  force  of  France  was  turned  to  the 
side  of  Germany.  "  France,"  said  he,  "  is  bounded 
on  the  west  by  the  Pyrenees,  which  separate  it 
from  Spain,  and  form  a  barrier  which  nature  her- 
self has  placed  there.  The  ocean  serves  as  a 
boundary  on  the  north  of  France,  the  Mediter- 
ranean and  the  Alps  on  the  south.  But  on  the 
east  France  has  no  other  limits  than  those  of  its 
own  moderation  and  justice.  Alsace  and  Lorraine, 
dismembered  from  the  empire,  have  carried  to 
the  Ehine  the  frontier  line  of  the  domination  of 
France."  That  this,  continues  the  French  writer, 
the  only  side  on  which,  according  to  Frederick, 
we  are  not  suffocated  by  the  obstacle  of  a  natural 
barrier,  should  be  closed  upon  us  by  the  mass 
of  an  enormous  state,  is  a  fact  so  contrary  to  all 
our  national  existence,  and  to  the  natural  constitu- 
tion of  France,  that  it  is  impossible  that  French 
bosoms  should  not  be  oppressed  by  it.  The  idea 
of  suffocation  is  very  characteristic  of  the  excit- 
able French  mind.  England  has  to  endure  being 
suffocated  by  ocean  all  round  her,  and  content  her- 
self with  expansion  in  colonies  and  dependencies. 
Italy  is  equally  shut  in  by  the  Alps  ;  Spain  by  the 
Pyrenees.  But  France,  like  a  steam-boiler,  must 
have  an  open  valve — must  have  the  means  of  ex- 
pansion ;  and  the  spirit  of  colonisation  is  not  in 
her  people. 

The  emperor  had  carefully  watched  the  develop- 
ment in  the  national  mind  of  that  alarmed  jealousy 
of  French  ascendancy  which  had  been  at  work 
ever  since  1866.  The  completeness  and  unex- 
pectedness of  the  Prussian  victories  in  the  war 
waged  by  King  William  with  the  rest  of  Germany, 
had  been  fondly  attributed  to  the  destructive  power 
of  the  needle-gun.  The  emperor,  therefore,  not 
only  gave  the  French  army  a  more  deadly  weapon 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


165 


in  the  Cliassepot  rifle,  the  arm  that  was  used  with 
such  fatal  effect  at  Mentana,  but  applied  his  own 
special  knowledge  of  artillery  to  the  invention  of  a 
still  more  formidable  engine  of  destruction,  since 
known  to  the  world  as  the  mitrailleuse.  Armed 
with  this  new  man-slayer  he  might,  he  thought, 
defy  the  German,  and  he  waited  for  a  convenient 
moment  to  throw  down  the  gauntlet  and  fight  for 
ascendancy  in  Europe.  Meanwhile,  to  pacify  men's 
minds  at  home,  and  perhaps  to  conceal  the  real 
tendency  of  his  foreign  policy,  he  suddenly  in 
December,  1869,  announced  his  intention  of  aban- 
doning the  personal  government  which  he  had 
maintained  so  long,  in  exchange  for  a  Parliamentary 
system  that  would  make  the  ministers  of  the  crown 
responsible  for  their  measures  to  the  Chambers,  and 
not  to  the  emperor  personally.  More  than  once 
before  had  Napoleon  shown  a  desire  to  relax  the 
restrictions  of  various  kinds  with  which  his  reign 
had  been  inaugurated,  but  his  hand  had  always  been 
held  back  by  those  partisans  who  had  risen  to  power 
with  him,  who  feared  to  loose  their  hold  from  the 
necks  of  the  people,  who  were  more  Bonapartist 
than  the  Bonapartes,  more  imbued  with  Cassarism 
than  Caasar  himself.  Let  every  reader  remember, 
as  he  reads  the  following  pages,  that  Napoleon 
III.  was  no  longer  an  exile,  seeing  public  affairs 
with  disabused  eyes ;  but  a  man  whose  high  station 
and  considerable  power  tempted  the  designing  to 
keep  him,  for  their  own  selfish  interests,  in  ignor- 
ance of  much  that  was  going  on  around  him.  The 
more  blind  they  could  keep  him,  the  easier  for 
them  was  it  to  work  out  their  own  ends.  His 
bad  health  and  undecided  will  favoured  then: 
narrow  unpatriotic  conduct.  Even  when  he  con- 
ceived a  project  evidently  safe  and  calculated  to 
prove  beneficial  to  the  country,  his  ministers,  the 
instruments  of  his  will,  as  they  were  supposed  to 
be,  took  care  to  pare  down  every  concession  to  the 
tone  of  their  own  minds,  and  to  the  level  of  their 
own  interests.  Such  is  the  inevitable  result  of 
personal  government. 

Whether  this  truth  had  impressed  itself  on  the 
emperor's  mind,  or  no,  is  not  in  evidence.  Certain 
it  is,  however,  that  two  days  after  the  Christmas- 
day  of  1869,  the  imperial  cabinet  was  dissolved, 
and  a  letter  from  the  emperor  was  published, 
inviting  M.  Emile  Ollivier,  an  eloquent  liberal  and 
opposition  member  of  the  Chamber,  to  aid  in  the 
task  his  Majesty  had  undertaken,  to  bring  into  regu- 
lar working  a  constitutional  system.     There  were 


not  unnatural  suspicions  in  the  public  mind,  that 
the  emperor  by  this  step  meant  rather  to  give  the 
semblance  than  the  substance  of  liberty  to  his 
subjects  ;  that  though  he  might  govern  under 
changed  forms,  he  would  govern  all  the  same. 
Had  he  been  sincerely  converted  to  the  theory 
of  constitutional  government,  it  was  thought  the 
direction  of  the  new  ministry  would  have  been 
confided  to  the  one  man  in  the  Assembly  who  had 
more  talent,  political  knowledge,  and  parliamentary 
experience  than  any  of  his  colleagues — M.  Thiers. 
This  veteran  statesman  had  for  six  years  occupied 
a  seat  in  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  second 
empire,  where,  by  dint  of  skilful  debating  and 
attractive  oratory,  he  had  succeeded  in  forming 
an  opposition  to  the  imperial  cabinet  which,  if 
not  very  formidable,  was  far  from  despicable.  Its 
influence  in  the  country  was  undoubtedly  greater 
than  its  influence  in  the  Chamber,  where  a  majority 
of  imperial  nominees  did  all  that  could  be  done  to 
stifle  discussion. 

In  M.  Emile  Ollivier,  a  man  of  unquestioned 
ability,  the  emperor  expected  doubtless  to  find  a 
more  pliable  and  manageable  minister  than  he 
would  have  had  in  the  ex-premier  of  Louis  Philippe, 
and  his  Majesty  was  not  disappointed.  One  great 
blot  of  the  old  system  was  the  injurious  pressure 
by  prefects  and  other  officials  at  the  election  of 
deputies,  in  favour  of  government  candidates.  The 
liberal  party  in  the  Chamber  disputed  the  validity 
of  these  elections,  and  attempted  to  exclude  the 
deputies  so  returned  from  the  Assembly.  M. 
Ollivier,  after  his  appointment  to  office,  forgetful 
of  his  liberal  creed,  instead  of  supporting  his 
old  friends  in  carrying  out  this  purification 
of  the  Chamber,  voted  with  the  government 
majority  that  confirmed  the  election  of  all 
the  official  candidates,  with  the  solitary  excep- 
tion of  one,  thus  rendering  the  verification  of 
returns  as  mere  a  form  as  it  had  been  in  the  worst 
days  of  personal  government.  Conduct  like  this 
alienated  many  supporters  from  the  new  minister, 
and  excited  general  suspicion.  He  found  a  diffi- 
culty in  forming  a  respectable  cabinet,  and  was,  it 
has  been  conjectured,  compelled  to  promise  specific 
measures  of  reform,  electoral  and  other,  in  order 
to  induce  men  like  Count  Daru  and  M.  Buffet 
to  accept  portfolios.  The  experiment  of  a  consti- 
tutional empire,  a  compromise  between  personal 
government  and  a  republic,  was  not  without  its 
perils.     The  emperor,  though  disposed  to  give  it  a 


166 


THE   FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


fair  trial,  had  himself  no  faith  in  the  system,  and 
unless  his  ministers  could  show  that  they  were 
backed  by  the  majority  of  the  people  of  France,  he 
would  in  all  likelihood  resume  the  power  of  which 
he  had  lately,  by  his  own  free  will,  relieved  himself. 

The  position  of  the  new  ministry  was  beset  by 
an  unexpected  difficulty,  in  an  incident  that  re- 
flected much  discredit  on  the  Bonaparte  family, 
and  rendered  it  the  object  of  intense  hatred  among 
the  extreme  republicans.  Two  or  three  journalists, 
including  M.  Victor  Noir,  belonging  to  that  party, 
feeling  offended  by  a  letter  that  Prince  Pierre  Bona- 
parte had  written,  called  at  that  gentleman's  house 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  an  explanation.  In 
the  interview  and  altercation  which  ensued  M. 
Victor  Noir  was  shot  dead  by  the  prince,  and  the 
other  journalists  fled  from  the  room.  That  a  savage 
act  of  this  kind  should  be  committed  by  a  relation 
of  the  emperor's,  however  distant,  was  enough  to 
serve  the  purpose  of  agitators  who  were  greedy  for 
opportunities  of  attacking  the  empire.  M.  Ollivier, 
as  minister  of  justice,  at  once  announced  that  a 
high  court  of  justice  would  be  assembled  at  Tours 
to  try  the  Prince  Pierre  for  the  crime  with  which 
he  was  charged.  There  was  no  truckling  to  the 
emperor  in  that  matter.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
law  had  to  vindicate  itself  against  the  violent  and 
unconstitutional  language  of  the  extreme  republi- 
cans. M.  Bochefort,  a  friend  and  fellow-journalist 
of  Victor  Noir's,  and  a  member  of  the  Chamber, 
was  tried  for  libel.  If  the  ministers  acted  without 
fear  of  the  emperor,  they  also  acted  without  fear 
of  the  mob.  These  were  symptoms  of  success  in 
the  constitutional  experiment.  The  firm  attitude 
of  the  government  overawed  the  would-be  rioters 
who  followed  Victor  Noir's  remains  to  the  grave, 
and  the  demonstration  which  was  planned  lor  the 
day  of  the  funeral  ended  in  the  bloodless  discom- 
fiture of  Bochefort  and  his  red  republicans.  The 
preservation  of  order,  the  repression  of  violent 
revolution,  was,  indeed,  the  only  thing  now  that 
inspired  devotion  to  Bonapartism.  The  glory  of 
the  first  empire,  and  of  its  warlike  founder,  had 
at  length  lost  its  glamour,  and  well  would  it  have 
been  for  Prance  if  Napoleon  III.  had  thoroughly 
understood  this  fact. 

Early  in  February  there  was  a  foolish  outbreak 
of  democrats,  headed  by  Gustave  Flourens,  which 
aimed  at  the  release  of  M.  Bochefort  from  prison. 
It  had  the  effect  of  keeping  Paris  uneasy  for  three 
days,  but  in  all  other  respects  was  harmless;  for 


although  six  hundred  persons  were  arrested,  the 
greater  number  of  them  were  speedily  released. 

As  the  year  advanced  it  seemed  to  grow  more 
evident,  from  speeches  of  Count  Daru  and  M.  Olli- 
vier, that  the  emperor  had  adopted  the  constitu- 
tional system  in  all  sincerity.  The  time  had  at 
last  arrived,  as  people  thought,  for  the  long  pro- 
mised "crowning  of  the  edifice"  of  government 
with  liberty.  But  the  emperor  found  it  easier  to 
humble  himself  before  the  force  of  circumstances 
than  to  humble  some  of  his  servants,  and  had  no 
small  difficulty  in  inducing  the  Senate  to  adopt  with 
him  "  all  the  reforms  demanded  by  the  constitu- 
tional government  of  the  empire."  It  is  possible 
that  his  faith  in  parliamentary  rule  was  no  stronger 
than  of  yore,  and  that  he  had  determined  to  give  it  a 
trial  under  a  conviction  that  it  would  fail,  and  per- 
sonal government  again  become  necessary.  Any- 
how, a  suspicion  of  this  kind  was  engendered  in 
the  minds  of  some  leading  politicians  on  the  pub- 
cation  of  the  senatus  consultum  at  the  end  of 
March.  In  this  document  the  imperial  govern- 
ment declared  that  "  the  constitution  cannot  be 
modified  except  by  the  people  on  the  proposition 
of  the  emperor."  The  emperor  was  evidently 
determined  to  maintain  and  extend  that  untrust- 
worthy political  instrument,  the  plebiscitum.  The 
senatus  consultum  further  limited  the  succession 
to  the  throne,  and  provided  for  an  election  by  the 
people  in  case  of  failure  of  heirs.  It  vested  the 
government  of  the  country  in  the  emperor,  his 
ministers,  the  Council  of  State,  the  Senate,  and  the 
Corps  Legislatif — the  last  two  assemblies  sharing 
with  the  emperor  the  power  of  legislation.  The 
emperor  was  made  responsible  before  the  French 
people,  to  whom  he  had  the  right  to  appeal,  his 
prerogatives  being  those  of  chief  of  the  state.  His 
ministers  were  held  responsible  to  the  Chambers, 
of  which  they  were  members  ej;  officio.  The  char- 
acter of  the  Senate  was  considerably  changed,  and 
the  power  given  to  it  in  1852  nearly  all  transferred 
to  the  lower  house,  the  Legislative  Assembly.  To 
the  surprise  of  every  one  who  believed  in  the  good 
faith  with  which  these  advances  to  constitutional 
freedom  had  been  made,  a  week  had  barely  elapsed 
from  the  publication  of  the  senatus  consultum, 
when  the  emperor  revealed  his  determination  at 
once  to  put  in  practice  the  principle  he  had  pro- 
mulgated of  his  right  to  appeal  to  the  people. 
Bepresentative  government  was  at  once  discredited. 
Besponsible  ministers  were  treated  as  puppets,  and 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


167 


their  legislative  labours  as  toys  to  be  cast  to  the 
variable  winds  of  a  popular  vote.  The  emperor 
apparently  had  resolved  to  show  the  Chambers 
that  there  was  a  power  superior  to  them  in  the 
country,  which  he  could  use  whenever  he  chose. 
What  use  in  legislating  for  reform,  or  anything 
else,  if  laws,  when  passed  by  the  Assembly  and  the 
Senate,  could  be  reversed  by  a  plebiscitum;  for  the 
minister  of  the  Interior,  with  the  army  of  prefects 
and  local  officials  at  his  command,  could  always 
insure  that  the  vote  should  be  agreeable  to  the 
emperor.  How  the  consent  of  any  of  the  ministers 
to  this  self-stultifying  resolution  was  obtained  can 
only  be  conjectured.  Certain  it  is  that  two  of 
the  most  eminent  amongst  them,  the  minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  Count  Daru,  and  M.  Buffet,  the 
minister  of  Public  Instruction,  resigned  office. 
The  Chamber  seemed  to  accept  the  slight  it  had 
received  with  perfect  humility,  and  an  entire  sense 
of  its  own  insignificance;  for  on  a  hint  from  M. 
Ollivier  that  it  might  be  in  the  way  during  the 
plebiscitary  period,  it  adjourned,  abnegating  its 
functions  at  the  most  critical  moment  of  a  parlia- 
mentary crisis.  Personal  government  was,  in  fact, 
restored  under  the  vain  show  of  parliamentary  forms. 

On  the  23rd  of  April  a  decree,  written,  it  is  said, 
by  the  emperor's  own  hand,  was  issued,  convoking 
the  French  nation  for  the  8th  of  May  in  their 
comitia,  to  accept  or  reject  the  following  plebisci- 
tum:— "  The  people  approve  the  liberal  reforms 
effected  in  the  constitution  since  1860  by  the 
emperor,  with  the  co-operation  of  the  great  bodies 
of  the  state,  and  ratifies  the  senatus  consultum  of 
the  20th  of  April,  1870."  The  votes  were  to  be 
simply  "  Aye  "  or  "  No,"  and  the  manifesto  was  to 
be  sent  to  every  voter,  who  would  learn,  probably 
for  the  first  time — such  was  the  political  ignorance 
of  the  majority  of  the  population — that  the  consti- 
tution had  undergone  a  change,  and  that  Napoleon 
was  the  author  of  what  was  good  in  that  change. 
Thus  the  usage  of  parliamentary  government,  that 
the  sovereign  should  not  speak  in  his  own  name  of 
political  matters,  but  by  the  mouth  of  a  responsible 
minister,  was  unceremoniously  ignored.  The  voters 
would  be  led  to  the  polling  booths  like  flocks  of 
sheep,  to  vote  as  they  were  told,  and  practically  to 
restore  their  "  saviour  of  society  "  to  undisputed 
autocratic  power. 

This  series  of  contradictory  transactions,  so  per- 
plexing to  ordinary  observers,  was  very  character- 
istic of  Napoleon  III.,  who  was  always  feeling  his 


way  and  making  tentative  experiments.  The  truth 
seems  to  be  that  the  emperor  and  the  imperialists 
had  been  considerably  alarmed  at  the  success  of 
the  liberals  at  the  elections  in  the  autumn  of  1869, 
and  had  made  these  proposals  for  a  representative 
government  under  the  influence  of  fear  ;  but  as  soon 
as  they  discovered  that  the  liberals,  after  all,  formed 
only  a  minority  that  might  safely  be  disregarded, 
they  took  measures  to  retrace  their  steps,  and 
applied  the  plebiscitum  as  a  test  of  their  strength. 
The  emperor,  in  a  proclamation,  clearly  refused  to 
recognize  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  as  the  acts  of 
the  people.  "  I  believe,"  he  said,  "  that  everything 
done  without  you  is  illegitimate."  Representation, 
delegation  of  power,  was  not,  in  his  opinion,  good 
for  the  people,  who,  to  the  number  of  eight  mil- 
lions, were  called  upon  to  give  a  direct  vote;  a 
vote,  too,  that  should  show  by  a  large  majority  how 
strong  the  government  was  in  the  popular  esteem. 
Virtually  the  vote  to  be  taken  was  for  the  emperor 
and  personal  government,  against  the  liberals  and 
parliamentary  government.  In  point  of  numbers 
there  was  no  doubt  on  which  side  the  majority 
would  be,  but  the  minority  would  include  nearly 
all  the  intelligence  and  political  honesty  of  the 
country.  M.  Ollivier,  whom  Guizot  styled  "  a 
practical  Lamartine,"  cruelly  betrayed  the  cause 
of  liberalism  when  he  consented  to  remain  in 
office  and  promulgate  the  plebiscitum.  Had  he 
joined  Count  Daru  and  M.  Buffet,  the  whole 
cabinet  would  have  resigned,  and  the  emperor 
would  have  given  way  rather  than  face  such  a 
crisis.  On  the  29th  of  April  the  French  police 
discovered,  or  professed  to  have  discovered,  a 
plot  against  the  life  of  the  emperor.  Many 
people  were  sceptical  as  to  the  genuineness  of 
this  conspiracy,  believing  it  to  be  a  theatrical 
invention  to  prepare  the  popular  mind  for  the 
plebiscitum  of  the  8th  of  May,  by  exciting  horror 
of  the  bloodthirsty  projects  of  the  revolutionists, 
and  sympathy  for  the  person  of  the  emperor.  The 
result  of  the  voting  on  that  day  was  7,138,367  Ayes, 
against  1,518,385  Noes.  In  the  towns  the  majority 
was  generally  against  the  emperor,  and  a  still  more 
ominous  preponderance  of  Noes  came  from  some  of 
the  garrisons.  To  a  man  in  the  position  of  the 
emperor,  dependent  as  he  was  upon  the  army, 
this  partial  defection  of  the  troops '  was  food  for 
very  serious  reflection.  These  men  had  not  of  late 
been  coaxed  and  petted,  and  their  humour  had 
been  soured  by  the  addition  to  their  numbers  of 


168 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


men  from  discontented  districts.  They  had  no 
military  employment,  but  spent  an  idle,  dissatis- 
fying, inglorious  barrack  life.  The  emperor  showed 
how  sensitive  he  was  on  the  subject  of  the  army, 
by  writing  a  public  letter  to  Marshal  Canrobert  to 
thank  the  troops  for  their  admirable  behaviour 
in  suppressing  some  popular  riots  that  took  place 
in  Paris  the  day  after  the  plebiscitum.  "He 
assured  them  that  his  confidence  in  them  had 
never  been  shaken."  No  one  had  said  it  had; 
but  the  military  vote  of  the  8  th  of  May  might 
justify  a  want  of  confidence,  which  his  Majesty 
loudly  professed  he  did  not  feel.  Three  important 
results  flowed  from  the  plebiscitum — the  liberal 
party  with  their  parliamentary  constitution  were 
overthrown,  and  their  nominal  leader,  M.  Ollivier, 
politically  demoralized,  was  converted  into  an  ob- 
sequious tool  of  the  emperor's  will;  the  emperor 
was  restored  to  a  blind  confidence  in  his  power 
and  in  the  imperial  destiny  of  his  son;  while  at 
the  same  time  he  made  the  discovery,  which  ought 
to  have  been  a  warning,  that  there  was  no  enthusi- 
asm in  the  army  either  for  him  or  for  his  dynasty. 
Quern  Deus  vultperdere  dementat  is  a  maxim  that 
many  events  of  history  have  verified,  but  of  no 
historical  personage  can  it  be  said  with  more  truth 
than  of  Napoleon  III.  in  the  eighteenth  year  of 
his  reign.  With  the  immense  resources  that  he 
commanded,  the  countless  channels  of  information 
he  controlled,  he  was  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of 
ignorance  and  falsehood  both  as  to  his  real  power 
and  means,  and  as  to  his  position  relatively  to  his 
neighbours,  that  none  but  an  autocrat  could  have 
endured.  Self-deception  bore  no  small  part  in  the 
creation  of  the  fool's  paradise  in  which  he  lived 
and  dreamed.  His  knowledge  of  artillery,  his 
success  in  two  wars,  the  deference  paid  him  by 
foreign  potentates,  the  number  and  costliness  of 
his  army,  the  vote  of  his  seven  million  subjects, 
the  defeat  of  his  political  opponents  at  home,  the 
divisions,  as  he  believed,  of  his  enemies  abroad, 
and  the  self-seeking  flattery  of  his  courtiers  and 
ministers,  all  combined  to  make  Louis  Napoleon 
resolve  on  striking  a  final  and  victorious  blow  for 
the  dynasty  of  the  Bonapartes.  An  ingenious 
writer  has  endeavoured  to  draw  a  parallel  between 
the  Bonapartes  in  1869-70  and  the  Bourbons  in 
1789-90.  At  both  periods  France  was  engaged 
in  the  same  kind  of  task — trying  to  make  a  con- 
stitution and  avoid  a  revolution.  The  reigning 
monarch  in  each  case  attempted,  with  apparently 


honest  intentions,  to  convert  an  absolute  into  a 
representative  government.  The  elections  to  the 
Legislative  Assembly  in  1869  pointed  to  a  new 
era,  as  clearly  as  did  the  elections  to  the  Tiers  Etat 
in  1789.  The  differences  in  the  personages  are  as 
striking  as  the  resemblance  of  the  circumstances. 
Louis  Napoleon  was  neither  so  dull  nor  so  inno- 
cent as  Louis  Capet,  the  sixteenth  of  his  name. 
The  Empress  Eugenie  could  hardly  be  compared 
with  the  daughter  of  Maria  Theresa,  Marie  Antoi- 
nette, nor  Prince  Napoleon  Jerome  with  Orleans 
Egalit^,  while  Rocheibrt  fell  considerably  short  of 
Robespierre,  and  Ollivier  missed  being  a  Nccker. 
France,  too,  in  1870  had  no  such  work  before  her 
as  that  which  the  first  revolution  threw  upon  her 
hands.  The  privileges  of  the  church  and  aristoc- 
racy then  destroyed  had  not  been  restored.  Social 
equality  was  established,  and  a  career  opened  every 
where  to  talent.  Sansculottism,  in  Mr.  Carlyle's 
words,  had  got  itself  breeched,  and  the  mass  of  the 
people,  knowing  the  value  of  property,  however 
small,  had  come  to  fear  and  hate  violent  revolutions. 
But  as  the  national  rapture  and  exultation  which 
marked  the  first  revolution  was  followed  by  the 
awful  miseries  of  the  Reign  of  Terror,  so,  alas !  was 
the  corresponding  jubilation  thoughout  France 
that  welcomed  the  concessions  of  the  emperor  at 
the  commencement  of  1870,  destined  to  terminate 
in  disaster  and  mourning  and  woe.  Upon  whom 
was  the  onslaught  of  France  to  be  made?  the 
calculated  attack  that  had  so  long  occupied  the 
meditations  of  Napoleon  III?  Upon  a  nation  to 
all  appearance  lapped  in  dreams  of  peace;  a  people 
absorbed  in  the  peaceful  occupations  of  art,  learning, 
commerce,  and  agriculture ;  the  artists  of  Munich 
and  Dresden ;  the  professors  and  students  of  Heidel- 
berg, Gb'ttingen,  Leipzig,  and  Berlin;  the  merchants 
of  Hamburg,  Bremen,  and  Dantzig;  the  plough- 
men of  Bavaria,  the  fishermen  of  Pomerania,  and 
the  sturdy  peasantry  of  Schleswig  and  Holstein, 
quite  newly  re-united  to  the  Fatherland.  All 
these  would  have  to  be  summoned  to  the  war, 
and  thousands  of  them  to  die;  their  homesteads 
left  to  women  and  children,  their  fields  standing 
untilled,  their  country  houses  and  warehouses 
closed,  and  their  ships  locked  in  port  or  captured 
by  hostile  men  of  war.  Fearful  is  the  responsi- 
bility of  those  who  engage  in  war,  great  should  be 
the  provocation  that  can  justify  it,  for  awful  are 
the  consequences  of  the  first  step  that  sets  in 
motion  that  bitterest  scourge  of  the  human  race. 


PART     II. 


CHAPTER     I. 


Attitude  of  France  and  Prussia — A  Pretext  only  required  for  War — The  German  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern  cliosen  as  a  Candidate  for 
the  Spanish  Throne — Great  excitement  on  the  subject  in  Paris— Important  Speech  of  the  Due  de  Gramont  in  the  Corps  Legislatif — 
Military  preparations — Warlike  tone  of  the  French  Press — Stock-exchange  panics — The  King  of  Prussia  denies  having  been  in  any  way 
connected  with  the  selection  of  the  Prince — Refusal  of  Uie  French  Government  to  accept  this  statement — Critical  position  of  affairs — 
Apparent  solution  of  the  difficulty,  the  Candidature  of  the  Prince  being  withdrawn — Calm  tone  of  the  Prussian  Press  and  Government  to 
this  point — Further  demands  from  Prussia  by  the  French  Government — Interview  of  M.  Benedetti,  the  French  Ambassador,  with  the 
King  of  Prussia,  at  Ems — Diplomatic  relations  bruken  off — Great  excitement  in  Berlin — Important  communication  from  the  French 
Government  to  the  Chambers — Declaration  of  War — Speech  in  opposition  to  such  a  procedure  by  M.  Thiers — Votes  for  the  Army  and 
Navy — Enlistment  of  volunteers — Great  animation  in  Paris — Speeches  in  the  English  Parliament — Communications  between  the  Senate 
and  the  Emperor — Receipt  of  the  news  of  the  Declaration  of  War  in  Prussia —  Address  to  the  King — Patriotic  proclamation  of  the  German 
Liberal  Union — Meeting  of  the  North  German  Parliament — Speech  of  the  King — Supplies  voted  with  enthusiasm — Proclamation  of  the 
King — Important  Circular  of  the  Due  de  Gramont — Speech  of  the  Emperor — Proclamation  to  the  French  Nation. 


The  events  narrated  in  the  previous  pages  have 
shown  that  in  consequence  of  the  marked  success 
of  Prussia  in  the  war  between  her  and  Austria  in 
1866,  and  the  subsequent  formation  of  the  North 
German  Confederation,  with  Prussia  at  its  head, 
France  considered  herself  menaced  by  a  too 
powerful  neighbour ;  and  it  became  evident  that  a 
struggle  between  them,  for  the  purpose  of  deciding 
their  military  supremacy  and  future  position  in 
Europe,  was  only  a  question  of  time  and  opportunity. 
The  circumstance  which  was  at  last  made  the 
pretext  for  a  declaration  of  war,  was,  however,  in 
itself  apparently  the  most  unlikely  to  have  led  to 
such  a  result,  and  affords  one  of  the  most  striking 
historical  illustrations  of  the  ancient  adage : — 

"  What  mighty  ills  from  trivial  causes  spring." 

The  throne  of  Spain  had  remained  vacant  from 
the  flight  of  Queen  Isabella,  in  1868,  notwith- 
standing that  the  Cortes  had,  by  a  large  majority, 
decided  in  favour  of  continuing  the  monarchical 
form  of  government.  Several  candidates  had  been 
proposed,  but  all  had  been  deemed  more  or  less 
unsuitable,  until  in  June,  1870,  General  Prim, 
with  the  full  approval  of  the  ministry,  offered  it  to 
Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen,  the 
eldest  son  of  the  reigning  prince  of  Hohenzollern, 
who  had,  in  1849,  surrendered  his  sovereign 
rights  to  Prussia.  The  prince,  who  had  been 
married  to  the  sister  of  the  king  of  Portugal  in 
1861,  was  thirty-five  years  of  age,  and  a  Roman 
Catholic  in  religion  ;  and  the  offer  was  accepted 
by  him  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Cortes, 
which  it  was  believed  was  certain  to  be  obtained. 


No  sooner,  however,  was  the  news  of  the  event 
officially  made  known  in  Paris,  on  Tuesday,  July 
5,  than  the  greatest  excitement  was  caused;  the 
selection  of  him  being  regarded  there  as  the  work 
of  the  Prussian  Count  von  Bismarck,  with  the  view 
of  either  causing  a  rupture  with  France,  or  of 
making  Spain  little  better  than  a  dependency  of 
Prussia.  In  the  Legislative  Assembly  on  the 
following  clay,  the  Due  de  Gramont,  the  foreign 
minister,  in  reply  to  a  question  on  the  sub- 
ject, said  that  the  negotiations  which  had  led  to 
the  prince  accepting  the  offer  of  the  crown  had 
been  kept  a  secret  from  the  French  government. 
They  had  not  transgressed  the  limits  of  strict 
neutrality  in  reference  to  the  pretenders  to  the 
Spanish  throne,  and  they  should  persist  in  that 
line  of  conduct  ;  but,  the  duke  added,  amid  the 
cheers  of  the  deputies,  "  We  do  not  believe  that 
respect  for  the  rights  of  a  neighbouring  people 
obliges  us  to  suffer  a  foreign  power,  by  jolacing  a 
prince  upon  the  throne  of  Charles  V.,  to  disturb 
the  European  equilibrium  to  our  disadvantage,  and 
tints  to  imperil  the  interests  and  the  honour  of 
France.  We  entertain  a  firm  hope  that  this  will 
not  happen  ;  to  prevent  it  we  count  upon  the 
wisdom  of  the  German  nation,  and  the  friendship 
of  the  people  of  Spain;  but  in  the  contrary  event, 
with  your  support  and  the  support  of  the  nation, 
we  shall  know  how  to  do  our  duty  without 
hesitation  or  weakness." 

This  important  statement  was  read,  not  spoken, 
thus  showing  that  it  had  been  carefully  considered; 
in  fact,  the  terms  of  it  were  settled  at  a  council 
held  at  St.  Cloud  in  the  morning,  at  which  the 


170 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


emperor  presided.  The  assertion  that  the  candida- 
ture of  the  prince  had  been  kept  secret  from  the 
French  government,  and  had  consequently  taken 
them  by  surprise,  was  only  true  in  a  technical 
sense;  for  it  was  afterwards  proved  that  the  French 
ambassador  at  Madrid  had  known  of  it  as  being 
probable  for  several  months.  The  matter  had  also 
been  discussed  in  the  German,  and  even  alluded 
to  in  the  French  press,  and  on  the  prorogation  of 
the  Spanish  Cortes  on  June  11 — three  weeks 
before  the  excitement  in  Paris — General  Prim  made 
a  series  of  explanations  as  to  the  non-success  which 
had  attended  his  endeavours  to  procure  a  suitable 
candidate  for  the  throne;  and  after  alluding  to  the 
ex-king  of  Portugal,  the  duke  of  Aosta,  and  the 
duke  of  Genoa,  he  mentioned  a  fourth  candidate,  of 
whom  he  said  he  had  great  hopes,  but  who,  after 
going  so  far  as  to  send  two  emissaries  to  Spain,  had 
refused,  owing  to  their  report  of  the  divisions  in 
the  Cortes,  and  an  insurrection  in  Catalonia  which 
took  place  during  their  stay.  He  asked  to  be 
permitted  not  to  name  this  candidate — his  object 
being  to  prevent  the  raising  up  of  any  obstacle 
to  his  renewal  of  negotiations.  It  was  at  once 
concluded,  however,  that  he  could  be  no  other  than 
Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern.  Baron  Mercier, 
the  French  ambassador,  who  was  present  when 
the  explanation  was  made,  quite  agreed  in  this, 
and  was  by  no  means  backward  in  stating  so  to 
his  friends  in  the  diplomatic  gallery;  and  it  is 
unreasonable  to  suppose  that,  even  if  he  had  not 
done  so  before,  he  did  not  state  the  fact  in  his 
communication  to  the  French  government  on 
the  following  day.  The  name  of  the  prince 
was  also  mentioned  in  the  Madrid  papers  the 
same  evening,  and  it  would,  therefore,  certainly 
appear  that  the  "  surprise"  of  the  French  govern- 
ment, as  expressed  by  the  Due  de  Gramont,  was 
leigned  ;  and  that  whatever  other  reason  may  have 
induced  the  emperor  to  delay  objecting  to  the 
candidature  of  the  prince,  it  could  not  have  been 
because  he  was  not  aware  of  its  being  in  contem- 
plation. 

At  the  same  sitting  of  the  Corps  Legislatif,  M. 
Ollivier,  the  prime  minister,  declined  to  accede  to 
a  request  for  the  production  of  documents  on  the 
subject.  He  said  that  the  declaration  made  by  the 
Due  de  Gramont  betrayed  no  uncertainty  as  to 
the  question  whether  the  government  desired  peace 
or  war.  The  government  passionately  wished  for 
Deacc,  but  with  honour.     The  ministry  was  con- 


vinced that  the  Due  de  Gramont's  statement  would 
bring  about  a  peaceful  solution  ;  for  whenever 
Europe  was  persuaded  that  France  was  firm  in  her 
legitimate  duty,  it  did  not  resist  her  desire.  There 
was  no  question  here  of  a  hidden  object,  and  if  a 
war  was  necessary,  the  government  would  not  enter 
upon  it  without  the  assent  of  the  Legislative  Body. 
Great  excitement  prevailed  in  the  Chamber  during 
the  delivery  of  both  speeches.  On  the  following 
day  M.  Picard  asked  the  government  to  communi- 
cate to  the  House  copies  of  the  despatches  ex- 
changed since  the  previous  day  between  the  courts 
of  Paris  and  Berlin.  M.  Segris,  in  the  absence  of 
the  minister  for  foreign  affairs,  replied  that  the 
government  would,  when  expedient,  communicate 
everything  which  did  not  compromise  the  peaceful 
settlement  it  was  endeavouring  to  bring  about. 
M.  Jules  Favre  supported  M.  Picard's  request,  and 
upon  M.  Ollivier  moving  the  adjournment  of  the 
debate,  exclaimed,  "  Then  it  is  a  ministry  of  stock- 
exchange  jobbers."  At  this  there  was  great 
uproar,  and  the  speaker  was  called  to  order.  M. 
Ollivier  afterwards  declared  that  when  the  govern- 
ment deemed  the  time  opportune,  it  would  lay 
before  the  House  all  the  information  received  at 
the  foreign  office.  Meantime  the  country  might 
rest  assured  of  its  firmly  maintaining  its  dignity. 
Orders  were  immediately  issued  to  the  military 
authorities  throughout  the  empire  not  to  grant  any 
further  leave  of  absence ;  officers  were  ordered  to 
return  at  once  to  their  regiments,  and  the  frontier 
fortresses  were  thoroughly  inspected. 

The  French  press,  with  only  two  or  three 
exceptions,  at  once  assumed  a  very  menacing  and 
hostile  tone,  and  undoubtedly  did  much  to  enkindle 
that  bitter  feeling  against  Prussia  which  it  was 
afterwards  impossible  to  quell,  even  had  such  a 
thing  been  desired.  One  important  journal  de- 
clared that  if  France  had  once  more  submitted 
to  be  insulted  and  outwitted  by  Bismarck, 
"  no  woman  of  character  would  have  consented 
to  be  seen  on  a  Frenchman's  arm ; "  another 
compared  Prussia  to  an  eagle,  which,  drunk  with 
repeated  successes,  had  rashly  pounced  upon  a 
lamb,  not  knowing  that  the  shepherd's  rifle  was 
ready  for  her;  and,  as  if  determined  to  do  all  in 
its  power  to  provoke  a  quarrel,  it  asked  if  the 
shepherd  was  not  to  fire  merely  because  the  eagle 
might  be  scared  into  dropping  her  prey,  although 
sure  some  day  to  return,  and  then  perhaps  seize, 
not    lamb,    but  mutton?     "  Sooner   or    later,"  it 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


171 


said,  "  France  and  Prussia  must  fight,  and  it  is 
best  to  get  it  over  at  once."  Nearly  all  the  papers 
re-opened  the  old  sore  of  the  rectification  of  the 
Rhine  frontier — an  admirable  method  of  playing 
into  their  enemy's  hands,  by  making  the  quarrel 
German  instead  of  Prussian;  but  they  were  too 
excited  and  angry  to  be  diplomatic.  One  journal 
had  the  candour  to  say  plainly  that,  the  instant 
war  was  proclaimed,  all  talk  of  the  Hohenzollern 
question  ought  to  be  at  an  end:  to  fight  about 
whether  a  German  prince  should  or  should  not 
sit  on  the  Spanish  throne,  would,  it  said,  be 
simply  a  "guerre  impie,"  an  iniquitous  war. 

This  warlike  tone  of  the  French  press,  and  the 
uncertainty  which  consequently  prevailed  as  to 
the  continuance  of  peace,  naturally  caused  a  great 
convulsion  in  all  the  European  exchanges,  but 
especially  on  the  Paris  Bourse  and  the  London 
Stock  Exchange.  The  panic  in  London  on  Mon- 
day, July  11,  was  more  severe  than  any  which 
had  been  witnessed  there  for  the  previous  sixteen 
years.  All  kinds  of  stocks  and  shares,  many  totally 
unconnected  with  European  complications,  and 
some  even  which  would  be  likely  to  be  benefited 
by  war,  were  all  heavily  borne  down,  and  in  some 
instances  were  almost  unsaleable.  Consols  fell  to 
9 If ;  a  price  about  2  per  cent,  below  the  average 
point  at  which  they  were  maintained  during  the 
two  years  of  the  Indian  mutiny,  and  exactly  the 
same  as  during  the  four  equally  anxious  years  of 
the  American  struggle.  Foreign  stocks  could 
scarcely  be  disposed  of  at  all  during  the  height  of 
the  panic.  Some  of  them  fell  7  or  8  per  cent., 
and  taking  them  at  their  money  value,  Spanish 
had  at  one  time  fallen  25  per  cent.  The  total 
depreciation  during  the  week,  reckoning  all  classes 
of  securities  common  to  the  Paris  and  London 
exchanges,  could  not  have  represented  a  sum  of  less 
than  from  £60,000,000  to  £100,000,000.  Among 
a  few  persons  at  Paris,  enjoying  early  information, 
great  gains  were  made ;  but  the  amount  of  general 
distress  occasioned  was  unusually  severe,  owing  to 
the  fact,  that  for  the  previous  six  months  operations 
for  a  rise  had  been  extensive  and  continuous  in  all 
markets. 

In  the  meantime  Baron  Werther,  the  Prussian 
ambassador  at  Paris,  proceeded  to  Ems  to  consult 
with  the  king,  and  received  from  him  an  assurance 
that  he  had  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  selection 
of  the  prince  of  Hohenzollern.  The  official  North 
German   Gazette,  published  at  Berlin,  also   stated 


that  the  declaration  of  the  Due  de  Gramont,  in 
the  French  Chamber,  that  the  prince  had  accepted 
the  offer  of  the  crown  of  Spain,  was  the  first 
definitive  announcement  to  that  effect  received 
there.  The  French  government,  however,  re- 
sponded that  it  could  not  accept  the  answer  of 
the  king,  and  that  either  he  must  forbid  the 
prince's  persistence  in  his  candidature,  or  war 
must  ensue.  An  ultimatum  to  this  effect  was 
presented  to  the  king  by  M.  Benedetti,  the 
French  ambassador  at  Berlin,  and  in  the  mean- 
time military  preparations  were  actively  pushed 
on.  On  Tuesday,  July  12,  the  Spanish  ambas- 
sador in  Paris  received  a  despatch  from  the 
father  of  Prince  Leopold,  stating  that,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  opposition  his  son's  candidature 
appeared  to  have  met  with,  he  had  withdrawn  it 
in  the  name  of  the  prince.  On  the  following  day 
the  communication  was  read  aloud  in  the  "  Salle 
des  Conferences"  adjoining  the  Chamber  of  the 
Legislative  Body,  and  M.  Ollivier,  being  eagerly 
questioned  as  to  what  it  portended,  said,  France  had 
never  asked  for  more  than  the  withdrawal  of  the 
prince's  claims,  had  said  nothing  about  the  treaty 
of  Prague,  and  the  whole  affair  was  therefore  now 
at  an  end.  Shortly  afterwards  the  Due  de  Gramont 
made  the  announcement  officially  to  the  Legislative 
Body,  but  added  the  significant  words: — "The 
negotiations  which  we  are  carrying  on  with  Prus- 
sia, and  which  never  had  any  other  object  in  view 
than  the  above-mentioned  solution,  are  not  as  yet 
terminated  ;  it  is  therefore  impossible  for  the 
government  to  speak  on  the  subject,  or  to  submit 
to-day  to  the  Chamber  and  to  the  country  a  general 
statement  of  this  affair."  On  being  pressed,  he 
declined  to  add  anything  to  his  statement,  and 
said  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  rumours  circu- 
lating in  the  lobbies  of  the  Chamber;  evidently 
referring  to  the  announcement  just  before  made  by 
M.  Ollivier,  and  from  which  it  would  appear,  either 
that  there  had  not  been  complete  harmony  in  the 
cabinet,  or  that  the  Due  de  Gramont  had  been 
made  the  special  medium  of  the  emperor's  wishes. 
After  some  discussion  it  was  decided  that  the 
question  should  be  debated  on  the  following 
Friday.  Much  dissatisfaction  and  surprise  pre- 
vailed in  Paris  at  the  vague  and  incomplete 
character  of  the  duke's  statement;  but  the  general 
opinion  was  that  war  had  been  averted,  at  least 
for  a  time.  The  Constitutionnel,  one  of  the 
oldest   and   most   respectable   journals,    said    the 


172 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


prince  would  not  icign  in  Spain,  and  France 
asked  for  nothing  further.  All  her  just  demands 
had  been  satisfied:  "We  receive  with  pride  this 
pacific  solution,  and  this  great  victory  which  has 
been  obtained  without  one  drop  of  blood  having 
been  shed." 

Up  to  this  point  the  Prussian  government  and 
press  had  preserved  great  calmness  throughout  the 
whole  proceedings.  The  semi-official  North  Ger- 
man Correspondent  said,  that  Prussia  had  hitherto 
avoided  all  interference  in  the  question  of  the 
Spanish  succession,  and  was  resolved  to  adhere 
to  the  same  policy  in  the  future.  The  Spaniards 
themselves  ought  to  be  the  best  judges  of  what 
was  fitting  for  their  country;  whether  a  republic 
or  a  monarchy,  this  prince  or  that,  a  Spaniard  or 
a  foreigner.  The  Prussian  government,  whilst  it 
respected  the  independence  of  Spain,  was  not 
conscious  of  having  received  any  special  mission 
to  solve  the  complicated  constitutional  question 
on  which  the  attention  of  Europe  was  fixed,  but 
believed  it  would  be  most  safe  and  politic  to  leave 
this  problem  in  the  hands  of  the  Spanish  people, 
and  their  accredited  representatives.  Similar  views 
were  expressed  in  a  communication  sent  from 
the  foreign  office  at  Berlin  to  the  representatives 
of  the  North  German  Confederation  ;  and  it  was 
added  that  those  views  were  already  known  to  the 
French  government,  but  explanatory  and  con- 
fidential utterances  had  been  prevented  by  the  tone 
which  the  French  minister  had  assumed  from  the 
beginning. 

On  the  following  day  (Wednesday,  July  13), 
everything  was  changed,  and  the  question  again 
assumed  a  phase  of  exceeding  gravity.  The 
king  of  Prussia,  unattended  by  a  minister,  was  at 
Ems  for  the  benefit  of  the  waters;  and  as  he  was 
walking  in  the  public  garden  he  met  M.  Benedctti, 
the  French  ambassador,  and  told  him  he  had  a 
newspaper  in  his  hand  which  showed  that  the 
prince  had  withdrawn  his  candidature.  To  his  sur- 
prise the  ambassador  then  made  the  further  demand 
of  a  pledge,  that  he  would  never,  under  any 
circumstances,  approve  or  give  his  consent  to  the 
candidature  of  the  prince.  The  king  replied  that 
this  was  a  step  he  could  not  take,  as  he  must 
reserve  to  himself  the  right  of  action  in  future 
circumstances  as  they  arose.  Soon  afterwards  he 
found  that  the  ambassador  had  asked  for  a  fresh 
audience,  and  he  sent  an  aide-de-camp  to  tell  him 
that  the  prince's  candidature  had  been  withdrawn, 


and  that  in  the  same  way  and  to  the  same  extent  as 
lie  had  approved  of  it,  he  approved  of  its  withdrawal, 
and  he  hoped,  therefore,  that  all  difficulty  on  that 
point  was  at  an  end.  On  subsequently  meeting  the 
ambassador,  the  king  wished  to  know  if  he  had 
anything  to  say  to  him  other  than  the  proposition 
he  had  already  made,  and  which  he  had  declined. 
M.  Benedctti  replied  that  he  had  no  fresh  proposition, 
but  had  certain  arguments  to  adduce  in  support  of 
the  former  one,  which  he  had  not  been  able  to  urge. 
His  Majesty  said  that  with  regard  to  himself  he  had 
already  given  his  decision;  but  that  if  there  were 
a  political  question  to  be  discussed,  he  had  better 
go  to  Count  von  Bismarck,  and  discuss  with  him  the 
arguments  which  were  to  be  adduced.  M.  Bcnedetti 
asked  if  the  count  was  expected  the  next  day,  and 
when  told  he  was  not,  he  said  he  would  be  con- 
tent with  the  king's  answer.  Unfortunately  the 
fact  of  the  king's  refusing  to  renew  the  discussion 
was  telegraphed  to  Paris  without  the  addition  of  the 
reference  to  Count  von  Bismarck,  and  the  pressure 
put  upon  the  king  by  M.  Bcnedetti  was  published 
in  Germany  without  the  explanation  that  it  was 
by  way  of  sequel  to  a  conversation  the  king 
had  himself  initiated.  Neither  the  king  nor  M. 
Bcnedetti  realized  the  offence  that  had  been  given 
and  received,  till  Paris  and  Berlin  informed  them 
that  each  had  been  insulted. 

It  afterwards  transpired,  from  the  despatches 
presented  to  the  North  German  Parliament,  that 
in  addition  to  this  demand  on  the  king  of  Prussia 
at  Ems.  on  July  13,  in  a  conversation  on  the 
previous  day  M.  Ollivier  and  the  Due  de  Gramont 
requested  Baron  Werther  to  communicate  to  Count 
von  Bismarck  their  demand  that  the  king  should 
write  a  letter  of  apology  to  the  emperor,  and  that 
no  allusion  must  be  made  in  it  to  the  fact  of  the 
Catholic  Hohenzollerns  being  near  relatives  of  the 
Bonapartes.  In  his  reply  to  Baron  Werther,  Count 
von  Bismarck  said  he  had  no  doubt  misconceived 
the  meaning  of  the  French  ministers,  and  that  he 
had,  at  all  events,  better  desire  them  to  put  their 
demand  down  in  writing,  and  have  it  communicated 
to  the  Prussian  government  in  the  usual  way 
through  their  ambassador  at  Berlin. 

The  king  caused  the  circumstances  connected 
with  the  fresh  demands  made  on  him  by  Count 
Benedctti  at  Ems,  and  of  his  having  refused  to 
accede  to  them,  to  be  immediately  telegraphed  to 
Count  von  Bismarck  at  Berlin,  who  lost  no  time 
in  publishing  it ;    at  nine  o'clock  the  same  evening 


THE  FEAXCO-PEUSSIA^   WAR. 


173 


boys  in  great  numbers,  in  all  the  principal  thorough- 
fares, distributed  gratis  a  special  supplement  to 
the  official  North  German  Gazette  relating  what 
had  occurred.  The  effect  this  bit  of  printed  paper 
had  upon  the  city  was  tremendous.  It  was  hailed 
by  old  and  young.  It  was  welcomed  by  fathers  of 
families  and  boys  in  their  teens.  It  was  read  and 
re-read  by  ladies  and  young  girls,  and  in  patriotic 
glow  finally  handed  over  to  the  servants,  who 
fondly  hoped  their  sweethearts  would  soon  be  on 
the  march.  As  though  a  stain  had  been  wiped  out 
from  the  national  escutcheon,  as  though  a  burden 
too  heavy  to  be  borne  for  a  long  time  past  had 
been  cast  off  at  last,  people  were  thanking  God 
that  their  honour  had  been  ultimately  vindicated 
against  intolerable  assumption.  There  was  but 
one  opinion  as  to  the  conduct  of  the  king;  there 
was  but  one  determination  to  follow  his  example. 
By  ten  o'clock  the  square  in  front  of  the  royal 
palace  was  crowded  with  an  excited  multitude. 
Hurrahs  for  the  king  and  cries  "  To  the  Rhine ! " 
were  heard  on  all  sides.  Similar  demonstrations 
were  made  in  other  quarters  of  the  town.  It  was 
the  explosion  of  a  long  pent  up  anger  against  the 
French  attempts  to  interfere  with  the  domestic 
concerns  of  Germany  since  1866,  and  in  the  first 
flush  of  excitement  people  absolutely  felt  relieved 
at  the  prospect  of  circumstances  permitting  them 
to  fight  it  out.  Thank  God !  They  now  could 
hope  to  unsheath  the  sword  in  a  rightful  quarrel. 
Their  love  of  peace,  till  the  day  before  faithfully 
preserved  even  under  the  trying  events  of  the  pre- 
vious week,  had  been  mistaken  for  fear  by  a  nation 
of  an  entirely  different  intellectual  type.  Their 
king  had  been  affronted  beyond  endurance,  and 
had  given  the  only  possible  reply.  The  crisis  had 
arrived.  They  yearned  to  prove  the  present  error 
of  the  French  in  estimating  their  national  character, 
to  avenge  past  injuries  and  obviate  their  recur- 
rence, and  so  provide  against  the  constant  imperil- 
ling of  peace,  industry,  and  civilization  for  the 
future.  Everywhere  the  same  sentiments  were 
uttered,  the  same  resolves  announced.  In  all  the 
clubs  and  taverns,  in  many  a  private  house,  people 
remained  together  nearly  the  whole  night,  and 
only  at  break  of  day  the  streets  assumed  their 
usual  aspect. 

The  most  intense  excitement  also  prevailed  in 
Paris  during  the  night,  and  on  every  one's  lips  was 
that  word  of  evil  omen,  "  la  guerre."  Bodies  of  men 
paraded   the  principal  streets  up  to  a  late  hour, 


mixing  up  in  a  very  odd  fashion  the  cries  of  "A 
Berlin!"  "A  bas  la  Prussc!"  "Vive  l'empereur!" 
and  the  singing  of  the  revolutionary  war  song,  the 
"  Marseillaise."  It  was  a  somewhat  significant  fact, 
that  though  this  public  singing  of  the  "  Marseil- 
laise" was  illegal,  and  was  before  occasionally  put 
down  with  great  energy  by  the  gendarmes,  even 
though  it  was  only  indulged  in  by  a  few  revellers 
returning  late  from  a  supper  party,  and  not  suffi- 
ciently numerous  to  be  very  formidable  to  the  safety 
of  the  state,  it  was  now  allowed  to  pass  without 
notice ;  and  hence  the  general  impression  was  that 
the  government  were  not  sorry  to  give  the  patriotic 
anti-Prussian  sentiment  full  play,  partly  to  see 
what  it  was  worth,  and  partly  to  make  war  popular. 

On  the  morning  of  Thursday,  July  14,  the 
Emperor  Xapoleon  went  from  St.  Cloud  to  Paris, 
and  presided  at  a  cabinet  council,  which  sat  for 
several  hours.  The  two  Chambers  expected  a  com- 
munication from  the  government,  but  none  was 
made.  On  the  following  day,  July  15 — a  day 
which  must  now  be  ever  memorable  in  the  history 
of  Europe — a  communication  drawn  up  at  the 
council  of  ministers  on  the  previous  day  was  simul- 
taneously made  by  the  government  to  the  Senate 
and  Corps  Legislatif,  explaining  the  situation  of 
affairs,  and  terminating  in  a  declaration  of  war. 
The  communication  was  as  follows  : — 

"Gentlemen — -The  manner  in  which  you  received 
the  declaration  of  the  6th  inst.,  afforded  us  the 
certainty  that  you  approved  our  policy,  and  that 
we  could  count  upon  your  support.  We  com- 
menced then  negotiations  with  the  foreign  powers, 
to  invoke  their  good  offices  with  Prussia,  in  order 
that  the  legitimacy  of  our  grievances  might  be 
recognized.  We  asked  nothing  of  Spain,  whose 
susceptibilities  we  did  not  wish  to  wound.  We 
took  no  steps  with  the  prince  of  Hohenzollern, 
considering  him  shielded  by  the  king  of  Prussia, 
and  we  refused  to  mix  up  in  the  affair  any  recrimi- 
nation upon  other  subjects.  The  majority  of  the 
powers  admitted,  with  more  or  less  warmth,  the 
justice  of  our  demands.  The  Prussian  minister  of 
foreign  affairs  refused  to  accede  to  our  demands, 
pretending  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  affair,  and 
that  the  cabinet  of  Berlin  remained  completely  a 
stranger  to  it.  We  then  addressed  ourselves  to 
the  king  himself,  and  the  king,  while  avowing  that 
he  had  authorized  the  prince  of  Hohenzollern  to 
accept  the  nomination  of  the  Spanish  crown, 
maintained  that  he  had  also  been  a  stranger  to  the 


174 


THE  FEANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


negotiation,  and  that  lie  had  intervened  between 
the  prince  of  Hohenzollem  and  Spain  as  head  of 
the  family,  and  not  as  sovereign.  He  acknowledged, 
however,  that  he  had  communicated  the  affair  to 
Count  von  Bismarck.  We  could  not  admit  this 
subtle  distinction  between  the  chief  of  the  family 
and  the  sovereign.  In  the  meanwhile  we  received 
an  intimation  from  the  Spanish  ambassador,  that  the 
prince  of  Hohenzollem  had  renounced  the  crown. 
We  asked  the  king  to  associate  himself  with  this 
renunciation,  and  we  asked  him  to  engage,  that 
should  the  crown  be  again  offered  to  the  prince  of 
Hohenzollem,  he  would  refuse  his  authorization. 
Our  moderate  demands,  couched  in  equally  mode- 
rate language,  written  to  M.  Benedetti,  made  it 
clear  that  we  had  no  arriere  pensee,  and  that  we 
were  not  seeking  a  pretext  in  the  Hohenzollem 
affair.  The  engagement  demanded  the  king  re- 
fused to  give,  and  terminated  the  conversation  with 
M.  Benedetti,  by  saying  that  he  would  in  this,  as 
in  all  other  tilings,  reserve  to  himself  the  right  of 
considering  the  circumstances.  Notwithstanding 
this,  in  consequence  of  our  desire  for  peace,  we 
did  not  break  off  the  negotiations.  Our  surprise 
was  great  when  we  learned  that  the  king  hail 
refused  to  receive  M.  Benedetti,  and  had  communi- 
cated the  fact  officially  to  the  cabinet.  We  learned 
that  Baron  Werther  had  received  orders  to  take 
his  leave,  and  that  Prussia  was  arming.  Under 
these  circumstances  we  should  have  forgotten  our 
dignity,  and  also  our  prudence,  had  we  not  made 
preparations.  We  have  prepared  to  maintain  the 
war  which  is  offered  to  us,  leaving  to  each  that 
portion  of  the  responsibility  which  devolves  upon 
him.  Since  yesterday  we  have  called  out  the 
reserve,  and  we  shall  take  the  necessary  measures 
to  guard  the  interest,  and  the  security,  and  the 
honour  of  France." 

In  both  Houses  the  ministerial  declaration  was 
received  with  great  applause.  In  the  Corps 
Legislatif,  however,  a  considerable  minority  were 
indisposed  to  approve  the  policy  of  the  government 
— at  least,  without  fuller  information.  M.  Jules 
Favre  called  upon  the  ministers  to  communicate 
the  documents  which  had  passed  during  the 
negotiations,  and  especially  the  Prussian  despatch 
addressed  to  foreign  governments  admitting  the 
refusal  of  the  king  of  Prussia  to  receive  M.  Bene- 
detti. M.  Buffet  opposed  the  demand  for  papers, 
and  M.  Jules  Favre's  motion  was  rejected  by  164 
votes  against  83.     An  important  speech  was  also 


made  against  the  proceeding  of  the  government  by 
the  veteran  statesman,  M.  Thiers,  who  eloquently 
denounced  the  imprudence  and  impolicy  of  the 
war.  He  bad  been  as  deeply  vexed  as  any  one  by 
the  events  of  1866,  and  earnestly  desired  reparation, 
but  he  considered  the  present  occasion  ill  chosen  : 
"for,"  added  he,  "when  the  satisfaction  we  had  a 
right  to  demand  had  been  granted  ;  when  Prussia 
had  expiated  by  her  withdrawal  the  grave  fault  she 
had  committed  in  stepping  beyond  the  limits  of 
Germany,  where  lies  her  strength,  and  raising 
hostile  pretensions  suddenly  in  our  rear ;  when 
Europe  with  honourable  readiness  declared  that 
we  were  in  the  right — then  for  the  government  to 
have  listened  to  susceptibilities  upon  questions  of 
form  might  one  day  cause  them  regret."  The 
opposition  speakers  could  not,  however,  get  a  fair 
hearing,  no  tolerance  being  shown  for  those  who 
differed  from  the  majority.  "  I  am  about  to  quit 
the  tribune,"  said  M.  Thiers,  "  borne  down  by  the 
fatigue  of  speaking  to  people  who  will  not  hear 
me.  I  shall  nevertheless  have  demonstrated  that 
the  interests  of  France  were  safe,  and  that  you 
aroused  the  susceptibilities  from  which  war  has 
issued.     That  is  your  fault." 

In  the  evening  sitting  of  the  Legislative  Body, 
after  a  noisy  debate,  a  credit  of  50,000,000  francs 
was  voted  by  246  votes  against  10  ;  a  credit  of 
16,000.000  francs  for  naval  purposes  was  also  voted 
by  248  votes  against  1.  A  motion  to  call  out  the 
Guard  Mobile  to  active  service  was  adopted  by 
243  votes  against  1.  Another  motion,  authorizing 
the  enlistment  of  volunteers  for  the  duration  of  the 
war,  was  adopted  by  244  votes  against  1. 

During  the  night,  extraordinary  animation  pre- 
vailed throughout  Paris.  Numerous  crowds,  each 
numbering  several  thousands,  came  forth  from  the 
suburbs  and  traversed  the  Boulevards,  singing  the 
"Marseillaise"  and  the  "Chant  du  Depart,"  and 
shouting  "Vive  la  guerre  !  A  has  la  Prusse! 
Vive  l'Empereur !  A  Berlin !"  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  these  patriotic  displays  were  organized 
by  the  police.  The  soldier,  however,  became 
the  hero  of  the  hour,  and  could  hardly  show 
himself  in  the  streets  without  being  surrounded 
and  applauded.  In  fact,  the  people  became  intoxi- 
cated by  martial  enthusiasm,  and  so  blinded  bv 
jealous  passion,  that  they  were  really  not  open 
to  argument  as  to  the  right  and  wrong  of  the 
quarrel,  and  it  became  far  less  a  question  of  a 
Hohenzollem  pretension  and  a  Benedetti  rebuff. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


175 


than  one  of  seeing  which  was  the  stronger  nation. 
Animosity  against  Prussia  had  vented  itself  so 
long  in  words,  and  it  had  become  such  a  constant 
habit  with  many  Frenchmen  to  speak  of  some 
future  day  of  reckoning  with  their  upstart  rival  as 
a  matter  of  necessity,  that  the  actual  declaration  of 
war  seemed  to  afford  relief  to  a  very  strong  national 
feeling,  and  little  else  was  thought  of  at  first. 
Most  Frenchmen  had  been  fighting  Prussia  in 
imagination  for  the  previous  four  years,  and  giving 
her  the  lesson  her  presumption  deserved ;  the 
imagination  and  the  longing  had  been  so  strong, 
and  the  reality  for  some  days  so  tangible,  that  the 
transition  from  the  one  to  the  other  was  scarcely 
felt.  It  is  true  that  the  Republican  journals, 
representing  the  opinions  of  the  mass  of  the 
artizans,  were  from  the  first  against  war,  nor  was 
it  at  all  popular  with  the  peasantry,  to  whom  it 
meant  only  a  wider  conscription  and  increased 
taxation  ;  but  in  the  heat  of  the  excitement  all 
prudential  considerations  were  forgotten,  and  the 
voices  and  opinions  of  those  who  deplored  the 
result  to  which  matters  had  been  brought  had  no 
influence  with  those  who  had  the  power  and  were 
determined  to  use  it.  Some  attempts  made  by 
artizans  and  others  in  Paris,  on  the  evening  war 
was  declared  and  on  the  following  day,  to  get  up 
counter-demonstrations  in  favour  of  peace,  were 
immediately  put  down  by  the  police. 

The  news  of  war  having  actually  been  declared 
reached  England  immediately,  and  when  Parlia- 
ment met  the  same  afternoon,  Mr.  Disraeli,  the 
leader  of  the  Opposition,  asked  the  prime  minister, 
Mr.  Gladstone,  if  he  could  inform  the  House  of  the 
real  cause  of  the  rupture,  as  he  could  not  bring 
himself  to  believe  that  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
witli  its  extended  sympathies  and  its  elevated  ten- 
dencies, anything  so  degrading  as  a  war  of  succes- 
sion could  take  place;  and  he  reminded  the  House 
that  only  about  two  years  before,  in  the  matter  of 
Luxemburg,  both  France  and  Prussia  had  invited 
the  good  offices  of  England,  and  they  were  success- 
ful in  removing  difficulties  which  then  threatened 
a  rupture.  France  and  Prussia  had  thus,  in  his 
opinion,  no  moral  right  to  go  to  war  without  con- 
sulting England,  and  he  wished  to  know  whether 
the  government  had  taken  any  steps  to  impress 
this  upon  them.  With  great  solemnity  of  manner 
he  concluded,  "  I  will  only  venture  to  express  my 
individual  opinion,  that  the  ruler  of  any  country 
who  at  this  time  disturbs  the  peace  of  Europe, 


incurs  the  gravest  political  and  moral  responsibility 
which  it  has  ever  fallen  to  the  lot  of  man  to  incur. 
I  hear,  Sir,  superficial  remarks  made  about  military 
surprises,  the  capture  of  capitals,  and  the  brilliancy 
and  celerity  with  which  results  which  are  not 
expected  or  contemplated  may  be  brought  about 
at  this  moment.  Sir,  these  are  events  of  a  bygone 
age.  In  the  last  century  such  melodramatic 
catastrophes  were  frequent  and  effective  ;  we 
live  in  an  age  animated  by  a  very  different 
spirit ;  I  think  a  great  country  like  France,  and 
a  great  country  like  Prussia,  cannot  be  ulti- 
mately affected  by  such  results ;  and  the  sovereign 
who  trusts  to  them  will  find  at  the  moment  of 
action  that  he  has  to  encounter,  wherever  he  may 
be  placed,  a  greater  and  more  powerful  force  than 
any  military  array,  and  that  is  the  outraged  opinion 
of  an  enlightened  world."  Mr.  Gladstone,  excusing 
himself  from  the  same  freedom  of  remark  in  which 
the  leader  of  the  Opposition  had  indulged,  justified 
the  right  of  England  to  intervene  in  the  cause  of 
peace,  not  only  on  moral  grounds,  but  on  the 
strength  of  the  protocol  of  Paris  in  1856,  which 
set  forth  the  duties  of  all  of  the  powers  there 
represented  to  submit  to  friendly  adjudication 
any  causes  of  difference,  before  resorting  to  the 
last  extremity.  Neither  France  nor  Prussia  had, 
however,  shown  any  indisposition  to  listen  to  her 
Majesty's  government  on  this  occasion,  and  the 
foreign  secretary  had  therefore  not  deemed  it 
necessary  to  make  an  express  representation,  in  the 
sense  suggested  by  Mr.  Disraeli. 

At  a  reception  of  the  members  of  the  Senate 
by  the  emperor  at  St.  Cloud,  on  the  follow- 
ing day  (Saturday,  16th  July),  M.  Rouher, 
addressing  his  majesty,  said — "  The  guarantees 
demanded  from  Prussia  have  been  refused,  and 
the  dignity  of  France  has  been  disregarded. 
Your  majesty  draws  the  sword,  and  the  country 
is  with  you  trembling  with  indignation  at  the 
excesses  that  an  ambition  over-excited  by  one 
day's  good  fortune  was  sure,  sooner  or  later,  to 
produce.  Your  majesty  was  able  to  wait,  but 
has  occupied  the  last  four  years  in  perfecting 
the  armament  and  the  organization  of  the  army." 
M.  Rouher  added  his  hope  that  the  empress  would 
again  act  as  regent,  and  that  the  emperor  would 
take  the  command  of  the  army.  The  emperor 
replied — "Messieurs  les  Senateurs,  I  was  grati- 
fied to  learn  with  what  great  enthusiasm  the  Senate 
received  the  declaration    which    the    minister    of 


17G 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


foreign  affairs  has  been  instructed  to  make. 
Whenever  great  interests  and  the  honour  of 
France  are  at  stake,  I  am  sure  to  receive  energetic 
support  from  the  Senate.  We  are  beginning  a 
serious  struggle,  and  France  needs  the  co-opera- 
tion of  all  her  children.  I  am  very  glad  that  the 
first  patriotic  utterance  has  come  from  the  Senate. 
It  will  be  loudly  re-echoed  throughout  the  country." 

In  Prussia  the  news  that  France  had  determined 
upon  war  was  received  with  enthusiasm.  King 
William  arrived  at  his  palace  in  Berlin  on  Thurs- 
day night,  July  14,  and  was  received  with  the 
greatest  possible  loyalty  and  warmth.  Upwards 
of  100,000  persons  were  assembled,  from  the 
Brandenburg  Gate  to  the  palace,  cheering  loudly 
and  singing  the  national  anthem.  The  Unter 
den  Linden  was  illuminated,  and  decorated  with 
the  North  German  and  Prussian  flags.  King  Wil- 
liam came  forward  repeatedly  to  the  windows  of 
the  palace,  saluting  and  thanking  the  crowd. 

The  following  "  Proclamation  to  our  Country- 
men" by  the  National  Liberal  party — -the  most 
numerous  both  in  Parliament  and  among  the 
people  —  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  numerous 
addresses  which  were  at  once  issued  by  both 
public  and  private  societies : — 

"  War  has  become  inevitable  From  the  plough, 
the  workshop,  the  office,  and  the  study,  our  bro- 
thers congregate  to  ward  off  an  enemy  that 
menaces  the  highest  treasures  of  the  nation.  The 
army  whose  onslaught  they  are  going  to  encounter 
is  differently  composed  from  our  own.  It  consists 
of  mercenaries  and  conscripts,  without  any  edu- 
cated and  well-to-do  people  among  them,  and  for 
this  very  reason  is  liable  to  be  made  a  tool  of  by 
an  unjust  and  frivolous  cabinet.  Since  the  Corsi- 
can's  nephew,  by  conspiracy,  perjury,  and  every 
description  of  crime,  surreptitiously  obtained  the 
throne  of  France,  his  only  means  of  concealing 
domestic  decline  was  to  engage  in  foreign  adven- 
ture. The  French  nation,  humiliated  at  home, 
was  to  be  reconciled  to  its  fate  by  martial  triumphs, 
flattering  to  its  national  vanity.  Through  cunning 
and  force  France  was  to  be  raised  to  an  artificial 
supremacy  over  the  rest  of  the  world.  To  disturb 
the  peace  of  Europe  has  ever  been  the  only  policy 
of  Bonapartism,  the  vital  condition  of  its  exist- 
ence. Since  Louis  Napoleon  ascended  the  throne, 
all  his  hypocritical  assurances  of  pacific  sentiments 
have  never  sufficed  to  give  any  one  a  firm  confi- 
dence in  the  continuation  of  peace ;  since  he  has 


been  reckoned  among  sovereigns  war  has  always 
been  considered  a  mere  question  of  time,  and  the 
utmost  exertion  of  the  industrious  classes  has  been 
barely  sufficient  to  cover  the  military  expenditure 
of  the  various  states.  There  is  no  country  in 
Europe  with  which  he  has  not  meddled.  He 
has  quarreled  with  all,  menaced  all.  Even  if  a 
state  allied  itself  to  him  it  was  not  safe  from  his 
treachery,  as  Italy  experienced  to  her  cost.  The 
Poles  were  encouraged  by  him  to  rebel,  only  to  be 
left  to  their  terrible  fate  when  it  no  longer  suited 
him  to  play  their  patron.  Neutral  Belgium,  Ger- 
man Luxemburg,  and  even  some  cantons  of 
Switzerland,  that  tower  of  peace  erected  between 
contending  nations,  have  at  various  times  been  the 
objects  of  his  cupidity,  and  were  only  saved  by  the 
vigilance  of  the  other  powers,  and  their  instinctive 
opposition  to  the  immorality  and  mendacity  of  the 
Napoleonic  polities.  As  long  ago  as  the  Crimean 
war  Napoleon  endeavoured  to  find  a  pretext  for 
occupying  the  Bhine  province.  While  we  were 
fighting  Austria  he  again  had  his  eye  upon  the 
Bhine,  and  if  we  had  not  so  quickly  conquered, 
would  have  pounced  upon  us  and  have  kindled 
universal  war.  Is  it  necessary  to  enumerate  other 
instances  of  his  disgraceful  interference?  Italy  had 
to  pay  with  two  of  her  provinces  for  the  French 
alliance,  and  at  his  hands,  besides  suffering  many 
other  indignities,  was  destined  to  provide  the  human 
bodies  which  first  attested  the  efficiency  of  the 
'miraculous'  Chassepot.  In  Spain  French  influence 
has  long  been  the  strongest  impediment  in  the  way 
of  progress,  and  although  the  independence  of 
nations  has  ever  been  pompously  paraded  by  him, 
Napoleon  assisted  the  slave  breeders  in  America, 
invaded  Mexico,  and  in  Germany  calculated  upon 
Austria  being  victorious.  That  he  was  mistaken  in 
this  latter  calculation,  and  that  the  German  people 
have  at  last  found,  and  are  steadily  marching  on, 
their  way  towards  unity,  makes  him  perfectly  rest- 
less. It  was  certainly  no  very  becoming  act  on 
the  part  of  French  diplomacy,  when  we  had 
defeated  Austria,  to  come  to  us  begging  for  a 
small  douceur  in  the  shape  of  a  province  or  two 
to  reward  them  for  their  evil-disposed  neutrality; 
nor  was  it  very  honest  on  the  part  of  the  same 
worthies  to  attempt  to  deprive  us  of  our  Italian  ally 
by  bribery  and  deceit.  Again,  it  was  France, 
who,  by  her  perfidious  intermeddling,  prevented 
us  from  imposing  such  conditions  of  peace  upon 
Austria    as    would    have    extended    the    ties    of 


TEE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


177 


national  unity  to  the  southern  states.  In  thus 
keeping  them  out  from  the  Confederacy,  Napoleon 
hoped  to  make  the  southern  sovereigns  tools  in 
his  hands  and  traitors  to  the  Fatherland.  We 
submitted  to  his  arrogance  on  all  these  occasions, 
as  also  when  the  Luxemburg  affair  was  brought 
upon  the  carpet,  because  we  hoped  to  be  able 
to  avoid  war.  But  his  latest  demands,  and  the 
manner  in  which  they  have  been  preferred,  exceed 
everything  that  has  gone  before.  To  mask  his 
domestic  embarrassments,  to  save  his  throne,  which 
would  otherwise  succumb  to  the  hatred  and  con- 
tempt of  his  own  subjects,  the  sanguinary  adven- 
turer has  embarked  in  his  last  military  job.  In 
taking  up  the  gauntlet  thrown  down  to  us,  we  are 
actuated  by  a  sense  of  honour,  and  also  by  a  desire  at 
last  to  free  ourselves  from  the  dangers  and  solicitudes 
of  the  fictitious  peace  we  have  endured  so  long. 
More  injurious  than  open  war,  the  armed  peace 
to  which  we  have  submitted  has  exhausted  our 
resources,  undermined  our  industry,  stopped  the 
advance  of  our  culture,  and,  worst  of  all,  kept  us  in 
constant  dread  of  the  sword  suspended  over  us  by  a 
hair.  In  contending  against  the  execrable  system 
of  Bonapartism,  we  shall  be  fighting,  not  only  for 
our  independence,  but  for  the  peace  and  culture 
of  Europe.  Unknown  to  the  Germans  is  the  lust  of 
conquest;  all  they  require  is  to  be  permitted  to  be 
their  own  masters.  While  protecting  our  own 
soil,  language,  and  nationality,  we  are  willing  to 
concede  corresponding  rights  to  all  other  nations. 
We  do  not  hate  the  French,  but  the  government 
and  the  system  which  dishonour,  enslave,  and 
humiliate  them.  The  French  have  been  in- 
veigled into  war  by  their  government  misrepre- 
senting and  calumniating  us ;  but  our  victory  will 
be  also  their  emancipation.  We  are  firmly  con- 
vinced that  this  will  be  the  last  great  war  the 
German  nation  is  destined  to  undergo,  and  that 
the  unity  of  our  race  will  be  the  result  of  it. 
The  God  of  Justice  is  with  us.  The  insolent 
provocation  of  the  French  despot  has  done  away 
with  our  internal  divisions.  The  Main  even  now 
is  bridged  over.  Party  divisions  are  extinct,  and 
will  remain  so  as  long  as  our  united  strength  is 
required  to  overthrow  the  common  enemy,  who 
is  equally  the  enemy  of  Germany  and  humanity. 
Inspired  by  the  magnitude  of  the  task  before  us, 
we  are  all  united,  a  people  of  brethren,  who  will 
neither  tarry  nor  rest  until  the  great  object  has 
been  accomplished." 


Not  a  few  passages  in  the  above  document  would 
make  the  reader  imagine  it  proceeded  from  a  radi- 
cal source.  But  its  authors,  the  National  Liberals, 
are  the  most  temperate  section  of  the  liberals  in 
Germany,  and  for  the  most  part  include  the 
wealth  and  rank  of  the  nation.  If  a  class  of 
politicians,  whose  sobriety  and,  in  many  instances, 
tameness  had  become  proverbial,  was  moved  to 
employ  such  language  as  the  above,  the  feeling 
and  expressions  of  the  less  moderate  can  be  easily 
imagined. 

The  mobilization  of  the  whole  of  the  North 
German  army  was  ordered  on  16th  July,  and 
on  the  following  Monday  the  king  received  an 
address  from  the  Berlin  town  council,  thanking 
his  majesty  for  having  repelled  the  unheard-of 
attempt  made  upon  the  dignity  and  independence 
of  the  nation,  and  asserting  that  France  having 
declared  war  against  Prussia,  every  man  would  do 
his  duty.  The  king,  in  reply,  expressed  his  gra- 
titude for  the  sentiments  contained  in  the  address, 
and  said: — 

"  God  knows  I  am  not  answerable  for  this  war. 
The  demand  sent  me  I  could  not  do  otherwise 
than  reject.  My  reply  gained  the  approval  of  all 
the  towns  and  provinces,  the  expression  of  which 
I  have  received  from  all  parts  of  Germany,  and 
even  from  Germans  residing  beyond  the  seas.  The 
greeting  which  was  given  me  here  on  Thursday 
night  last  animated  me  with  pride  and  confidence. 
Heavy  sacrifices  will  be  demanded  of  my  people. 
We  have  been  rendered  unaccustomed  to  them  by 
the  quickly  gained  victories  which  we  achieved  in 
the  last  two  wars.  We  shall  not  get  off  so  cheaply 
this  time;  but  I  know  what  I  may  expect  from  my 
army,  and  from  those  now  hastening  to  join  the 
ranks.  The  instrument  is  sharp  and  cutting. 
The  result  is  in  the  hands  of  God.  I  know  also 
what  I  may  expect  from  those  who  are  called  upon 
to  alleviate  the  wounds — the  pains  and  sufferings 
— which  war  entails.  In  conclusion,  I  beg  you  to 
express  my  sincere  thanks  to  the  citizens  for  the 
reception  they  have  given  me."  At  the  termi- 
nation of  the  royal  address,  which  was  delivered 
with  much  earnestness  and  gravity,  the  assembly, 
in  a  transport  of  enthusiasm,  shouted  unanimously, 
"  Long  live  the  king ! " 

The  North  German  Parliament  was  opened  on 
the  next  day  (Tuesday,  July  19),  with  a  speech 
from  the  throne  delivered  by  King  William  in 
person.     In  the  course  of  it  he  said: — 


178 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


"  The  candidature  of  a  German  prince  for  the 
Spanish  throne — both  in  the  bringing  forward 
and  withdrawal  of  which  the  Confederate  govern- 
ments were  equally  unconcerned,  and  which  only 
interested  the  North  German  Confederation  in  so  far 
as  the  government  of  a  friendly  country  appeared 
to  base  upon  its  success  the  hopes  of  acquiring  for 
a  sorely-tried  people  a  pledge  for  regular  and  peace- 
ful government — afforded  the  emperor  of  the 
French  a  pretext  for  a  casus  belli,  put  forward  in 
a  manner  long  since  unknown  in  the  annals  of 
diplomatic  intercourse,  and  adhered  to  after  the 
removal  of  the  very  pretext  itself,  with  that  dis- 
regard of  the  people's  right  to  the  blessings  of 
peace  of  which  the  history  of  a  former  ruler  of 
France  affords  so  many  analogous  examples.  If 
Germany  in  former  centuries  bore  in  silence  such 
violation  of  her  rights  and  of  her  honour,  it  was 
only  because,  in  her  then  divided  state,  she  knew 
not  her  own  strength.  To-day,  when  the  links  of 
intellectual  and  rightful  community  which  began 
to  be  knit  together  at  the  time  of  the  wars  of 
liberation  join — the  more  slowly  the  more  surely 
— the  different  German  races;  to-day  that  Ger- 
many's armament  leaves  no  longer  an  opening  to 
the  enemy,  the  German  nation  contains  within 
itself  the  wish  and  the  power  to  repel  the  renewed 
aggression  of  France.  It  is  not  arrogance  that 
puts  these  words  into  my  mouth.  The  Confeder- 
ate governments,  and  I  myself,  are  acting  in 
the  full  consciousness  that  victory  and  defeat  are 
in  the  hands  of  Him  who  decides  the  fate  of 
battles.  With  a  clear  gaze  we  have  measured  the 
responsibility  which,  before  the  judgment  seat  of 
God  and  of  mankind,  must  fall  upon  him  who 
drags  two  great  and  peace-loving  peoples  in  the 
heart  of  Europe  into  a  devastating  war. 

"  The  German  and  French  peoples,  both  equally 
enjoying  and  desiring  the  blessings  of  a  Christian 
civilization  and  of  an  increasing  prosperity,  are 
called  to  a  more  wholesome  rivalry  than  the  san- 
guinary conflict  of  arms.  Yet  those  who  hold 
power  in  France  have,  by  preconcerted  misguid- 
ance, found  means  to  work  upon  the  legitimate 
but  excitable  national  sentiment  of  our  great  neigh- 
bouring people,  for  the  furtherance  of  personal 
interests  and  the  gratification  of  selfish  passions. 

"  The  more  the  Confederate  governments  are  con- 
scious of  having  done  all  their  honour  and  dignity 
permitted  to  preserve  to  Europe  the  blessings  of 
peace,  and  the  more  indubitable  it  shall  appear 


to  all  minds  that  the  sword  has  been  thrust  into 
our  hands,  so  much  the  more  confidently  shall  we 
rely  upon  the  united  will  of  the  German  govern- 
ments, both  of  the  north  and  south,  and  upon  your 
love  of  country,  and  so  much  the  more  confidently 
we  shall  fight  for  our  right  against  the  violence 
of  foreign  invaders.  Inasmuch  as  we  pursue  no 
other  object  than  the  durable  establishment  of 
peace  in  Europe,  God  will  be  with  us,  as  He  was 
with  our  forefathers." 

When  the  House  met  in  the  afternoon  for  the 
despatch  of  business,  Count  von  Bismarck  informed 
the  members  that  the  French  charge  d'affaires  had 
delivered  a  declaration  of  war  against  Prussia. 
Hereupon  all  present  arose,  and  greeted  the  an- 
nouncement with  loud  cheering;  the  persons  in 
the  gallery  shouting  "  Hurrah  !  " 

On  the  following  day  the  Parliament,  in  reply 
to  his  speech,  presented  the  king  with  an  address, 
in  which  they  said : — 

"  One  thought,  one  resolve,  pervades  all  Germany 
at  this  grave  juncture. 

"  With  proud  satisfaction  has  the  nation  wit- 
nessed your  Majesty's  dignified  attitude  in  rejecting 
a  demand  of  unprecedented  arrogance  put  forward 
by  the  enemy.  Disappointed  in  his  hope  of  humili- 
ating us,  the  enemy  has  now  invented  a  sorry  and 
transparent  pretext  for  levying  war. 

"  The  German  nation  has  no  more  ardent  wish 
than  to  live  in  peace  and  amity  with  all  nations 
that  respect  its  honour  and  independence. 

"As  in  1813,  in  those  glorious  days  when  we 
freed  the  country  from  foreign  aggression,  we  are 
now  forced  again  to  take  up  arms  to  vindicate  oui 
rights  and  liberties  against  a  Napoleon. 

"  As  in  those  well-remembered  days,  all  calcula- 
tions based  upon  human  frailty  and  faithlessness 
will  be  destroyed  by  the  moral  energy  and  resolute 
will  of  the  German  nation. 

"  That  portion  of  the  French  people  which  by 
envy  and  selfish  ambition  has  been  seduced  into 
hostility  against  us,  will,  too  late,  perceive  the 
crop  of  evil  sure  to  grow  out  of  sanguinary  battle- 
fields. We  regret  that  the  more  equitably  inclined 
in  France  have  failed  to  prevent  a  crime  aimed  no 
less  at  the  prosperity  of  their  own  country  than 
the  maintenance  of  amicable  international  relations 
in  this  part  of  the  world. 

"  The  German  people  are  aware  that  they  have 
a  severe  and  portentous  struggle  before  them. 

"  We  confide  in  the  gallantry  and  patriotism  of 


FHE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR 


179 


our  brethren  in  arms,  in  the  indomitable  resolve 
of  an  united  people  to  sacrifice  life  and  treasure 
rather  than  suffer  a  foreign  conqueror  to  set  his 
foot  on  German  necks. 

"  We  confi.de  in  the  guidance  of  our  aged  and 
heroic  king,  who  when  a  young  man,  more  than 
half  a  century  ago,  warred  against  the  French, 
and  who,  in  the  evening  of  fife,  is  destined  by 
Providence  decisively  to  terminate  a  struggle  he 
then  began. 

"  We  confide  in  the  Almighty,  whose  judgment 
will  punish  the  bloody  crime  perpetrated  against  us. 

"  From  the  shores  of  the  German  Ocean  to  the 
foot  of  the  Alps  the  nation  has  risen  as  a  single 
man  at  the  call  of  its  allied  princes.  No  sacrifice 
will  be  too  heavy  for  it  to  make. 

"  Throughout  the  civilized  world  public  opinion 
recognizes  the  justice  of  our  cause.  Friendly 
nations  are  looking  forward  to  our  victory,  which 
is  to  free  some  from  the  ambitious  tyranny  of  a 
Bonaparte,  and  to  avenge  the  injury  he  has  inflicted 
upon  so  many  others. 

"  The  victory  gained,  the  German  nation  will  at 
last  achieve  its  unity,  and  on  the  battle-field,  held 
by  force  of  arms,  with  the  common  consent  of  its 
various  tribes,  erect  a  free  commonwealth,  which 
shall  be  respected  by  all  peoples. 

"  Your  Majesty  and  the  allied  German  govern- 
ments see  us  and  our  brethren  in  the  South  ready 
to  co-operate  for  the  attainment  of  this  object. 
The  prize  of  the  war  is  the  protection  of  our  honour 
and  liberty,  the  re-establishment  of  peace  in  Europe, 
and  the  promotion  of  the  prosperity  of  nations. 

"  With  profound  respect  and  in  loyal  obedience, 

"  THE  PARLIAMENT  OF  THE  NORTH 
GERMAN  CONFEDERACY." 

Immediately  after  the  passing  of  this  address,  and 
as  an  incontrovertible  proof  that  it  meant  something 
more  than  words,  a  loan  of  120,000,000  thalers 
(£.18,000,000)  was  voted  by  acclamation.  In  neither 
case  was  there  a  discussion.  As  the  sum  granted 
was  equal  to  a  fourth  of  the  whole  Prussian  debt, 
there  was  a  significant  eloquence  in  the  figures 
which  ought  not  to  be  overlooked  by  the  con- 
temporary historian.  Smaller  grants,  but  which 
in  the  aggregate  reached  nearly  a  third  of  the 
Federal  loan,  were  in  the  next  two  days  likewise 
devoted  to  military  purposes  by  the  various  state 
parliaments  and  governments  of  Northern  and 
Southern  Germany. 


On  Thursday  the  Parliament  was  prorogued. 
Count  von  Bismarck  read  a  message  from  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Confederation,  and  concluded  as  fol- 
lows : — "  After  the  words  that  the  king  has  twice 
addressed  to  the  Parliament,  I  should  have  nothing 
to  add,  were  it  not  that  his  Majesty  has  com- 
manded me  to  express  his  warmest  thanks  to  the 
Parliament  for  the  rapidity  and  unanimity  with 
which  it  has  provided  for  the  requirements  of 
the  nation.  In  thus  fulfilling  the  king's  order, 
I  declare  Parliament  closed."  Dr.  Simson  next 
addressed  a  few  words  to  the  House,  and  said  : — 
"  The  labours  of  the  representatives  of  the  people 
are  for  the  present  at  an  end,  and  the  work  of 
arms  will  now  take  its  course.  May  the  blessing 
of  the  Almighty  descend  upon  our  people  in  this 
holy  war !  Long  live  King  William,  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  German  army ! "  The  session 
terminated  amid  loud  and  prolonged  cheering. 

The  same  day  the  king  issued  the  following 
proclamation  to  his  subjects: — 

"  I  am  compelled  to  draw  the  sword  to  ward  off 
a  wanton  attack,  with  all  the  forces  at  Germany's 
disposal.  It  is  a  great  consolation  to  me,  before 
God  and  man,  that  I  have  in  no  way  given  a 
pretext  for  it.  My  conscience  acquits  me  of 
having  provoked  this  war,  and  I  am  certain  of  the 
righteousness  of  our  cause  in  the  sight  of  God. 
The  struggle  before  us  is  serious,  and  it  will  demand 
heavy  sacrifices  from  my  people  and  from  all  Ger- 
many. But  I  go  forth  to  it  looking  to  the  omni- 
scient God  and  imploring  His  almighty  support.  I 
have  already  cause  to  thank  God  that,  on  the  first 
news  of  the  war,  one  only  feeling  animated  ah 
German  hearts  and  proclaimed  aloud  the  indigna- 
tion felt  at  the  attack,  and  the  joyful  confidence 
that  Heaven  will  bestow  victory  on  the  righteous 
cause.  My  people  will  also  stand  by  me  in  this 
struggle  as  they  stood  by  my  father,  who  now  rests 
with  God.  They  will,  with  me,  make  all  sacrifices 
to  conquer  peace  again  for  the  nations.  From  my 
youth  upwards  I  have  learnt  to  believe,  that  all 
depends  upon  the  help  of  a  gracious  God.  In  Him 
is  my  trust,  and  I  beg  my  people  to  rest  in  the 
same  assurance.  I  bow  myself  before  Him  in 
acknowledgment  of  His  mercy,  and  I  am  sure 
that  my  subjects  and  fellow-countrymen  do  so  with 
me.  Therefore  I  decree  that  Wednesday,  the  27  th 
of  July,  shall  be  set  apart  for  an  extraordinary 
solemn  day  of  prayer  and  divine  service  in  all  our 
churches,  with  abstention  from  all  public  occupa- 


180 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


tions  and  labour,  so  far  as  may  comport  with  the 
pressing  necessities  of  the  time.  I  also  decree 
that  while  the  war  lasts  prayers  shall  be  offered  in 
all  divine  services,  that  in  this  struggle  God  may 
lead  us  to  victory,  that  He  may  give  us  grace  to 
bear  ourselves  as  Christian  men  even  unto  our 
enemies,  and  that  it  may  please  Him  to  allow  us  to 
obtain  a  lasting  peace,  founded  on  the  honour  and 
independence  of  Germany. 

(Signed)         "  WILLIAM. 
(Counter  Signed)         "  VON  MUHLER. 
"Berlin,  July  21." 

On  July  21  the  Due  de  Gramont  addressed 
a  circular  to  the  French  representatives  abroad, 
with  the  object  of  proving  that  the  nomination  of 
Prince  Leopold  of  Hohcnzollern  for  the  Spanish 
throne  had  been  mysteriously  promoted  by  Prussia, 
in  the  hope  that  France  would  be  obliged  to  accept 
it  as  an  accomplished  fact.  The  circular  stated: — 
"  Either  the  cabinet  of  Berlin  considered  war 
necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  designs 
it  had  long  since  been  meditating  against  the 
autonomy  of  the  German  states,  or  not  satisfied 
with  having  established  in  the  centre  of  Europe  a 
military  power  redoubtable  to  its  neighbours,  it 
desired  to  take  advantage  of  the  strength  it  had 
acquired  to  displace  definitely,  for  its  own  benefit, 
the  international  equilibrium.  The  premeditated 
intention  of  refusing  us  the  guarantees  most  indis- 
pensable to  our  security  as  well  as  our  honour,  is 
plainly  exhibited  in  all  its  conduct. 

"  France  has  taken  up  the  cause  of  equilibrium, 
that  is  to  say,  the  interest  of  all  the  populations 
menaced  like  herself  by  the  disproportionate 
aggrandizement  of  a  royal  house.  In  so  doing  docs 
she  place  herself,  as  has  been  asserted,  in  con- 
tradiction to  her  own  maxims  ?  Assuredly  not. 
Every  nation,  we  are  foremost  to  proclaim,  has  a 
right  to  govern  its  own  destinies.  That  principle, 
openly  affirmed  by  Fiance,  has  become  one  of  the 
fundamental  laws  of  modern  politics.  But  the 
right  of  each  people,  as  of  each  individual,  is 
limited  by  that  of  others,  and  any  nation  is  for- 
bidden, under  the  pretext  of  exercising  its  own 
sovereignty,  to  menace  the  existence  or  security 
of  a  neighbouring  nation.  In  that  sense  it  was 
that  M.  de  Lamartine,  one  of  our  great  orators,  said, 
in  1847,  that  in  the  choice  of  a  sovereign  a  govern- 
ment  has   never   the   right   to   pretend,  and  has 


always  the  right  to  exclude.  That  doctrine  has 
been  admitted  on  several  occasions,  and  Prussia, 
whom  we  did  not  fail  to  remind  of  those  pre- 
cedents, appeared  ibr  a  moment  to  give  way  to 
our  just  demands.  Prince  Leopold  withdrew  his 
candidatesliip  ;  there  was  room  to  hope  that  the 
peace  would  not  be  broken.  But  that  expectation 
soon  gave  place  to  fresh  apprehensions,  and  then 
to  the  certainty  that  Prussia,  without  seriously 
abandoning  any  of  her  pretensions,  was  only  seek- 
ing to  gain  time.  The  language,  at  first  un- 
decided, and  then  firm  and  haughty,  of  the  cliief 
of  the  house  of  Hohenzollern,  his  refusal  to  engage 
to  maintain  on  the  morrow  the  renunciation  of 
yesterday,  the  treatment  inflicted  on  our  ambas- 
sador, who  was  forbidden  by  a  verbal  message 
from  any  fresh  communication  for  the  object  of  his 
mission  of  conciliation,  and,  lastly,  the  publicity 
given  to  that  unparalleled  proceeding  by  the 
Prussian  journals,  and  by  the  notification  of 
it  made  to  the  cabinets — all  those  successive 
symptoms  of  aggressive  intentions  removed  every 
doubt  in  the  most  prejudiced  minds.  Can  there 
be  any  illusion  when  a  sovereign  who  commands 
a  million  of  soldiers  declares,  with  his  hand  on 
the  hilt  of  his  sword,  that  he  reserves  the  right  of 
taking  counsel  of  himself  alone,  and  from  cir- 
cumstances? We  were  led  to  that  extreme 
limit  at  which  a  nation  who  feels  what  is  due  to 
itself  cannot  further  compromise  with  the  require- 
ments of  its  honour.  If  the  closing  incidents  of 
this  painful  discussion  did  not  throw  a  somewhat 
vivid  light  on  the  schemes  nourished  by  the  Berlin 
cabinet,  there  is  one  circumstance  not  so  well 
known  at  present,  which  would  put  a  decisive 
interpretation  on  its  conduct.  The  idea  of  raising 
a  Hohenzollern  prince  to  the  Spanish  throne  was 
not  a  new  one.  So  early  as  March,  1869,  it  had 
been  mentioned  by  our  ambassador  at  Berlin,  who 
was  at  once  requested  to  inform  Count  von  Bismarck 
what  view  the  emperor's  government  would  take 
of  such  an  eventuality.  Count  Benedetti,  in 
several  interviews  which  he  had  on  this  topic  with 
the  chancellor  of  the  North  German  Confederation 
and  the  under  secretary  of  state  intrusted  with 
the  management  of  foreign  affairs,  did  not  leave 
them  in  ignorance  that  we  could  never  admit  that 
a  Prussian  prince  should  reign  beyond  the 
Pyrenees.  Count  von  Bismarck,  for  his  part,  de- 
clared that  we  need  be  under  no  anxiety  concern- 
ing a  combination  which  he  himself  judged  to  be 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


181 


incapable  of  realization,  and  during  the  absence  of 
the  Federal  chancellor,  at  a  moment  when  M.  Bene- 
detti  considered  it  his  duty  to  be  incredulous  and 
pressing,  Herr  von  Theile  gave  his  word  of  honour 
that  the  prince  of  Hohenzollern  was  not  and  could 
not  seriously  become  a  candidate  for  the  Spanish 
crown.  If  one  were  to  suspect  official  assurances 
so  positive  as  this,  diplomatic  communications 
would  cease  to  be  a  guarantee  for  the  peace  of 
Europe ;  they  would  be  but  a  snare  and  a  source 
of  peril.  Thus,  although  our  ambassador  trans- 
mitted these  statements  under  all  reserve,  the 
Imperial  government  deemed  fit  to  receive  them 
favourably.  It  refused  to  call  their  good  faith  into 
question  until  the  combination  which  was  their 
glaring  negation  suddenly  revealed  itself.  In 
unexpectedly  breaking  the  promise  which  she 
had  given  us,  without  even  attempting  to  take 
any  steps  to  free  herself  towards  us,  Prussia 
offered  us  a  veritable  defiance.  Enlightened  at 
once  as  to  the  value  to  be  attached  to  the  most 
formal  protests  of  Prussian  statesmen,  we  were 
imperiously  obliged  to  preserve  our  loyalty  from 
fresh  mistakes  in  the  future  by  an  explicit 
guarantee.  We  therefore  felt  it  our  duty  to  insist, 
as  we  have  done,  on  obtaining  the  certitude  that 
a  withdrawal,  which  was  hedged  round  with  the 
most  subtle  distinctions,  was  this  time  definite  and 
serious.  It  is  just  that  the  court  of  Berlin  should 
bear,  before  history,  the  responsibility  of  this  war, 
which  it  had  the  means  of  avoiding  and  which  it 
has  wished  for.  And  under  what  circumstances 
has  it  sought  out  the  struggle?  It  is  when  for 
the  last  four  years  France,  displaying  continual 
moderation  towards  it,  has  abstained,  with  a 
scrupulousness  perhaps  exaggerated,  from  calling 
up  against  it  the  treaties  concluded  under  the 
mediation  of  the  emperor  himself,  but  the 
voluntary  neglect  of  which  is  seen  in  all  the  acts 
of  a  government  which  was  already  thinking  of 
getting  rid  of  them  at  the  moment  of  signature. 
Europe  has  been  witness  of  our  conduct,  and  she 
has  had  the  opportunity  of  comparing  it  with  that 
of  Prussia  during  this  period.  Let  her  pronounce 
now  upon  the  justice  of  our  cause.  Whatever  be 
the  issue  of  our  combats  we  await  without  dis- 
quietude the  judgment  of  our  contemporaries  as 
that  of  posterity." 

Immediately  this  circular  reached  Berlin  both 
Count  von  Bismarck  and  Herr  von  Theile  issued 
one,  denying  most  positively  that  any  such  pledge 


was  ever  given,  and  in  no  ambiguous  phrase  affirm- 
ing that  M.  Benedetti  had  made  a  statement  quite 
unfounded  in  fact.  On  search  at  the  French  Foreign 
Office,  however,  a  despatch  narrating  the  circum- 
stance was  found,  but  as  previously  stated  by  the 
Due  de  Gramont,  it  was  marked  "  under  all  reserves," 
a  sterotyped  phrase  of  diplomatic  phraseology  of 
a  rather  elastic  nature. 

On  July  22  the  emperor  received  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislative  Body,  and  the  president, 
M.  Schneider,  addressed  him  as  follows  : — 

"  Sire, — The  Legislative  Body  has  terminated 
its  labours,  after  voting  all  the  subsidies  and  laws 
necessary  for  the  defence  of  the  country.  Thus 
the  Chamber  has  joined  in  an  effective  proof  of 
patriotism.  The  real  author  of  the  war  is  not  he 
by  whom  it  was  declared,  but  he  who  rendered  it 
necessary.  There  will  be  but  one  voice  among 
the  people  of  both  hemispheres,  throwing,  namely, 
the  responsibility  of  the  war  upon  Prussia,  which, 
intoxicated  by  unexpected  success  and  encouraged 
by  our  patience  and  our  desire  to  preserve  to 
Europe  the  blessings  of  peace,  has  imagined  that 
she  could  conspire  against  our  security,  and 
wound  with  impunity  our  honour.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances France  will  know  how  to  do  her  duty. 
The  most  ardent  wishes  will  follow  you  to  the 
army,  the  command  of  which  you  assume,  accom- 
panied by  your  son,  who,  anticipating  the  duties  of 
maturer  age,  will  learn  by  your  side  how  to  serve 
his  country.  Behind  you,  behind  our  army,  accus- 
tomed to  carry  the  noble  flag  of  France,  stand  the 
whole  nation  ready  to  recruit  it.  Leave  the  re- 
gency without  anxiety  in  the  hands  of  our  august 
sovereign  the  empress.  To  the  authority  com- 
manded by  her  great  qualities,  of  which  ample 
evidence  has  already  been  given,  her  Majesty  will 
add  the  strength  now  afforded  by  the  liberal  insti- 
tutions so  gloriously  inaugurated  by  your  Majesty. 
Sire,  the  heart  of  the  nation  is  with  you,  and  with 
your  valiant  army." 

The  emperor  replied  : — 

"  I  experience  the  most  lively  satisfaction,  on  the 
eve  of  my  departure  for  the  army,  at  being  able  to 
thank  you  for  the  patriotic  support  which  you  have 
afforded  my  government.  A  war  is  right  when 
it  is  waged  with  the  assent  of  the  country  and 
the  approval  of  the  country's  representatives.  You 
are  right  to  remember  the  words  of  Montesquieu, 
that  '  the  real  author  of  war  is  not  he  by  whom  it 
is  declared,  but  he  who  renders  it  necessary. '     We 


182 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


have  done  all  in  our  power  to  avert  the  war,  and 
I  may  say  that  it  is  the  whole  nation  which  has, 
by  its  irresistible  impulse,  dictated  our  decisions. 
I  confide  to  you  the  empress,  who  will  call  you 
around  her  if  circumstances  should  require  it.  She 
will  know  how  to  fulfil  courageously  the  duty  which 
her  j)osition  imposes  upon  her.  I  take  my  son 
with  me  ;  in  the  midst  of  the  army  he  will  learn 
to  serve  his  country.  Resolved  energetically  to 
pursue  the  great  mission  which  has  been  intrusted 
to  me,  I  have  faith  in  the  success  of  our  arms  ;  for 
I  know  that  behind  me  France  has  risen  to  her 
feet,  and  that  God  protects  her." 

On  the  following  day,  July  23,  the  emperor 
addressed  the  following  proclamation  to  the  French 
nation : — 

"  Frenchmen, — There  are  solemn  moments  in 
the  life  of  peoples,  when  the  national  sense  of 
honour,  violently  excited,  imposes  itself  with 
irresistible  force,  dominates  all  interests,  and  alone 
takes  in  hand  the  direction  of  the  destinies  of  the 
country.  One  of  those  decisive  hours  has  sounded 
for  France.  Prussia,  towards  whom  both  during 
and  since  the  war  of  1866  we  have  shown  the  most 
conciliatory  disposition,  has  taken  no  account  of 
our  good  wishes  and  our  enduring  forbearance. 
Launched  on  the  path  of  invasion,  she  has  provoked 
mistrust  everywhere,  necessitated  exaggerated 
armaments,  and  has  turned  Europe  into  a  camp, 
where  reigns  nothing  but  uncertainty  and  fear  of 
the  morrow.  A  last  incident  has  come  to  show 
the  instability  of  international  relations,  and  to 
prove  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  In  presence  of 
the  new  pretensions  of  Prussia,  we  made  known 


our  protests.  They  were  evaded,  and  were  followed 
on  the  part  of  Prussia  by  contemptuous  acts.  Our 
country  resented  this  treatment  with  profound 
irritation,  and  immediately  a  cry  for  war  resounded 
from  one  end  of  France  to  the  other.  It  only 
remains  to  us  to  leave  our  destinies  to  the  decision 
of  arms. 

"  We  do  not  make  war  on  Germany,  whose 
independence  we  respect.  We  wish  that  the 
people  who  compose  the  great  German  nationality 
may  freely  dispose  of  their  destinies.  For  ourselves, 
we  demand  the  establishment  of  a  state  of  affairs 
which  shall  guarantee  our  security  and  assure  our 
future.  We  wish  to  conquer  a  lasting  peace,  based 
on  the  true  interests  of  peoples,  and  to  put  an  end 
to  that  precarious  state  in  which  all  nations  employ 
their  resources  to  arm  themselves  one  against  the 
other.  The  glorious  flag  which  we  once  more 
unfurl  before  those  who  have  provoked  us,  is  the 
same  which  bore  throughout  Europe  the  civilizing 
ideas  of  our  great  revolution.  It  represents  the 
same  principles  and  will  inspire  the  same  devotion. 

"  Frenchmen !  I  am  about  to  place  myself  at 
the  head  of  that  valiant  army  which  is  animated 
by  love  of  duty  and  of  country.  It  knows  its  own 
worth,  since  it  has  seen  how  victory  has  accompanied 
its  march  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  world.  I  take 
with  me  my  son,  despite  his  youth.  He  knows 
what  are  the  duties  which  his  name  imposes  upon 
him,  and  he  is  proud  to  bear  his  share  in  the 
dangers  of  those  who  fight  for  their  country.  May 
God  bless  our  efforts!  A  great  people  which 
defends  a  just  cause  is  invincible. 

"  NAPOLEON." 


CHAPTER      II. 


Unusual  lull  in  Foreign  Affairs  immediately  before  the  events  which  led  to  the  Declaration  of  War — The  determination  of  the  French  Government 
to  resist  the  Candidature  of  Prince  Leopold  made  known  to  the  English  Ambassador  at  Paris,  and  the  Mediation  of  England  solicited — 
Principles  acted  upon  by  the  British  Government  throughout — M.  Ollivier's  private  views  of  the  whole  matter — Lord  Lyons,  the  English 
Ambassador  at  Paris,  uneasy  at  the  effect  produced  by  the  Due  de  Gramont's  strong-worded  declaration  in  the  Corps  Le"gislatif — The  Due's 
explanation  with  regard  to  it — English  Mediation  again  invoked — Interview  between  Lord  Lyons  and  the  Prussian  Charge'  d' Affaires  at  Paris 
— The  French  Ambassador  in  London  and  Lord  Granville — Important  Communication  from  the  latter  to  Lord  Augustus  Loftus,  the  English 
Minister  at  Berlin,  urging  Prussia  to  endeavour  to  have  the  Prince  withdrawn — Despatch  to  Mr.  Layard,  the  Ambassador  at  Madrid,  to  the  same 
effect — Count  Bernstorff 's  statement  of  views  of  the  North  German  Government — Further  despatch  to  Mr.  Layard  urging  the  withdrawal 
of  the  Prince — Surprise  of  Lord  Lyons  at  the  rapidity  of  the  proceeding  of  the  French  Government — The  Due  de  Gramont's  solution  of  the 
question — Hopes  entertained  of  an  Amicable  Arrangement — Lord  Granville's  regret  at  the  tone  adopted  by  the  French  Press — The  matter 
as  it  stood  on  July  10,  stated  by  the  Due  de  Gramont — The  Spanish  Government's  views  of  the  whole  question,  and  their  strong  Desire 
for  Peace — Remarks  of  General  Prim — State  of  public  feeling  in  France — Important  Interview  between  Lord  Lyons  aud  the  Due  de 
Gramont — The  former's  regret  that  the  renunciation  of  the  Candidature  of  the  Prince  is  not  at  once  accepted,  and  his  warning  to  the 
French  Government — Lord  Granville's  representation  to  the  French  Government  of  the  immense  responsibility  they  were  incurring — He 
also  denies  that  he  had  ever  admitted  that  the  Grievances  complained  of  by  France  were  legitimate — Further  pressing  appeal  by  Lord 
Lyons,  and  another  explanation  of  the  Due  de  Gramont — Important  statement  by  him  in  writing  as  to  what  France  required  to  have  the 
matter  settled — Further  appeal  to  Prussia — Count  Bismarck's  reply  to  the  whole  question — Feeling  in  Germany — No  fear  as  to  the  result 
of  a  War — Tbe  fatal  telegram  from  Ems — Interesting  despatch  from  Lord  Lyons  describing  the  change  caused  by  it  in  France — Thanks 
of  the  French  Government  to  England  for  her  efforts  in  trying  to  preserve  Peace — The  real  gravamen  of  the  offence  against  France — 
Last  effort  made  by  England,  under  the  Treaty  of  Paris  of  1856,  to  prevent  hostilities — Replies  from  both  France  and  Prussia  declining 
the  proposal — Efforts  made  by  other  European  Powers  in  the  cause  of  Peace — Successful  endeavours  made  by  England  to  secure  liberal 
terms  for  Neutrals — Proclamation  of  Neutrality,  and  notification  with  regard  to  the  ships  of  both  belligerents — Passing  of  a  new  and 
stringent  Foreign  Enlistment  Act — Description  of  its  chief  provisions. 


Haying  thus  brought  the  course  of  events  to  the 
declaration  of  war,  it  will  be  better  to  retrace  our 
steps  a  little,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  earnest 
efforts  made  by  the  British  government  to  avert  so 
great  a  calamity.  When,  in  consequence  of  the 
death  of  Lord  Clarendon,  Lord  Granville  became 
secretary  of  state  for  Foreign  Affairs  in  July, 
1870,  so  little  was  any  fear  entertained  in  England 
of  a  premature  disturbance  of  the  peace  of  Europe, 
that  Mr.  Hammond,  the  able  and  experienced  per- 
manent secretary  at  the  Foreign  Office,  told  his 
lordship  he  had  never  before  known  such  a  lull 
in  foreign  politics. 

The  first  intimation  of  the  candidature  of  Prince 
Leopold  was  received  officially  in  England  on 
Tuesday  evening,  5th  July,  in  a  telegram  from 
Mr.  Layard,  the  British  ambassador  at  Madrid, 
stating  the  fact,  and  that  it  was  expected  he  would 
be  accepted  by  the  requisite  majority.  A  letter 
was  received  the  next  morning  from  Lord  Lyons, 
the  British  ambassador  at  Paris,  stating  that  the 
Due  de  Gramont  had  just  informed  him  that  France 
would  not  permit  the  selection  to  be  carried  into 
effect:  she  "would  use  her  whole  strength  to 
prevent  it."  Nothing,  the  duke  added,  could  be 
further  from  the  wishes  of  the  French  government 


than  to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Spain ; 
but  the  interest  and  dignity  of  France  alike  forbade 
them  to  permit  the  establishment  of  a  Prussian 
dynasty  in  the  Peninsula.  They  could  not  consent 
to  a  state  of  things  which  would  oblige  them,  in 
case  of  war  with  Prussia,  to  keep  a  watch  upon 
Spain  which  would  paralyze  a  division  of  their 
army.  The  proposal  to  set  the  crown  of  Spain 
upon  a  Prussian  head  was  nothing  less  than  an 
insult  to  France,  and  with  a  full  consideration 
of  all  that  such  a  declaration  implied,  he  said 
the  government  of  the  emperor  would  not  en- 
dure it. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that,  from  the  first  day  on 
which  the  matter  was  officially  made  known,  the 
British  government  were  informed  that  unless  the 
project  were  relinquished  war  would  certainly  ensue. 
Nothing  more  would  have  been  necessary  to  have 
called  forth  the  immediate  intervention  of  Eng- 
land, but  in  addition  to  this,  the  Due  de  Gramont 
concluded  the  conversation  to  which  we  have  re- 
ferred by  expressing  to  Lord  Lyons  his  earnest  hope 
that  the  British  government  would  co-operate 
with  that  of  France  in  endeavouring  to  ward 
off  an  event  which,  he  said,  would  be  fraught  with 
danger  to  the  peace  of  Europe. 


184 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


As  will  be  shown  in  the  following  narrative  of 
events,  the  principle  acted  upon  by  the  British 
government  throughout,  and  which  secured  for  it 
the  approval,  not  only  of  persons  of  all  parties 
in  England,  but  the  thanks  of  both  France  and 
Prussia,  was,  that  though  it  could  not  recognize 
the  election  of  Prince  Leopold  as  being  a  danger 
to  France,  or  that  France  would  be  entitled  to  put  it 
forward  as  a  cause  of  war  either  against  Prussia  or 
Spain,  yet  considering  the  fact  that  France  was 
violently  excited  on  the  subject,  and  that  the  im- 
perial government  was  fully  committed  to  resist  the 
election  by  force,  it  was  a  public  duty  to  obtain 
the  abandonment  of  the  project.  In  the  words 
of  Lord  Granville,  who  so  ably  conducted  the 
negotiations  throughout,  its  course  was  to  urge 
the  French  government  to  avoid  precipitation,  and, 
without  dictation,  to  impress  on  Prussia  and  Spain 
the  gravity  of  the  situation.  "  I  felt  that  our 
position  was  very  much  that  of  trying  to  prevent  a 
fire  with  inflammable  materials  all  around,  and  with 
matches  all  ready  to  ignite;  that  it  was  not  the 
moment  to  go  into  any  elaborate  inquiries  as  to 
who  had  brought  the  materials,  or  the  rights  and 
wrongs  of  the  case,  but  that  we  should  endeavour 
as  soon  as  possible  to  remove  those  materials  and 
to  prevent  one  of  the  greatest  calamities  which 
could  happen  to  the  world."  To  this  practical 
end  the  efforts  of  the  English  government  were, 
therefore,  directed,  and  with  complete  success  so 
far  as  France  had  asked  for  its  co-operation — the 
withdrawal  of  the  prince's  candidature. 

After  writing  his  letter  of  the  5th  of  July,  Lord 
Lyons  attended  a  reception  at  M.  Ollivier's,  the 
head  of  the  French  government.  The  latter  took 
him  on  one  side,  and  spoke  at  some  length  and 
with  considerable  emphasis,  respecting  the  news 
just  received.  His  language  was  in  substance  the 
same  as  that  held  by  the  Due  de  Gramont  in  the 
afternoon,  but  he  entered  rather  more  into  detail, 
and  spoke  with  still  more  precision  of  the  impossibi- 
lity of  allowing  the  prince  to  become  king  of  Spain. 
Public  opinion  in  France,  he  said,  would  never 
tolerate  it,  and  any  government  which  acquiesced 
in  it  would  be  at  once  overthrown.  For  his  own 
part,  he  said,  it  was  well  known  he  had  never  been 
an  enemy  to  Germany  ;  but  with  all  his  good  will 
towards  the  Germans,  he  must  confess  that  he  felt 
this  proceeding  to  be  an  insult,  and  fully  shared 
the  indignation  of  the  public.  Lord  Lyons  urged 
that  the  official  declaration  to  be  made  on  the  sub-  ' 


ject  in  the  Chamber  on  the  following  day  should 
be  moderate,  and  M.  Ollivier  assured  him  that 
it  should  be  as  mild  as  was  compatible  with  the 
necessity  of  satisfying  public  opinion  in  France; 
but  in  fact,  he  said,  our  language  is  this,  "  We 
are  not  uneasy,  because  we  have  a  firm  hope  that 
the  thing  will  not  be  done  ;  but  if  it  were  to  be 
done,  we  would  not  tolerate  it."  After  this  con- 
versation, Lord  Lyons  said,  in  a  despatch  written 
on  July  7,  that  he  hardly  expected  the  declara- 
tion (which  is  given  in  the  previous  chapter) 
would  have  been  so  strongly  worded  as  it  proved 
to  be.  He  admitted,  however,  that,  forcible  as  it 
was,  it  did  not  go  at  all  beyond  the  feeling  of  the 
country,  and  it  was  only  too  plain  that,  without 
considering  how  far  the  real  interests  of  France 
might  be  in  question,  the  nation  had  taken  the 
proposal  to  place  the  prince  of  Ilohenzollern  on 
the  throne  of  Spain  to  be  an  insult  and  a  challenge 
from  Prussia.  The  wound  inflicted  by  Sadowa 
on  French  pride  had  never  been  completely  healed, 
but  time  was  producing  its  reconciling  effects  in 
many  minds  when  this  matter  had  revived  all  the 
old  animosity :  both  the  government  and  the  people 
had  alike  made  it  a  point  of  honour  to  prevent  the 
accession  of  the  prince,  and  had  gone  too  far  to 
recede.  Lord  Lyons  added,  however,  he  did  not 
believe  that  either  the  emperor  or  his  ministers 
wished  for  war  or  even  expected  it:  on  the  con- 
trary, he  thought  they  confidently  hoped  they 
should  succeed  by  pacific  means  in  preventing  the 
prince  from  wearing  the  crown  of  Spain,  and  con- 
ceived if  that  should  be  so,  they  should  gain  popu- 
larity at  home  by  giving  effect  energetically  to  the 
feeling  of  the  nation  ;  and  that  they  should  raise 
their  credit  abroad  by  a  diplomatic  success.  They 
were,  moreover,  not  sorry  to  have  an  opportunity 
of  testing  the  public  feeling  with  regard  to  Prussia, 
and  they  were  convinced  that  it  would  have  been 
impossible,  with  safety,  to  allow  what,  rightly 
or  wrongly,  the  nation  would  regard  as  a  fresh 
triumph  of  Prussia  over  France. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  (July  7)  Lord 
Lyons  had  an  interview  with  the  Due  de  Gramont, 
and  told  him  he  could  not  but  feel  uneasy  respect- 
ing the  declaration  which  he  had  made  the  day 
before  in  the  Corps  Legislatif,  and  thought  that 
milder  language  would  have  rendered  it  more  easy 
to  treat  both  with  Prussia  and  Spain  for  the  with- 
drawal of  the  pretensions  of  Prince  Leopold.  The 
duke  said  he  was  glad  Lord  Lyons  had  mentioned 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


185 


this,  as  he  wished  to  have  an  opportunity  of  con- 
veying to  the  British  government  an  explanation 
of  his  reasons  for  making  a  public  declaration  in 
terms  so  positive.  As  minister  in  a  constitutional 
country,  he  was  sure  Lord  Granville  would  per- 
fectly understand  the  impossibility  of  contending 
with  public  opinion,  and  on  this  point  the  French 
nation  was  so  strongly  roused,  that  its  will  could 
not  be  resisted  or  trifled  with,  and  nothing  less  than 
what  he  had  said  would  have  satisfied  the  public. 
His  speech  was  in  fact,  as  regarded  the  internal 
peace  of  France,  absolutely  necessary ;  and  diplo- 
matic considerations  must  yield  to  public  safety 
at  home.  Nor  could  he  admit  that  it  was  simply 
the  pride  of  France  which  was  in  question.  Her 
military  power  was  at  stake,  for,  as  king  of  Spain, 
Prince  Leopold  could  make  himself  a  military 
sovereign,  and  secure  the  means  of  paralyzing 
200,000  French  troops,  if  France  should  be  en- 
gaged in  a  European  war.  It  would  be  madness 
to  wait  until  this  was  accomplished  ;  if  there  was 
to  be  war  it  had  better  come  at  once;  but  he  still 
trusted  much  to  the  aid  of  the  British  government, 
and  by  exercising  their  influence  at  Berlin  and 
Madrid  they  would  manifest  their  friendship  for 
France,  and  preserve  the  peace  of  Europe.  As 
regarded  Prussia,  the  essential  thing  was  to  make 
her  understand  that  France  could  not  be  put  off 
with  an  evasive  answer  ;  it  was  not  to  be  credited 
that  the  king  of  Prussia  had  not  the  power  to  for- 
bid a  prince  of  his  family  and  an  officer  of  his 
army  from  accepting  a  foreign  throne.  It  was, 
however,  in  Spain  that  the  assistance  of  the 
British  government  could  be  most  effectually  given 
to  France.  The  regent  might  surely  be  convinced 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  separate  himself  from  a 
policy  which  would  plunge  Spain  into  civil  war,  and 
cause  hostilities  in  Europe.  The  same  day  (July 
7)  Lord  Lyons  reported  to  Earl  Granville  a  con- 
versation he  had  just  had  with  the  Prussian  charge 
d'affaires  at  Paris,  who  considered  the  Due  de 
Gramont's  declaration  to  have  been  too  hastily 
made,  and  expressed  his  belief  that  neither  the 
king  nor  Count  von  Bismarck  was  aware  of  the  offer 
of  the  crown  to  Prince  Leopold ;  but  that  he  hardly 
knew  what  power  the  king  of  Prussia  might  possess 
of  enforcing  a  renunciation,  but  certainly,  being 
in  the  army,  he  could  not  leave  it  without  the 
king's  permission.  Lord  Lyons  observed  that 
much  as  they  might  deplore  it,  they  could  not 
shut  their  eyes  to  the  fact  that  the  feelings  of  the 


French  nation  would  now  render  it  impossible  for 
the  government,  even  if  they  wished,  to  acquiesce 
in  the  elevation  of  the  prince  to  the  throne. 
Neither  Prussia,  nor  any  other  nation  that  he  knew 
of,  had  any  real  interest  in  making  the  prince  king 
of  Spain  ;  but  all  nations  were  deeply  interested  in 
preventing  war,  and  that  nation  would  most  deserve 
the  gratitude  of  Europe  which  should  put  an  end  to 
this  cause  of  disquiet  and  danger.  It  seemed  to  him, 
therefore,  that  the  king  of  Prussia,  more  than  any 
other  sovereign,  possessed  the  means  of  putting  a 
stop  to  the  whole  imbroglio  in  a  dignified  and 
honourable  manner. 

On  the  previous  day,  6th  July,  M.  de  Lavalette, 
the  French  ambassador  in  London,  had  called 
on  Lord  Granville,  and  urged  on  him  the  im- 
portance of  endeavouring  to  induce  the  obnoxious 
candidate  to  retire ;  and  in  compliance  with  this 
request,  the  latter  promised  to  write  at  once  to 
Lord  Augustus  Loftus,  the  English  minister  at 
Berlin;  but  at  the  same  time  he  expressed  his 
regret  at  the  strong  language  reported  to  have 
been  used  to  the  Prussian  representative  in  Paris, 
and  guarded  himself  against  admitting  that  France 
was  justified  in  her  complaints.  In  his  letter  to  Lord 
Augustus  Loftus  he  said,  both  Mr.  Gladstone  and  he 
himself  were  taken  very  much  by  surprise  by  the 
news  received  the  previous  evening;  and  although 
the  British  government  had  no  wish  to  interfere  in 
Spain  or  to  dictate  to  Germany,  they  certainly 
hoped,  and  could  not  but  believe,  that  this  project 
of  which  they  had  hitherto  been  ignorant  had  not 
received  any  sanction  from  the  king.  Some  of  the 
greatest  calamities  in  the  world  had  been  produced 
by  small  causes,  and  by  mistakes  trivial  in  their 
origin,  and  in  the  then  state  of  opinion  in  France, 
the  possession  of  the  crown  of  Spain  by  a  Prussian 
prince  would  be  sure  to  lead  to  great  and  dan- 
gerous irritation.  Of  this,  indeed,  there  was  con- 
clusive evidence  in  the  statements  made  by  the 
minister  to  the  French  chamber.  In  Prussia  it 
could  be  an  object  of  no  importance  that  a  member 
of  the  house  of  Hohenzollern  should  occupy  the 
throne  of  the  most  Catholic  country  in  Europe. 
It  was  in  the  interest  of  civilization,  and  of  Euro- 
pean peace  and  order,  that  Spain  should  consolidate 
her  institutions ;  and  it  was  almost  impossible  that 
this  should  be  accomplished  if  a  new  monarchy 
were  inaugurated,  which  was  certain  to  excite 
jealousy  and  unfriendly  feelings,  if  not  hostile  acts, 
on  the  part  of  her  immediate  and  powerful  neigh- 
2  A 


186 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


bour.  He  therefore  hoped  that  the  king  and  his 
advisers  would  find  it  consistent  with  their  views 
of  what  was  advantageous  for  Spain,  effectually  to 
discourage  a  project  fraught  with  risk  to  the  best 
interests  of  that  country.  Lord  Augustus  Loftus, 
however,  was  cautioned  to  say  nothing  which  could 
>nve  ground  for  the  supposition  that  the  English 
government  controverted,  or  even  discussed,  the 
abstract  right  of  Spain  to  the  choice  of  her  own 
sovereign;  and  for  his  own  information  it  was 
added,  that  they  had  not  in  any  measure  admitted 
that  the  assumption  of  the  Spanish  throne  by 
Prince  Leopold  would  justify  the  immediate  resort 
to  arms  threatened  by  France.  On  that  topic, 
however,  he  was  not  then  to  enter  into  communi- 
cation with  the  Prussian  government.  The  ground- 
work of  the  representations  which  he  was  instructed 
to  make  was  prudential.  To  considerations,  how- 
ever, of  that  class,  Earl  Granville  said  he  could 
not  but  add  the  reflection,  that  the  secrecy  with 
which  the  proceedings  had  been  conducted  as 
between  the  Spanish  ministry  and  the  prince  who 
had  been  the  object  of  their  choice,  seemed  incon- 
sistent with  the  spirit  of  friendship  or  the  rules 
of  comity  between  nations,  and  had  given,  what 
the  government  could  not  but  admit  to  be,  so 
far  as  it  went,  just  cause  of  offence. 

The  following  day  (July  7)  Lord  Granville  wrote 
to  Mr.  Layard  at  Madrid,  calling  his  attention  to 
the  great  disfavour  with  which  the  candidature  of 
the  prince  had  been  received  in  France,  and  said 
that  although  her  Majesty's  government  had  no 
desire  to  recommend  any  particular  person  what- 
ever to  Spain  as  her  future  sovereign,  or  to  interfere 
in  any  way  with  the  choice  of  the  Spanish  nation ; 
still,  entertaining  as  they  did  the  strongest  wish 
for  the  well-being  of  Spain,  it  was  impossible  that 
they  should  not  feel  anxious  as  to  the  consequences 
of  the  step  thus  taken  by  the  provisional  govern- 
ment, and  they  therefore  wished  him,  whilst  care- 
fully abstaining  from  employing  any  language 
calculated  to  offend  them,  to  use  every  pressure 
upon  them  which  in  his  judgment  might  contribute 
to  induce  them  to  abandon  the  project. 

Similar  views  were  urgently  impressed  on  the 
Spanish  minister  in  London,  who  called  on  Lord 
Granville  the  same  day;  and  it  was  forcibly  repre- 
sented to  him  that  the  step,  if  persevered  in,  might, 
on  the  one  hand,  induce  great  European  cala- 
mities, and  on  the  other,  was  almost  certain  to 
render  the  relations  of  Spain  with  a  power  which 


was  her  immediate  neighbour,  of  a  painful,  if  not 
a  hostile  character.  A  monarchy  inaugurated 
under  such  auspices  would  not  consolidate  the 
new  institutions  of  the  country,  and  difficulties 
abroad  would  certainly  find  an  echo  in  Spain  itself. 
Senor  Kances,  the  Spanish  minister,  explained  that 
the  project  had  not  been  intended  as  hostile  to 
France ;  that  it  was  the  natural  result  of  other  com- 
binations which  had  failed;  and  that  it  was  to  meet 
the  ardent  wish  of  the  liberal  party  for  the  election 
of  a  king,  in  order  to  consolidate  their  institutions. 
He  promised,  however,  to  represent  to  his  govern- 
ment, in  as  strong  terms  as  were  consistent  with 
the  respect  due  to  them,  the  earnest  wish  of  her 
Majesty's  government,  that  they  would  act  in  the 
matter  with  a  view  to  the  maintenance  of  peace  in 
Europe,  and  the  future  welfare  of  Spain. 

On  July  8  Count  Bernstorff,  the  ambassador 
of  the  North  German  Confederation  at  London, 
called  on  Lord  Granville,  and  informed  him 
that  he  had  received  letters  from  the  king  of 
Prussia,  and  also  from  Berlin  and  Count  von 
Bismarck,  from  the  general  tenor  of  which  it 
appeared  that  the  reply  of  the  North  German 
government  to  the  request  first  made  to  them  by 
France,  for  explanation  respecting  the  offer  of  the 
crown  to  Prince  Leopold,  was  to  the  effect  that 
it  was  not  an  affair  which  concerned  the  Prussian 
court.  They  did  not  pretend  to  interfere  with 
the  independence  of  the  Spanish  nation,  but  left 
it  to  the  Spaniards  to  settle  their  own  affairs ; 
and  they  were  unable  to  give  any  information  as 
to  the  negotiations  which  had  passed  between  the 
provisional  government  of  Madrid  and  the  prince 
of  Hohenzollern.  He  added,  that  the  North 
German  government  did  not  wish  to  interfere 
with  the  matter,  but  left  it  to  the  French  to  adopt 
what  course  they  pleased;  and  the  Prussian  re- 
presentative at  Paris  had  been  directed  to  abstain 
from  taking  any  part  in  it.  The  North  German 
government  had  no  desire  for  a  war  of  succession, 
but  if  France  chose  to  commence  hostilities  against 
them  on  account  of  the  choice  of  a  king  made  by 
Spain,  such  a  proceeding  on  her  part  would  be 
an  evidence  of  a  disposition  to  quarrel  without 
any  lawful  cause.  It  was  premature,  however,  to 
discuss  the  question  as  long  as  the  Cortes  had  not 
decided  on  accepting  Prince  Leopold  as  king  of 
Spain ;  still,  if  France  chose  to  attack  North 
Germany,  that  country  would  defend  itself. 
Count  Bernstorff  went  on  to  say  that  these  views 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


187 


were  held  by  the  North  German  government,  and 
also  by  the  king  of  Prussia.  His  Majesty,  he 
added,  was  a  stranger  to  the  negotiations  with 
Prince  Leopold,  but  he  would  not  forbid  the 
prince  to  accept  the  crown  of  Spain.  The  count 
dwelt  much  on  the  violent  language  of  France. 
Lord  Granville  repeated  to  him  the  principal 
arguments  of  the  despatch  to  Lord  Loftus  given 
above,  and  added  that  the  position  of  North 
Germany  was  such  that,  while  it  need  not  yield 
to  menace,  it  ought  not  to  be  swayed  in  another 
direction  by  hasty  words  uttered  in  a  moment  of 
great  excitement. 

The  same  day  (July  8)  Lord  Granville  sent 
Mr.  Layard  copies  of  the  despatches  just  received 
from  Lord  Lyons,  showing  in  what  a  very  serious 
light  the  matter  was  received  by  the  French  govern- 
ment, and  how  imminent  was  the  risk  of  great 
calamities,  if  means  could  not  be  devised  for  avert- 
ing them.  The  provisional  government  of  Spain 
would  not,  he  was  sure,  wish  to  do  anything  which 
would  be  unnecessarily  offensive  to  France,  from 
whom  they  had  received  much  consideration  in 
the  crisis  through  which  their  country  was  passing. 
In  turning  their  thoughts  to  the  prince  of  Hohen- 
zollern  they  probably  looked  at  the  matter  in  an 
exclusively  Spanish,  and  not  in  a  European  point 
of  view ;  and  being  convinced  of  the  necessity  of 
the  speedy  re-establishment  of  a  monarchy,  and 
disheartened  by  the  successive  obstacles  which 
they  had  encountered  in  attempting  to  bring  it 
about,  they  turned  their  attention  to  a  prince  who 
might  be  ready  to  accept  the  crown,  and  who,  in 
other  respects,  might  be  acceptable  to  the  Spanish 
people.  Her  Majesty's  government  could  quite 
understand  that  the  excitement  which  their  choice, 
looked  at  from  a  European  point  of  view,  had  called 
forth,  was  unexpected  by  the  provisional  govern- 
ment, whose  wish,  they  felt  sure,  could  never  be 
to  connect  the  restoration  of  the  monarchy  in  their 
country  with  a  general  disturbance  of  the  peace 
of  Europe,  and  which  could  not  fail  to  be  fraught 
with  danger  to  Spain  itself.  The  English  govern- 
ment had  no  wish  to  press  their  own  ideas  upon 
the  government  of  Spain;  but  they  believed  it 
would  have  been  unfriendly  to  have  abstained  from 
thus  laying  before  them  some  of  the  prudential 
reasons  which  seemed  to  them  of  vital  importance 
to  the  best  interests  of  their  country.  They  hoped 
that  their  doing  so  would  be  accepted  as  the  best 
evidence  of  their  anxiety  for  the  greatness  and 


prosperity  of  Spain,  and  of  their  admiration  of  the 
wise  course  of  improvement  which  had  been 
inaugurated  under  the  provisional  government;  and 
they  trusted  that  this  frank  communication  might 
induce  the  Spanish  government  to  avoid  all  pre- 
cipitation, and  devise  some  means,  consistent  with 
their  dignity  and  honour,  to  put  an  end  to  the 
cause  of  dissension. 

On  the  same  day  (July  8)  Lord  Lyons  had  an 
interview  with  the  Due  de  Gramont  in  Paris, 
when  the  latter  expressed  great  satisfaction  with 
a  report  he  had  received  from  M.  de  Lavalette,  of 
the  conversation  between  him  and  Lord  Granville 
on  the  6th,  and  desired  that  his  best  thanks 
should  be  conveyed  to  him  for  the  friendly  feeling 
he  had  manifested  towards  France.  He  then  went 
on  to  say  he  was  still  without  any  answer  from 
Prussia,  and  that  this  silence  rendered  it  impossible 
for  the  French  government  to  abstain  any  longer 
from  making  military  preparations.  Some  steps 
in  this  direction  had  been  already  taken,  and  the 
next  day  the  military  authorities  would  begin  in 
earnest.  The  movements  of  troops  would  be  settled 
at  the  council  to  be  held  at  St.  Cloud  in  the  morn- 
ing. On  Lord  Lyons  manifesting  some  surprise 
and  regret  at  the  rapid  pace  at  which  the  French 
government  seemed  to  be  proceeding,  M.  de 
Gramont  insisted  that  it  was  impossible  for  them 
to  delay  any  longer.  They  had  reason  to  know — 
indeed,  he  said,  the  Spanish  ministers  did  not 
deny  it — that  the  king  of  Prussia  had  been 
cognizant  of  the  negotiation  between  Marshal  Prim 
and  the  prince  of  Hohenzollern  from  the  first. 
It  was  therefore  incumbent  upon  his  Majesty,  if 
he  desired  to  show  friendship  towards  France,  to 
prohibit  formally  the  acceptance  of  the  crown  by 
a  prince  of  his  house.  Silence  or  an  evasive 
answer  would  be  equivalent  to  a  refusal.  It  could 
not  be  said  that  the  quarrel  was  of  France's 
On  the  contrary,  from  the  battle  of 
Iowa  up  to  this  incident,  France  had  shown 
a  patience,  a  moderation,  and  a  conciliatory  spirit 
which  had,  in  the  opinion  of  a  vast  number  of 
Frenchmen,  been  carried  much  too  far.  Now, 
when  all  was  tranquil,  and  the  irritation  caused  by 
the  aggrandizement  of  Prussia  was  gradually  sub- 
siding, the  Prussians,  in  defiance  of  the  feelings 
and  of  the  interest  of  France,  endeavoured  to 
establish  one  of  their  princes  beyond  the  Pyrenees. 
This  aggression  it  was  impossible  for  France  to 
put  up  with.     It  was  earnestly  to  be  hoped  that 


188 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  king  would  efface  the  impression  it  had  made, 
by  openly  forbidding  the  prince  to  go  to  Spain. 

There  was  another  solution  of  the  question  to 
which  the  Due  de  Gramont  begged  Lord  Lyons 
to  call  the  particular  attention  of  the  English 
government.  The  prince  of  Hohenzollern  might 
of  his  own  accord  abandon  his  pretensions  to  the 
Spanish  crown.  He  must  surely  have  accepted  the 
offer  of  it  in  the  hope  of  doing  good  to  his  adopted 
country.  When  he  saw  that  his  accession  would 
bring  domestic  and  foreign  war  upon  his  new 
country,  while  it  would  plunge  the  country  of  his 
birth,  and  indeed  all  Europe,  into  hostilities,  he 
would  certainly  hesitate  to  make  himself  responsible 
for  such  calamities.  If  this  view  of  the  subject 
were  pressed  upon  him,  he  could  not  but  feel  that 
honour  and  duty  required  him  to  sacrifice  the  idle 
ambition  of  ascending  a  throne  on  which  it  was 
plain  he  could  never  be  secure. 

A  voluntary  renunciation  on  the  part  of  the 
prince  would,  M.  de  Gramont  thought,  be  a  most 
fortunate  solution  of  difficult  and  intricate  questions ; 
and  he  hoped  the  English  government  would  use 
all  their  influence  to  secure  it. 

These  views  were  at  once  communicated  to  Lord 
Granville,  and  hopes  were  entertained  that  an 
amicable  arrangement  of  the  difficulty  might  soon 
be  found.  On  the  next  day  Lord  Granville  wrote 
to  Lord  Lyons  directing  him  to  urge  forbearance, 
and  in  another  despatch,  written  on  the  same  day, 
he  said  her  Majesty's  government  regretted  the 
tenor  of  the  observations  successively  made  in  the 
French  Chambers  and  in  the  French  press,  which 
tended  to  excite  rather  than  allay  the  angry  feelings 
which  had  been  aroused  in  France,  and  might 
probably  call  forth  similar  feelings  in  Germany 
and  Spain ;  and  their  regret  had  been  increased  by 
the  intimation  now  given  by  the  Due  de  Gramont 
that  military  preparations  would  forthwith  be 
made.  Such  a  course,  they  feared,  was  calculated 
to  render  abortive  the  attempts  which  the  English 
government  were  making  to  bring  about  an  ami- 
cable settlement,  and  was  calculated  to  raise  the 
serious  question  as  to  the  expediency  of  making 
any  further  efforts  at  that  time  for  the  purpose, 
which  such  precipitate  action  on  the  part  of  France 
could  hardly  fail  to  render  nugatory,  and  of  rather 
reserving  such  efforts  for  a  future  tune,  when  the 
parties  most  directly  interested  might  be  willing 
to  second  them  by  moderation  and  forbearance  in 
the   support    of   their   respective   views.      When 


these  opinions  were  represented  to  the  Due  de 
Gramont  on  the  following  day,  he  told  Lord 
Lyons  that  in  this  matter  the  French  ministers 
were  following,  not  leading,  the  nation.  Public 
opinion  would  not  admit  of  their  doing  less  than 
they  had  done.  As  regarded  military  prepara- 
tions, common  prudence  required  that  they  should 
not  be  behindhand.  In  the  midst  of  a  profound 
calm,  when  the  French  cabinet  and  Chamber 
were  employed  in  reducing  their  military  budget, 
Prussia  exploded  upon  them  this  mine  which  she 
had  prepared  in  secret.  It  was  necessary  that 
France  should  be  at  least  as  forward  as  Prussia  in 
military  preparations. 

He  said  the  question  now  stood  exactly  thus: — 
The  king  of  Prussia  had  told  M.  Benedetti  on  the 
previous  evening  that  he  had  in  fact  consented  to 
the  prince  of  Hohenzollern's  accepting  the  crown 
of  Spain;  and  that,  having  given  his  consent,  it 
would  be  difficult  for  him  now  to  withdraw  it. 
His  Majesty  had  added,  however,  that  he  would 
confer  with  the  prince,  and  would  give  a  definitive 
answer  to  France  when  he  had  done  so. 

Thus,  M.  de  Gramont  observed,  two  things  were 
clear :  first,  that  the  king  of  Prussia  was  a  consent- 
ing party  to  the  acceptance  of  the  crown  by  the 
prince;  and,  secondly,  that  the  prince's  decision  to 
persist  in  his  acceptance,  or  to  retire,  would  be 
made  in  concert  with  his  Majesty,  so  that  the 
affair  was,  beyond  all  controversy,  one  between 
France  and  the  Prussian  sovereign. 

The  French  government  would,  M.  de  Gramont 
added,  defer  for  a  short  time  longer  (for  twenty- 
four  hours,  for  instance)  those  great  ostensible 
preparations  for  war,  such  as  calling  out  the 
reserves,  which  would  inflame  public  feeling  in 
France.  All  essential  preparations  must,  however, 
be  carried  on  unremittingly.  The  French  ministers 
would  be  unwise  if  they  ran  any  risk  of  allowing 
Prussia  to  gain  time  by  dilatory  pretexts. 

Finally,  he  told  Lord  Lyons  that  he  might 
report  to  Lord  Granville  that  if  the  prince  of 
Hohenzollern  should,  on  the  advice  of  the  king  of 
Prussia,  withdraw  his  acceptance  of  the  crown, 
the  whole  affair  would  be  at  an  end.  He  did 
not,  however,  conceal  that  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  prince,  after  his  conference  with  the  king, 
persisted  in  coming  forward  as  a  candidate  for 
the  throne  of  Spain,  France  would  forthwith  declare 
war  against  Prussia. 

The  next  day  (July  11)  Lord  Lyons  had  another 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


189 


interview  with  the  Due  de  Gramont,  and  stated 
that  the  information  which  had  been  received 
from  Spain  and  other  quarters,  gave  good  reason 
to  hope  that  peaceful  means  would  be  found  for 
putting  an  end,  once  for  all,  to  the  candidature  of 
the  prince;  and  he  urged  that,  this  being  the  case, 
it  would  be  lamentable  that  France  should  rush 
into  a  war,  the  cause  for  which  might  be  removed 
by  a  little  patience.  M.  de  Gramont  replied  that 
the  French  ministers  were  already  violently  re- 
proached, by  the  deputies  and  the  public,  with 
tardiness  and  want  of  spirit.  Any  further  delay 
would  seriously  damage  their  position ;  and  there 
were  military  considerations  much  more  important, 
which  counselled  immediate  action.  The  govern- 
ment had,  however,  determined  to  make  another 
sacrifice  to  the  cause  of  peace.  No  answer  had 
yet  reached  them  from  the  king  of  Prussia.  They 
would,  nevertheless,  wait  another  day,  although  by 
so  doing  they  would  render  themselves  one  of  the 
most  unpopular  governments  which  had  ever  been 
seen  in  France.  Lord  Lyons  replied  that  the  un- 
popularity would  be  of  very  short  duration,  and 
that  the  best  title  which  the  ministry  could  have 
to  public  esteem,  would  be  to  obtain  a  settlement 
of  the  question,  to  the  honour  and  advantage  of 
France,  without  bloodshed.  In  reporting  this  con- 
versation to  Lord  Granville,  Lord  Lyons  stated  it 
was  quite  true  that  the  war  party  had  become  more 
exacting.  It  had,  in  fact,  already  raised  a  cry  that 
the  settlement  of  the  Hohenzollern  question  would 
not  be  sufficient,  and  that  France  must  demand 
satisfaction  on  the  subject  of  the  treaty  of  Prague. 
In  a  despatch  from  Madrid,  written  on  July 
12,  Mr.  Layard  said  the  Spanish  government 
fully  appreciated  the  consideration  and  friendly 
feeling  of  that  of  England,  and  the  equitable  and 
impartial  tone  of  their  despatches.  They  main- 
tained, however,  that  they  had  become  involved 
in  the  difficulty  most  unwittingly;  that  they  never 
entertained  the  remotest  thought  of  entering  into 
a  Prussian  alliance,  or  into  any  combination  hos- 
tile or  unfriendly  to  France  ;  and  they  were  most 
desirous  of  withdrawing  from  the  position  in  which 
they  had  unfortunately  placed  themselves,  if  they 
could  do  so  consistently  with  the  honour  and  dig- 
nity of  the  country.  At  Mr.  Layard's  request  they 
promised  to  make  a  communication  to  this  effect 
to  the  European  powers,  as  they  were  desirous 
to  come  to  any  arrangement  which  might  save 
Europe  from  the  calamities  of  a  war.      In   an 


interview,  General  Prim  the  same  day  personally 
desired  Mr.  Layard  to  thank  the  English  govern- 
ment for  its  good  offices,  and  disclaimed  in  the 
most  energetic  way  any  intention  to  take  a  step 
hostile  to  France.  He  said  that  he  himself  was  inti- 
mately connected  with  France  and  Frenchmen;  he 
had  experienced  great  kindness  from  the  emperor ; 
had  married  and  had  many  relations  in  that  coun- 
try; and  was  consequently  the  last  man  to  wish  to 
menace  or  offend  France  or  her  ruler.  He  also 
desired  Mr.  Layard  to  remind  the  English  govern- 
ment of  the  great  difficulties  of  his  position ;  that 
when,  after  the  revolution,  Spain  was  without  a 
king,  and  he  was  going  from  door  to  door  in  search 
of  one,  no  European  government  gave  him  any 
help,  and  that  he  was  everywhere  repulsed.  But 
when  the  Cortes  and  the  country  had  insisted  upon 
having  a  king,  and  when,  after  having  been  accused 
of  wishing  to  maintain  the  interregnum  for  personal 
objects,  he  had  at  last  succeeded  in  finding  the  only 
eligible  candidate,  he  was  immediately  accused  of 
having  laid  a  deep  plot  against  France,  and  of 
having  sought  to  violate  the  international  law  of 
Europe.  He  repudiated  in  the  strongest  terms 
any  desire  of  secrecy  in  order  to  deceive  France  or 
any  other  power:  the  reserve  which  had  been  main- 
tained during  the  negotiations  was  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  save  the  country  from  the  humiliation  of 
making  overtures  to  a  fresh  candidate,  which 
might  be  again  refused. 

It  was  on  this  day  (July  12)  that  the  candi- 
dature of  Prince  Leopold  was  withdrawn,  and 
Lord  Lyons  then  had  another  interview  with 
the  Due  de  Gramont  on  the  subject.  The  latter 
said  the  king  of  Prussia  was  neither  courteous 
nor  satisfactory.  His  Majesty  disclaimed  all  con- 
nection with  the  offer  of  the  crown  of  Spain 
to  the  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern,  and  de- 
clined to  advise  the  prince  to  withdraw  his  accept- 
ance. On  the  other  hand,  Prince  Leopold's  father 
had  formally  announced  in  the  name  of  his  son 
that  the  acceptance  was  withdrawn.  In  fact,  the 
prince  had  sent  a  copy  of  a  telegram  which  he  had 
despatched  to  Marshal  Prim,  declaring  that  his 
son's  candidature  was  at  an  end. 

The  duke  said  that  this  state  of  things  was  very 
embarrassing  to  the  French  government.  On  the 
one  hand,  public  opinion  was  so  much  excited  in 
France  that  it  was  doubtful  whether  the  ministry 
would  not  be  overthrown  if  it  went  down  to  the 
Chamber  the   next  day,  and  announced   that  it 


190 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


regarded  the  affair  as  finished,  without  having 
obtained  some  more  complete  satisfaction  from 
Prussia.  On  the  other  hand,  the  renunciation  of 
the  crown  by  Prince  Leopold  put  an  end  to  the 
original  cause  of  the  dispute.  The  most  satisfactory- 
part  of  the  affair  was,  he  said,  that  Spain  was,  at 
all  events,  now  quite  clear  of  the  transaction.  The 
quarrel,  if  any  quarrel  existed,  was  confined  to 
France  and  Prussia. 

Lord  Lyons  did  not  conceal  from  the  Due  de 
Gramont  his  surprise  and  regret  that  the  French 
government  should  hesitate  for  a  moment  to  accept 
the  renunciation  of  the  prince  as  a  settlement  of 
the  difficulty.  He  reminded  him  pointedly  of  the 
assurance  which  he  had  formerly  authorized  him 
to  give  to  the  English  government,  that  if  the 
prince  withdrew  his  candidature  the  affair  would 
be  terminated;  and  he  also  urged  as  strongly  as  he 
could  all  the  reasons  which  would  render  a  with- 
drawal on  his  part  from  this  assurance  painful 
and  disquieting  to  that  government.  Moreover, 
too,  he  pointed  out  that  the  renunciation  wholly 
changed  the  position  of  France.  If  war  occurred, 
all  Europe  would  say  that  it  -was  the  fault  of 
France  ;  that  France  rushed  into  it  without  any 
substantial  cause — merely  from  pride  and  resent- 
ment. One  of  the  advantages  of  the  former  posi- 
tion of  France  was,  that  the  quarrel  rested  on  a  cause 
in  which  the  feelings  of  Germany  were  very  little 
concerned,  and  German  interests  not  at  all.  Now 
Prussia  might  well  expect  to  rally  all  Germany  to 
resist  an  attack  which  could  be  attributed  to  no 
other  motives  than  ill-will  and  jealousy  on  the  part 
of  France,  and  a  passionate  desire  to  humiliate 
her  neighbour.  In  fact,  Lord  Lyons  said,  France 
would  have  public  opinion  throughout  the  world 
against  her,  and  her  antagonist  woidd  have  all  the 
advantage  of  being  manifestly  forced  into  the  war 
in  self-defence  to  repel  an  attack.  If  there  should 
at  the  first  moment  be  some  disappointment  felt  in 
France,  in  the  Chamber,  and  in  the  country,  he 
could  not  but  think  that  the  ministry  would  in  a 
very  short  time  stand  better  with  both  if  it  con- 
tented itself  with  the  diplomatic  triumph  it  had 
achieved,  and  abstained  from  plunging  the  nation 
into  a  war  for  which  there  was  certainly  no  avow- 
able  motive. 

After  much  discussion,  the  Due  de  Gramont 
said  a  final  resolution  must  be  come  to  at  a  council 
which  would  be  held  in  presence  of  the  emperor  the 
next  day,  and  the  result  would  be  announced  to  the 


Chamber  immediately  afterwards.  He  should  not, 
he  said,  be  able  to  see  him  (Lord  Lyons)  between 
the  council  and  his  appearance  in  the  Chamber, 
but  he  assured  him  that  due  weight  should  be 
given  to  the  opinion  he  had  offered  on  behalf  of 
the  English  government. 

The  result  of  this  interview  was  made  known  at 
once  to  the  English  cabinet,  and  Lord  Granville 
immediately  wrote  regretting  that  the  renuncia- 
tion had  not  been  accepted  as  a  settlement  of  the 
question,  and  said  he  felt  bound  to  impress  upon 
the  French  government  the  immense  responsibility 
which  would  rest  on  France  if  she  should  seek  to 
enlarge  the  grounds  of  quarrel,  by  declining  to 
accept  the  withdrawal  of  Prince  Leopold  as  a 
satislactory  solution  of  the  question.  With  regard 
to  the  statement  made  by  the  Due  de  Gramont  in 
the  Corps  Legislatif,  that  all  the  cabinets  to  which 
the  French  government  had  referred  the  subject 
appeared  to  admit  that  the  grievances  complained 
of  by  France  were  legitimate,  he  said  such  a 
statement  was  not  applicable  to  her  Majesty's 
government.  He  had  expressed  regret  at  an 
occurrence  which  had,  at  all  events,  given  rise 
to  great  excitement  in  the  imperial  government 
and  French  nation;  but  he  had  carefully  abstained 
from  admitting  that  the  cause  was  sufficient  to 
warrant  the  intentions  which  had  been  announced, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  he  had  deprecated  pre- 
cipitate action,  and  recommended  that  no  means 
should  be  left  untried  by  which  any  interruption 
of  the  general  peace  could  be  averted. 

In  an  interview  with  the  French  ambassador 
the  same  day  (July  13),  Lord  Granville  earnestly 
entreated  him  to  represent  to  his  government 
that  her  Majesty's  government  thought,  after  their 
exertions  at  the  request  of  France,  they  had  a 
right  to  urge  on  the  imperial  government  not  to 
take  the  great  responsibility  of  quarrelling  about 
forms,  when  they  had  obtained  the  full  substance 
of  what  they  desired,  and  which  M.  de  Gramont 
had  told  Lord  Lyons,  if  obtained,  would  put  an 
end  to  everything.  All  the  nations  of  Europe 
had  now  declared  their  ardent  wish  that  peace 
should  be  maintained  between  Prussia  and  France, 
and  her  Majesty's  government  believed  that  the 
imperial  government  would  not  give  the  slightest 
pretence  to  those  who  might  endeavour  to  show 
that  France  was  desirous  of  going  to  war  without 
an  absolute  necessity. 

The  same  day  Lord  Lyons,  in  a  letter  which 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


191 


was  sent  specially  to  St.  Cloud,  and  delivered  at 
the  table  at  which  the  ministers  were  still  sitting 
in  council,  in  the  presence  of  the  emperor,  again 
urged  upon  the  Due  de  Gramont  in  the  most 
friendly,  but  at  the  same  time  most  pressing, 
manner,  to  accept  the  renunciation  of  the  prince 
as  a  satisfactory  settlement ;  and  in  a  personal 
interview  with  him  in  the  afternoon — just 
after  his  statement  in  the  Corps  Legislatif,  that 
although  the  candidature  of  the  prince  was 
withdrawn,  the  negotiations  with  Prussia  were 
not  concluded — he  expressed  his  surprise  and 
regret  that  his  declaration  to  the  Chamber  had 
not  consisted  of  a  simple  announcement  that 
the  whole  question  with  Prussia,  as  well  as 
with  Spain,  was  peaceably  settled.  The  duke  said 
he  would  explain  in  a  few  words  the  position  taken 
up  by  the  government  of  the  emperor.  The  Spanish 
ambassador  had  formally  announced  to  him  that 
the  candidature  of  Prince  Leopold  had  been  with- 
drawn. This  put  an  end  to  all  question  with 
Spain.  Spain  was  no  longer  a  party  concerned. 
But  from  Prussia  France  had  obtained  nothing, 
literally  nothing.  He  then  read  to  Lord  Lyons 
a  telegram,  stating  that  the  emperor  of  Russia  had 
written  to  the  king  of  Prussia  soliciting  him  to  order 
the  prince  of  Hohenzollern  to  withdraw  his  accept- 
ance of  the  crown,  and  had,  moreover,  expressed 
himself  in  most  friendly  terms  to  France,  and 
manifested  a  most  earnest  desire  to  avert  a  war. 
The  king  of  Prussia,  M.  de  Gramont  went  on 
to  say,  had  refused  to  comply  with  this  request  from 
his  imperial  nephew,  and  had  not  given  a  word 
of  explanation  to  France.  His  Majesty  had,  he 
repeated,  done  nothing,  absolutely  nothing.  France 
would  not  take  offence  at  this.  She  would  not 
call  upon  his  Majesty  to  make  her  any  amends. 
The  king  had  authorized  the  prince  of  Hohenzollern 
to  accept  the  crown  of  Spain  ;  all  that  France  now 
asked  was,  that  his  Majesty  would  forbid  the  prince 
to  alter  at  any  future  time  his  decision.  Surely 
it  was  but  reasonable  that  France  should  take 
some  precautions  against  a  repetition  of  what 
had  occurred  when  Prince  Leopold's  brother  re- 
paired to  Bucharest.  It  was  not  to  be  supposed 
that  France  would  run  the  risk  of  Prince  Leopold 
suddenly  presenting  himself  in  Spain,  and  appeal- 
ing to  the  chivalry  of  the  Spanish  people.  Still 
France  did  not  call  upon  Prussia  to  prevent  the 
prince  from  going  to  Spain  ;  all  she  desired  was 
that   the  king  should  forbid  him  to  change  his 


present  resolution  to  withdraw  his  candidature.  If 
his  Majesty  would  do  this,  the  whole  affair  would 
be  absolutely  and  entirely  at  an  end. 

Lord  Lyons  asked  him  whether  he  authorized 
him  categorically  to  state  to  his  government,  in 
the  name  of  the  government  of  the  emperor,  that 
in  this  case  the  whole  difficulty  would  be  com- 
pletely disposed  of.  He  said,  "  Undoubtedly;"  and 
on  a  sheet  of  paper  wrote  the  following  memoran- 
dum, which  he  placed  in  the  hand  of  the  English 
ambassador : — 

"  Nous  demandons  au  roi  de  Prusse  de  deTendre 
au  prince  de  Hohenzollern  de  revenir  sur  sa  reso- 
lution. S'il  le  fait,  tout  l'incident  est  termine." 
("  We  ask  the  king  of  Prussia  to  forbid  the  prince 
of  Hohenzollern  to  alter  his  resolution.  If  he 
does  so,  the  whole  matter  is  settled."  ) 

Lord  Lyons  observed  to  the  duke  that  he  could 
hardly  conceive  the  French  government  really 
apprehended  that,  after  all  that  had  occurred, 
Prince  Leopold  would  again  offer  himself  as  a 
candidate,  or  be  accepted  by  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment if  he  did;  to  which  the  duke  replied  that  he 
was  bound  to  take  precautions  against  such  an 
occurrence,  and  that  if  the  king  refused  to  issue 
the  simple  prohibition  which  was  demanded,  France 
could  only  suppose  that  designs  hostile  to  her 
were  entertained,  and  must  take  her  measures 
accordingly.  Finally,  he  asked  whether  France 
could  count  upon  the  good  offices  of  England  to 
help  her  in  obtaining  from  the  king  this  prohibi- 
tion ;  to  which  Lord  Lyons  said  that  nothing  could 
exceed  the  desire  of  her  Majesty's  government  to 
effect  a  reconciliation  between  France  and  Prussia, 
but  that,  of  course,  he  could  not  take  upon  himself 
to  answer  offhand,  without  reference  to  the  govern- 
ment, a  specific  question  of  that  kind. 

The  substance  of  this  was  at  once  telegraphed 
to  Lord  Granville,  and  the  following  day  Lord 
Lyons  was  informed  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
English  government,  a  demand  on  Prussia  for 
an  engagement  covering  the  future  could  not 
be  justly  made  by  France.  Nevertheless,  and 
although  they  considered  that  France,  having 
obtained  the  substance  of  what  she  required,  ought 
not  in  any  case  to  insist  to  extremities  upon  the 
form  in  which  it  was  obtained,  they  had  at  once 
and  urgently  recommended  to  the  king  of  Prussia, 
that  if  the  French  demand  was  waived,  he  should 
communicate  to  France  his  consent  to  the  re- 
nunciation of  Prince  Leopold.     This  renunciation 


192 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


had  been  placed  before  the  king  on  behalf  of  the 
English  government,  in  the  following  terms; 
namely,  that  as  his  Majesty  had  consented  to  the 
acceptance  by  Prince  Leopold  of  the  Spanish 
crown,  and  had  thereby,  in  a  certain  sense,  become 
a  party  to  the  arrangement,  so  he  might  with 
perfect  dignity  communicate  to  the  French 
government  his  consent  to  the  withdrawal  of  the 
acceptance,  if  France  should  waive  her  demand  for 
an  engagement  covering  the  future.  Such  a  com- 
munication, made  at  the  suggestion  of  a  friendly 
power,  would  be  a  further  and  the  strongest  proof 
of  the  king's  desire  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
peace  of  Europe. 

On  July  13  Lord  Augustus  Loftus  had  an  inter- 
view with  Count  von  Bismarck,  and  congratulated 
him  on  the  apparent  solution  of  the  crisis  by  the 
spontaneous  renunciation  of  the  prince  of  Hohen- 
zollern.  The  count,  however,  appeared  somewhat 
doubtful  as  to  whether  this  solution  would  prove  a 
settlement  of  the  difference  with  France.  He  told 
Lord  Augustus  Loftus  that  the  extreme  moderation 
evinced  by  the  king  of  Prussia  under  the  menacing 
tone  of  the  French  government,  and  the  courteous 
reception  by  his  Majesty  of  Count  Benedetti  at 
Ems,  after  the  severe  language  held  to  Prussia 
both  officially  and  in  the  French  press,  was  pro- 
ducing throughout  Prussia  general  indignation. 
He  had  that  morning,  he  said,  received  telegrams 
from  Bremen,  Konigsberg,  and  other  places,  ex- 
pressing strong  disapprobation  of  the  conciliatory 
course  pursued  by  the  king  of  Prussia  at  Ems,  and 
requiring  that  the  honour  of  the  country  should 
not  be  sacrificed. 

The  count  then  expressed  a  wish  that  the  Eng- 
lish government  should  take  some  opportunity, 
possibly  by  a  declaration  in  Parliament,  of  express- 
ing their  satisfaction  at  the  solution  of  the  Spanish 
difficulty  by  the  spontaneous  act  of  Prince  Leopold, 
and  of  bearing  public  testimony  to  the  calm  and 
wise  moderation  of  the  king  of  Prussia,  his  govern- 
ment, and  of  the  public  press.  He  adverted  to 
the  declaration  made  by  the  Due  de  Grammont  to 
the  Corps  Legislatif,  "  that  the  powers  of  Europe 
had  recognized  the  just  grounds  of  France  in  the 
demand  addressed  to  the  Prussian  government ; " 
and  he  was,  therefore,  anxious  that  some  public 
testimony  should  be  given  that  the  powers  who  had 
used  their  "  bons  offices"  to  urge  on  the  Prussian 
government  a  renunciation  by  Prince  Leopold, 
should  likewise  express  their  appreciation  of  the 


peaceful  and  conciliatory  disposition  manifested  by 
the  king  of  Prussia.  He  added  that  intelligence  had 
been  received  from  Paris  (though  not  officially  from 
Baron  Werther),  to  the  effect  that  the  solution  of 
the  Spanish  difficulty  would  not  suffice  to  content 
the  French  government,  and  that  other  claims 
would  be  advanced.  If  such  were  the  case,  he 
said,  it  was  evident  that  the  question  of  the  suc- 
cession to  the  Spanish  throne  was  but  a  mere 
pretext,  and  that  the  real  object  of  France  was  to 
seek  a  revenge  for  Koniggratz. 

The  feeling  of  the  German  nation,  said  Count  von 
Bismarck,  was  that  they  were  fully  equal  to  cope 
with  France,  and  they  were  as  confident  as  the 
French  might  be  of  military  success.  The  con- 
viction, therefore,  in  Prussia  and  in  Germany  was, 
that  they  should  accept  no  humiliation  or  insult 
from  France,  and  that,  if  unjustly  provoked,  they 
should  accept  the  combat.  But,  said  he,  we  do 
not  wish  for  war,  and  we  have  proved,  and  shall 
continue  to  prove,  our  peaceful  disposition;  at  the 
same  time  we  cannot  allow  the  French  to  have 
the  start  of  us  as  regards  armaments.  He  had, 
said  he,  positive  information  that  military  prepara- 
tions had  been  made,  and  were  making,  in  France 
for  war.  Large  stores  of  munition  were  being 
concentrated,  large  purchases  of  hay  and  other 
materials  necessary  for  a  campaign  being  made, 
and  horses  rapidly  collected.  If  these  continued, 
they  should  be  obliged  to  ask  the  French  govern- 
ment for  explanations  as  to  their  object  and  mean- 
ing. After  what  had  occurred  they  would  be 
compelled  to  require  some  assurance,  some  guar- 
antee, that  they  would  not  be  subjected  to  a  sudden 
attack ;  and  must  know  that  this  Spanish  difficulty 
once  removed,  there  were  no  other  lurking  designs 
which  might  burst  upon  them  like  a  thunderstorm. 

The  count  further  stated  that  unless  some 
such  assurance  were  given  by  France  to  the 
European  powers,  or  in  an  official  form,  that 
the  present  solution  of  the  Spanish  question 
was  a  final  and  satisfactory  settlement  of  the 
French  demands,  and  that  no  further  claims  would 
be  raised  ;  and  if,  further,  a  withdrawal  or  a 
satisfactory  explanation  of  the  menacing  language 
held  by  the  Due  de  Gramont  were  not  made, 
the  Prussian  government  would  be  obliged  to  seek 
explanations  from  France.  It  was  impossible,  he 
said,  that  Prussia  could  rest,  tamely  and  quietly, 
under  the  affront  offered  to  the  king  and  to  the 
nation  by  the  insulting  language  of  the  French 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


193 


government.  He  could  not,  lie  said,  hold  com- 
munication with  the  French  ambassador  after  the 
menaces  addressed  to  Prussia  by  the  French  minis- 
ter for  Foreign  Affairs  in  the  face  of  Europe.  In 
communicating  these  views  to  Lord  Granville,  Lord 
Augustus  Loftus  said  he  would  perceive  that  unless 
some  timely  counsel,  or  friendly  hand,  could  inter- 
vene to  appease  the  irritation  between  the  two 
governments,  the  breach,  in  lieu  of  being  closed  by 
the  solution  of  the  Spanish  difficulty,  was  likely 
to  become  wider.  It  was  evident  to  him,  he  said, 
that  Count  von  Bismarck  and  the  Prussian  minis- 
try regretted  the  courteous  attitude  and  modera- 
tion shown  by  the  king  towards  Count  Benedetti, 
thinking  that  after  the  menacing  language  used  in 
France  with  regard  to  Prussia  he  ought  not  to 
have  received  him  at  all ;  and  in  view  of  the  public 
opinion  of  Germany,  they  felt  the  necessity  of 
taking  some  decided  measures  for  the  safeguard 
and  honour  of  the  nation.  The  only  means,  he 
thought,  which  could  pacify  the  wounded  pride 
of  the  German  nation,  and  restore  confidence  in 
the  maintenance  of  peace,  would  be  a  declara- 
tion of  the  French  government  that  the  incident 
of  the  Spanish  difficulty  had  been  satisfactorily 
adjusted;  and  in  rendering  justice  to  the  moderate 
and  peaceful  disposition  of  the  king  of  Prussia 
and  his  government,  a  formal  statement  that  the 
good  relations  existing  between  the  two  states 
were  not  likely  to  be  again  exposed  to  any  dis- 
turbance. He  greatly  feared  that  if  no  mediating 
influences  could  be  successfully  brought  to  bear 
on  the  French  government  to  appease  the  irritation 
against  Prussia,  and  to  counsel  moderation,  war 
would  be  inevitable. 

These  views  from  Prussia  were  communicated 
to  the  English  Foreign  Office  on  13th  July,  but 
did  not  reach  there  until  the  15th.  As  previously 
stated,  on  the  previous-  day,  14th  July,  Lord 
Granville  had  telegraphed  to  Berlin,  and  recom- 
mended the  king  of  Prussia  to  communicate  to 
France  his  consent  to  Prince  Leopold's  renunci- 
ation, if,  on  her  part,  France  would  withdraw  her 
demand  of  a  guarantee  for  the  future.  The  sug- 
gestion was  declined ;  and  Count  von  Bismarck 
expressed  his  regret  that  her  Majesty's  government 
should  have  made  a  proposal  which  it  would  be 
impossible  for  him  to  recommend  to  the  king  for 
his  acceptance.  In  justification  of  the  reasonable- 
ness of  the  plan  suggested  by  the  English  govern- 
ment it  should,  however,  be  stated,  that  when  the 


facts  became  rightly  known  it  transpired  that,  in 
his  communication  with  M.  Benedetti  at  Ems  on 
the  previous  day,  as  described  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  the  king  had  himself  voluntarily  taken  the 
identical  course  they  recommended.  When  declin- 
ing the  suggestion,  Count  von  Bismarck  told  Lord 
Augustus  Loftus  that  Prussia  had  shown,  under  a 
public  menace  from  France,  a  calmness  and  modera- 
tion which  would  render  further  concession  on  her 
part  equivalent  to  a  submission  to  the  arbitrary  will 
of  her  rival,  and  would  be  viewed  as  a  humiliation 
which  the  national  feeling  throughout  Germany 
would  certainly  repudiate.  Under  the  irritation 
caused  by  the  menaces  of  France,  the  whole  of 
Germany  had  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  war, 
even  under  the  most  difficult  circumstances,  would 
be  preferable  to  the  submission  of  their  king  to  any 
further  demands.  The  Prussian  government,  as 
such,  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  acceptance  of  the 
candidature  of  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern, 
and  had  not  even  been  cognizant  of  it.  They 
could  not,  therefore,  balance  their  assent  to  such 
acceptance  by  their  assent  to  its  withdrawal.  A 
demand  for  interference  on  the  part  of  a  sovereign 
in  a  matter  of  purely  private  character  could  not, 
they  considered,  be  made  the  subject  of  pubfic 
communication  between  governments  ;  and  as  the 
original  pretext  for  such  a  demand  was  to  be  found 
in  the  candidature  itself,  it  could  no  longer  be 
necessary  now  that  the  candidature  had  been 
renounced. 

The  fatal  telegram,  detailing  the  supposed  insult 
to  the  French  ambassador  at  Ems,  arrived  in  Paris 
on  July  13,  and  in  a  despatch  sent  on  the  follow- 
ing day  Lord  Lyons  thus  reported  the  change 
which  immediately  occurred  in  public  feeling  : — 

"Paek,  July  14,  1870. 

"  My  Lord,- — In  my  despatch  of  yesterday  I  com- 
municated to  your  lordship  the  account  given  to 
me  by  the  Due  de  Gramont  of  the  state  of  the 
question  regarding  the  acceptance  of  the  crown  of 
Spain  by  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern,  and  the 
recent  withdrawal  of  that  acceptance. 

"  My  despatch  was  sent  off  at  the  usual  hour, 
7  o'clock  in  the  evening.  During  the  early  part 
of  the  night  which  followed,  the  hope  that  it 
might  yet  be  possible  to  preserve  peace  gained 
some  strength.  It  was  understood  that  the  re- 
nunciation of  his  pretensions  by  Prince  Leopold 
himself  had  come  to  confirm  that  made  on  his 
2b 


194 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


behalf  by  liia  father,  and  that  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment had  formally  declared  to  the  government  of 
France  that  the  candidature  of  the  prince  was  at 
an  end.  The  language  of  influential  members  of 
the  cabinet  was  more  pacific,  and  it  was  thought 
possible  that  some  conciliatory  intelligence  might 
arrive  from  Prussia,  and  enable  the  government 
to  pronounce  the  whole  question  to  be  at  an  end. 

"But  in  the  morning  all  was  changed.  A 
telegram  was  received  from  the  French  charge 
d'affaires  at  Berlin,  stating  that  an  article  had 
appeared  in  the  Prussian  ministerial  organ,  the 
North  German  Gazette,  to  the  effect  that  the 
French  ambassador  had  requested  the  king  to 
promise  never  to  allow  a  Hohenzollern  to  be  a 
candidate  for  the  throne  of  Spain,  and  that  his 
Majesty  had  thereupon  refused  to  receive  the  am- 
bassador, and  sent  him  word  by  an  aide-de-camp 
that  he  had  nothing  more  to  say  to  him. 

"The  intelligence  of  the  publication  of  this  article 
completely  changed  the  view  taken  by  the  French 
government  of  the  state  of  the  question.  The 
emperor  came  into  Paris  from  St.  Cloud,  and  held 
a  council  at  the  Tuileries  ;  and  it  was  considered 
certain  that  a  declaration  hostile  to  Prussia  would 
be  addressed  at  once  by  the  government  to  the 
Chambers. 

"  I  made  every  possible  endeavour  to  see  the  Due 
de  Gramont,  but  was  unable  to  do  so.  I  sent 
him,  however,  a  most  pressing  message  by  the 
chief  of  his  cabinet,  begging  liim,  in  the  name  of 
her  Majesty's  government,  not  to  rush  precipitately 
into  extreme  measures,  and,  at  all  events,  not  to 
commit  the  government  by  a  premature  declaration 
to  the  Chambers.  It  would,  I  represented,  be  more 
prudent,  and  at  the  same  time  more  dignified,  to 
postpone  addressing  the  Chambers  at  least  until 
the  time  originally  fixed — that  is  to  say,  until 
to-morrow. 

"  In  the  meantime,  although  the  news  of  the 
appearance  of  the  article  in  the  North  German 
Gazette  had  not  become  generally  known,  the 
public  excitement  was  so  great,  and  so  much  irri- 
tation existed  in  the  army,  that  it  became  doubtful 
whether  the  government  could  withstand  the  cry 
for  war,  even  if  it  were  able  to  announce  a  decided 
diplomatic  success.  It  was  felt  that  when  the 
Prussian  article  appeared  in  the  Paris  evening 
papers  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  restrain  the 
anger  of  the  people,  and  it  was  generally  thought 
that  the  government  would  feel  bound  to  appease 


the   public  impatience  by  formally  declaring  its 
intention  to  resent  the  conduct  of  Prussia. 

"  The  sittings  of  the  Legislative  Body  and  the 
Senate  have,  however,  passed  over  without  any 
communication  being  made  on  the  subject,  and 
thus  no  irretrievable  step  has  yet  been  taken  by 
the  government. 

"I  cannot,  however,  venture  to  give  your  lord- 
ship any  hope  that  war  will  now  be  avoided.  I 
shall  continue  to  do  all  that  is  possible,  in  the 
name  of  her  Majesty's  government,  to  avert  this 
great  calamity ;  but  I  am  bound  to  say  that  there 
is  the  most  serious  reason  to  apprehend  that  an 
announcement  nearly  equivalent  to  a  declaration 
of  war  will  be  made  in  the  Chambers  to-morrow. 
Ihave,&c,         llLY0NS_- 

Tne  next  day  M.  Ollivier  made,  in  the  Corps 
Legislatif,  a  statement  equivalent  to  a  declaration 
of  war;  and  shortly  afterwards  Lord  Lyons  had 
another  interview  with  the  Due  de  Gramont, 
when  the  latter  desired  him  to  express  to  the  British 
government  the  thanks  of  the  government  of  the 
emperor  for  the  friendly  endeavours  which  they 
had  made  to  effect  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the 
question  with  Prussia.  The  good  offices  of  her 
Majesty's  ministers  had,  however,  he  said,  been 
made  of  no  effect  by  the  last  acts  of  the  Prussian 
government,  who  had  deliberately  insulted 
France  by  declaring  to  the  public  that  the 
king  had  affronted  the  French  ambassador.  It 
was  evidently  the  intention  of  the  government  of 
Prussia  to  take  credit  with  the  people  of  Germany 
for  having  acted  with  haughtiness  and  discourtesy, 
to  humiliate  France.  Not  only  had  the  statement 
so  offensive  to  France  been  published  by  the  govern- 
ment in  its  accredited  newspaper,  but  it  had  been 
communicated  officially  by  telegraph  to  the  Prussian 
agents  throughout  Europe.  Until  this  had  been 
done,  the  duke  said,  the  negotiation  had  been  par- 
ticularly private.  It  had,  from  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case,  been  carried  on  directly 
with  the  king  of  Prussia.  The  Prussian  minister  for 
foreign  affairs,  Count  von  Bismarck,  had  been  in  the 
country,  and  it  had  been  impossible  to  approach  him. 
The  acting  minister,  Plerr  von  Tliiele,  professed 
to  know  nothing  of  the  subject,  and  to  consider 
it  as  a  matter  concerning,  not  the  Prussian  govern- 
ment, but  the  king  personally.  Although  the 
distinction  was  not  in  principle  admissible,  still  it 
obliged  France  to  treat  with  the  king  directly,  and 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


195 


the  French  ambassador  had  been  sent  to  wait  upon 
his  Majesty  at  Ems.  The  negotiation  had  not 
proceeded  satisfactorily,  but  so  long  as  it  remained 
private  there  were  hopes  of  bringing  it  to  a  satis- 
factory conclusion.  Nor,  indeed,  had  the  king- 
really  treated  M.  Benedetti  with  the  rough  dis- 
courtesy which  had  been  boasted  of  by  the  Prussian 
government.  But  that  government  had  now  chosen 
to  declare  to  Germany  and  to  Europe,  that  France 
had  been  affronted  in  the  person  of  her  ambassador. 
It  was  this  boast  which  was  the  gravamen  of  the 
offence.  It  constituted  an  insult  which  no  nation 
of  any  spirit  could  brook,  and  rendered  it,  much  to 
the  regret  of  the  French  government,  impossible 
to  take  into  consideration  the  mode  of  settling  the 
original  matter  in  dispute  which  was  recommended 
by  the  English  cabinet. 

Lord  Lyons  having,  at  Lord  Granville's  request, 
called  the  attention  of  the  duke  to  the  statement 
made  by  him  in  the  Chamber,  that  all  the  cabinets 
to  whom  he  had  applied  had  appeared  to  admit  that 
the  complaints  of  France  were  legitimate;  the 
duke  affirmed  that  he  certainly  intended  to  include 
the  government  of  Great  Britain  in  the  statement, 
and  that  he  must  confess  he  still  thought  that  he 
was  perfectly  justified  in  doing  so.  In  fact,  he 
said,  the  friendly  efforts  made,  under  Lord  Gran- 
ville's instructions,  by  her  Majesty's  minister  at 
Madrid  to  get  the  candidature  of  Prince  Leopold 
set  aside,  and  the  representations  made  for  the 
same  purpose  by  her  Majesty's  government  in  other 
countries,  surely  indicated  that  they  considered 
that  France  had  reason  to  complain  of  the  selection 
of  this  prince,  and  the  circumstances  which  had 
attended  it. 

Lord  Lyons  reminded  the  duke  that  the  English 
government  had  throughout  carefully  abstained 
from  admitting  that  this  matter  was  sufficient  to 
warrant  a  resort  to  extreme  measures:  to  which 
he  replied,  that  neither  did  his  statement  in  the 
Chamber  imply  that  the  governments  to  which  he 
alluded  had  made  any  such  admission.  The  state- 
ment had  been  made  at  a  comparatively  early  stage 
of  the  negotiation,  and  before  the  insult  which  had 
rendered  extreme  measures  necessary.  Finally,  he 
said,  he  knew  the  English  way  of  proceeding,  and 
was  aware  that  the  English  detested  war,  and  there- 
fore were  not  disposed  to  look  favourably  upon  those 
who  were  the  first  to  commence  hostilities.  Still,  he 
trusted  that  France  would  not  lose  the  sympathy 
of  England.     Lord  Lyons  said  that  if  her  Majesty's 


government  had  not  been  able  to  take  exactly  the 
same  view  of  this  unhappy  dispute  as  the  govern- 
ment of  the  emperor,  he  thought  that  they  had, 
nevertheless,  given  most  substantial  proofs  of 
friendship  in  the  earnest  endeavours  they  had  made 
to  obtain  satisfaction  for  France.  He  could  not 
deny  that  her  Majesty's  government  had  reason  to 
feel  disappointed,  not  to  say  hurt.  They  had 
been  led  to  believe  that  the  withdrawal  of  the 
prince  of  Hohenzollern  from  all  pretensions  to  the 
crown  of  Spain  was  all  that  France  desired.  They 
had  exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  obtain 
this,  and  were  then  told  that  France  required 
more.  However  this  might  be,  there  was,  he 
said  in  conclusion,  most  certainly  no  diminution  of 
the  friendly  feeling  which  had  now  for  so  many 
years  existed  between  the  two  governments  and 
the  two  nations. 

As  a  last  resource,  on  15th  July  Lord  Granville 
wrote  simultaneously  to  the  English  ambassadors 
at  Paris  and  Berlin,  expressing  his  deep  regret 
that  the  breaking  out  of  war  between  the  two 
countries  seemed  imminent.  But  being  anxious 
not  to  neglect  the  slightest  chance  of  averting  it, 
the  English  government  appealed  to  the  twenty- 
third  protocol  of  the  conferences  held  at  Paris  in 
the  year  1856,  in  which  "  Les  plenipotentiaries 
n'hesitent  pas  a  exprimer,  au  nom  de  leurs  gou- 
vernements,  le  vceu  que  les  etats  entre  lesquels 
s'eleverait  un  dissentiment  s^rieux,  avant  d'en 
appeler  aux  armes,  eussent  recours,  en  tant  que  les 
circonstances  admettraient,  aux  bons  offices  d'une 
puissance  amie."  ["The  plenipotentiaries  do  not 
hesitate  to  express,  in  the  name  of  their  govern- 
ments, their  strong  desire  that  states  between 
which  any  serious  difference  may  arise,  before 
appealing  to  arms,  should  have  recourse,  so  far  as 
circumstances  will  admit,  to  the  good  offices  of  a 
friendly  power."]  And  they  felt  themselves  the 
more  warranted  in  doing  so,  inasmuch  as  the  ques- 
tion in  regard  to  which  the  two  powers  were  at 
issue  had  been  brought  within  narrow  limits. 

Her  Majesty's  government,  therefore,  suggested 
to  France  and  to  Prussia,  in  identical  terms,  that 
before  proceeding  to  extremities  they  should  have 
recourse  to  the  good  offices  of  some  friendly  power 
or  powers  acceptable  to  both ;  the  English  govern- 
ment being  ready  to  take  any  part  which  might  be 
desired  in  the  matter. 

This  well-intentioned  effort  on  the  part  of  Eng- 
land was  decisively  but  courteously  rejected  by 


196 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


both  countries.  M.  de  Gramont  thanked  the 
English  government  for  the  sentiment  which  had 
prompted  the  step,  but  said  he  must  recall  to  their 
mind  that  in  recording  their  wish  in  the  protocols, 
the  Congress  of  Paris  did  not  profess  to  impose 
it  in  an  imperative  manner  on  the  powers,  which 
alone  remained  the  judges  of  the  requirements 
of  their  honour  and  their  interests.  This  was 
expressly  laid  down  by  Lord  Clarendon,  after  the 
observations  offered  by  the  Austrian  plenipo- 
tentiary. However  disposed  they  might  be  to 
accept  the  good  offices  of  a  friendly  power,  and 
especially  England,  France  could  not  now  accede 
to  the  offer  of  the  cabinet  of  London.  In  face  of 
the  refusal  of  the  king  of  Prussia  to  give  the  French 
government  the  guarantees  which  his  policy  had 
forced  them  to  demand,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
recurrence  of  dynastic  aims  dangerous  to  their 
security,  and  of  the  offence  which  the  cabinet  of 
Berlin  had  added  to  this  refusal,  the  care  of  the 
dignity  of  France  allowed  no  other  course.  At 
the  eve  of  a  rupture  which  the  kind  efforts  of 
friendly  powers  had  been  unable  to  avert,  public 
opinion  in  England  would,  he  believed,  recognize 
that  under  the  circumstances  the  emperor's 
government  had  no  longer  a  choice  in  its  decisions. 
On  the  other  hand,  Count  Bismarck  said,  the  king 
of  Prussia's  sincere  love  of  peace,  which  no  one 
had  had  a  better  opportunity  of  knowing  than  the 
English  government,  rendered  him  at  all  times 
disposed  to  accept  any  negotiation  which  had  for 
its  object  to  secure  peace  on  a  basis  acceptable  to 
the  honour  and  national  convictions  of  Germany ; 
but  the  possibility  of  entering  into  a  negotiation 
of  this  nature  could  only  be  acquired  by  a  previous 
assurance  of  the  willingness  of  France  to  enter  into 
it  also.  France  took  the  initiative  in  the  direction 
of  war,  and  adhered  to  it  after  the  first  com- 
plication had,  in  the  opinion  even  of  England, 
been  settled  by  the  removal  of  its  cause.  If 
Prussia  were  now  to  take  the  initiative  in  negotiat- 
ing, it  would  be  misunderstood  by  the  national 
feelings  of  Germany,  excited  as  they  had  been  by 
the  menaces  of  France. 

In  addition  to  the  unceasing  efforts  of  Eng- 
land for  the  preservation  of  peace,  endeavours 
in  the  same  direction  were  made  by  Russia, 
Austria,  and  Italy.  Count  Beust,  the  Austrian 
minister,  also  told  Lord  Bloomfield,  our  ambassador 
at  Vienna,  that  perhaps  no  one  was  better  able  to 
judge  of  the  state  of  feeling  in  the  South  German 


states  than  himself;  and  he  was  convinced  that  if 
France  counted  on  the  sympathies  of  those  states, 
she  would  make  a  great  mistake.  With  a  view, 
therefore,  to  discourage  her  from  looking  to  any- 
thing like  support  from  that  quarter,  he  had  thought 
it  well,  in  the  interests  of  peace,  to  bring  this 
conviction  to  her  knowledge. 

"War  having  thus  been  actually  brought  about, 
notwithstanding  all  they  had  done  to  avert  it, 
the  English  government  turned  their  attention 
to  securing  the  rights  of  neutrals.  Renewed 
assurances  that  the  neutrality  of  Belgium,  Hol- 
land, and  Switzerland  would  be  respected  were 
given  by  both  France  and  Prussia.  Time  was  also 
requested  for  neutral  vessels,  and  protection  for 
neutral  property ;  and  both  powers  at  once  conceded 
everything  on  those  points  that  could,  with  good 
grace,  be  asked.  French  vessels  which  were  in 
German  ports  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  or 
which  entered  such  ports  subsequently,  before 
being  informed  of  the  outbreak,  were  allowed  to 
remain  six  weeks,  reckoned  from  the  outbreak  of 
the  war,  and  to  take  in  their  cargoes,  or  to  unload 
them.  In  France  the  period  allowed  was  thirty 
days.  They  were  provided  with  safe-conducts  to 
enable  them  to  return  freely  to  their  ports,  or  to 
proceed  direct  to  their  destination.  Vessels  which 
had  shipped  cargoes  for  France,  and  on  account 
of  French  subjects,  in  enemy's  or  neutral  ports 
previously  to  the  declaration  of  war,  were  declared 
to  be  not  liable  to  capture,  but  were  allowed  to 
land  freely  their  cargoes  in  ports  of  the  empire, 
and  to  receive  safe-conducts  to  return  to  the  ports 
to  which  they  belonged.  The  French  government, 
however,  declined  to  extend  to  the  enemy's  vessels, 
with  neutral  cargoes,  the  same  privileges  granted 
to  them  with  French  cargoes.  It  was  also  agreed 
that  the  following  stipulations,  agreed  to  at  the 
treaty  of  Paris  in  1856,  should  be  recognized  by 
both  countries  during  the  war: — 

1.  Privateering  is,  and  remains,  abolished. 

2.  The  neutral  flag  covers  enemy's  goods,  with 
the  exception  of  contraband  of  war. 

3.  Neutral  goods,  with  the  exception  of  con- 
traband of  war,  are  not  liable  to  capture  under 
enemy's  flag. 

4.  Blockades,  in  order  to  be  binding,  must  be 
effective,  that  is  to  say,  maintained  by  a  force 
sufficient  really  to  prevent  access  to  the  coast  of 
the  enemy. 

On   ]  9th  July   a  proclamation    of  strict   neu- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


197 


trality  was  issued  by  the  English  government, 
in  which  the  queen's  subjects  were  expressly  for- 
bidden to  equip  or  arm  any  vessel  for  the  use  of 
either  belligerent,  and  warning  all  who  should 
attempt  to  break  any  blockade  lawfully  established 
that  they  would  rightfully  be  liable  to  hostile 
capture,  and  the  penalties  awarded  by  the  law 
of  nations  in  that  respect,  and  would  obtain  no 
protection  whatever  from  the  government. 

A  notification  was  also  isssued  from  the  Foreign 
Office,  stating  that  no  ship  of  war,  of  either  belli- 
gerent, would  be  permitted  to  take  in  any  supplies 
at  any  port  in  the  United  Kingdom  or  her  colonies, 
except  provisions  and  such  other  things  as  might 
be  requisite  for  the  subsistence  of  her  crew,  and 
only  sufficient  coal  to  carry  such  vessel  to  the 
nearest  port  of  her  own  country,  or  to  some  nearer 
destination.  All  ships  of  war  were  prohibited 
from  making  use  of  any  port  or  roadstead  in  the 
United  Kingdom,  or  her  colonial  possessions,  as  a 
station  or  resort  for  any  warlike  purpose ;  and  no 
vessel  of  war  was  to  be  permitted  to  leave  any  port 
she  might  have  entered  for  necessary  supplies,  from 
which  any  vessel  of  the  other  belligerent  (whether 
the  same  were  a  ship  of  war  or  a  merchant  ship) 
should  have  left  at  least  twenty-four  hours. 

As  an  additional  proof  of  the  sincerity  of  their 
desire  to  remain  thoroughly  neutral  during  the 
struggle,  and  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  any 
justifiable  complaint  from  either  belligerent,  the 
government  introduced  and  carried  a  new  Foreign 
Enlistment  Act,  which  went  far  beyond  any  law 
ever  before  passed  in  any  country  for  the  purpose 
of  enforcing  neutrality,  and  involved  a  total  revo- 
lution in  the  ideas  of  English  statesmen  with 
regard  to  the  duties  of  neutrals.  The  chief  pro- 
visions of  the  Act  are,  that  a  penalty  of  fine  and 
imprisonment,  or  both,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
court,  may  be  imposed  for  enlistment  in  the  mili- 
tary or  naval  service  of  any  foreign  state  at  war 
with  any  state  at  peace  with  her  Majesty,  or 
inducing  any  other  person  to  accept  such  service. 
Similar  penalties  are  imposed  for  leaving  her 
Majesty's  dominions  with  intent  to  serve  a  foreign 
state,  or  for  embarking  persons  under  false  repre- 
sentations as  to  service.  Any  master  or  owner  of 
a  ship  who  knowingly  receives  on  board  his  ship, 
within  her  Majesty's  dominions,  any  person  illegally 
enlisted  under  any  of  the  circumstances  above 
described,  is  made  liable  to  fine  and  imprisonment; 
his  ship  may  be  detained  tiU  all  the  penalties  have 


been  paid,  or  security  given  for  them;  and  the 
illegally  enlisted  persons  are  to  be  taken  on  shore, 
and  not  allowed  to  return  to  the  ship.  The  object 
of  these  latter  clauses  is,  of  course,  to  strike  at  the 
former  practice  of  hiring  men  for  an  ostensibly 
peaceful  and  legal  service,  and  afterwards,  with  or 
without  their  connivance,  employing  them  in  a 
military  or  naval  expedition. 

But  the  most  interesting  and  important  division 
of  the  Act  is  that  which  relates  to  illegal  ship- 
building and  illegal  expeditions.  As  in  the 
previous  Act,  it  is  declared  to  be  an  offence  to 
commission,  equip,  or  despatch  any  ship  with  intent 
or  knowledge,  or  having  reasonable  cause  to  believe, 
that  the  same  will  be  employed  in  the  military  or 
naval  service  of  any  foreign  state  at  war  with  any 
friendly  state.  The  offender  is  punishable  by  fine 
and  imprisonment;  and  the  ship,  in  respect  of 
which  any  such  offence  is  committed,  with  the 
equipment,  is  to  be  held  forfeited  to  her  Majesty. 
But  over  and  above  this  the  new  Act  embodies  a 
provision,  making  the  building  of  a  vessel  under 
such  circumstances  an  offence  in  itself;  and  what 
is  more,  the  onus  of  disproof  lies  with  the  builder : 
— "  Where  any  ship  is  built  by  order  of  or  on 
behalf  of  any  foreign  state  at  war  with  a  friendly 
state,  or  is  delivered  to  or  to  the  order  of  such 
foreign  state,  or  any  agent  of  such  state,  or  is  paid 
for  by  such  foreign  state  or  their  agent,  and  is 
employed  in  the  military  or  naval  service  of  such 
state,  such  ship  shall,  until  the  contrary  is 
proved,  be  deemed  to  have  been  built  with  a  view 
to  being  so  employed,  and  the  burden  shall 
lie  on  the  builder  of  such  ship  of  proving  that 
he  did  not  know  that  the  ship  was  intended 
to  be  so  employed  in  the  military  or  naval 
service  of  such  foreign  state."  Further,  it  is 
declared  an  offence  to  augment  the  warlike 
force  of  any  ship  for  the  use  of  a  belligerent. 
These  clauses  are  intended  to  check  the  practice 
adopted  during  the  American  war  of  building  or 
fitting  out  a  vessel  in  this  country  and  then  send- 
in<*  her  either  out  to  sea,  or  to  some  other  neutral 
port,  to  take  on  board  an  armament  sent  to  meet 
her  in  some  other  ship.  No  distinction  of  this 
kind  as  to  time  or  place  will,  under  the  new  Act, 
suffice  to  elude  the  law.  The  mere  building  of  a 
ship  with  the  intent  or  knowledge  that  it  is  after- 
wards to  be  equipped  and  used  for  purposes  of  war 
against  a  state  with  whom  we  are  at  peace,  is 
ranked  as  an  offence,  quite  apart  from  the  actual 


198 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


equipment  and  despatch  of  the  ship  for  this 
purpose.  The  defects  of  the  law  were  strikingly 
illustrated  by  the  two  cases  of  the  Alabama  and 
the  rams.  While  the  former  escaped,  because  the 
authorities  had  not  authority  to  seize  her,  even 
though  her  intended  use  and  destination  were 
perfectly  notorious,  in  the  other  instance  the 
government  took  the  law  into  their  own  hands, 
and  arbitrarily  seized  the  rams  on  their  own 
responsibility.  The  law  is  now  sufficient  to  meet 
all  cases  of  this  description,  and  to  spare  the 
authorities  any  necessity  of  straining  it,  in  order  to 
discharge  the  obligations  of  a  neutral.  This  branch 
of  the  measure  is  completed  by  two  other  clauses, 
enacting  that  illegal  ships  shall  not  be  received  in 
British  ports,  and  making  it  an  offence,  punishable 
with  fine  and  imprisonment,  to  prepare  or  fit 
out,  or  in  any  way  assist  in  preparing,  any 
naval  or  military  expedition  to  proceed  against 
the  dominions  of  a  friendly  state;  all  ships  form- 
ing part  of  such  an  expedition  being  forfeited  to 
the  crown. 

The  remaining  clauses  of  the  Act  relate  to  the 
legal  procedure  in  regard  to  the  offences  described, 
the  courts  which  are  to  try  cases,  the  officers 
authorized  to  seize  offending  ships,  &c.  A  special 
power  is  given  to  the  secretary  of  state,  or  chief 
executive  authority,  to  issue  a  warrant  to  detain 
a  ship,  if  "  satisfied  that  there  is  a  reasonable  and 


probable  cause  for  believing "  that  it  is  being 
built,  equipped,  or  despatched  for  an  illegal  pur- 
pose. The  owner  of  a  ship  so  detained  may  apply 
to  the  Court  of  Admiralty  for  its  release,  and  if 
he  can  show  that  the  ship  was  not  intended  for 
the  use  suspected  it  will  be  restored  to  him.  If 
he  fails  in  this  proof  the  secretary  of  state  will  be 
at  liberty  to  detain  the  vessel  as  long  as  he  pleases ; 
the  court  having,  however,  a  discretionary  power 
to  release  the  vessel  on  the  owner  giving  security 
that  it  shall  not  be  employed  contrary  to  the  Act. 
If  there  has  been  no  reasonable  cause  lor  detention, 
the  owner  will  be  entitled  to  an  indemnity  to  be 
assessed  by  the  court.  The  "  local  authority " 
may  also  detain  a  suspected  ship  until  reference 
can  be  made  to  the  secretary  of  state  or  chief 
executive  authority.  The  secretary  of  state  may 
issue  a  search  warrant  in  any  dockyard  in  the 
queen's  dominions,  and  he  is  to  be  held  free  from 
legal  proceedings  in  connection  with  any  warrant 
he  may  issue,  and  is  not  bound  to  give  evidence 
as  a  witness  except  with  his  own  consent.  The 
decision  of  the  important  question  whether  a  ship 
is  or  is  not  rightly  suspected,  is  withdrawn  from 
the  cognizance  of  a  jury  and  submitted  to  the 
consideration  of  a  judge,  so  that  there  can  be  none 
of  those  failures  of  justice  which  formerly  took 
place  in  consequence  of  the  misdirected  patriotism 
of  juries. 


CHAPTER      III. 


Important  Statement  of  the  French  Emperor — He  declares  that  he  neither  expected  nor  was  prepared  for  War,  bnt  that  France  had  slipped 
out  of  his  hands — A  thoroughly  National  War — His  Version  of  a  very  important  conversation  with  Count  von  Bismarck — Publication  of  a 
Proposed  Secret  Treaty  between  France  and  Prussia,  by  which  France  was  to  acquire  Luxemburg  by  purchase  and  conquer  Belgium  with  the 
Assistance  of  Prussia,  on  Condition  of  not  interfering  with  the  Plans  of  Prussia  in  Germany — Great  Excitement  on  the  Subject  in  England 
and  Belgium — Statements  of  the  English  Government  in  both  Houses  of  Parliament — Manly  Speech  of  Mr.  Disraeli — Letter  from  M. 
Ollivier,  the  Head  of  the  French  Government,  repudiating  the  Treaty — General  State  of  Feeling  on  the  Question  in  France — Explanation 
of  the  Journal  Officiel—lhe  Prussian  Version  of  the  Transaction — Other  Propositions  of  a  Similar  Nature  made  by  France  to  Prussia 
divulged,  including  an  offer  of  300,000  men  to  assist  in  a  War  against  Austria,  in  return  for  the  Rhenish  Provinces — Continued  Efforts 
of  France  to  "  lead  Prussia  into  Temptation  " — Count  von  Bismarck's  Reasons  for  not  divulging  the  Proposals  at  the  time  they  were  made — 
Explanation  of  M.  Benedetti,  the  Proposer  of  the  Secret  Treaty — He  states  that  it  was  well  known  that  Prussia  offered  to  assist  France 
in  acquiring  Belgium  in  return  for  her  own  Aggrandisement — Such  Overtures  persistently  declined  by  the  French  Government — The 
Secret  Treaty  written  at  the  Dictation  of  Count  von  Bismarck — The  Proposals  rejected  by  the  French  Emperor  as  soon  as  they  came  to  his 
Knowledge — Count  von  Bismarck's  only  Reason  for  publishing  them  must  have  been  to  mislead  Public  Opinion — French  Official  Explanation 
on  the  same  Subject  from  the  Due  de  Gramont — The  idea  of  France  appropriating  Belgium  a  purely  Prussian  one,  to  avert  Attention 
from  the  Rhine  Provinces — Offer  of  Prussian  Assistance  to  accomplish  it — The  Emperor  steadily  refused  to  entertain  the  Idea — Emphatic 
Denial  that  France  intended  to  offer  to  conclude  Peace  on  the  Basis  of  the  Secret  Treaty  if  it  had  not  been  published — Proposals  made  by 
France  to  Prussia  through  Lord  Clarendon  to  reduce  their  Armaments — The  Proposition  rejected  by  the  King  of  Prussia — Further 
Proofs  adduced  by  Prussia  against  France — Anxiety  in  England — Action  taken  by  the  Government — £2,000,000  and  20,000  men 
enthusiastically  voted  by  the  House  of  Commons — Great  Debate  on  the  whole  Matter — Mr.  Disraeli  stigmatises  the  Pretext  for  War  as 
"Disgraceful,"  and  Proposes  an  Alliance  with  Russia — Guarded  Statement  of  Mr.  Gladstone — Dissatisfaction  at  it  in  the  House — 
Spirited  Speech  of  Lord  Russell  in  the  House  of  Lords  in  Favour  of  supporting  Belgium  at  all  Cost —  Reassuring  reply  of  Lord  Granville — 
Important  Statements  in  both  Houses  of  Parliament  by  the  Government  as  to  the  Course  they  had  adopted,  and  Comments  thereon — The 
Complete  Text  of  New  Treaty  agreed  on  to  preserve  the  Neutrality  of  Belgium— Feeling  of  Reassurance  in  England— Altered  State 
of  Feeling  in  Austria  towards  France — Biographical  Notices  of  Count  vou  Bismarck  and  M.  Benedetti. 


In  the  two  preceding  chapters  the  circumstances 
connected  with  the  war  have  been  consecutively 
described  from  the  5th  July,  when  the  first 
official  announcement  of  Prince  Leopold's  candid- 
ature reached  England  and  France,  to  the  23rd 
July — a  week  subsequent  to  the  actual  declara- 
tion of  war  by  France.  Immediately  this  event 
took  place,  both  countries  commenced  massing 
troops  on  their  respective  frontiers,  and  were 
so  engaged  for  the  next  fortnight.  Only  a  few 
slight  skirmishes,  however,  took  place  between 
the  reconnoitring  parties  of  the  two  armies;  and 
before  proceeding  to  describe  the  more  stirring 
events  of  the  contest,  we  must,  in  order  to  continue 
the  narrative  of  events  consecutively,  devote  a 
chapter  to  the  now  celebrated  "  Secret  Treaty" — 
a  document  which  for  a  time  excited  even  more 
interest  in  England  than  the  war  itself,  and  which 
led  to  some  important  steps  being  adopted  by  the 
British  Parliament. 

Simultaneously  with  the  publication  of  the 
Treaty  (Monday,  25th  July)  another  communi- 
cation was  published,  which  would  doubtless  have 
created  much  more  attention  than  it  did  had  it  not 
been  that  everything  else  was,  for  a  time,  to  a  great 


extent  overlooked.  We,  however,  reproduce  it 
here,  before  describing  the  treaty,  and  shall  then 
have  no  further  cause  to  refer  to  it.  It  was  an 
account  of  an  interview  with  the  Emperor  Napo- 
leon, in  the  previous  week,  and  was  inserted  in  the 
Daily  Telegraph  newspaper  under  the  signature  of 
"  An  Englishman,"  who  said  he  had  his  Majesty's 
free  consent  to  its  publication.  It  stated  that  the 
emperor,  after  speaking  upon  some  private  matters, 
turned  suddenly  to  the  political  situation  of  France 
and  of  Europe.  He  said:  "  One  fortnight  before 
the  utterance  of  the  Due  de  Gramont  in  the  Corps 
Legislatif — which  utterance  has,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
been  so  unjustly  reflected  upon  by  the  English 
press — I  had  no  notion  that  war  was  at  hand,  nor 
am  I,  even  at  this  moment,  by  any  means  prepared 
for  it.  I  trusted  that,  when  the  Due  de  Gramont 
had  set  me  straight  with  France  by  speaking  man- 
fully in  public  as  to  the  Hohenzollern  candidature, 
I  should  be  able  so  to  manipulate  and  handle  the 
controversy  as  to  make  peace  certain.  But  France 
has  slipped  out  of  my  hand.  I  cannot  rule  unless 
I  lead.  This  is  the  most  national  war  that  in  my 
time  France  has  undertaken,  and  I  have  no  choice 
but  to  advance  at  the  head  of  a  public   opinion 


200 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


which  I  can  neither  stem  nor  check.  In  addition, 
Count  von  Bismarck,  although  a  very  clever  man, 
wants  too  much,  and  wants  it  too  quick.  After  the 
victory  of  Prussia  in  1866,  I  reminded  him  that 
but  for  the  friendly  and  self-denying  neutrality  of 
France  he  could  never  have  achieved  such  marvels. 
I  pointed  out  to  him  that  I  had  never  moved  a 
French  soldier  near  to  the  Rhine  frontier  during 
the  continuance  of  the  German  war.  I  quoted 
to  him  from  his  own  letter  in  which  he  thanked 
me  for  my  abstinence,  and  said  that  he  had  left 
neither  a  Prussian  gun  nor  a  Prussian  soldier  upon 
the  Rhine,  but  had  thrown  Prussia's  whole  and 
undivided  strength  against  Austria  and  her  allies. 
I  told  him  that,  as  some  slight  return  for  my 
friendly  inactivity,  I  thought  that  he  might  sur- 
render Luxemburg,  and  one  or  two  other  little 
towns  which  gravely  menace  our  frontier,  to  France. 
I  added  that  in  this  way  he  would,  by  a  trifling 
sacrifice,  easily  forgotten  by  Prussia  in  view  of  her 
enormous  successes  and  acquisitions,  pacify  the 
French  nation,  whose  jealousies  it  was  so  easy  to 
arouse,  so  difficult  to  disarm. 

"  Count  von  Bismarck  replied  to  me,  after  some 
delay,  '  Not  one  foot  of  territory,  whether  Prussian 
or  neutral,  can  I  resign.  But,  perhaps,  if  I  were 
to  make  further  acquisitions,  I  could  make  some 
concessions.  How,  for  instance,  if  I  were  to  take 
Holland  ?  What  would  France  want  as  a  sop  for 
Holland  ?' 

"  '  I  replied,'  said  the  emperor,  '  that  if  he 
attempted  to  take  Holland,  it  meant  war  with 
France ;  and  there  the  conversation,  in  which 
Count  von  Bismarck  and  M.  de  Benedetti  were 
the  interlocutors,  came  to  an  end.' " 

The  only  notice  of  importance  which  was  taken 
of  this  document  was  in  a  debate  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  in  which  Lord  Malmsbury  said  he  knew 
the  writer  (Honourable  F.  Lawley)  was  worthy 
of  all  credence,  and  in  the  official  North  German 
Gazette,  which  admitted  the  truth  of  the  description 
of  the  conversation  between  Count  von  Bismarck 
and  the  emperor  down  to  the  word  "  resign, " 
but  said  the  remainder  of  the  statement  (that  con- 
cerning Holland)  was  altogether  fictitious. 

On  the  same  day  (25th  July)  as  this  document 
appeared  in  the  Daily  Telegraph,  the  Times  startled 
the  world  by  publishing  the  "  Draft  of  a  Secret 
Project  of  Alliance,  Offensive  and  Defensive,  be- 
tween France  and  Prussia,"  which,  on  account  of 
its  importance,  and  the  results  to  which  it  led,  we 


give  both  in  the  original  French,  and  also  in  an 
English  version.  The  only  variations  from  the 
text  of  the  actual  proposed  treaty,  and  the  copy 
of  it  published  in  the  Times,  are  indicated  by  italics 
and  brackets. 

PROPOSED  TREATY  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  PRUSSIA. 

Sa  Majeste  le  roi  de  Prusse  et  sa  Majeste 
l'empereur  des  Francois  jugeant  utile  de  resserrer 
les  liens  d'amitie  qui  les  unissent  et  de  consolider 
les  rapports  de  bon  voisinage  heureusement  exist- 
ant  entre  les  deux  pays,  convaincus  d'autre  part 
que  pour  atteindre  ce  resultat,  propre  d'ailleurs  a 
assurer  le  maintien  de  la  paix  generale,  il  leur 
importe  de  s'entcndre  sur  des  questions  qui  in- 
teressent  leurs  relations  futures,  ont  resolu  de 
conclure  un  traite  a  cet  effet,  et  nomme  en  conse- 
quence pour  leurs  plenipotentiaires,  &c,  savoir: 

Sa  Majeste,  &c. ; 

Sa  Majeste,  &c; 

Lesquels,  apres  avoir  echange"  leurs  plcinspou- 
voirs,  trouves  en  bonne  et  due  forme,  sont  convenus 
des  articles  suivants: — 

Article  I. — Sa  Majeste  l'empereur  des  Francois 
admet  et  reconnait  les  acquisitions  que  la  Prusse 
a  faites  a  la  suite  de  la  derniere  guerre  quelle 
a  soutenue  contre  l'Autriche  et  contre  ses  allies 
[ainsi  que  les  arrangements  pris  ou  h  prendre  pour 
la  constitution  dune  Confederation  dans  T Allemagne 
du  Kord,  s'engageant  en  merne  temps  h  prefer  son 
appui  a  la  conservatio7i  de  cette  eeuvre], 

A  rticle  II. — Sa  Majeste  le  roi  de  Prusse  promet 
de  faciliter  a  la  France  l'acquisition  du  Luxem- 
bourg; a  cet  effet  la  dite  Majeste  entrera  en  ne- 
gociations  avec  sa  Majeste  le  roi  des  Pays-Bas  pour 
le  determiner  a  faire,  ii  l'empereur  des  Francais, 
la  cession  de  ses  droits  souverains  sur  ce  duche, 
moyennant  telle  compensation  qui  sera  jugee  suffi- 
sante  ou  autrement.  De  son  cote  l'empereur  des 
Frangais  s'engage  k  assumer  les  charges  pe'euniaires 
que  cette  transaction  peut  comporter.  [Pour  faci- 
liter cette  transaction,  lempereur  des  Frangais,  de 
son  cote,  s'engage  a  assumer  accessoirement  les  charges 
pe'euniaires  quelle pourrait  comporter^] 

Article  III. — Sa  Majeste  l'empereur  des  Frangais 
ne  s'opposera  pas  a  une  union  federale  de  la  Con- 
federation du  Nord  avec  les  etats  du  midi  de 
1' Allemagne,  a  l'exception  de  l'Autriche,  laquelle 
union  pourra  etre  basee  sur  un  Parlement  com- 
mun,  tout  en  respectant,  dans  une  juste  mesure,  la 
souverainete  des  dits  etats. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


201 


Article  IV. — De  son  cote",  sa  Majeste  le  roi  de 
Prusse,  au  cas  oil  sa  Majesty  l'empereur  des  Francais 
serait  amene  par  les  circonstances  a,  faire  entrer 
ses  troupes  en  Belgique  ou  a  la  conquerir,  accordera 
le  secours  [concours]  de  ses  amies  a  la  France,  et 
il  la  soutiendra  avec  toutes  ses  forces  de  terre 
et  de  mer,  envers  et  contre  toute  puissance  qui, 
dans  cette  eventuality,  lui  declarerait  la  guerre. 

Article  V. — Pour  assurer  l'entiere  execution  des 
dispositions  qui  precedent,  sa  Majeste  le  roi  de 
Prusse  et  sa  Majeste  l'empereur  des  Francais  con- 
tractent,  par  le  present  traite,  une  alliance  offensive 
et  defensive  qu'ils  s'engagent  solennellement  a 
maintenir.  Leurs  Majestes  s'obligent,  en  outre  et 
notamment,  a  l'observer  dans  tous  les  cas  oil  leurs 
etats  respectifs,  dont  elles  se  garantissent  mutuelle- 
ment  l'integrite\  seraient  menaces  d'une  aggression, 
se  tenant  pour  liees,  en  pareille  conjoncture,  de 
prendre  sans  retard,  et  de  ne  decliner  sous  aucun 
prdtexte,  les  arrangements  militaires  qui  seraient 
commandos  par  leur  interet  commun  conforme'ment 
aux  clauses  et  previsions  ci-dessus  enoncees. 

TRANSLATION. 

His  Majesty  the  king  of  Prussia  and  his  Majesty 
the  emperor  of  the  French,  deeming  it  useful  to 
draw  closer  the  bonds  of  friendship  which  unite 
them,  and  to  consolidate  the  relations  of  good 
neighbourhood  happily  existing  between  the  two 
countries,  and  being  convinced,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  to  attain  this  result,  which  is  calculated  besides 
to  assure  the  maintenance  of  the  general  peace,  it 
behoves  them  to  come  to  an  understanding  on 
questions  which  concern  their  future  relations,  have 
resolved  to  conclude  a  treaty  to  this  effect,  and 
named  in  consequence  as  their  plenipotentiaries, 
that  is  to  say, 

His  Majesty,  &c; 

His  Majesty,  &c. ; 

Who,  having  exchanged  their  full  powers,  found 
to  be  in  good  and  proper  form,  have  agreed  upon 
the  following  articles: — 

Article  I. — His  Majesty  the  emperor  of  the 
French  admits  and  recognizes  the  acquisitions 
which  Prussia  has  made  as  the  residt  of  the  last 
war  which  she  sustained  against  Austria  and  her 
allies  [as  also  the  arrangements  adopted  or  to  be 
adopted  for  constituting  a  Confederation  in  North 
Germany,  engaging,  at  the  same  time,  tp  render  his 
support  for  the  maintenance  of  that  work]. 

Article  II. — His  Majesty  the  king  of  Prussia 


promises  to  facilitate  the  acquisition  of  Luxem- 
burg by  France:  to  that  effect  his  aforesaid  Majesty 
will  enter  into  negotiations  with  his  Majesty  the 
king  of  the  Netherlands,  to  induce  him  to  cede  to 
the  emperor  of  the  French  his  sovereign  rights  over 
that  duchy,  in  return  for  such  compensation  as 
shall  be  deemed  sufficient  or  otherwise.  On  his 
part,  the  emperor  of  the  French  engages  to  bear 
the  pecuniary  charges  which  this  arrangement  may 
involve.  [In  order  to  facilitate  this  arrangement,  the 
emperor  of  the  French  engages,  on  his  part,  to  bear 
accessorily  the  pecuniary  charges  which  it  may  involved] 

Article  III. — His  Majesty  the  emperor  of  the 
French  will  not  oppose  a  federal  union  of  the  Con- 
federation of  the  North  with  the  southern  states 
of  Germany,  with  the  exception  of  Austria,  which 
union  may  be  based  on  a  common  Parliament,  the 
sovereignty  of  the  said  states  being  duly  respected. 

Article  IV. — On  his  part  his  Majesty  the  king 
of  Prussia,  in  case  his  Majesty  the  emperor  of  the 
French  should  be  obliged  by  circumstances  to 
cause  his  troops  to  enter  Belgium,  or  to  conquer 
it,  will  grant  the  succour  [co-operation]  of  his  arms 
to  France,  and  will  sustain  her  with  all  his  forces 
of  land  and  sea  against  every  power  which,  in  that 
eventuality,  should  declare  war  upon  her. 

Article  V. — To  insure  the  complete  execution 
of  the  above  arrangements,  his  Majesty  the  king 
of  Prussia  and  his  Majesty  the  emperor  of  the 
French  contract,  by  the  present  treaty,  an  alliance 
offensive  and  defensive,  which  they  solemnly  en- 
gage to  maintain.  Their  Majesties  engage  moreover, 
and  specifically,  to  observe  it  in  every  case  in  which 
their  respective  states,  of  which  they  mutually 
guarantee  the  integrity,  should  be  menaced  by 
aggression,  holding  themselves  bound  in  such  a 
conjuncture  to  make  without  delay,  and  not  to 
decline  on  any  pretext,  the  military  arrangements 
which  may  be  demanded  by  their  common  interest, 
conformably  to  the  clauses  and  provisions  above 
set  forth. 

This  treaty  had,  of  course,  been  supplied  to  the 
Times  by  the  Prussian  government;  and  in  its 
comments  on  the  matter  in  a  leading  article — 
evidently  written  under  inspiration — the  great 
English  journal  stated  that  it  was  rejected  at  the 
time  it  was  tendered,  but  that  it  had  recently 
again  been  offered  as  a  condition  of  peace.  At 
all  events,  means  had  been  taken  to  let  it  be 
understood  that  the  old  project  was  open,  and 
that  a  ready  acceptance  of  it  would  save  Prussia 
2  c 


202 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


from  attack.  The  suggestion  had  not,  however, 
been  favourably  received ;  on  the  contrary,  matters 
had,  as  was  well  known,  been  so  far  advanced  that 
it  was  impossible  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  war 
by  a  coup  de  theatre. 

As  will  be  readily  understood,  the  publication  of 
this  document  caused  the  greatest  sensation,  not 
only  in  England,  buton  the  Continent,  and  especially 
in  Belgium.  England  was,  of  course,  most  deeply 
interested,  because  by  the  treaty  of  1839  she,  in 
common  with  France,  Prussia,  and  other  great 
powers,  had  guaranteed  the  independence  of  the 
Belgian  kingdom.  The  subject  formed  the  sole 
topic  of  conversation  in  the  city  during  the  day, 
and  had  a  considerable  effect  on  the  stock  markets, 
producing  a  fall  both  in  consols  and  foreign  securi- 
ties. The  excitement  at  the  meeting  of  the  House 
of  Commons  in  the  afternoon  was  so  great,  that 
an  octogenarian  member  said  he  remembered  no 
more  stirring  spectacle  since  1815.  Questions  were 
addressed  to  the  government  in  both  Houses,  but 
they  replied  that  they  could  give  no  information  as 
to  the  source  from  which  the  Times  had  obtained 
the  document.  They  were,  however,  convinced 
that,  after  the  announcement  of  the  existence  of 
such  a  draft  treaty,  both  the  governments  of  France 
and  Prussia  would  immediately  and  spontaneously 
give  an  explanation  to  Europe  of  the  matter. 
In  prefacing  his  question  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
Mr.  Disraeli,  the  leader  of  the  opposition,  said, 
amidst  loud  and  general  cheering,  that  the  policy 
indicated  in  the  treaty  was  one  which  England  had 
never  approved,  and  never  could  approve.  He 
should  look  upon  the  extinction  of  Belgium  as  a 
calamity  to  Europe  and  an  injury  to  England,  and 
therefore  he  trusted  such  an  attempt  would  not  be 
made ;  but  if  it  were,  the  engagements  into  which 
England  had  entered  with  respect  to  that  kingdom 
would  demand  the  gravest  consideration.  An 
increase  of  distrust  was  observable  in  all  the 
markets  in  the  city  on  the  following  day,  the 
observations  in  both  Houses  of  Parliament  having 
coincided  with  the  feeling  previously  entertained 
as  to  the  gravity  of  the  disclosure  regarding  the 
treaty.  At  the  same  time,  however,  there  was  an 
augmented  sense  among  all  the  mercantile  classes 
of  the  importance  of  maintaining  a  strict  neutrality. 

The  same  day  M.  Emile  Ollivier,  the  head  of  the 
French  government,  sent  the  following  letter  to 
a  friend  in  England,  evidently  with  a  view  to 
publication : — 


"Paris,  July  26,  1870. 

"  My  dear  Friend, — How  could  you  believe  there 
was  any  truth  in  the  treaty  the  Times  has  published  ? 
I  assure  you  that  the  cabinet  of  the  2nd  of  January 
never  negotiated  or  concluded  anything  of  the 
kind  with  Prussia. 

"I  will  even  tell  you  that  it  has  negotiated 
nothing  at  all  with  her.  The  only  negotiations 
that  have  existed  between  us  have  been  indirect, 
confidential,  and  had  Lord  Clarendon  for  their 
intermediary.  Since  Mr.  Gladstone  slightly  raised 
the  veil  in  one  of  his  speeches,  we  may  allow  our- 
selves to  say  that  the  object  of  those  negotiations, 
so  honourable  to  Lord  Clarendon,  was  to  assure 
the  peace  of  Europe  by  a  reciprocal  disarmament. 
You  will  admit  that  this  does  not  much  resemble 
the  conduct  of  ministers  who  seek  a  pretext 
for  war. 

"  You  know  the  value  I  set  upon  the  confidence 
and  friendship  of  the  great  English  nation.  The 
union  of  the  two  countries  has  always  seemed 
to  me  the  most  essential  condition  of  the  world's 
progress.  And  for  that  reason  I  earnestly  beg 
you  to  contradict  all  those  false  reports  spread  by 
persons  who  have  an  interest  in  dividing  us. 

"  We  have  no  secret  policy  hidden  behind  our 
avowed  policy.  Our  policy  is  single,  public, 
loyal,  without  after  thoughts  (arrieres  pensees) ; 
we  do  not  belong  to  the  school  of  those  who 
think  force  is  superior  to  right ;  we  believe,  on 
the  contrary,  that  good  right  will  always  prevail  in 
the  end;  and  it  is  because  the  right  is  on  our 
side  in  the  war  now  beginning,  that  with  the  help 
of  God  we  reckon  upon  victory. 

"  Affectionate  salutations  from  your  servant, 

(Signed)  "EMILE  OLLIVIEK." 

The  excitement  created  in  France  was,  however, 
by  no  means  so  great  as  in  England.  At  first  the 
authenticity  of  the  document  was  boldly  denied, 
but  when  this  was  no  longer  possible,  people  said, 
"  Well,  if  it  be  true,  where  is  the  harm  of  it?"  for 
the  idea  of  annexing  Belgium  had  more  than  once 
been  broached  in  the  numerous  pamphlets  which 
had  been  published  from  time  to  time,  advocating 
I  a  rectification  of  the  French  frontiers;  and  it  was 
!  not  seriously  believed  by  scarcely  one  Frenchman 
in  a  hundred  that  England  would  go  to  war  to 
prevent  it.  The  first  formal  notice  taken  of  the 
matter   was    on    Wednesday,  July  27,  when  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


203 


Journal  Officiel  said,  "  After  the  treaty  of  Prague 
several  negotiations  passed  at  Berlin  between 
Count  von  Bismarck  and  the  French  embassy  on  the 
subject  of  a  scheme  of  alliance.  Some  of  the  ideas 
contained  in  the  document  inserted  by  the  Times 
were  raised,  but  the  French  government  never 
had  cognizance  of  a  written  project;  and  as  to  the 
proposals  that  may  have  been  spoken  of  in  these 
conversations,  the  Emperor  Napoleon  rejected 
them.  No  one  will  fail  to  see  in  whose  interest, 
and  with  what  object,  it  is  now  sought  to  mislead 
the  public  opinion  of  England." 

The  treaty  was  published  in  the  Berlin  journals 
the  same  day  (July  27),  accompanied  with  the 
statement  that  it  had  been  submitted  to  Count 
von  Bismarck  by  M.  Benedetti,  the  French  am- 
bassador, and  that  the  original,  in  his  handwriting, 
was  in  the  Berlin  archives. 

On  the  following  day  a  long  telegraphic  de- 
spatch was  forwarded  to  the  Prussian  ambassador 
in  London,  to  be  at  once  communicated  to  the 
English  government,  with  a  notification  that  a 
fuller  account  of  the  whole  transaction  in  writing 
would  be  despatched  forthwith.  This  latter  docu- 
ment was  received  a  few  days  after,  in  the  shape 
of  a  circular  to  the  North  German  representatives 
at  the  courts  of  neutral  states;  and  as  it  contains 
the  complete  version  of  the  Prussian  side  of  the 
question,  and  is  of  great   historical   importance, 

we  give  it  in  full. 

"  Berlin,  July  29,  1870. 

"  The  expectation  expressed  by  Lord  Granville 
and  Mr.  Gladstone  in  the  British  Parliament,  that 
more  exact  information  in  reference  to  the  draught 
treaty  of  M.  Benedetti,  would  be  furnished  by 
the  two  powers  concerned,  was  in  a  preliminary 
manner  fulfilled  on  our  side  by  the  telegram  which 
I  addressed  to  Count  BernstorfF  on  the  27th  inst. 
The  telegraphic  form  only  enabled  me  to  make  a 
short  statement,  which  I  now  complete  in  writing. 

"  The  document  published  by  the  Times  con- 
tains by  no  means  the  only  proposition  of  a  similar 
nature  which  has  been  made  to  us  on  the  part  of 
the  French.  Even  before  the  Danish  war,  attempts, 
addressed  to  me,  were  made  both  by  official  and 
unofficial  French  agents  to  effect  an  alliance 
between  France  and  Prussia,  with  the  object  of 
mutual  aggrandizement.  It  is  scarcely  necessary 
for  me  to  point  out  the  impossibility  of  such  a 
transaction  for  a  German  minister,  whose  position 
is    dependent    on  his    being  in   accord  with  the 


national  feeling ;  its  explanation  is  to  be  found  in 
the  want  of  acquaintance  of  French  statesmen 
with  the  fundamental  conditions  of  existence 
among  other  nations.  Had  the  agents  of  the  Paris 
cabinet  been  competent  to  observe  the  state  of 
German  affairs,  such  an  illusion  would  never  have 
been  entertained  in  Paris  as  that  Prussia  could 
permit  herself  to  accept  the  aid  of  France  in  regu- 
lating German  affairs. 

"Your  excellency  is,  of  course,  as  well  ac- 
quainted as  I  am  myself  with  the  ignorance  of  the 
French  as  regards  Germany. 

"  The  endeavours  of  the  French  government 
to  carry  out,  with  the  assistance  of  Prussia,  its 
covetous  views  with  reference  to  Belgium  and  the 
Rhine  frontier  were  brought  to  my  notice  even 
before  1862 — therefore  before  my  accession  to 
the  ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs.  I  cannot  regard 
it  as  my  task  to  transfer  such  communications, 
which  were  purely  of  a  personal  nature,  to  the 
sphere  of  international  negotiations;  and  I  believe 
it  will  be  best  to  withhold  the  most  interesting 
contribution  which  I  could  make  towards  the 
elucidation  of  the  matter  from  private  letters  and 
conversations. 

"  The  above-mentioned  tendencies  of  the  French 
government  were  first  recognizable  by  the  external 
influence  on  European  politics  and  the  attitude 
favourable  to  us  which  France  assumed  in  the 
Germano-Danish  conflict.  The  subsequent  bad 
feeling  which  France  displayed  towards  us  in  re- 
ference to  the  Treaty  of  Gastein,  was  attributable 
to  the  apprehension  lest  a  durable  strengthening 
of  the  Prusso-Austrian  alliance  should  deprive 
the  Paris  cabinet  of  the  fruits  of  this  its  attitude. 
France  before  1865  reckoned  upon  the  outbreak 
of  war  between  us  and  Austria,  and  again  willingly 
made  approaches  to  us  as  soon  as  our  relations  with 
Vienna  began  to  be  unfriendly.  Before  the  out- 
break of  the  Austrian  war  proposals  were  made  to 
me,  partly  through  relatives  of  his  Majesty  the 
emperor  of  the  French,  and  partly  by  confidential 
agents,  which  each  time  had  for  their  object  smaller 
or  larger  transactions  for  the  purpose  of  effecting 
mutual  aggrandizement. 

"  At  one  time  the  negotiations  were  about 
Luxemburg,  or  about  the  frontier  of  1814,  with 
Landau  and  Saarlouis ;  at  another,  about  larger 
objects,  from  which  the  French  Swiss  cantons  and 
the  question  where  the  linguistic  boundaries  in 
Piedmont  were  to  be  drawn  were  not  excluded. 


204 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


"  In  May,  1866,  these  pretensions  took  the  form 
of  a  proposition  for  an  offensive  and  defensive 
alliance,  and  the  following  extract  of  its  chief 
features  is  in  my  possession: — 

"  '  1.  En  cas  de  Congres,  poursuivre  d'accord  la 
cession  de  la  Venetie  a  l'ltahe  et  l'annexion  des 
Duches  a  la  Prusse.  2.  Si  le  Congres  n'aboutit 
pas,  alliance  offensive  et  defensive.  3.  Le  roi  de 
Prusse  commencera  les  hostilites  dans  les  10  jours, 
la  separation  du  Congres.  4.  Si  le  Congres  ne  se 
reunit  pas,  la  Prusse  attaquera  dans  30  jours  apres 
la  signature  du  present  traite.  5.  L'empereur  des 
Francais  declarera  la  guerre  a,  l'Autriche,  des  que 
les  hostility's  seront  commencees  entre  l'Autriche 
et  la  Prusse  en  30  jours,  300,000.  6.  On  ne  fera 
pas  de  paix  separee  avec  l'Autriche.  7.  La  paix 
se  fera  sous  les  conditions  suivantes — La  Vene'tie 
a  l'ltalie,  a  la  Prusse  les  territoires  Allemands  ci- 
dessous,  7  a  8  millions  d'apres  au  choix,  plus  la 
reforme  federale  dans  le  sens  Prussien  ;  pour  la 
France,  le  territoire  entre  Moselle  et  Pihin,  sans 
Coblence  et  Mayence,  comprenant  500,000  ames 
de  Prusse,  la  Baviere,  rive  gauche  du  Khin,  Birk- 
enfeld,  Homburg,  Darmstadt,  213,000  ames.  8. 
Convention  militaire  et  maritime  entre  la  France 
et  la  Prusse  des  la  signature.  9.  (Adhesion  du 
roi  d'ltalie.)' 

;_1.  In  the  event  of  a  Congress,  to  agree  upon 
the  cession  of  Venetia  to  Italy,  and  annexation  of 
the  duchies  to  Prussia.  2.  If  the  Congress  come 
to  nothing,  an  alliance  offensive  and  defensive  to 
be  concluded.  3.  The  king  of  Prussia  to  com- 
mence hostilities  within  ten  days  of  the  breaking 
up  of  the  Congress.  4.  Should  the  Congress  not 
reassemble,  Prussia  to  attack  in  thirty  days  after  the 
signature  to  the  present  treaty.  5.  The  emperor 
of  the  French  to  declare  war  against  Austria  as 
soon  as  hostilities  shall  be  commenced  between 
Austria  and  Prussia,  and  in  thirty  days  to  have 
300,000  men  in  the  field.  6.  No  separate  peace 
to  be  concluded  with  Austria.  7.  Peace  to  be 
made  under  the  following  conditions — Yenetia 
to  be  given  to  Italy,  the  German  territories,  with 
about  seven  or  eight  millions  of  inhabitants  ac- 
cording to  their  choice,  to  go  to  Prussia,  besides 
the  prosecution  of  the  Federal  reform  in  the  Prus- 
sian sense;  for  France  the  territory  between  the 
Moselle  and  Rhine,  excepting  Coblentz  and  Mainz, 
comprising  500,000  Prussians,  Bavaria,  left  bank 
of  the  Bhine,  Birkenfeld,  Homburg,  Darmstadt, 
with   213,000   inhabitants.       8.  A   military    and 


maritime  convention  between  France  and  Prussia, 
dating  from  the  signature.  9.  The  king  of  Italy's 
adhesion  to  be  obtained.] 

"  The  strength  of  the  army  with  which  the 
emperor,  in  accordance  with  Article  5,  would 
assist  us  was  in  written  explanations  placed  at 
300,000  men  ;  the  number  of  souls  comprised  in 
the  aggrandizements  which  France  sought  for  was 
1,800,000  souls,  according  to  calculations  which, 
however,  did  not  agree  with  the  actual  statistics. 

"  Every  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  secret 
diplomatic  and  military  history  of  the  year  1866 
will  see,  glimmering  through  these  clauses,  the 
policy  which  France  pursued  simultaneously  to- 
wards Italy  (with  whom  she  at  the  same  time 
secretly  negotiated),  and  subsequently  towards 
Prussia  and  Italy. 

"  In  June,  1866,  after  we  had  rejected  the  above 
scheme  of  alliance,  notwithstanding  several  almost 
threatening  warnings  to  accept  it,  the  French 
government  began  to  calculate  on  the  Austrians 
being  victorious  over  us,  and  upon  our  making  a 
bid  for  French  assistance  after  the  eventuality  of 
our  defeat,  to  pave  the  way  for  which  diplomati- 
cally French  diplomacy  was  occupied  to  the  utter- 
most. That  the  congress  anticipated  in  the 
foregoing  draught  of  alliance,  and  again  proposed 
later,  would  have  had  the  effect  of  causing  our 
three  months'  alliance  with  Italy  to  expire  with- 
out our  having  profited  by  it  is  well  known  to 
your  excellency,  as  is  also  the  fact  that  France,  in 
the  further  agreements  relative  to  Custozza,  was 
busied  in  prejudicing  our  situation,  and  if  possible 
bringing  about  our  defeat.  The  patriotic  affliction 
of  the  minister  Rouher  furnishes  a  comment  upon 
the  further  course  of  events.  Since  that  time 
France  has  not  ceased  leading  us  into  temptation 
by  offers  at  the  cost  of  Germany  and  Belgium.  I 
had  never  any  doubt  as  to  the  impossibility  of 
acceding  to  any  such  offers  ;  but  I  considered  it 
useful  in  the  interests  of  peace  to  permit  the  French 
statesmen  to  hold  these  illusions  peculiar  to  them, 
so  long  as  it  should  be  possible  so  to  do  without 
giving  even  a  verbal  assent  to  their  propositions. 
I  imagined  that  the  annihilation  of  the  French 
hopes  would  endanger  the  preservation  of  peace, 
the  maintenance  of  which  was  in  the  interest  both 
of  Germany  and  Europe.  I  was  not  of  the  opinion 
of  those  politicians  who  considered  it  unadvisable 
to  shun  by  all  the  means  in  one's  power  a  war 
with  France,  on  the  ground  that  such  a  war  was 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


205 


in  any  case  unavoidable.  No  one  can  so  surely 
foresee  the  designs  of  Divine  Providence;  and  I 
look  upon  even  a  victorious  war  as  an  evil  in  itself, 
which  the  statesmanship  of  a  country  must  strive 
to  spare  its  people. 

"  I  could  not  in  my  calculations  leave  out  the 
possibility  that,  in  the  constitution  and  policy  of 
France  changes  might  arise  which  would  relieve 
the  two  great  neighbouring  peoples  from  the  ne- 
cessity of  war — a  hope  which  was  favoured  by 
each  postponement  of  the  rupture.  For  these 
reasons  I  was  silent  about  the  propositions  made, 
and  delayed  the  negotiations  about  them,  without 
ever  on  my  side  giving  a  promise.  After  the 
negotiations  with  his  Majesty  the  king  of  the 
Netherlands  fell,  as  is  well  known,  to  the  ground, 
extended  proposals  were  again  addressed  to  me  by 
France,  including  in  their  purport  Belgium  and 
South  Germany.  At  this  conjuncture  comes  the 
communication  of  the  Benedetti  manuscript.  That 
the  French  ambassador,  without  the  consent  of  his 
sovereign,  and  on  his  own  responsibility,  drew  up 
these  propositions,  handed  them  to  me,  and  nego- 
tiated them,  modifying  them  in  certain  places  as 
I  advised,  is  as  unlikely  as  was  the  statement  on 
another  occasion  that  the  Emperor  Napoleon  had 
not  agreed  to  the  demand  for  our  surrendering  May- 
ence,  which  was  officially  made  to  me  in  August, 
1866,  by  the  French  ambassador,  under  threat  of 
war  in  case  of  our  refusal.  The  different  phases 
of  French  bad  feeling  and  lust  for  war  which  we 
have  gone  through  from  1866  to  1869,  coincided 
with  tolerable  exactness  with  the  willingness  or 
unwillingness  for  negotiations  which  the  French 
agents  believed  they  met  with  in  me.  In  1866, 
at  the  time  when  the  Belgian  Railway  affair  was 
being  prepared,  it  was  intimated  to  me  by  a  high 
personage,  who  was  not  a  stranger  to  the  former 
negotiation,  that  in  case  of  a  French  occupation 
of  Belgium,  '  nous  trouverions  notre  Belgique 
ailleurs.'  Similarly,  on  another  occasion,  I  had 
been  given  to  understand  that  in  a  solution  of 
the  Eastern  question  France  would  seek  its  share, 
not  in  far-off  places,  but  close  upon  its  boundaries. 
I  am  under  the  impression  that  it  was  only  the 
definite  conviction  that  no  enlargement  of  the 
frontiers  was  to  be  achieved  with  us,  that  has 
led  the  emperor  to  the  determination  to  strive 
to  obtain  it  against  us.  I  have  besides  reason  to 
believe  that,  had  the  publication  in  question  not 
been  made,  so  soon  as  our  and  the  French  pre- 


parations for  war  were  complete,  propositions 
would  have  been  made  to  us  by  France  jointly, 
and  at  the  head  of  a  million  armed  men,  to  carry 
out  against  unarmed  Europe  the  proposals  for- 
merly made  to  us,  and  either  before  or  after  the 
first  battle  to  conclude  peace  on  the  basis  of  the 
Benedetti  proposals,  and  at  the  expense  of  Belgium. 

"  Concerning  the  text  of  these  proposals,  I 
remark  that  the  draught  in  our  possession  is  from 
beginning  to  end  from  the  hand  of  M.  Benedetti, 
and  written  on  the  paper  of  the  Imperial  French 
Embassy;  and  that  the  ambassadors  here,  includ- 
ing the  representatives  of  Austria,  Great  Britain, 
Russia,  Baden,  Bavaria,  Belgium,  Hesse,  Italy, 
Saxony,  Turkey,  and  Wiirtemburg,  who  have 
seen  the  original,  have  recognized  the  hand- 
writing. In  Article  I.  M.  Benedetti,  at  the  very 
first  reading,  withdrew  the  closing  passage,  placing 
it  in  brackets,  after  I  had  remarked  that  it  pre- 
supposed the  interference  of  France  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  Germany,  which  I,  even  in  private  docu- 
ments, could  not  allow.  Of  his  own  accord  he 
made  an  unimportant  marginal  correction  in  Article 
II.  in  my  presence.  On  the  24th  inst.  I  informed 
Lord  A.  Loftus  verbally  of  the  existence  of  the 
document  in  question,  and  on  his  expressing 
doubts  invited  him  to  a  personal  inspection  of 
the  same.  On  the  27th  of  this  month  he  took 
note  of  it,  and  convinced  himself  that  it  was  in 
the  handwriting  of  his  former  French  colleague. 
If  the  imperial  cabinet  now  repudiates  attempts 
for  which  it  has  sought  since  1864,  both  by 
promises  and  threats,  to  obtain  our  co-operation, 
this  is  easily  to  be  explained  in  presence  of  the 
political  situation. 

"  Your  excellency  will  please  read  this  despatch 
to  M. ,  and  hand  him  a  copy. 

"  VON  BISMARCK." 

The  French  side  of  the  question  is  given  in  the 
following  explanatory  letter  of  M.  Benedetti  to 
the  Due  de  Gramont,  and  the  latter 's  reply  to  the 
circular  of  Count  Bismarck : — 

"  Pams,  July  29,  1870. 

"  M.  le  Due, — Unjust  as  they  were,  I  did  not 
think  it  proper  to  notice  the  observations  which 
were  made  upon  me  personally,  when  it  was  known 
in  France  that  the  prince  of  Hohenzollern  had 
accepted  the  crown  of  Spain.  As  in  duty  bound, 
I  left  to  the  government  of  the  emperor  the  task 


206 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


of  setting  them  right.  I  could  not  keep  the 
same  silence  in  face  of  the  use  which  Count  von 
Bismarck  has  made  of  a  document  to  which  he  seeks 
to  give  a  value  which  it  never  possessed,  and  I 
request  your  excellency's  leave  to  re-establish  the 
facts  exactly  as  they  occurred. 

"It  is  a  matter  of  public  notoriety  that  Count 
von  Bismarck  offered  us,  before  and  during  the  last 
war,  to  assist  in  uniting  Belgium  to  France,  as  a 
compensation  for  the  aggrandizements  of  which  he 
was  ambitious,  and  which  he  obtained  for  Prussia. 
I  might,  on  this  point,  appeal  to  the  testimony 
of  the  entire  diplomacy  of  Europe,  to  whom  the 
whole  affair  was  known. 

"  The  government  of  the  emperor  constantly  de- 
clined these  overtures,  and  one  of  your  predecessors, 
M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  is  in  a  position  to  give,  on 
this  subject,  explanations  which  must  remove  every 
doubt.  At  the  moment  of  the  conclusion  of  the 
Peace  of  Prague,  and  in  face  of  the  emotion  which 
was  excited  in  France  by  the  annexation  to  Prussia 
of  Hanover,  of  Electoral  Hesse,  and  of  the  town  of 
Frankfort,  Count  von  Bismarck  again  showed  the 
strongest  desire  to  re-establish  the  balance  of  power, 
which  had  been  disturbed  by  these  acquisitions. 
Various  combinations  having  reference  to  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  states  neighbours  of  France  and 
Germany  were  put  forward ;  they  became  the 
subject  of  several  conversations,  during  which 
Count  von  Bismarck  was  always  disposed  to  make 
his  personal  ideas  prevail. 

"  In  one  of  these  conversations,  and  in  order  to 
give  myself  an  exact  idea  of  his  combinations,  I 
consented  to  transcribe  them  in  a  manner  ("  en 
quelque  sorte")  at  his  dictation.  The  form,  no 
less  than  the  substance,  shows  clearly  that  I  con- 
fined myself  to  reproducing  a  project  conceived 
and  developed  by  him.  Count  von  Bismarck  kept 
this  document,  wishing  to  submit  it  to  the  king. 
On  my  side,  I  reported  in  substance  to  the  imperial 
government  the  communications  which  had  been 
made  to  me.  The  emperor  rejected  them  as  soon 
as  they  came  to  his  knowledge.  I  am  bound  to 
say  that  the  king  of  Prussia  himself  did  not  seem 
to  wish  to  accept  the  basis  of  them ;  and  since  that 
time,  that  is  to  say,  during  the  last  four  years,  I 
have  never  again  entered  upon  any  new  exchange 
of  ideas  on  the  subject  with  Count  von  Bismarck. 
"  If  the  initiative  of  such  a  treaty  had  been  taken 
by  the  government  of  the  emperor,  the  project 
would  have  been  drafted  by  the  Foreign   Office, 


and  I  should  not  have  had  to  produce  a  copy  of 
it  in  my  own  handwriting;  it  would  besides  have 
been  drawn  up  differently,  and  it  would  have  led  to 
negotiations  which  would  have  been  simultaneously 
carried  on  at  Paris  and  Berlin.  In  that  case  Count 
von  Bismarck  would  not  have  been  satisfied  with 
indirectly  publishing  the  text,  particularly  at  a  time 
when  your  excellency  was  correcting,  in  despatches 
which  were  inserted  in  the  Journal  Ojjiciel, 
other  errors  which  attempts  were  also  being  made 
to  propagate.  But  in  order  to  attain  the  end  which 
he  had  in  view — that  of  misleading  public  opinion, 
and  anticipating  the  revelations  which  we  our- 
selves might  have  made — he  employed  this  ex- 
pedient, which  relieved  him  from  the  necessity  of 
defining  at  what  time,  under  what  circumstances, 
and  in  what  manner  this  document  had  been 
written.  He  evidently  flattered  himself  that, 
thanks  to  these  omissions,  he  should  suggest  con- 
jectures which,  whilst  freeing  his  personal  responsi- 
bility, would  compromise  that  of  the  emperor's 
government.  Such  proceedings  need  no  comment; 
it  is  enough  to  point  them  out,  by  submitting 
them  to  the  appreciation  of  the  public  opinion  of 

Europe.  „  „      .        „ 

r  "  Keceive,  etc., 

"  (Signed)  BEKEDETTI." 

The  following  was  the  French  reply  to  Count  von 
Bismarck,  and  which  was  addressed  as  a  circular 
to  the  diplomatic  agents  of  France  at  foreign 
courts : — 

"  Paris,  August  3. 

"  Sir, — "We  now  know  the  full  meaning  of  the 
telegram  addressed  by  Count  von  Bismarck  to  the 
Prussian  ambassador  in  London  to  announce  to 
England  the  pretended  secrets  of  which  the  Federal 
chancellor  alleged  that  he  was  the  depositary.  His 
despatch  adds  no  material  fact  to  those  which  he 
has  already  put  forth.  We  only  find  in  it  a  few 
more  improbabilities.  We  shall  not  attempt  to 
point  them  out.  Public  opinion  has  already  done 
justice  to  affirmations  which  derive  no  authority 
from  the  audacity  with  which  they  are  repeated, 
and  we  regard  it  as  completely  established,  not- 
withstanding all  denials,  that  never  has  the  Em- 
peror Napoleon  proposed  to  Prussia  a  treaty  for 
taking  possession  of  Belgium.  That  idea  is  the 
property  of  Count  von  Bismarck.  It  is  one  of  the 
expedients  of  that  unscrupulous  policy  which  we 
trust  is  now  approaching  its  end.    I  should,  there- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


207 


fore,  have  abstained  from  reverting  to  assertions 
which  have  been  proved  to  be  false  if  the  author 
of  the  Prussian  despatch,  with  a  want  of  tact 
which  I  noticed  in  so  marked  a  degree  for  the  first 
time  in  a  diplomatic  document,  had  not  mentioned 
relatives  of  the  emperor  as  having  been  bearers  of 
compromising  messages  and  confidences.  What- 
ever repugnance  I  may  feel  at  being  compelled 
to  follow  the  Prussian  chancellor,  and  to  engage 
myself  in  a  manner  so  contrary  to  my  habits,  I 
overcome  that  feeling,  because  it  is  my  duty  to 
repudiate  perfidious  insinuations  which,  directed 
against  members  of  the  imperial  family,  are  evi- 
dently intended  to  apply  to  the  emperor  himself.  It 
was  at  Berlin  that  Count  von  Bismarck,  originating 
ideas  the  first  conception  of  which  he  now  seeks  to 
impute  to  us,  solicited  in  these  terms  the  French 
prince  whom,  in  defiance  of  all  customary  rules, 
he  now  seeks  to  draw  into  the  controversy.  '  You 
desire,'  said  he,  '  an  impossible  thing.  You  wish 
to  take  the  Ehenish  Provinces,  which  are  German. 
Why  do  you  not  annex  Belgium,  where  the  people 
have  the  same  origin,  the  same  religion,  and  the 
same  language  as  yourselves  ?  I  have  already 
caused  that  to  be  mentioned  to  the  emperor;  if 
he  entered  into  my  views,  we  would  assist  him 
to  take  Belgium.  As  for  myself,  if  I  were  the 
master  and  I  were  not  hampered  by  the  obstinacy 
of  the  king,  it  would  be  already  done.'  These 
words  of  the  Prussian  chancellor  have  been,  so  to 
speak,  literally  repeated  to  the  court  of  France  by 
the  Count  von  Goltz.  That  ambassador  was  so 
little  reticent  upon  the  subject,  that  there  are  many 
witnesses  who  have  heard  him  thus  express  him- 
self. I  will  add  that  at  the  period  of  the  Universal 
Exhibition  the  overtures  of  Prussia  were  known 
to  more  than  one  high  personage,  who  took  note 
of  them  and  still  remembered  them.  Moreover,  it 
was  not  a  mere  passing  notion  with  Count  von 
Bismarck,  but  truly  a  concerted  plan  with  which  his 
ambitious  schemes  were  connected;  and  he  pur- 
sued his  attempts  to  carry  them  out  with  a  per- 
severance which  is  amply  attested  by  his  repeated 
excursions  to  France,  to  Biarritz,  and  elsewhere. 
He  failed  before  the  immovable  will  of  the  emperor, 
who  always  refused  to  connect  himself  with  a 
policy  that  was  unworthy  of  his  loyalty.  I  now 
quit  the  subject,  which  I  have  touched  upon  for 
the  last  time,  with  a  firm  intention  of  never  again 
recurring  to  it,  and  I  come  to  the  really  new  point 
in  Count  von  Bismarck's  despatch.     '  I  have  reason 


to  believe,'  he  says,  '  that  if  the  publication  of  the 
projected  treaty  had  not  occurred,  France  would 
have  made  us  an  offer — after  our  mutual  arma- 
ments had  been  completed — to  carry  out  the  pro- 
position which  she  had  previously  made  to  us, 
as  soon  as  we  found  ourselves  at  the  head  of  a 
million  of  well-armed  soldiers  in  the  face  of 
unarmed  Europe;  that  is  to  say,  to  make  peace 
before  or  after  the  first  battle  upon  the  basis  of 
M.  Benedetti's  propositions  at  the  expense  of 
Belgium.'  The  emperor's  government  cannot 
allow  such  an  assertion  to  pass  without  notice.  In 
the  face  of  all  Europe,  his  Majesty's  ministers  defy 
Count  von  Bismarck  to  adduce  any  fact  whatever 
to  justify  a  belief  that  they  have  ever  manifested, 
directly  or  indirectly,  officially  or  by  secret  agency, 
an  intention  of  uniting  with  Prussia  to  accomplish 
together  in  respect  of  Belgium  the  deed  she  has 
consummated  in  respect  to  Hanover.  We  have 
opened  no  negotiation  with  Count  von  Bismarck, 
cither  concerning  Belgium  or  any  other  subject. 
Far  from  seeking  war,  as  we  have  been  accused 
of  doing,  we  besought  Lord  Clarendon  to  interpose 
with  the  Prussian  cabinet,  with  a  view  to  a  mutual 
disarmament,  an  important  mission  which  Lord 
Clarendon,  through  friendship  towards  France  and 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  peace,  consented  confi- 
dentially to  undertake.  It  was  on  these  terms 
that  Comte  Daru,  in  a  letter  of  the  1st  of  February, 
explained  to  the  Marquis  de  Lavalette,  our  am- 
basador  in  London,  the  intentions  of  the  govern- 
ment : — 

"  '  It  is  certain  that  I  should  not  mix  myself  up 
with  this  affair,  nor  should  I  ask  England  to  inter- 
fere in  it  if  the  question  was  one  simply  of  an 
ordinary  and  purely  formal  nature,  intended  only 
to  afford  Count  von  Bismarck  an  opportunity  to 
repeat  once  again  his  refusal.  It  is  a  real,  serious, 
positive  proposition,  which  it  is  sought  to  act  upon. 
The  principal  secretary  of  state  appears  to  anti- 
cipate that  Count  von  Bismarck  will  at  first  mani- 
fest dissatisfaction  and  displeasure.  That  is  possible, 
but  not  certain.  With  that  possibility  in  view,  it 
will  be  well  to  prepare  the  ground  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  avoid  at  the  outset  a  negative  reply.  I 
am  convinced  that  time  and  reflection  will  induce 
the  chancellor  to  take  into  his  serious  consideration 
the  proposition  of  England.  If  at  first  he  does  not 
reject  all  overtures,  then  the  interests  of  Prussia 
and  of  all  Germany  will  speedily  speak  out  suffi- 
ciently to  lead  him  to  modify  his  opposition.     He 


208 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


would  not  be  willing  to  raise  against  himself  the 
opinion  of  his  entire  country.  What,  indeed,  would 
be  his  position  if  we  took  away  the  sole  pretext 
upon  which  he  relies,  that  is,  the  armament  of 
F  ranee  ? ' 

"  Countvon  Bismarck  at  first  replied  that  he  could 
not  take  upon  himself  to  submit  the  suggestions  of 
the  British  government  to  the  king,  and  that  he 
was  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  views  of  his 
sovereign  to  foretell  his  decision.  King  William, 
he  said,  would  certainly  see  in  the  proposition  of 
the  cabinet  of  London  a  change  in  the  disposition 
of  England  towards  Prussia.  In  short,  the  Prussian 
chancellor  declared  '  that  it  was  impossible  for 
Prussia  to  modify  a  military  system  which  was 
so  closely  connected  with  the  traditions  of  the 
country,  which  formed  one  of  the  bases  of  its  con- 
stitution, and  which  was  in  no  way  abnormal.' 
Comte  Dam  was  not  checked  by  this  first  reply. 
On  the  13th  of  February  he  wrote  to  M.  de  Lava- 
lette : — 

"  '  I  hope  that  Lord  Clarendon  will  not  consider 
himself  beaten  nor  be  discouraged.  We  will  shortly 
give  him  an  opportunity  of  returning  to  the  charge, 
if  it  should  be  agreeable  to  him,  and  to  resume  the 
interrupted  communication  with  the  Federal  chan- 
cellor. Our  intention  is,  in  fact,  to  diminish  our 
contingent.  We  should  largely  have  reduced  it  if 
we  had  received  a  favourable  reply  from  the  Federal 
chancellor.  We  shall  make  a  smaller  reduction,  as 
the  reply  is  in  the  negative ;  but  we  shall  reduce. 
The  reduction  will,  I  hope,  be  10,000  men.  That 
is  the  number  I  should  propose.  We  shall  affirm 
by  acts,  which  are  of  more  value  than  words,  our 
intentions — our  policy.  Nine  contingents,  each 
reduced  by  10,000  men,  make  a  total  reduction 
of  90,000  men.  That  is  already  something  ; 
it  is  a  tenth  part  of  the  existing  army.  The  law 
upon  the  contingent  will  be  proposed  shortly.  Lord 
Clarendon  will  then  judge  whether  it  will  be  proper 
to  represent  to  Count  von  Bismarck  that  Prussia 
alone  in  Europe  makes  no  concession  to  the  spirit 
of  peace,  and  that  he  thus  places  her  in  a  serious 
position  amid  other  European  societies,  because  he 
furnishes  arms  against  her  to  all  the  world,  includ- 
ing the  populations  which  are  crushed  beneath 
the  weight  of  military  charges  which  he  imposes 
upon  them.' 

"  Count  von  Bismarck,  closely  pressed,  felt  it  to 
be  necessary  to  enter  into  some  further  explanations 
with  Lord  Clarendon.     These  explanations,  as  far 


as  we  are  acquainted  with  them,  from  a  letter  from 
M.  de  Lavalette  dated  the  23rd  of  February,  were 
full  of  reticence.  The  chancellor  of  the  Prussian 
Confederation,  departing  from  his  first  resolution, 
had  informed  King  William  of  the  proposition 
recommended  by  England,  but  his  Majesty  had 
declined  it.  In  vindication  of  the  refusal,  the 
chancellor  pleaded  the  fear  of  a  possible  alliance 
between  Austria  and  the  states  of  the  south,  and 
the  ambitious  designs  that  might  be  entertained 
by  France.  But  in  the  foreground  he  especially 
placed  the  anxieties  with  which  the  policy  of 
Russia  inspired  him,  and  upon  that  point  indulged 
in  particular  remarks  respecting  the  court  of  St. 
Petersburg  which  I  prefer  to  pass  by  in  silence,  not 
desiring  to  reproduce  injurious  insinuations.  Such 
were  the  pleas  of  non-acceptance  which  Count  von 
Bismarck  opposed  to  the  loyal  and  conscientious 
entreaties  several  times  renewed  by  Lord  Claren- 
don at  the  request  of  the  emperor's  government. 
If,  then,  Europe  has  remained  in  arms;  if  a  million 
of  men  are  about  to  be  hurled  against  each  other 
upon  the  battle-field,  it  cannot  be  contested  that 
the  responsibility  for  such  a  state  of  things  attaches 
to  Prussia :  for  it  is  she  who  has  repudiated  all  idea 
of  disarmament,  while  we  not  only  forwarded  the 
proposition  to  her,  but  also  began  by  setting  an 
example.  Is  not  this  conduct  explained  by  the 
fact  that,  at  the  very  time  when  confiding  France 
was  reducing  her  contingent,  the  cabinet  of  Berlin 
was  arranging  in  the  dark  for  the  provocative 
nomination  of  a  Prussian  prince  ?  Whatever  may 
be  the  calumnies  invented  by  the  Federal  chancel- 
lor, we  have  no  fear  ;  he  has  forfeited  the  right  of 
being  believed.  The  conscience  of  history  and  of 
Europe  will  say  that  Prussia  has  sought  the  pre- 
sent war  by  inflicting  upon  France,  while  she  was 
engaged  in  the  development  of  her  political  insti- 
tutions, an  outrage  which  no  high-spirited  and 
courageous  nation  could  have  accepted  without 
meriting  the  contempt  of  nations. 

"  Agreez,  &c,  "  GRAMONT." 

The  Prussian  reply  to  this  circular  was  issued  a 
week  afterwards,  not,  it  was  stated,  with  the  view 
of  taking  advantage  of  the  abundant  matter  it  con- 
tained for  criticism,  but  of  supplying  a  fresh  piece 
of  evidence,  and  requesting  the  Prussian  repre- 
sentatives at  foreign  courts  to  bring  it  under  the 
notice  of  the  respective  governments  to  which  they 
were  accredited.     Count  von  Bismarck  said : — "  If 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


209 


I  have  not  made  use  of  this  evidence  before,  it  was 
owing  to  my  reluctance,  even  in  a  state  of  war,  to 
drag  the  person  of  a  monarch  into  the  discussion 
of  the  acts  of  his  ministers  and  representatives ;  and 
also  because,  considering  the  form  of  government 
which  avowedly  existed  in  France  up  to  the  2nd 
of  January  last,  I  was  not  prepared  to  hear  that 
the  draught  treaty  and  the  other  proposals  and 
arrogant  demands  alluded  to  in  my  despatch  of 
the  29th  should  have  been  submitted  to  me  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  Emperor  Xapoleon.  But 
certain  statements  which  appear  in  the  latest  French 
utterances  necessitate  my  having  recourse  to  a 
different  line  of  conduct.  On  the  one  hand,  the 
French  minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  assures  us 
that  the  Emperor  Napoleon  has  never  proposed  to 
Prussia  a  treaty  having  the  acquisition  of  Belgium 
for  its  object  {que  jamais  I'Empereur  Napoleon  n'a 
propose  a  la  Prusse  un  traite  pour  prendre  posses- 
sion de  la  Belgique);  on  the  other,  M.  Benedetti 
gives  out  that  the  draught  treaty  in  question 
emanates  from  me;  that  all  he  had  to  do  with  it 
was  to  put  it  on  paper — writing,  so  to  say,  from 
my  dictation  {en  quelque  sorte  sous  ma  dict'ee), 
which  he  only  did  the  better  to  apprehend  my 
views;  and  that  the  Emperor  Xapoleon  was  made 
cognizant  of  the  draught  only  after  its  completion 
at  Berlin.  Statements  such  as  these  render  it 
indispensable  for  me  to  make  use  of  a  means  at 
my  disposal  calculated  to  support  my  account  of 
French  politics,  and  to  strengthen  the  supposition 
1  have  previously  expressed  respecting  the  nature 
of  the  connection  between  the  emperor  and  his 
ministers,  envoys,  and  agents.  In  the  archives 
of  the  Foreign  Office  at  Berlin  is  preserved 
a  letter  from  M.  Benedetti  to  me,  dated  5th 
August,  1866,  and  a  draught  treaty  inclosed 
in  that  letter.  The  originals,  in  M.  Benedetti's 
handwriting,  I  shall  submit  to  the  inspection  of 
the  representatives  of  the  neutral  powers,  and  I 
will  also  send  you  a  photographic  fac-simile  of  the 
same.  I  beg  to  observe  that,  according  to  the 
Moniteur,  the  Emperor  Xapoleon  did  pass  the  time 
from  the  28th  of  July  to  the  7th  of  August,  1866, 
at  Vichy.  In  the  official  interview  which  I  had 
with  M.  Benedetti  in  consequence  of  this  letter, 
he  supported  his  demands  by  threatening  war  in 
case  of  refusal.  When  I  declined,  nevertheless, 
the  Luxemburg  affair  was  brought  upon  the 
carpet;  and  after  the  failure  of  this  little  business 
came  the  more  comprehensive    proposal    relative 


to  Belgium  embodied  in  M.  Benedetti's  draught 
treaty  published  in  the  Times." 

The  profound  impression  created  in  England  by 
the  publication  of  the  treaty  increased  and  deep- 
ened with  the  charges  and  counter-charges  made 
by  and  against  the  respective  governments,  and 
the  confidence  before  reposed  in  the  friendship  of 
both  countries  was  put  to  a  severe  test.  Questions 
were  repeatedly  asked  of  the  government  in  both 
Houses  of  Parliament,  but  without  eliciting  any 
further  facts  than  those  already  given;  and  the 
nation  became  thoroughly  in  earnest  on  the  subject 
of  its  naval  and  military  strength,  and  the  number 
of  breech-loaders  already  served  out  and  in  store. 

On  Monday,  August  2,  Mr.  Cardwell,  the  War 
Minister,  laid  on  the  table  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons a  supplementary  estimate  of  £2,000,000 
"  for  strengthening  the  naval  and  military  forces 
of  the  kingdom,  including  an  addition  to  the  army 
of  20,000  men  of  all  ranks  during  the  European 
war."  There  was  much  cheering  on  both  sides 
of  the  House  when  the  estimate  was  read ;  and  in 
reply  to  questions  addressed  to  him  immediately 
afterwards,  Mr.  Cardwell  stated  that  the  whole 
force  of  the  army  was  only  about  2000  below  the 
establishment;  that  the  militia  regiments,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  were  recruited  up  to  their  full 
strength;  and  that  the  Supply  Department  was  in 
a  position  to  meet  any  emergencies. 

The  same  evening  Mr.  Disraeli,  leader  of  the 
Opposition,  called  the  attention  of  the  House,  ac- 
cording to  previous  notice,  to  the  position  of  the 
country  with  reference  to  the  war.  By  way  of 
justification  for  his  interposition,  he  said  that, 
having  witnessed  the  outbreak  of  several  great 
wars  during  his  parliamentary  career,  he  had 
noticed  that  much  injury  had  been  done  by  the 
reserve  and  silence  observed  by  the  House  of 
Commons  on  such  occasions,  which,  instead  of 
assisting  and  strengthening  the  hands  of  the 
government,  had  embarrassed  it.  He  spoke  con- 
temptuously of  the  ephemeral  and  evanescent 
pretexts  for  the  present  war.  Whether  there  was 
a  pretender  to  the  Spanish  throne,  or  whether 
there  was  a  breach  of  etiquette  at  a  watering 
place,  or  whether  Europe  was  to  be  devastated 
on  account  of  the  publication  of  an  anonymous 
paragraph  in  a  newspaper — were  pretexts  which 
would  have  been  disgraceful  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  could  not  now  seriously  influence 
the  conduct  of  any  body  of  men;  he  pointed  out 
2d 


210 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


that  its  real  causes  were  to  be  gathered  from  the 
public  declarations  of  the  leading  statesmen  on  both 
sides,  such  as  M.  Rouher  and  Count  von  Bismarck; 
and  the  recent  revelations  showed  that  vast  ambi- 
tions were  stirring  ir  Europe,  and  subtle  schemes 
were  being  devised,  which  had  brought  about  this 
war,  and  might  produce  other  events  of  the  utmost 
importance.  After  some  remarks  on  the  treaties 
guaranteeing  Belgium  and  Luxemburg — of  the 
former  of  which  he  said  that  it  had  been  negotiated 
by  distinguished  Liberal  statesmen,  and  was  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  traditional  policy  of  England — 
Mr.  Disraeli  reminded  the  House  that  at  the  Treaty 
of  Vienna  England  had  guaranteed  to  Prussia  her 
Saxon  provinces.  That  engagement,  he  con- 
tended, ought  to  have  given  her  an  overpowering 
influence  with  Prussia ;  but  Russia  had  under- 
taken a  similar  guarantee,  and  Russia,  too,  was 
as  anxious  to  be  neutral  as  England,  and  in  this 
coincidence  he  discerned  a  means  by  which,  from 
the  joint  action  of  these  two  powers,  peace  might 
be  restored.  The  policy  of  England  should  be  an 
armed  neutrality,  and  at  the  proper  time  she  might 
step  in,  and  in  conjunction  with  Russia,  exercise 
the  most  considerable  effect  on  the  course  of  public 
affairs.  This  led  him  to  consider  whether  the  arma- 
ments of  the  country  were  in  such  a  position  as  to 
enable  her  to  take  that  line,  and  to  require  from 
the  government  more  complete  information  as  to 
the  strength  of  the  fleet  and  the  army,  the  condi- 
tion of  stores,  and  the  progress  made  in  the  forti- 
fications; insisting  that  at  a  crisis  like  the  present 
no  effort  should  be  spared  to  put  the  country  in  a 
position  of  complete  security.  He  earnestly  urged 
the  House  to  profit  by  the  lessons  of  the  Crimean 
war,  which  might  have  been  prevented  had  Eng- 
land spoken  out  at  the  right  moment.  She  had 
then  as  strong  a  government  as  at  present ;  but  the 
House  of  Commons  maintained  a  reserve,  and  there 
followed  discordant  councils,  infirmity  of  action, 
and,  finally,  war.  If  the  government  spoke  to 
foreign  powers  with  that  firmness  which  could 
only  arise  from  a  due  appreciation  of  their  duty, 
and  a  determination  to  perform  it,  Mr  Disraeli 
predicted  that  England  would  not  be  involved  in 
the  war,  and  her  influence,  combined  with  that  of 
Russia,  might  lead  to  the  speedy  restoration  of 
peace.  But,  above  all,  England  ought  to  declare 
in  a  manner  not  to  be  mistaken  that  she  would 
maintain  her  treaty  engagements,  and  thereby 
secure  the  rights  of  independent  nations. 


Mr.  Gladstone,  the  prime  minister,  confessed 
that  the  particular  incident  out  of  which  the  war 
had  arisen  had  taken  him  by  surprise,  though,  of 
course,  he  was  perfectly  aware  of  the  state  of  feel- 
ing of  which  that  incident  was  a  symptom.  He 
next  sketched  the  steps  taken  by  the  government 
to  preserve  peace,  which  have  been  fully  detailed  in 
Chapter  II.  During  the  negotiations,  the  position  of 
England  had  been  that  of  a  mediator,  and  her  atti- 
tude now  was  one  of  neutrality ;  but  not  an  "armed 
neutrality" — a  phrase  which  he  strongly  depre- 
cated as  having  an  historical  significance  totally 
opposed  to  the  friendly  disposition  which  ought  to 
be  preserved  towards  both  belligerents.  But  he 
agreed  that  England's  neutrality  ought  to  be  ac- 
companied with  adequate  measures  of  defence ; 
that  it  ought  to  be  what  he  called  a  "  secured 
neutrality."  As  to  the  suggestion  of  joint  action 
with  Russia,  he  merely  said  that  he  saw  no  objec- 
tion to  coalescing  not  only  with  one,  but  all  the 
neutral  powers,  for  the  restoration  of  peace ;  but 
he  differed  entirely  from  Mr.  Disraeli's  idea  of  the 
claim  which  the  Saxon  guarantee  gave  England. 
The  dissolution  of  the  German  Confederation  and 
the  recent  aggrandizement  of  Prussia  had  destroyed 
its  binding  force,  and  England  could  not  have 
advanced  it  without  involving  herself  in  the  respon- 
sibilities of  war.  Describing  next  the  attitude  of 
the  government  with  regard  to  the  future,  he  said 
that  the  "projected  treaty"  was  considered  by  the 
government  to  be  a  most  important  document, 
giving  a  serious  shock  to  public  confidence,  and 
the  country  ought  to  feel  indebted  to  those  who  had 
brought  it  to  light.  The  government  had  taken 
the  whole  circumstances  attending  it  into  their 
consideration,  and  the  propositions  they  meant  to 
make  to  the  House  in  their  oninion  met  the  neces- 
sity of  the  case,  and  were  calculated  to  establish 
perfect  confidence  and  security.  Having  explained 
the  various  steps  the  government  had  taken  to 
maintain  neutrality,  he  warmly  defended  it  against 
Mr.  Disraeli's  charge  of  undue  reduction  of  the 
services  in  the  early  part  of  the  year.  In  every 
reduction  they  had  made  real  strength  had  been 
arrived  at,  and  efficiency  had  been  increased. 
The  country  had  89,000  soldiers  at  home,  there 
was  a  considerable  Channel  fleet  afloat,  the  arma- 
ment for  the  forts  was  ready,  the  supply  of  arms 
of  precision  was  adequate,  and  stores  were  in 
excellent  order.  The  House,  to  some  extent,  must 
rely  on  the  responsibility  of  the  government ;  but 


- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


211 


lie  assured  it  that  they  were  deeply  sensible  of  the 
discredit  of  weakening  the  power  of  this  country, 
and  that,  having  made  the  most  careful  inquiries, 
they  would  take  up  and  maintain  that  dignified 
position  which  would  enable  England  at  the  proper 
time  to  interfere  for  the  restoration  of  peace. 

The  studious  reserve  maintained  by  Mr.  Glad- 
stone throughout  his  speech  upon  the  obligations 
of  Great  Britain  under  the  treaties  guaranteeing 
the  neutrality  of  Belgium  and  Luxemburg,  caused 
great  dissatisfaction,  and  from  the  tone  of  every 
speech  subsequently  made,  it  was  evident  that  the 
feeling  of  the  House  was  unmistakable  in  its 
recognition  of  England's  duties  to  the  fullest  extent. 
Subsequent  events  proved  that  in  its  negotiations 
with  both  France  and  Prussia  the  government  had 
been  by  no  means  so  reticent,  and  had  given  them 
clearly  to  understand  that  England  felt  herself 
lully  bound  by  the  treaty  of  1839,  and  that  in  case 
of  any  violation  of  the  neutrality  or  independence 
of  Belgium  she  would  at  once  interfere  on  her 
behalf. 

On  the  following  evening  Lord  Bussell,  in  an 
energetic  speech  in  the  House  of  Lords,  which 
stirred  even  the  well-bred  repose  of  his  aristocratic 
audience,  and  drew  hearty  cheers  from  both  sides 
of  the  House,  asserted  the  duty  of  England  to 
defend  Belgium  to  the  uttermost.  After  reviewing 
the  treaty  obligations  of  Great  Britain,  and  refer- 
ring to  the  secret  treaty,  and  the  explanations  to 
which  it  had  given  rise  between  France  and  Prussia, 
he  said  it  would  be  impossible  to  feel  in  future 
perfect  confidence  in  either  of  the  parties,  and 
unwise  to  ignore  the  danger  that  the  treaties  in 
regard  to  Belgium  might  be  violated.  "  For  my 
part,"  he  said,  "  I  confess  I  feel  somewhat  as  if  a 
detective  officer  had  come  and  told  me  he  had 
heard  a  conversation  with  respect  to  a  friend  of 
mine  whom  I  had  promised  to  guard  as  much  as 
was  in  my  power  against  any  act  of  burglary  or 
housebreaking,  and  that  two  other  persons,  who 
were  also  friends  of  mine,  had  been  considering 
how  they  might  enter  his  house  and  deprive  him 
of  all  the  property  he  possessed.  I  should  reply, 
under  such  circumstances,  that  I  was  very  much 
astonished  to  hear  it,  and  that  I  could  not,  in  the 
future,  feel  perfect  confidence  in  either  of  the  par- 
ties to  that  conversation."  As  to  the  beginning  of 
the  war,  it  might  be  a  question  whether  as  regards 
France  the  charioteer  had  not  himself  lashed  the 
horses  which  he  found  himself  afterwards  unable 


to  guide  ;  but,  putting  aside  that  point,  England's 
duty  was  clear.  "  It  is  not  a  question  of  three 
courses.  There  is  but  one  course  and  one  path — 
namely,  the  course  of  honour  and  the  path  of 
honour — that  we  ought  to  pursue.  We  are  bound 
to  defend  Belgium.  I  am  told  that  that  may  lead 
us  into  danger.  Now,  in  the  first  place,  I  deny 
that  any  great  danger  would  exist  if  this  country 
manfully  declared  her  intention  to  perform  all  her 
engagements,  and  not  to  shrink  from  their  per- 
formance. I  am  persuaded  that  neither  France 
nor  Prussia  would  ever  attempt  to  violate  the  inde- 
pendence of  Belgium.  It  is  only  the  doubt,  the 
hesitation,  that  has  too  long  prevailed  as  to  the 
course  which  England  would  take  which  has 
encouraged  and  fostered  all  these  conversations 
and  projects  of  treaties,  all  these  combinations  and 
intrigues.  I  am  persuaded  that  if  it  is  once  man- 
fully declared  that  England  means  to  stand  by  her 
treaties,  to  perform  her  engagements,  that  her 
honour  and  her  interest  would  allow  nothing  else, 
such  a  declaration  would  check  the  greater  part  of 
these  intrigues,  and  that  neither  France  nor  Prussia 
would  wish  to  add  a  second  enemy  to  the  formid- 
able foe  which  each  has  to  meet.  I  am  persuaded 
that  both  would  conform  to  the  faith  of  treaties, 
and  would  not  infringe  on  the  territory  of  Belgium, 
but  till  the  end  of  the  war  remain  in  the  fulfilment 
of  their  obligations.  When  the  choice  is  between 
honour  and  infamy,  I  cannot  doubt  that  her  Ma- 
jesty's government  will  pursue  the  course  of  honour, 
the  only  one  worthy  of  the  British  people.  The 
British  people  have  a  very  strong  sense  of  honour, 
and  of  what  is  due  to  this  glorious  nation.  I  feel 
sure,  therefore,  that  the  government,  in  making 
that  intention  clear  to  all  the  world,  would  have 
the  entire  support  of  the  great  majority  of  this 
nation.  I  need  hardly  speak  of  other  considera- 
tions which  are  of  great  weight.  I  consider  that 
if  England  shrunk  from  the  performance  of  her 
engagements,  if  she  acted  in  a  faithless  manner 
with  respect  to  this  matter,  her  extinction  as  a 
great  power  must  very  soon  follow.  The  main 
duty  of  the  hour  therefore  is,  how  we  can  best 
assure  Belgium,  assure  Europe,  and  assure  the 
world  that  we  mean  to  be  true  and  faithful,  that 
the  great  name  which  we  have  acquired  in  the 
world  by  the  constant  observance  of  truth  and 
justice,  and  by  fidelity  to  our  engagements,  will 
not  be  departed  from,  and  that  we  shall  be  in  the 
future  what  we  have  been  in  the  past." 


212 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Lord  Granville  replied  briefly,  declining  to 
enter  upon  a  general  discussion,  and  justifying  the 
reserve  of  the  government.  He  gave  a  positive 
assurance  that  the  government  were  aware  of  the 
duty  this  country  owed  to  Belgium,  and  declared 
his  perfect  confidence  that  if  they  followed  judi- 
ciously and  actively  the  course  which  the  honour, 
the  interests,  and  the  obligations  of  the  country 
dictated,  they  would  receive  the  full  support  of 
Parliament  and  the  nation.  He  added,  that  the 
ministry  had  taken  steps  in  the  previous  week 
to  convey  to  other  powers  in  the  clearest  manner, 
though  without  adopting  an  offensive  or  menacing 
tone,  what  England  believed  to  be  right. 

The  speech  of  Lord  Granville  was  received  with 
cheers  that  testified  to  a  feeling  of  relief,  and  when 
he  had  concluded,  the  unfavourable  impression 
which  had  been  produced  by  Mr.  Gladstone's 
caution  on  the  previous  evening  was  removed.  The 
country  now  felt  it  had  reason  to  be  satisfied,  and 
waited  patiently  for  the  additional  communications 
on  the  subject  which  were  promised  to  Parliament 
as  soon  as  diplomatic  considerations  would  permit. 
This  promise  was  redeemed  on  the  following  Mon- 
day (August  8),  when  statements  were  made 
by  the  ministerial  leaders  in  both  Houses.  Earl 
Granville,  in  the  Lords,  said  that  from  the  first  the 
government  were  determined  to  deal  in  no  vague 
threats  or  indefinite  menaces.  At  the  Cabinet 
Council  of  July  30  he  was  authorized  to  write  to 
the  courts  of  France  and  Prussia  in  the  same  terms, 
mutatis  mutandis,  renewing  the  expressions  of  the 
satisfaction  of  the  British  government  at  the  as- 
surances given  by  the  emperor  and  the  king 
respectively,  that  they  intended  to  respect  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium.  There  could  be  no  doubt, 
he  said,  as  to  the  duty  of  both  countries  to  main- 
tain the  obligations  of  the  treaty  into  which  they 
had  thus  entered  with  Great  Britain  and  the  other 
signataries;  but  he  pointed  out  that  the  assurance  was 
not  complete,  because  each  power  made  a  reserva- 
tion in  case  the  neutrality  of  Belgium  was  violated 
by  the  other.  In  the  event  of  a  violation  of  the 
neutrality  by  Prussia,  France  was  to  be  released 
from  her  obligation,  and  in  the  case  of  a  similar 
event  on  the  part  of  France,  Prussia  was  to  be 
released  from  hers.  Her  Majesty's  government 
therefore  proposed,  either  by  treaty  or  otherwise, 
to  place  on  solemn  record  the  common  determina- 
tion of  the  great  powers  who  were  signataries  to 
the  treaty  of  1839  to  maintain  the  independence 


of  Belgium,  and  satisfactory  replies  had  been  re- 
ceived from  Austria  and  Russia.  France  also 
accepted  the  principle  of  the  new  treaty,  and  as 
regarded  Prussia,  Count  von  Bismarck  was  ready  to 
concur  in  any  measure  for  strengthening  the  neu- 
trality of  Belgium,  and  the  king,  as  soon  as  he  saw 
the  draught  treaty,  authorized  Count  Bernstorff, 
the  Prussian  ambassador  in  London,  to  sign  it. 
Lord  Granville  next  described  the  treaty,  which 
is  given  on  page  214.  and  which,  as  will  be  seen, 
renewed  all  the  obligations  of  the  treaty  of  1839. 
It  provided  that,  if  the  armies  of  either  belligerent 
violated  the  neutrality  of  Belgium,  Great  Britain 
should  co-operate  with  the  other  in  its  defence, 
but  without  engaging  to  take  part  in  the  general 
operations  of  the  war.  The  other  powers  would 
pledge  themselves  to  a  corresponding  co-operation, 
and  the  treaty  was  to  hold  good  for  twelve  months 
after  the  war.  The  government  had  thus  endea- 
voured clearly  to  announce  their  own  determination 
in  this  matter  without  menace  or  offence  to  the 
two  belligerents,  with  whom  they  were  still  in 
friendly  alliance  Expressing  a  hope  that  this 
treaty  would  remove  the  alarm  which  had  been 
felt,  while  it  would  in  no  degree  weaken  the  force 
or  impair  the  obligations  of  the  treaty  of  1839,  he 
said  he  trusted  it  would  be  seen  that  her  Majesty's 
ministers  had  not  been  unmindful  of  their  re- 
sponsibilities with  regard  to  this  great  and  import- 
ant question. 

The  duke  of  Richmond,  the  leader  of  the  oppo- 
sition, expressed  a  general  approval  of  the  attitude 
of  the  government,  and  a  fervent  hope  that  Great 
Britain  might  preserve  her  neutrality,  and  at  the 
same  time  her  honour  inviolate  during  the  war. 

In  the  Commons  a  statement  similar  to  that  of 
Lord  Granville  was  made  by  the  Premier,  and  Mr. 
Disraeli,  while  guarding  himself  against  giving  any 
decided  opinion  on  details  so  suddenly  communi- 
cated to  the  House,  expressed  his  belief  that  the 
determination  at  which  he  assumed  the  govern- 
ment to  have  arrived — to  defend  the  neutrality  and 
independence  of  Belgium — would  give  general 
satisfaction  to  the  country.  At  the  same  time 
he  doubted  as  a  general  principle  the  wisdom  of 
founding  any  other  engagements  on  the  existing 
treaty  of  guarantee.  Neither  could  he  understand 
how,  if  England  joined  with  one  of  the  belliger- 
ents, her  interference  was  to  be  limited  to  the 
defence  of  the  Belgian  frontier,  nor  how  she  was  to 
avoid  beincr  involved  in  the  general  fortunes  of  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


213 


war.  Mr.  Disraeli  concluded  by  repeating  his 
gratification  at  finding  that  the  government  had 
pursued  a  wise  and  spirited  policy,  and  not  the 
less  wise  because  spirited;  and  to  lay  down  as  a 
general  principle  of  statesmanship  that  England, 
though  not  merely  an  European  but  an  Asiatic  and 
Oceanic  power,  could  not  absolve  herself  of  all 
interest  in  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  Euro- 
pean states.  The  coast  from  Ostend  to  the  North 
Sea,  he  held,  should  be  in  the  possession  of  powers 
from  whose  ambition  England  and  Europe  had 
nothing  to  fear. 

Parliament  was  prorogued  on  the  following 
Wednesday  (10th  August),  and  in  consequence 
of  Lord  Cairns'  desire  to  express  his  opinion  on  the 
treaty,  and  to  obtain  a  fuller  and  more  detailed 
statement  with  respect  to  it,  the  House  of  Lords 
met  at  the  unusual  hour  of  twelve  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  Whilst  expressing  cordial  approval  of 
the  object  in  view — the  preservation  of  the  neu- 
trality of  Belgium — Lord  Cairns  objected  to  the 
new  engagement  into  which  England  had  entered, 
as  containing  the  seeds  of  considerable  embarrass- 
ment and  possible  complication.  The  natural 
course  would  have  been  to  announce  to  the  two 
belligerents,  but  not  by  way  of  menace,  that 
England  was  prepared  to  maintain  the  treaty  of 
1839,  and  to  oppose  any  attempt  by  either  or  both 
to  violate  it.  Russia  and  Austria  ought  to  have 
been  informed  of  these  communications,  in  order 
that  arrangements  might  be  made  for  a  united 
course  of  action  in  any  contingency  which  might 
arise.  Pointing  out  certain  elements  of  danger  in 
the  treaty,  he  examined  in  turn  the  consequences 
of  its  violation  by  France  or  Prussia.  It  would 
be  impossible  to  agree  as  to  the  particular  operations 
which  might  justly  be  required  of  us,  while  if 
England  joined  any  of  the  belligerents  the  other 
would  necessarily  declare  war  against  her,  and 
carry  it  on  wherever  she  could  be  struck  at  and 
injured.  It  was  the  object  of  each  belligerent  to 
obtain  the  alliance  and  co-operation  of  England, 
and  a  skilful  strategist  might  so  arrange  matters 
as  to  compel  the  other  belligerent  to  violate  the 
territory  of  Belgium.  The  engagement  would  be 
useless  if  both  the  belligerents  violated  the  neu- 
trality of  Belgium,  because  there  could  then  be 
no  co-operation  with  England  on  the  part  of  either. 
He  also  feared  that  the  treaty  might  involve 
England  in  difficulties  with  Austria  and  Russia. 

Lord  Granville  denied  that  the  course  taken  by 


the  government  was  either  menacing  or  offensive, 
and  argued  that  the  plan  proposed  by  Lord  Cairns 
would  not  have  been  successful.  The  government 
had  received  from  Austria  the  assurance  of  her 
readiness  to  adhere  to  their  proposal,  assuming 
that  France  and  Prussia  did  not  object  to  sign  it. 
Russia  sent  her  most  friendly  assurances,  but 
declined  to  join  the  signataries,  because  she  con- 
sidered herself  as  already  bound  by  the  original 
treaty.  She  also  desired  an  understanding  of  a  much 
wider  description,  the  effect  of  which  would  have 
been  to  bring  England  under  obligations  by  which 
she  was  not  at  present  bound.  England  having 
now  entered  upon  the  treaty  was  limited  to  its 
obligations.  He  did  not  believe  the  contingency 
contemplated  would  arise,  but  if  it  did  England 
would  be  obliged  to  act  upon  it.  It  would,  how- 
ever, be  an  enormous  advantage  to  have  a  power 
numbering  its  soldiers  by  hundreds  of  thousands 
co-operating  with  the  British  army  and  fleet.  He 
repudiated  as  gratuitous  the  suspicion  that  such  a 
piece  of  strategy  as  that  suggested  by  Lord  Cairns 
would  be  attempted,  or  that  after  the  solemn 
renewal  of  this  treaty  obligation,  binding  on  the 
personal  honour  of  the  emperor  of  the  French  and 
the  king  of  Prussia,  they  would  either  of  them, 
within  a  very  few  months  and  in  the  face  of  the  . 
world,  violate  such  an  engagement.  While  the 
treaty  would,  he  believed,  prevent  a  particular 
event  which  would  be  most  disagreeable  and  en- 
tangling to  Great  Britain,  he  strongly  denied  that 
it  would  weaken  the  obligations  of  the  treaty  of 
1839.  Replying  to  the  objection  that  the  action 
of  her  Majesty's  government  had  been  disrespectful 
to  Belgium,  he  stated  that  she  had  not  been  at 
first  consulted  in  the  matter  because  it  was  hot 
desired  to  compromise  her  with  either  belligerent; 
but  he  officially  informed  the  Belgian  government 
of  the  negotiations  when  they  had  reached  a  certain 
point,  assuring  them  that  he  wished  to  act  in 
harmony  with  Belgium,  and  that  England's  sole 
object  was  the  independence  and  neutrality  of  that 
country.  These  assurances  were  entirely  satis- 
factory to  the  Belgian  king  and  Chambers.  So  far 
as  the  treaty  had  gone,  there  was  reason  to  believe 
that  it  would  be  the  best  means  of  preventing  a 
great  difficulty  which  had  excited  much  alarm  and 
anxiety  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

In  reply  to  a  question  of  Lord  Cairns,  as  to  what 
progress  had  been  made  with  the  treaty,  and 
whether  he  could  give  the  text,  Lord  Granville 


214 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


said  the  treaty  with  Prussia  was  signed  by  Count 
Bernstorff  and  himself  on  the  previous  day.  The 
French  ambassador  had  authority  to  sign  as  soon 
as  his  full  powers  arrived.  He  then  read  the  fol- 
lowing draught  of  the  treaty  between  England 
and  Prussia,  explaining  that  the  treaty  with  France 
was,  mutatis  mutandis,  identical  with  it : — 

"DRAUGHT  OF  TREATY  BETWEEN  ENGLAND  AND 
"  PRUSSIA  RESPECTING  BELGIUM. 

"  Her  Majesty  the  queen  of  the  United  King- 
dom of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  his  Majesty 
the  king  of  Prussia,  being  desirous  at  the  present 
time  of  recording  in  a  solemn  act  their  fixed 
determination  to  maintain  the  independence  and 
neutrality  of  Belgium,  as  provided  in  the  seventh 
article  of  the  treaty  signed  at  London  on  the  19th 
of  April,  1839,  between  Belgium  and  the  Nether- 
lands, which  article  was  declared  by  the  Quintuple 
Treaty  of  1839  to  be  considered  as  having  the 
same  force  and  value  as  if  textually  inserted  in  the 
said  Quintuple  Treaty,  their  said  Majesties  have 
determined  to  conclude  between  themselves  a 
separate  treaty,  which,  without  impairing  or  invali- 
dating the  conditions  of  the  said  Quintuple  Treaty, 
shall  be  subsidiary  and  accessory  to  it;  and  they 
have  accordingly  named  as  their  plenipotentiaries 
for  that  purpose,  that  is  to  say : — 

"  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  the  United  King- 
dom of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  &c. 

"  And  his  Majesty  the  king  of  Prussia,  &c. 

"  Who,  after  having  communicated  to  each  other 
their  respective  full  powers,  found  in  good  and  due 
form,  have  agreed  upon  and  concluded  the  follow- 
ing articles : — 

"  Art.  I.  His  Majesty  the  king  of  Prussia  hav- 
ing declared  that,  notwithstanding  the  hostilities 
in  which  the  North  German  Confederation  is 
engaged  with  France,  it  is  his  fixed  determination 
to  respect  the  neutrality  of  Belgium  so  long  as  the 
same  shall  be  respected  by  France,  her  Majesty 
the  queen  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  on  her  part  declares  that,  if  during  the 
said  hostilities  the  armies  of  France  should  violate 
that  neutrality,  she  will  be  prepared  to  co-operate 
with  his  Prussian  Majesty  for  the  defence  of  the 
same  in  such  manner  as  may  be  mutually  agreed 
upon,  employing  for  that  purpose  her  naval  and 
mditary  forces  to  insure  its  observance,  and  to 
maintain,  in  conjunction  with  his  Prussian  Majesty, 


then  and  thereafter,  the  independence  and  neutrality 
of  Belgium. 

"  It  is  clearly  understood  that  her  Majesty  the 
queen  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  does  not  engage  herself  by  this  treaty  to 
take  part  in  any  of  the  general  operations  of  the 
war  now  carried  on  between  the  North  German 
Confederation  and  France,  beyond  the  limits  of 
Belgium  as  defined  in  the  treaty  between  Belgium 
and  the  Netherlands  of  April  19,  1839. 

"  Art.  II.  His  Majesty  the  king  of  Prussia 
agrees  on  his  part,  in  the  event  provided  for  in  the 
foregoing  article,  to  co-operate  with  her  Majesty 
the  queen  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  employing  his  naval  and  military 
forces  for  the  purpose  aforesaid ;  and  the  case 
arising,  to  concert  with  her  Majesty  the  measures 
which  shall  be  taken,  separately  or  in  common,  to 
secure  the  neutrality  and  independence  of  Belgium. 

"  Art.  III.  This  treaty  shall  be  binding  on  the 
high  contracting  parties  during  the  continuance 
of  the  present  war  between  the  North  German 
Confederation  and  France,  and  for  twelve  months 
after  the  ratification  of  any  treaty  of  peace  con- 
cluded between  those  parties ;  and  on  the  expiration 
of  that  time  the  independence  and  neutrality  of 
Belgium  will,  so  far  as  the  high  contracting  parties 
are  respectively  concerned,  continue  to  rest  as 
heretofore  on  the  1st  article  of  the  Quintuple 
Treaty  on  the  19th  of  April,  1839. 

"  Art.  IV.  The  present  treaty  shall  be  ratified, 
&c" 

In  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  same  day,  the 
treaty  was  vigorously  attacked  by  Mr.  Bernal 
Osborne,  who  said  he  would  prefer  to  have  no  treaty 
rather  than  the  extraordinary  document  which 
had  been  laid  on  the  table  in  so  extraordinary  a 
manner,  and  which  he  characterized  as  "  a  childish 
perpetration  of  diplomatic  folly."  It  was  not  only 
superfluous,  but  it  superseded  the  previous  treaties; 
and  if  it  had  been  submitted  to  the  House  he  was 
confident  it  would  have  been  unanimously  rejected. 
He  maintained,  too,  that  England  was  bound  to 
stand  by  Belgium,  not  only  in  honour  but  by 
interest,  for  her  liberties  and  independence  would 
not  be  safe  for  twenty-four  hours  if  Belgium  were 
in  the  hands  of  a  hostile  power. 

Mr.  Gladstone  protested  with  all  the  emphasis 
at  his  command  against  Mr.  Osborne's  extravagant 
and  exaggerated  statement  that,  the  liberties  of 
England  would  be  gone  if  Belgium  were  in  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


215 


possession  of  a  hostile  power,  and  maintained  that 
England's  concern  in  the  preservation  of  Belgian 
independence  was  substantially  no  greater  than 
that  of  the  other  powers.  The  government  had 
not  been  moved  by  any  such  selfish  spirit,  nor 
had  they  based  their  action  solely  on  the  guar- 
antees to  which  an  impracticably  rigid  significance 
had  been  attached,  against  which  he  felt  himself 
bound  to  protest.  Far  wider  and  stronger  than  in- 
terest or  guarantees  was  the  consideration  whether 
England  could  warrantably  stand  by  and  see  a 
crime  perpetrated  by  the  absorption  of  Belgium, 
which  would  have  been  the  knell  of  public  right 
and  public  law  in  Europe.  He  dwelt,  too,  on  the 
claims  Belgium  had  on  their  friendship  as  a  model 
for  orderly  government,  combined  with  perfectly 
free  institutions  ;  and  answering  Mr.  Osborne's 
criticisms,  he  maintained  that  the  treaty  of  1839 
was  not  weakened  nor  superseded  by  this  addition, 
and  that  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case 
justified  this  departure  from  general  rules. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  events  just  narrated, 
that  the  uneasiness  and  excitement  which  had  so 
universally  prevailed  on  the  first  publication  of  the 
secret  project,  and  the  subsequent  revelations  made 
in  connection  with  it,  were  finally  allayed  ;  and  that 
the  demand  of  the  country  that  the  defence  of 
Belgium  against  foreign  aggression  should  be  again 
put  forward  as  a  cardinal  principle  of  English  policy, 
was  complied  with  by  the  government  in  the  manner 
they  deemed  best  calculated  to  secure,  the  end  in 
view — although  on  that  point  much  difference  of 
opinion  prevailed.  The  end,  however,  having  been 
attained,  people  cared  little  about  the  particular 
means  which  had  been  employed  to  attain  it ;  and 
when  Parliament  broke  up  the  feeling  of  security 
which  had  been  somewhat  interrupted  in  the 
country  had  quite  returned. 

The  publication  of  the  statement  of  Count  von 
Bismarck,  that  before  the  war  of  1866  France  had 
offered  her  alliance  to  Prussia,  with  a  promise  to 
declare  war  against  Austria  and  to  attack  her  with 
300,000  men,  provided  that  Prussia  would  consent 
to  make  certain  territorial  concessions  to  France 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  had  an  immense 
influence  in  Austria,  and  put  an  end  to  all  thought 
of  a  French  alliance,  which  up  to  that  time  had 
been  considered  probable.  As  a  suitable  conclusion 
to  this  chapter,  in  which  their  names  have  figured 
so  largely,  we  annex  biographical  notices  of  Count 
von  Bismarck  and  M.  Benedetti. 


Ivael  Otto,  Count  von  Bisjiakck,  whose  name 
will  always  be  identified  with  the  great  work  of  the 
unification  of  Germany,  was  born  at  Brandenburg, 
in  1813,  or  as  some  accounts  affirm,  on  the  1st 
April,  1814.  Although  the  period  is  comparatively 
short  since  his  name  has  become  generally  familiar 
in  England,  he  has  shared  about  equally  with 
Napoleon  III.,  for  several  years,  most  of  the  atten- 
tion bestowed  by  the  readers  of  English  newspapers 
on  continental  affairs.  His  earlier  reputation  as  a 
Prussian  politician  is  now  lost  in  his  renown  as 
one  of  the  greatest  statesmen  of  Germany,  and  this 
which  is  his  good  fortune  now  will  no  doubt  be  his 
glory  in  after  ages.  His  career  divides  itself  naturally 
into  two  parts,  answering  to  these  two  characters: 
what  we  may  call  a  Prussian  part,  in  which  he 
figures  principally  as  the  most  strenuous  upholder 
of  divine  right  in  the  Prussian  monarchy:  and  a 
German  part,  in  which  his  principal  role  is  that  of 
the  great  presiding  genius  of  German  unification. 
Descended  from  a  noble  and  very  ancient  family, 
he  was  educated  at  the  universities  of  Gottingen, 
Greifswalde,  and  Berlin,  and  apparently  at  first  was 
destined  for  a  military  career,  which  he  commenced 
in  an  infantry  regiment  as  a  volunteer,  after  which 
he  attained  the  rank  of  a  lieutenant  in  the  landwehr. 
He  became  a  member  of  the  Diet  of  the  province  of 
Saxony  in  1846 ;  and  the  year  following  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  German  Diet,  where  his  character 
and  abilities  soon  attracted  attention,  and  the 
reputation  which  he  bore  for  some  years  after- 
wards was  fixed  by  some  of  those  paradoxical 
utterances  in  which  his  toryism  and  his  wit  found 
vent  together,  such  as  his  reported  saying  that  he 
wished  that  "  all  the  large  manufacturing  and 
commercial  towns,  those  centres  of  democracy 
and  constitutionalism,  could  be  abolished  from  the 
surface  of  the  earth,"  so  that  a  purely  rural  popu- 
lation might  submissively  obey  the  king's  decrees. 
One  of  the  earliest  notices  of  his  public  life  which 
have  fallen  under  our  notice,  one  written  shortly 
after  his  first  appearance  in  the  Diet,  speaks  of  him 
as,  if  not  a  deep  political  thinker,  at  any  rate  an 
expert  debater,  whose  wit  and  irony  were  often 
displayed  with  trenchant  effect.  It  would  now 
have  to  be  allowed,  perhaps,  that  the  irony  and 
the  wit  of  which  he  is  master,  have  been  often 
since  used  to  further  the  plans  of  a  deep  enough 
thinker.  In  the  revolutionary  year,  1848,  Bis- 
marck was  of  course  one  of  the  most  unpopular 
men    in    Germany;    he    was    excluded    from    the 


216 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


National  Assembly  of  that  year,  but  next  year  he 
took  his  seat  in  the  Second  Chamber,  where  he 
resumed  his  post  of  uncompromising  opposition  to 
the  movements  of  the  liberal  party  in  Parliament. 
This,  if  it  increased  his  unpopularity,  also  marked 
him  out  for  royal  favour.  In  1851  he  entered  the 
diplomatic  service  as  first  secretary  of  legation  to 
the  Prussian  embassy  at  Frankfort,  a  post  which 
he  exchanged  after  a  few  months  for  that  of 
ambassador  at  the  sittings  of  the  Federal  Bund. 
Bismarck's  nomination  to  it  was  a  decisive  proof 
that  he  was  already  regarded  by  the  king  as  his 
most  able  as  well  as  most  zealous  servant.  He 
showed  himself  worthy  of  this  proof  of  confidence 
in  his  ability  and  his  intentions.  Count  Rechberg 
was  the  representative  of  Austria  at  the  Diet,  and 
presided  at  its  meetings.  Austria,  in  Bismarck's 
opinion,  was  the  power  that  Prussia  had  to  withstand 
and  outwit.  Rechberg  and  Bismarck  therefore  had 
frequent  encounters,  in  which  the  dignity  of  the  one, 
it  is  said,  suffered  terribly  from  the  witty  sallies 
of  the  other.  Till  1858  Bismarck  was  principally 
occupied  in  various  places,  and  on  various  grounds, 
in  this  struggle  with  the  representative  of  the  Aus- 
trian empire.  It  is  said  that  a  pamphlet  on  "  Prussia 
and  the  Italian  question,"  which  appeared  in  1858, 
and  which,  referring  to  the  ancient  enmity  between 
Austria  and  Prussia,  recommended  an  alliance 
between  France,  Prussia,  and  Russia,  was  indited 
or  inspired  by  him.  Be  this  as  it  may,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  went  to  St.  Petersburg  as  ambassa- 
dor, and  there  gained  the  friendship  and  confidence 
of  Gortschakoff,  and  of  his  master  the  Czar,  who 
conferred  on  him  one  of  his  orders  of  nobility.  In 
the  month  of  May  of  the  same  year  he  was 
transferred  to  the  capital  of  France,  to  the  court 
of  the  sovereign  with  whose  history  his  own  was 
afterwards  to  be  mixed  up  in  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  events  of  this  century.  He  remained 
in  Paris  over  two  years;  but  in  September,  1862, 
returned  to  Berlin  to  undertake  the  task  of  form- 
ing a  new  ministry,  the  previous  cabinet  having 
succumbed  to  adverse  votes  respecting  their  war 
budget.  In  the  ministry  which  was  thus  formed 
by  him  he  retained  the  portfolio  of  foreign  affairs. 
The  difficulties  which  in  this  position  he  had  to 
face  were  not  those  of  his  own  department.  They 
were  not  of  relations  to  foreign  powers,  but  chiefly 
of  the  relations  of  the  government  to  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people.  The  policy  of  the 
administration,  which  was  declared  to  be  violently 


reactionary  in  all  its  tendencies,  was  especially 
obnoxious  in  respect  to  military  re-organization. 
The  Prussian  Parliament  then  became  for  a  period 
a  scene  of  perpetual  struggle  of  the  fiercest  descrip- 
tion, in  which,  by  large  majorities,  the  deputies 
opposed  the  government  at  every  important  step. 
It  is  curious  now,  after  the  wars  which  Prussia  has 
waged  with  Denmark,  Austria,  and  France,  and 
waged  with  such  astonishing  success,  to  remark 
that  these  fierce  struggles  were  fiercest  as  to  the 
army  budget  and  military  reforms;  the  administra- 
tion contending  for  the  extension  of  the  period  of 
compulsory  service  in  the  army,  and  the  Chamber 
bitterly  resisting  that  proposal.  Bismarck,  who  has 
never  been  afraid  of  strong  measures  when  they 
were  required,  finding  the  majorities  in  the  Cham- 
ber thus  unmanageable,  closed  the  session.  His 
administration,  however,  continued  to  be  signalized 
by  the  same  parliamentary  scenes  which  marked  its 
commencement.  His  policy  in  respect  to  Poland 
was  severely  blamed;  by  a  majority  of  246  to  46 
votes  he  was  severely  censured  for  entering  into 
a  secret  treaty  with  Russia,  having  reference  to 
Polish  affairs.  In  1865—66  the  relations  of  the 
administration  to  the  Chamber  were  at  the  worst. 
Unable  to  govern  Parliament,  the  executive  gov- 
erned without  Parliament  altogether.  Stormy 
debates  constantly  occurred;  there  were  mem- 
orable oratorical  encounters  between  Bismarck 
and  Virschow,  but  the  result,  practically,  was  that 
military  organization,  the  premier's  great  project, 
was  proceeded  with  according  to  his  wish;  and 
several  sessions  of  Parliament  were  closed  or 
dissolved  like  that  of  1862,  by  royal  decree,  and 
without  the  sanction  of  the  Chamber.  During 
this  period  restrictions  were  laid  upon  the  press, 
and  in  several  instances  opposition  journals  were 
subjected  to  penalties.  What  the  result  of  all 
this  might  have  been,  had  there  been  nothing  to- 
distract  attention  from  home  affairs,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  say;  but  the  death  of  the  king  of 
Denmark  having  re-opened  the  Schleswig-Holstein 
question,  an  opportunity  was  afforded  to  the  admin- 
istration of  exhibiting  in  actual  war  the  soundness 
of  their  policy  of  military  re-organization;  and 
though  this  did  not  avail  to  reconcile  to  them, 
the  majority  of  the  Chamber,  or  put  a  stop  to  par- 
liamentary recriminations,  it  materially  helped  to 
avert  a  serious  crisis  in  the  relations  between  the 
two  parties,  until  a  much  larger  question  than  that 
of  the  duchies  began  to  occupy  public  attention. 


Aigravea  Vw^°^-  from  a  Etntagripti 


k  OS 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


217 


and  to  divert  it  from  home  to  foreign  affairs.  This 
larger  question  was  that  of  war  with  Prussia's 
great  rival  in  the  struggle  for  the  leadership  of  the 
German  empire.  The  history  of  this  question  has 
been  already  related  in  the  first  part  of  this  work, 
and  need  not  here  be  recapitulated,  especially  as 
almost  every  one  is  familiar  with  the  leading  inci- 
dents of  the  period  which  intervened  between  the 
disputes  of  Austria  and  Prussia  touching  the  duchies 
of  the  Elbe  at  the  beginning  of  1866,  and  the 
third  day  of  July  in  that  year,  memorable  in  the 
history  of  Germany  as  the  day  of  the  battle  of 
Koniggriitz,  and  that  which  finally  determined  not 
so  much  the  ascendancy  of  one  German  power  over 
the  rest,  as  the  union  of  all  in  one  great  empire. 
Just  before  the  declaration  of  war  against  Austria 
an  attempt  was  made  upon  the  life  of  Bismarck. 
An  assassin  named  Blind  fired  four  times  from 
a  pistol  at  the  minister,  who  however,  was  only 
slightly  wounded.  Bismarck,  whose  courage  and 
coolness  have  been  tested  in  various  ways,  and  have 
seldom  failed,  himself  arrested  the  criminal.  In 
the  year  following  the  conclusion  of  the  war  with 
Austria  he  had  advanced  his  great  project  another 
stage.  The  North  German  Confederation  was 
formed — by  far  the  most  important  political  work 
of  this  century,  yet  far  more  than  otherwise  the 
work  of  one  single  man.  The  first  chancellor  of 
the  Confederation  could  be  no  other  than  Count 
von  Bismarck,  who  was  appointed  to  that  office  at 
the  first  meeting  of  the  Federal  Council.  At  this 
point  the  character  of  Prussian  politician,  which  he 
has  maintained  hitherto,  merges  in  that  of  the  great- 
est of  the  living  statesmen  of  Germany.  The  popu- 
larity which  in  the  one  character  he  has  despised, 
now  of  course  pursues  him  in  the  other.  In  the 
dispute  with  France  respecting  the  Luxemburg 
frontier,  which  followed  the  Austrian  campaign, 
and  which  threatened  to  embroil  Europe  in  war, 
Bismarck  of  course  played  an  important  part.  At 
the  beginning  of  1868  he  was  obliged,  on  account 
of  his  health,  which  was  very  seriously  impaired, 
to  retire  temporarily  from  public  life.  His  retire- 
ment, it  was  expected,  would  be  lengthy,  but  it 
proved  to  be  short.  In  October  he  was  again  at 
his  post  in  Berlin,  and  occupying  himself  as  ener- 
getically and  as  ably  as  ever,  in  pushing  forward 
the  confederation  of  the  various  states  of  the  empire. 
His  difficulties  in  this  work  were  destined  to  be 
largely  removed  by  an  event,  the  end  of  which  and 
the  consequences  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  foresee. 


What  was  needed  to  do  in  a  day  in  respect  to 
that  work  which  it  would  still  have  taken  years  to 
accomplish,  was  a  declaration  of  war  against  Prussia, 
the  head  of  the  German  Confederation,  by  some 
rival  power.  That  declaration  of  war  was  made  by 
France  in  the  month  of  July;  and  since  then  Bis- 
marck, whose  life  has  alternated  between  the  camp 
and  the  court,  has  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  Ger- 
man army  in  its  campaign  on  the  soil  of  France. 

In  1865  Bismarck  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
count.  After  Koniggriitz  he  was  gazetted  a  general. 
His  great  distinction  is  that,  beginning  public  life 
as  a  Prussian,  he  has  made  himself  at  length  the 
representative  of  Germany.  His  personal  character 
and  manners  are  well  defined  and  well  known. 
His  imperious  earnestness  and  vehemence  in 
public  life  contrast  wonderfully,  and  yet  agree,  with 
his  genial  humour  and  merry  wit  and  perfect 
unaffectedness  in  private.  Not  only  the  stories 
which  are  constantly  told  of  him,  but  letters 
which  he  has  allowed  to  be  published,  exhibit  the 
great  statesman  of  Germany  as,  in  private  fife, 
a  brilliant  ornament  of  society. 

M.  Vincent  Benedetti  is  of  Italian  extraction, 
and  was  born  in  Corsica  about  1815.  He  was 
educated  for  the  consular  and  diplomatic  service, 
and  began  his  career  in  1848  as  consul  at  Palermo. 
From  this  post  he  was  subsequently  advanced  to 
that  of  first  secretary  of  the  embassy  at  Constanti- 
nople. In  May,  1859,  he  was  offered,  in  succession 
to  M.  Bourse,  the  post  of  envoy  extraordinary  at 
Teheran,  but  he  declined  to  accept  that  mission, 
and  was  shortly  afterwards  nominated  director  of 
political  affairs  to  the  foreign  minister,  and  it  was 
in  this  capacity  that  he  acted  as  editor  of  the  pro- 
tocols in  the  Congress  of  Paris  in  1856,  and  as 
secretary  to  those  ministers  who  drew  them  up. 
In  1861,  when  the  French  emperor  recognized 
the  newly-established  kingdom  of  Italy,  M.  Bene- 
detti was  appointed  minister  plenipotentiary  from 
his  country  at  Turin,  but  resigned  that  post  in 
the  autumn  of  1864,  upon  the  retirement  of  M. 
Thouvenel  from  the  ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
On  November  27  of  that  year  he  was  appointed 
to  the  post  of  French  ambassador  at  Berlin,  a 
position  in  which  he  remained  until  the  outbreak 
of  the  war.  He  was  made  a  chevalier  of  the 
legion  of  honour  as  far  back  as  June,  1845,  and 
after  passing  through  the  intermediate  stages  of 
promotion,  he  was  nominated  a  grand  officer  in 
June,  1860. 

2  E 


CHAPTEK      IV. 


Necessity  of  understanding  the  Military  Organization  and  Strength  of  each  Combatant — Foundation  of  Prussia  by  the  "  Great  Elector  " — Its 
rapid  extension — Frederick  William  I.'s  singular  passion  for  Tall  Soldiers — His  able  Military  Administration — First  Successes  of  his  son, 
Frederick  the  Great — The  perfection  to  which  he  brought  his  Army — The  Seven  Years'  War  against  the  united  forces  of  Russia,  Saxony, 
Sweden,  France,  Austria,  and  the  small  German  States — Its  varying  results  and  the  state  of  Prussia  at  its  close — She  is  admitted  as  the 
Rival  of  Austria  for  the  leadership  of  Germany — Frederick's  Bloodless  Campaign,  known  as  the  "Potato  War" — Policy  of  his  nephew, 
Frederick  William  II. — Prussia's  share  in  the  spoliation  of  Poland — The  French  Revolution  opposed  by  Prussia — Alliance  with  Austria — 
War  declared  against  France — Complete  failure  of  the  Expedition,  and  the  French  frontier  advanced  to  the  Rhine — Humiliated  and 
demoralized  position  of  the  Prussian  Army — Popular  fury  against  Napoleon  for  forcing  a  passage  through  their  country,  in  spite  of  its 
neutrality — The  King  appeased  with  the  bribe  of  Hanover — Battle  of  Austerlitz  and  humiliation  of  Austria — Insults  offered  to  Prussia  by 
Napoleon — Determination  of  the  people  to  endure  it  no  longer  without  a  struggle — Battle  of  Jena  and  complete  defeat  of  Prussia — The 
country  overrun  by  French  troops,  and  the  King  made  little  better  than  a  vassal  of  France — Appearance  of  the  great  statesmen  Stein  and 
Scharnhorst  on  the  scene — Foundation  of  the  present  Military  System  of  Prussia  with  the  approval  of  the  whole  Nation — Its  fundamental 
principles,  and  the  composition  and  numbers  of  the  Army  and  Reserves  under  it — The  Landwehr  called  out  in  1830 — The  military  spirit  of 
the  people  found  to  have  considerably  evaporated— Further  defects  of  the  System  discovered  in  1848,  1850,  1854,  and  1859 — Material 
alterations  and  increase  in  the  numbers  of  the  Army  made  in  1860 — Remonstrances  on  the  part  of  the  House  of  Deputies  useless — 
Reasons  for  the  alterations  and  additions — Extension  of  the  term  of  service — Increased  security  conferred  on  the  rest  of  the  population — 
The  great  advantages  of  the  New  System  shown  in  the  War  of  1866 — Extension  of  the  Prussian  system  to  the  whole  of  the  North  German 
Confederation  in  1867 — Present  number  of  the  Armies  of  the  Confederation,  and  of  the  South  German  States — Divisions  of  the  Armies  in 
time  of  War,  and  their  composition — Difference  in  the  numbers  of  the  Armies  on  paper  and  those  actually  engaged  on  the  Field  of  Battle 
explained — The  requirements  of  an  Army  on  a  Campaign — Extraordinary  elasticity  of  the  system  proved  in  1866  and  1870 — The  details 
of  it  easy  enough  to  be  universally  understood — Steps  taken  when  the  Army  is  Mobilized,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  they  can  be 
executed — The  equipment  of  the  different  arms  of  the  service  after  Mobilization — Detailed  description  of  the  Prussian  organization  for 
insuring  regular  Supplies  to  the  Army,  attending  to  the  Diseased  and  Wounded,  and  maintaining  the  number  of  Combatants  at  their  full 
strength  during  the  progress  of  hostilities — A  defect  in  the  Prussian  system  in  the  formation  of  garrison  troops — The  difficulty  of  insuring 
proper  Supplies  for  an  Army — Admirable  provisions  of  the  Prussian  system  in  this  respect,  and  its  great  success  in  the  War — The  Prussian 
hospital  trains— The  employment  of  Spies— Reconnoitring  Parties — Field  Siguals  and  Telegraphs — Great  ability  of  the  Prussian  officers- 
Peculiarities  of  the  system  for  obtaining  them — Necessity  of  a  previous  training  in  the  ranks — Severity  of  their  examinations — The  esprit 
de  corps  which  pervades  the  whole  body,  but  strong  development  of  class  spirit — Special  examination  for  the  Artillery  and  Engineer  officers 
— Admirable  system  of  officering  the  Landwehr — Re-enlistment  of  men  not  much  encouraged  in  the  Prussian  Army— All  ordinary 
Government  Appointments  reserved  for  Non-commissioned  Officers  after  they  have  served  twelve  years — Frequent  alterations  in  Prussian 
tactics — The  plan  adopted  by  them  at  present — Salutary  effects  of  the  Military  Training  on  the  Prussian  population — Economy  of  the 
Prussian  system — The  strain  on  the  Resources  of  the  Country  if  the  Campaign  is  prolonged — Certainty  of  any  War  undertaken  by  Prussia 
being  a  national  one — The  Prussian  Artillery — Description  of  Krupp's  Monster  Gun— Description  of  the  Needle-gun — The  Prussian  Navy. 


In  order  to  estimate  correctly  the  position  and 
resources  of  both  Prussia  and  Prance,  it  is  necessary, 
before  entering  upon  the  detailed  record  of  the 
deadly  struggle  in  which  they  engaged,  that  we 
should  put  before  the  reader  a  statement  of  their 
military  growth,  their  most  recently  invented 
weapons,  the  constitution  and  strength  of  their 
respective  armies,  and  the  methods  adopted  in 
each  country  to  recruit  them. 

The  "  Great  Elector,"  Frederick  William,  may 
be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  present  gran- 
deur of  the  Prussian  throne.  Under  his  able 
rule,  from  1640  to  1688,  the  whole  strength  of 
Brandenburg  and  Prussia  was  directed  to  securing 
the  acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of  the 
latter  dukedom,  originally  held  separately  as  a  fief 
from  Poland.  His  success  in  this  enterprise  was  soon 
followed  by  claims  on  Juliers,  Cleves,  and  Berg, 


skilfully  urged  by  the  pen,  and  boldly  supported  by 
the  sword ;  and  the  limits  of  the  dominions  handed 
to  his  son  were  thus  extended  from  the  Oder  to 
the  Rhine.  Lower  Pomerania  had  been  among  the 
additions  gained  by  the  treaty  of  Westphalia,  and 
Frederick  William  used  the  opening  it  afforded  to 
the  Baltic,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  navy,  which 
Prussia's  statesmen  even  thus  early  regarded  as 
essential  to  support  her  claim  to  a  distinguished 
place  among  the  great  European  powers.  The 
same  policy,  rather  than  any  love  for  Austria  or 
hatred  of  the  Turk,  led  to  the  despatch  of  a 
contingent  to  the  relief  of  Vienna,  when  threat- 
ened by  the  Sultan  in  1683. 

Under  his  successor,  grandfather  of  the  Great 
Frederick,  and  first  king,  the  Prussian  troops  were 
in  constant  service  as  allies  of  Austria  in  her 
Turkish  and  French  wars;  and  various  small  prin- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


219 


cipalities,  obtained  as  reward  or  purchased,  swelled 
his  now  extensive  though  scattered  dominions. 
He  was  succeeded  in  1713  by  his  son,  Frederick 
William  I.,  whose  habits  were  entirely  military, 
and  whose  constant  care  was  to  establish  the 
strictest  discipline  among  his  troops.  He  had 
such  a  ridiculous  fondness  for  tall  soldiers,  that 
in  order  to  fill  the  ranks  of  his  favourite  regi- 
ment, he  would  use  force  or  fraud,  if  money 
would  not  effect  his  object,  in  order  to  obtain 
the  tallest  men  in  Europe.  Indulging  freely  this 
singular  passion,  the  father  of  Frederick  the  Great 
was  in  all  else  economical  to  parsimony ;  and  with- 
out straining  the  resources  of  his  five  millions  of 
subjects,  he  left  his  son  an  abundant  treasury,  and 
the  most  efficient  army  in  Europe,  to  be  at  once  the 
temptation  and  the  instrument  for  continuing  the 
family  policy.  The  most  important  measure  which 
Frederick  William  I.  adopted  in  the  military  organi- 
zation of  Prussia,  was  one  in  which  we  may  clearly 
trace  the  origin  of  her  present  formidable  system 
of  recruiting.  In  1733,  seven  years  before  his  death, 
the  whole  of  his  territories  were  parcelled  out  by 
decree  into  cantons,  to  each  of  which  was  allotted 
a  regiment,  whose  effective  strength  was  to  be 
maintained  from  within  its  limits;  and  all  subjects, 
beneath  the  rank  of  noble,  were  held  bound  to  serve 
if  required.  With  this  ready  instrument  for  sup- 
plying the  losses  of  a  war,  and  with  an  army  of 
66,000  men,  more  splendidly  equipped  and  trained 
than  any  other  of  the  time,  his  son,  then  known 
as  Frederick  II.,  stepped  into  the  field  of  European 
politics. 

Surpassing  his  predecessors  no  less  in  the  scope 
of  his  policy  than  in  ability  for  carrying  it  out, 
the  new  sovereign's  ambition  was  favoured  by  the 
stormy  times  in  which  he  came  to  the  throne. 
His  first  success  in  the  seizure  of  Silesia  only 
fanned  his  aspirations  for  further  conquest,  and 
he  strove  next  to  extend  Prussian  rule  beyond 
the  newly-gained  mountain  frontier  into  the 
northern  districts  of  Bohemia,  where  his  suc- 
cessor's arms  in  1866  afterwards  met  with  such 
signal  fortune.  On  this  occasion,  however,  his 
strength  proved  unequal  to  the  new  task  of 
spoliation.  The  king  was  fairly  worsted,  and  forced 
out  of  Bohemia  by  Daun  and  Prince  Charles  of 
Lorraine  ;  and  although  the  ready  tactics  of 
Hohenfriedberg  and  Sohr  proved  his  increasing 
dexterity  in  handling  the  machine-like  army  he 
had  trained,  he  was  soon  glad  to  come  to  terms, 


and  to  resign  his  audacious  attempt  to  aggrandize 
Prussia  upon  condition  that  she  retained  her  late 
acquisitions. 

During  the  ten  years  of  comparative  tranquillity 
that  followed,  Frederick  employed  himself  in  bring- 
ing his  troops  into  a  state  of  discipline  never  before 
equalled  in  any  age  or  country,  with  the  view  of 
concentrating  his  whole  resources  on  the  deadly 
struggle,  not  far  distant,  whose  issue,  as  he  fore- 
saw, would  be  all-important  to  his  dynasty. 

Secret  information  of  an  alliance  between  Aus- 
tria, Russia,  and  Saxony,  gave  Frederick  reason  to 
fear  an  attack,  which  he  hastened  to  anticipate  by 
the  invasion  of  Saxony  in  1756.  This  commenced 
the  Seven  Years'  War,  in  which  he  contended, 
almost  single-handed,  against  the  united  forces  of 
Russia,  Saxony,  Sweden,  France,  Austria,  and  the 
great  majority  of  the  other  German  states.  Various 
were  the  changes  of  fortune  that  befel  him  during 
the  next  six  years,  success  alternating  from  one 
side  to  the  other.  The  glories  of  Rosbach,  Prague, 
and  Leuthen  were  overshadowed  by  the  disasters 
of  Kollin,  Hochkirch,  and  Kunersdorf.  Frederick 
himself  at  times  seemed  to  despair  of  any  issue  but 
death  for  himself  and  dissolution  for  his  realm. 
Yet  his  boldness  as  a  general  and  readiness  as  a 
tactician  remained  undiminished  by  defeat,  failure, 
or  depression.  These  qualities,  with  the  excellent 
training  of  his  troops,  his  good  fortune  in  possess- 
ing the  two  finest  cavalry  officers  a  single  army 
has  ever  known,  and  the  moral  and  material  sup- 
port consistently  given  by  England,  sufficed  to 
save  the  struggling  kingdom  from  the  ruin  that 
so  often,  during  this  tremendous  struggle,  seemed 
inevitable.  What  Prussia  suffered  whilst  it  lasted 
may  be  conjectured  from  a  few  words  occurring 
in  the  king's  own  correspondence.  On  this  sub- 
ject he,  of  all  men,  would  be  little  likely  to  ex- 
aggerate. He  says,  "The  peace  awakens  universal 
joy.  For  my  own  part,  being  but  a  poor  old  man, 
I  return  to  a  city  where  I  now  know  nothing  but 
the  walls ;  where  I  cannot  find  again  the  friends  I 
once  had ;  where  unmeasured  toils  await  me ;  and 
where  I  must  soon  lay  me  down  to  rest  in  that 
place  in  which  there  is  no  more  unquiet,  nor  war, 
nor  misery,  nor  man's  deceit."  After  all  his  many 
vicissitudes  of  fortune,  however,  the  king  was  left 
in  1763  in  the  peaceful  possession  of  his  pater- 
nal and  acquired  dominions  ;  the  position  of  his 
country  was  assured,  and  the  policy  steadily  pur- 
sued for  three  successive  generations  had  attained 


220 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


its  first  great  aim.  The  principality,  raised  out  of 
obscurity  by  the  Great  Elector,  and  made  a  king- 
dom by  his  son,  was  henceforth  to  hold  a  solid 
position  as  one  of  the  first  powers  of  Europe,  and 
the  admitted  rival  of  Austria  for  the  leadership  of 
Germany.  Her  land  had  indeed  a  long  rest  after 
the  great  strife  for  existence  ;  but  Frederick, 
whilst  watching  diligently  over  its  internal  im- 
provement, took  care  to  insure  its  independent 
position  by  refilling  as  soon  as  possible  the 
gaps  in  his  army.  The  standing  forces  which 
he  maintained  and  handed  over  to  his  successor 
were  scarcely  inferior  in  strength  to  those  which 
Prussia,  with  more  than  three  times  his  resources, 
kept  in  pay  before  the  war  of  1866;  and  the 
greatness  of  the  burden  thus  imposed  is  better 
understood  when  it  is  known  that  the  three  per 
cent,  of  the  population  which,  under  Frederick, 
were  actively  kept  in  arms,  supply  under  the  pre- 
sent system  the  whole  peace  army,  the  landwehr 
of  the  first  call,  and  most  of  those  of  the  second. 

The  only  other  military  enterprise  of  any  pre- 
tensions undertaken  by  Frederick  was  a  campaign 
against  Austria,  distinguished  by  its  marked  dif- 
ference of  character  from  the  somewhat  reckless 
strategy  for  which  he  had  been  famed,  and  the 
striking  parallel  which  its  opening  afforded  to  that 
of  the  great  war  of  1866  ;  for  its  scene  lay  on  the 
very  ground  where  Benedek  was  afterwards  called 
to  oppose  another  Prussian  invasion  of  Bohemia. 
The  great  general's  conduct,  however,  was  here 
in  truth  very  different  from  that  of  the  Frederick 
of  twenty  years  before,  and  we  can  only  account 
for  it  by  admitting  either  that  his  intellect  and 
daring  were  dulled  by  coming  infirmity,  or  by 
supposing  that  he  believed  the  objects  of  the 
campaign  could  be  fully  attained  without  the  risk 
and  bloodshed  of  a  great  battle.  Certain  it  is, 
that  in  this  the  closing  military  adventure  of  his 
life,  he  appeared  as  though  utterly  foiled  by  the 
adversaries  he  had  so  often  in  earlier  days  worsted 
in  fair  field.  Frederick,  however,  if  losing  some 
of  his  military  prestige  in  the  bloodless  campaign 
(known  familiarly  as  the  "Potato  War")  of  his  old 
age,  found  sufficient  consolation  in  its  political 
results,  and  the  admission  practically  made  by 
Austria  that  her  imperial  position  had  sunk  to 
the  mere  presidency  of  a  confederation.  Hence- 
forth, there  was  recognized  in  Prussia  a  power 
whose  consent  was  a  first  condition  for  any  action 
of  Austria  within  the  Germanic  empire;  a  power 


to  whom  every  element  hostile  to  the  Kaiser  would 
rally,  should  the  constant  rivalry  for  the  control 
of  Germany  break  out  into  open  hostility. 

The  military  force  so  ably  used  by  Frederick  in 
enlarging  the  influence  of  Prussia  at  the  expense 
of  Austria,  was  for  some  years  employed  with 
scarcely  inferior  success  in  other  quarters  by  his 
nephew  and  successor,  Frederick  William  II.  In- 
terfering in  the  civil  war  in  Holland  (1787),  the 
well-drilled  Prussian  battalions  without  difficulty 
put  down  the  popular  party,  and  restored  the 
Stadtholder  to  his  shaken  seat;  and  the  king  had 
the  double  satisfaction  of  increasing  the  moral 
weight  of  his  influence  in  Europe,  and  of  asserting 
that  principle  of  divine  right,  to  him  no  less  dear 
than  to  the  first  monarch  of  the  line,  or  to  their 
present  representative.  A  more  material  gain  was 
that  achieved  under  the  guidance  of  his  unscrupu- 
lous minister,  Herzberg,  at  the  second  partition 
of  Poland,  when  Dantzic  and  Thorn,  districts  long 
coveted  as  including  the  mouths  of  the  Vistula, 
were  obtained  as  the  price  of  Prussia's  complicity 
in  a  spoliation  carried  out  with  an  amount  of 
diplomatic  fraud  even  greater  than  that  in  which 
Frederick  had  shared. 

The  intervention  of  Prussia  in  the  affairs  of 
Holland  had  not  long  ceased  to  excite  attention, 
and  the  final  partition  of  Poland  was  still  un- 
accomplished, when  that  mighty  storm  arose  in 
the  west  which  was  destined  for  a  time  to  ex- 
tinguish the  rivalries  and  animosities  of  German 
powers  in  their  general  humiliation,  and  to  school 
them  by  common  sufferings,  by  commtn  hatred 
and  fear  of  a  foreign  foe,  into  the  union  which 
was  only  dissolved  by  the  outbreak  of  1866. 
Austria  was  to  be  laid  prostrate  by  republican 
armies,  Prussia  to  be  humbled  in  the  dust,  and 
for  years  to  bear  the  chain  of  the  victor.  A 
new  general  was  to  eclipse  the  achievements  of 
Frederick,  and  a  bolder  and  more  unscrupulous 
diplomacy  than  the  Great  Elector's  was  to  change 
the  whole  map  of  Europe,  and  remove  her  most 
ancient  landmarks.  The  French  Revolution  and 
Xapoleon  came;  and  the  march  of  Prussian  pro- 
gress was  arrested  until  the  overthrow  of  the  latter 
at  Waterloo. 

Prussia  hesitated  considerably  before  showing 
any  practical  opposition  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
Republic,  and  not  until  the  sacred  rights  of  kings 
were  attacked  in  the  person  of  Louis  XVI.,  after 
his  flight  to  Varennes,  did  Frederick  William  move 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


221 


to  the  rescue.  By  the  treaty  of  Pillnitz  (August, 
1791)  he  then  entered  into  an  alliance  with 
Austria  for  an  armed  intervention  on  behalf  of 
the  French  sovereign,  and  with  a  force  mainly 
composed  of  Prussian  battalions,  under  the  duke 
of  Brunswick,  entered  Champagne  in  1792,  having 
first  issued  a  boastful  proclamation  against  the 
Revolution  and  its  abettors.  Relying  too  much 
on  the  promised  support  with  which  they  no- 
where met,  the  Prussian  staff  threw  aside  the 
prudent,  but  cumbrous,  arrangements  of  maga- 
zines by  which  Frederick  had  always  prepared 
for  his  offensive  movements ;  and  their  troops, 
plunging  into  an  inhospitable  district  in  unusually 
bad  weather,  perished  by  the  thousand  for  lack  of 
supplies.  The  sickness  that  ensued,  and  the  un- 
explained vacillation  of  the  king  or  of  the  duke  of 
Brunswick  at  Valmy,  proved  the  ruin  of  the  expe- 
dition, and  the  turning  point  of  the  revolutionary 
war.  Thenceforth  the  republican  armies  grew  in 
morale  as  rapidly  as  in  numbers,  and  a  system  of 
tactics  destined  to  replace  that  which  Frederick  had 
bequeathed  to  Europe,  was  initiated  by  the  revolu- 
tionary generals,  and  brought  to  its  perfection  under 
Napoleon's  master  hand,  to  overthrow  the  troops 
of  each  great  power  in  turn.  The  failure  of  the 
Prussians  in  their  campaign  was  as  great  a  surprise 
to  Europe  in  1792,  as  the  sudden  collapse  of  the 
Austrian  army  in  1866,  or  that  of  France  in  1870. 
The  disasters  proved  a  powerful  motive  for  Frederick 
William's  withdrawal  from  a  struggle  in  which 
there  was  nothing  for  Prussia  to  gain,  but  which 
had  brought  a  victorious  enemy  to  the  borders  of 
her  own  western  provinces.  The  treaty  of  Basle 
soon  followed,  and  Europe  saw  with  dismay  the 
great  German  power,  whose  arms,  forty  years  before, 
had  defied  France,  though  leagued  with  half  the 
Continent,  admitting  the  claim  of  the  aggressive 
Republic  to  advance  her  frontier  to  the  Rhine. 

The  conduct  of  the  war  that  Prussia  thus  re- 
linquished had  dimmed  her  former  fame  no  less 
than  the  peace  that  closed  it ;  yet  no  administrator 
rose  at  this  time  competent  to  point  out  the  causes 
of  the  ill  success  which,  save  in  the  desultory 
but  brilliant  skirmishes  conducted  by  Colonel 
Blucher  and  his  cavalry,  had  invariably  attended 
her  arms.  The  activity  of  this  daring  trooper  was, 
however,  exceptional,  and  the  chief  commanders 
illustrated  every  degree  of  military  imbecility, 
while  their  troops  retained  only  the  drill  of  the 
battalions  of  Frederick,  and  exhibited  nothing  of 


their  heroic  spirit.  In  spite  of  the  severe  system 
of  conscription  by  districts,  enforced  by  every 
penalty  which  the  law  could  employ,  a  trade  in 
permits  for  absence  had  long  been  established 
as  a  perquisite  of  the  captains.  Those  who  could 
pay  well  for  the  exemption  were  thus  allowed  to 
escape  the  allotted  service,  the  bribes  received  being 
partly  put  in  the  pockets  of  the  recipients  and 
partly  used  to  attract  an  inferior  class  of  recruits 
to  the  ranks  of  an  army  which  an  iron  discip- 
line, maintained  in  every  detail,  made  thoroughly 
distasteful  in  time  of  peace.  Composed  thus  of 
indifferent  material,  brought  together  by  a  system 
of  corruption,  the  companies  were  as  ill-led  as  they 
were  badly  composed,  and  the  army  which  had 
once  been  acknowledged  the  first  in  Europe,  was 
now  inferior  to  others  in  fitness  for  the  field.  It 
was  specially  ill-suited  to  meet  the  growing  en- 
thusiasm of  the  French  soldiery,  whose  ardour, 
springing  from  political  fanaticism,  was  sustained 
through  the  sternest  trials  by  the  hope  of  pro- 
fessional advancement. 

Frederick  William  III.,  who  succeeded  in  1797 
to  the  throne,  continued  for  nearly  ten  years  the 
neutral  policy  inaugurated  by  his  father.  The  in- 
dignity, however,  which  Napoleon  inflicted  upon 
Prussia  by  forcing  a  passage  through  the  country 
on  his  way  to  Ulm  and  Austerlitz,  excited  such 
a  fever  of  popular  fury  through  the  kingdom  as 
shook  the  royal  power,  and  showed  alike  the  anti- 
pathy of  the  whole  German  race  to  the  progress 
of  French  influence  within  the  empire,  and  the 
necessity  which  thenceforth  lay  upon  the  king  to 
adopt  a  policy  more  conformable  to  the  wishes 
of  his  subjects.  To  incur  the  active  hostility  of 
Prussia,  besides  that  of  Russia  and  Austria,  was 
what  Napoleon  was  just  now  anxious  to  avoid, 
and  he  watched  with  some  uneasiness  the  feeling 
gathering  against  him.  The  entreaties  of  queen, 
ministers,  and  people,  had  well-nigh  swept  away 
the  vacillation  of  the  king,  and  war  was  to  be 
declared  by  Prussia  on  December  15  against  the 
French  emperor.  At  this  crisis  Napoleon,  feigning 
reconciliation  and  friendship,  adroitly  offered  a 
bribe,  the  temptation  of  which  proved  irresistible ; 
and  on  the  very  day  on  which  war  was  to  have 
been  declared,  Frederick  William  accepted  at  the 
hand  of  the  crafty  emperor  the  coveted  gift  of 
Hanover,  which  now,  more  honestly  won,  extends 
the  limits  of  the  once  petty  margraviate  from  Russia 
to  the  German  Ocean. 


222 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Austria,  meantime,  unaided  by  Prussia,  had 
encountered  Napoleon  at  Austerlitz,  and  was  now- 
writhing  under  the  humiliation  of  a  crushing 
defeat.  The  degrading  acquisition  of  territory 
which  Prussia  had  made  was  not  long  destined, 
however,  to  reward  its  public  treachery.  The 
bribes  of  Napoleon  Frederick  William  found  to 
be  no  free  gifts.  Bavaria  was  enlarged  at  the 
expense  of  his  kingdom.  Cleves  and  Berg  were 
surrendered  to  provide  the  despot's  brother-in-law 
with  a  new  duchy,  and  fresh  insults  followed  with 
contemptuous  rapidity.  From  the  rank  of  a 
great  power  Prussia  found  herself  suddenly  fallen 
to  the  condition  of  a  French  dependency,  and  her 
monarch  treated  as  the  French  emperor's  vassal. 
Yet  she  had  attempted  no  struggle  and  suffered 
no  defeat  ;  had  looked  on  unscathed  whilst  her 
neighbours  bled ;  and  now,  waiting  for  their  loss 
to  make  her  gain,  found  herself  isolated,  exposed, 
and  humbled  without  pity — a  warning  for  all 
time  to  statesmen  who  make  a  traffic  of  neutrality. 
If  the  court  could  endure  this,  the  people  could 
not.  Alike  the  noble,  the  burgher,  and  the  peasant 
felt  a  warlike  fever  fire  their  veins,  and  that 
tempest  of  passion  swept  over  the  nation,  which  is 
to  individual  fury  as  the  trampling  of  a  multitude 
to  the  footfall  of  a  man.  Without  counting  the 
cost  or  measuring  the  odds — without  waiting  for 
the  aid  of  Russia,  still  hostile  to  France — Frederick 
William  was  forced  into  the  struggle  he  dreaded, 
and  Prussia,  single-handed,  faced  Napoleon  and  his 
vassals.  Planted  already  by  Bavarian  permission 
within  easy  distance  of  the  chief  strategic  points ; 
armed  with  the  might  of  superior  numbers,  long 
training,  and  accumulated  victory;  led  by  a  chief 
whose  bold  strategy  had  not  yet  degenerated  into 
limitless  waste  of  men's  lives;  the  French  poured 
up  on  the  flank  exposed  by  the  rash  and  ill-con- 
sidered advance  of  their  enemy.  Jena  was  fought 
and  won  by  the  French  almost  within  sight  of  the 
little  hill  of  Rosbach,  which  had  given  name  to 
their  defeat  half  a  century  before,  and  that  signal 
victory  was  avenged  tenfold  by  the  battle  which 
laid  Prussia  prostrate  at  the  conqueror's  feet. 

With  a  rapidity  of  which  even  Napoleon's  troops 
were  scarcely  thought  capable,  the  kingdom  was 
overrun,  the  remains  of  its  army  annihilated,  and  its 
cities  occupied.  The  hollo  wness  of  its  military  con- 
dition was  manifested  alike  by  the  evil  condition 
of  its  fortresses  and  the  overthrow  of  its  columns. 
Blucher,  indeed,  fought  fiercely  to  the  last;  but 


with  this,  and  two  other  less  noted  exceptions 
to  the  shameful  imbecility  of  the  commanders, 
generals  and  governors  seemed  to  vie  with  each 
other  in  surrendering  their  posts  with  the  least 
effort  at  resistance.  Reduced,  however,  as  Frederick 
AVilliam  was,  to  a  single  city  and  a  few  square 
miles  of  territory,  he  refused  to  submit  to  the 
harsh  terms  required  of  him,  until  the  disaster  of 
Friedland,  and  the  subsequent  retreat  of  the  allies, 
compelled  that  abandonment  of  his  unhappy  king- 
dom which  was  one  of  the  conditions  imposed  by 
the  conqueror  when  he  met  Alexander  at  Tilsit. 

No  need  is  there  for  us  to  repeat  the  fatal  story 
of  Jena  and  of  Friedland.  The  bitter  lesson 
taught  the  nation  then  has  stamped  itself  ever 
since  upon  the  national  armament,  and  Prussian 
administrators  strive  now  as  earnestly  to  be  in 
advance  of  all  Europe  in  warlike  knowledge,  as 
they  then  clung  warmly  to  the  traditions  of  obso- 
lete tactics  which  all  Europe  but  themselves  had 
abandoned.  But  the  penalty  of  truckling  policy 
and  pedantic  manoeuvring  was  undergone  ;  and 
for  the  next  six  years  the  kingdom  suffered  such 
humiliation  as  no  other  civilized  country  in  modern 
years  has  endured.  French  soldiers  swaggered  on 
the  pavements  of  the  garrisons.  French  officers 
forbade  the  concert-room  its  national  airs.  French 
generals  lived  at  free  quarters  in  the  pleasant 
squires'  houses,  which  even  the  all-pervading  rapa- 
city of  Tilly's  and  Wallenstein's  hordes  had  not 
always  reached.  French  battalions  lay  scattered 
in  the  secluded  villages,  and  roused  a  jealous 
demon  in  the  dullest  Hans  whose  sweatheart  was 
exposed  to  the  audacious  attentions  of  wandering 
chasseurs.  French  douaniers  checked  and  con- 
trolled and  took  bribes  for  the  little  trade  which 
the  long  maritime  war  had  spared.  And  all  these 
intruders  were  to  be  maintained  at  the  expense  of 
the  quiet  orderly  land  of  which  they  seemed  to 
have  taken  permanent  possession.  The  Prussian 
army  seemed  to  have  disappeared,  so  diminished 
were  its  numbers.  The  enslaved  monarchy  was 
guarded  by  the  ablest  and  most  feared  of  the  rough 
soldiers,  whom  the  long  course  of  French  victories 
had  brought  to  eminence;  and  Davoust  headed  a 
garrison  so  large  and  highly  organized,  that  even 
warm  patriots  shrank  from  a  hopeless  contest  with 
its  strength.  The  history  of  that  sad  time,  with 
all  the  irritating  details  of  the  French  occupation, 
is  written  in  the  municipal  records  of  every  Prus- 
sian town,  in  village  legend,  in  popular  romance. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


223 


The  burden  is  always  the  same:  French  insults 
endured  in  the  hope  of  revenge  to  come;  ardent 
longing  for  the  day  of  freedom ;  tears  for  the  fate 
of  brave  Major  Schill,  warrior  of  the  true  heroic 
type,  who,  unable  to  bear  longer  his  country's 
shame,  rode  forth  one  morning  at  the  head  of  such 
of  his  men  as  would  follow  him,  to  declare  war 
single-handed  with  oppression,  and  give  his  life 
freely  in  a  conflict  without  hope.  Multiply  the 
story  of  one  village  by  a  thousand,  the  indignation 
of  one  citizen  by  millions,  and  it  will  be  seen  that 
each  day  of  the  French  occupation  served  to  give 
strength  and  depth  to  the  growing  hatred  which 
henceforth  must  burn  in  every  Prussian  breast, 
and  in  due  time  burst  forth  in  furious  action. 

No  doubt  the  confidence  which  Bohemian  vic- 
tories gave  the  nation  in  its  arms  has  much  to  do 
with  the  readiness  for  a  struggle  on  the  Rhine 
which  Prussia  has  since  displayed.  No  doubt  the 
vague  desire  for  German  unity  has  been  strength- 
ened into  passionate  longing  since  Austria  has 
ceased  to  bar  the  way.  But  the  ancient  loathing 
of  French  rule,  the  ancient  detestation  of  French 
interference,  the  deep  memory  of  the  time  when  a 
Napoleon  was  indeed  "  the  Scourge  of  the  Father- 
land," was  all  that  was  needed  to  touch  the  heart 
of  the  nation  with  that  fire  which  we  have  watched 
this  summer  so  fiercely  blaze  forth  into  action. 

Stripped  of  half  her  territory,  the  rest  a  mere 
field  for  French  tax-gatherers,  or  exercise-ground 
for  French  troops,  the  policy  of  Prussia  for  the 
six  years  succeeding  Jena  seemed  to  consist  but  in 
different  degrees  of  servility  to  the  master  whose 
chains  she  had  no  power  to  shake  off.  Her  revenues 
were  swallowed  up  by  foreign  exactions,  her  army 
reduced  to  a  mere  corps  by  the  decree  of  Napoleon, 
and  her  means  of  rising  against  the  oppressor  seemed 
hopelessly  gone.  But  whilst  despised  by  both  foe 
and  ally,  Prussia  had  yet  within  her  the  elements  of 
self-purification.  The  hard  school  of  humiliation  did 
not  break  her  spirit,  nor  turn  her  statesmen  aside 
from  the  deliberate  endeavour  to  retrieve  the  past. 
Frederick  William  was  happy  in  his  counsellors, 
for  there  were  those  among  them  who  never 
lost  sight  of  the  past  greatness  of  their  country, 
and  in  her  hours  of  deepest  darkness  strove  to 
fit  her  for  a  better  destiny  than  that  of  a  vassal 
province.  Stein,  her  great  minister,  laboured  in- 
defatigably  to  prepare  her  recovery,  by  raising  the 
legal  condition  of  her  peasantry,  and  breathing 
into  them  the  spirit  of  patriotism  through  measures 


of  domestic  reform.  Scharnhorst  gave  no  less 
efficient  aid  by  devising  that  system  of  short  service 
in  the  regular  army,  on  which  the  existing  organi- 
zation rests.  By  Napoleon's  decree  the  standing 
army  was  not  to  exceed  40,000  men;  but  no  re- 
striction was  named  as  to  the  tune  the  men  should 
serve.  By  Scharnhorst's  plan  the  actual  time  of 
service  was  limited  to  six  months,  with  frequent 
calls  of  recruits  succeeding  each  other  in  the 
ranks,  and  thence  returning  home  to  be  embodied 
in  the  militia,  so  as  to  spread  through  the  suffer- 
ing nation  a  general  knowledge  of  arms  against 
the  day  of  need.  The  laws  of  promotion  were 
modified,  and  many  of  the  exemptions  from  mili- 
tary service  abolished ;  to  each  company  was 
allotted  twice  the  necessary  number  of  officers; 
and  the  disbanded  men  assembled  from  time  to 
time  in  their  cantons,  and  were  provided  with 
arms,  stores,  and  clothing  from  the  depots  dis- 
seminated over  the  country. 

The  immediate  result  of  Stein's  reforms  was  a 
vast  increase  of  national  spirit  and  strength.  The 
military  service  of  the  country  was  accepted  by 
all  without  reluctance,  in  tacit  preparation  for  the 
day  of  reckoning  with  France;  and  the  struggle 
of  1814  once  over,  the  minister  was  encouraged 
by  every  class  to  elaborate  a  complete  project  for 
the  perpetuation  of  the  system  which  had  restored 
glory  and  freedom  to  Prussia.  The  foundation  of 
the  permanent  constitution  of  the  national  force 
was  laid  by  the  remarkable  law  of  September  3, 
1814 — which  for  more  than  forty  years  was  the 
charter  adhered  to  by  government  and  people  as 
binding  on  both  sides,  and  which  in  its  intro- 
duction is  declared  to  be  the  issue  of  the  wishes 
of  the  whole  nation — and  in  the  landwehr  ordinance 
of  21st  November,  1815. 

"In  a  lawfully  administered  armament  of  the 
country  lies  the  best  security  of  lasting  peace." 
Such  is  the  principle  proclaimed  as  its  ground- 
work, together  with  the  more  immediate  necessity 
of  maintaining  intact  by  the  general  exertions  the 
freedom  and  honourable  condition  which  Prussia 
had  just  won.  All  former  exemptions  from 
service  in  favour  of  the  noblesse  were  from  this 
time  abrogated.  Every  native  of  the  state,  on  com- 
pleting his  twentieth  year,  was  to  be  held  as  bound 
to  form  part  of  her  defensive  power;  but,  with  a 
view  to  the  avoiding  inconvenient  pressure  on  the 
professional  and  industrial  population,  the  armed 
force  was  to  be  composed  of  sections  whose  service 


224 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


should  lessen  in  severity  as  their  years  advanced. 
The  whole  system  comprised,  1st,  a  standing  army, 
the  annual  contingent  of  recruits  to  which  was  laid 
down  at  40,000  men,  who  were  to  form  the  nucleus 
of  the  regular  army  of  140,000 ;  2nd,  a  landwehr 
of  the  first  call ;  3rd,  a  landwehr  of  the  second 
call ;  and  4th,  the  landsturm. 

The  standing  army  was  to  be  composed  of  volun- 
teers willing  to  undergo  the  necessary  examinations 
for  promotion,  with  a  view  to  the  adoption  of  a 
regular  military  career;  of  men  voluntarily  enlisting 
without  being  prepared  for  such  examination ;  and 
of  a  sufficient  number  of  the  youth  of  the  nation 
called  out  from  their  twentieth  to  their  twenty-fifth 
year — the  first  three  years  to  be  spent  by  these 
latter  actually  with  the  colours;  the  other  two  as 
"  reserved  "  recruits,  remaining  at  home,  but  ready 
to  join  the  ranks  at  the  first  sound  of  war. 

The  landwehr  of  the  first  call,  composed  of 
men  from  twenty-five  to  thirty-two  who  had  passed 
through  the  regular  army  and  reserve,  was  designed 
for  the  support  of  the  standing  army  in  case  of 
war,  and  was  liable  to  serve  at  home  or  abroad, 
though  in  peace  only  to  be  called  out  for  such 
exercise  as  is  necessary  for  training  and  practice. 

The  landwehr  of  the  second  call  was  intended 
in  case  of  war  for  garrison  duty,  or  in  special  need, 
to  be  used  in  its  entirety  either  for  corps  of  occu- 
pation or  reinforcements  to  the  army.  It  consisted 
of  all  who  had  left  the  army  and  the  first  call. 
The  drill  of  the  second  call  was  in  time  of  peace 
only  for  single  days,  and  in  their  own  neigh- 
bourhood. 

The  landsturm  was  to  be  called  out  only  in 
provinces  of  the  kingdom  actually  invaded,  and 
then  must  be  summoned  by  a  special  royal  decree. 
It  included  all  the  men  up  to  the  fiftieth  year  who 
were  not  regularly  allotted  to  the  army  or  land- 
wehr; of  all  who  had  completed  their  landwehr 
service;  and  of  all  the  youth  able  to  carry  arms 
who  had  attained  their  seventeenth  year.  It 
consisted  of  civic  and  local  companies  in  the  towns, 
villages,  and  open  country,  according  to  the  divi- 
sions of  the  districts  for  other  governmental  pur- 
poses. No  provision,  however,  was  made  for  the 
exercise  of  these  companies,  which  have,  in  fact, 
existed  only  on  paper.* 

*  In  the  preceding  historical  sketch,  as  well  as  in  the  similar  portion 
of  the  following  chapter  on  the  military  system  of  France,  we  have 
been  considerably  indebted  to  a  very  able  work  by  Colonel  Chesney 
and  Sir.  Henry  Reeve,  on  "The  Military  Resources  of  Prussia  and 
France  "  (London,  Longman  &  Co.,  1870). 


From  what  we  have  just  said  it  will  be  seen  that 
by  the  law  of  1 8 14  every  Prussian  subject  capable  of 
carrying  arms  was  called  upon  to  serve  from  the 
age  of  twenty  to  twenty- three  in  the  active  army; 
from  twenty-three  to  twenty-five  in  the  reserve; 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty-two  in  the  first  call  of 
the  landwehr;  and  from  thirty -two  to  thirty-nine 
in  the  second — the  landsturm  comprehending  all 
citizens  from  the  age  of  seventeen  to  forty-nine  who 
were  not  incorporated  in  the  army  or  landwehr. 
The  Prussian  forces  were  therefore  composed  in  the 
following  manner: — 1st.  The  standing  arrny  in 
time  of  peace,  140,000 ;  and  by  the  embodiment 
of  the  reserve  on  a  war  footing,  of  220,000. 
2nd.  The  first  call  of  the  landwehr,  infantry 
and  cavalry,  numbering  in  time  of  war  150,000. 
3rd.  The  second  call  of  the  landwehr,  numbering 
110,000.  If  we  add  to  these  figures  the  50,000 
men  capable  of  being  recruited  by  the  antici- 
pation of  their  time  of  service,  we  attain  a  total 
of  530,000,  of  which  340,000  composed  the  armies 
in  the  field,  and  the  rest  the  depots  and  garrisons. 
Only  a  quarter  of  these  forces  were  maintained 
by  the  state  in  time  of  peace. 

Such  was  the  achievement  of  Scharnhorst,  and 
of  those  patriots  whom  yet  Prussia  remembers 
with  gratitude.  The  organization  subsisted,  almost 
without  modification,  during  the  two  reigns  of 
Frederick  William  III.  and  of  his  son,  Frederick 
William  IV.,  brother  of  the  reigning  king.  During 
many  years  no  occasion  arose  to  consecrate  on  the 
field  the  system  initiated  in  1813.  While  Prussia 
seemed  for  ever  condemned  to  inaction,  Russia  was 
skirmishing  in  the  Caucasus,  Austria  was  kept 
in  arms  by  her  Italian  difficulties,  and  France 
had  ever  in  Algeria  a  school  of  war  in  which  to 
form  her  officers  and  prove  her  troops.  It  was 
feared  that  time  had  in  a  great  measure  deadened 
the  spirit  of  1813,  and  that  the  enforced  military 
service  had  become  odious  to  the  people.  In  1830, 
under  the  influence  of  a  strong  popular  emotion, 
the  Prussian  government  called  out  a  part  of  the 
landwehr,  and  the  result  undeniably  showed  that 
the  enthusiasm  kindled  by  the  War  of  Indepen- 
dence had  considerably  evaporated.  Nevertheless, 
it  was  judged  dangerous  to  modify  the  existing 
system,  since  it  contained  the  essential  germ  of 
an  ideal  army:  obligatory  service.  In  1848,  in 
1850,  in  1854,  and  in  1859,  the  landwehr  was 
again  embodied ;  and  though  no  hostilities  followed 
to  test  the  system  by  the  stern  proofs  of  war,  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


225 


government  found  it  unready  for  action,  and  ill 
suited  to  the  needs  of  a  bold  policy.  On  eacli  occa- 
sion it  was  observed  that  the  tactical  combination 
of  elements  so  differently  constituted  worked  badly 
in  practice.  The  landwehr  officers  showed  a  keen 
jealousy  of  the  assumed  superiority,  both  of  their 
comrades  of  the  line  and  of  the  staff,  who  con- 
trolled the  whole.  Educated  in  a  thoroughly 
military  course:  possessed  generally  of  more  means 
than  the  regulars;  and  commanding  soldiers  as 
good,  at  the  least,  as  the  recruits  under  the  latter; 
endowed,  moreover,  constitutionally,  with  a  sort  of 
military  equality,  they  manifested  an  unmistakable 
impatience  in  appearing  in  the  field  to  support 
a  policy  which,  in  two  instances  at  least,  was 
not  heartily  favoured  by  the  sympathies  of  the 
nation. 

The  royal  government  saw  clearly  enough  that 
an  army  thus  composed  could  not  be  relied  upon 
for  accomplishing  the  vast  scheme  of  German 
supremacy,  bequeathed  by  the  Great  Elector  as 
his  hereditary  legacy  to  the  Hohenzollerns.  The 
decrees  of  November,  1850,  and  of  April,  1852, 
aimed  at  remedying  these  evils.  The  formation 
of  the  army  was  materially  altered.  Infantry 
brigades  were  thenceforward  to  be  composed  of 
two  regiments  of  the  line  and  one  corresponding 
body  of  landwehr.  In  March,  1853,  a  ministerial 
order  completed  this  amelioration,  and  the  arrange- 
ment was  highly  effective  in  amalgamating  the 
two  elements  which  composed  the  national  forces. 
These  alterations,  however,  were  trifling  com- 
pared to  the  measures  of  1860,  in  which  year  the 
national  forces  underwent,  at  the  mere  will  of  the 
executive,  a  change,  in  regard  to  numbers,  as 
great  as  any  ever  wrought  by  republican  vote 
or  imperial  decree;  and  notwithstanding  six  years 
of  firm  remonstrance  on  the  part  of  the  House 
of  Deputies,  the  new  system  was  maintained  in 
every  detail  until  the  long-prepared-for  war  came 
to  justify  its  authors  in  the  eyes  of  the  nation. 
At  one  stroke  the  annual  supply  of  recruits  actually 
drafted  into  the  line  was  raised  from  40,000  to 
63,000.  The  standing  army  was  augmented  by 
117  infantry  battalions,  10  regiments  of  cavalry, 
31  companies  of  artillery,  18  of  engineers,  and 
9  battalions  of  train  for  the  hitherto  insufficient 
transport  departments. 

The  authors  of  the  re-organization  took  for 
the  starting-point  of  their  calculations  the  fact  that 
the  resources  of  the  country  in  point  of  population 


and  revenue  had  so  increased  since  1815  that  the 
army  was  no  longer  in  proportion  with  them. 
When  the  fundamental  law  of  1814  first  took 
effect,  a  call  to  arms  was  made  of  1^  per  cent, 
of  the  population;  and  though  the  standing  army 
was  now  augmented  from  140,000  to  217,000,  the 
proportion  still  remained  below  1^  per  cent.,  so 
rapid  had  been  the  increase  of  population.  The 
pecuniary  sacrifices  were  also  relatively  much 
inferior  to  those  accepted  without  a  murmur  in 
1814.  At  that  epoch,  in  spite  of  the  impover- 
ished condition  of  the  nation,  the  army  of  140,000 
cost  35  per  cent,  of  the  state  receipts.  On  the 
eve  of  the  Austrian  war,  the  army  of  .217,000 
then  absorbed  but  29  per  cent,  of  the  budget 
of  receipts.  It  will  be  thus  seen  that  the  aug- 
mentation of  the  active  army  in  1860  was  con- 
sistent with  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  law  of 
September,  1814.  But  the  king's  object  was  not 
only  to  multiply  the  numerical  force  of  the  army  in 
proportion  to  the  growth  of  population,  but  to  give 
that  army  a  permanent  consistency  that  should 
abrogate  the  necessity  of  drawing  able-bodied  men 
from  "  the  people  under  arms,"  and  thus  relieve 
the  country  from  the  indisputable  evils  attendant 
upon  the  landwehr  system  pure  and  simple. 

The  most  serious  innovation  of  1860  remains  to 
be  noticed.  It  will  be  remembered  that,  under  the 
law  of  1814,  the  recruit  owed  the  state  three  years 
of  active  and  continual  service,  and  two  years  of 
service  in  the  reserve.  The  re-organization  decree 
of  1860  prolonged  the  service  in  the  reserve  to  four 
years.  The  increase  of  taxation  thus  caused,  and 
the  prolongation  of  military  service,  were  amply 
compensated,  however,  by  the  security  conferred 
upon  the  rest  of  the  population.  Under  the  old 
system  the  army  could  only  be  placed  on  a  war 
footing  by  drafting  into  it  large  bodies  of  the 
landwehr.  It  is  easy  to  understand  the  constant 
perturbation  and  anxiety  the  possibility  of  such 
an  event  created  among  the  people.  The  line  of 
policy  that  led  Prussia  into  the  war  of  1866  might 
not  have  possessed  the  suffrage  and  consent  of 
the  whole  nation  ;  but  the  discontent  would  have 
been  immeasurably  more  open  and  serious  had  the 
610,000  men  that  expressed  the  strength  of  the 
Prussian  army  in  July,  1866,  been  obtained  princi- 
pally by  means  of  the  landwehr.  The  actual  means 
employed  were  found  to  be  less  costly  than  the 
former  system.  Even  a  partial  mobilization  entailed 
enormous  expense,  each  commune  having  to  be  in- 
2  F 


226 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


demnified  for  its  relief  of  the  families  left  destitute 
by  the  departure  of  the  male  members.  Statistics 
prove  that  the  cost  of  each  soldier  was  consi- 
derably lessened  by  the  re-organization.  In  1820 
a  soldier  cost  annually  211  thalers;  in  1830  the 
expense  had  fallen  to  177  thalers;  during  the 
mobilization  that  took  place  in  1859,  the  cost 
reached  214  thalers.  After  the  re-organization  it 
was  rated  at  196  thalers.  Though  the  Schleswig 
campaign  was  undertaken  in  the  winter  of 
1864,  it  was  not  found  needful  to  call  upon 
any  part  of  the  landwehr,  or  indeed  to  mobilize 
all  the  standing  army  corps.  In  1866,  however, 
under  the  pressure  of  a  heavier  strain,  Prussia 
was  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the  landwehr, 
and  the  great  advantages  of  the  system  were 
then  fully  demonstrated.  The  number  of  men 
from  the  landwehr  incorporated  in  the  army  of 
610,000,  at  the  disposition  of  the  Prussian  govern- 
ment in  1866,  was  estimated  at  191,500;  but  of 
the  261,000  combatants  who  took  part  in  the 
battles  of  Turnau,  Miinchengrlitz,  Trautenau,  Skaliz, 
Nachod,  Gitchin,  and  Sadowa,  only  27,000  had 
been  summoned  from  it.  How  completely  the 
victories  of  that  year  swept  away  all  opposition  to 
the  Bismarck  regime  and  the  royal  military  system ; 
how  the  current  of  democracy,  long  dashing  vainly 
against  the  power  of  the  monarchy,  turned  aside  to 
flow  in  the  tempting  channel  of  national  aggrandise- 
ment; how  German  patriots  came  to  look  upon 
their  great  standing  army  as  no  useless  attribute 
of  absolutism,  but  the  mighty  instrument  of  com- 
pleting the  once  ideal  Fatherland,  and  framing,  for 
the  vision  of  past  days,  a  solid  existence :  these  are 
now  matters  of  familiar  history. 

The  campaign  of  1866  added  four  millions  of 
the  most  warlike  races  of  Germany  to  the  Prussian 
dominions;  and  to  the  whole  of  these  the  obliga- 
tion to  serve  in  the  army  was  extended.  The 
eight  corps  of  the  old  Prussian  army  were  raised 
to  twelve  and  a  half  by  the  formation  of  one  in 
Schleswig-Holstein,  another  in  conquered  Han- 
over, a  third  in  Cassel  and  Frankfort,  a  fourth 
created  out  of  the  fine  Saxon  army,  and  a  division 
raised  in  the  northern  half  of  Hesse-Darmstadt. 
The  Prussian  system  was  also  introduced  into 
the  independent  North  German  States,  and  every 
North  German  is,  therefore,  now  liable  to  service, 
and  no  substitution  is  allowed.  The  Federal  troops 
take  the  oath  of  fealty  to  the  Federal  general- 
issimo, and  all  form  one  army  under  one  command. 


Within  less  than  a  year  of  the  victory  of  Sadowa, 
when  the  South  Germans  still  sorely  felt  their 
defeat,  and  murmured  at  their  coming  Prussian- 
ization,  and  when  the  new  army  of  the  Northern 
Confederation  existed  only  on  paper,  Prussia  had 
to  face  the  prospect  of  a  war  with  France  on  the 
Luxemburg  question  with  the  lesser  resources 
that  had  proved  so  sufficient,  and  had  served  her  so 
well,  against  Austria.  But  France  was  then  sup- 
plied with  inferior  weapons.  Her  troops  would 
have  had  to  face  the  breech-loader  at  the  same  risk 
as  those  of  Benedek;  and  though  the  danger  of 
collision  passed  away  for  a  season,  it  was  certainly 
not  from  any  fear  on  the  side  of  the  military  guides 
of  Prussia,  who  afterwards  avowed  that  their  sole 
strategy  would  have  been  to  have  massed  the 
armies  lately  victorious  in  Bohemia  in  two  great 
columns  on  the  Rhine,  and  march  straight  for 
Paris,  trusting  to  the  needle-gun.  The  Luxem- 
burg question,  however,  was  solved  at  the  instance 
of  Europe,  and  by  the  special  interposition  of 
England,  and  the  mortal  struggle  of  the  two 
countries  was  postponed  for  three  years;  and  how 
were  these  three  years  spent  by  the  Germans? 
The  field  army  was  vastly  increased,  as  were  also 
the  reserves,  by  the  application  of  the  Prussian 
system  to  the  new  Confederation  and  its  allies. 
These  additions  were  the  natural  result  of  annexa- 
tion and  alliance,  and  concerned  the  infantry  chiefly ; 
but  most  important  changes  and  additions  were 
also  made  in  the  artillery  and  cavalry  departments, 
which  will  be  alluded  to  further  on  in  our  descrip- 
tion of  those  branches  of  the  service. 

In  a  case  where  the  whole  male  population  may 
be  said  to  be  trained  for  arms,  it  is,  of  course,  not 
an  easy  matter  to  arrive  at  the  exact  total  of  men 
capable  of  being  brought  into  the  field.  According 
to  official  returns,  however,  which  recent  experi 
ence  has  shown  to  be  below  rather  than  above  the 
numbers,  the  total  strength  of  the  army  of  the 
North  German  Confederation  amounts  to  316,224 
men  on  the  peace  footing,  and  to  952,294  men  on 
the  war  footing.  This  war  establishment  com- 
prises:— Field  troops,  privates  and  non-commis- 
sioned officers,  553,189;  depots,  ditto,  185,623; 
garrison  troops,  ditto,  208,517;  staff,  4965.  These 
are  the  armies  of  Prussia,  or  rather  the  one  army 
of  the  North  German  Confederation.  But  as  the 
non-confederate  states  of  the  South  have  made 
common  cause  in  defence  of  the  Fatherland,  in 
the  war  of  which  this  work  treats,  we  must  add 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


227 


their  forces  to  the  total.  The  Bavarian  army 
numbers  73,419  men,  or,  by  calling  in  the  re- 
serves, 96,804.  Wurtemberg  can  furnish  in  war 
time  29,392  men,  and  Baden  24,386. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  Prussian  system 
involves  the  training  for  arms  and  personal  service 
in  the  ranks  of  the  entire  male  population.  The 
peculiarity  of  the  system  is  more  in  the  universal 
liability  to  service,  without  any  option  of  substitu- 
tion. The  number  of  young  men  who  every  year 
arrive  at  the  age  of  twenty  is,  however,  much 
larger  than  the  annual  contingent  to  be  drafted 
into  the  army.  Those  who  are  not  required  for 
the  annual  contingent  are  placed  in  the  second 
Ersatz  reserve.  They  are  liable  to  be  called  on 
in  case  of  war;  but  as  the  landwehr  have  to  go  first, 
the  chance  of  their  ever  being  so  is  exceedingly 
remote.  A  very  large  number  of  able-bodied  men 
in  Germany  are  never  enrolled.  It  is  true  that 
the  landsturm  includes  all  men  between  seventeen 
and  fifty  not  forming  part  of  the  army  or  landwehr  ; 
but  this  force  is  only  liable  to  be  called  out  in 
case  of  actual  invasion. 

The  Prussian  army  which  takes  the  field  in  time 
of  war  consists  of  twelve  corps  d'armee  of  troops 
of  the  line,  and  of  the  corps  d'armee  of  the  guard. 
Each  corps  d'armee  is  organized  with  the  intention 
•of  being  a  perfectly  complete  little  army  of  itself, 
so  that  without  inconvenience  it  can  be  detached 
from  the  main  army  at  any  time.  Each  corps 
d'armee  of  the  line  in  time  of  war  consists  of  two 
divisions  of  infantry,  one  division  of  cavalry,  sixteen 
batteries  of  artillery,  and  a  military  train.  Each 
division  of  infantry  is  composed  of  two  brigades, 
each  of  which  has  two  regiments,  and  as  each 
regiment  contains  three  battalions,  in  a  division  of 
infantry  there  are  twelve  battalions  ;  to  every 
infantry  division  is  also  attached  one  regiment  of 
cavalry  of  four  squadrons,  and  one  division  of 
artillery  of  four  batteries,  making  the  total  strength 
of  the  force  under  the  command  of  every  infantry 
divisional  general  twelve  battalions,  four  squadrons, 
and  four  batteries. 

A  cavalry  division  consists  of  two  brigades,  each 
containing  two  regiments,  and  as  every  regiment  has 
in  the  field  four  squadrons,  the  division  contains 
sixteen  squadrons ;  it  has  also  two  batteries  of  horse 
artillery  attached  to  it.  The  Prussian  cavalry  bore 
itself  gallantly  in  action  in  the  war  of  1866,  and 
proved  of  abundant  service  in  outpost  work  in 
Bohemia;  but  difficulties  were  experienced  from  the 


admixture  of  half-broken  horses  and  unpractised 
riders.  These  evils  it  was  judged  necessary  to  avoid 
in  future,  by  raising  very  considerably  the  peace 
effective  of  the  cavalry  by  adding  a  fifth  squadron 
to  each  regiment,  and  increasing  the  number  of 
regiments — a  change  which  made  the  Prussians  in 
the  war  of  1870  show  a  more  marked  superiority 
in  that  arm  over  the  enemy,  than  Europe  had 
witnessed  since  the  Archduke  Charles  outman- 
oeuvred Morcau  and  Jourdan  on  the  Danube  by  the 
dexterous  use  of  his  horse. 

The  reserve  of  artillery  consists  of  one  division 
of  field  artillery,  which  forms  four  batteries,  and 
of  two  batteries  of  horse  artillery,  besides  an 
artillery  train  for  the  supply  of  ammunition. 

This  gives  the  strength  of  a  corps  d'armee  as 
twenty-four  battalions  of  infantry,  twenty-four 
squadrons  of  cavalry,  and  sixteen  batteries  of 
artillery.  Besides  this,  however,  each  corps  has 
one  distinct  "  Jaegerbataillon  "  (battalion  of  sharp- 
shooters), the  men  of  which  are  all  "picked." 
The  sons  of  "  Waldhiiter,"  "  Forster,"  "  herrho- 
saftliche  Jaeger,"  all  from  their  childhood  familiar 
with  the  handling  of  a  rifle,  are  chosen  for  this 
service.  Their  uniform  is  dark  green  instead  of 
dark  blue.  The  corps  has  also  one  battalion  of 
engineers,  besides  an  engineer  train  for  the  transport 
of  materials  for  making  bridges,  and  a  large  military 
train  which  carries  food,  hospitals,  medicines,  fuel 
for  cooking,  bakeries,  and  all  the  other  necessaries 
not  only  of  life,  but  of  the  life  of  an  army,  the 
members  of  which  require  not  only  the  same  feed- 
ing, clothing,  and  warming  as  other  members  of 
the  human  race,  but  also  bullets,  powder,  shot  and 
shells,  saddlery  for  their  horses,  and  who  from  the 
nature  of  their  life  are  more  liable  to  require 
medicines,  bandages,  srjlints,  and  all  hospital  ac- 
cessories than  other  men. 

If  we  do  not  consider  the  train  when  we  are 
calculating  the  number  of  combatants  who  actually 
fall  in,  in  the  line  of  battle,  every  battalion  may 
be  considered  to  consist  of  1002  men.  Thus  the 
force  of  infantry  and  engineers  in  a  corps  d'armee 
numbers  over  26,000,  and  on  account  of  men 
absent  through  sickness  may  in  round  numbers  be 
calculated  at  this  figure.  Each  squadron  of  cavalry 
may  be  calculated  at  150  mounted  men,  which 
makes  the  whole  cavalry  force  about  3000  men. 
Each  division  of  four  batteries  of  horse  artillery 
brings  into  the  field  590  actual  combatants,  and 
each  of  field  artillery  the  same,  so  that  the  whole 


228 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


artillery  force  of  a  corps  d'arme'e  is  about  2350 
men.  The  actual  number  of  combatants  with  a 
corps  d'arme'e  is  in  this  way  seen  to  be  31,350 
men,  which  may  be  stated  in  round  numbers  at 
31,000.  The  guard  corps  d'armee  differs  chiefly 
from  the  Hue  corps  in  having  one  additional  rifle 
battalion,  one  additional  fusilier  regiment,  and 
two  additional  cavalry  regiments,  which  increase 
its  strength  by  about  5150  actual  combatants;  the 
total  number  of  combatants  in  this  corps  may  be 
safely  assumed  as  36,000  men,  in  round  numbers. 

If  we  turn,  however,  to  the  list  furnished  by  the 
military  authorities,  we  find  that  the  army  is  said 
to  consist  of  553,189  men,  with  165,591  horses, 
of  which  only  about  102,000  belong  to  the  cavalry 
and  artillery,  and  that  it  is  accompanied  by  a 
waggon  train  of  17,743  carriages,  of  which  only 
5000  belonging  to  the  artillery  perform  any  service 
on  the  field  of  battle. 

What  has  then  become  of  these  90,000  men, 
60,000  horses,  and  11,000  carriages  which  form  the 
difference  between  the  returns  we  find  of  an  army 
on  paper  and  the  actual  number  of  men  engaged 
on  the  field  of  battle  ?  This  difference  represents 
the  moving  power  of  the  combatant  branches  ;  it 
is  this  difference  that  feeds  the  warriors  when  they 
are  well,  that  tends  them  when  wounded,  and 
nurses  them  when  struck  down  with  disease. 
Xor  are  these  the  only  duties  of  the  non-combatant 
branches.  An  army  on  a  campaign  is  a  little 
world  of  itself,  and  has  all  the  requirements  of 
ordinary  men  moving  about  the  world,  besides 
having  an  enemy  in  its  neighbourhood,  who 
attempts  to  oppose  its  progress  in  every  way  pos- 
sible. When  the  line  of  march  leads  to  a  river, 
over  which  there  is  either  no  bridge  or  where  the 
bridge  has  been  destroyed,  a  bridge  must  be 
immediately  laid  down,  and,  accordingly,  a  bridge 
train  is  necessarily  always  present  with  the  army. 
When  a  camp  is  pitched,  field  bakeries  have  to  be 
immediately  established  to  feed  the  troops  ;  field 
telegraphs  and  field  post-offices  must  be  established 
for  the  rapid  transmission  of  intelligence.  A  large 
staff  must  be  provided  for,  which  is  the  mainspring 
which  sets  all  the  works  going.  And  these  are  only 
ordinary  wants,  such  as  any  large  picnic  party  on 
the  same  scale  would  require.  When  we  consider 
that  200  rounds  of  ammunition  can  easily  be  fired 
away  by  each  gun  in  a  general  action,  that  every 
infantry  soldier  can  on  the  same  occasion  dispose 
of  120  rounds  of  ball  cartridge,  and  that  this  must 


be  all  replaced  immediately  ;  that  all  this  requires 
an  enormous  number  of  carriages,  with  horses  and 
drivers  ;  that  outside  of  the  line  of  battle  there 
must  be  medical  men,  their  assistants,  and  nurses  ; 
that  within  it  and  under  fire  there  must  be  ambul- 
ance waggons,  and  men  with  stretchers  to  bear  the 
wounded  to  them  ;  and  that  40  per  cent,  of  the 
infantry  alone  in  every  year's  campaign  are  carried 
to  the  rear,  we  may  understand  how  the  large 
difference  between  the  number  of  actual  fighting 
men  and  of  men  borne  upon  paper  is  accounted  for. 

Each  corps  d'armee  of  the  line  in  time  of  peace 
is  quartered  in  one  of  the  several  provinces  of  the 
kingdom  ;  its  recruits  are  obtained  from  that 
province,  and  its  landwehr  are  the  men  in  the 
province  who  have  served  seven  years  and  who 
have  been  dismissed  from  actual  service,  but  are 
subjected  to  an  annual  course  of  training.  The 
provinces  to  which  the  different  corps  d'armee 
belong  are: — 1,  Prussia  Proper ;  2,  Pomerania  ;  3, 
Brandenburg  ;  4,  Prussian  Saxony  ;  5,  Posen  ;  6, 
Silesia;  7,  Westphalia;  8,  Ehine  Provinces;  9, 
Schleswig-Holstein ;  10,  Hanover;  11,  Cassel, 
&c. ;  12,  Saxony.  The  guards  are  men  chosen 
from  the  strongest  of  the  military  recruits  through- 
out all  the  provinces  of  the  kingdom.  They  are 
from  five  feet  nine  inches  to  six  feet  one  inch  in 
height,  and  from  twelve  stones  to  thirteen  and  a 
half  stones  in  weight.  The  landwehr  of  the  guard 
consists  of  the  men  who  have  formerly  served  in  it. 

The  extraordinary  elasticity  of  this  organization 
was  first  manifested  during  the  campaign  of  1866. 
In  a  wonderfully  short  time  the  large  armies  which 
fought  at  Koniggriitz  were  placed  on  a  war  footing, 
and  brought  about  260,000  combatants  into  the 
very  field  of  battle,  besides  the  necessary  detach- 
ments which  must  be  made  by  a  large  army  to 
cover  communications,  mask  fortresses,  and  so 
on  ;  but  the  detachments  made  from  the  Prussian 
army  were  very  small  compared  to  those  which 
would  have  had  to  be  separated  from  an  army 
organized  on  a  different  system  ;  for  as  the  field 
army  advanced  the  depot  troops  moved  up  in  rear, 
and  formed  both  depots  and  reserves  for  the  first 
line,  while  some  of  the  garrison  troops  of  landwehr 
came  up  from  Prussia,  and  formed  the  garrisons 
of  Saxony,  Prague,  Pardubitz,  and  all  the  other 
points  on  the  lines  of  communication.  At  the 
same  time  General  Miilbe's  corps,  formed  for  the 
most  part  of  reserve  and  depot  soldiers,  pushed  up 
to  Brlinn,  and  was  hastening  to  take  its  place  in 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


229 


the  first  line,  when  its  march  was  stopped  by  the 
conclusion  of  the  long  armistice.  In  the  present 
war  the  system  was  shown  to  even  greater  per- 
fection than  in  1866;  for  not  only  were  all  gaps 
in  the  ranks  speedily  filled,  but  the  Germans  were 
able  to  leave  290,000  fighting  men  for  the  sieges  of 
Strasbourg  and  Toul  and  the  investment  of  Metz, 
and  yet  have  over  270,000  at  the  battle  of  Sedan, 
and  50,000  men  in  the  line  of  communication. 

Though  the  part  of  the  Prussian  organization 
which  refers  to  the  recruiting  of  the  army  and 
to  the  filling  up  of  the  ranks  in  case  of  war  had 
a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  success  of  the  campaigns 
in  1866  and  1870,  on  account  of  the  facility  and 
rapidity  with  which  by  its  means  the  army  could  be 
mobilized  and  brought  upon  a  war  footing,  the  por- 
tion of  the  Prussian  organization  which  relates  to 
the  combination  of  the  recruits  so  obtained  in  pliable 
bodies,  which  can  be  easily  handled,  easily  moved, 
yet  formed  in  such  due  proportions  of  the  different 
arms  as  to  be  capable  of  independent  action,  did 
not  fail  to  be  appreciated  most  fully  by  those  who, 
with  its  assistance,  gained  such  tremendous  results. 
This  portion  of  the  military  organization  of  the 
Prussian  army  is  so  simple  that  almost  every  man 
in  the  ranks  can  understand  it.  Jealous  of  expense 
in  time  of  peace,  it  allows  for  a  wide  expansion, 
without  hurry  and  without  confusion,  on  the  out- 
break of  war.  It  provides  at  the  same  time  for 
the  broadest  questions  and  the  most  minute  details, 
and  is  so  clearly  laid  down  and  so  precisely  defined, 
yet  at  the  same  time  admits  of  so  much  elasticity, 
that  the  Prussian  officers  can  find  no  words  strong 
enough  to  express  their  praise  of  it. 

As  has  been  previously  stated,  the  Prussian 
system  is  a  strictly  localized  one.  Every  district 
has  its  line  and  landwehr  regiment.  Adjoining 
districts  are  combined  hi  the  same  military  division, 
and  adjoining  divisions  are  united  in  the  same 
corps  d'armee.  Each  regiment,  division,  and  corps 
d'armee  has  thus  its  local  head-quarters,  so  that 
the  regimental  rendezvous  is  within  easy  reach,  of 
the  soldiers'  homes,  and  the  combination  of  the 
several  regiments  into  their  divisions,  and  of  the 
divisions  into  then  corps,  can  be  easily  effected. 
The  military  and  civil  staff  remain  at  the  respective 
head-quarters,  and  once  a  year,  after  the  harvest 
has  been  got  in,  the  entire  machine  is  put  together, 
its  readiness  for  service  tested,  and  any  defects 
supplied  by  calling  out  the  active  army  for  a  series 
of  military  manoeuvres  by  which  the  officers    of 


all  ranks,  as  well  as  the  men,  are  exercised  and 
instructed. 

In  peace  everything  is  always  kept  feady  for 
the  mobilization  of  the  army,  every  officer  and 
every  official  knows  during  peace  what  will  be 
his  post  and  what  will  be  his  duty  the  moment 
the  decree  for  the  mobilization  is  issued,  and  the 
moment  that  decree  is  flashed  by  telegraph  to 
the  most  distant  stations  every  one  sets  about 
his  necessary  duty  without  requiring  any  further 
orders  or  any  explanations. 

When  a  war  is  imminent  the  government  decrees 
the  mobilization  of  the  whole  army,  or  of  such  a 
portion  as  may  be  deemed  necessary.  Every  com- 
manding general  mobilizes  his  own  corps  d'armee; 
the  "  Intendantur  "  the  whole  of  the  branches  of 
the  administrative  services  ;  the  commandants 
of  those  fortresses  which  are  ordered  to  be  placed 
in  a  state  of  defence  take  their  own  measures  for 
strengthening  the  fortifications  and  for  obtaining 
from  the  artillery  depots  the  guns  necessary  for 
the  armament  of  their  parapets.  A  telegraphic 
signal  from  head-quarters  puts  the  whole  machinery 
in  operation  at  once.  In  the  landwehr  offices 
of  every  village  the  summonses  for  assembly  lie 
constantly  ready,  and  have  only  to  be  distributed. 
The  mobilization  of  the  whole  army  is  soon  com- 
plete in  every  branch.  In  the  present  campaign, 
within  four  days  of  the  order  for  mobilizing,  mili- 
tary trains  began  to  run  at  the  rate  of  forty  a  day 
towards  the  Rhine  frontier,  and  in  about  a  fort- 
night every  arm  of  the  service  was  deposited  in  their 
selected  places,  completely  equipped  for  the  field, 
even  to  the  removers  and  helpers  of  the  wounded. 

The  process  of  the  mobilization  may  be  classed 
under  the  following  five  heads  : — 1,  The  filling 
in  of  the  field  troops  to  their  war  strength  ;  2,  the 
formation  of  depot  troops ;  3,  the  formation  of 
garrison  troops  and  the  arming  of  the  fortresses  ; 
4,  the  mobilization  of  the  field  administration  ;  5, 
the  formation  of  the  head-quarter  staffs,  &c,  who 
are  to  remain  in  the  different  districts  to  supply 
the  places  of  those  who  march  to  the  seat  of  war. 

The  completion  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  field 
troops  to  war  strength  is  effected  by  drawing  in 
some  of  the  reserve  soldiers, who  supply  half  the 
total  war  strength  of  the  infantry,  one-third  of 
that  of  the  artillery,  and  one-twenty-fifth  of  that 
of  the  cavalry.  The  cavalry  has,  of  course,  on 
account  of  being  maintained  in  such  force  during 
peace,  a  superabundance  of  reserve  soldiers  avail- 


230 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


able  on  a  mobilization ;  these,  after  the  men  required 
for  the  cavalry  itself  have  been  drawn  from  them, 
are  handed  over  to  the  artillery  and  military  train, 
so  that  these  services  thus  obtain  many  valuable 
soldiers,  well  accustomed  to  mounted  duties.  The 
reserve  soldiers  who  are  to  be  enrolled  have  orders 
sent  to  them  through  the  commanding  officer  of 
the  landwehr  of  the  district  in  which  they  live, 
who  can  avail  himself  of  the  services  of  the  pro- 
vincial and  parochial  civil  authorities  to  facilitate 
the  delivery  of  these  orders.  The  men  are,  imme- 
diately on  the  receipt  of  their  orders,  required  to 
proceed  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  landwehr  of 
the  district,  where  they  are  received,  medically 
inspected,  and  forwarded  to  their  regiment,  by  an 
officer  and  some  non-commissioned  officers  of  the 
regiment  which  draws  its  recruits  from  the  district. 
Officers  who  are  required  to  fill  up  vacancies  in 
the  regular  army  on  a  mobilization  are  obtained  by 
promoting  some  of  the  senior  non-commissioned 
officers  and  calling  in  reserve  officers. 

A  great  advantage  accrues  to  the  Prussian  army 
from  the  fact,  that  the  country  supplies  horses  in 
sufficiency  for  every  branch  of  the  service.  Of 
these,  as  of  the  men,  the  local  authorities  in 
every  hamlet  keep  a  register,  and  the  requisite 
number  is  called  for  as  the  demand  arises.  On 
a  mobilization,  the  whole  army  requires  about 
100,000  horses  more  than  it  has  in  time  of  peace  ; 
in  order  to  obtain  these  quickly  the  government 
has  the  power,  if  it  cannot  buy  them  readily  from 
regular  dealers,  to  take  a  certain  number  from 
every  district,  paying  for  them  a  price  which  is 
fixed  by  a  mixed  commission  of  military  officers 
and  of  persons  appointed  by  the  civil  authorities  of 
the  district. 

Each  regiment  of  field  artillery  forms  nine  am- 
munition columns,  in  each  of  which  are  waggons 
to  carry  reserve  ammunition  for  infantry,  cavalry, 
and  artillery,  in  the  proportions  in  which  experience 
has  shown  that  ammunition  is  usually  required. 
In  the  field  these  ammunition  waggons  follow 
directly  in  rear  of  the  field  arniy,  but  are  kept 
entirely  separate  from  the  field  batteries,  the  officers 
of  which  are  justly  supposed  to  have  enough  to  do 
in  action  in  superintending  their  own  guns,  with- 
out being  hampered  with  the  supply  of  cartridges 
to  the  cavalry  and  infantry. 

Every  battalion  of  engineers  forms  a  column  of 
waggons  which  carries  tools  for  intrenching  pur- 
poses, and  also  a  heavy  pontoon  train  and  a  light 


field  bridge  train  for  which  all  is  kept  ready  during 
peace.  If  a  portion  of  the  army  is  mobilized  merely 
for  practice,  or  goes  into  camp  for  great  manoeuvres, 
as  is  done  nearly  every  summer  during  peace,  one, 
or  perhaps  two  or  three,  engineer  battalions  make 
their  trains  mobile,  in  order  to  practice  the  men 
and  to  accustom  them  to  the  use  of  the  materiel. 
Arms  and  ammunition  which  arc  required  to  com- 
plete the  war  strength  of  regiments  are  supplied 
from  the  artillery  depots.  Officers  are  allowed 
soldier  servants  on  a  more  liberal  scale  than  in 
the  English  army,  but  no  officers'  servants  are 
mustered  in  the  company  ;  they  form,  with  all  the 
non-combatant  men  of  each  battalion  of  infantry, 
the  train  which  is  attached  to  every  battalion :  this 
consists  of  the  officers'  servants  and  the  drivers  of 
the  regimental  waggons  ;  every  one  else  borne  on 
the  muster-roll  draws  a  trigger  in  action,  so  that 
the  muster-rolls  actually  show  the  number  of  rank 
and  file  who  are  present,  and  do  not  include  an}' 
of  the  followers,  who  often  never  come  up  into 
the  line  of  battle  at  all.  On  service  the  captain  of 
every  company  is  mounted,  and  is  required  to  have 
two  horses,  to  aid  in  the  purchase  of  which  he  is 
allowed  a  certain  sum  of  money  by  the  state. 

The  strength  of  an  ordinary  battalion  on  active 
service  is  one  field-officer,  four  captains,  four  first 
lieutenants,  nine  second  lieutenants,  one  surgeon, 
one  assistant-surgeon,  one  paymaster,  one  quarter- 
master, 1002  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates. 
The  train  attached  to  this  battalion  is,  besides 
officers'  sen-ants,  the  drivers  of  the  ammunition 
waggon,  which  has  six  horses  ;  of  the  Montirioaj 
Wagon,  which  carries  the  paymasters'  books, 
money  chest,  and  a  certain  amount  of  material  for 
the  repair  of  arms  and  clothing,  and  is  drawn  by 
four  horses  ;  a  hospital  cart  with  two  horses,  an 
officers'  baggage  waggon  with  four  horses,  and  men 
to  lead  four  packhorses,  each  of  which  carries  on  a 
pack-saddle  the  books  of  one  company. 

The  baggage  of  a  cavalry  regiment  on  service 
consists  of  one  medicine  cart  with  two  horses,  one 
field  forge  with  two  horses,  four  squadron  waggons, 
each  with  two  horses,  one  officers'  baggage  waggon, 
with  four  horses  ;  the  total  strength  of  a  cavalry 
regiment  in  the  field  being  23  officers,  659  men,  of 
whom  600  fall  in  in  the  ranks,  713  horses,  and 
seven  carriages. 

The  nine  ammunition  columns  which  are  formed 
by  each  artillery  regiment  for  the  supply  of  am- 
munition to  the  artillery  and  infantrv  of  the  corps 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


231 


d'arme'e  to  wliicli  the  regiment  belongs  are  divided 
into  two  divisions,  one  of  which  consists  of  five 
columns,  and  has  a  strength  of  two  officers,  175 
men,  174  horses,  and  25  waggons  ;  the  second, 
consisting  of  four  columns,  has  two  officers,  173 
men,  170  horses,  and  24  waggons.  This  division 
is  made  to  facilitate  the  dispatch  of  the  two  divisions 
separately  to  the  ammunition  depot  to  have  the 
waggons  refilled  after  then-  first  supply  of  cartridges 
has  been  exhausted,  or  to  allow  one  division  to  be 
detached  with  each  infantry  division,  in  case  of  the 
corps  d'armee  being  divided,  in  which  case  four 
columns  can  conveniently  be  attached  to  each 
infantry  division,  and  one  column  to  the  cavalry 
division  of  the  corps. 

The  reserve  ammunition  park  from  which  these 
ammunition  columns  are  replenished,  is  also  divided 
into  two  divisions,  each  of  which  has  a  strength 
of  nine  officers,  195  men,  264  carriages,  and  is 
further  subdivided  into  eight  columns  of  thirty- 
three  waggons  each.  It  is  brought  into  the  theatre 
of  war  either  by  railway  or  water  carriages,  or  by 
means  of  horses  hired  in  the  country  where  the 
war  is  being  conducted.  Generally  it  is  one  or 
two  days'  march  in  rear  of  the  army. 

A  siege  train  for  attacking  fortresses  is  not 
generally  organized  at  the  beginning  of  a  war, 
unless  the  general  plan  of  the  campaign  should  be 
likely  to  lead  the  army  into  a  country  where  fort- 
resses exist,  which  could  not  be  either  neglected 
or  masked,  and  which  must  be  reduced.  If  a  siege 
train  is  organized,  it  is  formed  with  especial  refer- 
ence to  the  fortresses  against  which  it  is  to  act, 
and  follows  the  army  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
reserve  ammunition  park. 

It  is  thus  that  the  Prussian  army  is  formed  in 
peace,  that  its  field  forces  can  be  made  ready  to 
march  in  a  few  days  in  case  of  war,  and  that  the 
troops  in  the  field  are  supplied  with  the  powder 
and  shot  which  give  them  the  means  of  fighting. 
But  I' art  de  vaincre  est  perdu  sans  Part  de  subsister 
(the  art  of  conquering  is  as  nothing  without  the 
art  of  maintaining  the  conquering  army).  An 
organization  of  even  more  importance  lies  still 
behind — the  organization  of  the  means  of  supply- 
ing the  warriors  with  food  when  in  health,  with 
medicine  and  hospitals  when  diseased  or  wounded, 
and  for  filling  up  the  gaps  which  are  opened  in 
the  ranks  by  battle  or  pestilence  ;  an  organization 
which  has  always  been  found  to  be  more  difficult 
and  to  require  more  delicate  handling  than  even 


strategical  combinations,  or  the  arraying  of  troops 
for  battle. 

The  Prussian  army  can  enter  the  field  with 
760,000  men  in  its  ranks ;  but,  as  is  well  known, 
no  army,  nor  any  collection  of  men,  can  maintain 
its  normal  strength  for  a  single  day  ;  in  such  a 
host,  even  of  young  healthy  men,  ordinary  illness 
would  immediately  cause  a  few  absentees  from 
duty,  much  more  so  do  the  marches,  the  hardships, 
and  the  fatigues  to  which  a  soldier  is  exposed  on 
active  service  before  the  first  shot  is  fired.  Then 
as  soon  as  an  action  takes  place,  a  single  day  adds 
a  long  list  to  the  hospital  roll,  and  the  evening 
sees  in  the  ranks  many  gaps  which  in  the  morning 
were  filled  by  strong  soldiers,  who  are  now  lying 
torn  and  mangled  or  dead  on  the  field  of  battle, 
The  dead  are  gone  for  ever ;  they  are  so  much 
power  lost  out  of  the  hand  of  the  general ;  nor 
can  an  army  wait  till  the  wounded  are  cured  and 
are  again  able  to  draw  a  trigger  or  to  wield  a  sabre. 
Means  must  be  taken  to  supply  the  deficiencies  as 
quickly  as  possible,  and  to  restore  to  the  com- 
mander of  the  army  the  missing  force  which  has 
been  expended  in  moving  his  own  army  through 
the  first  steps  of  the  campaign,  or  in  resisting  the 
motion  of  his  adversary.  What  is  the  amount  of 
such  deficiencies  may  be  estimated  from  Prussian 
statistics,  which  have  been  compiled  with  great 
care,  and  from  the  experience  of  many  campaigns  ; 
these  state  officially  that  at  the  end  of  a  year's 
war  40  per  cent,  of  the  infantry  of  the  field  army, 
20  per  cent,  of  the  cavalry,  artillery,  and  engin- 
eers, and  12  per  cent,  of  the  military  train  would 
have  been  lost  to  the  service,  and  have  had  to 
be  supplied  anew. 

It  is  for  the  formation  of  these  supplies  of  men, 
and  for  forwarding  them  to  the  active  army,  that 
depots  are  intended.  The  depots  of  the  Prussian 
army  are  formed  as  soon  as  the  mobilization  takes 
place,  and  it  is  ordered  that  one  half  of  the  men  of 
each  depot  should  be  soldiers  of  the  reserve,  who, 
already  acquainted  with  their  drill,  can  be  sent  up 
to  the  front  on  the  first  call ;  the  other  half  of  each 
depot  consists  of  recruits  who  are  raised  in  the 
ordinary  way,  and  of  all  the  men  of  the  regiments 
belonging  to  the  field  army  which  have  not  been 
perfectly  drilled  by  the  time  their  regiment  marches 
to  the  seat  of  war.  The  officers  of  the  depots  are 
either  officers  who  are  detached  from  the  regular 
army  for  this  duty,  or  are  officers  who  have  been 
previously  wounded,  and  who  cannot  bear  active 


232 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


service,  but  can  perform  the  easier  duties  of  the 
depot,  besides  young  officers,  who  are  being  trained 
to  their  duty  before  joining  their  regiments. 

Since  the  re-organization  of  1859,  the  number 
of  depot  troops  kept  up  during  a  war  has  been 
quite  doubled ;  formerly  every  two  infantry  regi- 
ments had  onedep6t  battalion, and  every  two  cavalry 
regiments  one  depot  squadron.  When  the  army 
was  re-organized,  it  was  foreseen  that  this  amount 
of  depot  troops  would  never  be  sufficient  in  case  of 
a  war  of  any  duration  or  severity,  so  by  the  new 
regulations  each  infantry  regiment  has  one  depot 
battalion  of  18  officers  and  1002  men ;  each  rifle 
battalion,  a  depot  company  of  4  officers  and  201 
men  ;  each  cavalry  regiment,  a  depot  squadron 
of  5  officers,  200  men,  and  212  horses  ;  each  field 
artillery  regiment  (96  guns),  a  depot  division  of 
one  horse  artillery  battery,  and  three  field  batteries, 
each  of  four  guns,  with  14  officers,  556  men,  and 
189  horses  ;  every  engineer  battalion,  one  depot 
company  of  4  officers  and  202  men  ;  every  train 
battalion,  a  depot  division  of  two  companies,  which 
muster  together  12  officers,  502  men,  and  213 
horses.  All  this  is  required  to  feed  the  army  in 
the  field  with  supplies  of  men  to  take  the  places 
of  those  who  pass  from  the  regimental  muster 
roll  into  the  lists  of  killed,  died  in  hospital,  or  dis- 
abled ;  for  those  who  are  only  slightly  wounded 
return  to  their  duty  either  in  the  depot  or  at  once 
to  their  battalions,  as  is  most  convenient  from  the 
situation  of  the  hospital  in  which  they  have  been. 

As  a  rule,  four  weeks  after  the  field  army  has 
marched,  the  first  supply  of  men  is  forwarded  from 
the  depots  to  the  battalions  in  the  field.  This  first 
supply  consists  of  one-eighth  of  the  calculated 
yearly  loss  which  has  been  given  above.  On  the 
first  day  of  every  succeeding  month  a  fresh  supply 
is  forwarded.  Each  of  these  later  supplies  is  one- 
twelfth  of  the  total  calculated  yearly  loss.  If  a 
very  bloody  battle  is  fought,  special  supplies  are 
sent  at  once  to  make  up  the  losses  of  the  troops 
that  have  been  engaged. 

The  troops  in  depot  are  provided  with  all  articles 
of  equipment  with  which  they  should  take  the 
field.  "When  a  detachment  is  to  be  sent  to  the 
front,  all  who  belong  to  one  corps  d'armee  are 
assembled  together;  the  infantry  soldiers  are  formed 
into  companies  of  200  men  each  for  the  march, 
the  cavalry  into  squadrons  of  about  100  horsemen, 
and  are  taken  under  the  charge  of  officers  to  the 
field  army,  thus  bringing  to  the  front  with  them 


the  necessary  reserves  of  horses.  The  places  in 
the  depots  of  those  who  have  marched  away  are 
filled  up  by  recruiting. 

An  army,  though  of  great  strength  and  well 
provided  with  supplies  of  men,  cannot  always  be 
sure  of  taking  the  initiative,  and  by  an  offensive 
campaign  driving  the  war  into  an  enemy's  country. 
Judging  from  the  experience  of  both  the  Prusso- 
Austrian  and  Franco-Prussian  wars,  there  seems 
no  doubt  that  an  offensive  campaign  is  much 
better  for  a  country  and  much  more  likely  to 
achieve  success  than  a  defensive  one.  But  political 
reasons  or  want  of  preparation  often  force  an 
army  to  be  unable  to  assume  the  offensive,  and 
with  the  loss  of  the  initiative  make  a  present  to  the 
enemy  of  the  first  great  advantage  in  the  war.  In 
this  case  the  theatre  of  war  is  carried  into  its  own 
territory,  when  an  army  requires  fortresses  to 
protect  its  arsenals,  dockyards,  and  its  capital,  to 
cover  important  strategical  points,  or  to  afford  a 
place  where,  in  case  of  defeat  or  disaster,  it  may  be 
re-organized  under  the  shelter  of  fortifications  and 
heavy  artillery.  It  has  been  seen  in  this  war  that 
small  fortresses  do  not,  as  a  rule,  delay  the  progress 
in  the  field  of  a  large  invading  army,  which  can 
afford  to  spare  detachments  to  prevent  their  garri- 
sons from  making  sallies.  Bitsche,  Phalsburg,  and 
Thionville  did  not  delay  the  German  armies  for  a 
day,  though  they  are  each  strong  places ;  but  they 
were  masked  by  detachments,  the  loss  of  which 
from  the  fine  of  battle  was  hardly  felt  by  the  main 
body,  and  the  great  lines  of  the  German  armies 
passed  in  safety  within  a  few  miles  of  their  paralyzed 
garrisons. 

Under  certain  circumstances,  however,  it  was 
found  that  small  fortresses  may  prove  a  very 
serious  inconvenience  to  an  invader,  who  generally 
counts  upon  using  the  main  roads  and  lines  of 
railway  of  the  country  through  which  he  passes. 
In  the  case  of  Toul,  during  the  late  war,  a  third- 
rate  fortress,  with  a  garrison  ridiculously  small 
compared  with  the  overwhelming  number  of 
besiegers,  prevented  the  Germans  for  full  six  weeks 
from  using  the  main  railway  to  Paris;  thus  oblig- 
ing them  to  make  a  wide  detour  over  a  toilsome 
road,  with  all  their  heavy  guns  and  provisions. 
It  was  a  double  inconvenience,  inasmuch  as  the 
very  essential  Prussian  field  telegraph  could  not  be 
attached  to  and  used  with  the  ordinary  lines,  but 
was  obliged  to  be  laid  across  the  open  country, 
where,  notwithstanding  the  innumerable  patrols, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


233 


it  was  being  constantly  cut  by  tlie  Frencb 
peasants. 

As  long  as  fortresses  exist  they  require  garri- 
sons, but  the  troops  which  are  formed  in  Prussia 
on  the  breaking  out  of  a  war  are  not  intended,  in 
case  of  an  offensive  campaign,  only  to  hang  list- 
lessly over  the  parapets  of  fortified  places.  When 
an  army  pushes  forward  into  a  foreign  country,  it 
leaves  behind  it  long  lines  of  road  or  railway  over 
which  pass  the  supplies  of  food,  clothing,  medi- 
cines, and  stores,  which  are  vitally  important  to 
the  existence  of  an  army.  With  an  unfriendly 
jiopulation,  and  the  enemy's  cavalry  ready  always 
to  seize  an  opportunity  of  breaking  in  upon  these 
lines  of  communication,  of  charging  down  upon 
convoys,  and  destroying  or  burning  their  con- 
tents, and  of  thus  deranging  seriously  what  might 
be  called  the  household  economy  of  the  army,  it 
is  necessary,  especially  on  lines  of  railway,  that 
strong  garrisons  should  be  maintained  at  parti- 
cular points,  and  that  patrols  should  be  furnished 
for  nearly  the  whole  line.  Towns  have  to  be 
occupied  in  rear  of  the  front  line,  depots  of  stores 
have  to  be  guarded  and  protected,  convoys  have 
to  be  escorted,  telegraph  lines  watched,  the  forti- 
fications which  may  fall  garrisoned.  To  detach 
troops  for  the  performance  of  all  these  duties 
dribbles  away  the  strength  of  an  army.  To  pro- 
vide for  these  duties,  and  to  allow  the  main  armies 
to  push  forward  in  almost  unimpaired  strength, 
Prussia  forms  on  the  mobilization  of  the  field 
army  her  so-called  garrison  troops. 

For  the  formation  of  garrison  troops  the  Prussian 
government  makes  use  of  the  landwehr  men,  or 
men  who  have  passed  through  the  army  and 
reserve,  and  are  between  twenty-seven  and  thirty- 
two  years  of  age.  The  landwehr  battalions  can  be 
called  out  either  of  a  strength  of  402  men  each,  by 
calling  in  the  younger  men  of  the  landwehr,  or  as 
it  is  technically  called,  the  first  augmentation  of  the 
landwehr.  By  calling  in  the  older  men  in  the 
second  augmentation  each  battalion  is  raised  to  a 
strength  of  802  men.  These  battalions  can  be 
placed  in  the  field  formed  into  divisions  of  the 
same  number  of  battalions  as  the  divisions  of  the 
regular  army.  In  the  campaign  of  1870  five  such 
landwehr  divisions  were  actively  employed  in 
France. 

In  some  respects,  which  are  easily  seen,  the 
Prussian  landwehr  resembles  the  British  militia, 
but  there  are  two  vital  differences  between   our 


organization  and  that  of  Prussia.  The  first  is, 
that  in  England  when  a  militia  regiment  is  formed 
it  is  made  up  of  men  who  are  not  old  soldiers,  and 
consequently,  if  the  regiment  is  for  some  years 
disembodied,  all  its  late  recruits  know  nothing  of 
their  work  except  what  they  can  pick  up  in  the 
short  period  of  annual  training  ;  so  that  in  course 
of  time,  if  a  regiment  remains  for  many  years 
without  being  embodied,  the  mass  of  the  ranks 
contain  men  who  from  want  of  training  are  not 
qualified  to  step  at  the  outbreak  of  war  into  the 
line  of  battle.  In  the  second  place,  the  landwehr 
is  as  much  an  attendant  and  concomitant  of  an 
army  in  the  field  as  the  park  of  reserve  artil- 
lery ;  and  it  is  this  which  makes  the  landwehr 
so  valuable,  because  it  thus  takes  up  the  duties 
which  otherwise  would  have  to  be  performed  by 
detachments  from  the  active  army.  If  the  Prussian 
armies  in  1866  had  been  obliged  to  leave  detach- 
ments in  Leipsic,  Dresden,  Prague,  Pardubitz, 
and  along  the  railway  from  Gorlitz  to  Briinn, 
besides  troops  in  Hanover,  Hesse,  and  on  the 
lines  of  communications  of  the  armies  which 
were  fighting  against  the  Bavarians,  how  many 
troops  would  have  formed  the  first  lines  of  battle 
either  on  the  Danube  or  in  the  theatre  of  war  near 
the  Main  ?  The  armies  which  were  collecting, 
together  225,000  regular  troops,  for  the  attack  upon 
Vienna,  would,  unless  they  had  had  these  land- 
wehr behind  them,  have  been  reduced  to  under 
125,000  men.  In  fact,  an  English  army  under 
the  same  circumstances  would  have  been  shorn  of 
almost  half  its  strength. 

When  a  Prussian  army  with  its  unimpaired 
strength  is  preparing  to  fight  a  battle  in  an  enemy's 
country,  when  supplies  of  men  are  already  coming 
up  in  anticipation  of  the  losses  which  the  action 
will  cause,  and  when  its  lines  of  communication 
are  guarded  and  secured  by  the  garrison  troops  in 
its  rear,  it  musters  an  enormous  number  of  soldiers, 
who  must  every  day  be  provided  with  food,  with- 
out which  a  man  can  neither  fight,  march,  nor 
live  ;  and  not  only  must  it  provide  for  itself  aloneT 
but  also  for  the  prisoners  of  the  enemy  who  may 
fall  into  its  hands — not  only  food,  but  hospitals, 
medicines,  and  attendants  for  the  sick,  surgeries, 
assistants,  and  appliances  for  the  wounded,  and  the 
means  of  conveying  both  sick  and  wounded  from 
the  places  where  they  fall  helpless  to  convenient 
spots  where  they  may  be  tended  and  healed  at  a 
safe  distance  from  the  danger  of  battle,  or  of  being 
2  G 


23i 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


taken  in  case  of  a  sudden  advance  of  the  enemy. 
It  is  extremely  difficult  from  mere  figures  to  realize 
what  a  gigantic  undertaking  it  has  been  to  supply 
even  food  alone  to  the  armies  which  have  fought 
in  the  late  campaign.  The  difficulties  of  such  a 
task  may  be  conceived  if  we  remember  that  the 
front  line  of  the  Prussian  armies  invading  France, 
while  Metz,  Strasburg,  and  Toul  were  still  un- 
subdued, mustered  twelve  times  the  number  of 
British  troops  with  which  Lord  Raglan  invaded 
the  Crimea  ;  that  close  behind  this  line  lay  a  second 
large  army,  and  that  this  army  and  the  army 
which  was  besieging  Strasburg  were  alone  stronger 
by  200,000  men  than  all  the  British,  German, 
and  Spanish  troops  that  fought  at  Talavera ; 
that  behind  them  again  was  a  large  mass  of 
landwehr ;  that  during  the  siege  of  Sebastopol 
the  British  army  was  stationary,  and  had  the 
great  advantage  of  sea  transport  to  within  a 
few  miles  of  its  camps,  while  in  the  late  cam- 
paign the  Prussian  army  moved  forward  at  an 
enormously  rapid  rate;  and  that  the  men  to 
be  fed  in  the  front  line  alone  numbered  about 
270,000 — a  population  larger  than  that  of  the 
twelfth  part  of  London.  He  would  be  a  bold 
man  who  would  undertake  to  supply  the  twelfth 
part  of  the  whole  population  of  the  metro- 
polis with  one  day's  food  ;  a  bolder  still  who 
would  undertake  the  task  if  this  portion  of  the 
population  were  about  to  move  bodily  on  that 
morning  down  to  Richmond,  and  would  require  to 
have  the  meat  for  their  dinner  delivered  to  them 
the  moment  they  arrived  there,  and  who,  without 
railway  transport,  agreed  to  keep  the  same  crowd 
daily  provided  with  food  until  moving  at  the  same 
rate  they  arrived  at  Plymouth  ;  and  yet  a  general 
has  to  do  much  more  than  this  in  giving  food  to 
his  men — he  has,  besides  the  ordinary  difficulties 
of  such  a  task,  to  calculate  upon  bad  roads,  weary 
horses,  breaking  waggons,  the  attacks  of  an  enemy's 
cavalry  ;  he  has  not  only  to  get  the  food  to  the 
troops,  but  in  many  cases  he  has  to  provide  it  in 
the  first  place  ;  he  has  to  keep  his  magazines  con- 
stantly stocked,  to  increase  the  amount  of  transport 
in  exact  proportion  as  his  troops  advance  ;  to  feed 
not  only  the  fighting  men,  but  all  the  men  who 
are  employed  in  carrying  provisions  to  the  com- 
batants, to  find  hay  and  corn  for  all  the  horses  of 
the  cavalry  and  for  the  horses  of  the  transport 
waggons,  and  to  arrange  beforehand  so  that  every 
man  and  horse  shall  halt  for  the  nis;ht  in  close 


proximity  to  a  large  supply  of  good  water.  This 
is  not  the  lightest  nor  the  least  of  a  general's  duties. 
It  was  the  proud  boast  of  England's  great  soldier 
that  "many  could  lead  troops;  he  could  feed  them.'' 
When  the  enemy  is  in  front,  and  any  moment  may 
bring  on  an  action,  a  general  has  little  time  to  turn 
his  mind  to  the  organization  of  a  system  of  supply. 
Then  he  must  sift  intelligence,  weigh  information, 
divine  his  adversary's  intentions  ahnost  before  they 
are  formed,  prepare  a  parry  for  every  blow,  and 
speed  a  thrust  into  any  opening  joint  of  his  antag- 
onist's harness.  The  means  of  supplying  troops 
ought  to  be  given  ready  into  the  hands  of  a  general ; 
they  should  be  all  arranged  and  organized  before- 
hand, so  that  he  has  but  to  see  that  they  are 
properly  administered  and  made  use  of. 

The  transport  which  follows  a  Prussian  army  in 
the  field,  exclusive  of  the  waggons  of  each  battalion, 
the  artillery,  engineer,  and  ammunition  trains,  and 
the  field  telegraph  divisions,  is  divided  under  two 
heads.  The  first  and  larger  portion  is  under  the 
direction  of  the  Intendantur  department,  and  is 
maintained  solely  for  the  supply  of  food,  forage, 
money,  and  extra  clothing  to  men  and  horses. 
The  second  portion  is  also  under  the  Intendantur, 
but  is  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  medical  depart- 
ment, and  carries  the  medicines  and  hospital  neces- 
saries for  the  sick  and  wounded,  together  with  the 
means  of  carrying  disabled  men. 

The  first  portion  in  charge  of  the  Intendantur 
department  consists,  in  the  first  place,  of  a  certain 
amount  of  waggons,  which  are  in  time  of  peace 
always  kept  ready  in  case  of  war,  and  immediately 
on  the  mobilization  of  the  army  are  provided  with 
horses  and  drivers  from  the  military  train,  who 
are  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  principal  officer 
of  the  Intendantur.  Each  army  has  a  principal 
Intendantur  officer;  each  corps  has  with  its  head- 
quarters an  Intendantur  officer  of  high  rank,  and 
one  of  the  next  inferior  grade  is  attached  to  each 
division.  These  officers,  with  their  subalterns 
and  assistants,  form  the  first  links  of  the  chain 
by  which  a  general  draws  food  to  his  troops. 
The  Commissariat  columns  of  each  corps  d'armee, 
which  are  always  retained  in  peace  ready  to  be 
mobilized,  consists  of  five  provision  columns,  each 
of  which  has  2  officers,  101  men,  165  horses,  and 
32  waggons.  If  the  corps  d'armee  is  broken  up 
into  divisions,  a  certain  portion  of  these  columns 
accompanies  each  infantry  division,  the  cavalry 
division,  and  the  reserve  artillery,  and  to  each  of 


THE  FRANCO -PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


235 


these  divisions  an  officer  of  Intendantur  is  attached. 
The  Prussian  plan  of  thus  giving  each  column  a 
"  Proviant  Meister,"  with  waggons,  &c,  under  his 
command,  and  making  him  responsible,  has  been 
proved  beyond  all  doubt  to  be  the  best  in  practical 
working — far  superior  indeed  to  the  French 
Intendance,  to  the  utter  failure  and  break-down  of 
which  their  earliest  disasters  are  believed  to  have 
been  due.  Under  the  Prussian  system  of  dividing 
the  responsibility  into  sections,  not  only  is  every- 
thing more  manageable  and  simple,  but  the  blame 
can  be  laid  on  the  right  shoulders  when  anything 
goes  wrong ;  whereas  in  a  great  cumbrous  central 
organization  like  that  of  the  French  it  is  difficult 
to  make  any  single  individual  responsible.  In 
the  present  war  the  Prussians,  at  a  distance  from 
their  own  supplies,  and  consequently  compelled 
to  maintain  a  long  line  of  communication  through 
an  enemy's  country,  were  actually  better  fur- 
nished with  material  and  food  than  the  French. 
They  succeeded  in  moving  their  wounded  more 
rapidly  from  the  field  of  battle;  and  their  operations 
were  never  once  impeded  by  a  want  of  transport. 
The  French  system  is  described  in  the  next 
chapter,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  essentially 
one  of  centralization,  whereas  that  of  Prussia  is 
exactly  the  reverse;  and  instead  of  providing  one 
Intendance  of  the  whole  army,  it  makes  each  corps 
d'armee  complete  in  itself. 

The  Prussians  carry  no  tents,  and  sleep  with 
nothing  but  their  cloaks  between  them  and  the 
ground.  They,  however,  secure  a  slight  protection 
from  the  weather  when  convenient  and  necessary 
by  constructing  tentes  d'abri  with  the  boughs  of 
trees.  When  the  men  arrive  at  the  end  of  their 
day's  march,  they  select  the  driest  and  most  con- 
venient place  of  ground  they  can  find,  and  set  to 
work  at  once  to  bivouac.  Having  halted,  the  arms 
are  piled,  the  battalions  being  drawn  up  in  line  of 
contiguous  columns  at  quarter  distance;  the  men 
then  take  off  their  helmets,  and  each  man  places 
his  helmet  on  his  rifle,  which  acts  as  an  effectual 
protection  from  any  wet  getting  down  the  barrel; 
the  companies  then  break  off  by  subdivisions  to 
the  right  and  left  of  their  arms,  the  knapsacks  are 
placed  in  a  row,  the  camp  kettles  taken  off,  and 
the  fatigue  squad  falls  out  from  each  company  to 
draw  water.  Meantime  the  remainder  dig  small, 
oblong  holes  in  the  ground  for  their  fires ;  a  couple 
of  sticks  at  each  end,  and  another  resting  across, 
completes  the  simple  but  practical  arrangement. 


On  this  stick  hangs  the  camp  kettles,  generally 
speaking  by  twos — one  for  the  potatoes,  and  the 
other  for  the  soup  and  meat.  This  soup  is  the 
mainstay  of  the  German  as  well  as  of  the  French, 
and  indeed  of  most  continental  armies.  It  is  very 
simply  made.  Into  the  camp  kettle  is  put  very 
much  whatever  comes  to  hand,  and  a  savoury 
mess,  at  least  for  hungry  men,  is  soon  made.  At 
night  big  fires  are  got  to  burn,  cloaks  are  then 
spread  upon  the  ground,  and  in  ten  minutes  the 
bivouac  is  complete.  The  officers  are  exactly 
on  the  same  footing  as  the  men,  and  quite  as 
much  exposed.  Upon  coming  to  the  ground 
where  it  is  intended  to  halt  for  the  night,  the 
officers  commanding  battalions  tell  off  an  officer 
and  twelve  men  to  bring  up  provisions  for  the 
troops.  There  is  no  pillaging  of  the  villages  per- 
mitted; the  strictest  orders  protect  the  inhabitants 
everywhere,  although  it  is  difficult  to  prevent  the 
cavalry  from  making  free  quarters  of  every  village 
they  come  to,  inasmuch  as  they  are  in  the  advance 
of  every  column  of  troops.  The  men  sometimes 
think  it  hard  that  in  a  conquered  country  they  are 
not  allowed  to  dig  the  potatoes;  but  the  general's 
order  is  strict,  and  a  speedy  punishment  awaits  the 
offender. 

The  160  waggons  which  form  the  Commissariat 
columns  carry  three  days'  provisions  for  every 
man  in  the  corps  d'armee;  as  soon  as  the  waggons 
which  carry  the  first  day's  supply  are  emptied, 
they  are  sent  off  to  the  magazines  in  rear,  replen- 
ished, and  must  be  up  again  with  the  troops  to 
supply  the  fourth  day's  food,  for  in  the  two 
days"  interval  the  other  waggons  will  have  been 
emptied.  As  it  is  easier  to  carry  flour  than 
bread  in  these  waggons,  each  corps  d'armee  is 
accompanied  by  a  field  bakery,  which  consists  of 
1  officer  and  118  men,  27  horses,  and  5  waggons, 
which  are  distributed  among  the  troops  as  may 
be  most  convenient;  and  as  the  horses  of  both 
the  provision  columns  and  field  bakeries  have 
very  hard  work,  a  depot  of  86  horses,  with  48  spare 
drivers,  accompanies  each  corps  d'armee.  These 
provision  columns  thus  carry  three  days'  pro- 
visions, but  in  a  country  where  supplies  are  not 
very  abundant  they  can  do  nothing  in  the  way 
of  collecting  food;  their  duty  is  simply  to  bring 
provisions  from  the  magazines  where  they  are 
gathered  together,  and  to  carry  them  to  the 
troops.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  as  the 
army    advances    these    magazines    must    advance 


236 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


also,  and  that  means  must  be  provided  for 
keeping  the  magazines  fall.  The  collection  of 
food  in  such  magazines  entails  an  enormous 
amount  of  transport;  this  transport  is  obtained 
by  hiring  waggons  and  carts  in  the  country  where 
the  war  is  being  carried  on,  or  in  the  countries 
near  it.  Waggons  hired  in  the  country  are  also 
used  for  carrying  forage  for  the  horses  of  the 
cavalry  and  artillery  from  the  magazines  to  the 
front,  for  the  provision  columns  only  carry  food 
for  the  men. 

When  it  was  found  that  the  country  was  not 
laid  waste,  the  provision  waggons  in  some  cases 
were  filled  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  troops  by 
requisitions ;  but  this  was  found  not  to  be  so  good  a 
plan  as  to  send  them  back  to  the  magazines  where  the 
provisions  were  collected  ready  for  them,  because 
the  time  taken  up  in  gathering  together  driblets  of 
food  and  forage  from  each  village,  and  the  great 
distances  over  which  waggons  had  to  move,  im- 
posed an  enormous  amount  of  work  on  both  the 
men  and  horses.  Although  the  requisition  system 
was  very  useful,  it  was  only  regarded  as  an  auxili- 
ary means  of  supply,  for  the  armies  moved  pre- 
pared every  day  to  find  that  the  country  in  front 
of  them  might  be  devastated,  and  Germany  was 
always  looked  upon  as  the  real  source  of  supplies; 
and  this  was  absolutely  necessary,  because  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  feed  such  a  large  force 
as  the  Prussian  armies  presented  by  requisitions 
alone:  for  requisitions  cannot  conveniently  be 
made  at  great  distances  from  the  direct  line  of 
communications,  and  in  a  very  short  time  the 
quarter  of  a  million  of  men  who  were  in  the  front 
line  alone  would  have  eaten  up  everything  in  the 
country  around  them  if  they  had  been  dependent 
on  that  tract  of  country  only  for  supplies.  Then, 
even  if  the  troops  could  have  got  food  from  more 
distant  places,  the  villagers  and  country  people 
would  have  starved;  and  it  is  the  interest  of  a 
general  to  make  his  requisitions  so  that  they  do 
not  drive  the  inhabitants  to  destitution,  for  terrible 
sickness  always  follows  in  the  train  of  want,  and  if 
pestilence  breaks  out  among  the  people  of  the 
country,  it  is  certain  immediately  to  appear  in  the 
ranks  of  the  invading  army.  A  Prussian  regiment 
of  infantry  (3006  men,  with  69  officers^)  has  a 
medical  staff  of  six  surgeons  attached  to  it.  All 
these  belong  to  the  highest  class  of  the  profession, 
and  have  passed  their  degrees  as  physicians.  Each 
cavalry  regiment  (602  men,  with  26  officers)  has 


three  surgeons,  and  each  detachment  of  artillery 
(540  men,  and  18  officers),  likewise  three  surgeons 
in  its  train.  Accordingly,  there  is  more  than  one 
surgeon  to  every  500  combatants,  apparently  an 
ample  provision  when  it  is  considered  that  the 
ordinary  proportion  in  Prussian  society  is  one  to 
2000.  In  addition  to  the  medical  there  is  a 
special  Krankentrdger  or  sick-bearer  service.  This 
is  divided  into  detachments,  three  detachments 
belonging  to  each  corps  d'armfe.  Each  detach- 
ment comprises  150  bearers,  eight  nurses,  eight 
lazarethe  assistants  (a  lower  order  of  the  craft), 
one  apothecary,  seven  doctors,  and  three  military 
officers.  Six  carriages  for  the  transport  of  the 
wounded,  and  four  carriages  with  bandages,  lint, 
medicine,  &c,  are  allotted  to  a  detachment.  To 
assist  the  Krankentrdger  in  their  work,  four  men 
in  every  company  of  infantry  (250  men)  have 
been  instructed  in  the  best  way  of  lifting  and 
carrying  the  wounded  from  the  field.  When 
fighting  occurs,  one  half  the  doctors  attached  to 
each  regiment  accompanies  the  combatants  into 
action;  the  other  half,  at  a  short  distance  in  the 
rear,  dressing  the  wounds  of  those  whose  cases 
were  not  attended  to  on  the  battle-field  itself. 

Each  soldier  carries  in  his  breast  some  lint 
and  a  bandage,  so  that  when  he  falls  the  sur- 
geon can  instantly  run  up,  open  his  coat,  and 
apply  a  bandage.  A  certain  number  of  tourni- 
quets are  also  carried  by  the  non-commissioned 
officers  of  each  regiment;  and,  although  in  the 
heat  of  a  pitched  battle  the  non-commissioned 
officers  could  not  stop  to  apply  tourniquets  to  the 
wounded,  yet,  as  a  proportion  of  these  also  fall,  the 
instruments  are  always  at  hand  for  the  surgeons, 
and  in  the  skirmishes,  or  in  regiments  not  exposed 
to  the  full  brunt  of  a  conflict,  there  will  yet  be  a 
certain  number  of  wounded,  many  of  whose  lives, 
which  woidd  otherwise  be  lost,  may  'be  saved  by 
the  prompt  application  of  a  tourniquet  or  bandages. 
Round  each  man's  neck  as  he  goes  into  action,  also, 
is  a  card  upon  which  is  his  name.  As  he  falls  the 
surgeon  who  examines  and  binds  up  his  wounds 
sees  at  once  whether  it  is  of  a  nature  which  will 
permit  of  the  patient  being  moved  to  a  distance  or 
not.  According  to  its  severity,  then,  he  writes  on 
the  card  whether  the  man  is  to  be  taken  to  the  field 
hospital  close  at  hand,  or  to  the  hospitals  further 
in  the  rear.  Accordingly,  when  the  ambulance 
arrives,  it  is  seen  at  once  where  the  wounded  man 
is  to  be  conveyed. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


237 


A  field  lazarethe  is  provided  with  everything 
necessary  for  200  sick  and  wounded.  Five  doctors, 
a  number  of  inferior  assistants,  and  from  three  to 
four  carriages,  form  its  staff,  which  in  case  of  need 
is  augmented  by  Krankentrdger  or  common  soldiers. 
Each  army  corps  has  twelve  field  lazarethes,  or,  to 
give  it  in  figures,  there  is  provision  made  for  the 
perfect  and  scientific  treatment  of  2400  out  of 
every  30,000  men.  If  sufficient  formerly,  this  was 
found  inadequate  in  this  first  breech-loading  cam- 
paign, when  it  has  occurred  that  every  third  man 
in  a  regiment  has  been  disabled.  The  field  lazarethe 
moves  with  the  troops.  Modern  warfare  involving 
many  battles  in  a  short  space,  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  detain  the  staff  of  the  field  lazarethes 
long  in  one  locality.  Accordingly,  all  the  slightly 
wounded,  as  soon  as  they  can  be  transported,  are 
sent  off  to  the  war  hospitals  in  Germany — institu- 
tions both  public  and  private,  the  extent  of  which 
may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  they  contain  a 
total  of  65,000  beds.  The  number  of  the  reserve 
doctors,  which  has  always  been  found  too  small, 
in  this  sanguinary  war  has  proved  so  utterly 
insufficient  as  to  cause  the  appointment  of  200 
extra  surgeons  to  be  employed  wherever  most 
required.  The  action  of  the  medical  service  on 
the  battle-field  is  directed  by  division  doctors. 
The  next  above  them  in  rank  are  the  General 
Aertze,  or  physicians-general,  one  to  each  corps 
d'armee,  who  receive  their  instructions  from  the 
General  Stabs  Arzt,  or  chief  of  the  medical  staff. 
To  give  the  soldiers  the  benefit  of  the  best  help, 
all  the  most  eminent  surgeons  of  the  country  were 
besides  requested  to  repair  to  the  front,  and 
accept  high  military  grades,  created  for  them  on 
purpose,  and  held  only  during  the  war. 

To  convey  the  wounded  from  France  into  the 
home  hospitals,  thirty  physicians  and  some  hundred 
lazarethe  assistants  and  nurses  were  engaged  by 
the  government.  Each  transport  of  a  hundred 
wounded  had  an  escort  of  one  or  two  doctors,  two 
lazarethe  assistants,  and  thirteen  nurses.  The  thirty 
physicians  set  apart  for  this  duty  saw  their  melan- 
choly convoy  only  as  far  as  one  of  the  three  Haupt 
Etappen  or  principal  stations  on  the  frontier,  by 
which  the  army  communicates  with  home.  Thence 
to  the  hospitals  the  journey  was  made  under  the 
direction  of  one  of  another  body  of  thirtv  physi- 
cians distributed  over  the  Etappen.  The  sum 
total  of  the  doctors  employed  in  the  army  at  the 
time  of  the  battle  of  Sedan  exceeded  2700. 


To  facilitate  the  treatment  by  successive  doc- 
tors, the  one  who  sees  the  patient  first  writes  his 
diagnosis  on  a  card,  which  is  fastened  round  the 
sufferer's  neck.  This  useful  bit  of  pasteboard  is, 
of  course,  attached  only  when  a  man  falls  ill;  but 
another  is  fastened  to  his  arm  the  very  day  he 
leaves  his  garrison  for  the  field.  Containing  the 
number  of  his  regiment  and  his  number  in  the 
regiment,  it  serves  for  identification  in  case  of 
death.  The  men  are  perfectly  aware  of  the  reason- 
ableness of  this  novel  arrangement,  and  regard  it 
as  a  proof  of  the  anxious  solicitude  borne  them 
by  the  government;  yet  they  have  an  instinctive 
dislike  to  the  fatal  badge,  and,  in  grim  allusion 
to  its  purpose,  dubbed  it  their  "tombstone" 
(grabstein). 

Special  arrangements  are  made  for  the  convey- 
ance of  the  wounded  by  rail.  The  fourth-class 
carriages  of  German  lines  are  entered  by  doors 
at  each  end,  and  thus  a  considerable  space  can  be 
obtained  when  the  seats  are  removed.  The  space 
is  made  available  by  screwing  into  the  opposite 
sides  of  the  carriages  stout  hooks,  from  which  the 
field-stretchers,  bearing  the  wounded,  are  suspended 
by  elastic  rings.  There  is,  therefore,  no  transfer  of 
the  patient  from  one  bed  to  another,  and  the  motion 
of  the  carriage  is  very  little  felt,  less  even  than  on 
board  ship  in  a  hammock. 

When  the  field  army,  the  depot  and  garrison 
troops,  and  the  provision  and  medical  department 
trains  have  been  mobilized,  the  Prussian  army  is 
fit  to  take  the  field.  The  necessary  commandants 
and  staffs  of  the  districts  where  the  depot  troops 
are  stationed,  are  composed  either  of  officers  de- 
tached from  the  regular  army,  or  of  reserve  or  land- 
wehr  officers.  When  the  army  takes  the  field,  its 
movements  must  be  directed  not  only  so  as  to 
pursue  the  original  plan  of  the  campaign,  but 
also  so  as  to  keep  pace  with  the  enemy's  combina- 
tions, and  the  movements  of  its  different  parts  must 
be  guided  by  orders  from  the  directing  general. 

The  Prussian  army  has  its  own  arrangements  for 
feeling  its  way  through  a  hostile  country.  The 
commander  of  the  advancing  corps  selects  a  clever 
and  determined  officer,  and  in  the  Prussian  army 
such  men  are  numerous.  Some  fifteen  or  twenty 
picked  horsemen  are  confided  to  him,  and  the 
officer  then  takes  a  man  previously  acquainted 
with  the  country  to  serve  as  guide.  The  spot 
which  the  party  desires  to  investigate  has  been 
explained  to  him,  and  pointed  out  on  an  excellent 


238 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


map  carried  by  the  officer.  The  place  is  often 
twenty  or  twenty-five  miles  from  the  Prussian 
lines.  To  the  rear  of  the  first  horseman,  who  is 
ordered  to  proceed  slowly,  following  byroads  and 
sometimes  going  across  country,  at  a  distance  of 
200  paces,  follow  two  light  troopers.  A  hundred 
paces  behind  them  comes  the  officer,  followed  at  a 
short  distance  by  eight  or  ten  of  his  men,  charged 
to  protect  him  if  necessary,  The  rear  guard  is 
like  the  advance  guard.  If  the  foremost  horseman 
is  surprised  he  fires  off  his  carbine  and  the  band 
takes  to  flight,  with  the  exception  of  the  officer 
and  his  escort,  who  advance  to  reconnoitre  before 
flying.  Even  in  the  case  of  an  ambush,  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  prevent  two  or  three  of  the  scouts 
getting  back  to  camp. 

The  above  is  a  sketch  of  the  general  system  on 
which  the  Prussian  army  is  normally  organized. 
How  such  an  army  is  worked  in  the  field,  how  its 
resources  are  made  available,  and  how  it  achieves 
the  objects  for  which  it  has  been  mobilized,  must 
depend  in  a  great  measure  upon  the  skill  of  the 
general  to  whose  direction  it  is  intrusted.  What 
an  army  so  organized  can  efFect  when  its  motions 
are  guided  by  a  skilful  hand  and  far  -  seeing 
intellect  like  that  of  Moltke,  the  rapid  victories  of 
the  late  campaign  have  shown.  When  the  field 
army  enters  on  the  theatre  of  war,  the  organizer 
and  administrator  has  done  with  it  ;  his  province 
is  then  to  take  care  that  its  recruits  are  forthcoming 
and  its  supplies  are  ready  when  required.  But 
when  an  army  is  handed  over  to  the  general  who 
is  to  use  it,  he  has  a  right  to  expect  that  when  he 
receives  his  divisions  he  shall  also  receive  the 
means  of  manoeuvring  them ;  and  when  he  assumes 
the  command  of  his  corps  he  shall  be  provided 
with  every  appliance  which  can  help  him  to  move 
them  in  the  combination  and  unison  without  which 
different  bodies  of  troops  are  not  an  army,  but 
a  series  of  scattered  detachments,  which  must 
be  easily  defeated  in  detail,  or  in  isolation  taken 
prisoners  by  an  active  and  energetic  enemy.  After 
the  plan  of  a  campaign  has  been  once  decided  upon, 
the  means  by  which  a  general  moves  his  troops  into 
positions  where  they  may  act  most  advantageously, 
and  from  which  they  may  strike  the  heavy  blows 
that  will  gain  a  speedy  and  profitable  peace — for  a 
peace  is  the  ultimate  object  of  all  wars — may  be 
classed  under  the  heads  of  Information,  Intelligence, 
and  the  Transmission  of  Orders.  Information  of 
the  enemy's  preparations,  of  the  number  of  troops 


he  can  put  into  the  field — how  those  troops  will 
be  armed,  organized,  and  administered — should 
be  obtained  by  the  government  of  the  country  to 
which  the  army  belongs,  and  communicated  to  the 
general  when  he  takes  the  command  of  the  army. 

To  acquire  this  information  concerning  foreign 
armies  during  peace  every  country  in  Europe  de- 
votes a  special  department  of  its  war  office,  which 
is  ever  busy  collecting  and  compiling  statistics 
of  every  foreign  army,  because,  however  friendly 
the  relations  of  any  two  countries  may  be,  it  can 
never  be  known  how  long  they  will  remain  so. 
As  soon  as  hostilities  are  imminent,  a  war  office 
has  little  chance  of  obtaining  much  information 
from  inside  the  lines  of  the  probable  enemy  ;  then 
the  duty  of  collecting  information  devolves  upon 
the  general  himself,  who  must,  by  every  means  he 
can  avail  himself  of,  discover,  as  far  as  possible, 
every  position  and  intention  of  his  adversary's 
troops.  For  this  purpose,  during  war,  spies  are 
generally  employed.  Spies  have  a  dangerous  task, 
and  not  an  honourable  one  ;  consequently,  except 
in  very  rare  and  extreme  cases,  officers  will  not 
accept  the  invidious  duty,  and  it  is  often  extremelv 
difficult  to  find  persons  who  will  consent  to  act  as 
spies  sufficiently  conversant  with  military  matters 
to  make  their  information  worth  having.  Monev 
is  the  great  means  of  obtaining  good  spies  ;  needv 
adventurers  and  unscrupulous  men  will,  if  well 
paid,  do  the  work,  and  for  the  sake  of  a  sufficient 
sum  run  the  risk  of  the  certain  death  which  awaits 
them  if  discovered  in  disguise  within  the  hostile 
outposts. 

The  information  collected  from  spies  is  not,  in 
most  cases,  completely  trustworthy.  In  the  first 
place,  the  men  who  undertake  this  duty  are  nearlr 
always  mercenary  wretches,  who  will  sell  friend 
and  foe  alike  as  best  suits  their  own  interest  ;  in 
the  second  place,  spies  are  seldom  sufficiently 
acquainted  with  military  matters  not  to  exaggerate 
movements  of  slight  importance  and  miss  observing 
vital  combinations.  To  test  the  accuracy  of  their 
reports  intelligence  is  collected  by  means  of  recon- 
noitring officers,  who,  either  alone  or  attended  by 
a  few  troopers,  get  as  close  as  they  can  to  the 
enemy's  posts ;  observe  as  far  as  possible,  without 
the  use  of  disguise  and  in  full  uniform,  the  posi- 
tions of  his  troops ;  and  when  discovered  and 
pursued  by  his  patrols,  fight  or  ride  to  bring  their 
intelligence  safe  home  to  their  own  outposts. 
In  the  Prussian  army  the  Uhlans,  or  lancers,  are 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


239 


often  employed  in  this  service,  and  their  great 
successes  in  the  present  campaign  proved  how 
admirably  they  were  suited  for  it.  Intelligence 
is  also  culled  by  every  vedette  and  every  ad- 
vanced sentinel,  but  the  reconnoitring  officer 
is  the  main  source.  To  reconnoitre  well  re- 
quires not  only  a  brave  but  a  very  able  officer, 
with  a  quick  eye,  a  ready  memory,  and  a  great 
knowledge  of  the  indications  which  tell  the  pres- 
ence of  hostile  troops,  and  allow  an  estimate  to  be 
formed  of  the  force  in  which  they  are.  When  the 
reconnoitring  officer  regains  the  shelter  of  his 
own  outposts,  he  must  either  personally  bring  or 
by  some  means  send  his  intelligence  as  quickly 
as  possible  to  head- quarters.  The  plan  usually 
pursued  in  European  armies  has  been  for  the 
officer  himself  to  ride  quickly  to  his  general,  and 
to  be  the  first  bearer  of  his  intelligence.  This 
means  has,  however,  been  found  by  experience  to 
be  too  slow,  and  the  Prussian  army  in  the  late 
campaign  was  accompanied  by  a  telegraphic  corps. 
By  means  of  this  corps  signals  were  flashed  from 
post  to  post,  and  the  intelligence  collected  by  the 
reconnoitring  officer  sometimes  arrived  at  head- 
quarters within  a  few  minutes  after  the  officer 
had  reached  the  outposts. 

When  a  general  receives  intelligence,  he  has  to 
weigh  it,  consider  it,  and  often  strike  the  balance 
between  conflicting  information.  He  has  then  to 
move  his  own  divisions  in  accordance  with  his 
deductions,  and  must  send  word  to  any  co-operat- 
ing force  of  what  he  has  heard,  and  what  he  is 
about  to  do.  Undoubtedly,  the  quickest  way  for 
a  reconnoitring  officer  to  despatch  his  reports  to  his 
general,  and  for  the  general  to  communicate  with 
his  own  divisions  and  with  his  colleagues,  would 
be  by  electric  telegraph ;  but  it  would  be  almost 
impossible  for  a  reconnoitring  officer  always  to  com- 
municate with  head-quarters  by  electricity.  Recon- 
noitring expeditions  are  made  so  suddenly  and  so 
uncertainly  that,  quick  as  the  Prussian  field  telegraph 
is  laid  down,  this  means  of  communication  is  not 
always  available  with  the  outposts.  Nor  is  the 
electric  telegraph  easily  used  to  communicate  with 
every  division:  it  might  be  so  used,  but  its  appli- 
cation would  require  a  number  of  extra  waggons 
to  be  attached  to  every  division,  and  would  bring 
a  confusing  number  of  lines  into  the  office  of  the 
chief  of  the  staff.  During  the  late  campaign 
orders  were  sent  to  the  divisional  commanders  by 
mounted  officers,  who  were  attached  to  head-quar- 


ters for  this  special  purpose.  Besides  these  officers 
a  certain  number  of  picked  troopers  are  selected 
from  every  cavalry  regiment,  and  formed  into  a 
special  corps  at  the  beginning  of  a  campaign,  and 
a  certain  number  attached  to  every  general.  These 
troopers  form  the  general's  escort,  and  act  as  order- 
lies to  carry  unimportant  messages.  When  an  officer 
is  sent  with  an  important  order,  one  or  two  of  these 
soldiers  are  sent  with  him,  in  case  of  his  being 
attacked  to  act  as  a  defence  as  far  as  possible,  to 
yield  up  a  horse  to  him  in  case  of  his  own  break- 
ing down,  or,  in  case  of  his  being  killed,  to  carry 
the  order  themselves  to  its  destination,  or,  at  any 
rate,  to  prevent  its  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy  if  the  officer  is  wounded  and  likely  to  be 
taken.  During  the  campaign  the  communications 
between  head-quarters  and  divisions  were  usually 
kept  up  by  means  of  mounted  officers ;  but  com- 
munications between  the  head-quarters  of  each 
army  and  the  king  were  always  maintained  by 
means  of  the  field-telegraph. 

To  understand  the  Prussian  field  telegraph 
system,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  army 
is  composed  of  various  corps  d'armee,  and  each 
corps  of  two  divisions  ;  therefore  the  telegraph  is 
divided  into  three  sections — 1,  the  station  at  the 
commander-in-chief's;  2,  the  station  at  each  corps  ; 
3,  the  station  at  each  division.  Each  station  has 
one  inspector  and  five  secretaries  or  clerks,  four 
carriages,  two  smaller  ones,  and  six  waggons.  The 
first-named  contain  the  cable,  the  second  the  appa- 
ratus and  batteries,  and  the  last-named  the  posts 
uj>on  which  the  wires  are  fixed.  Each  carriage  con- 
tains twenty  English  miles  of  cable,  and  the  average 
time  it  takes  to  lay  it  is  three  hours  to  every  four 
miles.  The  process  of  laying  is  naturally  the  most 
scientific  part  of  the  arrangement,  and  is  conducted 
in  the  following  manner: — An  intelligent  officer 
from  the  army  with  some  assistant  with  him,  is 
intrusted  with  the  general  supervision  of  the 
telegraph  of  each  army,  and  to  him  is  committed 
the  task  of  directing  where  the  main  line  shall  run. 
He  rides  on  ahead  of  the  waggons,  which  proceed 
at  a  footpace,  the  cable  being  passed  out  over  a 
wheel,  and  indicates  to  the  drivers  by  means  of  a 
piece  of  paper  stuck  on  a  stick  or  a  blazed  tree  the 
direction  they  shall  follow.  In  the  meantime,  the 
foot  soldiers  attached  to  the  telegraph,  who  are 
selected  from  the  regiments  for  superior  intelli- 
gence, and  wear  a  different  uniform,  with  a  large  T 
on  the  shoulder-strap,  are  divided  into  what  is  called 


240 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


troops,  or,  in  navvy  language, l:  gangs,"  of  three  men 
each.  The  first  take  the  wire  as  it  is  payed  out, 
lay  it  on  the  ground,  and  on  it  a  post  for  every 
100  yards;  the  second,  coming  after  them,  twist 
the  cable  round  the  insulator,  which  is  made  of 
gutta-percha,  not  glass  as  with  British  telegraphs, 
and  erect  the  posts  in  the  ground.  This  is  a  matter 
of  great  ease,  they  being  about  twelve  feet  high, 
and  about  the  thickness  of  the  butt  end  of  a  salmon 
rod,  slightly  tapering  towards  the  top.  The  third 
troop  strain  the  wire,  and  ascertain  that  it  is  clear 
of  all  wood,  &c,  and,  in  short,  "  runs  clear." 
Whenever  it  is  possible,  the  trees  are  used  as  tele- 
graph posts,  being  easily  ascended  to  the  requisite 
height  by  means  of  a  light  ladder.  The  whole 
of  the  cable  carried  is  seldom  all  required,  for 
the  lines  of  the  communications  of  armies  usually 
run  along  railways,  and  as  far  as  possible  the  per- 
manent wires  are  repaired  by  the  men  of  the 
division,  and  made  use  of  for  the  telegraphic  com- 
munication of  the  army.  The  obstinate  resistance, 
however,  of  several  fortified  places,  Toul  especi- 
ally, prevented  the  carrying  out  of  this  plan  for 
several  weeks  in  the  late  war.  Each  division  carries 
with  it  five  miles  of  insulated  wire  for  the  purpose 
of  laying  through  rivers  or  lakes,  if  these  should 
come  in  the  way  of  the  line.  The  wires  are  coiled 
inside  each  waggon  on  rollers,  from  which  they 
can  be  uncoiled  as  the  waggon  moves  along,  or 
in  bad  ground  the  roller  can  be  transferred  to  a 
stretcher,  which  is  carried  between  two  men.  The 
wire  is  carried  about  ten  feet  high,  so  that 
where  it  crosses  roads  it  may  pass  clear  over 
the  heads  of  mounted  men.  As  it  is  equally 
culpable  in  war  to  prevent  communication  by 
unfair  means  within  the  lines  of  an  army,  as  it 
is  to  seek  to  obtain  the  same  in  disguise  between 
the  enemy's  sentries,  any  enemy  not  in  uniform, 
or  any  one  in  the  enemy's  pay  who  is  detected 
cutting  the  telegraph  wire,  is  regarded  as  a  spy, 
and  treated  accordingly.  When  on  the  field  of 
battle,  the  telegraph  is  worked  by  a  machine  fixed 
inside  one  of  the  carriages,  unless  a  house  is  obtain- 
able, when  a  room  is  instantly  turned  into  an  office. 
One  of  the  most  highly  prized  services  of  the 
army  is  the  Field  Post.  Each  corps  d'armee  has  a 
head  postmaster,  under  whom  are  the  following 
staffs: — Six  clerks  attached  to  the  office  of  the 
head-quarters,  four  at  the  head-quarters  of  each 
division,  and  three  with  the  reserve  of  each  corps. 
Besides   this    he   has    fourteen  letter-sorters  and 


nineteen  postillions.  The  head-quarter's  staff 
post  of  a  corps  d'arrne"e  has  three  waggons,  one 
chaise,  and  one  fourgon.  The  first  ply  with  the 
letters,  the  second  carries  the  postmaster  and  his 
second  when  on  the  march,  as  well  as  small  par- 
cels; and  the  third  carries  the  luggage,  such  as 
tables,  chairs,  sorting-boxes,  &c,  necessary  for  the 
despatch  of  business.  Each  division  of  each  corps 
has  two  waggons.  The  authorities  issue  cards  to 
each  regiment,  on  one  side  of  which  is  printed, 

"  Feld  Post  Corrcspondenz  Karte. 
To 

Address," 

and  on  the  other  side  the  letter  is  written  in  pencil 
or  ink.  If  in  the  former,  it  is  rendered  perfectly 
secure  against  being  rubbed  out  by  the  application 
of  a  wet  cloth  across  it,  which,  thanks  to  some 
preparation  on  the  surface  of  the  card,  secures  its 
legibility  to  the  end  of  its  journey.  Early  each 
morning  the  field  post  rides  through  the  camp  or 
past  the  ranks  of  the  troops  on  march,  to  coUect 
the  letters  written  during  the  preceding  evening. 
Armed  witli  posthorn  and  leathern  bags,  he  rides 
up  and  down  the  ranks,  receiving  right  and  left, 
with  both  hands,  the  letters  the  soldiers  hold  out 
to  him.  On  some  days  the  task  of  this  galloping 
letter  box  is  much  heavier,  owing  to  most  of  the 
troops,  in  view  of  an  impending  battle,  of  which 
notice  has  been  issued,  having  on  the  evening  be- 
fore written  their  letters  of  farewell.  The  number 
of  letters  sent  off  after  a  battle  also  are  almost  in- 
calculable. In  order  that  every  chance  of  writing 
should  be  given,  postillions  ride  over  the  field  with 
cards  and  a  pencil  the  day  after  the  battle,  and  any 
wounded  man  who  is  still  there  can  either  write 
or  dictate  his  message  home.  Poor  fellows  thus 
left  have  frequently  been  noticed  to  hold  up  their 
arms  to  attract  the  postillion's  attention  in  pre- 
ference to  waving  for  the  ambulance  waggon. 
Remembering  that  in  no  country  is  education  so 
universal  as  in  Prussia,  and  that  from  the  very 
composition  of  the  German  army  no  soldiers  of 
any  country  have  so  many  home  connections,  it 
will  not  be  surprising  to  hear  that  during  the  first 
three  months  of  the  war  upwards  of  twelve  million 
letters  were  transmitted  through  the  Field  Post. 

Another  humane  improvement  has  been  intro- 
duced to  lessen  the  horrors  of  war.  By  order  of 
the  postal  department  letters  to  soldiers  who  die  in 
the  war  will  be  returned  to  the  writers,  not  by  the 


THE  FRANCO-rRUSSIAN  WAR. 


241 


ordinary  postmen,  but  by  the  civil  authorities. 
The  latter  are  charged  in  each  case  to  prepare  the 
writers  for  the  melancholy  intelligence  they  have 
to  impart. 

The  pages  describing  the  chief  engagements  of 
the  war  will  show  how  greatly  the  Prussian  army 
has  been  changed  from  the  stiff  unbending  machine 
which  was  transmitted  by  his  father  to  Frederick 
the  Great,  and  which,  in  his  hands,  won  the  vic- 
tories of  the  Seven  Years'  War.  On  the  conclu- 
sion of  that  war,  all  Europe  hastened  to  adopt  the 
Prussian  model,  and  England,  more  than  other 
countries,  blindly  accepting  the  outward  appear- 
ance without  the  principle,  padded,  starched,  and 
strangled  with  stocks  her  soldiers,  under  the  im- 
pression that  by  obtaining  the  rigidity,  she  would 
also  obtain  the  discipline  and  vigour  of  the  Potsdam 
grenadiers.  And  even  now,  with  but  slight  alter- 
ations, the  system  of  drill  and  military  carriage 
introduced  into  Prussia  by  the  greatest  sergeant- 
major  that  ever  lived  may  be  observed  by  the 
antiquary  on  the  hills  of  Aldershot  or  the  parade- 
ground  of  St.  James'.  But  in  the  country  where 
it  was  produced  and  perfected,  it  is  a  thing  of  the 
past.  The  crowning  disaster  of  Jena  proved  to 
Prussia  the  antiquity  and  weakness  of  its  military 
tactics,  and  convinced  her  administrators  of  the 
necessity  of  adapting  their  military  tactics  to 
altered  times  and  circumstances.  On  this  prin- 
ciple they  have  since  unswervingly  acted,  and  every 
decade  has  seen  a  steady  advance  in  the  tactical 
organization  of  the  Prussian  army.  The  present 
system  may  be  briefly  described.  The  front  line 
of  battle  engaged  with  the  enemy  is  composed 
of  long  lines  of  skirmishers,  supported  by  small 
columns,  which  take  up  convenient  positions  wher- 
ever they  can  be  sheltered  from  the  enemy's  fire 
by  any  variations  of  the  ground.  In  the  rear  of 
these  supports,  reserves  are  stationed  to  reinforce 
the  first  line,  or  to  repulse  an  attack  made  through 
or  over  it.  These  reserves  and  the  first  line  are 
supposed,  under  the  guidance  of  the  officers  who 
lead  them,  to  carry  out  the  general  object  of  the 
commander-in-chief,  who  himself  keeps  in  hand 
the  chief  reserves,  to  be  moved  to  a  flank  which  may 
be  threatened  by  the  enemy,  or  to  drive  home  an 
offensive  movement  undertaken  by  the  troops  in 
front.  The  consequence  of  this  precaution  is,  that 
a  long  thin  line  is  spread  in  front  of  the  hostile 
position,  which  is  probably  outflanked  at  the  very 
commencement   of  the  action,  while  behind  the 


skirmishers  and  their  supports,  additional  forces  are 
held  ready  to  decide  victory  or  avert  defeat.  This 
practice,  no  doubt,  is  the  secret  of  those  sudden 
flank  attacks  which  have  so  surprised  the  French 
officers  in  the  late  war,  and  caused  them  such  severe 
losses  in  prisoners.  Its  usefulness  in  resisting  the 
most  impetuous  onslaughts  of  the  French  will  be 
especially  seen,  as  early  in  the  campaign  as  the 
battle  of  Woerth. 

Manoeuvring  on  Prussian  field-days  is  quite  a 
different  matter  from  the  displays  to  which  the 
British  soldier  is  accustomed.  At  Aldershot 
marshes  are  drained,  turf  walls  levelled,  all  diffi- 
culties cleared  away,  and  the  men  are  put  through 
the  routine  farce  of  a  sham  fight,  every  detail  of 
which  is  known  to  them  all  from  the  beginning. 
In  Prussia,  on  the  contrary,  everything  is  arranged 
with  a  view  of  inculcating  thorough  self-reliance, 
and  to  drawing  out  the  individual  abilities  of  those 
in  command.  The  positions  chosen  for  exercising 
are  those  with  considerable  natural  obstacles,  such 
as  might  be  met  with  in  actual  warfare,  and  the 
following  sentence  occurs  in  the  official  instruc- 
tions : — It  will  be  perceived  by  those  who  under- 
stand the  purport  of  these  exercises,  that  no 
movement  is  dictated,  no  time  fixed  ;  all  must  be 
left  to  the  discretion  of  the  commander.  Beyond 
the  general  idea,  he  has  received  no  instructions 
defining  the  issue  of  the  affair.  In  fact,  the  situa- 
tion at  the  end  of  the  manoeuvre  should  be  the 
bona  fide  result  of  his  own  dispositions. 

During  the  war  of  which  the  present  work 
treats,  the  excellence  and  military  aptitude  of  the 
Prussian  officers  have  been  the  subjects  of  frequent 
comment.  All  accounts  agree  in  crediting  the 
Prussian  officer  with  a  knowledge  of  his  work,  and 
a  professional  zeal,  which  have  contributed  in  a 
very  marked  degree  to  the  successful  issue  of  the 
various  brilliant  operations  upon  which  the  army 
has  been  engaged.  It  is  therefore  worth  while 
to  inquire  what  the  system  is  under  which 
such  officers  are  produced.  Its  main  peculiarity 
is  that  in  all  cases,  with  one  single  exception,  a 
certain  length  of  service  in  the  ranks  is  an  indis- 
pensable condition  of  obtaining  a  commission ; 
and  that  proof  of  having  received,  first,  a  good 
general  education,  and,  secondly,  a  certain  amount 
of  professional  instruction,  is  required  from  every 
one  before  appointment  to  the  rank  of  officer. 
The  one  exception  to  the  rule  about  a  preliminary 
service  in  the  ranks  occurs  in  the  case  of  the  young 
2  a 


242 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


men  who,  after  a  course  in  one  of  the  preparatory 
cadet  schools,  obtain  admission  to  the  highest  class 
— the  Selecta — of  that  institution.  But  of  these 
young  men  there  are  only  fifty  annually  com- 
missioned ;  all  other  officers  must  go  through  a 
certain  preliminary  training  in  the  ranks.  There 
are  two  main  classes  of  officers: — 1.  Those  who 
enter  from  civil  life.  2.  Those  who  enter  the 
army  from  a  cadet  school. 

The  military  schools  of  Prussia  are  under  the 
general  control  of  an  inspector-general  of  military 
education,  who  is  assisted  by  a  council  called  the 
supreme  board  of  military  studies.  To  this  de- 
partment also  belongs  the  military  examination 
commission.  As  already  stated,  the  first  examina- 
tion of  the  aspirant  for  a  commission,  the  ensign's 
examination,  is  in  subjects  of  general  knowledge. 
But  the  rank  of  ensign,  or  Portepce-fahnrich,  can- 
not be  obtained  until  after  six  months'  actual  ser- 
vice in  the  ranks.  The  young  Avantageurs  on 
joining  their  regiments  have  the  rank,  and  receive 
the  pay  and  clothing,  of  private  soldiers.  The 
mode  of  treating  them  during  their  sen-ice  in  the 
ranks  depends  much  upon  the  commanding  officer 
of  the  regiment,  the  regulations  in  some  regiments 
being  much  stricter  than  in  others.  For  a  certain 
time  they  have  to  perform  the  actual  duties  of 
private  soldiers,  to  mount  guard,  and  in  the 
cavalry  to  clean  their  horses.  In  some  regiments 
they  are  even  required  to  live,  sleep,  and  mess 
with  the  privates,  though  the  period  for  which 
this  is  exacted  seldom  exceeds  six  weeks.  In 
most  regiments  they  are  allowed  to  find  their  own 
lodgings,  and  to  mess  with  the  officers,  by  whom, 
except  when  on  duty,  they  are  treated  almost  as 
equals.  The  general  principle  which  regulates 
their  treatment  is  that  they  should,  by  actual  per- 
formance of  the  various  duties,  learn  the  work  of 
privates,  corporals,  and  non-commissioned  officers. 
There  are  thus  two  qualifications  for  the  grade 
of  Porte'pe'e-fahimch,  the  test  of  the  examination 
and  the  six  months'  service  in  the  ranks.  The 
examinations  are  held  in  Berlin  before  the 
supreme  military  commission.  They  are  held 
constantly  every  week  for  about  nine  months 
of  the  year,  each  examination  occupying  a  week. 
There  are  thus  about  forty  examinations  in  all 
during  the  year,  at  each  of  which  on  an  average 
twenty-five  candidates  present  themselves,  making 
in  all  about  1000  candidates  yearly.  The  examina- 
tion, after  a  nomination  is  obtained,  is  partly  on 


paper  and  partly  viva  voce.  The  following  subjects 
are  obligatory: — German,  Latin,  French,  mathe- 
matics, geography,  history,  and  drawing,  including 
hill  sketching.  The  questions  are  fewer  in  number 
and  more  comprehensive  in  character  than  in  the 
military  examinations  in  England;  the  answers  are 
expected  to  approach  nearly  to  the  form  of  short 
essays.  The  main  object  is  to  find  not  so  much 
positive  knowledge  as  intellectual  capacity  to  put 
knowledge  to  a  useful  purpose.  There  is  no  com- 
petition; the  candidates  are  only  required  to  come 
up  to  a  certain  qualifying  standard.  A  candidate 
failing  is  allowed  a  second  trial,  or  even  a  third 
frequently;  the  number  of  final  failures  does  not 
exceed  10  per  cent. 

A  certificate  of  having  passed  the  abiturient's,  or 
leaving  examination  of  a  gymnasium,  or  real-schule, 
which  qualifies  for  admission  to  a  university, 
exempts  from  this  ensign's  examination ;  and 
young  men  entering  from  the  Cadet  Corps  are 
examined  while  still  at  the  Senior  Cadet  House  at 
Berlin.  At  least  200  abiturienteyi  enter  the  army 
yearly,  and  are  said  to  prove  a  very  superior  class 
of  officers.  The  second  or  officer's  examination 
is  in  purely  professional  subjects.  Ten  months 
in  a  war  school  is  the  usual  preparation;  but 
a  small  number  of  cadets,  who  have  obtained 
admission  to  the  highest  class  (the  Selecta)  of 
the  Berlin  Cadet  House,  receive  their  military 
instruction  in  this  class  instead  of  at  a  war 
school,  and  pass  their  officer's  examination  before 
quitting  the  Cadet  House ;  and  exemption  from 
attendance  at  the  war  school  is  also  granted  to 
young  men  who  have  studied  for  at  least  one  year 
at  a  university  before  entering  the  army,  and  to 
landwehr  officers  who  have  received  permission 
to  be  transferred  to  the  active  army.  About  800 
candidates  are  examined  yearly  for  the  rank  of 
officer.  The  examination  is  not  competitive.  The 
subjects  are  tactics  (including  drill),  science  of 
arms,  fortification,  sun-eying,  knowledge  of  military 
duty,  and  military  drawing.  Those  who  fail  are 
allowed  another  trial,  after  a  certain  interval ;  but 
failures  are  very  rare,  and  this  examination  is  con- 
sidered much  less  severe  than  that  for  the  grade 
of  ensign.  Those  who  succeed  are  qualified  for 
commissions  as  second  lieutenants.  But  they 
must  wait,  according  to  seniority,  for  vacancies  ; 
and  on  a  vacancy  the  senior  ensign's  name  cannot 
be  submitted  to  the  king  for  his  appointment 
without  a  document  stating,  on  the  part  of  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


243 


officers  of  the  regiment,  that  lie  lias  the  requisite 
knowledge  of  the  duties  of  the  service,  and  that 
they  consider  him  worthy  of  admission  among 
them.  If  the  majority  is  opposed  to  his  admission, 
the  name  of  the  next  ensign  in  order  of  seniority 
is  brought  forward.  Comparatively  few  cases  of 
veto  occur ;  it  is  generally  ascertained  at  a  prior 
stage  of  a  young  man's  career  that  he  will  not  be 
ineligible.  Still,  the  existence  of  the  right  of  veto 
exercises  an  influence  on  conduct.  In  the  majority 
of  cases  the  officer's  examination  is  passed  between 
the  ages  of  eighteen  and  a  half  and  twenty-one. 

The  Royal  Cadet  Corps  is  under  the  command 
of  a  general  officer,  and  is  intended  as  a  nursery 
for  officers  of  the  army.  It  includes  pensioners, 
or  paying  pupils,  and  the  king's  cadets,  who  are 
educated  at  the  cost  of  the  state.  After  receiving 
a  general  education  in  the  junior  schools  the  cadets 
proceed  at  fifteen  or  sixteen  to  the  upper  school 
at  Berlin,  where  they  pass  one  year  in  the  secunda 
class  and  one  year  in  the  prima.  About  seventy  of 
the  best  pupils  are  retained  for  a  third  year  to  go 
through  a  special  course  of  military  instruction  in 
the  Ober-prima  and  Selecta  classes.  The  discipline 
is  strict.  The  most  scrupulous  neatness  in  dress 
is  enforced;  and  any  cadet  seen  in  public,  on  leave, 
without  his  gloves  or  with  his  belt  improperly  put 
on  would  be  severely  "chaffed"  by  his  comrades. 
The  cadets  appear  upon  the  whole  to  work  steadily, 
and  few  fail  to  pass  the  ensign's  examination.  The 
universal  liability  to  military  service  in  Prussia  sup- 
plies a  most  powerful  incentive  both  to  industry  and 
to  good  conduct.  Idleness  or  bad  conduct  may 
entail  the  forfeiture  of  all  prospect  of  obtaining  a 
commission,  and  necessitate  the  performance  of  the 
legal  period  of  service  in  the  ranks.  The  advantage 
of  passing  through  the  Cadet  Corps  is  that  a  general 
education  is  obtained  at  a  cheap  rate,  and  that  a 
commission  can  be  gained  at  an  earlier  age  than 
by  entering  the  army  direct  from  civil  life.  It 
cannot  be  said  that  cadets  as  a  rule  show  more 
professional  ability,  or  rise  to  greater  distinction 
in  the  service,  than  men  who  have  not  passed 
through  the  Cadet  Corps.  Equally  distinguished 
officers  are  to  be  found  in  both  classes;  General 
Steinmetz  and  Herwarth  von  Bittenfeld  are  old 
cadets ;  General  von  Moltke  entered  the  army  from 
civil  life.  Among  commanding  officers  of  regiments 
there  appears  to  be  generally  a  feeling  unfavour- 
able to  the  cadets,  partly  perhaps  because  every 
cadet  who  is  appointed  to  their  regiments  deprives 


them  of  the  patronage  of  a  nomination,  but  mainly 
because  they  prefer  their  young  officers  to  be 
men  who  have  had  the  more  liberal  education 
afforded  by  civil  schools.  It  is  maintained  by 
many  distinguished  officers  that  the  exclusively 
military  atmosphere  by  which  cadets  are  sur- 
rounded from  so  early  an  age  has  a  narrowing 
effect  upon  the  mind,  and  that  the  almost  monas- 
tic, system  in  which  they  are  brought  up  is  fatal 
to  freedom  of  thought  and  development  of  charac- 
ter. Others  are  of  opinion  that  the  admixture  of 
the  two  classes  is  of  advantage  to  the  service. 

The  war  schools  afford  to  candidates  for  com- 
missions, after  a  certain  length  of  service  in  the 
ranks,  the  professional  instruction  necessary  to  fit 
them  for  the  duties  of  regimental  officers.  The 
subjects  of  instruction  are  tactics,  the  science 
of  arms,  fortification,  drawing  and  surveying, 
military  regulations,  and  military  correspondence. 
The  system  of  small  classes  is  adopted,  not  exceed- 
ing thirty  in  each.  Each  class  attends  lectures 
separately.  A  certain  portion  of  each  lecture  is 
devoted  to  questioning,  and  the  students  are  fre- 
quently set  to  write  essays  and  memoirs.  Progress 
is  tested  by  quarterly  examinations,  both  on  paper 
and  viva  voce;  great  importance  is  attached  to  the 
latter  as  a  means  of  cultivating  readiness  of  resource 
and  rapidity  of  judgment.  Practical  as  well  as 
theoretical  instruction  is  given.  The  students  have 
fencing  and  gymnastic  lessons  every  second  day, 
alternately  with  riding;  they  have  artillery  gun 
drill  and  aiming  drill  about  once  a  week,  and  two 
hours'  practice  weekly  in  the  regimental  drill  of 
their  own  arms,  in  addition  to  the  more  general 
instruction  in  drill  which  they  receive  during  the 
lessons  of  application  in  connection  with  the  course 
of  tactics.  The  ensigns  of  artillery  and  engineers 
have  additional  instruction  in  the  special  duties  of 
their  corps.  The  students  are  more  particularly 
instructed  in  the  drill  of  the  arms  to  which  they 
respectively  belong,  but  they  also  learn  the  general 
elements  of  that  of  the  other  services,  and  both  the 
infantry  and  cavalry  ensigns  go  through  a  course  of 
instruction  in  the  service  of  field  guns.  Battalion 
and  regimental  movements  are  practised  by  means 
of  skeleton  drill.  The  chief  object  kept  in  view  in 
teaching  both  drill  and  gymnastics  is  that  of  fitting 
the  young  ensigns  for  the  duty  of  giving  instruction 
in  these  subjects  when  they  become  officers  ;  and 
for  this  purpose  individuals  are  constantly  called 
out  to  put  their  comrades   through  field  move- 


244 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


ments.  There  is  a  course  of  swimming  for  those 
who  are  unable  to  swim.  The  last  portion  of  the 
ten  months'  course  is  termed  more  especially  the 
"  practical  course."  Reconnaissances  of  military 
positions  are  then  executed  and  reported,  and  dis- 
positions for  attack  and  defence  have  to  be  described 
by  the  students  ;  there  is  musketry  practice,  and 
artillery  practice  is  attended;  field  works  are  traced, 
and  operations  in  sapping,  bridging,  &c,  attended. 
Schemes  are  set  for  putting  villages  or  houses  into 
a  state  of  defence,  throwing  up  hasty  intrench- 
ments,  and  the  like.  Great  importance  is  attached 
to  rapid  sketching  without  instruments,  and  to 
sketching  on  horseback.  Some  days  are  spent  at 
a  fortress. 

The  final  examination  on  which  depends  an 
ensign's  fitness  for  the  rank  of  officer  is  held  at 
the  war  schools,  under  the  superintendence  of  the 
supreme  examination  commission.  The  paper  work 
occupies  about  four  days ;  the  viva  voce  examination 
then  follows.  Candidates  for  the  scientific  corps, 
after  some  months'  service  with  the  troops,  and 
passing  through  the  war  schools,  go  through  a 
course  of  special  instruction  in  the  artillery  and 
engineer  school,  and  pass  a  further  examination 
in  their  special  subjects.  They  also,  for  practical 
instruction,  serve  with  their  regiments  as  super- 
numerary officers  for  a  time,  before  receiving  their 
definitive  commissions.  A  thorough  acquaintance 
with  practical  duty,  acquired  thus  by  service,  is 
enforced  before  their  special  instruction  as  officers 
of  the  scientific  corps  commences.  This  system  is 
considered  by  Prussian  officers  superior  to  that  by 
which,  as  in  England  and  France,  the  theoretical 
instruction  is  given  before  any  regimental  duty 
is  performed.  It  is  maintained  that  theory  can 
be  more  easily  understood  if  it  is  based  upon  a 
groundwork  of  actual  experience;  and  that  officers 
of  the  age  of  twenty-three  or  twenty-four,  with  a 
practical  knowledge  of  their  duties,  derive  more 
advantage  from  study  than  young  men  of  seven- 
teen or  eighteen  who  have  no  practical  acquaint- 
ance with  the  subject  to  which  their  studies  relate. 

The  French  and  Prussian  systems  agree  in  this, 
that  no  attempt  is  made  to  give  a  special  military 
education  at  an  early  age;  that  a  general  education 
is  made  the  groundwork  of  the  professional  train- 
ing; and  that  at  least  up  to  the  age  of  seventeen  or 
eighteen  the  future  officer  receives  the  same  kind 
of  education  as  the  civilian.  But  the  principle 
of  deferring  military  education  to  a  comparatively 


late  age  is  in  Prussia  carried  even  to  a  greater 
extent  than  in  France,  for  all  professional  instruc- 
tion is  postponed  until  after  the  service  has  been 
entered,  and  regimental  duty  been  performed  for 
nearly  a  year.  The  theory  of  the  profession  is  not 
studied  until  after  the  practice  of  it  has  been  learnt. 
Much  of  the  progress  made  is  ascribed  to  the  unity 
now  given  to  the  whole  system  of  instruction. 
The  general  management  of  military  education  is 
vested  in  a  single  officer,  the  inspector-general; 
but  he  is  assisted  by  the  board  of  studies  and  the 
supreme  examination  board,  and  at  the  same  time 
each  of  the  educational  institutions  has  its  own 
board  of  studies,  on  wdiich  the  civilian  professors 
are  represented.  In  discipline  the  heads  of  the 
various  schools  are  almost  entirely  supreme.  A 
marked  point  of  contrast  between  the  French  and 
Prussian  systems  of  military  education  consists  in 
this,  that  in  Prussia  the  principle  of  competition 
is  little  adopted,  and  never,  perhaps,  strictly 
adhered  to.  In  a  country  where  military  service 
is  compulsory,  the  desire  to  escape  duty  as  a  private 
soldier  is  a  great  inducement  to  exertion,  and  the 
object  is  to  form  a  general  estimate  of  the  abilities, 
character,  and  military  capacity  of  each  man,  rather 
than  a  comparison  of  the  attainments  of  several.  A 
remarkable  feature  of  the  system  of  teaching  is  the 
care  bestowed  upon  the  higher  objects  of  education, 
upon  forming  and  disciplining  the  mind  and  en- 
couraging habits  of  reflection.  The  teachers  are 
instructed  to  endeavour  to  develop  the  faculties, 
and  to  cultivate  powers  of  thought  and  reasoning. 
The  system  of  small  classes  enables  them  to  devote 
attention  to  each  student,  and  adapt  the  instruction 
to  varieties  of  ability.  The  examination  ques- 
tions are  framed  with  a  view  to  test  an  intelligent 
acquaintance  with  a  subject,  and  the  power  of 
turning  knowledge  to  a  useful  purpose.  In  the 
Prussian  method  of  instruction  there  is  almost  an 
entire  absence  of  the  minute  detail  as  to  numbers, 
dates,  and  facts,  to  which  importance  is  attached 
in  military  teaching  in  England.  The  students 
are  left  to  study  in  private  in  order  to  teach  them 
self-reliance  and  encourage  habits  of  work.  The 
aim  throughout  is  the  development  of  the  mind. 
The  cultivation  of  special  talents  is  ever  kept  in 
view  at  the  war  schools;  the  attainment  of  a  high 
standard  in  individual  subjects  is  regarded  as  of 
much  greater  importance  than  average  require- 
ments in  all. 

It  follows  from  the  above  that  those  who  rejrard 


THE  FRANCO -PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


245 


the  Prussian  system  of  officering  tlie  army  as  a 
system  of  promotion  from  the  ranks,  in  the  ordi- 
nary sense  of  the  phrase,  are  greatly  mistaken. 
Promotion  from  the  ranks  is,  on  the  contrary, 
extremely  rare,  and  the  few  individuals  who 
obtain  commissions  in  this  manner  are  seldom 
left  with  the  army,  but  are  pensioned  off  or  pro- 
vided with  civil  appointments.  The  result  is  that 
admission  to  the  offizier  corps  of  the  Prussian  army 
is  regarded  as  conferring  distinctive  privileges. 
The  strong  esprit  de  corps  which  pervades  the 
whole  body  of  officers  undoubtedly  creates  an 
extremely  high  tone  and  a  gentlemanly  feeling 
which  resents  any  conduct  that  might  be  consid- 
ered discreditable  to  the  character  of  an  officer ; 
on  the  other  hand,  its  tendency  is  to  make  the 
officers  of  the  army  somewhat  of  an  exclusive  caste. 
There  is  probably  no  service  in  the  world  in 
which  class  spirit  is  so  strongly  developed,  or 
which  is  so  aristocratic  in  character,  as  that  of 
Prussia.  It  is  necessary  to  point  this  out,  because 
otherwise  there  might  be  a  tendency  to  entertain 
the  erroneous  idea — an  idea  which  in  one  form  or 
another  is  continually  cropping  up — that  the  only 
way  to  obtain  a  professional  body  of  officers  is  by  an 
indiscriminate  system  of  promotion  from  the  ranks. 
By  observing  the  Prussian  system  we  may  see  how 
at  once  education  and  professional  requirements  of 
an  exacting  order  can  be  combined  with  careful 
selection,  a  high  tone,  and  much  esprit  de  corps. 

Promotion  in  the  Prussian  service  is  by  seniority, 
tempered  by  selection.  If  an  officer  is  passed 
over  two  or  three  times,  he  generally  accepts 
it  as  a  hint  to  retire.  If  he  does  not  take  the 
hint,  he  is  gazetted  out.  There  are  no  examina- 
tions for  promotion,  except  in  the  artillery  and 
engineers.  Not  the  slightest  favour  seems  to  have 
been  shown  to  rank  or  position,  as  such,  in  the 
appointment  of  officers  at  the  commencement  of 
the  war ;  but  in  all  cases  the  men  who  occupied 
high  command  were  such  as  had  proved  title  to 
it  by  their  experience  and  proved  ability.  The 
government,  thinking  it  better  to  hurt  the  feelings 
of  a  man  than  to  confide  the  fate  of  many  thou- 
sands to  him,  if  doubting  his  military  talent  or 
health,  in  several  cases  promoted  juniors  over  the 
heads  of  the  highest  officers. 

The  landwehr  is  officered  either  by  officers  of 
the  regular  army  who  have  quitted  it  within  the 
limits  of  age,  which  render  them  liable  to  serve 
in  the  landwehr,   or  by  means  of  an  important 


provision  which  allows  all  young  men  of  the 
educated  classes  who  can  clothe  and  arm  them- 
selves, to  take  service  in  the  rifle  corps  and  other 
light  infantry;  and  after  completing  one  year  at 
their  own  expense  to  receive  furlough  to  the 
end  of  their  regular  call,  upon  application.  This 
rule  was  introduced,  no  doubt,  to  save  the  wealthy 
and  well-born  the  degradation  which,  in  a  country 
essentially  aristocratic,  the  mixture  in  a  barrack- 
room  with  recruits  of  the  lowest  classes  would 
necessarily  imply  ;  and  there  has  been  built  upon 
it,  during  the  last  half  century,  the  elaborate  system 
of  Einjahrige,  or  one-year  volunteers,  which  has 
solved  at  once  two  difficult  problems.  The  uni- 
versality of  the  conscription  has  been  maintained 
without  open  opposition  from  that  important 
middle  order,  the  wealth  and  influence  of  which 
has  grown  in  Prussia  as  much  as  in  any  part  of 
Europe,  and  which,  notwithstanding  its  claims,  is 
excluded  from  the  higher  parts  of  the  army;  while 
a  body  of  efficient  officers,  trained  in  all  the  duties 
of  the  line,  has  been  provided  for  the  staff  of  the 
landwehr  without  expense  to  the  state.  As  a 
necessary  consequence  of  the  growing  wealth 
of  the  commercial  classes,  the  number  of  these 
Einjahrige  has  annually  increased  ;  and  it  has  long 
been  a  regular  part  of  the  education  of  the  son  of 
every  manufacturer,  proprietor,  professional  man, 
and  even  of  every  well-to-do  shopkeeper,  to  spend 
one  of  the  three  years  between  his  seventeenth  and 
twentieth  birthdays  in  passing  through  his  volun- 
teer course. 

As  might  be  expected  where  military  service  is 
compulsory,  there  are  comparatively  few  among 
the  privates  who  make  soldiering  a  profession,  and 
re-enlistments  into  the  ranks  of  the  standing  army 
are  not  very  numerous  nor  much  encouraged.  If  a 
man  wishes  to  re-enlist  after  the  completion  of  his 
three  years'  term  of  service  he  is  allowed  to  do 
so,  provided  the  general  commanding  his  brigade 
approves  him ;  but  he  only  re-enlists  for  one  year, 
at  the  end  of  which  either  party  can  break  off  the 
engagement:  or,  if  both  consent  to  continue,  a  re- 
enlistment  can  be  effected  for  another  year,  and  so 
on.  In  time  of  war  the  soldier  cannot  break  off 
his  engagement  at  the  end  of  the  year,  but  must 
continue  to  serve  till  the  war  is  over.  At  any  time 
he  can  be  discharged  for  misbehaviour.  A  man 
who  re-enlists,  generally,  if  well  educated,  becomes 
a  non-commissioned  officer;  but  neither  the  pay 
nor  the  position  of  a  non-commissioned  officer  is 


246 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR 


Inch  enough  to  induce  men  to  stay  long  in  the 
army  under  ordinary  circumstances.  But  a  suffi- 
ciently powerful  inducement  is  found  in  the  fact 
that,  after  a  man  has  served  twelve  years,  during 
nine  of  which  he  has  been  a  non-commissioned 
officer,  he  is  certain  to  obtain  a  good  civil  appoint- 
ment ;  for  all  vacancies  among  railway  and  tele- 
graph officials,  government  clerks,  overseers  of 
the  public  forests,  gendarmes,  non-commissioned 
officers  of  police,  post-office  clerks,  and  gaolers, 
are  filled  from  the  ranks  of  the  non-commissioned 
officers  whose  times  of  service  in  the  army  have 
expired: 

As  regards  dress,  the  German  army  exhibits  less 
variety  than  the  soldiers  of  any  other  country. 
The  prevailing  colour,  however,  is  such  as  not 
to  unduly  expose  the  men  to  the  observation  of 
an  enemy.  The  uniform  of  the  Prussian  guard 
differs  only  from  that  of  the  line  in  having 
white  ornaments  on  the  collars  :  they  wear  the 
helmet,  dark-blue  tunic,  white  belt,*  and  black 
trousers  with  red  stripes,  similar  to  that  of  the 
British  line.  Their  knapsacks,  and  those  of  the 
whole  Prussian  army,  are  of  brown,  undressed 
cowhide.  The  artillery  differ  from  the  line  sol- 
diers only  in  wearing  black  sword-belts  instead  of 
white,  and  in  carrying  a  short  rifle  with  a  sword- 
bayonet,  instead  of  the  long  rifle  and  straight 
bayonet  of  the  line.  This  general  uniformity 
between  infantry  and  artillery  gives  a  certain 
monotony  to  the  appearance  of  large  bodies  of 
Prussian  troops,  as  compared  with  those  of  other 
nations.  There  are  exceptions,  however.  The 
chasseurs  are  dressed  in  dark  green,  with  shakos 
similar  to  those  of  the  British  infantry,  but  larger; 
they  carry  a  short  rifle  and  short  bayonet.  The 
artillery  carry  their  blanket,  which  is  green,  in  a 
roll  over  the  shoulder.  Upon  the  whole,  the  only 
distinguishing  mark  of  the  various  regiments  is 
the  colour  of  the  facings.  The  Hessian  contin- 
gents are  distinguishable  by  their  light-blue  facings. 
The  Bavarian  infantry  has  not  adopted  the  Prus- 
sian style  of  uniform,  and  retains  the  national 
green  with  red  facings.  The  dragoon  regiments 
are  light  blue.  The  hussars  are  red,  black,  green, 
brown,  and  light  and  dark  blue.  They  wear 
shakos  of  miniver  fur,  and  braided  jackets.  The 
Uhlans    are   principally   dark    blue,    with   laneer 

*  A  great  many  regiments  have  now  been  permitted  to  adopt  the 
black  belt,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  black  belt  will  ultimately  become 
universal. 


caps;  they  are  the  heaviest  cavalry  of  the  Prus- 
sian army,  with  the  exception  of  the  ten  cuirassier 
regiments,  who  wear  white  uniforms,  with  steel 
breast  and  back  plates  and  helmets,  with  high 
buff  leather  boots  and  gauntlets. 

In  the  face  of  the  astounding  events  of  the  late 
campaign,  the  Prussian  system  needs  no  one  to 
point  out  its  superiority  in  the  attainment  of  its 
one  great  object — success  in  war.  But  nations 
do  not  live  for  war,  and  people  may  well  ask  them- 
selves what  sort  of  effect  the  organization  has  on 
the  nation  at  large  apart  from  its  warlike  ends? 

The  serious  disadvantages  of  universal  military 
service  are  of  course  obvious  to  every  one.  The 
ordinary  German  is  compelled  to  serve  for  three 
years;  for  three  years,  therefore,  his  regular  occu- 
pations are  interfered  with ;  and  though  this  draw- 
back is  to  some  extent  remedied  by  the  one 
year's  service  of  those  who  have  received  a  certain 
amount  of  education,  fixed  by  government,  the 
interference  is,  no  doubt,  very  serious.  This  ob- 
jection really  sums  up  nearly  every  disadvantage 
which  has  been  ascribed  to  the  Prussian  military 
system;  and  without  denying  its  validity,  it  may 
be  well  to  ask  what  the  system  has  to  give  in 
return  for  so  great  a  sacrifice? 

The  first  point,  which  may  sound  very  like  a 
paradox,  is  that  the  Prussian  military  organization 
is  essentially  anti-warlike;  it  affords  a  guarantee 
against  war.  Just  because  every  man  is  a  soldier, 
just  because  war  leaves  hardly  a  home  in  Germany 
unscathed,  just  because  every  mother  and  every 
wife  is  "  feelingly  persuaded  "  what  war  means,  the 
system  tends  to  discourage  war.  The  army  is  not 
composed  of  a  set  of  professional  soldiers  to  whom 
war  means  wealth,  honours,  and  advancement, 
but  of  peaceful  citizens  called  from  their  occupa- 
tions, from  the  plough  and  from  the  study,  from 
the  workshop  and  the  law  court,  who  fight  with  a 
savage  indignation,  which  carries  all  before  it,  when 
provoked,  but  at  the  same  time  affords  a  safe  guar- 
antee that  war  will  not  be  undertaken  for  purposes 
of  conquest  or  the  establishment  of  a  dynasty. 
Other  advantages  of  the  system  are  that,  in  addition 
to  its  military  character,  it  is  at  the  same  ,time 
a  system  of  education.  Every  soldier  has  had  a 
certain  amount  of  education  in  his  youth;  but 
when  he  comes  to  serve  his  time  it  often  happens 
that  his  knowledge  is,  to  say  the  least,  very  rusty, 
and  sadly  in  want  of  a  little  brushing  up.  This 
the  recruit  receives  with  his  drill,  and  what  he 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


247 


then  learns  is  not  so  easily  forgotten,  owing  to  his 
riper  age.  But  the  Prussian  system  does  more 
than  merely  freshen  up  the  memories  of  those  who 
come  immediately  under  it.  It  stimulates  educa- 
tion throughout  the  country  by  dismissing,  after 
one  year's  service,  those  who  possess  certain  attain- 
ments fixed  by  government,  and  by  requiring  every 
officer  to  pass  a  special  examination. 

Almost  of  equal  importance  with  the  mental  is 
the  bodily  training  which  every  German  has  to 
pass  through  as  a  soldier.  Even  in  England  a 
little  drilling  is  considered  a  good  thing  for  young 
men;  at  any  rate  we  have  our  games,  our  cricket 
and  football,  our  rackets  and  fives,  to  strengthen 
our  muscles  and  lengthen  our  wind.  The  Germans 
have  nothing  of  the  sort.  To  such  a  people  the 
value  of  drilling,  and  the  installation  of  a  little 
soldierly  pride,  is  hardly  to  be  over-estimated. 
In  his  soldier-life  the  German  learns  habits  of 
self-control  and  neatness,  and  a  certain  amount 
of  dandyism  which  to  him  at  least  is  little  more 
than  a  wholesome  corrective. 

In  another  respect  the  military  system  does  what 
in  England  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  results 
of  her  public  schools  and  universities.  It  brings 
together  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality  high  and 
low,  rich  and  poor.  It  is  a  mill  in  which  men 
"  rub  each  other's  edges  down."  The  aristocrat 
learns  to  understand  the  feelings  of  the  democrat, 
and  the  democrat  finds  that  the  aristocrat  is  after 
all  a  man  very  much  like  himself.  Of  greater  value 
still  is  military  service  to  that  class  rapidly  in- 
creasing in  Germany,  which  is  devoted  to  the 
pursuit  of  money.  A  young  banker's  son,  who 
hardly  knows  what  hardship  means,  suddenly 
comes  to  know  that  other  things  have  a  value 
besides  money.  He  finds  no  amount  of  money 
will  save  him  from  exactly  the  same  duties  which 
his  groom  has  to  perform,  and  learns  military 
obedience  and  devotion. 

Among  the  lower  orders,  the  necessity  of  military 
service  encourages  saving,  while  it  delays  marriage 
till  the  time  of  service  is  past.  The  German  knows 
that  he  will  have  to  leave  his  farm  and  occupations 
for  a  time,  and  therefore  prepares  for  the  time  of 
need.  At  the  same  time  his  absence  raises  the 
importance  of  the  women  of  his  family.  They 
must  be  prepared  to  undertake  the  management  of 
his  business,  and  must  be  acquainted  with  all  its 
details,  so  that  to  a  certain  extent  the  position  of 
the  women  is  elevated. 


The  benefits  derived  from  such  a  system  are 
thus  many  and  obvious.  Its  economy  is  also 
evident  when  we  reflect  that  Prussia  conducted 
two  European  campaigns  (1864  and  1866)  at 
about  the  same  expense  that  England  incurred 
in  the  expedition  to  Abyssinia.  Although  the 
Prussian  is  the  most  perfect  of  all  armies  in  its 
equipments,  the  Prussian  soldier  is  maintained  at 
an  average  cost  of  about  £29  10s.  per  head  per 
annum.  The  French  army,  which  shared  with 
it  the  economy  resulting  from  compulsory,  and 
therefore  underpaid  labour,  and  which  could  not 
boast  of  anything  like  its  efficiency  in  the  non- 
combatant  departments,  cost  above  one-third  more, 
or  £41  10s.  per  head;  whilst  in  England  the 
expense  is  three  times  as  great,  being  over  £90 
a  year  per  man. 

Another  immense  advantage,  at  least  to  a  nation 
with  a  free  form  of  government,  is  the  absolute 
certainty  that  no  such  nation  would  ever  incur  the 
horrors  of  war  except  in  a  truly  national  cause 
and  as  a  case  of  necessity.  While  hostilities -last 
Prussia  and  North  Germany  have  only  one  business 
in  hand — the  war.  All  other  labour  and  industry 
is  in  abeyance,  and  every  one  out  of  three  in  the 
million  of  men  under  arms  represents  the  susten- 
ance of  a  family,  a  unit  in  the  aggregate  sustenance 
of  the  state.  What  a  strain  a  campaign  of  twelve 
months'  duration  would  be  upon  a  community 
organized  on  Prussian  military  principles  has  not 
yet  been  tried ;  but  it  is  an  experiment  from  which 
Prussian  rulers  must  at  all  times  shrink.  War 
reduces  Germany  to  a  state  of  suspended  animation. 
Were  the  ordeal  indefinitely  prolonged,  utter  ex- 
haustion must  ensue.  In  England,  a  man  may  say, 
"  Well,  it  will  cost  me  twopence,  perhaps  four- 
pence,  or  even  sixpence  in  the  pound  additional 
income  tax;  but  that  is  the  worst  that  can  happen, 
and  if  we  only  win,  I  can  stand  that."  But  the 
same  individual  would  think,  speak,  and  vote 
very  differently  if  he  knew  that  he  himself  would 
have  to  shoulder  his  musket,  leave  home,  friends, 
and  comfort,  to  brave  the  perils  of  the  field. 

The  Prussian-  system,  brought  as  nearly  as  can 
be  to  perfection,  has  been  seen  to  work  admirably 
in  the  last  three  campaigns  in  which  the  nation 
has  been  engaged.  It  has  been  tried  to  the  ut- 
termost, and  unmistakably  asserts  its  superiority 
over  every  other.  In  fact,  it  is  undoubtedly  the 
greatest  triumph  of  perfect  organization  the  world 
has  ever  seen.     On  the  15th  of  July  war  against 


248 


THE  FRANCO  -PRUSSIAN   WAR, 


Prussia  was  declared  by  France,  and  no  great 
difficulty  was  supposed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  a 
rapid  dash  across  the  Rhine  and  a  triumphant 
progress  to  Berlin.  On  the  17th  of  July,  however, 
General  von  Moltke  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  Give 
me  to  the  3rd  of  August,  and  we  are  safe."  Just 
three  days  after  the  given  date,  on  the  6th  of 
August,  the  French  army  was  driven  back,  and 
the  German  nation  in  arms  commenced  its  vic- 
torious progress  into  the  very  heart  of  France. 

The  lessons  taught  by  every  campaign  of  modern 
times  have  been  carefully  studied  by  Prussia 
with  a  view  to  improvement.  While  Europe 
gazed  astonished  at  her  successes  in  1866,  the 
Prussians  themselves,  so  far  from  boasting,  were 
not  at  all  satisfied,  and  set  to  work  immediately  to 
remedy  what  experience  showed  to  be  the  weak 
points  of  their  army  ;  notably  in  the  case  of  their 
artillery,  to  the  performances  of  which  much  of 
their  success  in  France  was  due,  and  to  which 
the  emperor  attributed  the  disasters  to  his  army, 
resulting  in  the  most  memorable  capitulation  ever 
recorded  in  history — that  of  Sedan. 

Part  of  the  Prussian  batteries  at  Sadowa  were 
of  the  old  smooth-bore  construction,  but  of  the 
breech-loading  guns  many  batteries  had  been 
carried  into  the  field.  In  the  war  of  1870  all 
confusion  and  uncertainty  had  passed  away,  and 
the  simplest  and  most  efficient  breech-loading  piece 
had  been  adopted  throughout.  The  artillery 
service  and  the  proportion  of  horses  and  drivers 
maintained  in  peace  had  also  been  brought  up  to 
a  higher  standard;  the  experience  of  1866  having 
clearly  shown  that  a  large  infusion  of  raw  elements 
into  the  field  artillery,  to  strengthen  it  suddenly, 
defeated  its  object  by  crippling  the  efficiency  of 
the  batteries.  A  full  comparison  between  the 
Prussian  and  French  artillery,  and  the  system 
generally  pursued  in  each  arm  by  this  branch 
of  the  service,  is  given  in  the  next  chapter ;  but 
as  relating  exclusively  to  Prussia,  we  give  here  a 
description  of  the  great  Prussian  gun,  illustrated 
on  Plate  4,  which  was  one  of  the  articles  sent 
by  the  firm  of  F.  Krupp,  of  Essen,  in  Ehenish 
Prussia,  to  the  Paris  exhibition,  1867.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  war  of  1870  it  was  placed 
to  defend  the  naval  port  of  Wilhehn shaven. 
It  is  a  rifled  breech-loader,  made  entirely  of 
cast  steel,  and  supported  on  a  steel  carriage. 
The  central  cylindrical  tube  forming  this  piece 
of  ordnance  is  made  of  a  solid  forsrinor  of  steel,  and 


weighs  by  itself,  in  its  finished  state,  about  twenty 
tons.  The  weight  of  the  cast-steel  block  employed 
in  the  manufacture  of  this  tube  was  forty-eight 
tons,  there  being  a  waste  of  more  than  50  per 
cent,  of  the  original  ingot  caused  by  the  operations 
of  forging,  turning  and  boring,  and  by  cutting  off 
the  crop  ends  of  the  rough  block.  There  are  three 
superposed  rings  shrunk  on  to  this  central  tube, 
the  last  ring  inclosing  the  breech  being  forged  in 
one  piece  with  the  trunnions,  and  made  without 
any  weld.  The  rings  are  of  different  lengths, 
as  usual  with  built-up  guns;  and  the  whole  is 
diminished  in  thickness  towards  the  muzzle,  only 
not  tapered,  but  turned  in  parallel  steps  of  de- 
creasing diameter.  The  three  superposed  rings 
weigh  thirty  tons  in  all,  and  they  are  produced  by 
a  process  similar  to  that  followed  in  the  produc- 
tion of  wcldless  steel  tyres.  All  these  parts  were 
hammered  under  the  fifty-ton  hammer  constructed 
by  M.  Krupp  for  his  own  use.  The  weight  and 
dimensions  of  this  gun  are  as  follows : — 

Total  weight,  including  breech, 


Weight  of  breech-piece, 
Diameter  of  bore, 
Total  length  of  barrel, 


Number  of  grooves, 
Depth  of  grooves, 
Pitch, 


15  cwts. 

14  inches  (English). 

210-25  inches. 


Rifling. 


0-15  inch. 

980  inches  and  1014'4  inches 


Weight  of  solid  steel  shot,  . 
Total  weight  of  steel  shell, 
Lead  coating, 
Charge,     . 

Weight  of  pow-ler  charge,  . 


Projectile*. 

.     1212  lbs.    (English). 
765  lbs. 
200  lbs, 
16  lbs. 

981  lbs.  Pruss.  or  1080  lbs.  Eng. 

.     110  to  130  lbs.  (English). 

The  gun  carriage  weighs  about  fifteen  tons, 
and  is  placed  upon  a  turntable,  the  total  weight 
of  which  comes  up  to  twenty-five  tons.  This 
also  is  made  wholly  of  steel.  The  arrangements 
for  working  the  gun  are  such,  that  it  can  be 
managed  by  two  men  with  sufficient  speed  and 
accuracy  for  all  practical  requirements. 

The  manufacture  of  this  piece  of  ordnance  occu- 
pied a  time  exceeding  sixteen  months,  the  work 
being  carried  on  without  interruption  day  and 
night,  including  Sundays.  There  were  no  railway 
trucks  in  existence  sufficiently  strong  to  transport 
this  gun,  so  M.  Krupp  designed  and  built  a  special 
truck  at  his  own  works  for  that  purpose.  This 
truck  is  made  entirely  of  steel  and  iron,  runs 
on  six  pairs  of  wheels,  and  weighs,  when  empty, 
twenty-three  tons.  The  price  of  the  gun  was 
105,000    Prussian  dollars,    without   the   carriage. 


s 

s 


o 

o 


£g 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR, 


249 


The  complete  piece,  with  carriage  and  turntable, 
cost  145,000  thalers,  or  £21,750. 

It  will  be  a  fitting  conclusion  to  our  explanation 
of  the  Prussian  military  system,  if  we  give  a 
description  of  the  weapon  which  Prussia  was  the 
foremost  nation  to  adopt,  and  the  remarkable 
success  of  which  has  caused  quite  a  revolution  in 
the  manufacture  of  small-arms.  To  be  loaded  at 
the  breech,  and  to  be  fired  by  the  penetration  of  a 
needle  into  a  detonating  cap  within  the  cartridge, 
are  distinct  attributes  in  a  weapon.  And  although 
the  latter  system  has  only  been  before  the  public 
for  about  thirty  years,  systems  for  breech-loading 
have  been  tried,  accepted,  and  abandoned  without 
number  during  the  last  three  centuries.  Indeed, 
a  sort  of  instinct  dictates  that  loading  at  the 
breech  is  the  preferable  course;  and  all  the  earlier 
muskets  were  so  made,  the  system  being  doubtless 
abandoned  from  the  difficulty  of  accurately  closing 
the  breech,  in  those  days  of  rough  workmanship. 
The  extraordinary  efficacy,  however,  of  these 
combined  principles  only  came  into  special  pro- 
minence during  the  Prussian  wars  of  1864  and 
1866.  In  the  face  of  such  an  irresistible  argu- 
ment, every  other  power  hastened  to  either  prepare 
new  arms,  or  to  convert  their  existing  stock  into 
needle-firing  breech-loaders  of  as  good  a  construc- 
tion as  circumstances  would  permit. 

The  first  patent  for  the  needle-gun  was  taken 
out  in  England,  December  13,  1831,  by  one 
Abraham  Adolph  Moser,  who  pressed  his  inven- 
tion upon  the  British  government,  but  meeting 
with  no  encouragement  tried  his  fortune  abroad, 
and  at  last  obtained  the  patronage  of  the  Prussian 
war  office.  Various  improvements  were  suggested 
by  Dreyse,  a  gunmaker  of  Sommerada,  and  the 
perfected  arm  was  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
Prussian  infantry  in  1848.  Other  modifications 
have  since  been  introduced,  so  as  to  render  it 
lighter  and  more  manageable,  and  considerable  im- 
provements were  about  to  be  introduced  into  it  just 
as  the  present  war  broke  out,  and  which  were  in 
consequence  postponed.  On  Plate  3  two  engrav- 
ings of  the  weapon  are  shown,  and  in  its  present  stage 
of  development  it  may  be  described  as  follows: — 

The  barrel  is  closed  by  a  sliding  plunger  or 
bolt,  which  can  be  pushed  forward  against  the 
barrel,  or  withdrawn  for  the  admission  of  the  cart- 
ridge. In  the  former  position  it  is  secured  by 
turning  it,  with  the  assistance  of  a  small  knob  or 
lever,  a  quarter  circle  to  the  right,  on  the  principle 


of  a  common  door  bolt.  The  plunger  is  hollow; 
its  front  end  forming,  when  the  arm  is  shut,  a 
sort  of  cap  to  the  back  end  of  the  barrel,  the  two 
being  coned  to  correspond  with  each  other.  The 
long  steel  needle,  from  which  the  gun  derives  its 
name,  and  by  which  the  explosion  of  the  charge 
is  effected,  works  in  the  hollow  bolt,  being  driven 
forward  by  means  of  a  spiral  spring.  The  spring 
and  needle  are  set,  and  the  needle,  so  to  speak, 
cocked  by  means  of  a  trigger.  The  action  of  the 
trigger  likewise  releases  the  needle,  which  is  shot 
forward  into  a  patch  of  detonating  composition  in 
the  centre  of  the  cartridge. 

The  ammunition  consists  of  an  egg-shaped 
bullet,  whose  base  is  imbedded  in  a  papier-mdchi 
sabot.  The  fulminate  is  placed  in  the  hinder  part 
of  the  sabot;  and  behind  this  again,  in  a  thin 
paper  case  which  is  choked  over  the  apex  of  the 
bullet,  is  the  powder. 

The  alterations  proposed  in  the  needle-gun,  but 
which  were  deferred  by  the  advent  of  war,  are 
very  slight.  The  whole  change  consists  in  the 
insertion  of  a  caoutchouc  ring,  which  does  not 
increase  the  efficiency,  but  facilitates  the  handling 
of  the  arm,  and  in  a  new  cartridge  with  a  smaller 
ball,  and  a  proportionate  increase  in  the  thickness 
of  the  case.  As  the  barrel  remains  the  same,  both 
the  old  and  new  cartridge  may  be  employed  indis- 
criminately, the  only  difference  being  that  the 
smaller  ball  would  have  a  wider  range  than  the 
larger  one.  A  comparison  of  the  relative  merits 
of  the  needle-gun  and  the  Chassepot,  as  also  of 
the  artillery  of  the  two  countries,  is  given  in  the 
next  chapter. 

A  characteristic  of  the  Germans  during  the  war 
with  France  was  the  deliberation  with  which  the 
men  aimed  and  fired,  though  they  had  in  their 
hands  a  needle-gun,  tempting  them  to  fire  eight 
shots  a  minute.  As  long  as  the  Prussians  had 
their  old  firelocks  they  stood  in  three  ranks,  if 
standing  in  line  of  battle.  The  two  foremost 
ranks  fired  only;  the  men  in  the  third  rank  had 
only  to  charge  their  guns,  and  to  exchange  them 
for  the  empty  ones  of  the  second  rank.  Now  two 
ranks  only  are  formed  in  battle,  but  the  great 
amount  of  firing  is  done  by  skirmishers  kneel- 
in  o-  or  lying.  It  is  an  old  experience  that  the 
soldiers,  if  firing  quick,  very  frequently  do  not 
take  time  to  bring  their  guns  in  the  right  position, 
but  fire  without  aiming,  and  before  the  barrels  of 
their  guns  are  in  a  horizontal  position.  Those 
2i 


250 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


that  fire  in  a  kneeling  position  cannot  fire  high, 
without  doing  it  purposely. 

The  formation  of  the  Prussian  navy  only  dates 
from  1848,  and  even  up  to  1864  it  was  very  insig- 
nificant. But  the  result  of  the  Danish  war  in  that 
year,  and  the  annexations  made  in  1866,  rendered 
the  possession  of  a  powerful  navy  more  than  ever 
necessary  to  the  welfare  of  Prussia.  At  the  com- 
mencement of  the  present  war  she  had  six  power- 
ful iron-clads,  the  largest  being  the  Konig  Wilhehn, 
designed  by  Mr.  E.  J.  Reed,  then  chief  con- 
structor of  the  English  navy,  and  originally  built 
for  the  Turkish  government  at  the  Thames  Iron- 
works. The  Sultan,  however,  being  unable  to  pay 
for  her,  she  was  offered  at  the  same  price  to  the 
Board  of  Admiralty,  who  declined  to  buy  her,  and 
Prussia  at  once  came  forward  and  offered  £487,500, 
or  £30,000  more.  Seeing  their  mistake,  the 
English  Admiralty  then  tried  to  outbid,  but  was 
too  late.  The  vessel  has  a  speed  of  fourteen  knots, 
is  plated  with  eight-inch  armour,  and  carries 
twenty-eight  guns,  four  300-pounders,  and  twenty- 
four  rifled  96-pounders  made  of  Krupp's  hammered 
steel,  and  capable  of  being  fired  with  seventy-five 
lbs.  charges  twice  in  a  minute.  Besides  this 
and  five  other  iron-clads,  there  were  nine  screw 
frigates  and  corvettes,  and  eighty-six  small  vessels 
and  sailing  ships,  carrying  in  the  whole  542  guns, 
and  manned  by  5000  men  and  marines.  The 
sailors  and  marines  are  raised  by  conscription  from 
amongst  the  seafaring  population,  which  is  exempt 
on  this  account  from  service  in  the  army.  Great 
inducements  are  held  out  for  able  seamen  to  volun- 
teer in  the  navy,  and  the  number  who  have  done 


so  in  recent  years  has  been  very  large.  The  total 
seafaring  population  of  North  Germany  is  estimated 
at  80,000. 

During  the  last  few  years  Prussia  has  done  her 
best  to  strengthen  her  power  in  the  Baltic  and 
North  Seas.  On  both  these  seas  she  has  an  im- 
portant and  an  uninterrupted  line  of  coast,  where 
she  has  endeavoured  to  establish  ports  which  might 
be  useful  either  in  time  of  peace  or  war.  On  the 
Baltic  she  has  three  ports:  Dantzic,  on  the  extreme 
east ;  Stralsund,  midway  between  Memel  and  Hol- 
stein  ;  and  Kiel,  the  most  important,  which  is 
established  in  a  fine  bay  in  Holstein.  Of  these 
three  ports  Kiel  is  the  strongest  and  most  formid- 
able, and  is  supposed  to  be  regarded  by  Russia 
with  some  degree  of  suspicion  and  alarm.  The 
most  superficial  glance  on  the  map  will  show  its 
importance  to  the  Prussians.  When  complete, 
it  is  so  well  situated,  both  geographically  and 
locally,  as  to  show  that  it  may  easily  be  made  the 
Cherbourg  of  the  Baltic.  It  is  said  that  the  Baltic 
will  then  be  merely  a  Prussian  lake,  and  that 
Prussia,  without  any  difficulty,  will  not  only  be 
able  to  close  the  entrance  to  foreign  fleets,  but  will 
possess  the  most  complete  power  over  Copenhagen. 
Wilhelmshaven,  in  the  bay  of  Jahde,  in  the 
North  Sea,  one  of  the  most  important  harbours  for 
the  newly-founded  German  navy,  was  opened  by 
King  William  I.  in  1869.  It  forms  a  vast  artificial 
construction  of  granite,  and  comprises  five  separate 
harbours,  with  canals,  sluices  to  regulate  the  tide, 
and  an  array  of  dry  docks  for  ordinary  and  iron- 
clad vessels.  Its  total  cost  of  construction  was 
I  £1,500,000. 


CHAPTEE      V. 


Sketch  of  the  Organization  of  the  Regular  Army  in  France — State  of  things  prior  to  the  time  of  Lonis  XIV.,  and  from  that  period  to  the  Great 
Revolution — "Levee  en  Masse"  in  1793— The  Genius  of  Carnot— Wonderful  Successes  of  the  French  Army  in  1794 — Introduction  of  the 
Law  of  Conscription — Nothing  done  by  Napoleon  to  improve  the  Organic  Constitution  of  the  Army — Exhaustion  of  France  after  the  Battle 
of  Waterloo — Re-establishment  of  the  Army  in  1818 — The  State  of  the  Army  under  the  Second  Empire — Alarm  at  the  Success  of 
Prussia  at  the  Battle  of  Sadowa — Most  important  alterations  made  in  1868 — The  chief  provisions  of  the  Army  Re-organization  Act 
explained — The  system  of  purchasing  Substitutes — Broad  Results  of  the  New  Act,  and  the  Number  and  Composition  of  the  Army 
intended  to  have  been  secured  by  it — Great  Power  given  to  the  Emperor — Comparison  of  the  French  and  Prussian  Systems — Objections  to 
the  former—Serious  effect  of  the  Conscription  on  the  Population  in  France — Failure  of  the  Act  of  1868 — Reasons  of  Failure  stated — 
Delusion  entertained  as  to  the  National  Guard — Actual  Force  in  France  at  the  commencement  of  the  War — Weakness  of  the  French 
Commissariat — The  System  explained — Contrast  with  that  of  Prussia — Rapid  Strategy  and  Mobility  of  Force  essential  to  Modern 
Warfare — Favour  shown  in  France  to  the  Corps  d'Elite  a  weakness  to  the  general  Army — The  Accoutrement  of  the  French  Soldier  far 
too  heavy — No  important  alteration  made  in  the  System  of  Tactics  in  France  for  nearly  eighty  years — Prussian  Tactics  the  subject  of 
incessant  study  and  improvement — Enthusiasm  of  the  French  Troops  of  no  use  against  Modern  Weapons — Difference  of  Discipline  in  the 
French  and  Prussian  Armies — Want  of  respect  for  their  Officers  amongst  the  French — Causes  of  the  absence  of  Discipline  on  the  part  of  the 
French  traced  chiefly  to  the  tone  of  Society  under  the  Empire — The  Conscription  now  regarded  only  as  a  Blood-tax  on  the  Poor  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Rich — Evils  of  the  "  Exoneration  "  system — Paper  Soldiers — Corruption  on  the  part  of  the  Government — Education  and 
Training  of  the  French  Officers  not  calculated  to  create  habits  of  command — Too  many  Court  Generals,  and  incapacity  of  the  Etat  Major — 
The  Destructive  and  Marauding  Habits  of  the  French  Troops  increased  of  late  years — Rapidity  of  the  decline  in  the  Prestige  of  the 
French  Army — Full  description  of  the  Chassepot  and  its  Cartridge — Comparison  with  the  Needle-Gun — The  Mitrailleuse — Description 
of  the  Weapon,  and  also  of  the  Gatling  Gun — Importance  of  Artillery  in  War — -Superiority  of  the  Prussian  Field  Artillery  over  that 
of  the  French — The  Guns  and  Projectiles,  and  the  practice  of  firing  in  both  Armies  explained  and  contrasted — Breech  versus  Muzzle 
Loaders — The  Strength  and  Composition  of  the  French  Navy. 


The  history  of  the  organization  of  the  regular 
army  of  France  commences  in  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  Prior  to  the  reign  of  Louis 
XIV.  war  was  carried  on  by  men-at-arms,  troops 
of  horse,  and  bodies  of  sharpshooters  who  bore  little 
relation  to  a  modern  army.  The  soldier  was  equally 
brave,  and  more  independent;  but  the  art  of  acting 
in  great  masses,  and  the  discipline  by  which  the 
individual  is  entirely  merged  in  the  corps  to  which 
he  belongs,  is  of  comparatively  recent  date.  The 
formation  of  regular  armies  required  systematic 
organization — uniformity  of  arms  and  dress,  regu- 
larity of  advancement,  stricter  conditions  of  ser- 
vice, graduated  pay,  and  more  certain  methods  of 
insuring  the  sustenance  of  troops. 

These  are  the  elements  of  which  Louvois  was 
the  first  great  master,  and  by  his  careful  application 
of  them  he  contributed  more  to  the  success  of  the 
arms  of  Louis  XIV.  than  Turenne  and  Luxemburg, 
who  led  the  French  forces  to  victory  in  the  field. 
The  organization  of  Louvois  lasted,  with  no  mate- 
rial changes,  until  1793;  it  perished  in  that  great 
convulsion  which  overthrew  the  monarchy  and  the 
privileged  classes,  who  had  played  so  great  a  part 
in  it.  In  the  French  army,  thus  constituted  during 
the  eighteenth  century,  most  of  the  peculiarities 
prevailed  which  have  now  disappeared  from  every 


European  army  but  that  of  England.  The  men 
were  raised  by  voluntary  enlistment.  The  regi- 
ments retained  a  local  name  and  character  from 
the  districts  to  which  they  belonged;  the  brigades 
of  Picardy,  Normandy,  Champagne,  and  Auvergne 
corresponding  to  the  Coldstream  Guards,  Suther- 
land or  Gordon  Highlanders,  Connaught  Rangers, 
or  Welsh  Fusileers  in  the  United  Kingdom. 
The  king's  household  troops  were  a  privileged 
corps,  with  this  distinction,  however,  that  in 
the  Royal  Guards  and  Musketeers  the  purchase 
system  never  obtained,  and  that  they  were  open 
to  all  ranks  of  society.  In  the  rest  of  the  army, 
regiments  and  companies  having  been  originally 
raised  by  private  persons  for  the  service  of  the 
crown,  had  become  a  species  of  property,  like 
commissions  in  the  British  army.  The  old 
French  army  was  a  highly  aristocratic  institution  ; 
for  although  the  purchase  of  commissions  was 
tolerated,  Louvois  had  contrived  to  make  the 
military  service  rather  onerous  than  profitable, 
and  the  consequence  was  that  the  rich  and  the 
noble  alone  could  hold  them.  The  French  nobility 
served  with  unflinching  courage  and  enthusiasm  ; 
they  were  as  ready  to  spend  their  fortunes  in  the 
purchase  of  a  step  as  to  spend  their  blood  on 
the  field  of  battle.     Commissions  were  sometimes 


252 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


vouchsafed  by  the  king  to  private  soldiers  of 
signal  valour  and  merit,  but  the  noblesse  d'e'pe'e 
may  as  a  rule  be  said  to  have  officered  the  army. 
The  latter  was  essentially  royal  and  aristocratic 
when  the  revolutionary  storm  of  1789  burst  on 
France,  and  swept  away  both  the  nobility  and  the 
throne. 

In  1791  the  French  army  consisted  of  166  regi- 
ments of  foot  and  horse.  These  troops  were  well 
trained,  but  the  corps  were  numerically  weak ;  and 
the  political  agitation  of  the  time  had  shaken  the 
unity  and  self-reliance  of  the  army.  The  con- 
sequence was  that  the  outset  of  the  war  was  disas- 
trous ;  and  the  prodigious  enthusiasm  and  energy 
of  the  volunteers  of  1792  and  1793  alone  restored 
victory  to  the  standards  of  the  Republic.  The 
events  of  these  years  proved  at  once  the  value  and 
the  weakness  of  a  great  volunteer  movement.  The 
popular  movement  of  1792  saved  France;  but  in 
the  following  year,  when  it  was  opposed  to  the 
renewed  operations  of  regular  troops,  the  spell  was 
broken,  the  charm  was  over.  The  army  of  the 
Rhine  was  thrown  across  the  Lauter ;  the  army  of 
the  north  was  driven  out  of  Belgium;  and  it  became 
more  than  ever  difficult  to  raise  men  for  the 
necessary  service  of  the  country.  On  the  1st  of 
January,  1793,  the  eight  armies  of  the  French 
republic  had  not  more  than  150,000  men  in  their 
ranks.  For,  as  the  Due  d'Aumale,  in  an  able  work 
on  the  military  institutions  of  France,  has  said: — 
"  It  is  of  the  essence  of  special  volunteer  corps 
not  to  renew  their  strength,  although  the  mere 
existence  of  these  corps  seriously  interferes  with 
and  may  arrest  enlistment  for  the  line."  It  might 
be  worth  while  for  the  leaders  of  public  opinion  in 
England  to  consider  how  far  this  remark  applies 
to  our  popular  volunteer  movement,  as  well  as  to 
the  great  French  rising  of  1792.  The  French 
patriots  of  1791  having  enlisted  for  one  year, 
took  their  discharge  when  that  time  had  elapsed, 
and  60,000  of  them  returned  home.  The  Conven- 
tion called  out  300,000  national  guards,  but  the 
measure  failed  for  want  of  authority  to  raise  them. 
Toulon  was  taken  by  the  English,  Lyons  was  in 
insurrection,  the  eastern  departments  were  invaded, 
the  country  was  in  a  supreme  hour  of  danger,  when 
Carnot  joined  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  and 
six  days  afterwards  the  "levee  en  masse"  of  the 
nation  was  decreed  by  the  Convention.  At  that 
moment  sprang  to  life  the  national  army  of  France. 
A  former  law  had  placed  all  citizens  from  the  age 


of  eighteen  to  forty  (at  one  moment  even  from 
sixteen  to  forty-five)  under  the  grasp  of  arbitrary 
rule,  and  subjected  them  to  the  caprice  of  a  local 
authority.  The  law  of  the  20th  August,  1793,  was 
more  harsh  in  appearance,  but  less  vexatious  and 
oppressive  in  reality.  It  abolished  the  local  discre- 
tionary power,  confined  itself  to  men  from  eighteen 
to  twenty-five,  but  within  those  limits  took  them  all. 
In  six  months  all  the  pressure  of  the  Reign  of 
Terror  had  failed  to  raise  300,000  men  under  the 
earlier  law.  In  three  months  the  general  levy  was 
effected  without  serious  opposition  under  the  later 
law,  and  on  the  1st  January,  1794,  the  strength  of 
the  army  had  risen  to  770,932. 

This  vast  army  was  consolidated  by  the  genius 
of  Carnot  into  one  uniform  machine.  All  distinc- 
tions of  corps,  and  even  the  grades  of  the  non-com- 
missioned officers,  were  abolished.  Local  appella- 
tions of  regiments  were  superseded  by  numbers, 
and  the  uniform  of  the  whole  army  became 
identical ;  the  white  livery  of  the  Crown  being 
exchanged  for  the  blue  tunic  of  the  Republic. 
Such  was  the  constitution  of  the  immortal  armies 
of  the  "  Sambre  et  Meuse,"  and  of  the  "  Rhin  et 
Moselle,"  which  saved  France  on  the  plains  of 
Fleurus,  won  twenty-seven  victories  in  a  year, 
captured  3800  guns,  and  dissolved  the  European 
coalition. 

The  law  of  conscription  was  first  established 
in  France  on  the  5th  September,  1798,  fourteen 
months  before  the  18  th  Brumaire  ;  and  the  statute 
which  placed  the  population  at  the  disposal  of  the 
state,  as  each  succeeding  generation  completed  its 
twentieth  year,  preceded  the  power  which  was  to 
make  so  tremendous  a  use  of  it.  From  that  time  to 
the  present,  the  youth  of  France  just  entering  upon 
manhood  has  been  cropped  by  law,  like  the  tracts 
in  a  forest  set  apart  for  annual  felling  ;  and  though 
the  amount  has  varied,  the  principle  of  conscription 
is  now  deeply  rooted  in  the  law  and  the  habits 
of  the  nation,  although  it  devours  so  large  a 
proportion  of  the  adult  male  population.  The 
first  act  of  the  First  Consul  was  to  demand,  not 
an  instalment  of  the  conscription,  but  the  whole 
class  of  the  year,  amounting  to  100,000  men,  and 
to  take  severe  measures  against  every  evasion  of 
the  law.  These  demands  and  measures  increased 
in  intensity  throughout  his  reign.  It  is  remarkable, 
however,  that  Napoleon,  the  greatest  master  of  the 
art  of  modern  warfare,  did  nothing  to  improve  the 
organic  constitution  of  the  army.     He  employed 


•THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


253 


the  military  resources  of  the  country  with  con- 
summate ability,  and  with  insatiable  rapacity  ;  but 
he  consumed  everything  that  he  created.  The 
permanent  military  strength  of  France  could  not 
keep  pace  with  his  extravagant  demands  upon  it ; 
and  the  termination  of  the  empire  was  the  anni- 
hilation of  the  force  by  which  it  had  been  raised 
to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  power  and  glory. 

For  tliree  years  after  the  battle  of  Waterloo 
France  remained  without  an  army,  and  the  allied 
forces  were  not  all  withdrawn  from  her  territory, 
when  Marshal  Gouvion  Saint-Cyr,  minister  of  war 
under  the  Restoration,  undertook  hi  1818  the 
difficult  task  of  re-organizing  the  military  insti- 
tutions of  the  kingdom.  The  peace  establishment 
of  the  army  was  fixed  at  240,000  men,  to  be  raised 
by  an  annual  conscription  of  40,000  men,  enlisted 
for  six  years.  The  reserve  was  to  be  composed 
of  soldiers  belonging  to  the  levies  of  the  preceding 
ten  years,  but  this  part  of  the  scheme  failed.  No 
man  could  be  an  officer,  who  had  not  passed  a 
certain  time  in  the  ranks,  or  gone  through  one  of 
the  military  schools.  The  guard  was  retained,  and 
consisted  of  30,000  men.  The  annual  conscription 
on  the  peace  establishment  was  raised  successively 
to  60,000  and  80,000  by  the  government  of  Louis 
Philippe.  Under  the  second  empire  it  became  at 
least  100,000  ;  and  during  the  Crimean  and  Italian 
wars  140,000  men  was  the  annual  contingent. 

The  efficient  strength  of  the  French  army  in 
1867,  including  the  staff,  the  gendarmerie,  and  the 
military  train,  was  389,604  men  ;  of  whom  23,105 
were  officers,  70,850  non-commissioned  officers, 
26,374  unclassed  companies,  musicians,  &c,  and 
229,275  private  soldiers.  From  this  number, 
80,000  must  be  deducted  for  home  garrisons, 
depots,  and  the  force  serving  in  Africa.  A  further 
deduction  must  be  made  of  at  least  one-seventh 
for  the  raw  conscripts  of  the  year,  and  of  another 
considerable  fraction  of  men  entitled  to  their  dis- 
charge, as  having  served  their  time.  By  calling 
in  the  whole  reserve  of  the  contingents,  the  nominal 
strength  of  the  army  might  have  been  raised  to 
600,000  men,  but  the  actual  strength  was  very  far 
below  that  figure.  As  conscripts  were  allowed  to 
commute  or  buy  off  their  actual  service  by  paying 
a  certain  sum  to  the  military  chest,  a  further  de- 
duction must  be  made  for  those  who  paid  their  debt 
of  military  service  in  money,  and  not  in  person. 
From  1856  to  1865  the  average  annual  number 
of  these  exceeded  20,000  men,  or  one-fifth  of  the 


whole  conscription,  in  years  of  peace  ;  but  in  1859 
and  1860,  when  the  army  was  on  a  war  footing, 
and  the  conscription  was  raised  to  140,000,  the 
number  of  "exonerations"  exceeded  44,000,  or 
nearly  one-third  of  the  whole  contingent. 

The  result  is,  that  in  the  wars  of  the  Crimea 
and  of  Italy,  France  could  only  send  to  the  field, 
and  maintain  by  reinforcements,  an  army  not  much 
exceeding  one-fourth  of  her  nominal  effective 
strength  ;  and  it  is  well  known  that  in  1867, 
when  the  Luxembourg  question  was  supposed  to 
threaten  war,  the  Emperor  Napoleon  could  not 
immediately  have  sent  above  150,000  men  to  the 
Rhine,  and  these,  in  case  of  a  check,  could  not, 
under  several  months,  have  been  supported  by  a 
second  army.  The  startling  success  of  the  cam- 
paign ending  with  the  battle  of  Sadowa  caused 
a  shock  of  surprise  and  alarm  through  France ;  and 
in  the  uneasiness  that  followed,  the  highest  military 
authorities  of  the  nation  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  they  were  not  in  a  position  to  meet  on  an  equal 
footing  the  state  of  things  which  the  system  of 
the  Prussian  armies  and  the  consolidation  of  Ger- 
many had  produced  in  Europe. 

Accordingly,  in  1868,  most  important  alterations 
were  introduced  by  the  "Army  Re-organization 
Act."  The  conscription  system  was  still  retained, 
and  the  forces  of  the  country  classified  in  three 
divisions :  the  Active  Army,  the  Army  of  Reserve, 
and  the  National  Guard.  The  duration  of  service 
in  the  active  army  was  fixed  at  five  years,  at 
the  expiration  of  which  time  the  soldier  had  to 
enter  the  reserve  for  four  years  longer.  The  period 
of  service  of  the  young  men  who  had  not  been 
comprised  in  the  active  army,  was  four  years  in 
the  reserve,  and  five  in  the  national  guard.  The 
young  men  drawn  for  the  active  army  were  per- 
mitted to  purchase  substitutes  from  the  government, 
but  the  privilege  was  withheld  from  the  men  of  the 
reserve.  They  might,  however,  interchange  with 
those  of  the  National  Guard,  or  furnish  as  substi- 
tute a  man  under  thirty-two  years  of  age,  fulfilling 
the  conditions  required  for  military  service,  and 
liberated  from  all  other  obligations.  Substitutes 
were  formerly  procured  through  private  agencies, 
but  an  imperial  decree  in  1855  made  the  right  to 
furnish  them  a  government  monopoly.  The  price 
to  be  paid  for  substitutes  was  fixed  annually,  and 
varied.  In  1868  the  minister  of  war  settled  it  at 
2500  francs,  or  £100.  This  sum,  increased  by 
various  other  items,  was  supposed  to  be  thrown 


254 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


into  an  army  fund,  out  of  which  the  substitutes 
were  paid  a  certain  amount  at  the  time  of  enlist- 
ment, besides  receiving  an  increase  of  pay  at  the 
end  of  seven  years,  another  increase  at  the  end  of 
fourteen,  and  a  pension  of  one  franc,  or  tenpence 
a  day,  was  to  be  given  after  a  service  of  forty-five 
years.  Soldiers  were  allowed  to  re-enlist  as  long  as 
they  were  fit  for  service,  and  re-enlistments  were 
greatly  encouraged,  so  as  to  give  the  army  a 
standing  nucleus  of  experienced  troops,  who  had 
made  the  military  service  their  life-profession. 

By  the  terms  of  the  Act  of  1868,  the  number  of 
men  to  be  drafted  every  year  was  fixed  at  160,000, 
but  more  might  be  voted.  The  number  to  be  called 
out  in  each  department  was  settled  by  imperial 
decree,  and  the  contingent  for  each  canton  by  the 
prefect.  The  broad  result  of  the  law  was  to  give 
the  emperor  the  absolute  command,  for  military 
purposes,  of  the  entire  male  population  between 
the  ages  of  twenty  and  thirty.  Every  Frenchman, 
on  attaining  his  twentieth  year,  was  liable  to  nine 
years'  military  service.  Previous  to  1832,  the 
period  of  compulsory  enlistment  was  eight  years, 
and  from  1832  to  1868  seven  years.  Under  the 
new  system,  not  only  were  two  years  added  to  the 
enlistment,  but  the  chances  of  escaping  it  were 
greatly  curtailed.  It  was  intended  to  maintain 
about  400,000  men  in  the  active  army,  430,000  in 
the  reserve,  and  408,000  in  the  national  guard. 
The  latter  force  was  destined  as  an  auxiliary  to 
the  active  army  in  the  defence  of  the  fortresses, 
coasts,  and  frontier  of  the  empire,  and  in  the 
maintenance  of  order  in  the  interior.  The  pre- 
ceding figures  give  a  total  of  1,238,000  men,  but 
the  emperor  could  increase  the  force  at  pleasure. 
In  any  year  he  could,  if  he  chose,  call  on  the  whole 
"  class"  of  young  men  twenty  years  old,  supposed 
to  number  about  300,000  ;  the  reserve  could  be 
rendered  available  for  service  in  the  field  on  the 
same  conditions  as  the  army ;  and  the  national 
guard  called  out  for  active  duty  in  the  room  of 
the  reserve  by  a  special  law,  or,  in  the  interval 
of  the  session,  by  a  decree  which  was  to  be  pre- 
sented within  twenty-one  days  to  the  legisla- 
tive body.  It  will  be  thus  seen  that  from  1868 
conscripts  were  for  nine  years  at  the  call  of  the 
government,  their  service  being  divided  between 
the  army  (five  years)  and  reserve  (four  years),  or 
between  the  reserve  (four  years)  and  the  national 
guard  (five  years).  The  regulation  stature  was 
reduced  to  5  feet  1^  inches,  a  modification  favour- 


able to  tall  men,  as  the  number  of  conscripts  was 
thus  increased,  and  they  had  a  better  chance  of  not 
serving  hi  the  active  army.  The  reserves  could, 
it  is  true,  be  called  out  by  the  emperor  in  time  of 
war,  but  it  was  understood  that  such  expeditions 
as  those  of  Rome,  or  Mexico,  or  China,  or  Syria, 
did  not  constitute  a  time  of  war,  which  term,  in 
fact,  implied  a  serious  menace  of  collision  with 
some  great  Continental  power.  A  French  soldier 
was  able  to  many  after  having  passed  one  year  in 
the  reserve,  unless  stopped  by  an  imperial  decree 
calling  out  that  force.  The  married  men  of  the 
reserve  had  to  perform  the  same  duties  as  their 
single  comrades.  Substitutes  were  again  allowed, 
and  the  old  offices  where  a  man  could  step  in  and 
purchase  another  fellow  to  serve  in  his  stead  rose 
from  their  ashes.  The  movable  national  guard 
consisted  of  such  Frenchmen  as  did  not  belong  to 
the  active  army  or  reserve,  and  had  no  legal  cause 
of  exemption.  If  a  man  had  a  substitute  in  the 
active  army  or  reserve,  he  must,  nevertheless, 
belong  to  the  national  guard.  These  men  served 
for  five  years,  and  in  this  force  no  substitutes  were 
allowed,  as  in  time  of  peace  the  duties  would  be 
light,  and  in  time  of  war  every  man  would  be 
required  at  his  post. 

The  amended  plan  was  avowedly  based  on  the 
Prussian  system,  but  with  two  important  differ- 
ences. The  period  of  service  in  the  active  army, 
which  was  five  years  in  France,  is  only  three  years 
in  Prussia.  Again,  only  half  of  the  French 
reserve  was  composed  of  conscripts  who  had  seen 
actual  service  —  the  other  half  were  of  inferior 
efficiency.  In  Prussia,  on  the  contrary,  the 
reserve  is  wholly  composed  of  experienced  troops, 
who  have  spent  three  years  under  colours.  In 
France  the  conscript  was  free  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
nine,  while  in  Prussia  the  war  office  retains  its 
hold  over  him  till  he  is  thirty-two,  and,  indeed,  if 
the  landsturm  is  taken  into  account,  for  a  longer 
period.  But  in  peace  a  Prussian  conscript  is  after 
three  years  practically  at  liberty  to  return  to  civil 
pursuits,  the  distribution  of  the  reserve  being  so 
arranged  that  the  men  composing  it  can  remain  in 
their  own  town  or  village  among  their  friends  and 
associates,  except  during  the  brief  annual  exer- 
cises. The  French  conscript,  however,  was  bound 
for  five  years  in  the  army ;  and  if  the  reserve  had 
been  made  really  efficient,  the  conscripts  who  there 
began  their  military  career  would  have  had  to  devote 
more  time  to  it  than  the  Prussian  reserve  men 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


255 


(who  have  already  been  trained,  and  need  only  a 
little  "setting-up"  drill  to  freshen  their  recol- 
lection), and  would  have  found  the  requirements  of 
the  service  injuriously  interfere  with  their  ordinary 
occupations.  The  French  plan,  therefore,  while 
more  oppressive  than  the  Prussian  one,  provided 
a  less  efficient  reserve. 

When  the  proportion  between  the  conscription 
and  the  population  is  considered,  a  still  more 
serious  objection  arises  to  the  French  system.  It 
is  calculated  that  about  320,000  young  men  every 
year  reach  the  age  of  twenty  in  France,  but  of  these 
quite  half  obtain  exemption  from  military  service 
on  account  of  being  included  in  one  or  other  of 
the  following  classes : — Those  below  the  standard ; 
those  whose  infirmities  unfit  them  for  soldiering; 
the  eldest  of  a  family  of  orphans ;  the  only  son  or 
eldest  son,  or,  in  default  of  son  or  stepson,  the 
only  or  eldest  grandson  of  a  widow,  or  of  a  blind 
father,  or  of  a  father  aged  seventy;  the  eldest  of 
two  brothers  drawn  for  service,  if  the  younger  is  fit 
to  serve ;  those  who  have  a  brother  actually  serving, 
not  as  a  substitute  ;  those  who  have  had  a  brother 
killed  or  disabled  in  the  service.  Hence  there  were 
only  some  160,000  men  to  supply  the  contingent  of 
the  year.  Formerly  the  contingent  stood  at  100,000 
in  times  of  peace,  but  the  Act  of  1868  having 
raised  it  to  160,000,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  con- 
scription every  year  carried  off  every  young  man  who 
was  twenty  years  of  age,  and  fit  for  service;  and  no 
margin  was  left  for  the  necessities  of  war.  Accord- 
ingly, the  whole  able-bodied  male  population  of 
France  was  bound  to  military  service  of  one  kind 
or  another  between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  thirty. 
In  Prussia  there  is  some  chance  of  escape  from 
the  army,  even  for  those  who  are  not  cripples  or 
invalids.  The  nominal  "  class  "  of  the  year  is 
170,000;  deducting  men  unfit  for  arms,  there 
remain  some  75,000  to  supply  the  annual  con- 
tingent of  60,000.  In  Prussia,  a  conscript  can 
marry  after  his  three  years'  service  under  the 
colours.  In  France,  six  years  at  least  was  the 
period  during  which  marriage  was  forbidden. 

If  we  consider  the  French  conscription  in  its 
effect  upon  the  population,  the  case  assumes  a 
most  serious  aspect.  At  least  a  century  of  peace 
was  necessary  after  1815,  to  enable  the  population 
to  recover  from  the  tremendous  drain  of  the  wars 
of  the  first  empire.  Statistics  prove  that  the 
levy  of  100,000  men,  more  or  less,  under  arms, 
instantly  produces  a  marked  effect  on  the  popula- 


tion. When  the  conscription  was  40,000  men 
the  population  rapidly  increased;  with  60,000  the 
progress  was  slower  ;  with  80,000,  slower  still  ; 
with  100,000  it  was  arrested;  with  140,000  (in 
1854  and  1855)  it  positively  declined.  The 
population  of  France  has  for  many  years  increased 
more  slowly  than  that  of  any  other  country,  and 
under  the  Army  Act  of  1868  there  seemed  no 
prospect  before  it  but  rapid  decline.  No  surprise 
can  be  felt  at  such  a  phenomenon  when  we  remember 
that  160,000  stout  and  able-bodied  young  men 
were  marched  off  every  year  to  the  barracks  or  the 
camp ;  that  for  at  least  six  years  they  were  unable 
to  contract  marriage ;  and  that  their  more  fortunate 
contemporaries  who  remained  at  home,  cultivated 
their  fields,  married,  and  reared  children,  were 
precisely  those  who  were  rejected  by  the  conscrip- 
tion on  account  of  their  diminutive  size,  their 
feeble  constitutions,  or  other  infirmities. 

So  far  as  results  are  concerned  the  Act  of  1868 
may  really  be  said  to  have  been  a  failure.  In 
execution  it  fell  very  far  short  of  its  express 
intention,  viz.,  of  enabling  the  emperor  to  have 
800,000  fighting  men  at  his  disposal,  and  of  raising 
the  available  military  strength  of  the  empire  to 
upwards  of  1,200,000  men.  The  reasons  of  its 
failure  are  not  hard  to  find.  The  imperial  govern- 
ment did  not  possess  the  unequivocal  or  undivided 
confidence  of  any  class  of  French  citizens.  The 
emperor,  whose  will  was  the  only  tangible  form  of 
authority,  could  not  boast  of  high  military  talents, 
and  had  been  unfortunate  in  several  of  his  military 
experiments.  After  him  there  had  not  been  for 
many  years  in  France  any  general  of  such  indis- 
putable pre-eminence  and  authority,  that  he  could 
at  once  give  the  vigour  and  unity  of  paramount 
command  to  the  whole  military  system.  As  there 
did  not  exist  any  immediate  and  stirring  motive 
for  such  a  measure  of  national  armament  beyond 
the  successes  of  a  neighbour,  the  measure  did  not 
meet  with  popular  sympathy  ;  and  a  government 
whose  relations  with  the  people  were  never  the 
most  cordial,  hesitated  to  enforce  to  the  letter  an 
objectionable  law.  The  government  even  lacked 
the  courage  or  strength  to  put  into  execution  some 
of  its  mildest  and  least  vexatious  provisions,  such 
as  the  training  and  arming  of  the  garde  mobile. 
If  the  policy  of  Napoleon  III.,  after  the  passing  of 
the  Act  of  1868,  had  not  been  characterized  by  such 
infirmity  of  purpose  and  fatal  timidity  and  vacil- 
lation, the  so-called  "Army  of  the  Ehine"  of  1870 


256 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


would  not  have  been  so  hopelessly  overwhelmed, 
outnumbered,  and  broken  up  as  it  was  by  the 
Prussian  forces. 

The  great  national  guard,  of  which  so  much 
was  expected,  having  been  wilfully  maintained  in  a 
condition  which  rendered  it  perfectly  worthless  in 
time  of  war,  the  notion  that  France  had  a  great 
reserve  on  which  to  fall  back,  was  found,  when 
too  late,  to  have  been  a  delusion.  The  regular 
army  were  soldiers  ;  but  the  national  guard  had 
neither  drill,  nor  arms,  nor  officers  worthy  of  the 
name.  The  reason  of  this  is  manifest  enough  in 
the  extreme  reluctance  of  the  Bonapartist  ministry 
to  place  arms  in  the  hands  of  the  civil  population ; 
and  it  must  be  remembered  that  before  the  French 
army  had  suffered  a  single  reverse,  the  disaffection 
of  the  garde  mobile  had  been  so  abundantly  de- 
monstrated in  the  camp  at  Chalons,  that  it  was 
thought  prudent  to  teach  the  bulk  of  the  men  drill 
with  sticks  instead  of  Chassepots. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  war  the  regular 
army  of  France  was  400,000  men,  of  whom  40,000 
were  at  Cherbourg  getting  ready  for  the  Baltic, 
5000  in  Italy,  10,000  in  Algeria,  35,000  in  Paris 
and  Chalons,  10,000  in  Lyons,  and  at  least  30,000 
more  in  Marseilles,  Toulon,  Bordeaux,  Toulouse, 
L'Orient,  Rochefort,  and  the  hospitals,  leaving 
only  270,000  efficients  for  the  front — that  is,  eight 
corps  d'armee  of  30,000  each,  and  the  guard.  On 
this  army  rushed,  by  German  official  accounts,  the 
Crown  Prince  with  210,000  men,  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  with  220,000  more,  and  Steinmetz  with 
90,000,  or  520,000  in  all.  In  addition  to  these, 
to  reinforce  German  losses,  there  was  "  the  second 
line " — the  200,000  soldiers  encamped  between 
the  Rhine  and  the  Weser. 

An  element  of  very  considerable  weakness  in  the 
French  system,  was  to  be  found  in  what  is  called 
the  administration  of  the  army,  better  known  in 
England  as  the  commissariat.  In  time  of  peace  it  is 
difficult  to  learn  the  art  of  supplying  an  army  in 
the  field.  In  peace  the  delivery  of  contracts  is 
perfectly  simple,  regular,  and  easy.  In  war  every- 
thing— time,  place,  and  demand — is  urgent,  diffi- 
cult, and  irregular.  The  only  method  of  dealing 
with  so  many  unforeseen  contingencies  is  not  by 
military  routine,  but  by  a  ready  and  complete 
knowledge  of  business.  But  all  the  officers  of 
the  French  commissariat  had  served  for  years  in 
the  army  itself;  and  the  heads  of  the  depart- 
ment, or  intendants,  were  superannuated  generals. 


The  consequence  was,  that  these  persons  knew 
nothing  of  the  operations  of  trade,  by  which  alone 
supply  can  adjust  itself  to  demand.  During  the 
Italian  campaign  of  1859,  the  French  troops  were 
often  without  bread,  in  one  of  the  richest  corn- 
bearing  regions  of  Europe.  Biscuit  was  equally 
deficient,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  supply  the 
place  of  these  necessaries  by  polenta,  which  the 
men  could  not  eat,  because  they  did  not  know 
how  to  cook  it !  The  commissariat  knew  nothing 
about  buying  and  selling  food;  they  could  only 
distribute  it. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  French  were 
not  only  outnumbered  and  out-generalled,  but  that 
their  organization  completely  broke  down.  The 
Prussians,  at  a  distance  from  their  own  supplies, 
and  consequently  compelled  to  maintain  a  long  line 
of  communication  through  an  enemy's  country, 
were  better  furnished  with  materiel  and  food  than 
the  French.  They  succeeded  in  moving  their 
wounded  more  rapidly  from  the  field  of  battle  ;  and 
their  operations  were  never  impeded  by  a  want 
of  transport.  It  is  impossible,  on  the  other  hand, 
to  explain  some  of  the  delays  of  the  French  gen- 
erals except  on  the  supposition  that  their  transport 
failed  them.  Even  the  great  disaster  at  Sedan  might 
have  been  averted,  or  lessened,  if  MacMahon  had 
been  able  to  move  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles 
a  day.  An  admirable  organization  enabled  the 
Prussians  easily  to  accomplish  distances  which  a 
want  of  it  made  it  hopeless  for  the  French  to 
attempt. 

On  the  French  system  the  ministry  of  war, 
through  a  great  department — the  Intendance — 
monopolizes  the  whole  business  of  the  army.  It 
musters  the  troops,  checks  the  pay  lists,  issues 
provisions,  fuel,  forage,  and  clothing,  supervises 
the  hospital  service,  manages  the  whole  transport  of 
the  army,  and  takes  charge  of  all  the  materiel  of  war. 
The  system  of  the  Prussians  is  the  exact  reverse. 
Instead  of  centralizing,  they  have  decentralized. 
Instead  of  providing  one  intendance  for  the  whole 
army,  they  have  aimed  at  making  each  corps 
d'armee  complete  in  itself.  Each  corps  has  its 
own  stores  and  its  own  reserves,  and  draws  its 
supplies  from  its  depots  without  the  necessity  of 
reference  to  a  central  authority.  In  France  the 
entire  transport  is  under  the  control  of  the  Inten- 
dance, and  the  vehicles  may  be  used  for  any 
purpose  or  for  any  regiment  for  which  they  may 
be  temporarily  required.     In  Prussia  the  duties  of 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


257 


the  central  authority  are  confined  to  the  simple 
task  of  replenishing  the  dep6ts  from  which  each 
corps  draws  its  stores;  every  corps  Intendance  has 
control  over  its  own  carriages,  which  can  only  be 
used  for  the  service  of  the  particular  corps  to 
which  they  are  attached.  Each  corps  has  means 
at  its  disposal  for  the  carriage  of  its  reserve  am- 
munition, its  hospital  service,  its  stores,  and  its 
supplies,  and  not  only  is  adequate  transport  pro- 
vided for  each  corps,  but  sufficient  vehicles  are 
furnished  for  each  object.  The  ammunition  wag- 
gons, the  hospital  carts,  the  store  train,  are  aU 
distinct  from  each  other,  and  under  the  orders  of 
separate  officers,  though  subject  to  the  commands  of 
the  general  of  the  corps.  The  preference  which  has 
been  shown  by  many  high  authorities  for  the 
French  plan,  is  based  on  the  supposition  that  the 
requirements  of  an  army  are  so  various  and  so 
incapable  of  being  foreseen,  that  it  is  wasteful  to 
maintain  separate  materiel  for  each  regiment. 
One  regiment  may  be  stationed  in  a  barren 
country,  the  other  in  a  fertile  one.  The  one  may 
be  far  from  its  resources,  the  other  near  them. 
In  either  case  the  one  would  require  more  elabo- 
rate means  of  transport  than  the  other,  and,  if  each 
were  provided  with  the  same  amount,  half  the 
horses  in  the  one  case  would  be  standing  idle, 
while  all  the  beasts  in  the  other  would  be  worked 
to  death.  But  this  criticism  overlooks  the  fact, 
that  the  Prussians  knowingly  provide  a  transport 
which  in  some  cases  may  prove  extravagant,  in 
order  that  they  may  be  quite  sure  that  in  every 
instance  it  may  be  adequate.  And  thus,  at  the 
outbreak  of  war,  each  regiment  in  the  Prussian 
army  is  ready  to  move  at  a  moment's  notice,  while 
the  French  cannot  move  a  step  till  the  Intendance 
has  undertaken  a  preliminary  distribution  of  stores, 
materiel,  and  transport.  The  French,  from  the 
nature  of  their  system,  were  organizing  while  the 
Prussians  were  marching.  Their  organization  may 
prove  admirable,  if  they  can  fight  at  their  own  time. 
It  must  fail  before  an  enemy  prepared  to  assume 
at  the  very  outbreak  of  the  war  an  active  offensive. 
In  short,  it  is  suited  for  the  dilatory  operations 
of  ancient  warfare.  It  is  wholly  unfitted  for  the 
sudden  and  rapid  movements  of  modern  armies. 

The  same  principles  of  rapid  strategy  and 
mobility  of  force  have  ever  been  the  keys  of 
victory,  whether  this  rapidity  and  mobility  have 
been  gained  by  improvement  of  roads,  improve- 
ment  of    organization,    adaptations    of    scientific 


discoveries,  or  superiority  of  armament.  The 
same  skilful  application  of  the  science  of  war 
has  turned  the  scale  in  every  campaign  from  the 
days  of  Alexander  to  those  of  Moltke.  Every 
great  general  who  has  handed  down  his  name 
as  a  mighty  master  of  his  art  has  owed  his 
successes  and  his  reputation  to  the  discovery 
or  appreciation  of  some  new  means  of  rendering 
his  army  more  easy  to  move,  or  more  easy  to 
concentrate  for  decisive  action,  than  that  of  his 
opponent.  Alexander  conquered  by  means  of  the 
discipline  and  equipment  of  the  troops  handed 
down  to  him  by  his  father,  which  enabled  them 
to  move  more  rapidly  than  the  cumbrous  forces 
of  his  enemies,  in  exactly  the  same  manner  as 
Frederick  the  Great  triumphed  over  his  enemies 
by  means  of  the  discipline  and  equipment  of  the 
troops  handed  down  to  him  by  his  father.  Cassar 
gained  victories  by  the  mobility  of  the  legions, 
exactly  in  the  same  manner  as  Napoleon  did  by 
the  adoption  of  the  system  of  divisions  and  corps 
d'armee,  first  advocated  by  Moreau.  WheTever 
we  turn  in  the  history  of  war,  we  find  the  same 
broad  principles  the  foundation  of  success.  The 
French  gained  the  great  victory  of  Jena  by  hav- 
ing adopted  a  system  of  manoeuvre  which  was  as 
superior  in  mobility  to  that  handed  down  from 
the  time  of  Frederick  the  Great  as  is  the  system 
of  the  present  day,  by  which  the  Prussians  have 
turned  the  tables  on  the  French,  to  that  of  the 
first  Napoleon.  The  art  of  war.  like  every 
other  art,  is  ever  progressive,  ever  advancing. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  chivalry  in  war.  A 
general  who  gave  up  an  advantageous  position 
nowadays  to  meet  an  enemy  on  equal  terms, 
would  be  thought  as  great  a  madman  as  a  knight 
would  have  been  considered  in  the  so-called  days 
of  chivalry,  if  he  had  taken  off  his  armour  and 
fought  without  protection.  War  is,  always  has 
been,  and  always  must  be,  the  means  of  doing 
the  maximum  of  damage  to  an  enemy  with  the 
minimum  injury  to  oneself.  And  the  principles 
of  war  have  remained  the  same  in  all  ages. 
They  may  be  summed  up  briefly  as  the  means 
of  moving  most  rapidly  against  your  enemy  when 
he  is  unprepared,  and  of  hitting  him  hardest 
when  you  get  near  him.  Could  soldiers  fight  more 
bravely  than  those  of  the  French  army  did  in  the 
war  ?  They  showed  a  courage  in  the  field  of 
battle  which  allowed  them  to  retire  from  even  an 
unsuccessful  struggle  with  every  honour.  Yet 
2  K 


258 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


of  what  avail  was  their  gallantry  for  the  defence 
of  the  country  which  they  were  maintained  to 
defend?  Their  enemy  had  mastered  the  present 
conditions  of  the  art  of  war,  and  all  their  gallantry 
and  bravery  was  ineffectual  and  abortive. 

The  favour  shown  by  the  French  military  author- 
ities to  their  corps  (Te'lite,  has  a  tendency  to  drain 
the  line  of  its  best  men.  By  common  consent  the 
infantry  of  an  army  is  its  most  essential  and  import- 
ant element.  The  foot  soldier  of  the  French  army, 
carrying  on  his  back  a  weight  of  thirty-five  kilo- 
grammes, or  seventy-five  lbs.,  which  is  more  than 
one-third  of  the  regulation  burden  of  a  camp  mule, 
has  to  march,  to  watch,  to  work,  and  to  fight,  for 
the  support  and  defence  of  the  whole  service.  In 
the  Chassepot  the  voltigeur  certainly  has  a  much 
lighter  weapon  than  the  old  muzzle-loader,  but 
"  the  pack  "  is  still  greater  than  any  man  can  be 
expected  to  carry  on  a  long  march  without  exhaus- 
tion. First,  there  is  the  Chassepot,  7|  pounds; 
next,  the  sword  bayonet  and  scabbard,  3  pounds;  10 
pounds  of  ammunition,  distributed  partly  in  two 
pouches,  and  partly  in  his  knapsack;  a  pair  of 
shoes;  a  four-pound  loaf  of  bread;  a  canvas  bag 
slunw  over  the  left  shoulder,  and  containing  any 
creature  comforts  the  man  may  have  procured; 
Over  the  knapsack — first,  a  great-coat;  secondly, 
a  blanket;  thirdly,  his  share  of  the  canvas  for  the 
tente  oVabri,  and  sticks  for  the  same;  and  fourthly, 
a  huge  camp  kettle.  Inside  the  knapsack  he  has 
a  second  pair  of  trousers,  comb,  brushes,  needles, 
thread,  buttons,  a  pair  of  gloves,  a  couple  of  pairs 
of  socks,  and  three  shirts;  in  addition,  a  flask 
capable  of  containing  about  a  quart  of  liquid  is 
flung  over  the  right  shoulder.  A  long  march 
with  such  a  weight  must  incapacitate  all  but  the 
very  strongest  men.  Yet  how  is  the  infantry  of 
the  line  formed?  It  is  what  may  fairly  be  called 
the  residuum  of  the  conscription.  The  artillery 
and  engineers  have'  the  first  choice,  as  they 
must  have  men  of  physical  strength  and  superior 
intelligence.  Then  the  big  men  are  taken  for 
the  heavy  cavalry  regiments.  Then  the  most 
agile  and  hardy  men  arc  selected  for  the  light- 
infantry  corps  (chasseurs  a  pied) ;  and  when  the 
regiments  of  the  line  are  formed,  the  best  men  are 
drafted  out  of  them  to  serve  in  the  imperial  guard, 
or  to  form  the  two  picked  companies  of  each  bat- 
talion. What  remains  after  all  this  selection,  is  of 
necessity  the  dregs  of  the  whole  mass.  No  error 
can  be  more  fatal  than  this  fostering  of  picked 


bodies  of  troops  at  the  expense  of  the  whole  army. 
The  forces  are  weakened  by  continually  subtract- 
ing their  strongest  ingredients;  and  the  army,  as 
a  whole,  loses  that  uniform  solidity  which  is  essen- 
tial to  great  operations. 

When  we  remember  that  it  was  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  I.  who  said  that,  to  preserve  the  super- 
iority of  an  army  in  war,  the  system  of  tactics 
required  to  be  changed  every  ten  years,  it  seems 
remarkable  that  the  French  military  authorities 
should  have  been  the  last  in  Europe  to  act  upon 
the  principle.  Yet  such  was  the  case.  The  exer- 
cises and  manoeuvres  of  the  French  line  when  the 
war  with  Prussia  commenced  were  still  almost  those 
of  1791;  indeed,  they  were  introduced  and  copied 
from  the  drill  of  Frederick  II.,  after  the  battle 
of  Eosbach.  In  process  of  time  these  regula- 
tions, revised  and  amended  in  a  thousand  ways, 
reached  an  enormous  bulk — some  846  articles  of 
evolutions,  most  of  which  could  not  be  executed 
in  actual  war.  They  are  still  essentially  the 
regulations  of  Potsdam,  devised  by  Leopold  Von 
Dess.au,  soon  after  Frederick  had  adopted  the  iron 
ramrod,  which  was  the  needle-gun  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. The  minuteness  and  complexity  of  these 
details  exceeds  all  belief,  and  the  study  of  them 
diverts  the  mind  of  an  officer  from  the  true  objects 
of  war.  The  whole  drill  should  be  reduced  to  a 
few  pages;  and  now  that  the  inflexible  rigidity  of 
the  old  Prussian  line  of  battle  has  been  superseded 
by  elasticity,  mobility,  and  the  relative  independ- 
ence of  its  components  parts,  it  is  evident  that 
simplicity  and  clearness  in  theory,  and  rapidity  in 
execution,  have  become  the  absolute  law  of  modern 
manoeuvres  and  tactics.  While  French  infantry 
tactics  are  thus  complicated  and  old-fashioned, 
those  of  the  Prussian  army  were  the  subject  of 
incessant  study  and  improvement  from  the  battle 
of  Jena,  when  their  old  system  broke  down,  to  the 
battle  of  Sadowa,  when  their  new  system  culmin- 
ated in  victory.  The  German  armies  are  now  in 
the  highest  state  of  efficiency  which  can  be  reached 
by  scientific  preparation  for  war,  by  concentration, 
by  compact  discipline,  and  by  forethought. 

The  French  army  has  always  been  remarkable 
for  a  degree  of  enthusiasm  in  their  fighting  far 
beyond  that  of  other  nations;  and  the  wars  of 
the  present  generation  show  that  this  peculiarity 
has  not  altered.  It  is  due,  in  the  first  instance, 
to  the  nervous,  high-spirited  temperament  of  the 
men ;  but  it  has  been  increased,  rather  than  coun- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


259 


teracted,  by  the  influence  of  the  campaigns  in 
Algeria,  the  great  school  of  modern  French  arms. 
The  loose  formation  and  desultory  warfare  of 
Africa  against  the  Arab  tribes,  have  given  to  men 
and  officers  a  high  degree  of  individual  resource 
and  self-reliance,  but  they  have  weakened  that 
severe  discipline  and  close  connection  which  is 
essential  to  regular  movements  against  an  enemy 
in  line  of  battle.  French  soldiers  take  up  their 
ground  with  extreme  promptitude  and  gallantry : 
when  the  fire  of  the  enemy  begins  to  tell  upon 
them  they  rush  forward  with  irresistible  ardour, 
but  with  some  degree  of  confusion.  In  their 
European  campaign  of  1859,  the  French  beat  the 
Austrians  by  furious  assaults  with  the  bayonet ; 
but  that  sort  of  thing,  it  was  found,  would  never 
do  with  the  present  range  and  rapidity  of  firearms, 
and  a  novel  system  of  movements  had  therefore  to 
be  introduced.  The  Prussians  supplied  this  want, 
simultaneously  with  the  adoption  of  the  breech- 
loader, and  successfully  practised  their  new  man- 
oeuvre of  fighting  in  dispersed  columns  four  years 
ago.  The  French  have  yet  to  adapt  themselves  to 
this  particular  requirement  of  the  age.  Their  noisy 
and  impetuous  movements  are  ill-timed  and  incon- 
venient ;  and  in  the  event  of  a  check  inflicted  by 
an  enemy  under  stricter  discipline  and  control,  are 
followed  by  the  most  disastrous  consequences. 

In  most  of  their  campaigns  of  late  years,  before  the 
war  with  Germany,  the  French  troops  were  opposed 
to  an  enemy  far  inferior  to  themselves  in  soldierly 
qualities.  They  found  that  a  well-directed  attack 
generally  secured  them  victory,  and  became,  there- 
fore, confirmed  in  the  belief  that  nothing  could 
withstand  their  rush.  They  seem  to  have  forgotten 
that  Germans,  the  most  military  of  the  continental 
nations,  fighting  for  all  they  held  dear,  and  imbued 
with  the  deepest  feelings  of  nationality,  were  not 
men  likely  to  yield  without  a  desperate  struggle. 
They  did  not  recognize  that  with  arms  of  precision, 
and  especially  with  breech-loaders,  calmness,  steadi- 
ness, and  resolution  are  more  than  a  counterpoise 
for  dash  and  enthusiasm.  Even  French  writers 
noticed  that  the  French  conscripts  fired  wildly,  and 
what  does  firing  wildly  with  the  Chassepot  mean  ? 
It  means  a  useless  expenditure  of  ammunition  from 
a  rapidly  loaded  rifle,  and  an  utter  disregard  of  the 
value  of  accuracy.  Possibly  breech-loading  arms 
may  be  better  adapted  for  the  slow  and  steady  Ger- 
man than  for  the  eager  and  impetuous  Frenchman. 
It  now  requires  a  great  degree  of  calmness  on  the  part 


of  the  soldier,  when  under  a  heavy  fire,  to  refrain 
from  expending  his  ammunition.  Courage,  apart 
from  excitement,  is  necessary  to  enable  him  to  keep 
cool  and  to  use  his  arm  of  precision.  Few  who 
have  studied  the  events  of  the  war  will  be  able  to 
avoid  the  thought  that,  armed  as  soldiers  now  are, 
steady  troops  will  have  the  advantage  over  those 
who  trust  to  ilan  for  their  superiority,  and  seek  by 
enthusiasm  to  replace  the  firm  persistency  which 
characterizes  the  northern  nations. 

It  will  not  be  out  of  place  if  we  indicate  here 
one  or  two  other  features  of  the  campaign,  which 
will  to  a  great  extent  account  for  the  overwhelming 
reverse  of  fortune  which  has  overtaken  the  military 
power  of  France.     No  doubt  a  very  large  portion 
of  the  Prussian  success  may  be  accounted  for  by 
the  superiority  of  numbers  and  the  great  talents 
of  the  strategists  and  generals  who  have  planned 
and    executed    the    various    movements ;    but  it 
would  show  a  disregard  of  the  lessons  of  war  if 
the    influence   attaching    to    the    composition    of 
their  rank  and  file  were  overlooked.     In  the  first 
place,  few  can  fail  to  be  struck  with  the  difference 
between  the  discipline  of  the  German  and  French 
regiments,  not  only  when  defeat  had  tested  to  the 
utmost  the  quality  of  the  latter,  but  even  before  the 
war  had  actually  commenced,  and  during  the  inarch 
of  the  troops  to  the  front.     There  was  an  earnest- 
ness and  determination  among  the  German  soldiers 
which  contrasted  favourably  with  the  excitement 
and  effervescent  enthusiasm  of  the  French  troops. 
What  can  be  more  marked  in  their  difference  than 
the  narratives  of  the  departure  of  the  regiments 
from  Berlin  and  Paris  !     In  the  former  city  quiet, 
order,  and  determination  not  unmixed  with  sadness, 
characterized  the  march  of  the  men  who  had  left 
home  and  family  to  fight  for  a  cause  which  they 
believed  to  be  identical  with  the  existence  of  Ger- 
many as  a  nation.     In  Paris,  on  the  contrary,  the 
wild   conduct  of   the   Zouaves   and   Turcos  was 
applauded  as  the  natural  outbursts  of  soldiers  who 
by  mere  ilan  were  to  overcome  their  enemies  and 
override  Europe.     To  hold  within  bounds  of  dis- 
cipline such  soldiers  requires   a  strong  hand  and 
a  firm  will.     Neither  of  these  seems  to  have  been 
employed.     Unprejudiced  spectators  have  narrated 
how  French  regiments  behave  on  the  line  of  march  ; 
how  the  soldiers  straggle,  fall  out,  and  lag  behind  ; 
how  the  officers  ride  in  front,  careless  of  their  men, 
and  intent  only  on  securing  for  themselves  good 
quarters   and  good  food.      The  necessary  results 


260 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


follow.  The  stragglers,  released  from  the  restraints 
of  discipline,  plundered  and  oppressed  even  their 
own  countrymen,  and  in  some  instances,  without 
the  excuse  of  hunger  or  want,  sacked  the  baggage 
of  the  army,  which  had  been  left  without  a  sufficient 
guard.  On  the  other  hand,  the  marching  of  the 
Prussian  regiments  received  the  well-merited  com- 
mendation of  all  who  witnessed  it,  while  their 
conduct  in  the  enemy's  country  showed  how  well 
discipline  had  been  preserved,  not  only  by  the 
power  of  military  rule,  but  by  the  influence  of  men 
of  education  and  good  character  on  their  comrades 
in  the  ranks.  Neither  the  officers  nor  men  of  the 
German  army  shrunk  from  the  hardships  of  war  ; 
all  equally  experienced  them  ;  and  the  generals, 
the  staff,  and  the  regimental  officers,  alike  shared 
with  their  men  the  bivouac  in  the  open  and  the 
inconvenience  it  entailed.  The  French  officers  do 
not  appear  to  have  considered  necessary  such  a 
similarity  of  life  between  themselves  and  their  men. 
Take  the  account  of  the  capture  of  St.  Privat  by 
the  Prussian  guards,  on  the  occasion  of  the  battle 
of  Gravellotte.  They  advanced  across  the  open, 
up  a  steep  hill,  their  generals  and  mounted  officers 
in  front,  in  face  of  a  most  withering  fire  from  an 
enemy  entrenched  behind  the  walls  and  houses. 
Their  mounted  officers  were  all  either  dismounted 
or  killed,  their  ranks  were  more  than  decimated ; 
but  they  pressed  on,  drove  the  French  from  their 
position,  and  took  their  camp.  The  captured  camp 
afforded  unwonted  luxuries.  These  Prussian 
guardsmen,  men  of  the  highest  families  of  Berlin, 
were  amazed  at  the  comforts  which  abounded  in 
the  tents  of  the  French  officers.  Their  own  generals 
and  officers  of  all  ranks  were  accustomed  to  sleep 
on  the  ground  ;  but  these  gentlemen  of  France 
had  beds,  chairs,  carpets,  curtains,  and  looking- 
glasses,  and,  as  a  Prussian  staff  officer  naively 
remarked,  "  we  then  quite  understood  why  the 
French  could  not  march  so  rapidly  as  we  do." 

The  French  army  did  not  bear  well  the  strain 
of  disaster.  To  judge  by  the  narratives  of  eye- 
witnesses, the  soldiery  appear  to  have  broken  loose 
from  the  bonds  of  discipline,  and  the  officers  to 
have  lost  all  control  over  their  men.  The  climax 
of  this  absence  of  discipline  and  of  the  good  feeling 
which  in  a  well-regulated  army  exists  between  all 
ranks,  was  reached  in  the  last  hours  of  the  terrible 
battle  of  Sedan.  In  that  awful  time,  when  the 
organization  of  the  best  troops  would  have  been 
subjected  to  the  severest  trial,  the  discipline  of  the 


French  army  completely  succumbed.  Soldiers  fired 
on  their  officers,  and  officers  who  surrendered  them- 
selves as  prisoners  were  not  ashamed  to  curse  their 
men  in  the  presence  of  their  captors.  But  it  may 
be  said  these  troops  by  their  behaviour  on  the  battle- 
field wiped  out  any  stain  that  might  attach  to  their 
conduct  in  camp.  Doubtless  they  showed  great 
courage,  which  was  worthily  recognized  by  their 
enemy,  and  the  whole  world  beside  ;  but  does  not 
the  cool  determination  of  the  soldiers  of  Germany 
appear  to  be  more  suitable  for  the  proper  use  of  the 
weapons  of  modern  war,  than  the  fierce  enthusiasm 
of  the  French  with  its  accompanying  disorganiz- 
ation ?  The  breech-loading  rifle  requires  a  steady 
and  a  thinking  man  to  appreciate  the  effects  of  its 
power  of  accurate  shooting,  and  the  necessity  of 
carefully  husbanding  every  cartridge.  Nor  when 
the  time  arrived  for  attack  over  the  open  did  the 
German  soldiery  fail.  With  a  patient  endurance 
and  hardy  courage  contrasting  greatly  with  the 
favourite  French  quality,  no  men,  nevertheless, 
could  have  faced  death  more  readily  than  they 
did  when  ordered  to  assault  the  French  in  their 
entrenched  positions;  while,  probably  for  the  first 
time  in  war,  skirmishers  in  extended  order  not 
only  received  the  charge,  but  actually  advanced  to 
the  attack  of  heavy  cavalry. 

It  is  well  worth  while  to  ask  what  cause  lay  at 
the  bottom  of  this  absence  of  discipline  on  the  part 
of  the  French  ?  were  similar  faults  observed  in  the 
great  wars  of  the  first  empire  ?  and  are  all  armies 
when  tried  by  defeat  equally  insensible  to  the  calls 
of  duty?  These  questions  are  difficult  to  answer, 
because  their  solution  lies  in  a.  correct  idea  of  what 
discipline  implies,  and  on  the  means  by  which  it 
can  be  best  secured.  An  army  is  only  an  integral 
part  of  a  nation,  and  as  such  contains  within  itself 
the  particular  virtues  and  vices  of  its  society.  This 
is  especially  true  of  armies  raised  by  conscription, 
as  they  necessarily  embrace  representatives  of  all 
classes.  Now  the  tone  of  society,  using  the  term 
broadly,  of  the  French  nation  under  the  empire 
was  eminently  selfish,  luxurious,  and  vicious. 
Xoble  aims  and  worthy  ambitions  were  set  aside. 
Material  prosperity  alone  was  extolled.  The  rich 
lived  for  pleasure,  and  neglected  all  the  duties  of 
their  position.  The  poor,  longing  for  pleasures  in 
which  their  superiors  indulged,  and  envious  of  their 
supposed  good  fortune,  imbibed  eagerly  the  doc- 
trines of  Socialism.  Amid  the  many  changes  of 
government  loyalty  became  extinct,  and  even  party 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


261 


was  regarded  solely  as  a  means  of  enriching  self. 
The  army  did  not  escape  these  influences.  The 
good  feeling  which  in  Great  Britain  unites  class 
with  class,  and  which  may  be  observed  in  the 
village  equally  as  in  the  barrack,  did  not  exist. 
No  common  bond  of  sentiment  united  officers  and 
men.  Each  acted  for  himself.  The  officers,  looking 
for  promotion,  attached  themselves  to  the  party  in 
power  ;  the  soldiers,  imbued  with  Socialistic  ideas, 
regarded  their  superiors  with  envy. 

Another  cause  of  an  evil  so  novel  and  so  strange, 
we  believe  will  ultimately  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
the  moral  force  of  the  conscription  has  at  last 
entirely  broken  down.  It  is  now  considered  not 
a  blood-tax  on  France,  but  a  blood-tax  on  the  poor 
for  the  benefit  of  the  rich.  Owing  partly  to  the 
spread  of  habits  of  comfort,  partly  to  the  demands 
for  Algerlne  service  and  the  frequency  of  foreign 
expeditions,  but  chiefly  to  the  new  development  of 
the  desire  to  make  money,  the  reluctance  to  enter 
the  service  has  of  late  years  greatly  increased  ;  the 
mothers  save  more  carefully  to  purchase  immunity 
for  their  sons,  and  the  whole  burden  of  the  war 
falls  upon  the  poor,  who  again  have  been  aroused 
by  the  liberal  press  and  the  artizans  in  the  ranks 
to  a  perception  that  it  is  so — that  equality  before 
the  law  is  a  mere  phrase.  This  feeling  has  sunk 
deeply  into  the  peasantry,  so  deeply  as  to  produce 
a  deadly  hatred  of  all  who  purchase  exemption, 
and  a  bitter  dislike  of  the  service,  and  distrust  of 
those  in  it  who  are  above  themselves.  This  feeling, 
which  in  Picardy  especially  has  been  openly  mani- 
fested, has  been  fostered  by  the  workmen  ever 
since  the  soldiery  were  employed  to  put  down 
strikes,  and  though  quiet  in  ordinary  times,  breaks 
out  under  defeat  with  terrible  violence.  Then  the 
conscript  remembers  that  he  is  serving  under  com- 
pulsion, while  the  rich  are  exempt,  and  while  his 
officer,  whose  mistake,  as  his  men  think,  exposes 
rank  and  file  to  slaughter,  is  serving  voluntarily. 
A  spirit  first  of  grudging,  then  of  disaffection, 
and  then  of  disgust  springs  up,  which  any 
accident,  a  defeat,  a  want  of  food,  a  harsh  com- 
mandant, or  even  a  severe  order,  may  exasperate 
into  a  fury  fatal  to  discipline  and  wholly  incom- 
patible with  success  in  the  field.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  the  defect  of  the  French  character, 
its  special  and  persistent  foible,  is  envy,  and  that 
the  love  of  equality  is  in  all  classes,  and  more 
especially  among  the  peasantry,  a  passion  which 
is  capable  of  inciting  them  to  terrible  acts,  and 


undoubtedly  fosters  that  spirit  of  Socialism  which 
the  officers  complain  has  crept  into  the  army. 

In  enumerating  the  causes  of  the  French  misfor- 
tunes in  the  war,  too  much  stress  cannot  be  laid  upon 
the  evils  of  the  "exoneration"  system.  Formerly 
substitutes  were  procured  through  private  offices, 
but  as  before  stated,  of  late  years  this  business  was 
made  a  government  monopoly;  and  it  became  not 
only  the  means  of  infinite  corruption,  but  a  source 
of  incalculable  evil  to  the  country.  In  theory 
France  had  an  immense  army;  but  when  actual 
service  was  required,  the  nation,  waking  from  a 
terrible  and  fatal  delusion,  found  that  its  forces 
were  largely  composed  of  mere  paper  soldiers.  If 
a  young  man  who  had  drawn  an  unlucky  number 
did  not  wish  to  be  a  soldier,  his  parents  went  to 
the  government  office  appointed  for  that  purpose, 
and  paid,  say,  two  thousand  francs.  Their  dear 
lad  was  exonerated.  Now,  it  was  understood  that 
with  the  two  thousand  francs  a  substitute,  a  rem- 
plagant,  was  bought.  This  was  the  bargain  between 
(1)  the  exonerated  youth,  (2)  the  government,  and 
(3)  the  nation.  While  the  traffic  in  men  was  in 
the  hands  of  private  companies  the  government 
took  care  to  have  their  substitutes,  since  they  had 
no  interest  in  suppressing  them.  But  when  they 
turned  dealers  themselves,  their  interest  lay  at  once  in 
a  different  direction.  They  took  the  money  from  the 
pockets  of  families,  and  put  it  into  their  own.  The 
substitute  money  did  not  buy  a  substitute.  The 
effect  of  this  was  that  the  right  number  of  men 
were  put  upon  paper.  To  the  public,  who  knew 
nothing  of  the  dishonest  transaction,  the  companies 
of  French  regiments  were  a  hundred  strong;  and 
consequently  the  regiments,  it  was  believed,  had 
each  3000  men  under  the  flag.  But. what  was  the 
actual  truth?  That  in  many  instances  the  actual 
available  men  were  not  more  than  thirty  to  the 
company.  Regiments  that  upon  paper  were  at 
their  full  strength  would  barely  muster  1800  fight- 
ing men,  and  some  even  less  than  this.  This 
might  almost  be  said  to  have  been  the  key  to 
the  disasters  which  redden  the  brow  of  every 
Frenchman. 

The  education  of  the  French  officer  does  not 
seem  calculated  to  create  habits  of  command.  A 
large  number  are  trained  in  the  great  military 
schools  of  St.  Cyr  and  Metz,  which  they  enter  by 
competition.  They  are  then  kept  under  the  closest 
surveillance,  and  are  forced  to  acquire  in  a  short 
time  a  great  amount  of  knowledge.      No  responsi- 


262 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


bility  is  allowed  them,  and  until  they  become 
officers  they  are  treated  in  a  way  which  no 
English  schoolboy  would  endure.  They  conse- 
quently never  attain  habits  of  command ;  and,  as 
the  majority  do  not  enter  from  the  higher  classes 
of  society,  have  never,  even  as  boys,  received  the 
rudimentary  training  which  teaches  how  to  rule 
and  how  to  obey.  Another  portion  of  the  officers 
(nearly  a  third)  enter  from  the  ranks,  and  are 
selected  either  by  favour  or  merit  from  the  non- 
commissioned officers.  These  seldom  attain  a 
higher  grade  than  that  of  captain,  and  consequently 
continually  see  young  men  who  have  merely 
passed  through  the  schools  promoted  over  their 
heads.  Again,  the  staff  form  a  distinct  corps,  and 
are  almost  entirely  separated,  even  at  the  commence- 
ment of  their  career,  from  the  regimental  service. 
Consequently  they  are  ignorant  of  the  feelings  and 
prejudices  of  the  soldiery,  and  have  little  or  no 
sympathy  with  them.  In  times  of  victory,  when 
success  glosses  over  defects  and  even  crimes,  all 
goes  well.  The  martial  spirit  of  the  French  troops 
carries  them  through  difficulties  and  dangers; 
while  lookers-on  are  so  dazzled  by  the  blaze  of 
glory  that  they  fail  to  perceive  the  defects  which  lie 
beneath  the  surface.  Ambition  has  been  always  held 
up  to  French  soldiers  as  the  incentive  to  action. 
Phrases,  such  as  the  soldier  carrying  in  his  knap- 
sack the  baton  of  a  marshal,  have  been  repeated 
until  it  has  been  forgotten  that  those  who  are  left 
behind  in  the  race  for  glory  may  possibly  feel  a 
keen  discontent,  unknown  to  those  who  have  been 
actuated  by  the  humbler  aim  of  doing  their  duty 
and  being  a  credit  to  their  regiment. 

A  country  paying  600  million  francs  for  its 
army,  as  France  did,  should  have  had  the  right 
of  expecting  itself  always  prepared  for  war,  but 
the  money  was  to  a  great  extent  thrown  away  in 
the  pay  of  the  generals  and  marshals  who  spent 
their  lives  at  the  court.  The  Etat  Major,  a 
body  whose  chief  duties  ought  to  consist  in  the 
study,  in  time  of  peace,  of  strategical  positions 
all  over  Europe,  and  of  reconnoitring  in  time  of 
war,  were  officers  who  were  not  apparently  up 
to  their  work.  The  Prussians  sent  usually  a 
couple  of  dozen  of  Uhlans,  as  they  call  their 
lancers,  using  their  original  Polish  name,  with 
three  or  four  officers,  and  if  one  of  them  came 
back  safely  with  some  useful  information  they 
were  quite  satisfied,  thinking  the  purchase  worth 
the  expense.     Thus  they  knew  everything  about 


the  French  army,  while  the  French  knew  nothing 
about  them. 

The  destructive  and  marauding  habits  of  the 
French  troops  are  well  known.  In  the  war 
the  French  villagers  said  they  were  often  much 
worse  treated  by  their  own  soldiers  than  by  the 
Prussians.  The  difference  between  them  and  the 
English  in  this  respect  particularly  struck  General 
Trochu  in  the  Crimea,  and  when  asked  how  he  would 
propose  to  correct  this  license,  so  common  to  French 
soldiers,  he  answered,  "  En  les  faisant  vertueux." 
He  had  soon  the  opportunity  of  showing  how  far 
this  assertion  was  neither  paradoxical  nor  pedantic ; 
for  in  the  Italian  war  his  division  combined  all  the 
military  qualities  with  a  regard  for  the  persons  and 
properties  of  non-combatants  hitherto  unexampled. 
He  began  by  degrading  a  non-commissioned  officer 
to  the  ranks  l'or  insulting  a  peasant  woman,  and 
through  the  whole  line  of  march  the  site  of  his 
encampment  was  always  distinguishable  by  the 
uninjured  dwellings  and  the  mulberry  trees  still 
clothed  with  vines  green  amid  the  field  of  desola- 
tion. This  power  of  restraining  military  disorder 
was,  however,  given  to  very  few  French  com- 
manders in  recent  years.  For  a  long  time  two 
causes  operated  to  the  damage  of  the  traditionally 
amiable  and  friendly  character  of  the  French 
soldier.  The  first  was  the  prominent  position 
given  to  the  Zouaves,  and  the  infection  of  their 
rowdy  and  violent  spirit.  The  other,  and  far  more 
serious,  was  the  recruitment  of  the  old  soldiers. 
These  are  generally  men  who  have  failed  to  estab- 
lish themselves  in  civil  life,  and  who  re-enter  the 
army  with  the  worst  habits  and  principles.  It 
may  have  been  the  hope  of  the  originators  of  this 
system  that  the.  veterans  who  returned  to  the 
service  would  infuse  into  the  younger  portion  of 
it  certain  imperial  associations  of  which  it  was 
deficient;  but  the  effect  is  acknowledged  on  all 
hands  to  have  been  most  detrimental  to  discipline. 
Indeed  the  quiet,  gay,  gentle,  and  simple  -piou- 
piou  (infantry  soldier)  of  the  French  line  became 
the  exception  rather  than  the  rule. 

The  decline  in  the  prestige  of  the  French  army 
is  the  more  surprising  from  its  extreme  rapidity. 
If  we  only  recur  to  1854,  we  find  that  France 
then  possessed  a  great  many  comparatively  young 
officers,  who  had  served  in  high  positions  in 
Africa  at  the  time  when  there  was  still  some 
serious  fighting  there;  and  that  in  the  Algerian 
special  corps  were  troops   undoubtedly    superior 


CHASSEPOT  BKEECH-LOADER.— Flo.  3,  Elevation;   Fig.  4,  Longitudinal  Vertical  Section;   Fig.  5,  Longitudin 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


263 


to  any  other  in  Europe.  The  numerous  substi- 
tutes and  re-enlistments  (which  latter  were  much 
encouraged  by  the  emperor),  provided  a  larger 
number  of  professional  soldiers  who  had  seen 
service,  real  veterans,  than  any  other  continental 
power.  The  one  thing  necessary  was  to  elevate 
as  much  as  possible  the  mass  of  the  troops  to 
the  level  of  the  special  corps.  This  was  done  to 
a  great  extent.  The  pas  gymnastique  (the 
"double"  of  the  English),  hitherto  practised  by 
the  special  corps  only,  was  extended  to  the  whole 
infantry,  and  thus  a  rapidity  of  manoeuvring  was 
obtained  previously  unknown  to  armies.  The 
cavalry  was  mounted,  as  far  as  possible,  with  better 
horses;  the  materiel  of  the  whole  army  was  looked 
to  and  completed;  and,  finally,  the  Crimean  war 
was  commenced.  The  organization  of  the  French 
army  showed  to  great  advantage  beside  that  of  the 
English;  the  numerical  proportions  of  the  allied 
armies  naturally  gave  the  principal  part  of  the 
glory — whatever  there  was  of  it — to  the  French ; 
the  character  of  the  war,  circling  entirely  round 
one  grand  siege,  brought  out  to  the  best  advantage 
the  peculiarly  mathematical  genius  of  the  French 
as  applied  by  their  engineers;  and  altogether  the 
Crimean  war  again  elevated  the  French  army  to 
the  rank  of  the  first  in  Europe. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  Italian  war  was 
undertaken,  resulting  in  additional  "glory"  and 
increased  territory  to  France.  If  after  the  Crimean 
war  the  French  chasseur  a  pied  had  already  be- 
come the  beau  ideal  of  a  foot  soldier,  this  admira- 
tion was  now  extended  to  the  whole  of  the  French 
army.  Its  institutions  were  studied;  its  camp 
became  instructing  schools  for  officers  of  all 
nations.  The  invincibility  of  the  French  became 
almost  a  European  article  of  faith.  In  the  mean- 
time, France  rifled  all  her  old  muskets,  and 
armed  all  her  artillery  with  rifled  cannon.  But 
the  same  campaign  which  elevated  the  French 
army  to  the  first  rank  in  Europe,  gave  rise  to  efforts 
which  ended  in  procuring  for  it,  first  a  rival,  then 
a  conqueror.  The  year  1870  came,  and  the  French 
army  was  no  longer  that  of  1859. 

In  point  of  armament,  the  Prussians  forestalled 
the  other  armies  of  Europe  in  the  introduction  and 
use  of  the  breech-loading  rifle;  but  this  inequality  in 
their  favour  disappeared  after  the  introduction  of 
the  French  Chassepot,  a  weapon  which  will  be  better 
understood  from  the  accompanying  illustrations. 
Fig.  3,  Plate  3,  is  an  elevation  of  this  rifle,  the 


bolt  being  shown  elevated  to  a  vertical  position, 
and  the  hammer  cocked;  and  fig.  4  is  a  lon- 
gitudinal vertical  section  of  the  arm,  with  the 
hammer  in  the  position  it  assumes  after  firing, 
and  the  breech  closed  by  the  bolt,  the  handle 
of  which  assumes  a  horizontal  position.  The 
breech,  a,  is  screwed  on  to  the  barrel;  it  is  open 
on  the  upper  surface,  as  well  as  on  the  right  hand 
side,  in  order  to  allow  of  the  working  of  the  bolt,  g. 
It  is  through  this  lateral  opening  that  the  cartridge 
is  introduced.  The  rear  face  or  end  of  the  barrel 
serves  as  a  stop  to  the  front,  h,  of  the  bolt,  g. 
The  trigger  mechanism,  for  holding  the  hammer 
when  cocked,  consists  of  two  pieces,  c  and  d, 
connected  by  a  screw,  e.  The  piece,  d,  tends 
always  to  project  in  the  interior  of  the  breech 
by  the  action  of  a  spring,  b,  which  forces  upon 
the  trigger  the  rear  end  of  the  piece,  c,  working 
on  a  centre  at  /.  The  pressure  exerted  upon  the 
trigger  is  transmitted  to  the  tumbler,  d,  which 
on  being  depressed  releases  the  hammer,  and 
allows  it  to  act  under  the  influence  of  a  balance 
spring,  and  to  strike  the  priming  of  the  cartridge. 
The  bolt,  g,  serves  to  open  and  close  the  chamber. 
It  carries  a  piece,  h,  provided  with  a  handle,  i, 
for  actuating  it.  Between  the  end  of  the  bolt, 
g,  and  a  shoulder  formed  on  a  movable  head,  j, 
there  is  fitted  a  washer  of  vulcanized  india-rubber, 
composed  of  three  superposed  layers  of  different 
degrees  of  hardness.  At  the  moment  of  igniting 
the  charge  the  pressure  exerted  on  the  movable 
head,  j,  of  the  bolt  is  transmitted  to  the  washer, 
which,  being  thus  compressed,  forms  a  perfect 
packing,  and  prevents  the  escape  of  gas.  The 
portion  which  terminates  the  piece,  j,  is  intended 
to  form  a  space  behind  the  cartridge  for  the  ex- 
pulsion and  combustion  of  the  fragments  of  paper 
which  may  remain  in  the  barrel  after  the  charge 
has  been  fired.  The  rear  and  upper  part,  as  well 
as  the  left  side  of  the  bolt,  g,  are  provided  with 
two  longitudinal  slots  of  unequal  size;  the  first 
acts  as  a  safety  notch,  and  the  other  forms  the 
working  notch.  There  is  between  the  axle  of 
these  two  grooves  or  slots  a  space  of  90°  when 
the  breech  is  open.  The  cock  or  hammer  is  in 
front  of  the  safety  notch,  so  that  if  it  accidentally 
becomes  released  no  dangerous  result  will  follow; 
it  only  corresponds  with  the  working  groove  when 
the  bolt  closes  the  breech  and  is  firmly  held  in  its 
position  by  the  handle,  i,  which  will  then  be  in 
a  horizontal  position.     The  bolt  is  also  provided 


264 


•rHE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


•with  a  groove  or  notch  opposed  to  the  piece,  A, 
the  object  of  which  is  to  permit,  when  charging, 
of  drawing  the  bolt  back  without  it  being  stopped 
by  the  trigger  piece.  A  second  groove  formed 
on  the  right-hand  side  serves  as  a  stop  for  the 
bolt,  and  prevents  it  leaving  the  breech  when  the 
screw,  r,  is  in  place.  The  hammer  is  composed 
of  four  parts,  connected  together  with  pins ;  these 
are,  the  hammer  proper,  k,  the  roller,  I,  the  tum- 
bler, m,  and  the  spring-bearing  spindle,  n.  The 
gun  is  cocked,  not,  as  formerly,  by  causing  the 
hammer  to  describe  an  arc  of  a  circle,  but  by 
pulling  it  back  longitudinally.  The  front  part 
of  this  hammer  terminates  in  an  extended  portion, 
p,  which  engages  in  the  upper  opening  of  the 
breech,  and  to  the  end  of  which  is  fixed  the 
screw,  q.  It  is  this  screw  which,  on  penetrating 
one  or  other  of  the  two  grooves  before  referred  to, 
brings  the  hammer  into  the  safety  notch,  or  per- 
mits it  to  strike  the  needle.  The  sliding  of  the 
hammer  is  facilitated  by  the  roller,  r. 

The  helical  spring  on  the  rod,  n,  is  intended 
to  give  the  impact  of  the  needle  on  the  priming, 
and  has  its  bearing  at  s.  The  striking  end  of  the 
needle  is  pointed,  whilst  the  opposite  end  is  fixed 
in  a  small  holder,  t.  The  following  are  the  move- 
ments in  using  this  arm,  it  being  held  in  the  left 
hand,  with  the  butt  pressed  against  the  right  side: 
— First  movement: — Place  the  forefinger  against 
the  trigger  guard,  and  draw  back  the  hammer 
with  the  thumb.  Second  movement: — To  open  the 
arm,  turn  the  lever  from  left  to  right,  and  draw 
back  the  bolt.  Third  movement: — To  load,  seize 
the  cartridge  in  the  right  hand,  and  insert  it  into 
the  barrel  through  the  opening  made  in  the  right 
side  of  the  breech.  Fourth  movement: — To  close 
the  arm,  push  the  bolt  forward,  and  turn  the  lever 
from  right  to  left.  Fifth  movement: — To  fire,  press 
upon  the  trigger.  In  order  to  place  the  arm  upon 
the  safety  notch  after  the  breech  has  been  closed, 
the  handle  of  the  bolt  must  be  elevated  so  that  the 
smallest  notch  in  the  bolt  shall  be  opposite  the 
hammer,  which  must  be  followed  up  till  its  screw, 
q,  arrives  at  the  bottom  of  this  notch.  When  it 
is  desired  to  fire,  it  is  simply  necessary  to  turn 
the  bolt  to  the  side  and  draw  the  trigger. 

The  following  is  a  description  of  the  cartridge 
intended  to  be  used  with  the  Chassepot  arm.  Fig. 
5  is  a  longitudinal  section  of  the  cartridge.  It  is 
composed  of  six  elements,  namely,  the  priming, 
powder  case,  powder,  cardboard  wad,  ball  case,  and 


ball.  The  priming  consists  of  a  copper  cap,  w, 
similar  to  those  used  in  the  army,  but  rather 
smaller.  It  is  perforated  at  the  bottom  with  two 
holes,  diametrically  opposite  to  each  other,  and 
which  are  intended  for  the  free  passage  of  the 
flame.  The  fulminating  powder,  v,  is  placed  at 
the  bottom  of  the  cap ;  a  small  wad,  x,  of  cloth  or 
wax  covers  it  in  order  to  preserve  it  from  external 
shock.  The  cap  thus  prepared  is  fitted  with  a 
small  washer,  y,  of  thin  tin ;  this  washer  is  con- 
nected to  a  paper  disc,  intended  to  form  the  bottom 
of  the  cartridge,  when  the  priming  will  be  complete. 
The  powder  case  consists  of  a  band  of  paper,  z, 
rolled  on  a  mandril,  and  cemented  at  the  edges. 
The  charge  of  powder  introduced  therein,  equal  to 
five  grammes  five  decigrammes,  is  slightly  rammed 
to  give  rigidity  to  the  cartridge.  A  wad  of  card, 
bl,  is  placed  on  the  powder,  of  about  two  milli- 
metres in  thickness,  and  having  a  perforation 
therein  of  about  six  millimetres  in  size,  through 
which  the  ends  of  the  case,  z,  are  pressed;  the 
excess  of  paper  being  removed  with  a  pair  of 
scissors.  The  ball  case  consists  of  a  covering  of 
paper,  c1,  making  two  turns  round  a  conical  man- 
dril, and  cemented  at  the  base  only.  The  ball, 
the  form  of  which  is  shown  in  Fig.  5,  weighs  24 
grammes  5  decigrammes.  After  having  placed 
this  ball  in  its  case,  the  cartridge  is  completed  by 
uniting  the  ball-case  to  the  powder-case  by  a  liga- 
ture in  a  groove  made  a  short  distance  in  the  rear 
of  the  cardboard  wad.  As  a  final  operation,  the 
whole  height  of  the  cartridge  corresponding  to  the 
ball,  less  the  ogive  or  tapered  end  of  the  bullet,  is 
to  be  greased,  when  the  cartridge  will  be  ready  for 
use.  The  Chassepot  carries  a  sabre  bayonet,  and 
the  length  of  the  two  is  6  feet  1-g  inches. 

The  Chassepot  has  a  longer  range,  but  less  pre- 
cision, than  the  Prussian  needle-gun.  The  Chasse- 
pot has  an  incipient  velocity  of  1328  feet  per 
second,  the  needle-gun  of  only  990;  but  the  semi- 
diameter  of  the  scattering  circle  at  a  distance  of 
300  paces  is  as  much  as  13J  inches  in  the  case  of 
the  former,  and  only  1\  inches  in  that  of  the 
latter.  This  circumstance,  coupled  with  the  fact 
that  the  range  of  the  needle-gun  is  quite  as  far  as 
the  eye  can  aim  with  anything  like  accuracy,  con- 
siderably reduces  its  inequality  as  compared  with 
its  rival.  Under  some  circumstances,  however, 
the  longer  range  of  the  Chassepot  gives  tremendous 
advantages  to  the  troops  who  use  it,  but  the  ex- 
perience of  the  war  shows  it  to  have  been  a  superior 


Flo.  1.—  .MITRAILLEUSE  IN   ACTION. 


F,o.  2.-YEETICAL   SECTION   OF   THE   WEAPON    AND   CARRIAGE.  F,G.  3.-SECTION   OF   THE   BREECH   END. 

Fig  4.-SECTION  OF  THE  BREECH    with  the  Block  oe  Closer  draws  down). 

[F&iM©[Ki   BMiaTria^DiLiLiiyigio 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


265 


weapon  badly  handled.  The  Chassepot  allows  of 
about  ten  or  eleven,  the  needle-gun  only  of  seven  or 
eight  discharges  per  minute ;  but  as  to  fire  even  seven 
effective  rounds  per  minute  is  beyond  the  capacity 
of  the  ordinary  soldier,  the  advantage-  the  Chasse- 
pot has  in  this  respect  is  again  imaginary  rather 
than  practical.  It  is,  moreover,  counterbalanced 
by  a  serious  drawback ;  in  rapid  fire  the  Chassepot 
barrel  has,  after  twelve  or  fourteen  rounds,  to  be 
cleared  of  the  remnants  of  cartridges.  A  really 
strong  point  of  the  Chassepot,  the  smallness  of  its 
calibre,  which  permits  a  Frenchman  to  carry  ninety- 
three  cartridges  against  the  seventy-two  lodged  in 
the  German  pouch,  has  been  likewise  secured  for 
the  needle-gun  by  the  alterations  which  have  been 
adopted.  Besides,  the  smaller  number  of  cartridges 
is  a  disadvantage  which  tells  considerably  less 
against  a  German  soldier  than  it  would  against 
a  Frenchman.  Far  from  being  taught  to  blaze 
away  as  rapidly  as  possible,  the  German  soldier  is 
educated  not  to  use  his  rifle,  except  when  he  has 
a  fair  aim ;  and  as  the  instances  rarely  occur  when 
"  quick  fire  "  can  be  of  any  good,  troops  no  longer 
fighting  in  massed  columns,  the  German  soldier, 
upon  the  whole,  has  been  found  to  have  enough 
and  to  spare  in  his  seventy-two  shots.  To  meet 
extraordinary  exigencies,  however,  an  additional 
allotment  of  cartridges  is  sometimes  carried  in  the 
knapsacks.  The  effective  range  of  the  Chassepot 
is  1800  paces,  and  that  of  the  needle-gun  only 
600.  Such  a  superiority  of  range  was  severely 
felt  on  several  occasions  by  the  Prussians  in 
charging,  when  they  had  to  traverse  a  distance 
of  1200  paces  entirely  exposed  to  a  destructive 
fire  to  which  they  were  powerless  to  reply.  It 
is  inexplicable,  however,  why  the  French  did  not 
make  use  of  the  boasted  long  range  of  their 
Chassepots  to  pick  off  the  Prussian  gunners 
on  many  occasions,  especially  at  the  battle  of 
Gravelotte,  where  the  Prussian  artillery  was  ex- 
tremely destructive. 

The  campaign  of  1870  tried  a  previously  un- 
known weapon,  the  mitrailleuse ;  but  the  rough 
verdict  of  war  has  been,  upon  the  whole,  unfavour- 
able to  the  novelty.  The  words  mitrailleur  and 
mitrailleuse  are  indifferently  employed  to  denote  a 
class  of  arm  which  has  imitated  but  not  surpassed  the 
mitraille  or  case  shot  fire  of  our  present  field  pieces. 
The  new  mitraille  is  hurled  by  engines  which  avail 
themselves  of  rifling,  of  breech-loading,  and  of  the 
skill  of  the  mechanical  engineer,  and  seek  to  pro- 


long the  scathing  effects  of  the  old  case,  which 
barely  reached  to  400  yards,  to  at  least  2000  ;  but 
they  are  not  so  useful  as  ordinary  field-guns  in 
practical  war. 

The  principle  of  the  French  mitrailleuse  will  be 
seen  from  the  accompanying  engravings.  Fig.  1, 
Plate  1,  represents  the  weapon  in  action;  fig.  2  is  a 
sectional  elevation  of  the  weapon  and  carriage ;  fig. 
3  is  a  section  of  the  breech  end ;  fig.  4  is  a  section 
of  the  breech  end,  with  the  block  or  closer  drawn 
down,  leaving  the  barrels  free  to  be  loaded;  and 
fig.  5  is  a  sectional  plan,  with  the  cartridges  in  the 
barrels  and  the  closer  screwed  home.  This  com- 
pound gun  is  composed  of  a  series  of  barrels,  which 
are  fitted  between  plates,  A  A,  which  stretch  across 
from  one  side  to  the  other  so  as  to  firmly  unite  the 
two  side  plates,  B  b,  upon  which  the  trunnions 
are  formed  for  supporting  the  mitrailleuse  upon  a 
carriage,  so  that  it  can  be  removed  from  place  to 
place  and  employed  in  field  operations.  The  rear 
ends  of  the  side  plates,  B  B,  are  of  greater  thickness 
than  the  other  portions,  and  are  slotted  so  that  the 
guide  plates  of  the  closer  can  work  therein.  These 
plates  are  centred  upon  pins,  which  are  kept  in 
position  without  working  loose  by  means  of  tappets 
acting  upon  the  nuts  on  their  ends.  The  breech- 
closer  plates,  G,  extend  a  distance  beyond  the  rear 
end  of  the  barrels,  and  have  near  their  ends  long 
holes,  which  serve  to  hold  secure  a  transverse  bar, 
j.  The  central  portion  of  the  transverse  bar  is  of 
larger  diameter,  or  is  thicker  than  the  other  parts, 
so  that  the  threaded  rod,  L,  which  passes  through 
it,  may  be  turned  so  as  to  bring  the  breech-closer 
nearer  to  or  further  from  the  rear  of  the  barrels. 
The  front  of  the  threaded  rod,  L,  is  rounded,  the 
rounded  portion  being  fitted  between  two  half 
plates,  q  q. 

The  under  side  of  the  closer  plate  has  lugs,  v  v, 
for  carrying  a  pin,  v,  to  which  the  upper  end  of 
a  link  or  lever  bar,  u,  is  jointed.  The  lower  end 
of  the  link  is  pinned  to  a  lever,  Q,  so  that  the  closer, 
when  released  from  the  barrels,  can  be  raised  and 
lowered  upon  their  joint  pins,  h  h,  which  are 
fitted  in  the  side  plates,  B  b.  The  under  side  of 
the  rear  of  the  side  plates  has  projections  for  the 
closer  to  slide  upon  as  it  is  being  moved,  and  when 
it  has  travelled  such  a  distance  as  to  be  tilted,  it 
rests  upon  a  plate,  h,  which  forms  part  of  the  closer 
frame,  G  G.  The  front  of  the  closer  or  breech 
block,  o,  has  a  face  plate,  p,  secured  thereto.  This 
plate  is  provided  with  a  series  of  holes  correspond- 
2  L 


206 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


ing  to  the  number  of  barrels  fitted  in  the  frames 
upon  the  carriage.  The  holes  are  threaded  for  the 
reception  of  screw  plugs  or  nipples,  through  which 
pins  are  fitted.  The  inner  ends  of  these  pins  rest 
upon  a  disc  of  horn  or  other  yielding  material,  so 
that  when  the  explosion  takes  place  the  force  of 
the  recoil  is  diminished.  The  distance  the  pins 
may  project  is  regulated  by  a  washer  or  plug 
screwed  into  the  back  of  the  plate,  p.  Under  the 
rear  of  the  breech  end  of  the  barrels  is  attached 
one  end  of  an  elevating  screw,  by  which  the 
depression  or  elevation  of  the  barrels  is  governed. 
The  lower  end  of  the  screw  works  in  a  block  or 
socket  on  the  carriage. 

The  drawing  back  of  the  breech-closer  is  regu- 
lated by  the  hand  lever,  Q,  and  it  can  be  retained 
at  the  required  point  by  means  of  a  pawl  working 
in  the  teeth  of  a  ratchet  wheel  fitted  on  the  side 
of  the  frame.  When  the  barrels  are  filled  or  loaded 
with  cartridges,  and  the  breech- closer  brought  in 
contact  with  the  rear  of  the  barrels  by  means  of 
the  lever  handle,  the  fire  can  be  communicated  by 
means  of  a  percussion  cap  or  fuse  or  quickfire  at 
one  side  of  the  barrel  framing,  which  fire  is  instantly 
forced  through  a  hole,  and  impinges  against  the 
cartridge  case  with  sufficient  impulse  lo  break  it 
and  explode  the  powder  therein.  The  explosion 
in  the  barrel  causes  fire  to  be  driven  through 
another  hole,  which  leads  from  the  first  barrel  to 
the  second,  and  this  causes  the  second  charge  to 
be  fired  in  the  same  manner  as  the  first  and  from 
the  second  to  the  third  barrel  in  succession  until 
the  whole  of  the  barrels  on  that  level  have  been 
discharged.  The  fire  then  passes  up  to  a  second 
scries  of  barrels,  placed  above  the  lower  series  in 
succession,  and  in  a  similar  manner  to  a  third  series 
of  barrels. 

The  French  were  foremost  in  adopting  the  new 
weapon,  but  various  other  powers  now  use  machine 
guns  of  different  constructions,  mostly  embodying 
the  principle  of  the  mitrailleuse.  The  United 
States  of  America,  from  which,  we  believe,  the 
original  invention  came,  have  adopted  one  known 
as  the  Gatling  gun.  Eussia  has  been  supplied 
with  the  same.  As  the  British  government  has 
also  favoured  the  Gatling  mitrailleuse,  we  give  an 
illustration  of  the  gun  and  of  its  cartridges.  (Plate 
2,  figs.  1,  2,  and  3). 

It  is  said  by  those  who  have  carefully  studied 
the  subject,  that  when  war  must  be  undertaken  it  is 
practically  less  destructive  to  life  to  employ  the 


most  potent  and  fatal  agent  in  its  prosecution.  In 
this  view  of  the  case  scarcely  any  modern  imple- 
ment of  war  can  equal  the  Gatling  battery  gun, 
which,  from  its  wonderful  powers  of  destruction, 
may  be  said  to  take  rank  as  the  foremost  of 
philanthropists.  To  give  the  reader  an  idea  of 
the  character  of  this  gun,  it  may  be  said  that  it 
can  be  fired,  when  well  manned,  from  400  to  500 
times  per  minute.  Its  main  features  may  be  briefly 
summed  up  as  follows: — First,  it  has  as  many  locks 
as  there  are  barrels,  and  all  the  locks  revolve  with 
the  barrels.  The  locks  also  have,  when  the  gun 
is  in  operation,  a  reciprocating  motion.  The  for- 
ward motion  of  the  locks  places  the  cartridges  in 
the  rear  ends  of  the  barrels,  and  closes  the  breech 
at  the  time  of  each  discharge,  while  the  return 
movement  extracts  the  cartridge  shells  after  they 
have  been  fired.  When  the  ten-barrel  gun  is  being 
fired,  there  are  five  cartridges  at  all  times  in  the 
process  of  loading  and  firing;  and  at  the  same  time, 
five  of  the  shells,  after  they  have  been  fired,  are  in 
different  stages  of  being  extracted.  These  several 
operations  are  continuous  when  the  gun  is  in 
operation.  In  other  words,  as  long  as  the  gun  is 
supplied  with  cartridges  (which  is  done  by  means 
of  "feed-cases,"  in  which  they  are  transported),  the 
several  operations  of  loading,  firing,  and  extract- 
ing the  cartridge  shells  are  carried  on  automati- 
cally, uniformly,  and  continuously.  The  locks 
operate  on  a  line  with  the  axes  and  barrels,  and 
are  not  attached  to  any  part  of  the  gun ;  but  as  the 
gun  is  made  to  revolve,  they  play  back  and  forth 
in  the  cavities  in  which  they  work,  like  a  weaver's 
shuttle,  performing  their  functions  of  loading  and 
firing  by  their  impingement  on  stationary  inclined 
planes  or  spiral  projecting  surfaces.  Second,  it  can 
be  loaded  or  fired  only  when  the  barrels  are  in 
motion,  that  is  to  say,  when  the  barrels,  the  inner 
breech,  &c,  are  being  revolved.  Third,  it  may 
justly  be  termed  a  compound  machine  gun ;  since 
the  ten  barrels,  each  being  furnished  with  its  own 
loading  and  firing  apparatus,  form,  as  it  were,  ten 
guns  in  one.  This  is  a  valuable  feature,  for  in  the 
event  of  one  of  the  locks  or  barrels  becoming  im- 
paired, the  remaining  ones  can  still  be  used  effec- 
tively. The  Gatling  also  has  a  feeding  drum  into 
which  400  cartridges  can  be  poured,  materially 
increasing  the  rapidity  of  firing;  and  an  automatic 
mowing  movement,  which  distributes  the  fire  of 
the  mitrailleuse  horizontally,  and  thus  removes  the 
chief  fault  of  the  French  piece — a  too  concentrated 


Fig.  5.— SECTIONAL   PLAN   OF   FRENCH   MITRAILLEUSE. 
(with  the  Cartridges  in  the  Barrels  and  the  Closer  screwed  home). 


VMS    ©ATM 


QTTIBAOILUBmJ 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


267 


delivery.  Tlie  gun  bears  the  same  relation  to 
ordinary  fire-arms  that  the  printing  press  does  to 
the  pen,  or  the  railway  to  the  stage  coach.  It 
may  safely  be  said  that  no  other  gun  which  can  be 
rapidly  fired  lias  so  great  a  range  and  accuracy  as 
the  larger-sized  Gatling  guns,  which  have  an  effec- 
tive range  of  2000  to  3000  yards. 

The  Prussians,  a  long  time  previous  to  the  war 
with  France,  tried  both  the  Montigny  and  Gatling 
mitrailleuses,  but  rejected  them  as  useless  for  field 
purposes,  at  the  same  time  admitting  their  utility 
for  fortresses,  ditch  defence  of  intrenchments,  and 
defiles.  In  the  early  part  of  the  campaign  they 
were  supposed  to  possess  a  mysterious  weapon, 
called  the  kiigelspritzen,  but  nothing  transpired 
respecting  its  special  performances.  The  new 
weapon  will  never  supersede  artillery  or  small 
arms,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  it  will  ever  hold  an 
important  position  as  a  powerful  adjunct  to  them. 

All  accounts  of  the  battles  during  the  late  cam- 
paign concur  in  ascribing  much  of  the  success  of 
the  Prussians  to  their  superiority  in  field  artillery. 
The  Chassepot  is  acknowledged  to  be  a  quicker 
shooting  and  further  ranging  rifle  than  the  needle- 
gun,  and  more  accurate,  though  the  excitability 
of  French  troops  has  apparently  prevented  them 
from  making  the  most  of  their  weapons.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  Prussian  artillery  fire  has 
almost  invariably  triumphed  over  the  opposition 
of  the  enemy;  and  it  is  evident  from  such  descrip- 
tions of  battles  as  have  reached  us,  that  the  German 
infantry  could  never  have  stormed  the  positions 
taken  up  by  the  enemy  in  every  battle,  but  for  the 
strong  protecting  fire  of  the  guns. 

The  first  Napoleon,  himself  an  artillery  officer, 
was  deeply  impressed  with  the  value  of  field  artil- 
lery. No  one  knew  better  than  he  how  to  prepare 
the  way  for  the  advance  of  his  infantry  by  con- 
centrating a  powerful  artillery  fire  on  one  portion 
of  the  enemy's  position  ;  and,  what  is  more,  his 
generals  learnt  from  their  great  chief  the  art  of 
using  field  artillery  as  a  separate  arm,  and  not 
merely  as  scattered  throughout  the  divisions  of 
an  army.  At  Eylau  and  Friedland  Senarmont 
handled  his  artillery  admirably.  At  Friedland  it 
is  related  by  General  Marion — 

"  That  thirty-six  pieces  of  artillery  did  what 
Ney  and  Dupont,  with  more  than  20,000  men,  had 
been  unable  to  do,  and  what  the  three  reserved 
divisions  of  Victor  would  probably  not  have  done ; 
in  view  of  the  steady  courage  with  which  the 


Russians,  when  their  retreat  had  been  cut  off, 
resisted  the  attacks  of  the  triumphant  army,  it  may 
well  be  assumed  that  victory  would  have  been 
impossible  to  any  other  arm  than  artillery;  but 
Senarmont  advanced  his  guns  and  obtained  the 
most  brilliant  success." 

It  is  important  to  understand  that,  though  in 
this  battle  Senarmont  concentrated  thirty-six  guns 
in  a  small  space,  it  was  only  when  the  nature  of 
the  ground  obliged  him  to  do  so.  As  long  as  he 
could,  he  carried  out  the  great  law  of  distributing 
the  guns  but  concentrating  their  fire. 

When  rifled  small-arms  came  into  use,  field 
artillery  fell  for  a  short  time  into  the  shade ;  for 
it  became  very  dangerous  to  bring  the  smooth- 
bore guns  into  action  against  infantry  at  short 
ranges,  and  their  fire  at  longer  ranges  was,  com- 
paratively speaking,  inefficient.  It  may  almost 
be  said  that,  if  breech-loading  rifles  had  been 
brought  into  use  before  rifled  artillery,  the  em- 
ployment of  field  guns  would  have  ceased.  But, 
as  the  range  of  the  infantry  weapon  was  increased 
to  600  and  800  yards,  the  action  of  the  field  guns 
was  made  available  at  a  distance  of  2000  or  3000 
yards,  while  their  accuracy  was  equally  improved. 

In  the  campaign  of  1859  the  French  obtained 
great  advantages  by  the  use  of  their  rifled  field 
guns.  In  1866  the  Austrian  rifled  field  artillery, 
acting  independently,  saved  the  infantry  from 
annihilation  after  the  battle  of  Koniggratz;  and 
1870  proved  again  and  again  the  invaluable  ser- 
vices of  field  artillery,  culminating  in  the  grandest 
achievement  of  modern  times.  At  Sedan  the  num- 
erous and  gallant  army  of  MacMahon,  defended 
by  the  ramparts  of  a  fortress,  had  to  lay  down  its 
arms,  not  because  of  any  immediate  want  of  food, 
not  in  expectation  of  the  place  being  stormed,  but 
because  the  Prussian  rifled  field  guns  were  disposed 
upon  every  hill  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  for- 
tress, at  a  distance  outside  the  range  of  smooth-bore 
guns,  but  yet  so  near  that  resistance  would  only 
have  converted  the  town  into  a  slaughter-house. 
The  battle  preceding  the  capitulation  was  a  great 
proof  of  the  value  of  field  artillery ;  for  a  vital  posi- 
tion, rendered  almost  unassailable  by  the  fire  that 
came  from  behind  its  earthworks,  was  converted 
from  unassailable  to  indefensible  by  the  enfilade 
fire  of  Prussian  rifled  guns. 

Sir  Joseph  Whitworth  sent  to  the  last  Paris 
Exhibition  two  specimens  of  his  steel  field-pieces, 
the   one   a  ten-pounder,   and  the  other  a  three- 


268 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


pounder.  These  guns,  having  attracted  the  notice 
of  the  emperor,  were  sent  by  his  desire  in  the  first 
instance  to  Versailles,  and  afterwards  to  the  camp 
at  Chalons,  for  exhaustive  experiment.  The  result 
of  repeated  trials  clearly  proved  the  great  inferiority 
of  the  field  guns,  made  of  bronze,  with  which  the 
French  artillery  was  equipped  in  the  war  with 
Prussia,  at  least  as  compared  with  English  steel 
guns.  This  evidence  is  supplied  by  a  series  of 
tables  in  the  official  report,  in  which  the  perform- 
ances of  these  latter  guns  are  compared  with  those 
of  the  canon  de  quatre  de  campagne,  as  regards 
range,  lowness  of  trajectory,  retention  of  velocity 
at  long  distances,  and  accuracy.  In  all  these  par- 
ticulars the  French  bronze  gun  was  much  inferior 
to  both  of  the  steel  guns,  and  in  some  respects  is 
so  inferior  as  to  bear  no  reasonable  comparison 
with  them.  Even  at  five  degrees  of  elevation,  the 
range  of  the  three-pounder  exceeded  that  of 
the  French  ten-pounder  by  290  metres,  while  the 
English  ten-pounder  exceeded  the  other  by  440 
metres.  But  as  the  range  increased,  the  inferiority 
of  the  French  became  much  more  marked.  Thus, 
at  ten  degrees  the  French  gun  ranged  2350  metres, 
the  English  three-pounder  3120,  and  the  English 
ten-pounder  3320.  At  twenty  degrees  the  ranges 
were  3480,  5000,  and  5490  metres  respectively; 
and  at  thirty  degrees,  while  the  range  of  the  French 
gun  was  but  4100  metres,  the  English  three-pounder 
had  a  range  of  6100,  and  the  ten-pounder  6890 
metres.  These  inferior  ranges  of  the  French  gun 
are  associated,  as  they  must  be,  with  correspond- 
ingly high  flights  or  trajectories,  rendering  the 
aim  of  the  artilleryman  very  uncertain  in  the  field, 
where  distances  have  to  be  judged  hastily  and  by 
the  eye  alone.  In  ranging  2000  metres  the  French 
shell  rose  to  a  height  of  eighty-three  metres,  while 
the  highest  point  of  the  trajectory  of  the  three- 
pounder  was  fifty- four  metres,  and  of  the  ten-pounder 
only  fifty-one  metres.  At  3000  yards'  range  the 
maximum  ordinate  of  the  trajectory  of  the  last-named 
gun  was  136  metres,  that  of  the  three-pounder  137, 
and  that  of  the  French  gun  253  metres  !  Those 
who  understand  the  relation  between  a  low  trajec- 
tory and  good  aim  in  the  field  will  discern  the 
immense  disadvantage  of  the  French  gun  in  this 
comparison.  Not  less  remarkable  is  its  want  of 
conservation  de  la  vitesse,  or  the  quality  of  keeping 
up  the  power  to  hit  hard  throughout  its  flight;  and 
as  the  penetrating  effect  of  a  shell  depends  upon  its 
velocity,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  inferior  the  French 


arm  must  be  in  this  respect  likewise.  Its  inferior 
accuracy  is  also  very  remarkable,  especially  at  long 
ranges,  but  we  have  not  space  to  record  all  the 
figures.  Those  already  given  are  taken  without 
alteration  from  the  official  report.  It  is  only 
necessary  to  add  that  bronze  is  of  less  than  half 
the  strength  of  good  steel,  or  of  Whitworth  metal, 
and  that  much  of  the  inferiority  of  the  French  gun 
is  attributable  to  its  use;  it  being  quite  impossible 
to  fire  the  full  charges  of  powder  and  length  of 
projectile  from  a  bronze  gun  of  given  bore  with- 
out speedily  destroying  it. 

The  Emperor  Napoleon,  after  his  terrible  experi- 
ence of  the  Prussian  artillery  at  Sedan,  is  said  to 
have  remarked  that  the  German  victory  was  due  to 
the  "superiority  of  their  artillery,  not  in  numbers, 
but  in  weight,  range,  and  precision."  His  Majesty 
was,  however,  mistaken.  The  Prussian  field-pieces 
were  considerably  superior  in  number,  which  is 
almost  enough  in  itself  to  account  for  their  success, 
supposing  them  to  be  even  equal  in  power  and 
equally  well  handled.  The  word  "weight"  in  the 
emperor's  dictum,  whether  it  applies  to  the  guns  or 
the  shells,  is  quite  incorrect,  unless  we  suppose  that 
the  heavier  class  of  the  Prussian  guns  (six-pounders 
carrying  15  lb.  shells)  were  opposed  to  the  lighter 
class  of  the  French  guns  (four-pounders  carrying  9  lb. 
shells),  a  most  improbable  supposition,  considering 
the  enormous  number  of  guns  engaged  on  either  side. 

Superiority  in  range  and  precision  the  Prussian 
guns  undoubtedly  had  ;  but  it  must  be  remembered 
those  of  the  French  were  the  first  rifled  guns  made, 
and  that  other  powers,  having  had  the  benefit  of 
previous  experience,  improved  upon  the  French 
model  in  establishing  their  own  patterns.  The 
main  cause  of  this  inferiority  is  to  be  found  in  the 
large  bore  adopted.  The  French  four-pounder  (9  lb. 
shell)  has  a  bore  of  3-41  inches  in  diameter,  and 
the  area  of  the  cross  section  opposed  to  the  resist- 
ance of  the  air  is,  in  round  numbers,  9  square 
inches;  the  bore  of  the  Prussian  four-pounder  (9  lb. 
shell)  is  3-089  inches,  and  the  area  opposed  to  the 
air  is  7-5  square  inches.  Again,  the  French  gun, 
with  a  larger  relative  charge  of  powder  of  between 
one-seventh  and  one-eighth  of  the  weight  of  the 
projectile,  has  an  initial  velocity  of  1066  feet  per 
second ;  while  the  Prussian  gun,  with  a  relative 
charge  of  one-eighth,  has  a  velocity  of  1184  feet 
per  second.  We  thus  see  that  the  French  shell 
starts  at  a  slower  rate  than  the  Prussian,  and  as  it 
opposes  a  larger  area  to  the  resistance  of  the  air  ir 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


269 


the  ratio  of  1-27  to  1  (the  shells  being  of  the 
same  weight),  it  loses  its  velocity  much  more 
quickly.  The  trajectory,  therefore,  is  more  highly 
curved. 

The  Prussian  artillery  has  but  one  explosive 
projectile,  a  common  shell  burst  by  a  concussion 
fuse.  The  French  have  common  shells  and  shrap- 
nel, some  three-fourths  of  the  ammunition  being 
of  the  former  nature,  both  usually  exploded  by 
time  fuses.  Now,  all  artillerymen  know  that 
common  shells  are  most  efficient  when  burst  by 
concussion  fuses,  because  the  pieces  of  the  shell 
are  more  likely  to  hit  the  object  fired  at  when 
exploded  on  flat,  hard  ground,  than  when  the  shell 
bursts  in  the  air  by  a  time  fuse,  and  because,  under 
the  former  circumstances,  the  pointsman  at  the 
gun  can  see  better  whether  his  shells  are  bursting 
correctly,  by  observing  the  relative  position  of  the 
cloud  of  smoke  of  the  bursting  charge  and  the 
front  of  the  enemy,  than  when  the  cloud  is  up  in 
the  air.  In  addition,  then,  to  the  Prussian  guns 
having  greater  range  and  precision,  their  shells 
during  the  late  actions,  for  the  reasons  adduced, 
were  more  correctly  burst  by  their  concussion 
fuses  than  the  French  shells  by  their  time  fuses. 

Another  point  of  difference  is  that  the  Prussians 
fired  slowly  and  the  French  quickly.  The  simple 
consequence  was  an  immense  waste  of  ammuni- 
tion. Did  not  common  sense  show  us,  a  priori, 
how  much  more  efficient  and  in  every  way  advis- 
able deliberate  fire  is  than  quick  fire,  the  English 
experiments  at  Shoeburyness  have  proved  the 
point  to  a  demonstration.  The  Prussian  books 
giving  instructions  in  laying  a  gun  and  correcting 
the  practice  are  elaborate,  and  go  to  the  bottom 
of  the  question.  What  is  called  "  the  light  of 
nature"  is  in  no  wise  depended  upon.  Every 
gunner  is  taught  what  the  difference  of  range  will 
be  by  the  addition  or  subtraction  of  one-sixteenth 
of  an  inch  to  or  from  the  height  of  his  tangent 
scales.  Again,  he  learns  what  the  mean  difference 
of  range  at  any  given  distance  may  be  expected  to 
be.  If  his  shell  falls  at  an  estimated  distance  from 
his  enemy  within  double  the  mean  difference  of 
range,  he  knows  that  he  will  not  improve  matters 
by  altering  his  elevation,  as  his  error  is  within 
that  inherent  to  the  gun.  If,  after  two  or  three 
shots,  he  finds  they  all  err  in  the  same  way,  all 
being  too  short  or  too  long,  he  then  alters  his 
elevation,  allowing  as  many  sixteenths  on  his 
tangent  scales  as  he  knows  will  give  an  increase 


or  decrease  of  range  equivalent  to  the  amount  of 
his  estimated  error.  In  French  drill-books  the 
question  of  laying  a  gun  is  much  more  generally 
treated,  and  no  minute  instructions  for  correcting 
the  practice  are  there  to  be  found. 

There  is  also  a  great  difference  in  the  mobility 
of  the  pieces,  for  the  French,  like  the  English, 
carry  the  gunners  chiefly  upon  the  waggons,  and 
the  waggons  do  not  go  into  action  with  the  guns. 
The  men,  therefore,  must  run  on  foot  if  they 
would  keep  up  with  their  guns  when  the  latter 
move  with  any  rapidity.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Prussians  have  comfortable  seats  for  two  gunners 
above  the  axle-tree  of  the  gun-carriage.  The 
Austrians  and  Kussians  effect  the  same  object 
by  slightly  different  means.  Whatever,  there- 
fore, be  the  speed  at  which  the  gun  is  called 
upon  to  move,  it  always  carries  with  it  sufficient 
men  to  serve  it  in  action.  This  is  a  very  con- 
siderable advantage.  The  exigencies  of  modern 
warfare  require  guns  to  be  moved  swiftly  from  one 
part  of  the  field  of  battle  to  another;  and  of  what 
possible  utility  are  the  guns  if  the  men  who  serve 
them  come  up  heated,  breathless,  and  well-nigh 
exhausted  with  running? 

The  artillery  practice  of  the  war  does  not  seem 
to  have  exhibited  any  very  decided  advantages 
to  be  derived  from  breech-loading  over  muzzle- 
loading  guns.  Because  the  Prussians,  armed  on 
the  breech-loading  system,  have  in  two  gigantic 
campaigns  beaten  their  adversaries,  armed  on  the 
muzzle-loading  system,  it  does  not  therefore  fol- 
low that  the  former  system  is  better  than  the  latter 
for  field-guns.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  false  such 
a  conclusion  is,  by  applying  the  argument  to  the 
respective  merits  of  the  needle-gun  and  Chassepot. 
Because  the  Prussians  beat  the  French,  ergo  the 
needle-gun  is  better  than  the  Chassepot.  An 
artillery  officer  standing  ten  yards  in  rear  of  a 
Prussian  four-pounder  battery  in  action,  describes 
the  loading  of  the  guns  as  anything  but  easy, 
inasmuch  as  after  each  discharge  the  gunner  had 
to  tug  very  hard  at  the  breech-closing  apparatus 
to  get  it  open,  and  that  on  one  occasion  a  lever 
had  to  be  used  for  that  purpose.  Proof  enough 
and  to  spare  has  been  found  during  English 
experiments,  that  muzzle-loading  guns  properly 
made  shoot  as  rapidly  and  accurately  as  breech- 
loaders ;  that  a  stronger  powder  charge  may  be 
used,  thereby  obtaining  higher  velocity  and  lower 
trajectory  ;  while  the  simplicity  both  of  gun  and 


270 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


projectiles  is  greatly  increased,  and  everybody  is 
now  familiar  with  the  phrase,  "  What  is  not 
simple  in  war  is  impossible. " 

Although  they  did  so  very  little  with  it,  the 
French  had  the  advantage  of  a  navy  which,  for 
age,  tradition,  and  size,  far  exceeded  that  of 
Prussia.  As  in  the  case  of  the  army,  the  navy 
is  manned  by  conscription;  but  the  marine  con- 
scription is  of  much  older  date  than  that  of  the 
land  forces,  having  been  introduced  as  early  as 
the  year  1683.  On  the  navy  lists  are  inscribed 
the  names  of  all  individuals  of  the  "  maritime 
population;"  that  is,  men  and  youths  devoted  to 
a  seafaring  life,  from  the  eighteenth  to  the  fiftieth 
year  of  age.  The  number  of  men  thus  inscribed 
fluctuates  from  150,000  to  180,000.  Though  all 
are  liable,  the  administration  ordinarily  dispenses 
with  the  services  of  men  over  forty  and  under 
twenty,  as  well  as  of  pilots,  captains,  fathers  of 
large  families,  and  able  seamen  who  have  signed 
for  long  voyages.  The  law  of  maritime  conscrip- 
tion was  modified  by  an  imperial  decree  of 
October  21,  1863.  The  decree  was  intended  to 
give  greater  encouragement  to  voluntary  enlist- 
ments, by  allowing  youths  from  sixteen  to  twenty- 
one  to  enlist  for  four  years,  in  order  to  make 
themselves  sailors,  and  those  of  more  than  sixteen 
and  less  than  twenty-three  to  engage  for  seven 
years  as  apprentice  seamen.  Every  one  whose 
name  stands  on  the  maritime  inscription  con- 
tinued, as  before,  to  be  liable  to  conscription  at  the 
age  of  twenty,  unless  he  can  furnish  legal  claims 
to  exemption.  Formerly  the  custom  was  to  keep 
sailors  on  board  for  an  obligatory  period,  which 
was  generally  three  years,  after  which  they  returned 
to  their  homes.  Many,  however,  finding  the  advan- 
tage of  immediately  fulfilling  their  full  period  of 
six  years,  re-engaged,  in  order  that  at  the  expira- 
tion of  their  full  term  they  might  be  no  longer 
liable  to  be  called  upon,  unless  by  an  extraordinary 
decree.  This  plan  was  continued,  but  with  the 
modification  that  during  the  six  years  renewable 
furloughs  were  given,  with  or  without  pay,  accord- 
ing to  the  occupations  in  which  the  men  might 
employ  themselves  during  such  leave  of  absence. 
They  were  at  liberty  to  enter  into  any  kind  of 
seafaring  pursuit;  but  those  who  engaged  in  coast- 
ing or  home  fishery  only  received  a  quarter  of  the 


pay  allowed  them  when  on  shore  by  way  of  pay, 
en  disponibiliti. 

The  ordinary  number  of  sailors  in  the  French 
navy  is  about  35,000,  which,  together  with  officers, 
navy  surgeons,  and  other  personnel,  brings  the 
grand  total  of  men  engaged  in  the  service  of  the 
fleet  up  to  43,000.  On  the  war  footing,  the  num- 
ber of  men  is  raised  to  66,535.  From  these  figures 
are  excluded  the  marines  and  coast-guard. 

The  progress  of  the  French  navy  in  the  course 
of  nearly  a  century  is  represented  by  the  following 
figures: — In  1780  the  fleet  of  war  consisted  of  60 
first-class  ships,  24  second-class,  and  182  smaller 
vessels:  altogether  266  ships,  with  13,000  guns 
and  78,000  sailors.  In  1790  the  number  had 
decreased  to  246  ships,  with  51,000  sailors  and 
less  than  10,000  guns;  while  at  the  battle  of  Tra- 
falgar, 1805,  in  which  the  greater  part  of  the 
imperial  naval  force  was  engaged,  there  were  only 
18  French  men-of-war,  with  1352  guns.  In  1844 
the  navy  had  increased  to  226  sailing  vessels,  and 
47  steamers,  with  8639  guns  and  24,513  sailors; 
and  this  strength  was  not  increased  till  the  year 
1855,  when  the  government  ordered  the  entire 
re-organization  of  the  navy,  including  a  substitu- 
tion of  iron-clads  and  steamers  for  wooden  and 
sailing  vessels. 

The  actual  strength  of  the  French  navy  at  the 
commencement  of  the  war  was:  59  iron-clads,  in- 
cluding 27  floating  batteries,  carrying  a  total  of 
810  guns;  237  unarmoured  vessels,  including  ships 
of  the  line,  frigates,  corvettes,  transports,  gunboats, 
&c,  mounting  956  guns;  73  paddle,  steamers, 
with  208  guns;  and  111  sailing  vessels,  carrying 
776  guns.     Total:  480  ships  and  2750  guns. 

The  most  remarkable  among  the  iron-clads  are 
— the  Magenta,  Sol/erino,  Couronne,  Normandie, 
Invincible,  and  the  cupola  ship  Taureau,  all  heavily 
plated  and  armed.  The  Taureau  carries  a  single 
20-ton  gun,  and  her  deck  is  covered  for  its  entire 
length  with  a  cylindrical  ball-proof  dome,  so  in- 
clined that  it  is  not  practicable  to  walk  on  it. 
Four  of  the  iron-clads  are  turret  ships ;  another, 
the  Iioehambeau,  formerly  the  Donderberg,  was 
bought  from  the  United  States  for  £480,000- 
Several  are  armed  with  heavy  spurs  or  beaks, 
and  all  the  first-class  vessels  can  be  driven  (it  a 
high  speed. 


CHAPTER      VI. 


French  hopes  of  support  from  South  Germany — Searching  Questions  of  the  French  Government  for  obtaining  information  on  this  point— Real 
State  of  Feeling  seriouslj  misrepresented  to  them — Germany  thoroughly  united  through  the  action  of  France — Enthusiastic  Meetings  on 
the  subject  in  various  parts  of  Germany — Concurrence  of  all  Parties  for  the  Defence  of  Fatherland — Ultimatum  of  the  French  Govern- 
ment to  the  South  German  States — French  Official  Repudiation  of  any  desire  to  make  War  on  Germany — Decisive  means  adopted  to 
prevent  the  Enlistment  of  a  Foreign  German  Legion  in  France — Hopes  in  France  of  an  Alliance  with  Denmark — Position  taken  by  Russia 
and  Austria — State  of  feeling  on  the  War  in  England  and  Ireland — Soreness  in  France  at  the  want  of  Sympathy  for  her  in  England — 
Complaints  from  Prussia  as  to  England's  one-sided  Neutrality — Important  Official  Circular  by  Lord  Granville,  and  correspondence  between 
the  two  Governments  on  the  Subject — Policy  of  the  French  Government  towards  the  Press — Correspondents  peremptorily  forbidden  to 
accompany  the  French  Armies — Different  system  pursued  by  Prussia — Wonderful  Organization  displayed  throughout  Germany — The 
temper  of  the  People — Contrast  with  the  feeling  manifested  before  the  War  with  Austria  in  1866— Enthusiasm  throughout  the  whole  country 
—  Rapid  Mobilization  of  the  Army — Sacrifices  made  by  all  Parties — More  Volunteers  for  the  Army  than  could  be  accepted — Closing  of 
the  Uuiversities  to  enable  the  Students  to  join  their  Regiments — The  Enthusiasm  spread  even  among  Boys — Societies  universally  established 
for  the  Benefit  of  the  Army  and  the  Relief  of  the  Wounded— Refreshment  Associations  formed  in  most  towns  to  supply  the  Soldiers  on  their 
way  to  the  Front — Assistance  from  Germans  in  Great  Britain  and  America — No  fear  of  ultimate  defeat  in  Germany,  but  determiuation 
to  become  thoroughly  united  whatever  might  be  the  result  of  the  struggle — Departure  of  the  King  from  Berlin — Enthusiastic  Demonstration 
— Proclamation  to  the  Prussian  people — Resuscitation  of  the  much-valued  Order  of  the  Iron  Cross — Departure  of  the  Emperor  from 
Paris  for  Metz — The  young  Prince  Imperial  and  his  Mother— Proclamation  to  the  French  Army — Delusions  in  France  as  to  the  state  of 
preparation  of  the  Army  and  what  it  would  be  able  to  accomplish — Change  of  feeling  after  the  Emperor's  Proclamation — Recapitulation 
of  what  had  been  accomplished  in  the  fortnight  from  July  15 — Composition,  Numbers,  and  Positions  of  both  Armies  on  the  Frontier — 
The  Address  of  the  Crown  Prince  on  taking  the  command  of  the  South  German  Forces — Large  number  of  German  Princes  in  ths 
field  against  the  French. 


When  contemplating  the  struggle  which  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  foresaw  would  be  certain  to 
take  place  sooner  or  later  between  France  and 
Prussia,  one  of  his  great  hopes  was  to  obtain  the 
support  of  the  South  German  states,  or  at  all 
events,  to  insure  their  isolation  from  the  North 
German  Confederation,  and  also  to  take  advantage 
of  the  disaffection  which  prevailed  in  some  of 
the  northern  provinces  acquired  after  the  war  in 
1866.  If  either  the  active  or  passive  support  of 
the  southern  states  could  have  been  insured,  the 
French,  by  a  rapid  dash  across  the  Rhine,  with 
as  large  a  force  as  could  be  collected,  somewhere 
between  Germersheim  and  Mayence  (Mainz),  and 
an  advance  in  the  direction  of  Frankfort  and 
Wurzburg,  would  have  found  themselves  virtually 
masters  of  the  situation,  and  would  have  compelled 
Prussia  to  bring  down  to  the  Main,  as  hastily  as 
possible,  all  available  troops,  whether  ready  or  not 
for  a  campaign.  The  whole  process  of  mobilization 
in  Prussia  would  have  been  disturbed,  and  all 
the  chances  have  been  in  favour  of  the  invaders 
being  able  to  defeat  the  Prussians  in  detail  as  they 
arrived  from  various  parts  of  the  country.  With 
the  object  of  ascertaining  the  state  of  feeling  in 
South  Germany,  and  the  amount  of  support  to  be 
expected  there,  the  following  searching  questions 
were    confidentially    addressed    by    the    French 


minister  of  foreign  affairs  to  the  imperial  envoy 
at  Stuttgard,  the  capital  of  Wiirtemburg,  some 
months  before  the  war  took  place: — 

1.  What  was  the  state  of  parties  previous  to  the 
war  of  1866  ? 

2.  What  changes  in  the  division  of  parties  have 
been  caused  by  the  war  of  1866  ? 

3.  What  is  the  relative  strength  of  the  demo- 
cratic party  ?  What  of  the  Catholic  party,  the 
conservative  party,  and  the  Prussian  or  unity  party? 

4.  What  means  are  employed  by  the  various 
parties  to  promote  their  objects  ?  What  are  their 
journals,  their  leaders,  and  their  most  important 
members  ? 

5.  Which  party  is  the  most  popular,  and  has  the 
greatest  chance  of  success  ? 

6.  What  opinions  are  entertained  by  the  differ- 
ent classes  of  society  ? 

7.  Is  the  dynasty  popular  ?  Has  it  a  party  ? 
Would  any  particular  exertions  be  made  to 
defend  it  ? 

8.  Which  have  been  the  principal  political 
events  in  Wiirtemburg  since  the  war  ? 

9.  Which  are  the  principal  laws  enacted  since 
that  period  ? 

10.  What  has  been  the  relative  position  of 
parties  since  the  war  in  the  First  Chamber  ?  What 
in  the  Second  ? 


272 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


1 1 .  What  impression  lias  been  produced  in  the 
country  by  the  new  laws  enacted  in  consequence 
of  the  military  and  financial  connection  of  Wiir- 
temburg  with  the  North  German  Confederacy — 
viz.,  the  army  bill,  the  introduction  of  the  impost 
upon  tobacco  and  salt,  and  the  new  govern- 
ment loan? 

12.  Is  the  new  distribution  of  the  franchise  in 
favour  ?     Is  universal  suffrage  liked  ? 

13.  What  influence  on  the  future  of  the  country 
can  universal  suffrage  be  expected  to  exercise? 

14.  Are  people  satisfied  with  the  re-organization 
of  the  army  ?     And  has  it  been  successful  ? 

15.  How  is  Wiirtemburg  situated  respecting  its 
commerce  and  industry  ? 

16.  What  influence  have  recent  events  had  upon 
its  commerce  and  industry  ? 

17.  Has  prosperity  increased  since  1866  ? 

18.  What  is  the  amount  of  the  Wiirtemburg 
imports  ?     What  of  the  exports  ? 

19.  Have  the  events  of  1866  had  any  permanent 
reaction  on  the  state  of  the  money-market  ? 

20.  The  creation  of  the  Customs'  Parliament, 
being  the  most  important  event  in  the  last  few 
years,  what  is  thought  of  it  ?  What  is  anticipated 
concerning  its  future  ? 

21.  Why  have  the  Prussian  party  been  defeated 
in  the  late  elections  to  the  Customs'  Parliament  ? 

22.  What  prevented  the  establishment  of  a  South 
German  Confederacy  ? 

23.  What  are  the  reasons  of  the  jealousy  which 
keeps  the  South  German  states  separate  ? 

24.  Are  there  any  pecuniary  interests  opposed 
to  the  formation  of  a  South  German  Confederacy  ? 

25.  Are  the  interests  of  the  South  bound  up 
with  those  of  the  North  ?  Would  it  be  possible 
to  separate  the  two  ? 

26.  Are  there  no  ties  of  common  interest  bind- 
ing the  southern  states  to  Austria  ? 

27.  Would  it  not  be  possible  to  create  a  flourish- 
ing commerce  between  Southern  Germany  and  the 
Adriatic,  and  make  it  a  connecting  link  between 
the  Levant  and  Western  Europe  ? 

28.  What  is  Prussia's  policy  towards  the  south- 
ern states  ? 

29.  Has  Prussia  abandoned  the  thought  of 
German  unity  ? 

30.  How  is  it  that  Austria  does  not  seek  to  re- 
gain her  former  influence  over  Southern  Germany? 

31.  What  are  the  present  politics  of  the  Wiir- 
tcmburo;  government  ?     What  are  its  relations  to 


the  various  political  parties  in  the  country.  What 
attitude  does  it  maintain  towards  Austria  and 
Prussia  ? 

32.  Does  the  Wiirtemburg  government  regret 
the  offensive  and  defensive  alliance  binding  it  to 
Prussia? 

33.  In  the  event  of  war,  would  the  Wiirtemburg 
government  side  with  Prussia  ? 

34.  In  the  event  of  war  with  Prussia,  would 
France  find  any  allies  in  Southern  Germany  ? 

35.  How  is  the  Wiirtemburg  army  disposed  ? 

36.  Why  does  the  Wiirtemburg  government 
Prussianize  (prussianiser)  the  organization  of  its 
army  ? 

37.  Does  the  Wiirtemburg  government  intend 
to  join  the  North  German  Confederacy? 

38.  What  are  the  political  opinions  and  tend- 
encies of  the  leading  members  of  the  Wiirtemburg 
Cabinet  ? 

39.  What  influence  has  Queen  Olga  on  the 
politics  of  the  kingdom? 

40.  Does  Kussia  support  Wiirtemburg? 

41.  Will  the  present  state  of  things  last  ?  And 
what  may  one  expect  in  the  future  ? 

The  replies  returned  to  these  questions  were 
generally  favourable  to  France;  and  the  press  of 
the  ultra-democratic  party  in  all  the  southern 
states  tended  to  foster  the  delusion  by  its  contin- 
ual tirades  against  Prussia.  The  whole  of  the 
extreme  Ultramontane  party  went,  of  course,  in  the 
same  direction,  and  did  much  to  deceive  the  French 
government,  and  involved  them  in  many  of  their 
subsequent  disasters.  In  fact,  could  they  have 
foreseen  anything  like  that  which  subsequently  took 
place  with  regard  to  this  particular  matter,  it  is 
scarcely  credible  to  believe  they  would  have  ventured 
on  war  at  all.  It  is  true  that  now  and  then  a  journal 
with  German  affinities,  scientific  and  religious — 
such  as  the  Temps,  for  example — warned  the  public 
not  to  trust  to  German  quarrels  for  furnishing  French 
alliances  in  the  hour  of  need;  but  the  caution 
thus  thrown  out  was  quite  powerless  to  destroy  the 
pleasing  delusion  that  an  invading  army  would  be 
hailed  as  liberators.  In  vain  it  was  urged  that  a 
few  Ultramontanes  in  South  Germany,  who  hated 
Prussia,  especially  as  a  Protestant  power,  or  a  few 
discontented  Hanoverian  officers,  were  all  that 
could  be  relied  upon.  France  insisted  on  regarding 
the  South  German  states  as  distinct  from  Prussia, 
and  resolved  to  declare  war  against  the  latter 
power  exclusively. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


273 


As  soon,  however,  as  matters  had  begun  to  assume 
a  really  serious  aspect — even  before  the  interview 
between  M.  Benedetti  and  the  king  of  Prussia  at 
Ems — Bavaria  and  Baden  tendered  an  all  but 
unqualified  promise  to  stand  by  Prussia;  and  on 
July  19  the  Bavarian  Chambers  rejected,  by  a 
majority  of  101  to  47,  the  proposition  for  an  armed 
neutrality  that  had  been  brought  in  by  some  of  the 
Ultramontane  members,  and  at  once  granted  sub- 
sidies to  the  government  to  carry  on  the  war;  Wiir- 
temburg  almost  immediately  afterwards  gave  in  her 
adhesion ;  and  immediately  after  the  declaration  of 
war  the  Saxon  war  minister  waited  upon  the  king 
of  Prussia,  to  solicit  for  the  Saxon  army  the  honour 
of  forming  the  van  of  the  German  forces.  Only 
four  years  before,  in  the  campaign  of  1866,  the 
Saxons  were  the  most  dangerous  of  all  the  enemies 
of  Prussia  !  A  great  opportunity  for  a  demonstra- 
tion of  the  public  feeling  was  also  given  at  Leipzig 
by  the  performance  in  the  new  theatre  of  Schiller's 
"  William  Tell."  Every  line  in  which  an  allusion 
to  the  then  position  of  the  Fatherland  could  be 
detected  was  received  with  a  storm  of  sympathetic 
applause.  This  was  especially  the  case  when  it 
came  to  the  Rlittli  scene;  the  words  of  the  sworn 
liberators : — 

One  single  people  will  we  be  of  brothers, 
We  will  not  part  in  any  need  or  danger , 

were  drowned  in  the  shouts  of  appreciative  patriots, 
and  the  public  showed  equal  excitement  when  Tell 
exclaimed — 

The  best  of  men  can  never  live  at  peace 
If  'tis  not  pleasing  to  his  wicked  neighbour. 

In  fact,  France  found  to  her  cost,  when  too 
late,  that  Germany  was  thoroughly  united,  and 
that  her  action  had  at  once  done  more  to  cement 
that  unity  firmly,  than  ordinary  causes  could  have 
effected  in  several  years.  No  sooner  was  war 
declared  than  enthusiastic  meetings  were  held  in 
many  parts  of  Germany,  with  the  view  of  express- 
ing popular  opinion  on  the  subject,  and  it  was 
unanimously  resolved  to  withstand  the  aggression 
of  France  to  the  utmost.  Some  of  the  largest 
meetings  were  held  in  places  in  which  the  anti- 
unity  party  were  supposed  to  muster  in  consider- 
able strength.  Thus,  for  instance,  amongst  the 
towns  were  Hanover,  where  many  of  the  inhabit- 
ants cherished  a  lingering  predilection  for  the  old 
regime;  Schleswig,  where  local  interests  were  ever 
uppermost  in  men's  mind;  and  Munich,  whose 
ancient  and  not  unjustifiable  pride  had  revolted  at 


the  idea  of  being  absorbed  by  a  larger  state,  and  of 
thus  being  reduced  to  a  provincial  town.  The 
more  notorious  these  places  had  been  for  the 
strength  of  the  anti-unity  party  within  their  walls, 
the  more  anxious  they  were  in  the  present  emer- 
gency to  testify  to  their  love  for  the  common 
Fatherland.  If  there  was  any  town  in  Germany 
where  a  hostile  feeling  to  the  Prussian  government 
had  been  kept  up  it  was  Frankfort.  Yet  this  city, 
where  the  French  hoped  to  find  almost  partisans 
enough  to  enact  the  old  comedy  of  liberating  one 
part  of  Germany  from  the  alleged  yoke  of  another, 
was  among  the  most  forward  to  show  her  hatred  of 
the  invader.  On  the  Senate  of  the  city  asking  the 
town  council  for  100,000  florins  to  defray  certain 
local  expenses  incidental  to  the  war,  the  council 
voted  twice  that  sum,  and  offered  to  bear  any 
other  burdens  that  might  be  required.  All  the 
officers  of  the  late  Frankfort  troops,  who  resigned 
on  the  annexation  of  the  city  in  1866,  asked  per- 
mission to  rejoin  the  service,  and  in  no  town  in 
Germany  was  more  enthusiasm  observable.  In 
Munich,  the  old  stronghold  of  the  Ultramontanes, 
fifteen  thousand  people — nearly  a  tenth  of  the 
inhabitants — went  to  the  palace  and  congratulated 
the  king  for  siding  with  the  North  ;  and  so  many 
students  in  that  city  volunteered,  as  to  obtain  the 
permission  of  the  military  authorities  to  form  a 
battalion  of  their  own.  Similar  demonstrations  took 
place  at  Stuttgard ;  in  Hanover  the  Guelphian  party, 
called  together  by  their  leading  paper,  passed  a  vote 
repudiating  the  assistance  of  the  foreigner  for  the 
attainment  of  their  purposes;  in  Schleswig  the 
particularists,  in  Brunswick  the  socialists,  and  in 
Stuttgard  the  republicans,  were  likewise  prompted 
to  declare  that,  although  opposed  to  the  present 
political  arrangements  of  Germany,  they  would  not 
be  outdone  by  any  other  party  in  defending  its 
independence  against  all  comers. 

It  was  this  marvellous  concord  between  the 
various  local  and  political  parties  which  con- 
stituted the  strength  of  Germany;  this  political 
unity,  so  firmly  established,  even  before  the  first 
shot  had  been  fired,  which  so  completely  frustrated 
the  calculations  of  France.  Never  since  the 
days  of  the  Hohenstaufens  had  the  like  been  wit- 
nessed. National  feeling  may  have  been  strong 
enough  long  after  that  date,  and  remained  a 
living  force  until  it  evaporated  in  the  religious 
wars  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries; 
but  apparently  there  never  existed  such  a  willing- 
2  M 


274 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


ness  to  merge  local  in  common  interests,  and 
obey  the  dictates  of  the  leading  sovereign,  as 
in  the  memorable  summer  of  1870.  This  intensely- 
unanimous  feeling  of  the  people  was  naturally 
reflected  in  the  press,  and  to  whatever  journal  one 
refers — north  or  south,  democratic  or  conservative, 
Prussian  or  Suabian — the  same  tone  prevails  in 
every  article.  Intense  hatred  of  the  French  em- 
peror and  his  supporters,  mingled  censure  and 
compassion  for  the  French  people,  and  determina- 
tion to  put  an  end  to  a  state  of  things  which 
exposed  to  the  periodical  recurrence  of  massacres 
a  pacific,  industrious,  and  highly  cultivated  race — 
such  are  the  contents  of  the  thousands  of  leading 
articles  that  were  then  composed  on  the  one  absorb- 
ing topic  of  the  day. 

After  this  outburst  of  feeling  it  was  of 
course  more  as  a  matter  of  form  than  in  the 
hope  of  its  leading  to  any  practical  result,  that 
France  addressed  an  ultimatum  to  the  South  Ger- 
man states,  leaving  them  the  option  between 
neutrality — in  which  case  their  territory  was  not 
to  be  touched — or  war,  when  they  would  be 
treated  with  the  utmost  severity.  To  the  last, 
however,  France  maintained  that  she  had  not 
gone  to  war  against  Germany,  but  against  Prussia, 
or  rather  against  Count  von  Bismarck's  policy. 
This  may  easily  be  seen  from  the  following  mani- 
festo, published  in  the  Journal  Ojficiel: — "  It  is 
not  with  Germany  we  are  at  war;  it  is  with  Prussia, 
or,  more  properly,  with  the  policy  of  Count  von  Bis- 
marck. Careful  of  patriotic  sentiments,  and  respect- 
ing the  principles  of  nationality,  the  emperor  and 
his  government  have  never  assumed  towards  the 
great  German  race  any  but  the  most  friendly  atti- 
tude. By  arresting  at  Yillafranca  the  victorious 
march  of  our  troops,  his  Majesty  was  influenced 
by  a  desire  to  spare  himself  the  regret  of  being 
compelled  to  fight  Germany  in  order  to  liberate 
the  peninsula.  When  in  June,  1860,  he  visited 
Baden,  he  there  met  King  William,  then  prince 
regent  of  Prussia,  the  kings  of  Bavaria,  Wiirtem- 
burg,  Hanover,  and  Saxony,  the  ■  grand-dukes  of 
Hesse-Darmstadt,  Baden,  Saxe- Weimar,  and  the 
dukes  of  Coburg  and  Nassau,  and  by  tendering 
them  the  most  cordial  assurances  he  offered  loyally 
to  those  princes  his  friendship  and  that  of  France. 
When  King  William,  in  1861,  visited  Compiegne, 
he  received  a  cordial  and  courteous  welcome.  Pre- 
vious to  Sadowa  the  emperor  wrote  to  M.  Drouvn 
de  Lhuys,  at  that  time  his  minister  for  Foreign 


Affairs,  a  letter  which  sketched  out  the  pro- 
gramme most  favourable  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
Germanic  Confederation  and  most  congenial  with 
the  aspirations  and  the  rights  of  the  German 
nation.  To  yield  to  Prussia  all  the  satisfactions 
that  were  compatible  with  the  liberty,  the  independ- 
ence and  the  equilibrium  of  Germany,  to  maintain 
Austria  in  her  great  position  among  the  Ger- 
manic populations,  to  assure  to  the  minor  states 
a  closer  union,  a  more  powerful  organization,  and 
a  more  important  position — such  was  the  plan 
proposed  by  his  Majesty.  The  realization  of  those 
ideas,  so  consistent  with  the  desires  and  the  interests 
of  all  the  German  populations,  would  have  been 
the  triumph  of  right  and  of  justice;  it  would  have 
spared  Germany  the  misfortunes  of  despotism  and 
of  war.  Let  us  compare  the  emperor's  programme 
with  the  theories  which  Count  von  Bismarck  has 
succeeded  in  carrying  out  in  practice.  For  many 
years  profound  peace  had  existed  among  all  Ger- 
mans. For  that  peace  the  Prussian  minister 
substituted  a  war  which  broke  up  the  Germanic 
Confederation,  and  created  an  abyss  between  Austria 
and  Prussia.  By  excluding  from  Germany  a 
monarchy  which  was  one  of  its  principal  sources 
of  strength,  Count  von  Bismarck  was  a  traitor  to 
the  common  country.  In  order  to  augment  Prussia 
he  sensibly  diminished  Germany,  and  the  day  is 
not  far  distant  when  all  true  patriots  across  the 
Rhine  will  reproach  him  bitterly  for  it.  Not 
content  with  destroying  the  bonds  which  connected 
Prussia  with  the  Germanic  Confederation,  he  has 
not  shrunk  from  brutally  despoiling  princes  whose 
only  crime  was  their  fidelity  to  federal  duties. 
Let  the  countries  which  have  been  annexed  to 
Prussia  compare  their  present  lot  with  their  situa- 
tion before  1866.  Tranquil,  rich,  honoured,  lightly 
taxed,  they  presented  a  pattern  of  moral  and 
material  prosperity.  Popular  dynasties  established 
an  intimate  relationship  between  the  people  and  the 
government.  To-day  those  countries  profoundly 
regret  their  princes.  Crushed  under  the  weight 
of  excessive  taxation,  ruined  in  the  manufacturing 
and  commercial  life,  compelled  to  leave  agricultural 
work  to  be  done  by  the  women,  they  are  now 
required  to  lavish  their  gold  and  their  blood  for  a 
policy  whose  violence  is  hateful  to  them.  Hano- 
verians, Hessians,  inhabitants  of  Nassau  and 
Frankfort,  it  is  not  enough  that  you  should  be  the 
victims  of  Count  von  Bismarck's  ambition.  The 
Prussian  minister  desires  that  you  should  become 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


275 


Lis  accomplices:  you  were  worthy  of  a  better 
cause.  It  is  lamentable  to  behold  to  what  lengths 
a  monarch  may  be  led  who,  instead  of  listening  to 
the  dictates  of  his  heart  and  mind,  places  himself 
under  the  control  of  an  unscrupulous  minister. 
How  far  distant  is  the  time  when  King  William 
said,  upon  accepting  the  regency,  '  Prussia  should 
make  none  but  moral  conquests  in  Germany.'  If 
that  prince,  whose  intentions  were  loyal,  and  who 
had  a  respect  for  right,  had  then  been  told  that 
a  day  would  come  when,  without  cause  or  pretext, 
he  would  violently  dispossess  the  most  respectable 
princes  of  Germany,  or  that  he  would  seize  not 
only  the  crown  but  the  private  fortune  of  a  sove- 
reign so  irreproachable  as  the  king  of  Hanover, 
or  that  in  the  ancient  free  city  of  Frankfort  he 
would  give  a  slap  in  the  face  to  the  long-established 
glories  of  Germany,  he  would  never  have  credited 
such  a  prediction.  Will  he,  then,  not  distrust  a 
minister  who  only  yesterday  dared  to  reproach  him 
for  giving  a  courteous  reception  to  the  represen- 
tative of  France,  and  who  maintained  to  the  Eng- 
lish ambassador  at  Berlin  that  that  conduct  had 
provoked  general  indignation  throughout  Prussia? 
If  we  have  witnessed  with  sorrow  the  excesses 
committed  against  the  princes  of  North  Germany, 
we  have  not  been  less  grieved  at  the  treatment  to 
which  the  princes  of  Southern  Germany  have  been 
submitted.  Can  the  peoples  of  Southern  Germany 
have  any  ground  of  resentment  towards  France? 
Bavaria,  immediately  after  Sadowa,  did  she  not 
address  herself  to  us  to  preserve  the  integrity  of 
her  territory?  and  did  we  not  hasten  to  respond 
to  her  desire?  Who  was  it  that  demanded  for 
the  states  of  the  South  an  independent  national 
existence?  Who  was  it  that  desired  that  the 
sovereigns  of  those  countries,  instead  of  being 
transformed  into  crowned  prefects,  should  pre- 
serve all  the  prerogatives  of  a  real  sovereignty, 
which  would  have  been  the  guarantee  of  the  in- 
dependence and  liberty  of  their  states.  Full  of 
respect  for  the  qualities  of  those  fine  populations, 
honest  and  laborious,  we  knew  that,  ready  as  they 
might  be  to  take  part  in  a  truly  national  war,  they 
would  be  afflicted  by  being  called  upon  to  join  in 
a  purely  Prussian  war.  Our  traditional  sympathies 
with  the  states  of  the  South  survive  even  in  the 
present  war,  and  we  hope  that  the  hour  will  come 
when  the  people  of  those  states  will  perceive  that 
we  were  their  real  friends.  The  emperor  has  said 
so  in  his  proclamation.     He  desires  that  the  coun- 


tries which  compose  the  great  Germanic  race 
should  freely  dispose  of  their  own  destinies.  To 
deliver  Germany  from  Prussian  oppression,  to 
reconcile  the  rights  of  sovereigns  with  the  legiti- 
mate aspirations  of  the  people,  to  put  an  end  to 
incessant  encroachments  which  are  a  perpetual 
menace  to  Europe,  to  preserve  the  Danish  nation- 
ality from  complete  ruin,  to  conquer  an  equitable 
and  lasting  peace,  based  upon  moderation,  justice, 
and  right — such  is  the  general  idea  which  governs 
the  present  contest.  The  war  now  beginning  is 
not  on  our  part  a  war  of  ambition — it  is  a  war  of 
equilibrium.  It  is  the  defence  of  the  weak  against 
the  strong,  the  reparation  of  great  iniquities,  the 
chastisement  of  unjustifiable  acts.  Far  from  being 
influenced  by  motives  of  rancour  or  hatred,  we 
enjoy  that  calmness  which  arises  from  the  per- 
formance of  a  duty,  and  we  appeal  in  full  confi- 
dence to  public  opinion,  the  arbiter  of  peoples  and 
of  kings.  We  desire  that  Germany,  instead  of 
placing  her  strength  at  the  disposal  of  Prussian 
egotism  and  ambition,  should  re-enter  the  paths 
of  wisdom  and  of  prosperity.  The  future  will 
prove  the  elevated  views  which  govern  the  imperial 
policy,  and  the  Germans  themselves  will  unite  to 
render  justice  to  the  loyalty  of  France  and  her 
sovereign." 

This  appeal  was  reprinted  in  several  of  the  South 
German  journals,  and  commented  on  in  terms  of 
scorn  and  derision.  The  Darmstadt  Gazette,  the 
official  organ  of  the  Hesse  government,  said  that 
only  "a  born  idiot"  (gi?npcl)  would  trust  the 
emperor.  For  the  authorized  organ  of  a  royal 
government  this  was  certainly  strong  language, 
but  it  only  re-echoed  public  opinion,  and  was  a 
verdict  alike  approved  by  peasant  and  king. 

As  soon  as  war  was  actually  declared,  the  French 
ministers  to  all  the  minor  German  courts  had  their 
passports  delivered  to  them,  and  even  the  French 
consuls  resident  in  localities  where  military  move- 
ments could  be  advantageously  observed  were 
requested  to  withdraw.  At  the  same  time,  another 
more  serious  measure  was  taken  by  the  government. 
Having  ascertained  that  the  emperor  of  the  French 
intended  to  form  a  Hanoverian  legion,  the  chan- 
cellor of  the  Confederacy  published  a  decree, 
commanding  all  North  Germans  serving  in  the 
French  army  to  return  home  without  delay.  Those 
not  obeying  the  summons,  if  taken  prisoners,  were 
to  be  shot.  The  proclamation  applied  equally  to 
German  volunteers  in  the  Algerian  force,  a  class 


276 


THE  FRAJSTCO-PEUSSIAN  WAR. 


not  very  numerous,  but  which  had  never  been 
entirely  wanting  since  the  first  landing  of  the 
French  in  Africa.  South  Germans  were  also  in- 
formed that  they  would  experience  the  like  treat- 
ment at  the  hands  of  their  respective  sovereigns. 

In  addition  to  their  hopes  of  support  from  South 
Germany,  the  French  were  exceedingly  desirous 
to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  Denmark — chiefly 
for  the  purpose  of  being  able  to  disembark  safely 
and  without  molestation  a  force  sufficiently  large 
for  the  invasion  of  Northern  Prussia  ;  and  so  far 
as  the  majority  of  the  people  was  concerned  such 
an  alliance  would  at  one  time  have  been  very 
agreeable,  for  the  Danes  have  never  forgiven  the 
Prussians  for  the  loss  of  Schleswig-Holstein.  But 
from  the  first  the  king  and  the  government  deter- 
mined on  the  observance  of  a  strict  neutrality, 
foreseeing  doubtless  that  if  Germany  were  victorious 
their  country  would  be  annexed  to  Prussia,  and  that 
even  if  victory  remained  with  France  the  lost  pro- 
vinces could  never  be  regained.  As  the  news  of 
the  successive  French  reverses  reached  them  a 
re-action  set  in  on  the  part  of  the  people,  who  then 
saw  reason  to  be  thankful  to  their  government  for 
not  having  thrown  their  fortunes  and  hopes  into 
the  same  scale  with  France,  and  thus  have  saved 
them  from  a  complete  overthrow  in  her  downfall. 

Immediately  after  the  declaration  of  war  Count 
Beust  issued  a  circular  stating  that,  like  England, 
Austria  had  not  attempted  to  pass  judgment  on  the 
question  in  dispute  between  France  and  Prussia, 
but  had  confined  herself  to  recommending  the  with- 
drawal of  the  prince  of  Hohenzollern's  candidature. 
Now  that  war  had  been  declared,  it  was  her  wish 
to  moderate  its  intensity,  and  in  order  to  arrive  at 
that  result  she  would  maintain  a  passive  and  con- 
sequently neutral  attitude.  That  attitude  did  not, 
however,  exclude  the  duty  of  the  government  "  to 
watch  over  the  safety  of  the  monarchy,  and  pro- 
tect its  interests  by  placing  it  in  a  position  to 
defend  it  against  all  possible  dangers,"  and  accord- 
ingly a  loan  of  12,000,000  florins  was  immediately 
raised  to  increase  the  army  to  the  ordinary  peace 
establishment. 

These  military  preparations  in  Austria  drew 
Russia  into  the  field.  For  a  short  time  it  seemed 
uncertain  whether  the  Emperor  Alexander  would 
be  prevailed  upon  to  side  with  his  old  ally  of  Ber- 
lin, or  whether,  in  return  for  French  connivance 
in  the  East,  he  would  leave  Prussia  to  fight  it  out 
single-handed,  even  against  more  than  one  adver- 


sary. It  soon  became  evident,  however,  that  if 
Austria  came  forward  as  an  ally  of  France  (as 
was  thought  highly  probable  before  the  publica- 
tion of  the  proposals  made  to  Prussia  by  France 
with  regard  to  Austria  in  1866,  Russia  would 
join  Prussia  and  Germany.  The  official  journal 
of  the  Russian  government  said,  "  The  Czar  is 
determined  to  observe  neutrality  towards  both 
belligerent  powers,  as  long  as  the  interests 
of  Russia  remain  unaffected  by  the  eventualities 
of  the  war."  The  meaning  of  this  announce- 
ment was  plain.  As  Russia's  interests  in  the 
war  could  be  touched  much  more  easily  by 
Austria  and  France,  her  competitors  in  the  East, 
than  by  Prussia,  who  had  always  been  com- 
paratively indifferent  to  the  affairs  of  the  Levant, 
it  was  evident  that  the  victory  of  the  two  former 
powers  would  have  been  more  prejudicial  to  her 
than  the  triumph  of  the  latter.  Such  an  interpre- 
tation of  the  official  language,  conclusive  enough 
in  itself,  was  moreover  supported  by  direct  intelli- 
gence from  the  Russian  metropolis,  and  was  glad- 
dening news  indeed  to  the  Prussians,  as  it  freed 
them  from  danger  in  the  rear,  and  left  them  at  full 
liberty  to  ward  off  the  attack  in  front.  To  prepare 
for  all  eventualities  Russian  troops  were  concen- 
trated on  the  southern  confines  of  Poland. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  quarrel  nearly 
the  whole  of  the  English  press  sided  with  Prussia. 
One  strong  reason  for  this  was  the  general  reproba- 
tion always  felt  in  England  towards  the  aggres- 
sor in  a  quarrel;  towards  him  who  strikes  the 
first  blow,  especially  when  he  can  show  no  other 
reason  for  doing  so  than  is  involved  in  a  long 
argumentative  recrimination.  It  was  felt,  too,  that 
with  France  on  the  Rhine  and  in  Belgium,  and 
with  no  hope  of  reversing  the  issue,  England's 
influence  as  a  European  power  would  be  curtailed; 
while  a  German  coalition  dictating  terms  of  peace 
at  Paris  could  scarcely  by  possibility  have  any 
demands  to  make  incompatible  with  the  honour 
and  advantage  of  England. 

There  were,  however,  many  well  wishers  to 
France,  and  many  whose  reasons  for  being  so,  as 
well  as  their  openness  in  avowing  them,  were  very 
honourable.  Many,  for  instance,  could  not  over- 
come their  hostility  to  Prussia  as  the  originator  of 
the  complications  which  indirectly  led  to  the  war  of 
1870,  by  her,  in  their  opinion,  overbearing  injustice 
to  Denmark  and  her  well-timed  assault  on  Austria. 
Many,  too,  were  influenced  by  a  strong  sense  of  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


277 


loyal  friendliness  of  France  towards  England  for 
many  years  previously,  and  on  them  the  memories 
of  the  joint  contest  in  the  Crimea  acted  more  forcibly 
than  the  fears  or  jealousies  of  the  present.  And  there 
were  more  than  might  have  been  at  first  supposed, 
belonging  at  least  to  the  higher,  if  not  the  more 
powerful  classes,  in  whose  eyes  the  quarrel  assumed 
something  of  a  religious  complexion.  The  French 
Roman  Catholic  journal,  the  Monde,  assured  the 
public  the  war  was  to  be  regarded  as  a  crusade ; 
that  it  was  imperatively  necessary,  in  order  to 
check  the  progress  of  German  Protestantism  and 
infidelity.  Strange  as  such  an  appeal  to  the  God 
of  battles  in  such  a  cause  may  have  been,  it 
undoubtedly  struck  an  answering  chord  in  many 
hearts  in  England.  Such  sentiments,  more  or  less 
pronounced,  were  not  confined  to  Romanists,  but 
were  shared  by  the  section  of  the  English  upper 
classes  whose  feelings  lead  them  into  the  nearest 
approximation  to  Rome,  and  whose  favourite  object 
of  aversion  is  crude  Calvinistic  Protestantism. 
In  Ireland,  also,  the  feeling  was  enthusiastically 
on  the  side  of  the  French  amongst  the  Catholic 
portion  of  the  population,  but  the  Protestants  were 
generally  in  favour  of  Prussia. 

The  fact  of  nearly  the  whole  of  the  English  press 
siding  with  Prussia  created  a  feeling  of  soreness  and 
disappointment  in  France,  where  it  was  said,  and 
doubtless  believed,  that  all  the  faults  were  on  the 
side  of  Prussia;  and  even  if  it  were  admitted  that 
they  were  equally  divided,  and  that  both  sides  were 
bent  on  a  fight  and  took  the  first  opportunity  of 
engaging  in  it,  the  French  people  could  not  under- 
stand why  England  should  not  wish  them  success. 
They  seemed  to  forget  the  great  efforts  she  had  made 
to  preserve  peace,  at  the  request  of  France,  which 
efforts  were  rendered  of  no  avail,  through  what  was 
generally  believed  in  England  to  have  been  her 
too  precipitate  action,  and  they  also  appeared  to 
lose  sight  of  the  obligations  of  a  neutral  power. 
The  English  had,  however,  so  long  been  on  the 
most  friendly  terms  with  France,  that  the  latter 
could  scarcely,  perhaps,  feel  otherwise  than  pained 
and  aggrieved  at  not  enjoying  their  full  moral 
support. 

On  the  other  hand,  notwithstanding  this  general 
feeling  in  favour  of  Prussia,  and  of  the  issue  of  the 
proclamation  of  neutrality  and  the  passing  of  the 
Foreign  Enlistment  Act  described  in  a  previous 
chapter,  scarcely  had  war  been  declared  than  the 
Prussian   official  newspapers  commenced  making 


accusations  against  the  good  faith  of  England  and 
its  one-sided  neutrality,  accusations  which  soon 
bore  their  intended  fruit  in  the  shape  of  a  marked 
soreness  on  the  part  of  the  Prussian  people.  The 
chief  charges  made  against  England  were  that  she 
allowed  the  export  of  coal,  arms,  and  ammunition 
to  France,  and  thus  benefited  her  at  the  expense 
of  Germany.  It  was  afterwards  shown  from  official 
statistics,  that  the  reports  of  the  exportations  had 
been  enormously  exaggerated,  and  that  in  reality 
unusually  small  quantities  of  the  articles  named 
had  been  sent  from  this  country  ;  and  with  the 
view  of  setting  the  whole  matter  right,  a  diplomatic 
circular  on  the  subject  was  written  by  Lord  Gran- 
ville, stating  that  the  English  government  had 
learnt  with  much  regret  that  an  impression  existed 
in  Germany  that  Great  Britain  was  deviating  from 
the  attitude  of  neutrality  which  she  had  announced 
her  resolution  to  observe,  by  giving  France  facilities 
for  obtaining  certain  articles  useful  to  her  for  war 
purposes,  such  as  munitions  of  war,  horses,  and 
coal,  while  such  facilities  were  not  accorded  in  an 
equal  degree  to  the  allied  German  states.  It  was 
not  unnatural  that,  in  a  moment  of  excitement  like 
the  present,  the  German  people  should  be  more 
than  ordinarily  sensitive  in  watching  the  attitude 
of  nations  which  were  taking  no  part  in  the  strug- 
gle; and  it  could  not  be  wondered  at  that  they 
should  for  a  time  accept  as  facts  unfounded 
rumours,  and  that  they  should  somewhat  hastily 
condemn  as  breaches  of  neutrality  proceedings 
which,  at  a  calmer  season,  they  would  not  hesitate 
to  pronounce,  with  that  impartiality  of  judgment 
for  which  they  were  distinguished,  to  be  strictly  in 
accordance  with  the  usages  of  international  law 
and  comity.  Her  Majesty's  government  lost  no 
time,  after  the  declarations  of  war  had  been  ex- 
changed, in  announcing  the  determination  of  Great 
Britain  to  maintain  a  position  of  neutrality  between 
the  contending  parties ;  and  that  position  had  been 
faithfully  observed.  It  was  not  true  that  any 
facilities  had  been  given,  or  any  restrictions  im- 
posed, which  were  not  equally  applicable  to  both 
belligerents.  The  steps  taken  by  her  Majesty's 
government  had  been  strictly  in  accordance  with 
precedent,  and  with  the  principles  by  which  neutral 
nations,  including  Prussia  herself,  had  been  guided 
in  recent  wars.  But  it  now  appeared  to  be  wished 
that  Great  Britain  should  go  further;  and  that  she 
should  not  only  enjoin  upon  British  subjects  the 
obligations  of  neutrality,  but  that  she  should  take 


278 


THE  FKANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


it  upon  herself  to  enforce  those  obligations  in  a 
manner  and  to  an  extent  wholly  unusual.  It  was 
demanded  that  she  should  not  only  forbid,  but 
absolutely  prevent,  the  exportation  of  articles  con- 
traband of  war  ;  that  is  to  say,  that  she  should 
decide  herself  what  articles  were  to  be  considered 
as  contraband  of  war,  and  that  she  should  keep 
such  a  watch  upon  her  ports  as  to  make  it  impos- 
sible for  such  articles  to  be  exported  from  them. 
It  required  but  little  consideration  to  be  convinced 
that  this  was  a  task  which  a  neutral  power  could 
hardly  be  called  upon  to  perform.  Different  nations 
take  different  views  at  different  times  as  to  what 
articles  are  to  be  ranked  as  contraband  of  war,  and 
no  general  decision  had  been  come  to  on  the  sub- 
ject. Strong  remonstrances,  for  instance,  were 
made  against  the  export  of  coal  to  France;  but  it 
had  been  held  by  Prussian  authors  of  high  reputa- 
tion that  coal  was  not  contraband,  and  that  no  one 
power,  either  neutral  or  belligerent,  could  pro- 
nounce it  to  be  so.  But  even  if  this  point  were 
clearly  denned,  it  was  beyond  dispute  that  the 
contraband  character  would  depend  upon  the 
destination;  the  neutral  power  could  hardly  be 
called  upon  to  prevent  the  exportation  of  such 
cargoes  to  a  neutral  port;  and  if  this  were  the  case, 
how  could  it  be  decided,  at  the  time  of  departure 
of  a  vessel,  whether  the  alleged  neutral  destination 
were  real  or  colourable?  The  question  of  the 
destination  of  the  cargo  must  be  decided  in  the 
prize  court  of  a  belligerent,  and  Prussia  could 
hardly  seriously  propose  to  hold  the  British  govern- 
ment responsible  whenever  a  British  ship  carrying 
a  contraband  cargo  should  be  captured  while 
attempting  to  enter  a  French  port.  Her  Majesty's 
government  did  not  doubt  that,  when  the  present 
excitement  had  subsided,  the  German  nation  would 
give  them  credit  for  having  honestly  acted  up  to 
the  duties  of  neutrality  to  the  best  of  their  power; 
and  they  were  confirmed  in  that  conviction  by 
the  recollection  that,  when  Prussia  was  in  the 
same  position  as  that  in  which  Great  Britain  now 
found  herself,  her  .line  of  conduct  was  similar,  and 
she  found  herself  equally  unable  to  enforce  upon 
her  subjects  stringent  obligations  against  the 
exportation  even  of  unquestionable  munitions  of 
war.  During  the  Crimean  war,  arms  and  muni- 
tions were  freely  exported  from  Prussia  to  Russia, 
and  arms  of  Belgian  manufacture  found  their  way 
to  the  same  quarter  through  Prussian  territory,  in 
spite  of  a  decree  issued  by  the  Prussian  govern- 


ment prohibiting  the  transport  of  arms  coming 
from  foreign  states.  Reflection  upen  these  points 
would  doubtless  make  the  German  nation  inclined 
to  take  a  juster  view  of  the  position  occupied  by 
her  Majesty's  government. 

Some  further  important  correspondence  on  the 
subject  took  place  between  the  two  governments; 
and  although  it  will  slightly  anticipate  its  proper 
position,  according  to  the  chronological  order  of 
events,  which  we  wish  to  maintain  as  far  as  prac- 
ticable, we  give  the  substance  of  it  here,  so  that 
there  may  be  no  necessity  to  refer  to  the  matter 
again.  On  August  30,  the  North  German  ambas- 
sador at  London,  in  a  despatch  marked  "  confi- 
dential," reminded  Lord  Granville  that  English 
public  opinion,  as  well  as  English  statesmen,  had 
unanimously  pronounced  the  war  on  the  part  of 
France  "  a  most  flagitious  breach  of  the  peace." 
The  right  of  Germany,  on  the  other  hand,  to  enter 
upon  a  defensive  war  was  freely  admitted.  Ger- 
many was  therefore  led  to  expect,  that  the  neu- 
trality of  Great  Britain,  her  former  ally  against 
Napoleonic  aggression,  however  strict  in  form, 
would  at  least  be  benevolent  in  spirit  to  Ger- 
many, for  it  was  impossible  for  the  human  mind 
not  to  side  with  one  or  the  other  party  in  a 
conflict  like  the  present.  But  in  what  way  had 
England  shown  the  practical  benevolence  Germany 
had  a  right  to  expect?  It  was  best  to  reverse 
the  question,  and  to  put  it  in  this  shape : — If 
Germany  had  been  the  aggressor,  and  consequently 
condemned  by  public  opinion,  in  what  way  could 
the  government  and  the  people  of  the  United 
Kingdom  have  been  able  to  avoid'taking  an  active 
part  in  the  struggle,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 
prove  to  France  their  benevolent  intentions  ? 
Being  short  of  coal,  the  French  would  have  been 
aUowed  to  find  here  all  they  needed  for  their  naval 
expeditions.  Their  preparations  for  war  not  being 
so  far  advanced,  and  not  so  complete  as  they  first 
thought,  the  French  would  have  found  the  manu- 
facturers of  arms  and  ammunition  in  this  country 
ready  to  supply  them  with,  and  the  British  govern- 
ment willing  not  to  prevent  their  obtaining  here, 
all  the  material  they  wanted.  This,  Count  Bern- 
storff"  thought,  would  have  "been  the  utmost  aid 
which  Great  Britain  could  have  granted  to  France, 
without  transgressing  the  letter  of  the  existing 
neutrality  laws,  had  the  parts  of  aggressor  and 
attacked,  of  right  and  wrong,  been  the  reverse  of 
the    present  condition.       Facts,  however,   openly 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


279 


boasted  of  by  the  French  minister  of  war,  and  not 
denied  by  the  British  government — the  continuous 
export  of  arms,  ammunition,  coal,  and  other  war 
material  to  France — proved  that  the  neutrality  of 
Great  Britain,  far  from  being  impartial  towards  that 
party  which  had  been  pronounced  to  be  in  the  right, 
was,  on  the  contrary,  such  as  it  might  possibly 
have  been  if  that  party  had  been  wrong  in  the  eyes 
of  the  British  people  and  government.  Count 
Bernstorff  did  not  admit  that  there  was  any 
necessity,  in  order  to  carry  out  such  a  neutrality 
as  he  conceived  ought  to  have  been  maintained,  to 
hamper  the  trade  with  neutral  countries.  Had  the 
government  declared  such  exportation  to  the  bel- 
ligerents to  be  illegal,  it  would  have  remained  an 
exception,  subject  to  penalty  if  detected.  The 
bona  fide  trade  with  neutrals  would  not  in  the 
least  have  been  affected  thereby.  But  the  govern- 
ment, far  from  doing  this,  refused  even  to  accept 
such  propositions  as  might  have  prevented  direct 
or  clandestine  exportation  of  contraband  of  war  to 
France  ;  besides,  it  could  not  be  admitted  that  such 
prohibitive  measures  could  in  reality  damage  the 
regular  and  lawful  trade  of  the  English  people  at 
large.  They  would  merely  prevent  some  rapacious 
individuals  from  disregarding  the  verdict  of  the 
nation,  and  realizing  enormous  profits,  which  never 
would  have  legitimately  been  made  under  ordinary 
circumstances.  The  rapid  increase  of  the  private 
fortunes  of  a  few  tradesmen  by  such  ventures, 
could  not  appreciably  add  to  the  national  wealth 
of  the  country.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
nation  could  be  held  morally  responsible  for  the 
blood  which  was  being  shed  through  the  agency  of 
those  individuals.  It  would  be  said  that  the  war 
would  have  ended  sooner,  and  that  fewer  Ger- 
man soldiers  would  have  been  killed  and  wounded, 
had  not  the  people  and  government  of  England 
permitted  such  abuses.  It  hardly  could  be  seri- 
ously meant  to  say  that  the  Germans  were  at  liberty 
to  bring  each  case  before  their  prize  courts,  for  it 
would  be  out  of  place  thus  to  taunt  Germany  with 
not  being  mistress  of  the  seas.  .  .  .  The 
policy  of  the  British  government,  notwithstanding 
the  verdict  of  public  opinion  in  this  country  in 
favour  of  the  German  cause,  was,  if  not  intentionally, 
at  least  practically,  benevolent  to  France,  without 
there  being  any  real  foundation  for  the  excuse 
that  the  commercial  interests  of  the  country  would 
be  seriously  affected  by  a  different  course.  The 
allusion    which    had   been   made   in  England    to 


Prussian  neutrality  during  the  Crimean  war  was 
disposed  of  by  Count  Bernstorff  by  the  remark,  first 
that  the  cases  were  in  no  way  parallel:  but  even  if 
they  were,  Great  Britain  remonstrated  at  the  time 
against  the  alleged  wrong  of  Prussia.  There  was 
(Count  Bernstorff  proceeded)  but  one  possible 
alternative.  Either  the  complaints  of  the  British 
government  were  well  founded,  or  they  were  not. 
If  they  really  were,  how  could  it  be  maintained 
at  present  that  the  complaints  of  Germany  were 
unfounded,  should  even  the  great  difference  of  the 
two  cases  be  entirely  disregarded?  By  declaring 
the  present  grievances  of  Germany  devoid  of 
foundation,  the  British  government  disavowed 
implicitly  the  bitter  charges  they  preferred  at  the 
time,  and  condemned  the  ill-feeling  created  by 
them,  and  partly  entertained  ever  since  in  England 
against  Prussia. 

Count  Bernstorff  concluded  by  remarking,  that 
should  the  position  occupied  by  the  British  gov- 
ernment in  regard  to  Germany,  notwithstanding 
the  admitted  justice  of  her  cause,  continue  to  be 
maintained,  it  would  be  difficult  even  for  the 
stanchest  advocate  of  friendship  between  England 
and  Germany  to  persuade  the  German  nation  that 
they  had  been  fairly  dealt  by. 

Earl  Granville's  reply,  which  is  dated  the  15th 
of  September,  extended  to  twice  the  length  of  the 
ambassador's  remonstrance.  The  foreign  secretary 
pointed  out  that  the  demand  for  "  benevolent,"  as 
distinct  from  impartial  neutrality,  was  something 
new,  and  therefore  it  was  necessary  at  the  outset 
to  consider  what  it  meant  and  what  would  be  its 
practical  effect.  The  new  principle,  if  accepted, 
could  only  be  accepted  as  a  principle  of  interna- 
tional law,  and  as  such  susceptible  of  general 
application.  Thus  applied,  then,  its  effect  would 
be  as  follows :  that  on  the  outbreak  of  a  war 
between  two  nations,  it  would  be  the  duty  of  each 
neutral  to  ascertain  which  belligerent  was  favoured 
by  the  public  opinion  of  its  subjects,  and  to  assume 
an  attitude  of  neutrality  benevolent  towards  that 
belligerent.  But  such  neutrality  should  not,  as 
he  gathered  from  his  Excellency's  memorandum, 
be  confined  to  sympathy,  but  should  be  exhibited 
in  practice ;  that  is  to  say,  the  measures  adopted 
by  each  neutral  should  be  favourable  to  one 
belligerent,  and  proportionately  unfavourable  to 
the  other.  It  seemed  hardly  possible  to  push  the 
examination  further  without  being  met  by  insu- 
perable difficulties.    Where  could  the  line  be  drawn 


280 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


between  a  departure  from  the  usual  practice  in 
order  to  confer  material  advantages  on  one  belli- 
gerent state  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other,  and  a 
participation  in  hostilities?  The  sympathies  of 
nations,  as  of  individuals,  were  not  invariably 
influenced  by  abstract  considerations  of  right  or 
wrong,  but  swayed  by  material  interests  and  other 
causes.  Neutrals  would  probably,  therefore,  be 
found  ranged  on  different  sides.  What  would  be 
the  material  relations  of  such  neutrals?  What 
their  relations  with  the  belligerent  to  whom  they 
were  opposed?  It  seemed  hardly  to  admit  of  doubt 
that  neutrality,  when  it  once  departed  from  strict 
impartiality,  ran  the  risk  of  altering  its  essence; 
and  that  the  moment  a  neutral  allowed  his  pro- 
ceedings to  be  biassed  by  predilection  for  one  of 
two  belligerents,  he  ceased  to  be  a  neutral.  The 
idea  therefore  of  benevolent  neutrality  could  mean 
little  less  than  the  extinction  of  neutrality. 

Earl  Granville  examined  at  length  Count  Bern- 
storff's  two  propositions,  that  the  conduct  of  Prus- 
sia during  the  Crimean  war  was  not  applicable  in 
the  present  argument  because  the  cases  were  not 
parallel,  and  that,  whether  the  cases  were  parallel 
or  not,  England  remonstrated  with  Prussia.  The 
foreign  secretary  insisted  that  the'  cases  were  par- 
allel, and  then  proceeded  to  deal  with  the  dilemma 
in  which  it  was  sought  to  place  her  Majesty's 
government.  "  You  observe,"  he  says,  "  that 
Great  Britain  remonstrated  strongly  against  the 
state  of  things  above  described,  and  you  add 
that  either  those  remonstrances  were  founded,  or 
they  were  not.  If  founded,  how,  you  ash,  can 
the  present  complaints  of  Germany  be  held  to 
be  unfounded  ?" 

Her  Majesty's  government  do  not  complain, 
continued  Earl  Granville,  of  the  Prussian  govern- 
ment making  an  effort  to  alter  a  state  of  things 
which  they  conceive  to  be  at  this  moment  dis- 
advantageous to  them  ;  but  her  Majesty's  govern- 
ment are  of  opinion  that  the  answers  which  the 
Prussian  government  made  during  the  Crimean 
war  more  than  justify  the  reply  which,  to 
my  great  regret,  I  have  been  obbged  on  several 
occasions  to  make,  and  now  again  to  repeat,  to 
your  Excellency.  The  nature  of  those  answers 
will  be  seen  on  referring  to  the  correspondence 
which  passed  at  the  time  between  the  two  govern- 
ments, which  shows  also  the  nature  of  the  remon- 
strances addressed  to  Prussia  by  Great  Britain. 
On  ascertaining  that  the  Prussian  government  did 


not  mean  to  restrict  the  export  of  arms  or  contra- 
band of  war  of  native  origin,  but  intended  to  pro- 
hibit the  transit  of  such  articles,  her  Majesty's 
government  consulted  the  legal  advisers  of  the 
Crown  as  to  the  extent  to  which  they  would  be 
justified  in  making  representations  founded  on 
their  rights  as  belligerents.  The  answer  was  clear, 
that  her  Majesty's  government  would  be  entitled 
to  remonstrate  only  in  the  event  of  violation  of 
Prussian  law;  and  it  will  be  found,  on  reference  to 
the  correspondence,  that  though  the  large  direct 
exportations  from  the  states  of  the  Zollverein  cer- 
tainly formed  occasionally  the  subject  of  represen- 
tations and  discussions,  the  strong  remonstrances 
to  which  your  Excellency  alludes  were,  with  few 
exceptions,  made  on  the  subject  of  the  continuous 
violation  of  the  injunctions  of  the  decrees  forbid- 
ding the  transit  of  arms,  which  violation  was  so 
systematic  that,  in  only  one  case,  of  the  stoppage 
at  Aix-la-Chapelle  of  some  revolvers  concealed  in 
bales  of  cotton,  were  the  customs  authorities  suc- 
cessful in  interposing  a  check  on  it. 

Pointing  out  that  what  Prussia  seemed  to  require 
was  alterations  of  practice  and  the  creation  of  restric- 
tions on  trade  in  a  sense  favourable  to  Prussian 
interests,  Earl  Granville  went  on  to  dispute  the 
statement  that  the  policy  of  her  Majesty's  govern- 
ment had  been  practically  benevolent  to  France, 
and  that  the  British  nation,  which  had  not  pre- 
vented the  export  to  France  of  contraband  of  war 
and  supplies  usetul  for  warlike  purposes,  would  be 
held  morally  responsible  for  the  blood  which  was 
being  shed.  Admitting  to  the  fullest  extent  the 
difficulty  of  defining  the  rights  of  belligerents  and 
the  duties  of  neutrals,  and  fully  recognizing  that 
the  present  feeling  of  the  German  nation  was  under 
the  circumstances  not  unnatural,  Earl  Granville 
said  both  belligerents  entered  on  the  war  with  a 
full  knowledge  of  the  rules  of  international  law, 
and  of  what  had  been  the  almost  uniform  practice 
of  neutrals;  and  each  belligerent  had  consequently 
a  right  to  expect  that  the  existing  rules  and  former 
practice  would  be  maintained,  and  might  with  rea- 
son have  complained  if  any  change  had  been  made. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  obligations  upon  neut- 
rals had  become  more  strict  with  the  progress  of 
civilization;  but  the  present  question  was  one  which 
was  not  raised  or  discussed  at  the  Congress  of 
Paris  in  1856;  and  the  Koyal  Commission,  com- 
posed of  some  of  the  most  eminent  jurisconsults  in 
England,  who  inquired  into  the  neutrality  laws  in. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


281 


1867,  decided  that  to  prohibit  the  export  of  muni- 
tions of  war  was  impracticable  and  impolitic. 

Turning  next  to  the  German  specific  demand 
that  the  export  to  France  of  arms,  ammunition,  coal, 
and  other  contraband  of  war  should  be  prevented, 
the  foreign  secretary  said  there  was  no  doubt  that 
the  executive  had,  under  the  Customs  Consolida- 
tion Act  of  1853,  the  legal  power  to  prohibit  the 
export  of  contraband  of  war  ;  but  the  highest 
authority  could  be  adduced  to  show  that  such 
exportation  was  not  forbidden  by  English  muni- 
cipal law,  and  it  had  not  been  the  practice  to 
prohibit  it  except  when  the  interests  of  Great 
Britain,  as  in  the  case  of  self-defence,  were  directly 
and  immediately  concerned  in  the  prohibition  : 
and  even  in  some  of  these  cases,  such  as  the 
Crimean  war,  considerable  doubts  arose  during 
its  continuance  whether  the  prohibition,  when 
actually  attempted  to  be  enforced,  was  as  disad- 
vantageous to  the  enemy  as  it  was  inconvenient 
to  ourselves. 

Earl  Granville  argued  that  if  the  export  of  arms 
were  prohibited  a  clandestine  traffic  would  be 
carried  on,  in  order  to  prevent  which  the  most 
vexatious  interference  with  neutral  vessels  would 
be  necessary,  and,  with  regard  to  coal,  observed : — 
"  Your  Excellency  includes  coal  among  the  articles 
to  be  prohibited,  on  the  ground  that  coal  is  more 
useful  to  France  than  to  Germany  during  the 
present  war.  This  raises  the  question  of  the 
prohibition  of  all  articles,  not  contraband  of  war, 
which  might  be  of  service  to  a  belligerent.  But 
if  this  principle  were  admitted,  where  is  it  to  stop  ? 
In  the  American  war  no  cargoes  would  have  been 
more  useful  to  the  Southern  states  than  cloth, 
leather,  and  quinine.  It  would  be  difficult  for 
a  neutral,  and  obviously  inadmissible  for  a  belli- 
gerent, to  draw  the  line.  It  must  be  remembered, 
too,  that  the  features  of  a  war  may  change. 
Articles  invaluable  to  a  belligerent  at  one  period 
may  be  valueless  at  another,  and  vice  versa.  Is 
the  neutral  to  watch  the  shifting  phases,  and  vary 
his  restrictions  in  accordance  with  them?  Again, 
the  Xlth  Article  of  the  Treaty  of  Commerce 
between  this  country  and  France  expressly  pro- 
vides that  the  contracting  parties  shall  not  prohibit 
the  exportation  of  coal.  Can  this  solemn  treaty 
stipulation  be  lightly  disregarded,  as  long  as  we 
remain  neutral ! " 

In  conclusion,  Lord  Granville  said  that  her 
Majesty's  government  feared  that  no  means  could 


be  devised  for  securing,  at  that  moment,  a  calm 
discussion  of  the  subject.  "  They  by  no  means 
desire  to  claim  exceptional  rights  for  this  country. 
They  would  be  prepared  to  enter  into  consultation 
with  other  nations  as  to  the  possibility  of  adopting 
in  common  a  stricter  rule,  although  their  expecta- 
tions of  a  practical  result  in  the  sense  indicated  by 
the  North  German  government  are  not  sanguine. 
We  took  the  course  which  appeared  to  be  accord- 
ing to  the  dictates  of  practice  and  precedent,  at 
a  time  when  it  was  impossible  to  know  how  the 
fortune  of  war  would  turn.  Since  then  France, 
notwithstanding  the  display  of  her  usual  courage 
and  gallantry,  has  met  with  nothing  but  reverses. 
Germany  has,  on  the  other  hand,  given  extraor- 
dinary proofs  of  her  military  ability  and  power, 
accompanied,  as  it  has  been,  by  continuous  suc- 
cess. Your  Excellency,  as  the  representative  of  a 
great  and  chivalrous  nation,  must  agree  with  me 
that  it  would  not  be  possible  that  we  should  now 
change  the  policy  which  we  declared  to  our  Par- 
liament to  be  usual,  just,  and  expedient,  because 
it  was  stated  by  the  victorious  belligerent  to  be  in 
some  degree  favourable  to  the  defeated  enemy." 

In  his  reply,  dated  October  8,  Count  Bernstorff, 
the  North  German  ambassador,  informed  Lord 
Granville  that  he  delayed  answering  him  because 
he  hoped  the  conclusion  of  peace  might  have 
rendered  an  answer  unnecessary,  as  he  would  have 
much  preferred  to  discontinue  the  controversy. 
As,  however,  that  hope  had  disappeared  for  the 
present,  he  felt  bound  to  reply.  The  answer 
which  he  made  divided  itself  into  two  parts:  a 
complaint  that  the  attitude  of  the  British  govern- 
ment in  the  dispute  had  changed,  and  an  endeavour 
to  prove  that  the  new  attitude  it  had  taken  up  was 
unjustifiable  either  by  English  municipal  or  by 
international  law.  What  Count  Bernstorff  said  in 
effect  was,  that  up  to  the  13th  of  September  Earl 
Granville  had  never  questioned  the  German  posi- 
tion, that  the  government  ought  to  prevent  the 
export  of  articles  contraband  of  war.  In  answer 
to  numerous  complaints  the  foreign  minister  had 
asked  for  proofs,  but  none  of  his  replies  contained 
a  positive  statement  to  the  effect  that  her  Britannic 
Majesty's  government  regarded  the  traffic  in  con- 
traband of  war  compatible  with  their  neutrality, 
and  that  they  could  not  interfere.  On  the  con- 
trary, said  Count  Bernstorff,  it  had  been  repeatedly 
left  to  him  to  search  after  particular  cases  with  the 
means  at  his  disposal,  in  order  to  bring  them  under 
2  H 


282 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  notice  of  her  Majesty's  government.  He  pro- 
ceeded to  say: — "After  I  had  succeeded  by  my 
notes  of  the  1st,  2nd,  3rd,  6th,  7th,  8th,  and  9th 
ult.,  in  bringing  a  series  of  irrefutable  facts  before 
her  Britannic  Majesty's  government,  a  sudden 
change  took  place.  In  your  note  of  the  13th  ult., 
while  acknowledging  the  correctness  of  a  large 
number  of  cases  pointed  out  by  me,  your  Excellency 
declared  that  the  traffic,  which  had  been  quite 
openly  carried  on,  was  legitimate,  and  that  the 
customs  authorities  had  no  power  to  stop  it.  Had 
her  Majesty's  government  from  the  commencement 
of  the  discussion  taken  this  standing  point,  they 
would  certainly  not  have  induced  me  to  institute 
the  above  inquiries;  and  far  less  would  they  have 
had  reason  to  subject  the  correctness  of  my  infor- 
mation to  a  practical  test.  I  therefore  consider 
myself  justified  in  concluding,  that  her  Britannic 
Majesty's  government,  since  the  receipt  of  my 
memorandum,  has  materially  changed  the  position 
previously  occupied  in  regard  to  our  complaints. 
It  was  unavoidable  that  this  change  should  be 
reflected  in  the  answer  to  my  memorandum  penned 
under  different  conditions;  for  I  had  started  with 
the  supposition  that  the  legal  means  at  the  disposal 
of  the  executive  had  hitherto  not  been  applied 
simply  from  motives  of  convenience.  I  had  been 
under  the  impression  that  it  would  only  be  neces- 
sary to  prove  the  serious  extent  of  the  supply  of 
France  with  arms  and  ammunition  on  the  part  of 
England,  in  order  to  convince  the  British  govern- 
ment that  the  time  had  arrived  to  make  use  of  their 
powers.  I  had  therefore  not  entered  upon  a  judicial 
examination  of  the  question  of  English  neutrality, 
not  because  I  had  reason  to  shun  its  discussion, 
but  merely  because  I  had  hoped  that  by  abstain- 
ing from  it  I  should  be  bringing  about  a  more 
rapid  practical  decision,  and  therefore  considered 
it  sufficient  to  restrict  myself  to  the  practical  and 
political  aspect  of  the  question." 

In  answering  Lord  Granville's  arguments  con- 
tained in  his  lordship's  despatch  of  the  15th  of 
September,  Count  Bernstorff  commenced  by  deny- 
ing that  he  ever  asked  from  England  "a  benevolent 
neutrality."  On  the  contrary,  he  said,  "I  have  on  the 
one  hand  merely  given  expression  to  my  satisfaction 
that  the  public  opinion  had  ranged  itself  on  our 
side  in  this  war  wantonly  thrust  upon  us,  and  had 
on  the  other  hand  combined  with  it  the  reflection, 
how  difficult  it  is  to  reconcile  the  faith  in  the 
practical  value  of  public  opinion  with  the  neutrality 


policy  actually  pursued  by  her  Britannic  Majesty's 
government."  He  had  only  wished  a  return  from 
a  lax  neutrality,  whereby  one  party  was  benefited, 
to  a  strict  and  really  impartial  neutrality.  "  For 
I  am  unable  to  admit  that  it  is  compatible  with 
strict  neutrality  that  French  agents  should  be 
permitted  to  buy  up  in  this  country,  under  the 
eyes  and  with  the  cognizance  of  her  Britannic 
Majesty's  government,  many  thousands  of  breech- 
loaders, revolvers,  and  pistols,  with  the  requisite 
ammunition,  in  order  to  arm  therewith  the  French 
people,  and  make  the  formation  of  fresh  army 
corps  possible,  after  the  regular  armies  of  France 
have  been  defeated  and  surrounded." 

Before  proceeding  to  his  main  argument  Count 
Bernstorff  drew  Earl  Granville's  attention  to  the 
extent  to  which  arms  and  ammunition  were  being 
exported  from  England  to  France.  According  to 
his  information,  which  could  be  partly  tested  upon 
oath  if  that  should  appear  desirable,  the  number 
of  fire-arms  shipped  from  England  to  France  since 
his  memorandum  of  the  30th  September  was  treble 
and  fourfold  the  number  of  40,000  announced  by 
Count  Palikao;  and  a  number  of  manufactories, 
especially  in  Birmingham  and  London,  were  work- 
ing day  and  night  for  French  agents  and  their 
men  of  straw.  He  was  in  possession  of  authenti- 
cated copies  of  contracts  concluded  between  the 
French  government  and  English  contractors.  The 
events  of  the  war  had  quite  recently  delivered  into 
the  German  hands  an  official  letter  of  the  French 
minister  of  War,  dated  the  18th  September,  to  a 
French  officer  at  the  French  embassy  in  London, 
and  in  which  the  then  expected  despatch  of  25,000 
Snider  rifles  was  mentioned,  and  reference  was  made 
for  the  payment  to  the  funds  at  the  disposal  of  the 
French  charge  d'affaires  for  the  purchase  of  arms 
in  general.  In  like  manner  authentic  proofs  were 
before  him  that  the  export  of  fire-arms  and  ammuni- 
tion to  France  has  been  thoroughly  organized  in 
some  British  ports. 

Taking  advantage  of  Lord  Granville's  own 
admission,  that  the  executive  had  the  power  to 
prohibit  the  export  of  contraband  of  war,  but  that 
the  practice  was  to  make  use  of  this  right  only  in 
the  interests  of  England,  as  in  the  case  of  self- 
defence,  Count  Bernstorff  quoted  a  letter  of  the 
duke  of  Wellington  to  Mr.  Canning,  dated  the 
30th  of  August,  1825,  and  reprinted  in  a  London 
newspaper  immediately  "  after  the  indiscretion  of 
Count  Palikao,"  which,  he  said,  refuted  this  assump- 


THE  FRANCO -PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


>83 


tion,  proving  that  England,  as  a  neutral,  had 
repeatedly  prohibited  the  export  of  arms  by  an 
•'  Order  in  Council."  In  one  part  of  the  duke's 
letter  the  words  occur,  "  I  am  afraid,  then,  that 
the  world  will  not  entirely  acquit  us  of  at  least 
not  doing  our  utmost  to  prevent  this  breach  of 
neutrality  of  which  the  Porte  will  accuse  us." 

Count  Bernstorff  quoted  the  Customs  Consolida- 
tion Act,  1853,  cap.  107,  sec.  150,  to  prove  that 
her  Britannic  Majesty's  government  had  at  their 
disposal  the  means  to  put  a  stop  to  the  traffic 
objected  to,  without  the  necessity  of  introducing  a 
new  machinery  of  officials  for  the  purpose.  Some 
other  sections  of  the  same  Act  were  referred  to, 
and  were  held  by  the  ambassador  to  prove  that 
only  the  right  intention  of  her  Majesty's  govern- 
ment was  required.  That  British  action  in  such 
matters  varied  from  time  to  time  was  proved,  he 
thought,  by  the  different  language  of  two  instruc- 
tions issued  to  the  customs  authorities  of  the 
United  Kingdom  on  the  2nd  of  June,  1848,  and 
the  8th  of  September,  1870,  respectively.  In  the 
first,  which  originated  at  the  time  of  the  Danish- 
German  complications,  Sir  Charles  Trevelyan,  one 
of  the  secretaries  to  the  lords  commissioners  of  her 
Majesty's  Treasury,  informed  the  commissioners  of 
customs  in  a  Treasury  minute,  that  if  they  should 
be  satisfied  that  any  arms  or  warlike  stores  were 
embarked  to  be  sent  from  the  United  Kingdom 
for  the  purpose  of  being  employed  in  hostilities 
against  the  Danish  government,  they  were  to  give 
instructions  to  prevent  the  exportation.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  instructions  dated  September  8, 
1870,  were  as  follows: — "  The  board  directs  you, 
when  it  is  supposed  that  arms  and  ammunition  are 
being  exported,  to  ascertain  the  fact,  and,  if  so, 
what  is  the  nature  of  the  arms  and  ammunitions, 
and  in  what  quantities,  by  whom,  and  to  what 
destination  they  are  to  be  shipped ;  but  you  are  not 
in  any  case  to  delay  the  shipment  longer  than  is 
sufficient  to  obtain  the  above  particulars." 

After  quoting  from  the  French  law  for  the  sake 
of  proving  that  it  was  not  impossible  for  a  govern- 
ment to  secure  that  articles  cleared  for  a  neutral 
port  should  really  be  delivered  there,  Count  Bern- 
storff went  on  to  the  behaviour  of  Prussia  in  the 
Crimean  war,  respecting  which  he  still  held  that,  if 
the  complaints  of  England  against  Prussia  at  the 
time  of  the  Crimean  war  were  warranted,  those  of 
Germany  against  England  at  the  present  time  were 
at  least  equally  well  founded. 


In  the  course  of  his  arguments  on  the  inter- 
national aspects  of  the  question,  the  North  German 
ambassador  said,  "  The  present  controversy  simply 
centres  in  the  question  whether  the  refusal  of  her 
Majesty's  government  to  prohibit  the  export  of 
arms  is  not  at  variance  with  the  still  unaltered 
general  rules  of  international  law  regarding  the 
duties  of  neutrals  towards  belligerents,  and  with 
the  laws  of  this  country  not  yet  repealed  by  the 
legislature  for  the  better  fulfilment  of  these  duties. 
That  such  is  the  case  I  believe  I  have  proved  by 
the  existing  facts  and  the  laws  themselves." 

The  ambassador  thus  concluded,  "  As  for  the 
hope  expressed  by  your  Excellency,  that  the  Ger- 
man people  will  in  a  cooler  moment  judge  less 
severely  the  attitude  of  the  government  of  Great 
Britain  in  this  question  than  now  in  the  heat 
of  action,  I  regret  that,  in  consequence  of  your 
Excellency's  note  of  the  15th  ultimo,  added  to  the 
knowledge  that  our  enemy  is  being  daily  equipped 
with  British  arms,  I  cannot  share  it.  Should  this 
state  of  things  continue,  I  could  only  look  forward 
to  the  soothing  influence  which  the  numerous  and 
actual  proofs  of  sympathy  given  by  the  English 
people,  and  the  manifold  testimonies  of  public 
opinion  in  favour  of  Germany  and  its  good  right, 
may  have  upon  the  feelings  of  the  German  nation." 

In  his  reply  to  this  note  of  Count  Bernstorff, 
dated  October  21,  Lord  Granville  expressed  a 
hope,  that  the  calm  discussion  of  the  subject  would 
not  only  remove  present  misunderstandings,  but 
pave  the  way  for  an  eventual  solution.  He  denied 
that  there  had  been  since  the  beginning  of  the  war 
a  change  in  the  policy  of  the  British  government, 
as  alleged  by  the  Count.  "  From  the  date  of  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  the  cabinet  has  never  hesitated 
as  to  the  course  which  should  be  pursued.  The 
views  of  the  House  of  Commons  were  clearly  mani- 
fested when,  on  the  4th  of  August,  an  amendment, 
by  which  it  was  proposed  to  insert  in  the  Foreign 
Enlistment  Act,  then  under  discussion,  a  clause 
prohibiting  the  exportation  to  belligerents  of  arms 
or  munitions  of  war,  was  rejected  by  a  large 
majority  ;  and  the  same  opinions  were  shown  to 
be  held  in  the  House  of  Lords  in  the  debate  of 
August  8,  on  the  same  bill,  in  which  the  lord 
chancellor,  the  lord  privy  seal,  and  Lord  Cairns 
took  part.  I  myself,  in  answer  to  a  question 
addressed  to  me  in  the  House  of  Lords  by  the 
marquis  of  Clanricarde  on  the  22nd  of  July,  went 
so  far  as  to  express  some  doubts  whether  a  polic\r 


284 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


of  prohibition  was  advisable  even  in  self-defence  ; 
and  in  the  constant  conversations  on  the  subject 
which  I  have  had  with  your  Excellency  since 
the  commencement  of  the  war,  I  have  invariably 
explained  to  you  that  the  new  Foreign  Enlistment 
Act  neither  diminished  nor  added  to  the  powers 
of  the  government  as  regarded  the  exportation  of 
munitions  of  war,  and  that  it  was  our  inten- 
tion to  adhere,  on  that  point,  to  the  usual  practice 
of  this  country,  which  practice  we  believe  to  be 
in  conformity  with  the  established  principles  of 
public  law." 

The  foreign  secretary  further  pointed  out  that 
the  mere  fact  of  the  English  government  having 
instituted  inquiries  into  the  truth  of  certain  alleged 
exportations  did  not  imply  an  acknowledgment 
that  such  exportations,  if  they  had  actually  taken 
place,  constituted  an  offence  on  the  part  of  Eng- 
land. These  inquiries  were  called  for  by  the 
"  wild  rumours "  which  were  in  circulation,  and 
by  the  anxiety  of  the  government  to  make  sure 
that  the  shipments  of  arms  were  not  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  bring  them  within  the  operation  of 
the  clauses  of  the  Foreign  Enlistment  Act,  forbid- 
ding the  despatch  of  store-ships  or  the  fitting  out  of 
military  or  naval  expeditions.  Independent  infor- 
mation from  the  customs  officials,  from  the  Board 
of  Trade,  from  the  police,  and  from  the  small-arms 
department  of  the  War  office,  must,  of  course,  be 
more  trustworthy  than  information  from  the  sources 
to  which  the  German  government  had  access,  and 
Lord  Granville  could  not,  of  course,  suppose  that 
any  importance  would  be  attached  by  his  Excellency 
to  reports  given  in  return  for  pecuniary  rewards. 

After  reminding  the  Count  that  his  former 
"series  of  irrefutable  facts,"  as  he  called  them,  had 
nearly  all  been  shown  to  be  quite  unfounded,  Lord 
Granville  proceeded  to  demolish  his  fresh  accusa- 
tions. Count  Palikao's  statement,  as  reported  in 
the  Journal  Oficiel,  was  merely  that  arms  had  been 
ordered  a  I'dtranger,  not  in  England ;  no  trace 
could  be  discovered  of  the  order  ever  having  been 
received  in  this  country,  and  it  was  certain  that  if 
it  was  received  it  was  not  executed.  Again,  full 
returns  showed  that  the  supplies  of  arms  drawn 
by  France  from  the  United  Kingdom,  between  the 
two  specified  dates,  were  less  than  those  drawn  by 
her  from  the  United  States.  This  reference  to  the 
United  States  suggested  an  expression  of  surprise 
that  a  monopoly  of  the  German  complaints  have 
been  reserved  for  Great  Britain,  while  the  exports 


from  the  United  States  and  the  positive  assertion 
of  the  president  of  the  privileges  of  neutrals  had 
elicited  no  remark  from  the  North  German  govern- 
ment. In  conclusion,  Lord  Granville  congratulated 
his  Excellency  on  having  withdrawn  from  the  un- 
tenable doctrine  of  "  benevolent  neutrality,"  for 
though  "  good  offices  may  be  benevolent,  neutrality, 
like  arbitration,  cannot  be  so  ;"  and,  repudiating 
all  jealousy  of  German  unity,  repeated  his  assurance 
of  the  friendly  and  sympathetic  feelings  of  Great 
Britain  towards  Germany. 

From  the  first  the  French  government  adopted 
the  policy  of  keeping  the  public  as  much  in  the 
dark  as  possible  with  regard  to  the  progress  of 
events,  and  an  Act  was  passed  inflicting  heavy 
fines  and  suspension  on  any  newspaper  which  pub- 
lished war  news  other  than  that  supplied  officially. 
This  measure  raised  such  a  protest  from  the  jour- 
nals of  all  parties,  that  the  government  were  obliged 
to  give  way  to  the  extent  of  allowing  them  to  deal 
with  all  the  past  events  and  accomplished  facts  of 
the  war,  and  only  to  abstain  from  revelations  which 
might  possibly  be  useful  to  the  enemy.  Nothing, 
in  fact,  was  to  be  said  of  "  operations  and  move- 
ments in  course  of  execution,"  but  as  regarded 
other  matters  the  papers  were  free  to  discuss  and 
publish  them.  Formal  orders  were,  however, 
issued  by  the  emperor  that  no  journalist  whatever, 
French  or  foreign,  was  to  be  permitted  to  accom- 
pany the  army,  and  very  many  who  attempted  to  do 
so  were  arrested  as  spies,  and  in  some  cases  treated 
with  considerable  severity.  His  Majesty's  feeling 
was  that  the  encounter  would  be  so  severe,  that  he 
could  not  afford  to  give  the  enemy  even  the  slight- 
est, and,  apparently,  most  superficial  advantage; 
and  he  believed  that  assistance  furnished  to  the 
opposite  side  by  a  band  of  correspondents  in  the 
French  camp,  eagerly  reporting  whatever  news 
they  could  pick  up,  would  be  by  no  means  slight. 
However  much  this  might  have  been  the  case  with 
some  of  the  less  thoughtful  of  the  French  writers, 
the  experience  obtained  in  all  previous  wars  in 
which  duly  authorized  English  correspondents  had 
been  permitted,  might  have  convinced  him  that  his 
fears  were  groundless  so  far  as  they  were  con- 
cerned; and  it  is  undeniable  that  the  belligerent 
from  whose  camp  the  most  minute  and  well- 
written  intelligence  is  forwarded,  is  sure  to  obtain 
the  greatest  amount  of  sympathy  as  regards  neutral 
nations.  In  the  present  instance  the  exclusion  of 
impartial  and  friendly  representatives  of  the  press 


THE  FRANCO- PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


285 


from  tlie  French  armies  is  to  be  especially  regretted, 
as  it  prevented  that  full  record  of  their  gallant 
conduct  from  being  given  to  the  -world  which 
would  otherwise  have  been  obtained,  whilst  short- 
comings would  have  been  more  fairly  extenuated, 
and  the  blame  of  disasters  would  have  been  more 
conclusively  laid  where  it  was  to  a  great  extent 
due — not  on  the  brave  soldier,  whose  conduct  in 
most  of  the  earlier  battles  at  least  was  beyond  all 
praise,  but  on  the  incapacity  of  those  in  supreme 
command. 

Before  the  actual  outbreak  of  hostilities,  the 
Prussian  government  felt  it  necessary  to  warn  the 
press  of  their  country  against  publishing  matters 
which  would  not  only  be  likely  to  direct  the 
enemy's  attention  to  supposed  weak  points  in  their 
line  of  defence,  but  which  might  show  him  the 
ways  and  means  by  which  he  could  best  profit  by 
this  information.  They,  however,  as  in  the  war 
of  1866,  freely  permitted  duly  authorized  repre- 
sentatives of  the  press,  both  English  and  German, 
to  accompany  the  armies,  relying  on  their  good 
judgment  for  suppressing  anything  which  was 
likely  to  prove  of  service  to  the  enemy;  and  as  a 
natural  consequence,  we  have  such  a  true  and 
faithful  record  of  the  war,  as  could  not  possibly 
-  have  been  obtained  by  any  other  means. 

The  wonderful  combination  of  activity  and  quiet 
which  characterizes  Prussian  institutions,  were 
peculiarly  remarkable  during  the  days  occupied  in 
sending  the  troops  to  the  front;  and  nothing  could 
possibly  have  been  more  admirable  than  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  railway  transport  was  worked. 

On  July  17  orders  for  the  mobilization  of  the 
army  were  issued  from  Berlin,  and  within  a  fort- 
night there  stood  massed  on  the  French  frontier 
upwards  of  half  a  million  of  men,  with  all  the  sup- 
plies and  provisions  needful  for  such  a  host.  In- 
cessantly, by  day  and  by  night,  hourly,  and  in 
some  instances  half-hourly,  trains  filled  with  sol- 
diers, horses,  and  artillery  ran  on  the  three  main 
arteries  of  railway  communication  that  converge  on 
the  Rhine  district.  From  every  part  of  Germany 
the  available  rolling  stock  was  impressed  into  the 
service  of  transport,  and  .  with  a  regularity  and 
punctuality  which  amounted  almost  to  perpetual 
motion,  at  identical  intervals,  long  trains  laden 
with  men  and  stores  hurried  along  the  lines  towards 
the  central  stations  which  constituted  the  points  of 
disembarkation,  in  a  curve  extending  from  Binger- 
bruck  to  Rastadt.     But  if  the  celerity  and  perfect 


system  exhibited  by  so  rapid  a  concentration  were 
astounding,  there  was  something  yet  more  deserving 
of  admiration,  and  something  yet  more  significant 
of  the  temper  in  which  the  struggle  was  being 
entered  upon,  in  the  frame  of  mind  universally  ex- 
hibited by  the  soldiers  and  the  population.  What 
made  this  especially  noteworthy  was  its  contrast 
with  the  disposition  exhibited  in  1866  on  the  out- 
break of  the  war  against  Austria.  On  that  occasion 
demonstrations  were  made  against  the  war  by 
corporations,  by  mercantile  communities,  and,  in 
more  than  one  instance,  by  the  landwehr  regi- 
ments summoned  from  their  avocations  of  peaceful 
industry  by  a  then  unpopular  minister,  to  fight  for 
his  ambitious  aims  against  an  empire  of  German 
affinities  and  German  relations.  But  now  from 
one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other  the  movement 
was  one  of  spontaneous,  heartfelt,  undeviating,  and 
unlimited  enthusiasm,  but  an  enthusiasm  manifested 
in  a  calm,  collected,  and  earnest  way,  which  had  in 
it  no  swagger  and  no  levity.  In  fact,  although  the 
excitement  among  such  usually  quiet  persons  was 
wonderful,  what  Macaulay  said  of  the  Prussians 
fighting  at  Leuthen  was  equally  true  now — their 
excitement  was  shown  after  the  fashion  of  a  grave 
and  earnest  people.  The  sternness  of  their  military 
organization,  which  inflicts  death  for  desertion  or 
disobedience,  was  not  needed,  for  all  were  willing; 
but  the  sternness  made  men  prompt,  and  in  all 
parts  of  the  country  the  same  spectacle  was  pre- 
sented ;  the  announcement  of  war  arrived  at  noon, 
at  night  came  the  summons  to  all  enrolled  citizens, 
and  the  next  day  all  those  of  the  youth  who 
were  liable,  ready  as  veterans,  and  as  skilled, 
were  on  their  way  to  the  headquarters  of  their 
divisions.  Entering  at  one  gate  of  the  barracks, 
clothed  in  every  variety  of  mufti,  they  emerged  in 
a  few  moments  from  the  opposite  entrance  in  com- 
plete uniform,  with  their  trusty  needle-gun  in 
hand,  ready,  without  the  least  confusion,  to  take 
the  place  in  the  ranks  they  had  occupied  during 
their  period  of  training.  Never,  probably,  in  the 
history  of  the  world  had  anything  more  striking 
been  observed  than  this  great  military  exodus;  for 
it  was  literally  the  exodus  of  a  people  going 
forth  to  do  battle  in  defence  of  their  own,  and  in 
what  they  believed  to  be  a  holy  cause.  To  show, 
however,  how  grossly  the  French  people  were 
deceived  on  this,  as  on  most  other  points,  at  this 
time,  it  may  be  as  well  to  quote  a  despatch  sent 
from  Mctz  to  the  Gaulois,  a  very  widely  circulated 


286 


THE  FKANCO-PKUSSIAN  WAE. 


Paris  newspaper,  on  July  21st : — "  Calling  out  of 
the  landwehr  difficult ;  conscripts  weep  ;  great  fear 
of  the  French,  especially  of  the  Turcos ;  they  are 
carried  off  by  force  in  waggons." 

To  those  not  specially  conversant  with  the  social 
condition  of  Prussia,  it  would  be  difficult  to  realize 
the  intense  personal  sacrifices  of  such  a  mobiliz- 
ation as  that  of  1870,  which  invaded  almost  every 
household  that  comprised  male  members  in  the 
bloom  of  life,  and  brought  under  arms  a  million 
subjects  of  the  North  German  Confederation.  It 
was  needful  to  be  on  the  spot  to  have  brought 
home  to  your  mind  in  all  its  force  the  full  practi- 
cal working  of  such  a  system  that  so  sharply,  and 
without  distinction  of  persons,  gathers  in  all  liable 
to  service,  whatever  might  be  their  social  position. 
Of  course  such  a  summoning  to  arms  strikes 
heavily,  not  merely  individual  existences,  but 
also  the  country,  through  the  disturbance  it  creates 
in  many  industrial  establishments.  By  way  of 
exemplifying  the  public  loss,  it  is  known  to 
every  one  what  an  enormous  foundry  is  that  of 
M.  Krupp,  at  Essen,  in  Khenish  Prussia.  Nearly 
8000  workmen  are  employed  in  it,  and  of  these 
on  the  present  occasion  no  fewer  than  1500 
had  to  join  their  colours,  to  the  great  loss  of  the 
foundry,  as  they  were  the  skilled  and  absolutely 
indispensable  artizans.  Yet  nowhere  did  the  least 
murmuring  arise  among  the  population  at  the 
calls  imposed  on  them.  Nobles  and  peasants, 
men  and  women,  were  all  equally  determined,  and 
ready  to  make  the  greatest  sacrifices.  Those 
amongst  the  male  population  of  the  proper  age, 
who  found  themselves  forcibly  exempted  from 
service  for  infirmity,  frequently  had  recourse  to 
various  devices  to  obtain  admission  into  the  ranks, 
and  those  only  were  disheartened  who  were  doomed 
to  remain  in  fortresses,  without  any  prospect  of 
facing  the  enemy. 

Volunteers  flocked  to  the  army  in  thousands, 
but  most  of  them  were  not  accepted,  as  there  was 
no  need  for  more  than  those  who  could  be  legally 
called  upon.  No  less  than  400  young  men,  all  just 
below  the  regulation  age,  asked  permission  to 
volunteer  into  one  regiment  at  Berlin — the  1st 
Dragoons.  Several  of  the  universities  had  to  close 
on  account  of  the  students  leaving  to  join  the  army 
in  such  large  numbers ;  in  fact,  the  movement 
which  converted  incipient  scholars  into  warriors 
extended  even  to  the  first  form  of  the  grammar 
schools.    In  Glogau  alone  fifty  "  Gymnasiasten  "  left 


Sophocles  for  the  stern  realities  of  life;  at  Berlin, 
Treves,  Cologne,  &c,  many  more  flung  Cicero  into 
the  corner  and  put  on  the  spiked  helmet,  in  proof 
that  the  lessons  of  civic  virtue  inculcated  into  their 
ripening  minds  by  the  classics  had  not  been  thrown 
away  upon  them.  The  enthusiasm  even  caught 
boys  (as  in  the  time  of  the  Crusades),  and  on  one 
occasion  seventy-two  of  them  concealed  themselves 
under  the  seats  of  the  railway  carriages  going  from 
Berlin  to  the  PJiine.  The  boys,  from  ten  to 
fourteen  years  of  age,  wanted  to  enlist,  and  cried 
with  vexation  when  they  were  discovered  and 
pulled  out  of  their  hiding  places. 

For  that  part  of  the  population  physically 
incapacitated  from  taking  the  field,  but  financially 
able  to  contribute  to  the  expenses,  the  establish- 
ment and  support  of  relieving  societies  became 
an  earnest  and  well-observed  duty.  In  every 
town,  and  almost  in  every  street,  offices  were 
opened  for  the  reception  of  subscriptions  and  of 
the  thousand-and-one  articles  which  an  army  in 
the  field  or  a  soldier  in  the  hospital  stand  most  in 
need  of.  Wine,  coffee,  extract  of  meat,  lint,  linen, 
stockings,  and  cigars,  were  the  principal  com- 
modities brought  forward ;  and  to  regulate  and 
control  the  action  of  the  many  local  societies 
established  for  this  purpose,  some  central  commits 
tees,  all  co-operating  with  each  other,  were  set  afoot 
in  Berlin.  To  give  a  tangible  reward  to  courage, 
at  least  fifty  gentlemen  offered  prizes  to  soldiers 
who  might  capture  French  flags  and  cannon.  In 
most  towns  refreshment  committees  and  associa- 
tions were  established  for  the  purpose  of  providing 
refreshments  for  the  soldiers  as  they  passed  through, 
and  it  was  a  very  touching  sight  to  see  the  little 
maidens,  and  boys  and  old  men  with  red  and  white 
rosettes  and  ribands,  with  their  baskets  and  trays, 
distributing  the  supplies. 

Congratulatory  telegrams  and  promises  of  assist- 
ance were  also  received  in  large  numbers  from 
Germans  in  America ;  those  resident  in  St.  Louis 
alone  telegraphed  to  the  speaker  of  the  Federal 
Parliament  that  they  would  send  him  a  million 
doUars  as  their  contribution  to  the  expenses  of  the 
war.  In  many  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom,  too, 
enthusiastic  meetings  were  held  and  large  sums 
subscribed,  and  most  of  those  residing  in  this 
country  who  were  liable  to  serve  in  the  army,  left 
to  join  it  of  their  own  accord,  and  before  the  notices 
from  their  government  could  possibly  have  reached 
them. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


287 


Throughout  the  whole  of  Germany  the  idea  of 
defeat — ultimate  defeat — seemed  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. Whatever  happened,  people  said,  they  must 
ultimately  be  the  gainers.  Whatever  success  might 
attend  the  French  arms,  it  was  utterly  impossible 
that  France  could  retain  possession  of  an  inch  of 
German  soil.  Were  the  whole  country  to  be  over- 
run and  the  nation  paralyzed  for  a  time,  the  struggle 
would  be  renewed  again  and  again  until  Germany 
was  free  once  more.  Should,  on  the  other  hand, 
their  efforts  be  crowned  with  that  success  which 
a  just  cause  merited,  and  which  they  confidently 
believed  would  attend  them,  then  would  victory  over 
a  common  foe  be  the  keystone  of  German  unity, 
binding  all  the  Fatherland  into  one  whole  and  undi- 
vided nation.  But  even  if  the  fortune  of  war  were 
against  them,  if  reverses  followed  and  the  blood 
of  thousands  of  their  countrymen  were  poured  out 
for  hearth  and  home  —  still  would  their  new- 
born unity,  baptized  in  that  blood,  bound  and 
sanctified  by  the  bond  of  common  suffering,  rise 
triumphant  at  the  last,  so  firm,  so  fixed,  that  no 
petty  jealousy,  no  internal  quarrels,  could  ever 
again  cause  dissension  among  them. 

The  king  of  Prussia  left  Berlin  for  his  head- 
quarters at  Mayence  on  the  evening  of  31st  July, 
his  departure  being  made  the  occasion  of  a  most 
moving  popular  demonstration.  The  way  to  the 
station  was  lined  with  a  dense  crowd  of  enthusiastic 
subjects,  who  gave  vent  to  their  feelings  in  the 
most  unmistakable  manner.  His  Majesty  was 
accompanied  to  the  station  by  the  queen,  who 
graciously  responded  to  the  cheers  of  the  public, 
but  was  unable  to  repress  her  tears  at  the  thought 
of  the  perils  her  husband  was  about  to  encounter.  At 
the  terminus,  which  was  decorated  with  flowers, 
and  occupied  by  an  immense  multitude,  the  king 
was  received  by  General  von  Moltke  and  Count  von 
Bismarck,  his  military  and  diplomatic  premiers. 
As  on  a  preceding  occasion  of  a  similar  nature, 
the  well-matched  couple  were  to  be  his  companions 
in  the  coming  eventful  journey.  It  was  a  moving 
scene  when  the  king  embraced  his  queen,  when  all 
voices  were  hushed  while  the  two  were  shaking 
hands  for  the  last  time,  and  when  the  hurrahs 
which  had  momentarily  ceased  thundered  forth 
again  directly  his  Majesty  had  taken  his  seat  in 
the  carriage.  His  Majesty  evidently  suffered  from 
feelings  of  deep  emotion,  which  he  could  with 
difficulty  restrain.  For  some  days  previous — in 
fact,  since  the  declaration  of  war — it  was  noticed 


that  he  was  not  in  his  usual  joyous  spirits.  He 
spoke  with  devout  confidence,  and  trusted  in  the 
justice  of  his  quarrel,  but  nevertheless  appeared 
unusually  grave.  Count  von  Bismarck  and  General 
von  Moltke,  as  well  as  the  king,  became  the  heroes 
of  a  perfect  ovation  before  they  could  enter  their 
carriage. 

Before  his  departure  the  king  issued  the  follow- 
ing proclamation: — 

"  To  my  People ! — On  my  departure  to-day  for 
the  army,  to  fight  with  it  for  Germany's  honour 
and  the  preservation  of  our  most  precious  posses- 
sions, I  wish  to  grant  an  amnesty  for  all  political 
crimes  and  ofFences,  in  recognition  of  the  unani- 
mous uprising  of  my  people  at  this  crisis. 

"  I  have  instructed  the  minister  of  state  to  sub- 
mit a  decree  to  me  to  this  effect. 

"My  people  know,  with  me,  that  the  rupture 
of  the  peace  and  the  provocation  of  war  did  not 
emanate  from  our  side.  But  being  challenged,  we 
are  resolved,  like  our  forefathers,  placing  full  trust 
in  God,  to  accept  the  battle  for  the  defence  of  the 
Fatherland. 

"  WILLIAM." 

How  much  in  earnest  the  Prussians  were  in 
all  military  matters  was  proved  by  his  Majesty  on 
his  journey,  which  occupied  thirty-six  hours  from 
Berlin  to  Cologne.  The  distance  in  ordinary  times 
occupied  only  twelve  hours  ;  but  though  the  king 
was  the  passenger,  and  was  an  aged  gentleman  to 
boot,  who  must  suffer  severely  from  the  fatigue  of 
a  long  journey,  the  arrangements  for  the  transport 
of  the  troops  occasioning  the  delay  were  not  in 
the  least  interfered  with.  Before  military  law  all 
Prussians  are  equal,  the  king  not  excepted. 

His  Majesty  arrived  at  Mayence  on  August  2, 
and  at  once  issued  the  following  proclamation 
to  his  army: — 

"  All  Germany  stands  unanimously  in  arms 
against  a  neighbouring  state,  who  has  surprised 
us  by  declaring  a  war  against  us  without  any 
motive.  The  defence  of  the  threatened  Father- 
land, of  our  honour  and  our  hearths,  is  at  stake. 
To-day  I  undertake  the  command  of  the  whole 
army,  and  I  advance  cheerfully  to  a  contest  which 
in  former  times  our  fathers,  similarly  situated, 
fought  gloriously.  The  whole  Fatherland,  as  well 
as  myself,  trusts  confidently  in  you.  The  Lord 
God  will  be  with  our  righteous  cause." 


288 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


His  Majesty  also  revived  the  Order  of  the  Iron 
Cross,  than  which,  among  all  the  orders  and  medals 
of  honour  known  to  history,  none  have  ever  shown 
more  brightly  or  decorated  its  bearers  more  glori- 
ously. It  was  first  instituted  on  March  10,  1813, 
by  Frederick  William  III.,  and  was  conferred  only 
for  gallantry  against  the  French.  Its  very  sim- 
plicity and  lack  of  intrinsic  value  were  intended 
to  bring  back  to  memory  the  hard  iron  times  by 
which  it  was  called  into  existence,  the  terrible 
hand-to-hand  fight  with  an  over  powerful  enemy, 
and  the  noblest  treasures  of  a  nation  that  were  to 
be  regained  by  the  war :  freedom  and  independence 
of  the  Fatherland,  moral  and  political  honour, 
security  of  the  fireside,  of  the  family,  of  law,  and 
of  religion.  Thousands  of  these  iron  crosses  were 
distributed  among  the  patriots  who,  fired  with  the 
love  of  country,  and  full  of  indignation  against  the 
foreign  usurper,  performed  deeds  of  intrepid  valour 
and  noble  self-sacrifice.  The  cross  insured  its 
wearer  a  small  pension,  but  especially  the  grateful 
esteem  and  reverence  of  his  countrymen.  Fifty- 
five  years,  however,  had  elapsed  since  the  close  of 
the  wax  which  called  it  into  existence,  and  the 
large  number  of  knights  of  the  iron  cross  had  con- 
sequently dwindled  down  to  a  small  handful,  while 
the  comparatively  small  number  of  iron  crosses 
transmitted  to  the  present  generation  were  be- 
ginning to  be  looked  upon  as  relics  of  a  great  and 
glorious  age,  and  the  time  did  not  seem  to  be  far 
distant  when  the  only  iron  cross  on  exhibition 
would  be  that  of  Bliicher,  which  is  preserved  in 
the  historical  museum  in  Berlin.  The  few  sur- 
vivors who  were  entitled  to  wear  them  were,  in 
late  years,  on  all  public  occasions  treated  with  the 
honours  accorded  to  the  high  dignitaries  of  state. 

The  only  difference  between  the  old  and  the 
new  cross  of  iron  is  in  the  initials  of  the  king,  and 
the  number  of  the  year,  1870,  being  used  instead 
of  1813—14  ;  in  all  other  respects,  and  also  in  the 
classes  of  the  order,  the  new  order  is  exactly  like 
the  old.  The  form  of  the  cross  is  the  same  as  that 
of  the  order  of  the  Teutonic  knights,  the  founders 
of  old  Prussia.  It  is  made  of  black  cast-iron  with 
silver  borders.  As  when  first  instituted,  the  order 
included  two  classes,  with  a  grand  cross  as  a  third; 
but  the  latter  could  only  be  conferred  on  a  general 
in  command  for  gaining  a  battle,  capturing  a  for- 
tress, or  some  such  decisive  exploit.  Had  anything 
in  the  world  been  possible  to  have  increased  the 
enthusiasm    and  valour   of    the   Prussian  soldiers 


of  all  ranks  during  the  forthcoming  campaign,  it 
would  certainly  have  been  the  resuscitation  of  this 
much-coveted  order  of  the  iron  cross. 

On  Wednesday,  July  27,  a  decree  was  pub- 
lished appointing  the  empress  regent  during  the 
absence  of  the  emperor,  and  on  the  following  day 
his  majesty  left  Paris  for  Metz,  for  the  purpose  of 
assuming  the  command.  Instead  of  proceeding 
publicly  through  the  city,  as  was  at  one  time  in- 
tended, his  departure  was  conducted  as  privately  as 
possible,  which  proceeding  had  a  bad  effect  on  the 
lower  orders,  who  inferred  from  it  that  he  did 
not  go  willingly,  or  that  his  health  was  bad,  and 
also  indulged  in  some  other  unfavourable  supposi- 
tions. He  was  accompanied  by  his  only  chdd,  the 
Prince  Imperial,  only  fourteen  years  of  age.  The 
latter  had  previously  worn  his  hair  rather  long  and 
curling,  but  just  before  his  departure  he  had  it  cut 
to  the  French  military  regulations,  which  was  not 
quite  so  becoming,  but  which  his  mother  thought 
suited  him  extremely  well.  Before  leaving  he  gave 
a  lock  of  his  hair  to  all  the  ladies  of  the  palace. 
The  empress  superintended  the  preparation  of  the 
young  soldier's  "  kit,"  and  packed  his  trunk  with 
her  own  hands.  As  usual  on  occasions  when 
firmness  and  energy  were  required,  she  showed  to 
great  advantage — bearing  the  parting  with  much 
fortitude,  and  replying  cheerfully  to  those  who 
condoled  with  her  on  the  separation.  It  was  right, 
she  said,  that  the  prince  should  thus  early  begin 
his  apprenticeship  to  the  noble  profession  of  arms, 
and  prove  himself  worthy  of  France,  of  the  name 
of  Napoleon,  and  of  that  of  the  valiant  race  of  Guz- 
man, from  which,  on  her  side,  he  sprang. 

The  emperor  was  enthusiastically  received  on 
his  arrival  at  Metz,  and  immediately  issued  the 
following  proclamation  to  the  army: — 

"  Soldiers, — I  am  about  to  place  myself  at  your 
head,  to  defend  the  honour  and  the  soil  of  the 
country.  You  go  to  fight  against  one  of  the  best 
armies  in  Europe,  but  others  which  were  quite  as 
worthy  have  been  unable  to  resist  your  bravery. 
The  same  thing  will  occur  again  at  the  present 
time.  The  war  which  is  now  commencing  will  be 
a  long  and  severe  one,  since  it  will  have  for  the 
scene  of  its  operations  places  teeming  with  for- 
tresses and  obstacles;  but  nothing  is  too  difficult 
for  the  soldiers  of  Africa,  the  Crimea,  China,  Italy, 
and  Mexico.  You  will  again  prove  what  the 
French  army,  animated  by  the  sentiment  of  duty, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


289 


maintained  by  discipline,  and  inspired  with  love  of 
country,  can  perform.  Whatever  may  be  the  road 
we  take  beyond  our  own  frontiers,  we  shall  every- 
where find  glorious  memorials  of  our  fathers.  We 
will  prove  ourselves  worthy  of  them.  All  France 
follows  you.  with  her  ardent  wishes,  and  the  eyes 
of  the  world  are  upon  you.  The  fate  of  liberty 
and  civilization  depends  upon  our  success. 

"  Soldiers, — Let  each  one  do  his  duty,  and  the 
God  of  armies  will  be  with  us. 

"  NAPOLEON. 

"  The  Imperial  Head-Quaetees,  Metz,  July  28." 

This  proclamation  had  an  important  effect  in 
France.  As  stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  when 
war  was  first  declared,  it  was  openly  announced 
that  for  four  years  France  had  been  specially  pro- 
viding for  the  crisis  which  had  now  arrived,  and 
therefore  it  was  presumed  that  little  remained  for 
her  to  do.  General  Lebceuf,  the  responsible  minis- 
ter for  war,  on  being  interrogated  by  his  imperial 
master  as  to  the  efficiency  of  the  army,  replied 
with  epigrammatic  brevity,  "  Nous  n'avons  qu'a 
ouvrir  nos  armoires."  The  military  wardrobe  of 
France  was  complete:  all  that  was  necessary  was  to 
place  the  army  in  the  field.  For  this  purpose  the 
network  of  rails  which  connected  the  capital  with 
the  eastern  provinces  was  more  than  sufficient. 
The  activity  and  precision,  it  was  said,  which  on  all 
former  occasions  had  distinguished  the  French  mili- 
tary system,  would  suffice  to  concentrate  an  army  on 
the  frontier  which,  before  the  slow  and  ponderous 
forces  of  the  North  German  Confederation  could 
be  mobilized,  would  be  prepared  to  enter  at  once 
upon  its  triumphal  progress  to  Berlin.  The  materiel 
of  the  French  army  was  magnificent.  The  common 
soldier  was  armed  with  the  Chassepot,  which  had 
worked  such  marvels  on  the  field  of  Mentana. 
The  majority  of  the  staff,  from  the  imperial  com- 
mander downwards,  had  learnt  the  art  of  war  at 
Magenta  and  Solferino,  or  beneath  the  burning 
sun  of  Mexico.  Many  had  distinguished  them- 
selves at  Alma  and  Inkermann,  and  had  gathered 
laurels  at  the  glorious  storming  of  the  Malakoff. 
The  cavalry  of  France  was  the  finest  in  the  world. 
Her  artillery  had  no  superior  and  few  equals. 
The  habits  of  organization  so  distinctive  of  the 
French  people,  had  been  exercised  to  perfection 
in  the  civil  departments  of  her  forces.  The 
commissariat  was  more  than  equal  to  any  strain 
that  could  be  put  upon  it.      Above  all  and  for 


the  first  time,  the  mysterious  and  dreaded  mit- 
railleuse was  to  assist  the  chassepot  and  the  field 
gun  in  clearing  the  way  to  the  capital  of  Prussia. 
That  the  enemy  would  content  itself  with  har- 
rassing  the  flanks  of  the  steadily  advancing  legions 
was  possible;  that  it  would  offer  compact  resist- 
ance in  the  open  was  an  idea  too  absurd  to  be 
entertained  for  a  moment.  It  was  true  that  the 
battle  of  Sadowa  was  still  fresh  in  the  memories  of 
men,  where  the  Prussians  beat  the  Austrians.  But 
then  the  Austrians  were  at  best,  and  notwithstand- 
ing their  magnificent  appearance  on  parade,  merely 
an  inferior  kind  of  Prussians.  Germans  might  beat 
Germans,  but  nothing  could  contend  against  the 
ilan  of  the  French  soldier  in  the  peculiar  tactics 
of  the  Zouave  and  the  Turco.  (The  employment 
of  the  latter  troops  by  France  in  a  purely  European 
contest,  was  considered  by  many  a  disgrace  to  her, 
and  a  strange  commentary  on  the  emperor's  pro- 
clamation, describing  the  war  as  a  "mission  of 
civilization  "  on  the  part  of  France.) 

The  estimate  by  which  the  French  soldier  was 
taught  to  gauge  his  German  antagonist  was  well 
illustrated  in  the  pages  of  Charivari,  where  a 
Turco,  with  laboured  politeness,  thus  addressed 
Count  von  Bismarck  : — "  Pardon,  m'sieu,  peut 
etre  vous  me  croyez  un  nomme  Benedek."  In 
another  cartoon  a  French  soldier  was  represented 
working  a  mitrailleuse;  in  the  distance  was  a 
field  covered  with  dead  Germans,  and  the  soldier 
was  made  to  exclaim,  "  Dear  me,  I  have  only  been 
working  ten  minutes,  and  the  battle  is  over;  I 
suppose  I  must  have  turned  the  handle  too  fast." 
With  these  feelings  so  general  in  France,  it  is 
perhaps  no  wonder  that  M.  Ollivier,  the  head  of 
the  government,  surveyed  General  Leboeuf's  pre- 
parations for  a  holiday  campaign  with  conscious 
pride ;  and  that  the  "  lightness  of  heart "  with 
which  that  statesman  said  he  entered  on  the  cam- 
paign should  have  found  a  ready  echo  in  the 
feelings  of  his  too  confident  countrymen. 

As  another  specimen  of  French  arrogance  at 
this  period,  we  may  quote  a  few  fines  from  a 
thoroughly  representative  and  able  Frenchman,  M. 
Edmond  About,  who  was  sent  to  the  seat  of  war  as 
correspondent  for  the  Soir  newspaper,  and  whose 
letters  to  that  journal  obtained  an  exceedingly  wide 
circulation.  He  thus  described  the  passage  of  the 
first  French  soldiers  across  the  Saar  : —  "  Our 
advanced  posts  are  in  Prussia  :  they  mean  to  pass 
the  night  there.  Not  only  have  we  violated  the 
2o 


290 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


inviolable  soil  of  Germany,  but  the  French  soldier 
even  prepares  to  sleep  quite  comfortably  upon  it. 
An  event  so  overwhelming  does  not  astonish,  or 
excite,  the  manly  population  of  this  place.  No  one 
seems  greatly  moved  at  hearing,  or  even  seeing,  that 
our  troops  have  crossed  the  frontier.  If  it  were 
our  territory,  ours,  that  was  invaded,  every  man 
would  be  furious;  every  pulse  would  give  120 
beats  to  the  minute;  that  fatal  day  would  engrave 
itself  ineffaceably  in  the  recollection  of  every 
spectator.  But  it  seems  as  if  the  neighbouring 
territory  were  made  to  be  conquered  right  away, 
and  confiscated  in  a  trice.  Tradespeople  and  the 
peasantry,  like  the  soldiers,  seem  to  think  the 
thing  quite  natural.  They  have  made  no  more 
ceremony  about  taking  the  country  of  ale  than 
about  drinking  a  glass  of  its  brew.  The  enemy's 
bayonets  shine  by  their  absence  on  the  horizon. 
We  are  free  to  suppose  that  the  army  of  King 
William  has  chosen  another  field  of  battle,  and 
does  not  mind  abandoning  the  provinces  to  us." 

The  importance,  and  still  less  the  possible  dura- 
tion of  the  war,  -was  for  some  time  by  no  means 
clearly  apprehended  in  France.  The  popular  idea 
put  into  popular  language,  was  that  France  was 
about  to  send  her  army  across  the  frontier  to  give 
the  Prussians  a  good  lesson,  the  result  of  which 
would  be,  perhaps,  a  territorial  aggrandizement  on 
the  Rhine,  and  certainly,  what  was  far  more  impor- 
tant, the  recognition  of  French  military  supremacy 
by  the  rest  of  Europe.  The  notion  of  the  war 
going  beyond  its  professional  limits,  of  war  on 
French  soil,  of  war  involving  not  only  the  possibility 
of  national  gains,  but  the  risk  of  national  losses — of 
war,  in  a  word,  with  its  horrors  and  its  hazards, 
entered  very  few  heads.  Moreover,  as  has  already 
been  stated,  though  a  fight  with  Prussia  for  mili- 
tary supremacy  was  not  only  admitted  but  desired, 
it  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  war  with  united  Ger- 
many, a  battle  of  nations,  was  never  contemplated 
by  the  vast  majority  of  Frenchmen.  When,  there- 
fore, in  his  "  Proclamation  to  the  Army,"  the 
emperor  spoke  of  the  war  being  a  "  long  and 
severe  one,"  it  came  as  a  discouragement  to  the 
country  at  large,  and  as  the  time  to  commence 
drew  nearer,  the  immense  difficulties  of  the  enter- 
prise revealed  themselves,  confidence  diminished, 
and  the  directors  and  promoters  of  the  vast  opera- 
tions thought  it  prudent  to  be  less  sanguine  in 
their  assurances. 

After  his  arrival  at  Metz,  the  empress  telegraphed 


to  the  emperor,  saying  she  desired  to  come  to  see 
him,  to  embrace  her  son,  and  to  show  herself  to 
the  army  and  endeavour  to  increase  the  enthusiasm 
for  the  war,  as  it  was  apt  to  be  increased  on  such 
occasions  by  a  woman's  presence.  She  had  pre- 
viously gone  to  Cherbourg,  to  be  present  at  the 
departure  of  the  fleet  for  the  Baltic.  The  emperor 
replied,  thanking  her  for  her  wishes  and  intentions, 
but  requesting  her  not  to  carry  them  out,  as  he 
should  have  left  Metz  before  she  could  arrive  there, 
and  he  was  unable  to  tell  where  she  would  be  able 
to  find  him. 

We  have  now  traced  the  events  connected  with 
the  war  to  the  time  at  which  the  armies  of  France 
and  Germany  were  brought  face  to  face,  in  the 
valley  of  the  Saar,  to  commence  the  struggle  whict 
was  to  decide  for  this  century  the  leadership  of 
Europe ;  and  have  described,  as  impartially  as 
possible,  the  different  feelings  by  which  the  in- 
habitants of  the  two  countries  were  animated. 
The  emperor  of  the  French  had  allowed  his  great 
adversary,  whose  fearful  strength,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  scarcely  any  one  in  his  empire  but  himself 
seemed  to  have  thoroughly  comprehended,  to  secure 
the  fourteen  days  which  was  all  he  needed  for 
preparation.  And  what  had  been  accomplished 
in  those  fourteen  days?  In  a  silence  like  that 
of  the  grave,  silence  absolutely  without  precedent, 
and  explicable  only  by  a  willing  submission  to  an 
inexorable  rule,  Germany,  from  Memel  to  the  Lake 
of  Constance,  rolled  itself  together  in  arms  to  bar 
the  invader's  road  ;  the  whole  country  was  turned 
into  a  camp,  her  youth,  en  masse,  into  soldiers,  and 
her  cities  into  fortified  positions.  More  than  a 
million  of  men,  three-fourths  of  them  (on  July  14) 
peaceful  citizens,  scattered  over  countries  many 
times  the  size  of  England,  had  flung  down  their 
tools,  stepped  silently  into  places  marked  out  for 
them  for  years,  and  on  railways,  turned  at  an 
hour's  notice  into  a  branch  of  the  transport  ser- 
vice of  the  state,  had  been  carried  as  fully-equipped 
and  organized  soldiers  to  points  selected  for  their 
rendezvous  by  Baron  von  Moltke  years  before. 
Through  great  provinces,  which  but  a  short  time 
before  were  independent;  amidst  "  tribes"  divided 
or  hostile  for  centuries ;  using  governments  whose 
manifestoes  against  Prussia  were  hardly  dry  as 
trusted  instruments — the  splendid  Prussian  organi- 
zation had  worked  as  smoothly  as  some  magnificent 
machine. 

Before  proceeding  to  describe  the  first  engage- 


England    i  ■■  i   Ku 

t'r.nt.:-    ..',  ','  .'/i?/- 


:'  England  &  Via 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


291 


ments  between  the  two  armies,  a  short  description 
of  the  armies  themselves,  and  the  positions  they 
occupied,  will  be  useful. 

The  following  was  the  number  and  position  of 
the  French  army  about  the  fourth  week  in  July: — 


IN    FIRST    LINE. 

Strassburg,  1st  Corps,  MacMahoD,  .     . 
Bitsche,  5th  Corps,  De  Failly,     .     .     . 
St.  Avoid,  2nd  Corps,  Frossard,  .     .     . 
Thionville,  4th  Corps,  L'Admirault, 

IN      SUPPORT     OF     THIONVILLE     AND 
ST.    AVOLD. 

Metz,  3rd  Corps,  Bazaine,      .... 

IN  SECOND  LINE  TO  SUPPORT  EITHER 
FLANK  :      MOVED     AFTERWARDS 
TO    METZ. 

Nancy,  Imperial  Guard,  Bourbaki,  .     . 

Infantry. 

Cavalry. 

Guns. 

35,000 
26,250 
26,250 
26,250 

35,000 
16,650 

3,500 
2,600 
2,600 
2,600 

3,500 
3,600 

90 
72 
72 
72 

90 
60 

Forming  a  grand  total  of, 

165,400 

18,400 

456 

IN    RESERVE. 

Forming  at  Chalons — 

Forming  at  Belfbrt — 

7th  Corps,  Felix  Douay 

35,000 
26,500 

3,500 
6,250 

2,600 

90 
36 

72 

61,500 

12,350 

198 

The  above  force,  numbering  altogether  226,150 
infantry,  30,750  cavalry,  and  654  guns,  together 
with  the  African  army  of  from  forty  to  fifty  thousand 
men,  one  division  watching  the  Spanish  frontier, 
and  the  troops  destined  for  the  Baltic  expedition, 
exhausted  all  the  regular  troops  of  France  immed- 
iately available.  Outside  these  were  the  fourth 
battalions,  very  imperfectly  drilled,  and  the  garde 
mobile,  totally  untrained,  which  supplied  the  only 
means  of  increasing  the  strength  of  the  army  in 
the  field. 

Looking  at  the  positions  of  the  different  corps 
d'armee  on  the  map,  it  will  be  seen  that  they  pos- 
sessed remarkable  facilities  for  concentration  and 
mutual  support  by  means  of  frontier  railroads ; 
Strassburg,  Bitsche,  St.  Avoid,  Metz,  and  Thion- 
ville being  all  situated  on  the  same  line  of  railroad, 
while  a  second  line  in  rear  of  the  first  placed  Strass- 
burg in  communication  with  Nancy  and  Metz  by 
Saverne,  Sarrebourg,  and  Luneville.  Strassburg 
and  Nancy,  again,  communicated  to  their  rear  by 
two  railroads,  placing  both  these  towns  in  connec- 
tion with  Belfbrt,  where  Felix  Douay 's  corps  was. 


and  with  Lyons ;  while  Nancy  and  Thionville 
respectively  communicated  with  Paris  by  two 
railroads,  the  one  passing  by  Toul,  Vitry,  Chalons, 
and  Epernay ;  the  other  by  Montmedy,  Mezieres, 
Rheims,  and  Soissons. 

Thus  the  French  were  in  possession  of  railroad 
communication  all  along  their  strategical  front,  as 
well  as  to  their  rear  from  the  centre  and  from  both 
flanks  ;  and  their  general  position  was  strengthened 
by  the  strong  fortresses  of  Metz  and  Strassburg,  by 
the  forts  of  Bitsche,  Petite  Pierre,  and  Phalsbourg, 
blocking  passes  over  the  Vosges  mountains  ;  and 
by  the  fortified  places  of  Thionville  and  Toul,  both 
on  the  Moselle  river,  and  both  commanding  rail- 
roads which  lead  to  Paris.  Strassburg  was  the  base 
of  supply  for  MacMahon  and  De  Failly  on  the 
right ;  Metz  for  the  remainder  of  the  army. 

The  German  army  consisted  of: — 


1st  or  East  Prussian  Corps,     . 

2nd  Pomeranian,  

3rd  Brandenburger, 

4th  Prussians,  Saxons,  and  Thuringians, 

5th  Poseners, 

6th  Silesians, 

7th  Westphalians, 

8th  Rhineland, 

9th  Schleswig-Holstein,       .... 

10th  Hanoverians, 

11th  Hesse  and  Nassau,        .... 
12th  Saxons, 


General  Manteuffel. 

"        Fransetzky. 
"        Von  Alvensleben  II. 
Von  Alvensleben  I. 
Von  Kirchbach. 
Von  Tumpling. 
Von  Zastrow. 
Von  Goben. 
Von  Manstein. 
Von  Voigts  Khetz. 
Von  Bose. 

the  Crown  Prince  of 
Saxony. 

The  Guards,  under  Prince  Augustus  of  Wurtemburg,  and  the  armies 
of  South  Germany — Bavaria,  Wiirtemburg,  Baden,  and  Hesse  Darm- 
stadt. 

These  forces  were  divided  into  three  armies  as 
follows  : — 

First  Army. — The  army  of  the  Saar,  under 
General  von  Steinmetz — the  7th  and  8th  and  part 
of  the  10th  corps,  and  the  4th  or  Brandenburg 
division  of  cavalry,  with  thirty-one  batteries  of 
artillery.  Total  strength,  70,000  men  and  186 
guns. 

Second  Army. — The  army  of  the  Rhine,  under 
Prince  Frederick  Charles — the  1st,  2nd,  3rd,  4th, 
9th,  10th,  and  12th  corps,  the  Hesse  Darmstadt 
division,  the  garrison  of  Mainz,  and  the  1st,  2nd, 
4th,  10th,  and  12th  cavalry  divisions,  with  110 
batteries  of  artillery.  Total,  250,000  men  with  660 
guns. 

Third  Army. — The  army  of  the  South,  under 
the  crown  prince  of  Prussia — the  corps  of  the 
Guard,  the  5th,  6th,  and  11th  corps,  with  the  6th 
cavalry  division,  the  Wurtemberg,  Baden,  and 
Bavarian  contingents,  and  110  batteries  of  artillery. 
Total,  250,000  men,  with  660  guns. 


292 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


The  total  strength  of  the  three  German  armies 
was  therefore  570,000  men,  with  1506  pieces  of 
artillery. 

In  addition  to  these  immense  forces  there 
were  200,000  men  in  the  second  line,  between  the 
Rhine  and  the  Weser  ;  150,000,  under  General  von 
Falkenstein,  in  the  coast  provinces  in  the  North; 
and  150,000  in  garrison  eastward,  especially  in 
Posen  and  Silesia.  This  gives  a  total  of  1,070,000 
troops  in  actual  readiness.  The  numbers,  as  num- 
bers of  efficients,  seem  almost  incredible,  but  they 
correspond  almost  exactly  to  the  number  of  effi- 
cients which  would  be  produced  by  a  conscription 
throughout  Germany  of  all  men  of  21,  22,  23,  and 
24  years  of  age.  Such  a  conscription  would  yield 
1,600,000  men,  and  the  Germans,  whose  surgeons 
are  not  to  be  bribed,  do  not  reject  more  than  one 
in  four. 

Up  to  the  28th  July,  the  first  army  had  alone 
reached  the  frontier,  where  it  occupied  the  line  of 
the  Saar;  from  Saarburg  on  the  right,  with  advanced 
posts  at  that  place  and  at  Merzig,  Saarlouis,  Saar- 
briick,  and  Bliescastel,  with  its  main  body  massed 
somewhat  behind  in  convenient  situations  for 
support  at  Ottweiler,  Neuenkirchen,  Homburg,  and 
Landstuhl. 

The  second  army,  under  Prince  Frederick 
Charles,  with  the  royal  headquarters,  having 
crossed  the  Rhine  at  Mayence  and  Mannheim,  was 
pressing  on  in  the  rear  of  Steinmetz,  and  on  the  1st 
August  prolonged  the  line  of  that  general's  outposts 
towards  the  left  by  the  occupation  of  Zweibrucken 
and  Pirmasens  ;  and  having  the  main  body  echel- 
oned from  the  left  of  the  first  corps  at  Landstuhl, 
along  the  line  of  railway  joining  that  place  with 
Landau,  at  Kaiserslautern  and  Neustadt. 

About  the  2nd  and  3rd  August  the  third  army, 
under  the  Crown  Prince,  coming  from  the  east 
bank  of  the  Rhine  by  Mannheim  and  Germersheim, 
took  up  the  line  from  the  left  of  the  second  army, 
occupying  as  outposts  Bergzabern,  on  the  road 
leading  to  Weissenburg  and  Wenden,  the  junction 
of  the  railroads  coming  from  Carlsruhe  in  one 
direction  and  from  Mannheim  by  Neustadt  in  the 
other,  and  having  its  main  body  at  Neustadt,  Spire, 
Landau,  and  Germersheim. 

By  again  referring  to  the  map  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  Prussians,  like  the  French,  obtained  great 
advantages  of  concentration  from  their  system  of 
railways. 

Beginning  on  the  right,  Steinmetz  communicated 


with  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  and  he  with  the 
Crown  Prince,  by  the  railroad  passing  from  Treves, 
through  Merzig,  Saarlouis,  Saarbruck,  Ottweiler, 
Homburg,  Landstuhl,  Neustadt,  and  Landau,  all 
occupied  by  their  troops,  to  Wenden  junction,  the 
extreme  left  outpost  of  the  Crown  Prince's  army 
The  course  of  this  railroad  between  Saarbruck  and 
Wenden  is  in  the  form  of  a  curve,  concave  towards 
the  French ;  that  is,  having  the  flanks  advanced 
and  the  centre  retired,  and  it  obviously  gave  re- 
markable facilities  for  massing  troops  on  the  flanks, 
which  were  the  only  parts  of  the  German  line 
exposed  to  attack. 

The  different  armies  communicated  to  their  rear  as 
follows  : — Steinmetz,  by  the  railroad  to  Mayence, 
which  passes  by  Wenden,  Sobernheim,  and  Bingen; 
Prince  Frederick  Charles,  also  with  Mayence,  by 
the  railroad  passing  by  Neustadt,  Mannheim,  and 
Worms ;  or,  if  preferable,  by  Mannheim  with 
Heidelberg ;  while  the  Crown  Prince  had  the 
choice  of  two  lines  of  retreat  equally  secure — the 
one  by  Mannheim  either  to  Mayence  or  Heidel- 
berg, the  other  by  railroad  from  Wenden  junction 
to  Carlsruhe. 

The  strong  fortresses  of  Mayence,  Landau,  and 
Germersheim  greatly  strengthened  the  Prussian 
general  position,  which  was  far  more  compact  than 
the  strategical  position  of  the  French  army. 

The  appointment  of  the  Crown  Prince  to  the  head 
of  the  army  in  which  the  South  German  forces  were 
to  be  included,  caused  great  satisfaction  in  those 
states,  and  it  was  regarded  by  them  as  an  especial 
compliment.  On  assuming  the  command  he  issued 
the  following  address  : — 

SOLMEKS  OF   THE    ThTRD   AeMT. 

Appointed  by  his  Majesty  the  king  of  Prussia 
to  the  command  in  chief  of  the  Third  Army,  I 
send  greeting  to  the  troops  of  Prussia,  Bavaria, 
Wiirtemburg,  and  Baden,  who  from  this  day  are 
united  under  my  command. 

It  fills  me  with  pride  and  joy  to  march  against 
the  enemy  at  the  head  of  the  united  sons  of  every 
part  of  the  German  Fatherland,  to  fight  for  the 
common  national  cause,  for  German  right,  for  Ger- 
man honour. 

We  are  entering  on  a  great  and  severe  struggle  ; 
but  in  the  consciousness  of  our  good  right,  and 
confident  in  your  valour,  your  perseverance  and 
discipline,  I  rely  on  a  victorious  issue. 

Let  us  then  stand  together  like  true  brothers  in 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


293 


arms,  and  with  God's  help  let  us  unfurl  our  standards 
to  new  victories,  to  the  glory  and  peace  of  our  now 
united  Germany. 

FREDERICK  WILLIAM, 
Crown  Prince  of  Prussia. 

Before  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  their  troops 
his  Royal  Highness,  in  accordance  with  military 
etiquette,  paid  a  flying  visit  to  the  three  southern 
sovereigns,  and  was  most  enthusiastically  received 
at  Munich,  Stuttgard,  and  Carlsruhe.  The  courts 
and  people  absolutely  vied  with  each  other  in 
showing  their  regard  for  the  heir  to  the  Prussian 
throne,  and  their  joy  at  his  having  been  appointed 
to  take  the  command  of  their  armies.  The  Prussian 
generals,  too,  who  had  been  appointed  to  command 
in  the  south,  met  with  the  cordial  sympathy  of  the 
people  and  troops. 

It  was  also  a  strange  commentary  upon  the  value 
of  the  information  which  had  been  supplied  to  the 
French  emperor,  and  the  trustworthiness  of  his 
envoys,  that  when  the  German  armies  were  on  the 
eve  of  their  advance,  Bismarck  and  Von  Moltke 
sat  down  to  dinner  on  South  German  territory  with 
men  sentenced  by  Prussia  in  1849  to  death  and  im- 


prisonment, and  that  aristocrats  and  extreme  demo- 
crats clinked  their  glasses  in  German  fashion  as 
they  pledged  the  German  arms  in  the  national  war. 

The  Crown  Prince  had  Lieutenant-general  von 
Blumenthal  as  chief  of  his  staff,  as  at  Koniggratz  ; 
Prince  Frederick  Charles  had  with  him  in  a  like 
capacity  Colonel  von  Stichle  ;  and  General  Stein- 
metz  was  advised  by  Major-general  von  Sperling. 
Lieutenant-general  von  Obernitz  commrnanded  the 
Wiirtemburg  division,  and  General  von  Beyer 
the  Baden  division. 

The  king  was  the  commander-in-chief  of  the 
German  armies,  but  all  the  strategical  operations 
were  directed  by  General  von  Moltke.  In  addition 
to  the  king  of  Prussia,  the  Crown  Prince,  and 
Prince  Charles,  several  other  German  princes  took 
the  field  against  the  French.  The  king  was 
attended  in  his  headquarters  by  the  grand-duke 
of  Saxe-Weimar,  the  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg- 
Schwerin,  the  crown  prince  of  Mecklenburg- 
Strelitz,  Prince  Luitpold  of  Bavaria,  and  Prince 
Charles  of  Prussia.  The  duke  of  Saxe-Coburg 
Gotha  accompanied  the  Crown  Prince,  and  some 
other  illustrious  personages  were  in  the  camp  of 
Prince  Frederick  Charles. 


CHAPTER     VII. 


Early  Skirmishes  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  River  Saar — Description  of  the  River  and  surrounding  Country — Dash  and  Enterprise  shown  by  the 
Germans — Destruction  of  the  Bridge  of  Kehl  by  them — The  French  cross  the  Frontier  and  fire  at  a  Military  train — Attempt  to  destroy  the- 
German  Railway  repulsed — Brilliant  Exploit  of  the  Prussian  Lancers — Skirmish  at  Niederbronn — Death  of  the  First  Officer,  an  Englishman 
in  the  service  of  the  Grand-duke  of  Baden — Delay  of  the  French  after  the  Emperor's  Arrival  at  Metz.  on  July  28 — The  Great  Opportunity 
of  inflicting  Serious  Injury  on  the  Germans  lost — Contrast  of  the  Strategy  on  both  sides — The  Emperor's  own  Version  of  his  Proceedings  up 
to  this  point — Alteration  of  the  German  Plan  of  the  Campaign  in  consequence  of  the  French  delay — Determination  of  the  French  to  strike- 
a  blow  for  Political  rather  than  Military  Purposes — Description  of  the  town  of  Saarbrnck,  the  Scene  of  the  First  Engagement — The  French 
Attack  and  "Victory"  on  August  2 — The  Prince  Imperial's  "Baptism  of  Fire" — Sketch  of  the  Engagement  by  the  Prince — Return  of  the- 
Emperor  to  Metz — Enthusiasm  and  Admiration  of  the  Inhabitants — Intended  departure  of  the  Emperor  for  Strassburg  postponed  through 
Illness — Detailed  Description  of  the  Position  of  both  Armies  on  August  3 — The  French  Situation  very  badly  chosen  for  Defence — Their 
Inaction  and  Carelessness  a  source  of  great  Assistance  to  the  Germans — French  Council  of  War  on  August  4 — A  previous  German  Council 
of  War  has  unanimously  determined  to  assume  the  Offensive — Position  and  description  of  Wissembourg  and  surrounding  Country — The- 
Battle  there  on  August  4 — The  German  Tactics — Heroism  displayed  on  both  sides — The  Attack  on  the  Geisberg — Superior  weight  of  the 
Germans — The  Bayonet  and  the  Breech-Loader — Results  of  the  Battle,  and  Losses  on  both  sides —Position  of  the  Crown  Prince  during  the 
action — Generous  Rivalry  caused  by  placing  the  Prussian  and  Bavarian  Regiments  side  by  side — Feeling  of  Satisfaction  throughout  Germany 
at  the  Resnlt  of  the  Engagement — The  Moral  Effect  of  it  on  both  Armies. 


Almost  immediately  after  the  declaration  of 
war,  the  usual  skirmishes  which  always  precede 
more  serious  engagements,  consequent  upon  the 
reconnaissances  made  hy  two  hostile  armies  in 
order  to  obtain  information,  took  place  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  river  Saar,  as  it  is 
named  in  German,  or  Sarre,  as  it  is  called  in 
French. 

This  river  rises  in  the  Vosges  mountains,  in 
Alsace,  and  flows  northward  to  Sarreguemines, 
whence  it  enters  the  Prussian  territory,  bending 
to  the  north-west,  and  passing  the  towns  of  Saar- 
bruck,  Saarlouis,  and  Merzig,  till  its  junction 
with  the  Moselle,  above  the  city  of  Treves  (which 
the  Germans  name  Trier),  finally  sending  its 
waters  into  the  Rhine  at  Coblentz.  The  valley 
of  the  Saar,  lying  deep  between  wooded  hills, 
crosses  a  tract  of  uneven  country,  some  thirty 
miles  wide,  inclosed  by  the  Vosges  mountains 
on  the  south,  and  the  Hochwald,  or  highlands 
of  the  Moselle,  on  the  north.  It  is  not  unlike 
the  valley  of  the  Wye,  or  that  of  the  Lynn  in 
Devonshire. 

In  most  instances  the  early  skirmishes  were 
little  more  than  an  interchange  of  shots  between 


videttes,  without  leading  to  any  definite  result; 
but  in  all  the  Prussians  showed  a  dash  and  en- 
terprise which  might  more  naturally  have  been 
expected  from  their  adversaries. 

The  first  really  important  act  of  the  war 
occurred  on  July  22,  when  the  Prussians  blew  up 
the  railway  bridge  between  Strassburg  and  Kehl. 
This  handsome  structure,  which  crossed  the  Rhine 
and  effected  the  junction  between  the  French  and 
German  railways,  was  built  between  1858  and 
1861,  at  the  common  expense  of  both  nations, 
and  was  so  formed  that  communication  could  be 
broken  off  by  either  side  in  a  few  hours.  The 
bridge  was  built  in  three  portions;  the  central  one, 
which  consisted  of  an  iron  trellis  on  stone  piers 
of  three  spans,  each  about  sixty  yards  long,  was 
fixed,  while  that  at  each  end  was  movable,  swing- 
ing round  on  a  pivot.  At  the  commencement 
of  hostilities  the  German,  and  subsequently  the 
French  portions,  were  swung  round,  thus  des- 
troying communication  without  permanently  in- 
juring the  bridge.  Teutonic  prudence,  however, 
did  not  stop  here,  and  accordingly  the  German 
division  of  the  bridge  was  blown  up — an  act 
which    called    forth   from    the    French    the    most 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


291 


bitter  accusations  of  Vandalism  ;  but  it  was  in 
reality  an  evidence  of  the  stern  reality  with  which 
the  Germans  had  entered  upon  the  struggle. 
The  explosion  was  terrible  ;  large  masses  of 
stone  and  iron  being  projected  as  far  as  the 
French  bank. 

On  July  23  the  French,  crossing  the  frontier 
with  a  couple  of  guns,  north  of  Forbach,  fired  at  a 
military  train  between  Burbach  and  Linsenthal, 
two  villages  on  the  Saarlouis-Saarbruck  line.  The 
soldiers  escaped  unhurt ;  but  four  peasants  in  an 
adjoining  field  were  slightly  wounded.  On  the 
•evening  of  the  same  day  the  French,  having  again 
crossed  the  frontier,  and  penetrated  as  far  as  the 
neighbourhood  of  Saarlouis,  fired  at  a  Prussian 
patrol  and  wounded  two  horses.  Early  on  the 
morning  of  the  24th,  another  reconnaissance  led  to 
a  more  sanguinary  result.  From  Forbach,  where 
a  French  division  had  been  stationed  for  the  pre- 
vious few  days,  a  strong  detachment  marched  to 
•endeavour  to  destroy  the  Prussian  railroad  at 
Volklingen,  between  Saarlouis  and  Saarbruck. 
Soon  after  establishing  themselves  on  German 
territory  they  were  met  by  the  Germans  and  re- 
pulsed with  the  loss  of  ten  men.  A  rival  exploit 
performed  on  the  same  night  by  the  Prussians  was 
much  more  successful,  and  was  altogether  a  feat 
of  considerable  brilliancy.  The  railway  on  which 
Saarbruck  stood,  after  it  crossed  French  territory, 
and  passed  Forbach,  threw  out  a  connection  at 
a  little  place  called  Hochern.  This  connection 
ran  eastward,  skirting  the  frontier  at  a  greater 
or  less  interval,  till  it  reached  Haguenau,  where 
it  turned  southward  to  Strassburg.  It  is  easy 
to  see  what  a  valuable  line  this  would  have  been 
to  the  French,  as  a  feeder  to  their  forces  on 
the  frontier.  By  it  they  could  concentrate  or 
disperse,  reinforce  or  withdraw.  The  task  of 
interrupting  the  continuity  of  the  line  was 
committed  to  Lieutenant  von  Forght  and 
thirty  picked  men  of  his  regiment,  the  seventh 
lancers.  They  first  proceeded  to  Neuenkirchen, 
from  the  ironworks  and  collieries  around  which 
they  obtained  a  supply  of  artificers  conver- 
sant with  blasting  operations.  Thence  they 
went  to  Zweibrucken,  and  from  that  base  recon- 
noitred the  frontier.  They  found  the  French  in 
considerable  strength,  and  after  the  frustration  of 
two  direct  attempts,  it  became  evident  that  a 
sudden  dash  from  the  flank  was  the  only  means 
of  reaching  the  viaduct  of  the  railway,  which  had 


been  selected  as  the  most  eligible  point  for  destruc- 
tion. It  was  a  work  of  considerable  magnitude, 
crossing,  in  arches,  a  valley  a  few  miles  to  the 
west  of  Bitsche.  Some  riding  lessons  having  been 
given  to  the  civilian  engineers,  to  enable  them  to 
sit  troop  horses  at  a  gallop,  the  party,  on  the  night 
of  July  24,  penetrated  the  French  territory  at 
an  unfrequented  point  on  a  forest  road,  galloped 
forward  some  seven  miles  to  the  viaduct,  dropped 
the  engineers,  and  extended  in  covering  order. 
In  a  remarkably  short  space  of  time  the  centre 
arch  of  the  viaduct  went  up  in  the  air  with 
a  loud  explosion,  which  brought  the  French 
outposts  inland  from  the  frontier  at  speed.  The 
Uhlans,  as  the  Prussian  lancers  are  called, 
kept  them  off,  however,  till  the  engineers  had 
completed  the  demolition  of  the  viaduct,  destroyed 
a  quantity  of  railway  and  other  materiel,  and 
caused  damage  which  it  would  have  taken  some 
weeks  of  uninterrupted  labour  to  have  repaired. 
Then  the  lieutenant,  having  quietly  drawn  in  his 
covering  parties,  remounted  his  engineers,  and 
cantered  off  over  the  frontier,  without  suffering 
the  slightest  casualty  in  an  enterprise  which  for 
sagacity,  courage,  and  success,  deserved  the  highest 
credit. 

On  July  25  a  skirmish  took  place  at  Nieder- 
bronn,  which  was  chiefly  noticeable  from  the  fact 
that  it  resulted  in  the  death  of  the  first  officer 
killed  in  the  war — a  young  Englishman  named 
Winsloe,  in  the  service  of  the  grand-duke  of  Baden 
— and  in  the  capture  of  the  first  prisoners  by 
the  French.  The  French  journals  at  the  time 
greatly  exaggerated  the  importance  of  the  affair; 
but  the  real  facts  were,  that  a  captain,  two  lieu- 
tenants, and  twelve  troopers  of  a  regiment  of 
Baden  cavalry,  were  sent  to  obtain  information, 
and  cut  the  telegraphic  wires  on  the  French 
frontier.  They  crossed  on  the  Sunday  morning 
near  the  French  town  of  Lauterburg,  were  seen 
by  numbers  of  people,  cut  the  wires  at  the 
Huntspach  station  while  the  inhabitants  were 
at  church,  passed  the  day  in  riding  about  the 
country,  and  advanced  no  less  than  thirty  miles 
into  the  enemy's  territory.  Early  on  the  following 
morning  they  found  themselves  on  the  height  of 
Neiderbronn.  Wishing  to  rest  and  refresh  them- 
selves, they  halted  at  an  inn,  which  was  in  part 
also  a  large  barn;  and,  although  they  were  close 
to  the  enemy,  they  had  the  imprudence  to  un- 
saddle and  unbridle  their  horses.      A  platoon  of 


>96 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


French  cavalry  on  the  scout  discovered  them, 
and  took  ten  of  the  troopers  prisoners  without 
any  difficulty.  The  other  two  escaped  over  a 
wall,  but  eventually  were  captured  and  conveyed  to 
Metz.  All  this  time  the  officers  were  breakfasting 
in  the  inn,  when  a  sergeant  of  the  French  cavalry, 
impetuously  and  single-banded,  rushed  into  the 
room.  He  was  at  once  shot  by  the  captain  of  the 
Baden  cavalry,  who  had  the  presence  of  mind  to 
spring  into  the  saddle  of  a  cavalry  horse — that 
belonging  to  the  French  sergeant — and  so  effected 
his  escape.  In  the  firing  which  took  place  dur- 
ing the  scuffle,  the  Englishman  was  mortally 
wounded,  and  died  the  same  evening.  Count 
Zepplin,  the  captain,  escaped  amidst  a  shower  of 
rifle  balls,  and  successfully  carried  off  to  the 
Crown  Prince  the  information  which  the  party 
had  come  to  seek.  An  English  journal  stigmatized 
them  as  "  madmen,"  but  there  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  their  madness  was  without  method. 
At  all  events,  twelve  days  after  the  reconnaissance, 
the  headquarters  of  the  victorious  German  army 
were  established  near  the  very  scene  of  Mr.  Win- 
sloe's  death. 

On  28th  July  the  Emperor  Napoleon  reached 
Metz,  and  on  the  following  morning  he  assumed 
the  command  of  the  army  of  the  Rhine.  Accord- 
ing to  Napoleonic  traditions,  that  date  ought  to  have 
marked  the  beginning  of  active  operations ;  but  day 
after  day  passed,  and  nothing  was  done.  It  is  now 
well  known  that  when  the  Emperor  left  Paris  for 
Metz,  his  intention  was  to  advance  across  the  fron- 
tier at  once ;  and  had  he  done  so  he  would  have 
been  able  to  have  disturbed  his  enemy's  plans  very 
materially.  The  military  force  of  France  was  a  stand- 
ing army,  and  this  was  so  organized  that  at  the 
beginning  of  a  war  it  was  supposed  to  be  superior  in 
strength  to  anything  that  Germany  could  bring  into 
the  field,  though  in  the  long  run  it  would  be  weaker 
in  numbers,  because  its  mode  of  recruitment  was 
slow,  and  it  was  only  fully  upheld  by  the  national 
levies  which,  in  imitation  of  the  German  system, 
had  been  recently  arrayed  to  give  it  support.  But 
Germany  was  an  armed  nation ;  if  at  the  outset  her 
standing  army  would  be  much  less  numerous  than 
that  of  France,  it  would  quickly  assume  immense 
proportions;  and  behind  it  were  vast  masses  of 
reserves,  composed  of  the  martial  flower  of  the  race, 
which  experience  had  shown  would  flock  to  the 
standards  of  the  regular  troops  with  astonishing 
speed,  and  which,  if  once  collected,  would  form  an 


array  far  exceeding  the  united  musters  of  France. 
The  great  hope  of  France  lay,  therefore,  in  assum- 
ing the  offensive  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

On  the  29th  and  30th  of  July,  the  German 
armies  were  still  far  from  being  concentrated. 
The  south  Germans  were  still  converging  by  rail 
and  road  towards  the  bridges  of  the  Rhine. 
The  Prussian  reserve  cavalry  was  passing  in  end- 
less files  through  Coblentz  and  Ehrenbreitstein, 
marching  southwards;  and  a  resolute  advance  at 
that  time  could  scarcely  have  failed  to  have 
brought  the  French  up  to  the  outlying  forts  of 
Mayence  (Mainz),  and  to  have  insured  them  consid- 
erable advantages  over  the  retiring  columns  of  the 
Germans ;  perhaps  it  might  have  enabled  them  even 
to  have  thrown  a  bridge  over  the  Rhine,  and  pro- 
tected it  by  a  bridge-head  on  the  right  bank.  At 
all  events,  the  war  would  have  been  carried  into 
the  enemy's  country,  and  the  moral  effect  upon 
the  French  troops  must  have  been  excellent. 

Who,  indeed,  can  tell  what  the  result  would 
have  been,  had  a  general  like  the  first  Napoleon  at 
this  time  commanded  the  army  which,  in  the  pride 
of  its  strength,  already  grasped  with  its  leading 
divisions  the  as  yet  unprotected  German  frontier  ? 
It  is  by  no  means  improbable,  that  if  he  had  been 
in  the  field  in  such  circumstances,  he  would  have 
completely  changed  the  character  of  the  campaign. 
But  feebleness  and  indecision  occupied  the  place 
of  genius  and  skill  in  the  camp  of  France,  and  the 
occasion  was  lost  on  which,  perhaps,  the  destiny 
of  two  nations  depended.  The  emperor  had  de- 
layed at  Paris  some  time  longer  than  he  ought 
to  have  done;  and  the  long  and  irresolute  pause 
which  he  made  after  actually  assuming  the  com- 
mand, was  of  evil  omen  to  his  future  operations. 
The  excuse  put  forward  by  him,  as  we  shall 
hereafter  see,  is,  that  he  discovered  that  his 
corps  was  weaker  than  he  had  supposed,  and  that 
his  commissariat  was  extremely  defective  (and  that 
such  was  the  fact  is  certain);  but  in  the  actual 
position  of  affairs,  when  a  rapid  attack  was  still 
the  true  game,  considerations  of  this  kind  would 
not  have  paralyzed  a  really  great  commander. 

The  delay  which  had  allowed  Germany  to  arm 
and  pour  into  the  Rhineland  had  caused  the  French 
army  to  be  outnumbered  nearly  two  to  one  on  the 
line  chosen  by  its  own  commanders  ;  and,  literally 
before  a  blow  had  been  struck,  its  chances  of  suc- 
cess bad  well  nigh  vanished.  A  mere  calculation 
of  numbers,  however,  will  not  convey  an  adequate 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


297 


notion  of  the  danger  in  which  it  was  now  jflaced, 
and  of  the  difference  between  the  energy  and  skill 
displayed  conspicuously  by  the  German  leaders, 
and  the  false  strategy  of  the  French  commanders. 
A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  that  the  corps 
which,  from  Thionville  to  the  north  of  Strassburg, 
formed  the  advanced  line  of  the  French  army, 
were  not  only  scattered  on  a  wide  front  and  feebly 
connected,  if  at  all,  but  were  thrown  too  far  beyond 
their  supports  at  Metz,  and  were  thus  liable  to  be 
isolated,  and  beaten  in  detail  by  a  daring  enemy. 
This  was  especially  the  case  with  the  corps  of 
Frossard,  De  Failly,  and  MacMahon,  which,  sepa- 
rated from  each  other  and  from  the  bodies  in  the 
rear,  were  in  a  position  somewhat  similar  to  that  of 
the  French  before  the  first  Napoleon  succeeded  in 
the  operations  of  Landshut  and  Ratisbon.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  corps  of  the  Germans,  collected 
upon  a  narrow  front  from  within  Saarlouis  to  Wis- 
sembourg,  with  their  supports  close  at  hand  from 
Neuenkirchen  to  Homburg,  Kaiserslautern,  Neu- 
stadt,  and  Landau,  and  holding  three  railways  and 
numerous  roads,  were  already  in  a  position  to  throw 
a  preponderating  force  on  the  French  line  at  almost 
any  point  of  attack;  and,  having  driven  it  in,  to 
roll  into  France  an  overwhelming  tide  of  invasion. 
In  fact,  as  regarded  the  French  front,  they  were  in 
possession  of  the  chord  of  the  arc,  from  Thionville 
to  Bitsche  and  Strassburg,  with  easier  means  of 
concentration ;  and  they  had  the  power  of  seconding 
a  vigorous  advance  by  an  offensive  movement  of 
crushing  strength.  The  combinations  which  pro- 
duced these  results  reflected  the  highest  credit  on 
the  German  commanders,  and  on  the  martial  arrays 
they  led  ;  they  showed  skill,  forethought,  energy, 
and  boldness;  and  they  were  conducted  with  that 
secrecy  and  swiftness  invaluable  in  military  opera- 
tions. Already  the  cloud  of  war  which  overhung 
the  Saar  threatened  the  forces  of  France  with  seri- 
ous disaster. 

As  it  is  our  wish  above  all  things  to  give  a 
thoroughly  impartial  account  of  everything  con- 
nected with  the  war,  it  is  only  fair,  perhaps,  after 
what  we  have  just  stated,  that  we  should,  in  justice 
to  the  emperor,  give  his  own  account  of  the  pro- 
ceedings up  to  this  point,  and  in  which  it  will  be 
seen  he  endeavours  to  excuse  himself  from  much 
of  the  blame  that  is  generally  laid  to  his  charge. 
In  a  now  celebrated  historical  pamphlet,  published 
at  Brussels  under  the  title  of  "  Campagne  de 
1870:  des  Causes  qui  ont  amene  la    Capitulation 


de  Sedan,  par  un  officier  attache"  a  l'Etat  Major- 
General,  "  and  which  was  dictated  by  the  emperor 
himself  during  his  retirement  at  Wilhelmshohe,  it 
is  stated  that  when  war  was  declared,  and  the  em- 
peror assumed  the  command-in-chief,  he  frequently 
gave  expression  to  the  thought,  reflected  in  his  ini- 
tial proclamation,  that  the  campaign  about  to  open 
would  be  surrounded  by  the  greatest  difficulties. 
In  the  midst  of  the  satisfaction  occasioned  by  the 
enthusiasm  which  everywhere  greeted  his  footsteps, 
many  observed  the  look  of  sadness  with  which  he 
listened  to  shouts  of  "Onward  to  Berlin!"  uttered 
by  the  excited  multitude — as  if  the  enterprise  was 
destined  to  be  merely  a  military  promenade,  and  a 
march  forward  would  suffice  to  vanquish  the  Euro- 
pean nation  most  thoroughly  exercised  in  the  pro- 
fession of  arms,  and  best  prepared  for  war. 

The  emperor  knew  that  Prussia  was  ready  to 
call  out,  in  a  short  time,  900,000  men,  and,  with 
the  aid  of  the  southern  states  of  Germany,  could 
count  upon  1,100,000  soldiers.  France  was  only 
able  to  muster  600,000 ;  and  as  the  number  of 
fighting  men  is  never  more  than  one-half  the 
actual  effective  force,  Germany  was  in  a  position 
to  bring  into  the  field  550,000  men,  whilst  France 
had  only  about  300,000  to  confront  her.  To 
compensate  for  this  numerical  inferiority,  it  was 
necessary  for  the  French,  by  a  rapid  movement, 
to  cross  the  Rhine,  separate  Southern  Germany 
from  the  North  German  Confederation,  and,  by 
the  eclat  of  a  first  success,  secure  the  alliance 
of  Austria  and  Italy.  If  they  were  able  to  prevent 
the  armies  of  Southern  Germany  from  forming 
their  junction  with  those  of  the  north,  the  effect- 
ive strength  of  the  Prussians  would  be  reduced 
200,000  men,  and  the  disproportion  between  the 
number  of  combatants  thus  much  diminished.  If 
Austria  and  Italy  made  common  cause  with  France, 
then  the  superiority  of  numbers  would  be  in  her 
favour. 

The  emperor's  plan  of  campaign — which  he 
confided  at  Paris  to  Marshals  MacMahon  and 
Lebceuf  alone — was  to  mass  150,000  men  at  Metz, 
100,000  at  Strassburg,  and  50,000  at  the  camp 
of  Chalons.  The  concentration  of  the  first  two 
armies,  one  on  the  Sarre,  and  the  other  on  the 
Rhine,  did  not  reveal  his  projects  ;  for  the  enemy 
was  left  in  uncertainty  as  to  whether  the  attack 
would  be  made  against  the  Rhenish  Provinces  or 
upon  the  duchy  of  Baden.  As  soon  as  the  troops 
should  have  been  concentrated  at  the  points  indi- 
2p 


298 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


cated,  it  was  the  emperor's  purpose  to  immediately 
unite  the  two  armies  of  Metz  and  Strassburg  ;  and, 
at  the  head  of  250,000  men,  to  cross  the  Rhine  at 
Maxau,  leaving  at  his  right  the  fortress  of  Rastadt, 
and  at  his  left  that  of  Germersheim.  Reaching 
the  other  side  of  the  Rhine,  he  would  have  forced 
the  states  of  the  south  to  observe  neutrality,  and 
would  then  have  hurried  on  to  encounter  the 
Prussians.  Whilst  this  movement  was  in  course 
of  execution,  the  50,000  men  at  Chalons,  under 
the  command  of  Marshal  Canrobert,  were  to  pro- 
ceed to  Metz,  to  protect  the  rear  of  the  army  and 
guard  the  eastern  frontier.  At  the  same  time,  the 
French  fleet  cruising  in  the  Baltic  would  have 
held  stationary,  in  the  north  of  Prussia,  a  part  of 
the  enemy's  forces,  obliged  to  defend  the  coasts 
threatened  with  invasion.  The  sole  chance  of 
this  plan  succeeding,  was  to  surpass  the  enemy  in 
rapidity  of  movement.  To  accomplish  this  it  was 
necessary  to  muster,  in  a  very  few  days,  at  the 
points  decided  upon,  not  only  the  number  of  men 
required,  but  also  the  essential  accessories  of  the 
projected  campaign  ;  such  as  waggon  equipages, 
artillery  parks,  pontoon  trains,  gunboats  to  cover  the 
passage  of  the  Rhine,  and,  finally,  the  commissariat 
necessary  to  supply  a  large  army  on  the  march. 

The  emperor  flattered  himself  with  the  hope  of 
attaining  these  results,  and  in  this  he  was  deceived ; 
as,  in  fact,  everybody  was  led  astray  by  the  sup- 
position that,  by  means  of  the  railways,  men  could 
be  concentrated,  and  horses  and  materiel  brought 
forward,  with  the  order  and  precision  indispensable 
to  success,  where  preparations  had  not  been  made 
long  in  advance  by  a  vigilant  administration.  "The 
delays  incurred  arose,  "  said  the  emperor,  "  in  a 
great  measure  from  the  defects  of  our  military 
organization,  as  it  has  existed  for  the  last  fifty 
years,  and  which  revealed  themselves  from  the  very 
beginning. "  Instead  of  possessing,  as  was  the  case 
with  Prussia,  army  corps  always  in  an  organized 
state,  recruited  in  the  province  itself,  and  possessing 
on  the  spot  their  materiel  and  complete  accessories, 
in  France  the  troops  composing  an  army  were 
dispersed  over  the  whole  country,  whilst  the 
materiel  was  stored  in  different  cities  in  crowded 
magazines.* 


*  "  Three  years  ago,  "  says  the  pamphlet,  "  orders  were  given  by  the 
emperor  to  ascertain  the  time  necessary  to  set  up  the  waggons  dis- 
mounted at  Vernon,  when  it  was  proved  that  this  simple  operation 
would  require  six  months'  labour.  These  waggons  were  thereupon 
divided  between  Paris,  Chalons,  and  Satory.  The  concentration  still 
remained  too  great,  and  has  been  fraught  with  deplorable  consequences." 


In  case  it  was  decided  to  form  an  active  division 
upon  any  given  point  of  the  frontier,  the  artillery 
generally  came  from  some  distant  place,  and  the 
train  equipage  and  ambulances  from  Paris  and 
Verdun.  Nearly  all  the  munitions  and  provisions 
were  brought  from  the  capital;  and  as  for  the 
soldiers  of  the  reserve,  they  rejoined  their  regi- 
ments from  all  parts  of  France.  The  consequence 
was,  that  the  railways  were  insufficient  for  the 
transportation  of  the  men,  horses,  and  materiel; 
confusion  took  place  everywhere;  and  the  railway 
stations  were  often  encumbered  with  objects  of 
which  the  nature  and  the  destination  were  equally 
unknown. 

In  1860  the  emperor  had  resolved  that  the 
recruits  of  the  second  portion  of  the  annual  con- 
tingent should  be  drilled  in  the  depots  of  their 
respective  provinces,  thence  to  be  drafted,  in  time 
of  war,  into  the  regiments  destined  for  the  cam- 
paign. This  plan  combined  the  advantages  of  the 
Prussian  with  those  of  the  French  system.  The 
men  belonging  to  the  reserve,  being  simply  obliged 
to  go  from  their  place  of  residence  to  the  principal 
town  of  the  department,  were  there  assembled, 
speedily  equipped,  and  divided  among  the  different 
regiments.  Still,  although  rapidly  completed,  the 
regiments  were  not,  as  in  Prussia,  made  up  from 
the  population  of  an  entire  province.  Unfortun- 
ately, this  plan  was  modified  by  the  war  office  in 
1866,  and  each  soldier,  after  being  mustered  into 
the  service,  was  immediately  assigned  to  a  regiment. 
The  result  was  that,  in  1870,  when  the  reserve 
was  called  out,  the  men  belonging  to  it,  in  order 
to  rejoin  their  various  regiments,  were  in  many 
instances  obliged  to  follow  a  long  and  complicated 
route.  Thus,  for  example,  the  men  who  were  at 
Strassburg,  and  whose  regiments  were  actually 
stationed  in  Alsace,  instead  of  at  once  joining  the 
ranks  at  Strassburg,  were  sent  to  their  respective 
regimental  depots,  which  might  be  in  the  south 
of  France,  or  even  in  Algiers,  and  were  thence 
obliged  to  return  again  to  Strassburg  for  incorpora- 
tion. It  may  be  easily  conceived  what  delays  in 
the  assembling  of  the  troops  were  caused  by  so 
defective  an  organization.  The  same  fact  existed 
with  respect  to  the  camping  material,  the  ambulance 
waggons,  and  the  officers'  transportation.  Instead 
of  being  distributed  among  the  depots,  in  the  centre 
of  each  department  of  the  empire,  they  were  all 
stored  in  a  limited  number  of  military  warehouses ; 
so  that  many  troops  belonging  to  the  reserve  were 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


299 


forced  to  join  their  corps  only  imperfectly  equipped, 
destitute  of  haversacks,  tentes  dabri,  pannikins, 
saucepans,  and  camp-kettles — all  objects  of  first 
necessity. 

To  these  defects  must  be  added  the  limited 
power  intrusted  to  the  generals  in  command  of  the 
departments,  and  to  the  military  commissariat.  The 
most  trifling  thing  required  a  ministerial  authoriza- 
tion. It  was,  for  instance,  impossible  to  distribute 
to  officers  or  men  the  most  indispensable  adjuncts, 
even  the  necessary  arms,  without  an  express  order 
from  Paris.  This  administrative  routine  deprived 
the  generals  of  the  activity  and  foresight  which 
may  sometimes  remedy  defective  organization. 

"  We  hasten  to  add,  however,"  continues  the 
pamphlet,  "  that,  to  make  up  an  army,  less  account 
must  be  taken  of  individual  intelligence  than  of 
substantial  organization,  moved  by  simple  machin- 
ery, and  capable  of  working  regularly  in  time  of 
war,  because  it  has  been  habituated  to  working 
regularly  in  time  of  peace.  Yet,  notwithstanding 
all  the  deceptions  we  encountered,  justice  must  be 
rendered  to  the  functionaries  at  the  war  office,  who, 
at  a  moment  of  profound  tranquillity,  were  invested 
with  the  task  of  setting  in  motion  the  entire 
military  power  of  France.  Taking  into  consider- 
ation the  defective  French  administration,  it  was 
in  reality  a  tour  de  force  to  bring  into  line,  in  so 
brief  a  period,  armies  incompletely  formed;  no 
previous  measure  for  the  purpose  having  been 
carried  into  effect. 

"  No  doubt  the  objection  will  be  made  that 
some,  at  least,  of  the  faults  heretofore  mentioned 
ought  to  have  been  remedied  in  advance.  But 
the  difficulty  of  conquering  inveterate  habits  and 
prejudices  must  not  be  forgotten.  The  Chambers, 
too,  persistently  refused  the  aid  necessary  to  accom- 
plish the  most  important  reforms.  Who  does  not 
remember  the  objections  and  protestations  to  which 
the  bill  providing  for  a  new  military  organization 
gave  rise?  The  opposition  adhered  to  their  vain 
theory  of  levies  en  masse,  and  the  bill  was  every- 
where badly  received.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
emperor,  confident  in  the  armies  which  had  achieved 
such  glorious  successes  in  the  Crimea  and  in  Italy, 
was  not  indisposed  to  believe  that  their  irresistible 
rush  (Jlari)  would  compensate  for  many  deficiencies, 
and  render  victory  assured.  His  illusions  were  not 
of  long  duration. 

"  The  army  of  Metz,  instead  of  150,000  men,  only 
mustered  100,000;  that  of  Strassburg  only  40,000, 


instead  of  100,000;  whilst  the  corps  of  Marshal 
Canrobert  had  still  one  division  at  Paris  and 
another  at  Soissons:  his  artillery,  as  well  as  his 
cavalry,  was  not  ready.  Further,  no  army  corps 
was  even  yet  completely  furnished  with  the  equip- 
ments necessary  for  taking  the  field. 

"  The  emperor  gave  precise  orders  to  the  effect 
that  the  missing  regiments  should  be  pushed  on 
with  all  possible  speed;  but  he  was  obeyed  slowly, 
excuse  being  made  that  it  was  impossible  to  leave 
Algeria,  Paris,  and  Lyons  without  garrisons. 

"  Nevertheless,  the  hope  of  carrying  out  the 
(original)  plan  of  the  campaign  was  not  lost.  It 
was  thought  that  the  enemy  would  not  be  ready 
before  us.  His  movements  were  not  known,  nor 
in  what  quarter  his  forces  were  being  massed;  but 
all  uncertainty  on  this  point  was  soon  cleared 
away  by  the  events  in  the  first  week  in  August." 

As  might  have  been  expected,  the  delay  on  the 
part  of  the  French  produced  an  evident  change  in 
the  German  plan  of  operations.  Originally  believ- 
ing the  French  would  force  the  fighting,  they  had 
shown  no  other  anxiety  than  to  be  prepared  to 
resist  their  impetuosity.  They  deemed  it  inex- 
pedient to  await  an  onset  on  the  Saar,  but  wished 
to  decoy  the  French  away  from  their  base  of 
operations  at  Metz,  and  to  await  them  in  their 
own  formidable  position  near  Mayence.  The 
whole  district  between  the  Moselle  and  the  Rhine 
was  left  almost  defenceless.  Moltke  had  resolved 
on  sacrificing  no  men  in  detail,  and  in  fact  on  the 
spur  of  the  moment  he  had  no  men  to  mass;  but 
with  each  day  of  reprieve  his  forces  accumulated 
in  geometrical  progression,  until  at  length  he  could 
draw  a  sigh  of  relief,  satisfied  that  Germany  had 
both  the  generalship  and  the  soldiers;  and  as  action 
was  felt  to  be  necessary  to  them,  it  was  resolved, 
that  as  the  French  delayed  making  the  expected 
advance,  they  would  assume  the  offensive,  so  that 
the  parts  assigned  to  the  two  countries  by  long- 
established  traditions  were  reversed.  With  this 
object  in  view,  a  general  advance  of  the  German 
troops  was  made  from  their  second  line  on  the 
Rhine,  to  their  more  advanced  one  between  it  and 
the  Lauter. 

General  Steinmetz  with  the  first  army  came 
from  Cologne  across  the  Eifel  mountains,  and  from 
Coblentz  up  the  Moselle  to  Treves  and  Saarlouis. 
The  Crown  Prince  moved  onwards  from  Speyer, 
across  the  Rhine  to  Germersheim  and  Landau; 
while  Prince  Frederick  Charles  brought  forward  the 


300 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


centre  by  Kaiserslautern  and  Birkenfeld,  towards 
Saarbruck. 

Prepared  or  not,  however,  political  considera- 
tions compelled  the  French  emperor  to  make  at 
least  some  show  of  actual  hostilities,  for  the  Pari- 
sian public  were  already  murmuring  loudly  at  the 
delay;  and  it  was  accordingly  decided  to  strike  a 
blow  at  one  of  the  least  defended  and  most  access- 
ible points  on  the  frontier.  The  place  thus  chosen 
was  Saarbruck,  a  manufacturing  town  of  consider- 
able importance,  situated  in  a  rich  coal  district, 
and  which  has,  with  its  suburb  of  St.  Johann,  with 
which  it  is  connected  by  two  bridges,  a  population 
of  14,000.  The  town  stands  on  the  south,  or 
French  side  of  the  river  Saar,  and  consists  of 
long  streets,  with  a  slight  ascent,  running  parallel 
to  the  river.  A  broad  hill  rises  immediately 
behind  the  town,  from  whose  summit  there  is  a 
good  view  of  the  broad  valley,  bounded  in  front 
by  the  heights  of  Spicheren.  These  latter  hills  are 
called — to  commence  from  the  left — the  Winter- 
berg,  Reppersberg,  Frilles,  and  Galenberg,  and  the 
Exerciesplatz.  The  town  is  an  open  one,  and  being 
completely  commanded  by  heights,  its  defence 
entered  so  little  into  the  plans  of  Prussian  strate- 
gists, that  it  had  at  first  hardly  any  garrison  at  all. 
In  fact,  had  they  cared  to  have  done  so,  almost  as 
soon  as  war  was  declared  the  French  could  easily 
have  gained  possession  of  the  place  without  firing 
a  shot,  and  the  major  in  command  had  been  only  left 
in  his  exposed  position  whilst  the  mobilization  was 
proceeding,  at  his  own  urgent  request.  For  sev- 
eral days  in  the  last  week  of  July  the  French  from 
Forbach  and  from  Sarreguemines,  under  Generals 
Frossard  and  De  Failly,  had  been  occupying  the 
surrounding  hills,  unimpeded  by  the  Prussians, 
and  rearing  their  batteries,  under  cover  of  the 
woods  on  the  plateau  at  Spicheren,  on  the  right  of 
the  road  from  Forbach,  and  advancing  with  heavy 
columns  upon  the  village  of  St.  Arnual  on  the 
right,  and  Gersweiler  on  the  left  of  the  central 
plateau.  From  this  height  the  range  of  the 
French  cannon  had  been  tried  at  1800  metres' 
(about  2100  yards')  distance  with  perfect  success. 
A  reconnaissance  and  attack  on  the  town  by  the 
French,  which  took  place  on  Saturday,  July  30, 
was,  however,  repulsed ;  but  on  the  following 
Tuesday,  August  2,  the  attack  was  renewed  with 
much  greater  force,  and  with  ultimate  success. 
The  attacking  troops  consisted  of  the  second  divi- 
sion (General  Bataille)  of  the  second  army  corps 


(General  Frossardj.  The  advance  was  made  by  the 
Forbach  road,  the  first  object  to  be  attained  being 
the  complete  occupation  of  the  heights  immediately 
commanding  Saarbruck.  This  was  easily  accom- 
plished, the  Prussian  videttes  falling  back  as  the 
enemy  advanced.  There  was  indeed  but  little 
opposition  until  the  French  were  fairly  posted  on 
this  vantage  ground,  from  which  their  guns  com- 
manded the  town  where  the  Prussians  were  posted. 
The  combat  then  became  one  of  artillery,  and,  on 
the  part  of  the  French,  of  mitrailleuses,  from  which 
so  much  was  expected.  The  town  was  held  by 
three  companies  of  the  fortieth  regiment,  amounting 
to  about  800  men,  supported  by  two  light  guns 
(four  pounders)  and  about  250  cavalry.  The 
emperor  and  prince  imperial  left  Metz  by  special 
train  about  half  past  eight  in  the  morning,  so  as 
to  be  present  at  the  engagement,  which  com- 
menced at  about  eleven,  and  was  continued  for 
nearly  three  hours.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  the 
position  being  evidently  untenable,  was  evacuated 
by  the  Prussians,  who  retired  by  way  of  Grosswald, 
and  it  was  during  their  retreat  across  the  bridge 
that  the  mitrailleuses  were  brought  into  play  upon 
two  detachments  of  troops.  The  effect  was  said 
by  the  French  to  have  been  marvellous,  "  the 
enemy  being  at  once  scattered,  and  leaving  half 
their  number  dead  or  wounded;"  but  the  Prussian 
official  statement  of  their  whole  loss  was  only  two 
officers  and  seventy  men,  and  a  trustworthy  English- 
man, who  witnessed  the  action  from  the  town,  said 
he  noticed  particularly  that  nearly  all  the  mitrail- 
leuse bullets  fell  short.  He  said  the  pluck  and 
enthusiasm  with  which  the  Prussians  contested 
every  inch  of  ground,  in  spite  of  being  so  much 
outnumbered,  showed  of  what  material  they  were 
made;  and  the  steady  way  in  which  they  brought 
their  needle  gun  up  to  their  shoulder  and  delib- 
erately took  aim,  contrasted  favourably  with  the 
excited  random  shots  of  the  French  with  their 
Chassepots;  the  French  idea  apparently  being  that 
it  was  desirable  to  consume  as  much  ammunition 
as  possible,  regardless  of  results. 

The  following  was  the  account  of  the  action 
supplied  to  the  emperor,  by  the  general  command- 
ing the  troops  engaged  on  the  French  side: — 

August  2. 

Sire, — I  have  the  honour  to  report  to  your 
Majesty  the  movements  effected  this  day  by  the 
second  army  corps  in  pursuance  of  your  orders, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


301 


to  take  possession  of  the  positions  on  the  left  bank  of  ! 
the  Saar,  which  command  the  heights  of  Saarbruck. 
General  Bataille's  division,  supported  on  the 
right  by  that  of  General  Laveaucoupet  and  one  of 
the  twelve-pounder  batteries  of  the  reserve,  and 
on  the  left  by  the  first  brigade  of  the  division  of 
General  Verge,  with  a  second  battery  of  twelve- 
pounders,  formed  the  first  line.  General  Bastoul, 
encamped  at  Spicheren,  and  intrusted  with  the 
duty  of  directing  the  movement  on  our  right,  was 
ordered  to  send  two  battalions  to  occupy  the  village 
of  St.  Arnual  and  the  heights  above  it;  whilst  the 
remainder  of  his  brigade,  crossing  the  ravine  in 
-front  of  Spicheren,  was  to  make  a  front  attack  on 
the  positions  to  the  right  of  the  road  from  Forbach 
to  Saarbruck.  The  other  brigade  of  the  Bataille 
division  was  to  move  on  to  the  position  known  as 
the  exercising  ground.  Three  squadrons  of  the 
fifth  mounted  chasseurs  preceded  it  to  clear  the  way. 
Finally,  Colonel  du  Ferron,  of  the  fourth  mounted 
chasseurs,  with  two  battalions  of  the  first  brigade  of 
the  Verge-  division,  was  to  push  on  a  reconnaissance 
to  Guerswiller  to  connect  the  movement  of  the 
second  corps  with  that  of  Marshal  Bazaine.  The 
troops  left  their  bivouacks  between  nine  and  ten 
o'clock.  Lieutenant-colonel  Thebeaudin,  with  two 
battalions  of  his  regiment  (the  sixty-seventh),  in 
advancing  to  the  attack  of  the  village  of  St.  Arnual, 
found  it  strongly  occupied  and  defended  by  bat- 
teries of  position  planted  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Saar.  To  demolish  this  artillery,  General  Micheler, 
whose  brigade  had  come  forward  to  support  the 
movement  of  General  Bastoul,  ordered  into  action  a 
battery  of  the  fifteenth  regiment,  which  effectually 
opened  fire  on  the  Prussian  guns.  Supported  by  a 
battalion  of  the  fortieth  regiment  of  the  line,  and 
by  the  company  of  sappers  and  miners  of  the  third 
division,  materially  assisted  by  the  flank  movement 
of  Colonel  Mangin,  who,  with  the  remainder  of  the 
sixty-seventh  regiment  and  the  sixty-sixth  regi- 
ment, descended  the  heights  on  the  left,  Lieu- 
tenant-colonel Thebeaudin  was  able  to  carry  the 
village  of  St.  Arnual,  and  occupied  it  with  a  bat- 
talion of  the  fortieth  regiment  and  the  company  of 
sappers  and  miners.  The  battalions  of  the  sixty- 
seventh,  with  great  4lan,  rushed  up  the  slopes  of 
the  hillock  of  St.  Arnual,  and  established  them- 
selves on  the  crest  opposite  Saarbruck.  The  sixty- 
sixth,  with  equal  resolution,  took  possession  of  the 
heights  up  to  the  exercising  ground,  driving  the 
enemy  from  all  his  positions.     At  the  same  time, 


General  Bataille  rapidly  moved  his  first  brigade  to 
the  rising  ground  on  the  left  of  the  Saarbruck  road, 
connecting  his  movement  with  that  of  his  second 
brigade  by  advancing  a  battalion  of  the  thirty-third 
regiment.  Advancing  in  line,  the  battalions  of 
the  twenty-third  and  eighth  regiments,  their  front 
covered  by  numerous  skirmishers,  resolutely  car- 
ried the  many  ravines  which  run  across  the  ground, 
which  is  very  difficult  and  thickly  wooded.  One 
battalion  of  the  eighth  regiment,  working  its  way 
across  the  woods,  followed  the  railway  as  far  as  the 
village  of  Frotrany,  where  it  effected  its  junction 
with  the  other  battalions  of  the  regiment,  and 
together  they  attacked  the  exercising  ground  of 
the  right.  On  gaining  the  heights,  General  Ba- 
taille planted  one  of  his  batteries  in  front  of  the 
lines  of  the  sixty-sixth  regiment,  and  another 
on  the  exercising  ground,  to  fire  on  the  railway 
station  and  silence  the  enemy's  artillery,  which 
had  taken  up  a  position  on  the  left  of  Saarbruck. 
It  was  unable  to  sustain  our  fire,  and  had  to  fall 
back.  The  twelve-pounder  battery  of  the  reserve  was 
ordered  by  me  to  support  the  fire  of  the  batteries 
on  the  exercising  ground,  and  finally  a  battery  of 
mitrailleuses  of  the  second  division  threw  into  utter 
disorder  the  enemy's  columns  of  infantry,  which 
were  evacuating  the  town.  During  this  artillery 
duel  the  troops  were  able  to  acclaim  his  Majesty 
the  emperor  and  the  prince  imperial,  on  the  very 
ground  from  which  they  had  just  dislodged  the 
enemy.  The  movements  of  the  infantry  were 
excellently  seconded  by  the  fifth  regiment  of  horse 
chasseurs,  under  the  orders  of  Colonel  de  Sereville. 
The  squadrons,  supported  by  infantry  in  skirmish- 
ing order,  searched  every  nook  in  the  ground,  and 
rapidly  gained  all  the  crests  of  the  hills  whence 
they  could  descry  the  enemy.  The  twelfth  batta- 
lion of  foot  chasseurs,  and  the  company  of  sappers 
and  miners  of  the  second  division,  formed  the 
reserve  of  General  Bataille  ;  they  joined  the  troop 
of  the  first  brigade  on  the  exercising  ground.  The 
first  brigade  of  the  Verge"  division,  which  formed 
the  second  line,  constantly  kept  at  400  or  500 
metres  from  the  first  line,  and  availed  themselves  of 
every  rise  in  the  ground  to  cover  themselves.  The 
reports  I  have  received  up  to  this  time  announce 
the  following  losses  : — The  sixty-sixth  regiment 
had  one  officer  killed,  M.  de  Bar,  lieutenant  of  the 
francs-tireurs;  Captain  Adjutant  Major  Privat  has  a 
very  dangerous  gunshot  wound  ;  Lieutenant  Lara- 
mey  received  a  bullet  through  his  shoulder;  fifteen 


302 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


or  sixteen  rank  and  file  were  killed  or  wounded. 
The  sixty-seventh  had  no  casualty  among  its 
officers.  Eank  and  file,  twenty  men  killed  or 
wounded.  The  eighth  regiment,  two  rank  and 
file  wounded.  The  third  division  reports  a  ser- 
geant killed  and  a  private  wounded.  I  have  not 
received  the  report  of  Colonel  du  Ferron.  I  am 
told  that  he  was  engaged,  and  had  about  ten  men 
wounded.  Neither  have  I  received  the  report  of 
the  commander  of  the  tenth  battalion  of  foot 
chasseurs,  which  has  pushed  forward  on  the  right 
along  the  road  from  Sarreguemines  to  Saarbruck. 
The  troops  are  encamped  on  the  ground  they  have 
gained.  I  have  had  a  few  entrenchments  thrown 
up  in  front  and  flank  of  their  position.  Some 
epaulements  have  also  been  established  to  protect 
our  guns  and  gunners.  I  was  greatly  pleased  with 
the  dash  and  resolution  of  the  troops.  They 
showed  great  energy  in  marching  up  steep  ground, 
and  also  in  action.  The  heads  of  the  several  corps 
congratulate  themselves  on  the  steadiness  of  their 
men,  their  intrepidity,  and  the  growing  confidence 
they  show  in  their  weapons.  I  will  make  known 
to  your  Majesty  the  names  of  the  officers  and  men 
of  all  ranks  who  specially  merit  being  pointed  out. 
Our  losses  amount  to  six  killed,  and  sixty-seven 
wounded. — Eeceive,  &c, 

FROSSARD. 

The  "  victory"  was  of  no  importance  whatever 
to  the  French  in  a  military  point  of  view,  as  no 
further  advance  was  made,  and  no  advantage  taken 
of  the  success.  In  fact,  the  town,  which  had  some 
of  its  houses  burned  during  the  fight,  was  not  even 
occupied,  as  the  Prussian  guns  completely  com- 
manded it  from  the  heights  behind.  The  "  victory," 
however,  enabled  the  emperor  to  send  the  empress 
a  telegram  which  has  now  become  historical,  an- 
nouncing the  fact  that  the  young  prince  imperial 
had  received  his  "  Baptism  of  Fire."  The  docu- 
ment ran  thus: — "Louis  has  just  received  his 
baptism  of  fire.  He  showed  admirable  coolness, 
and  was  not  at  all  affected.  A  division  of  General 
Frossard  has  captured  the  heights  which  overlooked 
the  left  bank  at  Saarbruck.  The  Prussians  made 
but  a  short  resistance.  We  were  in  the  front  rank, 
but  the  bullets  and  cannon  balls  fell  at  our  feet. 
Louis  has  kept  a  bullet  which  fell  quite  close  to 
him.  Some  of  the  soldiers  wept  at  seeing  him  so 
calm.    We  have  lost  one  officer  and  ten  men  killed. 

"  NAPOLEON." 


At  the  same  time  the  emperor's  private  secretary 
announced  the  victory  to  the  minister  of  the 
Interior  as  follows: — 

"  Metz,  August  2,  4.30. 

"  By  the  emperor's  orders,  get  the  following 
inserted  in  the  Official  Journal,  in  the  non-official 
part,  and  give  a  copy  to  all  the  Paris  papers: — This 
day,  August  2,  at  eleven  in  the  morning,  the 
French  troops  had  a  serious  engagement  with  the 
Prussian  troops.  Our  army  assumed  the  offensive, 
crossed  the  frontier,  and  invaded  Prussian  territory. 
In  spite  of  the  strong  position  of  the  enemy,  a  few 
of  our  battalions  succeeded  in  taking  the  heights 
which  command  Saarbruck,  and  our  artillery  very 
soon  drove  the  enemy  out  of  the  town.  The 
engagement  began  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  was  over 
at  one.  The  emperor  was  present  at  the  opera- 
tions, and  the  prince  imperial,  who  accompanied 
him  throughout,  received  the  '  baptism  of  fire.' 
His  imperial  highness's  presence  of  mind  and  his 
sang  froid  in  danger  were  worthy  of  the  name  he 
bears.  The  emperor  returned  to  Metz  at  four 
o'clock." 

In  the  evening  after  the  combat  the  prince, 
who  has  a  great  natural  taste  for  drawing,  made 
a  sketch  of  the  engagement,  and  presented  it  to 
M.  Tristan  Lambert,  who  was  a  great  friend  of 
his,  and  who  had  volunteered  as  a  private  in  one 
of  the  regiments  of  the  guards  for  the  campaign.  ' 
This  sketch  was  very  exact  and  precise,  the  march 
of  the  troops,  the  encounter,  the  bridge,  the  spot 
where,  with  the  emperor,  he  stood  during  the  affair, 
all  being  clearly  indicated.  In  one  corner  of  the 
sketch  were  written  these  lines: — "  A  mon  ami 
Tristan  Lambert.  Le  2  Aout,  apres  avoir  vu  le  feu 
pour  la  premiere  fois. 

"LOUIS   NAPOLEON." 

On  the  return  of  the  emperor  to  Metz  in  the 
evening  (or,  as  was  officially  announced,  "  in  time 
for  dinner "),  he  sent  for  the  mayor,  and  after  an 
interview  of  a  few  moments'  duration  the  latter 
stated  publicly  to  his  friends  and  acquaintances 
on  the  Place  Napole'on  that  the  French  troops  had 
taken  the  town  of  Saarbruck,  that  the  town  was 
on  fire,  and  the  Prussians  running  away.  The 
inhabitants  immediately  gave  themselves  up  to  the 
most  extravagant  expressions  of  joy.  In  some 
parts  of  the  town  music,  singing,  and  dancing 
were  kept  up  all  night.     Some  of  the  oldest  inhab- 


Sellerbach 


J<n  au  shol  z 


SHosteji  Bach   . 


''iU'f'^y 


«  •     Oersl  a utern/ 


,  fc^-i**" 


«**  'ij'  "1^. 


-«w ' 


'4ft 


.4  t  -  ■      ■'       '    ' 


Ludweller  ,^/Xii}^ 


\>* 


;*^>Fu  rsten/iaii  ssav***- 


«*■•• 'j,,«--', ji*-.  jj-' 

*»»  rt     -  - 

&  ;  '*■"■•/ 

,  x    J"--  "J 


S  a  a  r 


:a^=  VielleKen-erie  'i.y'A  ri^U  ^'       .,   , 


■_•'  ferf  ''.-  ■*'£ J*-% 


.>.. 


VkJ^ 


BATTLE    OF    SAARBRUCK 

August    2nd     18  70. 


FRENCH 


PRUSSIANS 


t'errSri.<;JophJe! 
'•>K- 

'  ~  V-s  '     ,<_■•-■.  -'     ■ 


Wiebferg 


-^eUchbe, 


Morsiach 


•'"." 


Folckl 


& 


Drawn  tinier  the  STaermtendaiire  of  Captain  Hosier 


Enfravel  Tit  fl.  "ffalier 


DINBURGH  J  GLASGOW 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


303 


itants  reminded  the  mayor  that  the  custom  of 
Metz  was  to  ring  a  merry  peal  from  the  bells  of 
the  cathedral  at  every  victory  of  France  over  her 
enemies,  and  regretted  that  he  did  not  order  it  to 
be  rung  immediately.  They  also  suggested  that  an 
official  notice  of  the  victory  might  be  very  con- 
veniently posted  up  at  the  Prefecture,  and  also  at 
the  Hotel  de  Ville.  The  mayor,  upon  this,  returned 
to  his  Majesty  to  ask  permission  both  to  ring  the 
bells,  and  to  post  up  the  bulletin  of  the  entrance 
of  the  French  army  into  Saarbruck.  But  he  came 
back  considerably  disappointed:  the  emperor  had 
said,  in  answer  to  his  loyal  application,  "  Never 
mind  about  the  bells  nor  the  official  notice  either." 
This  was  considered  by  the  masses  as  an  example 
of  the  most  admirable  modesty  and  abnegation 
in  which  an  imperial  sovereign  could  possibly  dis- 
play his  haute  sagesse,  and  when  at  last  people  did 
betake  themselves  to  bed,  they  amused  themselves 
by  constantly  repeating  the  words  sage,  prudent, 
modeste  et  grand  homme!  During  the  night  and 
all  the  following  morning,  officers  who  had  been 
in  the  affair  came  to  Metz,  and  when  the  real  truth 
came  out  it  considerably  reduced  the  noisy  enthu- 
siasm of  the  citizens  and  the  soldiery. 

Marshal  MacMahon  went  from  Strassburg  to 
Metz  on  Sunday,  July  31,  and  had  a  long  inter- 
view with  the  emperor;  and  after  Ms  departure 
orders  were  given  to  prepare  for  the  emperor's 
departure  for  Strassburg  on  Wednesday  morning, 
August  3,  at  five  o'clock.  Every  thing  was  ready 
accordingly,  but  when  the  time  came  it  was  found 
that  the  emperor's  state  of  health  did  not  permit 
him  to  make  the  journey;  the  travelling  and  the 
excitement  of  the  previous  day  had  exhausted  his 
strength  so  much  that  neither  physician  nor  surgeon 
would  consent  to  his  leaving  the  house. 

For  the  purpose  of  more  clearly  understanding 
subsequent  events,  it  may  be  well  if  we  here 
briefly  recapitulate  the  general  situation  of  the 
two  armies  at  this  time  (Wednesday,  August  3). 
The  emperor  kept  his  corps  scattered  along  the 
Prussian  and  Bavarian  frontiers,  MacMahon  cover- 
ing the  right,  between  Strassburg  and  the  Lauter; 
L'Admirault  on  the  left  at  Thionville;  Frossard 
overlooking  Saarbruck  and  at  Forbach,  on  the 
left  centre,  supported  by  Bazaine  and  the  guards  in 
rear ;  and  De  Failly  about  Bitsche,  protecting  the 
branch  railroad  from  Sarreguemines  to  Ha<nienau. 
Marshal  Canrobert's  corps  was  in  second  line  at 
Chalons  or  Nancy,  and  Douay's  to  the  south-east  of 


the  whole  at  Belfort.  Most  of  these  positions  had 
been  occupied  for  many  days,  and  an  advance 
by  Forbach  and  Saarbruck  was  looked  for  by  the 
main  body  as  the  natural  complement  of  the  attack 
on  Saarbruck  of  the  2nd;  for  although  suited  for 
attack,  the  whole  French  position  was  about  the 
very  worst  that  could  have  been  chosen  for  defence, 
the  outstretched  wings  being  distributed  over  a 
front  100  miles  long,  and  inviting  attack  at  half-a- 
dozen  points  from  a  vigorous  enemy. 

The  position  of  the  four  French  front  corps, 
though  too  scattered  for  defence,  might  have  been 
turned  by  the  staff  to  one  special  end  with  great 
advantage.  Had  each  chief  exerted  himself  to  the 
full  to  gain  intelligence  of  the  enemy's  proceedings, 
had  they  impressed  this  necessity  on  their  subor- 
dinates, their  cavalry  might  in  their  earlier  days 
of  expectation  have  penetrated  every  point  of  the 
Prussian  and  Bavarian  districts  before  them,  and 
done  such  service  as  at  least  to  have  changed  the 
aspect  of  affairs  at  the  outset.  Frossard's  advanced 
troops  should  have  destroyed  the  junctions  of  the 
three  railroads  which  met  from  Treves,  Bingen, 
and  Mayence,  within  twenty  miles  of  his  front. 
L'Admirault  might  have  discovered  the  truth  of  the 
reports  already  rife,  of  an  assembly  of  Germans 
behind  Saaiiouis  about  Treves.  De  Failly 's  horse 
should  have  penetrated  into  Khenish  Bavaria,  at 
least  sufficiently  far  to  discover  whether  Landau 
was  being  garrisoned  in  force.  Without  doubt,  a 
little  exertion  on  the  part  of  the  two  former  would 
have  at  least  discovered  the  enemy's  plan  sufficiently 
to  have  made  known  the  vital  importance  to  the 
coming  German  concentration  of  the  railroad  junc- 
tions of  Saarbruck  and  Neuenkirchen.  Had  De 
Failly  been  moderately  active,  he  would  have 
infallibly  discovered  that  a  third  of  the  German 
armies  were  being  gathered  within  a  morning's 
ride  of  his  videttes.  As  to  MacMahon's  own  share 
in  this  strange  state  of  indolence,  it  is  beyond 
question  that  he  had  about  Strassburg  some  means 
at  least  of  feigning  a  passage  of  the  Rhine  in  force, 
and  so  drawing  his  enemy's  attention  that  way. 
But  not  one  of  these  things  was  even  attempted. 

The  following  was  the  Prussian  situation  at 
the  same  time  (August  3).  On  the  right,  the 
first  army,  organized  by  Herwarth  at  Coblentz, 
had  General  Steinmetz,  another  veteran  of  the 
Waterloo  period,  assigned  to  its  head  in  the  field. 
It  consisted  of  the  seventh,  eighth,  and  half  of  the 
first  corps ;  but  in  spite  of  every  exertion,  only 


304 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


three  of  the  five  divisions  had  reached  the  district 
where  the  Saar  flows  into  the  Moselle  above  Treves 
(Trier).  The  central,  or  second  army,  was  less 
advanced.  Prince  Frederick  Charles  had  only  taken 
up  his  head-quarters  at  Mayence  (Mainz)  on  the 
1st,  and  was  occupied  in  pushing  his  leading  corps 
( the  third,  under  Alvensleben),  direct  through  the 
Vosges  towards  the  point  of  junction  on  the  Saar, 
so  long  threatened  by  the  French  troops  of  Frossard. 
Marching  partly,  and  partly  using  the  Kreutznach- 
Bingen  line  of  railway,  this  corps  was  now  more 
than  half  over  the  hundred  miles  which  lie  between 
Mayence  and  Forbach.  How  important  to  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  was  the  inaction  of  the  French 
we  have  already  alluded  to,  may  best  be  understood 
by  again  observing,  that  their  advance  for  fifteen 
miles  only  beyond  Saarbruck  would  have  brought 
them  upon  the  second  junction  station  before  them, 
that  of  Neuenkirchen,  where  the  Kreutznach-Bin- 
gen  line  unites  with  the  main  railroad  from  Metz 
to  Mannheim.  The  French  main  body,  therefore, 
if  they  had  pushed  less  than  twenty  miles  from  the 
Saar,  would  have  completely  severed  the  communi- 
cation of  the  troops  on  the  Bingen  line  from  those 
on  the  Mannheim,  and  both  of  course  from  that  to 
Treves  by  Saarbruck,  except  so  far  as  the  Prussians 
might  have  used  the  cross-roads  of  a  difficult 
country. 

"Whilst  the  right  and  centre  of  the  Prussians  were 
thus  still  far  from  facing  the  enemy  in  strength,  the 
case  was  very  different  with  their  left,  where  General 
Moltke  had  directed  so  large  a  force  to  assemble  as 
to  give  to  the  Crown  Prince  and  his  army  (the 
third)  great  independence  of  action.  Here  were 
no  mountains  to  be  passed,  no  wide  districts  to 
be  traversed  before  the  enemy  was  found.  The 
river  Ehine  and  its  petty  affluent,  the  Lauter,  had 
from  the  first  separated  the  outposts  of  MacMahon 
from  those  of  the  Badish  and  Bavarian  levies  first 
summoned  to  cover  the  frontier.  Dashing  expedi- 
tions of  horsemen  were  made  across  it,  chiefly  from 
the  German  lines;  and  whilst  these  occupied  the 
attention  of  the  French,  the  third  army  was  being 
collected  undiscovered  in  their  front.  The  fifth  and 
eleventh  Prussian  corps,  and  the  first  Bavarian,  were 
the  earliest  to  arrive  at  the  designated  passages  of 
the  Rhine  at  Germersheim  and  Mannheim,  and 
for  fourteen  days  consecutively  5000  men  a  day 
were  passed  through  the  latter  city  alone,  and  sent 
on  by  rail  to  Landau,  where  the  Crown  Prince  had 
his  head-quarters  on  the  3rd,  and  where  he  was 


joined  also  by  divisions  from  Baden  and  Wiirtem- 
burg,  the  latter  only  that  evening. 

The  fortress  of  Landau  is  but  a  short  march 
from  the  frontier  on  the  Lauter,  and  as  the  German 
side  of  that  stream  was  wooded,  it  was  not  difficult 
to  mass  a  great  part  of  the  allied  troops  close  to  it 
on  the  3rd.  The  line  of  the  stream  was  observed 
by  the  French  with  a  single  division  of  Mac- 
Mahon's  corps,  under  General  Abel  Douay,  who, 
though  ignorant  of  the  movements  on  the  other 
side,  was  so  rash  as  to  keep  the  bulk  of  his  troops 
almost  upon  the  frontier.  It  was  open  to  him  to 
have  held  the  fine  with  pickets  of  his  cavalry,  and 
kept  his  command  so  far  to  the  south  as  to  have 
had  ample  notice  of  the  advance  of  the  Prussians 
over  the  stream. 

Trusting,  however,  to  a  vague  idea  that  the 
enemy  were  on  the  defensive,  he  neglected  this 
obvious  precaution,  although  aware  that  there  were 
other  unguarded  passages  by  which  he  might  be 
attacked,  as  that  of  Lauterburg,  a  small  place  ten 
miles  to  his  right,  near  the  Rhine.  His  position, 
therefore  laid  him  at  the  mercy  of  the  superior 
numbers  who  were  gathering  before  him  unob- 
served, and  as  will  be  immediately  described,  the 
Crown  Prince  promptly  used  the  advantage  thus 
offered  by  the  enemy,  whose  camp  was  but  a  mile 
beyond  the  Lauter.  The  secrecy  preserved  by  the 
Prussian  generals,  and  in  some  measure,  too,  the 
carelessness  of  the  French  authorities,  prevented  the 
latter  from  ascertaining  the  true  strength  and  posi- 
tion of  their  adversaries,  whilst  the  Prussians  were 
kept  unusually  well  informed  as  to  the  movements 
and  strength  of  the  French,  and  availed  themselves 
of  every  opportunity  to  obtain  such  information, 
and  without  much  impediment  being  placed  in 
their  way.  It  was,  for  instance,  only  natural  that 
the  Prussians  should  obtain  information  from  some 
of  the  peasants  of  Alsace  and  the  German  part  of 
Lorraine,  and  the  first  measure  taken  by  the  French 
should  have  been  to  prevent  all  communication  on 
the  frontier.  Instead  of  this,  up  to  the  very  moment 
that  an  attack  was  made  by  the  Prussians,  women 
and  children  living  in  the  various  villages  adjacent 
to  the  Palatinate  and  the  Rhenish  provinces  went 
daily  across  the  frontier,  pursuing  their  usual  trade 
in  rural  produce  ;  and  a  girl  thirteen  years  of  age 
gave,  for  a  thaler,  much  useful  information  con- 
cerning the  division  of  General  Douay.  It  is  thus 
obvious  that  the  Prussians,  exerting  all  their  efforts 
for  getting  news,  and  speaking  German  with  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


305 


borderers,  who  are  German  all  along  the  frontier, 
had  an  enormous  advantage  over  the  French  in 
this  respect ;  for  they  neither  took  the  trouble  to 
send  reconnoitring  detachments  across  the  frontier, 
nor  could  expect  Prussian  or  Bavarian  peasants  to 
come  over  to  talk  with  them.  No  wonder  then 
they  were  taken  so  completely  by  surprise !  The 
country  itself,  too,  broken  by  ravines  and  densely 
wooded,  was  admirably  adapted  to  conceal  the 
movements  of  the  German  troops. 

No  important  event  occurred  on  Wednesday, 
August  3  ;  but  on  the  following  day  a  French 
council  of  war  was  held  at  Metz,  at  which  Mac- 
Mahon  and  Bazaine  were  present;  and  at  which,  it 
is  believed,  an  advance  in  force  was  decided  upon, 
involving  an  independent  movement  of  MacMahon's 
corps  towards  the  Rhine,  while  Bazaine  was  to  force 
back  the  troops  in  front,  and  cut  off  all  communica- 
tion with  Treves.  A  German  council  of  war  held 
earlier  in  the  week,  at  Mayence,  immediately  after 
the  arrival  of  the  king  of  Prussia,  was  unanimously 
of  opinion  that  the  German  armies  should  act  on 
the  offensive. 

The  South  German  army  was  already  massed 
between  Landau  and  Bergzabern,  before  the  French 
could  be  persuaded  that  the  Crown  Prince  had 
emerged  from  the  Black  Forest ;  and  while  the 
French  council  of  war  was  assembling  at  Metz,  on 
Thursday,  August  4,  the  first  great  battle  of  the 
campaign  had  already  been  decided. 

On  the  morning  of  that  day  the  Prussians  and 
Bavarians  crossed  the  Lauter  by  various  passages 
near  Wissembourg  (or  Weissenburg,  as  spelt  by 
the  Germans),  a  frontier  town  which  forms  the 
western  apex  of  a  triangle,  of  which  the  Rhine 
forms  the  base,  and  the  little  streams  of  the  Otter 
and  the  Lauter  the  sides.  It  formed  the  extreme 
right  of  the  French  position,  commanding  the 
railway  to  Haguenau  and  Strassburg,  as  well  as 
the  high  roads  to  Niederbronn  and  Bitsche.  The 
towmvas  formerly  a  free  city  of  the  German  em- 
pire, and  was  ceded  to  France  by  the  Treaty  of 
Ryswick.  For  six  years,  1719  to  1725,  it  was  the 
residence  of  the  unfortunate  Stanislas  Leczynski, 
duke  of  Lorraine,  and  elect  king  of  Poland.  It 
has  more  than  once  owed  its  selection  for  a  battle- 
ground to  the  works  with  which  its  neighbourhood 
was  furnished  by  Marshal  Villars,  in  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIV.,  after  his  conquest  of  Alsace.  In 
1705  the  marshal  caused  a  series  of  redoubts  and 
mtrenchments  to  be    constructed    from  near  the 


Geisberg,  which  stands  near  the  town,  above  the 
southern  bank  of  the  Lauter,  to  nearly  as  far  as 
Lauterburg;  and  these  lines  have,  time  after  time, 
been  captured  and  recaptured.  They  were  stormed 
more  than  once  during  the  War  of  the  Succession  ; 
and  on  October  13,  1793,  they  were  carried  by 
the  Austrians,  under  Prince  Waldeck.  It  is  some- 
what remarkable  too,  that  its  loss  on  that  occasion 
by  General  Beauharnais,  the  maternal  grandfather 
of  Napoleon  III.,  was  expiated  by  that  unlucky 
servant  of  the  Republic  on  the  guillotine.  The 
Germans,  however,  held  them  only  for  a  short 
time,  as  on  Christmas  Day  of  the  same  year  they 
were  retaken  by  the  French;  and  from  that  time 
Wissembourg  enjoyed  an  interval  of  peaceful  exist- 
ence as  the  chief  place  of  the  department  of  the 
Bas-Rhin.  It  was,  until  1867,  a  fortified  town, 
and  although  it  is  now  dismantled,  is  still  natur- 
ally protected  by  the  hills  upon  which  stood  once 
the  redoubts  of  St.  Germain,  St.  Paul,  and  St. 
Remy.  The  town  is  distant  twenty-seven  miles 
north-east  from  Strassburg,  by  the  railway  which 
passes  through  Haguenau,  seven  miles  from  Wis- 
sembourg, and  which  there  forms  a  junction  with 
the  main  railway,  the  Great  Eastern  of  France, 
leading  to  Luneville,  Nancy,  Chalons,  and  Paris. 
The  valley  of  the  Lauter  at  Wissembourg  forms  a 
gorge  which  opens  upon  the  Rhenish  plains  to  the 
south,  and  into  the  Vosges  on  the  west.  About 
two  miles  and  a  half  to  the  west,  upon  the  road 
to  Bitsche,  is  a  hill,  which  rises  nearly  2000  feet 
above  the  valley  of  the  Lauter.  The  ground  from 
Wissembourg  to  this  peak,  for  about  half  a  mile, 
rises  gently;  and  then  suddenly  at  the  bend  of  the 
Bitsche  road  to  the  right  the  ascent  becomes  more 
steep,  and  the  road  climbs  up  it  with  many  easy 
gradations.  The  road  to  Climbach,  shown  in  our 
battle-field  plan,  runs  through  a  woody  country, 
easily  defended,  traverses  the  forest  of  Mundat,  and 
after  running  rather  more  than  a  mile  beyond, 
reaches  the  little  village  of  Lembach,  which  lies  on 
high  ground.  The  road  then  descends,  passes 
through  the  forest  of  Ratzenthal,  lying  in  a  small 
valley,  and  terminates  at  Bitsche,  a  fortress  of  great 
natural  strength,  twenty-five  miles  distant. 

Early,  then,  on  the  morning  of  Thursday,  August 
4,  the  Crown  Prince  emerged  from  the  Bienwald, 
at  Schweighoffen,  a  Bavarian  village  just  over  the 
frontier,  and  surprised  the  town  of  Wissembourg, 
in  which,  as  we  have  stated,  MacMahon's  second 
division  was  posted  under  the  command  of  General 
2Q 


306 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


Abel  Douay,  brother  of  the  commander  of  the 
French  seventh  corps  d'armee.  The  French  had 
made  a  reconnaissance  on  the  previous  day,  but 
had  not  discovered  the  neighbourhood  of  their 
enemy,  although  within  a  short  distance  of  the 
heights  of  Schweighoffen,  from  which  the  attack 
was  first  made,  there  were  drawn  up  the  greater 
part  of  the  fifth  and  eleventh  Prussian  corps  and 
the  first  Bavarian  corps,  numbering  at  least  50,000 
men.  It  is  easy,  however,  to  understand  how  this 
surprise  was  effected.  The  Crown  Prince's  ad- 
vanced posts  were  at  Bergzabern  (which  lies  nearly 
due  north  of  Wissembourg  little  more  than  six 
miles  distant  by  road),  and  at  Wenden  Junction,  on 
the  north-east  of  Wissembourg,  distant  from  that 
place  by  rail  eleven  miles,  and  from  Bergzabern  also 
by  rail  six  miles.  Troops  massed  at  these  places 
could  therefore  easily  be  brought  down  under  cover 
of  the  night.  Besides,  the  road  from  Bergzabern 
skirts  the  forest  of  Mundat,  on  the  lower  spurs  of 
the  Vosges,  which  afforded  facilities  for  conceal- 
ment. The  French  reconnaissance  had  been  super- 
ficial, or  had  not  been  pushed  far  enough.  Parties 
of  a  few  daring  troopers  radiating  from  Wissembourg 
on  the  3rd  in  all  directions,  would  have  revealed 
to  Douay  that  a  concentration  of  hostile  forces  was 
taking  place  dangerously  near  to  his  isolated  posi- 
tion. The  French  troops  at  and  near  Wissem- 
bourg consisted  of  three  regiments  of  the  line,  the 
sixteenth  chasseurs,  the  zouaves  and  turcos  of 
General  Pelle,  three  batteries  of  artillery,  and  one 
mitrailleuse  battery — the  total  force  being  about 
8000  men.  The  attacking  force  of  the  Germans 
numbered  altogether  about  40,000  men,  and  the 
Baden  division  occupied  Lauterbach  and  Hagen- 
bach  at  the  same  time. 

A  Bavarian  division  commanded  by  General 
Bothmer  led  the  assault,  which  was  covered  by 
a  powerful  cannonade.  The  French,  as  we  have 
said,  were  utterly  surprised,  not  having  had 
the  slightest  idea  that  the  Crown  Prince  was  so 
close  upon  them.  In  fact,  the  men  of  one  of  the 
regiments  were  busy  cooking  their  morning  meal 
when  the  shells  and  bullets  began  to  rain  into 
their  camp.  General  Douay  was  riding  away 
from  the  town  to  examine  the  adjacent  country, 
when  he  was  recalled  by  the  firing.  The  troops 
in  the  town,  having  been  reinforced  by  some 
of  those  who  had  been  stationed  on  the  ad- 
joining ridges,  held  their  own  stoutly;  and  the 
Bavarian  division,   consisting  of   10,000  infantry 


and  500  cavalry,  made  little  impression  in  their 
attack  on  the  town,  till  the  ninth  division  of  the 
fifth  corps  (Von  Sandrart)  came  up  and  turned 
it  on  the  south-east  by  Altenstadt,  which  was  taken 
at  11-30  a.m.  Then,  whilst  one  of  its  brigades 
(Voight  Bhetz),  stormed  the  position  on  the  Geis- 
berg,  part  of  the  other  joined  the  Bavarian  attack 
on  Wissembourg.  The  attack  on  the  Geisberg 
was  further  sustained  by  the  forty-first  brigade 
(Schachtmeyer)  of  the  eleventh  corps.  The 
French  fought  desperately — in  fact,  throughout 
the  day  they  made  almost  superhuman  efforts 
to  east  back  the  enemy's  masses  beyond  the 
Lauter  ;  and  although  so  enormously  outnumbered, 
they  charged  again  and  again,  as  if  under  the  idea 
that  mere  valour  would  stop  bullets.  Whilst  the 
attack  on  the  Geisberg  was  proceeding,  the  gates 
of  Wissembourg  had  been  demolished  by  artillery 
fire,  and  the  place  stormed;  and  after  attempting 
a  counter  attack  on  the  summit  of  the  Geisberg  at 
two  o'clock,  the  French  were  compelled  to  retreat 
on  all  sides.  Before  three  there  was  a  general 
advance  of  the  German  troops.  The  French  con- 
tinued fighting  along  the  main  road,  but  gradually 
quickened  their  pace  as  they  were  pressed;  although 
they  made  a  stand  at  two  of  the  villages  on  the 
way,  and  were  only  dislodged  with  loss.  The 
Germans  also  behaved  remarkably  well  during 
the  engagement;  their  advance  up  the  hill  of 
Geisberg  being,  in  the  opinion  of  an  English  officer 
(Colonel  Walker)  who  was  present,  like  that  of 
the  British  troops  at  the  battle  of  the  Alma,  to 
which  the  position  offered  some  resemblance. 
"  Upon  the  crest  were  the  French  with  their 
Chassepots  and  mitrailleuses.  When  the  order  to 
storm  it  was  given,  the  Germans  went  at  it  without 
flinching.  A  storm  of  balls  rained  upon  them. 
Whole  ranks  were  swept  away,  but  the  rest  rushed 
on  without  a  pause.  No  single  shot  was  fired  in  re- 
turn. They  trusted  entirely  to  the  bayonet,  and  the 
instant  they  gained  the  crest  they  swept  the  French 
before  them  by  sheer  weight."  The  king's  grenadiers 
(7th  regiment)  of  the  guard  and  the  fifty-eight 
regiment  of  Silesia  advanced  at  a  run  with  shouts 
of  "  Up,  Prussians  !  the  Bavarians  need  help  !" 

The  German  advantage  in  weight  was  very 
great,  as  was  afterwards  found  by  weighing  some 
prisoners;  two  Germans  on  an  average  weighed 
nearly  as  much  as  three  Frenchmen.  In  a 
hand-to-hand  struggle  this  difference  of  weight 
gave  a  preponderance  to  the  German  which  was 


ATTLE    OF    WISSEMBOURC 


August     4th      1870. 


PRUSSIANS 


Lobsann  ' 

'^^___/ 

\     f*  Memelshoffen 

\    /  <D. 

1  Jto~  „    .,.. 

a 

FirH.lt    Kiloui'-     .  .* 

, 

sm~»~ 

./■•.  ,       \ 

x       ^N^u. 

/      / 

T.ntittsli  .'/'Aw 

■'",:'' 

^-v        Retschwiller* 

■    ■  ■ 


*T  1 0         :.   h  a  L  l 
)0N,  EDINBURGH   &  <  I  ASC 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN"  WAR 


307 


overwhelming,  and  as  just  stated,  the  French  lines 
were  broken  instantly  by  the  impetuous  onslaught  of 
the  Prussian  and  Bavarian  troops.  It  was  certainly 
very  singular,  that  whereas  military  men  had  almost 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  bayonet  was  a 
weapon  which  had  ceased  to  be  of  any  great  utility, 
for  that  it  was  next  to  impossible  that  cavalry  could 
ever  come  to  close  quarters  with  infantry  armed 
with  breech-loaders,  or  that  two  infantry  regiments 
could  ever  come  to  a  hand-to-hand  struggle;  that 
upon  their  first  battle  between  troops  alike  armed 
with  breech-loaders  one  party  should  have  charged 
and  defeated  the  other  with  the  bayonet  and 
clubbed  muskets.  Theoretically,  and  upon  paper, 
it  would  seem  impossible  for  troops  to  charge  up 
a  hill  exposed  to  a  fire  from  breech-loaders  and 
mitrailleuses;  and  the  fact  that  the  feat  was  here 
performed,  showed  that  improved  arms  after  all 
have  not  modified  the  system  of  fighting,  as  mili- 
tary men  had  concluded  that  it  must  do,  and  that 
weight  and  strength,  when  accompanied  by  des- 
perate courage,  still  count  for  much. 

In  their  retreat  the  French  lost  their  baggage, 
camp  equipments,  &c,  and  left  about  500  killed  and 
wounded  on  the  field,  besides  800  prisoners  (in- 
cluding 18  officers)  and  one  six  pounder,  of  which, 
however,  all  the  horses  had  been  killed,  and  which 
had  been  spiked  before  it  was  abandoned. 

Most  of  the  prisoners  were  taken  as  skirmishers 
in  a  cave,  which  formed  their  cover,  and  where 
they  were  cut  off  by  the  rapid  and  continuous 
advance  of  the  Prussians.  A  few  others,  who 
were  taken  on  the  field,  had  expended  all  their 
ammunition  (as  at  Saarbruck  on  the  previous 
Tuesday,  the  French  fired  at  such  a  distance  as 
made  hitting  a  mere  matter  of  chance,  and  also 
very  rapidly,  and  consequently  widely)  ;  but  they 
refused  to  surrender,  and  kept  on  fighting  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet.  As  the  Prussians  did  not 
wish  to  kill  them,  they  rushed  at  last  in  a  body 
upon  them  and  threw  them  down  wrestling.  The 
Turcos  behaved  infamously ;  many  of  them,  after 
asking  for  and  receiving  quarter,  stabbed  with 
their  sword  bayonets  the  soldiers  who  had  spared 
them,  or  snatched  up  the  muskets  they  had 
thrown  down,  and  treacherously  shot  the  victors. 

General  Douay  himself  was  killed  by  a  shell 
early  in  the  action  while  rallying  his  troops,  and 
Brigader  Montmarie  was  wounded.  The  former 
was  buried  in  the  town  the  day  after  the  battle, 
with  full  military  honours  ;  his  body  was  followed 


to  the  grave  by  an  entire  German  regiment  of 
infantry  and  a  battery  of  artillery,  and  the  last 
salute  was  fired  by  a  whole  company.  On  the 
way  to  the  churchyard  the  band  played  the  French 
national  hymn,  and,  returning  after  the  burial,  the 
popular  German  song,  "Die  Wacht  am  Rhein." 
The  French  regiments  which  suffered  most  in  the 
engagement  were  the  Turcos  (of  whom  500  were 
taken  prisoners),  and  one  of  the  regiments  of  the 
line.  The  German  loss  amounted  to  700  men, 
including  76  officers,  which  accounted  for  the 
telegram  from  the  Crown  Prince  announcing 
the  victory,  and  describing  it  as  a  "  brilliant  but 
bloody"  one.  General  Kirchbach  was  wounded, 
and  the  king's  grenadiers  and  the  fifty-eighth 
regiment  suffered  very  severely.  The  casualties 
amongst  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  were  three 
killed  and  fifteen  wounded  ;  amongst  the  former  a 
young  girl,  the  acknowledged  beauty  of  the  town, 
who  was  standing  at  her  father's  house-door  with 
a  younger  brother,  talking  to  a  neighbour,  when 
a  shell  burst  close  to  the  group.  One  fragment 
struck  her  in  the  body,  and  another  took  off  her 
brother's  hand  and  wrist.  She  died  next  day  in 
great  agony. 

The  German  front  extended  altogether  over  a 
length  of  two  miles.  During  the  chief  part  of  the 
engagement  the  Crown  Prince  and  his  staff  were 
on  the  left  of  their  line,  the  artillery  was  in  the 
centre,  and  the  columns  of  their  troops  were 
massed  on  the  right. 

The  disposal  of  Prussian  and  Bavarian  regi- 
ment side  by  side  evoked  a  rivalry  in  daring  most 
honourable  to  both ;  and  if  anything  could  have 
enhanced  the  satisfaction  felt  at  the  success  through- 
out Germany,  it  was  the  fact  that  the  first  action  in 
the  war  had  been  gained,  to  a  great  extent,  through 
the  assistance  of  the  very  South  Germans  from 
whom  the  French  emperor  had  hoped  so  much ; 
and  the  convincing  proof  that  it  afforded,  that 
although  divorced  from  each  other  for  centuries 
by  religious  animosity  and  political  differences, 
the  two  great  sections  of  Germany  had,  in  an 
age  of  mutual  tolerance,  been  reunited  at  last 
by  patriotism  and  a  sensible  appreciation  of  their 
common  interest. 

Throughout  the  action  the  Prussian  artillery 
was  splendidly  served. 

Although  the  fight  lasted  so  long,  no  supports 
were  sent'  to  the  French  general  from  Marshal 
MacMahon ;  but  in  the  midst  of  the  battle  a  detach- 


SOS 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


ment  of  the  line  happened  to  arrive  by  rail,  entirely- 
ignorant  of  what  was  going  on.  The  soldiers 
immediately  joined  in  the  engagement,  but  were 
of  course  powerless  to  avert  the  disaster.  In  fact, 
the  engagement  was  conducted  by  the  Germans 
with  such  a  superiority  of  numbers  as  to  make 
success,  sooner  or  later,  almost  certain.  For  the 
isolation  of  his  division  MacMahon  must  be  held  in 
some  degree  responsible  ;  but  Douay  had  himself 
chiefly  to  blame  for  the  temerity  which  exposed 
his  troops  to  a  surprise  by  a  greatly  superior  force. 
There  was  no  military  purpose  gained  by  thrusting 
his  camp  close  to  the  frontier  which  would  not 
have  been  in  every  sense  better  answered  by  keep- 
ing it  ten  miles  to  the  south,  and  watching  the 
passages  of  the  little  stream  with  detachments  of 
cavalry.  Probably  the  convenience  of  being  near 
the  town,  and  the  fact  that  there  was  a  good  posi- 
tion behind  looking  towards  the  Lauter,  decided 
the  general's  choice.  Choosing  thus,  however,  he 
put  himself,  as  we  have  seen,  completely  at  the 
mercy  of  his  enemy,  and  the  Crown  Prince,  like  a 
judicious  commander,  took  care  to  insure  success, 
and  to  make  it  certain  that  the  first  blow  he  struck 


— a  matter  of  vital  importance  in  war — should  be 
irresistible  and  completely  decisive. 

To  prevent  their  retreat  on  Bitsche  from  being 
intercepted,  the  French  retreated  by  their  left,  and 
by  the  Col  de  Pigeonniere,  in  the  direction  of  that 
fortress. 

The  moral  effect  of  the  battle  on  both  armies,  as 
the  first  serious  engagement  of  the  war,  was  of 
course  great,  and  the  result  was  exceedingly  useful 
to  the  victors  as  giving  their  arms  that  credit  and 
presumption  of  success  so  valuable  at  the  outset  of 
a  campaign:  Confident  though  the  Germans  were 
that  victory  would  sooner  or  later  crown  their 
cause,  they  were  yet  extremely  anxious  about  the 
issue  of  the  first  battle.  It  was  felt  by  them  that 
the  alleged  superiority  of  the  Chassepot  might 
prove  to  be  a  reality,  and  that  the  dash  of  the 
French  soldiers  might  be  irresistible.  With  a 
feeling  of  relief  as  much  as  of  satisfaction  they 
learned  that  the  confidence  they  entertained  as 
to  their  own  strength  was  not  misplaced.  On  the 
other  hand,  at  the  French  head-quarters  at  Metz 
the  news  fell  like  a  thunderbolt,  and,  of  course, 
the  emperor's  plans  were  completely  deranged. 


l>ra.wn  under  lie  Supenutendfciice  of  Captain  Horn 


tKTtfi[0    »T    STATU 


A  T  T  L  E     OF     W  CE  R  T  H 

August     6  t.h      1870 


PRUSSIAN5      111 


French  liilumefres 


CHAPTER      VIII. 


Advance  of  the  Crown  Prince  into  French  Territory — Another  Opportunity  of  Striking  a  Severe  Blow  at  the  Germans  lost — Change  of  Front 
by  the  Prussians — Their  Arrival  near  Woerth  and  Description  of  the  Village — The  Position  occupied  by  MacMahon — The  Nature  of  the 
Country — MacMahon's  choice  of  Position  excellent  for  Strategical  Purposes — His  want  of  Foresight  in  not  ascertaining  the  Strength  of  his 
Enemy — Over-confidence  on  the  Part  of  the  French — Battle  of  Woerth  brought  on  a  day  before  either  Commander  expected — Description 
of  the  Action  and  of  the  Manoeuvres  on  both  sides — Bravery  displayed  by  the  Troops  of  both  Armies — Brilliant  Charge  of  the  French 
Cuirassiers  at  the  close  of  the  Engagement — Incidents  in  connection  with  it — Renewed  Fighting  at  Niederbronn — The  Disgraceful  Flight  of 
the  French  after  the  Battle — The  Scene  at  Haguenau — Corresponding  picture  in  the  Retreat  from  Niederbronn — The  Losses  on  both  Sides — 
Large  Capture  of  Trophies  by  the  Germans — Comparison  between  Woerth  and  Solferino — Great  Advantage  of  the  Victory  to  the  Germans 
— The  Telegrams  from  the  Crown  Prince  and  King  announcing  it— Interesting  Letter  from  the  Duke  of  Saxe-Coburg  describing  the  Scene 
at  the  close  of  the  Battle — The  Injury  done  to  the  Villages — Animosity  of  the  Peasantry— Review  of  the  Battle  and  the  Strategy  displayed 
by  both  Commanders — The  Battle  of  Forbach  on  the  same  day — Description  of  the  Country  near  Saarbriick — The  Great  Strength  of  the 
French  Position  at  Spichereu — Advance  of  the  German  Army  of  the  Centre — The  French  surprised — Details  of  the  Fighting — Heroism  of 
both  Armies — Heavy  Losses — Observations  on  the  Battle  and  its  Results — The  Frontier  crossed  by  the  Germans  the  next  day — Unopposed 
Occupation  of  Forbach — The  Scene  at  Metz  on  the  receipt  of  the  News— Flight  of  the  Villagers — Festival  of  the  Peace  Society  at 
Saarbriick  only  three  weeks  before — Remarks  on  the  Political  and  Military  ''Situation" — The  Hesitation  and  Incapacity  of  the  French 
Generals  contrasted  with  the  Ability  and  Decision  of  the  German  Commanders. 


BATTLE    OF    WOERTH. 

The  Crown  Prince  established  his  headquarters  at 
Schweighoffen  on  the  night  of  August  4,  and  on 
the  following  day  pushed  boldly  into  the  French 
territory.  He  did  not  turn  to  his  right,  and  pur- 
sue the  road  along  the  frontier  towards  Bitsche, 
but  came  down  that  leading  nearly  due  south  to 
Soultz  (Sous  Forets),  where  it  touches  the  railway 
from  Haguenau  to  Wissembourg,  He  had,  as  we 
know,  suffered  a  good  deal  the  day  before ;  many 
stragglers  encumbered  the  march  of  his  columns, 
and  if  De  Failly,  from  Bitsche,  with  the  French  fifth 
corps,  combining  with  a  French  force  in  front,  had 
vigorously  attacked  the  Germans  in  flank,  as  they 
threw  their  right  wing  forward,  it  is  not  impossible 
that  a  check  might  have  been  inflicted  on  the  Prus- 
sian commander.  Nothing,  however,  of  the  kind 
was  attempted ;  and  while  De  Failly  sent  one  divi- 
sion, which  could  be  of  little  avail,  across  the  hills, 
he  misinterpreting,  it  is  said,  his  orders,  remained 
immovable  with  his  main  force,  while  the  German 
army  was  being  concentrated. 

The  Crown  Prince  did  not  descend  quite  as 
far  as  Soultz,  but  kept  a  little  to  the  west, 
near  to  the  slopes  of  the  Hoch  Wald ;  for  dur- 
ing the  day  authentic  intelligence  was  received 
at  the  German  headquarters  that  Marshal  Mac- 
Mahon was  busily  engaged  in  concentrating  his 
troops  on  the  hills  west  of  Woerth,  and  that  he 
was  being  reinforced  by  constant  arrivals  by  rail- 
way.   In  consequence  of  these  advices  the  Germans 


resolved  to  lose  no  time  in  effecting  a  change  of 
front,  which  had  been  determined  upon  a  few  days 
previously,  but  not  yet  executed.  The  second 
Bavarian  and  the  fifth  Prussian  corps  were  to 
remain  in  their  respective  positions  at  Lembach 
and  Preuschdorf ;  the  eleventh  Prussian  corps 
was  to  wheel  to  the  right  and  encamp  at  Holscb- 
loch,  with  its  van  pushed  forward  towards  the 
river  Sauerbach,  and  the  first  Bavarian  corps  was 
to  advance  into  the  neighbourhood  of  Lobsann 
and  Lampertsloch.  The  cavalry  division  remained 
at  Schoenenbourg,  fronting  the  west.  Werder's 
corps  (the  Wlirtemburg  and  Baden  divisions) 
marched  to  Reunerswiller,  with  patrols  facing 
the  Haguenau  forest. 

The  fifth  Prussian  corps,  on  the  evening  of  the 
5th,  pushed  on  its  van  from  its  bivouac  at  Preusch- 
dorf to  the  heights  east  of  Woerth,  and  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Sauerbach  numerous  camp  fires 
of  the  French  were  visible  during  the  night.  The 
village  of  Woerth  is  a  small  place  of  about  700 
inhabitants,  lying  in  a  valley  between  two  rows  of 
long  low  hills,  covered  with  vineyards,  corn  and 
potato  fields,  and  woods;  and  beyond  these  again 
are  higher  ranges  of  hills,  on  which  the  contend- 
ing armies  were  posted.  Woerth  lies  on  the  direct 
road  from  Soultz  to  Niederbronn.  Above  the 
village  there  is  a  height  of  considerable  extent, 
on  which  stand  the  villages  of  Froeschwiller  and 
Elsasshausen,  the  road  from  Woerth  traversing 
this  height  through  the  former  village,  and  thence 
to  Reichskoffen  and  Niederbronn. 


310 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


MacMahon  had  heard  of  the  disaster  of  his 
lieutenant  at  Wissembourg  too  late  to  remedy 
the  fault  which  had  exposed  a  small  division  to 
be  crushed  by  an  army ;  and  having  rallied  the 
troops  flying  from  that  town  upon  his  other  divi- 
sions, he  advanced  from  Haguenau,  took  up  a  strong 
defensive  position  fifteen  miles  to  the  south-west 
of  Wissembourg,  on  the  lower  spurs  of  the  Vosges, 
and  drew  his  forces  together  with  the  object  of 
covering  the  railway  from  Strassburg  to  Bitsche, 
and  the  chief  channels  of  communication  between 
the  eastern  and  western  sides  of  the  Vosges.  The 
position  occupied  by  his  troops,  according  to  his 
own  report  to  the  emperor,*  was  as  follows  : — 

The  first  division  was  placed  with  the  right  in 
front  of  Froeschwiller,  the  left  in  the  direction 
of  Reichshoffen,  resting  on  a  mound  which  covers 
that  village.  It  detached  two  companies  to  Neeh- 
willer,  and  one  to  Jaegersthal. 

The  third  division  occupied,  with  its  first 
brigade,  the  jutting  hill  which  detaches  itself  from 
Froeschwiller,  and  terminates  in  a  point  towards 
Goersdorf.  The  second  brigade  rested  its  left 
on  Froeschwiller,  and  its  right  on  the  village  of 
Elsasshausen. 

The  fourth  division  formed  a  broken  line  on 
the  right  of  the  third  division,  its  first  brigade 
facing  Gunstett,  and  its  second  vis-a-vis  with  the 
village  of  Morsbronn,  which  it  was  unable  to 
occupy  from  want  of  sufficient  force.  The  Dumes- 
nil  division  of  the  seventh  corps,  which  joined 
early  on  the  morning  of  the  6th,  was  placed  in 
rear  of  the  fourth  division.  In  reserve  was  the 
second  division,  placed  behind  the  second  brigade 
of  the  third  division  and  the  first  brigade  of  the 
fourth.  Finally,  further  in  the  rear  was  the  bri- 
gade of  cavalry  under  the  orders  of  General  de 
Bonnemain :  the  brigade  of  Michel  cavalry,  under 
the  orders  of  General  Duchesne,  was  placed  behind 
the  right  wing  of  the  fourth  division. 

It  will  be  thus  seen  that  MacMahon's  front, 
looking  generally  north-east,  was  semicircular,  the 
right  thrown  back  so  as  to  be  parallel  to  the  great 
road  and  railroad  from  Wissembourg  along  the 
Rhine  to  Strassburg,  while  his  left  pointed  rather 
to  the  west,  covering  the  railroad  which  turns  off 

*  This  was  the  only  official  report  of  any  engagement  issued  by  the 
French  daring  the  war,  excepting  that  of  the  small  affair  at  Saarbriick, 
given  in  the  previous  chapter.  By  a  singular  confusion — pardonable 
enough,  perhaps,  under  the  circumstances — the  marshal,  who  dated  his 
despatch  from  Saverne  on  the  7th  of  August  (Sunday),  spoke  of  the 
battle  as  having  been  fought  on  that  day. 


from  the  main  line  just  mentioned,  at  Haguenau, 
and  traverses  the  Vosges  by  the  pass  of  Bitsche. 
In  fact,  the  position  taken  up  by  Marshal  Mac- 
Mahon formed,  so  to  speak,  the  keystone  of  the 
whole  French  system  of  communications  across 
the  Vosges;  that  is,  between  the  main  army  and 
its  right  wing,  which  originally  rested  on  the 
Rhine,  below  Strassburg. 

The  nature  of  the  country  was  difficult 
and  broken.  The  crests  of  the  hills  in  that 
part  of  the  Vosges  are  wooded,  and  the  ravines, 
though  not  precipitous,  are  usually  deep,  with 
steep  descents  on  either  side.  The  plateaux  above 
are  smooth  and  often  open,  and  the  difficulties  of  the 
ascent  before  MacMahon — with  the  occupation  of 
the  villages  of  Froeschwiller  in  his  centre,  Reich- 
shofien  to  his  left,  and  Elsasshausen,  covering  his 
right,  wooded  patches  lying  all  about  them — 
formed  the  strength  of  his  position.  It  was  im- 
possible that  an  enemy's  force  could  pass  by 
towards  Haguenau  and  Strassburg  without  danger 
to  its  flank,  whilst  to  penetrate  into  the  Vosges 
the  Germans  must  dislodge  him  by  direct  attack. 
He  had  also  so  placed  himself  that  he  could  draw 
supports  from  De  Failly,  should  that  general  come 
to  his  aid,  and,  unless  in  the  event  of  an  utter  rout, 
he  could  fairly  cover  his  own  line  of  retreat.  In 
fact,  he  had  done  the  best  that  could  have  been 
expected  from  an  able  commander,  and  his  posi- 
tion was  not  only  strong  in  itself,  but  strategi- 
cally well-chosen,  had  the  opposing  forces  been 
anything  like  fairly  matched.  As  before  stated, 
however,  the  Crown  Prince  pushed  on  steadily 
from  Wissembourg  on  the  5th,  and  was  close  to 
MacMahon  that  evening  with  130,000  men,  while 
the  French  had  not  more  than  50,000,  even  with 
the  reserves  which  arrived  on  the  morning  of  the 
6th.  The  French,  moreover,  had  a  front  to  defend 
exceeding  four  miles  in  length  ;  a  fact  which  made 
the  disproportion  in  number  all  the  more  serious, 
notwithstanding  that  the  Germans  would  be  com- 
pelled to  cross  the  valley  under  the  fire  of  their 
artillery  before  they  could  commence  the  work  of 
driving  them  from  their  fastnesses. 

The  Crown  Prince  had  been  kept  admirably 
informed  of  the  strength  and  position  of  Mac- 
Mahon ;  but  the  latter,  with  utter  disregard  of  the 
consequences  of  such  a  want  of  foresight,  and  in  spite 
of  the  surprise  at  Wissembourg,  although  he  knew 
that  the  prince  was  marching  upon  him  with  an 
army  flushed  by  victory,  had  no  idea  of  that  army's 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


311 


strength,  and  was  even  unaware  of  its  exact  where- 
abouts or  proximate  approach  until  within  a  few 
minutes  of  the  hour  at  which  he  saw  its  vanguard 
appearing  on  the  summits  of  the  hills,  exactly  over 
against  his  own  ground,  and  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  distant  from  him.  He  had  no  scouts  or  spies 
thrown  out,  no  organization  of  outposts,  none  of 
the  precautions  usually  adopted  by  a  leader  of 
armies  to  warn  him  of  his  enemy's  vicinity. 

The  general  opinion  in  the  French  camp  seemed 
to  be  that  they  would  have  to  fight  only  two 
Prussian  corps,  or,  altogether,  from  60,000  to 
65,000  men,  and  at  these  odds  they  felt  convinced 
that  their  triumph  would  be  complete.  In  fact, 
the  word  "  convinced "  only  half  expresses  the 
absolute  certainty  the  French  entertained  of  gaining 
the  battle,  and  of  driving  the  German  force  back 
beyond  the  frontier. 

A  military  correspondent  of  the  Temps — usually 
one  of  the  best  informed  of  the  French  journals — 
stated,  that  as  soon  as  the  marshal  became  aware  of 
the  superior  forces  before  him,  he  telegraphed  to 
headquarters  stating  such  was  the  case.  "Attack 
them,"  was  the  reply.  He  telegraphed  again,  in- 
sisting on  the  disproportion  of  strength  ;  but  still 
the  wires  reiterated  "  Attack ! " 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  5th  three  shots  were 
fired  by  the  French  into  the  opposite  woods,  to 
which,  of  course,  there  was  no  reply  ;  and  during 
the  whole  of  the  day  men  were  hard  at  work 
destroying  the  bridges  across  the  Sauerbach,  so  as 
to  prevent  the  passage  of  the  German  army.  About 
six  o'clock  in  the  evening  several  German  columns 
were  seen  from  the  French  camp  to  be  taking  up 
their  position  at  Dieffenbach  and  Goersdorff.  At 
seven,  the  mayor  of  Gunstett  and  some  country 
people  arrived  at  Woerth,  and  reported  that  the 
Germans  were  occupying  their  village,  which  is 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  distant. 

During  the  night  Woerth  was  evacuated  by  the 
French,  and  was  not  occupied  by  the  Germans. 
The  former  left  it  as  a  trap  for  the  latter,  and  vice 
versa.  From  nine  p.m.  until  after  daybreak  the 
rain  poured  down  in  torrents,  and  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  random  shots,  there  was  no 
firing  until  nearly  six  A.M.,  when  a  few  companies 
of  Prussians  pushed  up  to  the  village  to  feel  for 
the  French  army,  and  were  met  by  a  patrol  of 
the  latter  on  the  same  mission.  Some  shots  were 
exchanged,  but  nothing  more  happened  till  about 
seven,  when  the  Germans  sent  a  couple  of  shells 


into  the  steeple  of  the  village  church.  Just 
before,  a  battalion  of  Zouaves  had  come  down  the 
hill  to  reconnoitre.  The  men  were  pitiful  to  see. 
They  were  wet  through  and  through,  and  had 
had  nothing  to  eat  for  twenty-four  hours.  They 
were,  however,  in  excellent  spirits,  and  were 
joking  that  they  would  eat  the  Germans'  dinner 
before  night;  but  of  this  very  regiment  there 
were,  four  hours  later,  little  more  than  half  left, 
and  most  of  those  were  prisoners !  Immediately 
the  church  was  struck,  all  the  French  soldiers 
rushed  back  to  the  camp,  and  the  streets  cleared 
as  if  by  enchantment.  A  few  moments  of  quiet 
followed  this  signal  of  combat.  Some  German 
sharpshooters,  who  had  arrived  by  the  road  to 
Soultz,  next  crossed  the  only  bridge  which  had 
not  been  destroyed.  They  passed  through  the 
village,  and  went  towards  the  French  centre, 
being  followed  by  other  troops,  who  took  posses- 
sion of  the  hill  of  Dieffenbach,  and  the  meadows 
on  the  Prussian  right.  The  sharpshooters  com- 
menced firing  into  the  vine-clad  hills  at  the  foot 
of  Elsasshausen,  and  the  artillery  of  both  armies 
at  once  opened  fire,  the  discharges  being  slower  on 
the  German  side  than  on  the  French;  so  slow,  in 
fact,  that  it  was  evidently  rather  a  reconnaissance 
in  force  than  an  attack. 

MacMahon  himself  did  not  believe  he  should  be 
attacked  till  the  7th,  and  the  Crown  Prince  would 
have  preferred  waiting  till  that  day,  for  he  had 
made  a  long  march  on  the  5th,  and  had  left  many 
stragglers  on  the  road;  in  addition  to  which  some 
regiments  of  the  fifth  corps  had  suffered  severely 
at  Wissembourg,  and  found  their  muster  rolls 
already  strangely  weakened.  By  waiting  till  the 
7th,  too,  the  cavalry  would  have  arrived,  and 
been  able  to  have  rendered  him  much  valuable 
assistance  after  the  battle ;  the  nature  of  the  ground 
being  such  as  to  prevent  their  use  to  any  large 
extent  during  the  fight.  The  impatience  of  his  out- 
posts, however,  as  we  have  seen,  brought  on  heavy 
firing  at  Woerth  early  on  the  6th,  and  almost  imme- 
diately afterwards,  the  battle  was  fairly  joined,  but 
in  another  direction;  for  the  first  real  attack  was 
opened  by  the  Bavarians,  who,  holding  to  their 
own  right  along  the  base  of  the  steeper  heights, 
debouched  by  Goersdorf,  and  with  great  determi- 
nation endeavoured  to  turn  the  French  left. 

They  attacked  so  vigorously,  that  MacMahon, 
to  prevent  his  general  position  being  turned  by 
its  left,  executed  a  change  of  front  by  -wheeling 


312 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


up  his  left  wing  on  Froeschwillcr  as  a  pivot,  so 
that  his  position  now  extended  nearly  in  a  straight 
line — as  shown  in  our  plan  of  the  battle.  At 
eight  o'clock  the  steady  firing  in  this  direction, 
and  the  French  fire  directed  against  Woerth, 
caused  the  Prussians  to  station  the  entire  artillery 
of  their  fifth  corps  on  the  heights  east  of  that 
place,  and  they  thus  succeeded  in  relieving  the 
Bavarians.  A  little  later  the  fifth  corps  was  ordered 
to  break  off  the  engagement,  it  being  the  intention 
of  the  German  generals  to  begin  the  battle  against 
the  concentrated  forces  of  the  French  only  when 
the  entire  German  army  was  ready  to  be  brought 
into  action.  At  a  quarter  to  eight  o'clock 
Bothmer's  fourth  division  of  the  second  Bavarian 
corps  (Hartmann's)  induced  by  the  heavy  fire  of 
the  outposts  near  Woerth,  had  left  their  bivouac 
at  Lembach,  and,  proceeding  by  Matistall  and 
Langen-Soulzbach,  after  a  sharp  engagement  pene- 
trated as  far  as  Neehwiller,  where  they  spread, 
fronting  to  the  south.  At  half  past  ten  this 
Bavarian  corps,  supposing  the  order  to  break  off 
the  engagement,  which  had  been  given  to  the  fifth 
Prussians,  to  extend  to  themselves,  withdrew  to 
Langen-Soulzbach.  The  French,  being  thus  no 
longer  pressed  on  their  left,  turned  all  their 
strength  with  the  greatest  energy  against  the  fifth 
Prussians  at  Woerth,  and  endeavoured  to  crush 
this  isolated  part  of  their  antagonist's  forces. 
Finding  them  so  earnest  on  this  point,  and 
perceiving  the  eleventh  Prussians  approaching 
vigorously  in  the  direction  of  Gunstett,  the  fifth 
Prussians  immediately  proceeded  to  the  attack, 
so  as  to  defeat  the  French  if  possible,  before  they 
had  time  fully  to  concentrate.  The  twentieth 
Brigade  was  the  first  to  defile  through  Woerth, 
and  marched  towards  Elsasshausen  and  Froesch- 
willer.  It  was  promptly  followed  by  the  ninteenth 
Brigade.  Eventually,  the  ninth  division  being 
drawn  into  the  fight,  the  whole  fifth  corps  found 
itself  involved  in  the  sanguinary  conflict  raging 
along  the  heights  west  of  Woerth. 

For  more  than  three  hours  the  battle  raged 
here  with  the  greatest  fury.  Chassepots,  needle- 
guns,  mitrailleuses,  field  artillery,  and  shells,  all 
played  their  part  in  the  terrible  fray.  Undismayed 
by  the  havoc  spread  through  their  ranks,  the 
Germans  marched  down  the  eastern  slopes,  across 
the  valley,  and  attacked  the  opposite  heights  in 
the  face  of  a  tremendous  fire. 

The  most   sanguinary  part   of  the   strife  com- 


menced at  the  foot  of  the  hills  occupied  by  the 
French.  In  the  vineyards  the  Zouaves  and  Turcos 
had  taken  up  their  position,  and  they  possessed 
the  twofold  advantage  over  the  impetuous  advance 
of  the  Germans,  of  being  under  cover,  and  of 
being  in  a  position  to  take  good  aim  at  their  foes; 
the  Germans  at  the  same  time  being  entirely 
exposed,  and  compelled  to  fire  almost  at  randon. 
Two,  three,  and  in  some  places  even  four  times, 
were  the  Germans  repulsed,  but  on  each  occasion 
they  fell  back  on  their  reserves,  and  the  reserves 
again  on  their  supports,  in  the  best  order.  In  fact, 
nothing  could  possibly  have  exceeded  their  stead- 
iness and  coolness  under  fire.  The  French,  too, 
fought  with  the  greatest  bravery,  and  twice  did 
they  succeed  in  recapturing  Woerth:  in  fact,  at 
one  period  they  looked  upon  victory  as  almost 
certain,  and  the  state  of  affairs  was  decidedly 
critical  for  the  Germans.  As  a  proof  of  the 
determined  manner  in  which  the  French  fought 
at  this  time,  ■  we  may  state  that,  on  one  of  the 
occasions  when  the  first  and  second  Zouaves  were 
pressing  the  Prussians  back  through  the  streets 
of  the  village,  they  were  taken  in  flank  and  rear, 
completely  cut  off,  and,  after  heroically  striving 
to  fight  their  way  through  to  their  supports,  were 
all  killed,  wounded,  or  captured.  A  single  inci- 
dent will  suffice  to  show  the  terrible  nature  of  the 
struggle  at  this  point.  A  captain  of  the  first 
Zouaves,  who  was  wounded  in  the  village,  had 
been  ordered  to  advance  to  the  support  of  another 
company  of  his  regiment  engaged  in  the  streets. 
He  had  with  him  sixty-eight  men  and  two  sub- 
alterns when  he  entered  the  place;  by  the  time 
(about  twenty  minutes  later)  his  sergeant-major 
informed  him  that  the  rear  of  his  company  was 
threatened,  only  thirty-six  remained;  and  when 
he  had  broken  through  the  first  lot  of  Prussians 
that  attempted  to  stop  his  retreat,  he  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  eleven  men.  Things  looked 
so  bad — more  Prussians  hurrying  up  and  a  fire 
from  the  houses  being  sustained — that  he  stopped, 
and  said  to  his  men,  "Eh  bien !  que  dites-vous?" 
to  which  all  replied,  "Nous  allons  nous  defendre." 
On  he  went,  with  his  small  but  heroic  following. 
When  he  got  into  the  open  ground  by  the  river, 
his  eleven  men  were  reduced  to  three,  besides  his 
sergeant-major,  who,  as  well  as  himself,  fell  the 
next  moment,  the  one  wounded  in  the  shoulder, 
the  other  through  the  leg. 

At  last  the  French,  who  were  threatened  with 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


313 


being  outflanked,  were  compelled  to  fall  back  inch 
by  inch  on  their  own  centre,  and  it  was  now  the 
turn  of  the  Germans  to  again  advance. 

At  half-past  one  o'clock  orders  were  given  to 
the  first  Bavarian  corps  (Von  der  Tann's)  to  leave 
one  of  its  two  divisions  where  it  stood,  and  send- 
ing on  the  other  as  quickly  as  possible  by  Lobsann 
and  Lampertsloch,  to  seize  upon  the  French  front 
in  the  gap  between  the  second  Bavarian  corps  at 
Langen-Soulzbach,  and  the  fifth  Prussian  corps 
at  Woerth.  The  eleventh  Prussians  were  ordered 
to  advance  to  Elsasshausen,  skirt  the  forest  of 
Nieder  Wald,  and  operate  against  Froeschwiller. 
The  Wurtemburg  division  was  to  proceed  to  Gun- 
stett,  and  follow  the  eleventh  Prussians  across  the 
Sauerbach;  the  Baden  division  was  to  remain  at 
Sourbourg. 

At  two  o'clock  the  combat  had  extended  along 
the  entire  line,  and  the  struggle  was  most  severe. 
The  fifth  Prussians  were  fighting  at  Woerth; 
the  eleventh  Prussians  near  Elsasshausen.  At 
the  strong  positions  of  the  French  on  and  near 
the  heights  of  Froeschwiller,  they  offered  the  most 
intense  resistance.  The  first  Bavarian  corps 
reached  Goersdorf,  but  could  not  maintain  their 
ground;  the  second  Bavarian  corps  had  to  ex- 
change the  exhausted  troops  of  Bothmer's  division, 
who  had  spent  all  their  ammunition  in  the  fierce 
fights  of  the  morning,  for  Walther's  division. 
While  Bothmer's  troops  fell  back,  Schleich's 
brigade,  belonging  to  Walther's  division,  marched 
upon  Langen-Soulzbach,  and  the  Wurtemburg 
division  approached  Gunstett. 

At  two  o'clock  fresh  orders  were  given  by  the 
Germans.  The  Wurtemburg  division  was  to 
turn  towards  Eeichshoffen  by  way  of  Ebersbach, 
to  threaten  the  French  line  of  retreat.  The  first 
Bavarian  was  to  attack  at  once  and  dislodge  them 
from  their  position  at  Froeschwiller  and  in  the 
neighbouring  vineyards,  and  thus  roll  up  the  right 
of  the  French  lines. 

Clouds  of  German  skirmishers  crossed  the 
marshy  bottom  to  the  east  of  Woerth,  between 
Elsasshausen  and  Morsbronn,  under  the  cover  of  a 
tremendous  artillery  fire  from  sixty  guns,  posted 
on  the  opposite  heights  of  Gunstett;  large  masses 
of  infantry  pressed  forward  in  support,  and  the 
Germans  made  vigorous  endeavours  to  force  the 
French  right  wing  back  upon  the  Haguenau- 
Bitsche  road,  so  as  to  compel  it  to  retreat  towards 
Bitsche — a  movement  that  would  have  been  fatal. 


The  conflict  raged  with  tremendous  fury;  pro- 
digies of  valour  were  displayed  by  the  French, 
who,  anticipating  the  hostile  attack,  advanced 
again  and  again  to  the  charge,  only  to  recoil  before 
the  fresh  troops  whom  the  Germans  incessantly 
brought  up,  "as  if,"  said  a  captured  officer,  "they 
sprang  out  of  the  ground." 

The  village  of  Froeschwiller,  which  was  burnt 
during  the  struggle,  was  at  last  carried  by  a 
fierce  hand  to  hand  encounter;  the  houses  being 
stormed  one  by  one,  the  doors  burst  open  by  the 
butt  ends  of  the  guns,  and  many  Zouaves  and 
Turcos  made  prisoners.  The  assaulting  parties 
of  Wiirtemburg  and  Prussian  troops,  fighting  their 
way  from  opposite  sides,  met  in  the  centre  of  the 
village,  at  the  foot  of  the  church  tower. 

Between  two  and  three  o'clock  the  French, 
bringing  fresh  troops  into  the  field,  and  advanc- 
ing with  consummate  bravery,  assumed  the  offen- 
sive against  the  fifth  and  eleventh  Prussian  corps; 
and  about  three  o'clock  it  appeared  as  if  MacMahon 
would  so  far  carry  the  day,  that  he  would  take 
possession  of  the  only  bridge  upon  the  Sauerbach, 
and  break  through  the  German  centre.  Had  he 
done  this,  and  been  able  to  hold  what  he  was  pos- 
sessed of,  he  would  have  captured  a  vast  portion 
of  the  German  artillery,  and  have  inflicted  a  fear- 
ful punishment  upon  every  battalion  of  them  that 
had  crossed  the  bridge.  But  the  French  had  to 
deal  with  a  much  larger  force,  far  more  orderly, 
and  better  handled,  than  their  own.  The  Prus- 
sians fought  like  soldiers  in  the  highest  state  of 
discipline ;  the  French  now  seemed  to  behave  more 
like  a  gallant  mob.  There  appeared  to  be  no  order 
in  their  formation  after  the  first  ten  minutes  of 
their  being  under  fire.  Any  advantage  which  they 
had  in  the  superior  range  of  the  Chassepot  over 
the  needle-gun  they  threw  away,  by  advancing — 
rushing  would  be  the  better  word — so  near  their 
enemy  that  they  were  placed  upon  an  equality 
with  him.  In  numbers,  also,  they  were  less  than  - 
one  to  two. 

A  little  after  three  came  the  turning  point  of 
the  battle.  After  some  sharp  fighting,  the  Prus- 
sian advance  against  the  French  left  was  so  far 
successful  that  the  village  of  Eeichshoffen  was 
carried;  but  not  until  the  Crown  Prince  had  de- 
veloped his  chief  and  crowning  effort  against  the 
French  right  centre,  where  the  fifth  corps,  sup- 
ported by  the  second  Bavarian,  advanced  in  heavy 
columns,  covered  by  a  tremendous  cannonade,  and 
2  R 


314 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


carried  at  a  rush  the  village  of  Elsasshausen,  from 
which  MacMahon's  third  division  had  hitherto 
commanded  the  wide  valley  of  the  Sauerbach, 
which  before  divided  the  opposing  armies  at  this 
part.  From  the  moment  at  which  this  movement 
commenced,  it  was  evident  that  the  French  were 
outnumbered,  outflanked,  and  beaten;  and  nothing 
was  left  to  MacMahon  but  to  throw  his  right  com- 
pletely back  upon  the  centre — a  movement  so 
finely  executed  in  the  face  of  adverse  circum- 
stances and  a  superior  force,  as  to  win  admiration 
from  his  enemy. 

The  pressure  soon  became  overwhelming,  and, 
assailed  fiercely  in  front  and  flank,  the  French 
right  and  centre  were  cut  in  two,  and  rolled  away 
in  shattered  and  divided  fragments.  About  the 
same  time  the  Crown  Prince  made  his  last  man- 
oeuvre by  bringing  up  some  Wiirtemburg  troops 
not  previously  engaged,  beyond  the  extreme  right 
flank  of  the  French;  and  the  whole  right  being  thus 
completely  outflanked,  was  driven  in  and  crushed, 
and  the  magnificent  and  renowned  Algerian  army, 
which  had  crowned  the  range  of  Woerth  at  sun- 
rise, soon  became  a  ruined  mass  of  disheartened 
fugitives. 

A  fierce  charge  of  the  French  cuirassier  regi- 
ments against  the  fifth  and  eleventh  Prussian 
corps,  was  made  at  the  close  of  the  fight,  in  the 
hope  of  either  retrieving  the  day,  or  at  all  events 
of  facilitating  the  retreat  of  the  rest  of  the  army. 
Nothing  could  possibly  have  been  more  brilliant 
than  the  manner  in  which  they  advanced ;  but  it 
ended,  as  such  charges  of  heavy  cavalry  must 
almost  of  necessity  do  in  the  face  of  modern 
artillery  and  the  breech-loader,  in  the  all  but 
annihilation  of  the  daring  horsemen.  The  artillery 
awaited  them  in  a  stationary  position,  and  inflicted 
on  them  a  very  heavy  loss.  The  infantry,  too, 
with  their  needle-guns,  were  many  of  them  placed 
in  the  protecting  orchards,  and  from  behind  the 
trees  came  another  terrible  fire  through  which  the 
men  rode  to  their  death.  As  they  came  within 
range  they  were  swept  down,  and  not  a  single  man 
reached  the  German  line.  It  was  simply  destruc- 
tion ;  but  having  received  their  orders,  they  charged 
again  and  again  (according  to  some  accounts  not 
fewer  than  eleven  times),  and  rode  as  gallantly  to 
be  shot  down  without  a  chance  of  retaliation,  as 
though  they  were  following  up  a  victory.  When 
the  battle  was  ended,  the  ground  over  which  they 
had  charged  was   strewn  with  the  steel  helmets 


and  cuirasses  of  the  extinct  regiments.  Some  200 
prisoners  were  taken,  and  a  few  stragglers  were 
left  to  take  part  in  the  subsequent  flight;  but  the 
brave  regiments  were  no  more,  and  when  asked, 
during  the  retreat,  "Where  are  the  cuirassiers?" 
MacMahon  replied  that  they  did  not  exist.  In 
the  destruction  of  these  troops  the  Coburg  Gotha 
regiment  greatly  distinguished  itself,  and  Duke 
Ernest,  who  rode  throughout  the  day  by  the  side 
of  the  Crown  Prince,  having  witnessed  their 
bravery,  galloped  up  to  them  and  expressed  his 
pride  and  gratitude  at  their  gallant  conduct.  A 
little  incident  in  connection  with  the  charge  of 
the  cuirassiers  is  worth  mentioning,  as  showing  the 
bravery  of  the  Germans  as  well  as  of  the  French 
on  the  occasion.  In  a  hop  plantation  lay  a  com- 
pany of  the  ninety-fifth  regiment,  and  some  pioneers 
of  the  eleventh  battalion,  the  latter  armed  with 
the  short-barrelled  needle-gun.  The  lieutenant- 
commander  of  the  latter  was  a  man  of  dauntless 
bravery  and  coolness.  To  these  troops,  covered 
by  the  hops  and  tree  trunks,  presently  approached 
one  of  the  cuirassier  regiments.  Until  within  a 
distance  of  fifty  paces,  when  the  French  word  of 
command  to  push  forward  was  called  out,  the 
Germans  believed  them  to  be  Bavarians.  No 
further  doubt  was,  however,  possible,  and  for  the 
moment  the  German  position  seemed  a  fearful 
one ;  it  looked  like  madness  for  a  few  infantry  to 
attempt  to  withstand  that  mass  of  cavalry,  charg- 
ing with  uplifted  sabres,  and  so  the  Germans 
turned  to  the  right-about,  to  retire  as  fast  as  pos- 
sible. But  the  lieutenant  stood  firm  and  cried  out, 
"  Children,  are  you  going  to  leave  me  here  alone?" 
His  brave  fellows  instantly  stood  still,  and  at  a  few 
steps'  distance,  fired  rapid  volleys  which  greatly 
decimated  the  horsemen,  and  those  who  charged 
were  shot  down  by  other  troops.  The  colonel, 
the  beau  ideal  of  a  soldier,  a  stately,  handsome, 
middle-aged  man,  had  led  the  charge  to  the  very 
fine  of  the  needle-guns,  and  came  down,  as  his 
horse  rolled  dead,  with  a  heavy  crash  in  his  cuirass. 
He  was  afterwards  presented  to  the  Crown  Prince, 
and  was  forwarded  to  the  railway  station  on  foot, 
his  cuirass  being  taken  off,  with  orders  that  he 
should  receive  every  attention. 

An  unusually  horrid  circumstance  occurred 
during  the  third  charge  of  the  cuirassiers ;  for  the 
Germans  saw  coming  towards  them  at  full  speed 
a  horse  carrying  a  rider  whose  head  had  just  been 
carried   off  by   a   cannon   ball.     This    mutilated 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


315 


corpse  was  that  of  M.  de  la  Futzun  de  Lacarre,  of 
the  third  regiment.  The  same  ball  had  cut  the 
trumpeter  of  the  regiment  in  two,  and  carried  off 
the  hand  of  the  captain  who  was  by  his  side. 

About  four  o'clock  the  troops  of  MacMahon, 
thoroughly  broken  and  exhausted,  retired  in  great 
confusion  towards  Reichshoffen  and  Niederbronn. 
Here  a  new  engagement  took  place.  Niederbronn 
is  the  point  at  which  the  roads  to  Bitsche  and 
Saverne  diverge:  and  the  Prussians  strove  hard  to 
seize  that  village.  The  Bavarians  pressed  forward 
over  the  heights  by  Neehwiller,  now  abandoned 
by  the  French  left ;  and  they  might  have  succeeded 
in  occupying  the  cross-roads,  but  for  the  fortunate 
arrival  of  a  division  of  the  fifth  French  corps,  which 
had  been  sent  by  De  Failly  by  rail  from  Bitsche, 
and  which  had  been  prevented  from  coming  up  in 
time  for  the  battle  in  consequence  of  the  mistake 
of  a  telegraphic  operator.  It  took  up  a  position 
covering  Niederbronn,  and  maintained  itself  there 
until  night  had  fallen,  and  some  of  the  remnants 
of  MacMahon's  corps  had  gained  the  road  to  Sav- 
erne. We  say,  some  of  the  remnants,  because  many 
others  escaped  by  way  of  Haguenau,  towards 
Strassburg.  The  retreat  of  the  latter,  which  had 
chiefly  formed  the  French  right  during  the  en- 
gagement, was  in  reality  a  panic-stricken  rout, 
although  they  were  not  pressed  at  all  after  their 
ground  was  once  yielded.  In  fact,  nothing  worse 
has  occurred  in  modern  history,  except,  perhaps, 
the  flight  of  the  raw  fugitives  at  the  battle  of 
Bull's  Bun  on  the  opening  of  the  American  War. 
Fleeing  madly,  though  wholly  unpursued,  crowds 
of  men  on  foot,  or  worse,  on  horses  stolen  from 
the  guns  and  trains,  rushed  pell-mell  through 
Haguenau.  The  scene  was  vividly  sketched  by 
the  correspondent  of  the  Vienna  Wehr  Zeitung, 
who  happened  to  be  a  witness  of  it.  "About 
four  o'clock,"  he  said,  "a  riderless  horse  galloped 
into  the  town,  then  a  second,  and  a  third  ;  but 
the  first  intimation  of  how  the  day  had  gone 
was  brought  by  a  cuirassier,  who  came  spurring 
through  without  cuirass  or  arms,  his  horse  covered 
with  foam  and  blood.  Next  arrived  an  artillerist 
on  an  unsaddled  horse,  his  face  distorted  with 
inexpressible  alarm.  Some  minutes  later  a  mob 
of  some  twenty  horsemen  hurried  past,  among 
whom  two  Zouaves  clinging  upon  one  horse  were 
conspicuous  ;  the  others  were  cuirassiers  in  every 
stage  of  fright  and  terror,  some  wildly  swinging 
their  sabres ;  others  as  if  out  of  their  wits,  flogging 


their  poor  exhausted  horses,  several  without  saddles, 
most  of  them  without  arms.  One  cuirassier  halted 
his  horse  just  before  me,  loosened  his  cuirass, 
threw  off  his  helmet,  next  his  heavy  sword,  lastly 
his  weighty  breast-plate,  and  then,  laughing  con- 
tentedly, rode  leisurely  on.  A  pause  of  some  five 
minutes  followed.  The  townsmen  had  all  fled 
inside  the  gates.  Presently,  up  gallops  a  field 
gendarme,  halts  his  half-dead  horse,  and  calls  out 
'  Shut  the  gates  instantly,  the  Prussians  are  at  my 
heels.'  The  field-watch  turned  white.  I  exclaimed, 
'  What  madness !  Haguenau  is  an  open  town.  There 
can  be  no  defence,  and  if  the  Prussians  are  really 
at  hand,  the  best  thing  for  the  town  is  to 
open  the  gates  as  wide  as  possible.'  His  face 
brightened  up.  The  tumult,  however,  became 
greater.  Among  a  crowd  of  cuirassiers  some 
lancers  were  mixed  up ;  then  came  hussar  uniforms. 
The  road  becomes  thronged  ;  unmounted  horses 
gallop  past  as  if  driven  on  by  panic ;  on  all  sides 
are  swarms  of  artillerymen  in  shirt-sleeves,  many 
of  their  horses  with  the  traces  cut,  ridden  by 
infantry  or  artillerymen,  but  having  no  officers 
with  them. 

"  While  this  motley  crowd  of  cavalry  was  gal- 
loping through,  a  train  rushed  past  laden  with 
infantry.  All  the  waggons  were  filled — on  the 
roofs,  hanging  on  by  the  handles,  with  half  their 
bodies  in  the  air,  on  the  gangway  boards,  some 
fully  accoutred,  some  half  naked,  no  wounded. 
By  five  o'clock  the  rush  of  horsemen  began  to 
abate,  and  then  came  a  stream  of  conveyances, 
four  or  five  carriages  all  completely  harnessed,  yet 
without  their  guns.  Then  jolted  and  rattled  past  a 
broken  ammunition  waggon  crammed  with  Turcos  ; 
next  a  peasant's  waggon  filled  with  bedding  and 
household  gear,  but  no  owner ;  a  Zouave  led  the 
horses  ;  two  frightfully  wounded  Turcos  lay  on  the 
top,  a  cluster  of  unarmed  soldiers  of  all  arms  clung 
round  it.  Now  followed  infantry  on  foot.  It  was 
about  half  past  five  ;  still  no  officers.  In  dense 
swarms  come  the  chancery  cars,  the  carriages  of 
three  general  brigades,  the  archives  of  a  division, 
four  or  five  empty  ammunition  trucks,  every  kind 
of  ambulance  waggon,  all  packed  with  uninjured 
soldiers.  On  one  car  lay  three  corpses,  and  a  few 
pitifully  draggled  Turcos  followed  in  the  crowd  in 
dumb  resignation.  Then  came  a  lot  of  sutlers  and 
camp-followers.  The  infantry  had  all  flung  away 
their  packs,  many  their  guns,  some  were  in  their 
shirt-sleeves,  most  of  them  had   loaves  stuck   on 


316 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


their  swords  and  swung  on  their  shoulders.  About 
half  past  six  an  orderly  troop  of  cuirassiers,  under 
the  command  of  a  captain  and  two  subalterns,  about 
forty  men  strong,  rode  past.  They  were  almost 
all  properly  accoutred,  and  kept  step.  Between 
four  and  seven  o'clock  a  disorderly  rabble  hurried 
by  absorbed  in  themselves  and  in  their  miserable 
existence  ;  in  the  whole  body  not  more  than  forty 
in  marching  order,  altogether  some  8000  to  10,000 
men,  very  few  wounded,  some  three  or  four  cavalry 
officers,  two  artillery,  and  about  eight  infantry 
officers  in  the  entire  swarm." 

Shameful  as  the  disorder  was  on  this  side,  the 
centre  and  left  of  MacMahon's  forces  behaved 
hardly  better  in  their  retreat  after  leaving  Kieder- 
bronn,  which,  in  fact,  their  own  misconduct  turned 
into  a  disastrous  rout.  Their  officers,  who  had 
neglected  to  maintain  order  in  time  of  peace,  found 
it  impossible  to  rally  them  under  the  pressure  of 
panic,  and  when  MacMahon,  on  the  following 
evening,  reached  Saverne  after  a  cross  march 
through  the  hills,  but  three  of  his  infantry  regi- 
ments had  kept  their  ranks.  The  fatal  disregard 
of  discipline,  the  total  want  of  mutual  confidence 
between  officers  and  men,  the  utter  prostration 
under  reverse  which  constantly  characterized  the 
army  of  the  Second  Empire  during  the  war,  were 
at  once  fully  manifested  in  this  shameful  retreat — 
the  sad  presage  of  greater  misfortunes  to  come. 

The  official  statement  of  the  loss  of  the  Germans 
in  the  battle  was  8000  men.  The  regiments  which 
suffered  most  may  be  estimated  from  the  number 
of  officers  they  lost.  The  fifty-eighth  lost  thirty- 
two;  the  fifty-ninth,  twenty-three;  the  seventh 
(guards),  thirty-five ;  the  forty-seventh,  twenty- 
nine  ;  the  forty-sixth,  thirty-three ;  the  fifty-seventh, 
thirty;  the  sixth,  twenty-eight;  the  thirty-seventh, 
twenty-five.  It  is  perhaps  worthy  of  notice,  that 
of  the  troops  engaged,  nearly  all  were  non-Prus- 
sians; that  is,  the  fifth  corps,  Poseners ;  eleventh, 
Nassauers,  Hesse  Casselers,  Saxe  Coburgers,  &c, 
and  the  rest  Southern  Germans. 

The  French  loss  in  killed  and  woxmded  was 
almost  as  great  as  that  of  the  Prussians,  and  in 
addition  the  Germans  captured  6000  prisoners  on 
the  field,  and  about  4000  afterwards.  The  dis- 
astrous rout  already  described  must  also  have 
entailed  on  the  French  a  loss,  chiefly  in  stragglers, 
of  nearly  a  third  of  the  whole  army ;  for  the  highest 
estimate  ever  given  of  those  rallied  afterwards 
mentioned  no  more  than   18,000   men,   including; 


3000  who  escaped  to  Strassburg,  where  they  were 
at  once  incorporated  in  the  garrison. 

The  French  also  lost  thirty-six  cannon,  six 
mitrailleuses,  two  eagles,  innumerable  arms,  their 
entire  baggage  and  treasure,  and  two  railway 
trains  containing  provisions.  Even  MacMahon's 
personal  baggage,  his  official  and  private  letters, 
the  plan  of  the  French  campaign  in  cipher  (which 
was  soon  deciphered),  &c,  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  conquerors.  It  was  characteristic  of  modern 
French  strategy,  that  no  maps  of  France,  especially 
of  the  Vosges,  were  found  in  the  officers'  bag- 
gage; while  routes  to  Coburg,  Berlin,  &c,  were 
discovered,  as  well  as  sketches  of  the  country 
beyond  the  Rhine.  It  was  also  significant  of  the 
luxury  which  was  too  prevalent  in  the  French 
army,  that  among  other  trophies  was  a  gaudy 
collection  of  ladies'  dresses  and  female  finery. 

At  Solferino  the  French  took  G000  prisoners, 
thirty  guns,  and  two  standards.  The  tactical 
importance  of  Woerth  was  therefore  quite  equal 
to  that  of  Solferino;  and  the  moral  effect  on  the 
German  forces  of  such  a  signal  success  over  the 
best  general  and  one  of  the  finest  armies  France 
could  place  in  the  field  was,  of  course,  exceedingly 
great.  The  fearful  havoc  inflicted  on  MacMahon's 
troops  and  the  disastrous  nature  of  his  rout,  not 
only  quite  freed  South  Germany  from  any  fear 
of  invasion,  but  on  the  other  hand  laid  open  the 
whole  right  of  the  French  line  of  defence,  and  left 
Marshal  Bazaine  with  two  armies  to  watch,  where 
he  was  already  overmatched  with  one. 

As  early  as  half  past  four  in  the  afternoon 
the  Crown  Prince  had  sent  home  the  following 
despatch  announcing  the  victory: — 

"  Battle-field  near  Woerth,  Saturday,  August  6, 
4.30  p.m. — Victorious  battle  near  Woerth.  I  have 
completely  defeated  Marshal  MacMahon,  with  the 
greater  part  of  his  army.  The  French  were  driven 
back  to  Bitsche. 

"  Fetjedeich  Wilhelii,  Crown  Prince." 

A  little  later  the  king  informed  her  Majesty, 
Queen  Augusta,  of  the  result  as  follows: — 

"  Wonderful  fortune  !  This  new  great  victory 
won  by  Fritz.  Thank  God  for  his  mercy !  We 
have  taken  thirty  cannons,  two  eagles,  six  mitrail- 
leuses, 4000  prisoners.  MacMahon  received  rein- 
forcements from  the  main  army." 

The  scene  at  the  close  of  the  battle  was  well 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


317 


described  in  a  letter  from  the  duke  of  Saxe-Coburg, 
from  which  we  annex  an  extract  : — "  We  were 
able  to  watch  the  whole  battle  from  the  nearest 
proximity;  and  where  we  stood  the  Crown  Prince 
was  in  a  position  to  give  his  command.  When 
the  last  "  hurrah"  had  rung  forth,  we  chased  into 
the  line  and  up  the  hostile  height,  after  we  had  for 
hours  witnessed  around  us  the  explosion  of  shells. 
But  what  a  sight  presented  itself  close  by !  It  is 
indescribable.  A  beautiful  calm  summer's  evening, 
and  straight  along  burning  farms  and  villages; 
between,  accumulations  of  the  dead  and  the  dying, 
and  the  exulting  outcry  of  our  victorious  troops 
The  banners  were  displayed,  the  military  bands 
were  playing  the  national  hymn,  men  embraced 
and  fondled  each  other  in  joy,  and  the  hand  of 
many  a  dying  comrade  was  yet  clasped.  And  I 
heard  no  one  complain,  notwithstanding  the  hor- 
rible devastation.  Eight  on  we  went,  through 
thousands  of  French  prisoners,  and  through  the 
captured  fire-arms,  around  which  the  serving  men 
lay  in  heaps  of  dead  and  wounded.  There  was  no 
eye  without  a  tear.  It  was  the  grandest  and  most 
appalling  sight  that  can  be  witnessed  in  life. 
Slowly  night  set  upon  this  awful  scene,  and  wiped 
away  the  terrible  view.  How  can  I  find  words 
for  my  joy  and  sorrow  when  I  came  to  our  deci- 
mated regiment,  which  had  taken  a  glorious  part 
in  the  secured  laurels?" 

The  district  in  which  the  engagement  took  place, 
of  course,  suffered  terribly.  Many  of  the  houses 
in  Woerth  were  destroyed,  and  at  Froeschwiller 
it  was  even  worse.  In  this  village,  too,  the  church 
was  shelled,  and  then  burnt  down  after  a  fearful 
hand-to-hand  combat  had  taken  place  within  its 
walls.  The  orchards  in  all  parts  of  the  battle-field 
were  knocked  to  pieces :  the  vines  and  hops  ruth- 
lessly cut  down,  the  potatoes  annihilated,  and  the 
meadows  turned  into  desolate  tracts  of  rugged  soil. 

All  the  German  troops  which  had  taken  part 
in  the  engagement  bivouacked  on  the  battle-field 
that  night.  On  the  following  morning  the  cavalry 
corps  began  the  pursuit  of  the  disorganized  French 
troops;  and  for  some  days  after  they  were  contin- 
ually capturing  fresh  prisoners,  and  finding  the 
shattered  debris  of  MacMahon's  army. 

After  the  battle  great  animosity  was  displayed 
by  the  peasants,  and  some  of  them  were  guilty  of 
the  grossest  barbarity  towards  the  wounded  Ger- 
mans. At  Gunstett  alone,  twenty-eight  peasants, 
caught  red-handed  gouging   and  maiming,  were 


tried  and  shot;  and  at  one  time  as  many  as  forty 
lads,  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  eighteen, 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  provost  marshal,  under 
accusation  of  having  committed  similar  outrages. 
In  fact,  the  fanatic  hatred  of  the  Alsatian  peasants 
against  the  German  invaders  excited  much  surprise 
and  regret.  In  no  case  did  the  soldiers  take  the 
law  into  their  own  hands,  but  brought  in  the 
persons  whom  they  found  committing  the  outrages 
to  the  proper  military  authorities. 

In  consequence  of  the  fearful  losses  on  both  sides 
and  the  hasty  flight  of  the  French,  the  sufferings 
endured  by  the  wounded  were  unusually  great ; 
for  even  twenty-four  hours  after  the  engagement 
hundreds  of  them  still  lay  untended,  and  the  air 
was  polluted  with  the  stench  of  unburied  corpses 
blackening  in  the  sun's  hot  rays. 

In  calmly  reviewing  the  whole  circumstances 
connected  with  the  battle,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  the  manner  in  which  it  was  contested  was  hon- 
ourable alike  to  conquerors  and  conquered.  The 
Germans  certainly  were  in  irresistible  force;  but 
this  was  not  felt  until  after  mid-day,  and  for  several 
hours  the  French  possessed  the  advantage  of  a 
formidable  position.  When  the  German  attack 
was  fully  developed,  it  proved,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  crushing;  yet  for  some  time  they  fought 
with  a  superiority  of  numbers  not  too  great  to 
render  the  struggle  wholly  unequal.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  French  attacked  frequently  with  splendid 
courage,  and  resisted  with  determined  resolution ; 
they  generally  manoeuvred,  too,  with  the  ease,  the 
celerity,  and  the  precision  of  a  well-trained  army. 
Yet,  as  we  have  seen,  they  showed  signs  of  panic 
towards  the  close  of  the  fight ;  they  broke  up 
rapidly  on  being  outflanked,  and  fled  from  the 
field  in  wild  confusion.  The  terrible  defect  of 
the  French  troops — their  inability  to  resist  the 
temptation  to  hasty  firing  offered  by  the  breech- 
loaders— began  to  tell  as  early  as  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  for  by  that  time  there  was  a  want 
of  ammunition  on  several  parts  of  the  French 
lines.  It  would  appear,  too,  that  this  character- 
istic of  the  French  was  aggravated  in  some  parts 
of  the  field  by  the  orders  given  by  MacMahon. 
His  experience  had  chiefly  been  in  Algeria,  where 
the  troops  are  often  ordered  to  put  off  their  knap- 
sacks, with  a  view  to  move  more  freely,  and  this 
was  the  order  he  gave  his  troops  at  Reich shoffen. 
The  result  was,  that  out  of  the  ninety  cartridges 
which  a  French  soldier  is  provided  with,  he  bad 


318 


THE  FKANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


only  thirty  ;  the  remaining  sixty  having  been  left 
on  the  battle-field,  together  with  the  knapsacks. 
On  the  other  side,  the  steadiness,  rapidity,  and 
accuracy  of  the  German  fire  was  such,  that  the 
French  believed  they  were  using  mitrailleuses  (as 
will  be  seen  further  on,  it  was  so  stated  in  the 
telegram  from  the  emperor  announcing  the  result 
of  the  engagement),  and  to  these  they  attributed 
much  of  the  terrible  slaughter  in  their  ranks.  One 
chief  result  of  the  battle  was,  in  fact,  the  demon- 
stration of  the  close  connection  between  the  value 
of  arms  of  precision  and  the  constitutional  tem- 
perament of  those  in  whose  hands  they  are  placed. 
The  best  troops  of  France  were  mown  down  be- 
cause the  German  soldier  kept  cool  and  took  good 
aim,  while  the  effect  of  the  rapid  firing  of  the 
French  was  greatly  inferior. 

The  Germans,  like  generous  enemies,  frankly 
admitted  the  gallantry  which  could  not  withstand 
them  ;  and  the  soldiers  who  were  present  on  both 
occasions  said  that  nothing  in  the  hottest  of  the 
fighting  at  Kb'niggriitz  could  at  all  compare  with 
the  fighting  at  Woerth.  The  German  generals, 
too,  admitted  that  they  never  witnessed  anything 
more  brilliant  than  the  bravery  of  the  French 
troops,  but  their  own  troops  were  not  to  be 
denied.  With  tenacity  as  great,  and  a  fierce 
resolution,  they  pressed  on  and  on,  up  heights 
where  the  vineyards  dripped  with  blood  ;  and 
although  checked  again  and  again,  still  persevered 
with  a  furious  intrepidity  which  the  French  could 
not,  at  last,  withstand.  In  fact,  the  Germans 
showed  such  an  absolute  disregard  of  death,  and 
such  a  desperate  valour,  as  excited  the  astonish- 
ment and  admiration  of  the  French.  Their  steadi- 
ness, in  spite  of  the  most  frightful  carnage,  was 
abundantly  proved  by  the  returns  of  killed  and 
wounded. 

Personally,  MacMakon  acted  throughout  the 
fight  in  the  bravest  possible  manner.  Nearly  all 
his  staff  were  killed ;  and  he  himself,  after  having 
been  fifteen  hours  in  the  saddle,  was  found  in  a 
ditch,  faint  with  fatigue,  and  revived  by  a  soldier 
with  a  draught  of  brandy.  He  remained  all  night 
on  the  heights  of  Phalsburg,  and  when  in  the 
morning  he  tried  to  count  his  losses,  and  to  rally 
the  remains  of  his  unfortunate  divisions,  the  great 
heart  of  the  brave  marshal  failed  at  the  task 
Overcome  by  emotion,  tears  were  seen  flowing 
from  his  eyes,  and  his  head  was  bowed  under  the 
weight  of  his  disasters. 


The  following  was  his  address  to  those  of  his 
troops  who  remained  with  him  a  day  or  two  after 
the  battle: — ■ 

"Soldiers  ! — On  the  6th  of  August  the  fortune 
of  war  betrayed  your  courage.  You  only  lost  your 
positions  after  an  heroic  resistance  which  lasted 
not  less  than  nine  hours.  You  were  35,000 
against  140,000,  and  were  overwhelmed  by  num- 
bers. Under  such  conditions  a  defeat  is  glorious, 
and  history  will  record  that  at  the  battle  of  Froesch- 
willer  the  French  displayed  the  greatest  valour. 
You  have  experienced  heavy  loss;  but  that  of  the 
enemy  is  heavier  still.  If  he  did  not  pursue  you, 
it  was  because  you  had  hit  him  so  hard.  The 
emperor  is  satisfied  with  you,  and  the  whole  country- 
thanks  you  for  having  so  worthily  upheld  the 
honour  of  your  flag.  We  have  had  a  great  ordeal 
to  go  through.  You  must  forget  it.  The  first 
corps  is  about  to  be  re-organized,  and,  with  God's 
help,  we  shall  soon  take  a  brilliant  revenge. 

"  MACMAHON." 

The  Figaro  opened  a  subscription,  which  was 
liberally  responded  to,  for  the  purpose  of  presenting 
a  sword  of  honour  to  the  general,  whose  defeat  it 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  achievements 
in  the  history  of  France ! 

As  regards  the  tactics  displayed  by  the  two 
commanders,  the  movements  of  the  Germans  at 
the  beginning  of  the  day  scarcely  seem  to  have 
been  well  timed;  their  attacks  were  partial  and 
disunited,  and  MacMakon  had  more  than  one 
chance,  especially  against  the  centre  at  Woerth, 
which,  had  De  Failly's  corps  been  added  to  his 
own,  might  have  caused  the  result  to  have  been 
very  different.  It  is  acknowledged,  too,  by  the 
Germans  themselves,  that  their  cavalry  ought  to 
have  done  more.  Had  that  arm  been  boldly  and 
vigorously  employed  after  the  French  flanks  had 
been  finally  turned,  MacMahon's  army  might  have 
been  destroyed ;  it  is  at  least  probable  that  it  would 
have  been  more  cut  up  than  it  was,  and  that  it 
would  have  lost  nearly  its  whole  artillery.  The 
manner,  however,  in  which  the  Crown  Prince 
disposed  his  forces  for  the  double  attack  on  both 
the  French  flanks  was  admirable,  if  not  altogether 
free  from  danger;  and  though  it  may  be  said  that 
he  acted  cautiously,  with  some  hesitation,  and 
perhaps  without  the  hope  of  great  success,  he 
nevertheless  gave  proof  of  the  powers  of  a  real 
general  at   the   decisive   moment.       MacMahon's 


■3  fill  k  l     M  A  G  Rffl  A  flfl  C   " 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


319 


conduct  in  the  first  part  of  the  day  was  worthy 
of  his  high  reputation.  He  made  the  most  of  his 
troops  and  his  ground,  and  handled  his  army  with 
quickness  and  skill ;  but  probably  he  ought  to  have 
effected  his  retreat  while  as  yet  an  opportunity 
remained,  when  the  great  flanking  attacks  were 
being  developed. 

A  slight  incident  of  the  battle  revealed  very 
strikingly  the  want  of  information  among  the 
French  troops  of  what  was  happening,  and  had 
happened,  in  their  vicinity.  After  the  Crown 
Prince  had  completely  beaten  MacMahon,  and  the 
whole  line  of  communication  was  in  German  hands, 
a  train  started  from  Haguenau  with  1000  French 
soldiers,  who  steamed  away  quietly  and  comfort- 
ably to  find  themselves  prisoners  in  the  centre 
of  the  German  army. 

As  a  fitting  conclusion  to  our  description  of  this 
battle,  in  which  MacMahon  played  such  an  impor- 
tant part,  and  as  an  accompaniment  to  the  annexed 
portrait,  a  few  particulars  respecting  the  previous 
career  of  the  French  general  will  not  be  out  of 
place.  His  full  baptismal  name  is  Marie  Edme 
Patrick  Maurice,  and  by  his  surname  he  recalls 
one  of  the  noblest  families  of  the  old  Celtic 
princes  of  Ireland,  who  suffered  severely  in  ..the 
wars  of  Cromwell  in  that  country,  and  who  risked 
and  lost  their  once  proud  position  in  the  cause  of 
the  last  of  the  Stuart  kings.  It  is  said  that  the 
sept  of  MacMahon  carried  their  national  traditions, 
their  ancestral  pride,  and  their  historic  name,  to 
France,  where  they  mingled  their  blood  by  inter- 
marriages with  the  old  nobility  of  their  adopted 
country.  The  future  marshal  was  born  in  the  year 
1808,  at  the  Chateau  de  Sully,  near  Autun.  Up  to 
seventeen  years  old  young  MacMahon  was  educated 
at  the  quiet  seminary  of  Autun.  He  was  then, 
however,  transferred  to  the  military  school  of  St. 
Cyr,  which,  two  years  afterwards,  he  left  as  sous- 
lieutenant  dUce,  and  as  such  joined  the  Staff  School 
of  Application. 

His  first  fighting  experiences  were  made  in 
Algeria  in  1830,  while  acting  as  orderly  officer  to 
General  Achard.  In  this  capacity  he  accompanied 
the  first  Medeah  expedition,  and  greatly  distin- 
guished himself  in  an  engagement  on  the  Mouzaia 
by  carrying  an  important  despatch  through  a 
whole  army  of  Arabs  to  Blidah,  escaping  his 
enemies  by  leaping  down  a  frightful  abyss. 
Though  his  horse  was  killed,  the  young  lieuten- 
ant escaped  with   a  severe  shaking,   and  accom- 


plished his  mission  in  safety.  For  this  gallant 
exploit  he  received  the  cross  of  the  Legion  of 
Honour.  In  1832,  still  with  General  Achard, 
MacMahon  was  present  at  the  siege  of  Antwerp, 
at  the  close  of  which  he  was  created  captain. 
Returning  to  Algeria  in  1836,  he  was  wounded  at 
the  second  siege  of  Constantine  in  the  following 
year,  while  acting  as  aide-de-camp  to  General  Damre^ 
mont.  Recompensed  here  with  the  rank  of  officer 
of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  we  subsequently  find  him, 
in  1840,  aide-de-camp  to  General  Changarnier  in 
Algeria,  where,  shortly  after,  he  obtained  the  com- 
mand of  a  regiment  of  Chasseurs  a  pied,  a  body 
afterwards  greatly  relied  on  by  the  French,  but 
which  were  then  being  organized  by  the  duke  of 
Orleans.  With  these  he  gained  fresh  honours,  com- 
manding several  expeditions  against  the  Kabyles, 
and  assisting  to  subdue  the  renowned  Arab  chief, 
Abd-el-Kader. 

In  August,  1855,  he  replaced  General  Canrobert, 
who  was  obliged  to  return  invalided,  in  the  com- 
mand of  the  1st  Division  of  the  French  Crimean 
Army,  and  when  the  chiefs  of  the  allied  armies 
resolved  upon  the  final  assault  of  Sebastopol,  they 
assigned  to  General  MacMahon  the  post  of  carrying 
the  works  of  the  Malakoff.  The  well-known  storm- 
ing of  this  strong  fort  rendered  his  name  famous 
in  European,  as  it  already  was  in  African  annals. 
Elevated  to  the  dignity  of  Senator  in  1856,  he 
again  returned  to  Algeria,  and  took  an  active  part 
in  the  campaign  of  1857,  and  in  1858  was  named 
commander-in-chief  of  the  whole  Algerian  forces. 
Summoned  in  the  following  year  with  his  troops 
to  the  Italian  war,  he  gained  on  two  successive 
days,  the  3rd  and  4th  of  June,  the  celebrated  vic- 
tories of  Turbigo  and  Magenta.  This  latter  success 
won  him  his  baton  and  the  title  of  Duke  of 
Magenta,  both  being  granted  on  the  field  of  battle. 

Amongst  the  romantic  and  sentimental  incidents 
of  the  war  of  Italian  liberty,  one  of  the  most  char- 
acteristic was  General  MacMahon's  triumphal  entry, 
at  the  head  of  his  troops,  into  the  city  of  Milan ; 
carrying  on  the  pommel  of  his  saddle  a  little 
Italian  child,  whom  he  had  picked  up  on  the  road. 
The  enthusiastic  Milanese  wept  for  joy.  He  re- 
presented France  in  1861,  as  ambassador  extraor- 
dinary to  Prussia,  on  the  coronation  of  the  king. 
He  was  soon  afterwards  made  governor-general  of 
Algeria,  in  which  position  he  remained  until  called 
to  the  chief  command  of  the  first  corps  d'armee 
in  the  campaign  against  Germany. 


320 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


BATTLE    OF    FORBACH. 

On  the  same  day  as  that  on  which  the  battle  of 
Woerth  was  fought  (Saturday,  August  6),  from 
before  noon  till  after  seven  in  the  evening,  the 
Germans  and  French  were  engaged  in  a  not  less 
desperate  battle  near  Saarbriick,  on  the  same  hill  of 
Spicheren,  and  near  the  same  village  of  St.  Arnual, 
where  the  emperor  and  the  prince  imperial  had 
witnessed  a  mere  rehearsal  of  a  battle  on  the  Tues- 
day, only  four  days  before. 

The  news  of  a  sudden  advance  of  a  force  of 
unknown  strength  through  Wissembourg,  and  of 
the  disaster  that  Douay's  division  had  suffered, 
reached  the  French  headquarters  on  the  5  th,  and 
spurred  the  emperor's  staff  to  take  steps  for  that 
concentration  which  had  hitherto  been  only  gene- 
rally designed.  Though  even  yet  neither  L'Ad- 
mirault  nor  Bazaine  was  moved  up  to  support 
him,  orders  were  given  to  General  Frossard  to 
withdraw  the  troops  left  overlooking  Saarbriick 
on  the  previous  Tuesday,  consisting  of  the  second 
corps,  numbering  about  28,000  men,  with  72 
guns,  lest  a  similar  surprise  to  that  of  Douay 
should  be  attempted  from  the  woods  beyond  the 
German  frontier-line.  On  the  morning  of  the  6th, 
therefore,  the  French  had  evacuated  the  position 
gained  by  them  with  so  much  pomp  and  super- 
fluous energy  four  days  before,  and  were  out  of 
sight  of  the  town.  They  were  encamped  chiefly 
on  the  heights  of  Spicheren,  which  consist  of  an 
abrupt  hill  (or  rather  a  spur  of  a  range  of  hills), 
possessing  naturally  great  strength  for  purposes 
of  defence,  and  which  was  reinforced  by  field 
works  most  scientifically  thrown  up.  The  dis- 
tance from  Saarbriick  is  about  two  and  a  half 
miles,  and  the  last  cover  which  the  Germans 
(advancing  from  that  town  to  attack  the  heights) 
could  have,  before  arriving  at  the  base  of  the  hill, 
is  about  1900  paces.  They  had  to  advance  this 
distance  over  a  plain  with  occasional  slight  undu- 
lations, none  of  which,  however,  were  of  sufficient 
depth  to  afford  them  shelter  from  the  fire  of 
the  heights.  The  entire  plain  is  destitute  of 
trees,  hedges,  bushes,  or  natural  cover  of  any 
kind,  and  had  been  mostly  cultivated  for  potato 
crops.  Between  the  town  of  Saarbriick  and 
this  plain  lie  the  range  of  hills  which  had  been 
occupied  by  the  French  after  the  affair  on  the 
2nd,  and  which  are  inferior  in  elevation,  and 
nearly  parallel  to  the   Spicheren  heights.     These 


latter  commence  by  a  gentle  slope  from  the 
plain  for  about  200  paces;  then  rise  with  great 
abruptness  to  an  elevation  of  110  to  130  feet; 
and  are  so  steep  that  it  is  exceedingly  difficult 
to  ascend  them,  even  without  the  encumbrance  of 
rifles  and  knapsacks.  In  fact,  as  an  old  Crimean 
officer  remarked,  the  ascent  of  the  Alma  was  almost 
child's  play  compared  with  climbing  them.  They 
form  a  natural  fortress,  which  needs  no  addition 
from  art  to  be  all  but  impregnable.  Like  so  many 
bastions  the  hills  project  into  the  valley,  facing 
it  on  all  sides,  and  afford  the  strongest  imaginable 
position  for  defence.  Some  French  officers  who 
were  taken  prisoners  confessed  to  having  smiled 
at  the  idea  of  the  Germans  attacking  them  in  this 
stronghold,  and  there  was  scarcely  a  man  on  the 
French  side  who  was  not  persuaded,  that  to  attempt 
to  take  the  Spicheren  hills  must  lead  to  the  utter 
annihilation  of  the  attacking  force.  Fortunately 
for  the  Germans,  the  French  were  left  by  their 
generals  with  a  most  inadequate  supply  of  artillery 
— one  of  those  unaccountable  mistakes  which 
marked  French  generalship  as  a  main  cause  of  the 
disasters  to  the  imperial  armies  in  the  campaign. 

As  we  have  said,  the  heights  form  the  spur 
of  a  range  running  in  a  general  direction  from 
east  to  west,  but  at  this  spot  taking  a  south- 
west turn  towards  the  village  of  Forbach,  where 
the  French  left  was  placed,  and  distant  about 
three  and  a  half  miles  as  the  crow  flies.  The 
hills  themselves  are  thickly  wooded;  but  this 
portion  is  tolerably  bare  of  trees.  Forbach  lies 
in  the  valley,  and  on  the  other  side  of  that  village 
the  ground  again  slopes  up  to  other  woods.  A 
country  road  from  Saarbriick  runs  across  the 
plain,  and  winds  round  the  east  side  of  the  spur  to 
Spicheren  village,  rather  more  than  a  mile  in  the 
rear  of  the  heights  which  bear  its  name.  Bound 
the  top  edge  of  this  spur  a  parapet  was  thrown  up 
from  the  inside,  before  the  engagement,  which 
formed  an  earthen  breastwork  extending  all  across 
the  front  and  along  the  western  side  of  the  spur 
for  about  180  or  200  yards;  the  eastern  side  being 
almost  precipitous.  The  spur  itself  on  the  sum- 
mit is  about  100  yards  broad,  and  250  or  300 
yards  long. 

On  the  forenoon  of  August  6,  the  seventh 
German  corps  of  the  army  of  the  centre  pushed 
its  vanguard  to  Herchenbach,  about  five  miles 
north-west  of  Saarbriick,  with  outposts  stretching 
as  far  as  the  river  Saar.     They  did  not  intend  to 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


321 


commence  hostilities  that  day ;  but,  as  before  stated, 
the  previous  night  the  French  had  evacuated  their 
position  on  the  drill  ground  of  Saarbriick,  and 
about  noon  on  the  6th  the  German  cavalry  divi- 
sion, under  General  Bhein  Gaben,  passed  through 
the  town.  Two  squadrons  formed  the  van ;  and 
the  moment  they  reached  the  highest  point  of  the 
drill  ground,  and  became  visible  to  spectators  on 
the  south,  they  were  fired  at  from  the  hills  near 
Spicheren. 

The  French,  however,  were  not  anticipating 
an  engagement  on  that  day ;  in  fact,  General 
Frossard  was  still  in  the  act  of  further  withdraw- 
ing a  portion  of  his  troops  when  the  Germans 
arrived,  and  he  mistook  their  first  advance  for  a 
reconnaissance  in  force.  Even  when  a  German 
battery  had  been  brought  up  and  posted  on 
the  external  slope  of  the  heights  abandoned  by 
the  French  the  night  before,  and  had  commenced 
a  sharp  fire,  the  arms  of  the  French  infantry 
regiments  were  still  piled,  the  men  were  lounging 
about  in  easy  ddshabilM,  some  of  them  lying  in 
their  tentes  d'abris,  some  cooking,  and  some  clean- 
ing their  accoutrements :  the  same  symptoms  were 
observable  among  the  gunners,  and  nothing  be- 
tokened any  expectation  of  trouble  or  disturbance 
from  the  enemy. 

Immediately,  however,  all  was  hurry  and  bustle, 
and  orderlies  and  aides-de-camp  began  to  tear 
backward  and  forward  along  the  road  to  Forbach. 
A  battery  of  artillery  was  got  into  position  facing 
up  the  valley,  the  arms  of  the  infantry  were  un- 
piled,  their  tents  were  struck  as  quick  as  lightning, 
a  working  party  were  hard  at  work  throwing  up 
an  intrenchment  in  front  of  their  position,  and 
those  troops  which  had  been  withdrawn  were  at 
once  turned  round  to  re-occupy  the  heights. 

Between  twelve  and  one  o'clock  the  fourteenth 
German  division  arrived  at  Saarbriick,  and  pro- 
ceeding south,  it  encountered  a  strong  French  force 
in  the  valley  between  Saarbriick  and  Spicheren, 
and  opened  fire  forthwith. 

The  division  at  first  had  to  deal  with  far  superior 
numbers ;  and  yet  to  have  limited  the  attack  to  the 
French  front  would  have  been  useless,  as  their  left 
could  have  come  down  the  slope  and  closed  in 
force  upon  their  enemy.  General  von  Kamecke, 
therefore,  while  engaging  the  front,  also  attempted 
to  turn  the  French  left  flank  by  Stiring.  The 
troops  he  could  spare  for  these  operations  were, 
however,  too  weak  to  make  an  effectual  impression 


upon  the  much  stronger  numbers  of  the  French, 
and  two  successive  assaults  on  the  steep  range  of 
heights  in  the  French  centre,  and  forming  the  key 
of  their  position,  were  successfully  repulsed  by 
General  Frossard,  the  Germans  leaving  long  fines 
of  dead  and  wounded  on  the  slopes  of  the  hill. 

Eventually,  however,  the  roar  of  the  cannon 
attracted  several  other  German  detachments.  The 
division  under  General  von  Barnekow  was  the  first 
to  be  drawn  to  the  spot.  Two  of  its  batteries 
came  dashing  up  at  full  speed,  to  relieve  their 
struggling  comrades.  They  were  promptly  fol- 
lowed by  the  fortieth  infantry  (the  regiment 
which  had  been  engaged  at  Saarbriick  on  the  2nd) 
under  Colonel  Bex,  and  three  squadrons  of  the 
ninth  hussars.  At  this  moment  the  vanguard  of 
the  fifth  division  was  espied  on  the  Winterberg 
hill.  General  Stiilpnagel,  whose  van  had  been 
stationed  at  Sulzbach  the  same  morning,  had  been 
ordered  by  General  von  Alvensleben  to  march  his 
entire  division  in  the  direction  from  which  the 
sound  of  cannon  proceeded,  and  two  batteries 
advanced  in  a  forced  march  on  the  high  road. 
The  infantry  were  partly  sent  by  rail  from  Neuen- 
kirchen  to  Saarbriick. 

As  early  as  half-past  one  the  woods  near  Stiring, 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  plain  to  the  French  left, 
were  filled  with  German  infantry,  who  were  keep- 
ing up  a  murderous  fire  on  the  French  infantry  in 
the  open,  and  on  some  artillery  which  was  replying 
to  certain  German  guns  now  in  position  in  the  plain 
below,  and  firing  up  the  valley  in  the  direction  of 
Forbach. 

It  was  here  that  the  heavy  losses  of  the 
French  were  sustained.  Obviously  they  fought  at 
a  tremendous  disadvantage,  and  the  effect  produced 
by  the  fire  of  their  tirailleurs  upon  the  enemy,  who 
kept  themselves  carefully  concealed,  must  have 
been  infinitely  less  than  of  that  which  was  directed 
against  them  from  the  dense  cover  of  the  woods. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  over-rate  the  dash  and 
valour  of  the  French  infantry  at  this  point,  or  to 
pay  too  high  a  tribute  to  their  endurance  under 
such  trying  circumstances.  A  hundred  times  they 
advanced  close  up  to  the  wood  with  a  desperate 
impetuosity;  but  although  they  did  all  that  could 
be  expected  of  brave  men,  they  were  time  after 
time  obliged  to  retire,  dropping  in  scores  at  each 
successive  advance  or  retreat.  This  sort  of 
fighting  went  on  steadily  for  a  couple  of  hours. 
At  one  time  the  Germans  were  so  far  successful 
2s 


322 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


that  they  carried  the  village  of  Stiring  and  captured 
several  mitrailleuses,  but  the  repeated  attacks  of 
their  companions  in  the  front  having  totally  failed, 
both  the  village  and  mitrailleuses  were  retaken, 
and  for  a  time  the  Germans  in  both  places  were 
thrown  on  the  defensive. 

At  about  half-past  three  o'clock  Kamecke's 
division  had  been  sufficiently  reinforced  to  en- 
able General  von  Goben,  who  had  arrived  in  the 
meantime  and  assumed  the  command,  to  make 
a  more  vigorous  onslaught  on  the  enemy's  front. 
He  therefore  ordered  the  attack  to  commence,  at 
the  same  time  massing  a  large  body  of  cavalry, 
composed  of  cuirassiers,  lancers,  hussars,  and 
dragoons,  on  either  flank.  Skirmishers  were  also 
deployed  to  harass  the  French  right  from  the  woods 
of  St.  Arnual.  The  chief  aim  of  the  attack  on 
the  centre  was  the  wooded  portion  of  the  declivity 
of  Spicheren.  The  fortieth  infantry,  supported  on 
its  right  by  troops  of  the  fourteenth  division,  and 
on  its  left  by  four  battalions  of  the  fifth  division, 
made  the  assault.  A  reserve  was  formed  of  some 
battalions  of  the  fifth  and  sixteenth  divisions,  as 
they  came  up. 

About  six  German  batteries  opened  fire  on 
the  French  position  to  cover  the  advance  of  the 
first  line,  which  this  time  gained  the  foot  of 
the  hill  with  but  little  loss.  The  conflict  then 
became  sanguinary,  as  every  inch  of  ground  was 
most  obstinately  disputed,  and  the  continual  roll 
of  musketry  was  terrific.  Gradually,  however, 
the  French  retired  and  the  wood  was  occupied. 
Still  ascending,  the  Germans  at  last  drove  the 
French  to  the  top  of  the  hill.  Here  the  latter 
made  a  stand,  and  combining  the  three  arms  of 
the  service  for  a  united  attack,  endeavoured  to 
retrieve  the  day.  The  loss  to  the  Germans  was 
now  fearful,  and  it  is  believed  that  about  nine  of 
them  fell  for  every  Frenchman.  They  were  only 
about  sixty  yards  distant,  were  ill-concealed  and 
had  to  fire  up  and  climb  an  exceedingly  steep 
height,  whilst  the  French  were  naturally  protected 
by  the  crest  of  the  hill,  and  had  the  advantage  of 
firing  down  on  their  enemy. 

For  an  hour,  the  struggle  for  possession  of  the 
crest  of  the  hill  was  hot  and  furious.  At  length 
the  French  gave  way,  and  the  German  infantry 
steadily  advanced.  No  sooner  had  the  French 
reached  the  suburbs  of  Forbach,  than  they  opened 
a  hot  fire  of  artillery  upon  the  right  of  the  German 
line,  causing  the  cavalry  placed  there  to  change 


their  position  to  the  left  flank.  Here  the  whole 
cavalry  division,  some  8000  sabres,  were  massed 
behind  a  sheltering  hill.  It  was  at  this  juncture 
that  the  artillery  of  the  fifth  German  division  ac- 
complished a  rare  and  most  daring  feat.  Two  bat- 
teries literally  clambered  up  the  hills  of  Spicheren 
by  a  narrow  and  precipitous  mountain  path,  and 
contributed  materially  to  the  success  of  the  day; 
for  with  their  help  a  fresh  attack  of  the  French 
was  repulsed.  A  flank  attack,  directed  against 
the  German  left  from  Alsting  and  Spicheren,  was 
also  warded  off  in  time  by  battalions  of  the  fifth 
division  stationed  in  reserve. 

About  five  o'clock  the  battle  languished  all 
along  the  fine,  and,  in  fact,  died  out  altogether  for 
a  little  time ;  but  shortly  after  a  tremendous  can- 
nonade recommenced,  for  the  French  had  received 
reinforcements  from  General  Bazaine  from  the 
direction  of  Sarreguemines,  consisting  of  four  or 
five  regiments  of  chasseurs  and  dragoons,  and 
several  regiments  of  infantry. 

The  cavalry  pushed  rapidly  up  the  inner  section 
of  the  valley,  but  were  not  advanced  into  the  outer 
plain.  The  infantry,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
thrown  at  once  into  the  woods  on  the  right,  and 
were  advanced  to  reinforce  the  French  line  all 
along  its  extent.  The  battle  now  recommenced 
with  redoubled  vigour ;  but  the  efforts  of  the  Ger- 
mans were  apparently  directed  for  the  time  chiefly 
against  the  French  right. 

They  were  also  at  this  time  strongly  reinforced, 
and  an  immense  column  of  their  infantry  descended 
into  the  plain  from  the  direction  of  Saarbriick. 
Their  cannonade  then  became  more  and  more 
vigorous,  and  the  whole  French  line  gradually 
gave  way.  At  this  critical  juncture  a  sudden 
cannonade  was  opened  in  a  totally  new  direction, 
for  the  Germans  had  suddenly  descended  from  the 
heights  and  shown  themselves  in  force  opposite 
the  French  left,  which  their  fire,  directed  across  the 
railway  and  high  road,  was  threatening  to  turn 
and  cut  off  from  their  communication  with  Metz. 
The  French  reply  was  as  feeble  as  possible,  and 
already  along  the  road  ominous  symptoms  of  retreat 
began  to  be  visible.  The  Germans  had  been 
strongly  reinforced,  simultaneously,  at  either 
extremity  of  their  line;  whereas  the  French  rein- 
forcements had  been  sent  away  to  their  right  and 
right-centre,  and  there  was  nothing  to  meet  the 
Prussian  attack  when  it  fell  thus  unexpectedly  on 
their  left. 


Engraved,  hy  K. Walker 


)INB!jRGh    ».■  SLAiGOW 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


323 


The  German  troops  which  arrived  so  opportunely 
at  the  crisis  of  the  engagement,  were  part  of  the 
corps  d'armee  of  General  Zastrow,  which  in  the 
early  part  of  the  day  were  on  the  line  of  rail- 
way connecting  Saarbriick  with  Treves,  where 
they  were  informed  by  telegraph  of  the  state  of 
affairs.  Beyond  Volklingen,  at  a  distance  of  some 
eight  or  nine  miles  from  Saarbriick,  the  disposable 
regiments  of  Zastrow's  corps — among  them  the 
fifty-second  and  the  seventy-seventh — crossed  the 
Saar,  and  the  lofty  range  of  hills  which  there 
surmount  its  left  bank,  hurried  on  at  a  run  for  two 
miles  and  a  half,  and,  entering  the  wood  which 
closed  in  the  French  position  on  the  left,  attacked 
the  French  in  flank  and  in  rear,  inflicting  terrible 
losses  upon  them  and  deciding  the  day.  While 
the  battle  was  raging  on  Spicheren  hill,  the  thir- 
teenth German  division  crossed  the  Saar  at  Wehr- 
den,  and  carried  the  town  of  Forbach  by  assault. 
Great  carnage  took  place  here  :  out  of  a  whole 
battalion  of  chasseurs  de  Vincennes  only  three 
were  left  alive.  The  Germans  not  only  succeeded 
in  driving  out  the  French,  but  seized  vast  maga- 
zines of  food  and  clothing,  and  forced  General 
Frossard  to  withdraw  to  the  south-west,  leaving 
free  the  road  to  St.  Avoid  and  Metz.  The  town 
of  Forbach  had  been  set  on  fire  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  engagement,  and  the  inhabitants  were 
flying  in  wild  terror,  not  only  before  the  flames, 
but  also  before  the  shower  of  bullets. 

The  command  of  the  Germans  was  taken  by 
General  von  Steinmetz  towards  the  close  of  the 
battle,  and  shortly  afterwards  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  arrived. 

Darkness  fast  setting  in,  afforded  its  valuable 
aid  to  the  French  in  effecting  their  retreat.  To 
cover  this  backward  movement  their  artillery  were 
stationed  on  the  hills  skirting  the  battle-field  on 
the  south,  where  they  kept  up  a  continuous  but 
harmless  fire  for  a  considerable  time. 

The  ground  was  too  difficult  for  the  German 
cavalry  to  take  any  part  in  the  action.  Never- 
theless, the  fruits  of  the  victory  were  very  remark- 
able; the  corps  under  General  Frossard  being 
entirely  demoralized  and  dispersed.  The  road  it 
took  in  its  hasty  flight  was  marked  by  numerous 
waggons  with  provisions  and  clothing;  the  woods 
were  filled  with  hosts  of  stragglers,  wandering 
about  purposeless  (altogether  2000  prisoners  were 
taken);  and  large  stores  and  quantities  of  goods 
of  every  description   fell  into  the   hands   of  the 


Germans.  Among  the  stores  were  several  rail- 
way vans  full  of  confectionery!  The  losses  were 
exceedingly  heavy  on  both  sides ;  but  no  official 
return  of  either  has  ever  been  published.  The 
fifth  German  division  alone  had  230  dead,  and 
about  1800  wounded.  The  twelfth  infantry  had 
32  officers  and  800  men  dead  or  wounded,  and 
next  to  them  the  fortieth,  eighth,  forty-eighth, 
thirty-ninth,  and  seventy-fourth  German  regi- 
ments suffered  most.  Some  companies  left  nearly 
one-half  their  men  on  the  spot,  as  for  instance  the 
fifth  company  of  the  forty-eighth  (Rhinelanders), 
which  went  with  250  men  into  the  fire  and  came 
out  with  129,  and  the  first  company  of  the  eighth 
(King's  Own  —  Brandenburgers),  which,  on  the 
evening  of  the  battle,  consigned  107  comrades 
either  to  the  grave  or  the  hospital.  The  batteries, 
too,  encountered  terrible  loss.  The  success  of 
the  fortieth  regiment  in  scaling  the  height  was 
accomplished  at  a  cost  of  600  men  and  16  officers. 
Their  advance  in  face  of  the  fearful  fire  that 
was  poured  upon  them  was  magnificent.  They 
were  as  steady  as  if  on  parade,  and  although  on 
the  first  two  occasions  they  were  unsuccessful  in 
their  endeavour,  they  retreated  in  the  best  order. 
The  thirty-ninth  regiment  had  only  forty  men  left 
in  one  company,  and  no  officers  ;  and  in  one  grave 
were  buried  the  captain,  lieutenant,  and  three 
ensigns. 

The  awful  slaughter  thus  caused  in  particular 
regiments  in  this  and  succeeding  battles,  showed 
in  one  respect,  perhaps,  a  disadvantage  in  the 
German  system  of  recruiting.  As  we  have  fully 
explained  in  Chapter  IV.,  in  that  country  every 
regiment  is  recruited  on  its  own  ground ;  first, 
to  intensify  its  esprit  de  corps,  the  soldier  fighting, 
as  it  were,  among  his  kinsmen  and  neighbours,  so 
that  he  must  stand  his  ground  or  be  condemned 
to  local  infamy  as  a  coward  ;  secondly,  to  keep 
up  social  discipline,  the  squire  commanding  the 
peasants,  who  think  him  their  natural  leader ;  and 
thirdly,  to  make  the  evasion  of  a  summons  more 
difficult.  Under  this  system,  however,  heavy 
slaughter  in  a  corps  d'armee  may  throw  a  province 
into  mourning,  and  the  loss  of  a  division  often 
decimates  a  whole  district.  The  majority  of  the 
Prussian  reserves  are  married  men,  and  if  their 
regiment  or  division  suffers  severely,  in  the  districts 
to  which  they  belong  there  is  scarcely  a  family 
which  is  not  thrown  into  mourning.  The  husbands 
and  sons  and  brothers  of  a  whole  neighbourhood 


324 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


are  swept  away  at  a  single  blow,  and  the  distress 
caused  is  terrible.  By  no  other  method  of  recruit- 
ment could  such  a  calamity  as  this  be  possible.  In 
any  other  army,  were  three  or  four  brothers  forced 
away  to  the  war,  the  chances,  at  least,  are  that  only 
one  of  the  four  regiments  to  which  they  would 
be  allotted  would  suffer  greatly.  By  the  Prussian 
system  they  would  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder, 
and  all  might  fall  together.  What  heart-rending 
affliction,  for  instance,  must  the  official  list  of  killed 
and  wounded  in  this  battle,  which  was  very  far  from 
being  the  bloodiest  of  the  war,  have  carried  into 
many  a  quiet  hamlet !  Half  the  able-bodied  popu- 
lation swept  away  at  once!  This  is,  indeed,  to 
intensify  the  horrors  of  war,  by  making  them  fall 
with  crushing  severity  upon  localities.  By  ordinary 
systems,  although  a  heavy  loss  may  be  widely 
spread,  it  is  at  least  diminished  by  the  wideness  of 
its  dissemination.  A  village  could  scarcely  lose 
more  than  two  or  three  of  its  able-bodied  men. 
The  gap  would  not  be  so  noticeable ;  if  some 
loved  ones  were  gone,  many  would  be  spared.  In 
Prussia,  as  we  have  seen,  the  whole  of  the  male 
population  in  the  army  from  each  district  are 
ranged  side  by  side,  and  their  destruction  throws 
those  dependent  on  them  upon  the  country  for 
subsistence. 

To  show  the  spirit  with  which  the  German 
soldiers  were  animated,  it  may  be  stated  that  the 
matter  which  chiefly  troubled  the  wounded,  both 
after  Woerth  and  Forbach,  was  their  being  pre- 
vented from  taking  their  part  in  the  fighting,  and 
in  many  cases  convalescents  protested  against  being 
sent  to  distant  hospitals,  as  it  would  interpose  un- 
necessary delay,  they  said,  in  the  way  of  rejoining 
their  regiments. 

The  French  losses  at  Forbach,  as  well  as  the 
German,  were  exceedingly  severe ;  the  seventy- 
seventh,  seventy-sixth,  sixty-sixth,  sixty-seventh, 
third  chasseurs  a  pied,  with  the  twenty-third  and 
thirty-second  regiments,  one  regiment  of  dragoons, 
-and  one  of  chasseurs  a  cheval,  being  almost  de- 
stroyed. 

The  way  in  which  the  people  of  Saarbriick 
behaved  to  the  wounded  offered  a  very  pleasing 
contrast  to  the  feeling  manifested  by  the  peasantry 
at  Woerth.  The  women  were  absolutely  running 
about  on  the  field  of  battle  giving  drink  to  the 
wounded,  and  every  house  in  the  town  at  once 
turned  itself  into  an  hospital.  Country  carts, 
with  wine  and  eatables,  lined  the  road  to  Forbach, 


and  all  possible  means  to  alleviate  suffering  were 
employed. 

As  we  have  already  described,  at  the  battles  of 
Wissembourg  and  Woerth  the  French  were  not 
only  out-generalled,  but  also  crushed  by  superior 
numbers.  The  latter,  however,  was  by  no  means 
the  case  at  Forbach  ;  where  the  advantage  in 
this  respect  was  for  a  long  time  in  their  favour. 
The  attack  was  made  by  the  fourteenth  division, 
supported  by  the  fortieth  regiment — in  all  fifteen 
battalions.  They  alone,  of  infantry,  fought  for 
hours  against  the  three  divisions,  or  thirty- 
nine  battalions,  which  Frossard  brought  up  suc- 
cessively. When  they  were  nearly  crushed,  but 
still  held  their  position,  the  fifth  division  came 
up,  and  took  part  in  the  engagement — all  in  all, 
twenty-seven  battalions  of  Germans.  They  drove 
the  French  from  their  position,  and  it  was  only 
after  the  retreat  had  commenced  that  the  head  of 
the  thirteenth  division  reached  the  field  of  battle, 
fell  upon  Forbach,  and  turned  the  retreat  into  a 
rout  by  cutting  off  the  direct  road  to  Metz.  Thus, 
if  at  Wissembourg  and  Woerth  the  French  were 
crushed  by  superior  masses,  they  were  beaten  by 
inferior  numbers  at  Forbach.  The  troops  on  both 
sides  showed  a  degree  of  valour  and  heroic  endur- 
ance which  it  is  impossible  to  overpraise.  Tele- 
grams from  Wissembourg,  announcing  the  German 
victory  at  Woerth  on  the  same  day,  were  com- 
municated to  many  of  the  troops  before  going 
into  action,  and  naturally  incited  them  to  deeds 
of  greater  daring. 

The  movement  by  which  General  Goben,  find- 
ing another  corps  joining  his  left,  allowed  them 
to  occupy  the  attention  of  the  enemy,  whilst  he 
transferred  the  weight  of  his  attack  to  his  right, 
and  thus,  without  difficulty,  mastered  the  main 
road  the  French  should  have  covered,  was  as 
remarkable  an  instance  of  tactical  readiness  as 
any  modern  action  has  displayed. 

All  through  the  battle,  indeed,  the  dispositions 
of  the  German  commanders  were  very  able,  even 
if  the  advance  of  their  first  troops  was  premature. 
Their  reinforcements  were  quickly  brought  into 
the  field;  they  chose  the  right  points  of  attack,  and 
with  great  skill  used  the  cover  of  the  woods  to 
harass  and  ruin  the  French.  On  the  other  hand, 
while  the  French  soldiers  fought  gallantly,  they 
were  very  badly  handled  ;  in  fact,  the  tactics  of 
their  commanders  could  not  well  have  been  worse. 
They  were  surprised  in  the  morning,  while  they 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


325 


ought  easily  to  have  crushed  the  first  German 
division,  and  they  attacked  in  force  only  when  it 
was  altogether  too  late.  They  were  left  with  no 
reserve  echeloned  in  their  rear,  except  at  a  great 
distance,  and  some  of  the  troops  sent  to  help  them 
only  came  up  in  time  to  assist,  or  rather  impede 
them  in  their  retreat.  There  is  no  precedent  in 
war  for  supposing  that  French  soldiers,  properly 
supported,  could  have  been  turned  out  of  such  a 
position  as  they  occupied — which  must  be  seen 
to  be  realized  in  its  full  strength. 

It  seems  almost  incredible,  but  according  to  the 
Comte  de  la  Chapelle,  the  correspondent  of  the 
Standard  English  newspaper,  who  was  present  at 
the  engagement,  and  who  not  only  stated  it  in  his 
letter  from  the  field,  but  has  since  deliberately 
repeated  it  in  his  little  work,  "  The  War ;  Events 
and  Incidents  of  the  Battle  -  Fields, " — while  a 
similar  statement  has  also  been  made  by  others — ■ 
General  Frossard,  with  inconceivable  carelessness, 
left  the  battle-field  after  giving  a  few  orders,  treating 
the  affair  as  a  mere  engagement  without  importance. 
He  quietly  remained  several  hours  in  the  house 
of  his  friend,  the  mayor  of  Forbach,  enjoying  a 
luxurious  lunch,  and  discussing  with  that  worthy 
magistrate  the  magnitude  of  his  arrangements ; 
and  in  the  meantime  new  German  columns  had 
arrived  on  the  battle-field.  The  French  soldiers, 
headed  by  the  brave  General  Bataille,  had  to  sus- 
tain the  tremendous  shock  of  an  enemy  increasing 
continually  in  number.  Message  on  message  was 
sent  to  the  general-in-chief,  but  to  no  purpose  ; 
and  instead  of  a  new  combination,  or  a  movement 
of  retreat  which  might  have  saved  the  day,  the 
French  divisions  were  left  without  new  order,  and 
had  to  succumb  by  degrees  under  the  tremendous 
shock  of  their  opponents. 

Had  the  Germans  known  the  full  extent  of  their 
victory  and  pursued  in  earnest,  Metz  might  have 
been  taken  and  the  first  campaign  ended  ;  for  dur- 
ing some  hours  after  the  engagement  the  town  was 
in  anarchy.  The  emperor  and  his  staff  were  in  the 
railway  station  ready  to  start  for  the  battle-field, 
when  the  news  of  the  defeat  and  retreat  was 
brought  by  a  messenger  on  an  engine.  This,  of 
course,  completely  altered  his  Majesty's  plans,  and 
he  at  once  started  for  the  prefecture,  consternation 
being  plainly  visible  on  his  countenance.  The 
staff,  by  the  testimony  of  all  eye-witnesses,  utterly 
lost  its  head,  did  not  know  where  the  different 
sorps  were,  could  give  no  orders,  and  expected  to 


see  the  enemy  before  the  town  every  moment. 
The  emperor  sat  writing  despondent  telegrams. 
Metz  was  full  of  beaten  soldieTs,  and  but  one 
perfect  corps  was  within  the  lines.  The  Germans, 
however,  did  not  at  first  realize  the  extent  of  their 
success  ;  they  also  wanted  ammunition  and  rein- 
forcements, and  contented  themselves  with  throwing 
forward  their  immense  strength  of  cavalry. 

The  two  Prussian  divisions  camped  on  the  road- 
side and  on  the  heights  for  the  night  ;  next  morn- 
ing they  crossed  the  French  frontier  and  marched 
on  Forbach,  which,  to  their  great  surprise,  they 
found  totally  abandoned.  The  French  retreat  had 
been  so  precipitate,  that  they  did  not  even  destroy 
the  railroad  nor  blow  up  a  single  bridge. 

The  result  of  the  two  actions  of  August  6  to 
the  French  was  a  loss  of  between  20,000  and 
30,000  men,  killed,  wounded,  missing,  and  pri- 
soners, and  the  complete  defeat  and  dispersion 
of  two  of  their  best  corps.  The  engagements 
also  compelled  them  to  assume  a  purely  defen- 
sive attitude. 

The  emperor  himself  was  obliged  to  admit  his. 
defeats,  and  he  did  so  in  the  two  telegrams  an- 
nexed : — 

"  Metz,  Sunday,  3.30  a.m." 

"My  communications  with  MacMahon  being  in- 
terrupted, I  had  no  news  from  him  up  to  yesterday. 
It  is  General  L'Aigle  who  announces  to  me  that 
MacMahon  has  lost  a  battle  against  considerable 
forces,  and  that  he  has  retired  in  good  order.  On 
another  side  on  the  Saar  an  engagement  com- 
menced about  one  o'clock.  It  did  not  appear  to 
be  very  serious,  when  little  by  little  masses  of  the 
enemy  considerably  increased  ;  without,  however, 
obliging  the  second  corps  to  retreat.  It  was  only 
between  six  and  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  that 
the  masses  of  the  enemy  becoming  continually 
more  compact,  the  second  corps  and  the  regiments 
which  supported  it  retired  on  the  heights.  The 
night  has  been  quiet.  I  go  to  place  myself  at  the 
centre  of  the  position. 

"  NAPOLEON." 

"  In  yesterday's  engagement  at  Forbach  only  the 
second  army  corps  was  engaged,  supported  by  two 
divisions  of  other  corps.  The  corps  of  General 
L'Admirault,  that  of  General  Failly,  and  the  im- 
perial guard  did  not  take  part  in  the  fight.  The 
engagement  commenced  at  one  o'clock,  and  ap- 


326 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


peared  unimportant,  but  soon  numerous  troops 
concealed  in  the  woods  endeavoured  to  turn  the 
position.  At  five  o'clock  the  Prussians  appeared 
to  be  repulsed,  and  to  have  abandoned  the  attack, 
but  a  fresh  corps  arriving  from  Wehrden  on  the 
Saar  obliged  General  Frossard  to  retreat.  To-day 
the  troops,  which  had  found  themselves  divided, 
are  concentrated  on  Metz.  In  the  battle  which 
took  place  near  Froeschwiller,  Marshal  MacMahon 
had  five  divisions.  The  corps  of  General  Failly 
was  unable  to  join  him.  Only  very  vague  details 
have  been  received.  It  is  said  that  there  were 
several  charges  of  cavalry,  but  the  Prussians  had 
mit?'aiUeuses,  which  caused  us  much  harm* 

"  NAPOLEON." 

When  the  defeats  of  both  MacMahon  and  Fros- 
sard became  generally  known  in  Metz  on  Sunday 
morning,  a  spirit  of  despair  for  a  time  seemed  to 
have  seized  both  officers  and  troops.  The  former 
considered  and  acknowledged  that  all  was  lost  for 
France  ;  and  amongst  the  latter  "  Tout  est  perdu  " 
was  the  motto  which  within  a  few  days  had  re- 
placed the  boasting  of  a  military  promenade  to 
Berlin. 

"  The  Germanic  Empire  is  made  "  was  the  sen- 
tence repeated  everywhere;  and  whatever  victories 
the  French  might  win  in  the  future,  they  would 
not  be  able  to  shake  the  Prussian  influence  and 
prestige.     Such  was  the  prevailing  opinion. 

A  panic  also  seized  the  civil  popidation ;  the  dis- 
position to  exaggerate  so  inherent  in  French  minds 
had  already  created  imaginary  dangers ;  and  the 
Germans  being  momentarily  expected,  all  the  car- 
riages and  vehicles  were  chartered  to  convey  the 
alarmists  and  their  families  far  from  the  seat  of 
war ;  the  emperor  himself  was  preparing  for  depar- 
ture, and  it  was  asserted  that  the  quartier  imperial 
and  the  etat-major  of  the  armee  du  Ehin  would 
be  immediately  transferred  to  some  other  city  in 
the  interior. 

Later  in  the  day  the  equipages  of  the  emperor 

and  some  officers  of  his  staff  actually  left  the  town; 

but  at  the  same  time  a  somewhat  reassuring  feature 

was  observed  in  a  large  assembly  of  the  citizens 

of  Metz,  who  had  congregated  in  the  court  of  the 

Hotel  de  Metz,  and  swore  to  put  aside  all  causes  of 

political  antagonism,  and  to  join  in  the  defence  of 

their  city. 

*  This  statement  with  regard  to  the  mitrailleuses  was  altogether 
erroneous ;  no  such  weapons  having  been  used  by  the  Prussians  at 
the  battle. 


Amongst  the  lower  classes  the  excitement  reached 
almost  to  madness ;  bands  of  men  paraded  the  streets, 
clamouring  for  revenge,  and  stopping  any  looker- 
on  who  had  a  foreign  appearance.  Several  English 
and  American  correspondents  were  roughly  handled 
by  the  mob;  and  the  authorities  were  compelled  to 
put  them  under  arrest  to  protect  them  from  the 
infuriated  people,  who  fancied  they  saw  in  them 
Prussian  spies. 

An  exceedingly  painful  episode  of  the  battle  of 
Forbach  was  the  flight  of  the  villagers,  disturbed 
in  their  homes  in  the  valleys  between  Saarbruck 
and  Forbach.  They  would  not  have  been  ill- 
treated  by  the  Prussian  soldiers  had  they  remained, 
but  hundreds  of  families,  amazed  by  the  French 
defeat,  hurried  off  in  the  utmost  terror.  The  cor- 
respondent of  a  daily  journal,  who  was  a  witness 
of  the  scene,  thus  described  their  condition  : — 

"  Among  this  panic-stricken  crowd  we  found 
ourselves,  and  we  thought  it  better  to  continue 
with  them  and  avail  ourselves  of  their  knowledge 
of  roads  and  byways,  whereby  to  get,  at  all  events, 
to  a  more  comfortable  distance  from  the  Prussians. 
When  we  had  reached  the  summit  of  the  heights, 
and  were  actually  out  of  immediate  danger  of 
the  Prussian  shot  and  shell — when,  in  fact,  the 
poor  people  could  think  of  something  beyond 
the  instant  peril  of  life  and  limb — they  seemed 
suddenly  to  realize  the  entire  ruin  which  had 
fallen  upon  them ;  they  also  began  to  think  of  their 
families  and  friends,  who  were  all  scattered,  flying 
in  desperation  through  the  deep  woods,  where  the 
darkness  was  deepening  with  the  falling  night. 
Such  scenes  of  anguish  and  misery  I  never  saw 
before,  and  hope  never  again  to  see.  Mothers, 
who  had  lost  their  children,  seeking  for  them  with 
frantic  cries  and  gesticulations;  old,  tottering  men 
and  women  stumbling  feebly  along,  laden  with 
some  of  their  poor  household  gods,  silent  with 
the  silent  grief  of  age;  little  children  only  half 
conscious  of  what  all  these  things  meant,  tripping 
along,  often  leading  some  cherished  household  pet, 
and  seeking  for  some  friendly  hand  to  guide  them ; 
husbands  supporting  their  wives,  carrying  their 
little  ones  (sometimes  two  or  three)  on  their 
shoulders,  and  encouraging  the  little  family  group 
with  brave  and  tender  words;  the  woods  ringing 
with  shrieks  and  lamentations — with  prayers  to 
the  Saviour  and  the  Virgin.  It  is  impossible  to 
describe  in  language  the  sadness  and  the  pathos  of 
that  most  mournful  exodus.    If  all  the  world  could 


THE  FRANCO -PKUSSI AN  WAR. 


327 


only  catch  a  glimpse  of  such  a  scene,  I  will  venture 
to  say  that  war  would  become  impossible;  that 
fierce  national  pride  and  Quixotic  notions  of  honour, 
and  the  hot  ambitions  of  kings  and  emperors  and 
statesmen,  would  be  for  ever  curbed  by  the  remem- 
brance of  all  the  pity  and  the  desolation  of  the 
spectacle." 

It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  record,  as  showing  how 
instantaneously  the  spark  once  kindled  burst  out 
into  the  full  flame  of  war,  that  three  weeks  before 
the  two  battles  near  Saarbriick  we  have  described 
in  this  and  the  preceding  chapters,  the  Peace 
Society  of  Paris  sent  their  deputies  to  that  town, 
to  celebrate  an  international  festival  held  there  by 
the  corresponding  society  in  Prussia.  It  was  held 
at  the  station,  one  of  the  first  places  in  flames  on 
Tuesday,  August  2.  The  German  soldiers  re- 
christened  the  hill  on  which  the  prince  imperial 
stood  on  that  day,  and  on  which  part  of  the  deadly 
contest  raged  on  the  6th,  which  before  was  known 
as  the  Speikerberg,  "Lulu-berg;"  Lulu  being  the 
sobriquet  by  which  he  was  known. 

In  the  previous  chapter  we  have  alluded  to  the 
fatal  mistake  of  the  French  in  allowing  their  troops 
to  remain  scattered  over  so  wide  a  line  (nearly  a 
hundred  miles),  by  which  they  laid  themselves  open 
to  defeat  in  detail  at  the  hands  of  a  vigorous  enemy 
with  superior  forces.  In  this  we  have  seen  that  the 
attempt  of  MacMahon  to  retrieve  the  disaster  of 
Wissembourg  had  the  effect  of  separating  the  right 
wing  still  more  from  the  centre,  and  laying  open 
his  line  of  communication  with  it.  While,  too,  the 
right  wing  was  being  crushed  at  Woerth,  the  centre 
was  severely  beaten  at  Spicheren !  The  other 
troops  were  too  far  away  to  come  up  to  their 
assistance.  L'Admirault  was  still  near  Bouzonville, 
the  rest  of  Bazaine's  men  and  the  guards  were 
about  Boulay,  the  mass  of  Canrobert's  troops 
turned  up  at  Nancy,  part  of  De  Failly's  were  lost 
sight  of  completely,  and  Felix  Douay,  on  the 
1st  of  August,  was  at  Altkirch,  in  the  extreme 
south  of  Alsace,  nearly  120  miles  from  the  battle- 
field of  Woerth,    and  with  but  imperfect  means 


of  railway  conveyance.  In  fact,  the  whole  of  the 
French  arrangements  from  the  commencement 
indicated  nothing  but  hesitancy  and  vacillation. 
Could  anything  possibly  have  been  worse  than 
allowing  three  of  the  eight  corps  of  the  army  to 
be  defeated  in  three  days,  and  in  each  case  in 
detail?  and  where  was  the  generalship  which  per- 
mitted Frossard  to  fight  at  Forbach  all  day,  while 
to  his  left,  and  within  about  ten  miles  from  the  line 
of  the  Saar,  seven  divisions  were  looking  on  ? 

Everywhere  along  the  whole  front  line  of  the 
French  army  there  was  the  same  story.  Supreme 
incapacity  presided,  and  hurled  it  hopeless  on  its 
fate.  Not  the  faintest  attempt  was  made  to  ascer- 
tain the  movements  of  the  enemy  or  to  combine 
the  movements  of  the  troops  until  too  late.  The 
French  soldiers  fought  splendidly;  but  they  were 
sacrificed,  and  fought  and  died  knowing  that  they 
were  sacrificed,  by  the  utter  imbecility  of  those  at 
the  head  of  affairs.  In  fact,  the  French  strategy 
was  only  worthy  of  the  Austrians  in  their  most 
helpless  times ;  and,  as  will  be  shown  in  Chapter 
X.,  it  enabled  the  Germans  to  advance  at  once 
into  France  and  do  what  they  liked. 

On  the  German  side,  from  the  first,  everything 
had  been  carried  out  in  the  most  admirable  manner. 
The  concentration  of  their  troops  took  place 
rapidly  but  cautiously,  and  every  available  man 
was  brought  to  the  front.  The  effect  of  their 
enormous  numerical  superiority  was  yet  further 
increased  by  superior  generalship  and  splendid 
strategy ;  for,  as  has  been  seen,  they  at  once  altered 
their  whole  plan  of  intended  operations,  entered 
upon  an  offensive  instead  of  a  defensive  campaign, 
and  carried  it  out  successfully  without  a  single  hitch 
or  flaw  at  any  point.  In  fact,  no  more  perfect  or 
awful  implement  of  destruction  than  the  German 
army  ever  did  its  destined  work.  It  was  the 
physical  force  of  a  nation  brought  together  and 
driven  against  its  enemy  after  such  training  and 
discipline,  and  with  such  a  ready  co-operation  of 
every  man  in  the  array,  that  it  acted  like  a  single 
individual. 


CHAPTER      IX, 


Disappearance  of  Enthusiasm  in  Paris  after  the  Departure  of  the  Emperor — Distress  and  Discontent  caused  by  the  calling  out  of  the  Garde 
Mobile— Seditious  Cries  in  the  Streets — News  of  the  First  Victory — Praying  for  Success  and  Safety— Uneasiness  at  the  absence  of  further 
News — A  Hoax — Great  Excitement — The  News  of  the  Defeat  at  Wisseinbourg — M.  Ollivier  and  the  Populace — Woerth  and  Forbach 
— Proclamations  by  the  Empress  and  Ministers — The  capital  placed  in  a  State  of  Siege — Explanation  of  such  a  Measure — Demonstration 
in  favour  of  a  General  Arming,  and  Excitement  on  the  Boulevards — The  Defences  of  Paris  and  Resources  of  the  Nation — Run  on  the 
Banks — Another  Proclamation  from  the  Ministers— General  Trochu  refuses  to  accept  the  post  of  War  Minister  unless  the  Empress  lays 
down  the  Regency — Remarkable  Address  in  the  Journal  Officlel — Assembling  of  the  Legislative  Bodies — The  National  Guard  fraternises 
with  the  People — The  Mob  charged  by  the  Cavalry— Great  Excitement  in  the  Corps  Legislatif — M.  Jules  Favre  calls  for  the  return  of  the 
Emperor,  and  proposes  the  immediate  Arming  of  all  French  Citizens  and  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  charged  with  the  Defence  of 
France — The  Effects  of  the  Proposal  on  the  Chamber — Stormy  Scene — Resignation  of  the  Ministry  and  Formation  of  a  New  Government 
under  Count  Palikao — Biographical  Notice  of  the  Count — Public  Feeling  with  regard  to  the  Emperor  and  Empress — First  Measures 
of  the  New  Cabinet — Expulsion  of  Germans  from  Paris — Petition  to  the  King  on  the  Subject — Views  of  the  German  Press  on  the 
Matter — Offers  from  the  Orleans  Princes  to  assist  in  the  Defence  of  France — Charges  against  the  Emperor  and  Marshal  Lebceuf — Con- 
trast offered  by  Paris  and  the  Rural  Districts — Another  Stormy  Scene  in  Corps  Legislatif  on  a  Proposal  to  try  Marshal  Leboeuf — Speech 
of  M.  Thiers — Introduction  of  a  Forced  Currency — The  chief  provisions  of  the  Measure  and  its  Effects — Resignation  of  Marshal  Lebceuf — 
Appointment  of  Marshal  Bazaine  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  whole  Army — Meeting  of  both  Chambers  on  Sunday — More  Stormy 
Scenes — The  Emperor's  Fete-day,  15th  August — Contrast  as  compared  with  former  years — Paris  in  Gloom — Reflections  on  the  Situation 
— Reception  of  the  News  of  the  First  Successes  at  Berlin — Enthusiasm  of  the  People — Arrival  of  the  First  French  Prisoners  at  Berlin — 
Kindness  of  the  Germans — Unanimous  Feeling  throughout  the  whole  Country. 


To  give  a  clear  and  consecutive  form  to  our  narra- 
tive of  the  incidents  connected  with  the  war,  it  is 
necessary  to  retrace  our  steps  to  Paris.  As  already 
stated  in  Chapter  VI.,  the  warlike  enthusiasm  of 
the  capital  materially  subsided  after  the  departure 
of  the  emperor  for  the  scene  of  operations,  and  the 
issue  of  his  proclamation  to  the  army.  It  had 
become  increasingly  evident  that  a  contest  with 
Germany  meant  a  prolonged  struggle  against  a 
million  of  armed  combatants,  determined  to  defend 
their  own  country,  and,  if  possible,  to  give  the 
French  such  a  lesson  that  for  the  future  the 
emperor's  peculiar  mode  of  making  his  reign  an 
era  of  peace  by  attacking  Ms  neighbours  should 
be  rendered  impossible.  The  announcement  that 
the  fortifications  of  Paris  were  to  be  placed  in  a 
condition  of  defence,  and  the  emperor's  admission 
that  the  war  would  be  a  long  one,  greatly  damped 
the  ardour  of  those  who  imagined  that  within  a  fort- 
night a  glorious  peace,  re-establishing  the  suprem- 
acy of  French  arms,  would  be  signed  in  Berlin. 
The  calling  out  of  the  garde  mobile,  too,  caused 
much  distress  and  discontent  throughout  the  coun- 
try, and  a  bad  spirit  prevailed  in  that  force,  which 
the  Republican  party  did  its  utmost  to  heighten. 
The  press  was  requested  not  to  speak  of  it,  but  it 
is  a  fact,  that  when  the  first  battalion  of  the  mobiles 
went  off  by  railway  to  the  camp  at  Chalons,  sedi- 
tious cries  were  heard,  both  from  the  soldiers  and 


a  great  crowd  which  had  assembled  to  see  them 
depart.  There  were  shouts  of  "  Down  with  Napo- 
leon!" "  Vive  la  Republique ! "  "  A  bas  Ollivier ! " 
"  Les  Ministres  a  Cayenne!"  and  the  mob  sang 
scurrilous  songs,  abusive  of  the  government,  to 
the  hackneyed  revolutionary  air  of  Les  Lampions. 
Another  matter,  also,  threatened  to  disturb  the 
anticipated  course  of  events.  An  official  intima- 
tion was  given  on  the  Tuesday  following  the 
emperor's  departure  that  the  spirit  of  reform  was 
so  strong  in  France,  that  during  the  progress  of 
the  war  his  Majesty  would  no  doubt  make  several 
visits  to  Paris,  and  the  Bourse  experienced  a  shock 
when  it  became  known  that  the  celebrated  surgeon 
Kelaton  had  left  the  capital  to  fulfil  a  promised 
visit  to  the  emperor.  As  yet,  however,  although 
no  forward  movement  of  consequence  had  been 
made  by  the  army,  the  Parisians  awaited  the  devel- 
opment of  the  campaign  with  confidence. 

It  was  on  the  evening  of  Tuesday  (August  2) 
that  Paris  received  the  news  of  the  "  first  vic- 
tory "  at  Saarbriick.  The  emperor's  despatch  was 
handed  to  the  empress  as  she  was  walking  in  the 
park  at  St.  Cloud.  On  perusing  it  her  Majesty 
burst  into  tears,  walked  straight  to  the  guardroom, 
and  read  it  aloud  to  the  soldiers,  by  whom  it  was 
received  with  deafening  cheers.  By  the  Parisians 
generally  the  announcement  was  also  accepted  with 
extravneant  delight.    Everything  thus  far  had  sue- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


329 


ceeded  a  merveille,  and  the  first  step  had  been  taken 
on  the  road  to  the  Prussian  capital.  Both  the 
emperor  and  the  heir  to  the  throne  had  been  pre- 
sent, and  the  young  prince,  on  whom  were  fixed 
the  hopes  of  France,  had  escaped  the  bullets  which 
fell  around  him.  The  language  in  which  the 
emperor's  telegram  was  couched,  his  reports  of 
the  "  baptism  of  fire,"  and  the  soldiers  shedding 
tears  at  the  sight  of  the  Prince  Imperial,  excited 
at  the  time  the  liveliest  enthusiasm,  and  called 
forth  apparently  sincere  expressions  of  attachment 
to  his  dynasty.  At  a  later  period,  however,  it 
formed  the  basis  of  insulting  and  injurious  asper- 
sions on  the  courage  and  patriotism  of  the  im- 
perial family. 

When  hostilities  had  actually  commenced  the 
inner  heart  of  Paris  was  greatly  moved  at  the  dangers 
of  the  battle-field.  All  day  long,  at  the  great  old- 
fashioned  church  of  Our  Lady  of  Victories,  the 
open  space  in  front  was  crowded  with  carriages, 
while  a  continuous  stream  of  anxious  people  poured 
into  and  out  of  the  edifice.  In  the  huge  antique 
interior,  hung  round  with  enormous  oil-paintings, 
the  altar  and  all  about  it  was  ablaze  with  votive 
candles ;  and  there  the  mothers  and  sisters  of  Paris, 
praying,  formed  a  touching  scene.  There,  too, 
were  Frenchmen  and  French  officers,  with  sons, 
perhaps,  at  the  front.  The  scene  was  fitted  to 
increase  their  devotion,  as  every  inch  of  the  walls 
of  the  church  is  incrusted  with  small  marble  tab- 
lets, literally  in  thousands,  each  with  an  inscrip- 
tion of  acknowledgment  for  some  prayer  heard  or 
favour  received. 

The  ill  effects  of  the  government  regulations 
respecting  the  supply  of  news  from  the  seat  of 
war  soon  became  apparent.  The  dearth  of 
information  was  a  cause  of  uneasiness,  and  the 
position  taken  by  the  authorities  tended  to  the 
worst  results.  Towards  the  end  of  the  week  it 
gradually  dawned  upon  the  capital  that  something 
had  happened  to  Marshal  MacMahon,  but  no  one 
distinctly  knew  what.  On  Friday  (August  5), 
it  was  rumoured  from  the  Bourse  that  he  had 
captured  Landau,  taken  forty  guns,  and  held  the 
Crown  Prince  and  20,000  Prussian  prisoners.  So 
eagerly  was  the  rumour  embraced,  that  many  flags 
were  hoisted,  and  signs  of  rejoicing  everywhere  dis- 
played. The  Rentes  went  up,  the  people  prepared 
to  illuminate,  and  kissed  each  other  in  the  streets, 
amid  shouts  of  victory !  Popular  singers  were 
compelled  to  sing  the  "  Marseillaise"  in  the  public 


thoroughfares,  and  the  judges  sitting  in  the  Palais 
de  Justice  stayed  proceedings  to  announce  the 
triumph  of  the  imperial  arms. 

The  rumour,  however,  proved  false,  and  had 
been  got  up  only  to  serve  the  purposes  of  the 
Stock  Exchange.  The  real  fact  was  the  defeat 
of  Wissembourg,  which  the  ministry  concealed 
for  some  twelve  hours  after  it  was  known  in  Eng- 
land ;  and  then  simply  published  a  laconic  despatch 
from  the  emperor.  This  appeared  just  as  the 
London  papers  arrived  with  fuller  particulars,  and 
the  real  truth  created  tremendous  excitement. 
Crowds  of  people  rushed  through  the  streets,  many 
of  them  armed  with  cudgels ;  compelled  the  flags  to 
be  taken  down  from  the  houses  from  which  they 
had  been  displayed;  and  subsequently  threatened 
to  burn  the  Bourse.  A  couple  of  unfortunate 
money-changers  with  German  names,  though  of 
French  and  Belgian  origin,  had  their  shops  at- 
tacked and  their  windows  broken;  the  one  for 
having  made  some  unguarded  remark  on  the  success 
achieved  by  Prussia,  the  other  because  he  was 
believed  to  be  engaged  in  supplying  specie  to  the 
enemy.  On  the  shutters  of  the  latter  the  follow- 
ing notice  was  posted — "  Shut  up  till  Berlin  is 
taken."  The  inflamed  mob  also  rushed  to  the 
Place  Vendome,  demanding  that  the  originator  of 
the  false  reports  should  be  exposed.  M.  Ollivier 
appeared  on  the  balcony,  announced  the  arrest 
of  the  author,  and  promised  that  precautions 
should  be  taken  to  prevent  the  repetition  of  so 
scandalous  an  act.  He  further  intimated  that, 
confiding  in  the  patriotism  and  patience  of  the 
people,  all  news  should  in  future  be  immediately 
published,  whether  good  or  bad.  The  minister 
then  besought  the  crowd  to  separate  with  the  cry 
of  "  Vive  la  Patrie,"  reminding  them  that  such 
proceedings  as  theirs,  often  repeated,  would  be 
a  great  victory  for  Prussia.  Later  in  the  evening 
the  council  of  ministers  issued  an  address  to  the 
same  effect.  On  that  day,  also,  the  first  cannon 
was  placed  upon  the  fortifications  of  the  capital. 

The  Parisians  already  began  to  doubt  the  wisdom 
that  presided  over  the  conduct  of  the  campaign ; 
but  their  confidence  in  the  army  itself  was  rather 
raised  than  weakened  by  the  reports  of  heroic  feats 
performed  by  individuals  and  separate  corps,  and 
they  firmly  believed  that  Wissembourg  would  be 
terribly  avenged. 

But  while  Paris  felt  thus,  the  emperor,  away  at 
Metz,  was  despatching  the  dismal  news  of  repeated 
2  T 


330 


THE  FRANCO-PEUSSIAN  WAR. 


defeats,  which  appeared  on  the  following  morning, 
Sunday,  August  7,  in  the  annexed  telegram: — 

"  Marshal  MacMahon  has  lost  a  battle.  General 
Frossard,  on  the  Saar,  has  been  compelled  to  fall 
back.  The  retreat  is  being  effected  in  good  order. 
All  may  be  regained  (tout  peut  se  ritablir). 

"  NAPOLEON." 

Subsequent  despatches  acknowledged  that  Mac- 
Mahon's  communications  had  been  intercepted, 
that  the  defeat  of  Frossard  had  been  a  surprise, 
and  that  the  emperor  was  going  to  place  himself 
"  in  the  centre  of  the  position."  A  message  at 
half-past  four  conveyed  the  re-assuring  statement 
that  the  troops  were  full  of  spirit,  and  the  situation 
was  not  compromised,  although  the  enemy  was 
on  French  territory,  and  could  only  be  repelled 
by  a  serious  effort.  Such  was  the  discouraging 
intelligence  that  reached  Paris  on  the  day  after 
the  disasters  of  Woerth  and  Forbach.  As  early 
as  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  empress  had 
hastened  from  St.  Cloud  to  the  Tuileries,  sum- 
moned MM.  Eouher  and  Schneider,  the  presidents 
of  the  Senate  and  Corps  Le"gislatif,  and  at  once 
issued  the  following  proclamation: — 

"  Frenchmen ! — The  opening  of  the  war  has 
not  been  in  our  favour.  Our  ai*ms  have  suffered 
a  check.  Let  us  be  firm  under  this  reverse,  and 
let  us  hasten  to  repair  it.  Let  there  be  among 
us  but  a  single  party,  that  of  France;  but  a  single 
flag,  the  flag  of  our  national  honour.  I  come  into 
your  midst.  Faithful  to  my  mission  and  to  my 
duty,  you  will  see  me  first,  where  danger  threatens, 
to  defend  the  flag  of  France.  I  call  upon  all  good 
citizens  to  preserve  order;  to  disturb  it  would  be 
to  conspire  with  our  enemies. 

"  EUGENIE. 

"  The  Toileries,  August  7." 

The  council  of  ministers  remained  sitting  en 
permanence,  and  issued  an  address  on  the  state 
of  affairs  which  concluded  as  follows: — "In  the 
face  of  the  grave  news  which  has  come  to  hand, 
our  duty  is  clear.  "We  appeal  to  the  patriotism 
and  energy  of  all.  The  Chambers  are  convoked. 
Let  us  first  place  Paris  in  a  state  of  defence,  in 
order  to  facilitate  the  execution  of  the  military 
preparations.  We  declare  the  capital  in  a  state 
of  siege.  Let  there  be  no  weakness,  no  divisions. 
Our  resources  are  immense.  Let  us  fight  with 
vigour,  and  the  country  will  be  saved." 


During  the  day  the  following  report  from 
General  Dejean,  the  ad  interim  minister  of  war, 
was  addressed  to  the  empress  regent: — 

"  Paeis,  August  7,  1870. 

"  Madame, — Existing  circumstances  require  that 
measures  be  taken  for  the  defence  of  the  capital 
and  for  the  raising  of  fresh  troops,  which,  com- 
bined with  those  remaining  under  the  orders  of 
the  emperor,  will  be  enabled  to  fight  in  the  open 
field  against  an  enemy  emboldened  by  his  first 
successes  to  attempt  to  march  upon  Paris.  But 
Paris  will  not  be  taken  unawares.  The  external 
forts  have  long  since  had  their  protective  arma- 
ment. Great  efforts  have  been  made  to  com- 
plete it,  and  the  armament  of  the  enceinte  was 
commenced  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  The 
completion  of  this  state  of  defence,  moreover,  is 
connected  with  the  execution  of  certain  works, 
the  plans  of  which  have  been  prepared,  and  which 
will  be  begun  to-morrow.  It  will  be  speedily 
done.  The  exterior  forts  will  be  put  into  a 
condition  to  sustain  a  regular  siege;  and  within 
a  few  days  the  enceinte  will  be  in  the  same  con- 
dition. Neither  the  labour  nor  the  good-will  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Paris  will  be  wanting  for  this 
work.  The  national  guard  will  defend  the  ram- 
parts which  it  has  contributed  to  render  impreg- 
nable. Forty  thousand  men  taken  from  their 
ranks,  added  to  the  present  garrison,  will  be  more 
than  sufficient  to  offer  a  vigorous  and  efficient 
defence  against  an  enemy  presenting  a  very  ex- 
tended front.  The  defence  of  Paris  will  therefore 
be  assured.  But  it  is  a  point  of  not  less  essential 
importance  to  provide  for  the  voids  which  have 
occurred  in  the  ranks  of  our  army.  With  the 
aid  of  the  marine  troops,  of  the  regiments  still 
available  for  service  in  France  and  in  Algeria, 
of  the  4th  battalions  of  our  100  infantry  regi- 
ments, completed  to  the  strength  of  900  men  by 
the  incorporation  of  gardes  mobiles,  and  by  the 
formation  from  a  portion  of  our  gendarmerie  of 
regiments  which  should  be  constituted  as  corps 
oTe'lite,  a  force  of  150,000  men  can,  without  diffi- 
culty, be  placed  in  the  field.  Then,  again,  the 
calling  out  of  the  conscripts  of  1869,  the  young 
soldiers  forming  which  will  join  their  corps 
between  the  8th  and  the  12th  of  August,  will 
give  us  60,000  men,  who,  within  a  month,  will 
be  true  soldiers.  Thus,  without  reckoning  what 
could  be  furnished  by  the  cavalry,  artillery,  engin- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


331 


eers,  and  others  arms,  150,000  men  can  at  once 
be  obtained,  and  at  a  later  period,  another  60,000 
to  place  in  front  of  the  enemy.  But  the  garde 
nationale  mobile  may  take  part  in  the  struggle, 
as  also  the  volunteer  companies  of  francs-tireurs, 
which  are  everywhere  asking  for  permission  to 
organize  themselves.  They  would  amount  to 
400,000  men.  Finally,  we  could  rely  upon  the 
sedentary  garde  nationale ;  so  that  France  can  call 
to  arms  2,000,000  of  defenders.  Their  muskets 
are  ready,  and  there  will  still  remain  1,000,000 
in  reserve. — I  am,  &c., 

"GENEKAL  V.  DEJEAN." 
The  report  was  followed  by  the  annexed  decree : 

"  Napoleon,  by  the  grace  of  God  and  the  national 
will,  emperor  of  the  French,  to  all  present  and 
to  come — Having  heard  the  counsel  of  our  min- 
isters, we  have  decreed  and  do  decree: — 

"  Article  1. — All  capable  citizens  between  thirty 
and  forty  years  of  age,  not  already  forming  part  of 
the  sedentary  garde  nationale,  shall  be  incorpo- 
rated in  it. 

"Article  2. — The  garde  nationale  of  Paris  is 
intrusted  with  the  defence  of  the  capital,  and  the 
placing  in  a  state  of  defence  the  fortifications. 

"  Article  3. — A  projdt  de  hi  will  be  prepared 
providing  for  the  incorporation  in  the  garde 
nationale  mobile  of  all  citizens  under  thirty-three 
years  of  age,  who  are  not  at  present  included  in 
that  force. 

"  Article  4. — Our  ministers  of  the  interior  and 
of  war  are  charged  with  the  execution  of  this 
decree. 

"  Done  at  the  Palace  of  the  Tuileries,  August 
7,  1870.  For  the  emperor,  by  virtue  of  the 
powers  he  has  confided  to  us, 

"EUGENIE." 

Later  in  the  day  another  proclamation,  signed 
by  all  the  ministers,  was  issued : — 

"Frenchmen! — We  have  told  you  the  whole 
truth ;  it  is  now  for  you  to  fulfil  your  duty.  Let  one 
single  cry  issue  from  the  breast  of  all — from  one 
end  of  France  to  the  other.  Let  the  whole  people 
rise,  quivering,  and  sworn  to  fight  the  great 
fight.  Some  of  our  regiments  have  succumbed 
before  overwhelming  numbers,  but  our  army  has 
not  been  vanquished.  The  same  intrepid  breath 
still  animates  it;  let  us  support  it.     To  a  momen- 


tarily successful  audacity  we  will  oppose  a  union 
which  conquers  destiny.  Let  us  fall  back  upon 
ourselves,  and  our  invaders  shall  hurl  themselves 
against  a  rampart  of  human  breasts.  As  in  1792 
and  at  Sebastopol,  let  our  reverses  be  the  school 
of  our  victories.  It  would  be  a  crime  to  doubt 
for  an  instant  the  safety  of  our  country,  and  a 
greater  still  not  to  do  our  part  to  secure  it.  Up, 
then,  up !  And  you,  inhabitants  of  the  Centre, 
the  North,  and  the  South,  upon  whom  the  burden 
of  the  war  does  not  fall,  hasten  with  unanimous 
enthusiasm  to  the  help  of  your  brethren  in  the 
East.  Let  France,  united  in  success,  be  still  more 
united  under  trial,  and  may  God  bless  our  arms!" 

These  proclamations  were  read  by  the  dis- 
appointed crowds  with  a  deep  melancholy,  and 
with  conflicting  speculations  as  to  the  utility  of  a 
"  state  of  siege;"  which  they  knew,  at  all  events, 
would  interfere  largely  with  the  liberty  of  the 
subject.  The  law  giving  this  power  to  the 
ministry  was  passed  in  1849,  and  provided  that 
the  military  tribunals  could  take  cognisance  of 
crimes  and  offences  against  the  security  of  the 
state,  against  the  constitution,  against  order  and 
the  public  peace,  whatever  might  be  the  quality 
of  the  principal  offenders  or  of  their  accomplices. 
It  also  gave  the  authorities  the  right  to  search  by 
day  or  night  in  the  houses  of  citizens;  to  remove 
returned  convicts,  and  any  individuals  not  domi- 
ciled in  the  places  subject  to  the  state  of  siege; 
to  order  the  surrender  of  arms  and  munitions,  and 
to  take  measures  for  seeking  and  removing  them; 
to  forbid  such  publications  and  such  meetings  as 
might  be  held  to  be  of  a  nature  to  excite  or  prolong 
disorder. 

The  Parisians,  however,  were  now  thoroughly 
aroused,  and  in  the  evening  a  demonstration  was 
made  in  the  Place  Vendome  in  favour  of  a  general 
arming.  There  was  also  extraordinary  excitement 
on  the  Boulevards,  where  vast  crowds  were  carry- 
ing flags  and  singing  the  "  Marseillaise."  A  fear 
possessed  the  people  that  the  events  were  even 
worse  than  reported,  and  deep  wrere  their  murmurs 
when  they  learnt  from  the  foreign  journals  how 
large  were  the  numbers  of  killed,  wounded,  and 
prisoners. 

On  the  morning  of  Monday,  August  8,  the 
feeling  of  alarm  manifested  itself  in  a  run  upon 
the  Bank  of  France,  and  other  similar  establish- 
ments, by  persons  wishing  to  change  their  securities 


332 


THE  FRAJSTCO-PRUSSIAN  WAE. 


and  notes  for  cash.  The  ministry  showed  them- 
selves fully  alive  to  the  critical  nature  of  the 
situation,  and  to  calm  the  public  excitement  issued 
the  following  proclamation : — 

"  Parisians  !  Our  army  is  concentrating  itself, 
and  preparing  for  a  new  effort.  It  is  full  of  energy 
and  confidence.  To  agitate  in  Paris  would  be  to 
fight  against  our  army,  and  at  the  decisive  moment 
to  weaken  the  moral  force  necessary  to  conquer. 
Our  enemies  reckon  on  this.  A  Prussian  spy, 
brought  a  prisoner  to  headquarters,  was  found 
with  the  following  paper  in  his  possession  : — - 
'  Courage !  Paris  is  in  a  state  of  revolt.  The 
French  army  will  be  taken  between  two  fires.' 
We  are  preparing  the  armament  of  the  nation  and 
the  defence  of  Paris.  To-morrow  the  Corps  Legis- 
latif  will  join  its  action  to  ours.  Let  all  good 
citizens  unite  to  prevent  crowds  and  manifesta- 
tions. Those  who  are  in  a  hurry  to  get  arms 
may  have  them  directly  by  presenting  themselves 
at  the  recruiting  offices,  where  they  will  be  at 
once  supplied  with  a  musket  to  go  to  the  frontier." 
— (Signed  by  all  the  Ministers.) 

Such  sentiments,  however,  failed  to  influence 
the  conduct  of  the  people,  and  the  government 
summoned  General  Trochu  to  Paris,  and  asked 
him  to  take  the  post  of  minister  of  War.  The 
general  peremptorily  refused,  unless  the  empress 
should  lay  down  the  regency.  This  drove  the 
ministers  to  their  wits'  end,  and  they  convoked 
the  Chambers  for  the  following  day  (Tuesday). 
The  evening  Official  Journal  also  published  an 
extraordinary  address,  not  only  to  the  French 
nation,  but  to  the  European  courts  generally. 
This  remarkable  document  said: — 

"  There  exists  in  the  life  of  nations  solemn  and 
decisive  moments,  in  which  God  gives  them  an 
opportunity  of  showing  what  they  are  and  of  what 
they  are  capable.  That  hour  has  come  for  France. 
It  has  sometimes  been  asserted  that,  though 
intrepid  in  the  dash  of  success,  the  great  nation 
supports  reverses  with  difficulty.  What  is  now 
passing  before  us  gives  the  lie  to  this  calumny. 
The  attitude  of  the  people  is  not  one  of  dis- 
couragement; it  is  one  of  sublime  and  patriotic 
rage  against  the  invaders  of  France,  who  in  France 
must  find  a  tomb.  All  Frenchmen  will  rise  like 
one  man ;  they  remember  their  ancestors  and 
their  children.  Behind  them  they  see  centuries 
of  glory,  before  them  a  future  that  their  heroism 


shall  render  free  and  powerful.  Never  has  our 
country  been  better  prepared  for  self-devotion  and 
sacrifice,  never  has  "it  shown  in  a  more  imposing 
and  magnificent  manner  the  vigour  and  pride  of 
the  national  character.  It  shouts  with  enthusiasm, 
'Up;  to  arms!'  To  conquer  or  die  is  its  motto. 
While  our  soldiers  heroically  defend  the  soil  of 
France,  Europe  is  rightly  uneasy  at  the  successes 
of  Prussia.  People  ask  themselves  to  what  lengths 
the  ambition  of  that  insatiable  power  would  carry 
her  if  she  were  intoxicated  with  a  decisive  tri- 
umph. It  is  an  invariable  law  of  history  that  any 
nation  which  by  unbounded  covetousness  disturbs 
the  general  equilibrium  challenges  a  reaction 
against  its  victories,  and  turns  all  other  countries 
into  opponents.  This  truth  cannot  fail  to  be 
again  demonstrated  by  the  results.  Who  is  there 
interested  in  the  resurrection  of  the  German  em- 
pire ?  Who  is  there  that  desires  the  Baltic  to 
become  a  Prussian  lake?  Can  it  be  Sweden, 
Norway,  or  Denmark — countries  that  a  Prussian 
triumph  would  annihilate  ?  Can  it  be  Eussia — 
Russia  which  is  more  interested  than  any  power 
in  saving  the  equilibrium  of  the  North  against 
German  covetousness?  Can  it  be  England,  which, 
as  a  great  maritime  power,  and  as  the  protector  of 
Denmark,  is  opposed  to  the  progress  of  the  Prus- 
sian navy?  Can  it  be  Holland,  which  is  already 
so  much  threatened  by  the  audacious  intrigues  of 
Count  von  Bismarck?  With  regard  to  Austria, 
the  restoration  of  the  German  empire  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern  would  be 
the  most  fatal  blow,  not  only  to  the  dynasty  of 
the  Hapsburgs,  but  to  the  existence  of  the  Aus- 
tro-Hungarian  monarchy.  .  .  .  The  decisive 
victory  of  the  Hohenzollerns  would  not  be  less 
fatal  to  Italy  than  to  Austria,  and  the  regener- 
ation of  the  former  would  be  compromised.  We 
appeal  with  confidence  to  the  wisdom  of  govern- 
ments and  peoples  to  root  Prussian  despotism  out 
of  Europe,  to  aid  us,  either  by  alliance  or  sym- 
pathy, in  saving  the  European  equilibrium." 

The  address  also  intimated  that  England  was 
fully  satisfied  with  the  declarations  given  with 
regard  to  Belgium.  Sweden,  Norway,  and  Den- 
mark showed  an  attitude  "  trembling  with  patriot- 
ism." The  emperor  of  Eussia  honoured  their 
ambassador  with  his  particular  good  will.  The 
emperor  of  Austria  and  the  king  of  Italy,  with 
their  governments,  manifested  dispositions  more 
and    more    satisfactory.      In    conclusion,    it    was 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


333 


added — "Our  diplomacy  will  not  be  less  active 
than  our  army.  France  is  making  a  supreme 
effort,  and  our  patriotism  rises  equal  to  every 
danger.  The  more  serious  the  circumstances,  the 
more  will  the  nation  be  energetic.  All  divisions 
cease,  and  the  French  press  unanimously  express 
the  most  practical  and  most  noble  ideas.  The 
concurrence  of  the  Senate  and  Legislative  Body 
is  about  to  lend  fresh  strength  to  our  troops, 
and  the  France  of  1870  will  show  the  peoples  of 
Europe  that  we  have  not  degenerated." 

Before  the  commencement  of  hostilities  the 
emperor  had  said  France  did  not  seek  any  allies; 
but  on  the  first  experience  of  disaster  this  melan- 
choly wail  was  immediately  issued  and  telegraphed 
in  full  to  all  the  courts  of  Europe.  Even  before 
the  assembling  of  the  Chambers,  the  address  had 
sealed  the  fate  of  the  ministry,  and  to  none  could 
it  have  caused  more  consternation  than  to  the 
emperor  himself.  To  the  losses  on  the  field  was 
now  added  the  incompetence  of  the  government, 
and  thus  were  intensified  those  feelings  of  wounded 
pride  and  fierce  anger,  which  were  subsequently 
displayed  both  inside  and  outside  the  Legislative 
Assemblies. 

Tuesday  (August  9)  was  a  day  of  such  tumult 
and  excitement  as  even  Paris  had  seldom  seen 
without  bloodshed.  No  further  despatches  having 
arrived  from  the  seat  of  war,  the  popular  interest 
was  concentrated  on  the  Chambers.  Long  before 
noon  a  dense  crowd  thronged  the  quay  in  front  of 
the  palace  of  the  Corps  Legislatif,  the  court  of 
which  was  occupied  by  large  bodies  of  troops, 
10,000  men  of  the  infantry  of  marine  having 
arrived  from  Cherbourg  and  other  ports  on  the 
previous  day.  The  ministers  were  received  with 
shouts  of  "Vive  Eochefort!"  "  Des  Armes!" 
"A  bas  les  Ministres !"  M.  Jules  Favre  made  an 
attempt  to  address  the  crowd,  but  failed  to  secure 
a  hearing.  Seizing  the  hand  of  a  national  guard, 
he  gave  the  mob  to  understand  that  that  force 
sympathized  with  the  people,  an  announcement 
which  called  forth  applause,  the  national  guards 
waving  their  shakos  on  the  ends  of  their  rifles. 
On  the  arrival  of  Marshal  Baraguay  d'Hilliers, 
commandant  of  the  army  of  Paris,  he  ordered  the 
drums  to  beat,  and  summons  to  be  made  to  the 
crowd  to  retire.  But  though  it  was  repeatedly 
charged  with  cavalry,  there  was  happily  no  blood- 
shed. The  troops  were  assailed  with  such  cries  as 
"  Laches,  faineants,  a,  la  frontiere;  battez  vous  avec 


les  Prussiens!"  but  the  majority  of  the  crowd 
contented  themselves  with  shouting  "  Vive  la 
LiberteM"  "  Vive  la  Republique!"  and,  above  all, 
"  Des  Armes !  des  Armes !  "  The  readiness  with 
which  the  crowd  took  advantage  of  any  bit  of 
scaffolding  or  broken  wall,  which  the  cavalry  could 
not  get  over,  showed  their  hereditary  turn  for 
street  fighting,  and  what  mischief  they  might 
have  done  had  their  appeal  for  arms  been  heard. 
"  Once,"  said  an  eye-witness,  "  the  pursuers  were 
thus  rendered  so  baffled  and  helpless  that  they 
were  glad  in  their  turn  to  retreat  before  the  mer- 
ciless volley  of  abuse  heaped  upon  them,  though 
they  got  their  revenge  by  running  another  group 
into  a  cul-de-sac,  and  belabouring  them  with  the 
flat  of  their  drawn  swords." 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Senate  little  business  of 
any  interest  was  transacted.  M.  de  Parieu,  presi- 
dent of  the  council  of  state,  delivered  a  speech 
intended  to  re-assure  the  members  of  the  body, 
upon  which  discussion  was  not  allowed,  and  the 
proceedings  closed. 

The  scene  inside  the  Corps  Legislatif,  however, 
was  very  exciting.  When  M.  Schneider  proceeded 
to  read  the  decree  of  the  emperor  convoking  the 
Chambers,  no  sooner  had  he  uttered  the  words, 
"  Napoleon,  by  the  grace  of  God  and  the  national 
will  emperor  of  the  French,"  than  he  was  assailed 
with  cries  to  pass  it  over.  M.  Ollivier,  while 
explaining  why  the  Chambers  had  been  convoked, 
was  subjected  to  continual  interruptions.  One 
member,  on  an  allusion  having  been  made  to  the 
valour  of  the  troops,  chimed  in  with,  "  Yes,  lions 
led  by  asses;  as  was  remarked  by  Napoleon  I." 
M.  Arago  called  upon  the  ministry  to  "  retire,  and 
then  the  army  would  conquer."  M.  Jules  Favre 
said  the  presence  of  the  ministry  in  the  Chamber 
was  a  disgrace.  When  M.  Ollivier  remarked  that 
the  Chamber  would  be  wanting  in  its  duty  if  it 
supported  the  government,  having  the  smallest 
want  of  confidence  in  it,  and  said  that  he  was 
probably  addressing  them  as  minister  for  the  last 
time,  the  Left  shouted  out,  "  We  hope  so,  for  the 
salvation  of  the  country ! "  The  minister  of  War 
having  introduced  a  project  of  law  ordaining  the 
embodying  of  all  citizens  of  thirty  years  of  age 
in  a  national  garde  mobile,  M.  Jules  Favre,  amid 
breathless  attention,  proposed  the  immediate  arm- 
ing of  all  French  citizens,  and  the  appointment  of 
a  committee  of  fifteen  deputies  charged  with  the 
defence  of  France.     He  also  called  for  the  return 


334 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR, 


of  the  emperoi.  "The  fact  is,"  said  M.  Favre, 
"  that  the  fate  of  the  country  is  compromised, 
which  is  the  result  of  the  operations  of  those  who 
have  the  direction  of  military  affairs,  and  of  the 
absolute  incapacity  of  the  commander-in-chief.  It 
is  therefore  necessary  that  all  our  forces  should  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  one  man,  but  that  man  must 
not  be  the  emperor." 

This  movement  of  the  leader  of  the  opposition 
had  an  indescribable  effect  on  the  Chamber  ;  it 
was  like  throwing  oil  on  fire.  In  the  tumult 
which  followed  it  was  impossible  to  hear  any  of 
the  speakers,  who,  in  spite  of  the  president's  efforts 
to  maintain  order,  indulged  in  an  angry  discussion 
across  the  Chamber.  The  proposition  of  M.  Favre, 
enthusiastically  approved  by  the  Left  and  Left 
Centre,  was  most  violently  protested  against  by  M. 
Granier  de  Cassagnac,  who  increased  the  turmoil 
by  declaring  that,  were  he  the  government,  he 
would  have  the  whole  Left  tried  by  court-martial, 
and  shot.  M.  Ollivier  for  some  time  vainly  tried 
to  obtain  a  hearing,  but  at  length  succeeded  in 
intimating  to  the  House  that  several  of  his  col- 
leagues had  asked  him  if  he  meant  to  have  the 
Left  shot.  Here  M.  de  Gramont  was  understood 
to  interrupt  his  chief  (although  he  afterwards 
denied  itj  by  exclaiming  superciliously,  "  Seule- 
ment ! "  At  this  supposed  insult  M.  Estancelin 
rushed  across  the  Chamber,  and  shook  his  fist  in 
the  face  of  the  foreign  minister ;  he  was  followed 
by  M.  Jules  Ferry,  while  M.  Jules  Simon,  inaudi- 
ble from  the  uproar,  beat  his  breast  to  signify  that 
he  longed  for  the  government  bullet.  A  battle 
appeared  imminent;  but  the  Right  intervened,  and 
under  its  sheltering  wing  M.  de  Gramont  left  the 
Chamber.  The  president  put  on  his  hat,  and  the 
sitting  was  suspended. 

On  the  resumption  of  business  M.  Clement 
Duvernois,  who  was  in  the  confidence  of  the 
emperor,  proposed  a  resolution  to  the  following 
effect:  — "  That  the  Chamber  is  determined  to 
support  a  cabinet  which  is  capable  of  providing 
for  the  defence  of  the  country."  This  resolution 
was  carried,  under  the  protest  of  the  ministry, 
with  only  six  dissentients,  whereupon  M.  Ollivier, 
with  his  colleagues,  retired  to  the  Tuileries.  On 
his  return,  the  prime  minister  rose  and  said — 
"  After  the  vote  of  the  Chamber  the  ministers 
have  tendered  their  resignations  to  the  empress 
regent,  who  has  accepted  them,  and  I  am  charged 
by  her  to  declare  that  with  the  assent  of  the  emperor 


she  has  intrusted  Count  Palikao  with  the  task  of 
forming  a  cabinet." 

The  sitting  then  closed  amidst  great  excitement, 
and  the  result  speedily  became  known  throughout 
Paris.  The  crowd  outside  the  Palais  Bourbon 
was  immense,  and  the  ministers  were  again  re- 
ceived with  loud  cries  of  "  Vive  Rochefort,"  "  A 
bas  les  Ministres,"  "  Des  Armes  ! "  II.  Jules  Ferry 
had  a  perfect  ovation,  and  II.  Jules  Simon  was 
carried  through  the  streets  in  triumph.  The 
crowd,  however,  soon  dispersed,  and  Paris  had  a 
few  hours  of  quiet  after  the  intense  excitement 
of  the  previous  days. 

It  is  here  worthy  of  remark,  that  whatever  were 
the  failings  of  M.  Ollivier  as  prime  minister  of 
France,  he  was  not  responsible  for  the  war,  having 
in  the  first  instance  opposed  it.  But  defeat  had 
overtaken  the  imperial  arms  ;  it  became  necessary 
that  he  should  be  sacrificed  in  the  interests  of 
the  dynasty,  and  hence  the  resolution  moved  by  a 
favourite  courtier  of  the  emperor,  who  was  more 
afraid  of  the  republicans  than  of  the  Prussians. 

The  new  ministry  was  formed  without  a  mo- 
ment's delay.  General  Cousin  Montauban,  Comte 
de  Palikao,  having  received  his  commission  at  the 
hands  of  the  empress,  appointed  his  cabinet  as 
follows : — M.  Chevreau,  minister  of  the  Interior  ; 
M.  Magne,  minister  of  Finance ;  M.  Clement 
Duvernois,  minister  of  Commerce  and  Agricul- 
ture ;  Admiral  Rigault  de  Genouilly,  minister  of 
Marine  ;  Baron  Jerome  David,  minister  of  Public 
Works ;  Prince  de  la  Tour  d Auvergne,  minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs ;  M.  Grandperret,  minister  of 
Justice ;  M.  Jules  Brame,  minister  of  Public 
Instruction  ;  M.  Busson-Billault,  president  of  the 
Council  of  State. 

General  Montauban,  the  head  of  the  cabinet  and 
minister  of  War,  was  a  thorough  soldier.  Born  in 
1796,  he  entered  the  army  at  an  early  age,  and 
greatly  distinguished  himself  as  a  cavalry  officer 
in  the  Algerian  wars.  Major  in  1836,  he  was 
gradually  promoted,  and  became  a  general  of 
brigade  in  1857.  His  most  notable  exploits  were 
performed  in  China,  where,  appointed  French 
commander-in-chief  of  the  Anglo-French  expedi- 
tion of  1860,  he  gave  proof  of  great  military  talent 
by  the  way  in  which,  with  but  a  very  small  army 
and  with  literally  millions  of  opponents,  he  con- 
quered the  fort  of  Takow,  gained  over  the  Chinese 
general,  Sang-ko-lin-sin,  the  celebrated  victory 
of  Palikao  (whence  his  title  was  derived"),  and 


THE  FRANCO-PKUSSIAN  WAR 


335 


triumphantly  entered  Pekin  itself.  From  that  war 
Montauban  came  back  enriched  with  plunder. 
He  was  rewarded  with  the  grand  cross  of  the 
legion  of  honour,  the  title  of  count,  and  the 
dignity  of  senator ;  but  the  Corps  Legislatif 
refused  to  vote  him  a  pension,  and  he  retired  into 
comparative  obscurity  as  commander  of  the  fourth 
corps  d'arme'e.  In  the  dilemma  of  the  9th  August 
he  was  summoned  by  the  empress  and  chosen  as 
the  safest  Napoleonic  premier.  With  regard  to 
the  other  members  of  the  new  cabinet,  they  were 
statesmen  of  but  ordinary  mark,  although  of  a 
thoroughly  imperialistic  and  military  character. 

The  Palikao  ministry  was  avowedly  constructed 
as  a  "  Cabinet  of  Defence,"  and  instead  of  repre- 
senting any  particular  party  in  the  legislature,  was 
pronounced  a  ministry  of  "  Arcadians."  *  There 
was  abundant  reason  why  the  new  body  should  be 
composed  of  men  of  military  energy.  But  the 
Parisians  were  mistrustful.  Great  indignation  was 
displayed  at  the  incapacity  of  the  emperor,  who 
was  tabooed  even  by  the  Legislative  Body,  and 
whose  name  was  carefully  omitted  in  all  official 
documents.  The  empress,  who  had  never  been 
a  favourite  with  the  people,  was  regarded  with 
suspicion  in  her  conduct  of  the  regency,  as  it  was 
believed  that  she  had  attempted  to  infuse  her 
influence  into  public  affairs.  Added  to  these 
considerations,  the  antecedents  of  the  Comte  de 
Palikao  gave  rise  to  fears  of  overt  acts  of  indiscre- 
tion on  his  part.  "  Montauban,"  it  was  said,  "  is 
very  firm  ;  but  he  is  not  very  scrupulous." 

On  the  first  appearance  of  the  Palikao  cabinet 
in  the  Corps  Legislatif  (August  10),  great  pre- 
cautions were  taken  for  the  protection  of  the 
Chamber.  In  addition  to  the  cavalry  and  infantry 
force  previously  on  duty,  two  batteries  of  artillery 
were  put  in  requisition.  The  proceedings,  how- 
ever, were  comparatively  quiet.  A  proposal  was 
adopted  to  declare  urgent  a  resolution  to  postpone 
all  payments  for  one  month.  M.  Forcade  de  la 
Roquette  read  the  report  of  the  committee  ap- 
pointed to  consider  the  means  of  raising  new 
levies,  and  the  House  unanimously  adopted  a 
proposition  to  call  out  the  soldiers  no  longer  liable 
to  serve  of  the  classes  from  1858  to  1863,  by 
which  might  be  obtained  300,000  men  who  had 

*  That  it  was  not  formed  on  a  permanent  basis,  was  shown  by  the 
fact  that  the  Prince  de  la  Tonr  d'Auvergne,  M.  Chevreau,  and  M. 
Grandperret  only  consented  to  act  on  condition  that  the  several 
positions  vacated  by  them  should  be  heW  pien  to  meet  future  possible 
contingencies. 


seen  service;  that  a  levy  should  be  made  of  all 
citizens  who  had  been  under  arms ;  and  that  all 
men  between  twenty-five  and  thirty-five  who  were 
unmarried,  and  had  no  children,  should  be  required 
to  join  the  army.  It  was  further  agreed  to  raise 
the  grant  of  4,000,000  francs  for  the  assistance  of 
the  families  of  the  national  guard  to  20,000,000 
francs.  M.  Forcade  de  la  Eoquette  then  moved 
a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  French  army,  as  having 
deserved  well  of  the  country.  Enthusiastic  cheer- 
ing, three  times  renewed,  greeted  this  motion,  and 
the  Chamber  decided  that  the  president  should  trans- 
mit it  to  the  army.  M.  Estancelin  moved  that  the 
Legislative  Body  should  sit  en  'permanence  until  the 
Prussians  evacuated  France;  but  on  a  vote  there 
were  117  ayes  against  117  noes,  and  the  motion 
was  consequently  lost.  M.  Jules  Ferry  questioned 
the  cabinet  as  to  the  use  it  intended  to  make  of 
the  powers  conferred  upon  it  by  a  state  of  siege, 
and  criticised  the  repressive  measures  resorted  to ; 
but  no  reply  was  given  by  the  government.  M. 
Lecesne  proposed  a  resolution  with  a  view  to 
establishing  the  forced  currency  of  bank-notes  ; 
but  the  urgency  of  such  a  measure  was  disputed, 
and  the  House  quietly  separated. 

Outside  the  Chamber,  also,  peace  reigned,  the 
excitement  of  the  previous  day  having  in  a  great 
measure  subsided.  But  40,000  regular  troops  and 
marines  were  retained  in  the  capital  to  keep  down 
the  Republicans,  and  the  old  policy  of  repression 
was  pursued,  as  if  France  were  in  insurrection 
against  the  Empire  instead  of  Prussia. 

It  began  to  be  feared,  too,  that  increased  troubles 
would  come  from  without,  and  preparations  were 
commenced  against  the  contingency  of  having  the 
German  battalions  before  the  walls  of  the  city. 
Among  the  first  acts  of  the  Ministry  of  Defence 
was  the  demolition  of  the  little  memorial  chapel  of 
St.  Ferdinando,  erected  by  Marie  Amelie  to  the 
memory  of  the  duke  of  Orleans,  who  was  killed  on 
the  site  in  1848.  The  emperor  had  often  wished 
to  get  rid  of  that  interesting  relic  of  the  Orleans 
family.  The  district  of  Belleville  (Rochefort's 
circonscription)  also  fell  in  the  way  of  the  pre- 
parations, and  much  of  it  was  destroyed,  as  well  as 
many  of  the  trees  in  the  city,  which  might  hinder 
defensive  operations. 

The  Germans  residing  in  Paris  were  reduced 
to  great  hardships  in  consequence  of  the  state 
of  siege.  Immediately  after  the  declaration  of  war, 
both  the  Prussian  and  Saxon  ambassadors  placed 


336 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


their  diplomatic  archives  under  the  protection  of 
the  American  Legation.  Mr.  Washbourne  also 
applied  to  the  Due  de  Gramont  to  allow  German 
subjects  to  leave  France  for  the  Fatherland;  but 
the  request  was  refused,  on  the  ground  that  all 
able-bodied  Germans  were  liable  to  military  duty, 
and  would  at  once  take  up  arms  against  France. 
A  change  of  policy,  however,  had  ensued.  As 
early  as  the  5  th  of  August  the  prefect  of  police 
had  issued  an  edict,  rendered  necessary  by  the 
"  internal  manoeuvres  of  certain  foreign  residents 
against  the  safety  of  the  state;"  and  the  Legis- 
lature subsequently  decreed  that  the  Germans  (to 
the  number  of  some  40,000)  should  be  expelled 
the  capital — a  "  humane  "  precaution,  it  was  said, 
as  Paris  was  too  excited  to  tolerate  foreigners. 
German  residents  had  been  menaced,  many  "spies" 
shot,  and  one  poor  workman  killed  with  spades. 
The  decree  was  effectively  enforced,  and  hundreds 
of  German  families  had  to  make  a  hasty  flight. 
On  arriving  at  Berlin,  many  of  these  refugees 
presented  a  petition  to  the  king,  in  which  they 
complained  that,  in  the  department  of  the  Seine 
alone,  80,000  persons  had  been  obliged  to  leave 
their  business,  their  property,  many  even  their 
wives  and  children,  and  flee  like  criminals  from 
a  country  whose  prosperity  they  had  for  years 
done  much  to  secure.  Three  days  only  had  been 
granted  to  them — the  same  time  as  ordinarily 
intervened  between  a  sentence  of  death  and  its 
execution — and  in  a  period  so  brief  no  effective 
arrangements  could  be  made.  "  In  the  places  of 
business,  the  workshops,  and  the  dwelling-houses, 
everything  had  to  be  left  as  it  stood;  they  were 
locked  and  left  to  the  care  of  Providence,  and  we 
fled  the  country  where  Germans  were  deprived  of 
their  rights,  and  left  without  protection  to  the  rage 
of  a  fanatical  people."  The  official  journals  of  Ger- 
many threatened  revenge,  though  not  in  the  form  of 
expelling  Frenchmen  from  the  country.  "French- 
men residing  among  us,"  said  they,  "may  tranquil- 
lize themselves  ;  they  will,  like  the  rest  of  the 
world,  become  convinced  that  it  is  Germany  that 
marches  at  the  head  of  civilization." 

The  expulsion  was  entirely  without  precedent, 
unless  it  be  in  the  first  Napoleon's  detention  of 
the  English  in  Verdun;  still  it  was  not  contrary 
to  the  principles  of  international  law,  as  every 
nation  maintains  an  Alien  Act,  which  may  be 
enforced  in  any  special  emergency. 

At  this  period,  also,  it  is  notable,  that  all  the  mem- 


bers of  the  Orleans  family  visited  Brussels,  whence 
they  addressed  letters  to  the  French  government, 
offering  their  services  in  defence  of  then-  country. 
Prince  de  Joinville  wrote  to  Admiral  Eigault  de 
Genouilly,  the  French  minister  of  marine: — "In 
presence  of  the  danger  which  threatens  our  coun- 
try, I  ask  the  emperor  to  be  allowed  to  serve  on 
the  active  army  in  any  capacity,  and  request  my 
old  comrade  to  assist  me  in  obtaining  this  per- 
mission." The  Due  d'Aumale,  writing  to  the 
minister  of  War,  said — "  You  call  out  all  French- 
men to  fight  for  the  defence  of  the  country.  I 
am  a  Frenchman,  an  able-bodied  soldier,  and  have 
the  rank  of  general  of  division.  I  ask  to  serve  in 
the  active  army."  The  Due  de  Chartres  wrote — 
"  As  a  Frenchman,  and  as  a  former  officer  in  the 
American  and  Italian  wars,  I  request  to  be  em- 
ployed on  active  service.  My  most  ardent  wish  is 
to  fight  for  my  country,  even  if  it  be  only  as  a 
volunteer."  For  obvious  reasons  these  several 
offers  were  declined. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  damaging  stories 
in  regard  to  the  malversation  of  stores,  the  rotten- 
ness of  the  administration,  and  the  incompetence 
of  the  emperor  to  lead  armies  or  to  continue  the 
system  of  personal  government,  became  rife  in 
Paris,  and  most  of  them  were  at  once  received 
as  foregone  conclusions.  The  cry  of  treason  was 
raised  against  the  blunderers  of  the  war  and  the 
plunderers  of  the  commissariat,  in  which  both 
Napoleon  and  his  marshal,  Lebceuf,  came  in  for 
their  share  of  the  popular  indignation.  Bitter  also 
was  the  feeling  against  the  government  for  placing 
France  in  so  ignominious  a  position,  and  warnings 
were  thrown  out  of  a  day  of  future  reckoning. 
"Give  us  news  of  the  war,"  said  the  Parisians. 
"  Let  us  be  satisfied  that  Paris  is  safe,  and  that 
the  honour  of  France  can  be  redeemed;  we  can 
settle  such  a  minor  matter  as  our  next  form  of 
government  later." 

During  these  events,  however,  no  contrast  could 
have  been  more  complete  than  that  between  Paris 
and  the  rural  districts  of  France.  Having  re- 
covered from  the  panic  caused  by  the  affair  of 
Woerth,  the  capital,  moved  by  alternating  hopes 
and  fears,  was  full  of  excitement ;  but  in  the 
villages  there  was  generally  a  blank  look  of  misery 
and  submission  to  their  fate.  Soldiers  left  Paris 
in  uniform  for  the  scene  of  conflict,  gaily  singing 
patriotic  songs;  but  each  individual  warrior  left 
his  hamlet,  in  his  blouse  and  wooden  shoes,  with 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


337 


a  heavy  heart.  At  almost  every  provincial  railway 
station  groups  of  sorrowing  rustics  waited  for  the 
train  to  carry  them  to  the  camp.  But  they  left 
their  peaceful  avocations  behind  them,  with  the 
feeling  that  the  tillage  of  the  land  and  the  various 
industries  of  their  districts  would  suffer  ruin. 
"  Why,"  said  the  peasantry,  "  did  you  not  tell  us 
the  plebiscite  meant  war?  We  would  never  then 
have  said  '  Yes.'" 

Even  in  most  of  the  large  towns  of  France 
there  was  comparatively  little  excitement.  The 
influence  of  affairs  at  the  front  told  by  far  the 
most  heavily  upon  the  capital,  giving  a  colouring 
to  the  egotistic  boast  of  the  Parisians  that  "  Paris 
is  France." 

It  is  here  necessary  to  turn  again  to  the  pro- 
ceedings in  the  Legislative  Body,  where  on  Thurs- 
day, August  11,  M.  de  Keratry  caused  a  mighty 
uproar,  by  proposing  the  appointment  of  a  com- 
mittee to  try  Marshal  Leboeuf.  Not  another  word 
of  his,  however,  could  be  heard  for  a  time ;  but 
the  senator  folded  his  arms  and  leant  back  in 
an  attitude  of  supercilious  endurance,  while  the 
members  shouted  and  gesticulated  at  him  and  at 
each  other.  This  scene  lasted  for  some  minutes, 
when  "  the  order  of  the  day,  pure  and  simple," 
was  voted.  Nothing  daunted  by  his  colleague's 
failure,  another  member  of  the  Left,  M.  Guyot 
Montpayroux,  insisted  on  being  told  whether  Mar- 
shal Leboeuf  was  still  Major- General  de  V Annie. 
The  previous  uproar  was  instantly  renewed  in  a 
longer  and  far  more  furious  style.  The  minister 
of  War  contrived  to  say  that  he  considered  that 
les  convenances  precluded  a  reply,  at  which  M. 
Montpayroux  flung  himself  in  the  direction  of  the 
minister,  literally  foaming  at  the  mouth;  but  not 
a  syllable  he  shouted  was  audible.  Physical  ex- 
haustion compelled  him  to  resume  his  seat;  but 
at  the  first  lull  in  the  storm  he  again  sprang  up, 
and  insisted  on  an  answer,  "Yes  or  no,"  fiercely 
challenging  every  member  of  the  House  to  rise 
and  express  approval  of  the  conduct  of  Marshal 
Leboeuf.  The  Right  replied  with  a  shout  of 
defiance  and  derision;  the  Left  rose  as  one  man, 
and  after  gesticulating  with  such  violence  that 
a  hand-to-hand  fight  seemed  imminent,  prepared 
to  leave  the  House.  At  this  juncture  M.  Thiers, 
whom  Eight  and  Left  were  eager  to  hear,  was 
observed  slowly  making  his  way  to  the  tribune. 
He  began  in  tones  so  low  that  every  head  was 
bent  forward   to  catch  his  words,  and  the  deep 


stillness,  following  such  a  storm,  was  singularly 
impressive.  He  said  that  the  present  was  not  the 
time  for  raising  such  discussions,  and  appealed  to 
his  hearers  whether  it  was  right  to  call  to  the  bar 
of  the  House  a  brave  soldier,  who  was  baring  his 
breast  to  the  bullets  of  the  enemy.  The  speech 
of  M.  Thiers,  though  short,  produced  the  desired 
effect,  and  the  House,  which  from  all  parts  loudly 
applauded  him  at  the  close,  settled  down  to 
business  at  once  in  real  earnest. 

The  ministerial  programme  carried  through  at 
this  sitting  was  of  a  remarkable  character.  Soon 
after  the  war  broke  out  the  Journal  Officiel 
contradicted  a  rumour  that  it  was  the  intention 
of  the  bank  of  France  to  obtain  a  forced  currency 
for  its  paper,  and  stated  that  the  bank  possessed 
1 ,200,000,000  francs  in  specie  to  meet  1 ,400,000,000 
francs  in  notes.  Thus  there  was  no  reason  for 
establishing  a  forced  currency,  nor  was  any  such 
design  entertained.  Within  a  month,  however, 
of  the  declaration  of  war,  the  Palikao  ministry 
proposed  this  very  measure,  and  the  Corps  Legis- 
latif  voted  it  with  only  one  dissentient.  Article  1 
declared  that  from  the  date  of  promulgation,  the 
notes  of  the  bank  of  France  should  be  received 
as  legal  tender  by  the  public  treasuries  and  by 
private  persons.  Article  2  relieved  the  bank  from 
the  obligation  of  cashing  its  notes.  Article  3 
limited  the  issues  of  the  bank  to  1,800,000,000. 
Article  4  applied  the  law  to  the  bank  of  Algeria ; 
and  article  5  permitted  the  issue  of  25-franc  notes. 
These  legislative  enactments  produced  a  marked 
effect.  The  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the 
bank  of  France,  the  increase  of  the  war  credit 
from  £20,000,000  to  £40,000,000,  and  the  grant- 
ing of  a  period  of  grace  for  the  payment  of  bills 
and  other  liabilities,  gave  rise  to  much  discussion 
on  the  London  Exchange. 

The  authorized  issue  of  the  bank  under  the  forced 
currency  was  limited  to  £72,000,000,  and  as  the 
amount  of  notes  in  circulation  was  £63,340,000, 
the  balance  available  for  increasing  it  amounted 
to  £8,660,000.  The  bullion  during  the  week, 
August  6  to  13,  experienced  a  further  decrease 
of  £2,730,000,  making  a  total  reduction  of 
£11,630,000,  and  the  sum  of  £41,140,000  re- 
mained in  hand.  The  war  demand,  coupled  with 
that  on  the  part  of  the  people,  must  in  a  very 
short  time  have  caused  another  heavy  diminution, 
which  would  probably  have  swept  away  the 
balance.  It  was  therefore  thought  better  that  it 
2  u 


338 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


should  remain  in  the  vaults  of  the  bank,  to  serve 
as  the  foundation  for  a  resumption  of  payment  at 
the  proper  time.  Of  course,  as  a  natural  result  of 
the  measure,  gold  rose  to  a  premium  throughout 
France,  and  extra  prices  had  to  be  paid  for  all 
imported  necessaries  of  the  people ;  but  in  such 
a  crisis  a  more  promising  or  practicable  method 
could  not  have  been  resorted  to,  and  its  efficiency 
in  carrying  countries  through  the  most  severe 
trials,  and  enabling  them  to  raise  any  amount  of 
loans,  has  been  exemplified  from  the  time  of  the 
earlier  wars  of  England  down  to  the  more  recent 
American  struggle. 

In  the  Corps  Legislatif  on  Friday,  August  12, 
Count  Palikao  announced  the  resignation  as  major- 
general  of  the  army  of  the  Rhine  of  Marshal 
Lebceuf,  who  had  been  universally  impeached 
of  presumption,  negligence,  and  ignorance.  The 
minister  was  loudly  cheered  while  describing 
some  vigorous  measures  which  had  been  taken 
for  raising  troops,  and  promising  that,  within  two 
days,  two  corps  d'armie  of  35,000  men  each 
should  be  sent  to  the  front.  M.  Gambetta,  on 
behalf  of  the  Left,  expressed  strong  approval  of 
the  ministerial  action. 

On  Saturday,  August  13,  the  Legislative  Body 
unanimously  adopted  the  bill  raising  the  issue  of 
bank  notes  to  2,400,000,000  francs.  A  bill,  open- 
ing a  credit  of  5,000,000  francs  in  the  budget  of 
Paris  for  the  distressed  families  of  mobile  guards 
who  were  engaged  at  the  front,  was  also  urgently 
pressed.  In  the  course  of  the  sitting  the  minister 
of  war  stated  that  Marshal  Bazaine  had  been 
appointed  sole  commander-in-chief  of  the  whole 
army,  and  that  the  defences  of  Paris  would  soon 
be  complete.  Replying  to  M.  Gambetta,  Count 
Palikao  said  that  the  ministers,  placing  confidence 
in  all  parties  of  the  Chamber,  and  claiming  like 
confidence  in  return,  would  accept  a  discussion 
on  the  question  of  appointing  a  committee  of  na- 
tional defence.  The  president  l>kewise  requested 
the  deputies  not  to  leave  Paris,  so  as  to  be  at 
hand  if  required. 

Meanwhile  the  work  of  completing  the  de- 
fences of  the  city  was  rapidly  pushed  forward, 
and  detachments  of  naval  gunners  arrived  from 
Cherbourg  to  work  the  cannons  at  the  gates. 
Although  the  measures  of  the  government  placed 
at  its  disposal  millions  of  men,  and  consequently 
many  more  than  it  could  possibly  arm,  the  cry 
was  still  for  more.     The  Left  demanded  that  the 


youths  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  rebgious 
colleges  should  be  dragged  thence,  and  take  their 
share  in  the  defence  of  the  country;  and  a  bill 
was  also  brought  in  demanding  that  all  persons 
born  in  France  should  be  drafted  into  the  army. 
The  consequence  was  that  crowds  of  Englishmen, 
born  of  British  parents  and  not  in  the  enjoyment 
of  civic  rights  in  France,  claimed  their  passports 
and  prepared  for  a  hegira.  Lord  Lyons  very 
properly  protested  against  the  proposed  law  in  a 
semi-official  manner,  and  asked  that,  in  the  event 
of  its  being  carried,  Englishmen  should  at  least 
be  allowed  forty  days  to  reflect  whether  they 
would  risk  life  for  the  French  government  or 
return  to  England. 

Both  Chambers  met  on  Sunday,  August  14,  the 
first  meeting  that  had  been  held  on  a  Sunday 
since  the  establishment  of  the  empire.  In  the 
Corps  Legislatif  there  was  a  most  animated  debate, 
brought  on  by  M.  Gambetta  accusing  the  govern- 
ment of  withholding  news;  the  entrance  of  the 
Prussian  cavalry  into  Nancy  at  three  on  Friday 
afternoon  not  being  made  public  in  Paris  till  nine 
o'clock  on  Sunday  morning.  Page  and  confusion 
seized  the  Chamber,  and  M.  Schneider  strove  in 
vain  to  restore  order.  Many  had  a  suspicion  that 
the  emperor  interfered  with  the  military  operations, 
and  M.  Jules  Favre  presented  a  petition  signed 
by  a  large  number  of  Parisians,  urging  that  the 
emperor  should  come  back  to  the  capital,  and 
that  all  military  men  should  be  sent  to  the  front. 
The  reading  of  this  petition  produced  a  strange 
sensation,  which  boded  ill  for  the  future  of  his 
imperial  majesty. 

The  stormy  scenes  of  the  Chamber  on  this 
particular  Sunday  found  a  reflex  on  the  boulevards 
and  in  the  city.  In  the  afternoon  a  disgraceful 
riot  occurred  in  the  north-eastern  suburb  of  La 
Villette,  where  a  body  of  about  sixty  armed  men 
attacked  the  firemen's  barracks,  shot  down  a 
solitary  fireman  who  was  on  guard,  and  mortally 
wounded  the  first  sergent  de  ville  who  arrived  on 
the  spot.  The  mob  then  plundered  the  post  of  a 
few  Chassepots  and  some  ammunition,  after  which 
they  beat  a  hasty  retreat  to  the  heights  of  Belleville, 
shouting  "  Vive  la  Republique ! "  and  firing  ofF 
their  revolvers.  Sudden  and  unexpected  as  was 
the  dastardly  attack,  a  strong  body  of  police  was 
soon  in  pursuit,  and  most  of  the  rioters  were 
captured. 

Throughout  the  entire  night  of  the  14th  dis- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


339 


turbance  and  disquiet  reigned  in  Paris.  Arrests 
of  spies,  real  or  supposed,  were  made  by  the 
authorities  ;  acts  of  violence  were  committed  in  the 
streets  ;  and  thus  the  morning  of  August  15,  the 
day  of  the  "  Fete  Napoleon,"  was  heralded  in 
by  ominous  disorder. 

That  day,  so  long  identified  in  the  minds  of 
sightseers  of  every  nation  with  brilliant  reviews, 
salvos  of  cannon,  and  monster  displays  of  fire- 
works, found  France  invaded  and  the  Empire 
tottering.  The  previous  year  had  celebrated  the 
centenary  of  the  first  Napoleon  amidst  great 
splendour,  and  for  nearly  twenty  years  the  fete-day 
had  been  distinguished  by  galas  and  rejoicings, 
garlands  of  light  and  wreaths  of  flowers.  But  the 
imperial  festival  of  1870  saw  no  such  signs.  The 
times  were  too  mournful  for  holiday  sports;  the 
workshops  were  shut,  but  the  people  were  in  no 
mood  for  pleasure  and  gaiety.  The  Corps  Legis- 
latif,  however,  did  not  assemble ;  business  was 
partially  suspended;  the, churches  were  open,  their 
candles  ablaze,  and  their  priests  in  their  richest 
canonicals,  while  the  solemn  chant  rolled  out  into 
the  streets;  and  truly  there  never  was  more  oc- 
casion for  singing  Domine,  salvum  fac  Napoleonem. 

It  had  been  confidently  expected  that  this  day 
would  bring  tidings  of  a  victory  from  the  army 
of  the  Khine ;  but  the  official  news  of  a  Prussian 
attack  on  the  banks  of  the  Moselle  at  Longueville 
having  been  repulsed  after  four  hours'  fighting, 
did  little  to  remove  the  gloom  hanging  over  Paris ; 
nay,  it  was  even  felt  as  a  just  source  of  dissatis- 
faction, that  the  intelligence  was  not  conveyed  by 
Marshal  Bazaine  to  the  minister  of  War,  but  sent  in 
a  telegram  from  Napoleon  to  the  empress.  The 
people  read  the  despatch  with  incredulity,  which 
was  turned  into  wrath  by  the  fact  that  French 
territory  was  the  scene  of  the  reported  events. 

The  night  closed  in  on  Paris  without  a  solitary 
token  of  rejoicing;  there  were  no  fireworks  and 
illuminations;  the  theatres  were  but  scantily  filled, 
and  many  were  entirely  closed.  In  fact,  through- 
out the  city  the  spirit  of  gloom  rested  heavily, 
the  counterpart  of  that  which  must  have  pressed 
on  the  mind  of  the  emperor  away  at  the  front. 

The  day  of  the  emperor's  fete,  according  to  the 
French  idea  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  was  to 
have  found  the  imperial  troops  in  the  "  Unter 
den  Linden,"  at  Berlin.  When  the  day  came,  it 
only  served  to  show  in  stronger  colours  the  great 
fall  which  the  empire  had  sustained.     To  many  of 


the  thoughtful  inhabitants  of  Paris  it  seemed 
surprising  that  the  emperor  should  have  hazarded 
so  much  on  the  war.  He  left  with  the  full  know- 
ledge that  defeat  would  imperil  his  dynasty.  The 
Germans  in  front  were  scarcely  more  formidable 
than  enemies  left  at  home.  But  justice  requires 
it  to  be  noted,  that  in  the  eyes  of  most  of  the 
French  his  crime  was,  not  the  going  to  war,  but 
commencing  it  before  France  was  ready;  and 
therefore  on  his  head  the  results  of  defeat  ought 
to  fall,  for  to  the  French  mind  their  troops  were 
invincible.  To  add  to  the  crushing  effect  of  dis- 
aster in  the  field,  not  one  among  his  thousand 
servants  showed  sign  of  real  devotion  to  him. 
The  first  thing  done  by  his  council  was  to  omit 
his  name  in  ah  proclamations;  and  the  first  thought 
of  his  ministry  was  to  summon  the  rival  power — - 
the  Legislative  Body.  Deserted  by  his  flatterers 
and  enfeebled  in  bodily  health,  his  fete-day,  about 
which  he  was  always  wont  to  have  a  superstitious 
feeling,  as  if  it  were  a  day  of  destiny,  brought 
ample  food  for  gloomy  memories  and  still  gloomier 
anticipations. 

Whilst  the  remarkable  proceedings  narrated 
in  the  previous  pages  were  occurring  in  the  dis- 
tracted capital  of  France,  a  widely  different 
feeling  pervaded  Berlin  and  the  entire  German 
nation.  France  was  prepared  only  for  success,  fail- 
ing which  anarchy  and  disorganization  threatened 
the  empire;  Germany  awaited  with  calmness 
either  victory  or  defeat,  regarding  it  as  quite 
probable  that  the  emperor's  troops  would  gain  a 
few  dashing  triumphs  at  the  outset,  and  even 
advance  a  longer  or  shorter  distance  beyond  their 
frontier;  but  the  Teutons  none  the  less  firmly 
believed  in  their  power  ultimately  to  hurl  back 
the  enemy  with  disastrous  effect.  The  ilan  of 
the  French  was  to  be  met  and  conquered  by 
German  "phlegm."  "We  shall,  perhaps,  be 
beaten  at  first,"  said  the  Crown  Prince,  as  he 
started  for  the  front;  "  but  do  not  mind:  we  are 
quite  sure  to  win  in  the  end." 

Nevertheless,  the  official  announcement  of  the 
evacuation  of  Saarbriick  had  at  first  a  somewhat 
depressing  effect  on  the  capital.  It  was  not  sup- 
posed that  actual  defeat  had  been  sustained,  and  the 
accuracy  of  the  bulletin  was  unquestioned,  seeing 
that  during  the  war  with  Austria  the  Prussian 
government  carefully  avoided  either  exaggerating 
its  successes  or  glossing  over  its  losses.    The  inhab- 


340 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  "WAR. 


itants,  however,  from  the  queen  downwards,  were 
grave  and  anxious,  less  from  the  fact  that  the 
opening  of  the  war  had  witnessed  a  slight  check 
to  their  army,  than  the  feeling  engendered  by  the 
danger  of  their  friends  in  the  ranks,  now  that 
hostilities  had  commenced  in  earnest. 

On  the  afternoon  of  Thursday,  August  5,  im- 
perfect accounts  of  the  affair  at  Wissembourg 
were  circulated  throughout  Berlin,  and  the  tidings 
that  the  Crown  Prince  had  crossed  the  Rhine 
and  was  fighting  on  French  ground  caused  great 
excitement.  The  ordinary  business  of  the  city 
came  to  an  immediate  standstill,  and  a  crowd 
assembled  before  the  king's  palace,  in  which  many 
of  the  first  bankers  and  merchants  were  content 
to  jostle  with  people  of  all  sorts  and  conditions. 
It  soon  became  known  that  a  telegram  of  vital 
importance  had  been  received  by  the  queen,  who 
delegated  a  general  officer  to  report  the  news  from 
the  king  of  the  first  Prussian  victory,  in  the 
following  terms: — 

"  Mainz,  August  4. 

"  To  the  Queen  Augusta. 

"  Under  Fritz's  eyes  to-day  a  brilliant  but 
bloody  victory  has  been  won  by  the  storming 
of  Weissenburg,  and  Geisberg  behind  it.  Our 
fifth  and  eleventh  corps,  and  the  second  Bavarian 
army  corps  fought.  The  enemy  in  flight:  500 
unwounded  prisoners,  one  cannon,  and  the  en- 
campment in  our  hands.  General  Douay  dead. 
Of  us,  General  von  Kirchbach  slightly  wounded. 
My  regiment  and  the  fiftieth  heavy  losses.  God 
be  praised  for  the  first  glorious  action !  May  he 
help  us  further ! " 

This  despatch  was  posted  up  about  the  streets, 
and  gladdened  the  hearts  of  the  entire  population. 
"  God  be  praised."  That  was  the  universal  feel- 
ing ;  and  the  terrors  of  Chassepots  and  mitrailleuses 
ceased  to  disquiet  the  minds  of  the  people.  The 
news  of  the  victory  was  announced  after  nine  in 
the  evening,  and  in  less  than  half  an  hour  all  the 
windows  of  the  principal  streets  were  lit  up  in 
token  of  the  general  rejoicing.  The  feeling  of 
jubilation  lasted  far  into  the  night,  and  was  re- 
newed on  the  morning  of  Friday  by  a  message 
which  raised  the  number  of  French  prisoners  from 
500  to  800,  and  stated  that  batches  of  them  might 
shortly  be  expected  in  Berlin. 

The  afternoon  of  Saturday  (August  6)  brought 


the  tidings  that  the  Crown  Prince  had  beaten 
MacMahon  at  Woerth,  and  driven  his  army  in 
headlong  rout.  The  inhabitants  turned  out  en 
masse  at  this  news,  and  the  telegram  announcing 
the  victory  was  read  by  General  Hanenfeld  from 
the  balcony  of  the  royal  palace.  It  caused  a  burst 
of  joy  through  all  Berlin.  Till  midnight  the  crowd 
continued  crying,  "Long  live  the  king!"  and 
"  Long  live  the  Crown  Prince  ! "  Four  tunes  the 
queen  came  forward,  waving  her  handkerchief, 
while  the  people  responded  in  loud  hurrahs.  Unter 
den  Linden,  Friedrich-strasse,  and  all  the  leading 
thoi'oughfares,  were  illuminated,  and  the  signs  of 
rejoicing  continued  through  the  night.  Early  on 
Sunday  morning  the  bands  of  the  different  regi- 
ments played  in  honour  of  the  victory,  and  the 
event  was  celebrated  by  salvos  of  artillery. 

The  news  of  the  successful  engagement  on  the 
heights  of  Spicheren,  under  General  Steinmetz,  on 
the  6th,  did  not  arrive  till  late  at  night,  and  only 
became  generally  known  on  Sunday  morning.  It 
was  reported  in  the  simplest  language,  and  not 
even  called  a  victory,  although  quite  as  important 
as  Woerth. 

These  successes  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Germans 
some  20,000  wounded  and  unwounded  prisoners, 
who  were  distributed  in  Posen,  Passau,  Glogau, 
Spandau,  Berlin,  &c.  On  the  6th  August,  a  first 
batch  of  600,  part  of  those  taken  at  Wissembourg, 
were  lodged  in  the  casemates  of  Graudenz.  On 
their  passage  through  Frankfort,  Berlin,  and  other 
cities,  these  prisoners  were  lionized,  and  treated 
with  the  utmost  kindness  by  the  public,  which 
stared  at,  talked  to,  and  good-naturedly  cheered 
them  by  thousands.  The  Berlin  police  had  pre- 
viously issued  a  notice  that  French  prisoners  were 
coming  through  the  city,  and  begged  the  people 
to  show  that  they  knew  how  to  treat  a  vanquished 
enemy  with  courtesy.  This  intimation  was  more 
than  fulfilled.  The  Frenchmen  were  regaled  with 
huge  piles  of  butterbrodchen  and  other  delicacies, 
and  with  unlimited  quantities  of  sausages,  cigars, 
tobacco,  wine,  and  beer.  The  ladies  who  supplied 
the  viands,  as  well  as  the  officers  and  many  of  the 
privates  forming  the  escort,  spoke  French  fluently, 
to  the  great  surprise  of  the  prisoners,  many  of 
whom  seemed  to  have  been  persuaded  that  they 
were  warring  with  a  race  of  semi-barbarians,  igno- 
rant of  everything  save  their  own  jargon. 

It  was  originally  intended  that  the  French 
prisoners    for    Spandau,    via    Berlin,    should    be 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


341 


marched  through  the  capital,  and  a  crowd  of 
100,000  assembled  to  witness  the  spectacle.  At 
the  request  of  the  queen  the  intention  was 
abandoned ;  the  prisoners  were  conveyed  across 
the  city  by  the  connecting  line  of  rails,  and  for- 
warded to  the  Frankfort  station. 

The  Turcos,  of  whom  a  large  number  were 
captured,  excited  the  greatest  curiosity.  Ugly, 
swarthy,  slight  in  physique,  they  did  not  improve 
on  acquaintance.  Even  their  fellow-prisoners 
appeared  ashamed  of  their  companionship.  It  was 
likewise  rumoured  that  they  had  been  caught 
mutilating  and  massacring  the  wounded  on  the 
battle-field,  which  created  in  Germany  a  strong 
feeling  of  repulsion  against  them,  and  of  indig- 
nation that  the  emperor  should  have  employed 
such  savages  in  European  warfare. 

More  slowly  the  wounded  Prussians,  as  well  as 
the  wounded  French  who  had  been  captured,  were 
forwarded  to  Berlin,  and  many  a  moving  scene 
took  place  at  the  Potsdam  railway  station  on  their 
arrival.  It  was  likewise  noticeable,  that  the  spirit 
in  which  the  Germans  received  the  news  of  the 
brilliant  victories  of  their  armies,  contrasted  favour- 
ably with  that  excited  by  the  fictitious  tidings  of 
MacMahon's  triumph  in  Paris,  already  described. 
From  the  sovereign  who  led  them  to  the  poorest 
subject,  the  one  cry  which  arose  was  that  of 
Luther's  grand  old  hymn,  "Nun  dankt  alle  Gott" 
— Now  let  all  thank  God — mingled  with  an  honest 
pride  in  the  fearless  courage  of  their  civilian  army. 
The  first  natural  impulses  of  joy  were  succeeded 
by  thoughful  sympathy  and  care  for  the  wounded. 
In  every  town  and  village  systematic  means  were 
taken  to  lighten  the  sufferings  of  the  sick  and 
disabled. 

The  joy  of  the  people  was  far  beyond  that 
caused  by  the  triumphs  of  Prussia  in  1866.  After 
Koniggratz,  many  of  the  chief  cities  of  the 
Fatherland  were  sorrowful  and  humiliated.  Ger- 
man had  shed  the  blood  of  German.  But  in  the 
war  of  1870  they  had  united  against  a  common 
enemy ;  while  the  brilliant  exploits  of  the  campaign 
were  fully  shared  by  the  southern  Teutons,  whose 
apocryphal  enfranchisement  was  one  of  the  pretexts 
advanced  by  the  French  emperor  to  justify  the  war. 
In  fact,  throughout  Germany,  at  this  time  the  war 
was  felt  to  be  but  a  means  to  an  end,  and  that  end  was 
not  so  much  the  humiliation  of  France  as  the  con- 
struction of  Germany.     And  what  could  draw  the 


bonds  of  union  tighter  than  common  sufferings  and 
mutual  services?  A  Bavarian  corps  comes  to  the 
rescue  of  a  Prussian  one  in  the  hour  of  need;  North 
German  soldiers  have  every  attention  lavished  on 
them  as  they  pass  South  German  Mayence;  South 
Germans  are  cared  for  tenderly  at  Prussian  Saar- 
briick  and  Treves.  The  religious  barrier  also  was 
breached,  and  Catholic  priests  and  Protestant 
clergymen  were  busied  in  smoothing  the  same 
pillow,  and  Sisters  of  Charity  glided  about  the 
beds  of  the  Northern  Lutherans  and  Calvinists. 
In  fact,  the  Bavarian,  the  Swabian,  and  the 
Prussian,  each  rejoiced  in  the  prowess  of  their 
brothers  and  sons,  and  looked  forward  with  fervent 
hope  and  prayer  for  their  speedy  and  safe  return 
to  Fatherland. 

Meanwhile,  still  poring  over  its  war  maps  and 
tracing  out  the  line  of  opposed  army  fronts,  Berlin 
waited  in  the  assurance  that  genius,  courage,  and 
numbers  combined  to  make  failure  all  but  impos- 
sible. Success  also  led  the  Prussians  to  consider 
what  they  should  exact  from  the  vanquished,  and 
already  it  was  said  that  Alsace  must  once  more 
be  German  territory. 

As  the  days  advanced  towards  the  15th  August, 
by  which  time  the  French  had  calculated  to  enter 
Berlin  in  triumph,  it  became  increasingly  gratifying 
to  all  with  German  sympathies  to  see  how  large  a 
tract  of  French  ground  was  held  by  King  William, 
who  had  issued  proclamations  addressed  to  the 
French  inhabitants  of  the  provinces  held  by  the 
Prussian  army,  intimating  that  while  the  Germans 
were  fighting  the  emperor's  troops,  they  were 
desirous  to  live  at  peace  with  the  French  people. 

United  Germany  had  formed  a  determined  pur- 
pose to  make  it  the  last  war  with  France.  They 
were  afraid  otherwise  that  their  dearly-bought  vic- 
tories would  prove  fruitless,  by  having  the  work 
to  do  over  again.  "  Stop  short  of  Paris,"  they 
said,  "as  we  stopped  short  of  Vienna!  certainly 
not.  They  were  for  marching  into  Berlin.  Their 
cry  of  invasion  was  'to  the  Rhine!'  We  have 
beaten  them  back  to  the  Moselle,  and  are  masters 
of  all  the  country  between.  We  have  nearly 
regained  our  old  province  of  Alsace.  We  shall 
starve  out  Strassburg.  We  shall  starve  out  Metz 
or  take  it,  and  shall  keep  beating  them  back 
and  back  to  Chalons.  Paris  will  be  ours;  and, 
come  all  Europe,  we  will  not  be  denied  our 
triumph  and  revenge." 


CHAPTER     X. 


Brief  Recapitulation  of  the  Results  of  the  Battles  of  Woerth  and  Forbach — The  Scene  at  Saverne  on  the  arrival  of  the  debris  of  MacMahon's 
Army — The  Troops  of  the  Crown  Prince  advance  to  Haguenau — Surrender  of  the  Town — MacMahon's  retreat  westward — Capture  of 
Lichtenberg  and  La  Petite  Pierre — Resistance  of  Bitsche  and  Phalsbonrg — Description  of  both  Fortresses — The  Baden  Contingent 
despatched  to  besiege  Strassburg — Address  of  the  Baden  General  to  the  Alsatians — General  description  of  German  advance  into  France 
— Proclamation  of  the  Crown  Prince — Arrival  at  Nancy — Panic  in  the  Town — It  is  actually  taken  by  Four  German  Soldiers — Junction 
of  the  Crown  Prince  with  the  other  German  Armies — Position  of  the  Different  French  Corps  after  the  Battles  of  Woerth  and  Forbach — 
Generous  Conduct  of  Canrobert — Another  Fatal  Delay  on  the  part  of  the  French — The  Advance  of  the  First  and  Second  German  Armies — 
Address  of  the  King  to  the  Soldiers — Gallant  Conduct  of  a  Yonng  German  Lieutenant  in  the  Capture  of  Saargemnnd — The  German 
Tactics  as  regarded  the  Advance  of  their  different  Armies — Their  Commissariat — Novel  description  of  Food  introduced — Praiseworthy 
Conduct  of  the  Troops  at  St.  Avoid — Passage  of  the  Moselle  at  Pont-a-Mousson  by  the  Germans — Proceedings  at  the  French  Headquarters 
— Removal  of  Marshal  Lebceuf — The  Emperor  resigns  the  Command-in-Chief — Arrival  of  General  Changarnier  at  Metz — Appointment  of 
Marshal  Bazaine  as  Commander-in-Chief — Biographical  Notice  of  him — The  Evils  of  a  Divided  Command — Bazaine  Resolves  on  a  Retreat 
— Departure  of  the  Emperor  from  Metz — Proclamation  to  the  Inhabitants — Attempt  of  the  Prussians  to  capture  the  Emperor — His  Flight 
to  Verdun,  and  Ride  to  Chalons  in  a  Third-Class  Carriage — Comments  on  the  Cruelty  of  uselessly  exposing  the  Prince  Imperial — General 
Review  of  the  Situation  at  this  time — The  Tactics  which  might  have  saved  France — The  Emperor's  own  Explanations  of  his  Proceedings — 
Description  of  the  City  and  Fortress  of  Metz. 


The  first  act  of  the  military  drama  of  1870  may 
be  said  to  have  closed  with  the  battles  of  the  6th 
of  August,  described  in  Chapter  VIII.  Their 
result  was  the  evacuation  of  Northern  Alsace  and 
the  retreat  of  the  French  army — now  thrown 
entirely  on  the  defensive — beyond  the  line  of  the 
Vosges ;  the  main  body  falling  back  upon  Metz, 
the  right  wing  making  its  way  as  best  it  could,  in 
utter  disorganization,  towards  Nancy  and  Chalons. 
The  following  week  was  employed  by  the  Germans 
in  bringing  up  their  second  line,  composed  almost 
exclusively  of  regiments  from  the  old  Prussian 
provinces ;  while  the  troops  which  had  been  already 
engaged  were  pushed  forward  as  fast  as  supplies 
could  be  procured  and  communications  established 
with  the  rear,  with  the  double  object  of  prevent- 
ing the  reunion  of  the  two  sections  of  the  French 
army,  and  either  intercepting  the  main  body  in  its 
retreat,  or  forcing  it  to  fall  back  upon  Chalons  by 
a  northerly  and  circuitous  route,  along  which  it 
could  be  incessantly  harassed,  or,  if  necessary, 
even  thrown  back  upon  the  Ardennes,  where  it 
would  be  compelled  to  give  battle  in  a  district 
devoid  of  supplies,  and  with  a  neutral  territory  in 
the  rear. 

But  we  must  not  anticipate.  As  we  have 
already  briefly  described  in  Chapter  VIII.,  after 
the  terrible  defeat  which  MacMahon's  army  had 
suffered  at  Woerth,  it  was  dispersed,  and  a  large 
part  of  his  broken  right  wing  escaped  towards 
Haguenau  and  Strassburg,  while  the  remains  of  his 
other  troops  were  scattered  over  the  roads  that  ran 


southwards  athwart  the  Vosges.  The  marshal 
made  an  effort  to  reach  De  Failly's  corps  and 
Bitsche,  in  order  to  rejoin  the  main  army,  and 
attempted  a  stand  at  Niederbronn ;  but  his  troops 
gave  way  at  the  sight  of  the  Germans,  and  he  fell 
back  hastily  upon  Saverne. 

When  they  arrived  at  this  town  a  complete 
panic  seized  the  inhabitants.  According  to  a 
correspondent  of  the  Siicle,  who  happened  to  be 
present,  "all  the  houses  were  closed — hotels,  cafe's, 
beer-houses.  I  was  scarcely  half  an  hour  in  my 
chamber  when  the  landlord  entered,  and  told  me 
to  leave  as  soon  as  I  could,  for  he  was  going  to 
conceal  himself  in  the  mountains  of  the  Vosges. 
I  was  shortly  in  the  street,  and  beheld  hundreds 
taking  the  paths  which  lead  to  the  mountains. 
The  army  also  thought  it  wise  to  retreat,  and  to 
fall  back  on  Sarrebourg.  Not  being  able  to  follow 
the  army,  I  followed  the  people  on  foot,  as  neither 
vehicles  nor  horses  were  to  be  had.  I  left  my 
luggage  in  the  house  of  a  person  whom  I  do  not 
know,  and  who  had  the  politeness  to  open  the 
door  and  pitch  it  inside,  when  he  locked  the  door 
and  was  off  to  the  hills  as  fast  as  his  feet  and  legs 
could  carry  him.  I  do  not  know  exactly  where 
they  are  going,  but  I  know  where  the  crowd  is 
going,  and  what  a  crowd — old  men,  women  with 
their  babes,  and  little  girls  of  some  four  years 
climbing  across  chamois  paths,  amid  cries,  tears,  and 
desolation.  They  brought  with  them  as  much  as 
they  could,  and  more  than  they  could  carrv.  Men 
bend  under  the  load  ;  even  the  children  have  their 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


343 


burdens.  All  these  people  speak  German.  After 
an  hour's  march  we  arrived  at  the  first  village, 
which  has  already  heard  the  news,  and  is  itself 
preparing  to  decamp.  Oxen,  cows,  &c,  are  driven 
before  us.  Beds,  linen,  &c,  are  heaped  in  carts, 
and  at  each  step  the  number  of  the  flying  is 
increased.  I  ask  some  persons  whom  I  hear 
speaking  French,  where  we  are  going,  and  when 
will  our  journey  come  to  an  end.  I  am  told  we 
are  going  to  a  plateau  where  we  will  encamp  for 
the  night  as  best  we  can  after  a  journey  of  five 
or  six  hours." 

M.  Edmond  About,  who  also  contrived  to  reach 
the  town  on  Saturday  night,  after  a  very  peril- 
ous journey,  thus  described  the  state  of  affairs : — 

"  At  the  gates  of  Saverne,  the  panic-stricken 
were  flying  along  the  railway  or  hiding  in  the 
gardens ;  but  some  good  regiments  of  the  line 
were  tramping  in  step  through  the  streets.  Their 
passage,  calm  and  courageous,  was  not  over  before 
eleven  o'clock  at  night.  I  found  the  little  town 
a  prey  to  a  panic  really  fabulous.  In  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye  Saverne  saw  itself  filled  with  the  first 
corps,  which  the  foe,  very  luckily,  believed  to 
have  retired  upon  Bitsche.  They  massed  them- 
selves together  where  they  could — those  most 
fortunate  in  the  houses  of  the  townsmen;  those 
who  had  brought  away  their  knapsacks  and  camp 
equipage,  under  their  tents  ;  many  upon  the  pave- 
ment, in  the  fields,  under  heaven's  canopy.  The 
night  was  passed  in  terror.  If  the  enemy  had 
known  how  to  profit  by  the  opportunity,  he  might 
have  made  10,000  or  15,000  prisoners  at  one  blow. 
The  population  was  only  half  re-assured  by  the 
presence  of  troops  broken-down,  starved,  and  dis- 
comfited. Some  families  got  off  by  the  mail-train 
at  mid-day,  the  last  that  went  from  Strassburg 
to  Paris.  Some  others  regained  confidence  in 
waiting  for  the  officers,  who  said,  "  You  have 
nothing  to  be  afraid  of  so  long  as  we  are  here." 
But  on  Sunday  at  six  o'clock,  upon  I  know  not 
what  false  alarm — perhaps  only  because  three  or 
four  scouts  of  the  enemy  were  announced  on  the 
side  of  Steinburg — the  Due  de  Magenta  caused 
the  ginerale  to  be  beaten,  and  Saverne  thought 
itself  lost.  Whilst  officers  and  soldiers  threw 
themselves  pell-mell  upon  the  Phalsbourg  road, 
three-fourths  of  the  pe&ple  went  off'  wildly  towards 
the  neighbouring  forests.  The  example — a  sad 
example — was  set  by  the  gendarmes  and  the 
sergents-de-ville.    The  townsfolk  closed  the  shops, 


piled  up  the  furniture  upon  carts;  some  farmers 
drove  their  cattle  before  them  as  in  the  time  of 
Abraham  ;  there  were  incredible  accumulations 
formed,  both  of  men  and  animals,  in  the  houses 
of  the  foresters  and  in  the  ruins  of  old  castles. 

"  Poor  France !  She  granted  all  and  pardoned 
all  to  a  man  who  said  to  her  at  first,  '  The  Empire 
is  peace ! '  who  said  to  her  afterwards,  '  The 
Empire  is  glory  and  victory,  the  revision  of  shame- 
ful treaties,  the  rectification  of  frontiers,  war  for 
principle,  war  for  interest,  war  for  luck,  but  war 
always  successful,  and  the  prestige  of  the  French 
name  always  more  dazzling  every  day!  France 
believed  all  she  was  told ;  she  believed  in  her 
master's  '  star.'  What  an  awakening !  To-day 
the  empire  means  defeat  by  the  incapacity  of  its 
chief,  panic  of  the  generals,  invasion  with  all  its 
following  of  grief  and  misery,  the  Prussian  soldier 
tramping  triumphantly  over  three  or  four  depart- 
ments after  a  campaign  of  eight  days ! " 

On  Sunday  the  7th  the  troops  of  the  Crown 
Prince,  following  the  track  of  the  French,  pro- 
ceeded to  Haguenau.  The  capture  of  200  French 
soldiers  and  an  enormous  mass  of  military  stores 
at  this  town,  by  about  a  dozen  German  dragoons, 
headed  by  a  couple  of  young  lieutenants — Von 
Schonau  and  Von  Freydorf — was  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  little  episodes  of  the  war,  and  illustrated 
the  utter  demoralization  of  the  French  troops. 
About  one  o'clock  p.m.  the  first  and  second 
dragoons  took  possession  of  the  town,  and  the  two 
lieutenants  just  named,  followed  by  a  few  troopers, 
rode  off  to  the  great  barracks,  which  were  still 
in  the  hands  of  some  200  French  soldiers.  The 
pair  summoned  the  occupants  to  surrender,  which 
they  at  once  did,  marching  out  and  piling  their 
arms. 

MacMahon  commenced  his  retreat  from  Saverne, 
westwards,  on  Sunday  afternoon.  The  same 
evening  the  town  was  occupied  by  the  advance 
troops  of  the  Crown  Prince,  who  with  the  bulk 
of  his  army  afterwards  pressed  forward  in  the 
same  direction,  taking  care,  however,  to  send 
strong  detachments  to  his  right,  either  to  capture 
or  mask  the  fortresses  of  the  Vosges  in  their  way. 
The  small  hill  fort  of  Lichtenberg  was  taken, 
after  some  resistance,  on  the  9th,  and  shortly  after 
another  post  of  some  importance,  commanding  a 
pass  to  the  westward,  called  La  Petite  Pierre  by 
the  French  and  Luetzelstein  by  the  Germans,  where 
a  stout  resistance  was  expected,   was  abandoned 


344 


THE  FBANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


by  the  French  in  such  haste  that  they  left  large 
quantities  of  ammunition  and  some  guns  behind 
them.  This  fort  is  situated  on  the  very  crest  of 
the  Vosges,  in  a  country  covered  with  forest,  and 
looks  down  from  the  Altenberg  on  the  little  town 
at  its  feet.  Its  advanced  works,  cut  in  the  rock, 
are  strengthened  by  thick  walls,  but  it  offered  in 
its  mass  of  exposed  masonry  a  huge  target  to 
artillery  fire.  By  capturing  it  the  passage  of  the 
Yosges  may  be  said  to  have  been  accomplished, 
and  the  way  opened  to  Sarre  Union,  Sarre  Albe, 
Sarre  Werden,  and  further,  to  Fenestrange,  Gros 
Tenquin,  and  other  villages  more  immediately  on 
the  road  to  Nancy. 

The  Germans  had,  however,  been  compelled  to 
mask  the  fortresses  of  Bitsche  and  Phalsbourg,  as 
both  refused  to  surrender,  and  in  fact  withstood 
longer  sieges  than  any  other  places  during  the  war. 
The  first-named  fort  commands  a  main  road,  and 
also  the  railway  from  Sarreguemines  to  Haguenau, 
with  its  guns  only  a  few  score  yards  off  the  line. 
A  proof  of  the  value  of  even  a  small  fortress  in 
impeding  an  army,  was  afforded  in  the  detours  the 
Germans  were  obliged  to  make  to  avoid  it.  The 
fortress  is  situated  about  thirty  miles  north  of 
Strassburg,  and  fifteen  from  Sarreguemines.  The 
citadel  stands  in  a  valley  upon  a  steep  rock, 
1000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  town, 
formerly  called  Kaltenhausen,  nestles  at  the  foot 
of  the  threatening  cliff,  near  a  large  shallow  lake, 
whence  the  Borne  takes  its  source.  The  3000 
inhabitants  live  on  the  profits  of  the  fine  pottery 
for  which  they  are  famous,  construct  paper  snuff- 
boxes, or  labour  in  the  great  glassworks  of 
Munsthal.  The  rock,  vaulted  and  casemated,  with 
four  bastions  and  a  half-moon  battery,  mounts 
eighty  pieces  of  cannon,  and  has  a  good  supply 
of  water.  Though  not  a  Gibraltar,  or  even  an 
Ehrenbreitstein,  Bitsche,  as  the  events  of  the  war 
proved,  is  quite  inpregnable  to  ordinary  artillery. 

In  the  detenus'  time  (1803— 1814)  the  garrison 
consisted  of  seventeen  gendarmes  and  one  hundred 
veterans.  "  The  place  of  tears,"  as  the  English 
prisoners  during  the  old  Napoleon  war  used  to 
call  it,  for  it  was  then  the  depot  for  the  lees  and 
dregs  of  Verdun,  is  ascended  on  one  side  by  a 
zigzag  footpath,  on  the  other  by  a  winding  carriage 
road.  Both  these  roads  meet  at  a  drawbridge  that 
communicates  with  an  inclined  plane  raised  upon 
arches,  leading  to  a  gate  at  the  entrance  to  the 
fort,  the  approaches  to  which  are  swept  by  the  fire 


of  ten  heavy  guns.  The  entrance  is  by  a  tunnel 
cut  through  the  rock,  120  feet  long,  with  a 
massive  gate  at  each  end,  and  one  in  the  centre. 
The  rock  is  cut  through  in  two  places  as  low  as 
the  ditch,  one  extremity  being  called  the  Grosse 
Tete,  and  the  other  the  Petite  Tete,  and  both  are 
connected  with  the  body  of  the  fort  by  draw- 
bridges. On  the  west  side  there  is  a  mortar 
battery.  In  the  centre  of  the  fort  stand  two  large 
barracks,  and  at  the  two  ends  are  storehouses  and 
magazines.  The  rock  is  hollowed  to  contain  the 
garrison  and  the  provisions,  and  is  divided  by 
compartments  connected  by  narrow  passages  with 
massive  doors.  There  is  also  a  subterranean 
passage  communicating  with  the  town  below. 
Although  the  fort  is  of  solid  rock,  cut  down  per- 
pendicularly 90  to  150  feet,  it  is  faced  nearly 
all  round  with  masonry.  The  place  cost  so  much 
to  fortify,  that  Louis  XIV.,  when  asked  for  more 
money  to  complete  it,  inquired  with  a  smile  if 
they  were  building  it  of  louis-d'ors. 

Phalsbourg,  the  other  fortress  which  was  left 
in  the  hands  of  the  French,  is  on  the  high  road 
from  Strassburg  to  Paris,  overlooking  the  lull  of 
Saverne,  and  commanding  the  mountain  defiles 
of  the  Upper  Barr,  the  Roche  Plate,  the  Bonne 
Fontaine,  and  the  Graufthal.  Its  bastions,  demi- 
lunes, and  advanced  outworks,  extend  in  zigzag 
lines  over  a  rocky  platform.  From  a  distance 
the  walls  appear  so  low  that  one  might  expect 
to  stride  over  them ;  but  on  approaching  nearer, 
further  advance  is  stopped  by  the  moat,  100  feet 
wide  and  30  feet  deep,  beyond  which  are  the  grim 
ramparts,  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock.  The  build- 
ings of  the  town  are  concealed  behind  the  glacis, 
except  the  churches,  the  townhall,  and  the  gate- 
houses, with  their  fronts  shaped  like  a  mitre, 
erected  at  the  two  entrances,  named  the  Porte 
de  France  and  the  Porte  d'Allemagne.  Such  is 
the  little  town  of  Phalsbourg.  It  is  not  without 
a  certain  grandeur  of  appearance,  and  is  especially 
imposing  when  one  first  crosses  the  drawbridge, 
and  enters  by  the  deep  and  massive  gateway, 
defended  by  an  iron  portcullis  and  chevaux-de- 
frise.  The  whole  place  has  a  military  aspect,  and 
is  well  known  to  all  who  have  read  Erckmann- 
Chatrian's  charming  tales  of  French  popular  life 
and  soldiership  during  the  wars  of  Napoleon  I. 
It  was  here  that  Joseph  Bertha,  the  conscript  of 
1813,  lived  as  apprentice  to  the  good  watchmaker, 
M.   Goulden;  and  his  sweetheart  Catherine  lived 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


345 


at  the  adjoining  village  of  Quatre- Vents.  The 
sufferings  of  the  town  in  1814  are  vividly  pour- 
trayed  in  "  Le  Blocus."  The  railroad,  avoiding 
the  rugged  eminence  on  which  the  town  stands, 
is  carried  some  distance  to  the  south,  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  guns  of  the  fort,  and  therefore,  when 
the  line  was  completely  in  the  hands  of  the  Ger- 
mans, and  in  working  order,  the  place  proved 
much  less  inconvenient  than  would  have  been  the 
case  had  their  troops  and  supplies  required  to 
be  taken  along  the  main  road,  as  in  former  times. 
The  garrison  was  commanded  by  General  Tal- 
houet,  and  made  a  stout  resistance  on  the  14th, 
when  the  town  was  cannonaded  by  the  Germans. 
Some  of  the  houses  were  burned  by  the  shells, 
but  the  guns  were  too  light  to  make  any  breach 
in  the  ramparts;  and  the  place  was  then  regularly 
blockaded. 

In  addition  to  capturing  or  masking  these 
forts  in  the  Vosges,  the  Crown  Prince,  on  his 
arrival  at  Saverne,  executed  a  much  more  im- 
portant operation  of  a  similar  kind,  in  detaching 
liia  Baden  contingent,  under  General  Beyer,  to 
lay  siege  to  Strassburg — -an  operation  which  its 
position  on  the  frontier,  and  close  to  the  main 
lines  of  the  German  railways,  rendered  compara- 
tively easy.  The  commandant,  General  Uhrich, 
resolutely  rejected  the  summons  of  the  besiegers, 
and  prepared  for  a  vigorous  defence.  All  the 
approaches  were  barricaded,  and  the  obstructions 
on  the  glacis  cleared  away.  The  details  respecting 
its  siege  and  capture  are  given  in  Chapter  XVIII. 
Its  investment  so  very  early  in  the  war  caused  no 
surprise ;  for  when  MacMahon,  after  his  defeat  at 
Woerth,  retreated  to  Saverne,  twenty  miles  north- 
west of  Strassburg,  he  virtually  abandoned  that 
place  to  its  fate  ;  as  his  position  could  only  secure 
his  own  retreat  towards  Nancy,  while  it  could  not 
prevent  an  overpowering  hostile  force  from  throw- 
ing off  a  comparatively  small  part  of  its  strength 
to  invest  or  mask  the  fortress,  and  to  destroy  its 
communications  with  the  country  on  every  side. 

Soon  after  his  appointment,  the  Badish  general 
issued  the  following  address  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Alsace: — "I  have  to  address  to  you  a  serious 
word.  We,  your  neighbours,  used  amicably  to 
confer  with  each  other  in  times  of  peace.  We 
speak  the  same  language.  To  you  I  appeal.  Let 
the  language  of  the  heart,  let  the  voice  of 
humanity,  reach  you.  Germany  is  engaged  in 
war    with    France — in    a   war    which    was    not 


desired  by  Germany.  We  were  compelled  to 
invade  your  land.  But  we  regard  every  human 
life,  and  all  property  that  can  be  spared,  as  a 
gain  which  is  blessed  by  religion  and  by  humane 
sentiments.  We  stand  in  the  midst  of  war.  The 
armed  fight  with  the  armed  in  honest  open  con- 
test. But  we  will  spare  the  unarmed  civilians, 
the  inhabitant  of  the  towns  and  the  villages. 
Maintaining  severe  discipline,  we  expect — nay, 
I  demand  it  most  rigorously — that  the  inhabit- 
ants of  this  country  shall  refrain  from  overt  or 
secret  hostility.  To  our  deep  sorrow  we  have 
been  compelled  with  severe  retribution  to  visit 
provocations,  cruelties,  and  savage  acts;  I  there- 
fore expect  that  the  local  authorities,  the  clergy, 
the  schoolmasters,  will  charge  the  communes,  and 
the  heads  of  families  will  charge  their  relatives 
and  subordinates,  that  no  hostilities  be  practised 
upon  my  soldiers.  All  misery  that  can  be  averted 
is  a  benefaction  in  the  sight  of  Him  who  watches 
over  mankind.  I  admonish  you,  I  warn  you,  be 
mindful  of  this  !  " 

The  sixth  German  corps,  which  had  been  in  the 
rear  on  the  day  of  Woerth,  was  further  detained 
by  reports  that  De  Failly,  with  the  fifth  French, 
having  got  away  from  Bitsche  and  Sarreguemines, 
across  their  front,  was  holding  the  branch  railroads 
to  the  south  of  them,  with  the  design  of  slipping 
round  and  raising  the  siege  of  Strassburg.  When 
this  sixth  corps  reached  the  city,  they  supplied  the 
place  of  some  of  the  original  besiegers,  who  were 
moved  along  the  great  route  which  leads  westward 
into  the  interior. 

In  their  march  across  the  Vosges,  most  of  the 
infantry  of  the  Crown  Prince  used  every  available 
path  and  by-road,  to  leave,  as  far  as  possible,  all 
the  main  routes  for  artillery,  cavalry,  and  baggage, 
but  still  holding  them  in  immense  force.  The 
general  scene  was  thus  described  by  an  eye- 
witness : — 

"  There  has  been  a  shifting  of  quarters  from 
village  to  village  since  I  last  wrote;  indeed,  the 
army  of  the  Crown  Prince  is  so  active,  that  this 
shifting  of  quarters  is  an  almost  daily  occurrence. 
Everything  is  done  in  perfect  order.  The  carriages 
are  told  off  in  a  slow  moving  column,  with  mounted 
troopers  at  intervals  to  regulate  the  line  of  march, 
and  when  all  are  placed,  there  is  a  halt  of  a  few 
minutes  to  allow  the  prince  and  his  staff  to  pass. 
The  style  in  which  the  troops  march  is  such  as 
to  justify  all  the  praise  lavished  on  the  Prussian 
2  x 


34G 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


infantry.  The  usual  walking  pace  of  a  good  horse 
is  considerably  faster  than  that  of  an  ordinary 
march.  The  prince's  staff  scarcely  ever  check  that 
pace  of  their  horses.  Mile  after  mile  the  infantry, 
carrying  knapsacks,  coats,  and  cooking- tins,  in  the 
very  heaviest  marching  order,  go  on  in  front 
of  the  horses  in  a  six  hours'  march,  mostly  up 
a  series  of  ascents,  and  only  halt  once,  except 
for  half  an  hour  in  the  middle  of  the  day.  There 
is  little  talking  in  the  ranks  as  they  march, 
but  the  men  sing,  a  few  beginning,  and  the  rest 
joining  in  chorus  with  very  pretty  effect.  With 
each  advance,  the  Prussians  bring  forward  their 
field-post  and  their  military  telegraph.  A  more 
perfect  system  of  organization  it  is  difficult  to 
imagine.  The  columns  of  provisions  creep  like 
great  serpents  over  the  country.  The  active  de- 
tachments of  telegraph  men  push  on,  with  their 
light  poles  set  up  at  intervals,  and  their  slowly- 
decreasing  coil  of  wire;  and  the  field  post-office 
brings  letters  to  the  different  divisions.  From 
side  to  side  for  many  a  mile,  the  whole  country 
is  on  the  move.  Well  may  the  villagers  stare  at 
the  show,  for  they  are  not  likely  to  see  again  so 
many  fine  horses  and  bright  uniforms.  Old  and 
young  crowd  the  wayside  as  his  royal  highness 
goes  by,  and  doff  their  caps  respectfully,  but 
without  any  sign  of  welcome.  It  is  curious  to  see 
these  German  Frenchmen,  or  rather  these  Gallicised 
Germans,  dealing  with  the  invaders.  The  power  of 
understanding  one  another  makes  their  intercourse 
much  less  disagreeable  than  might  be  supposed. 
Yet,  nevertheless,  there  is  a  strong  sympathy  with 
France  among  the  Alsatian  peasants,  because  they 
have,  thanks  to  the  conscription,  such  a  number 
of  their  sons  serving  in  the  French  army.  I  notice 
that  the  younger  folks  can  all  speak  a  little 
French,  though  they  answer  the  question  of  the 
soldiers,  "  Parlez  vous  Chassepot,"  with  a  senten- 
tious "nein,"  which  seems  to  imply  utter  ignorance 
of  the  language  referred  to.  Poor  souls !  They 
are  very  much  frightened  by  this  astounding 
invasion,  and  make  the  most  of  their  rough 
Alsatian  dialect,  as  a  means  of  propitiating  the 
new  and  dreaded  invaders  of  the  empire.  I  must 
say,  in  justice  to  the  German  troops,  that  this  dread 
is  founded  on  a  notion  of  what  might  be,  rather 
than  what  really  happens.  Beyond  compulsory 
service  in  country  waggons  to  carry  wounded  men 
or  loads  of  hay,  and  compulsory  sales  of  provisions 
to  the  military  authorities,  there  is  little  to  complain 


of.  It  is  as  with  Wellington's  army  in  Southern 
France  in  1814,  rather  than  as  with  the  Allied 
armies  in  that  memorable  year.  Xo  invasion  can 
be  pleasant  to  the  conquered  people;  but  this  one 
of  1870  is  conducted  on  the  humane  principles  of 
modern  warfare.  The  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia 
has  resolved  to  strike  only  at  the  French  govern- 
ment, and  at  the  armed  forces  which  oppose  him. 
The  consideration  and  gracious  courtesy  of  his 
royal  highness  to  all  brought  in  contact  with  him, 
are  quite  beyond  acknowledgment  when  one  reflects 
on  the  cares  which  press  upon  his  mind  in  this 
tremendous  moment  ;  and  whatever  may  be  the 
necessities  and  severities  and  horrors  of  this  war, 
there  is  not  a  member  of  the  Peace  Society,  nor 
a  humanitarian  in  England,  or  out  of  it,  who  is 
more  profoundly  moved  by  the  sufferings  inflicted 
on  the  people,  and  so  averse  from  war  for  its  own 
sake,  as  the  Crown  Prince.  He  possesses  the  con- 
fidence and  affection  of  those  serving  under  him, 
and  never  comes  in  sight  without  their  giving  him 
the  hearty  cheer  which  cannot  be  simulated,  and 
which  is  the  most  grateful  sound  to  a  leader's  ear." 

The  following  proclamation  was  issued  by  his 
royal  highness  soon  after  reaching  French  terri- 
tory:— "We,  general  commanding  the  third  Ger- 
man army,  seeing  the  proclamation  of  his  Majesty 
the  king  of  Prussia,  authorizing  the  generals  com- 
manding-in-chief of  the  several  corps  of  the  German 
army  to  frame  special  regulations  with  relation  to 
the  measures  to  be  taken  against  communes  and 
persons  who  may  be  acting  in  contravention  of  the 
usages  of  war;  and  with  relation  to  the  requisitions 
which  may  be  judged  necessary  for  the  wants  of 
the  troops,  and  to  fix  the  difference  in  the  rate  of 
exchange  between  German  and  French  moneys — 
have  decreed,  and  do  decree  the  following  regula- 
tions, which  we  make  known  to  the  public. 

"  1.  Military  jurisdiction  is  established  by  this 
decree.  It  will  be  extended  to  all  the  territory 
occupied  by  German  troops,  to  every  action  tend- 
ing to  endanger  the  security  of  those  troops,  to 
causing  them  injury,  or  lending  assistance  to  the 
enemy.  Military  jurisdiction  will  be  considered 
as  in  force,  and  proclaimed  through  all  the  extent 
of  a  canton  as  soon  as  it  is  posted  in  any  locality 
forming  part  of  it. 

"  2.  All  persons  not  forming  part  of  the  French 
army,  and  not  proving  their  quality  as  soldiers  by 
outward  signs,  and  who  (a)  shall  serve  the  enemy 
as  spies;  (b)  shall  mislead  the  German  troops  when 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


347 


charged  to  act  for  them  as  guides;  (c)  shall  kill, 
wound,  or  rob  persons  belonging  to  the  German 
troops,  or  making  part  of  their  suite ;  (d)  shall 
destroy  bridges  or  canals,  damage  telegraphic  lines 
or  railways,  render  roads  impassable,  set  fire  to 
munitions  and  provisions  of  war,  or  troops'  quar- 
ters ;  (e)  shall  take  up  arms  against  the  German 
troops — will  be  punished  by  death.  In  each  case, 
the  officer  in  command  will  institute  a  council 
of  war,  with  authority  to  try  the  matter  and  pro- 
nounce sentence.  These  councils  can  only  condemn 
to  death.  Their  sentences  will  be  executed  im- 
mediately. 

"  3.  The  communes  to  which  the  culprits  be- 
long, as  well  as  those  whose  territory  may  have 
been  the  scene  of  the  offence,  will  be  condemned 
in  a  penalty  for  each  case  equalling  the  annual 
amount  of  their  taxes. 

"4.  The  inhabitants  will  have  to  supply  all 
necessaries  for  the  support  of  the  troops.  Each 
soldier  will  receive  daily  750  grammes  of  bread, 
500  grammes  of  meat,  250  grammes  of  lard,  30 
grammes  of  coffee,  60  grammes  of  tobacco  or  5 
cigars,  -^  litre  of  wine,  or  1  litre  of  beer,  or  l-10th 
of  brandy.  The  rations  to  be  furnished  daily  for 
each  horse  will  be  six  kilogrammes  of  oats,  two  kilo- 
grammes of  hay,  and  one  and  a  half  kilogramme 
of  straw.  In  case  of  the  inhabitants  preferring 
an  indemnity  in  coin  to  one  in  kind,  it  will  be 
fixed  at  two  francs  each  soldier  daily. 

"5.  All  commanders  of  detached  corps  will  have 
the  right  to  order  a  requisition  of  provisions  need- 
ful to  the  support  of  their  troops.  The  requisition 
of  other  articles  judged  indispensable  to  the  army, 
can  only  be  ordered  by  generals  and  officers  acting 
as  such.  In  all  cases,  nothing  will  be  demanded 
of  the  inhabitants  except  what  is  necessary  for  the 
support  of  the  troops,  and  official  receipts  will  be 
given  for  everything  supplied.  We  hope,  there- 
fore, that  the  inhabitants  will  not  offer  any  obstacles 
to  the  requisitions  which  may  be  deemed  necessary. 

"6.  With  regard  to  individual  bargains  between 
the  troops  and  the  inhabitants,  we  fix  as  an  equi- 
valent for  1  franc,  8  silbergros  or  28  kreutzers. 

"  The  general  commanding-in-chief  the  third 
German  army, 

''FREDERIC  WILLIAM, 

"  Prince  Royal  of  Prussia." 

The  Germans  had  succeeded  in  forcing  the 
beaten    French    troops    so    far    south,    that   they 


could  only  rejoin  the  rest  of  the  army  by  taking 
a  very  circuitous  route;  but  they  still  kept  close 
after  them,  marching  straight  on  to  Luneville  and 
Nancy.  Their  advanced  troops  reached  the  latter 
city — the  old  capital  of  Lorraine  and  one  of  the 
prettiest  towns  in  France — on  Friday,  August  12, 
but  the  prince's  headquarters  were  not  established 
there  till  five  days  later.  The  town  is  open,  and 
proclamations  had  been  issued  by  the  authorities 
enjoining  the  inhabitants  to  offer  no  resistance  to 
the  troops.  There  was  not,  however,  much  neces- 
sity for  this,  as  a  day  or  two  before  the  arrival  of 
the  Germans,  a  few  carriages  of  wounded,  brought 
from  MacMahon's  corps,  threw  the  whole  town 
into  despair ;  and  the  men  who  a  fortnight  before 
frantically  sang  the  "Marseillaise"  along  the  pretty 
street,  were  now  running  away  and  spreading 
alarm  everywhere.  Inhabitants  of  Saverne  and 
similar  places,  arriving  at  Nancy  on  their  way 
from  the  parts  of  the  country  actually  occupied, 
deepened  still  more  the  despair  and  demoralization 
of  the  people  of  the  very  places  which  had  in 
former  times  been  distinguished  for  valour  and 
courage.  The  readers  of  Erckmann-Chatrian's 
romances  will  remember  that  the  action  of  the 
best  of  them  takes  place  near  where  Marshal 
MacMahon  lost  in  two  battles  more  than  10,000 
men,  and  whence  the  inhabitants  now  ran  away 
as  if  none  of  them  had  either  bone  or  muscle  to 
defend  their  native  soil.  Seeing  the  long  train 
of  chariots  loaded  with  peasant  families,  about 
to  take  their  refuge  in  the  forests  between  Nancy 
and  Commercy,  or  the  noisy  groups  of  the  bour- 
geois with  weeping  women  and  children  assembled 
before  some  crowded  hotel,  unable  to  give  them 
anything  in  the  shape  of  a  bed,  one  could  not 
help  thinking  that  either  Erckmann-Chatrian  had 
too  much  idealized  their  heroes,  or  that  human 
nature  had  greatly  changed  in  that  part  of  France 
since  the  beginning  of  the  century. 

Nancy,  the  chief  town  in  the  department  of 
the  Meurthe,  containing  40,000  inhabitants,  was 
actually  taken  possession  of  by  four  German  sol- 
diers, who  reached  it  about  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  About  half  an  hour  later  a  detachment 
of  twenty-six  Germans  marched  through  the  city 
and  took  possession  of  the  railway  station;  the 
station-master  was  made  prisoner,  but  left  at  lib- 
erty on  parole.  The  mayor  was  ordered  to  wait 
upon  the  German  commander,  encamped  on  the 
road  between  St.  Max  and  Pont  d'Essey.     Mean- 


348 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


while  an  officer  of  Uhlans  followed  by  two  orderlies 
galloped  over  the  town  to  reconnoitre.  On  the 
mayor's  return  the  municipal  council  was  com- 
pelled to  vote  50,000  francs  to  the  victorious 
Germans,  together  with  large  rations  of  oats;  and 
some  of  the  inhabitants  were  compelled  to  tear 
up  more  than  a  mile  of  rails,  from  Nancy  to 
Maxville,  which  the  Germans  flung  into  the  canal. 
They  also  cut  down  the  posts  for  the  telegraphic 
wires. 

The  French  troops — retreating  to  Chalons — 
had  only  abandoned  the  town  at  a  very  early 
hour  the  same  morning,  and  much  indignation 
was  expressed  in  Paris  at  the  conduct  of  the 
municipal  or  military  authorities  in  not  making 
an  attempt  to  defend  it. 

As  already  stated,  the  Crown  Prince  himself  did 
not  reach  Nancy  till  August  17,  but  three  days 
before  he  had  effected  a  junction  with  the  other 
German  armies  at  Gros  Tenquin,  and  on  the  14th, 
troops  of  both  the  second  and  the  third  armies 
occupied  Pont-a-Mousson,  a  railway  station  about 
midway  between  Metz  and  Nancy.  The  third 
army  was,  therefore,  now  so  placed  as  to  be  ready 
if  necessary  to  carry  out  General  Moltke's  original 
design,  which  was  to  bring  it  on  the  southern 
flank  of  the  French  forces  defending  the  Saar 
or  Moselle  against  the  first  and  second.  As  it 
happened,  however,  the  combinations  against  the 
French  main  body  had  been  so  hurried  forward 
by  the  force  of  events  as  to  leave  no  room  for 
the  action  of  the  Crown  Prince  ;  and  having  thus 
traced  the  progress  of  his  army  from  the  battle 
of  Woerth  to  the  occupation  of  Nancy,  in  pursuit 
of  MacMahon,  with  the  debris  of  his  corps,  to 
Chalons,  we  now  leave  them  for  awhile,  and 
return  to  the  remaining  French  corps  and  the 
first  and  second  German  armies. 

After  the  rout  of  MacMahon  at  Woerth,  the 
other  French  corps,  in  endeavouring  to  effect  their 
junction  in  Lorraine,  were  swayed  to  and  fro  by 
the  pressure  of  the  enemy,  and  compelled  to  make 
more  than  one  false  movement  in  consequence  of 
the  distance  between  their  first  line  on  the  Saar, 
and  their  second  at  Metz.  Of  the  fifth  French 
corps  (De  Failly's),  which  had  lain  between  the 
armies  routed  at  Woerth  and  Forbach,  we  know 
that  a  division  arrived  at  Niederbronn  on  the  after- 
noon of  the  6th,  just  in  time  to  cover  the  retreat 
of  MacMahon's  broken  battalions  upon  Saverne. 
This  division  afterwards  retreated  by  Bitsche,  and 


ultimately  effected  its  junction  with  Bazaine  at 
Metz,  but  the  other  two  divisions,  finding  that 
the  defeats  on  both  sides  of  them  had  rendered 
their  position  untenable,  retreated  southwards 
with  the  greatest  precipitation,  and  was  lost  to 
view  for  ten  of  the  most  critical  days  of  the  cam- 
paign. After  having  made  an  immense  detour, 
they  only  succeeded  in  joining  MacMahon  at 
Chalons  on  August  20.  Frossard,  after  the  rout 
of  Forbach,  had  fled  with  the  wrecks  of  his  corps 
towards  Metz,  abandoning  St.  Avoid  and  several 
good  positions.  L'Admirault,  also,  though  as  yet 
unassailed,  but  involved  in  the  common  disaster, 
evacuated  Thionville  with  the  fourth  corps,  and 
was  in  retreat  towards  Metz  along  the  Moselle. 
Bazaine,  meanwhile,  with  the  third  corps,  had 
been  directed  to  advance  from  Metz,  in  order  to 
rally  the  forces  in  his  front,  and  had  taken  a  posi- 
tion upon  the  Nied  ;  a  step  which,  perhaps,  could 
not  have  been  avoided,  but  which  obviously  threw 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  French  army  danger- 
ously forward,  and  exposed  it  to  more  than  one 
mischance.  At  the  same  time,  while  the  imperial 
guard  remained  in  camp  about  Metz,  a  part  of  the 
sixth  corps  of  Canrobert  had  been  moved  towards 
the  great  fortress,  while  the  remainder  continued 
at  its  post  at  Nancy.  The  conduct  of  Canrobert 
at  this  time  was  very  commendable ;  as  soon  as 
he  heard  of  his  sovereign's  disasters  he  speedily 
brought  up  part  of  his  troops  from  Chalons,  and 
placed  himself  ungrudgingly  at  the  disposal  of 
his  junior,  Bazaine,  who  had  by  that  time  been 
appointed  commander-in-chief.  The  seventh  corps, 
that  of  Douay,  had  been  left  in  the  place  it  had 
held  far  to  the  south,  and  except  the  division 
which  had  fought  at  Woerth,  it  was  still  distant 
from  the  theatre  of  operations.  Thus  the  German 
victory  at  Woerth  had  this  important  effect,  that 
for  nearly  three  weeks  it  completely  neutralized 
three  out  of  the  eight  corps  of  which  the  French 
army  consisted — MacMahon's,  De  Failly's,  and 
Douay's. 

About  three  days  after  the  battles  of  Woerth  and 
Forbach,  the  general  position  of  the  combatants  may 
then  be  thus  described: — MacMahon,  with  his 
broken  right  wing,  towards  which  De  Failly  was 
inclining,  was  completely  cut  off  from  the  main 
body  of  the  French  ;  their  left  and  centre,  hardly 
united,  were  gathering  in  front  of  and  at  Metz,  ex- 
posed to  be  defeated  in  detail,  and  in  part  advanced 
on  a  line  on  which  they  were  liable,  if  beaten,  to 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


349 


serious  disaster.  This  force,  too,  the  principal  hope 
of  France,  composed  of  only  three  intact  corps,  of 
the  routed  second,  and  of  part  of  the  sixth,  number- 
ing, perhaps,  150,000  men,  with  between  400  and 
500  guns,  was  well  known  to  be  wholly  unequal 
to  the  immense  masses  moving  against  it,  and 
already  victorious  within  the  frontier.  Nearly 
200,000  men,  from  the  armies  of  Steinmetz  and 
Prince  Frederick  Charles,  were  on  their  way  from 
the  Saar  to  the  Nied ;  while  to  the  left  the  Crown 
Prince,  in  communication  with  them,  was  sweep- 
ing through  the  passes  of  the  Vosges,  and  along 
the  highways  that  lead  into  Champagne.  In  these 
circumstances  we  cannot  be  surprised  that  the 
emperor,  having  fortunately  succeeded  in  rallying 
a  respectable  force  on  the  Nied,  should  have  fallen 
back  without  delay  on  Metz,  and  drawn  under  the 
protection  of  the  fortress  the  whole  remains  of  his 
left  and  centre.  Well  would  it  have  been  had 
the  retrograde  movement  then  been  continued ; 
but  of  this  more  presently.  In  the  meantime,  let 
us  trace  the  progress  of  the  first  and  second  Ger- 
man armies. 

As  stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  the  king  of 
Prussia,  with  his  advisers,  arrived  at  Mayence  on 
3rd  August,  and  took  command,  officially,  of  the 
whole  of  the  German  armies ;  but  before  he  could 
reach  the  front  the  important  battle  of  Forbach 
had  been  fought  and  won,  and  the  French  line  on 
the  Saar  irretrievably  broken. 

On  Sunday,  7th  August,  the  headquarters  of 
the  king  were  advanced  to  Homburg,  within  fifteen 
miles  of  the  French  frontier,  and  the  same  night 
Steinmetz,  commanding  the  right  of  the  German 
line,  had  his  headquarters  a  little  to  the  north  of 
Saarbriick,  while  Prince  Frederick  Charles  was  at 
Bliescastel,  a  village  about  ten  miles  due  east  of 
that  town.  Up  to  this  time  the  advanced  divisions 
of  the  Prussian  right  had  occupied  Forbach,  the 
centre  had  crossed  the  Saar  and  occupied  Saar- 
guemines,  or,  as  the  Germans  call  it,  Saargemund  ; 
while  the  army  of  the  Crown  Prince  had  taken 
possession  of  Haguenau.  Thus  the  whole  line  of 
the  French  frontier  railway  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  Germans,  from  Haguenau,  only  twenty  miles 
north  of  Strassburg,  to  Bening  Merlbach,  the  station 
near  Forbach,  where  this  line  is  connected  with 
that  from  Metz  to  Saarbriick. 

While  at  Homburg  the  king  of  Prussia  addressed 
the  following  proclamation  to  his  army : — "  Sol- 
diers— Already  a  great  portion  of  our  army,  engaged 


in  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  thrown  back  after  bloody 
combats,  has  passed  the  frontier.  This  day  and 
to-morrow  several  corps  d'armee  will  enter  French 
territory.  I  expect  that  you  will  consider  it  a 
point  of  honour  to  distinguish  yourselves  in  the 
enemy's  country,  above  all  by  the  excellence  of 
discipline,  of  which,  up  to  the  present  time,  you 
have  given  a  glorious  example.  We  do  not  make 
war  on  the  peaceable  inhabitants  of  France;  and 
the  first  duty  of  a  loyal  soldier  is  to  protect  private 
property,  to  preserve  intact  the  high  reputation  of 
our  army,  and  to  prevent  its  being  soiled  by  one 
solitary  act  even  of  want  of  discipline.  I  count 
on  the  elevated  spirit  which  animates  the  army; 
and  I  rely  no  less  on  the  severity  and  watchfulness 
of  all  its  chiefs.  "WILLIAM. 

"  Headquarters,  Homburg, 
"  8th  August,  1870." 

Prince  Frederick  Charles  and  General  von  Stein- 
metz addressed  similar  proclamations  to  the  soldiers : 
— "  Show,  by  the  uprightness  of  your  behaviour 
to  friend  and  foe,  that  you  are  worthy  children  of 
Prussia.  Show  that  you  belong  to  an  army  which 
represents  the  cultivation  of  the  century,  by  decent 
and  friendly  behaviour,  by  moderation  and  respect 
for  foreign  property,  whether  of  friend  or  foe. 
Each  one  of  you  is  responsible  for  the  honour  and 
reputation  of  the  whole  Fatherland." 

The  French  had  left  Saargemund  only  about 
twelve  hours  before  the  Germans  entered  it.  A 
young  lieutenant  of  the  Brunswick  Hussars  had 
orders  to  patrol  towards  the  town  with  a  couple  of 
his  men.  As  he  approached  it,  to  his  astonish- 
ment he  saw  no  signs  of  French  troops  ;  and  with 
the  audacity  of  youth  he  cantered  into  it,  followed 
by  his  two  hussars.  He  reined  up  opposite  the 
market-place,  inquiring  the  nearest  way  to  the 
burgomaster's  house,  which  was  pointed  out  to 
him.  In  the  meantime  a  crowd  had  collected, 
who  began  to  give  some  indications  of  hostile 
designs.  He  had  his  revolver  in  his  hand,  when 
one  of  the  peasants  said,  "  What's  the  good  of 
that?  He  dare  not  fire  at  us."  "  Daren't  I?" 
replied  the  hussar,  at  the  same  time  levelling  his 
pistol  and  firing  over  the  man's  head,  which  so 
intimidated  the  townsfolk,  that  they  instantly 
cheered  him.  He  then  proceeded  to  the  burgo- 
master, and  demanded  quarters  for  two  infantry 
regiments  and  a  battery  of  artillery,  which  he 
expected  would   shortly  enter   the    town.     This 


350 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


granted,  he  sent  one  of  his  hussars  back  to  his 
regiment,  about  five  miles  off,  -with  the  intelli- 
gence that  the  place  was  empty,  and  in  two  hours 
the  Brunswick  Hussars,  trotting  into  it,  proclaimed 
it  a  captured  town.  The  lieutenant,  a  mere 
boy,  named  Herr  von  Kcenig,  was  for  these  two 
hours  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  1000  inhabitants 
at  the  least. 

The  advance  of  all  the  German  armies  towards 
the  Moselle  could  not,  of  course,  on  all  points  of 
their  extended  lines  be  equally  rapid.  After 
invading  France  and  making  good  their  stand  in 
the  country,  their  forces  were  disposed,  as  we  have 
seen,  between  Forbach  and  Haguenau,  forming 
a  line  which  stretched  east-south-east.  The  Mo- 
selle between  Metz  and  Nancy  flowing  straight 
south  and  north,  a  portion  of  the  troops,  of 
course,  found  themselves  considerably  nearer  the 
river  than  the  rest.  Their  first  or  northernmost 
snmy,  under  General  Steinmetz,  was  in  closer 
proximity  to  the  stream  than  the  second,"  under 
Prince  Frederick  Charles;  the  third,  under  the 
Crown  Prince,  being  the  most  distant  of  all,  and, 
moreover,  separated  from  the  Moselle  by  the  most 
difficult  ground.  As  it  was  expected  that  the 
French  would  try  to  concentrate  their  forces  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  make  another  stand  in  the 
iiivourable  position  on  the  banks  of  the  Xied 
between  Metz  and  Marsal,  orders  were  given  to 
the  different  German  armies  to  time  their  advance, 
so  as  to  remain  in  close  contact  with  each  other, 
and  form  gradually  into  a  straight  continuous  line. 
While  their  whole  cavalry  were  keeping  almost  in 
sight  of  the  enemy,  the  three  armies  followed  so 
closely  as  to  prevent  the  French  from  forming 
again,  notwithstanding  that  violent  storms  had 
swelled  the  streams  and  made  the  roads  heavy. 
The  French  army  had  also  exhausted  the  resources 
of  the  country,  and  fresh  supplies  had  to  be  brought 
up  from  Germany.  The  king  had  commanded 
that  every  German  soldier  billeted  upon  a  French 
household  was  to  be  fed  by  his  host;  but  only 
in  very  few  cases  could  the  German  soldier  get 
from  his  French  entertainer  the  750  grammes  of 
bread,  500  grammes  of  meat,  250  grammes  of 
bacon,  30  grammes  of  coffee,  60  grammes  of 
tobacco,  and  half  a  litre  of  wine,  which  he  was 
authorized  to  demand  daily.  Mostly  he  lived 
upon  the  biscuit,  bacon,  beef,  and  coffee  provided 
by  the  military  authorities,  and  in  some  cases 
the  French  inhabitants  themselves  had  to  be  fed 


by  the  German  commissariat  to  prevent  absolute 
starvation.  An  important  help  in  victualling  the 
troops  was  afforded  by  a  novel  description  of  food 
used  in  China.  It  consisted  of  the  pease  pudding, 
for  centuries  employed  in  keeping  body  and  soul 
together  among  the  Celestials ;  a  cheap  article 
that  does  not  deteriorate  for  a  length  of  time,  and 
contains  a  large  quantity  of  nutritious  matter  in 
a  small  compass.  To  make  it  more  palatable  the 
Germans  improved  upon  the  Chinese  pattern  by 
mixing  smoked  meat,  chopped  up  small,  with  the 
pease.  Whether  boiled  or  cold  it  is  equally 
good,  and  a  small  quantity  will  suffice  a  man  for 
a  day. 

On  Wednesday,  August  10,  the  first  army, 
forming  the  right  of  the  German  position,  was  at 
Les  Etangs,  a  village  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Xied, 
about  nine  miles  east  by  north  of  Metz,  and  here 
they  halted  for  a  short  time.  The  second  army, 
meanwhile,  were  circling  round  towards  the  Mo- 
selle, south  of  Metz,  to  the  chief  points  of  passage, 
Pont  a-Mousson,  Pagny,  and  Corny.  On  Satur- 
day morning,  the  13th,  the  Prussian  infantry 
compelled  a  French  battalion  to  withdraw  in  all 
haste  from  the  first-named  town,  the  largest  on 
the  Moselle  between  Xancy  and  Metz,  and  after- 
wards took  possession  of  it.  A  proclamation  was 
issued  the  moment  possession  was  taken,  promising 
security  to  the  inhabitants  on  certain  conditions : — 
1.  All  arms  to  be  given  up  at  the  Maine  within 
two  hours,  each  arm  labelled  with  the  name  of  the 
owner,  that  it  might  be  restored  to  him  at  some 
future  period.  It  was  added,  that  after  the  expira- 
tion of  two  hours,  patrols  would  visit  every  house, 
when,  if  arms  were  discovered,  the  occupier  would 
be  treated  "  with  all  the  severity  of  the  military 
law.  2.  Xo  groups  to  be  formed  in  the  streets.  3. 
Shutters  to  be  kept  open,  blinds  drawn  up.  4.  The 
inhabitants  to  supply  troops  marching  through 
the  town  with  water.  5.  Xo  impediment  to  be 
offered  to  the  advance  of  the  troops.  "  Any  one 
offering  impediments  of  any  kind,"  concluded  the 
proclamation,  "  will  be  at  once  taken  and  shot." 
It  was  not  thought  necessary  to  visit  the  houses  ; 
and  it  was,  indeed,  improbable,  in  the  face  of  such 
a  proclamation,  that  any  arms  would  be  retained. 
Most,  however,  of  the  population  capable  of  bear- 
ing arms  had  disappeared  before  the  arrival  of  the 
Germans,  and  it  may  be  presumed  that  they  did 
not  leave  their  arms  behind. 

A  reference  to  a  map  will  show,  that  during  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


351 


week  of  which  we  have  been  treating,  the  whole 
German  army  had  pivoted  upon  its  right,  wheeling 
as  a  column  wheels  upon  a  fixed  point;  and  the 
centre  advanced  at  a  slower  pace  than  the  left, 
till  the  line  which,  on  Wednesday  the  10th,  ran 
from  Les  Etangs,  in  a  south-east  direction,  through 
Foligny,  Faulquemont,  Gros  Tenquin,  Fenestrange, 
and  Saarburg,  on  Saturday  the  13th  ran  from  Les 
Etangs  to  Pont-a-Mousson,  Frouard,  and  Nancy, 
while  the  headquarters  of  the  king  were  fixed  in 
rear  of  the  right  centre  of  the  line  at  Herny, 
a  station  on  the  railway  from  Metz  to  Forbach. 
His  Majesty  had  entered  France  by  way  of  Saar- 
briick,  on  leaving  which  he  addressed  the  following 
proclamation  to  the  French  people — a  proclama- 
tion which  was  very  often  referred  to  after  the 
capitulation  of  the  emperor  and  his  army  at  Sedan, 
to  prove  that  the  German  ideas  with  regard  to  the 
war  had  then  materially  changed : — 

"  We,  William,  king  of  Prussia,  make  known 
the  following  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  French 
territories  occupied  by  the  German  armies. 

"  The  Emperor  Napoleon  having  made  by  land 
and  by  sea  an  attack  on  the  German  nation,  which 
desired,  and  still  desires,  to  live  in  peace  with  the 
French  people,  I  have  assumed  the  command  of 
the  German  armies  to  repel  this  aggression,  and  I 
have  been  led  by  military  circumstances  to  cross 
the  frontiers  of  France.  I  am  waging  war  against 
soldiers,  not  against  French  citizens.  The  latter, 
consequently,  will  continue  to  enjoy  security  for 
their  persons  and  property,  so  long  as  they  them- 
selves shall  not  by  hostile  attempts  against  the 
German  troops  deprive  me  of  the  right  of  accord- 
ing them  my  protection.  By  special  arrangements, 
which  will  be  duly  made  known  to  the  public, 
the  generals  commanding  the  different  corps  will 
determine  the  measures  to  be  taken  towards  the 
communes  or  individuals  that  may  place  themselves 
in  opposition  to  the  usages  of  war.  They  will,  in 
like  manner,  regulate  all  that  concerns  the  requi- 
sitions which  may  be  deemed  necessary  for  the 
wants  of  the  troops,  and  they  will  fix  the  rate  of 
exchange  between  French  and  German  currencies 
in  order  to  facilitate  the  individual  transactions 
between  the  troops  and  the  inhabitants." 

His  Majesty,  exercising  the  rights  of  war, 
also  abolished  the  conscription  in  the  French 
territories  occupied  by  his  armies ;  forbidding 
the  inhabitants  to  render  military  service  to  his 
enemy.     It  was,  of  course,  hardly  to  be  expected 


that  he  should  allow  the  French  government  to 
levy  soldiers  in  the  rear  of  his  army. 

His  Majesty  left  Saarbriick  on  the  11th,  and  on 
the  following  day  his  headquarters  were  fixed  at 
St.  Avoid,  the  walls  of  which  were  placarded  with 
proclamations  from  him  and  General  von  Alvens- 
leben,  the  commandant  of  the  town,  to  the  effect 
that,  Prussia  being  at  war  only  with  the  soldiers 
of  France,  the  troops  were  to  pay  for  whatever 
they  took,  and  that  any  attempt  at  plundering 
would  be  most  severely  punished.  "  Several  of 
the  inhabitants  have  assured  me,"  said  a  reliable 
correspondent,  "that  not  only  are  they  well  treated 
by  the  soldiers,  but  that  they  prefer  Prussian  to 
French  troops,  the  latter  being  none  too  careful 
of  the  distinction  between  meum  and  tuum.  The 
only  difficulty  I  have  heard  of  is  about  the 
Prussian  money,  the  soldiers  not  understanding 
sous  and  centimes,  and  the  inhabitants  thalers  and 
silbergroschen.  In  the  garden  of  the  house  in 
which  I  am  quartered,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly, 
in  which  I  have  quartered  myself,  not  a  flower  has 
been  picked,  not  a  bed  trodden  upon,  and  there 
are  some  plums  and  apples  which  must  look 
singularly  tempting  to  the  men  after  a  long  march. 
I  know  of  only  one  way  of  putting  these  German 
soldiers  out  of  temper,  and  that  is  to  hint  that 
peace  will  be  made  before  they  get  into  Paris. 
This  they  seem  to  look  on  as  quite  a  reflection 
on  the  army,  and  they  resent  it  accordingly.  At 
present,  in  spite  of  the  wet  weather  and  the  hard 
fighting,  the  men  all  look  well  and  hearty,  and 
tramp  away  under  their  heavy  kits,  as  if  they 
already  saw  the  towers  of  Notre  Dame." 

A  good  proof  of  the  utter  defeat  of  the  French 
at  the  battle  of  Forbach  was  found  by  the  Germans 
in  the  fact,  that  although  extensive  preparations 
had  been  made  beforehand  to  defend  St.  Avoid, 
they  did  not  find  it  practicable  to  avail  them- 
selves of  this  advantage,  but  turned  their  troops 
off  in  another  direction.  Had  they  thrown  them- 
selves into  St.  Avoid,  they  must  have  stopped  the 
German  advance  for  a  day  at  least.  The  hills 
near  the  place  were  studded  with  rifle  pits,  and 
a  large  farmyard,  with  solid  wall,  which  has 
absolute  command  of  the  road  from  St.  Avoid  to 
Metz,  had  been  converted  into  a  little  fortress, 
and  if  properly  defended  would  have  cost  many 
lives.  This  surrender  of  a  strong  and  well-fortified 
position  is  sufficiently  accounted  for  by  the  ex- 
perience of  the  French  generals  at  Forbach  and 


352 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Saarbruck.  As  we  know,  the  ground  from  Forbach 
to  Saarbruck  bad  been  carefully  got  into  order  for 
defence.  Earthworks  had  been  thrown  up  in 
positions  already  strengthened  by  nature;  every- 
where arrangements  had  been  carefully  made  to 
force  the  Germans  to ,  fight  exposed  to  full  fire 
from  the  French.  Hence  their  unbounded  astonish- 
ment at  seeing  the  Germans  scaling  the  acclivities 
without  firing  a  shot  or  uttering  a  sound ;  and  when 
they  knew  that  after  having  reached  the  summit 
of  the  hills  near  Saarbruck,  and  from  the  deepest 
silence  breaking  out  into  loud  hurrahs,  they  fired 
a  volley  and  then  took  to  the  bayonet,  the  French 
doubtless  thought  it  useless  to  occupy  the  fortified 
hills  of  St.  Avoid. 

Considerable  as  the  stream  of  the  Moselle  is, 
the  German  army  possessed  bridge-trains  amply 
sufficient  for  several  passages  of  it ;  and  the  temp- 
tation was  great  to  surprise  Bazaine  by  advancing 
both  wings  of  their  army  at  once,  so  as  to  unite 
them  on  his  communications  with  Paris  through 
Verdun,  and  shut  him  off  with  the  emperor  from 
the  rest  of  France.  Yet  this  plan,  though  present- 
ing brilliant  prospects,  also  offered  great  chances 
to  a  resolute  adversary  who  might  divine  it  in 
time ;  which  woidd  have  secured  to  the  French 
the  cover  of  the  fortress  to  which  they  evidently 
clung,  and  from  which  no  direct  attack,  short  of  a 
siege,  could  possibly  have  forced  them.  It  seemed 
easier  therefore  to  manoeuvre  them  from  under  its 
shelter,  and  deal  with  them  in  the  open  field ;  and 
for  this  purpose,  as  we  have  seen,  the  bridge  and 
road  through  Pont-a-Mousson,  twenty  miles  higher 
up,  lay  conveniently  placed.  Accordingly,  on  the 
14th  the  German  army  made  a  general  movement 
by  its  left  in  a  south-westerly  direction  on  Pont- 
a-Mousson.  To  cover  this  the  more  effectually, 
General  von  Steinmetz,  whose  army  was  to  the  left 
of  that  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  was  directed 
to  make  a  demonstration  against  Bazaine's  troops, 
then  lying  partly  between  him  and  Metz,  as  well 
as  all  round  the  face  of  the  eastern  side  of  the 
fortress.  A  severe  action  (the  particulars  of  which 
are  fully  given  in  the  next  chapter)  was  the  result, 
in  which  half  of  the  seventh  corps,  first  engaging 
the  French  right  wing,  and  supported  by  succes- 
sive divisions  of  the  Prussians,  forced  the  French 
from  an  intrenched  position  back  to  the  cover  of 
the  outworks  of  Metz.  Meanwhile,  the  passage  of 
other  corps  went  on  steadily  by  Pont-a-Mousson, 
and   they  were  distributed    on    the   further    side 


of  the  Moselle  so  as  to  prepare  for  an  advance 
westward. 

Leaving  the  German  armies  for  a  short  time,  we 
now  turn  to  see  what  had  been  going  on  at  the 
French  headquarters. 

When  the  double  defeats  of  Forbach  and 
Woerth  became  fully  known  there,  it  was  felt 
by  the  emperor  and  by  those  around  him,  that 
an  immediate  change  of  leaders  was  among  the 
steps  urgently  necessary  to  restore  confidence  to 
the  troops,  disheartened  not  more  by  the  news 
than  by  the  general  retreat  that  immediately  fol- 
lowed. Marshal  Lebceuf,  too  hastily  raised  to  the 
rank  he  had  done  nothing  to  earn — and  who  was 
looked  upon  as  the  principal  cause  of  the  reverses 
— was  at  once  put  aside  ;  and  as  the  emperor  also 
desired  to  give  up  the  chief  command  of  the  army, 
the  great  object  was  the  appointment  of  a  leader 
popular  enough  to  inspire  confidence,  and  who 
would  not  hesitate  to  take  such  a  serious  responsi- 
bility. Changarnier,  the  old  and  tried  general  of 
Africa,  had  in  the  meantime  arrived  at  Metz.  He 
came  in  the  moment  of  danger  to  offer  his  sword 
to  the  monarch  who  had  signed  his  imprisonment 
in  1848,  and  sent  him  into  exile  ;  and  he  brought 
the  services  of  his  rare  experience  to  the  patrie 
en  danger.  He  was  handsomely  received  by  the 
emperor,  and  from  that  moment  took  a  great 
interest  in  the  council  of  war,  and  exerted  a  genial 
influence  over  its  decisions. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  chefs-de-corps,  to  discuss 
the  appointment  of  a  new  general-en-chef,  the 
emperor  presided  ;  and  after  a  few  remarks  on  the 
reasons  which  had  induced  him  to  resign  his  com- 
mand, he  urged  his  lieutenants  to  put  aside  all 
feeling  of  ambition,  in  presence  of  the  grave  events 
which  had  occurred,  and  of  the  great  task  they  had 
to  fulfil ;  for  himself,  he  was  determined  not  to 
influence  their  decision  in  the  least :  and  after 
those  few  sentences,  the  emperor  buried  silently 
his  face  in  his  hands,  and  waited,  without  adding 
a  word,  for  the  nomination  of  his  successor  to  the 
command-in-chief  of  the  armee  du  Ehin. 

According  to  the  Comte  de  Chapelle,  the  meet- 
ing was  a  stormy  one.  He  says  the  favourites  of 
the  court  and  those  egotistical  men,  the  generals 
de  salon  of  the  second  empire,  could  not  entertain 
the  idea  of  giving  up  their  prospects  of  ambition 
and  be  commanded  by  Marshal  Bazaine,  for  whom 
some  of  them  had  not  much  respect.  But  Chan- 
garnier's  resistance  overcame  the  petty  intrigues, 


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THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


353 


and  Bazaine  was  appointed  to  the  supreme  com- 
mand of  the  arme'e  du  Rhin,  in  conjunction  with 
MacMahon,  who  was  to  take  the  command-in-chief 
of  his  own  corps,  of  the  corps  De  Failly,  Felix 
Douay,  and  of  the  new  columns  in  formation  at 
Chalons. 

It  is  difficult  to  see  how  any  other  choice  could 
have  been  made.  MacMahon  had  more  than 
enough  upon  his  hands  in  saving  the  relics  of  his 
beaten  corps.  Canrobert  was  still  at  Chalons,  and 
moreover  had  decidedly  failed  in  the  Crimea  as  a 
commander-in-chief;  the  part  being  ill-suited  to  a 
man  who,  though  of  high  courage,  lacked  utterly 
the  firmness  necessary  to  keep  his  subordinates 
in  order,  and  his  troops  up  to  the  full  measure 
of  their  work.  Bazaine  was  the  only  remaining 
marshal.  He  was  the  youngest  and  most  active 
officer  of  that  high  rank,  and  had  never  during  his 
arduous  service  in  Mexico  made  a  serious  mistake, 
or  let  his  men  decline  in  their  necessary  discipline. 
The  command,  therefore,  on  being  resigned  by  the 
emperor,  seemed  to  fall  most  naturally  to  him  ; 
and  the  difficulty  arising  out  of  MacMahon's 
previous  high  services  and  seniority  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  got  over  by  leaving  him  as  an  inde- 
pendent commander-in-chief,  subject  only  to  the 
ministry  at  Paris. 

As  we  shall  not  find  a  more  suitable  place,  we 
may  here  give  a  few  particulars  of  the  previous 
career  of  the  general  thus  raised  to  the  command 
of  the  French  army,  and  whose  portrait  is  annexed. 
He  was  born  at  Versailles  in  1811,  of  a  family  well 
known  in  the  annals  of  French  engineering,  both 
military  and  civil.  He  pursued  his  studies  with 
remarkable  intelligence  till  the  age  of  twenty,  when 
he  felt  an  irresistible  vocation  for  the  military 
career,  and  engaged  himself  as  a  volunteer  in  a 
regiment  of  the  line.  He  had  no  reason  to  regret 
this  engagement,  for  in  two  years  (1833)  he  was 
appointed  sub-lieutenant,  and  in  this  capacity  was 
sent  to  Africa,  where  he  passed  a  couple  of  years 
in  constant  activity,  and  distinguished  himself  in  a 
high  degree  by  his  talent  and  bravery.  In  1835 
he  was  present  at  the  famous  combat  of  La  Machta, 
and  was  made  chevalier  of  the  Legion  of  Honour 
for  having,  notwithstanding  his  severe  wounds, 
ably  sustained  the  retreat  of  his  column.  As  soon 
as  he  recovered  he  joined  the  French  auxiliary 
division  in  Spain,  and  took  an  active  part  in  those 
campaigns  against  the  Carlists  in  Catalonia  which 
raised  so  highly  the  renown  of  the  French  Foreign 


Legion,  composed  of  volunteers  of  all  nations,  but 
commanded  by  French  officers.  Among  such  dis- 
cordant elements  the  young  lieutenant  not  only 
reaped  new  laurels,  but  also  succeeded  in  gaining 
the  respect  and  affection  of  his  comrades.  On 
returning  to  Algeria  in  1839  with  the  rank  of 
captain,  he  took  part  in  the  expeditions  to  Morocco, 
Khabylia,  and  Sahara,  and  assisted  in  the  capture  of 
Millianah.  At  this  date  the  corps  of  the  celebrated 
chasseurs  de  Vincennes  was  organized  ;  and  as  the 
most  difficult  tasks  were  thenceforth  to  be  confided 
to  the  picked  men  forming  the  first  battalion  of 
that  afterwards  famous  branch  of  the  French  army, 
Bazaine  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  a  com- 
pany, and  carried  off  the  officers'  prize  as  the  best 
shot  in  a  rifle  contest.  The  next  twelve  years 
were  passed  in  constant  fighting  and  gradual  pro- 
motion in  Africa,  where  he  rose  to  the  rank  of 
colonel  in  1851.  Three  years  later  he  embarked, 
as  brigadier-general,  in  the  Crimean  expedition, 
and  co-operated  in  all  the  principal  undertakings 
during  the  long  and  glorious  siege  of  Sebastopol. 
He  also  commanded  the  French  portion  of  the  divi- 
sion which  reduced  Kinburn.  He  was  frequently 
mentioned  with  distinction  in  the  commander-in- 
chief's  reports  ;  and  on  the  8th  of  September,  1855, 
after  having  been  seriously  wounded  in  the  assault 
of  Sebastopol,  was  appointed  general  of  division 
and  governor  of  Sebastopol,  a  post  he  occupied  till 
the  return  of  the  French  troops  to  their  native 
country.  Several  honourable  military  positions 
were  subsequently  confided  to  him.  In  1859  he 
crossed  the  Alps  as  commander  of  the  third  division 
of  the  first  corps  d'arrne'e.  At  Marignan  he  covered 
himself  with  glory,  having  resisted  for  an  entire  day 
the  constant  attacks  of  an  enemy  in  great  force. 
Here  he  was  again  wounded,  and  had  the  honour 
of  being  mentioned  in  the  order  of  the  day  by  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  ;  but  in  spite  of  his  sufferings 
he  was  found  in  the  thickest  of  the  rnel^e  at  the 
decisive  battle  of  Solferino,  where  he  again  attracted 
the  approbation  of  his  sovereign. 

When  the  French  expedition  was  despatched 
to  Mexico,  in  1862,  General  Bazaine  received  the 
command  of  the  first  division  of  infantry  under 
General  Forey.  In  October  of  the  following  year 
Forey  was  recalled,  and  Bazaine  advanced  to  the 
chief  command.  In  July,  1863,  he  led  his  army 
into  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  commenced  a  series 
of  vigorous  operations  in  order  to  expel  President 
Juarez,  whom   he   drove  to  the   frontier  of  the 

2  Y 


354 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


republic,  and  whom  lie  apparently  believed  he 
had  expelled.  This,  at  least,  is  the  only  assumption 
on  which  a  number  of  executions  of  duly  com- 
missioned officers  of  the  republic,  who  had  been 
taken  prisoners  in  regular  war,  can  be  explained. 
This  return  to  practices  worthier  of  a  semi-savage 
Hispano  -  American  settlement  than  of  the  mag- 
nanimous French  people  was  the  more  regrettable, 
inasmuch  as  it  was  afterwards  made  the  excuse  for 
the  execution  of  the  unhappy  Maximilian,  whose 
death  was  said  to  be  a  just  reprisal  for  similar 
murders  committed  under  the  French  occupation 
in  his  name.  General  Bazaine  did  not  maintain  a 
good  understanding  with  the  Emperor  Maximilian, 
who  at  length  avoided  him,  to  follow  a  course 
dictated  by  a  sentiment  of  personal  honour.  The 
tragical  end  of  the  enterprise  is  known.  The 
French  marched  for  Vera  Cruz,  after  Bazaine  had 
called  the  Mexican  notables  together,  and  told  them 
that  it  was  impossible  to  maintain  the  empire,  and 
that  the  war  against  Juarez  was  without  object  and 
without  hope.  On  his  return  his  conduct  was 
severely  criticized  in  French  journals  and  periodicals, 
but  the  emperor  consistently  protected  him.  As 
early  as  1856  he  had  been  made  commander  of 
the  Legion  of  Honour  ;  in  1862  he  was  promoted 
to  the  dignity  of  a  grand  cross  of  the  Legion,  and 
soon  afterwards,  in  1864,  was  presented  with  the 
baton  of  a  field  marshal.  On  his  return  home,  in 
1867,  he  first  had  the  command  of  the  third  corps 
d'armee,  and  afterwards  that  of  the  imperial  guard. 
Possibly  an  instinctive  feeling  of  the  emperor, 
that  it  was  unsafe  to  leave  an  absolutely  supreme 
control  in  the  hands  of  one  of  so  decided  a  charac- 
ter as  Bazaine,  and  so  tempt  him  to  play  a  part  of 
his  own  in  the  coming  events,  may  have  influenced 
the  decision,  and  outweighed  the  known  evils  of 
a  divided  command.  Napoleon  knew  his  great 
uncle's  maxim,  that  one  indifferent  commander  in 
the  field  is  better  than  two  good  ones.  Possibly 
he  also  remembered  that,  in  the  earlier  Peninsular 
campaigns,  the  first  Napoleon  subordinated  this 
truth  to  the  supposed  political  necessity  of  not 
confiding  too  much  in  any  single  general ;  and  in 
imitating  his  practice,  for  the  like  reason,  he  forgot 
the  warning  example  of  the  French  defeats  that 
followed.  For  good  or  for  ill,  the  original  army 
of  the  Bhine  was  henceforward  to  be  under  two 
commanders,  on  whose  exact  co-operation  its 
safety,  in  the  face  of  superior  forces,  necessarily 
depended. 


According  to  the  official  telegrams  published  at 
the  time,  Bazaine  received  the  command  of  the 
four  corps  (second,  third,  fourth,  and  guards)  at 
Metz,  to  which  was  soon  after  added  the  bulk  of 
the  sixth,  moved  up  by  Canrobert  from  Chalons, 
with  a  number  of  newly  raised  battalions,  on  the 
first  cry  of  the  emperor  for  reinforcements  on 
Tuesday,  August  9  ;  but  it  will  be  seen  from  a 
defence  of  his  conduct,  published  by  himself,  and 
of  which  we  have  given  an  abstract  at  the  end  of 
Chapter  XII.,  that  he  evidently  wished  it  to  be 
inferred  he  was  not  responsible  for  the  movements 
of  the  entire  army  till  Sunday,  August  13.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  the  French  had  now  to  resolve  at 
once  the  great  question  whether  the  line  of  the 
Moselle  should  be  held.  The  temptation  to  pivot 
round  Metz  for  this  purpose  was  great  in  a  tactical 
point  of  view  ;  but  the  danger  of  being  outflanked 
and  shut  in  by  vastly  superior  forces,  should  Mac- 
Mahon  and  De  Failly,  who  were  retreating  rapidly 
to  the  west,  not  halt  on  the  same  line  to  support 
them,  was  imminent  and  certain,  and  over  their 
forces  those  in  command  at  Metz  had  no  control. 
Yet  the  fatal  course  was  adopted  of  waiting  until 
the  Germans  actually  mustered  their  strength  before 
them,  regardless  of  the  possibility  that  the  south 
part  of  the  Moselle  line  would  probably  soon  be 
left  undefended. 

On  the  14th  of  August,  after  six  most  precious 
days  had  been  wasted,  Bazaine  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  it  was  too  serious  a  responsibility  to 
attempt  to  hold  his  position  unsupported.  He  there- 
fore persuaded  the  emperor  to  depart  for  Chalons, 
and  put  three  of  his  corps  across  the  Moselle. 
But  part  of  the  third  and  the  whole  of  the  fourth 
were  still  on  the  eastern  bank,  and  with  the  same 
reckless  improvidence  shown  by  the  French  staff 
fifty-seven  years  before  at  Leipzig,  the  retreat  was 
conducted  slowly  over  the  regular  bridgeof  the  town. 
Nothing  was  done  to  facilitate  the  passage;  so  that 
it  would  not  have  been  completed  that  day,  even 
had  not  Steinmetz's  attack  with  Manteuffel's  corps 
to  the  south  of  the  fortress  delayed  these  rear 
corps  still  longer,  and  given  ample  time  to  develop 
the  flank  movement  on  Pont-a-Mousson,  by  which 
Von  Moltke  was  preparing  to  pass  the  river. 

Before  leaving  Metz  the  emperor  issued  the  fol- 
lowing proclamation: — 

"  In  leaving  you  to  combat  the  invasion  I 
confide   the  defence  of  this  great  city  to   your 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  "WAR. 


355 


patriotism.  You  will  not  allow  the  foreigner  to 
possess  himself  of  this  Boulevard  of  Fiance,  and 
you  will  rival  the  army  in  courage  and  devotedness. 
I  shall  ever  feel  grateful  for  the  reception  given  me 
within  your  walls,  and  I  hope  in  happier  times  to 
return  to  thank  you  for  your  noble  conduct. 

"  Imperial  Headquarters,  Metz, 
"  August  14,  1870." 

The  emperor  left  the  city  at  half  past  three  on 
Sunday  afternoon,  August  14,  for  Longueville, 
near  Metz,  where  he  went  to  the  house  of  Colonel 
Henocque,  his  staff  encamping  on  the  lawn. 
Always  well  informed,  the  Prussians  formed  the 
project  of  carrying  off  his  Majesty.  Hiding  them- 
selves during  the  night  in  the  little  thickets  round 
the  Chateau  Frescati  and  the  neighbouring  farms, 
they  sent  a  squadron  of  Uhlans  across  the  railroad, 
while  they  opened  fire  on  the  village  of  Moulins, 
situated  to  the  left  of  Longueville,  in  order  to 
intercept  all  aid.  Fortunately  for  the  emperor, 
the  French  engineers  blew  up  the  railway  bridge 
under  this  fire,  and  the  Uhlans  being  cut  off,  and 
finding  a  strong  force  at  Longueville,  surrendered. 
The  next  night  the  emperor  passed  at  Gravelotte 
in  the  house  of  a  farmer  named  Plaisant,  and  at 
four  a.m.  he  got  into  an  open  chaise  with  the 
prince  imperial  and  drove  away,  taking  the  valley 
the  most  remote  from  the  Moselle,  as  the  Prussian 
gunners  were  already  getting  in  motion.  It  had 
been  found  necessary  to  protect  the  retreat  by  a 
strong  escort,  but  no  one  except  the  imperial  party 
had  anything  to  eat  this  morning.  Even  the 
horses  were  not  fed,  but  had  managed  to  crop  a 
little  grass  in  the  fields  during  the  night.  On 
they  rode,  however,  the  long  escort  winding  its 
way  along  the  hills  which  the  road  follows  there. 
The  composition  of  the  escort  was,  first,  a  regi- 
ment of  chasseurs  d'Afrique  by  fours,  keeping  a 
sharp  look  out;  next,  a  peloton  of  cent  gardes; 
next  the  emperor,  and  his  staff;  another  peloton  of 
cent  gardes,  three  imperial  carriages,  then  four 
cent  gardes,  and  the  regiment  of  the  dragoons  de 
l'lmperatrice.  The  emperor  passed  through  Con- 
flans,  breakfasted  at  Etain,  and  entered  Verdun 
without  further  molestation.  At  this  moment 
Bazaine  was  engaged  in  checking  the  armies  of 
Prince  Frederick  Charles  and  Marshal  Steinmetz. 
A  staff  officer  galloped  into  Verdun  with  the 
news,  but  the  emperor  had  just  left  by  train  for 
Chalons    with    the    prince    imperial,    and    hardly 


any  escort.  At  the  station  he  asked  for  a  train. 
"  Sire,"  said  the  station  master,  "  I  have  nothing 
to  offer  you  but  a  third  class  carriage."  "  I  will 
content  myself  with  that,"  replied  the  emperor, 
who  took  his  seat  as  he  found  it,  refusing  a  cushion 
from  his  carriage.  He  asked  for  a  glass  of  wine, 
and  got  it  in  the  glass  he  had  just  used  at  break- 
fast. The  prince  imperial,  who  was  greatly 
fatigued,  washed  his  hands  and  face  with  water 
from  the  same  glass,  using  his  handkerchief  for  a 
towel.  On  the  morning  of  the  17  th  the  emperor 
and  his  son  reached  Chalons. 

When  the  war  broke  out  it  was  expected  that 
the  presence  of  the  prince  imperial  would  enlist 
the  sympathies  of  all  on  behalf  of  the  imperial 
family,  but  it  soon  had  a  contrary  effect.  The 
cruelty  of  uselessly  exposing  the  poor  child  to 
such  unnecessary  danger,  hardships,  and  priva- 
tions, was  severely  criticized;  and  the  emperor 
was  compared  to  one  of  those  female  beggars 
who  carry  about  a  half-clad  infant  on  a  cold  day, 
to  provoke  the  compassion  of  passers  by.  It  was 
said,  "  C'est  touchant,  rnais  ce  n'est  pas  la  guerre." 

After  this  invasion  of  only  eight  days  by  the 
German  troops,  France  had  already  a  third  of 
her  army  scattered;  her  generals  had  abandoned 
Alsace  and  the  passes  of  the  Vosges,  her  emperor 
had  been  compelled  to  leave  Metz,  with  the  army 
of  the  enemy  close  to  the  fortifications,  double 
the  number  of  his  own.  Paris  was  in  deep  wrath 
at  the  course  events  had  taken.  Steadily  and 
surely  the  dark-blue  columns  of  the  Germans  had 
marched  onwards,  covering  the  .eastern  depart- 
ments, and  pushing  their  way  into  the  heart  of 
France.  The  whole  army  moved  with  the  unity 
of  a  single  will.  Without  noise,  without  haste, 
but  without  halting  for  a  moment  unnecessarily, 
it  seemed  bent  on  accomplishing  a  preconceived 
design,  and  proved  that  the  plan  of  the  campaign 
was  settled  before  a  hostile  column  had  entered 
upon  French  territory,  for  it  bore  in  every  step 
of  its  progress  the  impress  of  a  single  mind.  The 
effect  was  enhanced  by  the  contrast  presented  by 
the  armies  of  the  defence.  From  the  beginning  of 
the  war  their  movements  were  distracted,  their 
attempts  purposeless,  and  their  efforts  consequently 
without  effect.  One  wing  did  not  know  the 
design  of  the  other,  and  an  object  was  proposed 
only  to  be  abandoned  as  soon  as  anything  was 
done  towards  attaining  it.  At  Paris,  too,  as  has 
been   shown   in  the  previous   chapter,  great  mis- 


356 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


takes  had  been  committed.  Had  General  Trochu 
been  appointed  dictator  when  the  news  of  the  first 
French  disasters  reached  the  capital,  as  he  would 
most  probably  have  been  had  the  Corps  Le"gislatif 
contained  fewer  nominees  of  the  Tuileries,  or  had 
Paris  not  been  stricken  for  once  with  an  excess  of 
moderation,  there  might  have  been  an  appreciable 
chance  for  the  country.  As  it  was,  the  interests 
of  the  Napoleonic  dynasty  and  those  of  the  nation 
were  everywhere  clashing,  until  time,  which  should 
have  been  counted  by  seconds,  was  wasted  by 
days.  The  single  prospect  for  France  after  the 
fatal  demoralization  produced  by  Woerth  and  For- 
bach  (demoralization  which  spread  with  almost 
inconceivable  rapidity,  till,  as  already  stated,  even 
in  central  France  authority  seemed  paralyzed,  and 
villagers  far  from  the  war  rushed  helplessly  to 
the  mountains),  was  to  concentrate  power  in  one 
strong  hand;  to  abandon  Metz  to  a  determined 
garrison,  with  orders  to  perish  there,  but  to  em- 
ploy 50,000  Germans  while  they  were  perishing; 
to  withdraw  the  whole  army  of  the  Rhine  to 
Chalons;  to  urge  forward  to  that  point  every 
soldier  in  Paris,  Lyons,  the  centre,  and  the  south; 
to  fill  all  weakened  battalions  with  gardes  mobiles, 
who  under  vigorous  regimental  control  would 
be  twice  as  efficient;  to  bring  up  every  gun  the 
trains  could  carry;  and  then  to  fight,  on  the 
best-known  exercising  ground  in  France,  the 
first  grand  battle  of  the  Republic.  Could  that 
policy  have  been  carried  out  at  once  and  with 
revolutionary  energy,  the  penalty  for  slackness, 
disobedience,  or  cowardice  being  certain  death, 
Bazaine  might  have  had  300,000  efficients  at 
Chalons,  might  have  stopped  the  tide  of  invasion, 
and  revived  once  more  the  spirits  of  the  people, 
now  sinking  under  the  feeling  that  to  fight  for 
France  was  also  to  fight  for  the  emperor.  Un- 
happily the  Chamber  in  the  decisive  moment 
shrank  from  extremities;  a  compromise  was  ac- 
cepted between  the  dynasty  and  the  country;  and 
effort  was  almost  paralyzed  by  the  necessity  of 
aiming  at  a  double  purpose.  Had  the  plan  here 
indicated  been  adopted,  at  least  ten  days  would 
have  been  gained  for  the  organization  of  new 
levies,  who  would  have  fought  well  in  an  en- 
trenched position  with  Paris  and  all  France 
behind  them ;  for  the  Prussians  would  have  found 
the  difficulties  of  advance  increasing  with  every 
yard,  having  to  drag  behind  them  a  lengthening 
chain.       The  fortresses  of  Metz,   Toul,   Verdun, 


Thionville,  Bitsche,  and  Phalsbourg  would  have 
taken  80,000  troops  to  mask  or  besiege  ;  and 
their  one  railway  being  interrupted  by  the  garrison 
of  Toul,  the  Prussian  trains  and  supplies  must 
have  moved  slowly. 

The  emperor's  own  explanation  of  his  conduct 
at  this  period,  as  given  in  "  Campagne  de  1870: 
des  causes  qui  ont  amene-  la  capitulation  de  Sedan," 
which  we  have  already  referred  to,  is  that  after 
the  battles  of  Woerth  and  Forbach  he  became 
profoundly  depressed  on  finding  all  his  combine- 
tions  destroyed;  and  driven  at  once  to  abandon 
all  thoughts  of  any  but  a  defensive  position,  he 
resolved  immediately  to  lead  back  his  army  to  the 
camp  of  Chalons,  where  it  might  have  gathered 
together  the  debris  of  Marshal  MacMahon's  army, 
Failly's  corps,  and  that  of  Douay.  This  plan, 
when  communicated  to  Paris,  was  at  first  approved 
by  the  Council  of  Ministers;  but  two  days  after- 
wards a  letter  from  M.  E.  Ollivier  informed  the 
emperor  that,  upon  mature  consideration,  the 
council  had  decided  that  it  had  been  too  hasty  in 
sanctioning  the  retreat  of  the  army  upon  Chalons, 
since  the  abandonment  of  Lorraine  could  not  fail 
to  produce  a  deplorable  effect  on  the  public  mind; 
in  consequence,  he  advised  the  emperor  to  re- 
nounce his  project,  and  to  this  counsel  he  yielded ! 

The  effective  force  of  the  army  of  Metz  was 
brought  up  to  140,000  by  the  arrival  of  Marshal 
Canrobert  with  two  divisions  and  the  reserve,  and 
it  received  orders  for  its  concentration  around 
Metz,  in  the  hope  that  it  might  be  able  to  fall 
upon  one  of  the  Prussian  armies  before  they  had 
effected  their  junction. 

Unfortunately,  as  if  in  this  campaign  all  the 
elements  of  success  were  to  be  denied  to  the 
French,  not  only  was  the  concentration  of  the 
army  retarded  by  the  combat  at  Spicheren  and  by 
bad  weather;  but  its  action  was  paralyzed  by  the 
absolute  ignorance  which  existed  concerning  the 
position  and  the  strength  of  the  hostile  armies. 
So  well  did  the  Prussians  conceal  their  movements 
behind  the  formidable  shelter  of  cavalry  which 
they  deployed  before  them  in  all  directions,  that, 
notwithstanding  the  most  persevering  inquiries, 
it  was  never  really  known  where  the  mass  of  their 
troops  was,  nor,  in  consequence,  where  the  chief 
efforts  of  the  French  should  be  directed.  On 
the  14th  of  August,  as  also  on  the  16th,  no  one 
imagined  that  the  whole  Prussian  army  had  to 
be  dealt  with;  no  one  doubted  at  Gravelotte  that 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


357 


Verdun  could  easily  be  reached  on  the  morrow. 
At  Paris  they  were  no  better  informed. 

These  melancholy  openings  of  the  campaign 
must,  naturally  enough,  have  affected  public 
opinion  in  a  painful  manner.  The  emperor  felt 
that  he  was  held  responsible  for  the  wretched 
situation  of  the  army,  whilst  that  army  was  charg- 
ing Marshal  Leboeuf  with  the  delays  and  with  the 
insufficiency  of  the  organization.  He  decided, 
therefore,  to  give  the  command  to  Marshal  Bazaine, 
whose  ability  was  recognized  on  all  sides,  and  to 
suppress  the  functions  of  the  post  of  major-general. 

Whilst  these  events  were  taking  place  several 
generals  implored  the  emperor  to  leave  the  army, 
pointing  out  that  it  might  happen  that  communi- 
cation with  Paris  would  be  cut  off,  and  that  then, 
locked  up  in  Metz  and  separated  from  the  rest  of 
France,  the  head  of  the  state  would  be  incapaci- 
tated for  conducting  the  affairs  of  the  country, 
or  of  giving  them  proper  direction,  and  that 
revolutionary  agitations  might  arise  from  this 
situation.  These  considerations  had  an  indisputable 
weight  which  did  not  escape  the  emperor,  who, 
however,  did  not  wish  to  leave  the  army  until 
it  had  recrossed  the  Moselle  on  to  the  left  bank. 
This  movement,  of  which  Marshal  Bazaine  fully 
appreciated  the  importance,  the  emperor  hurried 
on  as  much  as  possible ;  but  the  bad  weather,  and 
the  encumbrance  of  baggage,  delayed  its  prompt 
execution.  Arrived  at  Gravelotte,  the  emperor, 
not  foreseeing  a  general  battle,  and  only  looking 
for  partial  engagements,  which  might  retard  the 
march  of  the  army,  decided  to  precede  it  to 
Chalons. 

Leaving  the  contending  forces  in  their  respec- 
tive positions  in  and  around  Metz  until  the  com- 
mencement of  the  next  chapter,  we  shall  conclude 
this  with  a  description  of  that  city  and  fortress, 
which  will  serve  to  explain  the  accompanying 
plan,  and  is  warranted  by  the  exceedingly  im- 
portant events  of  the  war  which  took  place  in 
connection  with  it. 

The  town  was  the  capital  of  the  French  depart- 
ment of  Moselle,  and  is  distant  228  miles  from 
Paris,  20  from  the  frontier  towards  Saarlouis,  its 
German  counterpart  on  the  Saar,  but  40  from  the 
frontier  at  Saarbruck  and  Sarreguemines.  It  was 
well  known  to  the  Romans,  and  six  of  their  great 
military  roads  met  at  the  spot.  They  called  the 
place,  surrounded  by  vine-clad  hills,  Divodurum  ; 
but  by  the  half  German  tribe  known  as  the  Medio- 


matrici,  the  name  of  the  strong  fort  on  the  Moselle 
was  corrupted,  about  the  fifth  century,  into  Mettis, 
and  eventually  it  slid  easily  into  Metz,  or  Mess,  as  it 
is  now  pronounced.  Grey  old  Roman  walls  remain 
here  and  there ;  near  the  southern  outworks  are 
fragments  of  an  amphitheatre  and  naumachia  (for 
small  sham  sea-fights);  and  a  great  aqueduct  once 
stretched  away  southward,  of  which  17  gigantic 
arches  still  remain  out  of  168.  Metz  was  much 
troubled  about  a.d.  70  by  Vitellius,  and  in  452  by 
Attila,  whose  Huns  sacked,  burned,  and  destroyed 
everything  portable,  consumable,  and  destructible. 
At  the  death  of  Clovis  the  city  became  the  capital 
of  the  kingdom  of  Austrasia,  and  later  the  capital 
of  Lorraine.  In  988  it  was  made  a  free  imperial 
town,  and  became  a  self-supporting  neutral  fortress 
on  the  border  of  Charlemagne's  old  domains. 

Metz  played  an  important  part  in  the  wars 
between  Maurice  of  Saxony  and  Charles  V.  The 
French,  as  allies  of  Maurice,  marched  into  Lor- 
raine in  1552,  and  took  Toul  and  Verdun.  The 
Constable  Montmorency,  having  artfully  obtained 
permission  to  pass  through  Metz  with  a  small 
guard,  quibbled  about  the  word  "  small,"  and  took 
advantage  of  it  to  introduce  troops  enough  to 
capture  the  strong  city.  Charles  almost  imme- 
diately advanced  to  besiege  Metz,  to  which  Fran- 
cisco of  Lorraine,  duke  of  Guise,  had  already  been 
sent  by  Henry  II.  to  direct  the  operations  of  its 
66,000  inhabitants.  This  brave,  sagacious,  and 
ambitious  prince  had  brought  with  him  Conde, 
several  princes  of  the  blood,  and  many  noblemen 
of  rank,  as  volunteers  to  aid  in  the  chivalrous 
defence  against  100,000  Germans. 

The  duke  found  the  town  in  a  confused  and 
helpless  state.  The  suburbs  were  large,  the  walls 
in  places  weak,  and  without  ramparts.  The  ditch 
was  narrow,  the  old  towers  stood  at  too  great  a 
distance  apart.  He  at  once  ordered  the  suburbs 
to  be  pulled  down,  with  the  monasteries  or  churches, 
not  even  sparing  St.  Arnulph,  where  several  French 
kings  had  been  interred ;  the  holy  robes  and  the 
sacred  remains  being,  however,  all  removed  in 
solemn  processions.  The  duke  and  his  officers 
laboured  with  their  own  hands  in  pulling  down 
the  old  houses  that  impeded  the  fire  from  the  walls. 
The  magazines  were  filled  with  provisions  and 
military  stores,  the  mills  in  the  nearest  villages 
burnt,  and  all  the  corn  and  forage  removed  or 
destroyed.  The  young  duke  created  such  enthu- 
siasm in  the  town,  that  the  people  were  longing 


358 


THE  FKANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


to  see  the  enemy's  banners  approaching;  and  the 
moment  the  duke  of  Alva  and  the  marquis  of 
Marignano,  Charles'  generals,  appeared,  the  inhab- 
itants attacked  the  vanguard  with  great  success. 
The  sallies  of  the  French  were  so  hot  and  inces- 
sant, indeed,  that  the  duke  had  frequently  to  hide 
the  keys  of  the  gate  to  prevent  the  young  French 
gallants,  his  companions,  from  too  rashly  and  fre- 
quently exposing  their  lives.  Behind  every  breach 
made  by  the  German  cannon  new  works  imme- 
diately sprang  up.  It  was  now  October,  but 
Charles,  against  the  advice  of  his  generals,  deter- 
mined to  press  the  tedious  siege  on  through  the 
winter,  in  spite  of  the  incessant  rain  and  snow. 
He  himself,  though  ill  with  the  gout,  was  brought 
from  Thionville  to  Metz  to  urge  forward  the  bat- 
teries. Provisions  now  became  scarce,  for  the 
French  cavalry  were  cutting  off  the  convoys,  and 
disease  was  spreading  among  the  Italians  and 
Spaniards,  who  formed  part  of  the  besieging  forces, 
and  were  suffering  from  the  climate. 

Charles,  maddened  at  the  delay,  ordered  a  gene- 
ral assault;  but  the  discouraged  army,  seeing  the 
troops  of  the  enemy  eager  for  the  combat,  refused 
to  advance,  and  the  emperor,  protesting  that  they 
were  unworthy  of  the  name  of  men,  retired  angrily 
to  his  quarters.  He  then  tried  the  slower  and 
more  secure  way  of  sapping  ;  but  the  duke  of 
Guise  sunk  counter-mines,  and  everywhere  stopped 
his  advance.  After  fifty-six  days  before  the  town, 
the  emperor  at  last  reluctantly  consented  to  retire: 
30,000  men  had  fallen  by  the  enemy's  steel  and 
lead,  or  by  the  invisible  sword  of  the  pestilence. 
The  French,  when  they  broke  out  of  Metz,  found 
the  imperial  camp  full  of  the  dead  and  dying.  The 
old  Porte  des  Allemands  on  the  east  of  the  town 
still  bears  traces  of  the  emperor's  cannon  shot. 
The  city  was  finally  secured  to  France  by  the  peace 
of  Westphalia  in  1648.  When  Blucher  passed  it  in 
1814  he  merely  left  a  Prussian  division  to  watch  it. 

Metz  was  not  only  the  strongest  inland  fortress 
in  France,  but  possessed  one  of  the  largest  artillery 
arsenals,  with  a  cannon  foundry,  and  the  principal 
school  for  the  instruction  of  French  military  en- 
gineers and  military  officers.  Owing  to  its  position 
upon  a  rising  ground  and  several  islands,  the 
whole  nearly  surrounded  by  the  confluent  waters 
of  the  Moselle  and  the  Seille,  which  joins  the 
Moselle  just  below  the  town,  it  is  most  favourable 
to  military  defence.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  centre  of 
the   permanent   defence    of  France   between   the 


Meuse  and  the  Rhine.  In  a  war  with  Germany 
it  was  the  French  Mayence.  As  just  stated,  its 
position  is  one  of  the  best  on  which  a  great 
stronghold  could  be  placed — at  the  junction  of 
two  rivers.  A  fortress  on  a  river  where  communi- 
cations cross,  not  only  fulfils  the  condition  of 
security,  but  commands  both  banks,  and  gives 
opportunities  for  attacking  the  enemy  that  attempts 
to  pass  the  stream.  It  is  also  more  difficult  to 
invest,  from  the  necessity  of  constructing  and 
maintaining  bridges  above  and  below  it.  Metz,  on 
the  west,  is  washed  by  the  Moselle,  which  makes 
a  bend,  and  then  traverses  the  town,  where  it  is 
crossed  by  fifteen  bridges.  The  Seille  enters  the 
place  on  the  south,  diverging  into  two  branches, 
one  of  which  flows  between  the  ramparts,  while 
the  other  runs  through  the  town.  This  abundance 
of  water  became  an  important  element  in  the 
defence  of  the  fortress.  By  closing  the  sluices  of 
the  Seille  the  waters  could  be  raised  twenty-four 
feet,  so  as  to  form  a  lake  more  than  six  miles  in 
extent.  There  are  nine  gates  to  the  town,  and 
as  many  draw-bridges.  The  enceinte  was  planned 
by  Vauban,  and  continued  by  Marshal  Belleisle. 
The  chief  works  in  advance  of  the  enceinte  are 
the  Double  Couronne  works  of  Moselle  and  Belle- 
Croix  (constructed  by  Cormontaigne,  one  of  the 
greatest  masters  of  the  art  of  fortification  which 
France  ever  possessed),  and  considered  his  chef 
d'wuvre. 

The  main  works  have  been  often  increased  and 
strengthened  since  his  time,  but  his  principle  has 
not  been  much  interfered  with.  Cormontaigne 
resided  at  Thionville,  and  reconstructed  most  of 
the  fortifications  in  this  part  of  France.  Improving 
upon  Vauban's  system,  he  carried  the  salient  point 
of  the  ravelin — that  two-faced,  wedge-like  work, 
which  is  opposite  the  curtain,  in  front  of  the 
tenailles — much  further  out.  By  this  construction 
it  became  impossible  for  an  enemy  to  ascend  the 
glacis  of  a  bastion  until  he  had  got  possession  of 
the  two  collateral  ravelins,  owing  to  the  fire  which 
might  be  directed  from  these  upon  his  approaches; 
thus  the  time  necessary  for  conducting  a  siege 
was  increased. 

It  will  be  noticed  in  the  plan  that  two  bridges, 
the  Pont  des  Morts  and  Pont  Tiffroy,  lead  from 
the  town  proper  to  the  Place  de  France,  in  the 
northern  suburb.  Here  are  vast  ranges  of  bar- 
racks, magazines,  and  military  store-houses,  with 
an  hospital  to  accommodate  1500  patients.    Behind 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


these,  extending  to  the  water's  edge  at  each  end, 
and  entirely  closing  this  side  of  the  town,  is  the 
twofold  series  of  ramparts,  called  the  Double 
Couronne  de  Moselle,  built  in  1728.  It  is  an 
intricate  arrangement  of  walls  and  ditches,  in 
various  angles  more  or  less  projecting,  so  placed 
as  to  cover  and  protect  each  other,  and  to  afford 
the  garrison  ready  communication  between  all 
parts  of  the  interior,  while  combining  their  artil- 
lery to  destroy  the  assailant  outside.  The  fosses, 
or  moats,  can  be  kept  full  of  water  from  the 
river  at  each  end.  The  road  to  Thionville,  ac- 
cessible from  the  Pont  TifFroy,  passes  out  through 
these  fortifications  to  the  open  country.  It  was 
by  this  gate  that  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  with 
the  prince  imperial  and  his  suite,  escaped  from 
Metz  on  Sunday  afternoon,  the  14th  of  August, 
when  a  portion  of  his  army  was  actually  fighting 
with  the  Prussians  about  three  miles  away,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  city.  There  is  another 
strong  fort  towards  the  farther  extremity  of  the 
He  Chambiere;  but  the  most  conspicuous  and 
important  feature  in  the  fortifications  on  the  east- 
ern side  is  the  Double  Couronne  de  Bellecroix. 
This  complicated  range  of  massive  bulwark  is 
even  more  stupendous  than  the  one  just  noticed 
at  the  Thionville  gates.  It  extends  like  a  crest 
along  the  ridge  of  the  hill  which  rises  from 
the  right  bank  of  the  river  Seille,  just  above 
its  confluence  with  the  Moselle.  The  Bellecroix 
fortifications  would  be  an  almost  insurmountable 
obstacle  to  any  attack  from  the  direction  of  the 
position   first  taken  by  the  Prussians  when  they 


approached  Metz  from  St.  Avoid,  on  the  east 
side.  A  movement  from  that  road  to  the  left, 
in  order  to  cross  the  Seille  towards  the  railway 
station  at  the  Porte  Serpenoise,  would  be  opposed 
by  the  Eedoute  du  Pate  (which  is  so  built  that 
it  can  easily  be  converted  into  an  island),  and 
other  detached  forts. 

The  defences  of  Metz  were  not,  however,  con- 
fined to  its  fortifications.  It  had  several  exceeding 
strong  forts  (many  of  them  new)  outside  it,  which 
made  it  a  great  intrenched  camp.  These  had  each 
sixty  guns,  casemates,  and  bomb-proof  barracks, 
and  ditches  five  yards  deep.  They  stand  chiefly 
on  the  summit  of  a  high  hill,  which  overlooks  for 
miles  the  broad  valley  in  which  the  city  stands. 
Their  guns  could  play  with  tremendous  effect  on 
any  enemy  advancing  up  the  valley  to  attack  the 
town  at  its  feet ;  and,  as  the  event  of  the  war 
showed,  a  large  beaten  army  was  able  to  find 
ample  shelter  in  the  valley,  guarded  on  one  side 
by  the  guns  of  the  town,  and  on  the  other  by  the 
forts.  In  fact,  no  force  could  get  near  the  fortress 
of  Metz  proper  while  the  outworks  held  out ;  and 
had  the  place  been  properly  garrisoned  and  pro- 
visioned, it  might  have  kept  its  ground  for  years. 

The  population  of  Metz,  approaching  60,000  ; 
its  fine  bridges,  public  gardens,  quays,  and  espla- 
nade ;  its  magnificent  Gothic  cathedral  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  with  spire  373  feet  high,  and  with 
splendid  painted  glass  windows ;  its  church  of  the 
Knights  Templars,  joined  to  its  historical  renown 
— made  this  ancient  city  an  object  of  justifiable 
pride  to  every  Frenchman. 


CHAPTER      XI. 


Critical  Position  of  the  French  at  Metz— Vacillation  of  Bazaine — His  Attempted  Retreat  to  Verdun,  on  Sunday,  August  14,  frustrated  by  an 
Attack  of  the  First  German  Army — Severe  Engagement  brought  on  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Metz — The  Strong  Position  occupied  by  the 
French  and  Deadly  Fire  of  the  Chassepot — The  Struggle  near  Borny — The  Attack  on  the  German  Right  by  General  L'Admirault — Panic 
amongst  the  French  Recruits — The  Artillery  on  both  Sides — Special  Incident  of  the  Battle  in  this  quarter— Gallant  Conduct  of  the  Ger- 
mans— The  French  ultimately  driven  back  at  all  Points,  and  compelled  to  seek  Shelter  under  the  Guns  of  Metz — The  Engagement  a 
"  Soldiers'  Battle,"  and  its  Success  due  solely  to  Hard  Fighting  on  the  part  of  the  Germans — Victory  claimed  by  both  Sides — Descriptions 
of  the  Battle  by  the  Emperor  and  King  of  Prussia — The  Losses  in  both  Armies — Want  of  Care  for  the  Wounded  shown  by  the  French — 
The  Object  of  the  Germans  in  commencing  the  Action  completely  gained— Ought  the  French  to  have  fought  at  all? — The  Progress  of 
the  German  Annies  on  the  15th  and  16th — Complete  Success  still  thought  doubtful  by  the  King  of  Prussia  on  the  15th — The  Movements 
of  the  French  on  this  Critical  Day — Fatal  Delay  on  the  part  of  Bazaine — Impedimenta  on  the  March  and  consequent  confusion — A 
Despatch  which  never  became  True — The  Battle  of  Vionville  commenced  early  on  the  morning  of  the  16th  by  the  Cavalry  of  the  Third 
German  Corps  attacking  the  Second  French  Division— The  French  again  taken  completely  by  Surprise  owing  to  Inexcusable  Negligence — 
Great  Bravery  of  the  Brandenburgers  in  Resisting  the  whole  French  Army  for  several  hours — The  Germans  fighting  with  their  Faces  to  the 
Rhine  within  a  Fortnight  of  the  real  Opening  of  the  Campaign — Description  of  the  Scene  of  the  severest  part  of  the  Struggle — The  Gallant 
Advance  of  the  Eleventh  German  Regiment — Great  Destruction  caused  by  the  French  Shells— The  Troops  of  both  Armies  at  very  Close 
Quarters — The  Great  Attack  on  the  French  Right  Centre — The  Prussians  several  times  repulsed,  but  after  Three  Hours'  Fighting 
succeed  in  bringing  up  their  Artillery — An  Artillery  Duel — Final  Retreat  of  the  French  in  this  part  of  the  Field — Frightful  Execution 
caused  by  a  Battery  of  Mitrailleuses — 1800  Men  in  one  Regiment  placed  hors  de  combat  out  of  2000 — The  Fighting  further  west  at  Vionville 
and  Mars-la-Tour — Gallant  Cavalry  Charge — Expected  Infantry  Corps  failing  to  arrive  another  Grand  Cavalry  Attack  on  the  French 
Artillery  and  Infantry  is  resolved  on — The  German  Balaclava — Graphic  Description  of  the  Combat  by  the  Major  of  the  Regiment — A 
Gloomy  Bivouac — Arrival  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles  on  the  Field  and  the  Tenth  (Hanoverian)  Corps — The  Battle  yet  remains  stationary 
for  Two  Hours — Ultimate  Retreat  of  the  French — The  Losses  on  both  Sides  and  General  Result  of  the  Engagement — The  King  of 
Prussia  sleeps  on  the  Field  of  Battle — The  Desperate  Position  of  the  French — Bazaine's  Determination— His  Arrangements  for  another 
Engagement— Tactical  Skill — Precautions  taken  by  the  Germans  to  Prevent  the  French  from  retreating  by  the  North  Road  to  Etain — 
Their  Proceedings  on  the  17th — The  Awful  Scenes  on  and  near  the  Battle-field  on  this  Day — Two  other  Movements  which  might  have 
been  adopted  by  Bazaine  after  the  Battle  of  the  16th. 

remainder,  under  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  had 
crossed  the  Moselle  at  Pont-a-Mousson,  and  mov- 
ing northwards,  was  already  in  a  position  to 
threaten  the  line  of  the  French  retreat,  and  even 
reach  the  flanks  of  the  French  army,  should  it 
seek  to  march  by  Verdun  on  Chalons;  or  to 
assist  in  investing  it  if  it  should  remain  in  its 
place.  Not  far  from  250,000  men,  with  about 
800  guns,  had  filled  the  country  round  the 
stronghold  of  Lorraine;  and  the  much  weaker 
force  which  had  become  bound  to  it  was  encom- 
passed by  dangers  on  every  side. 

After  wasting  three  precious  days,*  on  Sunday, 
the  14th,  the  vanguard  of  the  French  began 
crossing  the  Moselle  on  the  road  to  Verdun,  and 
its  leaders  had  evidently  no  notion  that  a  German 
force  was  already  on  the  way  to  intercept  its 
retreat.     The  emperor  was  with  the  body  which 


BATTLES   OF    COURCELLES   AND    VIONVILLE. 

In  the  previous  chapter  we  have  described  the 
concentration  of  the  whole  of  the  French  army 
— except,  of  course,  the  corps  of  MacMahon, 
Douay,  and  part  of  that  of  De  Failly — under 
the  guns  of  Metz;  the  transference  of  the  com- 
mand-in-chief from  the  emperor  to  Marshal 
Bazaine;  the  fatal  mistake  of  the  French  in 
delaying  a  retreat  by  Verdun  on  Chalons,  where, 
as  Schiller  says,  "  Measureless  spread  is  the  table 
dread,  for  the  wild  grim  dice  of  the  iron  game," 
and  where  only  they  could  have  hoped  to  effect 
a  junction  with  their  defeated  right,  and  thus 
renew  the  re-organization  and  strength  of  their 
whole  army.  We  have  also  noticed  the  steady 
and  systematic  advance  of  the  Germans  to  the 
stronghold  to  which  the  French  had  retired  for 
protection,  and  the  admirable  strategy  displayed 
by  Von  Moltke. 

On  Saturday,  August  13,  the  columns  of  Stein- 
metz  had  advanced  to  the  northern  verge  of  the 
fortress  of  Metz;  a  large  part  of  the  second  army 
was  within  a  few  miles  upon  the  east,  while  the 


*  One  reason  given  for  Bazaine's  delay  is,  that  his  reserve  J 
tion  could  not  be  discovered,  and  that  he  could  not,  of  course,  go  far  until 
it  was  found.  "  On  the  13th  this  turned  up  ;  it  had  been  forgotten 
somewhere  until  somebody  remembered  it ;  it  was  too  late  to  do  much, 
and  then  it  was  discovered  that  thirty  millions  of  cartridges  were 
rendered  useless  by  the  dampness  of  the  paper  envelope  they  had  been 
so  hurriedly  inclosed  in."  See  the  "  Fall  of  Metz,"  by  G.  T.  Robin- 
son, p.  37. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


161 


effected  safely  the  passage  of  the  river,  and 
evacuated  Metz  without  loss,  but  halted  at  no 
great  distance.  As  we  saw  in  the  previous 
chapter,  however,  he  next  day  moved  off,  and 
ultimately  reached  Chalons.  But  the  mass  of 
the  French  army  did  not  attain  the  Moselle  on 
the  14th;  nearly  three  of  its  corps  —  that  of 
Frossard,  the  third,  now  commanded  by  General 
Decaen  instead  of  Bazaine,  and  part  of  that  of 
L'Admirault  —  continued  in  the  camp  on  the 
east  of  Metz,  and  did  not  attempt  beginning 
their  march  until  the  afternoon.  The  position 
they  occupied  was  a  circle  outside  the  eastern 
ramparts  of  the  fortress,  including  the  villages 
of  Ars-Laquenexy,  Borny,  Colombey,  Montoy, 
Noisseville,  and  Nouilly,  and  the  three  different 
camps  extended  over  a  space  of  nine  kilometres, 
or  nearly  six  miles.  Frossard  occupied  the  left, 
protecting  a  deep,  wide  valley;  on  the  right  was 
the  third  corps;  and  over  on  the  other  side  of  the 
valley  was  L'Admirault  and  the  part  of  the  fourth 
corps  which  was  not  engaged  in  crossing  the 
Moselle.  As  the  French  troops  crossed  from 
north  to  south  here,  a  portion  of  the  German  army 
crossed  from  south  to  north  higher  up  the  river. 
Had  the  French  been  in  a  position  (as  they  ought 
and  might  easily  have  been)  to  have  harassed 
their  enemy  whilst  they  were  crossing  the  river, 
the  battles  of  Vionville  and  Gravelotte  need  not 
have  been  fought,  and  Bazaine's  route  through 
Briey  would  have  been  left  open  to  him.  But 
even  on  the  morning  of  this  day  the  marshal's 
mind  was  not  quite  made  up,  and  there  was  great 
vacillation  still  evident.  An  order  was  given  to 
one  corps  d'armee  to  march  southward  upon  Pont- 
a-Mousson,  where  the  Germans  were  crossing  the 
Moselle;  an  hour  afterwards  it  was  recalled,  and 
no  sooner  was  L'Admirault  well  settled  on  the 
slope  of  St.  Julien  than  he  was  ordered  once  again 
to  cross  the  river  by  the  He  Chambiere,  and 
retreat  to  the  other  side  of  Metz.  This  movement 
was  being  carried  out  when  the  battle,  known  as 
that  of  Courcelles,  was  commenced  by  the  Germans. 
Before  the  engagement  the  first  German  army 
occupied  the  following  positions : — -The  first  corps 
was  at  Les  Etangs,  on  the  road  between  Metz 
and  Boulay,  with  the  first  division  at  Courcelles- 
Chaussy,  on  the  road  from  Metz  to  St.  Avoid. 
The  seventh  corps  with  the  thirteenth  division 
was  at  Pange,  with  the  fourteenth  division  at 
Domangeville.     The  eighth  corps  was  in  reserve 


at  Varize  and  Brouville.  The  third  cavalry 
division  was  on  the  right  wing  of  the  army 
at  St.  Barbe,  and  the  eleventh  division  on  the 
left  at  Frontigny.  All  the  outposts  were  in 
feeling  with  the  French  around  Metz,  while  the 
main  body  of  the  army  encamped  on  the  river 
Nied. 

About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  evident 
signs  of  retreat  were  perceived  on  the  part  of  the 
French,  and  this  caused  the  German  advanced 
posts  to  make  a  reconnaissance,  as  General  Stein- 
metz  was  aware  of  the  great  importance  of  de- 
taining his  enemy  until  the  German  flanking 
movement  beyond  the  Moselle,  under  the  direction 
of  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  described  in  the 
previous  chapter,  had  been  sufficiently  developed. 
With  the  view,  therefore,  of  occupying  them,  of 
covering  the  march  of  the  troops  crossing  at 
Pont-a-Mousson,  and  of  delaying  the  general 
retreating  movement  of  the  French  army,  the 
German  commanders  resolved  on  an  immediate 
attack.  Besides  holding  the  villages  above  named 
the  French  army  had  intrenched  themselves  at 
points  in  their  front ;  and  although  at  first  the 
engagement  was  little  more  than  a  skirmish,  they 
soon  showed  such  a  determined  opposition  and 
came  out  in  such  force,  that  they  caused  General 
von  Manteuffel,  the  commander  of  the  first  army 
corps,  and  General  von  Zastrow  of  the  seventh,  to 
bring  the  whole  of  their  corps  into  action. 

The  vanguard  of  the  seventh  corps,  and  the 
brigade  of  General  von  der  Goltz,  announced  at  four 
p.m.  that  the  first  division  (Von  Bendheim)  was 
advancing  to  the  attack  of  General  Dccaen's  corps, 
which  occupied  the  village  of  Colombey,  and  was 
soon  engaged  in  a  very  severe  struggle,  for  the 
ground  was  obstbiately  contested ;  the  fire  of  the 
Chassepot,  which  in  the  previous  encounters  had 
been  comparatively  wild  and  irregular,  being  now 
especially  deadly  from  the  rifle  pits,  in  which  the 
French  lay  concealed.  The  woods  also  afforded 
good  cover.  The  German  troops,  however,  by 
bringing  up  their  reserves,  succeeded  in  main- 
taining themselves  in  the  position  at  Colombey 
against  considerably  larger  forces  until  the  arrival 
of  the  brigade  of  General  von  der  Osten.  General 
von  Zastrow  arrived  at  five  p.m.  to  the  east  of  the 
village,  undertook  the  command,  and  at  once 
ordered  the  entire  corps  to  advance.  The  contest 
now  became  so  severe,  that  some  detachments  of 
the  troops  under  General  Frossard  were  obliged  to 
2  z 


362 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


hasten  to  the  assistance  of  their  comrades.  General 
Gliimer  then  brought  his  division  of  East  Saxons 
to  the  front,  and  about  six  p.m.  the  whole  of  it 
was  under  fire  at  Colombey,  and  with  difficulty 
maintained  its  position  against  the  overwhelming 
numbers  of  the  French.  The  division  of  General 
Kameke  was  concentrated  at  Maizery  at  half-past 
six  p.m.  At  this  time  six  batteries  were  under 
fire,  the  others  acting  as  artillery  reserves,  and 
stationed  to  the  south  of  Coincy.  To  assist 
and  support  the  division  of  General  Gliimer,  at 
half-past  six  General  von  Zastrow  ordered  the 
brigade  of  General  Voyna  to  attack  the  right  wing 
of  the  French ;  and  this  movement  was  executed 
with  such  effect  that  they  were  driven  out  of  their 
position,  and  material  assistance  was  given  to  the 
brigade  of  General  von  der  Osten  to  take  up  its 
ground  in  the  wood  to  the  north  of  Colombey. 

One  after  another  the  Germans  then  succeeded 
in  taking  the  pits  and  intrenchments  near  Ars- 
Laquenexy,  Grigy,  and  Borny,  and  some  other 
hamlets  which,  surrounded  with  hedges,  presented 
considerable  difficulties  for  attack.  The  fight,  how- 
ever, was  most  vehement  and  sanguinary  ;  and  as 
the  French  stood  on  the  defensive,  and  only  popped 
up  out  of  their  shelter  to  fire,  their  loss  here  was 
chiefly  in  killed,  who  were  nearly  all  shot  in  the 
head.  In  one  entrenchment  alone  781  corpses 
were  found — an  incontestable  proof  of  the  correct- 
ness of  the  aim  of  the  German  sharpshooters. 

The  fight  in  this  part  of  the  field  had  all  through 
been  of  the  most  severe  character,  and  every  inch  of 
ground  had  been  obstinately  contested.  From  every 
hill  and  wood  there  burst  forth  a  fearful  roar; 
cannons,  mitrailleuses,  Chassepot,  and  needle-gun, 
all  yelled  out  together,  from  both  sides  of  the  valley. 
One  German  regiment  alone  here  lost  32  officers 
and  890  men,  and  some  of  the  French  regiments 
suffered  almost  as  severely.  Decaen,  wounded 
before,  had  his  horse  killed,  and  in  falling,  crushed 
once  more  the  smashed  knee  the  general  had 
refused  to  dismount  for.  General  Castigny  was 
also  hit,  and  all  around  were  huge  heaps  of  dead. 

The  engagement  about  Borny,  as  described  by  an 
eye-witness  who  was  in  the  very  midst  of  the  French 
troops  there,  was  unusually  severe,  and  especially 
disastrous  to  the  Germans.  The  latter,  who  after 
their  advance  were  protected  by  the  natural  rampart 
of  the  woods  of  Borny,  had  twice  succeeded  in 
taking  a  mitrailleuse  from  the  French;  and  the 
recapture  of  it  by  the  fourty-fourth  French  infantry 


was  the  cause  of  drawing  out  from  their  shelter  an 
immense  body  of  Germans,  who  precipitated  them- 
selves like  an  infuriated  torrent  on  the  French 
divisions.  The  imperial  guard,  commanded  by 
Bourbaki,  had,  however,  been  kept  in  reserve;  their 
artillery,  from  a  strong  position,  began  the  defen- 
sive; the  grenadiers  advanced,  and  from  that  time 
till  the  Germans  retreated,  at  about  a  quarter  to 
nine,  the  contest  raged  here  with  tremendous  fury 
— the  French  deriving  much  assistance  from  Fort 
de  Queuleu,  whose  powerful  batteries  swept  the 
flank  of  the  enemy's  columns. 

Simultaneously  with  the  advance  of  the  seventh 
corps  towards  the  French  centre  and  right,  the 
vanguard  of  the  first  corps,  followed  by  the  corps 
itself,  under  General  von  Manteuffel,  proceeded  along 
the  roads  from  St.  Avoid  and  Les  Etangs  towards 
Metz — the  first  division  to  Montoy,  and  the  second 
towards  Noisseville.  The  Germans  succeeded  in 
placing  fourteen  batteries  on  the  heights  north- 
west of  Montoy,  and  their  concentric  fire  caused 
the  French  serious  injury  ;  whereas  the  French 
artillery  did  little  damage,  as  nearly  all  the  German 
wounds,  even  those  of  their  artillery,  came  from 
the  Chassepot.  The  German  artillery  would  have 
done  even  more,  had  it  not  had  to  contend  against 
two  difficulties — the  direction  of  the  wind,  which 
wrapped  the  enemy's  position  in  thick  clouds ;  and 
the  sun,  which  shone  in  the  face  of  the  Germans 
and  prevented  the  accurate  aiming  of  the  guns. 

The  conflict  in  this  part  was  thus  graphically 
described  by  a  thoroughly  reliable  eye-witness 
(Mr.  G.  T.  Robinson,  of  the  Manchester  Guardian) 
who  was  present  on  the  French  side  : — 

"  The  first  division  of  L'Admirault's  corps  de- 
scended the  hill  to  cross  to  the  left  bank  of  the 
river;  the  second  division  was  on  the  move,  under 
General  Grenier,  when  the  first  sound  of  the  enemy's 
approach  was  heard.  That  sound  grew  louder ;  and 
into  the  retiring  forces  of  L'Admirault,  at  four 
o'clock,  fell  the  first  shell — the  first  instalment  of 
that  enormous  quantity  of  Prussian  iron  we  were 
to  have  presented  to  us.  Our  artillery,  which  was 
in  our  rear,  quickly  turned  round,  taking  up  a 
position  on  our  left,  so  as  to  enfilade  the  ravine 
and  cover  the  rising  ground  in  front  of  Servigny. 
General  Veron  orders  up  the  fifth  battalion  of 
chasseurs,  the  thirteenth  and  the  forty-third,  and 
takes  up  a  position  in  front  of,  and  a  little  higher 
up  the  slope,  than  the  little  wood  of  Mey.  Orders 
are  sent  forward,  and  the  troops  which  were  retiring 


JEngrav^a.  "by  B."WaIker. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


363 


upon  Metz  are  brought  back  at  the  double.  AVhilst 
these  things  are  being  done,  down  from  the  superior 
heights  of  St.  Barbe  came  the  fire  of  the  Prussian 
artillery.  L'Admirault  pushes  forward  his  to  reply, 
but  our  fire  cannot  reach  their  guns;  all  we  can 
do  is  to  push  forward,  under  the  cover  of  our  fire,  a 
strong  force  of  infantry  in  skirmishing  order.  These 
creep  off  into  the  vines  and  disappear.  Down  from 
the  hill  roll  long  lines  of  Prussian  troops,  who 
likewise  melt  away  into  the  green  vineyards  and 
disappear  also.  The  hill  sides  throw  up  a  sudden 
fog  of  smoke,  as  each  army  blazes  away  at  his 
hidden  enemy.  The  Prussian  torrent  never  seems 
to  stop ;  it  overflows  the  hills  and  fills  the  valleys, 
and  its  smoke  gets  nearer.  Our  men  drop  sud- 
denly, too  fast,  and  we  have  to  retire.  The  wood 
of  Mey  is  behind  us,  and  to  that  wood,  with  the 
ancient  instinct  of  their  race,  these  Germans  want 
to  get.  Our  sixty-fourth  holds  well  for  a  time, 
but  their  ammunition  is  expended,  and  they  break 
cover  and  run.  Now  the  thirteenth  go  to  their 
aid,  but  they  have  600  new  recruits  with  them, 
who  joined  only  yesterday.  They  run  too ;  the 
deadly  hail  of  the  needle-gun  is  too  strong  for 
undisciplined  soldiers.  The  Prussians,  with  a  wild 
hurrah,  gain  the  wood;  then,  bush  by  bush,  tree 
by  tree,  the  place  is  fought  over,  and  we  are  driven 
out.  The  Prussians  have  now  pushed  forward 
their  infantry,  and  occupy  Servigny;  they  place 
their  batteries  on  the  Buzonville  road,  and  Ver- 
non's brigade  is  forced  to  retire  under  a  heavy 
shower  of  shells.  Their  shells,  too,  filled  our  men 
with  horror,  especially  the  new  recruits.  Many 
had  never  seen  such  things  before;  and  these  per- 
cussion shells,  which  exploded  where  they  struck, 
and  left  no  time  to  get  out  of  their  way,  created 
much  uneasiness  in  the  minds  of  all  who  saw  them 
now  for  the  first  time.  Indeed,  such  a  panic  did 
they  occasion  that  all  our  reserve  ammunition  ran 
away.  The  horses  were  frightened,  the  men  said. 
The  horses  said  nothing  about  it ;  but  if  they  had 
spoken  they  would  probably  have  said  much  the 
same  thing  of  the  men. 

The  Prussians  now  pushed  up  the  valley  in  two 
strong  bodies,  and  no  one  seemed  inclined  to  stop 
them.  L'Admirault's  corps  on  the  left  thought 
Decaen's  corps  on  the  right  would  do  it,  and 
between  the  two  General  Pritzelwitz  pushes  his 
men  between  them.  I  don't  know  if  his  name  was 
then  made  known  to  L'Admirault  and  Decaen,  but 
think  it  must  have  been,  and  their  astonishment  at 


the  sound  of  it  momentarily  paralyzed  them.  There 
is  no  other  supposition  I  could  for  a  moment 
entertain ;  it  must  have  been  their  astonishment 
at  this  which  allowed  so  great  an  advantage  to  be 
gained  so  easily.  After  a  little  while  General 
Pradier  makes  up  his  mind  to  face  the  Pritzel- 
witzers;  and  rushing  into  the  gorge,  he  throws  out 
a  couple  of  battalions  along  the  side  of  the  valley 
in  skirmishing  order,  and  drives  them  back  for  a 
while.  They  move  up  a  few  guns  and  rake  the 
valley,  forcing  us  to  retire.  Then  they  advance 
under  cover  of  their  fire,  and  our  artillery  opens  on 
to  the  valley.  Crash  comes  after  crash,  as  shell 
fired  from  the  French  batteries  comes  into  the 
mingled  mass ;  what  with  the  fire  of  friend  and 
foe,  those  French  soldiers  there  had  a  very  bad 
time  of  it.  But  the  end  comes.  The  Prussians 
carried  that  position ;  the  north  side  of  Lauvallier 
is  theirs." 

One  of  the  incidents  in  the  battle  in  this  quarter 
is  worthy  of  special  mention.  A  part  of  the 
Germans  were  stationed  behind  a  small  wood, 
which  could  only  be  approached  by  a  narrow 
lane  on  their  left,  running  for  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  down  to  the  main  road  from  Metz  to 
St.  Avoid.  About  seven  o'clock,  the  Prussian 
sentinels  stationed  there  to  watch  came  running 
in  to  the  main  body,  to  say  they  saw  the  French 
skirmishers  advancing  up  the  road,  and  thought 
they  could  distinguish  columns  following  them. 
The  men  of  the  most  advanced  company  of  the 
Prussians  ran  to  occupy  the  lane,  which  was 
bordered  by  trees  on  both  sides,  and  in  some 
places  by  juniper  bushes,  so  thick  that  even  in 
the  daytime  it  would  be  impossible  to  see  through 
them.  Here  some  200  men  awaited  the  French 
onset.  Not  a  shot  was  fired  till  the  two  French 
columns,  consisting  of  two  regiments  of  the  line, 
and  a  battalion  of  chasseurs  a  pied  as  skirmishers, 
had  got  within  about  150  yards  of  the  hedge. 
Then  the  Prussians  fired,  and  the  effect  was  ter- 
rible. Within  100  yards  more  than  fifty  French 
soldiers  were  immediately  killed — nearly  all 
shot  through  the  head.  One  of  the  regiments 
drew  back  to  the  road,  after  receiving  the  first 
Prussian  volley,  the  men  falling  all  the  way.  The 
other  tried  to  charge  up  the  lane,  to  dislodge 
the  Prussians  ;  but  the  latter,  whose  supports 
had  not  yet  come  up,  and  who  had  little  more 
than  a  company  of  250  men  engaged  against  the 
immensely  superior  forces  of  the  French,  retired 


3G4 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


to  the  end  of  the  lane,  where  those  left  behind 
had  thrown  up  a  breastwork.  From  behind  this 
they  shot  down  the  French  soldiers  as  they 
advanced  up  the  lane,  and  all  along  it  the  French 
corpses  lay  in  groups  of  two  and  three,  sometimes 
piled  on  one  another,  officers  and  men  literally 
"  in  one  red  burial  blent."  Meantime,  the  Prussian 
supports  had  come  up,  and  at  once  rushed  forward 
to  drive  back  the  French,  who  had  been  forced  to 
the  main  road,  which  they  held  for  a  mile.  They 
were  attacked  in  front  and  on  their  right  flank, 
which  was  protected  by  a  sharp  hill,  from  the 
brow  of  which  they  did  great  execution  on  the 
advancing  Prussians,  who,  however,  in  spite  of 
a  battery  of  field  guns  brought  up  by  the  French, 
succeeded  in  driving  them  from  their  position,  and 
forced  them  to  take  shelter  under  the  walls  of 
the  fortress. 

Whilst  the  fighting  was  going  on  in  other  parts 
of  the  field,  the  first  German  cavalry  division, 
under  General  von  Hartmann,  advanced  at  the 
extreme  wing  against  Mercy-le-haut,  and  their 
battery  took  up  a  position  facing  the  front.  The 
thirty-sixth  infantry  regiment,  belonging  to  the 
ninth  corps,  which  formed  the  right  wing  of  the 
second  army,  also  proceeded  to  the  east  along  the 
same  road,  and  joined  in  the  engagement. 

Towards  eight  p.m.  the  French  were  driven  back 
at  all  points  under  the  guns  of  Metz ;  and  to  avoid 
further  losses  from  the  guns,  from  which  they  had 
already  suffered  very  severely,  the  Germans  did 
not  pursue  their  victory.  They  therefore  made 
few  prisoners  and  obtained  few  trophies  of  the 
victory. 

General  von  Steinmetz,  as  soon  as  it  was 
announced  that  an  engagement  was  going  on, 
hurried  up  with  his  staff  and  made  the  requisite 
dispositions  for  the  night  and  the  following  day, 
in  order  to  place  the  army  again  in  order  of 
battle,  but  the  French  did  not  attempt  any 
further  attack;  and  leaving  behind  the  first  army 
corps  and  both  cavalry  divisions  to  guard  the 
communications  towards  Forbach,  on  the  follow- 
ing day  the  first  army  commenced  marching  along 
the  right  bank  of  the  Moselle,  without  meeting  with 
any  hindrance  either  then  or  in  crossing  the  river, 
which  was  effected  at  Corny  and  Ars. 

The  nature  of  the  conflict,  at  first  known  as 
that  of  Pange,  but  which  the  king  of  Prussia  after- 
wards ordered  to  be  called  Courcelles,  prevented 
the    display   of   any  remarkable   strategy   on   the 


part  of  the  commanders  on  either  side.  The 
engagement  was,  in  fact,  emphatically  a  "soldiers' 
battle,"  and  the  success  of  the  Germans  in  driving 
back  their  opponents  was  attained  solely  by  hard 
determined  fighting.  The  French  resisted  with 
great  obstinacy ;  and  the  admission  of  the  king 
of  Prussia  that  many  of  their  wounded  were  safely 
taken  into  the  fortress,  was  a  testimony  that  the 
imperialist  soldiers  made  a  good  retreat,  and  fought 
a  battle  resembling  rather  a  Corunna  or  a  Busaco 
than  a  Woerth  or  a  Forbach.  In  fact,  the  French 
soldiers  looked  forward  to  a  renewal  of  the  engage- 
ment and  a  decisive  victory  on  the  morrow. 

Both  sides  claimed  the  victory.  The  emperor, 
in  a  despatch  to  Paris  dated  Longueville,  ten 
p.m.,  said,  "  The  French  army  commenced  to  cross 
over  to  the  left  bank  of  the  Moselle  this  morning. 
Reconnoitring  parties  announced  the  presence  of 
the  Prussian  vanguards.  When  one  half  of  the 
army  had  crossed,  the  Prussians  attacked  in  great 
force,  and  after  a  fight  which  lasted  four  hours 
they  were  repulsed  with  considerable  loss.  Generals 
L'Admirault  and  Decaen  manoeuvred  so  as  to  bring 
the  Prussians  under  the  fire  of  the  forts,  causing 
them  thereby  considerable  loss." 

At  first  the  French  reports  of  the  German  losses 
were  absurdly  exaggerated  ;  they  were  set  down 
at  from  16,000  to  18,000,  whilst  they  had  not  lost 
more  than  1000 !  Ranks  of  men,  it  was  also  said, 
were  mown  down  with  the  regularity  of  grass 
under  a  mower's  scythe,  and  living  men  were 
found  under  the  dead.  "  All  this  was  the  work 
of  the  French  mitrailleuse!" 

On  the  other  hand,  the  king  of  Prussia  tele- 
graphed to  the  queen  from  Herny  on  Monday 
morning,  that  a  "  victorious  battle "  had  taken 
place  before  Metz,  and  that  he  was  about  to  proceed 
immediately  to  the  battle-field.  In  the  evening 
he  sent  the  following  account  of  the  affair: — "I 
returned  from  the  field  of  battle  at  Metz  at  three 
o'clock  to  day.  The  advanced  guard  of  the  seventh 
army  corps  attacked  the  retreating  enemy  at  about 
five  o'clock  yesterday  evening.  The  latter  made  a 
stand,  and  was  gradually  reinforced  by  the  troops 
from  the  fortress.  The  thirteenth  division  and 
a  part  of  the  fourteenth  supported  the  advanced 
guard,  as  also  parts  of  the  first  army  corps.  A 
very  bloody  fight  ensued  along  the  whole  line, 
and  the  enemy  was  thrown  back  at  all  points. 
The  pursuit  was  continued  up  to  the  glacis  of  the 
outworks.    The  nearness  of  the  fortress  allowed  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


365 


enemy  in  many  instances  to  secure  his  wounded. 
After  our  wounded  had  been  secured,  the  troops 
marched  to  their  old  bivouacs  at  dawn.  The 
troops  have  all  fought  with  incredible  and  admir- 
able energy,  and  also  with  enthusiasm.  I  have 
seen  many,  and  have  thanked  them  heartily.  The 
rejoicing  is  really  affecting." 

The  French  losses  were  estimated  by  their  oppo- 
nents at  4000,  and  the  Germans  admitted  their  own 
to  be  exceedingly  heavy.  As  in  the  previous  actions, 
some  particular  regiments  suffered  very  severely. 
The  forty-eighth  (Rhinelanders)  lost  thirty-two 
officers  and  891  rank  and  file,  or  about  one-third 
its  complement.  A  rifle  battalion  in  the  same 
locality  was  by  the  enemy's  fire  deprived  of  nine 
of  its  officers  and  270  rank  and  file,  or  a  third 
of  the  officers  and  a  fourth  of  the  men. 

The  regiments  most  closely  engaged  on  the 
French  side  were  the  sixty -ninth,  ninetieth,  forty- 
fourth,  sixtieth,  eightieth,  thirty-third,  fifty-fourth, 
sixty-fifth,  and  eighty-fifth  of  the  line,  the  eleventh 
and  fifteenth  foot  chasseurs,  and  the  eighth,  ninth, 
and  tenth  batteries  of  the  first  regiment  of  artillery. 
Those  which  suffered  most  were  the  forty-fourth 
and  ninetieth  line,  and  fifteenth  foot  chasseurs. 
The  forty-fourth,  especially,  was  greatly  shattered; 
while  the  eighty-fifth,  though  in  the  thickest  of 
the  action,  lost  but  thirty-five  men  killed  and 
wounded.  Loud  complaints  were  made  by  the 
Prussians  of  the  want  of  care  for  the  wounded 
shown  by  the  French,  who  after  the  fight  sent 
not  a  single  surgeon  from  Metz  to  see  even  those 
of  their  own  wounded  left  on  the  field. 

Although  the  German  loss  had  been  so  con- 
siderable, the  result  of  the  action  completely 
justified  it,  as  they  had  gained  their  object  in 
delaying  the  retreat  of  the  French  until  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  had  time  to  complete  his 
turning  movement  with  fatal  effect.  Had  the 
action  not  been  fought,  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  French  army  would  have  been  on  its  way 
to  Verdun.  It  is  not  very  easy  to  understand 
why  the  French  should  have  stood  to  fight  when 
they  might  have  fallen  back  within  the  lines  of 
Metz,  as  they  were  forced  to  do  ultimately,  and 
as  they  actually  did  after  losing  4000  men. 
They  had  nothing  to  gain  by  fighting.  Had 
they  maintained  their  ground  and  beaten  the 
Germans,  they  would  still  have  been  under  the 
necessity  of  retreat,  and  must  have  withdrawn 
from    the    battle-field.       No    victory    could   have 


rendered  it  other  than  imperative  on  them  to 
leave  Metz  and  cross  the  Moselle.  Their  heavy 
loss  was  therefore  so  much  strength  thrown 
away;  for  although,  the  Germans  suffered  as 
much,  they  could  far  better  spare  the  men. 

During  the  14th,  15th,  and  16th  of  August, 
the  whole  of  the  second  German  army,  together 
with  the  seventh  and  eighth  corps  of  the  first, 
had  successively  crossed  the  Moselle,  leaving  only 
the  first  corps,  with  the  third  cavalry  division, 
on  the  right  bank,  in  the  position  near  where 
the  action  of  the  14th  had  been  fought.  The 
ninth  corps,  which  had  manoeuvred  on  the  left 
of  the  first  and  seventh  corps  on  that  day,  covered 
this  movement  on  the  south  side  of  Metz,  where 
the  railways  to  Saarbriick  and  Nancy  debouch 
from  the  fortress. 

The  whole  of  that  portion  of  the  first  German 
army  which  crossed  the  Moselle  on  the  15th 
had,  of  course,  done  so  south  of  Metz.  To  have 
crossed  on  the  north,  whilst  the  second  army  was 
on  the  other  side,  would  have  given  the  French 
a  coveted  chance  of  striking  right  and  left  at 
the  divided  portions — a  chance  that  may  possibly 
have  counted  for  something  in  the  fatal  delay 
of  the  French  on  this  day,  which  will  be  more 
particularly  alluded  to  immediately.  Between 
Metz  and  Nancy,  therefore,  where  the  country 
was  wholly  in  German  hands,  must  the  point  of 
crossing  be  sought.  Pont-a-Mousson,  which  was 
a  day's  march  from  the  German  camps,  with 
nearly  a  day's  march  back  again  to  the  French 
line  of  retreat,  was  too  far  off,  and  was  therefore 
not  employed.  But  between  Pont-a-Mousson  and 
the  fortress  there  were  two  passages  across  the 
river.  Half-a-dozen  miles  distant,  the  viaduct  at 
Ars  carries  to  the  right  bank  the  railway  from 
Paris  and  Nancy  by  Frouard,  which  hitherto  runs 
down  the  left  bank;  while  near  the  village  of 
Corny,  eight  or  nine  miles  from  Metz,  a  depart- 
mental road  strikes  off  from  the  highway  between 
that  place  and  Nancy,  passing  over  a  bridge 
(which  the  French  had  neglected  to  destroy)  to 
the  left  bank,  where  it  continued  to  run  north- 
westward, ascending  the  heights  that  border  the 
river,  until  at  Mars-la-Tour  it  abuts  upon  the 
main  route  from  Metz  to  Verdun. 

On  Monday  the  15th,  the  German  generals 
pressed  forward  the  march  of  the  columns  of  both 
their  first  and  second  armies  in  this  north-westerly 
direction  towards  the  road  to  Verdun,  and  seized 


366 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


upon  the  wooded  valleys  to  mask  at  once  their 
numbers  and  their  movements.  It  appears,  how- 
ever, from  despatches  of  the  king  of  Prussia  about 
this  time,  that  complete  success  was  thought  still 
doubtful,  and  the  escape  of  the  French  not  yet 
impossible.  At  Gravelotte,  six  or  seven  miles 
west  of  Metz,  the  road  to  Verdun,  some  thirty- 
five  miles  distant,  divides;  one  branch  (one  of 
those  straight  highways,  fringed  with  rows  of 
tall  poplars,  familiar  to  every  traveller  in  France) 
tending  a  little  to  the  southward,  runs  through 
Eezonville(nine  miles  from  Metz),  Vionville(  twelve 
miles),  Mars-la-Tour  (fifteen  miles ),  and  Manheulles ; 
the  other,  bending  slightly  northward,  passes  by 
Doncourt,  Conflans,  and  Etain.  The  two  roads 
are  never  more  than  eight  or  ten  miles  apart;  at 
Vionville  they  are  about  six,  at  Rezonville,  at 
most  three,  miles  asunder. 

Meantime  Bazaine,  who  thenceforward  must  be 
held  solely  accountable  for  what  happened — even 
supposing  him  to  have  been  influenced  by  the 
advice  of  the  emperor  in  not  attempting  his  re- 
treat earlier — had  defiled  with  the  bulk  of  his 
army  through  Metz,  which  was  now  left  to  its 
garrison  under  General  Coffinieres,  and  crossed 
to  the  left  bank  of  the  Moselle.  He  had  also  sent 
forward  a  part  of  the  baggage  and  other  impedi- 
menta of  his  troops,  and  rejoining  his  vanguard, 
had  advanced  his  outposts  to  Mars-la-Tour  and 
Doncourt,  on  the  two  lines  of  road  described, 
leading  respectively  to  Verdun  and  Etain,  his 
main  force  stretching  towards  Metz  backwards. 
As  he  ought  to  have  known  that  the  Ger- 
mans were  converging  towards  him  and  making 
for  his  only  line  of  retreat,  this  march  seems  to 
fall  short  of  what  it  ought  to  have  been ;  and  his 
proceedings  have  therefore  been  very  generally 
censured,  as  showing  that  want  of  decision  and 
promptitude  which  characterized  all  the  French 
movements  in  the  early  part  of  the  campaign. 

In  fact,  circumstances  which  came  to  light  after 
the  first  accounts  of  the  French  movements  on  this 
and  the  next  day  were  made  known,  render  the 
conduct  of  their  generals  more  extraordinary  than 
ever.  It  seems  that,  even  as  early  as  the  morning 
of  the  15th,  the  cavalry  division  of  Legrand  had 
been  pushed  on  as  an  avant  garde  so  far  as  Mars- 
la-Tour,  and  that  it  was  there  arrested  by  a  strong 
column  of  German  cavalry  who  held  the  height. 
Forming  in  charging  order  to  force  his  way  through 
the   opposing    ranks,    Legrand    saw   the   German 


cavalry  open,  wheel  to  the  right  and  left,  and  a 
battery  of  four-pounders  belched  out  a  murderous 
fire  against  him.  To  charge  would  have  been 
useless,  and  Legrand  therefore  retired.  This 
demonstration  checked  the  advance,  and  Legrand 
had  to  wait  until  the  rest  of  the  army  approached , 
or,  at  any  rate,  until  valid  supports  arrived.  It 
was,  however,  evident  thus  early  tbat  the  enemy's 
onward  march  had  not  been  seriously  arrested  by 
the  battle  of  the  14th,  and  that  only  a  portion  of 
their  forces  had  then  been  engaged.  Whilst  the 
French  were  fighting  one  division  of  the  army 
there,  the  Germans  had  been  racing  the  other 
divisions  here,  and  they  had  so  far  won.  On  the 
same  day  the  maire  of  Gorze  sent  word  to  Frossard 
that  the  country  to  the  south  of  Metz  was  being 
filled  with  German  troops,  and  early  the  next 
morning  he  went  himself,  but  no  notice  whatever 
was  taken  of  him.  "  I  know  all  you  have  to  tell 
me,"  said  the  general,  "  and  you  know  nothing 
about  the  enemy's  forces?"  The  maire  went  back 
a  little  way  to  Gorze,  only  to  find  that  the  Ger- 
mans had  occupied  his  country  to  the  verge  of  the 
wood  in  front  of  Frossard's  corps ;  but  the  Germans 
would  not,  of  course,  permit  him  to  return  again 
to  the  French  general. 

The  French  front  was  thus  being  gradually 
hemmed  in,  whilst  their  rear  was  yet  dragging  its 
enormous  length  slowly  out  of  Metz.  All  day  and 
night  of  the  15th,  and  all  the  morning  of  the  16th, 
there  filed  out  from  the  city  a  thickly-packed  line 
of  baggage  waggons  and  auxiliary  carts.  So  cer- 
tain, it  seems,  did  Bazaine  feel  that  his  march  to 
Chalons  would  be  unimpeded,  that  nothing  was 
left  in  Metz,  and  consequently  never  scarcely  was 
any  army  accompanied  by  anything  like  such  a 
collection  of  impedimenta.  They  blocked  up  the 
roads  in  all  directions.  Artillery  could  not  get 
forward.  Troops  had  to  leave  the  highway  and 
flounder  through  the  fields  and  by-ways,  cavalry 
took  to  steeple- chasing,  and  everbody  swore  at 
everybody,  especially  at  the  immovable,  stolid, 
stupid,  hindering  body  of  auxiliaries.  These  men, 
picked  up  anyhow,  anywhere,  and  under  no  known 
direction,  were  always  clubbing  themselves  and 
their  carts  at  a  corner,  or  getting  into  a  hope- 
lessly inextricable  confusion,  and  neither  threats, 
prayers,  nor  blows  could  induce  them  to  be  any- 
thing but  hindrances. 

If,  instead  of  having  thus  allowed  himself  to 
become  encumbered  with  these  impediments,  with 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


367 


their  inevitable  confusion  and  delay,  Bazaine 
had  made  the  necessary  arrangements  for  a  deter- 
mined and  rapid  advance,  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  on  the  15  th  the  road  to  Verdun  was  still 
open,  at  least  to  an  army  of  the  strength  of  his; 
the  German  generals  feared  that  he  might  be 
in  time  to  retreat;  and  it  is  quite  probable  that 
if  he  had  advanced  with  more  celerity  on  that 
momentous  day,  and  had  massed  his  divisions 
closely,  he  might  have  succeeded  in  breaking 
through  the  toils  which  his  vigilant  antagonists 
were  winding  round  him.  It  seems,  however, 
that  he  was  not  fully  aware  of  the  peril  which 
was  becoming  imminent;  for  on  the  night  of  the 
15th,  or  the  next  morning,  he  despatched  a  mes- 
sage that  he  would  be  "  with  all  his  army  at  Etain 
on  the  16th."  On  the  strength  of  this  despatch 
it  was  officially  announced  in  Paris  that  he  had 
actually  arrived  there.  Had  he  succeeded  so  far 
he  would,  of  course,  have  got  beyond  the  immediate 
reach  of  his  enemy;  whereas  we  know  the  night 
found  him  not  a  dozen  miles  on  his  way. 

The  loss  of  this  day,  however,  led  to  the  most 
disastrous  consequences  to  the  French,  for  on  the 
following  morning  (August  16)  about  nine  o'clock, 
Bazaine  was  attacked  on  the  lower  of  the  two 
roads  we  have  mentioned,  by  the  cavalry  of  the 
third  German  corps  (Brandenburgers),  which  had 
arrived  on  the  left  flank  of  the  French,  and  broke 
out  upon  them  from  the  woods  at  Vionville.  It 
may  be  remembered  that  it  was  this  corps  which, 
under  Alvensleben,  came  so  opportunely  upon  the 
ground  to  Goben's  support  at  Forbach.  These 
horsemen,  with  that  stubborn  daring  which  char- 
acterized the  operations  of  the  Germans  whenever 
a  great  stake  was  to  be  won,  fell  on  the  enemy, 
and  succeeded  in  stopping  him  until  their  infantry 
supports  came  up,  and  rendered  the  fight  some- 
what more  equal.  It  is  indeed  said,  that  the 
German  troops  at  first  mistook  those  before  them 
for  the  rear  of  the  hostile  army,  which  they  sup- 
posed to  be  in  lull  inarch  westward,  and  for  that 
reason  they  attacked  at  once;  but  the  fight  had 
not  lasted  long  before  they  became  aware  of  their 
error,  and  that  they  had  to  deal,  not  with  the 
lingering  remnant,  but  with  the  main  body  of  their 
enemy.  Fortunately  for  them,  perhaps,  the  lead- 
ing column  of  the  French  attacked  chanced  to  be 
a  part  of  the  routed  corps  of  Frossard,  demoralized 
by  the  effects  of  its  defeat  at  Forbach ;  and  panic- 
stricken   by   the   German   onslaught,    it    fell   into 


confusion  in  attempting  to  deploy,  and  made  only 
a  feeble  resistance.  This  was  doubtless  partly 
due  to  the  fact  that,  as  at  Wissernbourg  and 
Forbach,  the  French  were  again  taken  completely 
by  surprise.  Frossard,  as  we  know,  would  take  no 
notice  of  the  statement  of  the  maire  of  Gorze,  that 
the  Germans  were  rapidly  advancing,  and  not  one 
of  his  officers  knew  of  the  vicinity  of  the  enemy 
until  their  attack  actually  commenced !  This  is 
the  more  extraordinary,  as  General  Forton  was 
camped  on  the  rounded  edge  of  the  hill,  looking 
out  on  the  valley  which  creeps  up  from  Gorze. 
Both  sides  of  the  hill  he  occupied  form  watersheds, 
the  one  towards  Trouville,  and  the  other  towards 
Rezonville.  It  was  thus  the  very  place  for  a  keen 
look-out,  and  yet  the  general  knew  nothing  of  the 
Germans'  whereabouts.  Indeed,  so  little  did  he 
think  about  them,  that  when  the  attack  began  his 
men  were  in  their  camp,  without  a  single  thing 
packed  up,  and  he  himself  was  comfortably  sitting 
down  to  breakfast.  The  colonel  of  the  fourth 
chasseurs  had  just  been  to  him,  and  asked  for 
orders,  but  the  general  had  none  to  give.  "It  is 
evident,"  said  he,  "  that  your  regiment  won't  be 
wanted  to-day."  The  intendant-en-chef  even  sent 
a  couple  of  commissariat  agents  to  Trouville,  not 
two  miles  away,  to  make  a  requisition  for  cattle, 
not  knowing  that  Trouville  had  been  in  the  Ger- 
man hands  all  night,  so  ignorant  was  everybody 
of  that  which  they  ought  to  have  known.  Before 
Frossard's  men  were  on  the  move,  before  he  had 
finished  his  breakfast,  and  before  these  commis- 
sariat agents  could  set  out  for  Trouville,  the 
German  attack  commenced,  and  created  the  wildest 
surprise.  So  unprepared  was  every  one,  in  fact, 
that  all  General  Bataille's  artillery  horses  were  at 
the  time  away  at  a  watering  place. 

Had  another  corps  than  Frossard's  led  the  van,  the 
French  might  possibly  have  shaken  off  the  obstinate 
Brandenburgers,  and  pushed  on  towards  the  Meuse, 
showing,  of  course,  a  powerful  and  resolute  resist- 
ance to  their  pursuers.  But  it  was  not  so  to  be. 
The  cavalry,  striking  the  French  fiercely  in  flank, 
threw  them  in  a  short  time  into  complete  disorder, 
which  spread  to  the  next  column,  as  it  was  advanc- 
ing to  the  aid  of  the  one  in  front;  but,  unable  to 
clear  the  road,  it  fell  back  baffled  and  disconcerted. 
Bazaine  was  thus  forced  to  stop  and  deploy  Fros- 
sard's corps,  and  by  degrees  to  bring  into  line,  to 
the  right  and  left,  the  corps  of  Decaen,  L'Admir- 
ault,  Canrobert,  and  the  imperial  guard. 


368 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


For  nearly  four  hours  the  daring  horsemen  who 
had  commenced  the  action,  assisted,  after  the  lapse 
of  about  an  hour,  by  a  brigade  of  infantry  and 
some  small  batteries,  kept  the  whole  French  force 
in  check,  but  suffered  very  severely  in  doing  so. 
Ultimately,  however,  the  nearest  German  divisions 
(the  third  of  the  tenth  corps,  and  late  in  the  even- 
ing the  division  of  the  ninth  corps)  appeared  on 
the  scene,  and  the  action  now  developed  into  a 
very  severe  battle,  extending  over  several  miles  of 
broken  country,  from  Mars-la-Tour  to  Rezonville. 
At  first  the  German  line  looked  northward,  but 
as  the  corps  successively  took  ground  to  the  left 
they  at  length  formed  a  line  looking  eastwards,  the 
left  extremity  of  which  reached  to  the  northern 
of  Bazaine's  two  lines  of  retreat — that  by  the  road 
to  Etain.  Thus,  in  exactly  a  fortnight  from  the 
celebrated  affair  at  SaarbrUck,  the  German  second 
army  was  fighting  with  its  front  facing  the  Rhine, 
whilst  Bazaine's  front  was  turned  towards  Paris  — 
a  strategical  result  which  may  be  not  unfairly  held 
as  eclipsing  Napoleon's  proceeding  with  Mack  at 
Ulm  in  1805. 

The  severest  part  of  the  struggle  was  on  an 
undulating  plateau  near  Gorze,  a  town  with 
1500  inhabitants,  situated  about  eight  miles  south- 
west of  Metz,  on  a  small  stream  running  into  the 
Moselle  at  Xoveant  les  Pres.  It  is  about  four 
miles  south  from  Rezonville  and  six  from  Grave- 
lotte.  The  first  two  miles  from  Gorze  to  these 
places  are  covered  with  dense  woods,  hantnno' 
over  deep  valleys,  in  some  places  almost  like 
ravines,  and  apparently  unassailable.  On  emerg- 
ing from  these  woods  is  the  undulating  plateau 
already  described,  which  extends  to  the  Verdun 
road  about  one  mile  and  a  half,  and  is  about 
three  miles  in  length.  On  this  plateau  the 
French  had  taken  up  a  most  formidable  position, 
and  it  was  only  by  resolute  bravery  that  the 
Germans  could  obtain  possession  of  it.  On  the 
French  right  the  ground  rises  gently,  and  this  was 
the  key  of  their  position,  as  the  artillery,  which 
could  maintain  itself  there,  swept  the  whole  field. 
More  towards  the  centre  are  two  small  valleys,  one 
of  which,  from  its  depth,  was  most  useful  to  the 
Germans  in  advancing  their  troops.  In  the  centre 
of  the  field  is  the  road  from  Gorze  to  Rezonville 
and  Gravelotte,  joining  the  main  road  to  Verdun, 
between  the  two  villages.  From  the  woods  to 
Rezonville,  on  the  Verdun  road,  there  was  no 
cover,  except  one  cottage,  midway  on  the  Gorze 


road.  The  action  here  was  sustained  on  the  German 
side  by  the  infantry  of  the  third  corps.  When 
it  arrived,  under  General  von  Alvensleben,  it 
came  up  from  the  south-east,  through  the  defiles 
of  Gorze,  with  its  advance,  composed  of  the 
eleventh  regiment,  concealed  by  the  Bois  des 
Ognons,  and  it  was  thus  enabled  to  attack  the 
enemy  on  his  left  flank.  The  divisions  under 
General  Frossard  and  L'Admirault,  which  now 
formed  about  the  centre  of  the  French  army, 
at  once  changed  front,  resting  their  base  upon 
Rezonville,  and  immediately  advanced  to  take 
possession  of  the  wood  at  the  back  of  the  plateau 
of  which  we  have  spoken,  but  that  was  now 
held  by  the  Germans.  The  mistake  was  irre- 
parable, so  the  artillery  of  the  imperial  guard 
opened  a  tremendous  fire  of  shrapnell  and  shell 
upon  the  wood.  The  eleventh  German  regiment 
were  the  first  to  emerge  from  it  and  advance  to  the 
attack,  whilst  the  thirty-fiftth,  the  "  fighting  forti- 
eth ''  (which,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  engaged  at 
SaarbrUck  and  suffered  severely  at  Forbach),  and 
the  seventy-second,  advanced  through  the  wood  to 
the  left.  All  these  regiments  suffered  greatly  from 
the  French  shells,  which  now  literally  lit  up  the 
wood.  Xo  sooner  did  the  right  battalion  of  the 
eleventh  emerge  and  deploy,  than  the  French 
opened  fire  at  700  yards,  and  fearfully  effective  was 
the  discharge,  which  caused  the  loss  of  their  colonel 
and  five  officers,  besides  a  considerable  number  of 
men.  They  then  retired  into  the  wood  until  the 
whole  line  could  advance  together,  the  French 
shells  meanwhile  inflicting  fearful  loss  upon  them, 
although  under  a  screen  of  foliage.  Whenever  the 
German  advance  appeared  the  French  troops  opened 
fire,  the  assailants  falling  literally  in  heaps;  but 
"  Immer  vorwdrts!"  was  the  cry,  and,  under  a 
storm  of  shot  and  shell,  the  gallant  fifth  division, 
led  by  the  troops  above-mentioned,  moved  on  to 
meet  the  foe.  For  fully  an  hour  they  fired  at  each 
other  from  a  distance  of  fifty  paces,  the  French, 
who  had  not  until  now  suffered  much,  losing  many 
men.  The  first  line  of  their  troops  then  gradually 
retired,  and  three  regiments  of  the  garde  im- 
periale  stood  the  brunt  of  the  German  advance 
almost,  for  the  moment,  alone  in  their  glory.  Here 
the  German  line  was  strengthened,  and  at  twenty 
to  thirty  paces  the  fire  was  fearful,  so  much  so 
that  the  French  guard  had  to  fall  back.  Behind 
the  German  position  were  the  woods  they  had 
gained,   and  in    front   of  them    the  ground    rose 


Ron  cou  rt 


iEngcaviEia  "by  B_  Walter 


I  C.  LAS  GO*. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


369 


slightly,  for  a  long  distance,  along  the  sides  of  the 
road  leading  to  Kezonville. 

About  one  p.m.,  when  the  whole  finally  emerged 
from  the  wood,  General  Stulpuagel  rode  round  to 
the  heights  on  their  left  to  observe  the  position 
of  the  enemy.  After  a  few  minutes'  consultation, 
the  eleventh  regiment  was  advanced  along  the 
road  on  the  French  centre,  having  for  their  object 
the  lone  cottage  on  the  road  already  spoken  of, 
and  in  which  the  French  mitrailleurs  were  posted. 
This,  however,  was  unknown  to  the  Germans 
when  the  order  to  advance  was  given.  Simul- 
taneously, the  fortieth,  sixty-seventh,  sixty-ninth, 
thirty-fifth,  and  seventy-second  were  ordered  to 
advance  on  the  fortified  heights  on  the  French 
right  centre.  This  was  the  key  of  their  position ; 
hence  the  number  of  men  (15,000),  sent  against 
it  at  once.  The  French,  knowing  how  vitally 
important  it  was  to  keep  possession  of  the  hill  on 
the  right,  as  soon  as  their  troops  began  to  fall  back 
from  the  woods,  threw  up  a  hastily  made  earth- 
work to  shelter  their  infantry  lying  down.  Behind 
them  again  were  the  sixty-second  regiment  of  the 
line,  with  several  batteries  of  artillery  firing  over 
their  heads.  The  Prussians  came  up  the  slope, 
but  were  several  times  repulsed;  and  it  was  not 
till  after  three  hours'  fighting  that  they  drove  the 
French  from  the  heights,  and  succeeded  in  bring- 
ing up  their  own  artillery.  As  battery  after 
battery  of  Krupp  guns  was  moved  up  the  heights, 
the  gunners  using  their  spurs  and  whips  freely, 
the  French  were  partially  outflanked;  and  it  be- 
came evident  that,  however  bravely  they  might 
fight  (and  the  Germans  allow  that  they  fought 
splendidly),  they  must  ultimately  give  way.  Their 
batteries,  driven  from  their  first  position,  retired 
to  the  hill  dividing  the  two  valleys  on  their  right, 
and  a  regular  artillery  duel  took  place  between 
them  and  the  Prussian  batteries  on  their  recently 
conquered  hill;  the  short  distance,  only  about  500 
yards,  insuring  frightfully  "  good  practice."  The 
hills  were  strewn  with  the  debris  of  men,  gun- 
carriages,  limbers,  and  horses  (the  latter  in  greatest 
number,  many  of  them  literally  blown  to  pieces) ; 
and  the  ground  was  ploughed  with  shells.  After 
two  hours'  cannonade  the  French  guns  retired  to 
the  heights  over  the  second  valley,  where  another 
engagement  with  the  German  batteries  took  place, 
as  the  latter  of  course  galloped  to  the  French 
position  as  soon  as  they  were  driven  from  it.  The 
French  then  fell  back  to  another  rise  behind,  and 


maintained  themselves  there  with  great  loss  till 
eight  p.m.,  when  they  retired  under  cover  of  the 
dark.  In  their  retreat  there  had  not  been  the  least 
appearance  of  rout  or  confusion ;  on  the  contrary, 
they  retired  steadily  and  in  perfect  order,  fighting 
every  inch  of  the  way. 

In  the  meantime  charge  after  charge  was  made 
up  the  Gorze  road  by  the  Germans  on  the  lone 
cottage,  and  the  half  battery  of  mitrailleuses  in 
it,  which  were  admirably  served,  and  did  frightful 
execution,  as  the  ground  was  perfectly  open.  They 
were  also  supported  by  a  regiment  of  the  grenadiers 
of  the  imperial  guard,  and  the  twenty-first  of  the 
line.  The  eleventh  German  regiment,  which  was 
the  first  to  charge  the  French,  went  into  action 
over  2000  strong  (it  had  lost  heavily  at  Spicheren), 
and  in  the  evening  only  200  men  answered  to 
their  names !  But  the  house  was  at  last  carried, 
as  more  and  more  German  troops  were  brought 
up  by  the  road  from  the  wood. 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  greatest  bravery,  the 
Germans  were  unable  to  drive  back  the  French 
until  their  artillery  gained  the  hill  on  their 
right.  The  precision  of  the  fire  of  the  French 
artillery  at  this  point  then  told  with  propor- 
tionate effect  on  the  advancing  columns,  and  it 
was  only  by  the  pushing  on  of  regiment  after  regi- 
ment, regardless  of  loss,  and  with  a  view  to  victory 
at  any  cost,  that  the  French  were  driven  back 
fighting,  and  with  heavy  loss  to  themselves. 

Although  the  most  important  part  of  the  battle 
was  fought  on  this  plateau  to  the  north  of  Gorze, 
there  had  also  been  a  most  severe  and  bloody 
struggle  a  little  further  west,  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  villages  of  Vionville  and  Mars-la-Tour;  after 
the  former  of  which  the  engagement  was  officially 
named  by  the  king  of  Prussia.  Near  these 
villages  the  action  had  begun  by  the  attack  of 
the  German  cavalry  of  the  third  corps,  supported 
shortly  afterwards  by  a  brigade  of  infantry 
and  a  half  dozen  batteries.  At  the  commence- 
ment the  Germans  were  opposed  to  a  force  which 
certainly  quadrupled  theirs.  They  advanced  in 
the  shape  of  a  half  moon.  The  French  retired 
towards  their  left  rear,  holding  the  village  of 
Vionville  with  great  obstinacy,  covered  by  artillery 
on  the  heights.  This  was  in  turn  answered  by 
the  Germans,  and  the  French  were  then  observed 
to  retire.  At  eleven  o'clock  the  first  brigade  of 
German  infantry,  under  the  command  of  General 
Lehman,  came  into  action,  advancing  in  echelon  of 
3a 


370 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


regiments  under  the  most  galling  fire  of  mitrailleuses 
— three  on  the  right  and  five  battalions  in  the  same 
formation  on  their  left  rear.  The  whole  force  then 
brought  its  left  forward,  and  advanced  on  the  enemy. 

The  infantry  were  all  engaged,  both  on  right 
and  left,  when  L'Admirault  hurled  the  chasseurs 
d'Afrique  at  a  battery  which,  from  the  nature  of 
the  ground,  his  artillery  could  not  reply  to.  A 
strong  force  of  riflemen  supported  the  enemy's 
artillery ;  and  though  the  chasseurs  at  length, 
after  severe  loss,  carried  the  position,  they  did  not 
know  how  to  spike  the  breech-loading  guns.  Before 
they  could  find  out,  a  Prussian  hussar  regiment 
dashed  into  them.  The  heavy  lancers  of  the  French 
guard  next  charged  these  hussars  in  flank,  and 
after  them  pressed  the  third  dragoons  (the  empress' 
regiment).  A  dreadfully  confused  struggle  now 
ensued.  The  Prussians  pushed  forward  regiment 
after  regiment,  and  so  did  the  French.  When 
they  at  last  emerged,  the  valley  was  thickly  strewn 
with  men  and  horses.  The  only  trophies  captured 
by  the  French,  a  standard  and  two  guns,  were 
carried  off  during  this  meUe. 

From  the  beginning,  however,  it  was  apparent 
that  the  German  force  here  was  too  small  to  cope 
with  that  before  them,  and  it  became  a  matter 
of  life  and  death  to  bring  up  infantry.  One  corps 
d'arme'e  which  had  been  expected  failed  to  arrive, 
and  was  anxiously  looked  for. 

Up  to  this  time,  the  soldiers'  opinion  was,  that 
throughout  the  day  the  fire  on  the  part  of  the 
French  had  been  fearful,  that  they  had  never  on 
any  occasion  stood  their  ground  better.  In  con- 
sequence, the  Germans  suffered  grievously  from 
the  first.  Gradually  their  numbers  were  reduced; 
till  at  last,  as  we  have  seen,  the  French  could  ven- 
ture to  attack  their  guns,  and  although  this  attack 
had  been  warded  off,  it  was  noticed  that  the  French 
were  again  massing  their  columns  for  another. 
It  was  nearly  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
and  they  had  been  under  fire  from  ten  in  the 
morning.  What  was  to  be  done?  In  this  critical 
emergency  there  seemed  to  be  nothing  left  but  to 
send  the  remaining  cavalry  against  the  hostile  bat- 
talions. Experience  in  the  early  part  of  the  day  had 
indeed  proved  that,  to  let  cavalry  charge  infantry 
at  a  distance  which  exposed  them  to  several  rounds 
of  fire,  would  be  to  sacrifice  vast  numbers  without, 
perhaps,  producing  any  adequate  advantage.  But 
necessity  knows  no  law.  The  attack  was  ordered 
and  executed.     Two  regiments  of  dragoon  guards 


and  one  of  cuirassiers,  the  whole  forming  a  column 
of  1900,  rode  against  the  enemy — a  thundering 
block  of  steel.  Decimated  long  before  they  could 
flash  their  swords,  their  shattered  remnants  sufficed 
to  cut  down  or  disperse  whole  battalions.  Then, 
attacked  in  their  turn  by  cuirassiers,  and  immedi- 
ately rescued  by  their  own  swift  hussars,  they 
again  cut  a  path  for  themselves  into  the  enemy's 
ranks,  and  actually  succeeded  in  preventing  his 
contemplated  assault. 

The  cuirassier  regiment  which  took  part  in 
this  brilliant  cavalry  charge — worthy  of  the  best 
deeds  of  Seidletz — was  the  Halberstadt,  more  gen- 
erally known  as  the  Bismarck  cuirassiers,  Count 
von  Bismarck  being  a  la  suite  of  the  regiment, 
and  wearing  the  uniform,  though  the  chief  is  the 
duke  of  Saxe-Coburg  Gotha.  The  major  of  the 
regiment,  Count  Schmettow,  in  a  graphic  descrip- 
tion of  the  engagement,  which  he  wrote  soon  after 
the  battle,  said,  "  I  quite  agree  that  a  commander 
would  be  inexcusable  in  leading  his  troops  into 
such  a  mess  unless  there  were  the  most  urgent 
reasons.  But  such  was  the  case  in  the  present 
instance.  The  chief  of  the  staff  of  the  third  corps 
d'arme'e  came  to  our  brigadier,  Von  Bredow, 
whom  we  have  on  every  occasion  been  accustomed 
to  see  in  the  thick  of  it,  and  said,  '  General,  in 
concert  with  General  von  Rheinbaben,  commander 
of  the  cavalry  division,  the  commander-general 
has  decided  that  you  must  break  through  at  the 
wood,  and  you  are  still  standing  quietly  here!' 
General  von  Bredow  replied,  '  Am  I  to  understand 
that  cavalry  is  to  break  through  infantry  and 
artillery  here  by  the  wood?'  'Certainly,'  was 
the  answer,  '  we  have  already  taken  the  hamlet, 
but  cannot  reach  the  wood,  so  the  issue  of  the 
battle  depends  upon  your  clearing  away  every- 
thing along  the  forest.  You  must  attack,  and 
with  the  utmost  energy.'  So  you  see  we  had  got 
to  do  it.  We  formed  two  divisions,  the  cuirassier 
regiment  on  the  left  wing  along  the  edge  of  the 
wood,  the  dragoon  regiment  on  the  right  wing, 
and  one  hundred  paces  further  back.  Our  brave 
general,  with  his  staff  of  four  officers,  three  of  which 
he  lost,  was  nearly  on  a  line  with  the  cuirassiers. 
Before  the  French  battery  had  discharged  its 
third  gun  we  were  masters  of  it.  The  honour  of 
challenging  the  French  commander  I  could  not 
leave  to  another,  and  I  rather  think  I  found  him. 
It  was  clear  to  me  that  in  this  death-ride  the  object 
was  not  to  bring  home  trophies,  but  to  strike  down 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


371 


everything  between  the  wood  and  the  road.  At 
the  battery  all  were  put  to  the  sword,  and  then 
we  went  in  tearing  course  at  an  infantry  column, 
which  was  ridden  over  and  cut  down.  Its  remnants, 
however,  sent  a  good  many  shots  after  us.  At 
this  moment  the  dragoons  were  close  on  our  heels. 
A  second  battery  was  attacked,  and  all  who  did  not 
run  were  put  to  the  sword.  Then,  as  many  as 
were  left  of  us  made  for  a  second  infantry  column. 
Just  before  reaching  it  two  squadrons  of  French 
cuirassiers  wheeled  from  a  woody  hollow  into  the 
gaps  of  our  little  handful,  and  after  the  last  infantry 
column  had  been  ridden  down  we  wheeled  to  the 
right  and  rushed  back.  By  this  time  we  were  pell- 
mell  with  the  French  horse.  Before  the  battery 
I  received  two  shots,  which  went  through  my 
helmet,  without,  however,  touching  me.  The 
adjutant,  hit  by  two  bullets,  fell  from  his  horse; 
one  trumpeter  was  shot  down,  the  horse  of  the 
other  wounded.  I  was  just  speaking  with  Captain 
Heister  when  he  also  fell.  Lieutenant  Campbell 
was  for  a  while  by  my  side  until,  in  the  attempt  to 
tear  away  from  the  French  cuirassiers  the  standard 
he  had  seized  with  his  left  hand,  he  was  fearfully 
maltreated.  Some  one  helped  him  to  cut  his  way 
out.  I  shall  never  forget  my  ordering  the  first 
trumpeter  I  found,  nearly  on  the  same  spot  where 
we  set  out  on  our  ride  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
German  mile,  to  blow  the  regimental  signal.  The 
trumpet  had  been  bored  through  by  shots,  and  a 
sound  came  out  that  pierced  me  to  the  quick.  At 
my  call  three  sections  out  of  the  eleven  (three  had 
been  detached)  assembled.  A  gloomy  bivouac 
followed,  as  little  more  than  a  fourth  of  the  regi- 
ment had  responded  to  the  call." 

The  other  regiments  also  suffered  terribly ;  but 
the  attack  was  so  far  successful  that  it  gave  time 
for  the  tenth  German  corps  to  come  up  in  support 
of  the  gallant  fellows  of  the  third,  and  for  the 
capture  of  two  French  eagles.  It  was  even  supe- 
rior to  the  famous  English  charge  of  Balaklava, 
inasmuch  as  it  served  the  highest  military  purpose 
— the  winning  of  the  battle;  superior  also  to  the 
French  heavy  cavalry  charge  at  Woerth,  as  it  was 
done  with  a  chance  of  success.  The  French  at 
Woerth  threw  away  their  cuirassiers,  whilst  the 
Prussians  in  this  battle  saved  a  corps  d'armee  by 
the  heroic  self-sacrifice  of  cavalry  regiments;  and 
although  it  had  cost  the  lives  of  so  many  hun- 
dreds of  brave  men,  the  loss  in  a  military  sense  was 
as  nothing  to  the  advantage. 


Some  time  before  this  charge,  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  appeared  on  the  battlefield  and  assumed 
the  command.  Eager  to  share  the  dangers,  and 
if  possible,  the  laurels  of  his  troops,  he  had  ridden 
the  eighteen  miles  from  Pont-a  Mousson  in  an 
hour.  He  was  just  giving  orders  to  his  cousin, 
Duke  Wilhelm  of  Mecklenburg,  who  led  the 
cavalry  charge,  when  the  long-expected  suc- 
cour at  last  appeared.  It  was  the  head  of  the 
tenth  (Hanover)  corps  d'arme'e,  under  General 
von  Voigt  Rhetz,  which,  after  a  forced  march  on 
the  plateau  rising  from  the  valley  of  the  river, 
fell  upon  the  enemy's  right  flank,  and  the  fight 
now  extended  lengthways  to  Mars-la-Tour,  a  ham- 
let three  miles  beyond  Vionville  upon  the  same 
main  road.  But  although  the  Hanoverians  ad- 
vanced with  a  gallantry  worthy  of  the  military 
renown  of  their  race,  and  were  commanded  by  a 
most  able  general,  the  battle  remained  stationary 
for  two  more  hours — a  sort  of  duel  going  on 
between  the  combatants  which,  though  at  some 
distance,  was  near  enough  to  have  fearful  results. 
At  last  the  French  again  retired,  but  scarcely  a 
quarter  of  a  mile,  where  they  remained  to  the 
close  of  the  battle.  Late  in  the  evening  the 
German  reserve  cavalry  were  ordered  to  charge 
the  infantry.  This  they  did  with  loud  hurrahs, 
but  sustained  great  loss  from  the  murderous  fire 
poured  into  them.  As  in  all  other  parts  of  the 
field,  the  fighting  at  Mars-la-Tour  had  been  of  a 
very  obstinate  character.  This  village  was  held 
by  the  fourth  regiment  of  the  line,  part  of  Can- 
robert's  corps ;  and  six  times  did  the  Germans 
advance  from  the  wood  in  front  of  this  position, 
and  as  many  times  retire,  whilst  of  the  fourth 
French  hundreds  of  men  and  most  of  its  officers 
were  either  killed  or  wounded.  The  imperial 
guard  under  Bourbaki  arrived  about  three  o'clock, 
and  their  additional  weight  bore  back  the  Prussian 
left,  so  that  they  retired  behind  Mars-la-Tour, 
seeking  again  the  friendly  shelter  of  the  woods, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  fray  at  this  point  neither 
side  could  be  said  to  have  gained  ground. 

During  the  greater  part  of  the  day  the  French 
had  considerably  outnumbered  their  opponents, 
having  at  least  180,000  men  engaged,  whilst  the 
Germans  had  only  75,000  altogether  under  fire, 
and  not  more  than  40,000  for  a  long  time.  Bazaine 
does  not  appear  to  have  thoroughly  comprehended 
the  enemy's  tactics,  or  perceived  the  extent  of 
his  own  danger ;  and  he  should  have  cut  his  way 


372 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


through  at  any  sacrifice,  on  this  the  last  day  on 
which  he  could  have  done  so.  He  was  fighting 
not  only  for  the  very  existence  of  his  army  as 
an  active  field  force,  but  also  for  the  safety  of  the 
capital. 

Both  sides  claimed  the  victory.  In  his  despatch 
to  Paris  on  the  following  morning,  Marshal  Ba- 
zaine  said  that  the  enemy  had  been  repulsed,  and 
the  French  had  passed  the  night  in  the  positions 
they  had  conquered,  but  he  should  delay  his 
further  movements  a  few  hours,  in  order  to  largely 
increase  his  ammunition.  In  another  despatch 
he  said  they  had  everywhere  maintained  their 
position;  had  inflicted  considerable  loss  on  the 
enemy;  and  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  they 
had  been  repulsed  along  the  whole  line.  Their 
own  loss  had,  however,  been  very  serious. 

The  German  accounts  were  as  follow: — Pont- 
a-Mousson,  August  17  (7.10  p.m.). — Yesterday, 
Lieutenant-general  von  Alvensleben  advanced  with 
his  army  corps  westwards  of  Metz,  on  the  road 
of  the  enemy's  retreat  towards  Verdun.  A  bloody 
fight  took  place  between  the  divisions  of  Generals 
Decaen,  L'Admirault,  Frossard,  Canrobert,  and  the 
imperial  guard  and  the  third  and  tenth  corps, 
successively  supported  by  portions  of  the  ninth 
corps.  Notwithstanding  the  great  superiority  of 
the  enemy,  they  were  driven  back  to  Metz,  after 
a  hot  fight  lasting  twelve  hours.  The  loss  of 
infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery  on  both  sides  is 
very  considerable.  On  our  side  Generals  von 
Doering  and  Von  Wedel  have  been  killed,  and 
Generals  von  Rauch  and  Von  Groeben  wounded. 
His  majesty  the  king  greeted  the  troops  to-day 
on  the  field  of  battle,  upon  the  glorious  manner  in 
which  they  had  retained  possession  of  the  ground." 

"Marshal  Bazaine,  while  retreating  from  Metz  to 
Verdun,  was  attacked  at  nine  a.m.  on  the  16th  by 
the  fifth  Brandenburg  division  (the  same  which  was 
victorious  in  the  battle  of  Saarbriick),  and  was 
stopped  on  his  march.  Our  troops  showed  heroic 
courage,  being  opposed  by  four  French  corps 
d'armee,  including  the  imperial  guard,  who  fought 
well,  and  were  ably  led.  Our  troops  were  only 
reinforced  after  six  hours'  fighting,  by  the  arrival 
of  the  tenth  corps  d'armee.  The  losses  on  both 
sides  are  considerable,  but  our  success  is  com- 
plete, as  the  French  have  been  prevented  from 
continuing  their  movement  of  retreat,  and  have 
been  driven  back  to  Metz.  They  have  lost  2000 
prisoners,  two  eagles,  and  seven  cannon." 


The  statement  of  the  French  commander,  that 
his  troops  had  everywhere  maintained  their  posi- 
tions, was  certainly  not  in  accordance  with  fact ; 
for  on  that  night  the  largest  portion  of  them  had 
fallen  back  to  Gravelotte,  having  yielded  several 
miles  of  the  road  by  which  he  had  marched  on 
the  15th.  It  was  no  doubt  true  that  the  French 
inflicted  more  loss  on  the  Germans  than  they 
sustained  themselves,  as  the  German  commanders 
were  obliged  to  hurl  forward  their  men  as  rapidly 
as  they  could  bring  them  up;  but,  measured  by 
their  strategical  results,  the  operations  of  the  day 
were  unquestionably  most  disastrous  to  the  French, 
although  they  did  not  at  the  time  see  the  whole 
truth,  and  undoubtedly  believed  they  had  achieved 
a  certain  success.  This  was  especially  the  case 
with  the  sixth  (Canrobert's)  corps,  at  Mars-la- 
Tour,  where,  as  we  know,  there  was  some  ground 
for  the  belief.  On  the  following  day  one  of 
his  aides-de-camp  wrote  a  letter  to  a  friend  in 
Paris,  in  which  he  said  the  contest  had  been 
horribly  obstinate  on  both  sides,  but  that  the 
French  had  carried  off  all  the  honours  of  the  day 
in  spite  of  their  great  losses,  and  that  the  Germans 
were  routed. 

In  fact,  however,  the  real  advantage  had  all  been 
on  the  other  side  ;  for  notwithstanding  their  fear- 
ful loss  the  German  commanders  had  attained  their 
object,  and  Bazaine's  retreat  westward  had  been 
effectually  stopped.  At  night-fall  the  south  road 
from  Metz  to  Verdun  had  been  occupied  and 
retained,  and  their  extreme  left  had  also  reached 
to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  northern  road 
which  the  French  general  had  intended  to  use  ;  so 
that  there  now  lay  between  him  and  the  Meuse 
an  army  strong  in  number,  and  stronger  still  in 
courage,  discipline,  and  the  superiority  which  con- 
sciousness of  victory  bestows. 

As  already  stated,  the  losses  on  both  sides  were 
appalling.  The  Germans  admitted  no  less  than 
17,000  being  killed,  wounded,  and  missing;  and 
the  French  must  have  lost  at  least  from  10,000 
to  15,000  men,  including  a  large  number  of  the 
imperial  guard.  Four  German  generals  were 
killed  or  wounded;  on  the  French  side  Generals 
Frossard  and  Bataille  were  injured;  and  at  one 
moment  an  audacious  irruption  of  the  hostile 
cavalry  (uhlans),  into  the  French  lines  nearly 
resulted  in  the  capture  of  Marshal  Bazaine  himself, 
and  led  to  the  destruction  of  twenty  men  of  his 
escort.     On  the  German  side  the  best  blood  of  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


373 


country  was  spilt  like  water.  Within  a  few 
moments,  by  the  unexpected  unmasking  of  the 
mitrailleuse  battery,  Count  Westarp,  Count  Wes- 
delen,  Baron  Kleist,  Henry  VII.,  prince  of  Reuss, 
Baron  Grimm,  Baron  Witzleben,  and  many  other 
noblemen  of  high  rank  and  position  were  killed ; 
and  the  battle,  altogether,  cost  that  country  twice 
as  many  men  as  that  of  Koniggratz.  Some  regi- 
ments especially  suffered  very  terribly.  The 
twelfth  infantry  lost  61  officers  of  the  69  it  had, 
and  1500  rank  and  file  of  the  3000  forming 
its  full  complement.  The  forty-seventh,  almost 
equally  unfortunate,  had  47  officers  and  1400  men 
removed  from  the  ranks ;  the  sixty- fourth,  41 
officers  and  1000  men;  the  seventy-second,  about 
30  officers,  13  of  whom  were  killed,  and  1000 
men.  Gloomiest  of  all,  however,  was  the  doom 
of  the  eleventh,  which  lost  1800  men  and  nearly 
all  its  officers.  Of  the  dragoon  guards  nearly 
one-half  the  rank  and  file,  and  more  than  a  pro- 
portionate number  of  officers,  were  either  killed 
or  wounded.  The  announcements  of  officers' 
deaths  in  the  newspapers  filled  whole  columns, 
and  fathers,  brothers,  and  brides,  left  all  parts  of 
Germany  to  fetch  the  corpses  of  their  beloved  ones. 
The  Germans  had,  however,  determined  to  succeed 
at  any  cost,  and  they  stood  firmly  and  toughly  to 
be  shot  down  until  help  arrived,  and  the  tremen- 
dous slaughter  inflicted  on  them  at  some  points  by 
the  French  fusillade  completely  failed  to  shake 
their  determination. 

The  king  of  Prussia,  on  the  night  of  the  battle, 
slept  on  the  field  among  his  troops,  and  was  very 
well  pleased  to  get  a  plate  of  rice  and  soup  from 
a  neighbouring  camp-kettle,  after  a  long  day  on 
horseback,  and  at  the  age  of  seventy-three ! 

The  Germans  had  now  (for  a  time  at  least) 
frustrated  the  retreat  of  the  French,  by  forcing 
them  from  their  forward  positions  on  the  Verdun 
and  Etain  roads,  and,  having  closed  on  their  flanks 
and  front,  were  already  upon  the  principal  lines  by 
which  they  could  make  good  their  way  to  Chalons. 
It  therefore  became  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
French  general  to  face  the  question — What  if  the 
enemy,  whose  united  strength  was  largely  superior 
to  his  own,  should  plant  himself  firmly  on  these 
avenues,  should  oppose  an  invincible  barrier  to 
him,  and  hemming  his  army  in  upon  Metz,  should 
completely  sever  their  communications,  and  lock 
them  up  imprisoned  in  the  fortress  ?  Marshal 
Bazaine,  therefore,  like  a  brave  soldier,  resolved, 


to  the  best  of  his  judgment,  to  make  the  most  of 
the  situation  ;  and  having  managed  to  persuade  his 
lieutenants  that  they  had  been  victorious  on  the 
16th,  and  that  the  army  had  only  fallen  back  "  in 
order  to  obtain  ammunition,"  set  himself  to  oppose 
his  enemy  with  a  vigour  he  had  not  before  dis- 
played. If  on  the  15th  he  was  remiss,  and  on  the 
16  th  did  not  display  the  fierce  determination  which 
the  exigency  required  from  a  great  commander, 
now,  when  the  peril  was  becoming  manifest,  he 
strenuously  set  himself  to  avert  it.  He  still  had 
160,000  men,  after  making  all  allowances  for  sick 
and  losses ;  his  first  care  was  to  choose  a  strong 
position,  where  he  could  offer  a  vigorous  resistance, 
retain  his  hold  on  his  lines  of  retreat,  and  whence, 
if  victorious,  he  could  break  forth  and  make  good 
his  intended  movement  to  Chalons.  Such  a  posi- 
tion was  found  in  the  range  of  uplands  which, 
intersected  at  points  by  ravines,  with  brooks  and 
difficult  ground  in  front,  and  belts  of  wood  in  the 
near  distance,  extends  from  the  village  of  Grave- 
lotte  to  the  north-east  to  St.  Privat-la-Montagne, 
beyond  the  road  that  runs  from  Metz  to  the  frontier. 
The  17  th  of  August  Bazaine  spent  in  stationing 
his  troops  along  this  line,  and  in  collecting  every 
means  of  defence  which  could  increase  its  natural 
strength  ;  and  his  arrangements  certainly  gave 
proof  of  the  tactical  skill  for  which  he  is  renowned. 
Their  old  position  of  the  16th,  from  Rezonville  to 
the  Moselle,  was  still  occupied ;  but  the  right,  now 
thrown  back  at  rather  a  sharp  angle,  extended 
from  Rezonville  by  St.  Marcel  (on  the  north  Ver- 
dun road,  three  miles  from  Gravelotte,  and  eight  from 
Metz)  and  Verneville  to  St.  Privat  (on  the  road 
from  Metz  to  Briey,  eight  miles  from  Metz). 
Rezonville,  at  the  angle,  thus  formed  the  centre. 
St.  Privat  formed  the  extreme  right,  on  a  com- 
manding hill  whose  steep  slopes  were  perfectly 
bare  of  cover,  and  its  natural  strength  was  enhanced 
by  all  the  resources  of  engineering  art.  The  left, 
occupying  Gravelotte,  at  the  junction  of  the  roads 
from  Verdun  and  Etain,  and  thence  prolonged  by 
the  high  road  to  Metz,  held  a  range  of  heights, 
with  a  wood  beneath,  which  commanded  all  the 
neighbouring  approaches.  Protected  in  front  by 
fines  of  intrenchment,  with  rifle  pits  and  a  formi- 
dable artillery,  and  resting  on  the  fort  of  St.  Quentin 
in  the  rear,  it  might  be  considered  well-nigh  im- 
pregnable. The  French  centre,  though  not  so 
strong,  had  also  the  advantage  of  rising  ground, 
with  numerous  obstacles  along  the  front  ;  it  like- 


374 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


wise  had  been  fully  intrenched.  Bazaine  posted 
about  140,000  men  along  this  formidable  defensive 
line,  clinging  to  Gravelotte  with  his  best  troops, 
and  leaving  about  20,000  as  a  reserve  near  Metz. 

These  dispositions  of  the  French  commander, 
viewed  simply  as  defensive,  displayed  real  ability 
and  skill ;  but  the  result  was  to  illustrate  the 
truth  of  the  saying  of  the  first  Napoleon,  that  a 
defensive  position  is  always  defective  if  it  does  not 
afford  facilities  for  offence,  since  it  enables  your 
enemy  at  his  leisure  to  search  out  the  weak  points 
in  your  armour.  The  French  could  only  resist 
passively  along  the  whole  extent  of  their  front; 
they  had  no  means  of  attacking  in  return,  and 
ranges  of  woods  beyond  their  reach,  which  stretched 
before  a  great  part  of  their  centre  and  right,  gave 
a  daring  adversary  a  vantage-ground  to  turn  their 
position  at  the  weakest  end.  In  justification  of 
Bazaine,  it  ought  perhaps  to  be  remembered, 
that  he  commanded  soldiers  who  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  campaign,  before  he  assumed  the 
command,  had  known  nothing  of  victory,  and 
who  also  believed  that  they  were  ever  immensely 
outnumbered ;  though  even  then,  as  at  Vionville, 
it  was  not  true.  He  might  naturally  expect  that 
such  would  be  the  case  in  the  great  trial  of 
strength  which  was  now  impending,  and  may 
therefore  have  felt  that  his  present  duty  was 
simply  self-preservation,  as  far  as  possible,  leaving 
future  contingencies  to  be  met  in  the  best  way  he 
could,  according  to  circumstances. 

It  was  considered  by  the  Germans  that  the 
flank  march  by  the  north  road,  or  by  making  a 
wide  detour  further  north,  might  still  be  possible 
to  the  French.  Although  such  a  retreat  exposed 
them  to  great  dangers,  it  appeared  probable  that 
they  would  undertake  it,  as  the  only  mode  of 
escape  from  a  highly  unfavourable  position,  in 
which  the  army  would  be  cut  off  from  Paris,  and 
all  its  means  of  assistance.  On  the  German  side, 
the  17th  was  therefore  turned  to  account  in  bring- 
ing forward  for  a  final  struggle  the  necessary 
corps,  part  of  whom  had  already  crossed  the 
Moselle,  while  part  had  in  the  night  thrown  various 
bridges  over  it  above  Metz.  At  the  same  time  the 
enemy's  movements  were  carefully  watched  by  the 
cavalry.  His  Majesty  the  king  remained  on  the 
spot  until,  from  the  advanced  hour  of  the  day, 
further  watch  was  unnecessary. 

Count  von  Moltke  could  not  have  foreseen  the 
perfect  success  of  the  action  of  the  16th,  at  the 


time  he  ordered  his  great  flank  movement  with 
the  view  of  intercepting  the  French  retreat;  and 
it  was  therefore  necessary  to  push  forward  some 
of  the  corps  which  crossed  the  Moselle  at  Pont-a- 
Mousson  and  Diculouart,  to  a  great  distance  west 
of  the  river,  in  order  to  be  prepared  to  catch  up 
the  left  flank  of  the  French  army,  in  case  it  should 
succeed  in  effecting  its  retreat  by  the  north  road. 
On  the  17th,  and  up  to  mid-day  on  the  18th,  it 
was  not  known  at  the  German  headquarters  whether 
Bazaine  might  not  have  succeeded  in  gaining  this 
road,  through  the  hilly  country  north  of  Moulins 
and  Gravelotte.  All  these  corps  d'armee  had 
therefore  to  march  northward  on  the  17  th  from 
their  respective  positions  towards  the  southern 
road,  and  parallel  with  the  river;  and  others  which 
had  crossed  at  Dieulouart,  Pagny,  and  Corny  had 
to  march  to  the  north-west.  In  directing  the 
troops,  it  had  equally  to  be  considered  that  the 
enemy  might  try  to  escape  by  the  north  road, 
and,  perceiving  the  great  difficulty  of  this,  might 
prefer  to  accept  battle  immediately  before  Metz, 
with  his  back  turned  towards  Germany. 

This  night,  or  early  the  following  morning,  the 
Germans  had  thus  succeeded  in  bringing  into  line 
the  second,  seventh,  eighth,  ninth,  and  twelfth 
corps,  with  the  guards  and  artillery  of  the  third 
corps;  so  that,  including  the  third  and  tenth  corps 
already  in  position,  the  king  concentrated  for  the 
inevitable  attack  eight  corps  d'armee  with  the 
artillery  of  the  first  corps.  The  first  corps,  as  we 
know,  was  left  under  Von  Manteuffel,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Moselle.  The  French,  on  the  other 
hand,  had  not  of  course  been  able  to  increase  their 
strength  by  a  single  regiment,  for  all  their  reserves 
lay  far  away  at  Chalons,  and  behind  the  fortifica- 
tions of  Paris. 

Thus  Wednesday,  August  17,  was  passed  in  the 
awful  hush  between  two  mighty  conflicts,  while 
the  dead  lay  sweltering  in  the  sun,  or  were  laid  in 
yawning  pits ;  and  the  wounded  were  by  thousands 
bleeding  out  their  lives  on  the  field,  whence  it 
would  have  needed  ten  times  the  available  staff  to 
have  removed  and  properly  attended  to  them. 

An  eye-witness  of  the  scene  in  the  morning  of 
this  day,  said  it  was  beyond  all  description.  Every 
two  or  three  yards  on  the  road  from  Gorze  to  the 
battle-field,  by  which  most  of  the  Germans  had 
advanced,  might  be  seen  either  one  who  had  died 
of  his  wounds  in  the  night,  or  some  poor  wretch 
waiting   for    the    stretcher    and    surgeon's    knife. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Blood  was  literally  running  down  the  hill  to  the 
town.  Now  and  then  might  be  passed  six  or  seven 
wounded  lying  side  by  side,  attended  by  doctors 
and  nuns — improvised  out-door  hospitals,  for  every 
house  in  Gorze  was  full.  There  was  at  that  mo- 
ment in  and  around  the  town  18,000  French  and 
German  wounded,  and  as  its  population  was  only 
1500,  it  may  be  imagined  what  sort  of  accommo- 
dation these  unfortunates  had.  At  the  Chateau 
St.  Catherine,  one  mile  on  the  other  side  of  the 
town,  belonging  to  an  old  chevalier  of  the  Legion 
of  Honour,  there  were  1500  French  and  German 
soldiers  and  officers  in  different  states  of  mutilation. 
Great  indignation  was  felt  by  the  Germans,  that 
the  French  did  not  send  out  any  doctors  to  take 
charge  of  their  wounded  after  the  battle. 

Before  proceeding  to  describe  the  great  battle  of 
the  18th,  it  may  be  proper  to  notice  two  other 
movements  which  might  have  been  made  by 
Bazaine  after  the  battle  on  the  16th,  and  for  not 
adopting  which  he  has  been  blamed  by  some 
military  critics.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  said  by 
some — amongst  others,  by  the  writer  who  so 
ably  sketched  the  progress  of  the  war  week  by 
week  in  the  Saturday  Review,  and  to  whom  we 
would  here  express  our  indebtedness — he  ought 
to  have  resumed  offensive  operations  early  on 
the  morning  of  the  17th.  Of  the  troops  under 
his  command  a  very  large  proportion  had  not  been 
seriously  engaged  the  day  before.  They  had  suf- 
fered nothing  of  the  depression  of  defeat,  and, 
although  strategically  outmanoeuvred,  officers  and 
men  at  that  moment  undoubtedly  regarded  the 
day's  proceedings  as  successful,  and  would  have 
been  in  good  spirits  to  recommence  the  engage- 
ment. The  Germans  could  certainly  not  have 
brought  more  than  half  their  army  at  most  into 
action  before  late  in  the  next  day.  Their  total 
strength  in  the  district  was  a  paper  force  of 
330,000  men,  reduced  by  casualties,  and  the  actual 
necessity  of  leaving  one  corps  on  their  communica- 
tions eastward  of  Metz,  to  220,000.  Bazaine  might 
therefore  have  resumed  the  offensive  early  on  the 
17th  with  a  preponderance  of  force  on  his  side 
all  the  early  part  of  the  day,  and  with  the  impetus 
derived  from  a  supposed  success  already  won  (that 
element  of  good  fighting  so  peculiarly  essential 
to  the  French  soldier),  to  impel  his  men  to  their 
utmost  efforts.  Possibly,  perhaps  even  probably, 
he  might  have  attacked  only  to  be  severely  beaten. 
But  it  is  clear  that  he  could  not  have  suffered  much 


more  at  the  time,  nor  more  at  all  in  the  end,  than 
he  did  by  adopting  the  determination  of  falling 
back  to  fight  a  wholly  defensive  action  within 
reach  of  the  works  of  Metz,  and  in  what  he  judged 
a  safer  position,  from  its  own  natural  strength 
and  its  proximity  to  the  works,  for  receiving  the 
enemy.  Two  most  material  consequences  followed. 
The  veil  at  once  fell  from  the  eyes  of  his  men, 
who  found  themselves  henceforth  half  imprisoned, 
struggling  for  liberty  instead  of  striking  for  victory; 
and,  besides,  every  mile  that  he  retired  made  easier 
the  task  which  devolved  on  Von  Moltke  of  follow- 
ing up  the  retreat,  and  wheeling  the  whole  second 
army  to  the  right,  corps  by  corps,  to  front  the 
enemy  completely.  The  marches  of  the  guards 
and  Saxons,  for  instance,  who  formed  his  extreme 
left,  were  diminished  one  half  by  this  move  of  his 
adversary,  and  the  next  day  saw  the  whole  German 
army  with  its  face  towards  the  east,  and  its  back 
to  the  enemy's  communications,  in  a  manner  that 
would  have  been  wholly  impossible  had  Bazaine 
retained  a  more  advanced  position. 

Other  critics  think  Bazaine  missed  a  great  oppor- 
tunity, on  the  night  of  the  17th  and  the  morning 
of  the  18ch,  in  not  retreating  with  a  large  portion 
of  his  forces  through  Metz,  and  endeavouring  to 
entice  the  Germans  back  over  the  Moselle,  and 
defeat  them  in  detail.  The  data  on  which  they 
base  their  conclusions  are,  that  the  distance  from 
Metz  to  his  different  divisions  varied  from  one  to 
eight  miles.  On  the  night  of  the  17th  the  king's 
army  had  all  passed  to  the  western  side  of  the 
Moselle,  taking  along  with  it  even  the  artillery 
of  Manteuffel's  (first)  corps,  which  was  left  alone 
on  the  eastern  bank  to  observe  Metz,  and  to  protect 
the  German  communications.  Here,  then,  was  a 
rare  opportunity.  To  reach  and  overwhelm  Man- 
teuffel,  Bazaine's  troops  could  march  by  the 
diameter,  through  the  town  and  over  the  bridges  of 
Metz,  while,  to  sustain  him,  the  German  troops  must 
move  round  the  circumference,  their  most  available 
bridges  being  at  a  distance  of  nearly  ten  miles  from 
the  town.  For  this  purpose  the  French  divisions 
of  the  right  wing,  extending  from  Bezonville  to 
St.  Privat,  should  have  been  withdrawn  in  succes- 
sion from  the  right,  before  dawn  on  the  18th;  the 
line  of  outposts  being  left  to  face  the  enemy  to  the 
last  moment.  The  turning  movement  of  the 
Germans  by  St.  Privat  was  not  completed  until 
past  three  in  the  afternoon  of  the  18th,  and  the 
whole   country  being  thickly  wooded,  the   with- 


376 


THE  FRANCO-PEUSSIAN  WAR. 


drawal  of  the  French  could  not  have  been  discovered 
at  the  earliest  before  noon,  when  the  first  attack 
was  made  on  them  at  Verneville  by  the  ninth 
corps.  This,  to  say  nothing  of  the  advantage  in 
distance,  would  have  given  them  a  start,  in  time 
alone,  of  eight  hours,  which  ought  to  have  sufficed 
for  the  discomfiture  of  Manteuffel  east  of  Metz. 
Owing  to  the  position  of  the  bridges,  the  German 
divisions  nearest  to  the  river  would  have  had  to 
march  at  least  twelve  miles  to  succour  Manteuffel, 
and  the  sound  of  the  French  guns  would  have 
given  the  first  intimation  of  the  necessity.  Had 
they  come  to  his  support  one  after  another,  they 
might  have  been  beaten  in  detail ;  and  any  attempt 
of  the  German  corps,  which  had  reached  the  Briey 
and  North  Verdun  roads,  to  follow  the  French  into 


the  fortress,  would  have  been  obviously  hopeless, 
and  just  what  Bazaine  ought  to  have  desired.  The 
operation  was  safe  and  easy,  and  if  properly  con- 
ducted, must  have  succeeded.  Even  though  the 
result  physically  might  not  have  been  great,  the 
moral  effect  of  such  a  success  would  have  been 
of  incalculable  advantage  to  the  army  and  to  the 
nation.  "  All  military  science,"  say  the  critics 
who  take  this  view  of  the  case,  "  is  useless,  if  the 
possession  of  a  secure  central  situation — between 
the  two  parts  of  a  superior  hostile  army,  separated 
from  each  other  by  obstacles  or  by  distance — is  to 
confer  no  advantage  to  remedy  the  disproportion  of 
numbers."  The  marshal's  own  explanation  of  his 
conduct  at  this  time  is  given  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  next  chapter. 


.  surMc 


AM    MACKENZI 


BATTLE    OF    G  RAVELOTT E 

August     18^     1870. 


FRENCH      After  the  Fight  PRUSSIANS  After  the  f.ght 


KiiiHtirirrs 

3  Mies 


EngEaraa  by  B.VaBi«- 


EDINBURGH   &  CLASGQ 


CHAPTER      XII. 


Position  of  the  First  and  Second  German  Armies  on  the  morning  of  August  18 — The  Tactics  of  their  Commanders— March  right  across  the 
French  Front — The  great  importance  of  this  Operation — The  Germans  hope  to  surround  Bazaine  and  his  Army — Commencement  of  the 
Great  Battle  of  Gravelotte  by  the  Ninth  German  Corps,  at  Verneville — Extension  of  the  Action  to  the  whole  of  the  French  Right  and  Right 
Centre— The  Storming  of  St.  Privat  by  the  Prussian  Guards— Description  of  the  Village  and  strength  of  its  Position— Gallant  Advance  of 
the  Germans — Fearful  Slaughter  in  their  Ranks — A  Halt  commanded— Resumption  of  the  Attack  and  Dislodgement  of  the  French — The 
Luxuries  in  the  French  tents — A  German  Officer's  opinion  of  the  French  Soldiers — Description  of  an  Attack  on  the  Village  further  to  the  Left 
—  Sanguinary  Encounter — The  Prussian  Guards  lose  exactly  half  their  number — Similar  loss  amongst  a  Battalion  of  Rifles — Extract  from  a 
Letter  written  on  the  spot  by  one  of  its  Officers,  giving  a  vivid  Description  of  the  Engagement — The  French  lose  a  great  opportunity  in  not 
assuming  the  Offensive — Successful  Bayonet  Charge  by  the  Germans— Success  of  the  Germans  at  Verneville — Panic  in  the  Village 
of  Rezonville — Heroic  Conduct  of  the  Medical  Staff — The  Attack  on  the  Formidable  Position  occupied  by  the  French  Left  at  Grave- 
lotte— They  are  not  to  be  out-manoeuvred — Murderous  Contest  on  the  Slopes  of  Gravelotte — Description  of  the  French  Position  on  their 
Summit,  and  the  Farm-honse  of  La  Villette — Excellent  Practice  of  the  French  Artillery— Advance  of  the  Germans — Shelling  the  Farm- 
house of  Malmaison  by  the  French,  and  Retreat  of  the  Germans  from  it — Gradual  advance  of  the  German  Cavalry— Desperate  effort  of  the 
French  to  maintain  their  hold  on  the  Verdun  Road— They  are  at  last  driven  back,  and  the  Germans  concentrate  all  their  attack  on  the 
French  Centre  at  La  Villette— The  most  fearful  massacre  ever  known  in  War,  caused  by  some  Batteries  of  Mitrailleuses— Regiment  after 
Regiment  driven  back— Coolness  and  Bravery  of  both  Officers  and  Men — General  Steinmetz  and  the  Artillery  Officer — The  King  of  Prussia 
and  Count  von  Bismarck  on  the  Battle-field — The  firing  slackens  on  both  sides — It  is  suddenly  re-opened  by  the  French  and  a  Regular  Panic 
is  caused  in  the  German  Ranks — A  Grand  Opportunity  missed  by  the  French — The  Flying  Troops  rallied  by  the  King  in  Person — Oppor- 
tune arrival  of  the  Second  (Pomeranian)  Corps  and  successful  Storming  of  the  French  Position  at  the  Crest  of  the  Plateau — The  Position 
occupied  by  the  King  and  his  Staff  to  witness  this  Attack — Gallant  Conduct  of  the  Troops  on  both  Sides— The  French  Right  and  Centre 
having  been  outflanked  the  Left  is  obliged  to  retreat — Capture  of  some  Citizens  of  Metz  who  had  come  to  witness  the  Battle — His  Majesty 
and  Staff  after  the  Engagement— Arrival  of  Count  von  Moltke  with  the  tidings  of  Victory— A  Painting  made  of  the  Scene  by  the  King's 
orders— Letter  from  His  Majesty  on  the  following  day  describing  the  Battle— Official  Description  of  the  Engagement — The  Losses  in  both 
Armies— General  Review  of  the  whole  Engagement  and  its  Results — The  Scene  on  the  Battle-field  and  in  the  neighbouring  Villages— 
The  opinion  of  German  Critics  as  to  what  Bazaine  might  have  done  the  day  after  the  Battle— Description  of  the  Action  as  it  appeared  to  an 
Impartial  Observer  on  the  French  Side,  and  General  Opinion  there  with  regard  to  it — The  German  Success  attributed  solely  to  their  Unfailing 
Supply  of  Men— Scarcity  of  Ammunition  on  the  part  of  the  French — Extraordinary  Conduct  of  their  Generals— A  Regiment  shot  down 
without  being  able  to  fire  a  shot  in  return — Shelling  an  Ambulance— Fearful  Scene — A  Regiment  with  only  68  men  left  out  of  1100! — 
Disgraceful  Panic  whilst  retreating— Scene  on  the  Road— Inactivity  of  the  French  Guard — Valour  of  the  Germans— State  of  the  French 
Troops — Uselessness  of  the  Engagement  on  the  part  of  the  French — General  Order  of  Marshal  Bazaine — His  own  Explanation  of  his  Con- 
duct from  the  time  he  assumed  the  Command  to  his  being  shut  up  in  Metz — Construction  of  a  Railway  by  the  Germans — Instance  of  the 
Wonderful  Foresight  manifested  by  them. 


THE    BATTLE    OF    GRAVELOTTE. 

On  the  morning  of  the  18th  the  first  and  second 
German  armies  stood  thus:  first  corps  and  third 
cavalry  division  at  Pange,  on  the  right  bank; 
seventh  corps  at  Ars-sur-Moselle  and  Vaux ;  eighth 
and  ninth  corps  and  first  cavalry  division  at  Gorze. 
The  task  allotted  to  this  portion  of  the  first  army 
was  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  debouching  by 
Moulins  les  Metz,  whilst  the  second  army  was 
performing  a  movement  intended,  first,  to  prevent 
the  French  from  retreating  by  the  north  road  to 
Etain,  and  secondly,  to  assist  an  attack  on  their 
left  at  Gravelotte,  should  it  be  ascertained  that  they 
were  not  attempting  to  continue  their  retreat. 
The  position  they  had  taken  up  at  this  village  was 
so  strong,  that  it  was  seen  it  would  be  exceedingly 
difficult  to  carry  it ;  and  it  was  therefore  resolved 
to  move  a  large  part  of  the  vast  force  now  at  the 


disposal  of  the  German  commanders  across  the  front 
of  Bazaine's  army,  to  assail  and  turn  his  right  wing, 
while  the  left  was  simultaneously  attacked,  in  the 
hope  that  through  the  pressure  thus  brought  on  it, 
the  whole  French  fine  would  gradually  give  way, 
and  be  driven  under  the  guns  of  Metz,  there  to  be 
isolated  and  completely  cut  off.  For  this  purpose, 
not  less  than  five  corps  were  to  execute  the 
great  turning  movement,  while  three  occupied  the 
French  left.  The  strength  of  the  Germans  would, 
it  was  considered,  render  the  march  across  the  front 
of  Bazaine  less  dangerous  than  it  appeared,  while 
the  intervening  lines  of  wood  would  cover  the 
movement  in  a  great  degree,  and  prevent  a  serious 
attack  by  the  French.  The  leading  corps  of  the 
second  army  were  thus  to  form  an  Echelon  from 
the  left  wing  forwards :  the  twelfth  corps  advancing 
from  Mars-la-Tour  on  Jouaville ;  the  guards  to  the 
east  of  Mars-la-Tour  by  Bruville  on  Doncourt-en- 
3b 


378 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


Jarnisy,  and  still  farther  to  the  east  between  Vion- 
ville  and  Bezonville;  and  the  ninth  corps  by  St. 
Marcel  to  Cautre  Ferme:  in  fact,  as  already  stated, 
they  started  from  the  south  road  to  gain  the  end 
points  just  named  on  the  north  road,  that  in  the  first 
instance  they  might  possibly  come  on  the  flank  of 
the  French  army  filing  ofF  towards  Etain  by  the 
same  way.  Large  bodies  of  Prussian  and  Saxon 
cavalry  preceded  these  columns,  which  were  fol- 
lowed by  a  second  line  consisting  of  the  tenth  and 
third  corps,  with  the  second  corps,  the  last  of  which 
marched  from  Pont-a-Mousson  by  Buxieres  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  as  a  last  reserve.  At  half-past 
ten  it  was  evident  that  Bazaine's  force  had  not  left 
the  environs  of  Metz;  and  the  corps  forming  the 
echelon  received  orders  to  turn  to  the  right,  the 
ninth  corps  from  Cautre  Ferme  by  Verneville  and 
Amanvillers,  the  guards  and  the  twelfth  corps  from 
Done  ourt-en- Jarnisy,  on  St.  Privat  la  Montagne 
and  Ste.  Marie-aux-Chenes,  with  the  view  of  bring- 
ing them  out  on  the  high  road  leading  from  Metz 
to  Briey,  and  shutting  up  Bazaine  in  Metz. 

Non-professional  readers  can  hardly  comprehend 
sufficiently  the  merits  of  an  operation  of  this  mag- 
nitude. Upwards  of  200,000  infantry  and  cavalry, 
with  an  immense  force  of  artillery,  were  directed 
with  such  precision  against  a  line  about  eight 
English  miles  in  length,  that  not  one  single  opening 
was  left  to  the  enemy  to  effect  a  breach  in  the 
German  line.  The  credit  of  conceiving  such  a 
manoeuvre  is  due  to  Count  von  Moltke,  but  the 
rapid  and  precise  working  out  of  the  details 
reflects  the  greatest  credit  on  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  and  his  staff  officers. 

The  position  of  the  different  French  corps  at 
this  time  was  as  follows: — Canrobert,  with  the 
sixth,  was  camped  on  the  high  lands  of  St.  Privat; 
L'Admirault  and  the  fourth,  between  St.  Privat 
and  Amanvillers,  forming,  with  Frossard  and  the 
second,  the  centre  of  the  position ;  whilst  Lebceuf 
and  the  third  extended  down  towards  Gravelotte. 
Marshal  Bazaine  and  the  imperial  guard  occupied 
Chatel,  perched  on  the  edge  of  the  river  which 
separates  that  high  table-land  from  St.  Quentin. 

The  Germans  hoped  at  one  time  to  have  been 
able  to  do  even  more  than  shut  up  the  French  in 
Metz.  It  had  been  decided  that  if  they  were  found 
intrenched  on  the  Etain  road,  only  a  slight  attack 
should  at  first  be  made  on  their  right,  hoping  thus  to 
tempt  Bazaine  from  the  strong  position  he  occupied 
near  Gravelotte.     In  that  case  the  Germans  could 


immediately  have  thrown  between  him  and  the  forts 
of  St.  Quentin  and  Plappeville,  and  the  town  of 
Metz,  the  whole  of  their  seventh  army  corps,  which 
had  been  brought  up  from  Gorze  on  the  previous 
night  through  the  Bois  des  Ognons,  and  now  lay 
concealed  by  it  on  their  extreme  right.  They  would 
thus  have  had  troops  enough  to  surround  Bazaine 
and  his  army.  If  they  could  not  cut  him  off  from 
this  position  on  his  left,  their  course  then  was  to 
attack  him  there  at  any  risk,  and  drive  him  into 
Metz.  Had  Bazaine  fallen  into  the  trap  thus  set 
for  him  when  a  feeble  attack  was  made  at  the 
commencement  of  the  battle  by  the  German  left, 
and  abandoned  the  strong  position  on  his  left  in 
the  belief  that  the  enemy  were  not  in  great  force, 
the  subsequent  disaster  at  Sedan  was  not  more 
complete  than  his  would  then  have  been. 

The  ninth  German  corps  was  the  first  to  engage, 
about  mid-day,  some  advanced  detachments  of  the 
enemy  at  Verneville,  a  hamlet  in  the  centre  of  the 
French  position.  From  the  German  batteries  at  this 
point  to  Lebffiuf  s  position  in  front  of  Amanvillers, 
runs  a  long  ridge  of  land,  and  on  this  was  a  small 
farm  called  Montigny  la  Grange.  It  was  there  that 
the  first  shells  fell,  and  soon  after  the  artillery 
thundered  out  on  both  sides  all  along  the  line  to 
St  Privat.  Taking  advantage  of  the  two  woods 
of  Dosenillions  and  De  la  Cusse,  the  Germans 
pushed  forward  enormous  masses  of  men,  not  only 
with  the  view  of  supporting  the  attack  here,  but 
of  assisting  in  that  which  they  knew  would  soon 
be  made  from  Ste.  Marie-aux-Chenes  on  the  strong 
French  position  at  St.  Privat. 

Meantime  the  Prussian  guards,  followed  by  the 
twelfth  corps,  continued  their  north-easterly  march 
towards  this  point.  When  they  reached  St.  Privat, 
which  was  not  till  half-past  three,  they  wheeled 
up  to  the  right  for  the  attack ;  the  twelfth  corps  in 
the  rear  doing  the  same,  and  prolonging  the  line 
towards  the  left.  The  third  and  tenth  corps,  at 
first  held  in  reserve,  filled  the  gap  between  the 
ninth  corps  (engaged  at  Verneville)  and  Vionville. 
Thus  gradually  the  French  right  and  right 
centre,  from  Amanvillers  to  Boncourt,  was  beset 
by  a  vast  host  of  assailants,  who,  issuing  from 
the  woods  and  swarming  up  the  heights,  endea- 
voured to  seize  the  road  to  Verdun  and  to  break 
through  or  outflank  the  enemy's  line.  The  resist- 
ance, however,  was  fierce  and  obstinate  ;  every 
point  of  defence  was  hotly  contested;  and  it  was 
not  until  the  evening  that  St.  Privat  was  stormed 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


379 


by  the  Prussian  guarcjs,  and  a  lodgment  effected 
there  in  the  French  position. 

The  storming  of  this  village,  the  extreme  right 
of  the  French,  and  after  which  the  battle  is  generally 
called  by  them,  was  exceedingly  sanguinary,  and 
the  loss  amongst  the  Prussian  guards  was  fearful. 
The  village  stands  on  a  steep  and  lofty  cliff,  which 
commands  the  ground  for  many  miles  round.  It 
had  many  stone  buildings  of  considerable  height, 
which  offered  great  facilities  for  defensive  purposes ; 
and  both  its  position  and  the  houses  had  been 
turned  to  excellent  account  by  the  French.  In 
fact,  the  earthworks  they  had  thrown  up,  and  the 
heaps  of  manure  and  trenches  that  existed,  gave 
them  almost  the  advantages  of  a  regular  fortress. 
They  also  felt  all  the  more  secure,  as  the  ground 
around  is  perfectly  bare  ;  and  as  the  attacking 
party,  as  soon  as  it  could  be  descried  in  the  dis- 
tance, would  be  unavoidably  exposed  to  the  full 
effect  of  their  guns,  they  thought  they  had  done 
enough,  and  might  confidently  await  coming  events. 

The  German  artillery,  consisting  at  first  of  nine, 
and  afterwards  eleven  batteries,  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  Prince  Hohenlohe,  began  the 
attack.  Towards  four  o'clock,  that  is,  after  an 
incessant  cannonade  of  three  hours,  the  enemy's 
guns  were  silenced  by  these  batteries,  and  the 
infantry  were  then  ordered  to  advance.  It  was 
essential  to  come  to  close  quarters  before  dark,  as 
the  enemy  might  otherwise  effect  his  retreat  with- 
out very  serious  losses,  and  force  another  battle 
upon  the  Germans  the  day  after.  At  five  o'clock, 
therefore,  the  brigade  which  formed  the  first  line 
of  the  assaulting  party  left  a  ravine  in  which  it 
had  sought  shelter,  and  marched  against  the  vil- 
lage. As  soon  as  they  were  observed  a  most 
destructive  fire  was  opened  upon  them.  After  a 
few  minutes  numbers  of  them  were  lying  on  the 
ground,  and  the  nearer  they  proceeded  the  greater 
the  losses  they  sustained.  Nor  had  they  even  the 
satisfaction  of  retaliating  upon  their  adversaries, 
who,  stationed  behind  houses  and  walls,  or  crouch- 
ing in  ditches,  were  perfectly  invisible  to  the 
advancing  troops,  and  could  not  be  fired  at  with 
any  effect.  All  the  generals  and  staff- officers 
were  mounted  in  front  of  the  attacking  party,  and 
after  a  short  time  were  either  shot  or  had  their 
horses  killed  under  them.  The  enemy's  fire  was 
like  a  hailstorm,  extending  over  a  distance  of  at 
least  1500  paces  in  front  of  the  hills.  The  noise 
it   made   completely  drowned  the   German   com- 


mands, and  the  smoke  rendered  it  impossible  for 
their  men  to  handle  their  weapons  with  the  re- 
motest chance  of  success.  Yet  the  guards  did  not 
hesitate  for  a  moment.  On  they  went,  strewing 
the  ground  with  their  dead  and  wounded,  deter- 
mined to  conquer  or  to  fall.  Long  before  they 
had  reached  the  enemy  their  losses  had,  however, 
been  so  tremendous,  that  the  prince  of  Wurtem- 
burg,  their  commander,  gave  orders  to  halt  until 
the  Saxons  had  made  some  impression  on  the  right 
wing  of  the  hostile  position.  This  and  another 
engagement  of  artillery,  who  were  again  sent  to 
the  front  and  resumed  operations  against  the  solid 
masonry  of  the  village,  delayed  the  progress  of  the 
advancing  troops  for  some  time.  At  last  the  vil- 
lage took  fire,  and  they  had  some  hopes  of  being 
able  to  penetrate  through  the  shower  of  missiles 
which  were  still  falling  as  fast  and  thick  as  ever. 
At  half-past  six  they  resumed  the  charge.  The 
French,  though  their  flank  had  been  now  turned 
by  the  Saxons,  still  fought  with  desperate  valour, 
and  defended  every  single  house  in  the  place. 
Within  fifteen  minutes,  however,  the  Germans 
dislodged  them  entirely,  when  their  ranks  sud- 
denly broke,  and  the  mass,  which  had  made  so 
long  and  obstinate  a  resistance,  at  once  retreated 
towards  Metz.  * 

The  cost  of  victory,  however,  in  this  part  of 
the  field  as  well  as  at  Gravelotte,  necessarily 
damped  the  joy  of  the  Germans.  Nearly  all  the 
officers  in  the  brigade  which  first  advanced  were 
either  killed  or  wounded.  The  rank  and  file  like- 
wise presented  a  frightful  quota  of  casualties. 
Every  one  lamented  the  death  of  a  relation,  a 
friend,  or  an  acquaintance.  They  passed  the  night 
on  the  battle-field,  many  of  them  sleeping  in  the 
tents  which  the  enemy  had  left  behind  him. 
Abundant  luxuries  and  comforts  were  discovered 
in  those  of  the  officers.  Beds  and  chairs,  rockers, 
curtains,  and  carpets  adorned  the  temporary  abodes 
of  these  refined  gentlemen;  nor  was  there  any  lack 
even  of  perfumery  and  looking-glasses.  What  a 
contrast  to  the  Germans,  who  had  been  sleeping 
on  the  bare  ground,  their  generals  lying  down 
with  the  rest  whenever  they  could  not  find  shelter 
in  a  village !  A  German  officer  who  was  present 
said,  "When  we  looked  at  the  French  tents,  and 
the  numerous  impedimenta  contained  in  them, 
we  quite  understood  why  they  cannot  march  so 
rapidly  as  we  do.  But,  to  give  them  their  due, 
they  fought  well  while  under  cover.     As  long  as 


380 


THE  FRANCO-PKUSSIAN  WAR 


they  kept  behind  walls,  their  conduct  etait  tout  ce 
qui  peut  etre  desird.  As  to  assuming  the  offensive, 
they  never  thought  of  it.  They  are  brave  soldiers, 
and  slaughtered  us  in  the  most  terrific  style;  yet 
there  is  no  denying  that  they  have  lost  the  elan 
that  formerly  distinguished  them,  and  place  greater 
confidence  in  a  ditch  and  a  long-range  gun  than 
in  anything  else." 

Another  brigade,  which  attacked  the  village  to 
the  left  of  that  whose  movements  we  have  just 
described,  had  to  adopt  the  manoeuvre  of  advancing 
at  a  double  and  then  lying  down  some  half  dozen 
times,  leaving  an  enormous  number  of  dead  and 
wounded  in  their  rear  as  they  advanced,  until  at 
last  they  gained  the  road,  which  was  some  400  or 
600  yards  from  the  village ;  they  then  sought  cover 
in  the  ditches,  and  only  showed  the  points  of  their 
helmets.  Their  leader  and  several  officers  had 
already  been  wounded  and  withdrawn  to  the  rear. 
When  they  had  sheltered  themselves  in  the  ditches 
they  poured  forth  volley  after  volley,  until  they 
had  expended  fifty  cartridges,  and  then  came  the 
order  to  storm  the  village.  The  men,  springing 
up,  formed  in  the  middle  of  the  road  and  advanced 
at  the  charge;  but  the  enemy's  fire  became  so 
deadly  that  they  were  driven  back  to  the  ditches 
again.  At  this  important  moment  artillery,  which 
had  hitherto  been  unable  to  advance  owing  to  the 
inequality  and  roughness  of  the  ground,  appeared 
in  the  rear  and  opened  fire.  The  first  shot  de- 
molished a  wall  which  had  served  as  a  cover  for 
more  than  100  of  the  enemy's  men,  who  were  now 
exposed  to  the  fire  of  German  musketry.  A  second 
shot  struck  the  roof  of  a  stable,  smashing  the  tiles 
and  setting  it  in  flames,  which  caused  a  whole 
division  of  the  enemy  to  make  a  speedy  exit.  The 
German  artillery  kept  up  their  fire,  demolishing 
walls  and  burning  houses  and  stables,  until  at  last 
nearly  every  building  was  destroyed.  Meantime, 
the  brigade  advanced  to  the  principal  entrance  of 
the  town.  With  their  bayonets,  and  the  butt-ends 
of  their  muskets,  they  broke  open  the  barred  doors 
and  windows  of  the  first  house;  and  on  their 
entrance  fifty  of  the  enemy,  finding  all  hope  of 
retreat  cut  off,  surrendered  themselves  into  their 
hands.  From  each  stable,  cellar,  and  corner  issued 
the  French,  and  the  combat  was  renewed  with  the 
fiercest  obstinacy.  The  arrival  of  the  Augusta 
regiment  and  the  artillery  upon  their  right,  and 
the  second  regiment  of  the  guard  and  the  fusiliers 
upon  their  left,  enabled  them  to  drive  the  enemy 


completely  out  of  the  village  and  capture  a  large 
number  of  prisoners.  The  French  had,  however, 
here  made  a  very  stout  resistance.  When  the 
Germans  were  all  collected  in  this  place,  a  division 
of  the  enemy's  artillery  took  up  a  position  in  a 
neighbouring  village  and  poured  volleys  of  grape 
amongst  them ;  but  they  were  soon  silenced  by  the 
advancing  troops  of  the  Saxon  corps  d'armee. 

In  these  encounters  the  guards  lost  exactly  half 
their  number,  and  more  than  that  proportion  of 
officers.  Amongst  the  latter  was  Prince  Salm, 
who  accompanied  the  Archduke  Maximilian  to 
Mexico,  and  so  narrowly  escaped  sharing  his  fate. 
On  his  right  arm  being  shattered  by  a  shot,  he 
picked  up  his  fallen  sword  with  the  left  and  con- 
tinued the  attack.  Another  shot  in  the  arm  he 
disregarded,  until  he  was  mortally  struck  in  the 
chest.  "  Have  we  conquered?"  he  asked  a  clergy- 
man who  stood  by  his  couch.  "  Yes."  "  Then 
all  is  well ;  comfort  my  wife,"  were  his  last  words. 
The  Queen  Augusta  regiment,  to  which  he  be- 
longed, had  on  this  day  28  officers  and  900  rank 
and  file  struck  off  its  muster-roll. 

By  the  side  of  the  guards,  between  Verneville 
and  St.  Privat,  fought  a  battalion  of  rifles,  which 
also  left  more  than  half  its  men  on  the  ground. 
The  following  extract  from  a  letter,  written  by  one 
of  its  officers  immediately  after  the  battle,  gives  a 
good  description  of  the  scene : — 

"  After  a  march  of  thirty  miles  we  reached  the  vil- 
lage of  Mars-la-Tour,  where  the  guards  met.  We 
slept  in  the  cottages  and  mustered  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  At  five  o'clock  we  left,  but  pro- 
ceeded slowly,  our  rear  being  some  distance  behind. 
At  a  quarter  to  eight  we  were  in  our  allotted  posi- 
tion. Colonel  Knappe  had  just  given  us  the  ordre 
de  bataille  when  the  news  arrived  the  enemy  had 
drawn  off.  But  it  was  a  false  report.  We  lay 
down  on  the  ground,  and  at  half-past  twelve  were 
ordered  to  form  columns  of  attack  and  proceed  to 
the  front.  Marching  forward,  we  soon  heard  the 
thunder  of  the  guns  and  the  harsh  grating  of  the 
mitrailleuse.  Presently  the  needle  guns  join  in 
on  our  right,  and  the  military  orchestra,  which 
we  have  listened  to  so  many  times  before,  was 
again  complete.  The  ninth  corps  d'armee  was 
engaged  at  Verneville.  When  the  guards  attack 
and  the  Saxons  outflank  the  enemy's  left,  he  will 
not  be  long  in  giving  way.  So  we  are  led  to  think ; 
but  man  proposes  and  God  disposes. 

"  Towards  one  o'clock  we  saw  the  battle  before 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


381 


us.  The  artillery  of  the  guards  and  the  Saxons 
were  already  engaged.  Close  to  us  we  had  the 
first  division  of  the  guards,  concealed  by  an  undu- 
lation of  the  ground  ;  to  our  left  the  Saxons  were 
struggling  manfully.  We  watched  the  shells  of 
our  artillery  as  they  burst  with  remarkable  pre- 
cision among  the  tirailleurs  of  the  enemy.  Queen 
Augusta's  regiment  was  the  first  ordered  to  support 
the  Saxons ;  the  turn  of  a  battahon  of  the  '  Emperor 
Alexander '  came  next.  The  Saxons  were  evidently 
gaining  ground  in  their  flank  movement,  and  all 
went  well.  I  must  say  we  began  to  be  disgusted 
with  playing  the  part  of  spectators.  At  last  we 
moved  to  support  the  Hessians  on  our  right.  We 
stopped  again  in  a  slight  hollow,  until  at  last  there 
came  the  command,  '  Rifles  to  the  front ! '  Now 
we  are  in  for  it  in  right  earnest.  It  is  a  quarter  to 
five,  and  as  we  begin  to  advance  we  get  a  taste  of 
Chassepot  balls. 

"  '  Second  company  to  the  right ;  first  to  the 
left.'  As  we  are  turning  a  copse  we  are  suddenly 
in  the  thick  of  it.  Into  the  copse  then,  and  along 
its  outskirts.  The  fire  is  heavy,  but  as  yet  the 
balls  fall  short  of  us.  At  first  we  are  at  a  loss  to 
make  out  whence  they  come.  Can  it  be  that  we 
are  fired  at  from  the  heights  in  front,  at  a  distance 
of  at  least  1800  paces?  As  we  proceed  our  doubts 
are  set  at  rest.  We  have  the  enemy  really  before 
us,  and  in  a  few  minutes  begin  to  suffer  very  per- 
ceptibly. Forward  !  forward !  Spreading  out  in 
thin  lines,  we  are  running  on  while  our  breath 
lasts.  But  we  are  exhausted  even  before  we  can 
see  the  enemy,  so  great  is  the  distance,  and  so 
steadily  ascending  the  long-stretching  slope  we 
have  to  go  over.  Stop !  We  are  still  at  1000  paces 
from  the  French,  and  must  take  breath  before  we 
proceed.  Not  a  shot  is  fired.  Now  on  again  a 
few  hundred  paces,  right  into  a  potato-field.  Stop 
again,  fire  a  few  shots,  and  now  at  them  at  a  run. 

"  At  last  we  succeeded  in  getting  near  enough 
to  see  the  heads  of  the  French  popping  out  of 
their  ditches.  As  usual,  they  were  in  rifle  pits  on 
the  slope  and  top  of  the  hill*     By  this  time  very 

*  It  would  seem  that  the  statements  of  the  Germans  with  regard  to 
the  French  having  availed  themselves  so  much  of  the  protection  of 
rifle-pits  in  these  battles  around  iletz,  must  be  accepted  with  reserve. 
At  all  events  Mr.  Robinson,  of  the  Manchester  Guardian,  who  was 
present  on  the  French  side  at  each  of  the  three  engagements,  says  in 
his  "Fall  of  Metz,"  "  I  would  here  disabuse  the  minds  of  those  who  have 
imbibed  the  idea  that  the  French  always  fought  from  rifle  pits.  Un- 
fortunately it  is  not  true.  Spade  drill,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  has  no 
existence  in  the  French  service.  Had  it  existed,  many  a  thousand  men 
now  dead  might  still  be  living.  The  supposition  of  these  mythic  rifle 
pits  has  probably  arisen  from  the  fact  that  when  thrown  out  in  skir- 


many  of  us  had  fallen,  and  we  halted,  on  wholly 
unprotected  ground,  to  exchange  some  rounds  with 
the  enemy.  Captain  Baron  von  Arnim  was  shot 
in  the  foot,  but  remained  sitting  in  our  midst  to 
direct  the  movements  of  the  company.  He  soon 
got  another  ball  in  his  breast,  when  he  had  to  give 
it  up.  Finding  we  could  not  do  much  execution, 
we  betook  ourselves  to  our  feet  again,  and  ran  to 
within  500  paces  of  the  enemy.  Now  at  last  we 
had  a  fling  at  them.  I  measured  the  distance 
myself,  took  a  dead  man's  rifle,  and  popped  away 
as  fast  and  as  well  as  I  could.  At  this  juncture 
Major  von  Fabeck  was  shot,  Captain  von  Hagen 
was  shot,  four  men  next  to  me  were  shot.  We 
were  in  skirmishing  order,  and  beginning  to  melt 
away  like  wax.  In  front  stood  the  French,  con- 
cealed in  excavations  up  to  their  very  eyes ;  behind 
us,  for  a  distance  of  800  paces,  the  ground  was 
strewn  with  dead  and  wounded.  If  we  had  been 
strong  enough  we  should  have  tried  to  cross  bay- 
onets, but  our  numbers  had  already  been  so  very 
much  reduced  that  we  could  not  think  of  making 
the  attempt.  Indeed,  had  the  French  assumed  the 
offensive  they  must  have  taken  or  killed  every  man 
of  us.  But  according  to  their  practice  they  kept 
in  their  ditches,  and  were  quite  satisfied  with 
slaughtering  us  at  a  distance.  The  thing  became 
perfectly  unendurable,  and  there  arose  a  low  mur- 
mur in  our  lines  that  we  had  better  fly  at  them  at 
any  expense,  and  knock  down  as  many  as  we  could 
while  there  were  any  of  us  left  to  do  it.  At  this 
moment  Captain  von  Berger,  the  adjutant  of  our 
brigadier,  came  up  at  a  gallop,  shouting  from  a 
distance,  and  ordering  us  to  remain  where  we  were 
if  we  would  escape  being  taken  prisoners.  So  we 
just  stood  our  ground  until  troops  were  perceived 
coming  to  our  support  in  the  distance,  when  we  all 
advanced  again,  and  at  300  paces  once  more  opened 
a  murderous  fire.  All  through  my  men  were  very 
calm  and  self-possessed.  Under  the  circumstances 
they  could  not  but  know  that  the  greater  part,  and 
perhaps  all  of  them,  had  got  to  die.  Yet  they  were 
as  tranquil  as  the  few  of  their  officers  still  remain- 
ing, and  looked  with  perfect  equanimity  upon  the 

mishing  order,  the  French  soldier  almost  always  fires  a  plat  ventre, 
so  that  only  his  head  is  seen.  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  never  saw  so 
sensible  a  thing  as  a  rifle  pit  all  the  time  I  was  with  the  army  of  the 
Rhine.  No,  poor  fellows,  they  lay  down  along  those  little  hill-crests 
in  hundreds.  Every  little  natural  hollow  in  the  ground  was  filled  with 
them :  they  could  try  to  take  care  of  themselves  when  the  chance  pre- 
sented itself,  but  no  one  cared  so  much  for  them  as  to  teach  them  spade 
drill.  Elan,  that  fatal  word,  did  not  need  a  spade  except  to  bury 
its  victim  with." 


382 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


French  relieving  again  and  again  their  tirailleurs 
in  the  ditches.  We  were  now  near  enough  to  see 
that  they  had  four  rows  of  rifle-pits,  the  one  over 
the  other.  The  fire  was  terrific,  and  Koniggratz 
in  comparison  to  it  mere  child's  play.  By  and  by 
our  cartridges  got  exhausted,  and  we  had  to  empty 
the  pouches  of  the  dead  and  wounded.  As  many 
of  the  latter  as  had  a  spark  of  life  left  did  all  they 
could  to  assist  us  in  this.  But  everything  has  an 
end,  and  so  had  our  ammunition.  I  had  given 
orders  that  every  man  was  to  reserve  two  cartridges 
in  case  the  French  took  the  offensive;  and  with 
these  two  cartridges  in  our  possession  we  con- 
fronted the  enemy  even  after  we  had  ceased  to  fire. 
After  a  little  while,  which  seemed  to  us  terribly 
long,  our  supports  came  up.  They  were  skirmishers 
of  Queen  Elizabeth's  regiment;  and  the  moment 
they  joined  us  I  heard  their  captain  give  the  com- 
mand in  my  rear,  '  Charge  with  the  bayonet !'  I 
was  lying  on  the  ground  with  a  shot  in  my  left 
arm  and  shoulder-blade ;  but  as  I  heard  those 
glorious  sounds  I  jumped  up,  and  halloaing  to 
my  men,  fiercely  repeated  the  word  of  command, 
'  Charge  with  the  bayonet !'  But,  alas !  there  were 
only  three  men  left  to  respond  to  my  call.  With 
the  exception  of  a  few  who  had  joined  another 
company,  the  whole  of  my  men  were  down.  I  do 
not  know  whether  the  three  survivors  took  part  in 
the  attack.  As  for  myself,  I  could  not  do  it,  and 
sat  down  on  the  ground.  The  moment  the  Eliza- 
beth regiment  charged,  the  French  jumped  out  of 
their  ditches  and  ran  away.  An  enormous  quick 
fire  was  opened  upon  them,  and,  as  I  can  assure 
you,  to  some  purpose. 

"  The  French  were  driven  from  their  whole 
position.  The  villages  around  were  on  fire,  and 
the  shooting  continued  here  and  there.  We  had 
been  opposed  to  the  guards,  who  were  the  last  to 
retreat.  All  the  officers  of  the  battalion  are  either 
dead  or  wounded;  and  of  the  1000  men  with  whom 
we  went  into  battle,  only  400  are  left." 

The  battalion  which  met  with  this  melancholy 
fate  was  one  of  the  finest  in  the  Prussian  army.  The 
men  were  crack  shots,  and  the  officers  belonged  to 
the  best  Berlin  society. 

In  addition  to  their  victory  at  St.  Privat  the 
Germans  were  also  ultimately  successful  in  their 
attacks  on  Verneville,  although  determined  resist- 
ance was  offered,  and  the  village  was  set  on  fire 
during  the  struggle.  Advancing  steadily  from 
the  ground  they  had   so   hardly  won   and  main- 


tained, they  pushed  back  the  French  out  of  the 
village  of  Rezonville,  which  was  more  shattered 
than  any  other  on  the  battle-field,  and  was  the 
scene  of  a  rather  critical  episode  in  the  struggle- 
In  a  large  building  at  the  northern  extremity  of 
the  village,  which  had  at  the  side,  level  with  the 
road,  a  large  oblong  walled  garden,  the  Prussian 
ambulance  established  their  hospital,  and  its  rooms 
were  quickly  filled.  Suddenly  the  tide  of  battle 
was  heard  rolling  back  towards  it.  A  hurried 
message  was  quietly  delivered  to  the  surgeon-in- 
chief,  that  the  French  were  storming  the  village 
at  the  other  end.  He  hastened  into  the  garden  to- 
inquire  as  to  the  fact.  Louder  and  nearer  grew 
the  musketry  firing;  the  garden  wall  was  breached 
with  cannon  shots.  A  throng  of  fugitives  rushed 
up  the  road  confusedly,  horses  broke  loose,  wag- 
gons, and  a  troop  of  cavalry  whirled  past  in  wild 
disorder.  The  surgeon  summoned  his  colleagues 
into  the  garden,  and  after  a  hurried  consultation 
they  resolved  to  remain  at  their  posts  and  abide  the 
issues.  Hardly  was  this  decision  formed  before 
thundering  hurrahs  were  heard,  and  advancing 
columns  of  fresh  troops  were  seen  descending  the 
slope.  The  fugitives  were  headed;  officers  galloped 
to  and  fro,  calling  out  the  numbers  of  the  broken 
regiments,  which  rallied,  and  once  more  the  tide 
of  war  ebbed  back.  It  had  been  a  momentary, 
but  while  it  lasted  a  wild  panic,  arising  from 
the  horses  in  some  ammunition  waggons  taking 
fright  and  dashing  madly  through  the  lines  of  the 
advancing  regiments. 

Whilst  this  fighting  had  been  taking  place  on 
the  French  right  and  right  centre,  the  German 
seventh  and  eighth  corps  had  made  a  tremendous 
attack  on  the  strong  position  occupied  by  the 
French  left,  near  Gravelotte,  from  which  village 
the  whole  action  was  afterwards  named  by  the 
king  of  Prussia. 

Soon  after  the  first  attack  on  the  French  centre 
had  commenced  at  Verneville,  it  was  evident 
that  Bazaine  was  not  to  be  drawn  away  from 
Gravelotte,  but  was  quite  aware  of  the  disagree- 
able proximity  to  his  left  flank  of  the  seventh 
German  army  corps.  Suddenly  therefore,  seven 
or  eight  four  and  six  pounder  field-guns,  which 
had  been  protected  on  the  Vionville  road  by 
earthworks,  began  to  rain  shells  into  the  Bois 
des  Ognons,  where  the  Germans  were  con- 
cealed. General  von  Goben,  who  commanded 
here,  perceiving  that  the  French  general  was  not 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


383 


to  be  out-manoeuvred  this  time,  as  the  Germans 
had  hoped,  gave  the  order  for  a  general  attack. 
Some  forty  or  fifty  guns  were  set  in  motion  for 
different  places,  and  in  five  minutes  were  in  posi- 
tions to  the  right  and  left  of  the  Bois  des  Ognons, 
and  pouring  a  destructive  fire  of  shells  into  Moscow, 
Malmaison,  and  St.  Hubert.  An  hour  after  the  first 
shot  was  fired  the  action  had  become  general  here, 
and  the  outskirts  of  the  village  of  Gravelotte  were 
soon  won ;  but  the  slopes  beyond  proved  the  scene 
of  one  of  the  most  murderous  contests  recorded 
in  the  annals  of  war,  and  were  at  last  carried  by 
direct  assault  at  an  expenditure  of  life  not  before 
reached  even  in  these  days  of  improved  weapons. 

The  French  position  on  these  heights  was  very 
formidable,  as  it  was  only  approachable  from  the 
front  by  a  steep  hill,  reached  by  a  winding  road,  a 
mile  in  length,  from  the  village  of  Gravelotte  to  the 
French  batteries.  On  the  French  right  centre  here 
was  a  wood,  which  was  filled  with  their  skirmishers. 
In  this  wood,  half-way  down  the  hill  and  to  the 
right  of  the  road  leading  from  Gravelotte,  was  a 
farm-house,  named  La  Villette,  which  was  one  of 
the  chief  French  defences.  It  commanded  the 
road  up  the  hill,  which  for  nearly  every  yard  of 
the  way  from  Gravelotte  runs  in  a  deep  cutting, 
open  only  in  places  on  one  side,  and  thus  the 
house  afforded  a  very  favourable  point-de-mire  for 
the  marksmen.  On  the  German  left  was  another 
large  farm-house,  named  Malmaison. 

The  French  had  strengthened  themselves  by  a 
succession  of  entrenchments,  and  had  also  thrown 
up  small  works  to  protect  their  guns.  The  walls  of 
the  gardens  and  the  houses  near  their  position, 
were  also  made  as  defensible  as  possible,  and  had 
been  lined  with  tirailleurs,  who  could  pour  an 
incessant  cross  fire  upon  troops  advancing  up  the 
road  from  Gravelotte.  The  situation  had  been 
taken  up  with  extreme  judgment,  as  from  it  almost 
-every  movement  the  Prussian  troops  made  was 
distinctly  visible,  even  to  the  shifting  of  the  posi- 
tion of  a  single  man,  which  accounts  for  the  fearful 
slaughter  the  French  were  able  to  inflict.  The  top 
of  the  plateau  was  commanded  by  powerful  artil- 
lery, with  an  ample  sprinkling  of  mitrailleuses, 
and  all  the  Germans  could  see  of  their  enemies 
was  the  tops  of  their  kepis.  Behind  the  Germans 
lay  the  bloody  battle-field  of  Gorze,  fought  two  days 
previously,  the  dead  still  unburied,  and  some  of 
the  wounded  still  uncared  for,  the  French  having 
left   theirs   to   the  tender   mercies    of   strangers. 


The  sun  struck  fiercely  upon  the  plateau,  and 
the  stench  from  the  putrefying  bodies  was  almost 
insupportable. 

The  chief  occupation  of  the  Germans  at  first 
was  the  shelling  of  the  woods  to  the  left  of  Grave- 
lotte, which  were  filled  with  French  skirmishers, 
and  the  road  leading  to  Verdun,  which,  running 
along  the  brow  of  the  hill,  commanded  Gravelotte, 
and  was  occupied  by  a  couple  of  French  batteries, 
that  sent  shrapnel  and  case  shot  among  the  German 
battery  of  horse  artillery,  on  the  right  of  Gravelotte, 
with  wonderful  precision.  After  some  two  hours' 
shelling  the  French  fire  grew  slacker,  and  at  1.40 
p.m.  the  German  batteries  advanced,  and  took  up 
fresh  positions  500  yards  closer  to  the  French  guns, 
which,  as  they  advanced,  shelled  them  persistently, 
knocking  the  ammunition  waggons  to  pieces. 
When,  however,  they  had  once  got  forward,  they 
soon  compelled  the  two  French  batteries  on  the  road 
to  retreat,  and  shortly  after  two  o'clock  cleared  it. 
But  in  withdrawing  their  batteries  of  field  artil- 
lery, the  French  had  left  a  battery  of  eight  mitrail- 
leuses for  the  benefit  of  the  troops  as  they  came  to 
close  quarters.  Each  of  these  mitrailleuses  was 
placed  behind  a  small  epiaulement,  which  protected 
them  in  a  great  measure  from  the  fire  of  the  Ger- 
man skirmishers,  and  they  were  shortly  destined 
to  cause  fearful  havoc  in  the  German  ranks. 

The  cavalry  now  moved  forward  and  massed 
near  Gravelotte,  and  the  infantry  began  to  advance 
rapidly  on  the  right;  but  in  the  meantime  the 
French  held  good  on  the  left,  and  so  tremendously 
shelled  the  farm-house  of  Malmaison,  on  the  hill 
to  the  left  of  Gravelotte,  filled  by  German  sharp- 
shooters, as  to  set  the  p>lace  on  fire,  soon  rendering 
both  the  house  and  garden  untenable  ;  when  the 
Germans  retired  to  the  left,  and  took  up  a  fresh 
position  in  the  distance  till  their  batteries  could 
silence  those  of  the  French. 

At  2.20,  therefore,  their  artillery  was  pushed 
forward  to  the  left  of  Gravelotte,  and  opened  on 
the  Verdun  road,  but  even  so  late  as  half-past  two 
the  French  continued  to  throw  shells  at  the  farm- 
house of  Mahnaison.  The  Germans,  however, 
paid  little  heed  to  this,  but  gradually  got  up  their 
cavalry  on  each  side  of  the  road.  As  the  uhlans 
and  cuirassiers  wheeled  to  the  right  on  their  way 
to  the  front,  the  batteries  of  the  imperial  guard 
threw  some  shells  among  them  in  a  style  which 
even  their  enemies  admired.  The  cavalry  and 
two  regiments  of  cuirassiers,  two  of  uhlans,  and 


384 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


two  of  hussars,  pressed  forward  all  along  the  line, 
although  they  were  not  actually  sent  into  action 
for  some  time. 

The  French  now  made  a  desperate  effort  to  hold 
on  to  the  last  bit  of  the  Verdun  road,  between 
Rezonville  and  Gravelotte.  It  was,  however,  un- 
availing, for  every  man  in  their  ranks  had  two  to 
cope  with,  and  their  line  at  this  point  was  already 
beginning  to  waver.  It  was  soon  plain  that  the 
French  right  here  was  withdrawing  to  a  new  posi- 
tion, which  was  swiftly  taken  up,  under  protection 
of  a  continuous  blaze  of  their  artillery  from  heights 
beyond  the  village.  The  movement  was  made  in 
good  order,  and  the  position  reached  was  one  that 
nine  out  of  ten  military  men  would  have  regarded 
as  normally  impregnable. 

The  Germans  having  succeeded  in  compelling 
the  French  right  at  this  point  to  shift  its  position, 
concentrated  their  efforts  entirely  on  La  Villette, 
their  central  position  in  this  part  of  the  field.  And 
now  commenced  what  may  be  called  a  massacre 
of  the  German  troops,  for  regiment  after  regiment 
went  up  the  fatal  slope,  and  was  compelled  to 
retire,  always  with  heavy  loss.  A  fierce  fire  of 
artillery  from  120  pieces  was  kept  up  all  along  the 
German  line  on  the  French  works,  and  after  about 
half  an  hour's  shelling  the  thirty-third  Prussian 
regiment  dashed  up  the  hill.  When  they  were 
half-way  up  the  mitrailleuses  opened  on  them,  and 
did  terrrible  execution  at  close  quarters.  The 
men,  however,  pressed  on,  and  though  they  were 
literally  falling  by  hundreds,  they  actually  got  into 
the  works,  and  a  half  battery  of  four-pounders, 
which  had  followed  them,  got  more  than  half-way 
up  the  hill.  But  the  French  ran  their  mitrail- 
leuses 400  yards  farther  back  before  they  could  be 
caught,  and  from  them  and  their  guns,  which  had 
been  drawn  back  a  couple  of  hours  before,  opened 
•so  deadly  a  fire  that  the  thirty-third  was  compelled 
to  retire  down  the  hill.  Then  the  French  mit- 
railleuses were  dragged  forward  again,  and  sent  a 
terrible  fire  into  the  retreating  infantry.  The  half 
battery  endeavoured  to  return  their  fire,  but  it  was 
silenced,  and  all  the  horses  being  either  killed  or 
wounded,  the  guns  had  to  be  left  on  the  hill-side. 
Of  course  their  breech-pieces  were  withdrawn,  so 
that  they  were  useless  to  the  French,  who,  besides, 
did  not  dare  to  take  them,  the  German  tirailleur 
fire  being  far  too  severe.  Then  the  Prussians,  ac- 
cording to  their  system  of  sacrificing  masses  of  men 
to  gain  their  purpose,  made  an  attempt  to  charge 


the  hill  with  cavalry,  and  the  cuirassiers  and 
uhlans  dashed  up  at  the  batteries ;  but  men 
and  horses  rolled  over  in  the  hollow  road,  and 
they  were  in  turn  compelled  to  retire.  Then  an- 
other infantry  regiment,  the  sixty-seventh  of  the 
line,  tried  the  attack  in  skirmishing  order  instead 
of  in  column.  Their  men  crept  from  bush  to  bush 
and  from  rock  to  rock,  taking  advantage  of  the 
slightest  inequality  of  ground  to  shelter  them- 
selves, but  were  unable  to  accomplish  their  object. 
Another  attack  was  then  made  up  the  road,  covered 
by  a  tremendous  artillery  fire;  but  though  the  men 
again  got  to  the  French  works,  they  were  again 
shot  down  in  such  numbers  that  they  could  not 
hold  their  ground.  In  fact,  no  living  being  could 
exist  on  the  road.  The  men  who  had  only  seen  the 
mitrailleuses  fire  at  a  distance  despised  them,  and 
now  rushing  on  them  recklessly,  were  frightfully 
butchered.  These  murderous  instruments,  each 
behind  its  separate  earthwork,  were  so  placed  that 
it  was  next  to  impossible  for  the  German  artillery 
to  reach  them,  as  they  were  a  little  lower  than  the 
road,  and  just  sweeping  it,  which  not  only  served 
to  protect  them  from  the  enemies'  shells,  but  pre- 
vented the  gunners  from  firing  at  too  great  dis- 
tances, for  the  mitrailleuses  were  placed  so  low  down 
that  they  could  only  reach  the  Germans  either  on 
the  road  itself  or  on  the  last  200  yards  up  the 
slope.  Never  did  troops  go  into  action  more 
bravely  than  the  Germans  on  this  occasion ;  and 
when,  more  or  less  severely  wounded,  they  returned 
from  the  fatal  heights,  many  of  them  made  a  joke 
of  their  wounds,  and  said  the  position  was  sure  to 
be  taken  in  the  end.  From  three  until  half-past 
four  there  was  one  continuous  fusillade:  first  the 
rattle  of  the  Chassepots  ;  then  the  reports  of  the 
needle-guns  of  the  German  tirailleurs  crawling  up 
the  hill ;  and  lastly,  the  sullen  roar  of  the  mitrail- 
leuses as  regiment  after  regiment  rushed  forward 
or  returned  always  in  good  order,  but  often  with 
the  loss  of  half  their  number  on  the  hill  above. 
Under  the  cirumstances,  it  was  wonderful  to  see 
the  coolness  of  both  officers  and  men.  More  than 
one  of  the  former,  as  soon  as  their  wounds  were 
bound  up,  returned  to  their  charge  as  if  nothing 
had  happened.  But  all  the  while  the  house  of  La 
Villette  and  the  sharpshooters  on  the  hill  con- 
tinued their  fire.  In  addition  to  their  infantry, 
the  Germans  also  again  and  again  brought  forward 
regiments  of  cavalry  to  the  scene  of  contest;  but 
the  slaughter,  especially  from  the  mitrailleuse,  was 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


385 


still  so  great  that  tliey  were  killed  in  large  num- 
bers, and  were  for  a  time  unable  to  make  any 
more  impression  on  the  enemy  than  the  infantry 
had  done. 

After  a  time,  however,  the  Germans  got  two 
guns  to  the  angle  that  the  Verdun  road  makes 
with  itself;  but  the  infantry  had  not  yet  come  up 
to  that  point;  and  so  fearful  a  fire  was  rained  upon 
these  two  pieces  that  General  Steinmetz  deemed 
it  proper  to  issue  an  order  to  bring  them  back. 
On  riding  up  to  execute  this  order,  Hauptmann 
von  Schmelling  found  but  one  surviving  officer 
and  three  men  with  the  two  cannon,  one  of  which 
was  destroyed.  There  were  still  sufficient  horses 
to  bring  the  other  out  of  action,  or  to  a  place 
nearer  supports ;  but  the  young  officer  in  charge, 
proud  of  his  foremost  position,  heedless  of  the 
danger,  and  vexed  at  having  to  retire  from  lack 
of  proper  support,  replied  from  the  midst  of  his 
dying  comrades,  "  Tell  General  Steinmetz  where 
guns  have  advanced,  there  can  also  infantry.  Let 
him  send  supports  to  me;  I  will  not  retire  to  them; 
rather  will  I  die  on  my  gun-carriage,  and  rest 
here  with  my  comrades."  He  was  as  good  as  his 
word  ;  he  did  not  retire  from  his  position  until 
he  had  expended  his  last  shot,  and  brought  his 
gun,  which  he  had  worked  with  the  assistance  of 
three  men,  safely  out  of  action  ;  for  the  infantry 
did  not  come  forward  here  until  much  later. 

From  the  severe  fighting  at  St.  Privat  and 
Gravelotte — the  extreme  right  and  left  of  the 
French  position — about  half-past  four  it  seemed  not 
altogether  impossible  that  the  French  might  regain 
possession  of  the  very  central  Verdun  road  for 
which  the  armies  were  struggling ;  and  accordingly 
the  Germans  brought  up  a  large  body  of  fresh 
troops,  and  placed  them  along  the  road  out  of 
immediate  danger,  but  ready  to  fall  upon  the 
French  centre  had  it  defeated  those  with  which 
it  was  contending.  The  French  thus  seeing  them- 
selves hopelessly  out  numbered,  the  struggle  at  that 
part  became  very  weak  on  their  side,  but  it  was 
carried  on  with  redoubled  fury  on  their  left. 

At  a  quarter  past  five  the  king  rode  slowly  along 
the  Gravelotte  road,  scanning  with  grave  and  serious 
eye  the  scene  of  havoc  around  him.  Count  von 
Bismarck  was  intent  only  on  the  battle,  and  could 
not  conceal  his  excitement  and  anxiety.  At 
half-past  five  there  was  a  partial  cessation  in  the 
firing.  The  Germans  got  a  battery  (the  third) 
in  position  just  to  the  right  of  the  Gravelotte  road, 


and  about  1500  yards  from  the  French  post. 
They  then  commenced  shelling  the  farm-house 
of  La  Villette,  from  inside  which  and  from 
its  garden  such  a  destructive  fire  had  come. 
At  twenty-five  minutes  to  seven  the  firing  had 
again  greatly  slackened,  and  was  confined  to  the 
skirmishers  on  either  side.  The  Germans  then 
brought  up  reserve  ammunition,  of  which  nearly 
all  their  batteries  were  short,  preparatory  to 
another  attack  before  dark.  Just  after  this,  how- 
ever, the  French  began  to  fire  with  new  life 
along  their  whole  line,  and  attacked  with  such 
suddenness  and  brilliancy  as  to  cause  a  panic  in 
the  German  ranks.  Advancing  from  the  rifle 
pits  to  which  they  had  retired,  they  took  posses- 
sion of  their  original  position ;  and  according  to 
the  testimony  of  the  Hon.  C.  A.  Winn,  who  was 
present,  had  the  French  cavalry  at  that  moment 
charged  down  the  hill  nothing  could  have  resisted 
them,  for  the  German  soldiers,  surprised  and 
startled  by  the  suddenness  of  the  attack,  instinct- 
ively ran  like  hares.  (See  "  What  I  saw  of  the 
War  at  Spicheren,  Gorze,  and  Gravelotte,"  by  the 
Hon.  C.  A.  Winn.)    . 

"  Any  one  coming  up  at  that  particular  moment 
would  have  been  under  the  impression  that  the 
Prussians  had  been  completely  routed.  Such  a 
stampede  I  never  saw  before,  and  I  should  think 
few  military  men  had.  Artillery,  foot-soldiers, 
baggage-waggons,  ambulances,  every  species  of 
troop  conceivable,  in  our  immediate  neighbour- 
hood were  rushing  pell-mell  to  the  rear.  The 
words,  '  the  French  cavalry  are  coming,'  were  on 
every  Prussian's  lips,  except  the  officers,  who 
shouted  themselves  hoarse  with  summoning  the 
flying  soldiers  to  '  halt.'  All  this  had  happened 
in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time.  I  was  stand- 
ing at  the  door  watching  it  all,  and  wondering 
when  the  French  cavalry  would  come,  and  when 
they  would  begin  to  shell  the  village.  Soon  I 
heard,  faintly  in  the  distance  to  the  rear,  the 
national  anthem,  and  I  knew  that  the  king 
in  person  was  rallying  his  troops.  On  looking 
through  my  glass  I  found  to  my  surprise  that  the 
French  were  not  advancing  from  their  original 
position  of  this  morning,  which  they  had  just 
re-occupied. 

"It  has  ever  been  a  mystery  to  the  German  officers 

present  at  this  stampede,  why  the  French  did  not 

follow  up  their  advance  by  charging  the  village  of 

Gravelotte  with  cavalry.     They  must  have  taken 

3  c 


38G 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


many  prisoners  and  guns,  and  might  have  gained 
the  position  a  step  further  on  the  Verdun  road. 
To  show  how  convinced  every  one  was  that  at 
this  point  the  battle  had  been  lost,  while  I  was 
away  a  major  of  the  Prussian  army  who  was  shot 
through  the  leg  and  unable  to  stand,  implored  my 
companion  not  to  leave  him  alone,  but  to  help  him 
off  somehow,  as  he  would  rather  endure  any  pain 
that  dragging  his  broken  limb  after  him  might 
entail  than  be  made  prisoner  by  the  French. 
Anybody  that  knows  the  Prussian  character,  will 
know  that  it  takes  a  good  deal  to  make  one  of 
those  officers  work  himself  into  a  state  bordering 
on  excitement." 

His  Majesty,  who  displayed  wonderful  vigour 
in  the  rallying  of  his  troops,  had  arrived  from 
Rezonville,  and  had  temporarily  placed  General 
von  Steinmetz,  who  had  hurried  up,  in  command 
of  the  second  army  corps,  giving  him  permission 
to  draw  supports  from  it  should  he  need  them. 
This  corps  had  been  marching  since  two  a.m,  and 
had  not  yet  been  before  the  enemy.  Under  the 
eyes  of  General  von  Steinmetz,  who  had  ridden 
into  the  defile  with  his  staff,  within  rifle  range, 
these  brave  troops,  with  loud  hurrahs,  drums  beat- 
ing, and  bugles  blowing  the  advance,  rushed  up 
the  dark  woody  ravine  to  deploy  on  the  other  side, 
and  hurl  themselves  upon  the  foe. 

About  a  hundred  yards  from  the  centre  of  the 
village  of  Gravelotte,  on  one  of  the  Verdun  roads, 
stands  a  farm-house,  with  inclosures,  in  a  line 
directly  facing  that  upon  the  higher  ground,  with 
a  ravine  between,  called  Moscow.  This,  named 
Mogador,  is  much  larger.  On  the  16th  it  had 
served  as  the  chief  hospital  of  the  French,  and  was 
filled.  In  their  retreat  from  Gravelotte  backwards 
towards  Moscow,  the  wounded  were  got  out.  It 
was  here  that,  in  the  large,  slightly  hollow-backed 
meadow  between  Mogador  and  the  main  Gravelotte 
road,  King  William  and  his  staff  gathered,  to  wit- 
ness this  final  and  crowning  achievement  of  the 
day,  the  storming  of  the  position  occupied  by  the 
French,  who  were  now  chiefly  posted  on  the  crest 
of  the  plateau,  upon  which  stood  the  farm-houses 
with  their  high  walled  inclosures — Leipsic,  Mos- 
cow, and  St.  Hubert.  Here  were  massed  power- 
ful batteries,  protected  by  entrenchments,  and  a 
number  of  mitrailleuses.  From  Gravelotte  to  the 
bottom  of  the  hollow  the  road  for  700  yards  runs 
somewhat  steeply  down  and  straight  as  a  line;  it 
rises  again  to  the  crest  at  a  slant,  and  nearly  mid- 


way, upon  the  roadside  slope,  stands  St.  Hubert, 
effectually  commanding  its  approach.  The  attack, 
which  fell  chiefly  to  the  seventy-second  regiment, 
who  charged  up  the  slope,  followed  by  a  regiment 
of  hussars,  was  preluded  by  a  fierce  artillery  duel 
on  both  sides,  in  which  Mogador  and  Moscow  were 
both  fired  and  reduced  to  bare  walls.  This  was 
the  moment  of  which  the  king  speaks  in  his 
despatch,  "  The  historic  grenades  of  Koniggratz 
were  not  wanting ; "  the  positions,  within  near  range 
and  point  blank  opposite  each  other,  were  perilous, 
and  General  von  Roon  did  right  to  insist  upon  the 
king's  withdrawal.  Slowly,  and  at  fearful  sacrifice, 
St.  Hubert  was  at  last  carried,  but  further  progress 
was  long  arrested,  and  the  struggle  relapsed  into  a 
fresh  cannonading !  Though  the  German  guns 
enfiladed  part  of  the  enemy's  position,  hardly  any 
ground  was  really  won,  and  the  resistance  was  still  as 
heroic  as  the  attack.  But  in  the  interval,  the  great 
turning  movement  of  the  morning  had  produced  its 
effect;  the  right  of  the  French  had  been  outflanked 
and  their  centre  slowly  compelled  to  give  way  ; 
and  the  line  of  fire  which  gradually  receded  from 
Verneville,  Amanvillers,  Jaumont,  and  St.  Privat, 
warned  the  brave  defenders  here  on  the  left  that 
the  time  for  a  retreat  had  come.  They  fell  back 
sullenly,  fighting  to  the  last,  and  protected  by  the 
mitrailleuse ;  but  the  Germans  now  gained  the 
blood-stained  slopes  over  Gravelotte,  and  the 
whole  French  army  yielding  the  position,  retired 
under  the  cover  of  Metz.  The  battle  did  not 
terminate  till  it  was  quite  dark,  and  for  some  time 
the  direction  of  the  troops  could  only  be  traced  by 
the  fiery  paths  of  their  bombs  or  the  long  tongue 
of  fire  darting  from  their  cannon's  mouth. 

A  number  of  the  citizens  of  Metz  who  had  come 
in  carriages  to  see  the  fight,  and  were  stationed  on 
the  road  just  below  the  crest,  were  captured  by  the 
Prussians  and  treated  as  prisoners. 

After  witnessing  this  last  attack  on  the  French 
position,  the  king  of  Prussia  and  his  staff  rode 
back  to  Rezonville,  where  a  watch-fire  was  lit, 
and  where,  failing  a  stool,  his  Majesty  sat  upon 
a  saddle  raised  upon  some  logs.  At  his  side  were 
Prince  Charles,  the  Grand-duke  of  Weimar,  the 
Hereditary  Grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg,  Count 
von  Bismarck,  and  General  von  Roon.  Roon  had 
taken  off  his  helmet,  and,  contrary  to  his  custom, 
was  wearing  a  field  cap.  The  king  had  his 
helmet  on.  All  were  very  silent,  expecting  that 
about  this  time  the  decisive  tidings  must  arrive. 


TIIE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


387 


Presently  Moltke,  much  heated,  rode  up  to  the 
king: — "Your  Majesty,  we  have  conquered.  The 
enemy  is  driven  from  all  his  positions."  A  vig- 
orous hurrah  from  the  bystanders  was  the  response, 
and  by  the  firelight  Bismarck  took  down  from  his 
sovereign's  dictation  the  following  telegram,  an- 
nouncing the  victory  to  the  queen: — 

"  Bivouac  near  Rezonville, 
"  August  18,  9  p.m. 

"  The  French  army,  occupying  a  very  strong 
position  to  the  west  of  Metz,  was  to-day  attacked 
under  my  leadership,  and  after  nine  hours'  fight- 
ing was  completely  defeated,  cut  off  from  its 
communications    with    Paris,    and    driven    back 

towards  Metz.  „  „.„  T  T  .  -.,  „ 

"  WILLIAM. 

This  extraordinary  historical  scene  was  sketched 
on  the  spot  by  Fritz  Schulz,  a  painter  in  the  royal 
suite,  and  from  the  sketch  a  painting  was  after- 
wards executed  by  the  king's  commands.  The 
telegram  despatched,  refreshments  were  thought 
of;  a  sutler  standing  not  far  off  was  called  up, 
and  the  party  filled  their  flasks.  The  king  drank 
out  of  a  broken  tulip-glass,  while  Bismarck  com- 
placently munched  a  large  piece  of  ammunition 
bread.  His  Majesty  did  not  leave  the  field,  as 
he  was  desirous  to  ascertain  by  the  break  of  day 
on  the  19  th  whether  the  French  had  actually 
withdrawn  into  the  fortress.  Everything  was 
therefore  at  once  got  ready  for  him  and  his 
attendants  to  bivouac  on  the  spot,  but  in  the 
distance  a  solitary  farm-house  was  discovered 
standing,  though  terribly  devastated.  Yielding 
to  the  advice  of  his  staff,  who  insisted  on  the 
necessity  of  his  having  a  night's  rest,  in  view  of 
the  possible  renewal  of  the  fight  the  next  day, 
his  Majesty  withdrew  for  a  few  hours  to  a 
small  room  of  this  farmstead,  while  the  generals 
put  up  with  such  accommodation  as  they  could 
find  in  the  stables. 

According  to  another  account,  some  cutlets  were 
with  difficulty  obtained  for  the  king ;  and  Count 
von  Bismarck,  after  eating  some  unboiled  eggs, 
went  with  his  attendants  to  seek  a  lodging.  Several 
houses  at  which  he  made  inquiries  were  full  of 
wounded.  At  one  house  where  he  received  the 
same  answer,  he  asked  whether  there  was  not 
some  straw  "  up  there,"  pointing  to  a  gloomy 
window  on  the  first  floor ;  but  that,  too,  he  was 
assured  was  full  of  wounded.     He  insisted,  how- 


ever, on  seeing  the  room,  and  discovered  two 
empty  beds,  on  one  of  which  he  threw  himself, 
while  the  Grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg  appro- 
priated the  other,  and  the  American  General 
Sheridan  made  himself  comfortable  on  the  floor. 
His  Majesty  remained  all  the  following  morning 
on  the  battle-field,  receiving  despatches  from  all 
quarters,  and  afterwards  sent  the  annexed  letter 
to  her  Majesty: — 

"  Rezonville,  August  19. 

"  Yesterday  was  a  day  of  renewed  victory,  the 
consequences  of  which  cannot  yet  be  estimated. 
In  the  early  morning  of  yesterday  the  twelfth 
corps,  the  corps  of  the  guard,  and  the  ninth 
corps  proceeded  towards  the  northern  road  of 
Metz- Verdun  as  far  as  St.  Marcel  and  Doncourt, 
and  were  followed  by  the  third  and  the  tenth  corps, 
while  the  seventh  and  the  eighth  corps,  and  sub- 
sequently also  the  second,  halted  at  Rezonville, 
facing  Metz.  When  the  first-named  corps  wheeled 
towards  the  right,  in  a  very  wooded  terrain,  to- 
wards Verneville  and  St.  Privat,  the  last-mentioned 
corps  began  their  attack  upon  Gravelotte,  but  not 
vehemently,  in  order  to  await  the  corps  engaged 
in  the  great  flank  movement  against  the  strong 
position  of  Amanvillers  as  far  as  to  the  road  of 
Metz.  The  corps  effecting  this  wide  flanking 
march  only  entered  into  the  fight  at  four  o'clock, 
co-operating  with  the  pivot  corps,  which  had  been 
engaged  in  the  action  since  twelve  o'clock.  The 
enemy  opposed  us  in  the  forests  with  violent 
resistance,  so  that  we  only  slowly  gained  ground. 
St.  Privat  was  taken  by  the  corps  of  the  guard, 
Verneville  by  the  ninth  corps  ;  the  twelfth  corps 
and  artillery  of  the  third  corps  now  joined  in  the 
contest.  Gravelotte  was  taken  by  troops  of  the 
seventh  and  eighth  corps,  and  the  forests  were 
scoured  on  both  sides  with  great  loss.  In  order 
to  attack  once  more  the  hostile  troops,  forced  back 
by  the  outflanking  movement,  an  advance  was  made 
at  dusk  across  the  Gravelotte.  This  was  met  by 
such  tremendous  firing  from  the  parallel  ranges  of 
rifle-pits  and  from  the  artillery  that  the  second 
corps,  just  arriving,  was  obliged  to  charge  the 
enemy  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and  by  this 
means  it  conquered  and  maintained  the  strong 
position.  It  was  half-past  eight  when  on  all  sides 
the  firing  gradually  subsided.  At  the  last  advance 
the  shells — of  Ivoniggriitz  memory — were  not 
wanting,   at   least  where   I  was  standing.      Tins 


388 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


time  I  was  removed  from  their  range  by  the 
minister  Von  Boon.  All  the  troops  I  met  cheered 
me  with  enthusiastic  hurrahs.  They  performed 
miracles  of  bravery  against  an  equally  brave 
enemy,  who  defended  every  step,  and  often  under- 
took offensive  attacks,  which  were  repulsed  each 
time.  What  fate  is  in  store  for  the  enemy,  who 
is  now  pent  up  in  the  entrenched  and  very  strong 
camp  of  the  fortress  of  Metz,  is  beyond  present 
calculations.  I  shrink  from  inquiring  after  the 
casualties  and  names,  for  by  far  too  many  acquaint- 
ances are  mentioned,  often  without  just  grounds. 
Your  regiment  is  said  to  have  fought  splendidly. 
Waldersee  is  wounded  seriously,  but  not  mortally, 
as  I  am  told.  I  had  intended  to  bivouac  here,  but 
after  some  hours  I  found  a  room,  where  I  rested 
on  the  royal  ambulance,  which  was  brought  here, 
and  as  I  have  not  taken  with  me  anything  of  my 
equipment  from  Pont-a-Mousson,  I  have  remained 
in  my  clothing  these  thirty  hours.  I  thank  God 
that  he  granted  us  the  victory. 

'•  WILLIAM." 

The  German  official  report  of  the  battle  was 
much  more  elaborate  than  this  letter,  but  in  con- 
sequence, we  suppose,  of  the  great  area  over  which 
the  conflict  extended,  it  fails,  as  do  nearly  all  the 
popular  accounts  of  the  action,  to  give  anything 
like  an  adequate  idea  of  the  fearful  nature  of  the 
struggle  at  St.  Privat ;  and  from  reading  it  one 
might  almost  imagine  that  scarcely  anything  of 
importance  took  place  elsewhere  than  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Gravelotte. 

The  report  states  that,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  day,  the  first  army  (that  of  General  Steinmetz) 
kept  in  concealment,  and  allowed  the  second  army 
( Prince  Frederick  Charles's)  to  carry  out  its  move- 
ment towards  Verneville  and  St.  Marie-aux-Chenes. 
When,  however,  towards  noon,  cannonading  was 
heard  from  Verneville,  and  reports  came  in  that  the 
head  of  the  ninth  army  corps  had  already  reached 
that  place,  and  was  engaged  with  the  enemy,  the 
first  army  received  orders  to  advance.  The  seventh 
army  corps  brought  up  strong  batteries  to  the 
south  and  east  of  Gravelotte,  who  advanced  with 
the  greatest  precision  under  an  effective  fire  from 
the  enemy's  artillery.  The  infantry  of  the  corps 
remained — until  a  later  occasion  should  arise  for 
them  to  be  employed — in  a  covered  position  in 
the  wooded  valley  separating  Gravelotte  from  the 
heights  of  Point  du  Jour.      Only  the  brigade  of 


General  von  der  Goltz,  which  was  in  position  at 
Ars-sur- Moselle  to  secure  the  valley  of  the  Moselle, 
had  already  been  engaged.  They  captured  the 
village  of  Vaux,  in  the  valley  of  the  Moselle,  and 
afterwards  stormed  the  heights  of  Jussy,  the  pos- 
session of  which  they  maintained.  Simultaneously 
with  the  seventh  army  corps,  the  eighth  army 
corps  advanced  from  Eezonville  against  the  Bois 
de  Genivaux,  and  attacked  the  enemy.  The 
eighth  corps  at  once  opened  a  powerful  battery 
from  its  front  on  to  the  road  from  Vancour-en- 
Jarnisy,  whilst  the  first  cavalry  division  at  once 
took  up  a  covered  position  in  the  rear,  and  the 
infantry  advanced  to  attack  the  Bois  de  Genivaux 
in  front,  which  was  occupied  by  the  enemy.  Here 
also  the  enemy's  artillery  was  quickly  silenced, 
while  the  infantry  met  with  a  most  obstinate 
resistance  in  the  Bois  de  Genivaux.  A  close  and 
bloody  fight  raged  here  for  hours.  Owing  to  the 
density  and  impenetrability  of  the  wood,  the  com- 
bating parties  were  completely  intermingled,  and 
at  certain  parts  of  the  Prussian  lines  so  obstinate 
a  resistance  was  encountered,  that  they  were  only 
able  to  press  slowly  forward  ;  whilst  in  other  parts 
they  reached  the  eastern  skirt  of  the  wood,  and, 
even  breaking  through  it,  advanced  to  attack  the 
opposite  heights  and  farm-houses  of  St.  Hubert. 
The  latter  were  at  last  taken  by  slow  degrees,  after 
repeated  attacks,  and  held,  whilst  all  attempts  to 
proceed  further  to  the  ridge  of  the  heights  were 
baffled  by  the  strongly  occupied  rifle  pits.  The 
infantry  encounter  came  to  a  standstill,  the  artillery 
of  the  enemy  being  almost  silent,  and  our  guns 
not  having  any  effective  object  to  be  achieved  by 
firing. 

It  being  imagined  that  the  enemy  was  now 
about  to  withdraw,  two  batteries  of  mounted  artil- 
lery and  a  regiment  of  cavalry  were  ordered  to 
pursue;  but  it  soon  became  apparent  that  the 
French  had  only  sought  cover  from  the  artillery 
fire  of  the  Prussians,  and  the  pursuers  were  very 
hotly  received.  They  maintained  their  position, 
however,  and  fought  against  serious  odds  until 
relieved  late  in  the  evening  by  the  cavalry  reserve. 
More  than  half  of  the  men  and  horses  were  killed. 
The  conclusion  of  the  battle  is  thus  described  by 
the  official  writer: — "From  the  left  wing  the 
heavy  roll  of  infantry  rifles,  mixed  with  the 
thunder  of  cannon,  was  heard  between  Verneville 
and  Amanvillers,  which  had  been  eagerly  awaited. 
Apparently  the  sound  came  nearer — a  favourable 


THE  FRANCO-rRUSSIAN  WAR. 


389 


sign  of  the  approach  of  the  army  of  Prince  Frede- 
rick Charles.  Our  infantry  maintained  the  battle 
more  tenaciously  than  ever,  the  appearance  of  the 
second  army  promising  to  bring  up  support,  and 
the  brave  artillery,  despite  their  severe  losses, 
served  their  guns  as  if  on  the  parade  ground. 
The  French  continued  their  fire  the  whole  day, 
especially  from  the  rifle-pits,  with  their  Chassepot 
rifles,  at  a  range  of  2000  paces,  whereby  the 
position  was  continually  held  in  insecurity,  and 
occasioned  considerable  loss.  The  French  were 
in  a  desperate  situation,  surrounded  on  all  sides, 
and  nothing  remained  for  them  but  to  retreat  into 
the  fortress  of  Metz,  into  which  their  army  was 
forced  to  disappear.  About  seven  p.m.  they  made 
one  desperate  attempt  to  break  through  by  Grave- 
lotte  from  Metz  to  Paris.  Thick  clouds  of 
skirmishers,  one  behind  the  other,  uttering  loud 
shouts,  and  keeping  up  a  continual  volley,  rushed 
forward  from  behind  the  heights  against  the  wood 
in  the  ravine.  Our  weak  decimated  infantry 
squads  were  nearly  all  dispersed,  and  the  danger 
was  great  that  this  attack,  made  apparently  in 
force,  would  be  successful  against  our  exhausted 
troops.  But  our  brave  artillery  opened  upon  them 
over  the  heads  of  our  infantry  so  effectively,  that 
the  attack  was  repulsed  by  the  combined  action 
with  the  infantry,  which  once  more  made  a  stand. 
Material  and  decisive  support  was,  however,  at  hand. 
His  Majesty  the  king  Lad  arrived  during  the 
battle  from  Eezonville,  in  the  northern  direction 
towards  Gravelotte,  and  had  temporarily  placed 
General  von  Steinmetz,  who  had  hurried  up,  in 
command  of  the  second  army  corps,  giving  him 
permission  to  draw  support  from  this  corps  should 
he  need  it.  This  second  (Pomeranian)  army 
corps,  which  had  not  yet  been  before  the  enemy, 
hastened  up  in  quick  step,  inspired  by  lust  of 
battle,  and  at  nightfall  decided  the  conflict.  The 
discharges  from  the  guns  shone  out  brightly  in 
the  dark  night;  but  the  line  of  fire  grew  more 
and  more  distant,  and  although  many  a  brave  man 
sacrificed  his  life,  and  the  losses  were  fearfully 
large,  yet  the  slope  and  the  hostile  heights  were 
ours.  So  ended  the  battle  of  the  18th  of  August. 
On  the  following  morning  the  enemy  had  eva- 
cuated the  heights,  and  withdrawn  within  the 
fortifications  of  Metz.  The  battle-field  is  strewn 
with  corpses  and  wounded  men.  The  victory  was 
dearly  won,  but  it  was  brilliant  and  decisive,  as 
the  enemy  is  now  shut  up  in  his  fortress." 


Such  then  was  the  desperate  battle  of  the  18th  of 
August,  as  nobly  contested  as  any  ever  fought,  and 
unquestionably  the  crudest  conflict  waged  in  this 
generation.  The  French,  brought  to  bay,  never 
— not  even  at  Waterloo  nor  at  Borodino — fought 
more  splendidly.  They  are  not  usually  supposed 
to  excel  in  defence,  but  they  held  the  hill  above 
Gravelotte  in  a  way  that  the  troops  who  kept  the 
heights  of  Inkermann  would  have  been  proud  of, 
and  their  bravery  and  skill  won  admiration  even 
from  their  enemies.  That  after  so  much  fighting 
on  the  previous  Sunday  and  Tuesday,  under  the 
most  discouraging  conditions,  they  should  on  this 
day  have  so  well  resisted  the  attack  of  greatly 
superior  numbers  for  nine  hours,  reflected  infinite 
credit  upon  their  courage  and  resolution;  and 
never,  in  fact,  even  in  its  most  triumphant  cam- 
paigns, did  their  army  win  more  real  glory  than  in 
this  disastrous  attempt  to  retreat  from  Metz.  They 
are  said  to  have  lost  19,000  men;  and  the  sudden 
wail  which  broke  out  from  Germany  attested  the 
fearful  gaps  which  were  made  in  her  army.  There 
can  be  little  doubt  that,  near  Gravelotte,  the 
assailants  suffered  in  the  proportion  of  nearly 
three  to  one  compared  with  the  defenders  (the 
Hon.  A.  Winn,  indeed,  estimates  that  the  Ger- 
mans there  lost  as  many  thousands  as  the  French 
did  hundreds) ;  nor  is  it  improbable  that  the 
Germans  were  weakened  by  more  than  25,000 
soldiers.  Amongst  the  wounded  were  two  sons 
of  Count  von  Bismarck,  and  a  son  of  General 
von  Boon,  the  Prussian  minister  of  War.  The 
fearful  loss  on  the  side  of  the  Germans  proves 
the  energy  of  the  French  resistance,  and  does  credit 
to  the  tactical  power  of  Bazaine,  who,  with  an 
army  inferior  in  numbers,  and  already  shaken  by 
serious  reverses,  contrived  to  strike  his  adversaries 
with  such  terrible  effect.  The  dispositions  of  the 
marshal,  however,  were,  as  we  have  seen,  entirely 
defensive;  and  though  this  may  have  been  un- 
avoidable, the  inability  of  the  French  to  assail  the 
Germans  as  they  were  making  the  turning  move- 
ment, exposed  them  ultimately  to  defeat.  The 
long  march  round  on  the  French  right,  though 
fully  justified  by  the  event,  and  owing  to  the 
peculiarities  of  the  ground  much  less  hazardous 
than  it  might  have  been,  was,  nevertheless,  not 
without  peril  to  the  Germans;  for  experience  has 
shown  what  may  be  done  under  such  circumstances 
by  great  generals,  who  have  the  means  of  attacking 
during  an  outflanking  movement. 


300 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


During  the  terrible  hours  of  the  assault,  the 
Prussians  were  so  many  live  targets  to  be  shot  at 
by  the  French;  while  they  were  to  the  Prussians 
an  intangible  enemy,  whose  existence  was  known 
less  by  the  eye  than  the  ear.  To  march  against 
their  position  would,  it  was  clear,  be  certain  death 
to  a  large  proportion  of  the  attacking  forces ;  yet 
march  they  repeatedly  did,  until  at  last  their 
efforts  were  crowned  with  dearly-bought  success. 
At  Gravelotte,  as  at  Woerth,  victory  was  ulti- 
mately insured  by  a  flank  attack  assisting  the 
charge  in  front;  but  in  both  instances  the  ground 
from  which  the  flank  attack  proceeded  had  to  be 
first  wrenched  from  the  enemy,  and  only  after  a 
fearful  contest.  Looking,  however,  at  the  opera- 
tions as  a  whole,  although  Bazaine  fought  a  good 
battle  and  the  losses  of  his  foe  were  immense, 
the  German  commanders  had  fully  succeeded  in 
their  grand  if  somewhat  hazardous  strategy.  The 
French,  driven  completely  into  Metz,  had  been 
forced  off  their  line  of  retreat ;  their  enemy  encom- 
passed them  on  every  side,  and  occupied  their 
communications  with  Chalons;  the  roads  to  Verdun 
and  Etain  had  been  lost ;  and  nothing  but  a  deci- 
sive victory  over  an  adversary  immensely  superior 
in  strength  could  extricate  them  from  their  position. 
Bazaine's  army,  including  the  flower  of  the  French 
troops,  was  altogether  isolated  and  cut  off  from 
the  other  forces  of  France;  imprisoned  within  the 
fortress,  it  had  no  prospect  but  to  force  its  way 
through  at  great  odds,  or  to  surrender;  and  well 
would  it  have  been  if  it  had  not  attracted  a  re- 
lieving army  to  its  assistance;  which,  in  a  vain 
attempt  at  rescue,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  next  two 
chapters,  became  involved  in  its  defeat  and  ruin. 

The  battles  of  Tuesday  and  Thursday  had  the 
same  object  and  the  same  general  result ;  first,  to 
make  it  impossible  for  the  French  army  to  con- 
tinue its  retreat  towards  a  point  where  it  might 
have  effected  its  junction  with  the  other  military 
forces  of  France;  and,  secondly,  to  cut  it  off  from 
communication  with  the  government  of  the  coun- 
try, on  which  it  depended  for  orders,  money, 
reinforcements,  and  succour  of  all  kinds.  The 
difference  between  the  battles  was  that,  whereas  on 
Tuesday  night  Marshal  Bazaine's  army,  although 
temporarily  and  seriously  disabled,  was  at  least  in  a 
condition  to  fight  again,  by  Thursday  night  it  was 
completely  defeated  and  rendered  to  a  great  extent 
useless. 

The  scene  in  Gravelotte  and  the  villages  around, 


after  the  battles  of  both  the  16th  and  18th,  was 
awful.  After  eight  days,  in  spite  of  every  exertion, 
corpses  still  lay  on  the  field  ;  and  after  three  days, 
wounded  were  still  found  who  had  not  been  at- 
tended to.  The  desperately  wounded  lay  on  straw, 
littered  down  on  the  floors  of  the  deserted  houses 
and  out-buildings.  The  devoted  nurses,  male  and 
female,  who  attended  them  dressed  them  three  or 
four  times  a  day,  stooping  over  them  in  the  most 
painful  positions,  for  there  were  no  seats,  and  to 
kneel  upon  the  floors,  drenched  with  blood  and 
other  secretions,  was  impossible.  To  clean  the 
floors  there  were  no  brooms,  no  cloths,  nor  was 
there  soap  or  water  even  to  wash  the  sufferers. 
When  darkness,  too,  came  on,  there  were  no  candles 
nor  matches ;  and  the  brave  men,  French  and 
German,  who  had  given  their  best  blood  for  their 
country,  were  left  to  die  in  the  dark. 

We  have  thus  reached  the  end  of  a  week  of 
battles;  a  week,  perhaps,  in  which  more  men  fell 
by  the  hands  of  their  brother  men  than  in  any 
similar  period  since  war  was  known  on  the  earth; 
and  it  is,  we  believe,  no  exaggeration  to  say,  that 
in  the  fortnight  which  elapsed  between  Thursday, 
August  4,  when  the  Crown  Prince  fought  the 
battle  of  Wissembourg,  and  the  evening  of  Thurs- 
day, the  18th,  when  his  father  won  the  battle  of 
Gravelotte,  100,000  men  had  fallen  on  the  field. 

Disheartened  as  his  men  now  were  by  finding 
that  their  chief  had  counted  their  supposed  victory 
of  the  16th  a  disadvantage,  and  by  their  subsequent 
decided  defeat  in  the  position  he  had  selected  for 
this  battle,  it  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  an 
instant  march  northwards  from  Metz  (which  the 
French  commander  was  afterwards  blamed  by  some 
for  not  having  attempted)  would  have  been  of  any 
service  to  them.  It  is  true  that  the  Saxon  cavalry 
were  the  only  bar  in  his  way  to  Thionville  early 
on  the  19th  ;  but  to  have  started  thither  along  the 
flank  of  the  victorious  Prussian  general  must  have 
brought  Bazaine  between  a  now  practically  superior 
force  and  the  Belgian  frontier,  and  by  this  it  is 
probable  enough  he  would  have  anticipated  with 
his  army  the  disaster  of  Sedan.  But  German 
critics  of  a  high  class  believe  that,  had  he  marched 
due  south,  starting  from  the  works  above  Metz  on 
the  Moselle,  he  would  for  the  time  have  got  clear 
of  their  army,  which  had  suffered  so  heavily  on 
that  flank  just  before  dark,  that  it  could  not  have 
been  fit  to  move  early.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
clear  he  would  have  met  the  fourth  corps  return- 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


391 


ing  from  its  movement  toward  Toul,  and  fresh  for 
action,  as  it  lay  just  in  his  way  on  the  left  bank, 
while  the  first  was  similarly  detached  on  the  right; 
and  it  could  only  have  been  by  promptly  over- 
whelming one  of  these,  before  his  rear  was  severely 
attacked,  and  driving  it  so  clean  out  of  his  way 
as  not  to  allow  it  to  fall  back  for  support  on  the 
Crown  Prince's  army,  that  he  could  have  carried 
the  bulk  of  his  troops  away.  The  propriety  of 
encountering  this  risk  may  have  been  somewhat 
doubtful,  even  supposing  he  had  his  troops  suffi- 
ciently in  hand ;  but  a  general  of  higher  order 
would  doubtless  not  have  tamely  allowed  himself 
to  be  shut  in,  when  the  German  army,  in  forming 
its  line,  had  thus  left  an  opening  on  its  flank  by 
which  to  escape.  More  than  this,  it  is  very  possi- 
ble that  in  doing  so  such  a  general  would  have 
dealt  the  first  army,  or  right  of  Von  Moltke's  line, 
such  a  counter-stroke  as  would  have  more  than 
atoned  for  the  defeat  of  the  day  before,  which,  after 
all,  the  victors  paid  for  heavily. 

Instead  of  this,  Bazaine  sank  into  a  state  of 
perfect  quiescence  for  eight  days,  which  gave  to 
the  Germans  invaluable  time  and  opportunity  of 
counter-intrenching  their  army  so  strongly  as  not 
only  to  make  egress  from  Metz  difficult,  but,  as  we 
shall  see,  to  enable  the  three  corps  forming  their 
new  fourth  army  to  be  withdrawn  to  occupy  the 
line  of  the  Meuse,  and  completely  bar  the  rash 
attempt  which  MacMahon  made  to  relieve  his 
brother  marshal. 

The  foregoing  description  of  the  battle  has  been 
compiled  chiefly  from  the  best  accounts  of  it  as  it 
appeared  to  reliable  observers  on  the  German  side; 
but  it  cannot  fail  to  be  interesting  if  we  give  the 
views  and  opinions  of  an  able  and  thoroughly 
trustworthy  witness  who  was  present  with  the 
French,  Mr.  G.  T.  Robinson,  the  special  corres- 
pondent of  the  Manchester  Guardian,  and  author 
of  the  "  Fall  of  Metz."  As  at  the  preceding 
battles  of  Courcelles  and  Vionville,  he  was  again 
on  this  occasion  the  only  English  writer  present 
on  the  French  side,  and  witnessed  the  battle  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Verneville  and  St.  Privat. 
He  considers  that  the  whole  proceedings  of  the 
Germans  on  this  day  involved  a  loss  of  life  on 
both  sides  as  unnecessary  as  it  was  fearful;  and 
believes  they  could  have  attained  their  object  of 
hemming  in  the  French  without  it,  as  it  was 
almost  impossible  for  the  latter  to  act  on  the  offen- 
sive.    He  says,  that  as  the   Germans  poured  on 


their  men  the  French  batteries  of  mitrailleuses 
established  on  the  heights  mowed  them  down  at 
1200  to  1400  yards  distance  in  long  black  rows. 
There  was  no  science  in  their  (the  German) 
attack,  it  was  simply  brute  force  and  stupidity 
combined;  the  more  the  French  killed,  the  more 
there  seemed  to  be  to  kill.  After  a  time  they 
knew  it  would  be  physically  impossible  for  them 
to  keep  on  killing  them,  as  both  their  men  and 
ammunition  would  be  exhausted;  so  on  they  kept 
pouring  fresh  troops  after  fresh  troops  in  murder- 
ous wantonness.  To  crush  by  force  of  numbers 
seemed  the  only  idea.  "  There  was  no  attempt 
to  outflank  us,  which  might  so  easily  have  been 
done,  as  their  line  was  longer  than  ours,  and  we 
could  not  advance,  they  holding  the  roads  in 
check.  If  they  had  worked  up  the  Orne  they 
would  have  compelled  us  to  retire  with  hardly 
firing  a  shot.  As  it  was,  we  were  simply  beaten, 
not  by  tactics,  but  because  we  could  not  butcher 
any  more.  At  last  our  ammunition  failed  us,  and 
then  the  generals  lost  their  heads.  Regiments 
were  ordered  into  impossible  places,  overlapping 
each  other  in  the  clumsiest  fashion,  simply  placed 
where  they  could  be  the  most  conveniently  killed, 
and  then  forgotten ;  no  supplies  of  ammunition 
were  brought  up,  and  Canrobert's  corps  was  abso- 
lutely pushing  back  the  enemy  from  his  posi- 
tion on  our  right,  really  bending  him  back, 
when  the  last  round  his  artillery  had  was  fired. 
At  the  same  time  the  sixty -seventh  stood  for 
three  hours  right  in  front  of  a  wood,  being  lei- 
surely shot  down  by  the  Prussians  without  a 
single  cartouch  to  fire;  not  a  single  non-commis- 
sioned officer  came  away  from  that  wood  ;  and 
two-thirds  of  the  regiment  remained  with  them. 
An  ambulance  was  pitched  at  a  place  appointed  by 
Frossard,  who  in  half  an  hour  afterwards  had  so 
far  forgotten  where .  it  was  that  he  ordered  some 
artillery  immediately  in  front  of  it.  Of  course, 
the  Prussian  fire  comes  plunging  into  this  to 
silence  it,  and  over  it  into  our  ambulance,  to 
silence  many  there.  Bursting  in  the  midst  of 
the  poor  maimed,  wounded,  and  amputated  men, 
come  the  shells,  and  the  horrors  of  war  are  inten- 
sified to  a  pitch  beyond  the  power  of  the  most 
devilish  imagination  to  surpass.  Here  are  poor 
men  killed  over  and  over  again,  that  is,  they  go 
through  the  horrors  of  death  many  times ;  and 
what  with  their  generals  and  what  with  their 
doctors,  it's  a  wonder  there  are  any  left.     Cer- 


392 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


tainly  glory  is  very  beautiful  when  it  is  encoun- 
tered in  a  shelled  ambulance  ;  and  one  is  rather 
puzzled  to  define  what  is  murder,  or  what  not. 

"  A  regiment  of  the  fourth  corps  was  also  placed 
in  position  with  a  muster-roll  of  1100,  and  came  out 
68  !  It  was  very  fortunate  for  human  nature  that 
King  William  had  not  the  power  of  the  Jewish  com- 
mander, for  had  that  day's  sun  been  stayed,  scarcely 
a  Frenchman  there  would  have  lived,  and  the 
slaughter  of  their  enemies  would  have  been  even 
greater  than  it  was.  Truly,  indeed,  the  soldiers  say, 
in  speaking  of  that  day,  '  It  was  not  war,  it  was  a 
massacre.'  All  the  ammunition  being  expended, 
we  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  withdraw;  and  now 
commenced  a  scene  of  most  disgraceful  confusion. 
Seeing  the  forces  retire,  and  perhaps  being  rather 
more  than  usually  sworn  at,  those  wretched  auxili- 
aries took  fright,  and  a  regular  stampede  occurred 
amongst  them;  their  terror  threw  them  into  an 
even  greater  confusion  than  usual.  They  rendered 
the  road  utterly  impassable.  Waggon  after  waggon 
was  emptied,  and  huge  piles  of  provisions  were 
set  fire  to.  Sugar,  coffee,  biscuit,  fodder,  private 
baggage,  anything  and  everything,  was  heaped 
together,  and  more  than  100,000  francs  worth  of 
provisions  were  there  and  then  destroyed,  under 
the  pretext  of  preventing  them  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy.  All  along  the  road  from 
the  village  of  Gravelotte,  from  which  our  left  was 
rapidly  retreating  under  a  heavy  fire  from  the 
Prussian  advancing  forces,  the  ditches  were  choked 
with  huge  boxes  of  biscuit,  bearing  the  familiar 
English  record  of  their  weight,  and  the  inscrip- 
tion, '  Navy  Biscuits,'  in  most  stumpy  British 
characters.  Broken  open  by  their  fall,  they 
scattered  their  contents  all  over  the  road,  and 
were  ground  into  the  dust  by  the  wheels  of  the 
waggons.  Whole  cart-loads  of  sugar  lay  on  the 
roadside;  the  soldiers  filled  their  sacks  with,  or 
shouldered  great  loaves  of  it,  and  sold  them  in 
Metz  for  a  few  glasses  of  wine  or  spirits;  every- 
thing that  could  be  destroyed  was,  and  the  vehicles 
rolled  empty  down  the  hill  in  one  mad  panic. 
A  quartermaster  in  French  uniform  galloped  by. 
'  Fly,  fly  for  your  lives ! '  he  cried,  and  he  fled. 
It  was  of  course  afterwards  said  that  he  was  a 
Prussian  spy  in  disguise;  such  things  always  were 
said,  all  these  things  were  done  by  Prussian  spies, 
who  acted  the  character  they  assumed  to  a  marvel, 
and  were  always  on  the  spot  at  the  right  time — 
clever  fellows.     The  Prussian  batteries  had  now 


crept  round  to  St.  Privat,  following  our  retiring 
silent  artillery,  silent  from  want  of  ammunition, 
and  began  to  rake  our  lines.  The  noise  of  the 
panic  in  the  rear  reached  the  soldiers;  it  spread 
like  wildfire,  whatever  that  may  be,  it  seized 
hold  upon  them  at  once ;  encampments  were 
abandoned,  arms  were  flung  away,  knapsacks, 
great-coats,  everything  which  could  encumber 
flight  was  cast  aside;  sauve  qui  peut  was  the  order 
of  the  day;  and  if  that  quartermaster  had  been  a 
spy,  he  would  have  ridden  forward  to  the  Prussians, 
and  Bazaine's  army  would  have  been  annihilated. 
Fortunately  the  enemy  did  not  know  of  it;  he  did 
not  follow  up  the  retreating  rabble ;  indeed,  I 
have  heard  that  something  similar  occurred  on  his 
side,  too,  but  as  I  only  heard  of  it  from  some 
prisoners,  I  do  not  know  if  it  is  true.*  Night 
kindly  and  charitably  covered  us  and  our  disgrace. 
Some  of  our  men  held  the  quarries  of  Amanvillers, 
and  kept  up  a  semblance  of  a  resistance.  Can- 
robert's  silent  artillery  held  bravely  in  the  rear, 
and  probably  the  Prussians  feared  a  feint;  but  the 
major  part  of  the  army  rushed  away  down  into  the 
ravine,  and  never  stopped  until  it  found  itself, 
panting  and  exhausted,  safely  under  cover  of 
St.  Quentin  and  Plappeville.  Some  few  troops 
remained  on  the  ground  all  night  in  front  of 
Amanvillers.  Pradier's  division  of  L'Admirault's 
corps  held  their  ground  till  seven  in  the  morning 
of  the  19th,  having  been  twenty-one  consecutive 
hours  under  arms  and  without  food.  On  our  left 
the  second  battalion  of  the  eightieth  held  the  little 
inn  of  St.  Hubert  until  three  p.m.,  checking  the 
advance  of  the  Prussians  until  their  shells  set  fire 
to  the  place,  and  only  allowed  eighty-six  of  our 
men  to  come  away.  As  for  the  guard,  they  did 
nothing;  they  stayed  at  Chatel  St.  Germain,  per- 
fectly safe,  and  Marshal  Bazaine  stayed  with  them. 
He  had  had  enough  of  erratic  charges  on  the  16th, 
when  he  was  so  nearly  being  taken  prisoner,  and 
did  not  want  to  see  any  more  uhlans,  so  he  kept 
at  a  very  safe  distance.  One  shell,  it  is  true,  did 
reach  the  quarters  of  the  guards,  so  they  claim  to 
have  been  under  fire  that  day;  their  list  of  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing  amounted  to  one ! 

"  Thus  terminated  that  murderous,  needless  day 
of  St.  Privat,  or,  as  the  Prussians  call  it,  Grave- 
lotte ;  a  day  nothing  could  have  converted  into 
a  useful  victory  for  the  French,  and  one  which 
was  only  made  into  a  Prussian  one  by  wholesale 

*  It  will  have  been  seen  before,  that  such  was  rctually  the  case. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


393 


slaughter.  Very  bravely  fought  their  soldiers; 
they  marched  to  certain  death  with  heroic  coolness ; 
right  up  the  slope  they  came,  only  to  die  the  faster 
the  nearer  they  approached;  up  to  within  two 
hundred  yards  some  made  their  way,  and  there 
they  rested  for  ever;  nor  was  it  until  our  ammu- 
nition failed  us,  and  our  men  were  physically 
exhausted,  that  one  ever  reached  our  lines.  Inces- 
sant marching,  three  days'  fighting,  without  food, 
without  rest,  and  without  ammunition,  our  men 
gave  way,  overcome  more  by  these  things  than 
even  by  the  number  of  their  foes  without.  It  was 
their  foes  within  which  conquered  them;  and 
many  a  man  lay  down  and  died  there  without  a 
wound,  slain  solely  by  too  much  fatigue  and  too 
little  food.  For  three  days  some  of  them  had 
eaten  nothing  but  unripe  grapes,  and  so,  of  course, 
they  died.  What  our  losses  were  we  never  knew; 
but  these  two  days'  fighting  at  Rezonville  and 
here  must  have  cost  us  at  least  30,000  men,  and 
this  day's  fighting  must  have  been  trebly  mur- 
derous to  the  Prussians,  and  for  what  ?  Not  a 
single  thing  was  gained  by  all  that  slaughter.  The 
untenable  and  useless  position  was  abandoned,  and 
what  was  left  of  the  army  now  retired  upon  Metz, 
where  it  might  just  as  well  have  taken  up  its 
quarters  after  the  16th,  if,  as  the  marshal  demon- 
strated by  his  taking  up  so  defensive  a  position,  it 
found  itself  too  ill  provided  and  too  ill  provisioned 
to  proceed.  On  the  20th  came  out  this  order  of 
the  day,  a  collective  sort  of  '  order,'  embracing 
all  the  fighting  of  this  bloody  week : — 

" '  Geneeal  Oedee. 

"  '  Officers,  non-commissioned  officers,  andsoldiers 
of  the  army  of  the  Ehine, — You  have  fought  three 
glorious  battles,  in  which  the  enemy  has  suffered 
grievous  losses,  and  has  left  in  our  hands  a  stan- 
dard, some  cannons,  and  700  prisoners.  The 
country  applauds  your  success. 

"  '  The  emperor  delegates  me  to  congratulate  you, 
and  to  assure  you  of  his  gratitude.  He  will  reward 
those  amongst  you  who  have  had  the  good  fortune 
to  distinguish  themselves. 

"  'The  struggle  is  but  commencing;  it  will  be 
long  and  furious ;  for  who  is  there  amongst  us  who 
would  not  shed  his  last  drop  of  blood  to  free  his 
native  soil  ? 

"  '  Let  each  one  of  us,  inspired  with  the  love  of 
our  dear  country,  redouble  his  courage  in  the  field, 
and  bear  with  resignation  fatigues  and  privations. 


"  '  Soldiers, — Never  forget  the  motto  inscribed 
on  your  eagles,  Valour  and  discipline,  and  victory 
is  certain,  for  all  France  is  rising  behind  you. 

"  '  At  the  Grand  Quartier- General  of  Ban  St. 
Martin,  20th  August,  1870. 

"  '  The  Marshal  of  France,  Commander-in-Chief, 

" '  (Signed.)  BAZAINE.' 

"  Three  large  battles,  and  only  that !  One  stand- 
ard, '  some,'  that  is  to  say,  two,  cannons,  and  700 
prisoners.  We  knew  we  lost  two  eagles,  and  a 
good  many  more  than  two  cannons,  and  I  hope 
many  more  than  700  prisoners.  I  say  hope,  for 
if  not  our  list  of  dead  and  wounded  must  be 
great  indeed.  The  country  applauds,  and  the 
emperor  is  grateful;  verily  the  survivors  have 
indeed  their  reward,  but  I  cannot  help  feeling 
that  the  dead  have  been  needlessly  sacrificed.  At 
the  same  time  that  the  marshal's  '  order  of  the 
day'  appeared,  came  out  also  an  official  communi- 
cation from  the  quartier-geh'^ral.  It,  of  course, 
endeavoured  to  palliate  these  repeated  disasters,  and 
congratulated  everybody  that  for  two  days  the  army 
had  not  been  harassed  by  the  enemy,  and  that  they 
have  been  quietly  allowed  to  take  up  those  posi- 
tions round  Metz  appointed  for  them  by  the 
marshal.  But  as  these  positions  were  behind  the 
forts,  it  struck  all  who  thought  upon  the  subject, 
that  the  cause  for  congratulation  was  not  much; 
the  enemy,  we  thought,  might  congratulate  him- 
self more  on  the  fact  that  he  was  allowed  to  take 
up  his  position  on  the  other  side  of  them  equally 
quietly.  '  It  is  unfortunately  true,'  says  this 
correspondence,  '  that  certain  regiments  had  not 
received  a  sufficient  quantity  of  ammunition,  and 
that  at  certain  points  we  have  to  deplore  the  exist- 
ence of  momentary  panics,  which  in  some  degree 
compromised  the  issue  of  the  day,  and  of  which  the 
ill  effect  was  felt  in  the  town,  giving  a  certain  feel- 
ing of  faint-heartedness,  soon,  however,  overcome. 
These  are  only  accidental  occurrences,  and  we  can 
truly  say  that  the  enemy's  plan  of  the  18th  has 
not  succeeded.'  As,  however,  Bazaine's  army  was 
now  completely  cut  off  from  all  the  rest  of  France, 
and  as  our  communications  were  entirely  stopped, 
none  but  the  very  sanguine  amongst  us  felt  much 
satisfaction  at  the  thought  that  whatever  other 
plans  the  enemy  might  have  had,  he  had  succeeded 
thus  far,  and  a  faint  shadow  of  the  coming  events 
began  to  envelop  us.  MacMahon  was  our  hope, 
and  we  relied  on  him  much  more  than  on  Mar- 
3  D 


394 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


shal  Bazaine,  possibly  because  we  knew  so  much 
less  of  bim.  We  were  told  that  be  was  coming 
from  Chalons  to  our  help;  so  we  waited  for  the 
good  time  and  MacMahon  coming  together,  and 
unfortunately  neither  came  so  far  as  Metz." 

Under  the  title  of  "  A  Brief  Eeport  of  the 
Operations  of  the  Army  of  the  Rhine,  from  the 
13th  August  to  the  29th  of  October,  1870,"  Mar- 
shal Bazaine,  after  the  capitulation  of  Metz,  pub- 
lished a  justification  of  his  conduct  in  relation 
to  the  events  described  in  this  and  the  preceding 
chapters.  He  practically  disclaims  any  share  in  all 
that  went  on  up  to  the  13th  of  August,  the  day 
on  which  he  officially  took  the  command.  The 
decree  appointing  him,  and  at  the  same  time 
abolishing  the  functions  of  Lebceuf  as  major- 
general  to  the  emperor,  was  only  dated  on  the 
12th;  and  by  his  utter  silence  as  to  all  previous 
transactions,  Bazaine  would  clearly  wish  it  to  be 
understood  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
command  until  the  official  transfer  was  made.  This 
may  be,  of  course.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have 
on  record  the  semi-official  telegrams  from  Metz  of 
the  9th,  stating  distinctly  that  "  Marshal  Bazaine 
is  charged  with  the  direction  of  the  operations," 
closely  followed  by  "  official "  telegrams  of  the  same 
date,  not  signed,  but  accepted  as  coming  from  the 
emperor  himself,  and  calling  the  whole  force  round 
Metz  "  the  army  of  Marshal  Bazaine."  In  the 
emperor's  pamphlet,  to  which  we  have  already 
more  than  once  referred,  there  is  great  obscurity  as 
regards  this  particular  episode.  The  secret  history 
of  the  unhappy  and  fatal  delay  of  the  six  days  is 
not  yet  known,  and  Napoleon  cannot  be  absolved 
from  having  had  to  do  with*  it.  But  neither  can 
the  marshal  be  exempt  if,  as  the  telegrams  led  the 
world  to  believe,  he  was  already  named  comman- 
der-in-chief of  the  whole  army.  The  crisis  required 
that  rare  quality  of  moral  courage  which  would 
have  insisted  on  receiving  full  and  immediate  power 
corresponding  to  the  responsibility  to  be  imposed 
on  him.  This  quality  was  not  displayed,  and 
hence  we  have  the  strange  fact  of  an  emperor  and 
commander  both  suffering  in  reputation  for  the  loss 
of  precious  time,  and  neither  able  to  acquit  himself 
of  share  in  the  blame.  From  the  13th  Bazaine 
first  admits  his  unfettered  leadership,  as  indeed  it 
was  then  officially  his;  and  in  his  pamphlet  is  the 
fatal  admission  that  the  paucity  of  the  bridges  kept 
his  last  two  corps,  Decaen's  and  L Admirault's,  from 
concentrating  on  the  left  bank,  before  marching 


off,  until  the  16th  came,  and  with  it  the  battle  of 
Mars-la-Tour.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  latter  of 
these  corps  is  stated  to  have  "  almost  completed 
its  passage  over  the  stream  "  on  the  morning  of  the 
14th,  and  to  have  been  brought  back  voluntarily 
in  order  to  support  the  other,  the  third,  against 
the  assault  which  Steinmetz's  troops  suddenly  made. 
The  object  of  the  Germans  is  distinctly  said  to 
have  been,  as  indeed  it  unquestionably  was,  to  delay 
the  passage  of  the  French,  who,  however,  had  on 
that  side  only  to  withdraw  within  the  works,  instead 
of  accepting  Steinmetz's  challenge,  in  order  to  be 
perfectly  safe.  In  place  of  doing  this,  the  French 
staff  played  into  their  enemy's  hands  by  bringing 
part  of  L'Admirault's  corps  across  to  join  in  the 
fight;  and  for  this,  as  no  excuse  whatever  is  offered 
by  Bazaine  in  his  defence,  we  may  presume  there 
is  none,  save  that  they  did  not  then  discern  what 
he  saw  very  clearly  afterwards.  So  the  rest  of  the 
14th  was  thrown  away  in  a  useless  combat,  and  the 
15th  and  morning  of  the  16th  were  consumed  in 
attempting  to  repair  the  mistake  by  re-crossing  the 
fourth  corps  to  the  west  bank,  and  after  it  bringing 
over  the  third.  Meanwhile,  though  the  safety  of 
the  whole  army  was  already  known  to  be  imperilled 
by  the  slowness  of  its  movements,  "  the  bridges 
were  insufficient  in  number,"  simply  because  the 
marshal  and  his  engineers  had  neglected  to  pre- 
pare additional  means  for  the  coming  emergency. 
Then  follows  the  next  episode  of  this  history  of 
disasters.  Bazaine,  having  fought  the  indecisive 
action  of  Mars-la-Tour,  and,  as  he  says  fairly  enough, 
"kept  the  enemy  in  check  for  the  moment,"  found 
himself  ill-provisioned  as  to  rations,  and  particularly 
short  of  cartridges  for  his  artillery  and  infantry. 
It  is  true  that  the  intendancehad  put  several  millions 
of  the  latter  (five-sixths,  in  fact,  of  the  whole  reserve) 
where  the  responsible  officer  was  unaware  of  their 
existence ;  and  the  marshal  is  not  to  be  blamed  for 
this  fatal  error  of  centralization  which,  with  others 
of  a  similar  kind,  helped  so  much  to  destroy  the 
army  it  was  designed  to  serve.  We  must  take  his 
view,  therefore,  as  formed  according  to  the  circum- 
stances reported  at  the  time.  But  even  allowing 
that  these  were  alarming,  his  putting  his  advanc- 
ing army  suddenly  on  the  defensive  by  the  retreat 
which  he  determined  on,  led  to  such  fatal  results 
that  it  seems  to  stand  self-condemned.  It  was 
done,  as  he  hiforms  us,  to  get  rid  of  the  wounded, 
to  obtain  supplies  for  a  march,  and  to  avoid 
further   immediate    action   which  should   impede 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


395 


the  hoped-for  retreat.  It  ended  in  the  army  being 
shut  in  with  its  wounded,  the  march  being  wholly 
stopped,  and  the  battle  of  Gravelotte  being  fought 
and  lost  on  the  very  next  day.  The  marshal 
pleads  also  want  of  water  in  his  previous  position ; 
but  the  well-known  surprise  and  reluctance  mani- 
fested by  his  army  at  the  order  to  fall  back 
sufficiently  refute  his  plea.  He  takes  especial 
pains  at  this  point  to  contradict  those  who  say 
that  he  should  have  continued  the  action  at  once, 
instead  of  falling  back  on  the  St.  Privat  position. 
But  the  two  causes  stated  as  making  this  im- 
practicable form  perhaps  the  most  unsatisfactory 
part  of  the  defence.  They  are  that  the  Prussians 
"  had  sent  forces  to  occupy  the  position  of  Fresnes, 
before  Verdun,"  and  that  the  French  had  not 
only  been  hotly  engaged,  but  were  obliged  to 
wait  for  the  fractions  of  their  army  left  behind, 
"  especially  the  grand  reserve  park  which  was  at 
Toul!"  The  Prussians  had,  in  truth,  had  quite 
enough  to  do  to  hold  their  own  on  the  day  of 
Mars-la-Tour  without  making  detachments  to 
their  rear  to  take  up  fresh  positions;  and  as  their 
whole  army  was  now  pressing  on  across  the  line 
between  Bazaine's  forces  and  Toul,  and  had  on 
the  17  th  its  back  to  the  latter  place,  with  one 
corps  echeloned  towards  it,  he  might  just  as  well 
have  waited  for  the  runaways  of  MacMahon  who 
had  got  shut  into  Strassburg,  as  for  the  reserve 
park  he  speaks  of.  Had  he  risked  an  action,  he 
adds,  "  the  army  might  have  experienced  a  severe 
check,  affecting  disastrously  its  further  opera- 
tions." Possibly  it  might,  but  the  check  could 
certainly  not  have  been  more  serious  than  the 
defeat  of  Gravelotte,  nor  the  consequences  more 
disastrous  than  being  shut  up  in  the  position  in 
which  he  found  himself  in  and  around  Metz.  Even 
if  Bazaine  could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  assume 
the  offensive  at  daylight  on  the  17th,  before  the 
Germans  received  more  succour,  in  the  opinion  of 
many  military  critics  it  was  still  open  to  him  to 
have  sent  back  such  of  his  trains  as  were  near  Metz, 
and,  masking  the  movement  with  a  part  of  the 
troops  which  still  faced  the  enemy  about  Vionville 
and  Mars-la-Tour,  to  have  filed  the  rest  of  his 
army  behind  it  on  the  northern  road,  which  had 
not  then  been  reached  by  the  Germans,  and  so 
have  pushed  on  towards  Verdun  by  Briey.  The 
Germans,  we  know,  believed  that  such  a  movement 
would  be  attempted,  and  immediately  they  had 
observed   it  there    would  doubtless   have  been   a 


pursuit;  but  a  short  start,  carried  out  with  activity, 
might  have  carried  Bazaine  to  Verdun,  and  the 
line  of  the  Meuse.  once  gained,  he  should  hardly 
have  allowed  himself  to  be  intercepted  in  attempt- 
ing to  join  MacMahon,  who  could  have  moved  to 
meet  him.  To  have  accomplished  such  a  flank 
movement,  from  the  front  of  a  resolute  enemy, 
would  unquestionably  have  been  no  slight  task, 
and  could  not  have  been  attempted  successfully 
unless  decided  on  promptly  and  carried  out  ener- 
getically; and  it  must  be  admitted  that  prompti- 
tude and  energy  seem  to  have  been  qualities  sadly 
wanting  amongst  the  French  staff  at  this  time.  It 
is  necessary,  however,  in  order  to  obtain  a  complete 
understanding  of  the  w"hole  campaign,  to  show 
that  there  was  not  strictly,  at  this  crisis  of  the  war, 
an  absolute  necessity  for  choosing  between  renew- 
ing the  bloody  attacks  of  the  16th  and  falling  back 
and  fighting  defensively  before  Metz;  but  that  the 
means  of  escaping,  without  the  risk  of  a  general 
action,  were  still  at  hand,  had  the  French  com- 
mander had  the  quickness  and  resolution  to  have 
availed  himself  of  them. 

As  the  sequel  of  the  battle  of  Gravelotte  (called 
by  the  Marshal,  from  the  central  village  of  his 
position,  the  Defence  of  the  Amanvillers  Lines), 
he  says  that  the  French  army  on  the  following 
morning  took  up  its  position  among  the  detached 
forts  round  Metz,  and  from  that  day  (it  should 
rather  have  been  said,  from  after  the  preceding 
battle  of  the  16th),  remained  on  the  defensive.  No 
word  is  said  as  to  the  possibilities  which  the 
Germans  have  noted  that,  instead  of  retreating 
finally  to  this  shelter,  the  marshal  should  at  least 
have  attempted  to  debouch  at  once  by  one  of  his 
flanks,  before  they  had  time  thoroughly  to  inclose 
him.  The  marshal  points  out  exactly  enough 
what  was  then  the  chief  desire  of  his  enemies,  and 
how  real  were  their  fears  of  its  frustration,  when 
he  says  in  his  next  sentence,  "  they  lost  not  an 
instant  in  completing  our  investment  by  destroy- 
ing the  bridges  over  the  Orne  (a  small  stream 
which  flows  into  the  Moselle  north  of  Metz)  and 
breaking  up  the  railroad  to  Thionville  on  the 
other  side."  In  excuse  for  his  inaction  at  this 
crisis  of  the  fate  of  his  army,  he  alleges  the 
necessity  of  giving  it  some  repose,  and  refilling 
the  diminished  cadres  of  officers.  No  one  has  ever 
pretended  that  the  German  losses  were  less  than 
his  own,  and  their  activity,  which  he  confesses, 
is  a  sufficient  refutation  of  this  so-called  necessity. 


396 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


As  the  fortress  of  Metz  interrupted  the  railway 
from  Saarbriick,  through  Pont-a-Mousson  to  Paris, 
and  by  Nancy  to  Strassburg,  General  Von  Moltke, 
as  early  as  the  20th  of  August,  directed  the  con- 
struction of  a  railway  fourteen  miles  long  from 
Metz,  to  unite  the  Metz  and  Saarbriick  with  the 
Metz  and  Paris  line.  Herr  Weisshaupt  undertook 
its  construction ;  skilful  civil  and  military  engineers 
were  placed  at  his  disposal,  many  of  the  neigh- 
bouring peasantry  and  3000  unemployed  miners 
from  the  Saarbriick  collieries  were  set  to  work, 
and  amid  the  thunder  of  cannon  the  undertaking 
was  commenced.  The  railway  leads  from  Pont-a- 
Mousson  to  Remilly,  on  the  Saarbriick  and  Metz 
line ;  and  it  was  prosecuted'night  and  day  so  actively, 
that  in  spite  of  the  partially  very  difficult  country 


it  had  to  pass  through,  it  was  opened  in  a  few 
weeks,  and  then  Metz  caused  no  obstruction  to  the 
German  communications.  By  means  of  it,  too, 
supplies  and  materiel  could  easily  be  conveyed  to 
any  part  of  the  siege  works  that  might  be  desired. 
As  a  proof  of  the  marvellous  foresight  of  the 
Prussians  in  everything  connected  with  the  war, 
it  has  been  stated  on  apparently  good  authority 
that  the  survey  of  the  line  was  made  three  years 
before,  immediately  after  the  settlement  of  the 
Luxemburg  question,  which  the  Prussians  as  well 
as  the  French  understood  was  not  a  settlement  of 
the  general  question.  The  survey,  it  is  said,  was 
made  by  a  Prussian  engineer  who  took  employ- 
ment, in  1867,  at  some  ironworks  near  Metz,  and 
employed  his  leisure  in  surveying  the  country. 


CHAPTER.      XIII. 


Arrival  of  MacMahon  at  Chalons  on  August  16 — Description  of  the  Camp  and  of  MacMahon's  Fugitives — Arrival  of  Reinforcements  and 
Re-organization  of  the  French  Troops — Progress  of  the  Third  German  Army,  under  the  Crown  Prince — Capture  of  Marsal — Unsuccessful 
Attempt  to  take  Tonl — General  Sketch  of  the  Advance  of  the  Germans — Behaviour  of  the  Troops  and  Feeling  on  the  part  of  the  French — 
Full  Explanation  of  the  German  System  of  "  Requisitions  " — Proclamation  of  the  Crown  Prince  to  the  Inhabitants  of  Nancy — The  Courses 
open  to  MacMahon— His  Intention  to  retreat  to  Paris  is  objected  to  by  the  Government,  and  he  is  compelled  to  undertake  the  Desperate 
Task  of  attempting  to  relieve  Bazaine — Statements  of  the  Emperor  on  the  Subject — Critical  Examination  of  the  Peril  of  the  Proposed 
Undertaking — Breaking  up  of  the  Camp  at  Chalons — The  Composition  of  the  French  Army — MacMahon  delayed  at  Rheims — His  Plans  for 
the  Future — Insubordination  on  the  part  of  the  French  Troops  and  want  of  Confidence  in  their  Officers — A  Fourth  Army  formed  by  the 
Germans  to  operate  against  MacMahon — Wonderful  Promptitude  displayed  by  it — The  Crown  Prince  joined  by  his  Father — Alteration  of 
their  Plans  on  hearing  of  MacMahon's  Movement — Extraordinary  Marching  on  the  part  of  the  Germans — General  Positions  of  the  French 
and  German  Armies  on  August  27 — Cavalry  Encounter  at  Buzancy — MacMahon  seeing  the  hopelessness  of  his  Enterprise  resolves  to 
retreat,  but  is  again  over-ruled  by  the  Government  at  Paris — Capture  of  Vrizy  by  the  Germans — The  Battles  of  Beaumont  and  Carignan  on 
August  30 — The  French  at  Beaumont  again  taken  completely  by  surprise — Stout  Resistance  on  their  part,  but  they  are  ultimately 
compelled  to  retreat — The  fighting  in  the  town  of  Beaumont — Description  of  the  Engagement  and  of  the  State  of  the  French  Troops  by  a 
French  Officer — The  Battle  at  Carignan— Skill  and  Decision  displayed  by  MacMahon,  but  he  is  obliged  to  retreat  for  fear  of  being  outflanked 
— The  last  Proclamation  ever  issued  by  the  Emperor  to  the  French  Army — The  Positions  of  the  Contending  Forces  on  the  following 
morning — The  best  course  open  to  MacMahon  is  not  taken — Description  of  the  Position  taken  up  by  him  near  Sedan — Operations  of  the 
Germans  on  the  31st  with  the  view  of  encircling  their  Enemy — Desperate  Position  of  the  French  at  Nightfall. 


The  events  of  the  war  require  that  we  now  return 
to  the  south  and  south-east,  and  follow  the  move- 
ments of  the  French  corps  which  had  formed  the 
right  of  their  army  at  the  commencement  of  hos- 
tilities, and  of  the  third  German  army  under  the 
Crown  Prince. 

In  Chapter  X.  we  have  detailed  the  disgraceful 
flight  of  MacMahon's  forces  after  the  battle  of 
Woerth,  and  the  retreat  of  that  general  from 
Saverne  to  Nancy,  where  he  arrived  on  August 
12,  and  where  he  effected  a  junction  with  a  small 
portion  of  the  sixth  corps  (Canrobert's)  which 
had  been  left  there,  the  remainder  having  pre- 
viously joined  Bazaine  at  Metz,  from  Chalons. 
Retreating  with  this  force,  he,  on  the  16th,  reached 
Chalons,  at  the  junction  of  the  roads  leading 
directly  from  the  Vosges,  and  covering  the  ap- 
proaches to  Paris ;  this  being  evidently  the  position 
on  which  the  remainder  of  the  French  army, 
falling  back  from  the  frontier,  would  concentrate. 

At  Mourmelon,  about  twenty  miles  to  the  north, 
was  a  large  permanent  camp,  which  had  been  long 
used  for  mihtary  manoeuvres  in  time  of  peace,  and 
where  the  reserve  forces  of  the  empire  were  col- 
lected in  order  to  be  organized  into  a  second 
army,  consisting  of  the  marine  infantry  and  other 
troops  withdrawn  from  the  naval  expedition  fitted 
out  at  Cherbourg  and  Brest,  and  intended  to  have 
operated  in  Northern  Prussia,  with  the  garde 
mobile,  recruits,  volunteers,  and  the  few  regiments 


or  battalions  of  the  line  which  had  been  left  in 
different  parts  of  the  country.  The  composition 
and  organization  of  this  force  was,  however,  very 
unsatisfactory.  The  garde  mobile,  whom  the 
government  had  been  afraid  to  arm  properly  in 
time  of  peace,  were  then  only  beginning  to  learn 
the  use  of  their  rifles;  and  as  many  of  them  were 
persons  of  means,  and  were  continually  treating 
their  less  wealthy  brethren  in  arms,  the  camp 
presented  a  scene  very  different  from  what  might 
have  been  expected,  considering  the  serious  position 
in  which  the  country  was  placed,  and  which  boded 
ill  for  the  future.  A  day  or  two  before  the  arrival 
of  MacMahon,  an  eye-witness  said  that,  short  of 
battles,  the  place  presented  a  spectacle  which  he 
hoped  neither  this  century,  nor  any  other,  would 
ever  witness  again.  There  was  not  a  minute's 
silence.  Troops  were  coming  in,  troops  going  out ; 
caissons  rumbling  along  the  street;  carts,  cannons, 
donkeys,  horses,  men,  drays,  ambulances,  wounded 
men  and  straining  runaways  (in  great  number) — ■ 
all  pervaded  by  the  din  of  singing  and  shouting  in 
every  direction.  "  Well,  notwithstanding  all  these 
signs,  which  denote  assuredly  the  throes  of  a  nation 
dangerously  struck,  the  place  is  full  of  Paris 
prostitutes,  and  the  cafis  chantants  here  never 
made  such  a  harvest  before.  Although  in  three 
days  the  floods  of  a  routed  army  may  sweep  over 
this  very  place,  closely  followed  by  the  hordes  of 
an  infuriated  enemy,  although  every  man  in  France 


398 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


feels  this  now,  and  has  put  aside  his  jactance, 
dissipation  is  just  as  great,  and  amusement  as 
eagerly  sought  after  as  ever.  The  streets  are 
thronged  with  people;  and  numbers  of  men  in 
blouses,  who  seem  to  have  it  all  their  own  way, 
mingle  with  soldiers  of  every  possible  corps  and 
arm,  all  half,  if  not  quite,  drunk,  and  render  circula- 
tion anything  but  pleasant.  The  mob,  in  fact,  are 
thoroughly  in  the  ascendant,  and  shout,  sing, 
drink,  smoke,  and  swagger  about  as  they  like. 
As  I  write  parties  of  mobiles  are  passing  under 
my  window,  and  one  of  the  group  shouts  '  Vive 
FEmpereur ! '  to  which  the  others  all  answer  by  an 
exclamation  of  disgust  and  contempt.  This  kind 
of  chorus  I  have  heard  several  times  to-day.  It 
is  just  on  the  cards  that  by  staying  here  I  shall 
see  a  spectacle  dreamt  of  nowhere  excepting  in 
the  Apocalypse,  under  the  name  of  the  Battle  of 
Armageddon;  for  if  the  French  should  lose  the 
next  battle  this  would  be  the  scene  of  the  final 
slaughter  ;  I  will  not  say  battle,  for  one  it  would 
not  be." 

The  following  order  of  the  day  was  read  at  the 
camp  on  Monday,  15th  August,  the  anniversary 
of  the  Fete  Napoleon : — 

"  Gardes  Mobiles, — The  15th  of  August  is, 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  a  day  of  rejoicing 
in  France.  But  it  would  be  out  of  the  question  for 
you,  or  any  one  whose  heart  pulsates  within  him, 
to  keep  a  holiday  so  long  as  the  land  is  desecrated 
by  an  invader's  foot.  You  are  about  to  receive 
arms.  Learn  quickly  how  to  use  them,  in  order 
to  go  forth  and  avenge  your  brothers,  whose  blood 
flowed  at  Forbach  and  Eeichshoffen.  They  fell 
as  brave  men  should  fall,  before  the  enemy.  Let 
their  last  cry  uttered  when  about  to  die  be  also 
yours,  Long  live  France  !  Death  to  the  Prussians  !" 

The  omission  of  Vive  FEmpereur !  in  this  pro- 
duction was  remarkable;  but  already  amongst 
nearly  all,  except  the  soldiers,  the  feeling  began 
to  be  openly  expressed  that  they  would  have  no 
more  of  him — "Nous  n'en  voulons  plus." 

MacMahon,  as  already  stated,  reached  the  camp 
on  Tuesday,  August  16,  bringing  with  him  at  the 
most  15,000  disheartened  men — the  relics  of  the 
55,000  whom  he  had  ranged  in  battle-order  at 
Woerth  ;  three-fourths  of  whom,  instead  of  one- 
fourth,  might  have  been  preserved  to  his  standards 
but  for  the  shameful  loosening  of  the  bonds  of 
discipline  which  defeat  and  retreat  had  induced. 
As  the  soldiers  reached  the  camp,  they  presented 


a  strange  medley  of  all  arms  and  regiments,  with 
out  arms,  without  cartridges,  without  knapsacks 
the  cavalry  had  no  horses,  the  gunners  no  guns 
a  motley  demoralized  crew,  whom  it  would  take  a 
long  time  to  form  into  battalions,  squadrons,  and 
batteries.  The  work  of  re-organization — resurrec- 
tion one  officer  called  it — was,  however,  at  once 
commenced,  and  within  a  few  days  the  French 
marshal  received  further  reinforcements,  includ- 
ing the  twelfth  corps,  under  General  Lebrun, 
which  had  been  hastily  put  together,  the  admin- 
istration of  Count  Palikao  at  Paris  having  strained 
every  nerve  to  repair  the  French  disasters.  But 
the  forces  now  under  MacMahon  were  of  very 
inferior  quality  compared  with  the  well-trained 
legions  he  had  commanded  in  the  Vosges,  al- 
though they  contained  the  elements  out  of  which 
a  good  army  might  have  been  formed  had  there 
been  time  for  the  purpose. 

Meanwhile  the  seventh  corps,  that  of  General 
Douay,  the  only  one  in  the  first  French  line  which 
as  yet  remained  intact,  had  been  hurried  from  Bel- 
fort  to  Chalons  via  Paris,  and  two  divisions  of  De 
Failly's  fifth  corps  had  arrived  from  Bitsche.  Ter- 
rified at  the  disasters  of  the  6th,  De  Failly,  by  a 
forced  march  from  Fenetrange  and  Nancy,  escaped 
along  the  west  of  the  Vosges,  between  the  hostile 
armies  on  either  side.  It  is  due  to  him  to  say  that 
this  movement  was  well  executed ;  and  though  it 
is  not  improbable  that  the  fortifications  of  Bitsche, 
which  checked  a  detachment  of  the  Crown  Prince, 
contributed  to  his  safety,  his  retreat  appears  to  have 
been  rapid  and  judicious.  By  the  20th  of  August 
Marshal  MacMahon,  who  had  been  rejoined  by  the 
emperor  from  Metz  (whose  body-guard  from  that 
place  was  incorporated  with  the  army),  had  con-, 
centrated  in  the  great  camp  at  Chalons  from  130,000 
to  150,000  men,  with  above  500  guns;  but  this 
force,  however  imposing  in  numbers,  was  from  its 
composition  unsafe  and  feeble  as  an  instrument  of 
war,  more  especially  for  offensive  operations. 

While  the  right  wing  of  the  French  army  had 
in  this  manner  avoided  destruction,  and  was  being 
recruited  on  every  side,  though  separated  from  the 
centre  and  left  at  Metz,  the  triumphant  forces  of 
the  Crown  Prince  had  followed  it  through  the 
passes  of  the  Vosges ;  and  in  Chapter  X.  we  have 
traced  their  progress  to  August  14,  when  a  part 
of  them  had  effected  a  junction  with  those  of  the 
army  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles  at  Pont-a-Mons- 
son,  between  Metz  and  Nancy.     On  the  loth  ihe 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


399 


small  fort  of  Marsal,  after  having  been  bombarded 
for  a  short  time,  capitulated  to  the  Bavarian  army- 
corps  under  the  Crown  Prince.  It  is  five  miles 
east-south-east  of  Chateau  Salins,  on  the  road  from 
Dieuze  to  Vic  and  Nancy.  It  had  been  passed 
several  days  before,  but  its  fall  gave  the  Germans 
better  command  of  the  road,  besides  the  war  ma- 
terial of  the  place,  and  forty  cannon. 

An  attempt  to  capture  Toul,  a  fortified  town 
with  8000  inhabitants,  and  a  station  on  the  direct 
railway  to  Paris,  was  less  successful.  The  garrison, 
consisting  of  garde  mobile,  two  battalions  of  regu- 
lars and  artillery,  had  a  battery  on  St.  Michel, 
which  commands  the  town,  and  covered  their 
front  with  earthworks.  The  officer  in  command 
of  the  artillery,  M.  Barbe,  did  all  he  could  for 
defence.  The  attack  was  made  by  two  columns 
of  Prussian  and  Bavarian  troops,  who  hoped  to 
storm  the  works  and  take  the  place  by  surprise ; 
but  the  French,  quite  prepared,  received  the 
onslaught  with  firmness,  and  a  deadly  fire  from 
their  guns  in  position  and  from  musketry  inside 
the  works.  The  attack  failed,  and  the  German 
loss  in  that  and  in  a  subsequent  one,  which  also 
failed,  was  about  300  killed  and  700  wounded. 
As  nothing  short  of  a  regular  siege  could  reduce 
the  place,  which  was  not  worth  the  sacrificing  of 
more  lives  in  attempts  to  carry  it  by  main  force,  a 
small  corps  was  left  to  mask  it.  As  will  be  seen 
in  Chapter  XVIIL,  it  held  out  gallantly  a  very 
considerable  time,  affording  another  instance  of 
the  inconvenience  caused  to  an  enemy,  and  of 
the  advantage  rendered  to  the  country  invaded, 
by  even  feebly-fortified  places  against  which  only 
field  artillery  can  be  brought. 

The  Crown  Prince's  headquarters  were  estab- 
lished at  Nancy  several  days;  for  so  long  as  there 
seemed  a  chance  that  the  French  might  get  away 
from  Metz — that  the  desperate  efforts  of  their  guard 
might  turn  the  scale  against  the  skill  and  spirit  of 
the  Germans — it  was  necessary  to  hold  the  third 
army  in  readiness  to  march  northward.  While, 
therefore,  the  battles  were  raging  near  that  fortress, 
on  the  14th,  16th,  and  18th,  this  army  lay  in  the 
country  about  Nancy  and  Luneville,  half  expecting 
to  be  ordered  up  in  support  of  the  other  German 
forces.  When  the  news  of  the  defeat  of  the  French 
by  Steinmetz  and  Prince  Frederick  Charles  arrived, 
there  was,  of  course,  no  further  occasion  to  hesitate 
about  invading  central  France,  and  the  third  army 
was  free  to  continue  its  inarch.     It  received  con- 


siderable reinforcements  from  Metz,  and  having 
turned  the  fortress  of  Toul  both  to  the  north  and 
south,  advanced  rapidly  on  the  Marne.  The  gen- 
eral scene  at  this  time  was  thus  vividly  pourtrayed 
by  one  of  the  many  very  able  correspondents  sent 
to  the  war  by  the  Daily  News: — "  The  roads  are 
crowded  with  trains  of  ammunition  waggons,  with 
stores  of  provisions,  and  with  masses  of  infantry. 
Woe  to  the  luckless  wayside  villages;  woe  to  the 
iarmers  who  have  crops  in  wayside  fields;  there  is 
no  danger  to  life  or  limb  among  the  peaceable  in- 
habitants, but  there  is  danger  of  being  fairly  eaten 
out  of  house  and  home.  There  is  an  unavoidable 
trampling  down  of  crops  in  the  fields  where  the 
soldiers  pass,  and  there  is  such  a  demand  for  means 
of  transport  as  leaves  little  chance  to  the  farmer  of 
keeping  his  horses  for  himself.  He  gets  a  receipt 
of  some  sort  in  most  cases.  But  no  amount  of 
paper  security  will  comfort  the  average  French 
farmer  in  the  present  crisis.  Poor  man  !  It  is  such 
an  unexpected  blow.  '  Why  does  the  emperor 
make  war,'  I  have  heard  a  dozen  sad-looking  men 
in  blouses  exclaim,  '  if  he  knows  not  how  to  make 
it  ?  '  A  plebiscite  in  the  occupied  districts  at  this 
moment  would  need  no  foreign  pressure  to  be 
flooded  with  '  nons.' 

"  There  is  a  straight  and  rapid  march  westward 
of  the  third  army,  supported  by  other  troops 
all  full  of  confidence,  flushed  with  victory,  and 
splendidly  organized.  Three  or  four  columns  are 
marching  abreast  on  some  of  the  roads;  two  go  by 
the  road  itself,  and  in  some  cases  two  more  move 
through  the  fields  to  right  and  left,  or  at  least 
one  other  column  makes  a  way  which  is  a  little 
out  of  order  serve  the  purpose  of  the  moment. 
Great  are  the  blocks  and  crushes,  tremendous  the 
swearing  at  critical  corners.  But,  on  the  whole,  it 
is  remarkable  how  well  these  columns  are  directed ; 
how  carefully  they  choose  their  routes  through 
the  invaded  provinces.  Wheels  are  rumbling,  and 
whips  are  cracking  along  many  a  road.  The  columns 
are  halted  to  rest  in  some  places,  and  there  may  be 
seen  the  bright  bivouac  fire  twinkling  in  the  fields, 
or  long  lines  of  horses  standing  silently  at  supper 
Though  many  columns  are  halted  others  are  mov- 
ing on.  The  road  is  still  alive  with  military  pre- 
paration. Do  not  fancy  the  pomp  and  circumstance 
of  war  as  attending  the  march  of  the  columns  of 
supply.  It  is  a  pretty  sight  to  see  the  lancers 
or  dragoons  who  lead  the  invasion  trotting  over 
hill  and  dale,  with  every  nerve  strained  to  detect  a 


400 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


possible  foe.  There  is  an  impressive  force  about 
the  advance  of  the  dusty  and  tired  infantry — the 
murmur  of  many  voices,  and  tramp  of  many  feet 
passing  forward  like  a  storm  sighing  in  the  woods. 
Even  the  weight  and  slowness  of  the  guns  has  its 
own  peculiar  dignity.  They  are  deadly  weapons 
in  charge  of  determined  fighting  men.  But  the 
innumerable  columns  of  supply,  the  baggage  and 
ammunition,  the  food  and  provender,  are  very  pro- 
saic, though  very  necessary.  There  are  miles  of 
hay  waggons — a  good  omen  for  cavalry  horses. 
Further  on  are  other  miles  of  bread  waggons,  of 
bacon  and  beef  waggons.  Horned  cattle  are  led 
along  by  the  score  to  become  beef  in  due  time ; 
clothes  and  equipments,  medicines,  and  blankets, 
are  brought  rumbling  on  into  France.  If  the 
people  were  astonished  at  the  earlier  stages  of  the 
journey,  they  are  now  simply  bewildered  beyond 
all  power  of  recovery.  An  avalanche  has  fallen 
upon  them.  One  cannot  see  it  for  oneself,  but  the 
sight  of  the  advancing  host,  as  a  wayside  village 
sees  it,  from  first  to  last,  must  be  something  to 
remember.  The  people  will  tell  in  a  dreamy  way 
how  they  heard  that  the  Prussians  were  coming. 
There  was  news  of  them  four,  five,  six  days  ago, 
as  the  case  may  be.  Yes,  ma  foi,  they  heard  that 
they  were  coming,  but  did  not  believe  it.  Then 
there  was  a  party  of  lancers  seen  upon  the  road. 
The  people  wondered  what  would  happen.  Mon- 
sieur le  cure  told  them  that  in  modern  wars  they 
did  not  kill  those  who  remained  quiet,  so  their  con- 
fidence was  enough  to  keep  them  at  home.  The 
village  shop  was  shut,  and  everybody  closed  his 
door  and  peeped  from  the  window.  Now  the  lan- 
cers rode  into  the  street,  and  a  few  came  forward 
to  the  principal  house — the  hotel  de  ville,  if  the 
place  ranked  as  a  'bourg,'  or  small  town.  The 
soldiers  asked  for  food  and  drink,  said  they  would 
do  no  harm  if  they  were  not  molested,  and  presently 
got  off  their  horses.  With  details  very  slightly 
varying  I  have  heard  of  this  first  entry  in  several 
places,  and  have  heard  how  infantry  soon  began 
to  come :  one  regiment — two,  three,  a  dozen  regi- 
ments. The  bread  was  eaten,  the  wine  was  drunk, 
and  the  people  were  well  nigh  ruined  by  feeding 
their  guests.  Were  they  bad  fellows  in  their  way? 
A  delicate  question  this,  and  one  to  which  a  stran- 
ger can  expect  but  a  guarded  answer.  What  sort 
of  fellows  were  they,  these  invading  soldiers?  '  Oh, 
not  very  bad,  if  only  they  had  not  such  dreadful 
appetites,  and  if  they  could  make  themselves  under- 


stood.' It  is  hard  to  be  shaken  and  growled  at  in 
La  Belle  France  itself  for  not  speaking  the  language 
of  the  German  Fatherland.  It  is  harder  still  to 
have  a  slip  of  paper,  negotiable,  Heaven  knows 
when,  instead  of  a  good  cart-horse  or  fat  bullock. 
I  have,  however,  heard  no  complaint  of  personal 
violence,  and  the  women  do  not  seem  at  all  afraid 
of  the  rough,  loud-voiced  fellows  who  swarm  around 
them.  The  fact  is,  that  if  we  start  with  a  notion 
of  war  founded  on  what  the  armies  of  the  French 
Bepublic  did  to  their  enemies  in  1795—96,  this 
German  invasion  of  France  in  1870  will  seem  very 
civilized  and  merciful.  If,  on  the  contrary,  we 
take  our  stand  on  the  rights  of  private  property 
and  the  highest  English  ideal  of  a  '  ready-money 
commissariat,'  there  will  seem  to  be  something 
harsh  and  oppressive  in  the  quartering  of  troops 
on  the  villagers.  All  foreigners  have  this  notion, 
that  troops  should  be  quartered  on  the  conquered 
people,  who  find  their  visitors  in  food.  The  luck- 
less village  which  lies  near  the  road  is  eaten  up  by 
thousands  of  unwelcome  guests,  and  the  more 
remote  village  escapes  with  a  trifling  loss.  This  is 
a  bitter  time  for  the  conquered  French,  and  many 
individuals — farmers,  horse-dealers,  and  wayside 
cottagers — suffer  grievous  loss." 

And  here  it  may  be  well  to  explain  more  fully 
the  German  system  of  requisitions.  It  was  this : — 
Every  town  or  village  occupied  by  German  troops 
had  to  furnish  a  certain  quantity  of  provisions  for 
the  use  of  the  soldiers  and  supplies  for  their  cav- 
alry, to  be  paid  for  by  cheques,  which  were  to  be 
honoured  at  the  end  of  the  war  by  the  vanquished, 
If  Germany  won  France  was  to  pay;  if  France, 
Germany  was  to  pay  her  own  cheques  and  any  the 
French  might  draw  on  German  ground.  The 
superior  officers  alone  could  make  requisitions, 
and  if  people  were  uncivil  or  obstinate,  they  were 
treated  to  a  few  of  the  smaller  horrors  of  war. 

In  the  interesting  little  work,  "  From  Sedan  to 
Saarbriick,"  by  an  artillery  officer,  the  writer, 
who  is  certainly  very  impartial  in  his  statements, 
says,  "  One  point  which  we  took  the  greatest  pains 
to  clear  up,  was  the  oft-asserted  and  contradicted 
integrity  of  the  Prussians,  in  paying  for  all  they 
took  by  means  of  bonds.  These,  which  might 
more  properly  be  called  receipts,  were  invariably 
given  for  every  franc's  worth  exacted ;  but  our 
suspicions  were  first  aroused  by  finding  that  their 
recipients  looked  upon  them  as  so  much  waste 
paper,  and  considered  themselves  robbed.     Hence 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


401 


the  continual  phrase,  '  lis  nous  ont  pilU  portent.' 
On  this  doubt,  then,  the  whole  question  hinged  ; 
and  in  order  to  remove  it  we  were  persevering 
in  addressing  our  inquiries  to  every  grade  of 
authority,  high  and  low.  It  would  not  perhaps 
be  quite  fair  to  mention  their  names,  but  in  many 
cases  their  status  was  such  as  to  preclude  the 
possibility  of  inaccurate  information.  Our  ques- 
tions usually  took  the  following  form : — 

"  '  As  for  these  bonds,  do  you  look  upon  them 
as  redeemable  at  Berlin  at  the  end  of  the  war?' 
( With  a  laugh.)  '  Certainly  not.  Our  own 
national  pecuniary  losses  will  be  heavy  enough 
as  it  is,  without  our  burdening  ourselves  with  our 
enemy's  debts.' 

'  But  you  will  probably  obtain  an  indemnity 
from  the  French  at  the  end  of  the  war.  Will  not 
this  be  calculated  on  a  scale  which  may  enable 
you  to  redeem  these  bonds?'  'Ah,  no!  We 
shall  want  all  the  money  we  can  get  to  pay  our 
own  bill.' 

"  '  Well,  then,  you  will  at  least  make  it  one  of 
the  conditions  of  peace  that  the  French  govern- 
ment shall  take  up  and  honour  them?'  '  I  think 
you  misunderstand  the  whole  matter.  When 
these  bonds  are  once  signed  and  delivered,  we 
entirely  wash  our  hands  of  them ;  we  ignore 
them  completely,  and  recognise  no  claim  founded 
on  them.' 

"  '  Then  what  is  the  good  of  issuing  them?' 
( With  a  shrug.)  '  Well,  it  is  more  orderly. 
Besides,  when  peace  is  concluded,  the  French  will 
perhaps  make  some  national  efforts  to  relieve  the 
poverty  of  the  districts  in  which  requisitions  were 
made,  by  calling  for  the  assistance  of  those  depart- 
ments which  have  not  suffered.  In  such  a  case 
our  bonds  will  enable  the  maires,  sous-prefets,  and 
prefets  to  distribute  their  funds  equitably.' 

"  This,  then,  the  Prussians  call  paying  for  all 
they  take  ;  and  the  world  praises  their  honesty. 
There  seems  to  be  an  unusual  amount  of  balder- 
dash talked  on  subjects  connected  with  the  war. 
Possibly  they  may  have  little  choice  in  the  course 
they  have  pursued  ;  but  it  is,  we  think,  indisput- 
able that  these  French  peasants  are  as  completely 
stripped  of  their  possessions  as  were  the  Ham- 
burgers under  the  rule  of  Davoust ;  only,  in  the 
present  instance,  the  process  is  carried  on  in  a 
more  civil  way.  The  medium  of  communication 
is  the  maire.  On  him  the  Prussian  commandant 
issues  the  requisitions  for  forage,  provisions,  billets, 


carts,  horses,  rations,  &c. ;  and  the  former  dis- 
tributes the  burden  as  evenly  as  possible.  All 
that  comes  under  the  head  of  '  luxuries '  is  sup- 
posed to  be  paid  for ;  though  even  in  this  respect 
the  rule  does  not  seem  to  be  very  clear.  For 
instance,  we  noticed  at  Conflans  that,  instead  of 
the  everlasting,  big,  hanging  pipe,  every  soldier 
was  puffing  away  at  a  cigar.  On  inquiry,  the 
Prussian  officer  told  us  that  they  had  that  day 
obtained  ( ?  obtained)  an  unexpected  supply  from 
the  neighbourhood  of  6000  cigars  ;  which,  dis- 
tributed among  250,  gave  24  cigars  per  man. 

"  There  is  also  apparently  great  laxity  in  con- 
niving at  the  private  soldiers  helping  themselves, 
provided  there  is  no  theft  of  money.  They 
laughingly  told  us  that  their  men  were  very  sharp 
in  discovering  the  hidden  treasures  of  best  wine. 
One  woman  came  to  complain  of  forcible  abstract 
tion  of  wheat  for  the  horses  by  some  men  billeted 
on  her: — ■ 

"  'Did  they  rob  you  of  any  money?'  inquired 
the  commandant.     '  No,  monsieur  ;  but .' 

"  '  Then,'  interrupted  the  other,  '  I  cannot  redress 
your  complaint.  Our  horses  must  be  fed  ;  and  if 
we  cannot  obtain  oats,  we  must  take  wheat.'  " 

During  the  stay  of  the  Crown  Prince  at  Nancy, 
some  of  the  inhabitants  were  prevailed  on  to  assist 
in  restoring  the  railway  which  was  to  join  his  own 
main  communication ;  and  on  hearing  of  it  he 
issued  the  following  proclamation  : — 

"  Germany  is  making  war  against  the  emperor  of 
the  French,  not  against  the  French.  The  popula- 
tion has  no  reason  to  fear  that  any  hostile  measures 
will  be  used  towards  it.  I  am  exerting  myself  to 
restore  to  the  nation,  and  to  the  people  of  Nancy 
in  particular,  the  means  of  communication  which 
the  French  army  has  destroyed,  and  I  hope  that 
industry  and  commerce  will  soon  resume  their 
usual  way,  and  functionaries  of  every  class  continue 
at  their  work.  I  only  require  for  the  support  of 
the  army  the  surplus  of  provisions  over  what  is 
necessary  for  the  French  people.  The  peaceful 
part  of  the  nation,  and  Nancy  in  particular,  may 
count  upon  the  utmost  consideration." 

By  the  20th  of  August  the  Crown  Prince's  col- 
umns had  not  advanced  far  beyond  Nancy,  though 
his  uhlans  had  reached  St  Dizier  and  Vitry.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  from  his  arrival  at  the 
camp  of  Chalons  on  the  16th  to  this  date  (August 
20),  MacMahon  had  been  busily  engaged  in  en- 
deavouring to  re-organize  his  troops,  and  had  just 
3  E 


402 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


been  joined  by  De  Failly.  When  he  became  aware 
that  Bazaine  had  been  prevented  from  making  his 
intended  movement  on  Chalons,  and  that  the  Crown 
Prince  had  resumed  his  westward  march,  several 
alternatives  must  have  presented  themselves  to  the 
French  general  for  choice:  (1)  He  might  fall  back 
on  Paris  for  the  purpose  of  assuring  its  successful 
defence,  if  besieged,  or  if  fighting  outside,  with  it 
still  behind  him  to  receive  his  army  in  case  of  de- 
feat; (2)  he  might  retreat  northwards  by  Rheims, 
Soissons,  and  Compiegne,  constantly  threatening 
the  right  flank  of  the  German  advance  on  the 
capital,  but  never  allowing  himself  to  be  drawn 
into  any  serious  engagement;  (3)  he  might,  on  the 
other  hand,  draw  off  to  a  flanking  position  on  the 
south,  having  Lyons  in  the  rear  with  the  new  levies 
there  in  course  of  formation:  in  either  of  these  cases 
he  could  have  kept  an  untouched  district  behind 
him  from  which  to  feed  his  army,  and  at  the  same 
time  threaten  the  communications  by  which  the 
Germans  must  needs  supply  theirs;  (4)  if,  instead 
of  either  of  these  safe  courses,  he  decided  to  at- 
tempt the  relief  of  his  beleaguered  comrade  at  Metz, 
he  could  either  proceed  first  to  the  southward  and 
then  to  the  north-east  according  to  circumstances, 
and  if  the  enemy  came  on  him  on  the  way  he  would 
have  two-thirds  of  France  on  which  to  fall  back; 
or  he  could  break  up  suddenly  and  as  secretly  as 
possible  from  Chalons,  and  by  forced  marches  hope 
perhaps  to  elude  both  the  Crown  Prince  and  any 
other  force  that  might  be  sent  to  intercept  him; 
in  which  case  he  might  fall  on  the  rear  of  the  in- 
vesting force  at  Metz,  and  having,  in  combination 
with  Bazaine's  army,  defeated  it,  then  with  an 
united  army  of  250,000  men,  encouraged  by  vic- 
tory, and  with  France  in  good  heart,  oblige  the 
Germans  to  begin  the  game  again  almost  from 
the  commencement. 

According  to  a  letter  published  by  him  after  the 
disaster  at  Sedan,  the  first  course — to  fall  back 
on  Paris — was  that  which  MacMahon  intended  to 
adopt;  but  by  order  of  the  minister  of  war,  Comte 
de  Palikao,  and  the  Committee  of  Defence  at  Paris, 
he  was  compelled  to  attempt  the  last,  and  enter  on 
an  undertaking  fated  to  prove  most  disastrous  to 
the  arms  of  France.  "This,"  he  says  in  his  letter, 
"is  what  infallibly  happens  when  people  take  upon 
them  to  direct  the  movements  of  distant  armies 
from  the  closet.  In  these  circumstances  one  can 
draw  up  a  general  plan,  but  one  cannot  descend  to 
details;  and  this  is  what  Comte  de  Palikao  forgot." 


The  marshal's  statement  is  fully  borne  out  by  the 
emperor,  who  says  that,  as  soon  as  he  reached  the 
camp  at  Chalons  from  Metz,  he  found  there  the 
duke  of  Magenta  (Marshal  MacMahon)  and  Gen- 
eral Trochu;  the  latter  had  been  nominated  by 
the  minister  of  war  commander  of  the  troops  at 
the  camp.  These  two  general  officers  were  sum- 
moned by  the  emperor  to  a  council,  at  which  were 
present  Prince  Napoleon,  General  Schmitz  (General 
Trochu's  chief  staff  officer),  and  General  Berthaut, 
the  commander  of  the  national  garde  mobile.  It 
was  decided  that  the  emperor  should  nominate 
General  Trochu  to  the  command  of  the  army  in 
Paris;  that  the  troops  collected  at  Chalons  should 
be  directed  towards  the  capital,  under  the  orders 
of  Marshal  MacMahon;  that  the  national  garde 
mobile  should  go  to  the  camp  of  St.  Maur,  at 
Yincennes;  and  that  the  emperor  should  go  to 
Paris,  where  his  duties  called  him. 

The  following  draught  of  a  proclamation  to  be 
issued  by  Marshal  MacMahon  was  also  agreed  to: — 

"  hrPERiAL  Headquarters,  .  .  .  1870. 
"  Soldiers, — The  emperor  has  confided  to  me  the 
command  of  all  the  forces  which,  with  the  army 
at  Chalons,  are  about  to  assemble  round  the  capital. 
My  most  ardent  desire  would  have  been  to  go  to 
the  help  of  Marshal  Bazaine,  but  after  close  ex- 
amination I  am  convinced  this  enterprise  is  impos- 
sible under  present  circumstances.  We  could  not 
reach  Metz  for  several  days,  and  before  that  time 
Marshal  Bazaine  will  have  broken  through  the 
obstacles  which  detain  him.  Our  direct  march 
upon  Metz  would  only  ....  During  our 
march  towards  the  east,  Paris  would  be  uncovered, 
and  a  large  Prussian  army  might  arrive  under  the 
walls.  After  the  reverses  Prussia  suffered  under 
the  first  empire  she  has  formed  a  military  organiz- 
ation enabling  her  to  rapidly  arm  her  people,  and 
within  a  few  days  place  her  entire  population  under 
arms.  Prussia  has,  therefore,  a  considerable  force 
at  her  disposal ;  the  fortifications  of  Paris  will  stop 
the  flood  of  the  enemy,  and  give  us  time  to  organ- 
ize the  military  forces  of  the  country;  the  national 
ardour  is  immense,  and  I  am  convinced  that  with 
perseverance  we  shall  conquer  the  enemy  and  drive 
him  from  our  territory." 

The  emperor  says  that  when  the  decision  of  this 
council  of  war  was  made  known  to  the  government 
in  Paris,  it  excited  an  animated  opposition.  "  Paris," 
it  was  said,  "is  in  a  perfect  state  of  defence;   its 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


403 


garrison  is  numerous.  The  army  of  Chalons  ought 
to  be  employed  in  breaking  the  blockade  of  Metz; 
the  national  garde  mobile  would  endanger  the 
tranquillity  of  the  capital;  the  character  of  General 
Trochu  inspires  no  confidence;  in  fact,  the  return 
of  the  emperor  to  Paris  would  be  very  ill  inter- 
preted by  public  opinion."  Nevertheless,  it  was 
decided  to  carry  out  the  orders  of  the  emperor, 
whilst  the  propriety  of  succouring  Bazaine  was 
still  insisted  upon.  But  Marshal  MacMahon  in- 
formed the  minister  of  war  that  the  march  towards 
Metz  would  be  one  of  the  greatest  imprudence. 
He  pointed  out  all  the  dangers  of  such  a  move- 
ment in  the  then  position  of  the  German  armies, 
and  declared  his  unwillingness  to  expose  troops, 
still  imperfectly  organized,  in  making  an  extremely 
perilous  flank  march  in  the  face  of  an  enemy  very 
superior  in  point  of  numbers;  but  he  announced 
his  intention  to  make  his  way  towards  Bheims, 
whence  he  could  proceed  either  to  Soissons  or  to 
Paris.  "  It  is  only,"  said  he,  "  under  the  walls  of 
the  capital  that  my  army,  when  rested  and  recon- 
stituted, will  be  able  to  offer  the  enemy  any  serious 
resistance."  "  But,"  says  the  emperor,  "  the  lan- 
guage of  reason  was  not  understood  in  Paris ;  it  was 
wished,  at  all  hazards,  to  give  public  opinion  the 
empty  hope  that  Marshal  Bazaine  would  still  be 
succoured;  and  Marshal  MacMahon  received  from 
the  council  of  ministers,  to  which  had  been  joined 
the  privy  council  and  the  presidents  of  the  two 
Chambers,  a  most  pressing  injunction  to  march 
towards  Metz.  The  government  had  taught  Paris 
to  expect  the  junction  of  the  two  marshals,  and  he 
was  assured  by  them  that  every  facility  should  be 
given  him  to  carry  out  their  wishes  by  sending 
him  stores  and  more  men." 

Marshal  MacMahon,  a  man,  above  all  things,  of 
duty,  obeyed,  and  resolved  to  take  the  chance 
placed  before  him.  Anything  which  resembled  a 
sacrifice  for  the  public  good  recommended  itself 
to  him  ;  and  he  was  flattered  by  the  idea  that,  by 
attracting  towards  himself  all  the  forces  of  the 
enemy,  he  was  for  the  moment  delivering  the 
capital,  and  giving  it  time  to  finish  its  means  of 
defence.  As  to  the  emperor,  he  says  he  made  no 
opposition.  "  It  could  not  enter  into  his  views  to 
oppose  the  advice  of  the  government  and  of  the 
empress  regent,  who  had  shown  so  much  intel- 
ligence and  energy  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest 
difficulties;  although  he  perceived  that  his  own 
influence  was  being  completely  nullified,  since  he 


was  acting  neither  as  head  of  the  government  nor 
head  of  the  army.  He  decided  to  follow,  in  per- 
son, the  movements  of  the  army,  fully  sensible, 
however,  that  if  lie  met  with  success  all  the  merit 
would  in  justice  be  ascribed  to  the  commander-in- 
chief;  and  that  in  case  of  a  reverse,  its  responsibility 
would  fall  upon  the  head  of  the  state." 

But  by  what  route,  and  with  what  means,  was 
the  operation  to  be  accomplished  ?  It  was  certainly 
known  in  the  French  capital  that  the  Crown  Prince 
was  marching  on  Chalons  in  too  great  strength  to 
be  attacked  ;  it  was  probably  known  that  powerful 
corps  were  being  moved  from  Metz  to  his  aid  ;  and 
it  might  be  assumed  that  the  other  German  armies 
were  in  possession  of  the  main  roads  which  led  by 
Etain  and  Verdun  to  Chalons.  An  advance,  there- 
fore, by  the  direct  routes  to  the  Lorraine  fortress 
was  not  to  be  thought  of;  such  a  movement  could 
only  lead  to  a  battle  against  very  superior  forces, 
and  the  object  was  to  unite  with  Bazaine  and  avoid 
an  engagement  with  any  part  of  the  enemy  except 
that  besieging  Metz.  It  seemed  to  the  French 
leaders,  the  best  way  of  accomplishing  their  pur- 
pose would  be  to  advance  northwards  on  the  railway 
line  from  Bheims  to  Bethel,  thence  push  on  rapidly 
by  forced  marches  through  the  Argonne  hills  and 
across  the  Meuse,  reach  Montmedy  and  Longuyon, 
and  descending  from  Thionville  on  Metz,  and 
taking  the  beleaguering  force  in  reverse,  thus 
relieve  the  defenders  of  the  fortress.  This  plan, 
undoubtedly,  was  not  free  from  danger,  for  the 
march  from  Bethel  to  Montmedy  and  Thionville 
would  be  long,  and  through  a  difficult  country,  in 
which  the  enemy  might  be  able  to  gain  and  fall 
on  the  army's  flank,  when  a  vigorous  attack  might 
not  only  bafHe  the  whole  operation,  but  expose 
the  French  to  serious  defeat.  But  until  Bethel 
was  attained  the  movement  would  be  necessarily 
masked  ;  it  was  not  likely  that  the  Crown  Prince 
would  be  in  a  position  to  arrest  it ;  any  German 
divisions  upon  his  right  would  be  insufficient  by 
themselves  to  stop  it ;  and  Thionville  once  passed, 
Bazaine  would  co-operate  with  the  relieving  force, 
and  engage  the  armies  around  Metz.  Besides,  was 
it  to  be  assumed  that  the  Crown  Prince  and  the 
corps  on  his  right,  supposed  to  be  on  their  way  to 
Paris,  would  turn  northwards  to  attack  MacMahon  ? 
If  they  did,  could  they  reach  him  in  time?  And 
was  it  not  probable  that  they  would  advance  at 
once  to  Chalons,  would  pause,  hesitate,  and  do 
nothing,  until  it  was  too  late  to  prevent  the  move- 


404 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


ment?  Great  risk  there  might  be,  but  the  plan  if 
successful  would  justify  and  compensate  it ;  for 
could  the  two  French  armies  reunite  at  Metz,  not 
only  would  Bazaine  be  set  free,  but  the  German 
armies  there  endangered,  and  the  Crown  Prince, 
advanced  into  the  heart  of  France,  would  be  ex- 
posed to  serious  disaster.  It  would  then  be  the 
turn  of  the  German  commanders  to  be  isolated 
and  divided  from  each  other;  and  what  might 
not  be  hoped  from  the  soldiers  of  France,  burning 
to  avenge  unexpected  defeats? 

Such  was  the  operation  planned  at  Paris,  and 
such,  it  is  said,  were  the  reasons  for  it.  It  is 
unfair  to  judge  of  strategy  by  the  event ;  but 
in  this  instance  it  may  be  safely  said  that  the 
scheme  was  at  least  hazardous.  It  is  true  that, 
at  the  time,  the  Crown  Prince  was  many  miles 
distant  on  the  great  road  from  Nancy  to  Cha- 
lons ;  and  the  result  showed  that  if  MacMahon's 
army  had  marched  with  even  tolerable  speed, 
the  Crown  Prince,  though  he  moved  north- 
wards, would  not  have  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
French,  at  least  until  after  they  had  crossed  the 
Meuse.  It  is  true,  also,  that  the  German  corps 
detached  from  Metz  to  the  Crown  Prince's  right, 
might  have  been  unable,  on  the  supposition  that 
they  alone  were  to  assail  MacMahon,  to  drive  back 
the  French ;  and,  undoubtedly,  the  presence  of 
Bazaine  at  Metz  would  necessarily  detain  a  very 
large  part  of  the  first  and  second  German  armies  on 
the  spot,  and  prevent  them  from  turning  against 
another  enemy.  Nor  can  it  be  disputed  that,  could 
it  have  been  accomplished,  the  French  scheme  was 
extremely  promising — nay,  that,  as  some  admirers 
boasted,  it  might  have  been  attended  with  as 
mighty  results  as  the  march  from  the  Douro  upon 
Vittoria.  But  in  war,  as  in  everything  else,  means 
must  be  proportioned  to  ends.  Let  it  be  conceded 
that  up  to  Rethel  the  intended  movement  would 
not  be  understood ;  that  the  Crown  Prince  would 
be  unable  to  stop  it  until  the  Argonnes  and  the 
Meuse  had  been  passed  ;  that  the  corps  on  his 
right  could  not  alone  defeat  it,  and  that  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  and  General  Steinmetz  would  not 
be  strong  enough  to  turn  on  MacMahon  in  force 
— the  operation,  nevertheless,  was  very  daring. 
The  French  army,  in  advancing  from  Eethel  by 
Montmedy  upon  Metz,  must  have  moved  along  an 
extensive  arc  of  which  the  enemy  held  at  all  points, 
and  in  very  superior  strength,  the  chord  ;  and, 
once  checked,  it  must  have  been  exposed  to  the 


most  tremendous  defeats.  It  was  almost  inevitable 
that  it  would  be  reached  by  the  German  corps  on 
the  Crown  Prince's  right,  as  it  approached  the 
region  of  the  Argonnes  and  the  Meuse,  for  these 
were  already  not  far  from  that  line ;  and  if  this 
were  done,  and  time  were  gained  for  the  Crown 
Prince's  army  to  come  up  with  it,  a  disastrous 
reverse  was  to  be  expected.  Nay,  more,  supposing 
these  perils  were  escaped,  and  that  MacMahon 
made  good  his  way  to  Montmedy,  there  was  nothing 
to  prevent  the  Crown  Prince  from  turning  back- 
ward, and,  having  attained  Metz,  from  effecting  his 
junction  with  the  other  German  armies  and  beating 
his  enemy  as  he  advanced  by  Thionville.  In  fact, 
the  manoeuvre  was  an  immense  and  most  dangerous 
flank  march  by  a  disorganized  and  raw  army, 
within  certain  range  of  a  formidable  adversary  in 
possession  of  all  the  interior  lines,  and,  when  at  all 
united,  of  overwhelming  strength.  Local  circum- 
stances, too,  not  only  rendered  this  march  especially 
liable  to  failure,  but  exposed  Mac Mahon,  if  beaten, 
to  ruin.  His  path  lay  across  the  Argonnes  and  the 
Meuse  by  indifferent  roads  and  an  intricate  country, 
and  the  Meuse  once  crossed,  he  would  be  close  to 
the  frontier  along  the  whole  way  from  Montmedy 
to  Thionville.  He  was,  therefore,  going  upon  an 
enterprise  in  which  he  would  probably  be  caught 
in  flank,  and  brought  to  bay  by  superior  numbers  ; 
and  once  defeated,  he  would  most  likely  be  cut  off 
from  the  chance  of  retreat,  or  forced  into  the  ter- 
ritory of  Belgium,  where  his  soldiers  would  be 
obliged  to  lay  down  their  arms.  As  for  the  notion 
that  the  Crown  Prince  would  go  on  to  Paris,  and 
would  not  turn  round  when  he  had  ascertained  the 
direction  of  the  French  marshal's  movement,  it  is 
strange  it  could  ever  have  been  seriously  enter- 
tained by  those  who  had  learnt  by  experience  how 
the  Prussian  troops  can  march. 

This  was  the  operation  to  save  France,  and  to 
annihilate  the  vain-glorious  German  princes,  which 
paper  strategists  in  Paris  compared  to  the  Alpine 
march  that  led  to  Marengo.  Its  designers  may  have 
had  in  mind  the  celebrated  movement  of  Napoleon 
I.  in  1814,  when,  leaving  the  allies  to  advance  on 
Paris,  he  fell  back  towards  his  frontier  fortresses 
to  draw  in  their  garrisons  to  his  diminished  army. 
But  there  was  much  difference  between  the  two  cases. 
Napoleon,  when  he  retreated  on  St.  Dizier,  was 
not  sufficiently  strong  to  cover  Paris,  then,  it  must 
be  remembered,  wholly  unfortified;  he  had  reason 
to  believe  that  the  timid   Schwartzenberg  would 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


405 


pause  and  halt  when  the  dreaded  emperor  was 
known  to  be  threatening  his  rear;  above  all,  he 
ran  no  risk  of  being  destroyed  on  his  way  into 
Lorraine,  and  when  he  reached  Metz  he  was 
absolutely  certain  to  be  rejoined  by  a  considerable 
force  which,  after  the  glories  of  Montmirail,  might 
at  least  have  prolonged  a  doubtful  contest.  His 
movement,  therefore,  was  compelled  by  his  needs; 
in  a  military  point  of  view  it  had  a  prospect  of 
success;  it  did  not  place  his  army  in  danger;  and 
had  the  allies  been  as  feeble  as  of  old,  or  had 
Paris  held  out  for  a  single  week,  momentous  con- 
sequences might  have  ensued.  But  MacMahon 
had  more  than  sufficient  means  to  defend  Paris, 
now  well  fortified;  his  army  was  exactly  in  the 
condition  for  being  so  employed.  The  French 
government  ought  to  have  counted  that  the 
Crown  Prince,  as  a  matter  of  course,  would  turn 
on  him  as  he  marched  northwards ;  especially  ought 
they  to  have  seen — and  this  is  the  distinctive 
point — his  advance  to  Metz  along  the  Belgian 
frontier  would  inevitably  expose  him  to  danger, 
and  very  probably  lead  to  a  catastrophe;  and  as 
the  enterprise  on  which  they  ordered  him  was  not 
dictated  by  any  exigency,  it  was  precisely  that 
which  should  not  have  been  attempted.  It  had 
hardly  a  reasonable  chance  of  success,  and  it  might 
involve  France  in  a  tremendous  calamity;  for  it 
abandoned  all  direct  communications  with  Paris 
to  the  mercy  of  the  enemy,  it  drew  the  last 
available  forces  of  France  away  from  the  centre 
towards  the  periphery,  and  placed  them  inten- 
tionally farther  away  from  the  centre  than  the 
enemy  was  already.  Such  a  move  might  have 
been  excusable,  had  it  been  undertaken  with 
largely  superior  numbers;  but  here  it  was  under- 
taken with  numbers  hopelessly  inferior,  and  in 
the  face  of  almost  certain  defeat.  And  what 
would  that  defeat  bring  ?  Wherever  it  occurred  it 
would  push  the  remnants  of  the  beaten  army  away 
from  Paris  towards  the  northern  frontier,  where 
they  might,  as  we  have  shown,  either  be  driven 
upon  neutral  ground  or  forced  to  capitulate.  Mac- 
Mahon, in  fact,  by  undertaking  the  move,  deliber- 
ately placed  bis  army  in  the  same  position  in  which 
Napoleon's  flank  march  round  the  southern  end  of 
the  Thuringian  forest  in  1806  placed  the  Prussian 
army  at  Jena.  A  force  numerically  and  morally 
weaker  was  deliberately  placed  in  a  position  where, 
after  a  defeat,  its  only  line  of  retreat  was  through 
a  narrow  strip  of  country  leading  towards  neutral 


territory  or  the  sea.  ivapoleon  forced  the  Prussians 
to  capitulate  by  reaching  Stettin  before  them.  In 
the  most  favourable  case,  MacMahon's  troops  could 
hardly  have  done  more  than  escape  to  the  northern 
fortresses,  Valenciennes,  Lille,  &c.,  where  they 
would  have  been  quite  harmless,  and  France 
would  at  once  have  been  completely  at  the  mercy 
of  the  invader.  Even  without  his  explanation  and 
that  of  the  emperor  on  the  subject,  it  could  hardly 
have  been  believed  that  a  commander  of  great 
experience  and  proved  ability  was  the  author  of 
this  scheme  ;  but  the  pressure  put  upon  him  does 
not  relieve  him  from  the  responsibilily  of  so  fatal 
a  step.  In  his  position  he  ought  to  have  refused 
to  lead  his  troops  into  peril  so  evident. 

On  Sunday,  August  21,  he  broke  up  suddenly 
from  the  camp  at  Chalons,  burning  everything  in 
it  that  could  be  of  the  least  use  to  the  enemy  ;  and 
fell  back  with  his  forces  to  Courcelles,  a  few  miles 
from  Eheims.  It  was  here  that  Count  Palikao 
transmitted  to  him  his  final  and  pressing  orders 
to  effect  a  junction  with  Bazaine,  and  on  the  fol- 
lowing day  his  army  commenced  its  fatal  march 
northwards.  Its  aspect  and  movements  ought  to 
have  warned  a  prudent  commander  that  it  was 
unfit  to  undertake  a  perilous  enterprise,  in  which 
celerity  was  indispensable  to  give  a  chance  of 
success.  The  guns  were  ill-horsed  and  ill-mounted, 
the  trains  insufficient  and  out  of  order,  the  cavalry 
inferior  and  too  few  in  number ;  and  the  infantry, 
made  up  of  a  medley  of  regiments,  of  raw  levies, 
and  of  disheartened  soldiers,  was  wanting  in  the  real 
elements  of  power.  The  emperor's  own  descrip- 
tion of  the  force  was,  that  the  first  corps,  formed 
principally  out  of  regiments  from  Africa,  that 
had  given  proof  at  Woerth  of  a  heroic  bravery 
which  only  the  crushing  numerical  superiority 
of  the  enemy  had  forced  to  succumb,  were  still 
strongly  impressed  by  that  defeat  and  by  the 
tremendous  effects  of  the  German  artillery.  They 
came  away  from  the  field  of  battle  with  dissatisfied 
and  mutinous  feelings,  which  the  retreat  upon 
Chalons,  long  and  incessant  marches,  and  physical 
privations,  had  still  further  aggravated.  Marshal 
MacMahon  did  not  shut  his  eyes  to  this,  and  con- 
sidered that,  before  leading  them  again  under  fire, 
they  needed  repose  and  time  to  strengthen  them- 
selves after  their  defeat.  These  were  the  oldest  of 
the  French  veterans.  The  renown  which  right- 
fully belonged  to  them  as  the  soldiers  of  Africa, 
they  had  amply  justified.     The  effect  which  their 


406 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


discouragement  might  have  on  the  rest  of  the 
army  was,  therefore,  doubly  to  be  feared.  Already, 
indeed,  was  the  fifth  corps  specially  feeling  that 
effect.  Exhausted,  like  the  other,  by  forced 
marches  from  Bitsche  across  the  Vosges,  by 
Neufchateau  and  the  Haute  Marne,  to  the  camp 
at  Chalons,  and  having  lost  without  a  fight  a  por- 
tion of  its  equipments  and  almost  all  its  luggage, 
this  corps  had  an  appearance  of  disorganization 
sufficient  to  inspire  the  most  lively  anxiety.  The 
seventh  corps,  whose  tardy  organization  was 
scarcely  finished,  had  not  encountered  the  same 
trials  as  the  two  foregoing ;  but  in  consequence 
of  the  long  march  from  the  rear,  from  Belfort, 
through  Paris,  to  the  camp  of  Chalons,  it  did  not 
show  such  solidity  as  might  have  been  desired. 
As  to  the  twelfth  corps,  of  very  recent  forma- 
tion, it  comprised  elements  of  different-  degrees 
of  value :  the  first  division  was  composed  of 
new  regiments,  upon  which  there  was  reason  to 
depend  ;  the  second,  of  four  marching  regiments 
formed  out  of  fourth  battalions,  with  incomplete 
staff,  and  of  soldiers  who  had  never  fired  a  gun  ; 
and,  lastly,  the  third  division  was  composed  of 
four  regiments  of  marines,  which  bore  themselves 
bravely  at  Sedan,  but  which,  little  accustomed  to 
long  marches,  dotted  the  roads  with  stragglers. 
Such  were  the  troops  upon  whom  was  to  be  im- 
posed a  most  difficult  and  dangerous  campaign. 

It  was  not  until  the  afternoon  of  August  23 
that  MacMahon's  army  passed  through  Rheims. 
Anxious,  and  knowing  that  everything  depended 
on  speed,  he  addressed  some  columns  as  they 
toiled  onwards,  reminding  them  that  French  sol- 
diers had  marched  thirty  miles  a  day  under  the 
sun  of  Africa.  The  difference,  however,  was  great 
between  raids  made  by  a  few  light  regiments  and 
the  advance  of  a  raw  unwieldy  mass;  and  though 
the  marshal  endeavoured  to  hurry  them  forward, 
he  was  confronted  with  almost  insurmountable 
obstacles.  Scarcely  had  the  army  made  a  march 
towards  establishing  itself  at  Bethniville,  on  the 
Suippe,  when  commissariat  difficulties  obliged  him 
to  re-approach  the  line  of  the  railway.  He  made 
a  movement  on  his  left,  and  reached  Kethel  on 
the  24th,  in  order  to  obtain  for  his  troops  several 
days'  subsistence.  This  distribution  occupied  the 
whole  of  the  25th. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  war  to  this 
time  the  Prince  Imperial  had  accompanied  his 
father;    but  in   view  of  the  exceptional  dangers 


which  were  now  threatening,  Marshal  MacMahon 
and  the  emperor  both  insisted  that  he  should  be 
removed  from  the  theatre  of  war.  He  therefore 
set  out  for  Mezieres,  and  thence  entered  Belgium, 
where  he  was  soon  to  learn  the  news  of  the  capitu- 
lation of  Sedan. 

As  the  direction  of  the  French  movement  could 
not  now  be  concealed,  at  this  point  MacMahon 
made  arrangements  for  marching  with  all  possible 
rapidity.  It  may  be  doubted,  however,  whether 
Napoleon  himself,  at  the  head  of  the  grand  army, 
could  have  made  the  haste  which  the  marshal  de- 
signed with  his  raw  and  partly  demoralized  troops. 
He  divided  his  forces  into  three  parts,  and  having 
despatched  about  20,000  men  by  the  railway  line 
from  Rethel  to  Mezieres,  where  they  were  to  join 
an  auxiliary  corps  coming  up  from  Paris  under 
General  Vinoy,  and  to  close  on  his  rear  when  he 
had  passed  the  Meuse — he  advanced  in  two  great 
columns  by  the  parallel  routes  which  lead  through 
the  Lower  Argonnes,  a  hilly  and  thickly  wooded 
district  watered  by  the  Meuse.  In  these  disposi- 
tions there  is  nothing  to  blame:  the  fatal  enterprise 
had  been  entered  on,  and  we  may  believe  that  the 
marshal  endeavoured  to  hasten  forward  as  quickly 
as  possible.  He  doubtless  hoped  to  pass  round  the 
right  flank  of  any  force  moving  in  the  direction  of 
Paris  from  Metz,  and  had  gained,  as  he  supposed, 
such  a  start  on  the  Crown  Prince  as  would  enable 
him  to  evade  pursuit  by  the  latter,  should  he  turn 
northwards  after  him.  His  right  was  at  first  dir- 
ected on  Montmedy,  an  important  station  on  the 
French  line  of  railroad  which  runs  along  the 
Belgian  frontier,  and  connects  the  fortresses  of 
Mezieres  and  Sedan  with  Longwy  and  Thionville, 
where  it  strikes  the  Moselle.  His  left  went  more 
westward  towards  Sedan;  and  though  thus  obliged 
to  divide  his  columns  for  the  sake  of  speed,  he 
doubtless  hoped,  on  reaching  the  railroad,  to  use 
it  for  the  purposes  of  supply  and  concentration 
(it  had,  however,  been  cut  by  the  Germans  on  the 
25th),  and  to  push  on  to  the  Moselle  with,  if  not 
the  whole,  at  least  so  much  of  his  force  as  might 
enable  him  to  make  a  powerful  effort  on  the  rear 
of  the  Prussians  watching  Bazaine.  But  to  do 
this  it  was  necessary  to  march  first  to  the  north- 
east, and  finally  a  day  more  to  the  south,  before 
he  could  come  within  such  a  distance  of  Metz  as 
would  enable  him  to  signal  to  Bazaine;  so  that  he 
was,  in  fact,  attempting  to  get  round  three  sides 
of   an   irregular  quadrangle,   within   which    were 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


407 


gathered,  a  week  before,  the  eight  Prussian  corps 
which  had  fought  the  battle  of  Gravelotte. 

It  would  have  been  scarcely  possible  to  do  this 
with  the  best  troops  in  the  world.  As  matters 
were,  his  army  was  altogether  unequal  to  forced 
inarches,  and  moved  at  this  critical  moment  with 
the  sluggishness  inherent  in  its  defective  organiza- 
tion. Encumbered  with  stragglers,  badly  pioneered, 
and  checked  by  hindrances  of  every  kind,  it  made 
hardly  ten  miles  a  day;  and  it  was  the  27th  of 
August  before  its  right  column,  still  far  from  the 
Meuse,  passed  through  Vouziers,  and  the  left 
reached  Le  Chene. 

The  defective  composition  of  the  army  was 
shown  not  only  in  the  slow  progress  it  made,  but 
in  the  want  of  discipline,  and  in  a  spirit  of  law- 
lessness and  even  mutiny,  which  augured  very 
ill  for  the  future.  Before  the  departure  from 
Chalons  some  of  the  stragglers  commenced  pillag- 
ing their  own  army,  and  selling  the  articles  for 
a  trifle.  For  more  than  two  hours  the  railway 
station  was  pillaged  by  three  or  four  hundred  men 
from  the  corps  of  General  de  Failly,  many  of  them 
belonging  to  the  artillery.  They  broke  or  opened 
150  goods. waggons,  and  threw  out  on  the  line,  at 
the  risk  of  accidents,  barrels  of  wine  and  gun- 
powder, cartridges,  shot,  shell,  biscuits,  bales  of 
clothing,  coffee,  salt  meats,  and  other  provisions. 
These  they  sold  to  hucksters  who  waited  outside. 
Officers'  trunks  were  also  forced  and  plundered, 
and  amongst  the  articles  sold  was  part  even  of  the 
emperor's  baggage.  His  sheets  went  for  four  sous 
each ;  loaves  of  sugar  brought  only  fifty  centimes, 
and  bales  of  coffee  a  franc.  The  railway  servants 
attacked  the  plunderers  with  sticks,  but  were  in 
return  pelted  with  cartridges.  The  whole  scene 
was  described  as  being  more  heartrending  to  a 
soldier  than  a  battle-field.  Great  excesses,  of  a 
somewhat  similar  character,  were  also  committed 
at  Rheims  ;  and  worst  of  all,  scarcely  any  notice 
could  be  taken  of  such  disgraceful  conduct. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
army  altogether  doubted  the  ability  of  its  chiefs, 
became  weary  of  their  orders  and  counter-orders, 
and  exasperated  by  the  obvious  want  of  a  com- 
prehensible plan.  It  fretted  with  impatience,  and 
wore  itself  out  by  marches  without  advance.  The 
weather  was  bad,  and  the  distribution  of  food  rare 
and  insufficient.  Nor  was  it  ever  known,  for 
want  of  scouts,  whether  the  enemy  was  marching 
away,  or  coming  near.     The  headquarters  on  the 


25  th  August  were  fixed  at  Bethel,  and  on  the 
27th  they  were  at  Chene,  evidently  in  hesitation. 
The  want  of  a  good  and  numerous  cavalry  became 
every  hour  more  apparent. 

In  a  note-book  found  on  an  officer  of  De  Failly 's 
corps  who  was  killed  at  Sedan,  under  the  date 
of  August  26,  it  was  said: — "  There  is  no  dis- 
tribution of  rations;  we  have,  however,  reserve 
biscuits  to  last  us  to  the  28th.  .  .  August  27. 
Awakened  at  three  a.m.  An  order  from  the 
commander-in-chief  that  we  are  to  march  against 
the  enemy.  The  positions  each  division  has  to 
take  are  distinctly  indicated  by  the  names  of  the 
villages.  We  start  in  the  same  order  as  yesterday; 
but  the  whole  day  is  spent  in  marches  and  counter- 
marches, very  trying,  and,  as  we  learn  afterwards, 
quite  unnecessary.  Our  general  of  division  (Guyot 
de  Lespart),  not  conforming  to  orders,  wandered 
a  Vaventure,  with  no  other  result  than  that  of 
exhausting  and  greatly  discontenting  his  troops. 
Both  men  and  horses  are  quite  worn  out  by  march- 
ing over  tilled  ground,  softened  for  several  days  by 
almost  incessant  rain.  In  a  village  we  pass  through 
the  inhabitants  give  all  the  bread  and  other  food 
they  have  to  our  soldiers,  some  of  whom  were 
absolutely  begging  for  it.  On  our  arrival  at 
Bois-les-Dames  we  see  on  all  sides  uhlan  videttes, 
against  which  we  are  forced  to  send  out  riflemen. 
The  uhlans  go  to  and  fro,  in  full  gallop,  over  the 
very  places  on  which  we  intended  to  take  up  our 
bivouac." 

Leaving  MacMahon  for  a  short  time,  we  must 
now  turn  again  to  the  Germans.  From  the 
moment  when  the  battle  of  Gravelotte  had  shut 
up  Bazaine  in  Metz,  MacMahon's  army  was  the 
next  object  kept  in  view,  not  only  by  that  of  the 
Crown  Prince,  but  by  all  other  troops  which  could 
be  spared  from  before  Metz.  Within  two  days  of 
the  battle  of  the  18th,  a  great  force  of  landwehr 
had  reached  the  fortress  to  fill  up  the  losses  in  the 
late  engagements,  and  a  considerable  part  of  the 
regular  troops  was  thus  set  free  for  new  operations. 
A  fresh  army  was  placed  under  the  command  of 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony,  and  detached  from 
Metz  about  the  1 9th  of  August,  to  co-operate  with 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia,  and  join  his  right 
wing  on  his  way  to  Chalons.  It  was  composed  of 
the  Prussian  guards,  of  the  twelfth  Saxon  corps, 
and  of  the  fourth  German  corps  (the  latter  had  not 
taken  part  in  the  battles  at  Metz),  altogether  about 
70,000   or   80,000  men   in  the  highest  state  of 


408 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


efficiency;  and  it  was  advanced  beyond  Verdun 
upon  the  Meuse  with  the  view  of  ultimately  attain- 
ing Chalons  by  the  '  line  of  Clermont  and  Ste. 
Menehould. 

The  Saxon  corps  under  Prince  George,  with 
which  went  the  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony's  head- 
quarters, did  not  receive  orders  to  move  westward 
from  before  Metz  as  part  of  the  fourth  army  until 
the  22nd.  At  the  close  of  the  fourth  day's  march 
the  headquarters  were  at  Jubecourt,  six  miles 
from  Clermont,  in  the  centre  of  the  Southern 
Argonnes,  and  nearly  fifty  miles  in  a  direct  line 
from  the  position  quitted  before  Metz.  During 
these  four  days  the  fourth  army  had  marched 
almost  wholly  on  cross-roads,  made  the  passage  of 
the  Meuse,  and  lost  some  time  as  well  as  some 
lives  in  a  rash  attempt  upon  Verdun,  where  find- 
ing their  first  attack  repulsed,  they  did  not  choose 
to  waste  time  in  minor  operations. 

The  position  of  this  fourth  army,  owing  to  the 
promptitude  it  had  displayed,  fully  answered  the 
masterly  design  of  General  von  Moltke,  since  it  was 
ready  to  move  on  towards  Paris  on  lines  parallel 
to  those  followed  by  the  Crown  Prince,  whose 
main  body  was  at  Bar-le-Duc,  two  days'  march  to 
the  south.  Thus  any  position  to  oppose  him  taken 
up  by  MacMahon  would  have  been  imperilled  by 
this  fourth  army.  If  he  fought  at  Chalons  he 
could  be  opposed  by  both  armies,  and,  if  defeated, 
pushed  back  to  Paris ;  and  if  he  retired  on  Paris 
without  fighting,  the  two  crown  princes,  moving 
side  by  side,  would  follow  him  with  overwhelming 
forces.  On  the  other  hand,  should  he  make,  as 
he  did  make,  the  desperate  attempt  to  slip  past 
them,  a  two  days'  march  northward  would  plant 
the  fourth  army  directly  in  his  way,  and  close  the 
defiles  of  the  Northern  Argonnes  untd  the  third 
army  came  in  on  his  flank. 

Meanwhile  the  king,  with  a  small  escort,  had 
set  off  to  join  the  Crown  Prince,  his  son,  by  Pont- 
a-Mousson  and  Commercy.  The  weather  about 
this  time  was  unusually  inclement  for  the  season 
— being  very  cold,  and  heavy  rain  faffing  almost 
incessantly.  This  caused  the  Germans  much 
suffering,  as  they  never  carry  tents.  Some  of 
them  had  slept  for  three  weeks  on  the  wet  ground, 
in  potato  fields,  or  under  hedges.  They  had  no 
blankets — nothing  but  their  cloaks,  and  up  till 
then,  some  straw.  From  the  scarcity  of  forage, 
however,  they  were  now  denied  even  that  luxury. 

On  the  morning  of  the  26th  of  August  the  king 


and  the  Crown  Prince  had  their  headquarters  at 
Bar-le-Duc,  stdl  at  a  considerable  distance  from 
Chalons.  The  mass  of  the  third  German  army  was 
before  Bar-le-Duc,  and  to  Ligny  backwards,  though 
its  cavalry  filled  the  whole  of  the  adjoining  region, 
and  had  even  advanced  beyond  Chalons  and  taken 
possession  of  the  town.  This  feat  was  performed 
by  five  Prussian  dragoons  and  one  officer.  One 
of  the  privates  rode  into  the  town  smoking  his 
pipe  with  imperturbable  coolness.  The  French 
General  de  Brehault,  who  had  been  quartered  there 
with  a  small  force  of  cavalry,  had  just  previously 
withdrawn,  doubtless  in  pursuance  of  orders.  The 
mayor  issued  a  proclamation,  telling  the  citizens 
that,  as  they  had  no  means  of  even  checking  the 
enemy's  advance,  they  should  keep  quiet. 

The  presence  of  the  king  of  Prussia  at  Bar-le- 
Duc,  even  if  a  single  Prussian  soldier  had  not  made 
a  mile's  march  beyond,  was  highly  significant.  It 
meant  that,  without  firing  a  shot,  the  French  armies 
had  abandoned  the  line  of  the  Meuse  and  the 
Argonne,  just  as  they  abandoned  the  line  of  the 
Moselle  when  they  allowed  the  Crown  Prince  to 
occupy  Nancy.  Thus  another  of  the  natural 
defences  of  France  had  fallen  without  a  blow,  and 
the  invaders  of  1870  had  already  advanced  farther 
than  those  of  1792  ever  reached — farther  than 
those  of  1814  had  attained  before  the  great  Na- 
poleon had  dealt  some  thundering  strokes  against 
their  converging  hosts. 

The  German  commanders  thought  that  Mac- 
Mahon was  awaiting  them  near  the  great  camp  of 
Chalons,  or  that  he  would  fall  back  on  Paris ;  and 
did  not  credit  the  rumour,  already  floating  on  the 
25th,  that  he  had  gone  north.  But  next  day  the 
report  was  confirmed,  and  the  Prussian  staff,  in 
common  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  understood 
what  was  meant  by  the  premature  declaration  of 
Count  Palikao  in  Paris,  that  a  grand  scheme  had 
been  formed  by  which  the  two  French  armies  were 
to  co-operate.  Had  the  general  conception  been  in 
any  degree  carried  into  effect,  of  drawing  the  Prus- 
sians near  to  Paris,  and  letting  them  pass  by  the 
army  of  MacMahon,  so  that  he  might  fall  straight 
on  the  rear  of  that  before  Metz,  there  would  have 
been  some  excuse  for  this  boast.  As  it  was,  it 
only  had  the  effect  of  arousing  the  vigilance  of  the 
Germans. 

"We  have  said  that  on  the  26th  the  rumour  of 
MacMahon's  northward  movement  was  confirmed, 
by  the  capture  of  letters  by  the  Prussian  cavalry, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


409 


and  that  on  the  morning  of  this  day  the  German 
headquarters  were  advanced  in  the  direction  of 
Paris  as  far  as  the  fine  town  of  Bar-le-Duc.  The 
road  from  Ligny  to  this  place  inclines  to  the 
north-west,  so  that  the  movement  brought  the 
Germans  indirectly  somewhat  nearer  Sedan,  and  it 
opened  to  them  the  best  of  the  cross-roads  which 
lead  through  the  Argonnes  district  towards  the 
passages  of  the  Meuse  near  that  town.  The  head- 
quarters were  but  seventy  miles  due  south  of  it 
that  evening;  and  though  MacMahon  had  broken 
up  from  Eheims,  about  the  same  distance  to  the 
south-west,  four  days  before,  he  had  made  so  little 
progress,  that  he  was  still  to  the  west  of  the  line 
on  which  the  Germans  would  move  when  they 
marched  northward,  which  on  this  very  morning 
they  were  ordered  to  do.  At  night  the  head- 
quarters of  the  king  were  at  Clermont-en-Argonne, 
twenty-three  or  twenty-four  miles  distant. 

Never,  in  fact,  were  plans  better  laid  than  those 
of  the  Crown  Prince  and  the  chief  of  his  staff, 
General  Blumenthal.  Some  days  before,  when  it 
was  thought  possible,  but  scarcely  probable,  that 
MacMahon  might  attempt  the  movement  he  made, 
the  whole  manoeuvre  of  doubling  up  the  French 
line  by  swinging  round  upon  it,  "  left  shoulders 
forward,"  was  discussed  at  the  prince's  head- 
quarters. It  was  calculated  that,  by  a  very  rapid 
march,  the  fifth  and  eleventh  Prussian  corps,  the 
Bavarians,  and  Wlirtemburgers,  might  effect  such 
a  concentration  as  would  baffle  the  French  should 
they  attempt  the  relief  of  Metz.  The  sixth  corps 
was  scarcely  able  to  get  up  in  time,  by  any  efforts, 
that  is,  to  swing  round  in  its  wide  circle  to  the 
westward;  but  it  would  be  ready  to  guard  the  left 
flank  of  the  Germans,  and  to  act  as  a  support  to 
the  Wlirtemburgers  in  case  of  need.  Here  was 
the  trap  ready  laid.  Here  was  a  repetition  of 
the  shutting  in  of  a  French  force  northward  of 
the  main  road  such  as  had  been  effected  at  Metz. 
But  this  time  it  was  even  more  serious  for  those 
who  might  be  so  shut  in.  The  Belgian  frontier 
was  the  rock  ahead  in  case  of  defeat.  Had  the 
French  been  strong  enough  to  have  a  well-ap- 
pointed corps  of  observation,  say  80,000  men,  to 
the  southward  of  Vitry,  this  wheeling  round  of  the 
Prussians  could  hardly  have  been  risked.  But  the 
Crown  Prince  disregarded  the  slight  danger  of  an 
attack  upon  his  rear  by  ill-organized  militia,  and 
with  the  sixth  corps  covering  his  left,  more  from 
necessity  than  choice,  closed  upon  MacMahon. 


On  the  27th  it  was  openly  boasted  of  in  Paris 
that  MacMahon  had  gained  at  least  forty-eight 
hours'  start  of  the  Crown  Prince,  and  his  coming 
success  was  firmly  counted  on  by  the  impe- 
rialist cabinet,  whereas,  in  reality,  the  whole 
scheme  was  foiled  beforehand  by  Von  Moltke's 
and  General  Blumenthal's  prompt  combination. 
The  French  government  had  overlooked  the  fact, 
that  the  corps  forming  the  fourth  army,  number- 
ing at  this  time  on  the  lowest  estimate  70,000 
men,  were  immediately  in  his  way.  Moltke  had 
directed  them  on  the  Argonnes  between  Verdun 
and  Sedan.  He  knew  that,  owing  to  increased 
cultivation  and  improved  roads,  this  historic  dis- 
trict, which  had  once  starved  and  ruined  a  Prussian 
force,  might  be  as  easily  traversed  by  an  army 
as  any  ordinary  part  of  France.  He  was  not 
afraid,  therefore,  of  a  repetition  of  the  failure  of 
1792,  and  was  only  anxious  that  an  opening 
should  be  left  by  which  either  MacMahon's  or 
any  other  important  body  of  troops  should  be  left 
behind  in  the  combined  movement  towards  Paris. 

As  soon  as  the  northward  movement  of  the 
Crown  Prince  was  decided  on,  intelligence  was 
despatched  to  the  fourth  army,  who  were  ordered  to 
stay  the  enemy  on  the  Meuse  passages  at  all  costs. 
On  the  27th  the  Saxon  corps  was  accordingly 
lining  the  river  about  Dun  and  Stenay,  prepared 
to  stop  the  passages,  but  their  services  were  ren- 
dered unnecessary  by  the  slowness  of  their  enemy's 
movements. 

MacMahon  left  Eheims  on  the  23rd,  only  a  few 
hours  later  than  the  prince  of  Saxony  qiutted 
Metz.  Mouzon,  the  point  on  the  Meuse  which 
he  chiefly  aimed  at,  is  the  same  distance  from  the 
one  starting  point  as  the  other.  Yet  five  days 
afterwards  the  main  body  of  the  French  were  about 
Vouziers,  scarcely  half-way  to  that  passage  ;  whilst 
the  Saxons  had  first  gone  past  it  on  their  way  to 
Paris,  then  halted,  and  moved  northward  to  the 
points  on  the  Meuse  next  above  it,  making  two 
sides  of  a  large  triangle,  the  French  not  having 
yet  gone  over  half  of  the  third  side  of  one  of  simi- 
lar extent.  If  in  fighting,  in  the  boldness  of 
their  cavalry,  the  activity  of  their  staff,  the  cool 
firing  of  their  infantry,  and  the  skilful  tactical  use 
of  their  guns,  the  sujDeriority  of  the  Germans  to 
their  antagonists  had  been  already  proved ;  it  only 
required  the  contrast  now  presented  between  the 
movements  of  the  two  armies  to  show,  that  in 
no  point  had  the  difference  of  training  and  moral 
3  F 


410 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


feeling  told  more  in  favour  of  the  invaders  than  in 
that  of  the  marching,  on  which  the  elder  Napoleon 
so  often  relied  for  his  advantage  over  these  very 
Germans.  Quickness  of  movement,  as  in  his  earlier 
campaigns,  and  hardly  less  in  those  of  the  Con- 
federate General  Lee,  has  often  made  up  for  inferior 
numbers.  But  when  combined  with  numerical 
majority,  it  leaves  no  chance  to  the  weaker  party. 

The  causes  of  the  slowness  of  the  French  march 
towards  Sedan  have  already  been  explained.  The 
Germans,  on  the  other  hand,  both  those  of  the 
Crown  Prince's  army,  who  had  accomplished  the 
toilsome  passage  of  the  Vosges  and  the  long  direct 
movement  to  the  valley  of  the  Marne,  and  those 
under  the  prince  of  Saxony,  who  had  just  taken  a 
share  in  the  tremendous  fight  at  Gravelotte  marched 
with  a  speed,  order,  and  endurance  indicative  at 
once  of  physical  energy  and  high  spirits  and  dis- 
cipline. This  will  appear  the  more  surprising  to 
those  who  have  not  noticed  the  bodily  activity  of  the 
heavy-looking  youth  of  Germany,  when  it  is  re- 
membered that  more  than  a  third  of  the  infantry, 
i.e.,  the  two  last  years'  recruits  of  the  peace  strength 
of  the  battalions,  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
einjiihrige  volunteers  who  were  suddenly  called  by 
the  war  to  that  real  service  which  few  of  them 
were  designed  to  share,  were  under  twenty-two 
years  of  age,  and  had  probably  not  reached  the 
full  limits  of  their  muscular  power.  Whatever 
might  be  the  respective  merits  of  the  Zundnadel- 
gewehr  and  the  Chassepot,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
this  dogged  perseverance  of  the  Germans  in 
marching,  and  their  utter  indifference  to  fatigue, 
had  in  this  instance  done  more  than  their  steady 
fusillade  to  win  success  for  their  cause. 

We  have  now  shown  the  movements  of  the 
contending  forces  in  the  eventful  period  from  the 
20th  to  the  27th  of  August,  but  that  with  a  map 
the  reader  may  understand  more  clearly  the  im- 
portant events  which  immediately  followed,  it  may 
be  as  well  to  recapitulate  very  briefly  their  respec- 
tive positions  at  this  time.  The  new  scene  of  hos- 
tilities to  which  the  operations  of  the  belligerents 
had  so  suddenly  been  transferred,  may  be  described 
as  an  equilateral  triangle,  whose  sides  are  about 
sixty  miles  long,  and  whose  angles  are  marked 
by  Eheims  and  Verdun  at  the  base,  and  by  a  spot 
just  within  Belgian  territory  not  far  from  Bouillon 
at  the  apex.  The  sides  are  formed  by  the  road 
and  railway  from  Verdun  by  Ste.  Menehould  and 
Suippes,  to  Eheims,  on  the  south  ;  the  road  and 


railway  from  Eheims,  by  Bethel,  to  Mezieres,  on 
the  west ;  and  the  course  of  the  Meuse  from  Ver- 
dun, by  Dun  and  Stenay,  to  Sedan,  on  the  east. 
From  Suippes  a  road  runs  northward  to  Attigny 
and  Mezieres;  and  from  Ste.  Menehould  another 
road  runs  parallel  by  Monthois  as  far  as  Vouziers, 
where  it  diverges  on  the  left  to  Bethel,  and  on  the 
right  to  Le  Chene  and  Sedan.  These  routes  are 
crossed  by  only  one  main  road,  leading  from  Bethel 
to  Vouziers ;  but  there  it  sends  off  branches  to 
Stenay  and  Montmedy  by  Le  Chene  on  the  north 
and  Buzancy  on  the  south,  and  to  Verdun  by 
Grand  Pre  and  Varennes ;  the  two  lower  roads 
diverging  at  La  Croix  aux  Bois,  a  few  miles  east 
of  Vouziers.  When  Marshal  MacMahon  quitted 
Bheims  on  the  23rd  he  marched  north-eastward  to 
Eethel,  and  thence  eastward  to  Vouziers,  pursuing 
his  way  towards  the  Meuse  both  by  the  routes  of 
Le  Chene  and  of  Buzancy,  which  form  a  loop,  and 
meet  again  at  Laneuville-sur-Meuse,  just  opposite 
Stenay,  and  some  twelve  miles  from  Montmedy. 
Thus  his  main  columns  might  have  been  expected 
to  strike  the  Meuse  about  midway  on  the  eastern 
side  of  our  triangle,  with  subsidiary  columns  di- 
rected along  the  country  roads  that  lead  from  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Argonne  forest  to  Mouzon  on 
the  north,  and  to  Dun  on  the  south  of  Stenay,  all 
three  places  commanding  the  passage  of  the  river. 
Of  the  triangle  we  have  described,  two  sides — 
the  base  and  the  eastern — were  now  occupied  by 
the  German  troops,  while  the  French,  engaged  far 
from  their  base  on  the  western  side,  were  several 
days'  march  farther  from  the  capital  than  the 
invaders.  The  army  of  the  Crown  Prince,  turning 
to  its  risht  from  the  roads  direct  to  Paris,  was  now 
pouring  into  the  triangle,  and  MacMahon  in  reality 
possessed  but  a  very  small  portion  of  it  towards 
the  north  and  east.  Every  hour,  too,  that  he  failed 
to  force  his  way  across  the  Meuse  to  join  Bazaine, 
saw  him  more  narrowly  hemmed  in  between  the 
Germans  advancing  from  the  south  and  those 
holding  him  in  check  in  the  east.  By  this  time, 
according  to  reasonable  calculations,  he  should 
have  been  close  to  the  Meuse;  and,  as  a  glance  at 
the  map  will  prove,  he  ought  thus,  on  the  line 
between  Bethel  and  the  river,  to  have  escaped 
the  third  German  army,  about  two  marches  still 
to  the  southward.  This,  however,  does  not  place 
the  strategy  of  the  French  in  a  very  favour- 
able degree;  for  before  MacMahon  could  have 
reached  Metz  by  Montmedy  and  Thionville,  he 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


411 


could  not  miss  being  intercepted  by  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Saxony,  or  even  by  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Prussia,  and  placed  in  a  very  critical  position.  He 
was  still  about  twenty-five  miles  from  the  Meuse, 
with  a  somewhat  intricate  country  between  ;  and 
as  he  was  altogether  late,  and  must  have  expected 
that  the  German  armies  would  endeavour  to  fall 
upon  his  flank,  he  ought  to  have  spared  no_  effort 
to  advance  speedily.  Yet,  between  the  27th  and 
the  morning  of  the  29th,  the  right  column  of  the 
French  army  had  only  its  outposts  at  Buzancy, 
while  the  left,  though  its  outposts  touched  Stenay, 
was  only  at  Stonne  and  Beaumont,  both  columns 
spreading  a  long  way  backward  ;  in  other  words, 
they  were  still  a  march  from  the  Meuse,  which 
they  ought  to  have  passed  three  days  before,  and 
their  rearward  divisions  were  yet  distant.  The 
German  armies,  from  the  26th  to  the  29th,  made 
astonishing  exertions  to  close  on  MacMahon  as 
he  crossed  towards  the  Meuse,  and  success  was 
already  within  their  grasp.  The  force  of  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Saxony,  in  two  columns,  had  reached 
the  Meuse  at  Dun  on  the  27th,  and  was  thus 
in  a  position  to  arrest  and  retard  the  vanguard 
of  the  French  whenever  it  attempted  to  cross  the 
river.  Meanwhile  the  army  of  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Prussia,  hastening  forward  by  Varennes  and 
Grand  Pre,  and  to  the  left  by  Senuc  and  Suippe, 
had  arrived  close  to  the  line  of  march  of  Mac- 
Mahon's  right  column,  and  by  the  evening  of 
the  28th  had  occupied  it  about  Vouziers.  A  step 
farther,  and  this  immense  army  would  be  upon  the 
positions  of  the  luckless  French,  who,  assailed  in 
flank  and  rear  by  superior  numbers,  could  not  fail 
to  be  involved  in  terrible  disaster. 

We  are,  however,  slightly  anticipating  the  course 
of  events,  for  as  early  as  Saturday,  the  27th,  the 
opposing  forces  came  into  collision  at  Buzancy,  on 
the  southern  road  by  which  the  French  were 
marching  from  Vouziers  to  Stenay.  It  was,  how- 
ever, only  a  sharp  and  brilliant  cavalry  combat 
between  four  squadrons  of  the  third  Saxon  regi- 
ment, one  squadron  of  the  eighteenth  uhlans,  and 
a  Saxon  battery,  on  the  one  side,  and  six  French 
squadrons,  detached  from  De  Failly's  corps  to  cover 
the  cross  roads,  on  the  other.  The  victory  was 
with  the  Germans,  who  completely  cut  up  the 
twelfth  regiment  of  French  chasseurs  and  took  its 
commanding  officer  prisoner.  It  was  now  evident 
that  the  whole  French  army  was  very  near,  and  every 
exertion  was  made  by  the  Germans  to  close  with  it. 


On  this  day,  too,  MacMahon,  observing  that  the 
enemy  so  completely  surrounded  him,  felt  more 
than  ever  satisfied  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
carry  out  the  plan  which  had  been  prescribed  to 
him  at  Paris ;  and  to  save,  if  possible,  the  sole  army 
which  France  had  at  her  disposal,  he  accordingly 
resolved  to  turn  back  in  a  westerly  direction.  He 
immediately  gave  orders  to  this  effect,  and  sent 
the  following  despatch  to  the  superior  commandant 
at  Sedan: — 

"Le  Chene,  August  27,  3.25  p.m. 

"  I  beg  you  to  employ  all  possible  means  for 
forwarding  the  following  despatch  to  Marshal 
Bazaine : — 

"Marshal  MacMahon,  at  Le  Chene,  to  Marshal 
Bazaine. 

"  Marshal  MacMahon  warns  Marshal  Bazaine 
that  the  Crown  Prince's  arrival  at  Chalons  forces 
him  to  cany  out  his  retreat  on  the  29th  on 
Mezieres,  and  thence  to  the  west,  unless  he  hears 
that  Marshal  Bazaine's  retreating  movement  has 
commenced." 

The  same  evening  he  sent  the  annexed  telegram 
to  the  Count  Palikao,  at  Paris,  in  which  it  will  be 
seen  he  predicts  almost  the  very  fate  which  was  so 
soon  to  overtake  his  army: — 

"  Le  Chene,  27th  of  August, 
8.30  p.m. 

"  The  first  and  second  armies,  more  than  200,000 
men,  blockade  Metz,  chiefly  on  the  left  bank.  A 
force,  estimated  at  50,000  men,  is  established  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Meuse,  to  obstruct  my  march 
on  Metz.  Intelligence  received  announces  that 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia's  army  is  moving 
to-day  on  the  Ardennes  with  50,000  men.  It 
must  be  already  at  Ardeuil.  I  am  at  Le  Chene 
with  rather  more  than  100,000  men.  Since  the 
9th  I  have  no  news  of  Bazaine;  if  I  attempt  to 
meet  him  I  should  be  attacked  in  the  front  by  a 
part  of  the  first  and  second  armies,  which,  favoured 
by  the  woods,  can  deal  with  a  force  superior  to 
mine,  and  at  the  same  time  attacked  by  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Prussia's  army,  cutting  off  all  line  of 
retreat.  I  approach  Mezieres  to-morrow,  whence 
I  shall  continue  my  retreat,  according  to  events, 
towards  the  west." 

In  reply  to  this,  the  government  sent  a  telegram 
to  the  emperor  at  eleven  o'clock  the  same  night, 


412 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


telling  him  that  if  they  abandoned  Bazaine  there 
would  certainly  be  a  revolution  in  Paris,  and  they 
would  themselves  be  attacked  by  all  the  enemy's 
forces.  "  Paris,"  continued  Count  Palikao,  "  will 
protect  itself  against  the  external  attack.  The 
fortifications  are  completed.  It  seems  to  me  urgent 
that  you  should  rapidly  reach  Bazaine.  It  is  not 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  who  is  at  Chalons, 
but  one  of  the  princes,  the  king  of  Prussia's 
brothers,  with  an  advanced  guard  and  considerable 
cavalry  forces.  I  have  telegraphed  to  you  this 
morning  two  pieces  of  information  which  indicate 
that  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia,  feeling  the 
danger  to  which  your  flank  march  exposes  his 
army  and  the  army  which  blockades  Bazaine,  has 
changed  his  course  and  marches  towards  the  north. 
You  have  at  least  thirty-six  hours'  start  of  him, 
perhaps  forty-eight  hours.  You  have  before  you 
only  a  part  of  the  forces  which  blockade  Metz, 
and  which,  seeing  you  withdraw  from  Chalons 
to  Rheims,  had  extended  themselves  towards  the 
Argonne.  Your  movement  on  Rheims  had  deceived 
them.  Like  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia,  every- 
body here  has  felt  the  necessity  of  extricating 
Bazaine,  and  the  anxiety  with  which  you  are 
followed  is  extreme." 

The  emperor  admits  that  he  could  unquestion- 
ably have  set  this  order  aside,  but  "he  was  resolved 
not  to  oppose  the  decision  of  the  regency,  and  had 
resigned  himself  to  submit  to  the  consequences  of 
the  fatality  which  attached  itself  to  all  the  resolu- 
tions of  the  government."  As  for  MacMahon,  he 
again  bowed  to  the  decision  intimated  to  him  from 
Paris,  and  once  more  turned  towards  Metz. 

These  orders  and  counter-orders  naturally  occa- 
sioned further  delay,  and  the  French  headquarters 
had  reached  no  further  than  Stonne  on  the  28th. 
The  intention  of  MacMahon  was  to  reach  Stenay, 
and  thence  Montmedy,  but,  as  has  been  seen,  the 
Germans  were  in  strength  in  the  first  of  these 
towns  two  days  before.  The  mistake,  too,  which 
had  been  committed  in  the  first  part  of  the  cam- 
paign was  again  repeated ;  for  the  different  French 
corps,  isolated  from  each  other,  as  we  shall  see, 
were  attacked  separately,  and  easily  defeated. 

On  August  28,  Vouziers,  an  important  crossing 
of  roads  in  the  Argonnes,  was  in  possession  of  the 
Germans,  two  of  whose  squadrons  charged  and 
took  Vrizy,  a  village  situated  between  Vouziers 
and  Attigny,  which  was  occupied  by  infantry. 
The  defending   force,  including   two   officers   of 


MacMahon 's  staff,  were  taken  prisoners ;  a  feat 
of  which  there  is  but  one  previous  example  in 
modern  history,  the  taking  of  Dembe  Wielkie  by 
Polish  cavalry  from  Russian  cavalry  and  infantry, 
in  1831. 

On  Monday,  August  29,  De  Failly  occupied 
the  country  between  Beaumont  and  Stonne,  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Meuse  ;  while  the  main  body 
of  the  French  army,  under  MacMahon  in  person, 
had  crossed  the  river,  and  were  encamped  on  the 
right  bank  at  Vaux,  between  Mouzon  and  Car- 
ignan,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  30th  the  emperor 
telegraphed  to  Paris  that  a  brilliant  victory  might 
be  expected.  MacMahon's  position  was  in  a  sharp 
wedge  of  country  formed  by  the  confluence  of  the 
rivers  Meuse  and  Chiers,  and  it  was  his  intention  to 
advance  towards  Montmedy.  The  other  part  of 
his  army  was  close  to  the  river  on  its  left  bank. 

The  troops  opposed  to  MacMahon's  force  con- 
sisted of  both  the  third  and  fourth  German  armies, 
the  former  commanded  by  the  Crown  Prince 
and  the  king  of  Prussia,  and  the  latter  by  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Saxony.  It  may,  perhaps,  be 
useful  if  we  here  recall  to  mind  the  corps  of 
which  these  armies  were  composed.  The  third 
army  comprised  the  fifth  corps,  from  Posen  ;  the 
sixth,  from  Silesia ;  and  the  eleventh,  from  Hesse 
and  Nassau  ;  and  the  first  and  second  corps  of  the 
king  of  Bavaria's  army,  with  the  Wiirtemburg 
division.  The  first  Bavarian  corps  was  commanded 
by  General  von  der  Tann.  The  army  of  Prince 
Albert  of  Saxony  was  formed  by  taking  three 
corps,  each  of  about  30,000  men,  from  the  second 
German  army,  that  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles, 
which  had  been  found  larger  than  was  required 
at  Metz.  These  corps  were:— (1.)  The  Prussian 
guards,  under  Prince  Augustus  of  Wiirtemburg ; 
(2.)  the  fourth,  composed  of  men  from  the  Saxon 
provinces  of  Prussia,  and  the  Saxon  duchies  of 
Weimar,  Coburg-Gotha,  Altenburg,  and  Mein- 
ingen,  under  General  von  Alvensleben  ;  and  (3.) 
the  twelfth,  which  consisted  of  subjects  of  the 
kingdom  of  Saxony,  led  by  their  Crown  Prince. 
The  last  was  the  corps  which  fought  under  that 
leader  against  the  army  of  Prussia  in  July,  1866, 
at  Gitschin  and  Koniggratz,  in  Bohemia.  Of  the 
whole  German  force  assembled  on  the  Meuse,  it 
will  thus  be  seen  that  two  Bavarian  and  one 
Saxon  army  corps,  numbering  scarcely  less  than 
90,000  men  in  all,  were  not  soldiers  of  the  king- 
dom   of    Prussia,   but   served    the   other  German 


Superintendence  of  Ca.-pl  Ho 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


413 


states,  which,  having  vainly  opposed  her  in  1866, 
were  now  allied  with  her. 

The  two  Bavarian  corps  of  the  third  army  were 
sent  to  join  the  twelfth  corps  of  the  fourth  ;  these 
together  marched  up  the  left  bank  of  the  Meuse, 
while  the  guards  and  fourth  corps  of  the  fourth 
army  marched  up  the  right  bank.  The  fifth  and 
eleventh  corps  of  the  third  army  were  on  August 
29  at  Stonne,  seven  miles  west  of  Beaumont ; 
while  the  twelfth  corps  of  the  fourth  army,  joined 
with  the  first  Bavarians,  and  having  the  second 
Bavarians  advancing  in  their  rear,  were  close  to 
Beaumont. 

BATTLE    OF   BEAUMONT. 

Bearing  in  mind  that  the  design  of  MacMahon 
was  to  move  southward  up  the  course  of  the  river, 
but  still  if  possible  to  keep  possession  of  both  its 
banks  until  he  should  arrive  opposite  Montmedy, 
it  will  at  once  be  perceived  that  an  immediate 
collision  was  inevitable.  Accordingly,  the  battle 
— or  rather  series  of  battles,  for  the  fighting 
extended  over  three  days — which  was  to  decide 
whether  or  not  he  would  reach  Metz  and  liberate 
Bazaine,  began  in  earnest  a  little  before  noon  on 
Tuesday,  August  30. 

The  French  had  been  so  careless  in  their  move- 
ments that  they  were  taken  completely  by  surprise, 
especially  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  near  Beau- 
mont. Here  they  were  close  to  the  very  ground 
on  which  the  right  of  the  third  German  army  was 
to  unite  with  the  left  of  the  fourth.  Had  they 
been  at  all  vigilant  in  their  outlook  towards  the 
south,  and  strongly  guarded  the  cross  roads  leading 
thence  upon  their  right,  their  adversaries  would 
hardly  have  dared  to  effect  the  junction  of  the 
third  and  fourth  armies  by  a  single  road  close  to 
ground  held  by  De  Failly's  corps,  and  that  after- 
noon at  least  might  have  been  gained  to  MacMahon. 
The  affairs  at  Buzancy  and  Vouziers  on  the  pre- 
ceding days  should  have  roused  a  spirit  of  watch- 
fulness in  the  most  careless  staff  officer ;  but  so 
confident  was  General  Guyot,  who  commanded  this 
division,  that  the  Germans  were  not  near  him,  that 
he  omitted  even  the  most  ordinary  precaution  of 
placing  outposts  and  sending  out  scouts  in  the 
woods  immediately  in  his  front.  The  first  division 
of  Von  der  Tann's  Bavarians,  admirably  led  by 
General  Stefan,  advanced  along  the  road  that  runs 
directly  north  from  Buzancy  to  Kaucourt,  passing 
through  the  village  of  La  Besace,  which  is  about 


three  miles  distant  from  the  latter  place.  About 
half-a-mile  on  the  Buzancy  side  of  La  Besace  is  a 
branch  road  leading  to  the  right,  and  almost  at 
right  angles  with  the  town  of  Beaumont,  about 
three  miles  to  the  eastward.  General  Guyot's 
division  was  encamped  on  both  sides  of  this  road  ; 
and  the  Bavarians,  learning  from  their  scouts  that 
the  enemy  was  so  near,  made  all  their  dispositions 
under  cover  of  the  woods.  The  French,  simul- 
taneously attacked  with  artillery  from  the  heights 
behind  the  wood,  and  with  infantry  from  the  wood 
itself,  were,  as  we  have  said,  completely  surprised; 
but  yet  they  made  a  stout  resistance,  for  after  the 
fight  the  road  was  found  lined  on  both  sides  with 
bodies — the  Bavarians,  for  the  most  part,  lying  on  the 
side  nearest  Buzancy,  the  French  on  that  nearest 
Raucourt.  When  the  Germans  had  driven  them 
from  the  road,  the  French  retreated — some  in  the 
direction  of  Kaucourt,  and  some  (the  greater  part) 
towards  Beaumont  itself.  They  were  pursued  in 
both  directions  ;  those  who  had  gone  towards  Beau- 
mont were  followed  into  the  place,  which  was  at 
the  same  time  attacked  along  another  fine  of 
road  leading  to  the  same  point,  and,  after  a  very 
severe  struggle,  occupied  by  the  Germans.  The 
French  made  a  desperate  stand  at  the  entrance  to 
the  town,  firing  from  windows  and  from  behind 
walls,  and  taking  advantage  of  every  possible  kind 
of  cover.  After  retiring  into  the  market-place 
they  renewed  the  contest,  inflicting  heavy  losses  on 
their  opponents.  Ultimately,  however,  the  Ger- 
mans drove  them  out  of  the  town,  and  pushed  them 
past  La  Besace  towards  Raucourt.  The  whole 
country  between  these  places  is  a  succession  of 
hills  and  dales.  Here  and  there  the  hills  are  very 
high,  and  in  many  parts  thickly  wooded  ;  whilst 
the  dales  form  deep  valleys.  This  is  the  general 
character  of  the  district  for  miles  around,  in  every 
direction  ;  and  it  was,  therefore,  open  to  the  weaker 
side  either  to  defend  itself  on  the  heights,  to  seek 
the  shelter  of  the  woods,  or  to  endeavour  to  march 
unobserved  along  the  fines  of  the  valleys.  To 
prevent  the  complete  success  of  either  of  these 
courses,  orders  were  given  to  the  Bavarian  cavalry 
to  observe  the  woods  ;  the  infantry  went  down  into 
the  valleys,  and  up  the  hills  on  the  other  side  ;  and 
the  artillery  threw  their  shells  over  the  heads  of 
their  infantry  into  the  dales  beyond. 

The  advance  of  the  first  Bavarians  in  the  centre 
of  the  line  had  the  effect  of  turning  the  French 
right  rear,  which  had  taken  up  a  strong  position 


414 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


at  Stonne,  and  had  withstood,  with  apparent  firm- 
ness, up  to  that  time  the  advance  of  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Prussia's  left  columns,  the  fifth  and 
eleventh  corps.  The  fourth  and  twelfth  Saxon 
corps,  belonging  to  the  fourth  army,  co-operated 
with  the  Bavarians  on  their  right,  nearer  the 
Meuse ;  and  aided  in  driving  the  French  from 
Beaumont,  on  to  the  passage  at  Mouzon,  whither 
De  Failly  now  pressed  to  put  the  river  between 
himself  and  his  enemies.  He  succeeded  in  crossing 
by  the  bridge  at  Mouzon,  and  effected  a  junction 
with  MacMahon  on  the  other  side.  In  the  even- 
ing, after  a  short  cannonade  against  the  fourth 
Prussian  corps  and  the  Bavarians,  the  French 
retreated  from  Mouzon  in  the  direction  of  Sedan  ; 
and  the  Germans  then  gave  up  the  pursuit,  but  not 
before  they  had  captured  twelve  pieces  of  cannon, 
six  mitrailleuses,  and  several  thousand  prisoners. 

The  following  extract  from  the  diary  of  an 
officer  of  the  chasseurs  de  Vincennes,  who  was 
fatally  wounded  at  Sedan,  presents  a  striking  pic- 
ture of  the  causes  that  led  to  this  great  disaster, 
and  the  state  of  the  army  near  him,  as  well  as  of 
the  retreat  itself: — 

"  August  30. — We  arrive  at  Beaumont,  a  hilly 
and  woody  country,  at  four  a.m.  The  men  were 
utterly  exhausted  by  the  march,  by  hunger,  and 
above  all  by  want  of  sleep.  There  is  no  possibility 
of  bringing  order  into  the  ranks.  The  presence  of 
the  generals  was  indispensable,  but  none  of  them 
were  to  be  seen  on  the  spot,  and  the  soldiers  fall 
down  asleep,  without  guard,  without  a  single  sentry. 
The  sight  was  most  lamentable;  but  the  enemy 
being  supposed  to  be  still  in  his  old  position,  and 
the  desire  for  rest  being  invincible,  every,  one  brings 
his  thoughts  to  silence  as  best  he  can.  At  nine  or 
ten  a.m.  the  men  begin  to  wake  up.  A  distribution 
of  bread  is  going  on.  Six  or  eight  loaves  are  given 
to  each  company,  and  150  men  must  be  content 
with  them.  This  is  all  they  have  to  restore  their 
strength  after  endless  marching,  with  only  a  few 
hours'  sleep.  But  scarcely  has  the  bread  been 
swallowed,  when  a  lively  fusillade  begins  from  the 
neighbouring  wood,  some  400  metres  distant.  A 
couple  of  minutes  pass  in  consideration  as  to  what  it 
can  mean,  when  several  shells,  falling  into  the  very 
heart  of  the  camp,  leave  no  more  doubt  about  the 
matter.  The  whole  camp  seizes  its  arms  in  disor- 
derly fashion;  the  officers  do  their  best  to  give 
some  kind  of  organization  to  the  first  movements; 
the  artillery  is  soon  at  work,  and  the  battle  begins. 


But  a  tremendous  panic  arises  in  the  village, 
crowded  with  unarmed  soldiers,  who  were  gone 
from  the  camp  in  search  of  provisions.  A  frantic 
rush  begins  in  the  direction  of  Mouzon;  and  the 
flying  mass  would  naturally  have  drawn  with  it 
a  part  of  the  troops  already  in  line  on  this  side 
of  the  village,  if  the  officers  had  not  intervened, 
pistols  in  hand.  The  generals,  just  as  much  sur- 
prised as  the  troops,  presently  come  to  their  senses. 
They  take  the  command ;  the  retreat  is  gradually 
organized,  and  on  reaching  rather  elevated  ground 
we  come  out  from  under  the  intolerable  fire.  The 
cannonading  begins  to  be  less  intense;  and  a  dis- 
cussion arises  between  General  de  Failly  and  his 
chef  detat  major,  General  Besson,  with  reference 
to  the  advisability  of  changing  our  position.  The 
latter  uses  very  strong  language  in  support  of  his 
opinions,  but  the  position  remains  the  same.  Ten 
minutes  after  this  discussion  the  Germans  appear 
on  our  left  flank,  and  open  fire  on  us  at  a  distance 
of  1000  metres.  Such  is  the  morale  of  our  troops 
now,  that  at  the  very  first  shot  from  this  side  in- 
fantry and  artillery  break  front  and  begin  to  ran 
away — the  former  into  the  wood,  the  latter  into 
the  plain  close  to  it,  leaving  several  guns  in  the 
impracticable  part  of  the  ground.  However,  the 
batteries  soon  regain  another  hill,  open  fire,  and 
begin  to  protect  a  little  the  retreat  of  the  infantry, 
which  takes  the  direction  of  Mouzon.  It  is  six 
o'clock,  and  we  see  on  the  height  the  seventh  corps 
appearing  on  the  left  flank  of  the  Prussians,  while 
a  part  of  the  twelfth  corps  was  found  by  us  in  the 
plain  to  which  we  were  rushing.  These  two  corps 
now  take  our  place  in  the  struggle  with  the  enemy. 
The  enemy  had,  however,  already  established  his 
batteries,  some  fifty  guns  strong,  on  the  same  hill 
where  a  few  moments  ago  our  artillery  stood.  These 
batteries  send  death  into  all  the  lines  of  the  newly 
arrived  forces,  and  compel  them  to  retreat.  The 
seventh  corps  retires  to  the  position  whence  it  came 
to  our  aid,  while  the  twelfth  takes  the  direction 
of  the  bridge  of  Mouzon,  the  cavalry  and  artillery 
having,  happily  enough,  found  a  ford  in  the  river, 
so  that  the  bridge  is  mainly  left  for  the  use  of  the 
infantry.  But  still  what  confusion  prevails !  What 
a  lamentable  spectacle !  It  is  the  last  rout  of  the 
day;  and  it  is  the  more  painful  for  our  corps 
because  we  witness  it  in  the  mere  capacity  of  on- 
lookers. Soon  in  the  background  of  the  sad  pic- 
ture rises  to  heaven  a  large  black  cloud  of  smoke. 
The  fire  has  commenced  which  must  level  to  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


415 


ground  the  unhappy  village  of  Mouzon.  We  see 
war  now  in  all  its  cruel  reality.  Such  was  the 
day  of  the  30th,  which  will  never  be  forgotten  by 
me,  and  the  result  of  which  must  be  a  sufficient 
punishment  for  the  general  with  whom  rests  the 
responsibility  of  the  disaster.  But  what  is  our 
corps  to  do  now?  Is  it  to  camp  on  its  position, 
or  to  move?  If  it  is  to  move,  in  what  direction? 
The  generals  decide  that  they  will  start  at  once, 
and  the  soldiers  are  to  march  again  all  night. 
Thus,  after  several  days'  fatigue,  we  have  two 
consecutive  nights  of  marching,  with  a  day's  des- 
perate fighting  between,  and  with  no  other  refresh- 
ment than  the  bread  distributed  at  Beaumont. 
We  are  retiring  in  the  direction  of  Sedan.  Fearful 
and  miserable  night !  Our  men  fall  asleep  by  the 
side  of  the  road,  and  to  awaken  them  is  impossible. 
Towards  two  a.m.,  amid  the  obscurity  of  a  dark 
night,  we  meet  on  the  junction  of  two  roads  the 
first  and  the  twelfth  corps.  They  left  their  posi- 
tions at  midnight,  and  are  also  marching  towards 
Sedan.  Here  disorder  reaches  its  climax.  Men, 
horses,  and  ammunition- waggons  are  almost  heaped 
upon  one  another  in  dreadful  confusion.  No 
possibility  of  moving,  no  possibility  of  seeing 
anything;  and,  notwithstanding  this,  almost  dead 
silence  reigns  over  this  enormous  incoherent 
mass.  A  terrible  silence  it  was,  at  which  one 
shudders  to  think.  Malediction  upon  those  who 
are  responsible  for  all  this ! " 

BATTLE    OF  CARIGNAN. 

On  the  right  bank  of  the  Meuse  another  contest, 
far  more  bloody  and  resolute,  had  been  going 
on  at  the  same  time  as  the  action  between  the 
Bavarians  and  De  Failly's  corps  on  the  opposite 
side.  Here  the  main  body  of  the  French  army, 
under  Marshal  MacMahon,  moved  gaily  forward 
in  the  morning  from  its  camp  at  Vaux,  between 
Mouzon  and  Carignan,  hoping  to  reach  Montmedy, 
about  twelve  miles  distant,  the  same  day.  Their 
left  wing  was,  however,  surprised  on  the  march 
between  Carignan  and  Stenay,  by  the  cavalry  of 
the  Prussian  guards,  aided  by  their  horse  artillery, 
and  before  they  could  effectually  resist  the  unex- 
pected onset,  they  were  forced  to  retire  on  the 
heights  where  they  had  encamped  on  the  previous 
night.  In  this  emergency  MacMahon  displayed 
great  skill  and  decision.  The  return  to  Vaux  was 
effected  in  good  order;  and  the  marshal  then  rallied 
the  whole  of  his  army,  keeping  the  Germans  on 


the  other  side  of  the  Meuse  in  check,  meantime, 
by  a  deceptive  show  of  force  on  the  river  banks. 
The  heights  of  Vaux  were  obstinately  defended 
by  the  French,  who  in  this  separate  affair  con- 
siderably outnumbered  their  opponents.  Indeed, 
in  the  middle  of  the  day,  they  gained  some  advan- 
tages, and  in  all  probability  would  have  been  able 
to  hold  their  own  independently;  but  they  were 
compelled  to  retreat  by  the  threatening  of  their 
flank  and  rear,  for  they  heard  the  thunder  of  the 
guns  on  the  other  side  approach  nearer  and  nearer 
to  Mouzon,  as  the  converging  forces  of  Von  der 
Tann  and  the  Prussians  of  the  fourth  army  drove 
De  Failly  pell-mell  towards  the  bridge  at  that  place. 
As  night  came  on,  the  French  retired  through 
Carignan,  two  miles  from  Vaux  on  the  road  to 
Sedan ;  and  thus  the  issue  of  the  battles  on  both 
banks  of  the  river  was  the  same,  though  the  last 
hours  of  the  combat  near  Carignan  were  desperate 
in  the  extreme,  and  there  was  great  slaughter  on 
both  sides.  The  French  cavalry,  cuirassiers,  and 
chasseurs,  suffered  considerably.  At  five  o'clock 
the  emperor  and  his  staff  were  at  Carignan ;  and 
the  cannonade,  which  had  been  considerably  in- 
creasing for  two  hours,  was  at  its  height.  About 
an  hour  later  the  emperor  left  for  Sedan,  and  the 
artillery  fire  entirely  ceased  soon  after  eight  o'clock. 
A  firm  belief  in  a  success  had  been  entertained 
all  the  afternoon  in  the  little  town  of  Carignan. 
The  presence  since  the  evening  before  of  the  fine 
army  of  Marshal  MacMahon,  the  arrival  of  the 
emperor,  the  officers  of  his  household  looking  out 
for  night  accommodation,  and  the  encampment  of 
the  troops  at  Vaux,  had  all  combined  to  inspire 
the  inhabitants  with  confidence;  so  that,  notwith- 
standing the  engagement  was  so  near,  no  anxiety 
was  felt,  and  a  victory  was  looked  for  as  a  matter 
of  course.  But  when  in  the  evening  the  emperor, 
who  had  made  arrangements  to  sleep  at  Carignan, 
was  seen  leaving  the  town  suddenly,  followed  by 
the  couriers  and  suite,  and  the  cannonade  was 
heard  approaching  nearer  and  nearer,  a  complete 
panic  seized  the  population.  Masses  of  soldiers 
now  arrived,  and  the  people  began  to  flee  in  every 
direction,  though  the  Prussians  did  not  enter  the 
town  till  next  morning.  The  emperor  arrived  at 
Sedan  during  the  night  of  Tuesday.  Nothing 
would  have  been  easier  for  him  than  to  have  gone 
on  to  Mezieres,  and  thus  have  secured  his  personal 
safety.  The  proposition  to  do  so  was  made  to 
him;  but  he  rejected  it,  desirous  not  to  separate 


416 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


himself  from  the  army,-  and  determined  to  share 
its  fate,  whatever  it  might  be.  On  the  morning 
of  the  31st  the  following  proclamation  was  issued 
to  the  troops : — 

"  Soldiers ! — The  opening  events  of  the  war  not 
having  been  fortunate,  I  determined  to  set  aside 
all  personal  considerations,  and  give  the  command 
of  our  armies  to  the  marshals  more  particularly 
indicated  by  public  opinion. 

"  Up  to  the  present  time  success  has  not  crowned 
your  efforts;  nevertheless,  I  learn  that  the  army  of 
Marshal  Bazaine  has  re-formed  under  the  walls  of 
Metz,  and  that  of  Marshal  MacMahon  met  yester- 
day only  a  slight  reverse.  There  is,  then,  no  reason 
to  be  discouraged.  We  have  prevented  the  enemy 
from  penetrating  to  the  capital,  and  all  France  is 
rising  to  drive  back  her  invaders.  Under  these 
serious  circumstances — the  empress  worthily  re- 
presenting me  in  Paris — I  have  preferred  the  role 
of  soldier  to  that  of  sovereign.  No  effort  shall  be 
spared  by  me  to  save  our  country.  It  still  contains, 
thank  God!  men  of  courage;  and,  if  there  are 
cowards,  the  military  law  and  public  contempt  will 
mete  out  justice  to  them. 

"  Soldiers,  be  worthy  of  your  old  reputation ! 
God  will  not  abandon  our  country  if  all  do  their 
duty. 

"Given  at  the  Imperial  Headquarters,  at  Sedan, 
August  31,  1870.  "NAPOLEON." 

This  proclamation,  which  there  was  barely  time 
to  distribute,  was  the  last  appeal  which  the  em- 
peror addressed  to  his  soldiers. 

In  judging  of  MacMahon's  conduct  on  this 
occasion,  it  should  always  be  remembered  that  he 
had  to  fight  at  a  grievous  disadvantage,  from 
being  compelled  to  cover  the  retreat  of  De  Failly  ; 
and  that,  notwithstanding  this,  he  succeeded  in 
keeping  his  enemy  in  check  for  some  time,  a  gleam 
of  his  well-known  tactical  skill  being  observable 
in  the  manner  in  which  he  masked  his  retiring 
movement,  so  disposing  his  forces  that  the  com- 
mander of  the  fifth  German  corps  reported  to  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  that  he  was  in  the  pres- 
ence of  at  least  three  complete  divisions  of  the 
enemy,  and  was  not  strong  enough  to  attack ! 
Yet  at  that  moment  MacMahon  was  withdrawing 
his  troops  rapidly  across  the  Meuse  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Sedan  ;  and  had  he  not  so  skilfully 
hid    his   movements    by    the   disposition    of    his 


artillery  and  mitrailleuses,  and  so  deceived  his 
assailants,  his  whole  army  must  then  have  been 
utterly  routed. 

Thus  ended  the  fatal  30th  of  August.  The 
vanquished  troops  lost  twenty  guns,  including 
several  mitrailleuses,  an  encampment,  and  about 
7000  prisoners,  besides  a  large  amouat  of  warlike 
material.  The  substantial  success  of  the  victors 
consisted  in  thwarting  the  attempt  of  MacMahon 
to  move  upon  Metz,  and  in  forcing  the  Prench  back 
upon  a  small  fortress  only  seven  or  eight  miles 
from  the  neutral  frontier  of  Belgium.  Well  might 
the.  Prussian  official  report  of  the  affair  state,  that 
"  after  this  engagement  it  became  probable  that 
the  French  army  of  the  north  was  fast  approaching 
a  final  catastrophe ! " 

The  Germans  were  now  in  line  from  Stonne 
across  the  Meuse,  near  Mouzon,  to  Carignan.  The 
greater  part  of  their  army  remained  on  the  left 
bank,  but  the  forces  of  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Saxony,  having  crossed  the  river,  advanced  beyond 
Mouzon  in  the  direction  of  Carignan  and  Sedan. 
Early  in  the  night  and  at  daybreak  the  French 
corps  which  had  been  routed  at  Mouzon  fell  back 
along  the  right  bank  of  the  Meuse  in  a  state  of 
panic  and  demoralization,  throwing  their  arms  and 
accoutrements  into  the  stream  ;  and  were  stopped 
only  wdien  they  had  passed  the  Chiers,  a  deep 
narrow  river  which,  flowing  to  the  north-west, 
falls  into  the  Meuse  near  Eemilly,  about  three  miles 
above  Sedan.  They  crossed  this  stream  by  the 
bridge  at  Douzy,  four  or  five  miles  from  Sedan. 
At  the  same  time  the  other  French  corps  which 
had  retreated  before  the  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony, 
retired  from  Carignan  behind  the  Chiers,  and 
effected  a  junction  with  their  defeated  comrades. 
The  two  corps  commanded  by  Ducrot  and  Lebrun, 
who  were  to  the  eastward  on  the  30th,  being  the 
nearest,  came  in  first;  Douay's  and  De  Failly's 
following  them,  and  approaching  Sedan  by  all  the 
roads  from  the  south.  The  whole  army  then  took 
up  its  position  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Sedan, 
on  the  strong  heights  above  Bazeilles,  covering  the 
approach  to  that  fortress. 

Such  were  the  positions  of  the  contending  hosts 
on  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  the  31st  August; 
and  MacMahon  had  now  to  make  up  his  mind 
speedily  to  some  decisive  course.  To  force  his 
way  onwards  with  troops  demoralized  by  their 
rapid  retreat,  and  by  the  defeat  which  had  cost 
them  thousands  of  prisoners  and  many  guns,  was 


$ 

v* 

Yon 

s^ 

Dronr-mltr-Sie  Sixpermtendciice  of  Captain  Hoa.es 


THE  FRANCO-rFOJSSIAN  WAII. 


417 


not  now  to  be  thought  of.  The  Germans,  indeed, 
held  Mouzon  and  Carignan,  the  two  points  through 
which  he  had  attempted  to  pass  eastward,  and  so 
completely  barred  the  road  to  Montinedy.  There 
remained,  therefore,  only  three  courses — either  to 
attack  the  enemy  before  he  could  further  concen- 
trate; to  attempt  to  slip  from  him  by  a  rapid  flank 
march  on  Mezieres;  or  to  continue  solely  on  the 
defensive.  The  first  would  have  been  the  natural 
course,  had  mutual  confidence  existed  between  the 
marshal  and  his  army.  It  would  have  been  in 
keeping  with  the  old  reputation  and  tactics  of  the 
French  service ;  and  if  conducted  with  skill,  there 
seemed  in  theory  no  reason  why  a  bold  attack 
should  not  have  severed  the  extended  line  held 
by  the  enemy,  and  crushed  the  portion  assailed. 
MacMahon's  army  was  concentrated  behind  the 
Chiers ;  the  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony  was  alone 
before  him;  and  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  was 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Meuse,  at  some  distance, 
and  with  the  river  between  them.  The  French 
general  had  about  100,000  men.  Breaking  out 
with  these  he  might  have  fallen  on  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Saxony,  who  had  not  more  than  70,000 
or  80,000,  and  endeavoured  to  crush  him  and  ex- 
tricate himself  before  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia 
could  have  crossed  the  Meuse,  and  overwhelmed 
him  with  superior  numbers.  But  MacMahon  was 
an  old  enough  soldier  to  know  thoroughly  the 
truth  of  the  maxim,  that  in  war  "  the  moral  force 
is  to  the  physical  as  three  to  one,"  and  to  feel 
that  his  troops  wanted  the  discipline,  energy,  and 
heartiness  necessary  for  any  such  sudden  combina- 
tion. He  should,  therefore,  have  instantly  de- 
spatched Ducrot  or  Lebrun  to  seize  and  guard  the 
passages  of  the  Meuse  below  Sedan,  and,  sacrificing 
perhaps  a  single  corps  to  this  duty,  have  filed  the 
rest  of  the  army  at  once  behind  Sedan  on  Mezieres, 
by  the  roads  on  the  north  side  of  the  river. 
Instead  of  this  the  marshal,  feeling  that  the 
French  army  was  not  equal  to  a  great  offensive 
movement,  took  up  a  position  strictly  defensive. 
He  certainly  was  not  aware  that  the  whole  army 
of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  was  close  to  his 
right  flank,  though  on  the  other  side  of  the  Meuse. 
He  had  therefore  some  reason  to  hope  that,  by 
compelling  the  army  of  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Saxony  immediately  in  his  front,  and  the  only 
one,  as  he  thought,  that  was  then  near  him,  to 
attack  his  troops  while  they  occupied  a  strong 
position,  he  might  yet  be  able  to  defeat  the  enemy, 


and  retrieve  his  late  disaster.  Subsequent  events 
proved  that  he  really  took  the  most  fatal  course  of 
all;  for  he  was  obliged  to  stand  his  ground  against 
immensely  superior  numbers,  round  a  mere  nominal 
fortress,  not  large  enough  to  shelter  his  troops  if 
beaten,  nor  powerful  enough  in  armament  to  affect 
the  fortune  of  the  battle,  and  commanded  in  every 
direction  by  hills  within  the  range  of  modern  field 
guns.  Yet  the  position  he  took,  though  essen- 
tially faulty  in  these  and  other  respects,  and  not 
as  well  occupied  as  it  might  have  been,  had, 
nevertheless,  certain  strong  natural  advantages, 
and  in  his  forlorn  situation  was  the  best  he  could 
have  chosen.  Behind  the  Chiers,  and  in  the  angle 
formed  between  that  stream  and  the  course  of  the 
Meuse,  a  series  of  heights  intersected  by  ravines, 
with  hills  and  intricate  ground  between,  stretch 
from  Givonne  on  the  Belgian  frontier,  to  Sedan 
on  the  Meuse ;  and,  with  the  villages  of  Balan  and 
Bazeilles  in  front,  on  the  main  road  from  Sedan  to 
Carignan,  make,  with  the  Chiers,  like  a  fosse,  before 
them,  a  succession  of  formidable  lines  of  defence  to 
an  enemy  advancing  directly  against  them.  Giv- 
onne, resting  on  masses  of  forest  which  spread 
densely  across  into  Belgium,  affords  a  good  posi- 
tion to  an  army's  wing,  which  could  not  there  be 
easily  outflanked ;  and  Sedan,  on  the  other  side, 
presents  advantages  'in  many  respects  as  a  defen- 
sive point  to  another  wing.  The  town  is  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Meuse,  with  a  small  suburb  on 
the  left ;  and  in  passing  it  the  river  forms  a  huge 
loop,  flowing  to  the  north-west,  and  returning  in  a 
southerly  direction,  opposing  a  kind  of  double 
barrier  to  an  enemy  assailing  it  from  that  quarter. 
Behind  Sedan,  and  on  its  side  of  the  loop,  the 
eminences  near  Floing  and  La  Garenne,  crowned 
with  woods  and  villages,  command  the  river,  and 
in  case  of  an  attempt  to  force  it,  could  be  stoutly 
defended  against  an  attack  to  the  rear  of  the  town. 
Whilst  MacMahon  rested  on  the  31st,  and  strove 
to  strengthen  the  open  hills  to  the  west  of  Sedan 
with  fieldworks,  the  combined  armies  of  the  two 
crown  princes  extended  right  and  left  to  inclose 
his  position.  Their  numbers,  including  the  sixth 
corps,  which  was  still  behind,  just  doubled  his; 
and  the  moral  superiority  they  had  gained  enabled 
them  to  dispense  with  large  reserves,  and  to  extend 
on  a  wide  curve,  twelve  miles  long,  outside  of 
and  parallel  to  the  enemy's  position.  The  third 
German  army  executed  the  following  movements 
on  the  31st.  The  first  Bavarian  corps  marched 
3  G 


418 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


by  Baucourt  to  Eemilly.  The  eleventh  Prussians 
proceeded  from  Stonne  to  Chemery  and  Cheveuge, 
with  orders  to  stop  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Meuse, 
and  encamp  opposite  Donchery,  a  little  town  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river.  The  fifth  Prussian 
corps  followed  the  eleventh,  and  the  second 
Bavarians  the  first.  The  Wlirtemburgers  like- 
wise moved  on  to  the  Meuse  by  way  of  Vendresse 
and  Boutencourt.  The  routes  prescribed  to  the 
different  portions  of  this  army  thus  converged  on 
Sedan,  while  the  Prussian  guards  of  the  fourth 
army,  after  occupying  Carignan  in  the  morning, 
pressed  forward  to  Douzy;  the  object  being  to 
surround  the  enemy,  and  compel  him  either  to 
surrender,  or  to  retreat  beyond  the  Belgian  frontier. 
As  the  latter  contingency  was  considered  very 
possible,  it  was  provided  by  the  order  of  the  day, 
that  in  the  event  of  the  French  not  being  imme- 
diately disarmed  on  the  other  side  of  the  border, 
the  German  troops  were  to  follow  them  into  Bel- 
gium without  delay.  The  second  Bavarian  corps 
and  the  Wlirtemburgers  had  no  difficulty  in  carry- 
ing out  their  orders;  but  the  fifth  Prussian  corps, 
which  went  by  Chemery,  and  there  defiled  past 
the  commander-in-chief,  did  not  reach  its  allotted 
position  till  a  late  hour  in  the  evening. 

This  clay  (Wednesday,  the  31st)  passed  without 
any  very  important  encounter,  though  a  heavy  can- 
nonade was  kept  up  at  some  points.  At  Bemilly 
the  first  Bavarians  fell  in  with  the  French  troops; 
and,  making  a  rash  attack  on  Bazeilles,  were  driven 
back  by  Lebrun's  corps  with  considerable  loss. 
During  this  engagement,  four  or  five  batteries  of  the 
Prussian  guns  were  sedulously  employed  in  shelling 
the  village,  a  suburb  of  Sedan,  surrounded  by  gar- 
dens and  trees,  amidst  which  were  a  fine  chateau 
and  several  handsome  residences.  The  ill-fated 
village  was  set  on  fire  in  half-a-dozen  places,  and 
at  one  time  burned  so  furiously  all  over  that  the 
French  could  not  occupy  it;  and  though  the 
Bavarians  seized  it  for  a  short  period,  they,  too, 
were  forced  to  retire.  Fighting  also  commenced 
early  in  the  morning,  as  the  French  were  crossing 
the  plain  of  Douzy;  and  for  three  hours  this 
engagement  extended  over  nearly  four  miles  of 
country,  between  Douzy,  Armigny,  and  Brevilly, 
about  five  miles  from  Carignan,  in  the  direction 
of  Sedan.  Here  also  the  French  drove  back  the 
enemy,  and  ultimately  occupied  the  heights  whence, 


an  hour  before,  the  German  artillery  had  made  fear- 
ful havoc  in  their  ranks.  In  the  afternoon  another 
attack  by  the  Saxons  on  the  left  of  MacMahon's 
position  was  likewise  repulsed;  and  these  partial 
successes  so  raised  the  hopes  of  the  emperor,  that  he 
telegraphed  to  Paris  that  "  all  was  going  on  well, 
and  that  a  brilliant  victory  might  be  expected ! " 
But  that  negligence  which  throughout  the  cam- 
paign had  marked  the  conduct  of  the  French 
officers,  again  caused  their  defeat.  Not  only  had 
they  omitted  to  destroy  the  bridge  over  the  Chiers, 
as  they  fell  back  after  their  reverses  on  the  30th; 
but  even  now  the  cavalry  which  should  have 
watched  the  passage  of  the  river,  were  more  than 
a  mile  away,  so  that  the  Germans  were  enabled 
gradually  to  cross  unopposed;  and  turning  the  left 
of  MacMahon's  army,  compelled  the  victorious 
right  and  centre  to  retreat.  Thus  the  Germans 
recovered  the  advantage  they  had  lost,  and  ere  the 
night  had  fallen  they  had  swung  round  their  right 
to  the  north  of  Sedan,  and  neared  the  villages 
of  La  Chapelle  and  Givonne,  which  command 
the  high  road  to  Bouillon,  twelve  miles  off,  in 
Belgian  territory,  on  the  slopes  of  the  Ardenne 
forest.  The  general  object  sought  was,  there- 
fore, all  but  attained  that  day,  and  was  fully 
accomplished  early  on  the  morrow,  when  the 
French  army  in  Sedan  was  completely  shut  off 
from  all  the  avenues  by  which  it  might  have 
escaped ;  and  nothing  remained  but  the  alternative 
of  capitulation,  or  a  resolute  attempt  to  cut  a 
way  out  through  the  forces  of  an  enemy  superior 
in  numbers,  and  flushed  with  victory.  In  fact, 
MacMahon's  position  was  much  worse  even  than 
that  of  Bazaine  at  Gravelotte,  on  the  18th  of 
August,  a  short  fortnight  before.  Bazaine  had  in 
his  rear  a  first-class  fortress,  with  an  entrenched 
camp,  and  more  than  two  months'  supply  of  pro- 
visions; while  Sedan,  a  neglected  second  or  third 
rate  place  of  15,000  inhabitants,  had  scarcely  three 
day's  food  for  MacMahon's  army  within  its  walls. 
So  completely  had  the  German  troops  got  their 
prey  in  their  power,  that  Von  Moltke  had  been 
able  to  dispense  with  reserves,  and  throw  his  whole 
force,  one  corps  alone  excepted,  in  a  vast  circle 
round  the  French  position,  a  tactical  movement 
fully  justified  by  the  event,  but  which,  against  any 
but  ill-led  and  very  disheartened  troops,  might 
have  been  the  ruin  of  the  assailants 


1    '""       '■  '  I  I  I'll    •    ■     T  .,■    ■, 


.^Y-'-t  Wo)  s     du    .do  s    ,1  £  Loup 


A  T  T  L  E     OF     S  E  D  A 

September       Ist      1870. 


PRUSSIANS 


Rngrave4  bv  R.WaEfei 


CHAPTER      XIV. 


Peculiarity  of  the  French  Position  on  September  1— Description  of  the  Town  of  Sedan  and  the  Country  around— The  Position  of  both  Armies 
before  the  commencement  of  the  Action — The  Fatal  Objection  to  that,  occupied  by  the  French — Strategy  of  the  German  Commanders — 
The  Night  before  the  Battle — The  Germans  commence  marching  at  one  a.m.  on  September  1,  in  order  to  commence  the  Action  at  Day- 
break— A  Fog  of  great  assistance  to  them — Negligence  of  the  French  in  not  destroying  the  Bridges  over  the  Chiers — The  French  Left 
Wing  rapidly  gives  way,  and  retires  in  confusion — Successful  Movements  of  the  two  German  Armies  to  encircle  the  French — Desperate 
Encounter  at  Floing — Deadly  fire  of  the  Mitrailleuses — Fruitless  Charges  of  the  French  Cuirassiers — Junction  of  the  two  German  Armies 
— The  French  are  ultimately  driven  in — Fearful  Scene  as  they  retire  into  the  town  of  Sedan — The  Fighting  on  the  French  Front  and  Right 
— Desperate  resistance  at  those  points — MacMahon  is  Wounded,  and  the  command  devolves  on  General  Wimpffen — Description  of  Fighting 
at  Bazeilles  by  Mr.  Winterbotham,  M.P. — Affecting  Incident  in  connection  with  the  Wounded  on  both  sides — German  and  French  Accounts 
of  the  burning  of  Bazeilles — The  French  completely  surrounded  about  Two  O'clock — Proposal  to  the  Emperor  by  General  Wimpffen  to 
cut  a  passage  through  is  declined — Bumour  that  Bazaine  was  approaching,  and  recapture  of  Balan  by  the  French — Hopeless  Disorganization 
amongst  the  French  in  Sedan — Shelling  of  the  town  by  the  Germans — The  Emperor  orders  the  White  Flag  to  be  hoisted — The  King 
of  Prussia  refuses  to  grant  anything  but  the  Unconditional  Surrender  of  the  whole  of  the  French  Army — Surprise  of  the  Germans  on  find- 
ing that  the  French  Emperor  is  in  Sedan — He  surrenders  himself  to  the  King  of  Prussia — The  Letters  which  passed  between  them — 
Remonstrance  by  General  Wimpffen  against  the  Surrender  of  the  Army — The  Emperor  refuses  to  accept  his  resignation — He  then 
proceeds  to  the  German  Headquarters  to  endeavour  to  obtain  better  terms,  but  Von  Moltke  is  Inexorable — The  return  of  the  Crown 
Prince  to  his  Troops — The  number  of  Men  and  Guns  captured  during  the  Battle — The  Killed  and  Wounded  on  both  sides,  and  the 
terrible  Scenes  on  the  Battle-field — The  State  of  Sedan  during  the  night — The  Germans  mass  in  immense  numbers  around  the  town  on 
the  following  morning,  in  order  to  convince  the  French  of  the  utter  hopelessness  of  their  position — A  French  Council  of  War  decides  that 
Capitulation  is  Inevitable — The  Terms  agreed  to  between  Count  von  Moltke  and  General  Wimpffen — Speech  of  the  King  of  Prussia  to  the 
German  Princes  after  the  Capitulation  had  been  agreed  to — Despatch  to  Her  Majesty  by  the  King  of  Prussia — -Address  of  General  Wimp- 
ffen to  the  French  Army — Frantic  Conduct  of  the  Troops  on  the  Capitulation  becoming  known — The  number  of  Prisoners,  Guns,  &c, 
surrendered — Severe  privations  endured  by  the  French — Count  von  Bismarck's  interesting  Official  Account  of  the  Capitulation — The  Inter- 
view between  him  and  the  Emperor  of  the  French — The  latter  attempts  to  obtain  better  Terms  for  his  Army,  but  declines  to  Negotiate  for 
Peace — Meeting  of  the  King  of  Prussia  and  the  Emperor  at  Bellevue — The  Palace  of  Wilhelmshohe,  near  Cassel,  is  chosen  as  the  place  of 
Residence  of  the  Emperor  during  his  Captivity  in  Germany — Consideration  shown  by  the  King — The  Emperor's  Journey  to  Wilhelmshohe 
— Interesting  Letter  from  the  King  to  the  Queen  of  Prussia — Anecdote  in  connection  with  it — Toast  of  His  Majesty  at  a  Military  Banquet 
on  the  day  of  the  Capitulation — General  Review  of  the  Engagement  and  its  Results,  and  Criticism  of  the  Strategy  on  both  sides— The 
Personal  Demeanour  of  the  French  Emperor  during  the  Battle — Great  Sortie  from  Metz  in  the  hope  of  acting  in  conjunction  with  Mac- 
Mahon— The  Preparations  which  had  been  made  by  the  Germans  to  prevent  the  Success  of  such  an  Operation — Misgiving  on  the  part  of 
the  French — Description  of  the  Country  in  which  the  Sortie  was  made— Want  of  Preconcerted  Action  on  the  French  side — The  Village  of 
Servigny  taken  from  the  Prussians — A  Grand  Opportunity  Missed! — Fresh  Troops  continuously  poured  in  by  the  Germans  during  the 
night — Negligence  of  the  French — The  Action  recommenced  on  the  following  Morning,  and  the  French  compelled  to  retire — Their 
Reflections  on  the  Event. 


THE    BATTLE    OF  SEDAN. 

A  large  army  driven  into  a  corner  does  not  easily 
succumb.  It  took  three  desperate  battles  to  teach 
Bazaine's  troops  that  they  were  shut  in  before 
Metz;  nor  did  the  engagements  of  Beaumont 
and  Carignan  suffice  to  induce  those  of  Mac- 
Mahon to  confess  that  they  were  hopelessly 
defeated.  A  fresh  battle — the  greatest  and  most 
bloody  of  all  the  series — had  to  be  fought  around 
Sedan  before  the  French  soldiers  fully  realized  the 
disastrous  position  into  which  they  had  been  driven. 
The  situation  in  which  MacMahon  was  placed  was 
singularly  curious.  The  fortresses  of  Mezieres, 
Sedan,  and  Montmedy  were  constructed  to  meet 
an  invasion  of  France  from  the  Belgian  territory. 
A  French  army  facing  the  north  and  resting  on 


tbese  fortresses,  must  have  been  the  state  of  affairs 
anticipated  when  they  were  built.  Yet  now,  at 
this  very  spot,  was  a  French  force  with  its  rear  to 
Belgium,  standing  an  attack  from  an  enemy  operat- 
ing from  the  interior  of  France.  L'homme  propose, 
mais  Dieu  dispose.  Never  surely  were  human  plans 
more  completely  frustrated. 

It  was  originally  intended  by  the  Germans  to 
put  off  the  decisive  blow  till  the  2nd  of  September, 
to  give  a  day's  rest  to  the  Saxon  army,  which  had 
undergone  considerable  fatigue  in  their  forced 
marches  and  fighting  on  the  30th  and  31st  of 
August.  But  between  five  and  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening  of  the  31st,  as  the  king  passed  Chemery 
on  his  way  to  his  headquarters  at  Vendresse,  he 
held  a  consultation  with  the  Crown  Prince  and 
Generals  von  Moltke  and  Blumenthal,  when  it  was 


420 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


determined  that  the  attack  on  Sedan,  and  the  French 
lines  between  the  Meuse  and  the  Ardennes,  should 
be  undertaken  on  the  ensuing  day. 

The  plan  of  the  battle-field  which  accompanies 
this  chapter  will  make  the  situation  of  the  oppos- 
ing forces  so  clear  to  every  reader,  that  it  is  only 
necessary  here  to  point  out,  very  briefly,  the  lead- 
ing features  of  the  country. 

Sedan,  a  manufacturing  town  containing  about 
15,000  inhabitants,  chiefly  engaged  in  the  woollen 
trade,  is  situated  at  one  of  the  finest  points  of 
the  valley  of  the  Meuse,  which  runs  close  under 
the  walls  of  the  town.  It  is  built  in  a  hollow, 
commanded  by  heights  about  a  mile  off,  which  are 
crowned  with  forests  and  rise  in  terraces  on  either 
side  of  the  river.  On  the  right  bank  is  a  narrow 
strip  of  meadow-land  by  the  waterside,  which  by  a 
temporary  overflow  of  the  Meuse  was  converted 
into  a  broad  sheet  of  water  resembling  a  lake, 
artificially  contrived  to  strengthen  the  military 
defences,  and  spreading  a  couple  of  miles  on  the 
south  side  of  the  town.  On  the  same  bank  of  the 
river,  and  a  little  to  the  left  of  Sedan,  is  an  open 
plain,  with  the  town  of  Donchery  pleasantly  situ- 
ated in  its  centre.  This  plain  is  traversed  by  a 
slight  elevation.  To  the  right  of  it  the  Meuse  makes 
an  extraordinary  bend  or  loop,  inclosing  a  strip  of 
land  two  miles  and  a  half  in  length.  In  this  pen- 
insula, which  is  for  the  most  part  bare,  lie  the 
hamlets  and  mansions  of  Glaire,  Villette,  and  Iges. 
Between  Iges  and  Sedan,  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
river,  is  the  village  of  Floing ;  and,  further  to  the 
right,  Illy  and  Givonne.  The  main  road  between 
Donchery  and  Sedan  proceeds  from  a  bridge  at 
Donchery,  and  touches  the  village  of  Frenois.  To 
the  south-east  are,  or  rather  were,  the  large  suburban 
villages  of  Balan  and  Bazeilles.  Balan,  the  nearest 
to  the  city,  indeed  just  outside  the  walls,  is  close 
to  the  sheet  of  water  formed  by  the  overflowing 
Meuse;  and  about  a  mile  and  a  half  further  to  the 
south,  on  the  Carignan  and  Montmedy  high  road, 
was  the  unhappy  village,  or  small  town,  of  Bazeilles, 
the  birthplace  of  Marshal  Turenne,  and  the  scene 
of  a  battle  in  1641  during  the  civil  wars  in  France. 
Douzy,  where  the  guards  crossed  the  Chiers,  is  on 
the  extreme  right.  Sedan  is  a  fortress  of  the  second 
class,  the  approaches  to  which  are  not,  as  at  Metz 
and  other  places,  defended  by  works  and  advanced 
forts.  At  this  time,  too,  the  supply  of  ammuni- 
tion in  the  town  was  very  deficient,  and  the  arma- 
ment altogether  incomplete.     Undoubtedly,  in  the 


time  of  the  old  field  and  siege  guns,  it  was  a  strong 
fortress;  but  notwithstanding  its  walls,  its  gates, 
its  fosses,  and  its  series  of  earthworks  studded  with 
guns  of  position,  it  is  now  to  all  intents  an  open 
town  to  modern  artillery  occupying  the  heights 
around.  The  fortifications  are  high,  but  these  hills 
are  still  higher;  so  that,  from  the  moment  the 
German  artillery  possessed  itself  of  them,  Sedan 
was  as  good  as  taken.  It  is  generally  admitted 
that  when  the  capitulation  took  place,  successful 
resistance  was  impossible,  and  that  to  have  pro- 
longed the  struggle  would  have  been  to  insure  the 
destruction  of  the  town  with  all  its  inhabitants. 

On  the  evening  of  Wednesday,  the  31st  of 
August,  the  German  armies  had  reached  their 
prescribed  positions,  and  before  dawn  on  Thurs- 
day the  commanders  reported  that  on  each  side 
everything  was  complete.  The  troops  on  the 
left  stood  ready  to  cross  the  Meuse ;  those  on  the 
right,  under  the  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony,  were 
waiting  for  orders  to  assume  the  offensive  ;  and 
from  one  end  of  the  position  to  the  other  they 
were  able  to  close  in  on  Sedan  at  the  shortest 
notice.  On  the  Meuse,  opposite  Bazeilles  and 
Balan,  the  first  and  second  Bavarians  formed  the 
right  wing  of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia's 
army ;  next  them  was  that  of  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Saxony,  the  fourth  and  twelfth  corps,  facing 
towards  Moncelle,  Daigny,  and  Villers  Cernay, 
while  the  guards  were  marching  towards  La 
Chapelle.  To  the  west  of  Sedan  was  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Prussia's  fifth  and  eleventh  corps,  the 
former  moving  towards  Fleigneux,  the  latter  to 
St.  Menges  and  Floing.  The  loop  formed  by  the 
Meuse  rendering  escape  in  that  direction  im- 
possible, no  troops  were  posted  between  St.  Menges 
and  Donchery;  but  at  Dom-le-Mesnil,  a  little  to  the 
left  of  Donchery,  the  Wurtemburgers  were  stationed, 
who  not  only  covered  the  rear  against  sallies  from 
Mezieres,  but  watched  the  road  against  any 
attempt  of  the  French  to  break  through  in  that 
direction.  As  MacMahon's  right  was,  however, 
completely  outflanked  by  the  fifth  and  eleventh 
corps,  none  of  his  troops  appeared  in  that  quarter. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  battle,  the  TVurtemburg 
artillery  was  brought  up  to  take  part  in  the 
bombardment  which  was  to  reduce  the  enemy  to 
terms;  but  it  only  arrived  in  time  to  learn  that 
further  proceedings  had  been  stayed  by  a  flag 
of  truce.  Count  Stolberg's  second,  and  the  fourth 
and  sixth  cavalry  divisions  under  Prince  Albrecht, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


421 


were  at  different  points  in  the  plain  of  Donchery, 
covering  and  connecting  the  German  right  wing. 

Before  night  closed  in  on  Wednesday,  Mac- 
Mahon,  who,  allowing  for  the  losses  of  the  previous 
two  days,  had  little  more  than  100,000  men  and 
about  440  guns,  must  at  last  have  realized  the 
extent  of  his  peril.  The  prince  of  Saxony,  with 
his  whole  army,  was  in  his  front,  beyond  the 
Chiers;  and  to  his  right,  on  the  other  bank  of  the 
Mouse,  were  the  forces  of  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Prussia.  Had  his  soldiers  only  been  able  to  hold 
their  ground,  he  occupied  a  naturally  strong 
position  on  the  outer  line  of  the  heights  around 
Sedan,  and  he  made  the  best  possible  arrangements 
with  the  forces  at  his  disposal ;  though  it  is  certain 
he  only  expected  an  attack  in  front  and  on  his 
right  flank,  for  he  could  not  foresee  in  what  other 
direction  than  on  the  right  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Prussia  was  to  operate  against  him.  The  right 
and  front  of  the  French  position  was  intrusted  to 
the  corps  commanded  by  Generals  Ducrot  and 
Lebrun ;  the  left  was  defended  by  Generals  Wimpffen 
and  Douay.  The  seventh  corps  (Douay's)  occu- 
pied the  ground  from  Floing  and  St.  Menges  to 
Illy  and  Fleigneux,  on  the  north  of  Sedan ;  the 
fifth  (Wimpffen's,  formerly  De  Failly's)  was  posted 
partly  in  the  town  and  partly  on  the  heights  which 
command  the  gully  of  Givonne  ;  the  first  (Ducrot's, 
formerly  commanded  by  MacMahon  himself) 
stretched  from  Petite  Moncelle  to  Givonne ;  and 
the  twelfth  (Lebrun's)  occupied  Bazeilles  in  force 
and  also  held  La  Moncelle,  about  a  mile  higher  up. 
The  French  army  was  thus  formed  in  a  semicircle 
round  Sedan,  the  two  wings  leaning  on  the  Meuse. 
The  left,  which  rested  on  Givonne  and  the  adjoining 
forest,  was  composed  of  the  feeblest  troops,  as  it 
was  considered  that,  from  the  obstacles  in  the  way 
and  its  being  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  neutral 
frontier,  it  could  not  be  turned.  The  French  line 
extended  thence  along  the  ranges  of  heights  which 
trend  back  to  Sedan ;  the  right  occupied  Bazeilles 
and  Balan,  and  MacMahon  stationed  in  consider- 
able force  his  best  divisions  in  these  prominent 
positions,  in  order  to  hold  the  main  road  to 
Carignan,  and  to  give  strength  to  his  projecting 
front.  The  defensible  positions  along  the  line 
from  Givonne  to  Sedan  were  made  the  most  of; 
guns,  with  masses  of  infantry,  crowned  the  emi- 
nences or  commanded  the  wooded  valleys  between; 
and  at  some  points  entrenchments  were  thrown 
up  to  baffle  any  hostile  attack.     The  right  of  the 


French  was  protected  in  part  by  the  course  of  the 
Meuse,  in  part  by  the  western  edge  of  the  town, 
and  in  part  by  the  artificial  inundation  of  the  river 
over  the  meadow  land  before  described ;  and  beyond 
Sedan  on  the  other  side  the  plateaux  and  ridges  of 
Floing  and  La  Garenne  were  occupied  by  large 
bodies  of  troops,  though  a  dangerous  attack  at 
this  point  was  not  thought  probable.  The  Chiers, 
from  Douzy  to  Bemilly,  flowed  directly  across  the 
French  front,  and  opposed  a  natural  barrier  to 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony.  In  this  situation, 
covered  by  two  rivers  and  behind  obstacles  of  every 
kind,  MacMahon  awaited  the  German  attack.  The 
position  of  the  French,  though  strong  at  some  points, 
and  formidable  in  its  natural  defences,  was  open  to 
the  fatal  objection  that  everything  depended  upon 
their  making  a  successful  stand  ;  if  defeated  at  any 
point,  no  loophole  was  left  for  a  safe  retreat.  Their 
projecting  front  was  liable  to  a  cross  fire  ;  once 
driven  in,  defeat  would  be  inevitable;  and  while 
their  wings  would  find  it  difficult  to  move,  the 
turning  of  either  would  imperil  both,  and  cause 
the  whole  mass  to  recoil  inwards,  where  it  would 
be  involved  in  utter  confusion.  Sedan,  on  which, 
in  that  case,  they  would  inevitably  crowd  for  pro- 
tection, was  exposed  to  the  fire  of  field  guns  from 
the  heights  of  the  valley  of  the  Meuse;  and  if  the 
■"  slopes  to  the  rear  of  the  town  were  taken,  it  would 
be  literally  crushed  by  the  weight  of  artillery. 

The  German  commanders  were  not  slow  to  per- 
ceive the  advantages  within  their  grasp ;  and,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  on  the  31st  August  they  formed 
the  plan  of  enveloping  the  French  army,  hemming 
it  in  upon  Sedan,  and  cutting  it  off  from  the  one 
chance  which  despair  alone  might  prompt  it  to 
attempt,  that  of  retreating  across  the  Belgian 
frontier.  They  had  about  220,000  men,  and  from 
600  to  700  guns;  with  this  immense  superiority 
of  force,  and  the  ascendancy  obtained  by  unbroken 
success,  they  were  justified  in  determining  on  oper- 
ations which,  against  a  stronger  and  more  con- 
fident foe,  would  have  been  attended  with  no 
little  danger.  The  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony  was 
to  attack  and  turn  the  extreme  left  of  the  French, 
assailing  their  front  at  the  same  time;  this  done, 
he  was  to  send  a  force  right  round  in  their  rear, 
i  which,  meeting  a  detachment  from  the  third 
German  army,  was  to  close  completely  upon  them. 
Meanwhile  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  was,  with 
the  Bavarian  corps,  to  attack  MacMahon's  right 
at  the  projecting  points  of  Bazeilles  and  Balan, 


422 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


effecting  a  junction  with  his  colleague ;  he  was 
also  to  overwhelm  the  French  right  wing  as 
it  was  thrown  backward  behind  Sedan,  and  to 
the  north  his  troops  were  to  meet  those  of  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Saxony  and  complete  the  hem- 
ming in  of  the  enemy.  Altogether,  about  170,000 
men,  with  nearly  600  guns,  were  to  be  engaged 
in  the  shock  of  battle;  the  remainder  were  to 
close  round  on  the  French,  or  watch  the  roads 
against  any  attempt  to  break  through. 

Such  was  the  plan  of  the  German  commanders; 
and  considering  the  strength  of  the  opposing 
hosts,  and  the  great  results  looked  for  from  it, 
it  was  alike  daring  and  admirable.  Though  not 
without  risk,  it  was  less  hazardous  than  that  which 
had  issued  in  Bazaine  being  driven  back  into 
Metz;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  its  success  would 
insure  the  annihilation  of  MacMahon's  army. 

The  night  of  the  31st  was  bright,  and  the  horizon 
showed  like  a  huge  red  vault,  as,  far  on  either  bank 
of  the  Meuse,  innumerable  watch-fires  marked  the 
bivouacs  of  the  armies  awaiting  the  fight  of  the  mor- 
row. About  one  a.m.  on  September  1  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Saxony  received  orders  to  advance,  with 
a  view  to  opening  fire  at  five  o'clock.  The  Crown 
Prince  of  Prussia  left  his  headquarters  at  Chemery 
at  four  a.m.;  and,  with  General  Blumenthal  and 
his  staff,  took  up  his  position  on  an  eminence  over- 
looking the  valley  of  the  Meuse,  near  the  town  of 
Donchery,  in  front  of  a  small  newly  built  mansion 
called  Chateau  Donchery.  From  this  point  the 
whole  of  the  German  army  could  be  surveyed,  and 
the  progress  of  the  battle  observed  in  all  directions. 
Three  hours  later,  the  king  of  Prussia,  with  Count 
von  Bismarck,  General  von  Moltke,  General  von 
Boon,  the  Prussian  minister  of  War,  and  a  numer- 
ous staff  (including  Generals  Sheridan  and  Forsyth, 
belonging  to  the  army  of  the  United  States  of 
America),  arrived,  and  watched  the  movements  of 
the  troops  from  a  high  hill  near  Frenois,  about  a  mile 
to  the  right  of  the  Crown  Prince,  and  three  miles 
from  Sedan.  This  spot  commanded  an  excellent 
bird's  eye  view  of  the  country  round,  including 
the  hills  on  the  king's  left  hand,  to  the  west  and 
north  of  the  fortress,  and  the  long  bend  of  the 
Meuse;  while  he  could  look  down  on  his  right, 
over  the  southern  suburbs,  to  Bazeilles,  and  to- 
wards the  Saxon  corps.  Between  the  position 
which  he  occupied  and  Sedan  is  a  lower  ridge, 
with  a  wide  gently-sloping  valley  intervening;  and 
beneath  the  shelter  of  this  ridge  (for  it  was  scarcely 


within  range  of  the  French  batteries)  masses  of 
Prussian  troops  of  all  arms  were  drawn  up  in 
readiness  for  a  forward  attack,  or  for  detachment 
to  any  threatened  or  critical  point.  These  splendid 
slopes,  interspersed  with  thickets,  and  unbroken 
by  hedges,  banks,  ditches,  or  any  other  obstacle, 
offered  great  facilities  for  rapid  movement,  to 
which  in  some  measure,  no  doubt,  was  due  the 
success  of  the  battle.  To  this  the  field  telegraph, 
a  method  of  communication  neglected  by  the 
French,  also  contributed. 

At  daybreak  part  of  the  army  of  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Prussia  crossed  the  Meuse  at  Donchery 
by  means  of  two  pontoon  bridges,  under  cover 
of  the  morning  fog  and  of  a  thick  wood  close  to 
the  river's  bank.  The  advanced  guard  of  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Saxony  also  took  advantage  of 
the  fog  to  cross  the  Chiers  a  little  after  five  o'clock ; 
while  the  Bavarians,  who  had  previously  passed 
the  Meuse,  came  into  line  with  his  left  wing,  and 
made  preparations  to  attack  Bazeilles.  With  the 
negligence  which  throughout  the  campaign  too 
often  disgraced  the  French  staff,  the  bridges  over 
the  Chiers  had  not  been  broken  ;  and  the  first  fine 
of  MacMahon's  defences  was  carried  without  loss, 
the  French  cavalry  outposts  not  even  attempting 
resistance.  At  half -past  seven  the  sun  broke  out, 
clearing  away  the  dense  fog  which  covered  the 
valleys  and  the  hills ;  and  as  the  day  advanced  it 
became  hot  and  sultry.  Between  five  and  six 
o'clock,  simultaneously  the  Crown  Prince  of  Sax- 
ony's columns  were  directed  upon  Givonne  in  order 
to  turn  the  French  left,  and  against  the  heights 
which  protected  then:  left  centre ;  while  the  Bava- 
rians pressed  forwards  to  storm  Bazeilles,  and  force 
their  front  inwards  towards  Sedan.  At  the  sight 
of  the  enemy  the  inefficient  troops  which  held  the 
important  point  of  Givonne  began  to  give  way; 
and  after  a  brief  but  decisive  combat  the  French 
left  wing  was  turned  and  driven  in,  crowds  of 
fugitives  hurrying  into  the  woods,  while  others  fell 
in  on  the  now  pressed  centre. 

About  ten  o'clock  the  victorious  Saxons  were 
pressing  forwards  from  Givonne  towards  Illy  and 
St.  Menges,  to  the  extreme  left  of  the  French  army, 
in  order  to  effect  the  junction  with  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Prussia  which  led  to  such  important 
results;  and  meeting  with  no  opposition,  they 
easily  accomplished  their  object.  At  the  same 
time  the  German  left  wing  prepared  to  turn  the 
other  flank  of  their  enemy.     The  eleventh   corps 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


423 


proceeded  along  the  slight  elevation  in  the  midst  of 
the  plain  by  Donchery  ;  the  fifth  marched  straight 
on  to  get  to  the  rear.  According  to  the  plan  of 
the  battle,  these  corps  were  to  meet  the  right 
wing,  and,  by  surrounding  the  enemy,  to  cut  off 
his  retreat  towards  the  Ardennes.  The  Wiirtem- 
burgers  and  the  cavalry  division,  subsequently  sent 
to  their  support,  were  to  protect  the  plain  in  case 
the  French  should  push  forward  in  this  direction; 
which,  however,  from  the  difficulty  they  must  have 
found  in  crossing  the  Meuse,  was  not  very  probable, 
as  they  had  themselves  destroyed  the  railway  bridge 
between  Donchery  and  Sedan.  MacMahon  seems 
to  have  thought  that  on  this  side  his  line  was  not 
exposed  to  serious  danger,  and  that  his  breaking 
down  the  railway  bridge  was  a  sufficient  protection. 
As  we  have  seen,  however,  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Prussia  crossed  over  his  pontoon  bridge  unper- 
ceived  by  the  French,  and  the  fog  enabled  him 
to  crown  with  batteries  the  crest  of  the  hills 
which  overlook  Floing  and  the  surrounding 
country.  At  a  quarter  past  nine  the  eleventh 
corps  had  so  far  turned  the  French  flank  as  to 
come  close  upon  them.  Then  the  German  troops, 
under  the  protection  of  their  guns,  attacked  in 
force  the  astonished  enemy,  who,  caught  in  their 
rear,  could  do  nothing  save  in  the  way  of  de- 
fending the  positions  they  still  held.  Their  main 
defensive  point  on  the  north  side  of  Sedan  was  at 
Floing,  on  the  east  of  the  long  loop  of  the  Meuse. 
Here  they  had  entrenched  themselves  upon  the 
crown  of  a  hill  just  above  the  village;  and  as  this 
spot  was  the  keystone  of  MacMahon's  left,  it 
was  most  hotly  contested.  On  it  were  placed  six 
mitrailleuses,  which  completely  commanded  the  val- 
ley in  front,  so  that,  as  the  Germans  advanced  to  the 
attack,  whole  masses,  numbering  perhaps  200  men, 
were  swept  away  by  a  single  discharge.  In  this 
instance  the  destructive  effects  of  the  mitrailleuse 
were  confessedly  greater  than  could  have  been  pro- 
duced by  common  shell.  Nothing,  indeed,  could 
withstand  a  fire  so  murderous,  and  the  Prussians 
fell  back  in  confusion.  Almost  exactly  opposite 
the  French,  however,  at  a  distance  of  about  three 
quarters  of  a  mile,  was  a  conical  hill,  named  the 
Mamelon  dAtoi,  which  had  been  left  undefended, 
an  omission  for  which  MacMahon  has  been  severely 
criticized.  But  it  would  seem  he  had  only  a  choice 
of  evils.  To  defend  the  hill  as  an  isolated  post 
would  have  been  useless,  and  to  extend  his  line  so 
as  to  embrace  it  within  his  general  position  would 


have  dangerously  weakened  his  front.  The  Ger- 
mans at  once  seized  upon  this  height,  and  to  use 
the  words  of  an  English  artillery  officer  on  viewing 
the  scene  shortly  afterwards,  "  with  a  judgment 
amounting  to  genius "  twelve  field  guns  were 
immediately  posted  on  it  in  such  a  position  that, 
while  they  themselves  were  in  great  measure  pro- 
tected from  fire  on  the  reverse  brow  of  the  hill,  the 
French  were  forced  to  choose  between  the  alterna- 
tive of  being  made  a  target  of  by  the  direct  fire  in 
their  front,  or  of  seeking  shelter  from  it  by  retiring 
over  the  crest,  there  to  be  enfiladed  from  their  right. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  successful  attack 
on  the  Floing  ridge,  and  consequently  the  decisive 
results  of  the  battle,  were  in  no  small  degree  due 
to  the  effective  fire  from  these  two  batteries.  The 
Germans  now  plied  their  artillery  fast  and  furiously 
on  the  opposite  hill,  and  quickly  silenced  the 
enemy's  guns.  At  ten  minutes  past  twelve  the 
French  infantry,  no  longer  supported  by  their 
artillery,  were  compelled  to  retire  from  their  posi- 
tion at  Floing,  which  was  at  once  seized  by  the 
Prussian  infantry.  At  twenty-five  minutes  past 
twelve  were  to  be  seen  clouds  of  retreating  French 
infantry  on  the  hill  between  Floing  and  Sedan,  and 
a  Prussian  battery  in  front  of  St.  Menges  making 
good  practice  with  percussion  shell  among  the 
retreating  ranks.  The  whole  hill  for  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  was  literally  covered  with  "  Frenchmen 
running  rapidly."  "  Less  than  half  an  hour  after, 
at  fifty  minutes  past  twelve,"  says  the  special  cor- 
respondent of  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  who  was 
viewing  the  battle  from  the  hill  occupied  by  the 
king  and  Count  von  Bismarck,  "  General  von  Boon 
called  our  attention  to  another  French  column  in 
full  retreat  to  the  right  of  Sedan,  on  the  road 
leading  from  Bazeilles  to  La  Garenne  wood.  They 
never  halted  until  they  got  to  a  small  red-roofed 
house  on  the  outskirts  of  Sedan  itself.  Almost 
at  the  same  moment  General  Sheridan,  who  was 
using  my  opera-glass,  called  my  attention  to  a 
third  Frencli  column  moving  up  a  broad  grass 
road  through  La  Garenne  wood  immediately  above 
Sedan,  doubtless  to  support  the  troops  defending 
the  important  Bazeilles  ravine  to  the  north-east  of 
the  town.  At  fifty-five  minutes  past  twelve  the 
French  batteries  on  the  edge  of  the  wood  of  La 
Garenne  and  above  it  opened  a  vigorous  fire  on 
the  advancing  Prussian  columns,  whose  evident 
intention  it  was  to  storm  the  hill  north-west  of  La 
Garenne,  and  so  gain  the  key  of  the  position  on 


424 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


that  side.  At  five  minutes  past  one  yet  another 
French  battery  near  the  wood  opened  on  the 
Prussian  columns,  which  were  compelled  to  keep 
shifting  their  ground  till  ready  for  their  final  rush 
at  the  hill,  in  order  to  avoid  offering  so  good  a 
mark  to  the  French  shells.  Shortly  after  we  saw 
the  first  Prussian  skirmishers  on  the  crest  of  the 
La  Garenne  hill  above  Torcy.  They  did  not  seem 
in  strength,  and  General  Sheridan,  standing  beside 
me,  exclaimed,  '  Ah !  they  are  too  weak ;  they 
can  never  hold  that  position  against  all  those 
French.'  The  general's  prophecy  soon  proved 
correct,  for  the  French  advancing  at  least  six  to 
one,  the  Prussians  were  forced  to  retire  down  the 
hill  to  seek  reinforcements  from  the  columns  which 
were  hurrying  to  their  support.  In  five  minutes 
they  came  back  again,  this  time  in  greater  force,  but 
still  terribly  inferior  to  the  huge  French  columns. 
'  Good  heavens !  the  French  cuirassiers  are  going 
to  charge  them,'  said  General  Sheridan  :  and  sure 
enough  the  regiment  of  cuirassiers,  their  helmets 
and  breastplates  flashing  in  the  September  sun, 
formed  up  in  sections  of  squadrons,  and  dashed 
down  on  the  Prussian  scattered  skirmishers.  With- 
out deigning  to  form  line — squares  are  never  used 
by  the  Prussians — the  infantry  received  the  cuir- 
assiers with  a  most  tremendous  '  schnellfeuer ' 
(quick  fire)  at  about  108  yards,  loading  and  firing 
as  fast  as  possible  into  the  dense  squadrons.  Over 
went  men  and  horses  by  hundreds,  and  the  regi- 
ment was  compelled  to  retire  much  faster,  it  seemed 
to  me,  than  it  came.  The  moment  the  cuirassiers 
turned  bridle,  the  plucky  Prussians  actually  dashed 
in  hot  pursuit  after  them  at  the  double.  Such  a 
thing  has  not  often  been  recorded  in  the  annals  of 
war.  The  French  infantry  then  came  forward  in 
turn  and  attacked  the  Prussians,  who  waited  quietly 
under  a  most  rapid  fire  of  Chassepots  until  their 
enemies  got  within  about  100  yards,  when  they 
gave  them  such  a  dose  of  lead  that  the  infantry 
soon  followed  the  cavalry  to  the  '  place  from  which 
they  came ' — that  is,  behind  a  ridge  some  600 
yards  on  the  way  to  Sedan,  where  the  tirailleurs 
could  not  hit  them.  The  great  object  of  the 
Prussians  was  gained,  as  they  were  not  dispos- 
sessed of  the  crest  of  the  hill,  and  it  was  fair 
betting  that  they  would  do  all  that  in  them  lay  to 
get  some  artillery  up  to  help  them  before  Napoleon 
III.  was  much  nearer  his  deposition.  '  There  will 
be  a  fight  for  that  crest,'  says  Sheridan,  peering 
through  his  field-glass  at  the  hill,  which  was  not 


three  miles  from  where  he  stood,  with  the  full  fire 
on  it  from  behind  us.  At  half-past  one  the  French 
cavalry — this  time  I  fancy  a  regiment  of  the 
carabineers — made  another  attempt  to  dislodge  the 
Prussians,  who  were  being  reinforced  every  minute. 
But  they  met  with  the  same  fate  as  their  brethren 
in  the  iron  jackets,  and  were  sent  with  heavy  loss 
to  the  right  about,  the  Prussians  taking  advantage 
of  their  flight  to  advance  their  line  a  couple  of 
hundred  yards  nearer  the  French  infantry.  Sud- 
denly they  split  into  two  bodies,  leaving  a  break 
of  100  yards  in  their  line.  We  were  not  long  in 
seeing  the  object  of  this  movement,  for  the  little 
white  puffs  from  the  crest  behind  the  skirmishers, 
followed  by  a  commotion  in  the  dense  French 
masses,  show  us  that  '  ces  diables  de  Prussiens  ' 
have  contrived,  heaven  only  knows  how,  to  get 
a  couple  of  four-pounders  up  the  steep  ground, 
and  have  opened  on  the  French.  Something  must 
have  at  this  point  been  very  wrong  with  the 
French  infantry,  for  instead  of  attacking  the  Prus- 
sians, whom  they  still  outnumbered  by  at  least  two 
to  one,  they  remained  in  columns  on  the  hill, 
seeing  their  only  hope  of  retrieving  the  day 
vanishing  from  before  their  eyes  without  stirring. 
The  cavalry  then  tried  to  do  a  little  Balaklava 
business,  but  without  the  success  of  the  immortal 
'  six  hundred.'  We  took  the  guns  in  the  Balaklava 
valley.  Down  came  the  cuirassiers  once  more, 
this  time  riding  straight  for  the  two  field-pieces. 
But  before  they  had  got  within  200  yards  of  the 
guns,  the  Prussians  formed  line  as  if  on  parade, 
and,  waiting  till  they  were  within  fifty  yards,  gave 
them  a  volley  which  seemed  to  us  to  destroy 
almost  the  whole  of  the  leading  squadron,  and  so 
actually  blocked  up  the  way  to  the  guns  for  the 
next  ones  following.  After  this  last  charge — 
which  was  as  complete  a  failure,  although  most 
gallantly  conceived  and  executed,  as  the  two 
preceding  ones — the  infantry  fell  back  rapidly 
towards  Sedan,  and  in  an  instant  the  whole  hill 
was  covered  by  swarms  of  Prussian  tirailleurs, 
who  appeared  to  rise  from  the  ground.  After 
the  last  desperate  charge  of  the  French  cavalry, 
General  Sheridan  remarked  to  me,  '  I  never  saw 
anything  so  reckless,  so  utterly  foolish,  as  that 
last  charge — it  was  sheer  murder !'  The  Prussians, 
after  the  French  infantry  fell  back,  advanced 
rapidly,  so  much  so  that  the  retreating  squadrons 
of  French  cavalry  turned  suddenly  round,  and 
charged  desperately  once  again.     But  it  was  all  of 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


425 


no  use.  The  days  of  breaking  squares  or  even 
lines  are  over,  and  the  '  thin  blue  line '  soon 
stopped  the  Gallic  onset.  It  was  most  extra- 
ordinary that  the  French  had  neither  artillery  nor 
mitrailleurs,  especially  these  latter,  on  the  hill  to 
support  the  infantry.  The  position  was  a  most 
important  one,  and  certainly  worth  straining  every 
nerve  to  defend.  One  thing  was  clear  enough — 
that  the  French  infantry,  after  once  meeting  the 
Prussians,  declined  to  try  conclusions  with  them 
again,  and  that  the  cavalry  were  trying  to  encour- 
age them  by  their  example.  About  two,  more 
Prussian  regiments  came  over  the  long-disputed 
hill  between  Torcy  and  Sedan,  to  reinforce  the 
regiments  already  established  there." 

Another  better  known  and  most  able  special 
correspondent,  Dr.  Russell,  of  the  Times,  in  a 
vivid  description  of  the  fearful  nature  of  the 
struggle  in  this  part  of  the  field,  said,  "the  Prus- 
sians coming  up  from  Floing  were  invisible  to  me. 
Never  can  I  forget  the  sort  of  agony  with  which 
I  witnessed  those  who  first  came  out  on  the 
plateau  raising  their  heads  and  looking  around  for 
an  enemy,  while,  hidden  from  view,  a  thick  blue 
band  of  French  infantry  was  awaiting  them,  and 
a  brigade  of  cavalry  was  ready  on  their  flank 
below.  I  did  not  know  that  Floing  was  filled 
with  advancing  columns.  There  was  but  a  wide, 
extending,  loose  array  of  skirmishers,  like  a  flock 
of  rooks,  on  the  plateau.  Now  the  men  in  front 
began  to  fire  at  the  heads  over  the  bank  lined  by 
the  French.  This  drew  such  a  flash  of  musketry 
as  tumbled  over  some  and  staggered  the  others  ; 
but  their  comrades  came  scrambling  up  from  the 
rear,  when  suddenly  the  first  block  of  horse  in  the 
hollow  shook  itself  up,  and  the  line,  in  beautiful 
order,  rushed  up  the  slope.  The  onset  was  not 
to  be  withstood.  The  Prussians  were  caught  en 
flagrant  d&lit.  Those  nearest  the  ridge  slipped 
over  into  the  declivitous  ground;  those  in  advance, 
running  in  vain,  were  swept  away.  But  the  im- 
petuosity of  the  charge  could  not  be  stayed.  Men 
and  horses  came  tumbling  down  into  the  road, 
where  they  were  disposed  of  by  the  Prussians  in 
the  gardens,  while  the  troopers  on  the  left  of  the 
line,  who  swept  down  the  lane  in  a  cloud  of  dust, 
were  almost  exterminated  by  the  infantry  in  the 
village.  There  was  also  a  regular  cavalry  encounter, 
I  fancy,  in  the  plains  below,  but  I  cannot  tell  at 
what  time;  the  cuirassiers,  trying  to  cut  their  way 
out,  were  destroyed,  and  a  charge  of  two  Prussian 


squadrons,  which  did  not  quite  equal  expectations, 
occurred.  The  feat  of  those  unfortunate  cavaliers 
only  cleared  the  plateau  for  a  little  time.  In  a  few 
minutes  up  came  the  spiked  helmets  again  over 
the  French  dpaulement,  crossing  their  sabred  com- 
rades, and,  therefore,  all  alive  to  the  danger  of 
cavalry.  They  advanced  in  closer  order,  but  still 
skirmishing,  and  one  long,  black  parallelogram  was 
maintained  to  rally  on.  As  the  skirmishers  got 
to  the  ridge  they  began  to  fire,  but  the  French 
in  the  second  line  of  Epaulement  soon  drove  them 
back  by  a  rattling  fusillade.  The  French  rushed 
out  of  the  e'paulement  in  pursuit,  still  firing.  At 
the  same  moment  a  splendid  charge  was  executed 
on  the  Prussians,  before  which  the  skirmishers 
rallied,  on  what  seemed  to  me  to  be  still  a  long 
parallelogram.  They  did  not  form  square.  Some 
Prussians  too  far  on  were  sabred.  The  troopers, 
brilliantly  led,  went  right  onwards  in  a  cloud  of 
dust ;  but  when  they  were  within  a  couple  of 
hundred  yards  of  the  Prussians,  one  simultaneous 
volley  burst  out  of  the  black  front  and  flank, 
which  enveloped  all  in  smoke.  They  were  steady 
soldiers  who  pulled  trigger  there.  Down  came 
horse  and  man ;  the  array  was  utterly  ruined.  There 
was  left  in  front  of  that  deadly  infantry  but  a  heap 
of  white  and  grey  horses — a  terrace  of  dead  and 
dying  and  dismounted  men  and  flying  troopers, 
who  tumbled  at  every  instant.  More  total  dissi- 
pation of  a  bright  pageantry  could  not  be.  There 
was  another  such  scene  yet  to  come.  I  could 
scarce  keep  the  field-glass  to  my  eyes  as  the  second 
and  last  body  of  cavalry — which  was  composed  of 
light  horse  also — came  thundering  up  out  of  the 
hollow.  They  were  not  so  bold  as  the  men  on  the 
white  horses,  who  fell,  many  of  them  at  the  very 
line  of  bayonets.  The  horses  of  these  swerved  as 
they  came  upon  the  ground  covered  with  carcases, 
and  their  line  was  broken ;  but  the  squadron  leaders 
rode  straight  to  death.  Once  again  the  curling 
smoke  spurted  out  from  the  Prussian  front,  and  to 
the  rear  and  right  and  left  flew  the  survivors  of 
the  squadrons.  The  brown  field  was  flecked  with 
spots  of  many  colours,  and,  trampling  on  the 
remains  of  that  mass  of  strength  and  courage  of 
man  and  horse,  the  Prussians,  to  whom  supports 
were  fast  hastening  up  right  and  left  and  rear, 
pressed  on  towards  the  inner  Epaulement,  and 
became  engaged  with  the  French  infantry,  who 
maintained  for  some  time  a  steady  rolling  fire  in 
reply  to  the  volleys  of  the  Prussians.  To  me  the 
3  H 


426 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


French  force  seemed  there  very  much  superior 
in  number.  But  they  had  lost  courage,  and  what 
was  left  of  it  was  soon  dissipated  by  the  advance 
of  a  Prussian  battery,  which  galloped  up  to  the 
right  flank  of  their  infantry,  and  opened  a  very 
rapid  fire,  to  which  there  was  no  French  battery 
to  reply.  The  French  left  the  dpaulement,  and 
made  for  a  belt  of  wood,  dropping  fast  as  they 
retreated,  but  facing  round  and  firing  still.  In 
a  few  moments  more  the  plateau  was  swarming 
with  the  battalions  of  the  eleventh  corps,  and  the 
struggle  there  was  over.  Only  for  a  minute,  how- 
ever, because  from  the  flanks  of  the  wood  came 
out  a  line  of  French  infantry.  The  musketry  fire 
was  renewed  ;  but  it  was  evident  the  Prussians 
were  not  to  be  gainsaid.  Their  advance  was  only 
checked  that  they  might  let  their  artillery  play 
while  then-  columns  assisted  it  by  incessant  volleys. 
A  fierce  onslaught  by  the  French,  made  after  they 
had  retired  behind  the  wood,  only  added  to  their 
losses.  The  Crown  Prince's  army,  notwithstanding 
the  cavalry  success  at  the  outset,  had  by  three 
o'clock  won  the  key  of  the  position  of  the  French 
with  comparatively  small  loss." 

In  the  meantime  the  fifth  German  corps  had  per- 
formed the  long  distance  to  the  extreme  heights, 
and  after  a  sharp  encounter  succeeded  in  driving 
back  the  detachments  making  for  the  Ardennes; 
only  a  few  scattered  bodies  of  infantry,  about 
12,000  men  altogether,  having  succeeded  in  effect- 
ing their  retreat  across  the  Belgian  frontier,  about 
six  miles  off,  and  where  they  laid  down  their  arms. 
Affairs  had,  in  fact,  assumed  a  very  favourable 
aspect  for  the  Germans  ;  and  the  Saxons,  who  had 
designedly  reserved  their  strength,  pressed  for- 
wards with  an  overpowering  force.  As  early  as 
midday,  from  the  fire  of  the  Prussian  batteries 
on  the  right  and  left  wings,  so  rapidly  closing  in 
on  each  side,  it  was  evident  the  enemy  would 
soon  be  completely  surrounded.  "It  was  a  grand 
sight,"  says  the  German  official  report  of  the 
battle,  "  to  watch  the  sure  and  irresistible  advance 
of  the  guards,  marching  on,  on  the  left  wing, 
partly  behind  and  partly  by  the  side  of  the  twelfth 
corps  d'armee."  Since  a  quarter-past  ten  the 
guards,  preceded  by  their  artillery,  had  been  push- 
ing towards  the  woods  to  the  north  of  Sedan. 
The  advancing  smoke  of  their  guns  showed  how 
fast  they  were  gaining  ground  ;  and  when,  from 
the  line  of  fire  passing  beyond  Givonne,  the 
Crown   Prince   of  Prussia  learned   the  defeat  of 


the  French  left,  and  the  progress  which  his  Saxon 
colleague  had  made,  he  could  spare  more  than 
enough  of  men  to  hem  the  enemy  in  on  all  sides, 
and  render  the  flight  of  the  French  impossible. 
Their  line  receded  from  point  to  point,  and  at  last 
breaking  into  a  confused  mass,  was  driven  headlong 
into  the  town  by  the  weight  of  a  crushing  artillery. 
"  Soldiers  of  all  corps  were  crushing  against  each 
other  in  the  struggle  to  get  inside  the  town.  Dis- 
mounted cavalry  were  climbing  over  the  ramparts, 
cuirassiers  were  jumping,  horses  and  all,  into  the 
moats?  the  horses  breaking  their  legs  and  ribs. 
Guns,  with  their  heavy  carriages  and  powerful 
horses,  forced  their  way  into  the  throngs,  maiming 
and  crushing  the  fugitives  on  foot.  To  add  to  the 
confusion  and  terror,  the  Prussian  shells  began  to 
fall  into  the  midst  of  the  struggling  masses.  On 
the  ramparts  were  the  national  guard,  manning  the 
guns,  and  striving  to  reply  to  the  Prussian  batteries. 
It  was  a  scene  of  indescribable  horror." 

Meanwhile  a  struggle  of  a  different  kind,  worthy 
of  their  martial  renown,  was  raging  along  the 
French  front,  where  the  fortunes  of  the  day 
long  hung  in  the  balance.  The  hill  ranges 
were  fiercely  disputed;  every  slope  was  the  scene 
of  a  stern  encounter;  and  though  the  French  line 
receded  gradually  before  the  crushing  effects  of 
the  enemy's  guns,  the  fight  was  gallantly  con- 
tested. The  Prussians  began  firing  before  five 
o'clock,  first  against  the  French  right  and  centre, 
from  Balan  and  Bazeilles  to  Moncelle,  which  were 
the  scene  of  the  most  terrible  conflicts  of  the  day. 
To  these  points  the  French,  conscious  of  their 
vital  importance,  clung  with  desperate  tenacity; 
and  though  the  Bavarians  advanced  with  resolute 
bravery,  supported  by  batteries  able  to  pour  in  a 
destructive  cross-fire,  they  were  at  first  steadily 
repulsed,  and  the  resistance  was  long- sustained 
and  heroic.  The  slope  before  Bazeilles  was  covered 
with  their  killed  and  wounded ;  but  in  spite  of  the 
destructive  fire  from  the  French  mitrailleuses,  the 
Bavarians  stormed  the  bridge  leading  into  the 
town,  where,  as  early  as  six  o'clock,  they  obtained 
a  footing  from  which  they  could  not  be  dislodged. 

The  solidly-built,  compact  town,  with  its  wide 
communications,  presented  rare  capabilities  of  de- 
fence, and  a  stubborn  resistance  was  made  at  every 
step,  until  the  contest  became  one  of  almost  unpar- 
alleled fury.  The  French,  evidently  determined 
not  to  surrender,  surpassed  their  former  deeds  of 
valour ;   while  the  German  obstinacy  and  perse- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


427 


verance  appeared  equally  decided.  The  splendid 
courage  of  the  French  troops  was,  unfortunately, 
of  no  avail,  and  they  were  gradually  driven  back 
in  the  direction  of  Sedan,  though  at  a  late  hour 
in  the  afternoon  the  murderous  contest  was  still 
doubtful. 

At  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  MacMahon 
proceeded  to  the  advanced  posts  near  Bazeilles,  to 
reconnoitre  the  positions,  and  sent  to  inform  the 
emperor,  who  mounted  horse  soon  afterwards,  and 
rode  to  the  field  of  battle.  While  apparently  almost 
seeking  death  the  gallant  marshal  was  struck  on 
the  hip  by  a  piece  of  bombshell  which  exploded 
near  him,  killing  his  horse;  and  he  fell,  severely 
wounded,  into  a  deep  trench  by  the  side  of  the  road 
near  Bazeilles.  He  was  immediately  placed  in  an 
ambulance  waggon,  and  carried  back  into  the  town. 
The  command  was  then  taken  by  General  Wimp- 
ffen,  who  had  arrived  from  Algeria  only  two  days 
before,  and  had  been  ordered  at  once  by  the  Parisian 
ministry  to  supersede  De  Failly,  who,  as  has  been 
shown  in  the  previous  chapter,  by  allowing  himself 
to  be  surprised  on  Tuesday  at  Beaumont,  opened 
the  door  to  the  three  days'  flood  of  disasters.  This 
change  of  generals  at  the  commencement  of  the 
action  was  unfortunate;  for  while  the  army  had 
unbounded  confidence  in  the  bravery  and  skill  of 
MacMahon,  his  successor  was  comparatively  un- 
known to  them;  and  he,  on  the  other  hand,  knew 
nothing  of  the  marshal's  plans,  or  even  the  dispo- 
sition of  the  corps  on  the  plateaux  above  Sedan. 
Indeed,  it  is  said  that  MacMahon  felt  this  so 
strongly,  that  he  at  once  gave  his  instructions  to 
General  Ducrot,  whom  he  knew  well,  and  would 
no  doubt  have  preferred  as  his  successor;  but  when 
Wimpffen  came  and  asserted  his  right,  as  the  senior, 
to  the  chief  command,  he  obtained  it  as  a  matter  of 
course.  The  consequence,  however,  was  that  in 
many  parts  of  the  field  in  reality  nobody  com- 
manded, and  divisions  and  regiments  were  left  to 
fight  their  own  battle. 

In  their  repeated  attacks  upon  Bazeilles  and 
Balan  the  Bavarians  suffered  enormously.  After 
they  had  crossed  the  Meuse  by  their  pontoons 
and  by  the  railway  bridge,  they  could  receive  but 
little  protection  from  their  own  artillery  on  the 
heights;  and  they  were  exposed  to  a  fire  of  in- 
fantry in  the  houses,  and  to  the  guns  of  the  works, 
as  well  as  the  musketry  from  the  parapets.  In 
the  strenuous  attempts  of  the  French  to  repulse 
them,    the   marines  from  Cherbourg  particularly 


distinguished  themselves;  and  three  divisions  of 
Bavarians,  who  began  to  fight  at  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  sustained  three  distinct  onslaughts 
from  the  town,  and  from  the  troops  under  the 
walls.  At  one  time  it  appeared  as  though  the 
Germans  must  be  overpowered;  but  a  partial  suc- 
cess at  this  point  would  scarcely  have  secured  the 
French  army  from  its  ultimate  fate. 

The  following  interesting  description  of  the 
fighting  at  this  point  is  taken  from  a  letter  pub- 
lished a  few  days  afterwards,  by  "an  English  M.P." 
(Mr.  Winterbotham,  the  member  for  Stroud),  who 
was  present  with  the  German  army  as  a  member  of 
an  ambulance  corps : — "  We  were  about  the  middle 
of  a  valley  some  three  miles  long,  stretching  from 
Remilly  on  the  south-east  to  Torcy  on  the  north- 
west. Through  it  flowed  the  Meuse,  as  broad  on 
our  right  as  the  Thames  above  Teddington.  Be- 
tween the  road  and  the  river  on  our  left  ran  the 
rail,  which,  just  at  this  spot,  turns  sharply  across  the 
river  by  an  iron  bridge  into  the  town  of  Bazeilles, 
which  stood  a  little  back  from  the  river,  immedi- 
ately in  our  front,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley. 
Close  behind  us,  and  forming  the  south-west  side 
of  the  valley,  was  a  range  of  hills,  the  tops  and 
sides  of  which,  forming  the  north-east  side  of  the 
valley,  were  covered  with  woods,  not  one  continu- 
ous wood,  but  patches  of  twenty  or  thirty  acres, 
with  sloping  glades  of  grass  between.  It  was  on 
these  open  slopes  that  I  found,  after  the  battle, 
most  traces  of  German  losses.  They  must  have 
suffered  severely  in  driving  the  French  from  the 
woods,  which  were  well  lined  with  mitrailleuses. 
The  artillery  and  troops  crossed  the  river  on 
the  south-east  side  of  Bazeilles  by  a  pontoon 
bridge  they  had  constructed  in  the  night.  The 
town  of  Bazeilles  had  already  been  seized  by  the 
Bavarians,  though  with  great  loss,  before  six 
o'clock  in  the  morning;  and  two  hours  afterwards 
artillery,  followed  by  infantry,  were  mounting  the 
ridge  beyond,  on  the  right  of  the  valley  or  gully 
running  up  from  Bazeilles  to  Givonne.  At  the 
top  of  this  ridge,  about  midday,  I  first  saw  the 
Saxons.  Both  Saxons  and  Bavarians  kept  up  a 
heavy  fire  of  artillery  from  this  spot  over  the  gully 
against  the  French,  who  were  in  front  of  us  on 
the  opposite  ridge.  When  the  French  were  driven 
from  this,  we  crossed  the  gully,  occupied  their 
position,  and  began  again  at  the  next  ridge.  This 
was  wooded,  and  the  French  clung  to  it  till  between 
two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  we 


428 


THE  FRANCO -PEUSSI AN  WAR. 


saw  them  making  off  fast  down  the  hill  towards 
the  river;  in  fact,  to  the  village  of  Balan,  which 
lay  between  Bazeilles  and  Sedan,  at  the  foot  of  the 
ridge.  In  crossing  the  gully  between  Bazeilles 
and  Givonne  from  ridge  to  ridge,  and  retreating 
up  the  valley  from  Bazeilles,  the  French  fought 
well,  and  clung  to  every  house  and  bit  of  wood; 
yet  the  Bavarians  were  so  close  upon  them  that 
some  of  them  were  cut  off  and  left  in  Bazeilles. 
Here  they  remained  concealed  in  the  houses  while 
the  Bavarians  passed  through.  It  was  only  about 
eleven  o'clock,  when  I  happened  to  be  in  the  town, 
that  they  were  discovered.  Bazeilles  was  then  on 
fire  in  several  places;  and  the  flames  had  reached 
a  large  house  at  the  corner  of  two  streets  in  the 
centre  of  the  town.  Suddenly,  from  the  windows 
of  this  house,  was  opened  upon  us  a  sharp  fire, 
and  the  men  of  the  small  Bavarian  force  then  in 
the  place  began  to  fall  fast.  The  little  garrison  in 
the  house  refused  to  surrender.  The  Bavarians 
fired  in  vain,  and  straw  was  then  heaped  against 
the  doors  and  lighted,  but  the  wind  blew  the 
flames  steadily  back,  leaving  the  front  of  the 
house  untouched ;  and  from  the  cellars  and  the 
ground  floor  on  that  side  the  French  still  kept 
up  their  fire.  At  last  their  officer  fell,  mortally 
wounded,  from  the  window.  He  was  picked  up 
and  brought  in  by  our  men,  and  soon  afterwards 
the  remnant  of  the  little  force  surrendered.  There 
were  200  men  of  the  marines  in  that  house.  Their 
gallant  young  commander  would  not  hear  of  a 
surrender,  and  only  forty  came  out  at  last  unhurt. 
In  other  houses  smaller  bands  were  found.  Some 
of  the  inhabitants,  not  soldiers,  and  even  women, 
fired  on  the  Bavarians.  1  saw  them  taken  with  arms 
in  their  hands;  and  I  was  assured  they  would  be 
hanged  the  next  day.  Eeturning  to  the  Bavarian 
batteries  on  the  ridge  west  of  the  gully,  I  saw  the 
Bavarian  infantry  twice  advance  below  me  to  seize 
Balan,  and  twice  repulsed.  The  third  time  they 
did  not  return;  and  I  concluded  that  the  village, 
which  was  hidden  in  trees,  was  won. 

"  Taking  advantage  of  a  lull  in  the  firing  about 
three  o'clock,  I  went  forward  over  the  open  ground 
in  front  towards  the  woods,  which  I  thought  the 
French  had  left.  In  a  little  hollow  over  which 
the  Bavarians  had  twice  passed,  by  a  willow  tree 
(the  only  sign  of  vegetation  around),  I  found 
some  eight  or  ten  wounded  men — five  French,  the 
rest  Germans.  With  my  little  stock  of  bandages 
and  my  flask   I  did  what  I  could  for  the  poor 


fellows,  but  before  I  could  return  the  firing  re- 
commenced. The  bullets  and  balls  whistled  and 
hummed  over  me  and  around  me,  and  patted  or 
thudded  the  ground  close  to  my  feet.  I  crept 
under  the  slender  shelter  of  the  willow  stump,  and 
sat  down  among  my  wounded  friends.  I  thought 
that  half-hour  would  never  end.  The  wounded 
Frenchmen  groaned  dreadfully.  The  Germans, 
though  equally  badly  wounded,  were  more  quiet 
and  less  complaining.  This  I  found,  too,  in  the 
hospitals.  I  think  the  French  are  more  tenderly 
made.  It  was  heart-rending  to  see  so  much  misery 
I  could  do  so  little  to  relieve.  I  laid  this  one  on 
his  back,  with  his  knapsack  for  a  pillow,  turned 
that  one  on  his  side,  covered  another's  head  with 
a  cloth  to  shelter  it  from  the  burning  sun,  put  a 
bit  of  shirt  on  this  man's  wound,  unbuttoned  the 
throttling  coat  of  the  fifth,  took  off  the  boot  from 
the  wounded  foot  of  another,  gave  all  a  little 
cognac,  and  then  sat  down  and  talked  with  them. 
How  grateful  they  were !  How  polite,  in  the 
midst  of  all  his  sufferings,  was  one  poor  French 
soldier  !  and,  most  touching  of  all,  how  kindly 
helpful  the  poor  fellows  were  to  one  another, 
French  and  German  alike  !  '  But,  monsieur,' 
asked  one  poor  Frenchman,  '  are  the  Prussians 
Christians?'  '  Certainly,'  said  I.  I  knew  he  was 
thinking  of  those  heathen  Turcos  of  his.  '  Then,' 
said  my  poor  friend,  breathing  heavily  (he  was 
badly  wounded  in  the  chest),  '  why  do  we  kill 
one  another?'  I  interpreted  our  conversation 
to  his  German  neighbours,  and,  the  fire  having 
slackened,  I  left  them  to  seek  the  bearers  to  carry 
them  off.  The  one  question  each  asked  was, '  Tell 
me,  tell  me,  shall  I  die?'  I  am  not  a  doctor,  so 
I  took  refuge  in  a  hope  for  each ;  but  how  some 
lived  a  minute  I  cannot  tell.  One  poor  fellow,  a 
Bavarian,  had  been  struck  down  by  a  bullet  just 
between  the  eyes,  leaving  a  clean  hole  as  large  as 
a  fourpenny  piece.  He  was  lying  on  his  back, 
yet  I  saw  him  raise  himself  deliberately  on  his 
elbow,  and  heard  him  distinctly  ask  me  for  water. 
I  gave  it  him.  He  drank  it,  said  '  Thank  you, 
thank  you,'  and  lay  down  again.  In  the  evening, 
when  the  firing  had  again  ceased,  I  brought  back 
bearers  with  stretchers,  and  carried  off  all  my  poor 
friends  to  the  field  hospital." 

The  alleged  participation  of  the  inhabitants 
in  the  obstinate  defence  at  Bazeilles,  led  to 
one  of  the  most  horrible  incidents  of  the  war. 
On  the  previous  day  (the  31st  of  August),  the 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


429 


houses  bordering  on  the  Meuse  were  fired  by 
missiles  from  the  Bavarian  artillery,  on  account 
of  their  serving  as  a  protection  to  the  French 
defending  the  passage  of  the  river.  This  was 
a  simple  strategic  necessity;  and  a  number  of 
people  who  had  taken  refuge  in  their  cellars  were 
undoubtedly  buried  in  the  ruins.  The  shells 
thrown  into  the  place  on  Thursday,  September 
1,  also  raised  a  conflagration  here  and  there;  but 
so  enraged  were  the  Germans  at  the  conduct  of 
the  inhabitants  that  orders  were  given  to  raze  the 
whole  town  to  the  ground;  and  in  the  evening, 
after  the  battle,  the  Bavarian  troops  returned  and 
destroyed  what  remained  of  it,  by  firing  masses 
of  straw  in  each  separate  house.  They  did  their 
work  so  effectually  as  to  make  Bazeilles  as  com- 
plete a  ruin  as  Pompeii:  indeed,  there  are  houses 
at  Pompeii  in  a  better  state  of  preservation  than 
any  left  here,  for  not  a  roof  nor  a  floor  remained  to 
any  one  of  them.  An  English  artillery  officer,  who 
visited  the  spot  three  weeks  afterwards,  and  gave 
his  experience  in  an  interesting  work  entitled, 
"  From  Sedan  to  Saarbriick,"  declared  that  the 
ruins  were  then  still  smoking !  The  same  gentle- 
man adds,  that  a  woman  who  lived  in  the  place 
confessed  that  the  Germans  sought  for  and 
removed  the  helpless  before  applying  the  torch, 
and  proceeds : — Bazeilles  was  something  more  than 
a  prosperous  village ;  it  must  have  been  a  flourish- 
ing town  emerging  into  importance,  with  substan- 
tial stone  houses,  numerous  wide  streets,  hotels, 
churches,  many  factories,  and  several  large  public 
buildings.  Now,  only  enough  remains  to  show 
what  they  once  were.  Not  a  house  is  left  standing 
— scarcely  one  stone  upon  another.  All  around 
is  a  mass  of  ruins.  Long  rows  of  cleft  wall,  ready 
to  totter  over  with  a  breath,  show  the  outline  of 
the  streets;  piles  of  fallen  masonry  block  up  the 
road;  masses  of  rubble,  house  fittings,  and  splin- 
tered furniture,  perplex  the  eye.  Shot  and  shell 
manifestly  did  their  work  here,  as  elsewhere;  but 
the  charred  skeleton  walls  standing  in  ghastly 
isolation  show  that  fire  was  the  chief  element  by 
which  such  destruction  was  wrought.  Here  are 
exhibited  in  all  their  frightful  reality  the  murder- 
ous results  of  wanton  cruelty;  though  which  side 
was  most  to  blame  for  these  horrors  it  is  difficult 
to  determine.  Indeed,  the  accounts  of  the  events 
which  preceded  this  terrible  retaliation  are  so  varied 
and  conflicting,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  an 
impartial  writer  to  arrive  at  the  real  truth;   but 


there  can  be  little  doubt  that,  after  the  place  had 
surrendered,  many  of  the  attacking  1'orce  were 
shot  down  in  the  streets,  from  the  houses,  by 
men  not  in  uniform,  and  even  by  women.  Some 
of  the  former,  perhaps,  were  francs-tireurs  ;  but 
many  were  believed  to  be  ordinary  working  men. 
Thereupon  the  Bavarians  broke  into  the  houses, 
made  prisoners  of  the  inhabitants  found  with 
arms  in  their  hands  ;  and,  some  hours  later,  burned 
the  town  and  shot  their  captives.  The  number 
so  executed  is  admitted  by  the  Germans  themselves 
to  have  been  at  least  forty.  One  old  woman 
was  seen  to  shoot  three  Bavarian  officers  in 
succession,  with  a  pistol  fired  from  a  window. 
Again,  two  officers  of  one  of  the  Bavarian  regiments 
that  first  entered  the  town  and  recaptured  it  after  a 
repulse,  asserted  positively  that,  upon  this  second 
entry,  their  troops  missed  the  wounded  they  had 
left  helpless  in  the  streets,  and  presently  discovered 
their  bodies  half  consumed  in  some  of  the  burning 
houses,  to  which  they  must  have  been  dragged 
or  carried  a  considerable  distance.  A  wounded 
Bavarian  officer  also  declared  that  the  inhabitants 
poured  hot  oil  over  him  as  he  lay  helpless  in  one 
of  the  streets !  These  statements  tend  to  show 
that  the  severity  of  the  German  troops  was  not 
unprovoked;  and  therefore  we  can  hardly  wonder 
at  the  excesses  by  which  the  rough  soldiery  (who 
believed  most  implicitly  that  these  atrocities  had 
been  committed)  avenged  their  hapless  comrades. 

M.  Hermann  Voget,  writing  to  a  German  news- 
paper, states  that  he  was  in  Bazeilles  from  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning  till  five  in  the  evening, 
and  was  himself  a  witness  of  the  brutal  misdeeds 
which  led  to  the  destruction  of  that  ill-fated  place. 
The  following  extract  from  his  letter  gives  a  most 
thrilling  picture  of  the  scene  from  a  German  point 
of  view: — "  Suddenly,  what  a  tumult,  what  a 
wild  clamour !  What  an  unusual  rushing  sound  ! 
It  was  the  bullets  striking  on  the  stones.  In 
reality,  not  forty  paces  in  front  of  us,  at  the 
entrance  to  the  street,  raged  the  fight.  The 
Bavarians  were  being  hurled  back  by  the  French. 
A  wild  scream  of  jubilee  filled  up  the  brief  inter- 
vals between  the  crackling  musketry  fire.  It 
came  from  the  inhabitants,  who  took  part  in  the 
fight,  and  exultingly  celebrated  the  victory  of  their 
troops.  But  their  joy  was  premature.  It  was 
but  a  few  minutes,  and  our  people  drove  them 
back.  It  was  the  last  time  that  the  enemy  had 
any   success   at  this   point.      I  hurried  into  the 


430 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


streets  to  see  how  the  battle  ended.  I  took  post 
behind  a  garden  wall:  some  holes  in  it  which  had 
visibly  served  as  firing  apertures  afforded  me  a 
prospect  of  a  large,  strongly-built  house,  round 
which  for  many  hours  the  fight  had  raged.  It 
looked  towards  two  streets,  and  from  the  windows 
on  both  sides  a  continuous  firing  had  been  kept 
up.  Many  Bavarians  had  already  fallen  victims 
to  this  fire.  The  house  seemed  an  enchantment 
against  which  the  bravery  of  our  soldiers  would 
melt.  The  pointing  of  artillery  against  it  was 
impossible,  owing  to  its  situation,  and  a  general 
bombardment  of  the  hamlet  was  forbidden  by  the 
many  wounded  who  lay  in  its  streets  and  houses. 
To  destroy  the  enemy's  wall  of  defence  nothing 
remained  but  the  invocation  of  flames.  Some 
pioneers,  at  great  peril,  made  a  circuit,  burst 
in  the  back  of  the  house,  and  flung  firebrands 
into  the  breach.  The  flames  bursting  forth  com- 
pelled the  French  to  abandon  their  position ;  they 
retreated  through  the  garden.  The  Bavarians 
stormed  after  them  through  the  blazing  house; 
but  they  were,  as  I  was  later  informed,  too  hasty 
in  pursuit,  and  in  consequence,  as  they  rushed 
pell-mell  through  the  garden,  encountered  the 
enemy's  reserves,  who,  so  far,  had  taken  no  part 
in  the  fight.  Now  again,  for  our  people,  was  the 
moment  come  for  a  retreat.  But  this  was  now 
well-nigh  become  an  impossibility.  The  fire  had 
in  the  interim  made  such  progress  that  the  house 
they  had  rushed  through  was  no  longer  passable. 
Two  standards  were  for  some  time  in  danger  of 
falling  into  the  enemy's  hands.  A  quick,  cool, 
sharply  maintained  fire,  which  teased  the  pursuing 
foe,  enabled,  during  their  confusion,  the  standard- 
bearers  to  make  a  rapid  escape  over  a  wall  not  too 
high,  but  many  officers  who  had  advanced  too  far 
in  the  attack  were  cut  off  and  made  prisoners. 

"  While  this  struggle  was  going  on  behind  the 
houses  I  walked  up  the  street.  Frightful  was  the 
wretchedness  I  saw  there.  I  was  the  first  person 
to  appear  after  the  storm  of  battle  had  passed 
further  away.  Dead  and  wounded  lay  piled  indis- 
criminately together.  Hundreds  of  dying  eyes 
looked  at  me  imploringly.  I  was  seized  with 
shuddering.  I  sought  to  go  away.  Too  terrible 
was  the  scene,  and  yet  what  was  it  compared  with 
the  barbarity  which  I  had  directly  afterwards  to 
witness  !  A  wild  cry,  more  like  that  of  an  animal 
than  of  a  human  being,  rang  in  my  ears.  I  looked 
towards  the  place  whence  the  sound  came,  and  saw 


a  peasant  dragging  a  wounded  Bavarian,  who  was 
lying  on  the  ground,  towards  a  burning  house.  A 
woman  was  so  far  aiding  that  she  continued  kick- 
ing the  poor  creature  in  the  side  with  her  heavy 
shoes.  The  heart-rending  cry  of  the  wretched  man 
had  drawn  three  of  his  comrades  to  the  spot. 
'  Shoot  her  down;  no,  hang  her.'  Two  shots  rang 
out,  the  peasant  dropped.  The  Megaera  laughed, 
and  before  the  soldiers  had  gone  three  steps  for- 
ward, she  stood  once  more  beside  her  victim.  The 
woman  must  be  mad.  One  blow  cleft  her  skull. 
'Hang  her  up;  into  the  fire  with  the  brute.' 
While  the  troops  gave  vent  to  their  evidently 
outraged  feelings,  I  stooped  down  to  the  ill-used 
soldier.  He  was  dead.  His  last  breath  had  passed 
with  his  cry  for  help.  He  was  a  fine,  powerful 
young  fellow.  Well  was  it  for  his  loved  ones  that 
they  had  not  heard  the  last  cry  of  agony  of  their 
son  or  their  brother.  I  shall  never  forget  his  cry. 
It  will  haunt  me  while  I  live.  I  had  but  just 
quitted  this  scene  of  cruelty,  when  a  new  horror 
encountered  me.  From  a  house  close  behind 
me  came  the  reports  in  quick  succession  of  two 
shots.  I  turned,  and  saw  a  krankentrager,  in 
the  exercise  of  his  duty,  fall  convulsively  to  the 
ground.  The  wounded  man  he  was  carrying 
rolled  with  him  in  the  dust.  From  that  house 
proceeded  the  shots  ;  five,  six  Bavarians  force  a 
way  in,  the  door  breaks  tinder  the  blows  of  their 
butt-ends.  But  the  soldiers  stand  as  if  stunned. 
On  the  threshold  appears,  armed  with  a  double-bar- 
relled gun,  a  tall  woman ;  she  may  be  fifty  years  old, 
for  dishevelled  gray  hairs  fall  around  a  fine — yes, 
a  noble  face.  As  she  regards  the  soldiers  her  fea- 
tures are  distorted,  she  laughs  wildly;  the  laugh  of 
this  woman  is  a  fearful  thing.  Vous  etes  une  bete, 
calls  out  a  doctor  hurrying  by.  Her  laugh  is 
silenced,  a  torrent  of  tears  gushes  down  her  face, 
she  exclaims  softly,  but  in  tones  of  heartrending 
pain — '  Non,  je  siris  Spouse,  je  suis  mere  !  Vous 
avez  assassine1  mon  mart;  vous  avez  assassine'  mes 
deux  Jils.  Tuez  moi  anssi  !  Je  vous  en  remercierai. 
Si  vous  ne  me  tuez  pas,  cest  moi  qui  vous  tuerai* 
With  the  last  words  the  old  wrath  returns.  She 
again  raises  the  gun.  The  soldiers  have  not  under- 
stood her.  They  seek  to  avenge  their  comrade 
and  to  protect  themselves.  The  doctor  stands 
shuddering,  like  myself.  Before  we  can  say  a 
word  the  unhappy  woman  falls,  struck  by  two 
bullets  in  the  breast.  '  Let  her  die  in  quiet,'  calls 
out  the  doctor  to  the  men,  who  seem  not  yet  to 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


431 


have  satisfied  their  revenge ;  '  she  has  lost  her 
husband  and  her  two  sons.'  That  makes  an  im- 
pression on  the  soldiers,  and  they  silently  turn  away. 
I  turn  back  with  the  doctor.  We  stoop  down 
to  the  poor  woman.  Her  wounds  are  fatal.  She 
regards  us  wildly.  I  take  her  hand,  and  involun- 
tarily my  lips  utter  ' pauvre  femme.'  The  words 
seemed  to  have  pleased  her,  she  feels  they  come 
from  the  heart.  Her  eyes  grew  dim ;  and  as  she 
clasped  my  hand  firmly  her  bosom  heaves  a  last 
sigh.  I  was  most  deeply  moved,  and  in  silence 
I  traversed  the  burning  hamlet,  scarcely  noticing 
that  the  flames  were  ever  extending  farther. 
New  tidings  of  horror  arrived.  The  flames  men- 
aced a  French  hospital  established  in  a  mansion. 
To  extinguish  the  fire  was  impossible.  Our  force 
were  to  proceed  to  the  rescue  of  the  wounded  from 
the  flames.  Wounded  krankentragers  appeared, 
and  complained  that  they  were  being  fired  upon 
from  the  houses.  These  complaints  were  renewed 
at  short  intervals,  and  directions  had  to  be  given 
to  search  the  houses  to  eject  the  parties  firing.  It 
was  a  perilous  undertaking,  costing  many  a  soldier 
his  life,  and  though  more  than  fifty  men  and  women 
were  made  prisoners,  though  more  than  twenty 
who  resisted  were  shot  on  the  spot,  the  firing  from 
the  houses  did  not  cease.  Persistently  were  the 
krankentragers  aimed  at,  and  on  all  sides  was  the 
destruction  of  the  hamlet  demanded.  Not  until 
fifty  of  our  people  had  been  struck  was  the  order 
given  to  fire  every  house  from  which  shots  pro- 
ceeded. It  was  punctually  fulfilled.  The  soldiers, 
heated  by  the  fight,  and  angered  at  the  concealed 
firing  upon  them,  made  short  work  wherever  re- 
sistance was  shown.  The  inhabitants — who  had 
been  reduced  to  beggary,  and  had  each  lost  one,  if 
not  more,  of  their  relatives — had  but  one  feeling, 
that  of  revenge.  Like  that  unhappy  mother  whose 
end  I  have  narrated,  they  had  no  fears  for  the 
bullets  of  their  enemy,  but  welcomed  the  destroy- 
ing lead,  if  first  they  had  slain  one  of  the  hated 
'  chiens  Allemands.,  " 

We  gladly  leave  the  scene  of  desolation  and 
horror,  to  resume  our  account  of  the  general 
progress  of  the  battle.  It  has  been  seen  that, 
during  the  whole  of  the  forenoon,  the  German 
left  was  sweeping  on  from  the  west  to  the  north 
of  Sedan,  whilst  the  guards,  forming  the  right  of 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony's  forces,  had  advanced 
in  a  north-westerly  direction  on  the  road  to  Bouillon. 
Shortly  before  two  o'clock  the  two  armies  united 


near  Fleigneux,  and  from  that  time  the  day  was 
completely  lost  to  the  French  ;  for  all  around 
Sedan,  from  Donchery  on  the  west,  to  Givonne  on 
the  north,  to  Douzy  on  the  east,  to  Eemilly  and 
Cheveuge  on  the  south,  they  were  encompassed  by 
a  cordon  of  enemies,  in  at  least  two-fold  strength, 
and  occupying  commanding  positions  on  the 
heights.  The  junction  of  the  two  armies  was 
witnessed,  amidst  intense  excitement,  by  the  king 
of  Prussia  and  his  staff,  who  were  stationed  on 
the  hill  near  Cheveuge.  Here  and  there  villages 
and  hamlets  were  still  burning,  and  the  roar  of 
cannon  had  not  ceased  ;  for,  almost  at  the  gates  of 
the  fortress,  the  remainder  of  the  French  army 
was  yet  fighting.  But  unable  to  unite,  their 
corps  could  no  longer  offer  a  combined  defence,  so 
that  only  small  detachments  were  continuing  the 
struggle  in  isolated  localities.  As  the  French  fell 
back,  step  by  step,  the  fire  of  the  German  guns, 
superior  from  the  first  and  gradually  converging, 
became  more  deadly  ;  and  at  last  their  disordered 
and  despairing  columns  were  absolutely  thrust 
down  into  the  bottom  of  the  funnel  represented 
by  Sedan.  Then,  indeed,  all  hopes  of  escape,  of 
successful  resistance,  or  even  of  honourable  death, 
had  to  be  abandoned.  The  engagement  had,  in  fact, 
become  a  mere  battue,  and  the  army  lay  as  it  were 
prostrate  at  the  mercy  of  the  victors,  who,  crowding 
their  guns  on  the  closely  surrounding  hill-tops, 
whence  they  could  peer  into  the  town,  seemed  to 
menace  both  it  and  its  defenders  with  annihilation. 
So  desperate  was  their  position  that  an  officer  of 
the  British  artillery,  who  subsequently  visited  the 
spot,  declares  that  his  original  surprise  at  the 
capitulation  of  the  French,  and  wonder  at  their  not 
having  attempted  at  all  hazards  to  cut  their  way 
out  of  the  trap,  was  changed  into  amazement  that, 
on  awakening  on  the  morning  of  the  1st  of  Sep- 
tember, and  finding  themselves  in  such  a  fearful 
predicament,  they  could  have  summoned  resolution 
to  fight  at  all ;  for  from  the  moment  the  first  shot 
was  fired  the  result  must  have  been  all  but  a  fore- 
gone conclusion. 

About  four  o'clock  General  Wimpffen,  reluc- 
tantly abandoning  all  hope  of  further  resistance, 
sent  a  letter  to  the  French  emperor,  proposing 
that  he  should  place  himself  in  the  middle  of  a 
column  of  men,  who  would  "  deem  it  an  honour" 
to  cut  a  passage  for  him  through  the  enemy  in  the 
direction  of  Carignan.  The  following  is  a  copy  of 
this  now  historical  document : — 


432 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


"  Sire, — Je  me  decide  a  forcer  la  ligne  qui  se 
trouve  devant  le  Gl.  Lebrun  et  le  Gl.  Ducrot 
plutot  que  d'etre  prisonnier  dans  la  place  de  Sedan. 

"  Que  votre  Majeste  vienne  se  mettre  au  milieu 
de  ses  troupes,  qui  tiendront  h,  honneur  de  lui 
ouvrir  un  passage. 

"  DE  WIMPFFEN. 

"  4hr.,  1st  Sepre." 

Napoleon,  aware  of  the  impossibility  of  leaving 
the  place  on  horseback,  replied  that  he  could  not 
rejoin  the  general  (one  of  the  officers  who  came 
with  the  proposal  was  himself  unable  to  get  back  to 
General  Wimpffen)  ;  that,  moreover,  he  could  not 
consent  to  save  himself  by  the  sacrifice  of  a  great 
number  of  his  soldiers ;  and  that  he  was  determined 
to  share  the  fate  of  the  army. 

About  this  time  a  rumour  spread  among  the 
soldiers  that  Bazaine  had  arrived,  and  immediately 
enthusiasm  and  hope  took  the  place  of  despair. 
It  is  quite  probable  that  the  approach  of  this  general 
may  really  have  been  believed  by  Wimpffen,  for, 
as  we  shall  see  at  the  conclusion  of  this  chapter, 
his  breaking  out  from  Metz  and  assisting  Mac- 
Mahon  was  to  have  formed  part  of  the  general 
operations  of  the  day.  The  French  commander, 
therefore,  collected  about  two  thousand  of  his 
troops,  who  rushed  forward  to  the  gate  of  Balan 
with  a  valour  and  determination  which  nothing 
could  withstand,  and  in  a  few  minutes  they  were 
complete  masters  of  the  village.  But  they  quickly 
discovered  that  they  had  been  deceived;  and,  not 
being  supported  by  their  comrades,  the  gallant 
band  was  once  more  compelled  to  retire  before  the 
renewed  attacks  of  the  Germans,  who  returned  in 
overwhelming  numbers. 

Meanwhile,  among  the  troops  surrounding  the 
town  there  had  been  a  general  rout,  and  the  army 
had  been  beaten  back  into  Sedan,  a  shapeless,  hope- 
less horde  of  mutinous  and  starving  men.  All  the 
efforts  of  the  officers  to  rally  them  were  fruitless, 
and  the  belief  was  general  throughout  the  ranks  that 
they  were  betrayed.  Several  generals  went  to  the 
emperor  and  announced  that  further  resistance  was 
impossible.  Their  soldiers,  after  having  sustained 
an  unequal  fight  for  nearly  twelve  hours,  almost 
without  food,  were  so  weakened  by  fatigue  and 
hunger  that  they  were  easily  driven  back  against 
the  walls  and  thrown  into  the  ditches,  where  they 
were  decimated  by  the  enemy's  fire.  As  they  fled 
into  the  town  they  crowded  against  each  other  in 


the  streets  in  utter  confusion.  While  thus  choked 
with  the  ddbris  of  all  the  corps,  Sedan  was  bom- 
barded on  all  sides,  and  the  Prussian  shells,  falling 
amongst  the  struggling  mass,  carried  death  at  every 
stroke.  Many  of  the  officers  and  men  were  killed  in 
the  streets,  amongst  the  former  being  two  generals. 
Live  shells  were  poured  into  the  town,  and  set 
fire  to  a  large  straw  shed,  from  which  a  column 
of  dense  black  smoke  rose  immediately  to  the  sky. 
The  emperor  was  painfully  reminded  of  the  immi- 
nent danger  of  his  position,  by  several  shells  which 
burst  on  the  roof  and  in  the  court  of  the  sub-pre- 
fecture. Others  set  many  private  houses  on  fire, 
and  struck  the  wounded  who  had  been  carried  into 
them.  The  great  barracks,  converted  into  an  hospi- 
tal, upon  the  top  of  which  floated  the  red-cross 
flag,  were  not  spared;  and  men  and  horses,  huddled 
up  in  the  court-yard,  were  continually  hit.  The 
emperor  then  endeavoured  to  make  known  to 
General  Wimpffen  the  advisability  of  asking  for  an 
armistice,  since  every  moment  of  delay  only  in- 
creased the  number  of  victims.  Not  receiving  any 
tidings  of  the  general,  and  seeing  such  a  useless 
waste  of  life,  and  the  situation  so  hopeless,  he 
ordered  the  white  flag  to  be  hoisted  upon  the 
citadel.  At  the  time  it  was  fixed  upon  the  ram- 
parts Napoleon  sat  in  the  court-yard  of  the  prefec- 
ture, his  staff  standing  apart.  His  face  was  buried 
in  his  hands,  and  he  appeared  completely  over- 
whelmed by  the  catastrophe.  Owing  to  the  severe 
disease  from  which  he  suffered  he  was  compelled 
to  dismount  several  times  during  the  battle,  and  to 
great  physical  exhaustion  moral  prostration  was 
now  added. 

The  signal  of  surrender  was  for  some  little  time 
unnoticed  by  the  Prussians,  and  a  lancer's  flag  was 
waved  from  the  battlements,  while  a  trumpet 
sounded;  but  in  that  infernal  din  and  turmoil 
neither  the  sight  nor  the  sound  attracted  the  notice 
of  the  besiegers,  so  that  it  was  only  when  the  gates 
were  opened  that  they  saw  the  first  indication  of 
their  stupendous  victory.  The  news  spread  rapidly; 
and  about  five  o'clock  the  cannonade,  which  was 
gradually  suspended  along  the  whole  line,  entirely 
ceased.  The  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  sent  the 
message,  "  Complete  victory,"  to  headquarters;  and 
immediately  after,  with  the  duke  of  Coburg,  the 
other  princes,  and  his  orderly  officers,  he  proceeded 
to  join  the  king. 

A  French  colonel,  escorted  by  two  uhlans — one 
of  whom  carried  a  white  duster  on  a  fa^ot  stick  as 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


433 


a  flag  of  truce — rode  out  from  Sedan  to  the  liill  of 
Cheveuge,  to  ask  the  king  of  Prussia  for  terms  of 
capitulation ;  but  after  a  brief  consultation  between 
his  Majesty  and  General  von  Moltke,  he  was 
told  that,  in  a  matter  so  important  as  the  surrender 
of  at  least  80,000  men  and  an  important  fortress, 
it  was  necessary  to  send  an  officer  of  high  rank. 
"  You  are,  therefore,  to  return  to  Sedan,  and  to  tell 
the  governor  of  the  town  to  report  himself  im- 
mediately to  the  king  of  Prussia.  If  he  does  not 
arrive  in  an  hour  our  guns  will  open  fire  again. 
You  may  tell  the  commandant  that  it  is  useless 
trying  to  obtain  other  terms  than  unconditional 
surrender."  The  parlementaire  rode  sorrowfully 
back  with  that  message. 

Up  to  this  time  the  Germans  had  no  idea  that 
the  French  emperor  was  shut  up  in  Sedan;  but 
now  among  the  king's  staff  there  arose  a  sudden 
cry,  "  Der  Kaiser  ist  da ! "  (The  emperor  is  there  !), 
which  was  followed  by  a  loud  hurrah.  About  half- 
past  six  General  Reilly  (who  was  personally  known 
to  the  king  of  Prussia,  having  been  appointed  to 
attend  him  when  he  visited  Napoleon  atCompiegne), 
accompanied  by  the  Prussian  Lieutenant-colonel 
von  Brousart,  the  officer  intrusted  with  the  nego- 
tiations on  the  part  of  the  Germans,  brought  from 
the  emperor  of  the  French  to  the  king  an  autograph 
letter,  containing  these  few  words  : — 

"  Monsieur  mon  frere, — N'ayant  pas  pu  mourir 
au  milieu  de  mes  troupes,  il  ne  me  reste  qu'a 
rernettre  mon  epee  entre  les  mains  de  votre  Majeste. 
Je  suis,  de  votre  Majeste1  le  bon  frere," 

"  NAPOLEON." 

[translation.] 

"  Sire,  my  brother, — Not  having  been  able  to 
die  in  the  midst  of  my  troops,  it  only  remains  for 
me  to  resign  my  sword  into  the  hands  of  your 
Majesty.      I  am,  your  Majesty's  good  brother," 

"  NAPOLEON." 

On  receipt  of  this  letter  there  was  a  short  con- 
sultation between  the  king,  the  Crown  Prince, 
Count  von  Bismarck,  Von  Moltke,  and  Von  Roon, 
after  which  the  king  sat  down,  and  with  a  chair 
for  his  table  wrote  the  following  reply  : — 

"  Monsieur  mon  frere, — En  regrettant  les  cir- 
constances  dans  lesquelles  nous  nous  rencontrons, 
j'accepte  l'epee  de  votre  Majeste,  et  je  vous  prie 
de  bien  vouloir  nommer  un  de  vos  officiers  munis 


de  vos  pleins  pouvoirs  pour  traiter  de  la  capitulation 
de  l'armee  qui  est  si  bravement  battue  sous  vos 
ordres.  De  mon  cote  j'ai  d£sign£e  le  General 
Moltke  a  cet  effet.     Je  suis  de  votre  Majeste1  le 

bonfrke'"  "GUILLAUME. 

"Devant  Sedan,  le  Sept.  1,  1870." 

[translation.] 
"  Sire,  my  brother, — Regretting  the  circum- 
stances under  which  we  meet,  I  accept  the  sword 
of  your  Majesty,  and  I  pray  you  to  name  one  of 
your  officers  provided  with  full  powers  to  treat  for 
the  capitulation  of  the  army  which  has  so  bravely 
fought  under  your  command.  On  my  side,  I  have 
named  General  Moltke  for  this  purpose.  I  am, 
your  Majesty's  good  brother,"        u  vymjAM 

"Before  Sedan,  Sept.  1,  1870." 

When  the  king  had  written  this  letter,  he  him- 
self handed  it  to  General  Reilly,  who  stood  bare- 
headed to  receive  it,  the  Italian  and  Crimean 
medals  glittering  on  his  breast  in  the  last  rays  of 
the  setting  sun ;  and  again  escorted  by  the  uhlans, 
he  at  7'40  left  for  the  beleaguered  town. 

When  General  Wimpffen  found  that,  unknown 
to  him,  the  white  flag  had  been  hoisted  on  the 
citadel  by  the  emperor's  orders,  and  that  parlemen- 
taires  were  being  received  at  the  imperial  quarters, 
he  proceeded  thither  and  protested  very  warmly 
that  these  acts  properly  belonged  only  to  himself 
as  commander-in-chief.  Refusing  to  carry  on  the 
negotiations,  he  then  proceeded  to  his  quarters, 
and  sent  in  his  resignation.  The  emperor  refused 
to  accept  it,  and  wrote  him  the  following  letter: 

"  General, — You  cannot  be  allowed  to  resign 
while  it  is  possible  to  save  the  army  by  an  honour- 
able capitulation.  You  have  done  your  duty  all 
day.  Do  it  still.  You  are  doing  a  service  to  the 
country.  The  king  of  Prussia  has  accepted  an 
armistice,  and  1  am  awaiting  his  proposals.  Be- 
lieve  in  my  friendship.  „  NAPOLEON." 

General  Wimpffen  now  seeing  no  hope  of  es- 
caping from  the  enemy's  grasp,  submitted  to  the 
inevitable. 

General  Reilly,  who  had  taken  the  emperor's  letter 

to  the  king  of  Prussia,  also  carried  General  Wimp- 

ffen's  proposal  for  a  capitulation  of  the  army.     In 

answer  to  this,  General  von  Moltke,  at  the  king's 

3i 


434 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


desire,  sent  word  that  the  only  terms  that  could  be 
allowed  were  the  absolute  and  unconditional  sur- 
render of  the  whole  force,  with  guns,  horses,  and 
materiel.  General  Wimpffen  at  first  declared  that 
he  would  die  sooner  than  sign  terms  so  disgraceful, 
for  even  then  he  could  scarcely  believe  that  his 
situation  was  so  desperate.  Arriving,  as  we  have 
said,  only  two  days  before  from  Algeria,  he  found 
on  his  hands  an  army  already  beaten,  and  now  his 
name  would  go  down  linked  to  a  humiliating  capi- 
tulation for  all  time !  Being  informed  that,  in  the 
event  of  the  proposals  not  being  accepted,  hostilities 
would  be  resumed  on  the  following  morning, 
he  went  himself  to  the  Prussian  headquarters  at 
Donchery,  and  endeavoured  to  obtain  more  favour- 
able conditions ;  but  although  the  negotiations 
were  continued  far  into  the  night,  Von  Moltke 
was  inexorable.  The  French  general  was  told 
that  he  might  hold  out  if  he  preferred  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  army;  but  to  show  him  that  such  must 
inevitably  be  the  issue,  maps  were  produced,  and 
the  position  and  force  of  the  corps  of  the  German 
army  and  of  its  batteries  indicated.  "  Your  force," 
said  Von  Moltke  to  him,  "  does  not  number  more 
than  80,000  men;  we  have  230,000,  who  com- 
pletely surround  you.  Our  artillery  is  everywhere 
in  position,  and  can  destroy  Sedan  in  two  hours. 
Your  troops  can  only  go  out  by  the  gates,  and 
cannot  possibly  form  before  them.  You  have 
provisions  for  only  one  day,  and  scarcely  any  more 
ammunition.  In  such  a  case  the  prolongation  of 
your  defence  would  be  only  a  useless  massacre,  the 
responsibility  of  which  must  rest  upon  those  who 
will  not  prevent  it." 

The  discussion  ended  without  any  definite  de- 
cision, and  General  Wimpffen  returned  to  Sedan. 
Meanwhile,  night  had  closed  on  the  woeful  spec- 
tacle, and  while  the  Germans  rested  on  the  positions 
they  had  won,  the  French  lay  meshed,  as  it  were, 
in  a  deadly  coil — a  ruined  and  helpless  army, 
within  the  grasp  of  its  mighty  conquerors.  The 
victorious  soldiers  everywhere  evinced  the  greatest 
eagerness  to  learn  the  details  of  the  action.  It  was 
obvious  they  had  comprehended  the  importance 
of  the  day,  and  were  proud  of  having  contri- 
buted to  a  success  seldom  equalled  in  the  annals  of 
history.  The  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  returned 
to  his  headquarters  at  nine  o'clock,  when  his  men 
vied  with  each  other  in  giving  him  a  festal  recep- 
tion. The  main  street  of  the  village  was  illumi- 
nated,   and   the  soldiers  who  lined   the   way,  in 


default  of  better  materials,  held  small  ends  of 
tallow  candles  in  their  hands.  Loud  hurrahs  wel- 
comed the  arrival  of  his  royal  highness;  and  the 
bands  played,  first,  the  German  national  anthem, 
and  then  the  Dead  March,  in  honour  of  the  fallen. 

The  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony's  division  made 
11,000  prisoners  during  the  day,  and  also  cap- 
tured twenty-five  guns,  seven  mitrailleuses,  two 
flags,  and  one  eagle.  The  fifth  and  eleventh  corps 
of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia's  army  also  took 
more  than  10,000  men,  and  adding  to  these  those 
taken  by  the  Bavarian  troops,  a  total  of  about 
25,000  men  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victors 
during  the  battle  alone. 

With  regard  to  the  killed  and  wounded,  so 
terrible  was  the  German  artillery  fire,  so  com- 
pletely were  whole  French  divisions  taken  in  flank, 
in  rear,  and  all  round  the  compass,  as  their  enemies 
closed  upon  them,  that  it  is  pretty  safe  to  fix  the 
French  loss  at  about  twice  that  of  the  Germans,  or 
even  two  and  a  half  times,  and  this  would  make  it 
from  18,000  to  24,000  men.  The  splendid  cavalry 
regiments  were  literally  annihilated,  and  the  ground 
for  miles  was  strewn  with  corpses,  where  the  Prus- 
sian shells  had  burst  among  the  helpless  masses. 

The  scene  on  the  battle-field  was  unusually 
terrible.  An  eye-witness  not  unaccustomed  to 
such  sights  said,  "  No  human  eye  ever  rested  on 
such  revolting  objects  as  were  presented  by  the 
battle-fields  around  Sedan.  Let  them  fancy  masses 
of  coloured  rags  glued  together  with  blood  and 
brains,  and  pinned  into  strange  shapes  by  fragments 
of  bones.  Let  them  conceive  men's  bodies  without 
heads,  legs  without  bodies,  heaps  of  human  entrails 
attached  to  red  and  blue  cloth,  and  disembowelled 
corpses  in  uniform,  bodies  lying  about  in  all  atti- 
tudes, with  skulls  shattered,  faces  blown  off,  hips 
smashed,  bones,  flesh,  and  gay  clothing  all  pounded 
together  as  if  brayed  in  a  mortar,  extending  for 
miles,  not  very  thick  in  any  one  place,  but  recur- 
ring perpetually  for  weary  hours — and  then  they 
cannot,  with  the  most  vivid  imagination,  come 
up  to  the  sickening  reality  of  that  butchery.  No 
nightmare  could  be  so  frightful.  Several  times  I 
came  on  spots  where  there  were  two  horses  lying 
dead  together  in  harness,  killed  by  the  same  frag- 
ment. Several  times  I  saw  four,  five,  and  six  men, 
four,  five,  and  six  horses,  all  killed  by  the  explosion 
of  one  projectile ;  and  in  one  place  there  lay  no  less 
than  eight  French  soldiers  who  must  have  been 
struck  down  by  the  bursting  of  a  shell  over  a  com- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


435 


pany,  for  they  lay  all  round  in  a  circle  with  their 
feet  inwards,  each  shattered  in  the  head  or  chest  by 
a  piece  of  shell,  and  no  other  dead  being  within  a 
hundred  yards  of  them.  A  curious,  and  to  me 
unaccountable  phenomenon,  was  the  blackness  of 
most  of  the  faces  of  the  dead.  Decomposition  had 
not  set  in,  for  they  were  killed  only  the  day  before. 
Another  circumstance  which  struck  me  was  the  ex- 
pression of  agony  on  many  faces.  Death  by  the 
bayonet  is  agonizing,  and  those  who  die  by  steel, 
open-eyed  and  open-mouthed,  have  an  expression  of 
pain  on  the  features,  with  protruding  tongue.  A 
musket  ball  wound,  which  is  at  once  fatal,  does  not 
seem  to  cause  much  pain,  and  the  features  are  com- 
posed and  quiet,  sometimes  with  a  sweet  smile  on 
the  lips.  But  the  prevailing  expression  on  this  field 
of  the  faces  which  were  not  mutilated,  was  one  of 
terror  and  of  agony  unutterable.  There  must  have 
been  a  hell  of  torture  raging  within  that  semicircle 
in  which  the  earth  was  torn  asunder  from  all  sides 
with  a  real  tempest  of  iron  hissing,  and  screeching, 
and  bursting  into  the  heavy  masses  at  the  hands  of 
an  unseen  enemy." 

The  losses  on  the  German  side  were  compara- 
tively small ;  in  fact,  for  the  first  time  since  the 
war  began  they  were  enabled  to  announce  them 
as  moderate.  The  Bavarians  suffered  more  than 
any  other  of  the  German  troops,  and  1800  of  them 
were  buried  in  one  field  at  Balan— a  proof,  if  any 
were  needed,  of  the  severe  fighting  around  Bazeilles. 

Amongst  the  killed  on  their  side  was  a  gallant 
Englishman,  whose  death  caused  the  deepest  general 
regret.  We  allude  to  Lieutenant-colonel  Pember- 
ton,  who  was  acting  as  correspondent  for  the  Times. 
In  the  evening  he  was  riding  by  the  side  of  H.R.H. 
Prince  George  of  Saxony,  who  commanded  the 
twelfth  army  corps.  Towards  the  close  of  the  battle 
they  observed  a  column  of  French  soldiers  making 
signs  with  handkerchiefs.  They  rode  towards  them, 
thinking  they  had  surrendered,  when  they  were 
at  once  fired  upon,  and  Colonel  Pemberton  fell. 
The  bullet  entered  his  temple,  and  death  was 
instantaneous. 

The  night  of  Thursday  was  indeed  a  very  sad  one 
for  the  French  army  and  its  chiefs,  completely 
defeated,  fatigued,  and  dispirited  as  they  were  by 
three  days'  continued  fighting.  The  fact,  too,  that 
almost  the  only  provisions  in  Sedan  were  the 
horses  shot  in  the  battle  added  to  their  misery. 
"  Even  before  the  battle,"  said  a  resident  in  the 
town,   "  our  men   had  lost  all  heart,   and  never 


anticipated  success.  After  it,  I  saw  broken  masses 
of  French  troops  rushing  about  the  streets,  break- 
ing their  Chassepots,  setting  their  officers  at  de- 
fiance, and  even  shooting  at  them."  "  Hell,"  it 
has  been  said,  "was  let  loose  in  Sedan;"  the  bonds 
of  discipline  were  utterly  broken,  and  the  despair- 
ing officers  had  lost  all  .power  over  an  infuriated 
and  mutinous  soldiery. 

The  morning  of  the  next  day  (Friday,  2nd 
September)  revealed  to  the  French  the  serried 
masses  of  their  victorious  enemies ;  and  the  smok- 
ing ruins  of  Bazeilles  and  Balan,  destroyed  by 
shells  and  fire  the  day  before,  gave  fearful  presage 
of  the  fate  of  Sedan,  should  it  attempt  to  hold  out 
against  the  artillery  ready  to  open  upon  it.  To 
make  assurance  doubly  sure,  and  to  show  that  the 
gros  bataillons  were  on  the  side  of  the  Germans, 
a  great  display  of  force  was  made  all  round  the 
town,  whose  entire  circuit  was  covered  with  the 
Prussian  hosts ;  even  the  Wiirtemburgers  having 
been  ordered  up  from  the  direction  of  Me'zieres. 
The  hill  tops  were  black  with  troops,  and  all 
along  them  clustered  the  batteries  in  position. 
Then  it  was  that  the  French  commanders  became 
thoroughly  convinced  their  hour  was  come.  When 
General  Wimpffen  assembled  a  council  of  war,  it 
was  mournfully  admitted  that  the  impending  doom 
could  not  be  averted,  and  that  it  was  necessary  to 
submit  to  whatever  terms  the  victors  thought  fit 
to  impose.  Of  about  thirty-two  general  officers 
present,  there  were   only  two   dissentient  voices. 

To  have  gone  on  fighting  would  have  been  mad- 
ness, for  the  German  troops  held  every  approach 
to  the  town,  and  the  French  troops,  shattered  and 
discouraged,  could  not  have  hoped  to  cut  their 
way  through.  They  were  reduced  to  so  small  a 
circle  of  outworks  that,  whilst  they  attacked  one 
German  corps,  they  might  have  been  cannonaded 
in  rear  by  most  of  the  others.  In  a  word,  their 
condition  was  desperate. 

General  Wimpffen  accordingly  again  repaired  to 
the  German  headquarters,  where  the  negotiations 
were  continued  for  several  hours,  and  it  was  past 
eleven  o'clock  before  some  modifications  which 
he  urged  as  to  the  officers'  side  arms  and  parole 
were  agreed  to.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the 
formal  act  of  capitulation,  which  was  signed  to- 
wards noon  in  the  chateau  of  Bellevue,  near 
Fre"nois  :— 

"Between  the  undersigned  the  chief  of  the  staff  of 
King  William,  commander-in-chief  of  the  German 


436 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


armies,  and  the  general-commandant  of  the  French 
army,  both  being  provided  with  full  powers  from 
their  majesties  King  William  and  the  Emperor 
Napoleon,  the  following  convention  has  been  con- 
cluded : — 

"  Article  1.  The  French  army  placed  under  the 
orders  of  General  Wimpffen,  finding  itself  actually 
surrounded  by  superior  forces  round  Sedan,  are 
prisoners  of  war. 

"  Article  2.  Seeing  the  brave  defence  of  this 
French  army,  exemption  is  made  in  respect  of  all 
the  generals  and  officers,  and  also  of  the  superior 
employes  having  the  rank  of  officers,  who  pledge 
their  word  of  honour  in  writing  not  to  bear  arms 
against  Germany,  nor  to  act  in  any  manner  against 
its  interests,  until  the  close  of  the  present  war.  The 
officers  and  employes  who  accept  these  conditions 
will  retain  their  arms  and  personal  effects. 

"  Article  3.  All  arms,  as  well  as  the  matiriel  of 
the  army,  consisting  of  flags,  eagles,  cannon,  horses, 
ammunition,  &c,  shall  be  immediately  delivered  at 
Sedan  to  a  military  commission  appointed  by  the 
general-in-chief,  in  order  to  be  forthwith  handed 
over  to  German  commissaries. 

"  Article  4.  The  town  and  fortified  works  of 
Sedan  shall  be  given  up  in  their  present  condition 
at  latest  on  the  evening  of  the  2nd  of  September, 
and  be  subject  to  the  disposition  of  his  Majesty 
King  William. 

"  Article  5.  Those  officers  who  shall  not  have 
accepted  the  engagement  set  forth  in  Article  2, 
together  with  the  disarmed  troops,  shall  be  marched 
out,  ranged  according  to  their  regiments  or  corps, 
in  military  order.  This  proceeding  will  commence 
on  the  2nd  of  September,  and  will  terminate  on 
September  3.  These  detachments  will  be  marched 
to  the  districts  bordering  upon  the  Meuse,  near 
Iges,  to  be  handed  over  to  German  commissaries 
by  their  officers,  who  will  then  resign  their  com- 
mands to  their  sub-officers.  The  chief  surgeons, 
without  exception,  will  remain  behind  to  attend 
to  the  wounded.  «  VON  MOLTKE. 

"  WIMPFFEN. 

"  Frenois,  Sept.  2,  1870." 

The  detention  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  in 
Germany  was  understood  to  be  a  part  of  the 
stipulations.  The  king  of  Prussia  received  a 
copy  of  the  capitulation  soon  after  twelve  o'clock, 
on  the  very  spot  whence  the  Crown  Prince  had 


watched  the  movements  of  his  army  on  the  pre- 
vious day ;  and  after  reading  it  aloud  to  the  princes 
and  staff  who  surrounded  him,  he  addressed 
them  as  follows: — "  Gentlemen,  you  now  know 
what  a  great  historical  event  has  happened.  I 
am  indebted  for  this  to  the  distinguished  feats 
of  the  allied  armies,  to  whom  I  feel  bound  on  this 
occasion  to  express  my  kingly  thanks;  the  more 
so  as  these  great  successes  are  calculated  to  rivet 
more  closely  the  bond  which  unites  the  provinces 
of  the  North  German  Confederation  and  my  other 
allies,  whose  numerous  princely  representatives 
I  see  assembled  round  me.  We  may  thus  hope 
for  a  happy  future.  Our  task,  however,  is  not 
completed  with  what  has  occurred  under  our  eyes, 
for  we  do  not  know  how  the  rest  of  France  will 
accept  and  estimate  it.  We  must,  therefore, 
remain  ready  to  fight;  but,  meanwhile,  I  present 
my  thanks  to  every  one  who  has  contributed  a 
leaf  to  the  laurel  crown  of  fame  of  our  Fatherland." 
In  speaking  these  last  words,  the  king  rested 
his  eye  especially  on  Prince  Leopold  of  Bavaria 
and  Prince  William  of  Wiirtemburg,  to  whom  he 
afterwards  extended  his  hand.  His  Majesty  then 
sent  the  following  despatch  to  the  queen : — 

"  Before  Sedah,  Sept.  2. 

"  A  capitulation,  whereby  the  whole  army  at 
Sedan  are  prisoners  of  war,  has  just  been  con- 
cluded with  General  Wimpffen,  who  was  in  com- 
mand instead  of  the  wounded  Marshal  MacMahon. 
The  emperor  only  surrendered  himself  to  me,  as 
he  himself  has  no  command,  and  left  everything 
to  the  regency  in  Paris.  His  place  of  residence 
I  shall  appoint  after  I  have  had  an  interview 
with  him  at  a  rendezvous,  which  will  immediately 
take  place.  What  a  course  events  have  assumed 
by  God's  guidance ! " 

General  Wimpffen  performed  the  painful  duty  of 
announcing  the  capitulation  to  the  French  troops, 
by  at  once  issuing  the  following  proclamation: — 

"  Soldiers ! — Yesterday  you  fought  against  very 
superior  forces.  From  daybreak  until  nightfall 
you  resisted  the  enemy  with  the  utmost  valour, 
and  expended  almost  your  last  cartridge.  Ex- 
hausted by  the  struggle,  you  were  unable  to  respond 
to  the  appeal  made  to  you  by  your  generals  and 
your  officers  to  attempt  to  gain  the  road  to  Mont- 
medy  and  to  rejoin  Marshal  Bazaine.  Two  thou- 
sand men  only  were  able  to  rally  in  order  to  make 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


437 


a  supreme  effort.  They  were  compelled  to  stop 
at  the  village  of  Balan,  and  to  return  to  Sedan, 
where  your  general  announced  with  deep  sorrow 
there  existed  neither  provisions  nor  ammunition. 
The  defence  of  the  place  was  impossible,  its 
position  rendering  it  incapable  of  offering  resist- 
ance to  the  numerous  and  powerful  artillery  of  the 
enemy.  The  army  collected  within  the  walls  of 
the  town  being  unable  either  to  leave  it  or  defend  it, 
and  means  of  subsistence  for  the  inhabitants  and 
the  troops  being  wanting,  I  have  been  compelled 
to  adopt  the  sad  resolution  of  treating  with  the 
enemy.  Having  proceeded  yesterday  to  the 
Prussian  headquarters  with  full  powers  from  the 
emperor,  I  could  not  at  first  resign  myself  to  accept 
the  clauses  which  were  imposed.  It  was  only  this 
morning,  when  threatened  by  a  bombardment  to 
which  we  had  no  means  of  replying,  that  I  deter- 
mined to  make  further  efforts,  and  I  have  obtained 
conditions  which  relieve  you  as  far  as  possible 
from  the  humiliating  formalities  which  the  usages 
of  war  usually  exact  under  such  circumstances. 
Nothing  now  remains  for  us,  officers  and  soldiers, 
except  to  accept  with  resignation  the. consequences 
of  necessities  against  which  an  army  could  not 
struggle — want  of  provisions  and  deficiency  of 
ammunition.  I  have  at  least  the  consolation  of 
having  avoided  a  useless  massacre,  and  of  preserv- 
ing to  the  country  soldiers  who  are  capable  at 
some  future  time  of  rendering  good  and  brilliant 
service. 

"  The  General  Commanding-in-chief, 

"  DB  WIMPFFEN" 

As  the  news  of  the  capitulation  spread,  curses 
both  loud  and  deep,  with  fierce  cries  of  treachery 
and  revenge,  broke  forth  from  the  armed  crowds. 
The  French  colonels  burned  the  flags  and  eagles 
of  their  regiments;  some  of  the  soldiers  threatened 
to  turn  their  arms  against  their  own  officers ;  others 
threw  their  guns,  their  swords,  ammunition,  &c, 
into  the  Meuse,  and  broke  up  everything,  that 
it  might  not  come  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
The  impotent  fury  of  despair,  however,  was  vain; 
the  French  army,  broken  into  defenceless  masses, 
was  huddled  into  camps  where  a  few  guns  and 
regiments  sufficed  to  control  it;  and  the  passion  of 
the  soldiery  only  provoked  comments  from  the 
stern  Germans  on  their  want  of  discipline.  Yet 
there  were  nobler  spirits  who,  in  their  misfortune, 
showed  themselves  worthy  of  the  French  name. 


Though  this  memorable  capitulation  was  the 
eighteenth  that  had  occurred  in  Europe  since  1700, 
it  was  the  only  one  which  included  a  sovereign, 
and  it  was  also  by  far  the  most  important  in  point 
of  numbers.  Besides  the  25,000  soldiers  taken  in 
the  battle,  84,450  became  prisoners  of  war  by  the 
surrender,  and  14,000  French  wounded  were  found 
in  and  around  Sedan.  More  than  500  guns,  in- 
cluding 70  mitrailleuses,  330  field  and  150  fortress 
guns,  10,000  horses,  100,000  Chassepots,  80,000 
cwts.  of  gunpowder,  and  large  quantities  of  other 
war  materiel,  also  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victors. 
When  parked,  the  artillery  alone  covered  several 
acres.  Among  the  prisoners  were  an  emperor  and 
a  marshal  of  France,  39  generals,  230  staff  and 
2095  other  officers,  nearly  all  of  whom  chose  to 
accompany  the  soldiers  into  captivity,  rather  than 
be  liberated  on  parole.  The  remainder  of  the  army, 
about  14,500  men,  with  12,000  horses,  cannons,  and 
gun  carriages,  succeeded  in  reaching  the  neutral 
territory  of  Belgium.  MacMahon's  army  of  150,000 
men  had  thus,  within  three  days,  ceased  to  exist, 
almost  every  man  being  either  killed,  wounded, 
or  taken  prisoner;  for  even  those  who  escaped  to 
Belgium  were  immediately  disarmed  and  confined 
in  the  fortresses  of  that  country. 

The  vast  body  of  captives  having  been  stationed 
on  the  peninsula  formed  by  the  Meuse  between 
Iges  and  Villette,  the  Prussians  took  possession  of 
Sedan,  and  made  requisitions,  but  did  not  attempt 
to  pillage  the  town.  General  von  Moltke  issued 
an  order  that  the  prisoners  were  to  be  victualled 
from  provisions  which,  in  accordance  with  the 
promise  of  General  Wimpffen,  their  late  com- 
mander-in-chief, would  be  sent  from  Mezieres  by 
rail  to  Donchery;  but  at  first  they  were  compelled 
to  endure  the  most  severe  privations,  though  pro- 
bably this  was  unavoidable.  Within  a  few  days 
they  were  sent  off  to  Germany,  partly  by  Stenay, 
Etain,  Gorze,  and  Bemilly,  and  partly  by  Buzancy, 
Clermont,  St.  Michiel,  and  Pont-a-Mousson.  The 
horses  taken  were  immediately  portioned  out  among 
the  various  German  forces. 

The  history  of  the  capitulation  is  given  at 
length  in  Count  von  Bismarck's  official  report  to 
the  king — a  document  so  full  of  historical  and 
general  interest  that  we  reprint  it  entire: — ■ 

"  Donchery,  September  2. 

"  After  I  had  repaired  hither  last  evening  by 
your  Majesty's  command,  in  order  to  take  part  in 


438 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  negotiations  as  to  the  capitulation,  they  were 
interrupted  till  about  one  a.m.  by  the  granting 
of  time  for  consideration.  This  General  Wimp- 
flen  begged  for  after  General  von  Moltke  had  firmly 
declared  that  no  condition  other  than  a  laying 
down  of  arms  would  be  approved,  and  that  the 
bombardment  would  be  resumed  at  nine  a.m.  if 
the  capitulation  were  not  previously  concluded. 
Early  this  morning,  towards  ten  o'clock,  General 
Keilly  was  announced  to  me,  and  he  informed  me 
that  the  emperor  wished  to  see  me,  and  was  already 
on  his  way  from  Sedan.  The  general  immediately 
turned  back  in  order  to  tell  his  Majesty  that  I  was 
following  him,  and  shortly  afterwards,  half-way 
between  here  and  Sedan,  in  the  vicinity  of  Frenois, 
I  found  myself  opposite  the  emperor.  His  Majesty 
was  in  an  open  carriage  with  three  superior  officers, 
and  with  a  like  number  on  horseback  close  by. 
Among  the  latter,  Generals  Castelnau,  Keilly, 
Moskowa,  who  appeared  wounded  in  the  foot,  and 
Vaubert,  were  personally  known  to  me.  Arrived 
at  the  carriage,  I  dismounted,  stepped  up  immedi- 
ately to  the  emperor's  side,  and  asked  his  Majesty's 
commands.  The  emperor  expressed  a  wish  to 
see  your  Majesty,  apparently  thinking  that  your 
Majesty  was  at  Donchery.  After  I  had  replied 
that  your  Majesty's  headquarters  were  at  the 
moment  three  German  (about  fourteen  English) 
miles  distant,  at  Vendresse,  the  emperor  asked 
whether  any  place  had  been  fixed  in  the  locality 
whither  he  might  repair,  and,  in  fine,  what  my 
opinion  was  on  the  matter.  I  replied  that  I  had 
come  here  when  it  was  quite  dark,  the  country 
being  unknown  to  me,  and  placed  at  his  disposal 
the  house  occupied  by  me  at  Donchery,  which  I 
would  at  once  vacate.  The  emperor  accepted  this, 
and  proceeded  towards  Donchery,  but  halted  about 
100  paces  from  the  Meuse  bridge  leading  into  the 
town,  before  a  working  man's  house  standing  by 
itself,  and  asked  whether  he  could  not  dismount 
there.  I  sent  Count  Bismarck  Bohlen,  who,  in 
the  interim,  had  followed  me,  to  inspect  the 
house,  and  after  he  had  announced  that  its  internal 
accommodation  was  very  poor  and  narrow,  but  that 
it  was  free  from  wounded,  the  emperor  dismounted 
and  directed  me  to  follow  him  inside.  Here,  in 
a  very  small  room,  containing  one  table  and  two 
chairs,  I  had  about  an  hour's  conversation  with 
the  emperor.  His  Majesty  was  extremely  anxious 
to  obtain  more  favourable  terms  of  capitulation  for 
the  army.     I  declined  to  discuss  this  matter  with 


his  Majesty,  when  so  purely  military  a  question 
was  pending  between  General  von  Moltke  and 
General  "Wimpffen.  On  the  other  hand,  I  asked 
emperor  whether  his  Majesty  was  inclined  to  the 
negotiate  for  peace.  The  emperor  replied  that,  as 
a  prisoner,  he  was  not  now  in  a  position  to  do  so ; 
and  on  my  further  question  by  whom,  in  his  view, 
the  executive  authority  of  France  was  at  present 
represented,  his  Majesty  referred  me  to  the  govern- 
ment at  Paris.  He  declared  that,  as  he  had  given 
full  powers  to  the  regency,  with  it  alone  could 
negotiations  for  peace  be  conducted ;  that  he 
merely  delivered  his  own  person  into  the  hands  of 
the  king,  claiming  nothing  for  himself,  but  appeal- 
ing to  his  generosity  for  the  army  and  for  France. 
After  the  clearing  up  of  this  point,  which  from 
the  emperor's  letter  of  yesterday  to  your  Majesty 
could  not  be  certainly  judged  of,  I  perceived,  and 
did  not  conceal  this  from  the  emperor,  that  the 
situation,  to-day  as  yesterday,  offered  no  other 
practical  question  than  the  military  one ;  and  1 
signified  the  necessity  which  therefore  rested  on 
us  of  obtaining  before  all  things,  through  the 
capitulation  of  Sedan,  a  material  pledge  for  the 
stability  of  the  military  results  already  achieved.  I 
had  already,  yesterday  evening,  considered  the  ques- 
tion on  all  sides  with  General  von  Moltke,  whether 
it  would  be  possible,  without  prejudice  to  German 
interests,  to  offer  more  favourable  conditions  than 
those  laid  down,  in  deference  to  the  military  feeling 
of  honour  of  an  army  which  had  fought  well. 
After  due  consideration  we  had  felt  ourselves 
obliged  to  settle  this  question  in  the  negative. 
When,  therefore,  General  von  Moltke,  who  mean- 
while had  come  from  the  town,  went  to  your  Majesty 
for  the  purpose  of  laying  before  you  the  emperor's 
wishes,  this  was  not,  as  your  Majesty  knows,  with 
the  intention  of  supporting  them. 

"  The  emperor  then  went  out  into  the  open  air, 
and  invited  me  to  sit  by  him  before  the  door  of  the 
house.  His  Majesty  submitted  to  me  the  question 
whether  it  was  not  practicable  to  allow  the  French 
army  to  cross  the  Belgian  frontier,  in  order  that 
they  might  be  disarmed  and  '  interned.'  I  had 
already,  the  previous  evening,  conversed  on  this 
eventuality  with  General  von  Moltke.  As  regarded 
the  political  situation,  I  on  my  side  did  not  take 
the  initiative,  nor  did  the  emperor,  except  that  he 
deplored  the  misfortune  of  war,  and  affirmed  that 
he  himself  had  not  desired  war,  but  had  been  forced 
into  it  by  the  pressure  of  public  opinion  in  France. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


439 


"  Through  inquiries  in  the  place,  and  espe- 
cially through  a  search  by  officers  of  the  general 
staff,  it  had,  meantime,  between  nine  and  ten 
o'clock,  been  ascertained  that  the  chateau  of  Belle- 
vue,  near  Frenois,  was  suited  to  the  reception  of 
the  emperor,  and,  moreover,  was  not  occupied  by 
wounded.  I  mentioned  this  to  his  Majesty,  fixing 
Frenois  as  the  place  which  I  should  propose  to 
your  Majesty  for  the  interview  ;  and  accordingly 
put  it  to  the  emperor  whether  his  Majesty  would 
wish  to  proceed  thither  at  once,  as  to  remain 
within  the  small  working  man's  cottage  was  incon- 
venient, and  the  emperor  would  possibly  require 
some  rest.  His  Majesty  gladly  acquiesced,  and  I 
accompanied  the  emperor — a  guard  of  honour  of 
your  Majesty's  body  cuirassier  regiment  preceding 
him — to  the  chateau  of  Bellevue,  where  in  the  in- 
terim the  emperor's  additional  suite  and  equipages, 
the  arrival  of  which  out  of  the  town  had  till  then 
appeared  uncertain,  had  come  from  Sedan.  General 
Wimpffen  also  arrived,  with  whom,  in  expectation  of 
the  return  of  General  von  Moltke,  the  discussion  of 
the  capitulation  negotiations,  broken  off  yesterday, 
was  renewed  by  General  Podbielsky,  in  the  presence 
of  Lieutenant-colonel  Verdy  and  General  Wimp- 
ffen's  chief  of  the  staff,  both  which  officers  drew 
up  the  protocol.  I  only  took  part  in  them  by 
sketching  the  legal  and  political  situation  accord- 
ing to  the  explanations  given  me  by  the  emperor 
himself.  From  Count  Nostis,  commissioned  by 
General  von  Moltke,  I  received  the  announcement 
that  your  Majesty  would  see  the  emperor  only  after 
the  conclusion  of  the  capitulation,  an  intimation 
on  which  the  hope  on  the  other  side  of  obtaining 
other  conditions  than  those  laid  down  was  given 
up.  I  rode  off  upon  this  with  the  intention  of 
informing  your  Majesty  of  the  position  of  affairs  to- 
wards Donchery,  but  on  the  way  I  met  General  von 
Moltke  with  the  text  of  the  capitulation  approved 
by  your  Majesty;  and  this,  after  we  went  with  him 
to  Frenois,  was  then  accepted  and  signed  without 
dispute.  The  conduct  of  General  Wimpffen,  as 
also  that  of  the  other  French  generals  the  previous 
night,  was  very  becoming.  That  brave  officer 
could  not  refrain  from  expressing  to  me  his  great 
pain  at  being  called  on,  forty-eight  hours  after  his 
arrival  from  Africa,  and  half  a  day  after  taking  the 
command,  to  subscribe  his  name  to  a  capitulation 
so  deplorable  for  the  French  nation.  Want  of  pro- 
visions and  munitions,  however,  and  the  absolute 
impossibility  of  any  further  defence,  imposed  on 


him  as  a  general  the  duty  of  restraining  his  personal 
feelings,  as  further  bloodshed  could  not  alter  the 
situation.  The  concession  of  the  release  of  the 
officers  on  their  word  of  honour  was  accepted  with 
warm  thanks,  as  an  expression  of  your  Majesty's 
intention  not  to  overstep  the  limits  which  our 
political  and  military  interests  made  necessary  with 
regard  to  the  feelings  of  an  army  which  had  fought 
bravely.  To  this  sentiment  General  Wimpffen 
afterwards  gave  expression  in  a  letter,  in  which 
he  thanked  General  von  Moltke  for  the  very  consi- 
derate manner  in  which  the  negotiations  were  on 
his  side  conducted. 


"  (Signed.) 


BISMAECK." 


As  an  instance  of  the  scrupulous  respect  paid  to 
the  fallen  emperor,  it  is  related  that  the  Prussian 
minister  of  state  iincovered  his  head,  and  stood, 
hat  in  hand,  while  Napoleon  alighted  from  his 
carriage.  On  the  latter  requesting  him  to  put  it 
on,  the  count  replied,  "  Sire,  I  receive  your  Majesty 
as  I  would  my  own  royal  master." 

When  all  had  been  arranged  the  two  sovereigns 
met  in  the  chateau  of  Bellevue — a  pretty,  new 
country  house,  built  in  imitation  of  an  old  chateau, 
and  provided  with  glass  conservatories  at  the 
angles,  which  stands  on  a  wooded  knoll  sloping 
down  towards  the  Meuse  at  Fre'nois,  a  short  way 
outside  Sedan,  and  separated  from  it  by  the  river. 
The  house  well  deserves  its  name,  for  it  commands 
a  lovely  and  extensive  prospect.  About  two  o'clock 
on  Friday  afternoon  the  king  of  Prussia,  with  his 
body  guard  and  an  escort  of  cuirassiers,  attended 
by  the  Crown  Prince  and  a  staff  of  general  officers, 
proceeded  to  this  chateau,  which  was  charmingly 
furnished.  The  emperor,  who  came  with  his  per- 
sonal followers  and  staff  in  charge  of  a  strong 
cavalry  escort,  which  was  ranged  on  the  other  side 
of  the  avenue  leading  to  the  mansion,  facing  the 
cuirassiers,  had  been  for  some  time  awaiting  his 
Majesty's  arrival.  Napoleon  received  the  victor  of 
Sedan  at  the  foot  of  the  steps  leading  to  the  house. 
When  the  king  approached  he  took  off  his  military 
cap  and  made  a  deep  and  respectful  bow.  Both 
then  retired  into  the  glass  house,  off  one  of  the 
saloons  on  the  drawing-room  floor,  where  they 
could  be  seen  by  the  staff  outside  engaged  in 
earnest  conversation.  From  the  windows  of  the 
little  room  in  which  they  met,  Sedan  itself,  the 
heights  where  the  armies  were  still  encamped,  and 
the  large  masses  of  troops  which  occupied  them, 


440 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


were  all  visible.  During  the  meeting  Napoleon 
was  informed  that  the  palace  of  "Wilhelmshohe,  near 
Cassel  (a  favourite  summer  residence  of  his  uncle, 
King  Jerome),  was  to  be  the  place  of  his  abode 
during  his  captivity  in  Germany.  An  account 
of  this  interview,  understood  to  emanate  from  the 
French  emperor  himself,  says  : — "  At  this  con- 
ference the  king  showed  the  lofty  feelings  which 
animated  him,  by  exhibiting  to  the  emperor  all  the 
consideration  which  his  misfortunes  demanded,  and 
the  emperor  preserved  an  attitude  of  the  utmost 
dignity.  General  Wimpffen,  who  had  told  the 
emperor  that  the  army  counted  upon  his  interven- 
tion with  the  king  of  Prussia  for  better  conditions, 
was  informed  of  the  fruitlessness  of  his  efforts." 
After  this  meeting,  which  lasted  about  half  an 
hour,  the  emperor  had  a  few  minutes'  conversation 
with  the  Crown  Prince,  during  which  he  was  much 
agitated  when  alluding  to  the  kind  and  courteous 
manner  in  which  he  had  been  received.  His  great 
anxiety  seemed  to  be  not  to  be  exhibited  as  a 
prisoner  to  his  own  soldiers.  Wishing  to  escape 
one  humiliation,  however,  he  was  exposed  to 
another,  for  when  his  course  was  altered  to  avoid 
Sedan,  he  had  to  pass  through  the  lines  of  the 
Prussian  army. 

The  easiest  route  to  his  destination  was  through 
Belgium;  and  the  permission  of  that  government 
having  been  readily  granted,  his  departure  took 
place  at  nine  o'clock  on  Saturday  morning,  amid 
a  terrible  storm.  The  city  of  Sedan  had  been  oc- 
cupied by  the  Prussians  on  the  previous  day,  and 
all  the  French  soldiers  disarmed  and  put  under 
guard  as  prisoners  of  war ;  but  the  emperor, 
instead  of  re-entering  the  town,  was  permitted 
to  stay  on  Friday  night  in  the  chateau  or  villa 
at  Fr^nois,  from  which  he  started  in  a  close 
carriage  with  four  horses  and  two  postillions  for 
the  Belgian  town  of  Bouillon,  on  his  way  to 
Germany.  The  carriage  was  escorted  by  a  troop 
of  Black  Hussars,  some  riding  before  and  some 
behind  it.  An  open  carriage,  with  several  French 
and  German  officers  appointed  to  wait  on  his 
Majesty;  a  dozen  other  carriages,  in  which  were 
his  personal  attendants  and  domestic  servants; 
and  a  number  of  fine  saddle-horses  belonging  to 
him,  formed  part  of  the  procession.  The  emperor 
himself,  who  wore  the  kepi  and  undress  uniform 
of  a  lieutenant-general,  with  the  star  of  the  Legion 
of  Honour,  but  without  his  sword,  looked  pale  and 
worn,  yet  quite  self-possessed.     Beside  him  in  the 


carriage  sat  the  prince  de  la  Moskowa,  a  son  of 
Marshal  Ney.  Among  his  attendants  were  Gene- 
ral Castelnau,  one  of  his  aides-de-camp,  Generals 
Reilly  and  Vaubert,  and  twenty  other  French 
officers.  All  the  carriages  bore  the  imperial 
escutcheon,  and  were  drawn  by  horses  from  the 
imperial  stables.  There  was  a  crowd  of  curious 
spectators,  who,  however,  gave  no  outward  sign 
of  their  feelings.  On  entering  Belgian  territory 
the  escort  was  changed  for  one  of  Belgian  chas- 
seurs. His  Majesty  passed  Saturday  night  at  the 
Hotel  des  Postes,  at  Bouillon,  where  he  dined  with 
thirty  guests.  On  Sunday  he  went  on  by  railway 
to  Liege  and  Venders,  and  proceeded  next  day  to 
the  palace  of  Wilhelmshohe. 

Some  days  before  the  battle  of  Sedan  the  Prince 
Imperial  had  been  sent  into  Belgium  for  safety. 
On  his  journey  to  Germany  the  emperor  received 
a  telegram  announcing  the  safe  arrival  of  his  sen 
at  Maubeuge. 

After  his  interview  with  the  emperor  the  king 
of  Prussia  addressed  the  following  telegram  to 
the  queen: — 

"  September  2. 

"  What  a  thrilling  moment  that  of  my  meeting 
with  Napoleon  !  He  was  cast  down,  but  dignified 
in  his  bearing  and  resigned.  I  gave  him  Wilhelms- 
hohe, near  Cassel,  as  the  place  where  he  will  stay. 
Our  meeting  took  place  in  a  small  castle  in  front 
of  the  western  glacis  of  Sedan.  From  there  I  rode 
through  the  ranks  of  our  army  round  Sedan.  The 
reception  by  the  troops — thou  mayst  imagine  it — 
indescribable !  I  finished  my  five  hours'  ride  at 
nightfall  at  half-past  seven,  but  only  arrived  back 
here  at  one  a.m.     May  God  aid  us  further." 

Later  in  the  day  the  king  wrote  her  Majesty  the 
accompanying  letter: — 

"  Vendresse,  South  of  Sedan,  Sept.  3. 

"  You  will  have  learnt  through  my  telegrams 
the  whole  extent  of  the  great  historical  event 
which  has  just  taken  place.  It  is  like  a  dream, 
even  when  one  has  seen  it  unrol  itself  hour 
by  hour ;  but  when  I  consider  that  after  one 
great  successful  war  I  could  not  expect  anything 
more  glorious  during  my  reign,  and  that  I  now 
see  this  act  follow  destined  to  be  famous  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  I  bow  before  God,  who  alone 
has  chosen  my  army  and  allies  to  carry  it  into 
execution,  and  has  chosen  as  as  the  instruments  of 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


441 


liis  will.  It  is  only  in  this  sense  that  I  can  con- 
ceive this  work,  and  in  all  humility  praise  God's 
guidance  and  grace.  I  will  now  give  you  a  pic- 
ture of  the  battle  and  its  results  in  a  compressed 
form.  On  the  evening  of  the  31st  and  the 
morning  of  the  1st,  the  army  had  reached  its 
appointed  position  round  Sedan.  The  Bavarians 
held  the  left  wing  near  Bazeilles,  on  the  Meuse; 
next  them  the  Saxons,  towards  Moncelle  and 
Daigny;  the  guards  still  marching  on  towards 
Givonne,  the  fifth  and  eleventh  corps  towards  St. 
Menges  and  Fleigneux.  As  the  Meuse  here  makes 
a  sharp  bend,  no  corps  had  been  posted  from  St. 
Menges  to  Donchcry,  but  at  the  latter  place  there 
were  Wurtemburgers  who  covered  the  rear  against 
sallies  from  Mezieres.  Count  Stolberg's  cavalry 
division  was  in  the  plain  of  Donchery  as  right  wing; 
the  rest  of  the  Bavarians  were  in  the  front  towards 
Sedan.  Notwithstanding  a  thick  fog,  the  battle 
began  at  Bazeilles  early  in  the  morning,  and  a 
sharp  action  developed  itself  by  degrees,  in  which 
it  was  necessary  to  take  house  by  house.  It  lasted 
nearly  all  day,  and  Scholar's  Erfurt  division  (reserve 
fourth  corps)  was  obliged  to  assist.  It  was  eight 
o'clock,  when  I  reached  the  front  before  Sedan, 
that  the  great  battle  commenced.  A  hot  artillery 
action  now  began  at  all  points.  It  lasted  for  hours, 
and  during  it  we  gradually  gained  ground.  As 
the  above-named  villages  were  taken,  very  deep 
and  wooded  ravines  made  the  advance  of  the  in- 
fantry more  difficult,  and  favoured  the  defence. 
The  villages  of  Selg  and  Floing  were  taken,  and 
the  fiery  circle  drew  gradually  closer  round  Sedan. 
It  was  a  grand  sight  from  our  position  on  a 
commanding  height  behind  the  above-mentioned 
battery  when  we  looked  to  the  front  beyond  St. 
Torcy.  The  violent  resistance  by  the  enemy  began 
to  slacken  by  degrees,  which  we  could  see  by  the 
broken  battalions  that  were  hurriedly  retreating 
from  the  woods  and  villages.  The  cavalry  en- 
deavoured to  attack  several  battalions  of  our  fifth 
corps,  and  the  latter  behaved  admirably.  The 
cavalry  galloped  through  the  interval  between  the 
battalions,  and  then  returned  the  same  way.  This 
was  repeated  three  times,  so  that  the  ground  was 
covered  with  corpses  and  horses,  all  of  which  we 
could  see  very  well  from  our  position.  I  have  not 
been  able  to  learn  the  number  of  this  brave  regi- 
ment, as  the  retreat  of  the  enemy  was  in  many 
places  a  flight.  The  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery 
rushed  in  a  crowd  into  the  town  and  its  immediate 


environs,  but  no  sign  was  given  that  the  enemy 
contemplated  extricating  himself  from  his  desperate 
situation  by  capitulation.  No  other  course  was 
left  than  to  bombard  the  town  with  the  heavy  bat- 
tery. In  twenty  minutes  the  town  was  burning  in 
several  places,  which,  with  the  numerous  burning 
villages  over  the  whole  field,  produced  a  terrible 
impression.  I  accordingly  ordered  the  firing  to 
cease,  and  sent  Lieutenant-colonel  von  Broussart 
with  a  flag  of  truce,  to  demand  the  capitulation 
of  the  army  and  the  fortress.  He  was  met  by  a 
Bavarian  officer,  who  reported  to  me  that  a  French 
parlementaire  had  announced  himself  at  the  gate. 
Colonel  von  Broussart  was  admitted,  and  on  his 
asking  for  the  commander-in-chief,  he  was  un- 
expectedly introduced  into  the  presence  of  the 
emperor,  who  wished  to  give  him  a  letter  for 
myself.  When  the  emperor  asked  what  his 
message  was,  and  received  the  answer,  "To  de- 
mand the  surrender  of  the  army  and  fortress,"  he 
replied  that  on  this  subject  he  must  apply  to 
General  de  Wimpffen,  who  had  undertaken  the 
command,  in  the  place  of  the  wounded  General 
MacMahon,  and  that  he  would  now  send  his 
adjutant-general,  Reilly,  with  a  letter  to  myself. 
It  was  seven  o'clock  when  Reilly  and  Broussart 
came  to  me,  the  latter  a  little  in  advance;  and  it 
was  first  through  him  that  I  learned  with  certainty 
the  presence  of  the  emperor.  You  may  imagine 
the  impression  which  this  made  upon  all  of  us, 
but  particularly  on  myself.  Reilly  sprung  from 
his  horse  and  gave  me  the  letter  of  the  emperor, 
adding  that  he  had  no  other  orders.  Before  I 
opened  the  letter  I  said  to  him,  "  But  I  demand, 
as  the  first  condition,  that  the  army  lay  down  its 
arms."  The  letter  began  thus: — "  N'ayant  pas  pu 
mourir  a  la  tete  de  mes  troupes,  je  depose  mon 
epee  a  votre  Majeste,"  leaving  all  the  rest  to 
me.  My  answer  was  that  I  deplored  the  manner 
of  our  meeting,  and  begged  that  a  plenipotentiary 
might  be  sent  with  whom  we  might  conclude 
the  capitulation.  After  I  had  given  the  letter  to 
General  Reilly,  I  spoke  a  few  words  with  him 
as  an  old  acquaintance,  and  so  this  act  ended. 
I  gave  Moltke  powers  to  negotiate,  and  directed 
Bismarck  to  remain  behind  in  case  political 
questions  should  arise.  I  then  rode  to  my  car- 
riage and  drove  here,  greeted  everywhere  along 
the  road  with  the  loud  hurrahs  of  the  trains 
that  were  marching  up  and  singing  the  national 
hymn.  It  was  deeply  touching.  Candles  were 
3k 


U2 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR, 


lighted  everywhere,  so  that  we  were  driven  through 
an  improvised  illumination.  I  arrived  here  at 
eleven  o'clock,  and  drank  with  those  about  me  to 
the  prosperity  of  an  army  which  had  accomplished 
such  feats.  As  on  the  morning  of  the  2nd  I  had 
received  no  news  from  Moltke  respecting  negotia- 
tions for  the  capitulation,  which  were  to  take  place 
in  Donchery,  I  drove  to  the  battle-field,  according 
to  agreement,  at  eight  o'clock,  and  met  Moltke, 
who  was  coming  to  obtain  my  consent  to  the  pro- 
posed capitulation.  He  told  ine  at  the  same  time 
that  the  emperor  had  left  Sedan  at  five  o'clock 
in  the  morning  and  had  come  to  Donchery,  as  he 
wished  to  speak  with  ine.  There  was  a  chateau 
and  park  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  I  chose  that 
place  for  our  meeting.  At  ten  o'clock  I  reached 
the  height  before  Sedan.  Moltke  and  Bismarck 
appeared  at  twelve  o'clock,  with  the  capitulation 
duly  signed.  At  one  o'clock  I  started  again  with 
Fritz,  the  Crown  Prince,  and  escorted  by  the 
cavalry  and  the  staff;  I  alighted  before  the  chateau, 
where  the  emperor  came  to  meet  me.  The  visit 
lasted  a  epiarter  of  an  hour.  "We  were  both  much 
moved  at  seeing  each  other  again  under  such 
circumstances.  What  my  feelings  were — I  had 
seen  Napoleon  only  three  years  before  at  the  sum- 
mit of  his  power — is  more  than  I  can  describe. 
After  this  meeting,  from  half  past  two  to  half 
past  seven  o'clock,  I  rode  past  the  whole  army 
before  Sedan.  The  reception  given  me  by  the 
troops,  the  meeting  with  the  guards,  now  deci- 
mated —  all  these  are  things  which  I  cannot 
describe  to-day.  I  was  much  touched  by  so  manv 
proofs  of  love  and  devotion.  Now,  farewell.  A 
heart  deeply  moved  at  the  conclusion  of  such 
a  letter.  "WILLIAM." 

An  anecdote  in  connection  with  this  letter, 
derived  from  a  very  good  source,  deserves  to  be 
recorded.  It  illustrates  the  kindly  nature  of  the 
man  whom  the  duties  of  his  exalted  position  com- 
pelled to  give  the  word  of  command  in  so  many 
sanguinary  battles.  When  the  Feldjliger  officer 
who  was  to  carry  it  to  Berlin  entered  the  roval 
apartment,  the  king  was  just  sealing  the  letter. 
On  seeing  the  officer  his  Majesty  suspended  his 
occupation,  and,  turning  to  him,  said: — "Before 
giving  you  this  packet  I  must  tell  you  one  thing. 
You  will  yourself  place  it  in  her  Majesty's  hands, 
and  you  will  take  care  to  tell  her  Majesty,  even 
before  she  breaks  the  seal,  that  this  time,  at  least, 


our  losses  are  moderate  in  comparison  to  the 
result." 

At  the  military  banquet  given  by  the  king 
of  Prussia  to  his  principal  officers,  on  the  brief 
rest-day  which  followed  this  "  crowning  mercy," 
champagne  was  served  in  honour  of  the  great 
occasion  ( rin  ordinaire  only,  say  the  German 
chroniclers  of  the  campaign,  having  previously 
appeared  at  the  royal  table);  and  his  Majesty 
proposed  a  toast  in  the  following  terms: — "We 
must  to-day,  in  gratitude,  drink  to  the  health  of 
my  brave  army.  You,  war  minister  Von  Boon, 
have  sharpened  our  sword ;  you,  General  von 
Moltke,  have  guided  it ;  and  you,  Count  von 
Bismarck,  by  your  direction  of  the  national 
policy  for  years,  have  brought  Prussia  to  her 
present  pitch  of  elevation.  Let  us  then  drink 
to  the  health  of  the  army,  of  the  three  I  have 
named  in  connection  with  that  toast,  and  of 
every  one  present  who  has  contributed,  according 
to  his  power,  to  the  results  now  accomplished.'' 

Such  is  the  history  of  the  memorable  battle  and 
capitulation  of  Sedan — the  darkest  spot  in  the 
checpiered  military  annals  of  France,  and  unques- 
tionably the  most  remarkable  military  event  since 
the  retreat  from  Moscow.  Neither  Crecy,  nor 
Agincourt,  nor  Pavia,  nor  St.  Qucntin,  nor  Blen- 
heim, nor  Waterloo,  was  so  calamitous ;  modern 
history  seeks  in  vain  for  a  parallel  to  the  dire 
catastrophe,  for  no  modern  European  nation  had 
ever  received  so  crushing  a  blow.  Since  Pavia  no 
French  monarch  had  been  taken  in  siege  or  battle. 
This  untoward  consummation  was  the  natural 
result  of  the  fatal  strategy  which  had  led  the 
French  to  the  frontier  of  Belgium,  with  an  army 
wanting  in  every  element  of  military  power;  while 
their  enemies,  twice  as  strong  and  efficient,  were 
in  a  position  to  overtake  and  crush  them  by  over- 
whelming numbers.  Doubtless,  the  tardiness  of 
Mac  Man on's  movements,  the  want  of  discipline  of 
his  troops,  and  the  faults  of  his  lieutenants,  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  unhappy  result ;  but  the 
original  error  was  in  the  design  of  a  march  from 
Rheims  by  Montmedy  on  Metz,  while  the  Germans 
held  all  the  shorter  lines — a  march  all  but  certain, 
with  such  an  army  as  MacMahon's,to  end  in  disaster. 
The  marshal  also  made  a  grave  mistake  on  the 
31st  of  August,  when  he  took  no  means  to  prevent 
his  being  shut  into  Sedan  by  superior  forces, 
and  did  not  discover  this  danger  until  he  was  in 
the  presence  of  the  enemy  that  surrounded  him 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


443 


on  the  morning  of  tlie  1st  of  September,  when, 
after  being  wounded,  he  thought  of  a  retreat  on 
Me"zieres.  Had  an  order  to  that  effect  been  issued 
twenty  hours  earlier,  it  would  almost  certainly 
have  saved  the  bulk  of  his  army.  But  after  the 
battle  had  begun  it  was  far  too  late  to  try  this 
movement,  which  he  ought  to  have  attempted  the 
day  before,  the  instant  he  had  brought  his  troops 
back  to  Sedan  after  their  defeat  on  the  30th. 
Then  the  Prussian  left  was  many  miles  away  from 
the  Meuse  ;  and  it  took  the  fifth  corps  and  the 
Wiirteinburg  division  the  whole  of  the  31st  to 
reach  their  assigned  points  of  passage.  Certainly, 
on  the  afternoon  at  least  of  that  day,  it  was  in 
MacMahon's  power  to  make  a  swift  and  compact 
movement  in  retreat  towards  Mezieres  ;  and  it  is 
hardly  too  much  to  assert  that  a  determined 
resolve  to  avoid  another  general  action  by  instantly 
falling  back  on  the  fortresses  in  the  north-east  of 
France,  and  the  sacrifice  of  a  corps  at  Sedan  and 
Mezieres  to  gain  a  day  or  two's  march,  might  have 
saved  from  a  humiliating  fate  the  greater  part  of 
the  soldiers  who  were  surrendered.  At  Mezieres 
MacMahon  would  have  been  joined  by  General 
Vinoy's  corps,  which  was  marching  up  to  his  aid; 
and  although  even  then  the  Prussians  could  easily 
have  cut  him  off  from  Paris,  if  they  failed  to 
intercept  him  before  he  gained  the  shelter  of  the 
nest  of  fortresses  about  Valenciennes,  yet  the  task 
of  besieging  the  capital  under  those  circumstances 
would  have  been  difficult  and  dangerous,  if  not 
impossible. 

In  reply  to  this  view  of  the  case  it  has  been  said, 
that  a  movement  in  the  direction  we  have  indicated, 
with  the  Crown  Prince's  army  hanging  on  his  flank, 
would  have  led  to  MacMahon's  being  destroyed 
before  he  could  reach  the  shelter  of  the  nest  of 
fortresses  beyond  Mezieres,  which  at  a  later  period 
covered  Faidherbe's  operations.  Very  probably, 
if  we  may  judge  from  the  marked  inferiority  of 
the  French  in  marching  no  less  than  in  fighting, 
destruction  would  have  been  the  end  of  such  an 
attempt.  But  it  is  quite  clear  that  there  would 
have  been  hopes  of  saving  some  part  ol  the  army 
by  sacrificing  the  rearmost  corps  ;  whilst  the  fatal 
resolution  of  taking  up  a  simply  defensive  attitude 
round  Sedan  was  the  short  way  to  such  complete 
ruin  and  disgrace,  as  no  French  commander  had 
ever  met  before,  since  Dupont  lost  his  head  and  sur- 
rendered to  a  mob  of  Spaniards  at  Baylen.  Other 
critics  have  denounced  the  timidity  which  induced 


the  French  to  withdraw  the  part  of  their  army 
which  had  got  beyond  the  Meuse  on  the  30th,  only 
to  fall  back  before  the  German  cavalry.  Ducrot's 
corps,  which  had  reached  Carignan,  might,  it  is 
said,  have  been  pushed  on  to  advance  separately  to 
the  succour  of  Bazainc.  But  to  this  criticism  little 
serious  importance  need  be  attached,  since  a  single 
corps  could  hardly  have  produced  an  appreciable 
effect  on  the  vast  operations  near  Metz;  and  isolated 
between  the  German  armies,  it  would  almost  infal- 
libly have  been  cut  off  without  accomplishing  any 
object  worth  the  risk  of  separation. 

As  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  it  subse- 
quently became  known  from  official  documents 
that  this  celebrated  flank  march  of  the  French 
army  was  only  undertaken  in  obedience  to  express 
orders  from  the  ministry  in  Paris,  which  of  course, 
to  a  great  extent,  absolves  MacMahon  from  blame. 
Still  it  should  never  have  been  commenced ;  and  if 
anything  could  add  to  the  conclusive  proofs  of  the 
folly  of  taking  such  a  step,  it  is  the  consideration 
that  Marshal  Bazaine  was  not  then  in  want  of  im- 
mediate relief;  that  MacMahon's  army  was  the  main 
hope  of  France;  that  it  was  instantly  required  to 
protect  the  capital;  and  that  if  it  had  (alien  back  on 
Paris,  as  it  could  easily  have  done,  the  subsequent 
situation  might  have  been  wholly  different  from 
what  it  was.  The  manner  in  which  the  German 
commanders  availed  themselves  of  their  antagonist's 
mistakes  was  admirable,  for  the  annihilation  of 
MacMahon's  army  was  due  quite  as  much  to  the 
promptness  with  which  these  were  turned  to  ac- 
count bv  General  von  Moltke,  as  to  the  fatuity  which 
led  to  their  being  committed.  An  impartial  historian 
cannot  fail  to  notice  the  prescience  with  which  the 
army  of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony  was  moved 
in  order  to  aid  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia;  the 
readiness  with  which  it  was  marched  towards  the 
Meuse;  and  the  energy  with  which  the  two  Ger- 
man armies  were,  without  the  delay  of  more  than 
a  few  hours,  turned  northwards  to  stop  and  destroy 
MacMahon.  These  are  truly  great  illustrations  of  the 
art  of  war ;  nor  are  the  final  operations  less  instruc- 
tive, by  which  the  whole  French  army,  brought  to 
bay  at  Sedan,  was  cut  oft"  from  the  possibility  of 
retreat,  and  compelled  to  surrender.  The  Prussian 
staff  were  better  acquainted  with  the  difficulties  of 
MacMahon's  situation  than  he  was  himself.  At 
least  four  days  previous  to  his  selecting  that  posi- 
tion, General  Blumenthal,  putting  his  finger  on  the 
map,  said,  "  MacMahon  is  quite  lost.     There  he 


444 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


must  stand  and  fight,  and  there  he  must  be  beaten 
without  a  chance  of  escape.  They  are  quite  lost. 
I  'wonder  what  they  can  mean."  In  proof  of  their 
utter  helplessness,  it  is  stated  that  some  time  after- 
wards an  English  military  man  remarked  to  some 
Prussian  staff  officers,  that  the  surrender  at  Sedan 
of  so  large  an  army  had  struck  him  as  rather  in- 
glorious; and  asked  them  whether  in  the  circum- 
stances of  the  country  and  the  capital,  the  army 
ought  not  rather  to  have  cut  its  way  out  at  the 
expense  of  half  its  numbers.  They  answered  that 
the  surrender  was  not  inglorious,  for  there  was 
no  other  resource  left.  "  They  ought  not  to  have 
got  into  such  a  position ;  but  once  there,  there  was 
no  getting  out  of  it."  The  ability  of  the  German 
chiefs  was  ably  seconded  by  their  troops,  who  in 
their  operations  gave  proof  of  power,  vigour,  and 
celerity  of  movement,  not  easily  matched  in  mili- 
tary annals. 

From  our  previous  description  it  will  have 
been  noticed  that  the  leading  feature  of  the  battle 
of  Sedan  was  a  prolonged  artillery  duel  at 
comparatively  long  ringes,  followed  up  by  des- 
perate charges  of  infantry.  There  was  hardly  any 
manoeuvring  during  the  day.  The  whole  German 
army  formed  a  vast  semicircle,  with  the  horns  of 
the  crescent  pointing  to  the  Belgian  frontier,  and 
slowly  approaching  one  another.  When  these  horns 
met  to  the  north  of  Sedan,  the  great  mass  of 
the  French  army  was  forced  steadily  back  upon 
the  town:  then  the  German  circle  grew  ever 
smaller,  until  at  length  its  circumference  was,  at 
some  points,  inside  the  outworks  of  Sedan  itself. 
The  strength  of  the  French  position — on  an  inner 
line  of  heights  on  either  side  of  the  fortress — 
counterbalanced  the  disparity  in  numbers  so  long 
as  they  maintained  their  ground.  But  when  they 
gave  way,  however  slightly,  and  allowed  the  hostile 
crescent  to  contract,  they  became  necessarily  ex- 
posed to  a  converging  fire,  from  which  it  was 
impossible  to  escape  unless  by  thrusting  back  one 
or  other  of  the  inclosing  armies:  and  as  this  was 
hopeless,  the  French  were  compelled  to  remain  on 
the  defensive  throughout. 

On  two  occasions  during  the  day  the  French 
emperor  providentially  escaped  being  instantly 
killed.  In  the  confusion  wliich  ensued  upon  the 
irruption  of  the  panic-striken  French  into  Sedan, 
when  riding  slowly  through  a  wide  street  swept 
by  the  German  artillery,  and  choked  by  the  dis- 
ordered soldiery,  he  paused  for  a  moment  to  address 


a  question  to  a  colonel  of  his  staff.  At  that  instant 
a  shell  exploded  a  few  feet  in  front  of  him,  leaving 
him  unharmed,  though  to  all  around  his  escape 
appeared  miraculous.  An  eyewitness  affirms  that 
the  emperor  continued  on  his  way  without  mani- 
festing the  slightest  emotion,  and  greeted  by  the 
hearty  vivats  of  the  troops.  Later,  while  sitting 
at  a  window,  inditing  his  celebrated  letter  to 
the  king  of  Prussia,  a  shell  struck  the  wall  just 
outside,  and  burst  only  a  few  feet  from  his  chair, 
again  leaving  him  unscathed  and  unmoved. 

GREAT   SORTIE    FROM    METZ. 

During  the  movements  before  the  battle  of 
Sedan,  communications — it  is  believed  through 
a  subterranean  telegraph  to  Mezieres — had  been 
maintained  between  Marshals  Bazaine  and  Mac- 
Mahon,  and  a  sortie  was  prepared  by  the  former 
on  August  26,  eight  days  after  the  Germans 
had  succeeded  in  imprisoning  his  army  in  Metz, 
had  intrenched  themselves  in  every  direction,  and 
had  organized  a  telegraphic  communication  all 
round  the  city,  by  means  of  which  8000  men  could 
be  collected  at  any  one  spot  in  fifteen  minutes,  and 
22,000  men  in  twenty-eight  minutes ;  and  the 
weak  German  force  on  the  eastern  side  could  be 
enabled  to  hold  its  own  until  the  arrival,  at  the 
end  of  five  and  six  hours  respectively,  of  two 
additional  corps  from  the  western  side,  passing  over 
pontoon  bridges  at  Argancy  and  Hanconcourt. 
Bazaine's  sortie  was  to  have  been  made  on  this 
eastern  side,  along  the  right  bank  of  the  Moselle, 
and  three  corps  were  moved  for  the  purpose;  but 
it  was  abandoned  in  consequence  of  a  torrent  of 
rain  coming  on. 

Nothing  further  was  attempted  till  the  30th,  when 
advices  dated  from  Rheims  were  received  by  Bazaine 
from  the  emperor,  stating  that  an  attempt  would 
be  made  to  relieve  the  imprisoned  force.  It  was 
therefore  determined  that  a  sortie  on  a  large  scale 
should  be  attempted  on  the  following  day;  it  was 
again  to  be  made  due  eastwards  at  first,  and  if 
successful  there  the  French  hoped  to  be  able 
to  obtain  possession  of  the  roads  leading  down 
the  right  bank  of  the  Moselle  on  Thionville, 
and  render  that  fortress  accessible  without  having 
to  cross  the  Orne.  The  engagement  which  ensued 
was  rather  on  an  extensive  scale. 

By  far  the  best  description  of  the  sortie  yet 
published   is   that  of  Mr.   G.    T.    Piobinson,  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


445 


special  correspondent  of  tlie  Manchester  Guardian, 
who  was  shut  up  with  the  French  army  in  Metz 
during  the  whole  of  the  siege,  and  to  whose 
interesting  work  on  the  "  Fall  of  Metz  "  we  have 
been  more  than  once  indebted.  He  says  that 
when,  on  the  evening  of  the  30th,  the  soldiers 
heard  of  the  attempt  proposed  for  the  morrow, 
they  were  full  of  glee,  though  somewhat  in  doubt. 
A  similar  report  was  circulated  on  the  26th  of 
August,  and  although  the  weather  was  then 
miserable,  and  the  roads  almost  impassable,  the 
attempt  had  begun.  The  troops  came  down  from 
Plappeville,  and  the  Ban  St.  Martin  emptied. 
Round  from  Montigny  came  long  lines  of  troops, 
and  they  marched  all  the  way  up  the  hill  of  St. 
Julien,  and  then  they  marched  down  again,  after 
displaying  themselves  to  the  enemy,  and  doing 
nothing  more.  This  time,  however,  the  weather 
was  fine.  The  hot  sun  had  dried  up  the  roads, 
and  before  daybreak  the  troops  commenced  their 
march.  It  was  three  o'clock  in  the  morning 
when  they  began  to  move.  They  passed  over 
temporary  bridges  to  the  He  Chambiere,  rejoining 
behind  the  fort  Bellecroix  the  various  corps  which 
had  come  from  the  other  camps.  Here,  however, 
their  first  misgiving  awaited  them.  They  were  in 
hopes  it  was  going  to  be  an  attempt  to  make  a  real 
troue'e — a  serious  intention  to  cut  a  way  through 
the  wall  of  Prussians  which  day  by  day  kept 
growing  thicker  around  them.  But  here  was  the 
baggage,  which  was  evidently  not  going.  The 
tents  were  not  packed,  and  the  army  was  not  in 
the  order  for  a  long  march.     Still  they  had  faith. 

Before  describing  the  attack  on  the  Prussian 
lines  we  may  take  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  posi- 
tion as  seen  from  Metz,  in  which  a  glance  at  the 
plan  of  the  battle  of  Courcelles,  given  in  Chapter 
XL,  will  greatly  assist  the  reader.  To  the  east 
was  the  high  hill  of  St.  Julien,  up  the  western  side 
of  which  winds  the  little  village  of  that  name,  and 
whose  summit  was  capped  by  the  long  horizontal 
lines  of  its  as  yet  unfinished  fort.  From  this  point 
runs  out  the  long  straight  crest  of  a  continued  hill, 
descending  somewhat  at  first,  and  then  gradually 
rising  again  until  it  reaches  a  culminating  point, 
crowned  by  the  lofty  steeple  of  a  church.  That 
steeple  marks  St.  Barbe.  Having  an  elevation  of 
some  90  feet  above  even  the  fort-crowned  hill  of 
St.  Julien,  and  rising  some  400  feet  above  the 
flat  plain  of  the  Moselle,  the  importance  of  the 
situation  was  evident.     Marvellous,  indeed,  was  it 


that  such  a  hill  should  have  been  left  unguarded; 
but  the  enemy  was  quietly  allowed  to  take  pos- 
session of  it,  and  thenceforth  it  was  one  of  the 
watch-dogs  of  Metz.  On  the  sloping  ground 
which  gently  falls  to  the  south  of  this  long-crested 
hill  are  the  villages  of  Servigny,  Nouilly,  and 
Mey,  whilst  placed  on  the  little  stream  which  cuts 
its  quiet  way  at  the  bottom  of  the  valley  are  the 
villages  of  Valliers  and  Vautoux,  and  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  stream,  on  a  very  gently 
ascending  slope,  are  those  of  Noisseville  and 
Montoy.  On  the  northern  slope,  which  runs  down 
to  the  Moselle,  rapidly,  indeed  almost  declivi- 
tously,  at  St.  Julien,  but  flattening  as  the  valley 
widens,  are  the  villages  of  Vremy,  Failly,  Charly, 
and  Chiculles,  almost  all  of  which  played  their 
part  in  this  two  days'  tragedy.  Roughly  speaking, 
the  area  of  the  battle-field  was  that  of  a  scalene 
triangle,  whose  apex  was  at  St.  Julien,  and  whose 
base  extended  from  Vremy  to  Montoy ;  its  longest 
side  being  about  six  miles  in  length,  whilst  its 
base  was  about  five  miles.  That  was  the  area  of 
the  main  portion  of  the  fight.  Detached  skirmish- 
ing of  course  extended  its  dimensions  very  con- 
siderably; but  the  chief  interest  lay  within  these 
bounds.  The  importance  of  the  position  of  St. 
Barbe  was  immediately  recognized  by  the  Ger- 
mans, and  the  place,  strong  by  nature,  was  strength- 
ened by  art.  Epaulements  were  thrown  up  along 
the  hill  sides.  Redoubts  were  erected  wherever 
any  jutting  spur  of  higher  ground  projected  into 
either  of  the  two  valleys  which  it  dominated  ;  and 
whoever  held  St.  Barbe  held  possession  of  the  road 
to  Sarrelouis  on  the  one  side,  and  the  lower  hills, 
which  yet  were  high  enough  to  guard  the  valley 
of  the  Moselle,  on  the  other.  It  has  been  neces- 
sary to  be  somewhat  discursive  on  this  point  at 
first,  in  order  to  render  more  intelligible  the  de- 
scription of  a  battle  cut  by  the  formation  of  the 
ground  into  two  distinct  parts,  and  extending 
over  two  days. 

Although  it  was  early  morning  when  the 
march  began,  it  was  nearly  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  before  the  first  shot  was  fired.  On 
the  left  was  the  corps  of  Marshal  Canrobert, 
in  the  centre  was  that  of  Leboeuf,  and  on 
the  right  that  of  Frossard.  There  appears  to 
have  been  some  want  of  preconcerted  plan 
amongst  them,  something  which  could  not  be 
settled  without  a  long  and  serious  delay ;  for 
the  French  forces  rested  nearly  twelve  hours  on 


446 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  slope  of  St.  Jullen  without  doing  anything  ; 
resting,  too,  right  in  full  view  of  the  enemy,  who 
had  thus  ample  time  to  bring  up  his  reinforce- 
ments   to   the    point    so    deliberately    threatened. 
Marshal    Bazaine    stopped    in    the    Chateau    Gro- 
mont.     At   last    the    troops    received    orders    to 
move,    and   on    went    the    dragoons,    with    their 
glistening  helmets.      General  de  Clerembault  led 
them   off  the  first,   that   they  might   guard   the 
French  extreme  right  against  any  surprise.     The 
Moselle  did  this  duty  for  them  on  the  left.     There 
are  a  few  short  words  yet  to  be   spoken   to  the 
Marshals.     Canrobert,  the  echo  of  Bazaine,  gives 
his  last  orders  as  the  clock  strikes  four,  and  all  are 
on  the  march.      Straight  out  from   the   fort   St. 
Julien,  towards  the  village  of  Chiculles,  runs  the 
road  for  Buzonville.     That  is  the  line  of  Marshal 
Canrobert ;  lie  has  to  guard  it,  and  all  the  land 
lying  between  it  and  the  river,  and  as  much  of 
the  rising  ground  up  to  the  crest  of  the  long- 
ridged  hill  as  he  can  manage.     Along  the  crest 
goes  Marshal  Lebceuf,  this  day  taking  the  place 
before  occupied  by  Bazaine,  and  leading  on  that 
third  corps  d'armee  which  the  commander-in-chief 
led  when  the  war  began.     He  has  to  march  along 
the  crest  of  the  hill  straight  on  to  St.  Barbe,  if  he 
can,  co-operating  with  Canrobert  on  his  left,  and 
touching  with  his  right  the  second  corps  of  Fros- 
sard.      Between  Marshals  Canrobert  and  Lebceuf 
marches   the   division    of    General    LAdmirault, 
whilst  the  aged  General  Changarnier  occupies  a 
corresponding  position  between  Marshal  Lebceuf 
and  Frossard.     Tims  they  diverge;  and  the  worst 
of  it  is  they  do  diverge.     Canrobert  pushes  for- 
ward with  the  intention  of  reaching  Malroy,  and 
cutting  the  enemy's  communication  by  the  river. 
Vany  and    Chiculles  are   attacked   by  the  tenth 
and  fourth  regiments  of  the  line,  with  the  desire  to 
turn  the  enemy  back  upon  himself,  and  drive  him 
into  the  river.    L'Admirault's  corps  marched  right 
up  to  the  village  of  Servigny,  where,  for  some 
unknown  reason,  it  waits  for  two  hours  under  a 
heavy  shower  of  shells.     At  last  the  charge  is 
sounded.    At  the  village  they  go.    There  is  what 
is  very  rare  now-a-days ;  there  is  hand  to  hand 
work,  and  bayonet  crosses  bayonet  at  every  corner. 
Each  house  is  a  fortress,  but  it  must  be  carried. 
The  French  long  24-pounders  of  St.  Julien  silence 
a  Prussian  battery  at  Gras  which  troubles  them, 
and  Servigny  is  once  more  French.     Two  hours 
it  took  to  take  it,  and  two  hours  under  such  cir- 


cumstances were  very  long.  During  this  long 
struggle  here  the  villages  of  Chiculles  and  Vany 
were  carried,  and  Canrobert's  corps  almost  touched 
the  walls  of  Failly.  The  twelfth  line  are  pushed 
forward  in  open  order  on  Charly,  and  its  sharp- 
shooters creep  under  cover  of  the  rolling  broken 
ground  up  to  within  three  hundred  yards  of  a 
Prussian  battery  there.  For  two  hours  and  a 
half  do  they  pepper  at  it,  until  at  last  it  is  com- 
pelled to  retire  behind  the  wood  which  backs  up 
the  little  village. 

If  Canrobert  would  only  now  make  a  dash  at 
Malroy  it  could  be  carried  from  the  right,  as  this 
battery  covers  the  road ;  but  the  opportunity  is  not 
seized,  and  it  never  occurs  again.  Meanwhile  the 
extreme  right  of  our  forces  has  pushed  its  cavalry 
on  to  Coincy,  arresting  the  progress  of  the  Prus- 
sians, who,  called  by  the  heavy  firing,  came  up 
from  Remilly  and  Courcelles  at  the  gallop.  The 
dragoons  dismount  and  hold  the  village,  the  Prus- 
sians file  off. 

Montauban  pushes  up  the  first  division  of  the 
third  corps  to  Montoy,  and  forces  his  way  right  up 
to  Flanville,  where,  touching  the  line  of  attack 
assigned  to  Frossard,  he  finds  himself  hardly  strong 
enough  for  the  work,  and  sends  to  the  commander 
of  the  second  corps  for  assistance.  Xone  comes; 
Frossard  wants  to  be  well  taken  care  of,  and  for 
an  hour  and  a  half  Montauban  holds  unsupported 
this  post,  till  at  last,  poor  fellow,  he  falls.  At 
length  up  comes  General  Magnan  with  his  divi- 
sion (second  corps),  and  taking  charge  of  his  own 
and  that  of  Montauban,  launches  forth  the  sixty- 
second  and  eighteenth  battalions  of  the  chasseurs- 
;t-pied  and  the  fifty-first  of  the  line.  At  the  village 
they  go,  the  sixty-second  leading,  with  drums  and 
trumpets  playing.  On  come  the  fifty-first;  "  a  la 
baionnette "  they  shout,  and  plunge  into  the  vil- 
lage, whilst  the  eighteenth  deploys  to  the  right, 
and  covers  the  road  to  Retonfay,  along  which  the 
Prussians  retreat,  with  a  line  of  fire  and  dead  men. 
It  was  a  brilliant  bit  of  work,  but  it  cost  dear,  and 
the  sixty-second  left  13  officers  and  400  men  on 
that  little  bit  of  road  which  leads  on  to  Flanville. 
In  the  centre  Nouilly  has  been  carried  by  the 
ninety-fifth  and  the  thirty-second  of  the  line, 
under  Lebceuf;  at  least  by  what  is  left  of  these 
two  regiments.  They  have  both  suffered  heavily  in 
this  war,  and  the  thirty-second  has  lost  more  than 
1000  rank  and  file  and  45  officers  since  it  came 
to  Metz.     Nouilly  carried,  they  push  impetuously 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


447 


forward,  and  serve  Noisseville  the  same;  and  as 
the  last  sun  in  August  sets  the  whole  line  is  ours. 
Charly,  Failly,  Servigny,  Noisseville,  Flanville, 
Coincy,  are  all  carried. 

But,  alas,  night  comes  on,  and  those  ten  hours 
which  were  wasted  in  the  morning  are  sadly  wanted 
now.  Advance  in  the  dark  without  more  strength 
they  could  not.  They  did  not  know  where  the 
enemy  was ;  but  they  knew  the  French  position 
only  too  well,  and  they  kept  up  an  almost  continual 
fire  upon  them.  But,  worst  of  all,  Canrobert  has 
not  pushed  on  far  enough,  and  the  bridges  of 
Malroy  are  yet  in  the  hands  of  the  Prussians,  who 
keep  pouring  fresh  troops  into  the  threatened 
position.  These  in  their  turn  come  down  upon 
the  French,  and  between  ten  and  eleven  at  night 
they  are  attacked  in  considerable  force  on  the  vil- 
lages of  Noisseville  and  Servigny.  But  the  Germans 
did  not  venture  in,  and  the  French  did  not  venture 
out;  so  the  firing  served  more  to  check  the  advance 
of  either  foe  than  any  other  purpose.  This  was 
the  position  of  things  when  the  fighting  ceased. 
The  French  were  hopeful  that  during  the  night 
fresh  forces  would  be  brought  up,  and  that  the 
morrow  would  prove  a  grand  day  in  their  history. 
Not  a  single  soldier,  however,  was  brought  up,  nor 
was  aught  done  to  strengthen  their  weak  points, 
whilst  the  enemy  had  all  the  night  been  making 
preparations  for  the  day's  hard  work.  By  the 
bridges  Canrobert  should  have  taken,  and  by  the 
road  Frossard  should  have  cut — from  Ars-La- 
quenexy  and  Courcelles,  from  Kemilly  and  Corny 
— did  the  Germans  bring  up  fresh  men,  while  the 
French,  with  all  the  imperial  guard  behind  them, 
and  numerous  troops  in  Metz,  moved  not  one  man 
nor  brought  forward  a  single  gun  ! 

The  action  recommenced  between  five  and  six 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  French  centre  being 
then  the  chief  point  of  attack.  The  village  of 
Noisseville  was  soon  a  vortex  of  fire,  and  for  a  time 
the  whistling  sound  of  the  shells  in  the  air  was  as 
continuous  and  as  loud  as  that  of  a  locomotive 
blowing  off  steam.  The  French,  seeing  they  were 
outnumbered,  and  that  they  would  not  be  able  to 
hold  the  village  much  longer,  brought  a  battery 
of  mitrailleuses  up  the  hill,  to  give  the  enemy  as 
warm  a  reception  as  possible.  The  village  was 
now  on  fire  in  several  places,  and  many  poor 
wounded  fellows  made  their  way  to  the  rear.  Mean- 
while not  a  fresh  soldier  was  brought  up.  The 
poor  fellows  wdio  fought  all  the  previous  afternoon, 


and  partly  through  the  night,  had  now  to  bear  the 
brunt  again.  They  can  stand  it  no  longer,  and, 
borne  back  by  numbers,  they  retire.  Now  begins 
the  horrible  grind  of  the  mitrailleuses.  Gr-r-r-rutt 
it  goes  as  the  Germans  rush  forward,  and  the 
column  wavers  and  spreads,  leaving  a  large  black 
patch  on  the  ground.  Gr-r-r-rutt,  gr-r-r-rutt  from 
each,  and  the  first  advance  is  silenced  for  ever. 
But  it  is  the  French  turn  to  suffer  now,  and  shell 
after  shell  comes  right  amongst  them,  making  their 
position  much  too  hot  for  them.  Some  of  their 
horses  are  knocked  over,  but  as  yet  none  of  their 
men  are  hit.  The  shells,  however,  fall  too  thickly 
to  be  endured,  and  once  more  Noisseville  was 
German. 

Finding  the  Prussian  fire  becoming  too  warm, 
and  that  the  French  were  being  pushed  back  in  the 
centre,  Mr.  Robinson  says  he  went  over  to  the  most 
extreme  right,  hoping  that  by  closing  in  upon  the 
enemy  there  the  French  might  even  yet  outflank 
them,  and  change  the  fortune  of  the  day  by  creating 
a  diversion  in  their  rear.  Crouching  down  on  the 
ground  he  found  a  regiment  of  chasseurs-a-pied, 
ready  to  spring  up  in  a  moment  if  necessary. 
"  They  don't  wait  long,  for  the  order  comes  to 
deploy  in  skirmishing  order  and  advance.  Hurrah  ! 
we  are  going  forward;  we  shall  win  yet.  Up 
comes,  at  a  swinging  pace,  the  twenty-fifth,  and 
we  rush  together  for  the  big  villa  with  the  large 
grounds  there.  Hurrah !  we  are  first ;  its  wall 
shelters  us  and  the  game  begins.  Battle  all  along 
the  line  goes  the  musketry;  pop,  pop,  from  the 
vineyards  on  our  left  goes  the  sharpshooters'  quiet 
fire.  There  is  a  Prussian  battery  right  in  front  of 
us,  but  we  drive  the  men  away  from  the  guns. 
We  are  rushing  forward,  when  all  at  once  sounds 
the  retreat.  Good  Heaven !  what  has  happened  ? 
We  had  almost  snatched  the  victory.  One's  heart 
almost  stops  suddenly  still. 

"  The  troops  obey  the  sound,  and  sulkily  retire. 
As  we  turn  to  come  back  we  sec  an  isolated  patcli 
of  French  soldiers  out  on  the  hill  in  front  of  us. 
Who  they  are,  or  what  they  do  there,  no  one 
knows.  It  turns  out  to  be  a  portion  of  the  second 
corps,  which,  touching  on  the  right  of  the  third, 
had  been  forgotten  both  by  the  marshal  and  the 
general.  Once  it  indeed  was  remembered,  and 
two  counter-orders  reached  it  at  the  same  moment, 
and  they  did  not  know  which  to  obey,  so  they  send 
back  for  written  instructions,  which  never  came. 
They  remained  in  front  of  Flanville,  having  the 


448 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


honour  of  being  the  last  men  to  retire  from  this 
useless  slaughter,  only  reaching  our  lines  fully 
an  hour  after  every  other  man  was  within  them. 
The  Prussians  advance,  they  establish  themselves 
at  their  guns,  and  shell  us  horribly.  All  around 
us  the  shells  drop,  and  I  am  suddenly  awakened  to 
the  fact  that  I  am  between  the  two  fires,  and  in 
comfortable  killing  distance  from  both  of  them. 
Action  follows  reflection  rapidly,  and  I  execute  a 
strategic  movement  to  the  rear  worthy  of  a  French 
general.  It  was  a  retreat  all  along  our  line. 
Slowly  we  returned  down  the  hill,  and  very  sadly 
too.  AVe  established  battery  after  battery;  but  we 
had  given  up  the  heights  to  the  Prussians,  and 
their  fire  was  longer  than  ours.  No  sooner  were 
we  in  position  than  their  shells  came  plunging  into 
us,  and  we  had  to  draw  back  again.  It  was  thus, 
little  by  little,  that  we  returned  towards  Metz,  and 
by  mid-day  we  had  lost  all  we  took  the  night 
before.  There,  as  we  climbed  the  hill  again,  we 
came  in  sight  of  all  those  reserves  massed  on  Saint 
Julien.  There,  too,  we  saw  the  grim  old  grey- 
towered  chateau  of  Gromont,  from  which  the 
marshal  saw  the  fight.  '  Beaten  again  from  want 
of  a  general,'  exclaims  each  one;  and  a  good  many 
fists  are  shaken  towards  Gromont. 

"  Thus  sadly  ended  our  last  hopeful  day  at 
Metz.  Never  again  had  we  any  confidence  in 
the  military  qualities  of  the  commander-in-chief. 
We   saw  a   movement   commenced   at  daybreak, 


suspended  until  evening  in  view  of  the  enemy. 
We  saw  a  force  sent  out  with  divided  councils. 
We  saw  the  movement  arrested  when  a  night's 
march  could  have  carried  the  position.  We  saw 
a  force,  weakened  by  a  fair  day's  work  and  a  long 
night's  watch,  left  unsuccoured.  We  saw  our 
victory  snatched  from  us  when,  in  spite  of  these 
disadvantages,  we  had  almost  grasped  it:  and  the 
shock  was  too  rude." 

The  Hon.  C.  A.  Winn,  who  witnessed  the 
engagement  from  the  German  side,  corroborates 
the  statements  of  Mr.  Kobinson  in  all  main  par- 
ticulars, and  says  there  is  no  doubt  that  as  far 
as  regarded  increasing  their  lines,  and  progressing 
towards  freedom,  the  French  on  the  31st  gained 
all  the  ground  they  could  have  expected  in- the 
time  they  had  to  do  it  in;  and  when  darkness 
made  artillery  useless,  and  the  firing  ceased,  they 
found  themselves  in  a  fine  position  for  carrying 
the  main  points  of  St.  Barbe  and  Malroy  by 
night  assault.  He  has  not  the  slightest  doubt 
that  Bazaine,  but  for  his  inaction,  would  have 
found  himself  and  the  greater  part  of  his  troops 
beyond  the  Prussian  lines  in  the  morning.  He 
does  not,  however,  believe  that  any  advantage 
would  have  accrued  to  him ;  as  once  out  in  the 
open  country  with  no  baggage,  in  a  famished 
district,  his  entire  army  would  have  soon  fallen  an 
easy  prey  to  the  combined  Prussian  corps,  long 
before  he  could  have  reached  Thionville. 


KXD    OF   VOL.    I. 


PRINTED   BY    W1LL1A2I   MACKB 


E,  LONDON    KUlSBt'liGH,    , 


E  U  ©  IE  S^3  D  E  , 

EMPRESS   REGENT   OF   FRANCE 


THE 


FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 

ITS  CAUSES,  INCIDENTS,  AND  CONSEQUENCES. 


EDITED  BY 


CAPTAIN  H.  M.  HOZIER,  F.C.S.,  F.G.S., 

AUTHOR    OF   "THE    SEVEN    WEEKS'  WAR,"   "THE    BRITISH    EXPEDITION    TO    ABYSSINIA,"   ETC. 


■WITH  THE 

TOPOGRAPHY  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  RHINE  VALLEY, 

By  W.  H.  DAVENPORT  ADAMS, 

AUTHOR    OF    "BEFORE   THE    CONQUEST,"    "BURIED    CITIES    OF    CAMPANIA,"    ETC. 


VOL    II. 


LONDON: 
WILLIAM    MACKENZIE,    22    PATERNOSTER    ROW 

43  to  51  HOWARD   STREET,  GLASGOW;   59  SOUTH   BRIDGE,  EDINBURGH. 


WILLI  Ail  MACKENZIE,  LONDON,  EDINBUBGH,  AND   GLASGOW. 


THE 


Franco-Prussian   War. 


CHAPTER     XV. 


Popular  Feeling  in  Paris — Excitement  on  hearing  of  the  Fighting  around  Metz  and  Hostile  Feeling  against  the  Government — Appointment  of 
General  Trochu  as  Governor  of  Paris,  and  brief  Biographical  Notice  of  him — Complete  Exemplification  of  his  Views  with  regard  to  the 
French  Army — His  First  Proclamation  to  the  Inhabitants  of  Paris — Favourable  Keception  of  it  by  all  Parties — Cheering  Assurances  of  M. 
Thiers  as  to  the  Capacity  of  Paris  to  withstand  a  Siege — His  Proposal  to  make  a  Waste  of  the  Country  surrounding  the  Capital,  and  to 
bring  the  Inhabitants  and  their  Produce  within  the  City — False  Statements  made  by  the  Government  as  to  the  Battles  around  Metz  and 
the  reputed  slaughter  in  the  Quarries  of  Jaumont — The  Feeling  of  the  Extreme  Opponents  of  the  Government — The  First  Arrivals  of  the 
Wounded  in  Paris — Execution  of  Spies— Fearful  Atrocity  at  Hautelaye — Important  Decree  published  by  the  Empress  appointing  a  Com- 
mittee of  Defence— Proclamation  of  General  Trochu  to  the  National  Guard— Sketch  of  the  Sieges  of  Paris,  and  Historical  and  General 
Description  of  the  Fortifications — Activity  displayed  in  placing  the  latter  in  a  thorough  State  of  Defence — Armament  of  the  Forts — Gun- 
boats launched  on  the  Seine  to  assist  in  the  Defence  of  the  City — Minute  Information  possessed  by  the  Germans  as  to  the  Fortifications  of 
Paris — Improved  Tone  in  the  Feeling  of  the  Parisians,  and  Activity  manifested  in  the  Organization  of  the  Troops — Expulsion  of  the  Germans 
and  of  all  the  "  Dangerous  "  Classes,  and  Voluntary  Exodus  of  the  Well-to-do  Classes  and  Foreigners— Closing  of  the  Theatres — Arrival  of 
the  Outside  Population  within  the  City,  with  Huge  Droves  of  Sheep  and  Cattle — The  Country  aroused  at  the  Danger  of  the  Capital — A 
Loan  of  £30,000,000  rapidly  subscribed  for— Proceedings  in  the  Corps  Le'gislatif — Impressive  Remarks  by  M.  Thiers — The  Party  of  the 
Left  gradually  gaining  the  Upper  Hand — Important  Communication  from  the  Government  and  Reply  from  the  Inhabitants — Statement  to 
the  Corps  Le'gislatif  by  Count  Palikao  relating  to  the  Sortie  from  Metz  and  Battles  around  Sedan — The  Surrender  of  the  Emperor  and 
his  Army  still  kept  from  the  People — Great  Agitation  in  the  Chamber,  and  demand  of  M.  Jules  Favre  that  the  de  facto  Government  should 
cease — Levy  era  Masse — Instances  of  the  Changeability  of  the  French  Character — The  Sad  Feeling  in  Germany  caused  by  the  Fearful  Losses 
in  the  Battles  around  Metz,  and  increased  determination  to  pnt  down  France  effectually — Behaviour  of  the  French  Wounded — Remon^rances 
of  the  well-known  Authoress,  Fanny  Lewald,  against  the  Attention  shown  to  the  French  Prisoners — Increasing  Feeling  of  Hostility  against 
the  French  Government  and  People — Germany's  wishes  with  regard  to  Alsace  and  Lorraine — Protests  against  Foreign  Interference  in 
the  Struggle — The  Jubilation  in  Berlin  and  other  German  Cities  on  the  Reception  of  the  News  of  the  Surrender  of  the  Emperor  and  the 
French  Army  at  Sedan. 


Having  brought  the  narrative  of  the  events  con- 
nected with  the  war  to  the  surrender  of  the 
emperor  and  his  army  at  Sedan,  we  suspend  the 
further  description  of  active  operations  in  the  field, 
to  glance  at  the  situation  of  affairs  in  the  French 
capital,  where  most  important  political  and  other 
matters  had  naturally  occupied  the  attention  of 
the  authorities  and  people  generally.  We  shall 
also,  at  the  same  time,  briefly  notice  the  feeling 
manifested  in  Germany. 

In  Chapter  IX.  we  described  the  progress  of 
events  and  the  state  of  the  public  mind  in  the 
French  and  Prussian  capitals  down  to  the  emperor's 
fete  day  (August  15) — a  day  which  had  been 
fixed  on  by  many  enthusiastic  Frenchmen  for  the 
triumphant  march  of  their  troops  into  Berlin ! 
As  already  stated,  the  usual  festival  was  not  cele- 

VOL.  II. 


brated;  and  the  Parisians  suffered  keenly  from 
suspense  and  mortification  occasioned  by  the  early 
disasters  of  the  campaign.  The  festival  of  the 
church,  however,  was  duly  honoured.  On  the 
day  following  the  festival  (August  16)  the  city 
was  again  plunged  into  a  state  of  the  most  intense 
excitement,  when  it  became  known  that  severe 
fighting  had  been  going  on  upon  the  banks  of 
the  Moselle,  the  details  of  which  were,  in  vain, 
eagerly  sought  for;  while  the  excitable  disposition 
of  the  Parisians  was  embittered  by  the  minister 
of  the  Interior  posting  a  despatch  to  the  effect 
that  "  some  travellers "  had  reported  a  great 
battle,  in  which  40,000  Prussians  were  placed 
hors  de  combat.  Taught  a  lesson  by  the  false 
news  spread  after  the  battle  of  Woerth,  this  pro- 
ceeding of  M.  Chevreau  only  served  to  increase 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  hostile  feeling  of  the  people,  whose  menaces 
began  to  be  formidable. 

The  17th  of  August  deserves  especial  notice  as 
the  day  on  which  General  Trochu,  who  afterwards 
played  so  important  a  part  in  the  defence  of  the 
capital,  was  appointed  governor  of  Paris.  Nothing 
could  have  shown  more  clearly  the  precarious 
condition  of  the  empire  than  this  appointment. 
General  Trochu  had  displayed  the  qualities  of  an 
able  soldier  and  a  high-minded  gentleman ;  but  his 
sympathies  were  professedly  Orleanist,  and  little  in 
accord  with  the  regency  of  the  empress.  He  had 
likewise  requested  of  the  emperor  a  command  in 
the  army  of  the  Rhine,  which  was  refused.  He 
had,  however,  been  sent  to  the  camp  at  Toulouse 
to  organize  the  troops,  and  was  subsequently  ap- 
pointed to  the  command  of  the  twelfth  army  corps 
stationed  at  the  camp  at  Chalons,  whence  he  was 
recalled  for  the  defence  of  the  capital. 

This  general,  Louis  Jules  Trochu,  was  born  in 
1815,  and  educated  at  the  military  school  of  St. 
Cyr.  He  was  appointed  lieutenant  in  1840,  cap- 
tain in  1843,  and  subsequently  served  in  Algeria, 
where  he  became  the  favourite  aide-de-camp  of 
Marshal  Bugeaud,  who  had  remarked  his  great 
bravery  at  the  battle  of  Isly.  He  became  major 
in  1846,  and  colonel  in  1853.  During  the  Russian 
war  he  served  in  the  Crimea  as  aide-de-camp  to 
Marshal  St.  Arnaud,  gaining  by  his  gallant  conduct 
at  the  siege  of  Sebastopol  the  commander's  cross 
of  the  Legion  of  Honour.  After  the  Marshal's 
death  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  general,  and 
commanded  a  brigade  of  infantry  until  the  end  of 
the  war.  During  the  Italian  campaign  of  1859, 
which  ended  with  the  victory  of  Solferino,  he 
served  with  distinction  in  command  of  a  division. 
In  1861  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  grand 
officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  having  then  been 
in  the  army  twenty-five  years,  and  served  in 
eighteen  campaigns,  in  one  of  which  he  was 
wounded.  General  Trochu  was  also  elected  a 
member  of  the  consulting  committee  of  the  Etat 
Major,  and  chosen  in  the  place  of  his  father  a 
member  of  the  Conseil  General  of  Morbihan,  in 
the  canton  of  Belle  Isle.  In  1866  he  helped 
greatly  in  the  reorganization  of  the  army,  and  in 
the  following  year  published  anonymously  a  book 
entitled  "  The  French  Army  in  1867,"  which 
passed  through  ten  editions  in  six  months.  In  it 
he  severely  criticized  the  organization  of  the  army, 
and  especially  the  changes  introduced  into  it  under 


the  empire,  which  tended  to  render  the  soldiery 
a  caste,  severed  in  interest  and  feeling  from  their 
civilian  countrymen.  He  maintained  that  its 
manoeuvres  were  antiquated,  its  organization  very 
imperfect,  and  "  that  the  main  secret  of  success 
in  every  war  was  to  be  more  completely  prepared 
for  action  than  the  enemy;"  a  theory  strikingly 
exemplified  in  the  Prusso-Austrian  war  of  1866, 
and  still  further  verified  by  the  French  reverses 
during  the  late  conflict. 

General  Trochu's  appointment  as  governor  oi 
Paris  was  mainly  owing  to  the  acknowledged 
merits  of  this  treatise ;  and  so  highly  were  his 
qualifications  valued  by  the  community,  that  it 
was  only  by  promptly  installing  him  in  the  office 
the  government  prevented  a  proposition  in  the 
Corps  Legislatif  to  place  him  in  it.  Count  de 
Palikao,  however,  in  announcing  the  appoint- 
ment, was  careful  to  state  that  it  had  no  political 
signification.  On  the  morning  following  his 
appointment  the  general  issued  the  subjoined  pro- 
clamation : — 

"  Inhabitants  of  Paris, —  In  the  present  peril  of 
the  country  I  am  appointed  governor  of  Paris  and 
commander-in-chief  of  the  forces  charged  with 
defending  the  capital  in  a  state  of  siege.  Paris 
assumes  the  role  which  belongs  to  her,  and  desires 
to  be  the  centre  of  great  efforts,  of  great  sacrifices, 
of  great  examples.  I  associate  myself  with  it  with 
all  my  heart.  It  will  be  the  pride  of  my  life  and 
the  brilliant  crowning  of  a  career  till  now  unknown 
to  the  most  of  you.  I  have  the  most  implicit  faith 
in  the  success  of  our  glorious  enterprise,  but  it  is 
on  one  condition,  the  nature  of  which  is  absolute, 
imperative,  and  without  which  our  united  efforts 
will  be  powerless.  I  mean  good  order ;  and  I 
understand  by  that  not  only  calmness  in  the 
street,  but  in-doors,  calmness  of  mind,  deference 
for  the  orders  of  the  responsible  authority,  resig- 
nation under  those  experiences  which  are  insep- 
arable from  the  situation,  and,  finally,  that  grave 
and  collected  serenity  of  a  great  military  nation 
which  takes  in  hand,  with  a  firm  resolution,  under 
solemn  circumstances,  the  conduct  of  its  destinies. 
I  will  not  refer,  in  order  to  secure  to  the  situation 
that  equilibrium  which  is  so  desirable,  to  the  state 
of  siege  and  of  the  law.  I  will  demand  it  from 
your  patriotism,  I  shall  obtain  it  from  your  confi- 
dence, while  I  myself  repose  unbounded  confidence 
in  you.     I  appeal  to  men  of  all  parties,  belonging 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


myself,  as  is  known  in  the  army,  to  no  other  party 
than  that  of  the  country.  I  appeal  to  their  devo- 
tion ;  I  entreat  them  to  restrain  by  moral  authority 
those  ardent  spirits  who  cannot  restrain  themselves, 
and  to  do  justice  by  their  own  hands  on  those  men 
who  are  of  no  party,  and  who  perceive  in  our  public 
misfortunes  only  the  opportunity  of  satisfying 
detestable  desires  (appetits).  And  in  order  to 
accomplish  my  work — after  which,  I  assure  you,  I 
shall  retire  into  the  obscurity  from  which  I  emerge 
— I  adopt  one  of  the  old  mottoes  of  my  native 
province  of  Brittany,  '  With  God's  help,  for  the 
country'  (' Avec  l'aide  de  Dieu,  pour  la  patrie'). 

"  GENEEAL  TKOCHU." 

This  proclamation  was  greatly  approved  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Paris,  and  favourably  commented  on 
by  journals  of  nearly  every  shade,  especially  for 
its  patriotic  spirit,  firmness,  and  modesty.  In  rela- 
tion to  that  part  of  it  which  speaks  of  summary 
justice  being  done  by  the  people,  the  general  sub- 
sequently explained  as  follows: — "  A  time  may 
come  when  Paris,  threatened  at  all  points,  and 
subjected  to  all  the  hardships  of  a  siege,  will  be, 
so  to  speak,  given  over  to  that  particular  class  of 
rascals  (gredins)  who  in  public  misfortunes  only 
see  an  opportunity  for  satisfying  their  detestable 
appetites.  These  are  the  men,  as  you  know,  who 
run  through  the  affrighted  town,  crying  out,  '  We 
are  betrayed ! '  who  break  into  houses  and  plunder 
them.  These  are  the  men  whom  I  told  all  honest 
folk  to  lay  hold  of  in  the  absence  of  the  public 
force,  which  will  be  required  on  the  ramparts. 
That  was  what  I  meant."  It  is  noticeable  that 
General  Trochu  simply  announced  his  appoint- 
ment, without  indicating  the  authority  whence  it 
emanated.* 

These  proceedings,  coupled  with  declarations 
by  M.  Thiers  as  to  the  capacity  of  the  fortifica- 
tions of  the  capital  to  withstand  a  siege,  somewhat 
cheered  the  spirits  of  the  Parisians.  At  the  sitting  of 
the  Corps  Legislatif  he  (M.  Thiers)  also  expressed 
a  hope  that,  in  case  of  necessity,  Paris  would  be 
able  to  offer  an  invincible  resistance  to  the  Ger- 
mans. With  a  view  to  this,  and  in  order  to  secure 
abundance  in  the  capital,  he  suggested  that  a 
waste  should  be  made  around  it,  and  that  the 
inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  country,  with  all 
their  produce,  should  take  refuge  in  it. 

As  regards  the  communication  of  news  from  the 

*  See  note  at  the  end  of  Chapter. 


front,  the  government  fell  into  the  error  of  their 
predecessors.  The  truth  respecting  the  battles 
around  Metz  on  the  14th,  16th,  and  18th  of 
August,  which  led  to  the  investment  of  Marshal 
Bazaine  and  his  entire  army  within  the  lines  of 
the  "  maiden "  fortress,  was  uniformly  withheld 
from  the  people.  The  minister  of  War  spoke  of 
the  affair  of  the  14th  as  a  brilliant  combat,  in 
which  the  enemy  had  sustained  severe  losses ; 
but  refused  to  give  any  details  of  the  engage- 
ment. A  despatch  subsequently  published  inti- 
mated that  the  French  had  been  able  to  carry 
their  wounded  into  Metz;  that  the  Prussians 
were  compelled  to  retire  to  their  former  lines; 
that  they  had  been  repeatedly  repulsed  in  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  carry  the  French  posi- 
tion; and  that  Bazaine  had  rejoined  MacMahon, 
with  the  prospect  of  a  decisive  victory. 

In  published  despatches  it  was  also  announced 
that  in  the  battle  of  the  16th  Marshal  Bazaine  had 
repulsed  the  German  army,  had  everywhere  main- 
tained his  ground,  and  that  his  troops  had  passed 
the  night  in  the  position  they  had  conquered. 
The  place,  however,  whence  the  latter  announce- 
ment had  been  issued  was  not  mentioned;  and 
although  the  despatch  had  been  sent  on  the  night 
of  the  16th,  it  was  not  published  in  Paris  till  the 
18th.  The  actual  state  of  affairs  was  subsequently 
learned  from  German  despatches  published  in  the 
English  newspapers.  No  information  was  com- 
municated respecting  the  hard-fought  battle  of 
Gravelotte  on  the  18th,  but  the  Parisians  were 
firmly  persuaded  that  a  great  victory  had  been 
obtained;  and  on  Friday  (19th)  the  Boulevards 
were  crowded  with  enthusiastic  multitudes  singing 
the  Marseillaise  and  shouting  "Vive  la  France!" 
"  Vive  Bazaine ! "     "  Vive  l'Armee ! " 

In  the  Chamber,  on  Saturday,  August  20,  al- 
though no  despatch  was  produced  from  Bazaine, 
Count  Palikao  made  the  following  communica- 
tion : — "  The  Prussians  have  circulated  the  report 
that  they  gained  advantages  over  our  troops  on 
the  18th.  I  wish  formally  to  state  the  contrary. 
I  have  shown  to  several  deputies  a  despatch,  from 
which  it  appears  that  three  Prussian  corps  united 
made  an  attack  upon  Marshal  Bazaine,  but  that 
they  were  repulsed  and  overthrown  into  the 
quarries  of  Jaumont  (culbutis  dans  les  carrieres 
de  Jaumont)."  The  minister  likewise  intimated 
that  Bismarck's  cuirassiers  had  been  cut  to 
pieces,    and    the    Prussian    troops   had    sustained 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


great  loss,  while  Bazaine's  position  secured  to 
him  entire  freedom  of  action.  These  statements 
were  at  the  time  loudly  cheered ;  but  subse- 
quently, pressed  by  the  Left,  Count  Palikao 
failed  to  substantiate  them.  Assailed  by  M. 
Gambetta,  he  said  that  a  premature  communica- 
tion of  good  news  from  the  seat  of  war  would 
imperil  the  success  of  the  commander's  plans;  but 
the  Opposition  contended  that  if  there  was  only 
bad  news  it  could  not  come  too  soon,  since,  until 
the  country  was  made  aware  of  the  worst,  it  would 
not  nerve  itself  for  the  sacrifices  to  which  it  would 
have  to  submit. 

It  was,  however,  well  understood  in  Paris  that 
the  success  of  Bazaine  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
meet  the  circumstances.  When  on  the  15th  Count 
Palikao  announced  in  the  Chamber  that  on  the 
13th  the  marshal  had  shaken  off  the  Germans,  and 
rejoined  MacMahon,  there  appeared  in  the  Paris 
journals  on  the  same  day  long  articles  showing 
the  critical  character  of  the  dangers  which  had 
been  surmounted,  and  congratulating  Bazaine  on 
his  safety.  Little  did  the  writers  know  that  the 
information  they  had  received  was  utterly  opposed 
to  the  facts;  and  it  was  but  indifferent  consolation 
they  subsequently  professed  to  find  in  believing 
that  their  favourite  general  had  failed  to  shake 
off  the  hold  of  the  German  strategists,  only  be- 
cause he  had  resolved  to  engage  the  enemy  with 
the  best  troops  of  France,  while  the  raw  levies 
were  being  drilled  into  efficiency  in  the  camp  at 
Chalons ! 

The  reticence  of  the  government,  combined 
with  the  flagrant  distortion  of  the  actual  facts,  had 
the  usual  damaging  effects.  The  inhabitants  of 
the  capital,  in  their  feverish  discontent,  encouraged 
the  fabrication  of  false  news.  Thus,  according 
to  the  Liberie',  on  the  18th  the  Prussians  were 
totally  defeated,  leaving  40,000  wounded  on  the 
battle-field,  and  had  to  demand  leave  to  send  them 
to  Germany  through  Belgium  and  Luxemburg. 
Imaginative  writers  also  described  "  the  terrific 
drama  of  the  Quarries  of  Jaumont,  near  Metz, 
where  20,000  Prussians  were  represented  to  have 
been  precipitated  into  an  abyss  with  vertical  sides 
and  a  depth  of  100  feet,  and  afterwards  buried  en 
masse  with  sand  by  Belgian  peasants  employed  at 
ten  francs  a  day,  while  groans  yet  issued  from  the 
mass  on  the  fourth  day  after  the  catastrophe,  a 
catastrophe  which  caused  many  French  soldiers 
who  witnessed  it  to  burst  into  tears."      On   the 


other  hand,  the  most  alarming  rumours  were 
current  that  the  French  army  had  been  utterly 
beaten  and  destroyed.  The  following  extract  from 
the  Centre  Gauche  (subsequently  suppressed)  shows 
the  feeling  of  the  extreme  opponents  of  the  govern- 
ment at  this  time: — "  How  absurd  are  the  organs 
which  boast  of  a  'victory.'  Is  it  victory  because  the 
emperor  just  escaped  being  made  prisoner?  Is 
it  victory  because  our  army  was  not  cut  in  two 
on  the  Moselle?  Is  it  victory  because,  after  four 
days'  fighting,  we  at  length  shook  off  an  enemy 
which  all  that  time  had  harassed  our  retreat?  If 
it  is  victory,  where  are  the  prisoners,  the  guns, 
and  the  flags  to  show  for  it?  If  the  Prussians 
should  take  the  emperor  prisoner,  let  them  keep 
him.  Not  a  particle  of  our  national  genius  or 
honour  will  go  with  him.  Let  his  wife  and  son 
share  with  him  the  carefully  prepared  luxuries  of 
an  opulent  exile.  At  all  events,  may  the  hand 
which  traced  the  proclamation  abandoning  Metz 
to  its  fate  draw  up  no  more  bulletins  of  the  grande 
armee  on  the  banks  of  the  Meuse.  May  such  sad 
comedies  be  spared  us  in  future.  He  is  already 
called  by  his  former  flatterers  in  the  Corps  Legis- 
latif,  His  Majesty  Invasion  III.,  and  it  is  notorious 
that  only  to  avoid  difficulties  while  the  enemy  is 
at  our  gates  his  deposition  is  postponed  for  a  short 
time  by  a  tacit  compromise." 

Added  to  the  restlessness  engendered  by  uncer- 
tainty, the  heart  of  Paris  was  further  saddened  by 
the  arrival  of  the  battered  remnants  of  cavalry 
regiments,  reduced  to  mere  handfuls  by  the  vicis- 
situdes of  the  campaign.  Weary,  footsore,  and 
wounded,  the  chargers  passed  along  the  thorough- 
fares ;  while  the  troopers,  thin  and  haggard,  looked 
like  men  who  had  fought  hard  and  fared  badly. 
Not  even  the  march  of  troops  still  in  course  of 
being  forwarded  to  the  front  could  now  awaken 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  Parisians,  and  regiment  after 
regiment  passed  through  the  streets  in  silence. 
Meantime,  many  of  the  rioters  at  La  Villette  were 
condemned;  "spies"  were  executed;  reports  were 
in  circulation  implicating  even  the  ladies  of  the 
palace,  and  the  mind  of  the  capital  was  agitated 
by  news  of  outrages  in  the  provinces.  An  outrage 
of  a  specially  frightful  character  was  perpetrated 
on  the  deputy  mayor  of  Beaussac.  Misinterpreting 
a  remark  made  by  the  unfortunate  gentleman  as 
favourable  to  the  Prussians,  a  mob  of  some  200 
ruffians  attacked  him  with  barbarous  ferocity,  and 
having  wounded  and  battered  his  person,  kindled  a 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


fire  in  the  market-place  of  Hautelaye,  and  literally 
burnt  him  alive. 

The  serious  turn  which  the  course  of  events  had 
taken  was  evidenced  by  the  following  decree,  pub- 
lished in  the  Journal  Officiel  of  the  21st  August, 
signed  by  the  empress  and  countersigned  by  the 
Count  de  Palikao: — 

"  Napoleon,  by  the  grace  of  God  and  the  national 
will,  emperor  of  the  French.  To  all  present  and 
to  come,  salutation.  We  have  decreed  and  do 
decree  as  follows  : — 1.  The  Defence  Committee  of 
the  fortifications  of  Paris  is  composed  of  general 
of  division  Trochu,  president ;  Marshal  Vaillant, 
Admiral  Rigault  de  Gcnouilly,  Baron  Jerome 
David,  minister  of  Public  Works,  general  of  divi- 
sion Baron  de  Chabaud  la  Tour,  Generals  Guiod, 
dAutemarre,  d'Erville,  and  Soumain.  2.  The 
Defence  Committee  is  invested  under  the  authority 
of  the  minister  of  War  with  the  powers  necessary 
for  carrying  out  the  decisions  at  which  it  may 
arrive.  3.  For  the  execution  of  such  decisions  our 
minister  of  War  will  attach  to  the  Defence  Com- 
mittee such  generals,  military  intendants,  and  other 
officers  as  may  be  required.  4.  The  Defence 
Committee  will  meet  every  day  at  the  War  Office. 
It  will  receive  a  daily  report  of  the  progress  of  the 
works  and  armaments,  the  stores  of  ammunition 
and  provisions.  5.  The  Committee  will  report  its 
proceedings  every  day  to  the  minister  of  War,  who 
in  turn  will  report  to  the  Council  of  Ministers. 
6.  Our  minister  of  War  is  charged  with  the  execu- 
tion of  this  decree.  Done  at  the  Palace  of  the 
Tuileries,  19th  of  August,  1870,  for  the  emperor, 
by  virtue  of  the  powers  intrusted  to  her. 

"EUGENIE." 

To  the  names  given  in  this  proclamation,  the 
Chambers,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  executive, 
subsequently  persisted  in  adding  others ;  and  three 
deputies,  MM.  Thiers,  De  Talhouet,  Dupuy  de 
Lome,  and  two  senators,  General  Mellinet  and  M. 
Behic,  were  placed  on  the  Committee  of  Defence. 

General  Trochu  also  issued  the  following  pro- 
clamation, which  was  published  in  the  same 
number  of  the  Official  Journal : — - 

"  To  the  national  guard,  the  national  garde 
mobile,  to  the  land  and  sea  troops  in  Paris,  and  to 
all  the  defenders  of  the  capital  in  a  state  of  siege. 
In  the  midst  of  events  of  the  utmost  gravity,  I 
have  been  appointed  the  governor  of  Paris  and 


commander-in-chief  of  the  forces  assembled  for  its 
defence.  The  honour  is  great,  but  for  me  equally 
so  is  the  danger.  Upon  you,  however,  I  rely  to 
restore  by  energetic  efforts  of  patriotism  the  for- 
tunes of  our  army,  should  Paris  be  exposed  to  the 
trials  of  a  siege.  Never  was  a  more  magnificent 
opportunity  presented  to  you,  to  prove  to  the  world 
that  a  long  course  of  prosperity  and  good  fortune 
has  in  no  degree  enervated  public  feeling  nor  the 
manhood  of  the  country.  You  have  before  you 
the  glorious  example  of  the  army  of  the  Rhine. 
They  have  fought  one  against  three  in  heroic 
struggles,  which  have  earned  the  admiration  of  the 
country,  and  have  inspired  it  with  gratitude.  It 
wears  now  mourning  for  those  who  have  died. 

"  Soldiers  of  the  Army  of  Paris.  My  whole  life 
has  been  spent  among  you  in  a  close  intimacy, 
from  which  I  now  derive  hope  and  strength.  I 
make  no  appeal  to  your  courage  and  your  con- 
stancy, which  are  well  known  to  me.  But  show 
by  your  obedience,  by  a  firm  discipline,  by  the 
dignity  of  your  conduct  and  behaviour,  that  you 
have  a  profound  sense  of  the  responsibilities  which 
devolve  upon  you.  Be  at  once  an  example  and  an 
encouragement  to  all.     The  governor  of  Paris, 

"  TROCHU." 

From  these  proceedings  on  the  part  of  the 
governing  authorities,  the  people  saw  clearly  the 
dangers  of  the  position.  Notwithstanding  the 
"  glorious  example  "  and  "  heroic  struggles  "  of 
the  army  of  the  Rhine,  the  facts  came  out  that 
Bazaine  was  shut  up  in  Metz  ;  that  the  camp  at 
Chalons  had  been  broken  up  and  evacuated;  and 
that  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia,  with  a  powerful 
army,  was  pursuing  the  southern  route  in  order 
to  attack  Paris.  The  attention  of  the  capital  was 
thus  centred  upon  the  fortifications  which  thirty 
years  before  had  been  constructed  by  the  ministry 
of  M.  Thiers — now  a  member  of  that  Committee 
of  Defence  whose  duty  it  was  to  place  those 
structures  on  a  war  footing. 

Before  proceeding  further  with  our  narrative, 
we  think  it  cannot  fail  to  be  interesting  if  we  here 
give  a  very  brief  sketch  of  the  sieges  of  Paris 
prior  to  that  of  1870—71,  and  a  short  historical 
and  general  description  of  the  fortifications  which 
proved  so  effective  during  its  investment  on  the 
present  occasion,  and  of  which  a  plan  is  annexed. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  first  mention  we 
have  of  Paris  in  history  is  connected   with   the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


record  of  an  investment.  Fifty  years  before  Christ 
it  was  a  stronghold  of  the  Gauls,  when  Labienus, 
the  most  able  of  Caesar's  generals,  marched  an  army 
against  it,  and  after  crossing  the  Seine  forced  the 
insurgents  to  evacuate  it,  after  Vercingetorix,  the 
chief  of  the  Gauls,  had  burned  what  there  was  of 
a  city.  Paris  was  originally  confined  to  an  island, 
formed  by  a  river  and  surrounded  by  inaccessible 
swamps.  After  the  Germans  conquered  France, 
Chlodwig,  the  leader  of  the  invading  tribe,  recon- 
structed ancient  Lutetia,  and  made  it  the  centre 
of  the  new  empire.  When  the  authority  of  his 
descendants  began  to  decline,  the  defence  of  Paris 
against  a  foreign  enemy  gave  a  prestige  to  one  of 
their  generals  that  enabled  him  to  usurp  the  throne 
of  the  decaying  dynasty.  Nearly  900  years  after 
Christ,  Charles  le  Gros,  a  degenerate  scion  of 
Charlemagne,  was  attacked  by  the  Normans.  A 
helpless  imbecile,  he  had  no  choice  but  to  make 
his  peace  with  the  predatory  bands.  On  the 
occasion  of  a  second  raid,  however,  Paris  gallantly 
held  out  for  a  whole  year  under  the  command  of 
Count  Otto,  one  of  the  king's  nobles.  By  this 
feat  of  arms  Otto  acquired  such  renown,  that 
on  Charles'  death,  in  888,  the  Frankish  nobility 
elected  him  king.  A  nephew  of  his,  Hugh  Capet, 
was  the  ancestor  of  the  Bourbons. 

Meantime,  the  German  conquerors  of  France, 
absorbed  by  the  subject  of  nationality,  had  quar- 
relled with  the  old  country  whence  they  had 
proceeded.  In  978,  when  the  German  emperor 
Otto  II.  was  celebrating  the  festival  of  St.  John  at 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  he  was  surprised  by  King  Lothaire 
of  France  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  30,000  men. 
Otto,  however,  crossed  the  frontier  on  the  1st  of 
October,  and  marched  straight  upon  Paris,  over- 
coming all  resistance  in  his  way.  Before  winter 
set  in  he  stood  at  the  foot  of  Montmartre,  and 
invested  the  city.  But  to  ward  off  the  hosts 
attempting  its  rescue  he  had  to  detail  a  portion  of 
his  army,  which  was  eventually  decimated  by  the 
cold  of  winter  and  disease.  He  was  ultimately 
obliged  to  withdraw  without  effecting  his  object, 
and  returned  the  way  by  which  he  came. 

The  strength  of  the  place  having  thus  been 
proved  by  experience,  King  Philip  Augustus,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  extended 
its  fortifications,  adding  several  hundred  towers  to 
the  walls.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth 
century  King  Charles  V.  surrounded  the  new 
suburbs  with  a  fresh  enceinte,  built  a  citadel  called 


the  Bastille,  and  constructed  a  fort  on  the  Isle  of 
St.  Louis.  Notwithstanding  these  new  defences, 
the  English,  after  the  battle  of  Agincourt,  1420, 
took  Paris.  The  Maid  of  Orleans,  attempting  to 
recapture  it  in  1429,  was  repulsed ;  but  seven 
years  later,  through  the  gallantry  of  Dunois,  the 
Batard  Royal,  the  English  were  obliged  to  eva- 
cuate it. 

King  Henry  IV.  was  the  next  to  assail  the 
devoted  capital.  As  he  was  a  Protestant,  it  would 
not  recognize  his  authority.  Having  defeated  the 
Catholic  League  at  Ivry,  17th  March,  1590,  he 
approached  the  city  by  forced  marches;  and  occu- 
pying Corbeil,  Lagny,  and  Creil,  cut  off  the  supply 
of  provisions,  then  chiefly  received  by  the  river. 
He  next  planted  his  guns  on  Montmartre,  and 
from  this  commanding  position  left  the  Parisians 
to  choose  between  starvation  and  bombardment : 
15,000  of  the  inhabitants  died  of  hunger  before 
negotiations  were  opened  with  the  king.  At  that 
very  moment,  however,  the  Spaniards,  who  assisted 
the  Catholic  League,  sent  General  Prince  Farnese 
with  a  large  army  from  Belgium  to  the  rescue. 
Henry  was  thus  compelled  to  raise  the  siege,  and 
only  entered  Paris  four  years  later,  when,  having 
embraced  Catholicism,  he  was  welcomed  with  the 
greatest  enthusiasm. 

The  power  of  France  rapidly  increasing,  Paris 
remained  more  than  200  years  unvisited  by  an 
invading  army.  In  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  the 
mere  idea  of  the  foreigner  venturing  into  the  heart 
of  the  country  had  come  to  appear  so  preposter- 
ous, as  to  lead  to  the  razing  of  the  fortifications. 
Louis  XV.,  in  1726,  again  encircled  the  city  with 
a  wall,  which,  however,  was  not  intended  for 
military  purposes ;  and  as  an  open  town  Paris 
passed  through  the  storms  of  the  Revolution. 

In  1814  the  allied  armies  appeared  in  front  of 
Paris  to  avenge  the  deeds  of  Napoleon  I.  At  that 
time  Joseph  Bonaparte  acted  as  regent,  and  a  few 
redoubts,  hastily  thrown  up,  were  all  the  impedi- 
ments in  the  way  of  the  enemy;  25,000  regulars 
under  Marmont  and  Mortier,  and  15,000  national 
guards,  with  150  guns,  formed  the  city  garrison. 
The  allied  sovereigns  arrived  on  the  evening  of 
the  29th  of  March  at  the  chateau  of  Bondy,  and 
resolved  to  attack  Paris  by  the  right  bank  of  the 
Seine.  They  planned  three  simultaneous  attacks. 
That  on  the  east,  under  Barclay  de  Tolly,  with 
50,000  men,  was  to  carry,  by  Passy  and  Pantin, 
the   plateau  of  Romainville;   that  on  the  south, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


under  the  Prince  Eoyal  of  Wiirtemburg,  with 
about  30,000  troops,  was  to  pour  through  the  wood 
of  Vincennes  on  the  barriers  of  Charonne  and  the 
Tr6ne ;  the  third  by  the  north,  in  the  plain  of  St. 
Denis,  was  to  be  headed  by  Blucher  himself,  and 
to  march  on  the  right  of  Montmartre,  Clichy,  and 
Etoile.  On  the  French  side,  Marmont  had  to 
scale  the  escarpments  of  Charonne  and  Montreuil, 
and  establish  himself  on  the  plateau  of  Romainville ; 
while  Mortier,  traversing  the  exterior  boulevard 
from  Charonne  to  Belleville,  and  descending  by 
Pantin,  La  Villette,  and  La  Chapelle,  to  the  plain 
of  St.  Penis,  established  his  right  wing  on  the 
canal  of  the  Ourcq,  his  left  at  Clignancourt,  at  the 
foot  of  Montmartre.  Marmont,  finding  the  Rus- 
sians in  possession  of  Romainville,  with  1200  men 
threw  himself  on  their  rear-guard  and  drove  them 
back  on  Pantin  and  Noisy.  Barclay  de  Tolly, 
vexed  at  his  repulse,  resolved  to  retake  Romain- 
ville, and  called  up  his  reserve.  General  Mezen- 
zoff,  who  had  been  repulsed  in  the  morning,  pushed 
forward  his  stubborn  grenadiers  and  won  the 
height.  The  Russian  cuirassiers,  driving  along 
the  plateau  of  Montreuil,  tried  to  charge  the 
retiring  French  infantry,  but  were  repelled. 
The  French  batteries,  served  by  mere  Poly- 
technique  lads  with  skill  and  devoted  courage, 
kept  up  a  most  determined  plunging  fire  with 
great  effect.  Ledru  des  Essart's  young  guard 
had  also  reconquered,  tree  by  tree,  the  wood  of 
Romainville,  and  thus  outflanked  the  Russian 
troops.  Marshal  Mortier  had  already  taken  up  his 
position  on  the  plain  of  St.  Denis.  On  the  north, 
Blucher  was  advancing  over  the  plain  of  St.  Denis. 
The  bulk  of  the  Prussian  infantry  advanced  to  the 
foot  of  Montmartre ;  General  York's  corps,  on  the 
left  of  the  allies,  moved  on  La  Chatelle;  and  the 
corps  of  Kleist  and  Woronzoff,  still  more  to  the 
left,  bore  down  on  La  Villette.  The  Prince  Royal 
of  Wiirtemburg  also  advancing,  and  carrying  the 
bridge  of  St.  Maur,  made  a  circuit  round  the 
forest  and  attacked  Charenton  by  the  right  bank. 
The  brave  national  guards  had  tried  to  defend  the 
bridge  at  Charenton  with  l'Ecole  d' Alport;  but 
finding  their  rear  in  danger,  they  abandoned  the 
position,  and  pushed  across  the  country  to  the 
left  of  the  Seine.  The  allied  forces  were  now  in 
line,  and  the  firing  commenced  in  one  broad  belt. 
To  the  north  Prince  Eugene  fell  on  Pantin  and 
Pres  St.  Gervais,  and  grappled  with  the  Boyer  de 
Rebeval  and  picked  divisions  of  the  young  guard. 


The  French,  driven  out,  rallied,  however,  at  the 
foot  of  the  height,  and  supported  by  well-posted 
artillery,  returned  to  renew  the  struggle  for  the 
unhappy  villages.  On  the  plateau  of  Romainville 
there  was  equally  hard  fighting,  but  the  French 
had  not  the  same  success.  Pressed  on  both  flanks, 
Marmont  struck  a  bold  blow  for  life  rather  than 
for  victory.  He  threw  himself  in  front  of  four 
battalions,  formed  in  column,  and  pushed  like  a 
battering-ram  straight  at  the  Russian  centre. 
Twelve  cannons  loaded  with  grape  gave  a  rude 
welcome  to  the  intruders,  Marmont  being  at  the 
same  moment  attacked  in  front  and  in  flank.  The 
four  French  columns  fell  back  after  a  furious 
hand-to-hand  fight.  Marmont  was  already  weighed 
down  by  his  assailants,  when  a  daring  officer, 
named  Ghesseler,  broke  from  a  wood  with  200 
men,  and  rushed  at  the  Russian  columns,  to  give 
time  to  Marmont  to  retreat  towards  Belleville. 
Bravely  as  they  had  resisted,  the  French  were 
everywhere  outnumbered;  and  along  the  line  from 
St.  Denis  to  the  Barriere  du  Trone,  the  allies, 
according  to  Thiers,  had  lost  already  10,000  men, 
the  French  C000.  The  allies,  however,  dreaded 
the  return  of  Napoleon,  and  the  blow  of  despair 
he  might  strike.  About  three  in  the  afternoon 
Brigadier  Paixhan  placed  heavy  guns  on  the 
declivity  of  Menilmontant  by  Belleville,  and  Chau- 
mont.  His  gunners  waited  with  stern  calmness 
for  the  masses  of  Russians  and  Germans,  whose 
front  ranks  were  mowed  down  by  the  relentless 
fire.  The  allies,  however,  pushed  on  and  attacked 
Marmont  in  the  rear;  who,  to  prevent  being 
cut  off,  collected  his  forces,  and  rushed  on  the 
Russian  grenadiers,  whom  he  broke  and  drove 
back  beyond  the  barrier,  and  then  resumed 
the  defence  at  the  octroi  wall.  Mortier,  in  the 
plain  of  St.  Denis,  was  also  in  an  all  but  hope- 
less condition,  though  he  still  kept  a  brave  front 
to  the  enemy.  The  divisions  at  La  Villette  were 
now  in  the  centre  of  a  mass  of  Russians  and  Ger- 
mans, when  Mortier  rushed  with  part  of  the  old 
cruard  down  on  La  Villette,  and  drove  out  the 
Prussian  guard  with  great  carnage.  But  fresh 
masses  poured  in,  and  drove  him  over  the  plain 
into  the  barriers  of  Paris.  The  heights  of  Mont- 
martre were  then  wrested  from  a  handful  of  sap- 
pers, and  subsequently  the  Clichy  barrier,  which 
the  national  guards,  under  Marshal  Moncey,  were 
bravely  defending.  As  M.  Thiers  says  eloquently, 
when  he  reaches  this  point  in  his  history:    "  Such 


THE  FKANCO-PKUSSIAN  WAE. 


was  the  termination  of  two  and  twenty  years  of 
victory.  The  triumphs  at  Milan,  Venice,  Rome, 
Naples,  Cairo,  Madrid,  Lisbon,  Vienna,  Dresden, 
Berlin,  Warsaw,  and  Moscow,  now  closed  dis- 
astrously before  the  walls  of  Paris."  Marmont, 
desirous  of  saving  the  city  from  ruin  and  blood- 
shed, sent  three  officers  to  Prince  Schwartzenberg 
to  propose  terms.  At  that  moment  General  Dejean 
arrived  in  breathless  haste,  to  announce  that  Na- 
poleon would  appear  within  two  days  with  600,000 
men,  and  that,  therefore,  the  enemy  must  be 
resisted  at  any  cost,  or  cajoled  by  a  sham  parley. 
But  it  was  too  late ;  the  imperial  star  was  waning, 
fortune  had  hidden  her  face.  The  allies  refused 
to  resume  negotiations  till  Paris  surrendered,  and 
hostilities  were  suspended.  The  marshals  con- 
sented to  save  Paris  by  evacuating  it  that  night, 
and  retiring  to  Fontainebleau.  Meanwhile,  Napo- 
leon was  flying  to  save  the  city,  but  at  Fromenteau 
he  met  General  Belliard,  and  heard  the  fatal  news 
that  struck  him  like  a  thunderbolt.  He  sat  down 
by  the  two  fountains  on  the  Juoisy  road,  hid 
his  face  in  his  hands,  and,  in  those  moments 
of  agony,  struck  out  a  great  plan  to  still  save 
France,  which,  however,  it  was  not  permitted  him 
to  accomplish.  On  March  31  Frederick  William 
III.  of  Prussia,  and  Alexander  I.  of  Russia,  made 
their  entry  into  the  city. 

The  following  year  witnessed  a  repetition  of  the 
feat.  On  the  2nd  of  July,  1815,  the  Prussians, 
under  Blucher,  took  Montrouge  and  Issy  by  storm, 
while  Wellington  forced  his  way  into  the  northern 
and  eastern  suburbs,  and  on  the  7th  the  English 
and  Prussian  guards  once  more  trod  the  Boulevards. 

Projects  for  fortifying  Paris  had  been  enter- 
tained from  the  Revolution  in  1789.  Since  the 
works  opposed  to  the  Allies  in  the  operations  above 
referred  to  had  utterly  failed,  Napoleon  I.  had  other 
plans  in  view  in  the  latter  years  of  his  reign,  and 
while  at  St.  Helena  ordered  a  memorial  of  his  in- 
tentions to  be  drawn  up.  After  the  revolution  of 
1830  the  project  was  again  revived,  and  in  1831 
the  works  were  commenced  by  Louis  Philippe ; 
but  on  the  return  of  peace,  after  the  siege  of 
Antwerp,  they  were  abandoned  for  a  second  time. 

It  was  reserved  for  M.  Thiers,  in  1840,  to  carry  out 
the  projects  to  their  fullest  extent.  Louis  Philippe 
had  made  up  his  mind  to  fortify  the  capital,  and 
with  his  council  and  generals  held  that  the  best 
system  of  defence  was  the  erection  of  several  fort- 
resses, built  in  front  and  around  it.     The  Opposi- 


tion in  the  Chamber,  on  the  other  hand,  contended 
that  the  only  way  to  fortify  the  city  efficiently  was 
to  build  a  rampart  all  round  it.  At  this  juncture 
the  duke  of  Orleans,  the  intelligent  but  unfortunate 
heir-apparent  to  the  throne,  proposed  a  new  pro- 
ject, combining  the  two  plans,  viz.,  to  have  Paris 
fortified  with  circular  ramparts  as  well  as  with 
detached  fortresses. 

The  opponents  of  the  scheme,  however,  declared 
that  the  notion  of  a  siege  or  of  an  assault  of  the 
capital  of  the  civilized  world,  with  its  public  monu- 
ments, its  riches,  and  its  population  of  near  two 
millions,  was  insensate.  How  could  whole  legions 
of  men  be  got  to  occupy  all  the  points  of  that  vast 
enceinte?  Even  if  they  could  be  got  together  it 
would,  with  the  city  blockaded,  and  the  enemy's 
flying  columns  devastating  the  country,  be  impos- 
sible to  feed  them,  not  to  speak  of  the  multitude 
of  refugees  from  the  surrounding  villages  and 
towns  who  would  be  forced  to  take  shelter  within 
its  walls.  Nor  would  it  be  possible  to  keep  in 
order  such  a  mass  of  human  beings  on  the  brink 
of  famine,  liable  to  frequent  panics  and  seditions, 
and  but  too  ready  to  impute  their  disasters  to 
treason.  If  Paris  was  to  be  defended  it  should 
be  at  the  frontier.  In  a  political  point  of  view,  a 
series  of  bastilles,  enveloping  in  a  circle  of  fire  the 
city  which  represents  the  whole  of  France,  would 
be  full  of  peril  to  liberty  and  the  free  institutions 
of  the  country.  The  idea  of  fortifying  Paris  was 
not  merely  an  illusion,  it  was  a  menace  and  a 
danger  ;  and  the  treasure  which  it  was  proposed 
to  lavish  on  it,  the  amount  of  which  could  not  be 
fixed  beforehand,  but  which,  in  any  case,  must  be 
enormous,  would  be  more  usefully  spent  in  mak- 
ing roads,  canals,  railways,  steamships,  &c. 

The  defenders  of  the  project,  which  was  sub- 
mitted to  a  committee  consisting  of  M.  Billault,. 
General  Bugeaud,  Matthieu  de  la  Redorte,  Allard, 
Liaderes,  General  Boguereau,  Bertin,  Odillon  Bar- 
rot,  and  Thiers,  contended  that,  far  from  exposing 
Paris  to  a  siege,  the  fortifications  would  for  ever- 
prevent  it.  The  capital  was  not  more  than  six 
days'  march  from  the  frontier,  and  the  centraliza- 
tion in  it  of  all  the  impulsive  forces  of  the  nation 
rendered  France  utterly  incapable  of  resistance 
were  Paris  taken.  When  it  was  entered  in  1814 
and  1815  all  France  surrendered.  Paris,  as  an 
open  city,  seemed  to  invite  the  enemy,  who  would 
be  anxious  only  to  hurry  on  and  strike  the  decisive 
blow.     Paris  fortified,  that  sort  of  war  would  be 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


impossible,  and  the  enemy  would  be  obliged  to 
employ  regular  tactics,  to  take  fortified  places,  and 
to  secure  his  communications  before  venturing 
to  approach  the  interior  of  France.  That  which 
without  fortifications  was  little  more  than  a  coup 
de  main,  would  become  with  fortifications  an  un- 
dertaking of  magnitude  and  hazard.  And  should 
Paris  be  besieged,  it  would  certainly  know  how 
to  defend  itself.  Valenciennes,  Lille,  Mayence, 
Dantzic,  Hamburg,  and  Strassburg  had  proved 
that  the  genius  of  Frenchmen  was  not  less  fitted 
for  sieges  than  for  battles.  It  was  likewise  asked 
how  Paris  could  be  fed.  The  question  should  be 
— How  an  army  that  besieged  Paris  could  be  fed? 
In  ordinary  times  the  capital  always  had  provisions 
for  five  weeks  at  least,  and  in  case  of  invasion  little 
effort  would  suffice  to  supply  it  for  two  months  ; 
and  where  was  the  army  of  200,000  or  300,000 
men  that  could  live  a  single  month  concentrated 
in  such  a  space  ?  Moreover,  how  could  Paris,  with 
fortifications  eighteen  leagues  in  circumference,  be 
blockaded?  The  besieging  army  should  extend 
on  a  front  of  twenty-two  leagues,  cut  up  stream 
and  down  stream  by  the  great  course  of  the  Seine ! 
The  attempt  would  be  madness.  A  good  deal 
had  been  said  about  terrorism,  panic,  want  of 
confidence,  &c.  To  this  it  was  replied  that 
before  the  first  line  of  outer  works  was  carried 
Paris  would  certainly  be  delivered — either  the 
army,  which  there  would  have  been  time  to 
reform,  or  the  want  of  supplies,  would  force  the 
enemy  to  retire.  Regarding  the  danger  to  liberty, 
where,  it  might  be  asked,  could  be  found  a 
tyrant  so  barbarous,  and  withal  so  stupid,  as  to 
fire  on  his  capital,  and  confound  in  his  wrath 
friends  and  foes?  With  respect  to  expense, 
even  exaggerating  all  the  calculations,  it  would 
scarcely  amount  to  160,000,000  francs;  and  what 
was  that  compared  to  the  2,000^000,000  francs 
which  two  invasions  cost  France? 

At  the  sitting  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  on  the 
1st  of  February,  1840,  the  bill  for  carrying  out  the 
fortifications,  which  had  been  amended  in  some 
matters  of  detail  and  completed  by  some  guarantees, 
was  again  presented,  and  passed  by  237  votes 
against  162.  Its  adoption  was  chiefly  owing  to 
the  Opposition,  who  were  the  majority  in  the 
committee,  and  had  named  the  reporter  who  sup- 
ported it  during  the  debate  with  remarkable  talent. 
M.  Odillon  Barrot,  then  the  leader  of  the  Left, 
defended  the  bill  in  the  tribune.       The  Radical  or 


Republican  Opposition  had  the  patriotism  to  abstain 
from  all  opposition  on  a  question  which  so  deeply 
concerned  the  defence  of  the  country.  They  not 
only  did  not  oppose,  but  combated  in  the  columns 
of  the  National,  then  their  principal  organ  under 
the  management  of  Armand  Marrast,  the  objections 
brought  forward  against  the  fortifications  ;  and  a 
speaker  of  the  extreme  Left,  M.  Arago,  in  a  speech 
which  attracted  much  attention,  defended  the 
system  of  the  enceinte  continuie.  Having  passed 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  it  was  carried  up  to  the 
Peers  on  the  11th  of  February,  when,  after  a 
discussion  which  lasted  six  weeks,  it  passed  by  a 
majority  of  147  against  85. 

M.  Thiers  and  his  cabinet  entered  heartily  into 
the  work,  and  the  duke  of  Orleans,  with  the  con- 
course of  officers  of  the  gink,  submitted  plans  of  the 
fortifications  to  a  full  council  of  the  ministers, 
which  were  ordered  to  be  executed  under  the 
direction  of  Marshal  Dode  de  la  Brunnerie. 

The  district  in  which  the  city  is  situated  is 
crossed  by  four  longitudinal  roads — 1.  From  Paris 
to  Strassburg  by  Meaux,  Chateau  Thierry,  Epernay . 
and  Chalons,  now  skirted  by  a  railway.  This  was 
the  route  taken  by  Blucher's  army  in  its  march  to 
Paris.  2.  From  Paris  to  Chalons  by  Meaux,  Ferte- 
sous-Jouarre,  Montmirail,  and  Champaubert.  This 
route  Blucher  took  in  his  first  march  in  1814,  when 
his  army  was  destroyed  by  Napoleon  in  the  battles 
of  Champaubert,  Montmirail,  Chateau  Thierry,  and 
Vauchamps.  3.  From  Paris  to  Vitry  by  Langwy, 
Coulommiers,  Ferte  Gaucher,  Sezanne,  and  Fere 
Champenoise.  The  allies  took  this  route  in  1815, 
in  their  last  march  on  Paris,  when  they  defeated  at 
Fere  Champenoise  and  Ferte  Gaucher  the  corps  oi 
Marmont  and  Mortier.  4.  From  Paris  to  Nogent- 
sur-Seine  by  Brie  Comte  Robert,  Mormans,  Nangis. 
and  Provins.  This  was  the  route  taken  by  Schwart- 
zenberg's  army  in  its  first  march  on  Paris,  when  it 
was  beaten  by  Napoleon  at  Mormans,  Nangis,  and 
Montereau.  These  four  roads  are  intersected  by 
four  cross-roads  : — 1 .  From  Chalons  to  Troyes  by 
Arcis.  2.  From  Epernay  to  Troyes  by  Vertus, 
Fere  Champenoise,  and  Plancy.  3.  From  Epernay 
to  Nogent  by  Montmirail  and  Sezanne. 

The  city,  placed  between  the  confluence  of  the 
Marne,  the  Oise,  and  the  Seine,  in  the  midst  of 
a  wide  plain,  is  divided  into  two  unequal  parts 
by  the  river,  from  200  feet  to  300  feet  in  breadth, 
which  runs  from  east  to  west,  forming  an  arc  of  a 
circle.     On  the  right  bank  of  the  Seine,  the  height 


10 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


of  which  is  about  80  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea,  rise  the  hills  of  Montmartre,  426  feet  high; 
of  Belleville,  311  feet;  of  Menilmontant,  and  of 
Charonne.  On  the  left  bank  are  the  heights  of 
Mont  Valerien,  495  feet ;  of  St.  Cloud,  306  feet ; 
of  Sevres,  Meudon,  and  Issy.  The  district  lying  to 
the  north  of  the  Seine  is  the  larger  and  lower  of 
the  two  ;  that  to  the  south  of  the  river  is  consider- 
ably higher.  Twenty-one  bridges  keep  up  the 
communications.  The  form  of  the  city  may  be 
compared  to  an  ellipse,  somewhat  flattened  on  the 
right  side,  the  longer  axis  of  which  is  about  nine 
miles.  According  to  the  census  of  1866,  Paris  had 
1,825,274  inhabitants,  and  90,000  houses.  The 
systematic  reconstruction  of  the  interior  of  the 
city,  which  Napoleon  III.  caused  to  be  executed  by 
the  eminent  prefect  of  the  Seine,  M.  Haussmann, 
completed  the  works  of  fortification.  These  form 
probably  the  most  complete  and  extensive  military 
engineering  works  ever  constructed.  As  will  be 
seen  from  the  accompanying  plan,  the  fortress 
consists  of  a  continuous  inclosure  (enceinte  con- 
tinude)  of  a  roughly  pentagonal  form,  embracing 
the  two  banks  of  the  Seine,  bastioned  and  terraced 
with  ten  metres  (about  33  English  feet)  of  escarp- 
ment faced  with  masonry.  The  general  plan  of 
the  enceinte  presents  94  angular  faces  (fronts),  each 
of  the  medium  length  of  355  metres  (about  1450 
feet),  connected  by  curtains,  with  a  continued  fosse 
or  line  of  wide  wet  ditches  in  front,  the  bottom  laid 
with  masonry,  of  the  medium  depth  of  six  metres  ; 
thence  to  the  top  of  the  parapets  of  earth  raised 
over  the  wall  is  a  height  of  14  metres  in  all,  or 
about  46  feet.  This  is  for  artillery,  &c,  and  forms 
entrenchments  for  the  defenders.  The  continuous 
outline  of  the  work  is  broken  by  V-shaped  projec- 
tions, the  two  sides  of  each  of  which  are  commanded 
by  a  flank  fire,  and  thus  every  part  of  the  front 
may  be  swept  by  the  guns  of  the  garrison.  At 
different  points  are  drawbridges,  magazines,  &c, 
and  several  military  roads  of  communication.  The 
distance  of  this  regular  zone  or  belt  from  the  irre- 
gular cutting  formed  by  the  octroi  wall  of  the  capi- 
tal varies  from  two-fifths  of  a  mile  to  nearly  two 
miles.  Taking  as  a  point  of  departure  the  western 
extremity  of  Bercy,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river, 
it  crosses  the  road  to  Charenton,  traverses  the 
avenues  of  St.  Maude  and  Vincennes,  goes  to  the 
south  end  of  Charonne,  behind  Pere  la  Chaise  to 
Belleville,  then  to  Romainville,  and,  crossing  the 
Poute  de  Flandre,  reaches  the  Pont  de  Flandre  at 


La  Villette.  Thence  passing  westward,  it  proceeds 
to  La  Chapelle  St.  Denis,  crosses  the  great  northern 
road,  leaves  Montmartre  to  the  left,  and  traversing 
various  routes,  &c,  passes  by  Clignancourt  to  Batig- 
nolles,  &c,  till  it  reaches  the  eastern  point  of  the 
park  at  Neuilly,  when  crossing  the  road  it  cuts  into 
the  upper  part  of  the  wood  of  Boulogne  and  ends 
at  Auteuil.  Resuming  the  line  on  the  opposite 
bank,  it  incloses  the  suburbs  of  Grenelle,  Vaugirard, 
cuts  the  line  of  the  Versailles  Railway,  leaves  Mont- 
rouge  outside,  passes  Gentilly,  traverses  the  plain 
of  Ivry,  and  crosses  the  line  of  the  Orleans  Rail- 
way before  arriving  at  its  limit  opposite  Bercy, 
on  the  left  bank.  The  entire  circle  of  inclosure 
comprises  a  length  of  35,914  yards  (upwards  of 
20  miles). 

In  their  outer  extent  the  ditches  are  of  consider- 
able width,  and  the  escarpment  is  lined  with  a  wall 
which  is  covered  by  the  glacis.  The  military  road 
inside  is  paved.  Near  to  this,  and  frequently 
parallel  to  it,  embracing  the  entire  series  of  forti- 
fications, is  the  line  which  joins  all  the  railways 
running  into  Paris  and  their  eight  termini.  Sixty- 
six  gates  are  pierced  in  the  fortifications.  On  the 
north  side  of  the  city  the  hill  of  Montmartre,  which, 
as  before  stated,  is  426  feet  high  and  318  feet 
broad,  forms  a  commanding  eminence  close  on 
the  boundary,  inaccessible  on  all  sides  except  that 
towards  the  town.  It  is  a  position  of  surpassing 
strength,  and,  if  well  defended  with  artillery, 
almost  impregnable.  Montmartre  is  separated  from 
Belleville  by  the  plain  of  St.  Denis.  These  three 
positions — the  plateau  of  Belleville,  460  feet  high, 
and  extending  from  984  feet  to  4920  feet  in 
breadth,  the  hill  of  Montmartre,  and  the  plain  of 
St.  Denis — form  the  natural  defences  of  Paris ;  and 
as  it  was  evident  in  the  late  campaign  that  the 
Prussians  had  determined  on  marching  on  the  city, 
these  positions,  especially  the  heights  of  Mont- 
martre, were  strengthened,  and  a  fine  battery  of 
naval  guns  established,  worked  by  a  detachment 
of  the  sailors  from  the  fleet. 

The  exterior  fortifications  {forts  detaches)  present 
sixty-one  fronts,  and  are  so  many  small  but  com- 
plete fortresses,  with  lodgings  for  at  least  500  men 
each,  and  dwellings  for  the  officers.  Adopting  the 
line  traced  in  the  preceding  description  of  the 
enceinte,  the  first  in  order  is  the  Fort  de  Charenton; 
2,  the  Fort  de  Nogent;  3,  the  Fort  de  Rosny;  4, 
the  Fort  de  Noisy;  5,  the  Fort  de  Romainville;  6, 
the  Fort  de  l'Est;  7  and  8,  Couronne  du  Nord  and 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


11 


Fort  de  la  Bridie,  one  on  either  side  of  St.  Denis ; 
9,  Fort  du  Mont  Valenen;  10,  Fort  de  Vanves; 
11,  Fort  dTssy;  12,.  Fort  de  Montrouge;  13,  Fort 
de  Bicetre;  and  14,  Fort  d'lvry. 

The  detached  forts  may  be  considered  in  three 
groups.  One  group  formed  the  north-east  line 
from  St.  Denis  to  the  north  of  Montmartre.  On 
the  left  of  St.  Denis,  close  to  the  railway  leading 
to  Enghien  and  Montmorency,  and  behind  the  con- 
fluence of  the  canal  of  St.  Denis,  with  the  Seine, 
is  the  fort  of  La  Briche,  covering  the  branch  of 
the  railway  to  Pontoise  to  the  north ;  on  the  other 
side  of  the  stream  of  Rouillon,  the  fort  of  La 
Double  Couronne  du  Nord,  containing  in  it  the 
crossing  of  the  principal  north,  north-eastern,  and 
north-western  roads;  and  on  the  south-east  the 
fort  de  l'Est,  a  regular  bastioned  square.  These 
three  points  are  united  by  ramparts  and  ditches 
which  can  be  readily  filled,  and  which  are  covered 
by  the  redoubt  of  Stains.  At  4400  paces  to  the 
south-east  of  Fort  de  l'Est  is  that  of  Aubervilliers, 
an  irregular  bastioned  pentagon.  Between  the  two 
passes  the  railway  to  Soissons,  and  behind  this 
line  the  canal  of  St.  Denis.  The  earth  which 
was  dug  out  of  the  canal  formed  before  it  a 
sort  of  parapet  fortified  by  three  redoubts.  At  a 
distance  of  4200  paces  from  the  other  side  of  the 
Canal  de  l'Ourcq  and  of  the  Strassburg  Bailway, 
on  the  continuation  of  the  height  of  Belleville 
by  Pantin,  stands  the  fort  of  Bomainville,  a  bas- 
tioned square,  1800  paces  from  the  principal  wall 
of  defence.  A  series  of  intrenchments  extends 
from  the  fort  towards  the  Canal  de  l'Ourcq,  while 
on  the  other  side  two  redoubts  defend  the  pass- 
age. Further  off  to  the  east  and  to  the  south, 
still  on  the  outer  side  of  the  same  line  of  hills,  and 
almost  in  a  line  parallel  to  the  railway  to  Mulhouse, 
the  works  of  the  fortifications,  which  are  united  by 
a  paved  road,  are  continued  at  about  equal  distances 
— the  forts  of  Noisy  (3500  paces),  Eosny  (3200 
paces),  and  Nogent  (3800).  There  ends  the  line 
of  hills  which  begins  near  Belleville,  and  descends 
by  a  steep  incline  towards  the  Marne.  Between 
the  above-named  forts  are  placed  at  short  intervals 
the  redoubts  of  Noisy,  Montreuil,  Boissiere,  and 
Fontenay.  The  Marne,  which  is  here  100  paces  in 
breadth,  forms  a  natural  defence,  fortified  also  by 
an  intrenchment  of  2800  feet  in  length,  consisting 
of  a  parapet  and  ditches  covering  the  isthmus  of 
Saint  Maur,  where  a  bridge  crosses  the  Marne.  The 
two  extremities  of  the  intrenchment  are  flanked  by 


the  redoubts  of  Faisanderie  and  Gravelle,  which 
the  railway  of  Vincennes  and  La-Varenne  passes. 
All  these  works  inclose  in  a  semicircle  the  castle  of 
Vincennes,  in  which  is  the  principal  arsenal  of 
Paris,  on  the  edge  of  the  great  field  for  manoeuvring 
artillery  close  to  the  Marne.  On  the  other  bank 
of  this  river,  in  the  triangle  formed  by  the  union 
of  the  Seine  and  the  Marne  near  Alfort,  on  the 
right  side  of  the  Lyons  Railway,  is  the  fort  of 
Charenton,  a  bastioned  pentagon  which  closes  the 
first  line  of  defence.  What  adds  to  its  strength  is 
that  the  enceinte  inclosed  by  the  fortifications  serves 
admirably  for  an  intrenched  camp,  in  which  200,000 
men  may  be  placed. 

The  next  group  of  detached  forts  form  the 
southern  line  of  exterior  defences.  Opposite  Fort 
Charenton,  at  a  distance  of  4000  paces,  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Seine,  begins  the  southern  line,  with 
the  fort  of  Ivry,  another  bastioned  pentagon,  which 
commands  the  neighbourhood.  In  a  straight  line, 
nearly  from  east  to  west,  the  forts  of  Bic&tre, 
covering  the  road  to  Fontainebleau,  Montrouge  (a 
bastioned  square),  Vanves  (an  irregular  bastioned 
quadrilateral),  and  Issy  (a  bastioned  pentagon), 
follow  at  equal  distances  of  about  3000  paces.  The 
last-named  rises  to  a  height  of  about  fifty  feet  above 
the  Seine,  which  here  leaves  the  city.  Between 
them  are  the  railways  of  Limours  and  Versailles. 

The  third  group  of  detached  forts  are  those  on 
the  western  side  of  Paris.  This  line  of  outside 
defence  is  naturally  very  easy,  for  the  Seine,  flow- 
ing in  the  direction  of  the  north  and  north-east, 
turns  towards  St.  Denis  by  St.  Cloud,  Boulogne, 
Surennes,  Puteaux,  Courbevoie,  Neuilly,  Asnieres, 
Clichy,  and  St.  Ouen,  places  on  the  banks  of  the 
river.  Between  it  and  the  town  is  the  celebrated 
Bois  de  Boulogne.  On  the  line  indicated  five 
bridges  cross  the  Seine;  and  near  the  station  at 
Asnieres,  on  the  left  bank,  the  railways  from 
Dieppe,  Normandy,  St.  Germain,  and  Versailles 
unite,  and  cross  the  river  by  a  common  bridge.  A 
single  fort,  but  the  largest  and  strongest  of  all — 
that  of  Mont  Val6ien,  a  large  bastioned  pentagon, 
situate  415  feet  above  the  Seine,  and  from  which 
there  is  a  magnificent  view  of  Paris — commands 
this  space.  A  paved  road  joins  Mont  Valerien 
with  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  by  the  bridge  of 
Surennes. 

The  distance  from  Fort  Mont  Valenen  to  the 
nearest  of  those  about  St.  Denis  is  nearly  seven 
miles,  and  from  the  fort  of  Issy  about  four  miles. 


12 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Consequently  at  this  point  there  was  a  great  gap 
in  the  system  of  defence ;  a  defect  met  by  the  con- 
struction of  extensive  works,  on  the  plan  organized 
for  the  defence  of  Sebastopol  by  General  Todleben, 
between  Mont  Valerien  and  the  sides  of  Meudon, 
at  Montretout,  which  commanded  the  valleys  of 
Sevres  and  Ville  d'Avray.  Tbe  extreme  diameter 
is  that  between  Mont  Valerien  and  the  Fort  de 
Nogent.  It  follows  exactly  the  parallel,  and  at  a 
distance  of  27,000  paces,  or  nearly  eleven  miles; 
while  in  the  southern  direction  the  greatest  dis- 
tance between  St.  Denis  and  the  fort  of  Bicetre  is 
20,000  paces,  or  eight  miles.  A  line  of  circum- 
ference joining  the  exterior  forts  would  be  twenty- 
six  miles,  or  twelve  and  a  half  hours'  march.  All 
the  exterior  forts  possess  bastions,  and  the  forts  of ' 
Noisy,  Rosny,  and  Nogent  have  hornworks.  The 
scarps  and  counterscarps  are  as  high  as  those  of  the 
fortifications  of  Paris ;  covered  ways,  with  trenches 
of  masonry  and  bomb-proof  powder  magazines,  are 
everywhere.  All  the  forts  communicate  by  tele- 
graph with  Paris,  and  with  each  other. 

To  place  the  fortifications  in  a  condition  for 
active  defence,  at  the  period  at  which  we  inter- 
rupted our  narrative,  in  order  to  give  the  preceding 
description  of  them,  12,000  "navvies"  worked 
day  and  night  to  cut  through  the  roads  and  carry 
the  fosse  completely  round  the  walls.  The  smaller 
gates  were  blocked  up  by  the  banks  of  earth  and 
strengthened  on  the  inside  by  palisades.  Dams 
were  constructed  across  the  Seine  by  which  the 
waters  could  be  forced  into  the  trenches.  Three 
gates  only,  those  of  Bercy,  Italy,  and  Orleans, 
were  left  open,  which  were  approached  by  draw- 
bridges and  defended  by  massive  outworks.  The 
trees  which  grew  upon  the  glacis  were  cut  down 
to  within  a  foot  or  two  of  the  ground,  and  the 
sharpened  stumps  left  standing  to  impede  the 
advance  of  a  storming  party.  On  every  bastion 
from  eight  to  ten  twelve-pounders  were  mounted 
to  the  number  of  about  1200,  and  the  outlying 
forts  were  armed  with  heavy  naval  breech-loaders, 
throwing  projectiles  of  great  weight,  and  served 
by  marine  artillerymen.  From  St.  Denis  to  Vin- 
cennes,  and  thence  to  Issy,  the  forts  are  so  close 
that  their  cross-fire  sweeps  the  intervening  space ; 
and  between  Issy  and  Mont  Valerien  to  St.  Denis,  as 
before  stated,  intermediate  works  were  constructed. 

These  detached  forts,  thus  placed  with  reference 
to  the  range  of  their  guns,  and  supporting  one 
another,  were  capable  of  filling  the  spaces  between 


them  as  with  a  hail  of  iron  or  a  wall  of  fire. 
Within  their  protection  an  army  could  manoeuvre 
with  freedom,  or  retreat  in  safety.  The  actual 
armaments  of  the  detached  forts — which  were  sub- 
sequently materially  strengthened  by  supplementary 
defences — were  approximately  as  follows  : — The 
southern  forts,  Issy,  Vanves,  Montrouge,  Bicetre, 
and  Ivry,  mounted  from  forty  to  seventy  guns 
each  ;  the  eastern  forts,  Charenton,  Nogent,  Noisy, 
Kosny,  Romainville,  and  Aubervilliers,  from  fifty 
to  seventy  ;  the  northern  forts  of  St.  Denis,  Forts 
de  l'Est,  du  Nord,  and  de  l'Ouest,  from  forty  to 
sixty  guns  ;  and  Mont  Valerien,  the  only  fort 
on  the  western  side  of  the  city,  was  armed  with 
about  eighty  cannon.  There  was  also  a  strong  field 
of  artillery  drawn  up  in  the  Champs  Elysees,  the 
Palais  de  l'lndustrie,  and  other  localities. 

Besides  upwards  of  2000  heavy  guns  mounted 
on  the  forts  and  ramparts  of  the  city,  and  manned 
by  18,000  sailors,  the  flower  of  the  French  navy, 
several  light  gun-boats  were  launched  upon  the 
Seine,  to  assist  in  the  defence  of  the  city,  placed 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Thomaset.  These 
small  vessels  were  very  broad  in  the  beam  in 
proportion  to  length,  being  iron-plated,  and  the 
decks  were  covered  with  iron.  Each  vessel  con- 
tained two  guns,  pointing  forward  in  a  fine  with 
the  keel,  with  a  slight  training  limit  to  each  side. 
Two  large  helms  with  double  screw  were  fixed, 
and  in  six  small  projections  on  each  side  the  fore- 
castle, covered  loop-holes  for  musketry. 

While,  however,  the  French  authorities  were 
putting  Paris  into  a  state  of  defence,  the  Germans 
had  the  most  minute  information  of  every  addition 
to  the  fortifications.  The  officers  were  furnished 
with  maps  of  France  more  complete  than  any 
which  the  French  possessed;  and  in  particular 
the  defences  of  the  capital  were  perhaps  not  better 
known  to  M.  Thiers  and  General  Trochu  than 
to  Count  von  Bismarck  and  General  von  Moltke. 

During  the  last  days  of  August,  as  the  situation 
grew  more  serious,  an  improved  tone  was  mani- 
fested by  the  inhabitants  of  the  capital.  General 
Trochu  likewise  showed  great  activity  in  the  organ- 
ization of  the  troops,  and  took  energetic  measures 
for  the  expulsion  of  German  residents  from  Paris. 
To  effect  this  the  following  decree  was  issued: 
—  "Article  1.  Every  person  not  a  naturalized 
Frenchman,  and  belonging  to  one  of  the  countries 
actually  at  war  with  France,  is  called  upon  to  quit 
Paris  and  the  department  of  the  Seine  within  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


13 


space  of  three  days,  and  to  leave  France  or  to 
withdraw  into  one  of  the  departments  situated 
beyond  the  Loire.  Article  2.  Every  foreigner 
coming  within  the  scope  of  the  preceding  injunc- 
tion who  shall  not  have  conformed  to  it,  and  shall 
not  have  obtained  a  special  permission  to  remain, 
emanating  from  the  governor  of  Paris,  shall  be 
arrested  and  handed  over  to  the  military  tribunals 
to  be  judged  according  to  law. 

"  The  Governor  of  Paris,  TROCHU." 

A  further  order  was  issued  to  rid  Paris  of  that 
loose  class  of  society  which  finds  its  opportunity 
in  times  of  national  trouble.  Accordingly  a  great 
number  of  arrests  were  made  from  the  disreputable 
dens  and  suspicious  cafes  of  the  city  ;  while  a  raid 
was  made  upon  the  ranks  of  the  courtesans,  whose 
language  and  gestures  after  arrest  were  a  public 
scandal.  Several  thousands  of  these  worse  than 
"  useless  mouths  "  were  conveyed  to  villages  out- 
side the  fortifications.  Most  of  the  theatres  were 
also  closed,  the  musicians  and  other  attendants 
joining  the  ranks  of  the  army.  There  was  more- 
over a  voluntary  exodus  of  the  well-to-do  classes, 
of  ladies  and  children,  and  of  foreigners  of  all 
nationalities,  who  hurried  to  the  railway  stations 
in  order  to  escape  from  the  city.  Side  by  side 
with  the  movement  outward,  thousands  of  farmers 
and  peasants  living  in  the  environs  flocked  in  with 
vehicles  crammed  with  furniture,  and  waggons 
laden  with  corn  and  flour  and  all  kinds  of  agricul- 
tural produce.  This  immigration  was  hastened  by 
the  action  of  the  government,  who  had  invited 
farmers  to  deposit  their  stores  in  the  municipal 
warehouses  free  of  all  charge,  and  threatened  that 
all  grain  remaining  outside  the  walls  would  be 
burnt,  to  prevent  it  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  Huge  droves  of  sheep  and  cattle  arrived 
from  the  provinces,  and  were  placed  in  the  beauti- 
ful grounds  of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  and  other 
open  spaces  ;  the  pens  covered  many  acres,  and  a 
market  was  rapidly  constructed.  The  preparations 
to  receive  the  invaders  were  made  with  a  ruthless 
hand.  The  handsome  entrance  gates  from  the 
Avenue  de  l'lmpdratrice  to  the  Bois  de  Boulogne 
gave  way  to  a  massive  bulwark  in  stone ;  the  line 
of  gilded  railings  at  La  Muette  was  replaced  by  a 
high  wall,  loopholed  for  musketry ;  and  the  woods 
upon  the  glacis  were  cut  down. 

The  danger  to  the  capital  effectually  roused  the 
nation.  Recruits  poured  into  the  various  depots  with 


great'  rapidity.  Regiment  after  regiment  passed 
through  Paris  for  the  protection  of  its  outer  defences ; 
masses  of  gardes  mobiles  were  drilled  at  the  camp  of 
St.  Maur,  and  thousands  volunteered  for  the  corps 
of  francs-tireurs  and  other  irregular  troops.  Many 
aged  men,  among  whom  were  Auber  the  composer, 
and  Carnot,  grandson  of  the  celebrated  military 
organizer  mentioned  in  Chapter  V.,  also  joined  the 
ranks.  Fortunately,  too,  although  composed  of 
most  discordant  elements,  the  various  bodies  of 
defenders  showed  great  confidence  in  the  character 
and  sagacity  of  the  governor. 

The  ministry  of  Count  Palikao,  while  displaying 
great  activity  in  raising  troops  to  meet  the  contin- 
gency, by  calling  out  all  old  soldiers  between 
twenty-five  and  thirty-five  years  of  age,  all  officers 
formerly  in  the  army  up  to  sixty,  and  all  able- 
bodied  generals  up  to  seventy,  also  put  fortli 
strenuous  efforts  to  obtain  the  necessary  military 
equipments.  Large  demands  were  made  upon 
foreign  markets,  and  much  satisfaction  was  felt  at 
the  discovery  of  300,000  Chassepots  which  were 
not  known  to  be  in  store.  The  patriotism  of  the 
people  at  this  juncture  was  strikingly  manifested 
in  the  readiness  with  which  they  replenished  the 
coffers  of  the  government.  On  the  21st  of  August 
a  decree  was  issued  announcing  a  new  loan  for  the 
sum  of  750,000,000  francs  (about  £30,000,000). 
The  subscription  opened  on  the  23rd,  and  on  the 
25th  the  Official  Journal  stated  that  more  than  the 
amount  had  been  received. 

The  proceedings  in  the  Corps  Legislatif  during 
this  period  of  intense  interest  to  the  Parisians, 
were  of  a  most  unsatisfactory  nature,  and  similar 
scenes  to  those  recorded  in  Chapter  IX.  were 
repeated  in  the  Chamber.  Great  difficulty  con- 
tinually arose  from  the  incapacity  of  the  Legis- 
lature. There  was,  however,  one  honourable 
exception.  M.  Thiers,  who  so  boldly  opposed  the 
declaration  of  hostilities,  and  was  reviled  by  the 
Chamber  for  doing  so,  forgot  past  slights,  and 
applied  himself  with  all  the  vigour  and  ardour 
of  youth  to  the  work  of  the  national  defence. 
His  appointment  by  the  government  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Defence  was  approved  by  acclamation 
of  the  Chamber;  and  a  few  words  of  his  address 
are  worthy  a  place  in  the  records  of  the  crisis. 
Although  his  voice  was  feeble,  there  was  some- 
thing peculiarly  impressive  in  the  tone  and  manner 
in  which  he  said: — "  Believe  me,  gentlemen,  that 
I  do  not  desire  at  this  moment  to  create  difficulties 


14 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


for  the  government  or  for  you,  for  they  would 
also  be  difficulties  for  the  country  itself;  but  I 
have  all  my  life  endeavoured  to  keep  my  conduct 
perfectly  clear,  not  in  the  eyes  of  blind  partisans, 
for  whom  nothing  is  clear,  but  with  just  and 
prudent  men.  And  I  cannot  consent  that  the 
slightest  cloud  of  doubt  should  rest  upon  the  act 
to  day  imposed  upon  me.  What  I  yesterday  was 
I  to-day  am;  I  do  but  bring  an  unofficial  and 
devoted  co-operation  to  the  common  work — un- 
fortunately a  very  inadequate  co-operation  ;  I  say 
it,  believe  me,  without  false  modesty  !  .  .  .  The 
efforts  of  everybody  are  inadequate  in  the  emer- 
gency in  which  we  find  ourselves.  I  ask  your 
pardon  for  these  details  and  beg  you  to  excuse 
them,  but  I  desire  that  my  conduct  and  my  life 
shall  be  for  my  country,  and  for  all  parties  what- 
soever, as  clear  as  daylight." 

Subsequently,  the  veteran  statesman  of  seventy- 
three  years  was  out  for  hours  before  breakfast, 
superintending  the  arming  of  the  fortifications, 
and  giving  the  benefit  of  his  suggestions  to  the 
officials  in  charge. 

But  during  this  period  the  more  resolute  party 
in  the  Chamber  was  gradually  gaining  the  upper 
hand,  although  the  fierce  onslaughts  of  the  Left, 
generally  headed  by  M.  Gambetta,  whose  impetu- 
osity was  most  remarkable,  were  pretended  to  be 
treated  either  with  threats  or  contempt ;  while 
General  Trochu,  whose  popularity  was  his  greai 
crime,  was  opposed  by  the  empress,  and  regarded 
with  ill-concealed  suspicion  by  the  cabinet,  as  ex- 
plained more  fully  in  the  note  at  the  end  of  the 
chapter.  Count  Palikao  stated  publicly  in  the 
Chamber  that  he  would  suffer  no  distribution  of 
arms  to  be  made  to  the  national  guard  by  "  one  of 
his  subordinates;"  and  a  disposition  was  even 
shown  by  some  members  of  the  Right  to  place  the 
general  at  the  bar  of  the  Chamber,  to  ask  explana- 
tions relative  to  his  proclamation  to  the  people 
and  the  army  of  Paris;  but  an  officer  so  valuable 
as  Trochu  could  not  be  sacrificed  thus  lightly. 
Ernest  Picard,  in  the  Electeur  Libre,  said,  "  We 
cannot  believe  the  position  of  General  Trochu  to 
be  seriously  menaced;  the  government  will  not 
brave  public  opinion;  if  it  has  any  doubt  as  to 
what  that  opinion  is,  let  it  go  to  the  next  review 
of  the  national  guard." 

It  was  soon  felt,  however,  that  it  was  no  time 
for  internal  discord,  and  on  the  26th  of  August 
M.  Chevreau  made  the  following  communication 


to  the  Corps  Legislatif: — "Messieurs, — The  army 
of  the  Crown  Prince  appeared  yesterday  and  the 
day  before  to  be  retreating,  but  it  is  now  march- 
ing onwards.  It  is  the  duty  of  government  to 
inform  the  Chamber,  France,  and  the  Parisian 
population  of  this  fact.  I  need  not  add  that  the 
Committee  of  Defence  is  taking  every  measure  for 
the  eventuality  of  a  siege.  The  utmost  reliance 
may  be  placed  on  the  energy  of  the  minister  of 
War  and  of  the  governor  of  Paris,  and  we  on  our 
part  believe  we  may  rely  on  the  valour  of  the 
Parisian  population." 

This  statement  drew  forth  a  spirited  reply 
signed  by  the  eighteen  mayors  of  the  capital: — 
"Monsieur  le  Ministre, — You  announced  to  the 
Corps  Legislatif  that  the  enemy  was  marching  on 
Paris.  The  citizens  of  our  arrondissements  are 
ready  for  every  sacrifice,  every  act  of  devotion  and 
courage.  They  will  receive'the  enemy  with  calm 
and  resolution.  The  inhabitants  of  Paris  will 
prove  to  the  whole  world  that  France  is  still  the 
grand  nation.  Let  the  enemy  come.  We  await 
him  with  arms  in  our  hands.  The  mayors  of  Paris 
will  be  in  the  front  rank  of  the  defenders  of  the 
country." 

Notwithstanding  the  gravity  of  the  situation,  the 
Bourse  held  firm,  and  the  greatest  activity  pre- 
vailed in  the  city.  The  Chamber,  too,  did  not  fail 
to  applaud  the  gallant  conduct  of  Strassburg,  which 
was  declared  to  have  "merited  well  of  the  country." 
A  firm  protest  was  also  entered  by  M.  Andre 
against  malevolent  aspersions  as  to  alleged  dealings 
of  the  Protestant  population  of  the  provinces  with 
the  enemy ;  certain  honourable  pastors  having 
been  pursued  with  the  cry  of  "A  bas  les  Prussiens." 
The  deputy  was  loudly  cheered,  and  the  good 
sense  of  the  Chamber  possibly  saved  the  country 
from  the  dangers  of  a  religious  war. 

The  opening  days  of  September  brought  news 
to  Paris  unfavourable  to  the  French  cause.  The 
contending  armies  were  closing  in.  Success  was 
already  attending  the  enemy's  operations;  and 
after  being  puffed  up  with  falsehoods  regarding 
the  exploits  of  their  army,  the  Parisians  were 
rudely  awakened  to  the  truth  that  their  two  greatest 
generals,  with  the  flower  of  their  troops,  had  been 
signally  defeated.  In  the  Corps  Legislatif,  on 
Saturday,  September  3,  Count  Palikao,  very  much 
depressed,  made  the  following  statement : — 

"  Messieurs  les  Deputes — I  have  promised  to  tell 
you  the  whole  truth,  and  I  am  now  here  to  keep 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


15 


my  promise,  painful  as  it  is  to  do  so.  The  news  I 
have  to  give  is  even  yet  not  official;  but  it  comes 
from  a  certain  source.  Marshal  Bazaine,  after  a 
great  engagement  and  some  advantages,  has  been 
obliged  to  fall  back  upon  Metz ;  but  he  may  perhaps 
yet  make  sorties.  There  is  the  first  bad  news. 
The  next  is  that  of  a  battle  fought  near  Mezieres 
by  Marshal  MacMahon.  There  was  a  long  series  of 
combats  attended  by  reverses  and  successes.  A 
part  of  the  Prussian  army  was  driven  into  the 
Meuse  ;  but  after  a  terrible  fight  our  army  was 
obliged  to  retreat  either  to  Mezieres  or  Sedan,  and 
a  few  took  refuge  in  Belgium.  There  is  other 
serious  news  in  circulation  about  another  battle 
fought  by  Marshal  MacMahon,  but  as  the  govern- 
ment has  no  official  news  it  cannot  give  details  for 
fear  of  being  accused  of  alarming  the  country. 
We  therefore  come  here  to-day  to  make  a  fresh 
appeal  to  the  whole  valid  force  of  the  nation. 
The  mobile  national  guard  is  organized  throughout 
France.  A  part  of  it  will  come  to  assist  in  the 
defence  of  Paris,  and  the  rest  will  be  sent  to  rein- 
force the  regular  army.  I  trust  that  France, 
responding  to  our  appeal,  will  enable  us  to  drive 
the  enemy  out  of  the  country." 

Thus  at  last  the  truth  was  told,  with  one  all- 
important  reservation,  that  of  the  surrender  of  the 
emperor  and  his  army.  The  statement  of  the 
minister,  however,  caused  great  agitation,  and 
M.  Jules  Favre  intimated  that  the  time  had  come 
for  the  de  facto  government  to  cease.  The  country 
must  henceforth  rely  on  itself.  Before  the  Chamber 
separated  a  resolution  was  passed  that  a  levy  en 
masse  of  the  nation  should  be  made  forthwith. 

The  development  of  the  crisis  illustrated  the  truth 
orCarlyle's  estimate  of  the  French  nature,  "so  full  of 
vehemence,  so  free  from  depth."  One  day  towards 
the  close  of  August,  a  large  black  cloud  hovering 
over  Paris  took  a  shape  which  was  thought  to 
betoken  victory,  and  the  crowds  on  the  boulevards 
eagerly  accepted  the  auspicious  omen;  on  the  3rd 
of  September,  when  the  news  of  defeat  began  to 
spread  among  the  citizens,  their  depressed  and 
despairing  attitude  was  saddening  to  witness;  next 
day,  when  the  news  was  received  of  the  crowning 
disaster  of  Sedan  and  the  capture  of  the  emperor, 
Parisians,  frantic  with  joy,  were  rushing  into  each 
others  arms,  and  shouting  and  singing  with  the 
glee  of  school-boys  set  free  for  a  holiday.  In  the 
cry  of  "Vive  la  Eepublique!"  they  forgot  the 
awful  peril  of  their  position ;  that  the  enemy  was 


steadily  advancing ;  that  the  flower  of  their  army 
had  been  cut  down  on  the  red  battle-field;  and 
that  the  effective  force  with  which  they  could 
oppose  the  victorious  Prussians  was  comparatively 
small  and  inefficient.  Enough  that  Paris  had 
effected  a  revolution,  and  was  delivered  from 
imperialism ! 

But  the  events  of  this  day,  September  4,  must 
form  the  first  subject  of  the  succeeding  chapter  of 
our  narrative. 

The  progress  of  events  which  led  to  the  collapse 
of  the  imperial  rigime  in  France  naturally  caused 
great  satisfaction  throughout  Germany.  The  open- 
ing victories  of  the  campaign  inspired  her  people 
with  confidence,  and  prepared  them  for  the  news 
of  further  successes.  Great  irritation,  however, 
was  felt  at  the  manner  in  which  their  opponents 
professed  to  regard  their  victories.  Even  the 
defeat  of  MacMahon  at  Woerth  and  Frossard 
at  Forbach  were  made  light  of,  and  the  Vosges 
mountains,  according  to  French  journalists,  were 
to  be  the  grave  of  the  Prussian  troops.  "  Two 
more  such  victories  as  they  had  won,  and  the 
German  army  would  cease  to  exist."  Such  state- 
ments, so  little  in  accordance  with  the  facts, 
incited  the  Germans  to  caricature  the  failure  of 
the  French  programme,  and  to  display  cartoons 
the  reverse  of  flattering,  especially  after  receipt 
of  the  news  that  Nancy,  the  chief  city  of  Lor- 
raine, had  capitulated  without  a  battle  in  its 
defence,  thus  placing  in  the  hands  of  the  Ger- 
mans the  direct  line  of  railway  between  Metz 
and  Paris. 

The  issue  of  the  hard-fought  battles  around 
Metz  produced  in  Germany  a  subdued  feeling  of 
exultation.  The  people  saw  the  importance  of  the 
advantage  obtained  by  their  commanders  in  isolat- 
ing Marshal  Bazaine  and  cutting  in  two  the  army 
of  the  Rhine;  but  they  had  hardly  the  heart  to 
exult  over  the  news  of  victory  so  dearly  purchased. 
As  the  king  had  written  to  his  queen  from  the 
battle-field  that  he  could  scarcely  bring  himself  to 
ask  after  his  acquaintances,  so  many  of  them  were 
dead  or  maimed,  the  joy  of  the  inhabitants  gene- 
rally was  sensibly  damped  by  the  same  cause. 
The  terrible  slaughter  of  the  16th  and  18th 
August  more  particularly  cast  a  gloom  over  the 
nation.  At  Berlin  the  people  received  the  news 
with  melancholy  thankfulness,  and  no  demonstra- 
tions were  made  in  the  streets.  But  in  the  absence 
of  outward  displays,  their  interest  in  the  sanguinary 


16 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


events  of  the  war  was  the  more  intense,  and  the 
wish  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  them  was  general. 
Although  the  German  army  was  not  composed  of 
mercenary  soldiers,  but  citizens  in  uniform,  the 
pith  and  flower  of  the  country,  who  were  being 
slaughtered  in  those  murderous  contests,  the  uni- 
versal cry  was  to  "  put  down  France,"  and  render 
it  impossible  for  her  again  to  indulge  in  "  military 
promenades "  at  the  expense  of  her  neighbours. 
In  fact,  though  shocked  at  the  frightful  bloodshed 
and  the  untold  miseries  it  entailed  upon  their 
families,  the  Germans  were  yet  firmly  determined 
to  crush  the  enemy  before  mentioning  terms. 

Germany  indeed  had  sad  experience  that  close 
upon  the  heels  of  victory  follows  the  ghastly 
shadow  of  suffering.  Into  the  larger  cities  of  the 
Fatherland,  after  the  sanguinary  battles  of  the 
middle  of  August,  poured  continuous  streams  of 
wounded  men,  many  with  the  impress  of  death 
upon  their  faces.  Train  after  train  brought  regi- 
ment upon  regiment  of  sufferers,  stretched  on  beds 
extemporized  to  receive  them  ;  all  the  surgeons 
available,  besides  many  strangers  and  foreign 
volunteers,  troops  of  sisters  of  charity,  and  bands 
of  girl  and  woman  nurses,  assiduously  sought  to 
relieve  the  sufferings  of  the  wounded,  and  friends 
and  enemies  were  treated  with  equal  kindness. 
Especially  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  war,  the 
Germans  displayed  great  general  philanthropy, 
and  their  kindness  to  the  individual  Frenchman 
was  beyond  all  praise.  That,  however,  which 
raised  their  indignation  was  the  employment  of 
the  Turcos,  who  even  when  wounded  bit  at  the 
very  fingers  which  tended  them,  and  actually 
attempted  to  outrage  the  sisters  of  charity.  For 
that  crime  ten  of  their  number  were  shot  off-hand 
at  Berlin  in  one  day.  "  Conceive,"  said  the  Ger- 
mans, "  these  men  masters  of  our  towns,  with  our 
wives  and  daughters  at  their  mercy  ;"  and  they 
became  the  more  embittered  against  the  French. 

A  sterner  feeling  was  also  enkindled  among 
many  by  the  lavish  attentions  bestowed  upon  the 
French  wounded  and  other  prisoners  by  German 
ladies.  In  the  Cologne  Gazette,  a  well-known  au- 
thoress (Fanny  Lewald)  reminded  them  that  such 
benevolent  proceedings  had  their  limits,  and,  ad- 
dressing the  women  of  Germany,  concluded  with 
the  following: — "  You  would  not  be  worthy  of 
the  German  men  who  are  standing  in  the  field 
lor  us  and  our  country  if  you  could  forget  but 
for  a  moment  who  are  the  authors  of  the  fearful 


misfortune  brought  upon  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  Germans,  if  you  could  forget  what  you  owe 
to  the  memory  of  our  fallen  heroes,  to  the 
anguish  of  the  mourners,  to  your  country,  to 
your  fellow- women,  and  to  your  own  dignity. 
We  should  not  forget  the  man  in  the  prisoner, 
the  wounded,  the  Frenchman;  but  we  should 
not,  and  will  not,  forget  that  he  is  at  this 
moment  our  enemy  and  the  enemy  of  our 
country.  Let  him  testify  on  his  return  that  we 
are  merciful  and  know  what  is  becoming,  and 
what  we  owe  to  ourselves.  Do  not  let  us  substan- 
tiate the  caricatures  with  which,  at  the  expense 
of  German  women,  French  vanity  and  immorality 
filled  the  soldiers  knapsacks  when  they  started." 
Indeed  the  hostile  feeling  towards  both  the 
French  government  and  people  was  manifestly 
deepening,  and  such  articles  as  the  following 
from  the  Staats  Anzeiger  found  a  hearty  response 
in  public  opinion: — 

"  Three  battles  have  been  fought  in  the  short 
space  of  time  between  the  14th  and  the  18th.  In 
each  of  them  the  main  army  of  the  French,  headed 
by  the  guards  and  commanded  by  its  most  able 
generals,  has  been  defeated.  Let  us  place  laurel 
wreaths  on  the  coffins  of  our  departed  brothers,  to 
whose  self-sacrifice  we  are  indebted  for  these  vic- 
tories ;  but  let  us  acknowledge  that  we  are  wit- 
nessing a  judgment  of  God  Almighty.  God  is 
punishing  a  people  which  obstinately  persists  in 
insolence  and  blindness  even  in  the  hour  of  trial, 
and  of  whose  moral  depravity  we  see  such  appal- 
ling proofs  before  us.  High  and  low  in  France 
behave  at  this  moment  with  equal  frivolity.  Lies 
are  incessantly  propagated  at  our  expense,  to  stir 
the  passions  of  the  populace  against  us.  A  hollow 
grandiloquence  appeals  in  vain  to  the  patriotism  of 
the  inhabitants.  Fanatic  party  divisions  interfere  ' 
with  all  real  devotion  to  the  country,  and  as  they 
cannot  vanquish  our  armies  they  presume  to  hate 
us  as  a  race,  and  to  injure,  oppress,  and  expel  the 
few  Germans  living  among  them.  The  infamies 
perpetrated  against  German  residents  in  France 
will  be  a  lasting  stain  upon  that  country.  In  the 
meantime,  our  sons  and  brothers  are  fighting  the 
good  fight  of  Germany.  Many  have  already  sealed 
with  their  blood  the  vow  they  took;  none  have 
given  way  before  the  enemy,  and  all  have  mani- 
fested that  spirit  of  moral  elevation  and  discipline, 
the  symbol  of  which  the  Prussian  colours  have 
ever  been.     We   celebrate  their  exploits,  and  we 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


17 


mourn  the  dead.  In  seeing  the  noblest  of  our 
race  taken  from  us  by  an  untimely  death  we  have 
one  consolation.  If  our  fathers  warded  off  the 
unjust  attacks  of  France  without  deriving  any 
permanent  benefit  from  their  efforts  it  will  not  be 
so  this  time.  We  shall  settle  accounts  with  this 
race,  so  eaten  up  with  arrogance  and  the  lust  of 
conquest,  which  has  threatened  and  endeavoured 
to  humiliate  us  for  centuries,  and  which  has  robbed 
Germany  of  some  of  her  finest  provinces.  The 
Lord,  who  has  helped  us  to  overcome  the  lying 
mendacity  and  frivolity  of  France,  will  not  permit 
our  victims  to  be  offered  up  in  vain.  He  will  bless 
our  aged  king,  and  accord  him  the  noble  privi- 
lege of  establishing  a  safe  and  durable  peace, 
guarded  by  our  united,  our  free,  upright,  and 
pious  Fatherland." 

A  still  more  notable  production  appeared  in  the 
official  Provincial  Correspondenz,  broadly  intimat- 
ing that  the  social  and  political  disorganization 
displayed  by  France  could  not  have  supervened  so 
soon  unless  her  people  had  been  morally  corrupt 
long  before.  After  noticing  her  arrogant  claims 
to  take  the  lead  in  European  affairs,  the  writer 
continued: — "  By  the  reviving  power  of  Germany 
this  overweening  superiority  of  one  state  is  at  last 
to  be  reduced  to  its  proper  limits.  ...  In  a 
state  of  perfect  intoxication  the  French  govern- 
ment and  people  entered  upon  the  war.  Events 
which  have  recently  occurred  could  not  but  arouse 
them  from  their  dreams.  Yet  the  same  giddiness, 
the  same  deficiency  in  moral  sense,  which  have 
conjured  up  the  evil,  are  noticeable  in  their  con- 
duct. .  .  .  What  has  surprised  us  most  is 
the  precipitation  with  which  extreme  measures 
are  adopted  by  the  ministry  and  sanctioned  by 
the  Chambers.  Steps  which  in  great  and  well- 
ordered  states  are,  as  a  rule,  only  resorted  to  in  the 
lust  extremity,  we  find  resolved  upon  after  a  few 
preliminary  disasters.  This  betrays  a  state  of  cor- 
ruption and  internal  rottenness  more  intense  and 
more  comprehensive  than  one  could  have  imagined 
to  exist.  Not  by  her  misfortunes  in  war,  but  by 
her  pitiable  self-despair,  France  has  forfeited  the 
prestige  she  so  long  regarded  as  her  due." 

Sentiments  similar  to  these  were  widely  dissemi- 
nated by  the  German  press,  and  contemporaneously 
an  article  appeared  in  the  Provincial  Correspondenz, 
headed  "  Germany's  wishes  with  regard  to  Alsace 
and  Lorraine,"  which  contained  the  following: — ■ 

"  These  provinces  which  were  torn  away  from 

VOL.    II. 


the  German  empire  have  become  France's  chief 
points  of  support  for  menacing  attacks  upon 
Germany.  How  should  it  be  possible,  after  the 
glorious  victories  of  the  German  army,  after  the 
re-conquest  of  two  old  German  provinces,  and 
after  the  heavy  and  costly  sacrifices  by  which  our 
triumph  has  been  gained  ;  how  should  it  be  pos- 
sible to  avoid  the  irresistible  conviction  that  the 
honour  and  the  safety  of  Germany  imperatively 
demand  the  removal  of  the  lasting  shame — a  Ger- 
man country  serving  as  a  starting  point  for  Ger- 
man enslavement?  The  European  powers,  true 
to  the  attitude  of  neutrality  which  they  have 
assumed,  will  not  arbitrarily  endeavour  to  arrest 
the  consequences  of  the  war,  so  long  as  no 
substantial  European  interest  is  injured  by  the 
conditions  of  the  treaty  of  peace.  The  German 
people,  however,  is  conscious  that  in  its  demand 
it  does  not  aim  at  any  preponderance  over  other 
nations  which  might  endanger  the  so-called  Euro- 
pean equilibrium,  but  that  it  seeks  only  a  firmly- 
established  peace,  which  it  intends  to  wring  for 
itself  and  for  other  nations  from  the  old  enemy  of 
the  peace  of  Europe." 

Large  public  meetings,  also,  were  held  in  Ger- 
many, protesting  against  foreign  interference,  and 
contending  that  the  mere  substitution  of  one  form 
of  government  for  another  in  France  would  not 
afford  the  necessary  guarantees  against  another 
war  of  aggression.  Since  1552,  it  was  said,  France, 
under  every  possible  form  of  government,  and  un- 
der the  control  of  the  most  opposite  parties,  had 
never  ceased  to  extend  her  territory  at  the  expense 
of  her  neighbours,  and  Germany  had  been  the 
principal  sufferer.  The  time  had  at  length  come 
when  the  Fatherland  must  cease  to  be  molested  by 
her,  and  secure  for  itself  a  long  period  of  peace. 
Alsace  and  Lorraine  must  again  form  an  integral 
portion  of  the  German  empire. 

This  resolve  on  the  part  of  the  Germans  was 
greatly  favoured  by  the  subsequent  course  of 
events ;  and  while  they  watched  with  intense 
interest  the  movements  of  the  combatants  on  the 
field,  many  of  the  well-informed  anticipated  to 
some  extent  the  gradual  closing  in  of  their  war- 
like hosts  upon  the  bewildered  and  disorganized 
French.  But  no  anticipations  could  have  come 
up  to  the  reality;  and  when,  early  on  Saturday, 
September  3,  a  telegram  proclaimed  the  astound- 
ing news  of  the  crowning  victory  at  Sedan  and  the 
surrender  of  the  French  army,  Berlin  immediately 
c 


18 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


gave  way  to  unwonted  jubilation.  Unter  den 
Linden  was  crowded,  and  everywhere  the  city 
became  alive  with  processions.  Flags  and  banners 
were  exhibited  in  endless  profusion,  and  wreaths 
and  streamers  covered  the  great  monument  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  and  every  other  public  situa- 
tion. The  veteran  Marshal  TVrangel  was  early  on 
his  way  to  the  palace  to  offer  his  congratulations  ; 
and  on  returning  to  his  residence  in  the  Pariser 
Platz  was  attended  by  an  enthusiastic  crowd,  who 
cheered  him  as  he  passed  the  sentries  at  his  gate, 
waved  flags  under  his  windows,  and  sang  "  Borus- 
sia."  These  jubilant  demonstrations  continued 
throughout  the  day,  and  were  followed  in  the 
evening  by  brilliant  illuminations  from  almost 
every  dwelling,  public  and  private ;  the  unusual 
glare  increased  by  torchlight  processions  and  dis- 
plays of  fireworks.  Similar  scenes  occurred  in 
every  corner  of  Germany.  In  all  the  larger  cities 
the  moment  the  capture  of  Xapoleon  and  his  army 
became  known,  the  population  rushed  into  the 
streets,  and  assembled  in  the  churches,  town-halls, 
and  other  places  of  public  resort.  Schools  and 
workshops,  and,  in  some  cases,  even  the  courts 
of  justice,  were  closed.  Everywhere  the  bells  were 
rung  and  royal  salutes  fired  in  honour  of  the  day. 


In  many  towns  meetings  were  improvised  on  the 
market-place ;  in  others,  a  regular  service  was 
celebrated  in  the  churches ;  and  rarely,  indeed, 
had  the  places  of  worship  been  so  filled  as  they 
were  on  that  Saturday  and  the  ensuing  Sunday. 
All  the  various  capitals  had  their  processions,  and 
forwarded  congratulatory  telegrams  to  the  king  of 
Prussia  and  the  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony.  Im- 
portant and  cordial  addresses  were  presented  to 
King  William  of  Prussia,  thanking  him  and  the 
army  for  their  achievements  in  the  field,  insisting 
upon  the  annexation  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  as 
the  only  means  of  securing  Germany  from  future 
attack,  and  recommending  the  immediate  reunion 
of  Northern  and  Southern  Germany.  Thus  the 
victors,  rejoicing  over  their  marvellous  successes 
in  the  field,  eagerly  sought,  at  the  same  time,  to 
possess  themselves  of  the  fruit  of  their  conquests. 
The  intelligence  of  the  emperor's  surrender 
created  a  profound  sensation  in  England  and 
throughout  all  the  nations  of  the  Continent,  while 
the  Atlantic  cables  flashed  the  news  across  the 
seas  to  the  Western  hemisphere.  East  and  west 
alike,  men  looked  on  in  surprise  and  bewilder- 
ment, exclaiming,  in  the  words  of  the  Jewish 
patriot,  "  How  are  the  mighty  fallen ! " 


NOTE. 

The  exact  circumstances  attending  General  Trochu's  appointment 
as  governor  of  Paris  were  neither  known  nor  understood  correctly  until 
he  himself  laid  them  before  the  National  Assembly  sitting  at  Versailles 
in  June,  1871,  and  in  the  course  of  his  statement  on  that  occasion 
considerable  light  was  thrown  upon  some  of  the  incidents  of  this  part 
of  our  narrative.  After  describing  the  causes  of  the  military  decadence 
of  France,  General  Trochu,  on  the  occasion  referred  to,  said  that  as 
early  as  the  commencement  of  August,  he,  being  the  only  general  iu 
Paris,  perceived  the  importance  of  the  capital  being  prepared  to  with- 
stand a  siege.  He  wrote  a  letter  to  the  emperor  to  that  effect,  warning 
him  that  all  other  events  were  secondary,  and  that  an  army  of  succour 
collected  before  Paris  was  the  only  resource  left.  The  general  also 
asked  for  the  recall  of  the  army  of  Marshal  Bazaine,  subsequently  to 
be  joined  by  that  of  Marshal  MacMahon,  which  was  unanimously 
approved  by  a  conference  of  generals,  but  political  considerations  pre- 
vented this  measure  from  being  carried  out.  This  support  failing,  the 
safety  of  Paris  was  thenceforth  seriously  compromised.  General  Trochu 
was  present  at  a  conference  held  on  the  17th  August  at  Chalons,  at  which 
the  emperor,  Marshal  MacMahon,  Prince  Napoleon,  and  several  other 
officers  were  present.  The  question  discussed  was  whether  the  emperor 
should  give  up  the  command  of  the  army  or  abdicate  altogether,  the 
•emperor  himself  being  desirous  of  resuming  the  reios  of  government. 
General  Trochu  accepted,  with  the  title  of  Governor  of  Paris,  the  task 
of  preparing  for  the  return  of  the  emperor,  on  the  express  condition 
that  the  army  of  Marshal  MacMahon  should  be  ordered  to  fall  back 
on  the  capital  to  act  as  an  army  of  succour.  The  appointment  was 
•couched  in  the  following  terms: — "  General  Trochu,  appointed  governor 
of  Paris  and  commander-in-chief,  will  immediately  start  for  Paris;  he 
will  precede  the  emperor  by  a  few  hours.  Marshal  MacMahon  will 
march  on  Paris  with  his  army."  The  general  also  received  the  follow- 
ing order: — "Camp  of  Chalons,  August  17,  1870.  Mon  cher  General, 
— I  appoint  you  governor  of  Paris  and  commander-in-chief  of  all  the 
forces  intrusted  with  the  defence  of  the  capital.     Immediately  on  my 


arrival  at  Paris  you  will  receive  communication  of  the  decree  officially 
conferring  these  functions  upon  you;  but  in  the  meanwhile  take  all  the 
measures  that  may  be  necessary  to  fulfil  your  mission.  Receive,  mon 
cher  general,  the  assurance  of  my  friendly  feelings — Napoleon."  The 
empress,  however,  distrustful  of  what  was  being  done,  formally  opposed 
the  return  of  the  emperor.  Count  Palikao,  too,  received  General  Trochu 
coldly ;  refused  to  allow  the  army  of  Marshal  Bazaine  to  come  to 
Paris ;  and  decided  to  send  all  disposable  reinforcements  to  Verdun 
and  Metz.  The  peculiar  fact,  too,  that  no  authority  was  given  by 
General  Trochu  for  his  appointment  was  also  fully  explained  in  his 
speech  before  the  National  Assembly,  to  which  we  are  referring.  On 
presenting  himself  to  the  empress  on  the  night  of  the  17th  of  August, 
General  Trochu  said,  "  I  have  brought  with  me  the  proclamation  in 
which  I  desire  to  make  known  to  the  population  that  I  have  been 
appointed  governor  and  commander-in-chief  during  the  siege.  That 
proclamation  begins  thus : — '  In  the  presence  of  the  peril  that  threatens 
the  country,  the  emperor  has  appointed  me  governor  of  the  capital  is  a 
a  state  of  siege.'  The  empress  here  interrupted  me.  '  General,  the 
emperor's  name  must  not  appear  in  a  proclamation  at  a  time  like  this.' 
1  But,  madam,  I  represent  the  emperor.  I  said  that  I  would  come 
here  to  defend  him.  I  cannot  address  the  population  of  Paris  without 
referring  to  the  emperor,  and  saying  that  it  is  by  his  orders  that  I 
have  undertaken  the  defence  of  the  capital.'  'No,  general,  believe 
me.  In  the  present  state  of  the  public  mind  there  would  be  serious 
objections  to  allow  this  reference  to  the  emperor.'  Thereupon  it  was 
struck  out."  Farther  on  in  this  remarkable  speech,  General  Trochu 
fully  confirmed  the  inharmonious  nature  of  his  relations  with  Count 
Palikao  and  the  empress.  In  their  views  of  the  situation  of  affairs  the 
governor  and  the  minister  strongly  disagreed,  and  General  Trochu  was 
regarded  with  a  distrust  which  was  shared  in  by  all  the  imperiiil 
authorities.  "  The  council  of  the  empress,"  continued  the  general, 
"  consisted  of  the  ministers  of  the  privy  council,  of  the  president  of" 
the  Corps  Le"gislatif,  and  of  the  president  of  the  Senate.  I  experienced 
at  its  hands  great  and  growing  distrust ;  my  loyalty,  my  sincerity  were 
insufficient  to  disarm  those  who  showed  me  so  plainly  their  feelings." 


E  M  E  B8  k  0 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


19 


III  fact,  for  some  days  the  general  was  virtually  relieved  from  his  com- 
mand, and  until  the  time  of  the  revolution  on  the  4th  of  September 
was  at  constant  variance  with  the  minister  of  War. 

To  this  defence  of  General  Trochu  before  the  National  Assembly, 
Count  Palikao  subsequently  replied  in  a  letter  to  the  president.  That 
document,  however,  essentially  confirmed  the  statement  of  General 
Trochu,  especially  as  to  the  unfortunate  relations  existing  between  him 
and  the  count.  The  latter  admits  that  the  general  conceived  that  the 
whole  war  should  be  reduced  to  the  defence  of  Paris,  with  MacMahon's 
army  hovering  at  a  distance  round  the  capital  till  it  gathered  strength 
to  come  to  the  rescue.  His  plan  was  laid  before  the  emperor's  council 
at  Chalons :  it  was  approved  and  intrusted  to  Trochu  himself  for  exe- 
cution. Trochu,  however,  found  himself,  on  arriving  at  Paris,  in  a 
subordinate  position.  His  scheme  clashed  with  the  views  of  the  War 
minister,  which  were  also  those  of  the  empress-regent  and  of  her 
cabinet,  who  held  at  that  moment  the  supreme  power.  Count  Palikao's 
own  plan  was  to  reinforce  MacMahon  at  Chalons,  so  as  to  enable  him 
to  defend  the  line  of  the  Marne,  and  even  to  recover  lost  ground  on  the 
Mease  and  the  Moselle,  eventually  advancing  to  the  release  of  Bazaine 
at  Metz.  In  pursuance  of  this  strategy,  both  Trochu  himself  and  the 
emperor's  council,  in  whose  name  he  spoke,  were  utterly  ignored.  By 
Palikao's  own  admission,  Trochu  was  "taught  his  place,"  "it  being 
the  habit  of  the  minister  never  to  discuss  with  his  subordinates  when 
he  had  orders  to  give  them."  The  most  serious  charge  made  by  Count  ' 
Palikao  against  General  Trochu  in  his  letter  was,  that  when  he  returned 
to  Paris  from  Chalons,  "  in  pursuance  with  the  order  which  he  com-  ' 
municated  to  the  Chamber,  he  brought  back  with  him  eighteen  batta-  | 
lions  of  the  Paris  mobiles  who  were  quartered  there."  "  We  all  know,"  I 
continued  Count  Palikao,  "  the  innate  gallantry  of  the  Parisians  under   i 


fire,  and  all  the  world  is  equally  aware  of  the  dangers  their  presence  in 
Paris  must  bring  about.  So  that,  instead  of  leaving  at  Chalons  these 
eighteen  battalions,  who,  at  a  given  moment,  might  have  performed 
prodigies  of  valour  and  decided  the  issue  ot  a  battle,  the  general  brought 
back  in  his  train  a  phalanx  of  revolutionists,  whose  presence  here  must 
further  complicate  our  trying  situation.  Several  of  these  battalions 
belonged  to  the  most  dangerous  quarters  of  the  town.  By  this  step  we 
were  deprived  of  so  many  men  against  the  enemy,  who  were  arrayed 
against  the  cause  of  order,  as  experience  proved  soon  after,  under  the 
very  eyes  of  General  Trochu."  Count  Palikao  also  intimated  that 
matters  were  rendered  still  worse  by  a  proclamation,  in  which  General 
Trochu  asserted  that  "the  mobiles  had  a  right  to  be  in  Paris,  and  to 
stay  there."  He  further  admitted  that  he  ceased  to  communicate  with 
the  general,  and  added,  "As  to  his  presence  at  the  Council  of  Ministers, 
he  was  summoned  to  attend  whenever  a  question  which  came  within 
his  province  was  to  be  discussed,  and  he  was  admitted  whenever  he 
wished  to  be  present.  But  I  must  frankly  confess  that  in  the  midst 
of  the  urgent  business  to  be  transacted  during  those  critical  times,  the 
length  of  the  speeches  which  the  general's  great  facility  of  elocution 
led  him  to  indulge  in  were  greatly  dreaded." 

It  is  thus  easy  to  perceive  that  some,  at  least,  of  the  misfortunes 
of  France  at  this  time  arose  as  much  from  a  conflict  of  opinion  as  from 
a  collision  of  authority.  The  division  was  not,  however,  only  between 
the  two  generals ;  it  was  also,  as  we  have  proved  in  a  previous  chapter, 
between  the  government  in  Paris,  presided  over  by  the  empress,  and 
the  government  in  the  field,  with  the  emperor  at  the  head  of  its  coun- 
cils. The  views  of  the  former  prevailed,  and  resulted  in  the  catastrophe 
of  Sedan,  involving  alike  the  ruin  of  the  regency,  of  the  empress,  and 
of  the  dynasty  of  Napoleon. 


CHAPTER      XVI. 


Overthrow  of  the  Second  Empire — General  Trochti  called  upon  to  assume  the  Government  of  the  Country — Midnight  Sitting  of  the  Corps 
Legislatif — M.  Jules  Favre  moves  that  the  Emperor  and  his  Dynasty  have  forfeited  all  Rights  conferred  by  the  Constitution — Government 
Proclamation  on  Sunday,  September  4,  admitting  the  Surrender  of  the  Emperor  and  his  Army — Its  effect  on  the  Parisians — The  National 
Guard  fraternize  with  the  People,  and  the  Gendarmerie  allow  them  to  proceed  to  the  Corps  Le'gislatif — The  Scene  inside  the  Chamber — 
The  National  Guard  replace  the  Soldiers  on  guard  outside— The  crowd  calls  for  the  immediate  Dethronement  of  the  Emperor  and  the 
Proclamation  of  a  Republic — The  National  Guards  and  the  Citizens  at  last  invade  the  Chamber — The  President  is  driven  from  the  Chair, 
the  decheance  voted  by  an  immense  majority,  and  the  New  Republic  established — The  Extraordinary  Scenes  in  the  City  on  the  News 
becoming  known — Public  Proclamation  of  the  Republic  by  M.  Gambetta — The  Palace  of  the  Tuileries  entered  by  the  Crowd,  and  everything 
connected  with  the  Imperial  regime  destroyed — Protest  of  a  Meeting  of  the  Deputies  against  the  Proceedings  in  the  Chamber — A  Pro- 
visional Government  formed  of  all  the  Members  for  Paris  except  M.  Thiers — The  Last  Sitting  of  the  Senate — The  Opinion  of  the  American 
Ambassador  on  the  Events — Biographical  Notice  of  M.  Jules  Favre,  the  new  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs — Flight  of  the  Empress  from 
Paris,  and  safe  arrival  in  England — Proclamation  of  the  new  Government  decreeing  the  Formation  of  the  Republic  and  granting  an 
Amnesty  for  all  Political  Offences — Important  Circular  by  M.  Jules  Favre,  blaming  the  Emperor  for  the  War  and  throwing  the  onus  of 
continuing  it  upon  the  King  of  Prussia,  but  asserting  that  the  French  will  cede  neither  u  An  Inch  of  their  Territory  nor  a  Stone  of  their 
Fortresses" — The  feeling  produced  by  the  Circular  in  France  and  abroad — The  Prospects  of  Peace  increasingly  doubtful — The  Military 
Spirit  throughout  the  Country  aroused — Disturbances  in  Lyons — Extraordinary  Proceedings — Excitement  in  Marseilles  and  other  towns — 
Re-appearance  of  the  Extreme  Section  of  the  Press — Magniloquent  Addresses  of  Victor  Hugo — Arrival  of  the  Orlean  Princes  in  Paris,  but 
their  offer  to  serve  the  Government  declined — Address  of  the  Comte  de  Chambord — Characteristic  Letter  from  Garibaldi — A  Constituent 
Assembly  to  be  called — Another  Important  Circular  by  M.  Favre — Unremitting  Exertions  to  Provision  and  Defend  the  City — Review  of 
the  whole  Armed  Force  in  Paris  by  General  Trochu,  and  subsequent  General  Order — Destruction  of  the  Bridges  leading  to  Paris,  and  of 
the  Woods  near  the  City — Removal  of  the  Government  to  Tours — Fruitless  Mission  of  M.  Thiers  to  the  different  European  Courts — The 
Financial  Position  of  Affairs — Recognition  of  the  Republic  by  the  United  States  of  America — Manifestation  of  Feeling  on  the  part  of  the 
Germans  in  America — Acknowledgment  of  the  Republic  by  Italy,  Switzerland,  Belgium,  Spain,  and  Portugal — Action  of  the  British 
Government  on  the  Subject — Meetings  of  the  Working  Classes  and  Deputation  to  the  Prime  Minister,  Mr.  Gladstone — Interesting  Letter  of 
M.  Guizot — Feeling  in  Germany  on  hearing  of  the  Proclamation  of  the  Republic,  and  of  its  prompt  recognition  by  the  United  States— 
The  action  of  England  treated  with  indifference — Impulse  given  to  the  cause  of  German  Unity  by  the  Events  of  the  War. 


The  news  of  the  French  disaster  at  Sedan  sealed 
the  fate  of  the  second  empire.  Scarcely  seven 
weeks  had  elapsed  since  the  declaration  of  hos- 
tilities was  made  with  a  "  light  heart "  by  the 
Ollivier  ministry.  During  that  time  the  capital  of 
France  had  been  deluded  with  false  reports  of 
successes.  Even  when  the  fact  of  the  crushing 
reverses  she  had  sustained  became  generally  known, 
the  people  still  clung  to  their  belief  in  the  invinci- 
bility of  their  army,  and  cast  the  blame  of  defeat, 
first  upon  the  cabinet,  which  crumbled  under  the 
heel  of  popular  displeasure,  and  subsequently  upon 
the  emperor  and  his  generals.  These  circum- 
stances paved  the  way  for  the  events  which  form 
the  subject  of  the  present  chapter. 

We  have  already  shown  that  in  the  Corps  Legis- 
latif on  Saturday  afternoon  (September  3)  Count  de 
Palikao  prepared  the  public  mind  for  the  reception 
of  the  disastrous  intelligence.  A  similar  statement 
was  made  in  the  Senate  by  Baron  Jerome  David. 
The  ministerial  statements  roused  public  indigna- 
tion, though  very  few  were  yet  aware  that  the  em- 
peror was  a  prisoner.  But  later  in  the  evening,  on 
the  publication  of  confused  reports  in  the  special 


editions  of  the  papers,  an  assemblage  of  about 
6000  persons  sent  a  deputation  to  General  Trochu, 
calling  upon  him  to  assume  the  government  of  the 
country.  He  replied  that  he  was  not  in  a  position 
to  respond  to  such  a  proposal,  but  would  do  his 
duty  in  defending  Paris.  This  answer  was  re- 
ceived with  shouts  of  "Abdication!"  "Abdica- 
tion!" Another  assemblage  of  about  10,000  per- 
sons sent  a  deputation  to  him  with  the  same  object, 
and  got  a  similar  reply,  which  was  followed 
by  cries  of  "Abdication!"  "France  for  ever!" 
"  Trochu  for  ever !"  The  Boulevards  were  densely 
crowded,  and  though  the  people  were  silent,  the 
approaches  to  the  Chamber  were  guarded  by  a 
strong  force  of  cavalry  and  infantry. 

While  the  Legislative  Body  were  still  in  session 
at  midnight  on  Saturday,  Count  de  Palikao  com- 
municated the  news  of  the  surrender  of  the  emperor 
and  the  capitulation  of  the  army,  and  asked  the 
Chamber  to  postpone  discussion  as  to  what  should 
next  be  done  till  the  following  day ;  but  M. 
Jules  Favre  rose  and  moved  that  the  emperor 
and  his  dynasty  should  be  declared  to  have  for- 
feited  all   rights   conferred    by   the   constitution. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


21 


He  also  demanded  the  appointment  of  a  Parlia- 
mentary committee  to  be  invested  with  powers  to 
govern  the  country  and  take  measures  for  expelling 
the  enemy  from  French  territory,  and  that,  in  the 
meantime,  General  Trochu  should  be  maintained 
in  his  post  as  governor  of  Paris.  This  proposal 
was  received  with  profound  silence,  broken  only 
by  a  protest  from  M.  Pinard.  The  Chamber 
thereupon  resolved  to  hold  a  sitting  at  noon  on 
the  following  day,  Sunday,  September  4. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  this  day  the  cabinet 
posted  the  following  proclamation,  which  was  also 
published  in  the  Journal  Officiel,  signed  by  the 
full  council  of  ministers: — "Frenchmen!  a  great 
misfortune  has  befallen  the  country.  After  the 
three  days  of  heroic  struggles  kept  up  by  the 
army  of  Marshal  MacMahon  against  300,000  ene- 
mies, 40,000  men  have  been  made  prisoners. 
General  Wimpffen,  who  had  taken  the  command 
of  the  army,  replacing  Marshal  MacMahon,  who 
was  grievously  wounded,  has  signed  a  capitulation. 
This  cruel  reverse  does  not  daunt  our  courage. 
Paris  is  now  in  a  state  of  defence.  The  military 
forces  of  the  country  are  being  organized.  Within 
a  few  days  a  new  army  will  be  under  the  walls  of 
Paris,  and  another  is  in  formation  on  the  banks 
of  the  Loire.  Your  patriotism,  your  concord,  your 
energy  will  save  France.  The  emperor  has  been 
made  prisoner  in  this  contest.  The  government 
co-operates  with  the  public  authorities,  and  is 
taking  all  measures  required  by  the  gravity  of 
these  events." 

By  this  intelligence  the  Parisians  seemed  for  a 
time  to  be  well-nigh  paralyzed.  The  streets  were 
deserted ;  the  shops  were  either  not  opened,  or  were 
closed  again  long  before  the  usual  hour.  The  faces 
of  the  few  stragglers  who  might  be  seen  reading 
the  ominous  placards,  were  expressive  of  doubt  and 
anxiety  as  to  what  might  be  their  effect.  Even  on 
the  principal  boulevards,  between  ten  and  eleven 
o'clock,  comparatively  few  persons  were  abroad. 
Everything  wore  that  look  of  silent  and  suppressed 
emotion  which  in  Paris  has  so  often  proved  the 
premonitory  signal  of  a  coming  explosion.  About 
eleven  o'clock,  however,  vast  bodies  of  men  ap- 
proached from  the  Boulevard  Montmartre,  all 
armed,  and  displaying  a  perfect  forest  of  bayonets. 
In  a  moment  the  whole  scene  on  the  boulevards 
changed.  The  trottoirs  suddenly  became  densely 
•rowded,  and  every  window  and  balcony  filled  with 
the  heads  of  eager  spectators.    The  column  proved 


to  be  national  guards,  and  though  in  every  sort  of 
attire,  they  marched  in  excellent  order,  with  each 
officer  in  his  place.  Loud  cries  of  "  La  de'che'ance ! 
La  decheance  !"  "Vive  la  France !"  and  "  Vive  la 
Republique  !  "  were  raised,  equally  by  the  national 
guards  and  the  people,  with  a  vehemence  and 
unanimity  which  left  no  doubt  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  movement  which  was  taking  place.  The  cry 
of  "  La  decheance "  especially  was  repeated  by 
the  national  guards ;  and  the  shout  of  "  Vive  la 
Republique  !"  was  universal.  An  order  had  been 
issued  by  General  Trochu  for  the  national  guards 
to  muster  in  force  around  the  Chamber,  and  they 
were  now  evidently  marching  from  all  points  of 
the  city  towards  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  which 
rapidly  filled  with  a  prodigious  multitude,  and 
glittered  with  thousands  of  bayonets.  The  number 
of  armed  men,  almost  all  of  whom  had  a  musket, 
was  appalling.  But  complete  unanimity  prevailed, 
and  in  the  satisfaction  of  putting  down  the  im- 
perial government  and  crying  "La  decheance,"  the 
news  of  the  morning — the  German  invaders,  the 
defeat,  indeed  every  other  fact  and  feeling — seemed 
to  be  forgotten.  There  was  an  entire  absence  of 
hostile  demonstration.  The  crowd  in  the  Place  de 
la  Concorde  continued  to  increase.  The  gates  of 
the  Tuileries  gardens  were  closed,  and  one  or  two 
soldiers  only  were  visible  inside  ;  but  the  imperial 
flag  still  floated  above  the  palace.  As  each  succes- 
sive battalion  of  the  national  guard  debouched  into 
the  Place,  it  was  hailed  with  deafening  shouts,  which 
were  answered  with  like  enthusiasm.  Often  the 
entire  battalion  raised  the  butt-ends  of  their  muskets 
in  the  air,  and  flourished  them  in  token  of  complete 
sympathy  with  the  crowd,  in  the  midst  of  which 
numbers  of  ladies  were  walking  about  without 
apprehension.  Every  now  and  then  the  multitude 
caught  up  the  refrain  of  the  Chant  du  Depart  or 
other  revolutionary  air,  and  sang  it  in  chorus  with 
inspiring  effect.  The  whole  scene  resembled  some 
immense  jubilation  or  Sunday  fete.  Civilians 
gathered  twigs  from  the  neighbouring  trees  and 
stuck  them  in  their  hats,  while  every  garde  national 
inserted  one  into  the  end  of  his  musket,  so  that 
the  entire  Place  soon  presented  a  display  of  green 
branches  instead  of  bayonets.  The  men  marched 
steadily  across  the  Place  and  up  to  the  Pont  de  la 
Concorde  in  front  of  the  Corps  Legislatif,  where 
a  slender  body  of  gendarmerie  h,  cheval  had  been 
drawn  up  across  the  entrance  to  the  bridge,  who 
had  received   orders    from  Count  de  Palikao    to 


22 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


"  do  their  duty,"  and  prevent  the  invasion  of  the 
Chamber.  When  the  head  of  the  column  came 
up,  the  officer  in  command  of  the  gendarmerie 
refused  to  let  it  pass,  and  the  national  guard  were 
brought  to  a  stand-still.  There  was  much  angry 
vociferating  by  the  crowd,  and  gesticulation  and 
remonstrance,  followed  by  menace,  on  the  part  of 
the  captains  of  the  citizen  troops.  The  gendarmerie, 
expecting  to  be  attacked,  drew  their  swords,  and 
so  frightened  the  spectators  as  to  send  them  to 
the  rear.  It  was  an  anxious  moment:  some  of  the 
horses,  pressed  by  the  crowd,  got  restive,  and  the 
officers,  mounted  and  foot,  found  it  difficult  to 
negotiate.  Suddenly  there  was  a  cheer  from  the 
spectators  ;  the  gendarmerie  opened  its  ranks,  and 
the  national  guards,  with  drums  beating  and 
colours  flying,  passed  on  to  the  bridge.  When 
half  across,  however,  another  obstacle  presented 
itself  in  the  shape  of  a  squadron  of  helmeted  troops 
belonging  to  the  municipal  guard.  The  civic 
troops,  uncertain  how  to  act,  halted  for  a  few 
minutes,  until  orders  were  sent  them  from  the 
Chamber  to  wheel  about,  and  on  the  steps  of  the 
Corps  Legislatif  some  fifty  deputies  were  immedi- 
ately observed,  who  uncovered  and  cheered.  There 
was  a  responsive  cheer  from  the  populace ;  again 
the  drums  of  the  national  guard  were  sounded, 
and  the  men  effected  the  passage  of  the  bridge 
without  bloodshed.  The  various  battalions  then 
took  possession  of  every  available  space  outside 
the  Chamber,  the  general  crowd  following  them 
unimpeded  across  the  bridge. 

Meanwhile,  a  noonday  sitting  was  being  held 
inside  the  Chamber,  and  before  the  other  proceed- 
ings commenced,  M.  de  Keratry  complained  of 
the  presence  of  a  great  body  of  regular  troops 
massed  about  the  Corps  Legislatif,  contrary  to 
the  orders  of  General  Trochu.  Count  de  Palikao 
then  brought  in  a  projet  de  hi  signed  by  the 
empress,  for  instituting  a  council  of  government 
and  national  defence,  to  consist  of  five  members 
elected  by  the  Legislative  Body,  himself  occupying 
the  post  of  lieutenant-general  of  the  council.  M. 
Jules  Favre  claimed  priority  for  his  motion  already 
proposed,  to  the  effect  that  the  emperor  and  his 
dynasty  had  forfeited  all  rights  conferred  on  them 
by  the  constitution.  M.  Thiers  also  brought  forward 
a  proposition,  signed  by  forty-five  members  of  the 
left  and  right  centres,  to  appoint  a  commission 
of  government  and  national  defence.  The  Cham- 
ber declared  urgency  for  all  the  three  propositions 


en  bloc,  and  they  were  collectively  referred  to  the 
bureaux  with  a  view  to  the  appointment  of  the 
commission.  The  sitting  was  then  suspended  for 
a  short  time,  during  which  the  crowd  penetrated 
into  the  Salles  des  Quatre  Colonnes  and  de  la 
Paix.  In  the  latter,  M.  Jules  Ferry,  mounting 
on  a  bench,  amid  cries  of  "  Vive  la  Rcpublique  !" 
"  Vive  Ferry ! "  informed  the  multitude  that  he 
had  given  Count  de  Palikao  his  word  that  the 
people  would  not  enter  the  hall  where  the  deputies 
of  the  Corps  Legislatif  deliberated.  M.  Ferry 
having  called  upon  the  national  guard  to  defend 
the  entry,  the  soldiers  on  guard  retired,  and  the 
crowd  continued  calling  for  the  dethronement, 
which,  they  urged,  ought  to  be  immediately  pro- 
claimed. M.  Ernest  Picard  then  addressed  them, 
saying  that  the  Chamber  was  about  to  pronounce 
on  this  very  question,  and  begged  them  to  wait 
patiently  the  decision  of  the  deputies,  which  could 
not  but  be  favourable  to  the  unanimous  demand 
of  the  people.  M.  Emmanuel  Arago  next  came 
forward,  observing  "  that  they  knew  for  what  the 
democratic  party  in  the  Chamber  had  combated, 
but  that  it  was  for  the  people  to  decide  who  should 
govern  them."  He  was  followed  by  the  president, 
M.  Schneider,  who  had  been  requested  by  several 
deputies  and  officers  of  the  national  guard  to 
speak.  He  had  always,  he  said,  been  devoted  to 
the  empire  and  his  country ;  and  he  begged  the 
crowd  to  allow  the  Chamber  to  deliberate  calmly, 
and  not  to  let  it  appear  that  their  representatives 
acted  under  popular  pressure.  "Before  all,"  said 
he,  "  we  must  save  France,"  which  produced  shouts 
of  "Yes,  yes!  Vive  la  Republique?"  Meanwhile, 
M.  Glais  Bizoin,  in  the  Salle  des  Quatre  Colonnes, 
called  on  the  people  in  the  name  of  liberty  not  to 
compromise  what  they  were  about  to  proclaim  ; 
and  M.  Ferry,  conducted  into  the  Salle  de  la  Paix 
by  several  national  guards,  was  invited  to  address 
the  assemblage  there.  "  Citizens,"  he  said,  "  I  do 
not  call  on  you  to  evacuate  the  Corps  Legislatif, 
but  be  calm  and  allow  us  to  deliberate."  M. 
Steenackers  followed  in  a  similar  strain  ;  but  the 
crowd  insisted  on  getting  into  the  "  Salle  des 
Seances, "  clamoured  about  the  members  to  be 
designated  to  form  a  provisional  government,  and 
a  paper,  on  which  was  written  the  names  of  seven 
deputies  of  the  Left,  was  hung  on  the  statue  of 
Minerva.  The  pillars  and  walls  were  also  covered 
with  demands  for  the  dethronement  of  the  emperor 
and  the  proclamation  of  the  republic,  which  were 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


23 


re  -  echoed  by  the  incessant  clamours  of  the 
crowd. 

Inside  the  Chamber  there  was  an  attempt  to 
get  through  business,  amid  cries  of  "  down  with 
Bonaparte."  M.  Gambetta  ascended  the  tribune, 
and  thrice  addressed  the  galleries  ;  while  groups 
of  citizens  and  national  guards  invaded  and  per- 
sistently kept  the  floor  of  the  Chamber.  Presi- 
dent Schneider  occupied  the  chair  for  the  last 
time,  and  addressed  a  few  words  to  the  Corps 
Legislatif,  represented  by  the  Left  and  a  few 
members  of  the  Right  who  had  timidly  taken 
their  seats.  Count  de  Palikao  shortly  appeared, 
but  M.  Brame  was  the  only  minister  who  faced 
the  storm.  In  spite  of  a  spirited  protest  by  M. 
Schneider  against  all  attempts  at  intimidation, 
there  arose  fierce  cries  for  the  republic,  the  Cham- 
ber was  again  invaded  by  a  fresh  rush  of  the  mob, 
the  benches  were  taken  by  storm,  and  the  presi- 
dent was  driven  from  his  chair.  In  the  midst  of 
this  scene  of  utter  confusion  the  new  republic  was 
born.  Numerous  slips  of  paper  were  passed  eagerly 
from  hand  to  hand,  containing  the  names  of  persons 
who  should  be  appointed  to  form  a  new  government, 
and  many  deputies  were  summoned,  all  of  them 
belonging  to  the  Left,  excepting  M.  Thiers.  M. 
Jules  Favre  then  gained  possession  of  the  tribune, 
and  proclaimed  the  downfall  of  the  Bonapartist 
dynasty,  backed  by  M.  Gambetta,  who  acted  as 
"reporter."  The  decliiance,  indeed,  had  been 
previously  voted  in  committee  by  the  immense 
majority  of  195  deputies  to  18. 

Outside  the  Chamber  it  was  immediately  known 
that  the  dicliiance  had  been  pronounced  and  the 
republic  proclaimed.  The  shout  which  arose  left 
no  doubt  as  to  the  opinion  of  those  present  upon 
what  had  been  done.  The  cry  of  "a  l'Hotel  de 
Ville!"  was  soon  after  raised,  and  the  whole  body 
of  national  guards  began  to  move  in  that  direction. 
On  their  way  they  removed  the  eagles  from  the 
flagstaffs,  and  the  frightened  householders  followed 
the  example,  throwing  them  amongst  the  crowd. 
Arrived  at  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  the  populace 
forced  the  sergents-de- ville  to  give  up  their  swords, 
which  were  immediately  broken,  and  the  fragments 
thrown  at  the  feet  of  the  statue  representing 
Strassburg,  which  had  been  crowned  with  flowers 
on  the  preceding  day. 

As  the  army  had  made  common  cause  with  the 
national  guards  there  was,  of  course,  no  fear  of 
armed  collisions.     The  scene  at  the  barracks  of  the 


Quai  d'Orsay  was  thus  graphically  depicted  by  an 
eye-witness,  and  was  a  specimen  of  what  took  place 
in  other  parts  of  the  capital  : — "  From  the  windows 
of  those  great  barracks,  formerly  peopled  with 
troops  every  man  of  whom  was  supposed  to  be 
ready  to  die  for  his  emperor,  I  saw  soldiers  smiling, 
waving  handkerchiefs,  and  responding  to  the  cries 
of  '  Long  live  the  Republic ! '  raised  by  gendarmes, 
cavalry,  soldiers  of  the  line,  national  guards,  and 
people,  below.  Well-dressed  ladies  in  open  car- 
riages shook  hands  with  private  soldiers  and  men 
in  blouses,  all  crying  '  Long  live  the  Republic ! ' 
Nay,  strangers  fell  on  each  others'  necks,  and  kissed 
each  other  with  '  effusion.'  In  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Pont  Neuf,  I  saw  people  on  tops  of  ladders 
busily  pulling  down  the  emperor's  busts.  I  saw 
the  busts  carried  in  mock  procession  to  the  parapet 
of  the  Pont  Neuf  and  thrown  into  the  Seine ; 
clapping  of  hands  and  hearty  laughter  greeting  the 
splash  which  the  graven  image  of  the  mighty  mon- 
arch made  in  the  water." 

The  scene  which  took  place  at  the  Hotel  de 
Ville,  to  which  the  more  prominent  members  of 
the  Left  had  retired,  was  almost  equally  extra- 
ordinary. The  mob  soon  became  masters  of 
the  building,  and  vented  their  rage  on  every- 
thing connected  with  the  emperor  or  his  family. 
Portraits  of  him  and  the  empress  were  cut  to 
pieces  and  thrown  out  of  the  window  to  be  trod- 
den upon  by  the  people,  the  number  of  whom 
was  now  enormous.  A  discussion  arose  as  to  the 
choice  of  the  flag  to  be  used  by  the  new  govern- 
ment, but  the  tricolour  was  ultimately  decided  on 
— the  proposal  of  some  workmen  to  adopt  a  red 
one  having  been  objected  to  by  MM.  Gambetta 
and  Schoelcher.  As  soon  as  the  provisional  gov- 
ernment had  actually  been  formed,  a  deputation 
from  them  went  to  the  prison  of  St.  Pelagie,  and 
demanded  the  release  of  M.  Henri  Rochefort,  a 
most  violent  republican,  and  one  of  the  members 
for  Paris,  who  was  confined  there  for  a  political 
offence.  The  officials  at  once  acceded  to  the 
demand — thus  acknowledging  the  authority  of  the 
new  rulers  as  readily  as  every  one  else — and  he 
was  triumphantly  drawn  through  the  streets  to  the 
H^tel  de  Ville  ;  where  on  appearing  at  the  window 
he  was  vehemently  cheered  by  the  vast  crowd  below. 
At  forty- five  minutes  past  four,  M.  Gambetta 
appeared  at  one  of  the  windows,  MM.  Jules  Favre 
and  E.  Arago  standing  a  little  behind  him,  and  then 
and  there  he  publicly  proclaimed  the  republic,  and 


24 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  installation  of  a  provisional  government.  This 
proclamation  was  received  with  every  possible 
demonstration  of  enthusiasm,  and  a  few  minutes 
afterwards  the  Phrygian  cap  of  liberty  was  planted 
on  the  top  of  the  flagstaff  in  place  of  the  eagle.* 

Meanwhile  the  crowd,  in  company  with  national 
and  mobile  guards,  moved  towards  the  Tuileries, 
tore  down  the  eagles  that  surmounted  the  railings, 
and  bursting  open  the  gates  made  their  way  to 
the  reserved  garden,  where  a  considerable  number 
of  voltigeurs  of  the  guard  were  massed.  A  depu- 
tation sent  in  advance  to  hold  a  parley  with  the 
general  in  command,  informed  him  that  the  republic 
had  been  proclaimed,  and  that  the  people  demanded 
entrance  to  the  palace.  At  this  moment  the  im- 
perial flag  was  lowered,  the  signal  that  the  empress 
had  fled  from  the  Tuileries.  The  general  then 
mounted  upon  a  chair,  and  expressed  his  willing- 
ness to  march  out  the  troops,  providing  the  post 
was  confided  to  the  charge  of  the  national  guards. 
This  agreed  to,  the  crowd  was  allowed  to  roam  at 
will  over  the  apartments  of  the  palace,  which  were 
deserted  by  all  except  the  servants  in  the  kitchen. 

The  people,  however,  were  soon  cleared  out  by 
a  detachment  of  national  guards,  who  throughout 
the  day  behaved  with  great  propriety.  As  in  all 
Parisian  tumults,  the  wits  were  busy,  and  covered 
several  prominent  places  with  "  Appartements  a 
louer,"  "  liberte,  egalite',  fraternite,"  and  other  stock 
phrases  of  the  previous  revolution.  The  crowd, 
however,  unlike  that  of  1848,  not  only  did  not 
destroy  the  furniture,  but  showed  some  disposition 
to  respect  property.  Then,  however,  as  on  the 
following  day,  they  busied  themselves  in  erasing 
and  destroying  every  vestige  of  the  imperial  regime. 
Thus  many  of  the  public  buildings  were  defaced, 
and  the  shopkeepers,  either  from  predisposition 
or  force,  speedily  removed  all  tokens  of  imperial 
patronage,  even  to  the  vignettes  on  Exhibition 
prize  medals.  All  portraits  and  photographs  of 
the  imperial  family  immediately  disappeared,  and 
the  Avenue  de  l'lmperatrice  and  other  thorough- 
fares associated  with  the  cast-off  dynasty  were 
renamed  after  republican  or  patriotic  celebrities. 

The  deputies  who  left  the  Chamber  when  it  was 
invaded  met  in  the  afternoon  at  the  president's 
residence  ;  vice-president  Alfred  le  Roux  presided. 
It  was  agreed  to  advise  the  nomination  of  a  com- 
mittee of  government  elected  by  the  Corps  Legis- 
latif ;  the  Chamber,  at  the  same  time,  protesting 

*  See  note  at  the  end  of  Chapter. 


that  it  recognized  in  no  single  body  of  citizens  the 
right  of  controlling  the  destiny  of  the  country. 
A  deputation  was  then  appointed  to  wait  upon  the 
deputies  of  the  Left  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  for  the 
purpose  of  inculcating  the  necessity  of  reliance 
upon  the  representatives  of  the  nation,  the  only 
legal  and  organized  force,  in  the  forming  of  a 
government  and  combining  of  efforts  against  the 
enemy.  The  bearers  of  the  proposal  were  informed 
that  it  could  not  now  be  entertained,  as  the  republic 
had  already  been  proclaimed  and  accepted  by  the 
people.  It  was  promised,  however,  that  some  of 
the  members  of  the  provisional  government  should 
attend  an  evening  meeting  of  the  deputies.  At 
this  sitting,  which  took  place  under  the  presidency 
of  M.  Thiers,  and  comprised  nearly  200  members 
of  the  Corps  Legislatif,  amongst  them  MM.  Jules 
Favre  and  Jules  Simon,  it  was  explained  that  the 
new  government  were  anxious  to  have  the  support 
of  the  deputies,  though  these,  it  was  considered, 
might  be  able  to  render  better  service  to  the 
country  in  the  departments.  "  If,"  added  M.  Favre, 
"  you  will  kindly  give  the  new  government  your 
ratification,  we  shall  be  grateful  to  you  for  it  ;  if, 
on  the  contrary,  you  refuse  it,  we  shall  respect  the 
decisions  of  your  conscience,  but  we  shall  preserve 
the  entire  liberty  of  our  own."  He  also  stated 
that  M.  Eochefort  was  a  member  of  the  provisional 
government,  which  comprised  all  the  deputies  for 
Paris  except  M.  Thiers,  who  had  refused  to  form 
part  of  it.  The  veteran  statesman,  however, 
counselled  a  passive  concurrence  in  accomplished 
facts.  "  Our  duty,"  said  he  to  M.  Favre,  "  is 
ardently  to  desire  your  success  in  the  defence  of 
Paris.  We  desire  this  because  your  success  would 
be  that  of  our  country."  Nothing,  however,  came 
of  this  interview,  beyond  the  issue  of  a  protest  on 
the  part  of  the  deputies  present  against  the  events 
of  the  afternoon.  The  exclusion  of  other  members 
than  those  of  Paris  from  the  government,  was 
justified  by  M.  Favre  on  the  ground  that  the 
defence  of  the  capital  was  their  primary  duty. 

The  Senate  on  that  eventful  Sunday  had  also 
held  its  last  sitting.  M.  Eouher  took  the  chair  at 
noon,  and  warmly  protested  against  the  proposition 
of  M.  Jules  Favre  for  dethroning  the  dynasty. 
The  protest  evoked  some  applause,  and  one  or  two 
senators  cried,  "Vive  l'Empereur  !"  M.  Baroche 
said  a  few  words  in  defence  of  the  empire,  as  did 
also  Prince  Poniatowski ;  but  with  these  feeble 
and  expiring  forms  the  body  became  defunct. 


J  I  1  !  S      FA?  IE 


THE  FRANCO -PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


25 


Referring  to  these  events,  the  American  minister 
wrote  to  his  government : — "  In  a  few  brief  hours 
of  a  Sabbath  day  I  have  seen  a  dynasty  fall  and  a 
republic  proclaimed,  and  all  without  the  shedding 
of  one  drop  of  blood." 

At  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  a  decree  naming 
the  members  of  the  provisional  government  was 
issued,  stating  that  the  dichiance  had  been  pro- 
nounced by  the  Corps  Legislatif,  the  republic 
proclaimed  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  a  com- 
mittee of  national  defence  had  been  appointed. 
The  provisional  government  originally  consisted 
of  the  following  members  : — -General  Trochu, 
president ;  Emmanuel  Arago  ;  Cremieux,  minister 
of  Justice;  Jules  Favre,  minister  for  Foreign  Affairs; 
Jules  Ferry  ;  Gambetta,  minister  of  the  Interior  ; 
Gamier  Pages,  Glais  -  Bizoin,  Pelletan  ;  Ernest 
Picard,  minister  of  Finance;  Rochefort;  and  Jules 
Simon,  minister  of  Public  Instruction.  Subse- 
quently General  Lefl6,  minister  for  War  ;  Admiral 
Fourichon,  minister  of  Marine ;  M.  Dorian,  min- 
ister of  Public  Works ;  M.  Magnin,  minister  of 
Agriculture  and  Commerce ;  Count  de  Keratry, 
prefect  of  police;  and  M.  Etienne  Arago,  were 
added — forming  eighteen  members  in  all. 

Jules  Claude  Gabriel  Favre,  the  minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  and  vice-president  of  the  Committee 
of  Defence,  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
members  of  the  new  cabinet.  He  was  born  at 
Lyons  in  1809,  and  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
revolution  of  1830,  being  at  the  time  a  law  student 
at  Paris.  Practising  as  a  barrister  at  Lyons,  he 
warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  the  working  classes, 
and  gained  great  distinction  by  his  ultra-radical 
opinions.  In  1835,  at  the  Paris  bar,  he  especially 
distinguished  himself  in  a  speech  before  the  Cour 
des  Pairs,  when,  commencing  with  Je  sins  Repub- 
licain,  he  pleaded  for  four  hours,  though  he  was 
then  dangerously  ill.  In  the  revolution  of  February, 
1848,  he  was  appointed  secretary-general  of  the 
ministry  of  the  Interior,  took  a  prominent  part 
in  the  prosecution  of  Louis  Blanc  and  Caussidie"re 
for  the  attempted  insurrection  of  the  15th  May, 
and  refused  to  join  in  the  vote  of  thanks  to 
General  Cavaignac.  After  the  election  of  Louis 
Napoleon  as  president,  Jules  Favre  became  one 
of  his  bitterest  opponents ;  and  though  he  ac- 
quiesced in  the  vote  for  the  Italian  expedition, 
he  objected  to  the  direction  it  was  taking, 
and  demanded  that  the  president  and  ministry 
should  be  proceeded  against.       On  the  coup  dUtat 

VOL.  II. 


of  the  2nd  December,  M.  Favre  retired  from 
political  life  for  six  years,  refusing  to  swear  fidelity 
to  the  new  regime.  He  reappeared  in  the  Corps 
Legislatif  as  a  Paris  deputy  in  1858,  and  defended 
those  involved  in  the  Orsini  conspiracy  with  such 
power  that,  in  reference  to  his  speech,  the  pro- 
cureur-ge'ne'ral  said,  "En  presence  de  l'echafaud 
qui  se  dresse  on  avait  eleve'  une  statue  pour 
celui  qui  doit  y  monter. "  In  the  general 
elections  of  1869  he  was  rejected  by  his  native 
town,  but  was  elected  for  the  seventh  circonscrip- 
tion  of  Paris.  He  was  known  as  the  author  of  a 
number  of  political  pamphlets,  and  in  1868,  in 
company  with  MM.  Henon  andE.  Picard,  founded 
LElecteur,  a  weekly  political  journal. 

It  had  become  evident  about  mid-day  that 
the  Tuileries  was  no  longer  a  safe  residence  for 
the  empress,  and  she  determined  on  immediate 
flight.  As  she  passed  into  the  streets  a  petit 
gamin  recognized  her,  and  shouted  "  Voild  l'lm- 
peratrice  ! "  which  called  forth  from  the  crowd 
the  rejoinder,  "A  la  guillotine!"  No  violence, 
however,  was  offered  her  Majesty,  who  hastened  to 
the  house  of  a  friend.  As  it  was  considered  hazar- 
dous to  travel  by  railway,  she  left  Paris  without 
luggage  of  any  kind,  and  drove  to  the  little  northern 
port  of  Deauville.  An  English  cutter  yacht,  the 
Gazelle,  lay  in  the  harbour,  ready  to  sail  on  the 
following  day  ror  England  with  Sir  John  and  Lady 
Burgoyne.  A  few  hours  before  the  time  appointed 
for  the  Gazelle  to  weigh  her  anchor  the  empress 
presented  herself,  announced  her  rank  and  difficult 
position,  and  claimed  the  protection  of  Sir  John  as 
an  English  gentleman.  Lady  Burgoyne  was  at 
once  introduced  to  the  empress,  who  became  her 
guest  for  the  voyage  across  the  Channel.  At  seven 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  September  the 
Gazelle  left  for  England,  and  reached  Ryde  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  8th.  The  empress  then  crossed 
by  steamer  to  Portsmouth  and  proceeded  to  Hast- 
ings, where  she  was  joined  by  the  Prince  Imperial, 
who  had  already  arrived  in  England.  After  her 
flight  a  despatch  was  found  on  her  table  from  M. 
Pietri,  the  prefect  of  the  police,  announcing  that  the 
situation  was  grave  ;  that  the  national  guards  were 
hostile  ;  and  that  the  troops  would  not  inarch. 

The  officials  of  the  imperial  rigime  had  shown 
themselves  quite  as  fully  alive  to  the  dangers  of 
the  situation  as  the  empress.  Count  de  Palikao  and 
his  colleagues  in  the  ministry  fled  immediately  after 
the  proclamation  of  the  republic,  and  the  "  official 


26 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


majority  "  instantly  disappeared.  In  fact,  as  soon 
as  it  became  really  known  that  the  emperor  had 
succumbed,  his  wife,  his  son,  his  throne,  his  system, 
and  his  supporters,  shared  in  the  general  collapse. 
An  exodus  of  the  able-bodied  youth  of  the  capital 
followed,  and  as  the  Germans  approached,  England, 
Belgium,  and  other  countries  received  an  influx  of 
of  visitors  from  Paris  evading  the  levie  en  masse. 
Thus  France  rewarded  him  who  had  given  her  the 
first  place  in  Europe  for  eighteen  years,  and  during 
the  same  time  had  preserved  her  internal  quiet,  and 
held  in  order  the  turbulent  masses  of  Paris. 

On  Monday  morning  (September  5)  the  Journal 
Ojjiciel  was  superseded  by  the  Journal  of  the 
French  Republic,  which  contained  the  following 
proclamation: — "Frenchmen!  The  people  have 
disavowed  a  Chamber  which  hesitated  to  save  the 
country  when  in  danger.  It  has  demanded  a 
republic.  The  friends  of  its  representatives  are 
not  in  power,  but  in  peril.  The  republic  van- 
quished the  invasion  of  '92.  The  republic  is  pro- 
claimed. The  revolution  is  accomplished  in  the 
name  of  right  and  public  safety.  Citizens !  watch 
over  the  city  confided  to  you.  To-morrow  you 
will  be  with  the  army  avengers  of  the  country." 
A  decree  of  the  ministry  dissolved  the  Corps  Le"gis- 
latif,  and  abolished  the  Senate  and  the  presidency 
of  the  Council  of  State.  The  manufacture  and 
sale  of  arms  was  declared  absolutely  free,  and  a 
complete  amnesty  proclaimed  for  all  political 
crimes  and  offences.  Four  prisoners,  sentenced  to 
death  for  their  participation  in  the  La  Villette  riots 
on  the  14th  August,  were  also  released. 

A  proclamation  was  also  issued  to  the  army,  in 
the  following  terms  : — "  When  a  general  has  com- 
promised his  command,  it  is  taken  away  from  him. 
When  a  government  has  imperilled  by  its  faults 
the  safety  of  the  country,  it  is  deposed.  This  is 
what  France  has  just  done.  In  abolishing  the 
dynasty  which  was  responsible  for  our  misfortunes, 
France  accomplished  an  act  of  justice,  and  at  the 
same  time  performed  an  act  of  necessity  for  her 
own  preservation.  The  nation  has  only  to  depend 
upon  herself,  and  only  to  reckon  upon  two  things 
— the  revolution,  which  is  invincible ;  and  your 
heroism,  which  has  no  equal,  and  which,  amid 
undeserved  reverses,  excites  the  astonishment  of 
the  world.  We  are  not  the  government  of  a  party, 
but  a  government  of  national  defence ;  and  have 
but  one  object  and  one  will — the  safety  of  the 
country  by  means  of  the  army  and  the  nation 


grouped  around  the  glorious  ensign  which  made 
Europe  draw  back  eighty  years  ago.  To-day,  as 
then,  the  name  of  the  republic  signifies  the  hearty 
union  of  army  and  people  in  the  defence  of  the 
country." 

All  public  functionaries  of  every  class  were  re- 
leased from  their  oaths;  the  ambassadors  to  Eng- 
land, Austria,  and  Russia  were  dismissed;  and  all 
Germans  not  in  possession  of  special  permissions 
were  ordered  to  leave  the  departments  of  the  Seine 
and  Seine-et-Oise  within  twenty-four  hours.  Count 
de  Nieuwerkerke  was  dismissed  from  his  post  of 
superintendent  of  the  fine  arts  and  museums.  New 
prefects  were  appointed  all  over  France ;  new 
mayors  in  all  the  Paris  arrondissements ;  and  M. 
Gambetta,  the  minister  of  the  Interior,  addressed 
the  following  letter  to  all  the  provisional  adminis- 
trators and  prefects  of  departments: — "  In  accept- 
ing power  at  a  time  of  such  danger  to  the  country 
we  have  accepted  great  perils  and  great  duties. 
The  people  of  Paris  who  on  the  4th  of  September 
found  themselves  again  in  existence,  after  so  long 
an  interval,  have  so  understood  the  emergency, 
and  their  acclamations  plainly  mean  that  they 
expect  from  us  the  preservation  of  the  country. 
Our  new  republic  is  not  a  government  which  per- 
mits of  political  dissensions  and  empty  quarrels. 
It  is,  as  we  have  said,  a  government  of  national 
defence,  a  republic  of  war  to  the  knife  against  the 
invader.  Support  us,  then,  citizens,  animated,  like 
ourselves,  by  the  paramount  desire  of  saving  the 
country,  and  prepared  to  shrink  from  no  sacrifice. 
Into  the  midst  of  these  improvised  workers  bring 
the  coolness  and  vigour  which  should  belong  to 
the  representatives  of  a  power  resolved  on  every- 
thing in  order  to  vanquish  the  enemy.  Sustain 
every  one,  by  your  unlimited  activity  in  all  the 
questions  which  concern  the  armament  and  equip- 
ment of  the  citizens  and  their  military  instruction. 
All  prohibitory  laws,  all  the  restrictions  so  unfor- 
tunately placed  on  the  manufacture  and  sale  of 
arms,  have  disappeared.  Let  every  Frenchman 
receive  or  seize  a  gun,  and  place  himself  at  the 
disposal  of  the  authorities.  The  country  is  in 
danger !  Day  by  day  information  will  be  given 
you  respecting  the  details  of  your  duties.  But  do 
much  spontaneously,  and  especially  endeavour  to 
gain  the  co-operation  of  all  minds,  so  that  by  a 
gigantic  and  unanimous  effort  France  may  owe  its 
deliverance  to  the  patriotism  of  all  its  children." 

The  fact  that  the  revolution  had  been  achieved 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


27 


without  bloodshed  gave  rise  to  the  hope  in  some 
quarters  that  peace  might  be  established.  But 
the  illusion  was  speedily  dispelled.  On  the  6th 
September  M.  Favre,  vice-president  of  the  govern- 
ment of  national  defence  and  minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  addressed  to  the  French  diplomatic  agents 
abroad  the  following  very  important  and  historical 
circular  : — 

"  Sir, — The  events  which  have  just  taken  place 
in  Paris  explain  themselves  so  well  by  the  inexor- 
able logic  of  facts,  that  it  is  useless  to  insist  at 
length  on  their  meaning  and  bearing.  In  ceding 
to  an  irresistible  impulse,  which  had  been  but  too 
long  restrained,  the  population  of  Paris  has  obeyed 
a  necessity  superior  to  that  of  its  own  safety ;  it 
did  not  wish  to  perish  with  the  criminal  govern- 
ment which  was  leading  France  to  her  ruin  ;  it  has 
therefore  pronounced  the  deposition  of  Napoleon 
III.  and  of  his  dynasty  :  it  has  registered  it  in  the 
name  of  right,  justice,  and  public  safety ;  and  the 
sentence  was  so  well  ratified  beforehand  by  the 
conscience  of  all,  that  no  one  even  among  the 
most  noisy  defenders  of  the  power  that  was  falling 
raised  his  voice  to  uphold  it.  It  collapsed  of  itself 
under  the  weight  of  its  faults,  and  amid  the 
acclamations  of  an  immense  people,  without  a 
single  drop  of  blood  being  shed,  without  any  one 
individual  being  deprived  of  his  personal  liberty ; 
and  we  have  been  able  to  see — a  thing  unheard  of 
in  history — the  citizens,  upon  whom  the  popular 
voice  conferred  the  perilous  mandate  to  fight  and 
to  conquer,  not  thinking  for  a  moment  of  their 
political  adversaries,  who  but  the  day  before  threat- 
ened them  with  execution.  It  is  by  refusing  to 
their  adversaries  the  honour  of  being  subject  to 
any  sort  of  repression,  that  they  have  shown  them 
their  blindness  and  their  impotence.  Order  has 
not  been  disturbed  for  a  single  moment.  Our 
confidence  in  the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  the 
national  guard  and  of  the  whole  population  permits 
us  to  affirm  that  it  will  not  be  disturbed.  Kescued 
from  the  shame  and  the  danger  of  a  government 
which  has  proved  itself  a  traitor  to  all  its  duties, 
each  one  now  comprehends  that  the  first  act  of  the 
national  sovereignty,  at  last  reconquered,  must  be 
one  of  self-control — the  seeking  for  strength  in 
respect  for  right.  Moreover,  time  must  not  be 
lost:  the  enemies  are  at  our  gates;  we  have  but 
one  thought,  namely  their  expulsion  from  our 
territory.     But  this  obligation,  which  we  resolutely 


accept,  we  did  not  impose  upon  France.  She 
would  not  be  in  her  present  position  if  our  voice 
had  been  listened  to.  We  have  energetically 
defended,  even  at  the  cost  of  our  popularity,  the 
policy  of  peace ;  we  still  maintain  the  same  opinion 
with  increasing  conviction.  Our  heart  breaks  at 
the  sight  of  these  human  massacres  wherein  is 
sacrificed  the  flower  of  two  nations,  that  a  little 
good  sense  and  a  great  deal  of  liberty  would  have 
preserved  from  such  frightful  catastrophes.  We 
cannot  find  any  expression  capable  of  rendering 
our  admiration  for  our  heroic  army  sacrificed  by 
the  incapacity  of  the  supreme  commander,  but 
showing  itself  greater  in  its  defeats  than  in  the 
most  brilliant  victory :  for  in  spite  of  the  knowledge 
of  faults  which  compromised  its  safety,  the  army 
has  immolated  itself  with  sublime  heroism  in  the 
face  of  certain  death — redeeming  thus  the  honour 
of  France  from'  the  stain  cast  upon  her  by  her 
government.  All  honour  to  the  army !  The 
nation  looks  towards  it  with  open  arms !  The 
imperial  power  wished  to  divide  them :  misfortune 
and  duty  join  them  in  a  solemn  embrace  sealed 
by  patriotism  and  liberty.  This  alliance  renders 
us  invincible.  Beady  for  every  emergency,  we 
look  with  calmness  on  the  position  of  affairs  made 
what  it  is,  not  by  us,  but  by  others.  This  position 
I  will  explain  in  a  few  words,  and  I  submit  it  to 
the  judgment  of  my  country  and  of  Europe.  We 
loudly  condemn  the  war,  and  while  protesting  our 
respect  for  the  rights  of  peoples,  we  asked  that 
Germany  should  be  left  mistress  of  her  own 
destinies.  We  wished  that  liberty  should  be  at 
the  same  time  our  common  tie  and  our  common 
shield.  We  were  convinced  that  these  moral 
forces  would  for  ever  insure  peace,  but  as  a  sanc- 
tion we  claimed  an  arm  for  every  citizen,  a  civil 
organization,  and  the  election  of  leaders.  Then 
we  should  have  remained  invincible  on  our  own 
soil.  The  government  of  the  emperor,  which  had 
long  since  separated  its  interests  from  those  of 
the  country,  opposed  that  policy.  We  take  it  up 
with  the  hope  that,  taught  by  experience,  France 
will  have  the  wisdom  to  put  it  into  practice.  On 
his  side  the  king  of  Prussia  declared  that  he 
made  war,  not  against  France,  but  against  the 
imperial  dynasty.  The  dynasty  has  fallen  to  the 
ground.  France  raises  herself  free.  Does  the 
king  of  Prussia  wish  to  continue  an  impious 
struggle,  which  will  be  at  least  as  fatal  to  him  as 
to  us?     Does  he  wish  to  give  to  the  world  of  the 


28 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


nineteenth  century  the  cruel  spectacle  of  two 
nations  destroying  one  another,  and  in  forgetfulness 
of  humanity,  reason,  and  science,  heaping  corpse 
upon  corpse,  and  ruin  upon  ruin.  He  is  free  to 
assume  this  responsibility  in  the  face  of  the  world 
and  of  history.  If  it  is  a  challenge,  we  accept  it. 
We  will  not  cede  either  an  inch  of  our  territory 
or  a  stone  of  our  fortresses.  A  shameful  peace 
would  mean  a  war  of  extermination  at  an  early 
date.  We  will  only  treat  for  a  durable  peace.  In 
this  our  interest  is  that  of  the  whole  of  Europe, 
and  we  have  reason  to  hope  that,  freed  from  all 
dynastic  considerations,  the  question  will  thus 
present  itself  before  the  cabinets  of  Europe.  But 
should  we  be  alone,  we  shall  not  yield.  We  have 
a  resolute  army,  well-provisioned  forts,  a  well- 
established  enceinte,  and  above  all,  the  breasts  of 
300,000  combatants  determined  to  hold  out  to  the 
last.  When  they  piously  lay  crowns  at  the  feet 
of  the  statue  of  Strassburg,  they  do  not  obey 
merely  an  enthusiastic  sentiment  of  admiration, 
they  adopt  their  heroic  mot  d'ordre — they  swear 
to  be  worthy  of  their  brethren  of  Alsace,  and 
to  die  as  they  have  done.  After  the  forts  we 
have  the  ramparts,  after  the  ramparts  we  have 
the  barricades.  Paris  can  hold  out  for  three 
months  and  conquer.  If  she  succumbs,  France 
will  start  up  at  her  appeal  and  avenge  her. 
France  would  continue  the  struggle,  and  the 
aggressor  would  perish.  Such  is,  sir,  what  Europe 
must  know.  We  have  not  accepted  power  with 
any  other  object;  we  will  not  keep  it  a  moment 
if  we  should  not  find  the  population  of  Paris,  and 
the  whole  of  France,  decided  to  share  our  resolu- 
tions. I  sum  up  these  resolves  briefly,  in  presence 
of  God  who  hears  me,  in  the  face  of  posterity 
which  shall  judge  us.  We  wish  only  for  peace; 
but  if  this  disastrous  war,  which  we  have  con- 
demned, is  continued  against  us,  we  shall  do  our 
duty  to  the  last,  and  I  have  the  firm  confidence 
that  our  cause,  which  is  that  of  right  and  of  justice, 
will  triumph  in  the  end.  It  is  in  this  manner 
that  I  invite  you  to  explain  the  situation  to  the 
minister  of  the  court  to  which  you  are  accredited, 
and  in  whose  hands  you  will  place  a  copy  of  this 
document.  Accept,  sir,  the  expression  of  my 
high  consideration. 

"  JULES  FAVRE. 
"  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
"  September  G,  1870." 


This  document  attracted  much  notice.  By  the 
journals  of  Paris  and  the  people  generally  it  was 
received  with  great  satisfaction,  and  it  had  a 
favourable  effect  on  the  Bourse.  But  in  all  these 
proceedings  neutral  nations  saw  little  hope  for  a 
peaceful  solution  of  the  quarrel.  It  was  seen  that 
the  republic  could  not  avoid  the  responsibility 
of  the  previous  reign;  that  it  was  held  to  answer 
for  the  acts  of  the  imperial  government,  the  war 
among  the  rest;  because,  whatever  the  sentiments 
of  French  republicans,  the  rule  of  the  deposed 
emperor  had  been  accepted  and  maintained  by 
the  majority  of  the  French  people.  In  the  language 
of  the  Siecle,  he  was  the  man  "  whom  the  mis- 
guided country  had  accepted  as  chief."  Even  the 
democratic  ouvriers  of  France,  addressing  their 
brethren  across  the  Rhine,  did  not  scruple  to 
repeat  the  declaration  made  to  the  coalition  of 
Europe  in  1793,  that  "  the  French  people  con- 
cludes no  peace  whatever  with  an  enemy  occupy- 
ing its  territory."  But  the  reference  implied  a 
misapprehension  of  facts.  The  coalition  marched 
against  France  unchallenged  and  unprovoked,  to 
re-establish  the  ancient  monarchy  in  all  its  pri- 
vileges. The  German  armies  appeared  on  French 
soil  because  they  were  attacked  by  the  armies 
of  France,  and  with  every  demonstration  of 
popular  enthusiasm.  There  were  other  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  peace.  The  government  undoubtedly 
wished  for  peace,  but  it  could  not  say  so.  In  the 
first  place,  an  extreme  republican  party  was  pre- 
pared instantly  to  denounce  any  concession  to  the 
enemy  as  treason,  and  would  have  been  borne  to 
power  in  their  stead  had  it  promised  an  ever- 
credulous  public  to  bring  victory  back  to  the 
standards  of  France.  The  government  felt  that 
the  national  honour  would  scarcely  be  safe  if  hard 
conditions  were  accepted  while  Paris  was  unat- 
tacked  and  Metz  and  Strassburg  untaken  ;  and  thus 
the  prospect  of  peace  became  increasingly  doubtful. 

The  revolution  in  Paris  was  at  once  followed  by 
an  impulse  to  the  military  spirit  throughout  the 
country.  In  most  of  the  provincial  towns  a  nume- 
rous response  was  made  to  the  levy  en  masse  of  the 
provisional  government,  and  squads  of  recruits,  of 
all  ages  and  all  ranks,  assembled  in  the  public 
squares  for  the  purpose  of  being  drilled,  but  very 
few  had  at  this  stage  either  arms  or  uniform.  The 
drill  sergeants  were  generally  old  soldiers,  who, 
having  retired  from  the  army,  were  following  vari- 
ous civil  avocations. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


29 


The  new  regime,  however,  was  not  established 
without  more  or  less  difficulty  in  some  of  the 
larger  cities,  notably  in  Lyons.  By  stifling  open 
discussion  the  imperial  system  had  driven  the 
people  to  seek  political  information  in  secret  re- 
unions; and  many  of  the  working  men  of  Lyons 
were  deeply  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Socialism 
and  Communism.  The  canaille  of  the  city,  more- 
over, had  been  reinforced  by  many  of  the  danger- 
ous classes  who  had  been  expelled  from  Paris  by 
General  Trochu.  The  news  of  the  emperor's  sur- 
render was  fully  known  early  on  the  morning  of 
the  4th  of  September,  and  at  eight  o'clock  a  large 
crowd  assembled  in  front  of  the  H6tel  de  Ville, 
speedily  invaded  the  edifice,  arrested  the  prefect, 
M.  Sencier,  constituted  themselves  a  Comite"  du 
Salut  Public,  and  proclaimed  the  republic,  thus 
forestalling  the  capital  by  several  hours.  Happily 
the  day  ended  without  accidents,  and  the  bourgeoisie, 
having  formed  themselves  into  a  garde  nationale, 
ransacked  the  forts  until  sufficient  arms  had  been 
secured.  When,  however,  the  prefect  appointed 
by  the  provisional  government,  M.  Lacour,  arrived, 
he  found  the  Lyons  committee  comfortably  in- 
stalled in  the  H6tel  de  Ville,  and  little  disposed  to 
resign  their  functions.  He  was  informed  that 
these  gentlemen  considered  their  appointments  to 
be  quite  as  valid  as  his  own;  and  they  retained  a 
body  guard  of  chosen  men  at  their  disposal  day  and 
night.  In  the  course  of  a  few  days  they  abolished 
the  octroi,  thus  depriving  the  town  of  ten  millions 
of  francs  per  annum.  They  also  issued  a  decree 
that  priests  should  serve  in  the  army  like  other 
people,  and  no  person  was  allowed  to  leave  the 
town  without  permission.  Many  gentlemen  who 
had  filled  public  offices  were  arrested,  although  in 
most  cases  they  were  not  detained  more  than  a 
few  hours.  The  patriotic  citizens  of  the  commit- 
tee, on  the  principle  that  services  rendered  to  the 
state  should  be  paid  for,  generously  voted  them- 
selves a  certain  sum  per  day  out  of  the  public 
purse.  The  prefect  avoided  a  collision,  and  in  the 
meantime  hastened  forward  the  election  of  the 
municipal  council.  The  committee  were  induced  to 
quit  the  Hotel  de  Ville  and  take  up  their  posi- 
tion in  the  central  bureau  de  police  in  the  Rue 
Luizerne;  but  the  red  flag,  the  emblem  of  the 
advanced  party,  was  still  allowed  to  float  over  the 
town-hall.  After  the  municipal  elections  a  certain 
number  of  the  more  intelligent  and  respectable 
members  of  the  original  committee  were  chosen, 


and  the  council  entered  upon  its  duties  under 
the  presidency  of  the  mayor,  M.  Henon,  formerly 
deputy  for  the  Rhone;  but  the  amateurs  of  the 
Rue  Luizerne  were  not  disposed  to  part  with  the 
sweets  of  office.  M.  Baudy,  a  former  colleague, 
was  deputed  to  explain  that  their  services  could 
now  be  dispensed  with,  as  there  was  a  regularly 
elected  council  to  do  the  work,  and  that  in  any 
case  their  salary  would  be  stopped.  M.  Baudy, 
however,  was  reproached  as  a  renegade,  a  traitor, 
and  a  pickpocket,  and  put  under  confinement. 
But  the  councillor's  constituents  having  sent  a 
threatening  message  to  the  Rue  Luizerne,  he 
was  released.  A  few  days  later  the  Comite*  du 
Salut  Public  ceased  to  exist ;  but  its  members, 
powerless  in  public,  were  indefatigable  in  secret. 
They  also  received  a  powerful  ally  in  the  per- 
son of  "General"  Cluseret,  an  ex-officer  of  the 
French  army,  who  had  been  holding  meetings, 
accusing  the  existing  administration  of  a  want  of 
vigour,  and  calling  upon  the  people  to  rise  and  turn 
them  out.  At  a  meeting  in  the  Rotonde,  it  was 
resolved  that  all  existing  authority  should  be  done 
away  with;  that  everything  should  be  left  to  be 
settled  by  the  justice  of  the  people ;  that  taxes 
should  be  abolished  ;  that  all  moneys  required  for 
the  good  of  the  country  should  be  furnished  by  the 
rich  ;  that  the  payment  of  private  debts  should  not 
be  enforced  by  laws ;  and  that  all  the  officers  of 
the  army  should  be  ejected!  The  inflammatory 
speeches  in  which  these  resolutions  were  urged  had 
the  desired  effect.  A  demonstration  was  imme- 
diately got  up ;  the  H6tel  de  Ville  was  taken  ; 
the  prefect  arrested ;  and  the  municipal  council 
abolished.  The  ringleaders  then  harangued  the 
crowd  from  the  balcony.  The  Citoyen  Saigne,  a 
plasterer,  proceeded  to  appoint  the  Citoyen  Cluseret 
commander-in-chief  of  all  the  military  forces  of  the 
south  of  France;  an  appointment  which  M.  Cluseret, 
with  becoming  modesty,  accepted — promising  to 
save  the  country.  His  first  step  was  to  call  up  the 
Quartier  de  la  Croix  Rousse,  and  then  to  seize  the 
general  in  command  at  Lyons.  The  inhabitants 
were  in  apprehension  of  disturbance.  The  assembly 
was  sounded  all  over  the  town,  and  the  gardes 
nationales  flew  to  arms.  The  first  battalion  to 
arrive  was  composed  of  Cluseret's  friends  of  the 
Croix  Rousse  ;  but  they  proceeded  to  the  town-hall 
and  set  the  prefect  at  liberty.  Other  bodies  came 
up  with  loaded  rifles,  when  the  "  general "  and  his 
colleagues  retired,  vowing  to  return  with  sufficient 


30 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


strength  to  carry  all  before  them,  but  in  this 
valorous  intention  they  failed.  The  prefect  subse- 
quently informed  the  garde  nationale  that  he  had 
received  unlimited  powers  from  the  government 
over  the  regular  troops,  so  as  to  be  able  to  deal 
effectively  with  any  attempt  at  disturbance.  He 
was  everywhere  well  received,  and  the  soldiers 
swore  to  support  him  to  the  utmost. 

At  Marseilles,  also,  great  excitement  followed  the 
news  of  the  surrender  of  the  emperor.  The  people 
rushed  en  masse  to  the  Bourse,  decapitated  the 
statue  of  Napoleon,  and  derisively  rolled  the 
trunk  through  the  streets  and  flung  the  eagles  into 
ihe  port.  They  pitched  inkstands  at  the  picture 
of  the  imperial  family,  breaking  furniture,  tearing 
curtains  to  shreds,  and  finally  regaling  themselves 
from  the  cellars.  The  news  was  received  at  Bor- 
deaux with  similar  popular  manifestations.  An 
equestrian  statue  of  the  emperor,  erected  in  the 
Allees  de  Tourny,  was  torn  from  its  base,  and  in 
falling  broke  into  fragments.  Thousands  of  people 
then  paraded  the  streets,  and  shouted  "  Vive  la 
Republique ! "  before  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  Similar 
proceedings  took  place  at  Toulouse,  where  an 
informal  committee  was  constituted  in  much  the 
same  manner  as  at  Lyons. 

With  the  earliest  days  of  the  revolution  re- 
appeared the  extreme  section  of  the  press,  which 
had  been  suppressed  during  the  Palikao  ministry. 
The  Marseillaise  attacked  the  provisional  govern- 
ment. The  Reveil  and  the  Rappel  were  moderate 
in  their  tone,  but  enthusiastic  in  their  praise  of  the 
republic.  In  the  latter  journal,  Victor  Hugo,  who 
had  returned  to  "  save  Paris,"  issued  to  the  German 
people  a  magniloquent  address,  which  commenced 
as  follows: — "  Germans,  he  who  speaks  to  you  is  a 
friend.  Three  years  ago,  at  the  epoch  of  the  Exposi- 
tion of  1867,  from  exile,  I  welcomed  you  to  our 
city.  What  city?  Paris.  For  Paris  does  not  belong 
to  us  alone.  Paris  is  yours  as  well  as  ours.  Berlin, 
Vienna,  Dresden,  Munich,  Stuttgard,  are  your 
capitals ;  Paris  is  your  centre.  It  is  at  Paris  that 
one  feels  the  heart  of  Europe  beating.  Paris  is  the 
city  of  cities  ;  Paris  is  the  city  of  men.  There  was 
Athens,  there  was  Rome,  there  is  Paris.  Paris  is 
nothing  but  an  immense  hospitality.  To-day  you 
return  there.  How  ?  As  brothers,  like  you  did 
three  years  ago  ?  No,  as  enemies.  Why  ?  What 
is  this  sinister  misunderstanding  ?  Two  nations 
have  made  Europe.  Those  two  nations  are  France 
and  Germany.     .     .     .     This  war,  does  it  proceed 


from  us  ?  It  was  the  Empire  which  willed  it. 
The  Empire  is  dead.  It  is  well.  We  have  nothing 
in  common  with  that  corpse.  It  is  the  past,  we 
are  the  future.  It  is  hatred,  we  are  sympathy.  It 
is  treason,  we  are  loyalty." 

M.  Victor  Hugo  also  addressed  a  long  and 
inflated  epistle  to  the  Parisians,  for  the  purpose  of 
encouraging  them  under  the  anticipated  hardships 
of  the  siege : — "  Two  adversaries,"  said  the  writer, 
"  are  in  presence  at  this  moment.  On  one  side  is 
Prussia,  with  900,000  soldiers  ;  on  the  other  Paris, 
with  400,000  citizens.  On  one  side,  force  ;  on  the 
other,  will.  On  one  side,  an  army  ;  on  the  other, 
a  nation.  On  one  side,  night ;  on  the  other  light. 
It  is  the  old  contest  between  the  Archangel  and 
the  Dragon  which  is  recommencing.  It  will  have 
now  the  same  termination  as  before ;  Prussia  will 
be  cast  down.  This  war,  frightful  as  it  is,  has 
hitherto  been  but  trifling ;  it  is  about  to  become 
great.  I  am  sorry  for  you,  Prussians,  but  it  is 
necessary  that  you  should  change  your  method  of 
dealing." 

Among  the  arrivals  in  Paris  at  this  period  were 
the  Orleans  princes,  the  Due  d'Aumale,  the  Due 
de  Chartres,  and  the  Prince  de  Joinville,  who 
under  the  Palikao  ministry  had  previously  offered 
their  services,  which  were  not  accepted.  On  the 
7th  September  they  reached  the  capital  from  Brus- 
sels, and  communicated  with  the  government  of 
national  defence  ;  presuming  that,  as  exceptional 
laws  had  been  practically  repealed  by  the  revolu- 
tion, the  decree  which  exiled  them  was  also  set 
aside,  and  expressing  their  desire  to  be  allowed  to 
serve  their  country  in  propria  persona.  The 
government,  however,  apprehensive  that  their 
presence  might  be  misconstrued,  declined  their 
offer ;  and  in  very  courteous  and  sympathetic 
terms  appealed  to  them,  in  the  name  of  patrio- 
tism, to  depart,  upon  which  they  immediately 
left  the  capital.  Meanwhile,  the  Legitimist  candi- 
date for  the  French  throne,  the  Comte  de  Cham- 
bord,  issued  an  address  in  which  he  said: — - 
"  Amid  all  these  poignant  emotions,  it  is  a  great 
consolation  to  see  that  public  spirit,  the  spirit  of 
patriotism,  does  not  allow  itself  to  be  cast  down, 
but  rises  with  our  misfortunes.  Above  everything 
it  is  necessary  to  repulse  the  invasion,  to  save  at 
any  price  the  honour  of  France,  the  integrity  of 
its  territory.  Every  dissension  must  be  forgotten 
at  this  moment,  every  after-thought  put  aside.  We 
owe  our  whole  energy,  our  fortune,  our  blood,  to 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


31 


the  deliverance  of  our  country.  A  true  mother 
will  rather  abandon  her  infant  than  see  it  perish. 
I  experience  the  same  feeling,  and  say  incessantly, 
May  God  save  France,  though  I  should  die  with- 
out seeing  it  again  ! " 

General  Garibaldi  also,  writing  from  Caprera,  Sep- 
tember 7,  addressed  the  following  to  his  friends : 
— "  Yesterday  I  said  to  you,  War  to  the  death  to 
Bonaparte  ;  I  say  to  you  to-day,  We  must  help  the 
French  republic  by  all  possible  means.  I  am  an 
invalid,  but  I  have  offered  my  self  to  the  provisional 
government  of  Paris,  and  I  hope  it  will  not  be 
impossible  for  me  to  perform  some  work.  Yes,  my 
fellow-citizens,  we  should  regard  assistance  to  our 
brothers  of  France  as  a  sacred  duty.  Our  mission 
will  not  certainly  consist  in  combating  our  German 
brethren,  who,  being  as  the  arm  of  Providence, 
have  overthrown  in  the  dust  the  germ  of  the 
tyranny  which  weighed  upon  the  world;  but  we 
should  sustain  the  only  system  which  can  assure 
peace  and  prosperity  among  nations." 

To  strengthen  the  authority  of  the  provisional 
government,  the  ministry,  on  the  8th  of  September, 
issued  in  the  Journal  Ojjiciel  the  following  pro- 
clamation for  the  appointment  of  a  Constituent 
Assembly  : — "  Frenchmen, — In  proclaiming  four 
days  ago  the  government  of  the  National  Defence, 
we  ourselves  defined  our  mission.  Power  was 
lying  in  the  dust.  What  had  commenced  by  a 
crime  finished  by  a  desertion.  We  simply  grasped 
the  helm  which  had  escaped  from  powerless  hands. 
But  Europe  has  need  to  be  enlightened.  It  is 
necessary  that  she  should  know  by  irrefragable 
testimonies  that  the  entire  country  is  with  us.  It 
is  necessary  that  the  invader  should  meet  on  his 
route  not  only  the  obstacle  of  an  immense  city 
resolved  to  perish  rather  than  yield,  but  an  entire 
people  erect,  organized,  represented — an  assembly, 
in  short,  which  can  carry  into  all  places,  and  in 
spite  of  all  disasters,  the  living  soul  of  the  country. 
•Consequently,  the  government  of  the  National 
Defence  decrees  : — Art.  1.  The  electoral  colleges 
are  convoked  for  Sunday,  the  16th  of  October,  for 
the  purpose  of  electing  a  National  Constituent 
Assembly.  Art.  2.  The  elections  will  be  held  by 
collective  voting,  conformably  to  the  law  of  the 
15th  of  March,  1849.  Art  3.  The  number  of 
members  of  the  Constituent  Assembly  will  be  750. 
Art.  4.  The  minister  of  the  Interior  is  charged 
with  the  execution  of  this  decree.  Given  at  the 
Hotel  de  Ville  of  Paris,  September  8,  1870." 


This  proceeding  was  regarded  as  of  the  first 
importance,  and  subsequently  the  provisional  gov- 
ernment fixed  on  the  2d  of  October  for  the  elections. 
M.  Jules  Favre  issued  a  second  diplomatic  circular, 
dated  the  17th  September,  the  language  of  which 
was  more  moderate  in  its  tone  than  that  of  the 
document  already  quoted.  The  minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs  thus  concluded — "  I  will  sum  up  our  entire 
policy.  In  accepting  the  perilous  task  which  was 
imposed  upon  us  by  the  fall  of  the  imperial  gov- 
ernment we  had  but  one  idea;  namely,  to  defend 
our  territory,  to  save  our  honour,  and  to  give  back 
to  the  nation  the  power  emanating  from  itself,  and 
which  it  alone  could  exercise.  We  should  have 
wished  that  this  great  act  might  have  been  com- 
pleted without  transition,  but  the  first  necessity 
was  to  face  the  enemy.  We  have  not  the  preten- 
sion to  ask  disinterestedness  of  Prussia.  We  take 
account  of  the  feelings  to  which  the  greatness  of 
her  losses  and  the  natural  exaltation  of  victory 
have  given  rise  to  her.  These  feelings  explain 
the  violence  of  the  press,  which  we  are  far  from 
confounding  with  the  inspirations  of  statesmen. 
These  latter  will  hesitate  to  continue  an  impious 
war,  in  which  more  than  200,000  men  have 
already  fallen.  To  force  conditions  upon  France 
which  she  could  not  accept,  would  only  be  to 
compel  a  continuance  of  the  war.  It  is  objected 
that  the  government  is  without  regular  power  to 
be  represented.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  we 
immediately  summon  a  freely-elected  Assembly. 
We  do  not  attribute  to  ourselves  any  other  privi- 
lege than  that  of  giving  our  soul  and  our  blood 
to  our  country,  and  we  abide  by  its  sovereign 
judgment.  It  is  therefore  not  authority  reposed 
in  us  for  a  day.  It  is  immortal  France  uprising 
before  Prussia — France  divested  of  the  shroud  of 
the  empire,  free,  generous,  and  ready  to  immolate 
herself  for  right  and  liberty,  disavowing  all  poli- 
tical conquest,  and  all  violent  propaganda,  having 
no  other  ambition  than  to  remain  mistress  of 
herself,  and  to  develop  her  moral  and  material 
forces,  and  to  work  fraternally  with  her  neigh- 
bours for  the  progress  of  civilization.  It  is  this 
France  which,  left  to  her  free  action,  immediately 
asks  the  cessation  of  the  war,  but  prefers  its  dis- 
asters a  thousand  times  to  dishonour.  Vainly 
those  who  set  loose  a  terrible  scourge  try  now  to 
escape  the  crushing  responsibility,  by  falsely  alleg- 
ing tbat  they  yielded  to  the  wish  of  the  country. 
This  calumny  may  delude  people  abroad,  but  there 


32 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


is  no  one  among  us  who  does  not  refute  it  as  a 
work  of  revolting  bad  faith.  The  motto  of  the 
elections  in  1869  was  peace  and  liberty,  and  the 
plebiscite  itself  adopted  it  as  its  programme.  It 
is  true  that  the  majority  of  the  Legislative  Body 
cheered  the  warlike  declarations  of  the  duke  of 
Gramont ;  but  a  few  weeks  previously  it  had  also 
cheered  the  peaceful  declarations  of  M.  Ollivier. 
A  majority  emanating  from  personal  power  be- 
lieved itself  obliged  to  follow  docilely  and  voted 
trustingly;  but  there  is  not  a  sincere  person  in 
Europe  who  could  affirm  that  France  freely  con- 
sulted made  war  against  Prussia.  I  do  not  draw  the 
conclusion  from  this  that  we  are  not  responsible. 
We  have  been  wrong,  and  are  cruelly  expiating 
our  having  tolerated  a  government  which  led  us 
to  ruin.  Now  we  admit  the  obligation  to  repair 
by  a  measure  of  justice  the  ill  it  has  done;  but  if 
the  power  with  which  it  has  so  seriously  compro- 
mised us  takes  advantage  of  our  misfortunes  to 
overwhelm  us,  we  shall  oppose  a  desperate  resist- 
ance ;  and  it  will  remain  well  understood  that  it 
is  the  nation,  properly  represented  in  a  freely- 
elected  Assembly,  that  this  power  wishes  to  destroy. 
This  being  the  question  raised,  each  one  will  do 
his  duty.  Fortune  has  been  hard  upon  us,  but 
she  is  capable  of  unlooked-for  revolutions,  which 
our  determination  will  call  forth.  Europe  begins 
to  be  moved;  and  sympathy  for  us  is  being  re- 
awakened. The  sympathies  of  foreign  cabinets 
console  us  and  do  us  honour.  They  will  be 
deeply  struck  by  the  noble  attitude  of  Paris  in 
the  midst  of  so  many  terrible  causes  for  excite- 
ment. Serious,  confident,  ready  for  the  utmost 
sacrifices,  the  nation  in  arms  descends  into  the 
arena  without  looking  back,  and  having  before 
its  eyes  this  simple  but  great  duty,  the  defence 
of  its  homes  and  independence.  I  request  you, 
sir,  to  enlarge  upon  these  truths  to  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  government  to  which  you  are 
accredited.  He  will  see  their  importance,  and 
will  thus  obtain  a  just  idea  of  our  disposition." 
In  the  previous  chapter  we  recounted  the  ener- 
getic measures  of  the  authorities  for  the  defence 
and  provisioning  of  the  capital.  On  the  morning 
of  the  day  (September  4)  when  the  republic  was 
proclaimed,  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  and  the 
Crown  Prince  of  Saxony,  accompanied  by  the 
king  of  Prussia  and  Count  von  Bismarck,  started 
on  their  march  to  Paris.  As  the  German  armies 
drew  nearer  day  by  day,  unremitting  exertions, 


which  had  been  commenced  by  the  Count  do 
Palikao,  were  continued  to  man  and  provision  the 
city,  and  to  put  the  enceinte  and  the  detached  forts 
in  a  condition  to  sustain  a  lengthened  siege, 
while  the  surrounding  belt  of  country  was  cleared 
of  its  inhabitants.  The  completeness  of  these 
preparations  was  amply  attested  by  subsequent 
events,   and  the  prolongation  of  the  siege. 

On  the  14th  September  a  grand  review  of  the 
whole  armed  force  in  Paris  was  held  by  General 
Trochu.  Apparently  the  spectacle  was  one  of  the 
most  stirring  on  record,  and  for  the  first  time 
in  twenty  years  Paris  appeared  openly  and  fully 
armed.  The  troops  consisted  of  soldiers  of  the 
regular  army,  national  guards,  and  the  garde 
mobile,  to  the  number  of  300,000,  who  were 
drawn  up  in  line,  extending  from  the  Place  de 
la  Bastille  to  the  Arc  de  Triomphe.  The  number 
of  regular  troops  was  considerably  increased  by 
the  return  of  General  Vinoy  and  his  army,  who 
had  failed  to  join  MacMahon  before  the  battle  of 
Sedan,  and  also  by  the  scattered  remnants  of  de- 
feated soldiers  who  had  managed  to  make  good 
their  escape.  As  General  Trochu,  accompanied  by  a 
brilliant  staff,  rode  along  the  ranks,  he  was  re- 
ceived with  great  enthusiasm,  amid  cries  of  "Vive 
Trochu ! "  and  "  Yive  la  Bepublique  ! "  The  feeling 
of  the  troops  was  admirable ;  but,  beyond  the 
regulars,  few  were  armed  with  the  Chassepot, 
and  the  uniform  of  many  consisted  only  of  the 
kepi.  While  the  troops  marched  back  to  their 
quarters  after  the  inspection  the  air  resounded 
with  patriotic  songs,  and  the  muzzles  of  many 
of  their  muskets  were  ornamented  with  bouquets 
and  tricoloured  flags,  which  gave  a  lively  and 
brilliant  appearance  to  the  scene.  The  governor 
subsequently  issued  the  following  general  order  : — 

"To  the  National  Guards  of  Paris  and  the  Gardes 
Mobiles  of  Paris  and  the  Departments,  —  Never 
before  has  any  general  witnessed  so  grand  a  spec- 
tacle as  that  which  you  have  presented  ;  three 
hundred  battalions  of  citizens  organized  and  armed, 
enveloped  by  the  entire  population  of  the  city, 
unanimously  proclaiming  the  determined  defence 
of  Paris  and  of  liberty.  If  those  foreign  nations 
which  doubt  you,  if  the  armies  which  are  march- 
ing upon  you,  could  only  have  heard  that,  they 
would  have  understood  that  misfortune  has  done 
more  in  a  few  weeks  to  rouse  the  soul  of  the 
nation  than  long  years  of  prosperity  have  done  to 
abase  it.     The  spirit  of  devotion  and  of  sacrifice 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


33 


has  infused  itself  into  you,  and  to  it  you  owe  that 
hearty  union  which  will  prove  your  safety.  With 
our  formidable  effective  force  the  daily  guard  of 
Paris  will  be  70,000  men.  If  the  enemy  by  a 
fierce  attack,  or  by  a  surprise,  or  by  effecting  a 
breach,  should  pierce  our  protecting  fortifications, 
he  would  encounter  barricades  which  are  being 
prepared,  and  his  columns  would  be  driven  back 
by  the  successive  attacks  of  ten  reserves  stationed 
at  different  points.  Eemain,  therefore,  perfectly 
assured,  and  know  that  the  enceinte  of  Paris,  de- 
fended as  it  is  by  the  persevering  efforts  of  public 
spirit,  and  by  300,000  muskets,  is  impregnable. 
National  guards  of  the  Seine  and  gardes  mobiles, 
in  the  name  of  the  government  for  the  National 
Defence,  of  which  I  am  towards  you  but  the  repre- 
sentative, I  thank  you  for  your  patriotic  solici- 
tude for  the  cherished  interests  which  you  have 
in  charge.  Now  let  us  proceed  to  work  in  the 
nine  sections  of  the  defence.  Let  there  be  every- 
where order,  calmness,  and  devotion  ;  and  remem- 
ber that  you  are  charged,  as  I  have  previously 
informed  you,  with  the  police  of  Paris  during  this 
critical  period.  Prepare  to  bear  your  task  with 
constancy,  and  then  you  will  not  fail  to  conquer." 
The  provisional  government  meanwhile  com- 
pleted its  preparations  against  the  impending  in- 
vestment of  the  capital.  Communications  with 
the  departments  were  abandoned,  bridges  were 
destroyed,  sometimes  too  hastily,  telegraphs  severed, 
obstacles  placed  in  the  path  of  the  advancing 
enemy,  and  the  woods  near  Paris  filled  with  com- 
bustibles. In  the  beautiful  woods  of  the  Seine 
and  Marne,  the  forests  of  Lagny,  De  Ferrieres, 
Clamart,  Bellevue,  Bondy,  and  the  woods  around 
St.  Cloud,  openings  were  effected  by  the  axe 
of  the  garde  mobile  and  francs-tireurs,  large  num- 
bers of  whom  were  told  off  for  the  service.  The 
Journal  Officiel  published  decrees  authorizing  the 
minister  of  justice,  M.  Cremieux,  to  transfer  the 
criminal  chamber  to  Tours;  and  placing  40,000 
francs  at  the  disposal  of  the  Scientific  Committee 
of  Defence.  All  legal  appeals  were  suspended, 
together  with  the  octroi  duties  upon  the  importa- 
tion of  goods.  The  government  further  decided 
to  sit  at  a  town  in  the  interior  of  France  during 
the  siege  ;  and  besides  M.  Cremieux,  the  minister 
of  Marine  and  M.  Glais-Bizoin  established  them- 
selves at  Tours,  where  they  were  joined  by  Lord 
Lyons  and  several  other  foreign  ambassadors. 
The  envoys   of  the  United  States,  Belgium,  and 

TOL.    II. 


Switzerland  resolved,  however,  to  remain  in 
Paris. 

While  the  government  were  thus  taking  their 
measures  of  defence,  M.  Thiers  was  sent  to  Eng- 
land, and  thence  to  Vienna  and  St.  Petersburg, 
charged  with  a  diplomatic  mission.  But  the  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  the  veteran  statesman  were 
insurmountable.  Count  von  Bismarck  had  deter- 
mined to  decline  all  intervention,  and  the  courts 
of  Europe,  to  whom  M.  Thiers  was  delegated,  thus 
found  no  favourable  opportunity  to  enter  upon 
negotiations. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  too,  that  before  the 
government  had  been  in  existence  a  fortnight  they 
had  the  courage  to  abolish  the  entire  system  of 
police  surveillance.  A  short  time  before  the  Prus- 
sians finally  invested  the  capital,  M.  de  Keratry, 
the  prefect  of  police,  addressed  to  the  pro- 
visional government  a  report  recommending  the 
suppression  of  an  institution  which  had  proved  a 
ready  and  efficient  instrument  in  the  hands  of 
successive  governments  for  seventy  years.  The 
system  had  been  most  abused  under  Napoleon  I., 
by  whom  it  was  founded  in  1800,  and  who  had 
extended  its  powers  during  his  reign.  So  great 
was  the  importance  attached  to  it,  that  at  the 
change  of  each  regime  the  first  care  of  the  victors 
was  to  secure  its  influence. 

A  brief  review  of  the  financial  condition  of  the 
country,  prior  to  the  final  investment  of  Paris, 
will  be  found  suggestive.  The  trade  bills  under 
discount  at  the  bank  of  France  amounted  at  the 
close  of  June  to  £26,000,000.  On  the  8th  of 
September  they  had  increased  to  £57,000,000, 
or  nearly  120  per  cent.;  and  while  the  aggregate 
of  cash  and  bullion  in  the  bank  continually  di- 
minished, the  paper  circulation  increased.  The 
weekly  drain  of  the  precious  metals  is  represented 
by  the  following  table : — 


Cash  and  Bullion  in 
Bank  of  France. 

Freuch  Bank  Notes  in 
Circulation. 

Amount. 

Weekly 
Decrease. 

Amount. 

Weekly 
Increase. 

July    .     .     7 

"      .     .   14 

"      .     .   21 

"      .     .  28 

August    .     4 

"         .  11 

"         .  18 

"         .  25 

September    1 

"           8 

£50,723,000 
49,809,000 
48,590,000 
45,775,000 
43,875,000 
41,142,000 
36,244,000 
34,742,000 
33,764,000 
32,320,000 

£914,000 
1,219,000 
2,815,000 
1,900,000 
2,733,000 
4,898,000 
1,502,000 
978,000 
1,444,000 

£57,557,000 
58,209,000 
58,808,000 
61,092,000 
61,044,000 
61,344,000 
66,705,000 
68,340,000 
69,206,000 
69,800,000 

£652,000 
599,000 

2,284,000 
48,000* 
300,000 

5,361,000 

1,635,000 
866,000 
594,000 

'  Decrease. 
E 


34 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


On  the  12th  August  the  bank  suspended  pay- 
ments in  specie,  and  the  following  week  nearly 
£5,000,000  was  withdrawn.  At  the  same  time 
the  note  circulation  was  increased  by  upwards  of 
£5,250,000. 

With  regard  to  the  foreign  relations  of  the  pro- 
visional government,  it  may  be  stated  that  the 
republic  was  early  recognized  by  the  United 
States  of  America.  On  the  5th  of  September 
M.  Favre  officially  notified  its  institution  to 
the  American  ambassador,  Mr.  Washburne,  who, 
on  the  day  following,  replied  :  —  "  I  have  the 
satisfaction  of  announcing  to  you  that  I  have 
received  from  my  government  a  telegram  em- 
powering me  to  recognize  the  government  of 
the  National  Defence  as  the  government  of 
France.  I  am  consequently  ready  to  enter  into 
relations  with  the  government,  and,  if  you  wish 
it,  to  treat  with  it  on  all  the  matters  arising  out 
of  the  functions  with  which  I  am  invested.  In 
making  this  communication  to  your  excellency, 
I  beg  to  tender  to  yourself  and  to  the  members 
of  the  government  of  the  National  Defence  the 
congratulations  of  the  government  and  people  of 
the  United  States.  They  will  have  learnt  with 
enthusiasm  the  proclamation  of  the  republic  which 
has  been  instituted  in  France  without  the  shed- 
ding of  one  drop  of  blood,  and  they  will  respond 
heartily  and  sympathetically  to  the  great  move- 
ment which  they  hope  and  believe  will  be  fertile 
in  happy  results  for  the  French  people  and  for 
humanity  at  large.  Enjoying  for  nearly  a  century 
immeasurable  benefits  from  a  republican  govern- 
ment, the  people  of  the  United  States  cannot  but 
witness  with  the  deepest  interest  the  efforts  of  the 
French  people,  attached  to  them  by  the  bonds 
of  a  traditional  amity,  who  seek  to  found  institu- 
tions by  which  will  be  assured  to  the  present 
generation,  as  well  as  to  posterity,  the  invaluable 
right  of  living,  by  working  for  the  welfare  of  all." 
M.  Jules  Favre,  in  acknowledging  this  letter, 
hailed  as  a  happy  augury  for  the  French  republic 
that  the  American  government  should  have  been 
the  first  to  recognize  and  countenance  it.  Sub- 
sequently a  large  gathering  of  citizens  visited 
the  American  legation,  and  gave  enthusiastic 
cheers  for  the  United  States.  The  crowd  then 
waited  on  M.  Jules  Favre,  who  replied,  "  I  am 
happy  to  hear  of  your  demonstration.  I  am,  as 
you  know,  the  personal  enemy  of  war,  which 
divides  and  tears  in  pieces  mankind.     I  retain  the 


hope  of  an  honourable  peace;  but  if  it  is  necessary, 
we  will  sacrifice  everything  to  the  very  last  for 
the  defence  of  the  country." 

In  the  United  States  the  successes  of  the  German 
arms,  and  the  surrender  of  Napoleon,  caused  exu- 
berant rejoicings  among  the  German  population 
and  those  of  Teutonic  origin,  as  well  as  among  a 
large  part  of  the  nation  itself,  whose  sympathies 
were  against  the  French  empire.  In  Philadelphia 
long  processions,  bearing  torches  and  transparencies, 
and  led  by  the  German  musical  societies,  went 
singing  through  the  streets,  while  the  offices  of 
the  newspapers  favourable  to  the  German  cause 
were  serenaded,  as  well  as  the  residence  of  the 
German  consul.  With  this  feeling  throughout 
the  country,  there  was  a  general  hope  of  a  speedy 
peace.  On  the  intelligence  of  Napoleon's  downfall, 
the  premium  on  gold  fell  from  above  117  to  113f. 

The  news  of  the  establishment  of  the  republic 
in  Paris,  however,  caused  a  sensible  diminution  of 
the  sympathy  with  the  Germans,  and,  combined 
with  the  overwhelming  defeats  inflicted  on  the 
French,  excited  a  general  desire  for  peace  on 
moderate  terms.  France  was  more  frequently 
spoken  of  as  "  our  ancient  ally,"  and,  as  already 
stated,  the  government  promptly  recognized  the 
repubhe.  Nevertheless,  with  France  as  a  military 
nation,  or  with  her  military  standards  of  morality, 
there  was  little  sympathy.  The  democrats,  how- 
ever, gained  courage  in  their  denunciations  of 
Germany  from  the  French  defeats,  and  the  Irish 
grew  more  noisy  than  ever  in  their  demonstrations 
of  fellow-feeling,  especially  with  the  disasters  of 
MacMahon,  who  was  generally  believed  amongst 
them  to  be  the  Uneal  descendant  of  an  Irish  king. 
There  was  undoubtedly  a  strong  dislike  of  the 
Germans  in  the  country. 

The  new  government  in  Paris  was  also  acknow- 
ledged by  Italy,  Switzerland,  Belgium,  Spain,  and 
Portugal.  Switzerland  expressed  a  hope  that  the 
republic  "would  be  able  shortly  to  procure  for 
France  the  blessings  of  an  honourable  peace,  and 
to  consolidate  for  ever  liberty  and  democratic  in- 
stitutions." Chevalier  Nigra  informed  M.  Jules 
Favre  that  he  had  received  instructions  from 
Florence  to  keep  up  relations  with  the  provisional 
government  in  every  way  conformable  to  the  sym- 
pathies existing  between  the  two  countries.  A 
similar  statement  was  made  by  Senor  Olozaga,  the 
Spanish  ambassador,  to  whom  M.  Jules  Favre 
replied,  "  It  is  precisely  at  this  cruel  moment  for 


■-;■-!---   ':-  '-./.:.".  '  erzmasior     fern;  a  ":":.  rtogrspa  Vy  MavaH 


TTIH] E  08TT  MWoWOlLU&Kfi  EWMBTT  ffilADD-i-  HO.  P. 


I   L0100N 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


35 


France  that  we  see  clearly  manifested  the  wisdom 
which  would  join  in  one  single  tie  three  nations 
that  really  form  but  one  family,  and  awaiting  only 
the  signal  of  liberty  to  recover  their  family  titles." 
The  action  of  the  British  government  at  this 
juncture  caused  considerable  discussion  both  inEng- 
land  and  France.  The  fall  of  the  empire  and  the 
proclamation  of  a  republic  gave  a  new  character  both 
to  the  French  resistance  and  the  German  invasion, 
which  greatly  influenced  opinion  in  England,  parti- 
cularly amongst  the  political  leaders  of  the  working- 
classes,  in  relation  to  the  war.  While  up  to  Sedan 
the  public  sympathies  generally  were  with  the 
German  cause,  a  change  of  phase  in  the  politics  of 
the  war  wrought  a  change  of  feeling  in  English 
working  men.  Mass  meetings  were  held  in  favour 
of  the  French,  and  an  address  was  issued  by 
the  International  Working  Men's  Association 
with  the  same  object.  On  the  evening  of  the  10th 
September  a  large  gathering  of  the  working  classes 
took  place  under  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Edmond 
Beales.  While  France  was  blamed  for  the  initia- 
tion of  a  war  of  conquest,  Germany  was  called  upon 
by  the  meeting  to  exercise  moderation  and  magna- 
nimity in  her  hour  of  triumph,  especially  as  the 
republican  government  then  in  power  was  composed 
of  the  very  men  who  had  protested  against  and 
denounced  the  imperial  policy.  The  English 
cabinet  was  also  urged  to  use  every  effort  to  pro- 
cure the  cessation  of  hostilities,  and  to  prevent  the 
territorial  spoliation  of  France.  Again,  on  the 
13th  September,  a  deputation,  organized  by  the 
Labour  Representation  League,  waited  upon  the 
Right  Honourable  W.  E.  Gladstone.  The  deputa- 
tion, which  consisted  of  about  100  representatives 
of  the  leading  London  and  provincial  trade  societies 
and  industrial  organizations,  expressed  to  him  that 
great  dissatisfaction  existed  throughout  the  country, 
and  especially  amongst  the  working  classes,  at  the 
non-recognition  of  the  French  republic  by  her 
Majesty's  government,  and  urged  that  the  spoliation 
of  France  by  any  annexation  of  her  territory  by 
Germany  would  sow  the  seeds  of  a  future  war,  and 
lead  to  complications  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  the 
whole  of  Europe.  They  therefore  prayed  her 
Majesty's  government  to  use  their  influence  with 
the  German  government  not  to  insist  upon  any 
annexation  of  territory  as  the  terms  of  peace. 
By  this  course,  the  deputation  believed  that  the 
terrible  war  might  be  brought  to  a  speedy  and 
honourable  termination,  without  further  humilia- 


tion to  the  French  nation.  In  the  course  of 
an  elaborate  reply,  Mr.  Gladstone  said  that  her 
Majesty's  government  had  acted  on  the  principle 
of  international  arbitration  when  the  war  was 
on  the  point  of  breaking  out,  and  had  done  their 
utmost  to  prevent  it.  But  although  he  shared 
the  desire  of  the  deputation  that  bloodshed  should 
cease,  they  must  expect  great  nations  to  claim  for 
themselves  to  be  in  the  first  instance,  and  in  the 
last  resort,  the  proper  judges  of  their  own  affairs. 
Any  opportunity  for  mediation,  however,  would  be 
eagerly  seized  by  her  Majesty's  government.  With 
regard  to  the  recognition  of  the  provisional  govern- 
ment the  premier  continued  : — "  Even  if  the  men 
who  constitute  that  government  were  questionable 
in  point  of  character,  I  do  not  think  it  would  be 
for  us  to  criticize  them ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  I 
believe  them  to  be  men  of  honour,  character,  and 
intellect.  Therefore  do  not  suppose  anything  like 
a  cessation  of  intercourse  is  signified  by  the  fact 
that  official  recognition  has  not  taken  place.  I  am 
far  from  saying  that  the  great  question  of  recogni- 
tion is  unimportant ;  because  undoubtedly  the  ques- 
tion of  recognition  is  an  acknowledgment  that  a 
combination  of  men  has  acquired  a  certain  position, 
and  that  recognition  undoubtedly  strengthens 
them.  I  think  we  have  no  business  to  inquire 
whether  France  prefers  one  government  or  another. 
If  it  could  be  shown  we  are  proceeding  on  prin- 
ciples less  favourable  to  the  government  of  France 
than  any  other  government,  we  should  be  adjudged 
wrong  in  the  face  of  the  whole  world.  Our  busi- 
ness is  to  proceed  upon  principles  of  perfect  equality, 
and  look  impartially  upon  any  government  that 
may  be  established  in  France,  independently  of  its 
being  democratic,  parliamentary,  monarchical,  or 
whatever  it  may  be.  Then  what  is  the  principle 
on  which  we  are  to  proceed  ?  That  we  acknowledge 
it  as  the  government  of  France  which  France 
chooses  to  accept  for  herself.  But,  as  it  is  not  our 
business  to  lag  behind  in  that  respect,  so  it  is  not 
our  business  to  go  before  France.  Before  the 
government  exercising  power  in  France  has  been 
recognized,  are  we  to  be  expected  to  pronounce  an 
opinion  which  France  has  not  expressed?  What  is 
the  position  of  the  French  government  exercising 
power  in  Paris  and  Tours  ?  How  did  they  describe 
themselves  ?  They  are  not  themselves  carrying  out 
the  government.  They  have  been  appointed  for 
the  calling  together  of  some  body — referring  their 
case  to  that  body,  and  deriving  their  title  from  the 


36 


THE  FEANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR, 


approval  of  that  body.  Now,  surely  it  is  plain  that 
we  cannot  travel  faster  than  France  in  this  matter; 
and  we  cannot  travel  faster  than  the  present  govern- 
ment of  France.  The  recognition  of  the  late 
empire  of  France  did  not  take  place  until  after  the 
vote  of  the  people.  The  vote  of  the  people  took 
place  on  the  1st  of  the  month,  and  the  recognition 
took  place  on  the  4th.  We  were  in  hopes  the  vote 
of  France  was  going  to  take  place  on  Saturday 
next ;  and  if  it  did  take  place,  we  would  not  have 
been  less  prompt  than  any  former  government  has 
been  to  recognize  that  which  has  been  established. 
But  if  you  step  in  before  the  judgment  of  the 
people,  you  are  really  recognizing  that  which  the 
great,  high-minded,  and  civilized  people  of  France 
have  not  recognized  themselves." 

The  general  feeling  amongst  moderate  and  in- 
telligent Frenchmen  at  this  time  was  admirably 
expressed  in  a  letter  from  the  veteran  statesman, 
M.  Guizot,  to  an  English  friend,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  said — "  If  we  were  only  beginning  this 
unhappy  war,  I  would  tell  you  frankly  what  I 
think  of  its  evil  origin  and  its  lamentable  errors; 
and  I  am  sure  that  a  large  majority  of  the  French 
nation  think  as  I  do  about  it.  But  we  are  not 
beginning  the  war.  The  opinion  of  the  French 
nation  on  the  main  points  of  the  question  is 
unchanged;  but  no  one  thinks  about  them  now, 
and,  indeed,  we  cannot  and  ought  not  to  think 
about  them.  For  the  present  we  ought  to  occupy 
ourselves — and,  in  fact,  we  do  occupy  ourselves 
— with  war,  and  war  only.  We  are  engrossed  by 
it,  not  only  because  of  the  unexpected  reverses 
which  we  have  experienced,  but  also,  and  above 
all,  because  of  the  designs  which  the  Prussians 
manifest,  and  the  character  which  they  have 
stamped  upon  this  war.  On  their  part  it  is  mani- 
festly a  war  of  ambition  and  for  the  sake  of  con- 
quest. They  proclaim  loudly  that  they  intend  to 
take  back  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  provinces  which 
have  been  ours  for  two  centuries,  and  which  we 
have  held  through  all  the  political  vicissitudes  and 
chances  of  war.  The  Prussians  do  more  even 
than  this.  Although  they  occupy  these  provinces 
very  partially  and  only  temporarily,  they  already 
presume  to  exercise  the  rights  of  sovereignty  over 
them.  They  have  issued  a  decree  in  Lorraine 
abolishing  our  laws  of  conscription  and  recruiting 
for  the  army.  Ask  the. first  honest  German  whom 
you  meet  if  this  is  not  one  of  those  acts  of  vic- 
torious   ambition   which    pledge    a   nation   to   a 


struggle  indefinitely  prolonged,  a  struggle  which 
can  only  be  terminated  by  one  of  those  disasters 
that  a  nation  never  accepts — one  that  if  it  experi- 
ences it  never  forgives.  Be  sure  that  France  will 
never  accept  the  character  and  consequences 
which  Prussia  desires  to  give  to  the  war.  Because 
of  our  first  reverses  we  have  our  national  honour 
to  preserve,  and  because  of  the  claims  of  Prussia 
we  have  to  defend  and  keep  our  national  territory. 
We  will  maintain  these  two  causes  at  any  price 
and  to  the  very  end.  And  let  me  tell  you,  and 
that  without  presumption,  that,  being  as  resolute 
as  we  are,  we  are  not  seriously  uneasy  as  to  the 
result  of  this  struggle.  At  the  very  beginning 
the  Prussians  made  an  immense  effort;  there  is 
another  effort  yet  to  be  made;  it  is  on  our  part, 
and  it  has,  as  yet,  scarcely  begun.  We  were 
greatly  to  blame  that  we  were  not  better  prepared 
at  first;  but  with  all  our  shortcomings  we  have 
seen  what  our  troops  are  worth,  and  this  will  be 
seen  and  felt  more  and  more  as  time  goes  on.  We 
are  superior  to  the  Prussians  in  men,  money,  and 
territory,  and  we  will  equal  them  in  perseverance, 
even  should  they  persevere,  as  they  will  need  to 
do  if  their  projects  are  to  have  any  chance  of 
success.  The  age  is  with  us,  and  we  will  not  fail 
the  age.  This,  I  tell  you  in  all  frankness  and 
sincerity,  is  the  actual  condition  of  facts  and  of 
men's  minds  in  France.  I  am  very  anxious  that 
it  should  be  known  in  England,  and  that  there 
should  be  no  mistake  there  as  to  our  national 
sentiments  and  the  possibilities  of  the  future.  I 
devoted  my  whole  political  life  to  creating  and 
maintaining  bonds  of  friendship  and  unfettered 
alliance  between  France  and  England.  I  thought, 
and  I  still  think,  that  this  alliance  is  a  pledge  of 
the  moral  honour  of  the  two  nations,  of  their 
material  prosperity,  and  of  the  progress  of  civiliza- 
tion throughout  the  world.  I  can  recall  the  sorrow 
and  apprehension  which  I  felt  in  1857,  when  I 
thought  that  the  power  of  England  was  endangered 
by  the  great  Indian  mutiny.  I  remember  also 
that  the  sentiments  of  France  at  that  time  were  in 
complete  harmony  with  my  own.  It  is  therefore 
with  sorrow,  not  unmixed  with  surprise,  that  I 
now  see  many  Englishmen  so  openly  hostile  to 
France." 

We  have  already  described  the  jubilation  of 
the  German  people  after  the  news  of  Napoleon's 
surrender.  But  their  satisfaction  was  somewhat 
modified  by  the  proclamation  of  the  republic,  and 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


37 


especially  by  the  tone  of  Jules  Favre's  first  cir- 
cular, which  presented  terms  of  peace  that  could 
not  be  conceded.  The  German  press  insisted 
that  the  altered  circumstances  could  not  affect 
these  terms,  and  "trusted  that  the  German  giant, 
who  so  long  had  had  nothing  but  his  head  free 
to  think  and  dream  with,  while  his  hands  and 
feet  were  fettered,  would  now,  when  for  the  first 
time  free  and  conscious  of  his  strength,  make  a 
right  use  of  it  by  retaining  Alsace  and  Lorraine, 
no  matter  how  '  unstatesman-like '  that  might  ap- 
pear to  his  neutral  friends,  patrons,  and  advisers." 

Considerable  dissatisfaction  was  felt  at  the 
promptitude  with  which  the  French  republic 
was  recognized  by  the  United  States,  and  still 
more  by  the  heartiness  of  the  letter  of  the  Amer- 
ican minister  to  Jules  Favre.  "  Mr.  Washburne," 
said  the  National  Zeitung,  "  doubtless  is  a  sound 
republican,  but  he  is  deemed  a  weak  politician; 
and  the  fate  of  the  Germans  in  Paris  should  have 
been  placed  in  abler  hands  by  the  German  govern- 
ments. He  simply  received  from  Washington  by 
telegraph  authority  to  recognize  the  new  republic, 
which  was  a  matter  of  course  in  regard  to  the 
views  and  principles  prevailing  there.  The  rest 
are  his  own  personal  sentiments.  Of  these  he 
would  have  done  well  to  address  a  share  to  the 
Germans,  whose  protection  he  has  taken  upon 
himself,  and  who  are  persecuted  and  put  under 
ban  by  Monsieur  Gambetta  more  cruelly  than 
they  were  before." 

The  action  of  England  was  treated  with  something 
like  indifference  in  Germany.  It  was  generally 
thought  Great  Britain  might,  by  a  timely  and  ener- 
getic interference,  have  prevented  the  breaking  out 
of  the  war ;  but  since  nothing  had  been  done  to  avert 
the  storm,  the  Germans  were  not  disposed  to  admit 
any  interference  in  ulterior  negotiations,  or  regard- 
ing their  dictation  of  the  conditions  of  a  peace  so 
dearly  purchased.  Confident  of  victory,  exasperated 
by  the  cruel  sacrifices  to  which  the  country  had 
been  subjected,  and  naturally  indignant  at  the 
unwarrantable  and  unprovoked  attack  made  upon 


NOTE. 

In  his  celebrated  "  Defence  Speech,"  before  the  National  Assembly, 
at  Versailles,  in  June,  1871,  to  which  we  allnded  at  the  end  of  the 
previous  chapter,  General  Trochu  gave  the  following  account  of  the 
transactions  of  this  memorable  4th  of  September,  so  far  as  he  was 
personally  concerned: — "In  the  morning  I  went  to  the  Tuileries.  I 
saw  the  empress  regent  surrounded  by  many  anxious  persons.  She 
herself  was  perfectly  calm.  I  addressed  to  her  these  few  words : — 
1  Madam,  the  hour  of  great  dangers  has  arrived.     Strange  things  are 


it,  they  regarded  the  exactions  proposed  by  their 
rulers  as  a  minimum  which  could  not  be  reduced 
by  an  iota.  They  were  also  somewhat  indignant 
at  the  treatment  accorded  to  the  captive  emperor 
at  Wilhelmshohe,  where  he  could  not,  they  alleged, 
have  received  more  attention  had  he  been  a  guest 
instead  of  a  prisoner.  In  the  endeavour  to  tone 
down  this  feeling,  the  semi-official  journals  indi- 
cated that  Count  von  Bismarck  had  not  wholly 
given  up  the  Bonapartist  dynasty. 

An  immense  impulse  was  given  to  the  cause  of 
German  unity  by  the  events  of  the  war.  With 
the  accounts  brought  to  Berlin  of  general  rejoicings 
for  victories,  came  announcements  of  meeting  after 
meeting,  and  resolution  after  resolution,  all  tending 
to  show  the  united  spirit  of  the  nation,  north  and 
south.  At  a  cabinet  council,  held  on  the  9th  Sep- 
tember, the  Bavarian  government  decided  on  taking 
the  initiative  in  opening  negotiations  with  Prussia, 
with  a  view  to  accession  to  the  North  German 
Bund.  After  a  warm  expression  of  thanks  to  the 
army  and  its  leaders,  and  of  confidence  in  those  at 
the  head  of  affairs,  it  was  declared  that  Germany, 
now  united  as  she  had  never  been  before,  had  fought 
her  battles  and  beaten  the  enemy  without  allies, 
and  would  therefore  conclude  a  peace  without  the 
interference  of  neutrals.  The  French  must  be 
brought  to  feel  themselves  defeated  before  lasting 
peace  could  be  hoped  for;  and  a  false  generosity 
would  only  encourage  fresh  aggressions.  The 
recovery  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  held  out  the  only 
guarantee  against  that  hankering  after  German  ter- 
ritory which  had  been  displayed  under  every  new 
government  in  France.  As  the  Germans  went 
united  to  the  war,  so  should  peace  also  find  them 
united,  by  the  fusion  of  the  southern  and  northern 
states,  and  the  acquisition  of  long-lost  territories. 
One  people,  one  army,  one  Diet,  one  constitution, 
were  the  guarantees  of  lasting  peace  for  Germany 
and  for  Europe.  These  sentiments  found  ready 
assent  amongst  the  various  other  states,  and  thus 
were  the  shadows  broadly  cast  of  important  com- 
ing events. 


taking  place  here,  but  this  is  not  a  time  for  recrimination.  I  remain 
at  my  post,  but  be  assured  that  the  crisis  is  a  serious  one.'  I  received 
neither  from  the  War  Office  nor  the  Tuileries  any  orders,  news,  or 
notice  of  any  kind.  About  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  I  saw  General 
Lebreton,  the  questeur  of  the  Corps  Legislatif.  He  said  to  me: 
1  General,  the  peril  is  at  its  height ;  there  is  a  tremendous  crowd 
on  the  quay  about  to  break  into  the  House — the  troops  have  allowed 
the  mob  to  break  through  their  lines.  You  alone,  by  a  personal 
effort,  may  perhaps  stave  the  danger  off.'  I  replied,  '  General,  I  am 
the  victim  of  an  unprecedented  situation.     In  fact,  I  have  no  com- 


38 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


mand;  I  did  not  order  the  troops  you  mention  to  be  posted  where 
they  were.'  Here,  gentlemen,  I  beg  to  say  that  I  am  thoroughly 
convinced  that  if  I  had  been  in  command  the  case  would  have  been 
precisely  the  same.  I  further  said  to  General  Lebreton,  '  Look  here, 
genera],  you  want  me  single-handed  to  stop  the  advance  of  half  a 
million  of  men  who  are  surgiog  up  towards  the  Assembly;  and  yet 
you  must  know  as  well  as  I  that  it  cannot  be  done;  but  as  you  make 
this  demand  in  the  name  of  the  Corps  Legislatif,  I  will  attempt  the 
effort,  though  I  am  well  assured  of  its  failure.'  Ten  minutes  later  I 
was  on  horseback,  on  my  way  to  the  Corps  Legislatif.  At  the  same 
moment  I  despatched  General  Schmitz  to  the  Tuileries  to  inform  the 
empress  of  what  I  was  going  to  do.  I  was  accompanied  by  two  aides- 
de-camp,  and  had  no  difficulty  in  getting  through  the  Carrousel, 
though  the  place  was  crowded,  because  nobody  seemed  to  want  to 
penetrate  into  the  Tuileries;  but  when  I  got  to  the  quay  I  had 
great  difficulty  in  moving  through  the  huge  mass,  which  stretched 
from  a  long  way  beyond  the  Pont  Nenf,  far  up  in  the  Champs  Elysees. 
I  witnessed,  not  without  fear  or  emotion,  such  a  sight  as  I  had  never 
beheld,  although  I  had  seen  both  1830  and  1848.  An  immense 
multitude  of  men,  women,  and  children,  wholly  unarmed,  and  in  which 
kindliness,  fear,  anger,  and  good  nature  were  oddly  mingled,  surged  up 
all  around  me  and  wholly  prevented  my  advance;  men  with  sinister 
faces  threw  themselves  on  my  horse's  reins,  and  shouted,  '  Cry  "Vive 
la  Sociale !  "  '  Yes,  gentlemen,  'Vive  la  Sociale.'  I  said  to  them,  '  I 
will  not  cry  anything  at  all;  you  want  to  bind  my  free  will — you 
shall  not  do  it.'  Other  men,  understanding  my  position,  remonstrated, 
and  shouted,  '  He's  right.'  It  took  me  nearly  an  hour  to  get  to  the 
corner  of  the  Pont  de  Solferino.  There  I  was  compelled  to  come  to  a 
stand-still.  I  had  long  since  lost  my  two  aides-de-camp,  and  could 
neither  go  forward  nor  back.  I  kept  parleying  with  the  crowd,  trying 
to  get  them  to  open  a  way  for  me,  when  a  tall  man  elbowed  himself 
up.  I  did  not  know  him  ;  he  was  under  the  influence  of  great  emotion. 
He  said,  'General,  where  are  you  going?'  'I  am  going  to  try  and 
save  the  Corps  Legislatif.'  'The  Corps  Legislatif  has  been  invaded. 
I  was  there — I  saw  it.  I  give  you  my  word  it  is  so.  I  am  M.  Jules 
Favre.'  M.  Jules  Favre  added,  'That  is  the  culminating  disaster; 
here  is  a  revolution  being  consummated  in  the  midst  of  the  disasters  of 
our  armies.  You  may  be  sure  that  the  demagogues  who  are  going  to 
try  and  turn  it  to  account  will  give  France  her  death-blow  if  we  don't 
prevent  it.  I  am  going  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville :  that  is  the  rendezvous 
of  the  men  who  wish  to  save  the  country.'  I  replied,  '  Monsieur,  I  cannot 
take  such  a  resolution  at  present ;'  and  we  parted.  It  took  me  about 
an  hour  longer  to  get  back  to  the  Louvre.  Whilst  these  events  were 
taking  place,  the  empress  had  left  the  Tuileries.  General  Schmitz 
had  found  her  gone,  and  had  been  received  by  Admiral  Jurien  de 
la  Graviere,  who  had  remained  at  the  palace.  The  official  historio- 
graphers, whose  narratives  I  have  read,  generally  add — 'The  principal 
functionaries  of  state  crowded  round  the  empress  to  take  leave  of  her ; 
alone  General  Trochu  did  not  appear.'  No,  I  did  not  appear,  because 
at  that  time,  instead  of  paying  compliments  of  condolence  to  the 
empress,  I  was  making  an  attempt  personally  to  protect  the  Corps 
Legislatif,  at  the  request  of  General  Lebreton.  A  little  after  my 
return  to  the  Louvre  a  group  of  persons,  utterly  unknown  to  me,  pre- 
sented themselves.  The  person  who  led  them  said,  '  I  am  JAL  Steen- 
ackers,  a  deputy.  I  am  sent  to  you  with  these  gentlemen  to  tell  you 
that  a  real  drama  is  being  enacted  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville;  it  is  sur- 
rounded by  the  mob;  deputies  have  met  there  to  form  a  Provisional 
Government;  but  there  are  no  troops;  there  are  no  soldiers;  there 
are  no  means  of  enforcing  any  decision  that  may  be  arrived  at ;  they 
imagine  that  your  name  will  be  a  kind  of  sanction,  and  that  the  troops 
dispersed  all  over  Paris  would  rally  round  you.'     I  asked  for  five 


minutes  to  see  my  family,  and  went  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  What  I 
saw  there  was  striking  enough.  There  were  the  same  enormous  crowds 
as  during  the  morning,  but  very  much  more  mixed.  Shouts,  clamours, 
and  threats  arose  on  every  side.  The  Hotel  de  Ville  itself  was  filled 
with  so  dense  a  crowd  that  it  was  only  by  devious  ways  that  I  was 
able  to  reach  a  closet,  about  four  times  the  size  of  this  tribune,  in 
which  the  Provisional  Government  had  stationed  itself  by  the  light  of 
a  solitary  lamp.  I  didn't  know  whether  the  men  I  saw  there  for  the 
first  time — with  the  exception  of  M.  Jules  Favre,  whom  I  had  seen 
during  the  day — were  really  usurpers,  vultures  soaring  down  on  power 
as  a  prey;  but  they  did  not  look  like  it.  I  felt  that  they  and  I  were 
exposed  to  a  great  peril.  One  of  them  said,  '  General,  in  this  formid- 
able crisis  we  are  especially  anxious  that  the  government  should  not 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  people  in  the  next  room.  Just  now,  taken 
aback  by  the  suddenness  of  events,  they  are  assembled,  but  they  are 
not  yet  armed;  but  they  will  be  to-morrow.  If  you  consent  to  be  the 
minister  of  War  of  the  Provisional  Government  to-morrow,  the  officers 
and  soldiers  in  Paris  will  gather  round  your  name,  and  there  will  be 
some  means  of  enforcing  the  measures  that  must  be  taken  for  the 
preservation  of  order  in  Paris.'  I  replied,  '  Before  making  up  my 
mind  it  is  my  duty  to  go  to  the  War  office  and  acquaint  the  minister, 
who  is  my  chief,  of  what  is  going  on  here.*  I  went  and  found  General 
Palikao  in  his  office  a  prey  to  intense  grief;  he  thought  that  his  son, 
a  clever  young  officer,  had  been  killed  at  Sedan.  On  this  occasion  he 
received  me  with  the  greatest  cordiality.  '  General,'  he  said,  '  the 
revolution  is  a  fait  accompli;  if  you  don't  take  the  direction  of  affairs 
it  is  all  up  with  us;  if  you  do,  probably  the  result  will  be  just  the 
same;  but  the  soldiers  will  rally  round  you.'  I  returned  to  the  Hotel 
de  Ville,  where  I  found  the  Provisional  Government  had  received  during 
my  absence  an  addition  to  its  numbers  in  the  person  of  M.  Rochefort. 
I  told  them,  '  If  you  want  me  to  be  of  any  use  at  this  fearful  crisis  I 
must  be  at  the  head  of  affairs.  M.  Jules  Favre  is  president ;  I  must 
be  president  in  his  place.'  Such,  gentlemen,  in  a  very  condensed  form, 
is  the  history  of  September  4." 

In  his  letter  to  the  President  of  the  National  Assembly,  referred  to 
at  the  end  of  the  previous  chapter,  Count  Palikao,  referring  to  this 
part  of  General  Trochu's  defence,  said: — "  On  the  morning  of  the  4th 
the  council  met  as  usual,  and  only  broke  up  at  half-past  eleven,  as  the 
ministers  had  to  go  to  the  Chamber ;  none  of  the  persons  whose  duties 
called  them  elsewhere  were  therefore  with  the  empress — we  all  knew 
the  dangers  of  the  situation  as  well  as  the  governor  of  Paris.  I  was 
the  last  to  leave  the  Corps  Legislatif.  I  had  strenuously  contended 
with  the  insurgents  in  the  Salle  des  pas  Perdus  until  the  very  last 
moment,  exposed  to  the  brutality  of  an  infuriated  mob,  excited  against 
me  by  a  member  of  the  Extreme  Left;  and  was  only  rescued  from  the 
hands  of  these  misguided  men  by  my  aide-de-camp,  Lieutenant-colonel 
Barry,  and  Captain  de  Brimont,  my  orderly  officer.  I  had  one  last 
duty  to  fulfil — to  wait  upon  the  empress.  It  was  three  o'clock  when 
I  got  to  the  Tuileries ;  at  that  hour  the  guard  were  leaving  their  posts 
and  the  mob  had  invaded  the  palace.  The  empress  had  gone,  no  one 
knew  whither.  It  was  therefore  impossible  for  me  to  take  her  orders. 
I  returned  to  the  ministry  at  four  o'clock;  the  Revolution  had  con- 
quered through  an  insurrection  doubly  criminal,  from  the  fact  of  its 
taking  place  before  a  victorious  enemy.  At  five  o'clock  General  Trochu 
called  upon  me,  to  inform  me  that  he  had  replaced  me  at  the  War 
Office;  he  wished  to  know  my  opinion  as  to  what  he  had  to  do.  He 
did  not  mention  his  meeting  M.  Jules  Favre,  nor  what  he  had  done 
during  the  day.  I  replied,  that  as  disturbances  might  entail  the  greatest 
calamity,  the  presence  of  men  of  order  such  as  he  could  not  but  be 
useful.  He  could  not  ask  me— nor  could  I  give  him — advice  as  to 
what  his  conscience  might  dictate.     I  have  not  seen  him  since." 


CHAPTER      XVII. 


The  Situation  and  Possibilities  on  both  sides  after  the  Battle  of  Sedan — The  great  mistake  of  the  French  in  not  constructing  Intrenched  Camps 
and  making  the  Sea  the  Base  of  their  Operations  for  the  relief  of  Paris — Commencement  of  the  March  of  the  Germans  on  Paris  the  day 
after  the  Battle  of  Sedan — Their  Forethought  and  Organization — The  Routes  taken  and  System  adopted  by  the  Armies  in  their  March  to 
the  Capital — Escape  of  a  French  Corps  which  had  been  sent  to  assist  MacMahon — No  resistance  offered  to  the  Germans — Their  Arrival  at 
Rheims,  and  Surrender  of  the  City — Catastrophe  at  Laon,  which  caused  the  Explosion  of  the  Powder  Magazine  in  the  Citadel — The  Commandant 
declared  innocent  by  the  Germans — Letter  from  him  to  his  Wife  on  the  General  State  of  Affairs— Description  of  Laon  and  its  History — 
Skirmishes  as  the  Germans  approached  nearer  to  Paris — Their  Investment  of  the  City — General  Trochu's  Plans — Engagement  between  the 
French  under  General  Ducrot  and  the  Germans  under  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia,  on  September  17 — The  French  are  completely  defeated — 
A  more  severe  Engagement  on  the  19th,  in  which  the  Germans  are  again  Victorious — Disgraceful  Conduct  of  part  of  the  French  Troops — 
Manifesto  of  General  Trochu  on  the  Subject — Entry  of  the  Germans  into  Versailles — Sketch  of  the  Palace,  in  which  their  Headquarters 
were  established,  and  Town — Negotiations  for  an  Armistice — Count  von  Bismarck's  opinion  on  the  general  Situation — His  difficulty  in 
dealing  with  "  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Pavement " — The  German  intention  of  starving  the  City  out,  and  the  only  Terms  on  which  Germany 
could  consent  to  Peace — Meeting  between  Jules  Favre  and  Count  von  Bismarck  at  Ferrieres — Epitome  of  the  Reports  issued  by  each  on 
their  Interview — The  French  Government  reiterate  their  Determination  not  to  cede  "  an  Inch  of  their  Territory,  or  a  Stone  of  their  Fort- 
resses "—The  Action  taken  by  the  English  Government  between  both  Belligerents — The  Operations  of  the  Besiegers  up  to  the  end  of 
September — The  Feeling  in  Germany — Speech  and  Imprisonment  of  Dr.  Jacoby — Events  in  Italy — The  French  Troops  withdrawn  from 
Rome  on  the  outbreak  of  the  War,  and  the  Italians  at  once  determine  to  take  possession  of  the  City — Enthusiasm  in  the  Army — Triumphant 
Entry  of  the  Troops  on  the  20th  of  September,  after  three  hours'  fighting — The  Fall  of  the  Temporal  Power  proclaimed — A  Plebiscitum 
declares  unmistakably  in  favour  of  the  New  Order  of  Things. 


Befork  proceeding  further,  it  may  be  of  service  that 
we  pass  in  brief  review  the  situation  and  possibili- 
ties on  both  sides,  at  the  time  to  which  our  narra- 
tive now  reaches,  as  they  were  estimated  by  an  able 
writer  in  the  Quarterly  Review  for  January,  1871. 

First,  as  to  France.  Starting  with  the  assump- 
tion that  Paris  could  resist  for  three  months,  we 
find  the  French  bent  on  continuing  the  struggle — 
a  determination  which  appears  to  have  been  inten- 
sified by  every  fresh  disaster ;  but  the  only  elements 
of  success  were  supplied  by  the  superior  numbers 
and  wealth  of  the  defenders.  Of  able-bodied  men 
there  was  no  lack  ;  but  they  were  at  first  without 
arms  and  without  officers  to  organize  them. 
Especially  were  they  deficient  in  field  artillery,  a 
deficiency  for  which  no  amount  of  courage  or  num- 
bers could  make  up.  The  action  of  the  civilian 
prefects  in  many  cases  disgusted  the  officers  of  the 
regular  army ;  and  the  hoisting  of  the  red  flag  at 
Lyons  and  Marseilles,  referred  to  in  the  previous 
chapter,  threatened  at  one  time  to  divide  the 
French  people  into  two  hostile  camps. 

While  such  was  the  state  of  affairs  without  the 
city,  the  temper  of  the  Parisian  populace  could  not 
be  counted  on.  Dissensions  were  known  to  exist, 
and  the  Belleville  clique,  headed  by  Flourens,  were 
noisy  and  violent.  As  already  stated,  the  armed 
force  at  the  disposal  of  Trochu  was  of  a  mixed 
character,  consisting  of  regular  troops,  mobiles,  and 


national  guards  ;  the  regulars  greatly  disheartened 
by  the  events  of  the  war.  This  force  too,  wanted 
organization,  and  was  very  imperfectly  armed. 
The  garrison  was  almost  destitute  of  field  artillery. 
Guns  had  to  be  cast,  and  the  horses  and  gunners 
trained,  while  the  enemy  was  thundering  at  the 
gates.  Until  this  was  effected,  sorties  in  force, 
though  the  soul  of  the  defence,  could  not  be  suc- 
cessfully undertaken. 

Thus  the  composition  and  equipment  of  the 
garrison  were  in  every  respect  so  inferior  to  those 
of  the  approaching  besiegers,  that  the  salvation  of 
the  city  depended  absolutely  on  the  formation  of 
such  an  army  without  the  walls  as,  in  co-operation 
with  the  army  within,  might  be  able  to  drive  the 
Germans  from  their  prey.  Now,  the  organization, 
arming,  and  provisioning  of  such  a  force  required 
both  time  and  a  place  where,  secure  from  moles- 
tation, it  might  be  drilled,  and  disciplined,  and 
supplied  with  all  the  materiel  and  provisions  neces- 
sary to  enable  it  to  take  the  field  with  any  prospect 
of  success.  Such  a  place  the  sea  alone  could  fur- 
nish. During  the  whole  war  the  sea  was  at  the 
command  of  France,  and  should  have  constituted 
the  base  of  operations  for  the  relief  of  Paris.  Three 
harbours,  Bordeaux  and  Havre  being  two  of  them, 
might  have  been  fixed  on  as  the  rallying  points  for 
the  whole  of  the  French  levies  ;  by  united  and 
ceaseless  effort  on  the  part  of  all  who  were  able  to 


40 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


labour,  entrenched  camps  might  have  been  con- 
structed round  those  ports,  the  flanks  resting  on 
the  sea ;  and  the  works  armed  with  heavy  guns 
from  the  fleet,  which  should  have  been  recalled 
to  the  defence  of  France  and  divided  between  the 
three  ports,  to  which  the  whole  available  merchant- 
marine  should  have  been  constantly  employed  in 
bringing  field-guns  and  breech-loading  rifles  for 
the  equipment  of  the  armies,  as  well  as  the  stores 
of  food  and  forage  required  for  their  maintenance 
in  an  advance  on  Paris.  The  three  camps,  each 
garrisoned  by  150,000  fighting  men,  and  armed 
with  guns  very  superior  to  any  the  Germans  could 
bring  against  them,  would  easily  have  defied  attack, 
and  divided  the  operations  of  the  enemy.  To  assail 
them,  indeed,  it  would  have  been  necessary  to 
employ  three  powerful  armies,  so  widely  separated 
from  each  other  in  a  hostile  country  as  must  have 
rendered  intercommunication  tedious  and  difficult; 
and  those  armies  could  not  even  have  been  brought 
into  the  field,  and  provided  with  the  requisite 
heavy  guns,  except  by  abandoning  the  siege  of 
Paris. 

The  defence  of  the  three  camps,  on  the  other 
hand,  might  be  considered  as  one;  since  they 
could  have  maintained  constant  and  rapid  com- 
munication by  steam,  and  reinforced  each  other 
according  to  need.  As  soon  as  they  were  ready 
to  take  the  field,  the  French  marine  could  have 
easily  transported  the  armies  of  the  two  southern 
camps  to  Havre,  from  which  an  united  army  of 
450,000  men  might  have  marched  to  raise  the 
siege  of  the  capital.  To  the  last  a  screen  of  troops 
should  have  been  maintained  as  far  as  possible  in 
advance  of  the  two  camps  ;  but  all  serious  engage- 
ments in  the  open  country,  where  success  might 
be  doubtful,  and  especially  all  attempts  to  defend 
open  towns,  should  have  been  avoided. 

After  Sedan  the  only  organized  army  remaining 
to  France  was  shut  in  at  Metz,  under  Bazaine,  and 
consisted  of  150,000  men,  exclusive  of  the  regular 
garrison  of  the  fortress.  This  force  was  now 
hemmed  in  by  strong  lines  of  circumvallation,  and 
invested  by  the  first  and  second  German  armies 
under  General  Manteuffel  and  Prince  Frederick 
Charles,  consisting  of  seven  corps  and  three 
divisions  of  cavalry,  reinforced  later  by  one  infan- 
try division.  Thus,  a  German  force,  never  pro- 
bably exceeding  210,000  men,  spread  over  a 
circumference  of  twenty-seven  miles,  which  was 
divided  into  two  parts  by  the  Moselle,  was  found 


sufficient  to  hold  fast  150,000  French  occupying 
the  centre  of  the  circle,  and  with  every  strategical 
advantage  in  their  favour. 

At  Strassburg  a  French  garrison  of  19,000  was 
besieged  by  70,000  Germans.  By  one  Prussian 
division,  under  the  grand  duke  of  Mecklenburg, 
a  garrison  of  2000  mobiles  was  besieged  at 
Toul,  whose  cannon,  commanding  the  railroad 
from  Nancy  by  Chalons  and  Epernay  to  Paris, 
compelled  the  Germans  to  unload  their  trains 
some  distance  east  of  the  town,  to  transport 
their  supplies  on  wheels  by  a  long  detour, 
and  to  reload  them  on  trains  to  the  west  of 
the  fortress.  Thus  the  persistent  defence  of  the 
garrison,  which  only  surrendered  in  the  last  days 
of  September,  contributed  largely  in  delaying 
the  operations  of  the  besiegers  of  Paris.  Thion- 
ville,  Longwy,  Montmedy,  and  Mezieres,  all  held 
French  garrisons,  and  prevented  the  Germans 
from  using  the  railroad  passing  by  these  places 
to  Rheims  and  Paris.  Thionville  and  Montmedy 
were  blockaded,  and  the  blockades  of  Bitsche  and 
Phalsburg  were  continued ;  they  were  defended 
chiefly  by  mobiles,  and  occupied  about  18,000 
German  troops. 

To  compensate  somewhat  for  their  inferiority  in 
the  field,  the  French,  as  fighting  in  defence  of  their 
own  soil,  had  this  advantage,  that  instead  of  being 
limited  to  one  general  line  of  retreat,  they  could, 
in  the  event  of  defeat,  retire  in  any  direction  save 
the  one  barred  by  the  enemy.  With  such  an  ex- 
tent of  seaboard  and  a  powerful  fleet  they  would 
have  been  secure  of  finding  safety  and  support  on 
reaching  any  point  on  the  coast  where  local  con- 
ditions were  favourable ;  and  this  circumstance 
would  evidently  give  them  a  real  tactical  advan- 
tage in  battle. 

Turning,  now,  to  the  Germans.  The  capture  of 
Paris  was  the  one  great  object  they  proposed  to 
themselves  in  continuing  the  war,  as  its  attainment, 
they  considered,  would  lead  to  the  immediate 
submission  of  France.  The  siege  of  the  capital, 
therefore,  was  the  one  great  central  operation  to 
which  all  the  other  military  movements  were 
accessory.  Had  the  Germans  foreseen  the  resistance 
they  would  have  to  encounter,  it  is  not  improbable 
that,  after  Sedan,  they  would  have  offered  terms 
of  peace  which  the  French  might  have  accepted  ; 
but  they  were  under  the  impression  that  Paris 
would  yield  on  the  mere  appearance  of  their  forces 
before  it,  and   thus  they  were   committed   to   a 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


41 


tedious  and  difficult  enterprise,  the  duration  of 
which  gave  France  all  the  chances  arising  from 
the  mutability  of  human  affairs  in  general,  and  the 
changes  which  time  might  work  in  the  ojainions 
and  conduct  of  the  other  European  powers. 

Destitute  as  France  was  at  this  period  of  any 
organized  military  force  in  the  field,  the  most 
obvious  way  of  reducing  her  to  subjection  was 
to  prevent  the  assembling  and  training  of  such  a 
force,  by  sending  strong  movable  columns  of  the 
three  arms  into  every  district.  But  from  the 
large  extent  of  France  it  was  impossible,  even 
with  the  overwhelming  numbers  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Prussian  monarch,  to  coerce  in  that 
manner  more  than  a  small  portion  of  her  area. 
The  German  columns  could  command  only  the 
ground  on  which  they  encamped,  with  a  certain 
zone  around  it;  and  the  fire  of  hatred  and  resistance, 
smouldering  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  country, 
would  thus  be  stamped  out  in  one  quarter  only  to 
burst  forth  with  increased  violence  in  another. 
To  this  it  was  owing  that  the  French  government 
was  left  so  long  unmolested  at  Tours,  as  it  would 
have  been  hazardous,  in  view  of  the  strength  of 
the  garrison,  to  detach  to  so  great  a  distance  from 
Paris  a  large  force  from  the  investing  armies, 
and  a  small  one  would  have  run  the  risk  of  being 
overpowered. 

The  base  of  operations  for  all  the  German  forces 
was  formed  by  the  fine  of  frontier  extending  from 
Saarbriick  on  the  north  to  Basle  on  the  south, 
and  all  their  movements  were  necessarily  regulated 
by  that  consideration. 

The  lines  of  communication  for  the  army  en- 
gaged in  the  primary  operation  of  the  siege  of 
Paris  took  their  departure  from  the  northern  half 
of  this  base ;  and  on  these  lines  were  situated 
all  the  strong  places  excepting  Strassburg,  such 
as  Thionville,  &c,  which  the  Germans  were 
besieging  at  the  period  of  the  fall  of  Sedan. 
The  southern  half  formed  the  base  of  operations 
for  the  troops  engaged  in  the  siege  of  Strassburg, 
and  for  those  subsequently  employed  in  reducing 
Schlestadt,  Neu  Brisach,  Belfort,  &c.  ;  as  well  as 
for  the  armies  operating  by  Dijon  towards  Lyons, 
and  to  the  south  of  Belfort  towards  Besancon. 

The  position  of  the  investing  army  at  Paris 
formed  a  secondary  base,  from  which  radiated  the 
different  columns  acting  towards  Orleans,  Chartres, 
Dreux,  Evreux,  Amiens,  St.  Quentin,  &c. ;  the 
capital  being,  as  it  were,  the  centre  of  the  wheel, 
vol.  n. 


of  which  these  columns  represented  the  spokes. 
The  object  for  which  they  were  employed,  was  the 
collecting  of  supplies,  and  preventing  the  siege 
from  interruption  by  the  different  bodies  of  French 
troops  which  were  organizing  all  over  the  country. 

With  these  explanations  clearly  apprehended, 
the  movements  of  the  German  forces,  which  other- 
wise would  appear  confused,  will  assume  in  the 
mind  of  the  reader  a  methodical  and  symmetrical 
arrangement. 

On  the  evening  of  the  2nd  September,  the  day 
on  which  the  surrender  of  Sedan  was  consum- 
mated, the  German  armies  received  their  march- 
ing orders,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  3rd  broke 
up  in  different  directions,  en  route  for  Paris.  The 
readiness  and  rapidity  with  which  they  resumed 
their  march  were  noteworthy.  An  army  of  120,000 
prisoners,  with  their  personal  arms,  artillery,  camp 
baggage,  ammunition,  military  train,  and  military 
stores,  had  to  be  received  and  transported  on  a 
sudden  emergency.  The  transport,  store,  and 
commissariat  services  were  thus  put  to  a  severe 
strain;  and  the  victors  were  hampered  in  propor- 
tion to  the  magnitude  of  their  victory.  The  men 
and  horses  which  came  into  their  hands  required 
to  be  fed,  and  the  sick  to  be  provided  for.  The 
ease,  however,  with  which  all  this  was  accomplished 
was  equally  astonishing  with  the  victory  itself, 
and  showed  extraordinary  forethought  and  organ- 
ization. The  demolition  of  the  French  army  and 
capture  of  the  emperor  seemed  only  a  little  episode, 
by  which  the  stern  purpose  of  the  invaders  re- 
mained unshaken  and  unaltered.  Their  goal  was 
Paris;  and  orders  were  issued  that  by  the  14th  of 
September  the  battalions  were  to  be  each  in  posi- 
tion at  a  distance  of  ten  leagues  from  the  city. 

The  eleventh  corps  and  first  Bavarians,  both 
belonging  to  the  third  Prussian  army,  were  de- 
tailed to  escort  the  prisoners  to  Pont-a-Mousson, 
whence,  having  handed  over  their  charge  to  the 
tenth  corps,  employed  before  Metz,  they  were  to 
make  all  speed  to  join  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia 
in  his  march  to  Paris. 

The  third  and  fourth  armies  marched  on  the 
capital  by  two  different  routes.  The  third,  under 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia,  passed  by  Eethel, 
Eheims,  and  Epernay,  to  the  south  bank  of  the 
Marne;  and  continued  its  march  by  Montmirail  to 
Coulommiers,  whence  the  different  corps  diverged 
to  take  up  their  respective  investing  positions  from 
Lagny,  on  the  Marne,  towards  Versailles.      The 

F 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


Crown  Prince  of  Saxony,  with  the  fourth  army, 
moved  his  columns  to  the  south-west,  but  without 
encroaching  on  the  roads  to  the  west  of  the  line 
formed  by  Eemilly,  La  Besace,  and  Le  Chene. 
They  passed  by  Vouziers,  Eheims,  and  generally 
by  the  north  bank  of  the  Marne  to  Claye,  whence 
the  several  corps  diverged  to  their  respective  posi- 
tions for  continuing  the  investing  line  from  Lagny 
on  their  left,  round  by  Gonesse  to  St.  Denis  and 
Argenteuil,  north  of  the  city.  The  tracks  of  the 
two  crown  princes  intersected  each  other  at 
Eheims.  That  one  army  of  80,000  men,  with  all 
its  trains  and  impediments,  should,  without  serious 
inconvenience,  have  been  able  to  cut  across  the 
march  of  another  numbering  120,000,  added 
another  proof  to  the  excellence  of  the  working 
staff  amongst  the  Germans. 

Each  army  marched  in  parallel  columns,  the 
lateral  communication  between  which,  as  well  as 
between  the  two  armies,  was  kept  up  by  the 
cavalry;  and  in  particular,  the  outward  flanks  of 
both  were  protected  by  strong  bodies  of  mounted 
troops.  Their  front  was,  at  the  same  time,  covered 
by  a  chain  of  advanced  guards,  at  a  distance  of 
from  twenty  to  thirty  miles,  in  communication 
with  each  other  by  means  of  cavalry  patrols,  thus 
forming  a  continuous  circle,  either  for  protection 
or  conveying  information,  enveloping  the  head  of 
the  line  of  march  of  both  armies. 

A  new  French  corps  d'armee,  which  had  been 
formed  in  Paris,  under  the  command  of  General 
Vinoy,  was  despatched  by  rail  to  Soissons,  Laon, 
Marie,  Vervins,  &c,  to  join  MacMahon  on  his 
way  from  Eheims  to  Stenay,  to  attempt  the  relief 
of  Bazaine  at  Metz.  This  thirteenth  corps  consisted 
of  the  four  last  regiments  of  infantry  and  two  of 
light  cavalry  that  had  arrived  from  Algeria,  and  the 
debris  of  one  of  MacMahon 's  cuirassier  brigades; 
to  which  were  added  regiments  de  marche  com- 
posed of  fourth  battalions  and  depots.  The  corps, 
however,  did  not  get  beyond  Me'zieres ;  but  retreat- 
ing as  quickly  as  possible,  escaped  by  rail,  via 
Laon,  Soissons,  and  Villers-Cotterets,  to  Paris, 
before  the  first-named  town  surrendered  to  the 
cavalry  division  of  Duke  William  of  Mecklenburg. 

The  march  of  the  Germans  met  with  little 
opposition.  After  the  defeat  at  Sedan,  although 
France  still  had  considerable  elements  of  mili- 
tary power,  they  were  for  a  time  so  disorganized 
that  they  could  offer  but  a  feeble  resistance  to 
the  advance    of  the   enemy.      As  yet,   however, 


hardly  a  single  fortress  of  the  invaded  country 
had  fallen ;  and  Bazaine  was  still  in  occupation 
of  Metz  with  an  immense  force.  The  Germans 
had  not,  indeed,  mastered  even  one  of  the  main 
roads  or  railways  necessary  to  maintain  their  com- 
munications with  the  interior  and  with  the  frontier 
of  Germany,  but  they  still  pressed  forward,  not 
doubting  that  Paris  would  soon  be  within  their 
reach.  Their  march  was  well  described  by  a 
correspondent  of  the  Daily  News: — "  All  through 
the  fertile  province  of  Champagne,  down  the 
straight  roads,  with  their  lines  of  poplar  trees,  and 
among  the  pleasant  villages  on  the  vine-covered 
slopes,  the  Prussians  advanced  towards  Paris. 
There  was  a  great  bend  to  the  northward  when 
the  Crown  Prince  swung  round  upon  MacMahon, 
and  pinned  him  in  against  the  Belgian  frontier  at 
Sedan.  There  was  a  momentary  pause  after  the 
success  of  September — a  pause  merely  to  rest  the 
exhausted  troops ;  then  a  second  movement,  as 
decided  and  almost  as  rapid  as  that  of  the  shutting 
in  of  MacMahon.  The  German  forces  returned 
to  the  main  road  to  their  promised  goal.  They 
came  slanting  back  to  the  line  of  the  Marne,  and 
occupied  village  after  village  and  town  after  town, 
with  astonishing  quickness.  The  French  had  no 
time  to  prepare  a  systematic  defence.  Before  the 
national  guard  could  even  be  armed,  far  less  ex- 
ercised, those  fluttering  pennants  of  black  and 
white  which  told  of  the  Prussian  lancers,  or  those 
spiked  helmets  of  the  Prussian  dragoons,  were 
seen  approaching.  Everything  had  to  be  aban- 
doned. The  armed  force,  such  as  it  was,  dispersed 
or  retreated,  and  the  people  submitted  themselves 
to  the  inevitable  in  the  way  of  war  contributions." 
On  and  on  marched  the  invaders.  Heralded  by 
their  trusty  cavalry,  the  immense  armies  moved  in 
open  order,  although  never  beyond  the  reach  of 
their  prescient  strategist,  who  required  but  a  few 
hours'  notice  to  mass  them  for  any  possible  con- 
tingency. Dr.  Eussell  also  wrote  as  follows  to  the 
Times  on  the  subject: — "  One  thing  which  causes 
astonishment  to  me  is  the  perfect  impunity  with 
which  the  Prussian  communications  have  been 
preserved.  Their  military  administration  is  most 
vigorous,  and  its  apparent  severity  prevents  blood- 
shed and  secures  their  long  lines  against  attack. 
It  is  '  Death '  to  have  any  arms  concealed  or 
retained  in  any  house.  It  is  '  Death '  to  cut  a 
telegraph  wire,  or  to  destroy  anything  used  for  the 
service  of  the  army.    "What  can  a  disarmed  popula- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


43 


tion,  however  hostile  and  venturesome,  attempt 
even  against  small  bodies  of  armed  men  who  always 
move  with  caution,  and  against  troops  who  do  not 
make  night  marches  unless  in  large  bodies  ?  The 
Prussian  cavalry  are  everywhere.  There  is  no 
neglect,  no  insouciance.  Nothing  is  taken  on 
trust.  The  people  in  the  towns  and  villages  are 
quite  aghast." 

On  the  5th  of  September  the  Germans  entered 
the  ancient  cathedral  city  of  Kheims.  In  the 
morning  a  few  cavalry  soldiers  entered  the  town, 
one  of  whom  was  attacked  by  an  old  Frenchman  ; 
the  hussar  fired  his  pistol,  wounded  his  assailant, 
and  then,  with  his  companions,  galloped  out  of  the 
city.  In  the  afternoon  a  large  body  of  troops 
appeared,  followed  by  the  main  army,  whereupon 
the  mayor  formally  surrendered  the  town,  and  the 
king  of  Prussia's  headquarters  were  established  in 
the  episcopal  palace. 

A  notable  incident  occurred  when  the  Germans, 
under  the  Duke  William  of  Mecklenburg,  arrived 
at  the  fortress  of  Laon,  which  General  Vinoy's 
corps  left  early  on  the  morning  of  the  6th 
September.  On  the  evening  of  that  day  three 
uhlans  presented  themselves  at  the  gate,  and 
demanded  admission  ;  but  the  gardes  mobiles 
fired  on  them,  and  they  were  dismounted  and 
made  prisoners.  On  the  following  day  three 
more  uhlans  arrived  with  a  flag  of  truce.  One 
was  admitted,  after  having  had  his  eyes  bandaged; 
but  General  Theremin  d'Hame,  the  commandant 
of  the  citadel,  would  not  treat  with  him  on  account 
of  his  inferior  rank.  On  the  8th  of  September 
more  Prussians  appeared  ;  a  lieutenant-colonel 
presented  himself  as  parlementaire,  and  was 
received  by  General  d'Hame,  who  refused  to 
surrender  the  citadel,  biit  the  maire  came  to  terms 
for  the  town.  On  the  9th,  however,  the  general 
received  a  telegram  from  the  War  minister  to 
surrender,  as  the  place  was  not  in  a  state  to  defend 
itself.  Two  officers  of  the  mobile  were  sent  to 
the  Prussian  camp  to  make  the  announcement ; 
and  accordingly,  towards  noon  a  corps  of  Prussian 
infantry,  a  thousand  strong,  preceded  and  followed 
by  cavalry,  escorting  a  group  of  superior  officers, 
entered  the  town  with  their  band  playing.  A 
portion  of  this  force  immediately  marched  to  the 
citadel,  just  before  occupied  by  the  mobiles,  who 
laid  down  their  arms  and  were  declared  prisoners 
of  war  on  parole.  At  the  moment  the  mobiles 
were    defiling   the    powder   magazine    exploded, 


causing  fearful  consternation  in  the  ranks  both  of 
friends  and  foes.  Fifty  Germans  and  300  gardes 
mobiles  perished  in  the  catastrophe,  and  several 
hundred  soldiers  and  civilians  were  more  or  less 
severely  wounded.  Koofs  were  blown  off  the 
houses  and  windows  broken,  both  in  Laon  and  the 
neighbouring  village  of  Vaux.  This  sanguinary 
incident  naturally  caused  great  irritation  among  the 
Germans,  who  immediately  placed  the  command- 
ant under  arrest.  The  king  of  Prussia  ordered 
a  judicial  investigation  to  be  made  into  the  cause 
of  the  explosion,  which  resulted  in  establishing 
the  complete  innocence  of  General  Theremin 
d'Hame,  who  died  shortly  after  of  his  own  injuries. 
The  perpetrator  was  declared  to  be  a  certain 
inspector  of  artillery,  missing  after  the  catastrophe, 
and  believed  to  have  had  no  accomplices.  By 
a  portion  of  the  French  press  the  perpetrators  of 
the  barbarous  deed  were  eulogized  as  devoted 
patriots,  who  preferred  death  to  dishonour.  The 
following  abbreviation  of  a  touching  letter,  written 
by  the  unfortunate  General  to  Madame  d'Hame 
shortly  after  the  explosion,  shows  that  he  held 
a  contrary  opinion,  and  gives  a  glimpse  of  the 
condition  of  affairs  at  the  period  of  which  we  are 
writing  : — "  You  will  be  in  great  anxiety  on  my 
account,  beloved.  To-day  I  am  able  to  write 
and  comfort  you,  which  the  injuries  to  my  head 
would  not  let  me  do  before.  A  hard  trial  has 
fallen  on  me.  You  know  that  sixteen  days  since 
the  command  of  this  department  was  assigned  to 
me,  without  staff,  or  a  single  man  or  officer  of  the 
regulars.  I  was  left  alone  with  a  battalion  of 
mobiles,  who  had  been  called  out  on  the  8th  of 
August.  The  men,  terrified  at  the  rumours  flying 
about,  deserted  wholesale,  and  were  reduced  one 
half.  We  had  no  means  of  resistance,  and  a 
telegram  from  the  minister  told  me,  if  necessary, 
to  fall  back  on  Soissons.  Unhappily  this  came 
too  late.  The  Prussian  summons  to  surrender 
arrived  soon  after  it,  and  there  was  no  means  of 
withdrawal.  After  two  days  of  parleying,  I  was 
obliged  to  surrender,  the  citadel  being  in  face 
of  a  whole  army  corps.  When  the  duke  of 
Mecklenburg  entered  he  was  astonished  to  see 
who  had  defended  the  place — mere  peasants  in 
blouses,  many  of  them  without  a  cartridge-box. 
The  duke  had  asked  me  whether  I  was  related 
to  F.  Theremin,  formerly  of  our  foreign  office, 
and  I  had  scarcely  answered  this,  and  one  or  two 
other  friendly  questions,  when  a  terrific  explosion 


44 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


covered  the  ground  with  dead  and  dying.  The 
event  was  so  surprising  that  one  could  only- 
attribute  it  to  treason,  and  to-day  it  is  manifest 
to  all  that  the  garde  d'artillerie  is  alone  responsible 
for  it.  Yet  all  my  life  long  I  shall  be  grieved  that 
so  rascally  a  deed  was  perpetrated  where  I  had 
the  command.  Happily  the  duke  and  his  brigadier, 
Count  Alvensleben,  are  only  slightly  wounded. 
I  was  to  have  had  my  freedom,  and  my  sword  had 
been  given  back  to  me.  All  is  changed  now.  I 
am  a  prisoner  and  in  hospital,  and  know  not  when 
I  may  be  well  and  free  again.  But  as  soon  as 
permitted  I  will,  by  a  pass,  hasten  to  you  and 
my  daughter,  who  must,  for  the  present,  use  her 
Christian  faith  to  bear  the  trial  that  has  come  upon 
us."  A  month  after  the  above  was  written 
General  d'Hame  died  of  his  wounds. 

The  town  of  Laon  is  situated  seventy-five  miles 
north-east  of  Paris,  and  is  the  capital  of  the 
department  of  the  Aisne.  Its  traditionary  history 
extends  back  to  the  reign  of  Clovis,  and  during 
the  Carlovingian  dynasty  it  formed  a  part  of  the 
possessions  of  the  crown.  The  city  was  surrounded 
by  an  ancient  wall,  and  possessed  a  handsome 
cathedral  dating  from  the  twelfth  century.  The 
fortress  had  sustained  frequent  sieges,  and  in  1594 
was  taken  from  the  League  by  Henry  IV.  During 
the  campaign  of  1814  it  was  the  scene  of  a 
sanguinary  engagement  between  Napoleon  I.  and 
Marshal  Bliicher,  in  which,  after  a  conflict  of 
great  obstinacy  and  varying  success,  the  French 
were  finally  beaten,  with  a  loss  of  forty -eight  guns 
and  between  5000  and  6000  prisoners. 

After  the  affair  at  Laon  the  German  armies 
continued  to  advance  uninterruptedly  (with  the 
exception  of  a  few  futile  attempts  at  obstruction 
by  the  felling  of  trees  and  the  blowing  up  of 
bridges)  towards  Paris,  which,  as  previously 
arranged,  they  approached  by  three  main  roads, 
the  one  from  Soissons,  through  Villers-Cotterets 
and  Dommartin  ;  the  second  from  Meaux,  through 
which  they  had  come  from  Epernay  and  Chateau- 
Thierry;  and  the  third  from  Provins,  through 
Brie,  which  leads  to  the  junctions  of  the  rivers 
Seine  and  Marne,  close  to  Paris  on  its  south-east 
side.  When  they  reached  so  near  the  capital  their 
progress  was  not  allowed  altogether  undisputed. 
At  Chateau  -  Thierry  a  Prussian  reconnoitring 
party  was  driven  back  by  a  body  of  French 
cavalry.  At  Montereau  and  Melun  engagements 
took  place  between  uhlans  and  francs-tireurs,  and 


heavy  fighting  occurred  near  Colmar  between  these 
irregulars  and  the  Germans,  in  which  the  French 
sustained  defeat  and  lost  several  prisoners. 

It  was  in  the  suburban  village  of  Cre'teil,  on 
the  Marne,  two  miles  in  front  of  the  Fort  de  Char- 
enton  that  the  Prussian  scouts  made  their  first 
appearance  on  the  16th  September.  Two  days 
before,  the  main  body  of  the  German  armies  had 
reached  the  streams  which  fence  Paris  on  its  east- 
ern front.  The  Crown  Prince  of  Saxony  was 
posted  at  Meaux,  on  the  Marne,  and  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Prussia  at  Melun,  on  the  Seine,  with 
the  design  of  converging  from  those  points  on 
their  destined  prize.  The  fortifications  of  the 
city,  however,  saved  it  from  a  sudden  attack, 
although,  as  yet,  they  were  comparatively  ill 
armed,  and  had  not  the  support  of  an  army  out- 
side. Their  unprotected  state  enabled  the  invaders 
from  the  first  to  seize  positions  which  gave  them 
the  power  of  effectually  investing  the  capital,  and 
which  never  could  have  been  occupied  had  the 
French  possessed  an  army  of  such  strength  as  that 
with  which  MacMahon  undertook  his  fatal  march 
to  Sedan. 

General  Trochu,  who  well  knew  the  importance 
of  preventing  the  enemy  from  closing  in  on  the 
city,  had  endeavoured,  as  far  as  was  in  his  power, 
to  retard  the  investment,  and  to  strengthen  the 
external  line  of  the  defences  where  they  were 
weakest.  With  this  object  he  had  stationed  troops 
outside  the  eastern  and  southern  forts,  with  orders 
to  attack  the  Germans  in  flank  as  they  advanced, 
and,  if  possible,  to  drive  them  back;  and  he  had 
constructed,  and  partly  armed,  works  on  the 
heights  which,  from  Clamart  to  Chatillon,  com- 
mand the  forts  of  Issy,  Vanves,  and  Montrouge, 
along  the  southern  verge  of  Paris. 

With  any  considerable  number  of  good  troops 
and  an  adequate  field  artillery,  General  Trochu 
would  at  this  time  have  made  it  impossible  for  the 
Germans  to  take  up  their  investing  line  on  such 
an  enormous  circumference  without  defeating 
again  a  French  army.  The  French,  holding 
the  centre,  might  have  struck  vigorously  at  differ- 
ent portions  of  the  force  closing  round  the  city, 
and  might  have  cut  it  into  fragments  before  it 
found  time  to  construct  entrenchments  and  bat- 
teries, to  tighten   its  hold  upon  its  victim. 

On  the  18  th  September,  a  feeble  fragment  of 
the  French  regular  army,  under  General  Vinoy,  at- 
tacked the  leading  columns  of  the  Crown  Prince 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


45 


of  Saxony  as  they  debouched  into  the  valley  of 
the  Marne;  but  it  was  soon  forced  to  fall  back 
before  them.  The  next  day  another  attack  was 
made  by  the  French  between  St.  Denis  and  Gonesse 
with  a  similar  result;  in  the  evening,  on  the 
southern  side,  they  put  forth  an  effort  more  vigor- 
ous and  protracted,  but  still  fruitless.  On  the 
17th,  the  third  army,  under  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Prussia,  was  headed  by  the  fifth  corps,  which,  at 
Villeneuve  St.  George  threw  pontoon  bridges 
over  the  Seine,  by  which  the  fifth,  sixth,  and 
second  Bavarian  corps  passed,  to  take  up  their 
positions  in  the  investing  line  from  the  Seine 
westward  by  Sevres  to  Bougival,  north-west  of 
the  city.  To  cover  this  operation,  the  seven- 
teenth infantry  brigade  of  the  fifth  corps,  sup- 
ported by  two  squadrons  and  two  batteries, 
occupied  a  strong  position  on  the  heights  of 
Limeil,  extending  across  the  high  road  to  Melun 
and  the  Lyons  railway,  to  Boissy  St.  Leger.  Five 
companies  occupied  the  woods  of  the  Chateau 
Brevannes,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  the  Paris  side  of 
the  position.  At  two  p.m.  eight  battalions  of  French 
regulars,  and  two  batteries,  under  the  command 
of  General  Ducrot,  debouched  from  Charenton  on 
the  tongue  of  land  lying  between  the  Seine  and 
Marne.  The  ground  was  admirably  chosen,  as 
both  flanks  of  the  attacking  force  were  covered 
by  rivers;  but  notwithstanding  the  advantage  of 
their  position,  the  French  were  defeated  and  driven 
back  in  wild  confusion  by  the  five  German  com- 
panies posted  in  the  woods  of  Brevannes,  aided  by 
the  two  batteries  on  the  heights  of  Limeil.  On 
the  18th,  the  fifth  German  corps,  covered  by  a 
squadron  of  cavalry  on  the  side  towards  Paris, 
advanced  with  its  leading  division  (ninth)  to 
Bievre,  and  the  tenth  division  to  Palaiseau.  The 
head  of  this  column  had  a  slight  skirmish  with 
some  French  troops  posted  to  the  north  of  Bievre, 
near  Petit  Bicetre,  in  the  afternoon.  On  the  same 
day  the  second  Bavarian  corps  had  crossed  the  Seine 
and  occupied  Longjumeau  (on  the  left  bank), 
while  the  head  of  the  sixth  corps  arrived  at  the 
bridge,  and  prepared  to  pass  it  early  the  next  morn- 
ing, in  the  meantime  constructing  another  bridge. 
On  the  morning  of  the  19th  the  following  corps 
commenced  their  march:  the  fifth  on  Versailles, 
in  two  columns,  by  Bievre  and  Jouy  ;  the  Bavarians 
on  Chatenay,  by  Palaiseau ;  the  sixth  on  Chenilly, 
by  Villeneuve  le  Eoi  and  Orly.  The  head  of  the 
ninth  division  (fifth  corps),  after  debouching  from 


Bievre,  was  again  attacked  by  a  French  force  in  the 
fortified  position  at  Petit  Bicetre,  but  the  attack  was 
soon  repulsed.  The  division  was  about  to  resume 
its  march  on  Versailles  when  it  was  once  more  at- 
tacked, and  this  time  so  vigorously  and  by  so  large 
a  force  (the  whole  of  the  French  fourteenth  corps), 
that  it  was  very  hard  pressed.  But  one  Bavarian 
brigade,  which  had  reached  Chatenay,  came  to 
its  assistance  at  Villa  Coublay  (on  the  summit  of 
the  plateau) ;  and  another,  advancing  on  Sceaux, 
threatened  the  enemy's  flank,  whilst  a  third  marched 
on  Bourg-la-Reine,  to  cut  off  his  retreat ;  the  re- 
maining brigade  of  the  Bavarian  corps  meanwhile 
occupying  Croix  de  Bernis.  The  tenth  division, 
fifth  corps,  arriving  on  its  march  from  Palaiseau, 
at  Jouy,  at  this  time,  was,  with  the  reserve  artillery, 
also  directed  on  Villa  Coublay,  and  the  fire  of  the 
latter,  from  the  plateau,  caused  the  French  to 
evacuate  their  position  at  Petit  Bicetre,  and  retreat 
rapidly  on  Chatillon,  so  that  the  fifth  German  corps 
was  enabled  to  resume  its  march  on  Versailles  soon 
after  eleven  o'clock  a.m.  By  their  retrograde 
movement  the  French  were  brought  into  closer 
contact  with  the  advance  of  the  Bavarians  at  Bourg. 
To  gain  time  to  carry  off  the  guns  which  had  been 
placed  in  the  earthworks  near  Chatillon,  they  occu- 
pied a  strong  position  along  the  edge  of  the  plateau 
and  towards  Meudon, bringing  twenty-six  field  guns 
into  battery,  and  even  threatening  Fontenay  and 
Plessis  with  attacks  which  seemed  sufficiently 
serious  to  cause  the  Bavarian  general,  Von  Hartmann, 
to  suspend  the  advance  of  the  two  brigades  in  front 
until  he  could  bring  the  other  two  up  to  their  sup- 
port. A  pause  thus  ensued  in  the  fire  on  both 
sides.  About  an  hour  after,  it  was  again  opened 
with  renewed  vigour  by  the  Bavarians,  who, 
perceiving  that  the  enemy  was  withdrawing  his 
"position"  guns  and  preparing  to  retreat,  made  a 
general  attack  and  carried  the  redoubt  at  three  p.m., 
capturing  eight  pieces  of  artillery,  and  driving 
the  French  under  the  guns  of  forts  Vanves  and 
Montrouge.  During  these  proceedings  the  sixth 
corps  crossed  the  river,  and  advancing  on  Villejuif 
and  Vitry,  by  Choisy,  Orly,  and  Thiais,  came  up 
on  the  right  of  the  Bavarians  ;  but  its  further  pro- 
gress was  arrested  by  the  fire  of  a  large  French 
redoubt  on  the  heights  above  Villejuif.  On  the 
evening  of  the  19th  the  third  army  occupied  the 
line  of  Bougival,  Sevres,  Meudon,  Clamart,  Bourg- 
la-Keine,  L'Hay,  Chevilly,  Choisy-le-Pioi,  and,  in 
conjunction  with  the  Wiirtemburg  division,  the 


46 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


space  between  Choisy-sur-Seine,  and  Monneuil-sur- 
Marne.  On  the  morning  of  the  20th  the  city  was 
thus  invested  on  all  sides. 

The  behaviour  of  a  part  of  the  French  troops 
engaged  in  the  combats  around  the  city  rendered 
of  no  effect  the  superior  advantages  of  their  posi- 
tion. They  had  belonged  to  regiments  of  Mac- 
Mahon's  own  corps ;  but  demoralized  through 
repeated  defeats,  they  fled  panic-stricken  from  the 
field  at  the  first  appearance  of  danger,  and  refused 
to  renew  the  contest.  The  losses  of  the  French 
were  few  in  killed  and  wounded,  but  the  number 
of  prisoners  was  variously  estimated  at  from  2000 
to  3000,  besides  the  eight  guns  captured  in  the 
redoubt,  as  already  mentioned.  On  the  German  side 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  reported  that  the 
investing  of  the  city  had  been  effected  with  little 
loss — the  chief  casualties  occurring  in  the  seventh 
regiment.  In  Paris  the  establishment  of  a  court- 
martial  for  the  trial  of  "  cowards  and  deserters" 
was  proclaimed  by  the  minister  of  War ;  and  General 
Trochu  issued  to  the  garrison  of  the  capital  a  mani- 
festo containing  the  subjoined  passage,  which 
strikingly  illustrates  some  of  the  difficulties  with 
which  the  French  military  leaders  had  to  contend : 
— "  In  the  fight  of  yesterday,  which  lasted  during 
nearly  the  whole  day,  and  in  which  our  artillery, 
whose  firmness  cannot  be  too  highly  praised,  in- 
flicted upon  the  enemy  enormous  losses,  some 
incidents  occurred  which  you  ought  to  be  made 
acquainted  with,  in  the  interest  of  the  great  cause 
which  we  are  all  defending.  An  unjustifiable  panic, 
which  all  the  efforts  of  an  excellent  commander  and 
his  officers  could  not  arrest,  seized  upon  the  pro- 
visional regiment  of  zouaves  which  held  our  right. 
From  the  commencement  of  the  action  the  greater 
number  of  those  soldiers  fell  back  in  disorder  upon 
the  city,  and  there  spread  the  wildest  alarm.  To 
excuse  their  conduct  the  fugitives  have  declared 
that  they  were  being  led  to  certain  destruction, 
while,  in  fact,  their  strength  was  undiminished, 
and  they  had  no  wounded  ;  that  cartridges  were 
deficient,  while  they  had  not  made  use,  as  I 
ascertained  for  myself,  of  those  with  which  they 
were  provided ;  that  they  had  been  betrayed  by 
their  leaders,  &c.  The  truth  is,  that  these  unworthy 
soldiers  compromised  from  the  very  beginning  an 
affair  from  which,  notwithstanding  their  conduct, 
very  important  results  were  obtained.  Some  other 
soldiers  of  various  regiments  of  infantry  were  simi- 
larly culpable.     Already  the  misfortunes  which  we 


have  experienced  at  the  commencement  of  this 
war  had  thrown  back  into  Paris  undisciplined  and 
demoralized  soldiers,  who  caused  there  uneasiness 
and  trouble,  and  who  from  the  force  of  circum- 
stances have  escaped  from  the  authority  of  their 
officers  and  from  all  punishment.  I  am  firmly 
resolved  to  put  an  end  to  such  serious  disorders.  I 
order  all  the  defenders  of  Paris  to  seize  every  man, 
all  soldiers  and  gardes  mobiles,  who  shall  be  found 
in  the  city  in  a  state  of  drunkenness,  or  spreading 
abroad  scandalous  stories  and  dishonouring  the 
uniform  which  they  wear."  The  misfortunes  caused 
by  these  panic-stricken  troops  were  increased  by  the 
French  engineering  department  having  constructed 
the  redoubt  captured  by  the  Germans  between  the 
villages  of  Chatillon  and  Clamart,  apart  from  the 
permanent  defences  of  the  city.  When  the  Germans 
crossed  the  Seine  the  work  was  unfinished,  and 
should  have  been  dismantled  and  destroyed ;  but 
was  left,  armed,  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
who  immediately  transformed  it  into  a  redoubt 
facing  towards  forts  Vanves  and  Montrouge.  Cap- 
tain Bingham,  in  his  "  Siege  of  Paris,"  says,  that 
had  the  Prussians  followed  up  their  advantage  the 
city  would  have  been  at  their  mercy — the  regular 
troops  being  demoralized  and  the  mobiles  and 
national  guards  being  quite  untrained.  The  people 
felt  highly  indignant  that  after  so  many  lessons  their 
soldiers  should  again  have  allowed  themselves  to 
be  so  ignominiously  routed ;  and  there  was  a  loud 
outcry  against  the  Zouaves  especially,  who,  as 
representatives  of  the  late  rdgime,  were  denounced 
as  dastardly  praetorians,  fit  to  act  against  unarmed 
citizens,  but  useless  when  opposed  to  armed  troops. 
The  entry  of  the  Germans  into  Versailles  may 
be  noticed  in  a  few  sentences.  On  the  18th  of 
September  three  death's  head  hussars  presented 
themselves  at  one  of  the  town  gates  and  demanded 
a  parley  with  the  authorities,  but  the  make  refused 
to  treat  with  any  soldier  under  the  rank  of  a  general, 
or  who  was  not  furnished  with  full  powers.  The 
next  morning  the  demand  was  renewed  by  an  aide- 
de-camp,  followed  by  a  single  cavalry  soldier,  and 
a  long  discussion  ensued.  Since  six  o'clock  the 
cannon  had  been  booming  on  the  road  from  Ver- 
sailles to  Sceaux,  about  three  miles  from  the  town. 
The  aide-de-camp  required  accommodation  for  the 
wounded,  and  the  keys  of  all  forage  stores.  These 
demands  having  led  to  a  warm  debate,  the  officer 
departed  to  consult  his  general.  In  less  than  an 
hour  an  aide-de-camp  to  the  general  commanding 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


47 


the  fifth  corps  arrived,  and  the  discussion  was 
renewed.  At  a  quarter  past  eleven  a.m.  M.  Ram- 
eau,  the  newly-appointed  maire,  taking  his  station 
at  the  Paris  gate,  read  the  conditions  of  capitulation 
at  last  agreed  to,  which  were  : — "  1.  That  property 
and  person  should  be  respected,  as  also  public 
monuments  and  works  of  art.  2.  The  confederate 
German  forces  should  occupy  the  barracks  with 
their  soldiers,  but  the  inhabitants  were  to  lodge 
the  officers,  and  soldiers  also,  if  the  barracks  should 
afford  insufficient  accommodation.  3.  The  national 
guard  should  retain  its  arms,  and,  for  the  common 
interest,  should  be  intrusted  with  the  internal 
police  of  the  town,  except  that  the  confederates 
should  occupy  at  their  discretion  the  gates  at  the 
barriers.  4.  There  should  be  no  requisition  for 
money,  but  the  town  should  supply  at  money  rates 
all  that  might  be  needed  for  the  passing  or  sta- 
tionary forces.  5.  On  the  same  day  the  Grille  des 
Chantiers  would  be  opened  to  allow  the  fifth  corps 
to  enter."  Shortly  before  ten  o'clock  the  German 
columns  began  to  defile  through  the  Eue  des 
Chantiers.  The  procession  lasted  until  past  five 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  total  number  of  troops 
being  variously  estimated  at  from  25,000  to  40,000 
men.  Versailles  was  immediately  fixed  on  as  the 
headquarters  of  the  Crown  Prince  and  king  of 
Prussia,  and  so  remained  till  the  end  of  the  siege. 
The  palace  of  Versailles,  in  which  the  German 
headquarters  were  established,  was  founded  in  1661 
by  Louis  XIV.,  being  erected  on  the  site  of  an  old 
hunting  lodge  of  Henry  IV.,  situated  in  the  midst 
of  a  large  forest.  The  timber,  however,  was  soon 
cleared,  and  a  splendid  park  formed  twenty  miles 
in  circumference,  the  grounds  laid  out  in  a  style 
of  great  magnificence,  and  a  supply  of  water 
obtained  for  the  ornamental  fountains  at  an  enorm- 
ous outlay.  It  is  reported  that  the  palace,  grounds, 
and  waterworks  cost  upwards  of  £40,000,000 
sterling,  and  an  outlay  of  10,000  francs  has  to  be 
incurred  every  time  the  whole  of  the  fountains  are 
played.  The  palace  itself  is  in  the  Ionic  style, 
and  more  remarkable  for  its  vastness  than  its  archi- 
tectural beauty ;  but  the  rooms  and  galleries  are 
most  elaborately  decorated,  and  stored  with  the 
choicest  works  of  art.  Versailles  had  always  been 
a  favourite  residence  of  royalty  ;  and  although  the 
palace  and  gardens  suffered  considerably  during 
the  first  revolution,  they  were  fully  restored  and 
improved  by  Louis  Philippe,  whose  object  was 
to   make   Versailles   a   grand   historical  museum. 


The  town  of  Versailles  itself  has  an  interesting 
history,  and  contains  several  handsome  monuments 
and  an  old  cathedral  dedicated  to  Our  Lady.  In 
1815  it  was  occupied  by  the  Prussians  under 
Blucher,  and  pillaged  by  the  troops. 

Previous  to  the  investment  of  the  capital  nego- 
tiations had  been  entered  into  for  an  armistice. 
Even  before  the  German  headquarters  had  arrived 
at  Rheims,  on  its  march  to  Paris,  Earl  Granville, 
the  English  Foreign  minister,  had  conveyed  inti- 
mations to  Count  von  Bismarck  that  the  provisional 
government  were  anxious  to  discuss  terms  of  peace. 
The  proclamation  of  the  republic,  however,  and 
the  institution  of  the  provisional  government,  were 
viewed  with  little  favour  by  the  German  chancel- 
lor, and  he  intimated  that  he  could  not  recognize 
M.  Favre  as  minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  for  France, 
or  as  capable  of  binding  the  nation.  In  the  course 
of  a  conversation,  reported  about  this  time  by  a 
correspondent  of  the  Standard,  Count  von  Bismarck 
observed: — "When  I  saw  the  emperor,  after  his 
surrendering  himself  a  prisoner,  I  asked  him  if  he 
was  disposed  to  put  forward  any  request  for  peace. 
The  emperor  replied  that  he  was  not  in  a  position 
to  do  so,  for  he  had  left  a  regular  government  in 
Paris,  with  the  empress  at  its  head.  It  is  plain 
therefore  that,  if  France  possesses  any  government 
at  all,  it  is  still  the  government  of  the  empress  as 
regent,  or  of  the  emperor."  When  asked  if  the 
flight  of  the  empress  and  of  the  prince  imperial 
might  not  be  regarded  as  an  abdication,  he  said 
very  positively  he  could  not  so  construe  it.  The 
empress  had  been  forced  to  go  by  the  "  gentlemen 
of  the  pavement,"  as  the  Corps  Legislatif  had  been 
obliged  to  suspend  its  sittings,  but  the  actions  of 
these  "  gentlemen "  were  not  legal.  They  could 
not  make  a  government.  "  The  question  was," 
continued  the  count,  "  Whom  does  the  fleet  still 
obey?  Whom  does  the  army  shut  up  in  Metz 
still  obey?  Perhaps  Bazaine  still  recognizes  the 
emperor.  If  so,  and  we  choose  to  let  him  go  to 
Paris,  he  and  his  army  would  be  worth  consider- 
ably more  than  the  gentlemen  of  the  pavement  and 
the  so-called  government.  We  do  not  wish  to 
dictate  to  France  her  form  of  government :  we 
have  nothing  to  say  to  it ;  that  is  her  affair." 
Count  von  Bismarck  also  significantly  added : 
"  The  present  is  the  twenty-fifth  time  in  the  space 
of  a  hundred  years  that  France  has  made  war  on 
Germany  on  some  pretext  or  other.  Now,  at  least, 
our  terrible  disease  of  divided  unity  being  cured, 


48 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


we  have  contrived,  by  the  help  of  the  hand  of 
God,  to  beat  her  down.  It  is  idle  to  hope  to 
propitiate  her." 

A  large  section  of  the  German  people  thought  it 
highly  improbable  that  Paris  could  withstand  the 
rigours  of  a  siege;  and  Colonel  von  Holstein  took  a 
bet  of  20,000  francs  with  M.  de  Girardin  that  the 
Prussian  army  would  defile  before  his  house  in  the 
Avenue  du  Koi  de  Koine  by  the  15th  of  Septem- 
ber. This,  however,  was  not  the  opinion  of  Count 
von  Bismarck,  who  publicly  declared  that  the 
German  policy  was  not  immediately  to  attack  the 
capital.  "  We  shall,"  said  he,  "  enter  the  city 
without  attacking  it;  we  shall  starve  it  out."  He 
is  also  credited  with  having  used  the  expression, 
that  the  Parisians  would  be  made  "  to  stew  in 
their  own  juice."  In  the  conversation  to  which 
we  have  just  alluded  the  conditions  of  peace 
were  freely  canvassed.  "  For  the  improvement 
of  the  frontier,"  said  the  German  chancellor, 
"  we  must  have  Strassburg,  and  we  must  have 
Metz ;  and  we  will  fight  ten  years  sooner  than 
not  obtain  this  necessary  security."  Count  von 
Bismarck  admitted  that  the  French  would  regard 
with  a  rancorous  hatred  the  possession  of  these 
two  fortresses ;  but  he  suggested  that,  as  it  was 
already,  France  would  never  forgive  the  Germans 
for  the  complete  overthrow  of  their  grand  army. 
They  must  therefore  secure  material  guarantees 
against  future  attack.  The  above  conversations 
were  generally  confirmed  by  official  circulars  issued 
by  Count  von  Bismarck  from  Rheims  on  the  13th 
and  Meaux  on  the  16th  of  September,  in  which 
he  threw  the  entire  responsibility  of  the  war  upon 
France,  and  assumed  that  Prussia  was  a  highly 
pacific  and  ill-used  nation.  But  these  sentiments 
appear  to  have  been  used,  in  every  case,  simply 
as  a  preface  to  the  fact  that  Germany  was  now 
determined  to  "  strengthen  her  frontier,"  which 
she  could  not  adequately  do  till  Metz  and  Strass- 
burg were  in  her  possession. 

Previous  to  the  final  investment  of  the  capital, 
and  while  the  German  armies  were  on  the  march, 
negotiations  of  an  official  character  were,  however, 
entered  into.  The  report  of  M.  Jules  Favre, 
issued  on  the  21st  September,  stated  that  the  day 
after  it  was  established  the  provisional  govern- 
ment received  the  representatives  of  all  the  powers 
in  Paris.  North  America,  Switzerland,  Italy, 
Spain,  and  Portugal  officially  recognized  the  French 
Republic,  and  the  other  powers  authorized  their 


representatives  to  enter  into  semi-official  relations 
with  the  new  government.  On  the  10th  of  Sep- 
tember M.  Favre  asked  Count  von  Bismarck  if 
he  was  willing  to  enter  into  negotiations  as  to  the 
conditions  of  an  arrangement.  He  replied  that  he 
could  not  entertain  any  proposal  in  consequence  of 
the  irregular  character  of  the  provisional  govern- 
ment, but  asked  at  the  same  time  what  guarantees 
that  government  could  offer  for  the  execution  of 
any  treaty  that  might  be  concluded.  Earl  Gran- 
ville, who  had  acted  as  intermediary,  considered 
it  desirable  that  M.  Favre  should  proceed  to  the 
Prussian  headquarters  ;  and  on  the  16th  September 
Count  von  Bismarck  decided  to  receive  him,  first 
at  Meaux,  and  subsequently  at  Ferrieres.  In  the 
course  of  these  interviews,  M.  Favre  declared  the 
fixed  determination  of  France  to  accept  of  no 
condition  which  would  render  the  proposed  peace 
merely  a  short  or  precarious  truce.  Count  von 
Bismarck  said  that,  if  he  believed  a  permanent 
peace  possible,  he  would  conclude  it  without 
delay ;  but  he  thought  the  provisional  government 
was  not  to  be  depended  on,  and  that  its  overthrow 
by  the  populace,  should  Paris  not  be  captured 
in  a  few  days,  was  a  very  probable  event. 
"  France,"  he  added,  "  will  as  little  forget  the 
capitulation  of  Sedan  as  Waterloo  or  Sadowa, 
which  latter  did  not  concern  you."  On  being 
pressed  by  M.  Favre  to  state  exactly  his  condi- 
tions of  peace,  he  replied  that  the  possession  of 
the  departments  of  the  Upper  and  Lower  Rhine, 
of  the  Moselle,  with  Metz,  Chateau-Salins,  and 
Sonines,  was  indispensable,  as  a  guarantee  for  the 
security  of  his  country,  and  that  he  could  not 
relinquish  them.  He  acknowledged  the  force  of 
the  objection,  that  the  consent  of  the  people  of 
those  districts  to  be  thus  disposed  of  was  more 
than  doubtful,  and  that  the  public  law  of  Europe 
would  not  permit  him  to  act  without  that  consent; 
but  he  added,  "  As  we  shall  shortly  have  another 
war  with  you,  we  intend  to  enter  upon  it  in 
possession  of  all  our  advantages."  M.  Favre 
urged  that  the  European  powers  might  regard  the 
claims  of  Prussia  as  exorbitant,  and  that  France 
"  will  never  accept  them.  We  can  perish  as  a 
nation,  but  we  cannot  dishonour  ourselves.  The 
country  alone  is  competent  to  decide  upon  a 
cession  of  territory.  We  have  no  doubts  as  to 
its  sentiments,  but  we  will  consult  it.'  The 
charge  that  Prussia,  carried  away  by  the  intoxica- 
tion of  victory,  desired  the  destruction  of  France, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


49 


Count  von  Bismarck  utterly  denied;  but  to  a 
demand  for  time  to  allow  of  the  meeting  of  the 
Constituent  Assembly,  he,  according  to  M.  Favre, 
replied  that  for  the  purpose  an  armistice  was 
necessary,  which  he  could  on  no  account  grant. 
At  the  second  interview,  however,  on  the  evening 
of  the  19th  of  September,  at  Ferrieres,  he  appeared 
to  consent  to  an  armistice  of  fifteen  days;  and 
next  day,  at  eleven  a.m.,  he  sent  M.  Favre  the 
following  conditions,  namely,  the  occupation  of 
Strassburg,  Toid,  and  Phalsburg;  and  as  the 
French  minister  had  stated  that  the  Assembly 
would  meet  in  Paris,  one  of  the  forts  commanding 
the  capital— Mont  Valerien,  for  instance — must 
be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Germans.  M.  Favre 
said  that  it  would  be  a  more  simple  arrangement 
to  give  up  Paris  at  once.  Count  von  Bismarck 
replied,  "  Let  us  seek  some  other  combination." 
M.  Favre  then  proposed  that  the  Constituent 
Assembly  should  meet  at  Tours,  in  which  case 
no  guarantee  relative  to  Paris  would  be  required. 
Against  a  further  demand  that  the  garrison  of 
Strassburg  should  surrender  as  prisoners  of  war, 
M.  Favre  expressed  himself  in  terms  of  strong 
indignation.  Upon  this  Count  von  Bismarck 
went  to  consult  the  king,  who  accepted  the  second 
combination,  but  insisted  on  the  surrender  of  the 
garrison  of  Strassburg  as  proposed."  "  My  powers 
were  now  exhausted,"  continued  M.  Favre;  "I 
rose  and  took  my  leave,  expressing  to  him  my 
conviction  that  we  should  fight  as  long  as  we 
could  find  in  Paris  an  element  of  resistance."  On 
his  return  to  the  capital  he  forwarded  to  Count 
von  Bismarck  the  following   despatch: — 

"  M.  le  Comte, — I  have  faithfully  expressed  to 
my  colleagues  in  the  government  of  National 
Defence  the  declaration  that  your  excellency  has 
been  good  enough  to  make  to  me.  I  regret  to 
have  to  make  known  to  your  excellency  that  that 
government  has  not  been  able  to  accept  your 
propositions.  They  will  accept  an  armistice  hav- 
ing for  its  object  the  election  and  meeting  of  a 
National  Assembly;  but  they  cannot  subscribe  to 
the  contingent  conditions.  As  to  myself,  I  can 
say  with  a  clear  conscience  that  I  have  done  my 
utmost  to  stop  the  effusion  of  blood,  and  to  restore 
peace  to  two  nations  which  would  be  so  much 
benefited  by  that  blessing.  I  have  only  been 
stopped  by  an  imperious  duty,  which  required  me 
not  to  yield  the  honour  of  my  country,  which  has 


determined  energetically  to  resist  such  a  sacrifice. 
I  and  my  colleagues  associate  ourselves  without 
reserve  in  that  determination.  God,  our  judge, 
will  decide  on  our  destinies.  I  have  faith  in  his 
justice.- — I  have,  &c. 

"(Signed),  JULES  FAVRE. 

"  Sept.  21,  1870." 

The  French  minister  concluded  his  report  to  his 
colleagues,  with  regard  to  the  whole  negotiations, 
as  follows: — "I  have  done,  my  dear  colleagues; 
and  you  will  think  with  me  that,  if  I  have  failed 
in  my  mission,  it  has  still  not  been  altogether 
useless.  It  has  proved  that  we  have  not  deviated. 
From  the  first  we  have  conducted  a  war  which  we 
condemned  beforehand,  but  which  we  accepted  in 
preference  to  dishonour.  We  have  done  more; 
for  we  have  laid  bare  the  equivocation  on  which 
Prussia  relied,  and  let  Europe  now  assist  us  in  dis- 
sipating it  altogether.  In  invading  our  soil,  she 
gave  her  word  to  the  world  that  she  was  attacking 
Napoleon  and  his  soldiers,  but  would  respect  the 
nation.  We  know  now  what  to  think  of  that 
statement.  Prussia  requires  three  of  ovir  depart- 
ments: two  fortified  cities — one  of  100,000,  the 
other  of  75,000  inhabitants ;  and  eight  or  ten 
smaller  ones,  also  fortified.  She  knows  that  the 
populations  she  wishes  to  tear  from  us  repulse  her ; 
but  she  seizes  them  nevertheless,  replying  with  the 
edge  of  the  sword  to  their  protestations  against 
such  an  outrage  on  their  civic  liberty  and  their 
moral  dignity.  To  the  nation  that  demands  the 
opportunity  of  self-consultation  she  proposes  the 
guarantee  of  her  cannon  planted  at  Mont  Valerien, 
and  protecting  the  scene  of  their  deliberations. 
That  is  what  we  know,  and  what  I  am  authorized 
to  make  public.  Let  the  nation  that  hears  this 
either  rise  at  once  or  at  once  disavow  us  when  we 
counsel  resistance  to  the  bitter  end." 

This  memorandum  of  M.  Jules  Favre  drew  forth 
a  reply  from  Count  von  Bismarck,  addressed  to  the 
North  German  embassies  and  legations.  The  lan- 
guage of  this  document  approached  the  extreme  of 
curtness,  not  unmixed  with  a  tone  of  scorn.  On 
the  whole,  however,  the  German  chancellor  admitted 
that  M.  Favre  had  endeavoured  to  convey  an  accu- 
rate account  of  the  transaction,  although  the  drift 
of  his  entire  argument  was  not  the  conclusion  of 
peace,  but  of  an  armistice  which  was  to  precede  it. 
Count  von  Bismarck  continued: — "  As  to  our  terms 

G 


50 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


of  peace,  I  expressly  declared  to  M.  Favre  that  I 
should  state  the  frontier  we  should  claim  only  after 
the  principle  of  cession  of  territory  had  been  pub- 
licly conceded  by  France.  In  connection  with 
this  the  formation  of  a  new  Moselle  district,  with 
the  arrondissements  of  Saarbriick,  Chateau  Salins, 
Saargemund,  Metz,  and  Thionville,  was  alluded  to 
by  me  as  an  arrangement  included  in  our  inten- 
tions ;  but  I  have  not  renounced  the  right  of 
making  such  further  demands  as  may  be  calculated 
to  indemnify  us  for  the  sacrifices  which  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  war  will  entail.  M.  Favre  called 
Strassburg  the  key  of  the  house,  leaving  it  doubtful 
which  house  he  meant.  I  replied  that  Strassburg 
was  the  key  of  our  house,  and  we  therefore  objected 
to  leave  it  in  foreign  hands.  Our  first  conver- 
sation in  Chateau  Haute  Maison,  near  Montoy,  was 
confined  to  an  abstract  inquiry  into  the  general 
characteristics  of  the  past  and  present  ages.  M. 
Favre's  only  pertinent  remark  on  this  occasion  was 
that  they  would  pay  any  sum,  '  tout  l'argent  que 
nous  avons,'  but  declined  any  cession  of  territory. 
Upon  my  declaring  such  cession  to  be  indispen- 
sable, he  said,  in  that  case,  it  would  be  useless  to 
open  negotiations  for  peace ;  and  he  argued  on  the 
supposition  that  to  cede  territory  would  humiliate 
— nay,  dishonour — France.  I  failed  to  convince 
liim  that  terms  such  as  France  had  obtained  from 
Italy,  and  demanded  from  Germany,  without  even 
the  excuse  of  previous  war — terms  which  France 
would  have  undoubtedly  imposed  upon  us  had  we 
been  defeated,  and  in  which  nearly  every  war  had 
resulted  down  to  the  latest  times — could  have 
nothing  dishonourable  in  themselves  to  a  nation 
vanquished  after  a  gallant  struggle  ;  and  that  the 
honour  of  France  was  of  no  other  quality  or  nature 
than  the  honour  of  all  other  countries."  Count 
ron  Bismarck  further  said  that  the  conversations 
at  Ferrieres  took  a  more  practical  turn,  referring 
exclusively  to  the  question  of  an  armistice ;  and 
this,  he  contended,  disproved  the  assertion  that  he 
had  refused  such  a  question  under  any  conditions. 
"  In  this  conversation,"  he  continued,  "  we  both 
were  of  opinion  that  an  armistice  might  be  con- 
cluded, to  give  the  French  nation  an  opportunity 
of  electing  a  Representative  Assembly,  which  alone 
would  be  in  a  position  so  far  to  strengthen  the 
tide  to  power  possessed  by  the  existing  govern- 
ment as  to  render  it  possible  for  us  to  conclude 
with  them  a  peace  valid  in  accordance  with  the 
rules  of  international  law.     I  remarked  that  to  an 


army  in  the  midst  of  a  victorious  career  an  armis- 
tice is  always  injurious ;  that  in  the  present  instance, 
more  particularly,  it  would  give  France  time  to 
reorganize  her  troops  and  to  make  defensive  pre- 
parations; and  that,  therefore,  I  could  not  accord 
an  armistice  without  some  military  equivalent 
being  conceded  to  us.  I  mentioned  as  such  the 
surrender  of  the  fortresses  obstructing  our  com- 
munications with  Germany ;  because,  if  by  an 
armistice  we  were  to  be  detained  in  France  longer 
than  was  absolutely  necessary,  we  must  insist 
upon  increased  means  of  bringing  up  provisions. 
I  referred  to  Strassburg,  Toul,  and  some  less  im- 
portant places.  Concerning  Strassburg  I  urged  that, 
the  crowning  of  the  glacis  having  been  accom- 
plished, the  conquest  of  that  place  might  be 
shortly  anticipated;  and  that  we  therefore  thought 
ourselves  entitled  to  demand  that  that  garrison 
should  surrender  as  prisoners  of  war.  The  gar- 
risons of  the  other  places  would  be  allowed 
free  retreat.  Paris  was  another  difficulty.  Having 
completely  inclosed  this  city,  we  could  permit  it 
renewed  intercourse  with  the  rest  of  France  only 
if  the  importation  of  fresh  provisions  thereby  ren- 
dered possible  did  not  weaken  our  own  military 
position  and  retard  the  date  at  which  we  might 
hope  to  starve  out  the  place.  Having  consulted 
the  military  authorities  and  taken  his  Majesty's 
commands,  I  therefore  ultimately  submitted  the 
following  alternative :  '  Either  the  fortified  place 
of  Paris  is  to  be  given  into  our  hands  by  the  sur- 
render of  a  commanding  portion  of  the  works,  in 
which  case  we  are  ready  to  allow  Paris  renewed 
intercourse  with  the  country,  and  to  permit  the 
provisioning  of  the  town  ;  or,  the  fortified  place  of 
Paris  not  being  given  into  our  hands,  we  shall 
keep  it  invested  during  the  armistice,  which  latter 
would  otherwise  result  in  Paris  being  able  to 
oppose  us  at  its  expiry,  reinforced  by  fresh  sup- 
plies, and  strengthened  by  new  defences.'  M. 
Favre  peremptorily  declined  handing  over  any 
portion  of  the  works  of  Paris,  and  also  refused  the 
surrender  of  the  Strassburg  garrison  as  prisoners  of 
war.  He,  however,  promised  to  take  the  opinion 
of  his  colleagues  at  Paris  respecting  the  other 
alternative  under  which  the  military  status  quo 
before  Paris  was  to  be  maintained.  Accordingly, 
the  programme  which  M.  Favre  brought  to  Paris 
as  the  result  of  our  conversations,  and  which  was 
rejected  there,  contained  nothing  as  to  the  future 
conditions  of  peace.     It  only  included  an  arniis- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


51 


tice  of  from  a  fortnight  to  three  weeks,  to  be 
granted  on  the  following  conditions,  in  order  to 
enable  the  election  of  a  National  Assembly  to  be 
held :  Firstly,  in  and  before  Paris  the  maintenance 
of  the  military  status  quo ;  secondly,  in  and  before 
Metz  the  continuance  of  hostilities  within  a  circle 
hereafter  to  be  more  accurately  defined;  thirdly, 
the  surrender  of  Strassburg  with  its  garrison,  and 
the  evacuation  of  Toul  and  Bitsche,  their  garrisons 
being  accorded  free  retreat.  I  believe  our  convic- 
tion that  this  was  a  very  acceptable  offer  will  be 
shared  by  all  neutral  cabinets.  If  the  French 
government  has  not  availed  itself  of  this  oppor- 
tunity for  having  a  National  Assembly  elected 
in  all  parts  of  France,  those  occupied  by  us  not 
excepted,  this  indicates  a  resolve  to  prolong  the 
difficulties  which  prevent  the  conclusion  of  a  valid 
peace,  and  to  ignore  the  voice  of  the  French 
people.  From  all  we  see  here,  the  conviction  is 
forced  upon  us,  as  it  no  doubt  is  likewise  upon  the 
rulers  at  Paris,  that  free  and  unbiassed  general 
elections  will  yield  a  majority  in  favour  of  peace." 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  negotiations  failed 
to  procure  peace.  The  ministers  in  Paris  issued 
a  proclamation  reiterating  their  determination  not 
to  cede  "  an  inch  of  territory,  or  a  stone  of  a  for- 
tress." As  a  sequel  to  this  proclamation  a  mani- 
festo of  the  delegation  at  Tours  appeared  as 
follows:  "To  France!  Before  the  investment  of 
Paris,  M.  Jules  Favre,  minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  wished  to  see  M.  de  Bismarck  to  learn  the 
intentions  of  the  enemy.  Here  is  the  declaration 
of  the  enemy:  Prussia  wishes  to  continue  the  war, 
and  to  reduce  France  to  the  rank  of  a  second-rate 
power;  Prussia  claims  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  as  far 
as  Metz,  by  right  of  conquest;  Prussia,  to  consent 
to  an  armistice,  has  dared  ask  for  the  surrender  of 
Strassburg,  of  Toul,  and  of  Mont  Valerien.  Paris, 
enraged,  would  sooner  bury  itself  beneath  its 
ruins.  To  such  insolent  pretensions,  in  fact,  we 
answer  only  by  a  struggle  a,  outrance.  France 
accepts  this  struggle,  and  relies  on  her  children."* 

The  correspondence  subsequently  published  by 
the  British  government,  relating  to  this  period, 
showed  more  clearly  the  significance  of  the  above 
negotiations.  The  English  foreign  minister,  Earl 
Granville,  had  all  through  the  proceedings  acted 
with  dignified  consistency,  abiding  by  the  pro- 
positions that  England  would  make  no  attempt  at 

*  How  differently  does  this  braggadocia  read  to  the  firm,  clear,  and, 
we  must  acknowledge,  moderate  argument  of  the  German  chancellor. 


mediation  unless  with  the  concurrence  of  both 
belligerents;  that  where  military  questions  came  in, 
the  government  would  rigidly  abstain  from  offering 
any  opinion ;  and  that  England  would  not  formally 
recognize  the  government  of  National  Defence  until 
it  had  received  an  express  recognition  from  the 
French  nation.  But  any  project  of  successful 
mediation  was  rendered  difficult  on  account  of  the 
ground  taken  by  the  combatants.  On  the  one 
hand,  the  Germans  had  stated  that  they  must  and 
would  have  territory ;  while,  on  the  other,  the 
republican  government  held  to  their  famous  de- 
claration that  they  would  yield  neither  an  inch  of 
territory  nor  a  stone  of  any  fortress.  And  then, 
again,  the  French  cabinet  never  felt  exactly  secure 
of  its  own  position,  and  repeatedly  acknowledged 
that  in  order  to  bind  the  nation  it  ought  to  have 
the  sanction  of  a  National  Assembly;  while  at  the 
same  time  the  calling  together  of  that  Assembly 
was  indefinitely  postponed,  and  even  the  councils 
general  suspended.  To  add  to  the  difficulties  of 
the  situation,  the  Germans  soon  perceived  that 
they  had  miscalculated  the  resistance  which  Paris 
would  make,  and  therefore  in  negotiating  would 
not  yield  a  single  point  which  they  considered  of 
military  importance.  There  were  also  indications 
that  some  divergence  of  opinion  existed  among 
the  German  leaders.  Count  von  Bismarck  foresaw 
political  difficulties  which  Germany  might  be  cre- 
ating for  herself,  and  wished  the  war  to  end  ;  while 
General  von  Moltke  thought  of  nothing  but  how 
to  carry  on  the  war  so  as  to  lose  no  advantage  that 
could  be  obtained.  The  principal  objection  to  an 
armistice  was  that  the  German  position  round 
Paris  was  so  fraught  with  danger,  that  the  pos- 
sibility of  diplomatic  successes  could  not  be  set 
against  the  peril  of  giving  Paris  three  weeks  more 
breathing-time,  while  the  armies  behind  the  Loire 
were  being  organized. 

The  active  operations  of  the  besiegers  from  the 
period  of  the  final  investment  of  the  city  up  to  the 
end  of  September  were  carried  on  with  vigour  and 
with  caution.  No  immediate  attack  was  made 
upon  the  outworks,  but  the  capital  was  effectually 
blockaded  in  a  circumference  of  about  forty  miles. 
On  the  23rd  the  French  attacked  the  besieging 
force  at  Drancy,  Pierrefitte,  and  Villejuif.  The 
fight  was  sustained  by  the  sixth  Prussian  corps; 
and  in  the  two  last-mentioned  localities  the  advan- 
tage was  in  favour  of  the  French ;  but  as  the 
sorties  in  either  case  were  hardly  pushed  beyond 


52 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  range  of  the  heavy  guns  of  the  forts,  they  were 
evidently  intended  by  General  Trochu  only  as 
military  training  for  the  troops,  and  were  in  them- 
selves of  little  or  no  importance.  Meanwhile  the 
Germans,  amounting  to  from  200,000  to  230,000 
men,  occupied  the  heights  surrounding  the  city, 
fortified  their  various  positions,  and  established 
batteries,  supported  by  infantry  connected  with 
each  other  by  squadrons  of  cavalry,  which  were 
kept  in  unceasing  movement.  All  this  time  the 
heavy  siege  guns  of  the  Germans  were  arriving, 
and  the  camp  was  kept  in  constant  watchfulness 
by  reports  from  inside  Paris  that  "  its  defenders, 
especially  the  garde  mobile,  demanded  an  immediate 
sortie  in  force."  To  this  treacherous  impatience 
General  Trochu  eventually  yielded  ;  and  on  the 
30th  of  September  General  Vinoy  directed  a  large 
force  of  all  arms  again  to  the  south-east,  where  the 
sixth  Prussian  corps  was  strongly  intrenched.  In 
this  action  the  French  were  repulsed  after  two 
hours'  fighting,  and  retired  under  cover  of  their 
forts.  Their  loss  amounted  to  upwards  of  a 
thousand  men,  including  several  hundred  prisoners. 
The  German  official  account  admitted  a  loss  of 
only  200 — the  troops  having  fought  chiefly  under 
cover.  The  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia  commanded 
in  person,  and  the  French  General  Giulham  was 
killed. 

Many  of  the  German  journals  at  this  period 
regarded  the  annexation  of  the  provinces  of  Alsace 
and  Lorraine  almost  as  good  as  accomplished. 
The  large  majority  of  the  people,  likewise,  were 
resolved  that  these  provinces  should  be  united  to 
Germany.  "  If  we  make  no  military  conquest,"  said 
they,  "  we  have  no  lasting  peace,  but  only  a  short 
truce;  we  must  always  remain  in  full  military 
equipment;  there  can  be  no  thought  of  reducing 
our  armaments  in  time  of  peace,  and  any  one  can 
foresee  the  effect  of  this  on  our  internal  develop- 
ment." Expressive  of  the  same  feeling,  the  New 
Prussian  Zeitung  said: — "  Germany  can  conclude 
with  France  such  a  peace  only  as,  by  giving  her 
a  strong  position  against  France,  will  make  her 
wholly  indifferent  as  to  what  passes  in  France. 
In  the  possession  of  Alsace  and  German  Lorraine, 
in  the  possession  of  Strassburg  and  Metz — the 
two  opening  doors  for  French  plundering  expedi- 
tions— Germany  will  have  the  guarantees  of  peace 
in  her  own  hands,  and,  secured  by  this  possession, 
she  can  quietly  look  on  at  whatever  explosion 
volcanic  France  in  the  distance  gives  herself  up 


to."  Still,  a  section  of  the  German  people  regarded 
the  annexation  of  these  provinces  with  disfavour. 
A  writer  in  the  Cologne  Gazette  represented  the 
inhabitants  of  Lorraine  as  thoroughly  French  in 
all  their  physical  and  intellectual  characteristics, 
and  condemned  the  proposed  acquisition  of  that 
territory.  Other  writers  expressed  the  same  views, 
which  were  held  by  a  considerable  number  of 
German  democrats  and  conservatives.  But  a 
public  meeting  at  Konigsberg  for  the  consideration 
of  the  subject  of  annexation  was  specially  distaste- 
ful to  the  Prussian  authorities.  At  that  meeting 
Dr.  Johann  Jacoby,  a  politician  of  republican 
tendencies,  made  the  following  remarkable  speech: 
— "  The  chief  question,  the  decision  of  which 
alone  has  any  importance  for  us,  is  this:  Has 
Prussia  or  Germany  the  right  to  appropriate  Alsace 
and  Lorraine  ?  They  tell  us  Alsace  and  Lorraine 
belonged  formerly  to  the  German  empire.  France 
possessed  herself  of  these  lands  by  craft  and  by 
force.  Now  that  we  have  beaten  the  French,  it 
is  no  more  than  what  is  right  and  proper  that  we 
should  recover  from  them  the  spoil,  and  demand 
back  the  property  stolen  from  us.  Gentlemen !  do 
not  let  yourselves  be  led  away  by  well-sounding 
words,  and  though  they  offer  you  the  empire  of 
the  world,  be  not  tempted  to  worship  the  idols  of 
power.  Test  this  well-sounding  phrase,  and  you 
will  find  that  it  is  nothing  but  a  disguise  of  the  old 
and  barbarous  right  of  force.  Alsace  and  Lorraine, 
they  say,  were  formerly  German  property,  and 
must  again  become  German.  How  so,  we  inquire? 
Have,  then,  Alsace  and  Lorraine  no  inhabitants? 
Or  are,  perchance,  the  inhabitants  of  these  pro- 
vinces to  be  regarded  as  having  no  volition,  as  a 
thing  that  one  may  at  once  take  possession  of  and 
dispose  of  just  as  one  likes?  Have  they  lost  all 
their  rights  through  the  war,  have  they  become 
slaves,  whose  fate  is  at  the  arbitrary  disposal  of  the 
conqueror?  Even  the  most  ardent  and  incarnate 
partisans  of  annexation  allows  that  the  inhabitants 
of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  are  in  heart  and  soul 
French,  and  wish  to  remain  French.  And  how- 
ever much  they  might  have  offended  us,  it  would 
be  contrary  to  all  human  justice  should  we  try  to 
Germanize  them  compulsorily,  and  incorporate  them 
against  their  will  either  with  Prussia  or  any  other 
German  state.  Gentlemen !  There  is  an  old  Ger- 
man proverb,  which  has  been  raised  to  a  universal 
moral  law  on  account  of  its  being  so  true — '  Do 
not  unto  others  what  you  would  not  they  should 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


53 


do  unto  you.'  What  should  we  and  our  '  national 
Liberals'  feel  if  at  some  future  time  a  victorious 
Pole  should  demand  back  and  seek  to  annex  the 
provinces  of  Posen  and  West  Russia  ?  And  yet 
the  same  grounds  might  be  urged  for  this  that  are 
now  brought  forward  to  support  an  annexation  of 
Alsace  and  Lorraine.  No,  Gentlemen !  It  is  our 
duty  to  oppose  such  tendencies  of  national  egotism. 
Let  us  hold  fast  to  the  principles  of  justice  as 
much  in  public  life  as  in  private  life !  Let  us 
openly  declare  it  to  be  our  deep  and  inmost  con- 
viction that  every  incorporation  of  foreign  territory 
against  the  -wishes  of  the  inhabitants  is  a  violation 
of  the  right  of  self-constitution  common  to  all 
people,  and  therefore  as  objectionable  as  it  is 
pernicious.  Let  us,  without  being  led  astray  by 
the  intoxication  of  victory,  raise  a  protest  against 
every  violence  offered  to  the  inhabitants  of  Alsace 
and  Lorraine.  Only  he  who  respects  the  liberty 
of  others  is  himself  worthy  of  liberty."* 

General  Vogel  von  Falckenstein,  who  during 
the  war  exercised  all  but  supreme  power  over 
the  district  under  his  control,  immediately 
arrested  Dr.  Jacoby,  as  well  as  the  chairman  of 
the  meeting,  Herr  Herbig,  both  of  whom  were 
conveyed  to  the  fortress  of  Lotzen.  Dr.  Jacoby, 
however,  protested  by  letter  to  Count  von  Bis- 
marck ;  and  the  authorities,  either  not  prepared  to 
sanction  the  extreme  measure  of  General  Falcken- 
stein, or  unwilling  to  arouse  a  feeling  of  irritation 
among  the  democrats  of  Germany  and  Europe  at 
large,  subsequently  ordered  the  release  of  Dr. 
Jacoby  and  his  colleague.  But  undoubtedly  the 
great  national  party  firmly  adhered  to  the  policy 
of  annexation,  and  their  leaders  were  already  fore- 
shadowing a  federal  constitution,  in  which  an 
imperial  crown  should  be  awarded  to  the  house 
of  Hohenzollern. 

To  describe,  briefly,  one  of  the  "  incidents " 
arising  out  of  the  war,  it  is  necessary  to  look  for  a 
little  at  the  state  of  matters  in  Italy.  For  many 
years  it  had  been  the  aspiration  of  Italian  states- 
men to  accomplish  the  unity  of  that  country,  by 
making  Rome  the  capital.  But  although  this 
desire  was  almost  universally  shared  by  the 
people,  it  could  not  be  carried  into  effect  in 
consequence  of  the  occupation  of  the  city  by 
French  troops,  to  support  the  temporal  power  of 

*  Dr.  Jacoby,  at  Konigsberg,  did  not  regard  the  necessity  of  a 
barrier  between  Germany  and  the  feverish  population  of  France  with 
the  same  solicitude  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  more  threatened  provinces. 


the  pope.  On  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  however, 
the  French  government  immediately  determined 
to  evacuate  Borne,  and  an  announcement  of  their 
purpose  was  made  by  M.  Ollivier  on  the  30th  of 
July.  These  proceedings  greatly  alarmed  the  pope 
and  the  clerical  party;  but  the  Italians  saw  their 
opportunity  was  come,  and  resolved  to  embrace 
it,  notwithstanding  that  intimations  were  rife  that 
Prussia  would  interfere  on  behalf  of  Pius  IX. 
The  popular  excitement  was  intense,  and  even  the 
loyalty  of  portions  of  the  papal  troops  appeared 
doubtful.  Some  of  the  French  regiments,  on 
their  march  for  embarkation  to  Marseilles,  shouted 
"  Vive  l'ltalie  ! "  the  papal  legions  of  Antibes 
refused  to  garrison  Civita  Vecchia,  were  engaged 
in  constant  strife  with  the  German  carabineers 
quartered  with  them,  and  many  of  them  deserted, 
while  the  attitude  of  the  inhabitants  became  sullen 
and  threatening.  Before  leaving  Rome,  General 
Dumont  told  Cardinal  Antonelli  that  the  emperor 
had  exacted  from  the  Italian  government  guar- 
antees for  the  protection  of  the  pope  ;  to  which 
the  cardinal  replied,  "  There  are  three  persons 
who  do  not  believe  in  these  guarantees :  the 
emperor,  yourself,  and  I."  Eight  Italian  iron- 
clads were  ordered  to  cruise  before  Civita  Vec- 
chia as  soon  as  the  French  had  embarked.  To 
meet  the  emergency,  great  activity  prevailed  in 
the  pontifical  war  department;  the  troops  were 
armed  with  the  most  approved  weapons,  recruits 
sought  from  the  bandit  population  of  the  Abruzzi, 
and  the  urban  guard  mobilized. 

All  uncertainty,  however,  was  speedily  dispelled 
by  the  action  of  the  Italian  ministry.  On  the  29th 
of  August  the  people  of  Florence  were  startled 
by  the  following  announcement  in  the  Gazetta 
d 'Italia: — "  All  those  whose  terms  of  lease  for 
apartments,  separate  lodgings,  shops,  and  public- 
houses  have  expired,  or  are  about  to  expire,  are 
informed,  that  in  one  of  the  latest  councils  of 
ministers  held  here,  it  was  decided  that  the  imme- 
diate and  decided  transfer  of  the  government  from 
this  provisional  capital  to  Rome  shall  take  place 
before  the  end  of  September  next." 

By  the  disasters  to  the  French  arms,  the  catas- 
trophe of  Sedan,  and  the  revolution  of  the  4th 
September,  Italian  statesmen  considered  them- 
selves as  freed  from  their  engagement,  and  that 
a  bold  and  rapid  attack  upon  the  temporal  power 
of  the  papacy  was  the  only  security  against  the 
revolutionary  contagion.     To  meet  contingencies, 


54 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  army  was  raised  to  300,000  men.  The  spirit 
of  the  troops  was  excellent,  and  on  the  official 
declaration  reaching  the  camp,  all  the  tents  were 
illuminated.  On  the  8th  of  September  a  mani- 
festo was  sent  to  the  pope  by  Victor  Emmanuel, 
through  Count  Ponza  di  San  Martino,  embodying 
the  following  propositions: — The  pope  to  retain 
the  sovereignty  over  the  Leonine  portion  of  Koine, 
and  all  the  ecclesiastical  institutions  of  the  city. 
The  income  of  the  pope,  the  cardinals,  and  all  the 
papal  officers  and  officials  to  remain  unchanged. 
The  papal  debt  to  be  guaranteed.  Envoys  to  the 
pope  and  cardinals  to  retain  their  present  immu- 
nities, even  though  not  residing  in  the  Leonine 
city.  All  nations  to  be  freely  admitted  to  the 
Leonine  city.  The  Catholic  clergy  in  all  Italy 
to  be  freed  from  government  supervision.  The 
Italian  military,  municipal,  and  entail  laws  to  be 
modified  as  regards  Home.  These  propositions 
Pius  IX.  refused  to  entertain. 

On  the  morning  of  Sunday,  September  11,  the 
king  ordered  the  Italian  troops  to  enter  the  papal 
territory.  They  consisted  of  50,000  soldiers,  in 
five  divisions,  led  by  Generals  Maze1  de  la  Roche, 
Cozenz,  Ferrero,  Angioletti,  and  Bixio,  under  the 
supreme  command  of  General  Cadorna.  At  the 
approach  of  General  Bixio,  on  Sunday  night,  the 
garrison  at  Montefiascone  withdrew  without  strik- 
ing a  blow.  At  Aprona,  on  Monday,  a  brigade  of 
Italian  troops,  on  crossing  the  papal  frontier,  were 
enthusiastically  received.  At  Bagnorea,  twenty 
zouaves  and  officers  surrendered.  At  Civita  Cas- 
tellana  the  zouaves  fired  upon  General  Cadorna's 
vanguard  ;  but  on  receiving  a  few  shots  in  return, 
at  once  surrendered.  Viterbo  was  occupied  with- 
out opposition,  and  no  serious  resistance  was  offered 
to  the  royal  army  on  its  march  to  the  capital. 
General  Cadorna  issued  a  proclamation  to  the 
Romans,  assuring  them  that  he  did  not  bring 
war,  but  peace  and  order,  and  that  "  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Holy  See  will  not  be  violated." 

The  division  of  General  Bixio  approached  Rome 
from  Civita  Vecchia  by  the  left,  or  west,  bank  of 
the  Tiber ;  the  division  of  Angioletti  came  from 
the  south,  out  of  the  Neapolitan  territory ;  and  the 
other  divisions,  which  had  entered  the  Papal  States 
from  Tuscany,  approached  the  city  on  its  eastern 
side.  It  was  therefore  ordered  that  Bixio  should 
attack  the  western  gate,  called  Porte  San  Pancrazio, 
by  which  the  French  took  the  city  in  1849  ;  that 
Antnoletti  should  attack  that  of  St.  John  Lateran; 


while  the  rest  of  the  army  should  direct  their 
efforts  against  Porta  San  Lorenzo,  Porta  Pia,  and 
a  part  of  the  city  wall,  between  Porta  Pia  and 
Porta  Salara,  where  the  papal  zouaves  had  taken 
up  their  position.  The  garrison,  exclusive  of  some 
of  the  pope's  Italian  troops  who  refused  to  fight, 
numbered  above  9000  men — the  zouaves,  the 
carabineers,  the  Antibes  legion,  the  dragoons,  the 
squadriglieri,  and  the  gendarmes.  The  gates  of 
the  city  were  barricaded  and  fortified  by  ramparts 
of  earth.  The  defence  was  commanded  by  General 
Baron  Kanzler.  The  garrison  had  sixty  pieces  of 
artillery;  and  the  walls,  built  of  solid  brick,  and 
forming  a  circuit  of  thirteen  miles  about  the  city, 
were  of  great  height  and  thickness,  having  been 
erected  to  a  great  extent  in  the  times  of  the  ancient 
Roman  empire,  in  the  reign  of  Aurelian. 

At  five  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  20th  Sep- 
tember the  Italian  artillery  opened  on  the  city, 
accompanied  by  a  sharp  interchange  of  musketry 
between  the  papal  zouaves  and  the  royal  bersag- 
lieri,  with  the  loss  of  life  on  both  sides.  After 
about  three  hours'  fighting,  each  division  of  the 
Italian  forces  had  succeeded  in  opening  a  breach ;  and 
when  they  poured  into  the  city,  prepared  to  charge 
with  the  bayonet,  the  papal  soldiers  beat  a  hasty 
retreat.  On  this  the  pope  ordered  General  Kanzler 
to  capitulate;  a  white  flag  was  waved  all  along  the 
line,  and  a  messenger  informed  General  Bixio  that 
a  treaty  had  been  opened  with  General  Cadorna. 
The  number  of  killed  on  the  Italian  side  was 
21,  including  3  officers;  and  of  wounded,  117,  of 
whom  5  were  officers.  Of  the  papal  troops,  6 
zouaves  were  killed,  and  20  or  30  wounded.  The 
prisoners  amounted  to  1 0,400  of  all  arms. 

During  these  proceedings  the  pope  had  taken 
refuge  in  the  Vatican,  and  sent  to  the  various  dip- 
lomatic agents  a  protest  against  the  action  of  the 
Italians.  The  citizens,  however,  crowded  to  the 
capitol  to  proclaim  the  fall  of  the  temporal  power, 
but  were  fired  upon  by  the  squadriglieri,  who  still 
retained  their  arms.  A  vast  multitude  subsequently 
assembled  at  the  Coliseum,  where,  in  accordance 
with  an  intimation  from  the  Italian  authorities, 
they  elected  a  provisional  giunta,  composed  of 
forty-two  members,  the  leading  liberals  of  the 
city.  In  the  evening,  the  political  prisoners  in 
Castello  and  St.  Michele  were  liberated  by  the 
soldiers  and  the  populace.  In  St.  Michele  prison, 
Cardinal  Petroni,  condemned  for  life,  had  already 
been  a  captive  for  nineteen  years;  the  Doctor  Luigi 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


55 


Castellozzo,  Count  Pagliani,  Giulio  Ajani,  and 
(Jesare  Sterbini,  were  also  lying  under  the  same 
sentence.  Victor  Emmanuel  had  given  instruc- 
tions that  the  papal  territory  should  not  be  for- 
mally annexed  to  Italy  until  a  plebiscitum  had  been 
taken.  In  the  meantime  the  elected  giunta,  in  the 
midst  of  considerable  indications  of  the  tumultuous 
disposition  of  the  inhabitants,  prepared  the  way  for 
the  popular  vote.  The  principal  dissatisfaction  was 
occasioned  by  the  fact  that  the  rule  of  the  Leonine 
city  had  been  secured  to  the  pope,  an  arrangement 
which  6000  inhabitants  of  the  Borgia  deeply  re- 
sented, and  showed  their  resentment  by  popular 
demonstrations. 

The  formula  of  the  plebiscitum  was,  "  The 
Romans,  in  the  belief  that  the  Italian  government 
will  guarantee  the  free  exercise  of  his   spiritual 


authority  to  the  Holy  Father,  answer  Yes."  The 
vote  was  taken  on  the  2nd  of  October,  amidst  great 
popular  enthusiasm,  resulting  in  136,681  voting 
Yes,  and  1507  No. 

The  total  collapse  of  the  pontifical  regime,  and 
the  occupation  of  Eome  by  the  Italian  govern- 
ment, form  a  remarkable  epoch  in  the  history  of 
Europe;  yet  so  completely  were  the  minds  of  men 
engrossed  by  the  startling  occurrences  of  the  war, 
that  these  events  received  at  the  time  a  compara- 
tively small  amount  of  attention,  and  a  brief  notice 
in  the  columns  of  the  European  press.  In  a  few 
days,  with  a  mere  show  of  resistance  and  a  mini- 
mum of  internal  commotion,  were  accomplished 
the  dream  of  generations,  and  the  fulfilment  of  the 
long-cherished  but  almost  hopeless  aspirations  after 
unity  by  the  Italian  people. 


CHAPTER     XVIII. 


Extensive  Siege  Operations  of  the  Germans  in  September— Description  of  Strassburg  and  its  Fortifications,  and  Sketch  of  its  History— Brief 
Biography  of  General  Uhrich,  tho  Governor— State  of  the  City  after  the  Battles  of  Wissembourg  and  Woerth— Number  and  Description  of 
the  Garrison  at  the  Commencement  of  the  Siege— Council  of  War  Determines  on  a  Vigorous  Resistance — Proclamation  of  General  Uhrich — 
Number  and  Description  of  the  Besieging  Force  under  General  von  Werder— The  Positions  occupied  by  them— Commencement  of  Hostilities 
on  12th  August— The  Superiority  of  the  German  Artillery  over  that  of  the  French— Reconnaissances  by  the  French— Commencement  of  the 
Bombardment,  in  earnest,  on  21st  August,  causing  great  Destruction  of  Property  and  Loss  of  Life— The  Germans  consent  to  spare  the 
Cathedral  as  much  as  possible— General  Uhrich  again  refuses  to  Surrender — The  Bombardment  is  discontinued,  and  a  Regular  Siege 
commenced — Strange  Apathy  of  the  French  during  the  Proceedings  of  the  Besiegers — Extraordinary  Completeness  of  the  German  Works — 
Great  Sortie  on  2nd  September — The  hopes  of  the  Besieged  raised  by  a  piece  of  extraordinary  False  News — General  Uhrich  refuses  to 
believe  in  the  Disaster  at  Sedan — M.  Valentin,  the  Prefect  of  the  Lower  Rhine,  appointed  by  the  Republican  Government,  reaches  the  City 
after  a  very  Narrow  Escape — Hospitality  of  the  Swiss  towards  the  Aged  and  Destitute  Inhabitants,  whom  the  Germans  permitted  to  leave 
— Fearful  State  of  the  City  during  the  Latter  Part  of  the  Siege,  and  Gallant  Conduct  of  the  Inhabitants— Capture  of  Three  Lunettes  by 
the  Germans — Two  Breaches  made  in  the  Walls  preparatory  to  the  intended  Storming — Final  Demand  for  Surrender,  with  the  Alternative 
of  an  Immediate  Assault — Song  written  during  the  Siege  to  be  Sung  by  the  Troops  as  they  marched  into  Strassburg — Determination  of  the 
Governor  t3  capitulate — Proclamation  announcing  the  Fact  to  the  Inhabitants  and  Garrison— German  Preparations  to  receive  the  French 
Delegates — Disgraceful  Conduct  of  some  of  the  French  Soldiers  whilst  Surrendering — Triumphant  Entry  of  Part  of  the  German  Army  into 
the  City — Affecting  Scenes  as  the  Inhabitants  emerged  from  the  Cellars  in  which  they  had  lived  so  long — German  Rejoicings  on  30th 
September,  the  day  on  which  the  City  had  been  taken  from  them  189  years  before— Impressive  Religious  Services — Speech  of  General 
Werder — The  Fearful  Effects  of  the  Bombardment  on  the  City— The  Irreparable  Loss  of  the  Library— State  of  the  Cathedral — Total 
amount  of  Damage  done  to  the  City  estimated  at  £8,000,000 — The  Aspect  of  the  Botanic  Garden,  which  had  been  used  as  a  Burying- 
Ground — Destruction  of  Kehl,  opposite  Strassburg,  by  the  French— Quantity  of  Shot,  &c  ,  fired  during  the  Siege  of  Strassburg — Number 
and  Value  of  the  Guns  captured  by  the  Germans— The  Siege  of  Toul — Description  of  the  Town — Gallantry  of  the  Inhabitants  and  Garrison 
— Determination  of  the  Germans  to  Storm  the  Town  averted  by  its  Capitulation — Reasons  for  adopting  such  a  course  on  the  part  of  the 
French — Scenes  in  the  Town  on  the  Entry  of  the  Germans. 


FALL  OF  STRASSBURG  AND  TOUL. 

In  Chapter  X.,  describing  the  march  of  the  third 
German  army  into  France,  after  the  defeat  of 
MacMahon  at  Woerth,  we  stated  that  the  Badish 
troops  in  it  were  despatched  to  lay  siege  to  the 
fortress  of  Strassburg.  We  now  proceed  to  relate 
the  chief  events  of  that  siege,  from  the  time  the 
city  was  first  invested  to  its  fall  on  September 
28,  and  also  the  leading  incidents  connected 
with  the  siege  of  Toul,  which  was  likewise  invested 
by  a  portion  of  the  Crown  Prince's  army  a  few  days 
after  Strassburg. 

About  the  third  week  in  September  the  Germans 
were,  in  fact,  prosecuting  four  important  sieges  ; 
any  one  of  which  would,  in  ordinary  times,  have 
been  regarded  as  a  great  operation.  Strassburg, 
the  centre  of  the  defence  of  the  French  frontier  of 
the  Khine,  and  one  of  the  strongest  fortified  cities 
in  Europe,  was  besieged  by  a  corps  of  about 
60,000  men,  composed  of  one  division  of  Badish, 
one  of  Prussian,  and  one  of  Prussian  guard  land- 
wehr  troops,  with  pioneers  and  garrison  artillery 
from  the  South  German  states.  Toul,  on  the  direct 
Line  of  railway  to  Paris,  was  surrounded  by 
a   Prussian    division,    under    the    Grand-duke    of 


Mecklenburg  Schwerin,  and  still  blocked  all  com- 
munication to  the  capital  from  South  Germany. 
Metz,  the  centre  of  the  defence  of  France  between 
the  Meuse  and  the  Rhine,  the  strongest  fortress  in 
all  France,  surrounded  by  forts  forming  an  en- 
trenched camp,  and  held  not  only  by  its  own  gar- 
rison, but  by  the  army  under  Marshal  Bazaine, 
was  invested  by  seven  Prussian  army  corps 
and  three  divisions  of  cavalry — altogether,  about 
200,000  men.  And  above  all,  Paris,  defended 
by  more  than  half  a  million  of  armed  and 
disciplined  men,  was  shut  in  by  the  third 
German  army,  under  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Prussia,  and  the  fourth,  under  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Saxony,  numbering  more  than  250,000  men. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  in  his  interview 
with  M.  Jules  Favre,  described  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  the  only  conditions  on  which  Count  von 
Bismarck  would  consent  to  an  armistice,  were  that 
the  fortresses  of  Strassburg,  Toul,  and  Phalsburg 
should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Germans. 
As  the  French  were  not  disposed  to  accede  to 
these  conditions,  the  conference  ended.  Two  of 
the  fortresses  named  were,  however,  destined  to 
fall  immediately.  While  M.  Jules  Favre  and 
Count  von  Bismarck  were  conferring  at  Ferrieres, 


SIEGE      OF 
STRASBOURG, 
8  7  0. 


Bn^raved  ~bv  Robert  WaHrec 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


57 


General  Uhrich  and  a  council  of  war  were  delib- 
erating as  to  the  surrender  of  Strassburg,  which 
capitulated  on  the  28th  of  September. 

At  the  time  to  which  our  history  refers,  Strass- 
burg was  a  French  fortified  town  of  the  first  rank, 
situated  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhine  and  of  the 
111.  Its  extensive  series  of  fortifications  formed 
roughly  an  isosceles  triangle,  having  for  its  base 
the  southern  front,  which,  at  its  eastern  ex- 
tremity, close  to  the  Rhine,  was  defended  by  a 
pentagonal  bastionned  fort.  The  Germans  made 
their  principal  attack  on  the  north-west.  The  two 
fronts  covered  by  the  river  111  could  be  easily  inun- 
dated, and  the  ditches  were  generally  full  of  water. 
The  north  front,  like  the  two  others,  was  composed 
of  a  strong  system  of  bastions,  with  lunettes  and 
fortified  works,  communicating  with  the  interior 
by  a  double  line  of  casemates.  Both  extremities 
were  defended,  the  northern  by  Fort  des  Pierres, 
and  the  southern  by  Fort  Blanche.  A  military 
road  ran  at  the  foot  of  the  ramparts. 

The  founder  of  the  fortress,  Daniel  Speckel, 
Speckle,  or  Specklin,  was  born  at  Strassburg  in 
1536,  and  was  at  first  a  mould  cutter  and  silk 
embroiderer,  but  subsequently  took  to  the  study 
of  architecture.  After  travelling  extensively  in 
the  north  of  Europe  he  settled  at  Vienna  in  1561, 
and  entered  the  service  of  the  imperial  architect, 
Solizar.  In  1576  he  formed  an  engagement  with 
Duke  Albert  of  Bavaria,  and  erected  several  build- 
ings at  Ingolstadt;  but  in  1577  he  was  called  to 
his  native  town,  and  commissioned  to  construct 
the  fortifications,  a  wooden  model  of  which,  pre- 
viously made  by  him,  was  placed  in  the  town 
library.  In  1589  he  completed  the  task,  and  died 
in  the  same  year.  Vauban  built  the  citadel,  and 
subsequently  outworks  were  added. 

Strassburg  was  never  taken  by  force  until  the 
late  war  in  1870.  When  in  1681  it  surrendered 
to  the  French,  it  had  disarmed  itself  by  the  dis- 
missal of  the  regular  Swiss  militia  ;  and  on  the 
30th  September  in  that  year  it  was  surprised  by  a 
French  force,  drawn  together  under  the  pretext 
of  manoeuvring  in  the  neighbourhood.  On  the 
28th  of  September,  1870,  it  fell,  after  a  long  and 
laborious  siege,  into  the  hands  of  a  combined  Prus- 
sian and  Baden  corps.  Louis  XIV.  took  it  just  as 
he  had  Nancy  a  few  years  before,  in  the  midst  of 
peace,  and  without  even  giving  himself  the  trouble 
of  declaring  war,  or  assigning  a  reason  for  his 
rapacity.     He  knew  that  the  German  empire,  torn 

VOL.    II. 


to  pieces  by  a  religious  feud,  was  not  in  a  position 
to  avenge  the  injury  which  the  Grand  Monarque 
therefore  thought  himself  justified  in  committing. 
In  vain  the  captured  city  sent  envoys  and  special 
messengers  to  the  emperor  and  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment, soliciting  assistance  in  ridding  it  of  those 
whom  it  then  considered  foreigners  and  enemies. 
Domestic  quarrels  were  then  rife  in  Germany,  and 
combined  action  hopeless. 

As  often  as  France  has  aimed  at  dominion  on 
the  Rhine  (1688-97,  1703,  1733,  1796,  &c),  the 
outlet  for  attack  on  Germany  was  strengthened 
by  the  fortification  of  Kehl,  immediately  opposite 
Strassburg.  Kehl,  indeed,  sustained  a  two  months' 
siege  by  the  Austrians  in  the  winter  of  1796-97. 
The  Rhine  fortress,  scarcely  accessible  in  conse- 
quence of  its  being  surrounded  by  water,  was  first 
invested  by  the  Russians  and  Badeners  on  the 
7th  of  January,  1814.  It  was  cannonaded,  but 
without  success,  on  the  14th  of  February.  On 
the  13th  of  April  the  entry  of  the  allies  into  Paris 
and  the  deposition  of  Napoleon  was  first  known 
in  Strassburg  ;  on  the  14th  the  white  flag  of  the 
Bourbons  was  hoisted,  on  the  16th  there  was  an 
armistice,  on  the  2nd  of  May  Kehl  was  razed,  and 
on  the  5th  the  blockade  of  Strassburg  was  raised, 
the  besieging  army  settling  itself  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. On  Napoleon's  return  from  Elba,  in  1815, 
the  garrison  and  citizens  of  Strassburg  were  among 
his  first  supporters.  In  the  end  of  June,  and  of 
course  subsequently  to  the  second  deposition  of 
the  emperor  (June  22),  the  French  army,  under 
General  Rapp,  after  several  engagements,  was  shut 
up  in  Strassburg  by  the  Crown  Prince  of  Wiirt- 
emburg.  On  the  4th  of  July  the  Wurtemburgers 
were  replaced  by  Austrians  and  Badeners.  A  sortie 
by  General  Rapp  on  the  9th  of  July,  against  Haus- 
bergen,  caused  the  loss  of  many  men  on  both  sides. 
This  was  the  last  deed  of  arms.  On  the  22nd  of 
July  an  armistice  was  concluded,  and  on  the  30th 
the  Bourbon  dynasty  was  recognized  by  the  garri- 
son, which  was  disarmed  and  dismissed  on  the 
6th  of  September,  and  on  the  15th  the  blockade 
was  raised. 

The  resolute  resistance  of  Strassburg  in  the 
siece  of  1870,  the  heroism  of  its  governor,  General 
Uhrich,  the  intrepidity  of  its  garrison,  the  patriotic 
devotedness  of  its  inhabitants  amidst  a  bombard- 
ment of  unprecedented  severity,  during  a  contest 
which  began  on  the  17th  of  August  and  ended 
on  the  28th  of  September,  have  secured  for  the 


58 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


unfortunate  city  an  undying  record  in  military 
annals.  General  Uhrich,  the  gallant  veteran  whose 
name  is  associated  with  the  heroic  defence,  had 
been  long  known  in  the  French  army  as  a  brave 
and  skilful  officer.  A  true  son  of  Alsace,  born  at 
Phalsburg  in  1802,  at  eighteen  years  of  age  he  left 
the  military  school  of  St.  Cyr  to  join  the  third  light 
infantry  as  sous-lieutenant.  Captain  in  1834,  and 
colonel  of  his  old  regiment  in  1848,  Jean  Jacques 
Alexis  Uhrich  was  made  general  of  brigade  in 
1852,  and  in  the  second  year  of  the  Crimean  war 
became  general  of  division.  In  the  Italian  cam- 
paign he  was  attached  to  the  fifth  army  corps,  and 
in  1862  received  the  grand  cross  of  the  legion  of 
honour,  having  been  made  commander  in  1857. 
For  some  time  after  he  was  in  charge  of  one  of 
the  territorial  sub-divisions  of  the  army  of  Nancy. 
In  1867  he  retired  from  active  service,  but  on  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  with  Germany  he  asked  and 
obtained  the  command  of  Strassburg.  His  firm- 
ness in  the  panic  which  followed  the  rout  at 
Woerth,  and  during  the  terrible  bombardment  of 
the  city,  won  praise  even  from  his  enemies. 

Strassburg  had  been  chosen  as  headquarters  of 
the  first  corps  d'armee  of  Marshal  Mac  Mali  on ;  but 
on  the  2nd  of  August  he  quitted  the  place  with 
his  divisions,  leaving  a  garrison  composed  of  the 
eighty-seventh  regiment  of  the  line,  of  the  depots 
of  the  eighteenth  and  ninety-sixth  regiments,  and 
of  the  tenth  and  sixteenth  battalion  of  chasseurs. 

On  August  5  the  town  was  plunged  into  deep 
consternation,  the  news  of  the  battle  and  defeat  at 
Wissembourg  having  arrived  in  the  middle  of  the 
night.  By  the  next  day,  however,  the  bustle  and 
excitement  had  nearly  died  away  ;  and  notwith- 
standing the  appalling  tidings,  crowds  of  officers 
sat  outside  the  caftjs  as  usual,  lounging,  smoking, 
and  chaffing,  all  wearing  a  pacific  and  unexpectant 
air,  truly  disheartening  to  anxious  citizens,  who 
considered  that  but  twenty-four  hours  before  their 
brethren  in  arms  had  suffered  a  bloody  check  not 
easily  forgotten.  A  sound  of  distant  cannonading 
was  heard  throughout  the  day;  and  while  rumours 
that  another  battle  of  greater  importance  still  was 
then  raging,  waggons  full  of  wounded  drove  at  a 
slow  pace  through  the  streets. 

At  nightfall  on  Sunday,  the  7th,  the  first 
fugitive  from  the  fatal  field  of  Woerth  entered  the 
city.  All  the  inhabitants  had  turned  into  the 
streets,  and  the  tumult  was  beyond  description. 
Bells  began  to  toll  from  every  steeple,  and  from  one 


end  of  the  town  to  the  other  rang  the  fearful  cry, 
"  MacMahon  is  defeated ;  our  army  is  put  to 
flight ! "  Soon  there  set  in  a  stream  of  soldiers 
with  bare  heads,  covered  with  blood  and  dirt, 
wearied  with  a  protracted  struggle,  famished  with 
hunger,  dying  of  thirst,  beaten,  and  humbled.  At 
seven  o'clock  a  panic  seized  upon  all  citizens,  for 
the  news  spread  like  wildfire  that  the  enemy  was 
fast  approaching  the  town.  There  was  a  rush  to 
the  arsenal  for  arms.  The  drawbridges  were  pulled 
up,  and  for  the  first  time  the  inhabitants  passed 
the  night  expecting  to  hear  the  thunder  of  cannons, 
for  it  was  generally  supposed  that  the  siege  of 
Strassburg  would  be  the  immediate  consequence 
of  the  disaster  of  Woerth. 

In  this  grave  crisis,  General  Uhrich  immediately 
assembled  a  council  of  war  to  consider  the  resources 
of  the  city,  and  the  best  course  to  be  adopted. 
Admiral  Excelmans  had  arrived  with  a  detach- 
ment of  sailors  and  marines  to  serve  a  flotilla  of 
gun-boats,  which  were  never  forthcoming,  and  he 
now  undertook  to  remain  and  assist  in  the  defence. 
The  director  of  the  custom-house  formed  with  his 
men  a  battalion  of  500  douaniers,  and  two  regiments, 
one  of  cavalry  and  one  of  infantry,  were  formed 
out  of  the  unpromising  material  which,  flying  from 
Wissembourg  and  Woerth,  had  taken  refuge  behind 
the  Strassburg  outposts.  The  garrison  was  thus 
found  to  consist  of  7000  infantry,  including 
sailors  and  douaniers,  600  cavalry,  1600  artillery, 
a  battalion  of  mobiles,  and  3000  national  guards, 
forming  altogether  an  effective  force  of  15,000 
men.  The  barracks,  fitted  up  with  beds,  could 
accommodate  10,000  men.  The  supplies  consisted 
of  bread  for  180  days,  and  provisions  for  60  days  ; 
but  the  quantity  of  live  stock  was  limited.  The 
council  of  war  unanimously  decided  on  resisting, 
and  that  the  garrison  should  be  divided  into  three 
bodies,  one-third  for  the  service  of  the  ramparts, 
another  third  for  marching,  and  the  last  for  reserve. 
It  was  also  decided  to  put  the  supplies  in  cellars 
for  security  against  the  bombardment,  to  turn  out 
of  the  town  all  persons  of  loose  character,  and  to 
urge  the  aged,  the  women,  and  the  children,  to 
leave  at  once.  The  following  day  the  council, 
under  the  presidency  of  General  Uhrich,  held 
several  meetings,  at  which  measures  were  taken 
for  the  defence  of  the  city  and  resolutions  formed 
to  resist  to  the  utmost  extremity. 

On  the  9th  of  August  an  envoy,  bearing  a  flag 
of  truce,  approached  the  fortifications,  and  on  behalf 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


59 


of  the  general  commanding  the  enemy  made  the 
usual  summons  to  surrender.  From  the  Saverne 
gate,  by  which  the  envoy  entered,  to  headquarters, 
he  was  accompanied  by  the  townspeople,  who  cried 
in  German,  so  that  he  might  understand,  "  We 
will  not  surrender."  When  he  had  delivered  his 
message  to  General  Uhrich,  the  latter,  by  way  of 
reply,  opened  the  window  and  showed  him  the 
people,  who  cried  out,  "Down  with  Prussia !  Long 
live  France!  No  surrender!"  Next  morning  the 
following  proclamation  was  issued  to  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Strassburg : — 

"  Unfounded  rumours  and  panics  have  been  spread 
within  the  last  days  in  our  brave  city ;  some  indi- 
viduals have  dared  to  assert  that  the  place  would 
surrender  without  defending  itself.  We  ener- 
getically protest,  in  the  name  of  the  courageous 
population,  against  that  cowardly  and  criminal 
weakness.  The  ramparts  are  armed  with  400  can- 
nons, the  garrison  composed  of  11,000  men  and 
of  the  national  guard.  If  Strassburg  is  attacked, 
Strassburg  will  be  defended  so  long  as  a  soldier, 
a  biscuit,  or  a  cartridge  is  left.  The  brave  can 
be  tranquillized,  the  others  may  leave. 

"GENERAL  UHRICH." 

"  lOtk  August,  1870." 

Marshal  MacMahon's  corps  d'armee  had  retreated 
on  Saverne,  Luneville,  and  Chalons.  The  invest- 
ment of  Strassburg  was  likely  to  follow  the  defeat 
of  the  first  corps.  For  the  purpose,  therefore,  of 
watching  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  the  march 
of  its  columns  and  of  its  convoys,  General  Uhrich's 
first  care  was  to  establish  an  observatory,  which  was 
formed  by  the  erection  of  a  platform  on  the  highest 
tower,  not  the  spire,  of  the  cathedral.  From  this 
observatory  strong  German  columns,  composed  of 
men  of  all  arms,  were  signalled  on  the  11th  of 
August  at  4  p.m.,  advancing  from  Schiltigheim  on 
the  Lauterbourg  road.  They  took  up  their  posi- 
tions on  the  north,  a  few  miles  from  the  advanced 
works,  in  the  villages  of  Koenigshoffen,  Oberhaus- 
bergen,Mittelhausbergen,  and  Schiltigheim,  forming 
a  circle  of  three  miles.  General  Uhrich  at  once  sent 
a  strong  force  to  occupy  the  outer  works,  and, 
in  anticipation  of  the  bombardment,  he  next  day 
issued  a  proclamation  calling  in  all  remaining  pro- 
visions, fuel,  &c,  ordering  the  closing  of  the  gas- 
works, and  cautioning  the  inhabitants  to  be  prepared 
with  baths  of  water   on  every  floor,  wet  cloths, 


earth,  and  dry  sand,  to  quench  the  first  outbreaks 
of  fire. 

On  the  14th  of  August,  Lieutenant-general  von 
Werder  assumed  the  command  of  the  besieging 
force,  which  consisted  of  the  Baden  division,  the 
Prussian  first  reserve  division,  the  Prussian  land- 
wehr  guards  division,  and  a  detachment  of  artillery 
and  technical  troops,  numbering  in  all  about  60,000 
men.  Lieutenant-general  von  Decker  and  Major- 
general  von  Mertens  were  appointed  commanders, 
respectively,  of  the  artillery  and  the  engineers. 
After  the  arrival  of  the  two  Prussian  divisions  the 
fortress  was  closely  surrounded  ;  General  Werder's 
headquarters  being  established  at  the  village  of 
Lampertheim,  some  five  or  six  miles  north  of  the 
defences  of  Strassburg,  and  to  the  left  of  the  railway 
leading  thence  to  Werdenheim,  from  which  it 
branched  to  Haguenau  and  Saverne.  The  left  of 
the  army  of  the  besiegers  rested  on  the  111,  and  was 
thus  protected  from  flank  attack,  while  between  the 
111  and  the  Rhine  were  marshes  unfavourable  for 
the  movements  of  troops.  At  the  same  time  the 
headquarters  were  concealed  from  the  fire  of  the 
place  by  the  heights  of  Oberhausbergen.  Hence 
the  German  fines  encircled  Strassburg  till  they  met 
the  river  111  again  south  of  that  town,  near  Illkirch, 
close  to  the  famous  Canal  Monsieur,  which  connects 
the  111  with  the  Rhone. 

For  general  defence,  the  perimeter  of  the  town 
was  divided  by  Governor  Uhrich  into  four  districts, 
under  the  command  of  General  Moseno,  Admiral 
Excelmans,  and  two  colonels.  The  provisional 
regiments  were  sent  to  occupy  the  fortifications ;  the 
mobiles  were  designed  to  help  in  the  operations. 
The  ambulances,  under  Intendants  Brisac  and  Milon 
of  the  Intendance,  were  immediately  organized, 
and  the  students  aided  the  direction  of  the  medical 
service.  On  the  12th,  the  Prussians"  from  their 
positions  at  the  north-west,  in  the  rear  of  the 
villages,  commenced  hostilities  by  sending  a  few 
shells  against  the  fortifications,  which  were 
answered  by  the  garrison  ;  and  on  the  following 
day,  to  ascertain  the  real  strength  of  the  besiegers, 
General  Uhrich  ordered  a  reconnoitering  sortie  by 
two  squadrons  of  cavalry  and  two  companies  of 
infantry,  who  advanced  on  the  villages  of  Neuhaff 
and  Altkirch,  captured  100  oxen  and  some  supplies, 
and  returned  without  meeting  with  any  serious 
encounter. 

On  the  night  from  the  13th  to  the  14th  the 
cannonade   and    discharge   of  musketry  gave   the 


60 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


inhabitants  a  foreshadowing  of  the  evils  which  were 
about  to  befall  their  unfortunate  city.  At  daylight 
the  placing  of  a  Prussian  battery  and  of  three 
howitzers  between  the  lines  of  railway  to  Saverne 
and  Bale  was  signalled  from  the  observatory.  The 
firing  of  the  besiegers  became  stronger,  and  from 
the  range  of  their  large  guns,  and  the  skilful  aiming 
of  their  artillerymen,  its  effects  were  at  once  felt, 
while  the  shot  from  the  forts  scarcely  reached  them. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  14th  General  Uhrich  sent 
Moritz,  the  colonel  of  engineers,  on  a  second  recon- 
noitering  excursion  on  the  left  bank  of  the  111.  With 
900  men  of  the  line,  fifty  of  cavalry,  and  two  field- 
guns,  he  attacked  the  besiegers,  and  after  a  sharp 
engagement  retreated  on  the  town.  The  same  day 
General  Barral,  who,  as  the  chief  of  artillery,  aided 
so  materially  in  the  defence  of  Strassburg,  succeeded 
in  finding  his  way  into  it  under  the  disguise  of  a 
workman . 

The  15  th  of  August  was  the  fete  of  the  emperor, 
and  a  Te  Deum  was  sung  in  the  cathedral.  On  the 
same  day  the  Prussians  brought  their  guns  to  bear 
upon  the  second  district  of  defence,  approached  nearer 
the  town,  and  increased  the  rapidity  of  their  fire. 
The  immense  superiority  of  their  artillery  to  that 
of  the  French  was  now  apparent,  and  led  the  gar- 
rison and  the  inhabitants  to  augurthe  worst.  During 
the  night  several  of  the  inhabitants  were  killed,  and 
the  city  was  fired  in  several  places.  The  following 
day  brought  fresh  misfortunes. 

General  Uhrich,  wishing  to  test  the  enemy's 
designs  and  to  prevent  the  construction  of  new 
batteries,  ordered  another  reconnaissance  to  be  made 
by  two  battalions,  two  squadrons,  and  a  battery  of 
artillery.  The  column  advanced  to  the  north-west, 
and  an  important  engagement  took  place  in  which 
the  French  were  repulsed,  leaving  in  the  hands  of 
the  Prussians  three  guns  and  numerous  prisoners 
and  wounded. 

On  the  17th,  from  the  cathedral  tower  masses  of 
<ierman  troops  were  seen  advancing  in  the  direction 
of  Wolfisheim,  about  three  miles  from  the  fortified 
works  of  Strassburg.  The  87th  regiment  of  the 
line  was  sent  to  reconnoitre,  and  to  protect  400 
workmen  busy  in  cutting  the  trees  and  clearing  the 
ground  near  La  Porte  Blanche,  in  front  of  the  second 
district  of  defence.  The  soldiers,  under  the  com- 
mand of  their  colonel,  advanced  to  the  village  of 
Schiltigheim,  which  they  found  barricaded  and 
well  defended ;  and  after  a  vain  attempt  to  dislodge 
its  occupants,  they  were  compelled  to  retreat,  hav- 


ing sustained  considerable  loss.  Tha  fire  of  the 
besiegers  continued  on  the  18th,  and  on  the  19th 
the  bombardment  with  the  heavy  guns  began  in 
right  earnest. 

Hitherto  the  firing  upon  the  town  had  been  the 
result  rather  of  accident  than  of  deliberate  intention 
on  the  part  of  the  Germans.  Notwithstanding  the 
strength  of  Strassburg,  its  system  of  defence  was 
old-fashioned.  There  were  no  detached  forts,  and 
the  ramparts  inclosed  the  inhabited  parts  of  the 
town  within  so  narrow  a  circle,  that  many  of  the 
houses  necessarily  suffered  when  the  works  were 
attacked.  The  garrison  being  comparatively  weak, 
and  the  inhabitants  very  numerous,  the  German 
commander  assumed  that  menacing  the  town  would 
certainly  induce  them  to  supplicate  the  French 
general  to  surrender.  General  Werder,  first  of  all, 
offered  to  allow  a  number  of  the  women,  children, 
and  infirm  to  leave  the  city;  but  Uhrich  declined, 
ostensibly  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  difficult 
to  choose  from  a  population  of  80,000.  On  the 
21st  of  August,  therefore,  the  bombardment  was 
opened  upon  the  town,  after  due  warning  had  been 
given  to  the  commandant,  who  does  not  appear  to 
have  communicated  it  to  the  citizens,  probably  fear- 
ing its  effect  upon  the  more  timid  part  of  the  popu- 
lation. For  six  days  were  the  inhabitants  exposed 
to  the  pitiless  fiery  storm.  Notwithstanding  every 
precaution,  the  destruction  of  life  and  property  was 
enormous,  the  proportion  of  civilians  killed  and 
wounded,  of  course,  far  exceeding  that  of  the  mili- 
tary. Uhrich,  stern  and  unbending  as  he  appeared, 
was  compelled  on  the  24th  to  ask  a  favour  of  his 
enemy.  He  sent  out  a  parlementaire  with  the 
request  that  General  Werder  would  spare  lint  and 
bandages  for  six  hundred  wounded  citizens  of 
Strassburg,  now  lying  in  agony  within  the  town, 
their  injuries  having  been  mostly  sustained  in  the 
streets  during  the  last  three  days'  bombardment. 
The  general  at  once  sent  in  an  ample  store  of  both, 
and  it  was  noticed  that  the  fierceness  of  the  be- 
sieger's fire  visibly  slackened  from  this  time. 

To  lessen  the  damage  caused  by  falling  shells 
within  the  city,  the  squares  and  places  were  covered 
deeply  with  loose  earth ;  and  the  inhabitants,  having 
closed  up  their  windows  with  mattresses,  retired  to 
what  often  proved  to  be  a  vain  security  in  the 
cellars ;  for  frequently  would  a  falling  shell  pierce 
through  roof  and  floors,  and  burst  in  the  crowded 
basement,  killing  or  wounding  the  whole  of  its 
occupants.       On    the    25th    of    August    a    shell 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Gl 


from  one  of  the  giant  mortars  penetrated  a  house 
of  six  stories,  and  exploding  in  the  cellar,  killed 
sixteen  persons.  The  bombardment,  however,  so 
far  from  scaring  the  citizens  into  a  craven  submis- 
sion, roused  a  spirit  of  indignation,  and  a  stronger 
determination  than  ever  to  support  General  Uhrich 
in  resistance. 

On  the  26  th,  at  four  a.m.,  the  firing  was  suspended 
till  noon  at  the  intercession  of  the  aged  and  ven- 
erable bishop  of  Strassburg,  who  came  over  to 
the  Prussian  outposts,  and  asked  for  an  interview 
with  the  general  commanding-in-chief  (Werder), 
stating  that  it  was  his  earnest  desire  to  in- 
tercede with  his  excellency  on  behalf  of  the 
minster  in  particular  and  the  non-military  part  of 
the  town  in  general.  The  bishop's  request  was 
communicated  in  due  course  to  the  general,  who, 
however,  declined  to  receive  him,  but  informed 
him,  through  an  aide-de-camp,  that  every  possible 
precaution  would  be  taken  by  the  German  army  to 
avoid  injuring  the  cathedral,  and  that  no  more 
harm  than  could  be  helped  would  be  done  to  the 
town.  His  lordship  was  escorted  back  to  the  gate 
of  the  city,  and  at  the  same  time  a  parlementaire 
was  sent  in  to  General  Uhrich,  conveying  to  that 
officer  a  full  and  detailed  account  of  the  reverses 
sustained  by  the  French  army  before  Metz,  and 
urging  upon  him  the  surrender  of  the  fortress  upon 
the  ground  that  further  resistance  would  only  be 
spilling  blood  to  no  purpose,  the  defence  of  Strass- 
burg against  the  foes  gathered  round  it  being 
absolutely  hopeless.  To  this  communication  the 
general  only  condescended  to  return  the  verbal 
message  that  "  he  meant  to  hold  Strassburg  as 
long  as  he  had  a  man  under  his  orders;"  and  the 
French  fire  was  at  once  resumed  by  way  of  post- 
dictum.  The  bombardment  was  resumed  at  the 
expiry  of  the  respite,  and  continued  till  the  27th, 
when  the  German  commander,  abandoning  the 
hope  of  intimidating  the  city  into  surrender,  gave 
orders  to  discontinue  firing  upon  it,  and  com- 
menced a  regular  siege.  A  vast  quantity  of  addi- 
tional artillery  had  in  the  meantime  arrived,  and 
on  the  29th  of  August  numerous  siege  batteries 
were  commenced  to  enfilade  and  batter  the  guns 
of  the  place.  In  the  following  night  the  first 
parallel  was  opened  against  the  north-western  front 
of  the  fortress,  at  a  distance  of  from  600  to  800 
paces  from  the  walls.  In  the  night  of  the  31st  the 
approaches  to  the  second  parallel  were  dug,  and  in 
the  ensuing  night  the  second  parallel  itself,  distant 


300  paces  from  the  fortress.  To  accomplish  this  a 
detachment  was  called  out  from  the  Rupprechtsan, 
and  led  by  roundabout  ways  in  a  zig-zag  direction, 
so  as  to  disguise  the  design,  up  to  a  field  behind 
Reichstett,  where  they  halted  to  await  sunset  and 
the  arrival  of  the  engineers.  When  it  became 
dark  they  started  again.  Without  speaking  a  word, 
they  marched  along  the  road  through  the  three 
neighbouring  viUages  of  Hohenheim,  Bischheim, 
and  Schiltigheim.  Armed  with  hatchets  and 
spades,  the  iron  turned  upwards  to  avoid  noise, 
they  proceeded  through  the  streets  between  the 
shut-up  houses,  over  the  doors  of  which  small  lan- 
terns were  glimmering.  At  last  the  spot  was 
reached.  Posted  at  arm's  length  from  each  other, 
the  men  began  to  dig,  eagerly,  noiselessly,  inde- 
fatigably.  A  trench  three  feet  broad  and  three  deep 
was  the  task  for  each.  The  night  was  dark.  The 
fortress  was  300  steps  before  them,  but  they  saw 
nothing  either  of  it  or  of  the  battalions  placed  in 
front  to  protect  them.  Close  behind  a  battery 
launched  shells  ceaselessly  into  the  city.  The 
loud  yelling  of  dogs,  disturbed  by  the  proximity 
of  the  enemy,  resounded  from  Schiltigheim.  The 
work  lasted  almost  the  whole  night.  The  men 
were  wetted  and  chilled  by  the  falling  dew,  and 
they  had  not  a  morsel  of  bread.  Hunger  and  thirst 
spoiled  their  tempers.  At  last  the  task  was  done, 
and  cheered  by  their  success  they  retired  at  break 
of  day  to  their  quarters,  to  occupy  immediately  the 
small  island  of  Watte. 

One  great  mystery  of  the  siege,  to  most  of  the 
scientific  officers  belonging  to  the  German  army, 
was  the  character  of  the  French  defence,  so  far  as 
concerned  the  construction  of  the  parallels  and 
their  communications  by  the  besieging  forces. 
From  the  night  when  these  first  broke  ground,  till 
the  completion  of  the  fourth  parallel,  the  pioneers 
were  scarcely  ever  molested  in  their  task  from  the 
walls  or  outworks  ;  but  as  soon  as  their  work  was 
finished,  and  they  were  well  sheltered  by  six  or 
seven  feet  of  earth,  a  feu  cCenfer  was  invariably 
opened  upon  the  newly  completed  trench  and  the 
villages  behind  the  approaches,  which  did  very 
little  damage  to  the  parallels,  and  inflicted  only 
slight  loss  on  their  occupants,  but  destroyed  a  vast 
amount  of  property  owned  by  French  subjects. 
The  amount  of  work  done  in  the  construction  of 
the  parallels  may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  the 
trenches  before  Strassburg  were  eight  feet  deep,  and 
wide  enough  for  three  or  four  men  abreast.     Part 


62 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


of  the  second  parallel  was  driven  through  the 
churchyard  of  Ste.  Helene,  between  Koenigshoffen 
and  Schiltigheirn,  and  skeletons  and  partly  decayed 
corpses  were  turned  up,  to  the  great  discomposure 
of  the  soldiers.  The  ground  before  the  city  was 
clay,  and  difficult  to  work  either  in  dry  or  wet 
weather.  In  addition  to  the  parallels,  batteries 
were  built,  and  in  their  neighbourhood  powder 
magazines  arranged,  which  had  to  be  protected 
against  even  shells  dropping  from  the  heights. 
These  batteries  evinced  the  singular  perfection  to 
which  the  Germans  had  brought  all  the  details  of 
their  organization.  Not  only  were  they  so  arranged 
as  to  inflict  the  greatest  damage  on  the  enemy 
with  the  least  possible  danger  to  themselves,  but 
also  to  insure  a  degree  of  comfort  which  could 
have  been  little  expected  under  the  circumstances. 
Good  solid  platforms  were  erected  for  the  guns,' 
and  wooden  traverses  between  each  gun  gave 
house  accommodation  to  both  officers  and  men. 
Garden  seats  beside  the  guns  for  the  men  to  sit 
upon,  and  small  gardens  at  the  end  of  each  tra- 
verse, with  flowers  and  a  border  of  cannon-balls, 
presented  something  of  the  aspect  of  a  summer 
residence,  in  spite  of  the  grim  realities  of  war. 
British  officers  who  remembered  the  trenches 
before  Sebastopol  would  have  been  surprised  to 
find  in  the  same  kind  of  works  before  Strassburg, 
roomy  apartments,  tables  with  cloth  covers,  arm 
chairs,  books,  maps,  walnuts,  and  an  ample  supply 
of  beer  at  command.  Each  battery  was  furnished 
with  a  large  plan  of  the  city  and  fortifications, 
upon  which  was  indicated  the  points  specially  to 
be  operated  upon;  and  as  an  instance  of  care  and 
accuracy  it  may  be  stated,  that  when  a  fire  was 
directed  to  be  opened  on  particular  public  build- 
ings, although  these  were  not  to  be  seen,  so  correct 
were  the  information  and  aim,  as  was  afterwards 
ascertained,  the  doomed  structures  were  destroyed 
without  the  least  injury  to  buildings  immediately 
adjoining.  Life  in  these  trench  batteries,  however, 
was  frequently  anything  but  safe  or  agreeable. 
Sorties  from  the  garrison,  and  the  mud  produced 
by  sixty  hours  of  ahnost  continuous  rainfall,  ren- 
dered the  trenches  so  unpleasant  that  the  men 
would  have  preferred  the  risk  of  half  a  dozen 
battles  in  the  open  to  their  twenty-four  hours  turn 
of  duty  under  ground.  Besides  this,  the  latter 
parallels  approached  so  near  the  city  walls  that  the 
splinters  caused  by  the  German  guns  sometimes 
wounded  their  own  artillerymen. 


The  most  important  sortie  during  the  siege  was 
made  on  the  2nd  of  September,  when  both  wings 
of  the  German  army  were  attacked  at  the  same 
time.  Owing  to  the  incompleteness  of  the  paral- 
lels, which  did  not  as  yet  form  continuous  lines,  or 
rather  curves,  surrounding  the  fortifications,  but 
were  dug  at  considerable  intervals,  and  not  uni- 
formly in  connection  with  one  another,  the  French 
contrived,  in  the  darkness  of  a  cloudy  and  stormy 
night,  to  get  between  the  first  and  second  parallels, 
and  succeeded  in  surprising  a  battery  established 
near  the  extramural  railway  goods  station.  This 
battery,  and  the  trench  containing  its  infantry  sup- 
ports, were,  for  a  few  minutes  after  they  became 
aware  of  their  assailants'  proximity,  restrained  from 
firing  upon  the  latter  by  the  impression  that  they 
were  some  of  their  own  people — German  soldiers 
retiring  from  the  second  parallel  before  a  superior 
force  of  the  enemy.  This  misapprehension  was 
soon  dispelled  by  the  French  attack,  made  with 
great  resolution  and  fierceness  ;  but  the  conse- 
quence of  the  untoward  hesitation  caused  by  the 
natural  desire  of  the  Prussians  to  avoid  injuring 
their  friends  was  an  unusually  heavy  loss  in  killed 
and  wounded.  The  men  behaved  with  admirable 
steadiness,  recovering  themselves  from  their  sur- 
prise almost  immediately,  and  delivering  so  deadly 
a  fire  upon  the  Frenchmen  that,  after  a  desperate 
attempt  to  disable  some  of  the  guns  in  the  battery 
known  as  No.  3,  the  latter  fell  back  in  disorder, 
and  despite  the  exhortations  of  their  officers,  fled 
to  the  glacis,  pursued  by  the  Prussian  soldiers, 
leaving  between  sixty  and  seventy  of  their  number 
dead  between  the  parallels.  Their  retreat,  as  usual, 
was  covered  by  a  furious  cannonade  from  the  walls, 
which  was  distinctly  heard  at  Rastatt.  Nothing 
was  gained  by  the  sortie,  beyond  ascertaining  the 
position  of  the  beleaguering  forces,  for  which  a 
heavy  price  in  killed  and  wounded  was  paid.  The 
attack  was  repulsed  by  the  thirtieth  Prussian  in- 
fantry, and  the  second  Baden  grenadiers. 

The  spirits  of  the  garrison  had  in  the  morning 
of  the  same  day  been  revived  by  a  report  which, 
by  some  means,  found  its  way  into  the  city. 
Instead  of  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Sedan,  which 
would  have  been  received  in  the  ordinary  course, 
the  following  despatch  appeared: — "  France  saved  ! 
Victory  at  Douancourt  and  at  Raucourt.  Great 
victory  at  Toul:  49,000  killed,  35,000  wounded, 
700  cannons  taken  from  the  Prussians.  Stein- 
metz's   corps  in   full  retreat,  routed   by  Generals 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


63 


Douay  and  De  Failly.  MacMahon  at  Chalons- 
sur-Marne,  with  400,000  men.  Alsace  saved  in 
two  days.  MacMahon  to  the  minister  of  the  In- 
terior. The  French  soldiers  are  making  ramparts 
of  the  Prussian  dead.  From  a  despatch  given  by 
an  emissary  to  Colonel  Rollert." 

The  first  intimation  conveyed  to  the  Strass- 
burgers  of  the  victory  of  Sedan  was  not  under- 
stood. It  came  to  them  in  the  form  of  a  salute 
of  twenty-one  guns,  concerning  which  the  Cour- 
rier  du  Bas  Rhin  said,  on  the  following  day: — 
"  Yesterday  the  enemy's  batteries  threw,  at  re- 
gular intervals,  twenty  shells  into  the  town"  (the 
reporter  had  miscounted — there  were  twenty-one). 
"  Our  batteries  made  a  vigorous  reply,  but  after 
the  twentieth  shell  had  been  fired  the  Prussian 
guns  were  silent." 

During  a  two  hours'  truce,  agreed  to  upon  his 
request  for  the  burial  of  those  who  had  fallen  in 
the  sortie,  the  commandant  of  Strassburg  was  made 
acquainted  with  the  crowning  disaster  that  had 
befallen  his  imperial  master.  But  he  refused  to 
lend  the  slightest  credence  to  the  telegrams  shown 
him  or  the  statements  of  the  superior  German 
officers,  saying  that  they  were  all  Prussian  lies, 
made  up  to  induce  him  to  yield,  and  that  he  was 
not  to  be  deceived  by  such  shallow  contrivances. 
A  few  days  afterwards,  however,  the  news  of 
Sedan  was  confirmed  by  the  same  newspaper 
which  had  noticed  the  salute,  the  Courrier  du 
Bas  Rhin,  the  only  one  which  appeared  regularly 
throughout  the  siege. 

The  news  of  the  revolution  in  Paris  was  first 
brought  to  Strassburg  on  the  12th  September  by 
the  Swiss  delegates.  The  Republic  was  proclaimed, 
and  a  new  mayor  elected,  who  issued  a  procla- 
mation strongly  condemnatory  of  the  Bonaparte 
family  —  "that  disgraceful  family  which  three 
times  in  half  a  century  has  brought  upon  France 
the  horrors  of  an  invasion." 

The  Republican  government  appointed  M.  Val- 
entin, who  represented  Strassburg  in  1848,  prefect 
of  the  department  of  the  Lower  Rhine,  and  urged 
him  to  obtain  admission  to  Strassburg  with  the 
least  possible  delay.  He  obeyed,  and  entered  the 
city  by  an  indirect  and  difficult  road.  Disguised 
as  a  peasant,  and  availing  himself  of  his  acquaint- 
ance with  the  German  tongue,  he  made  friends 
with  Prussian  soldiers  quartered  in  Bischeim. 
From  them  he  obtained  full  particulars  regarding 
the  position  and  character  of  the  works  erected 


between  that  village  and  the  city.  He  remarked 
that  at  one  o'clock  the  fire  of  the  besiegers  was 
weakest,  and  the  vigilance  of  their  sentries  most 
relaxed,  as  the  soldiers  then  dined.  Passing 
through  the  Prussian  lines,  between  one  and  two 
o'clock  on  the  22nd  of  September,  he  arrived  in 
safety  at  the  ditch,  across  which  he  swam.  The 
French  soldiers  fired  at  him  repeatedly,  but  their 
bullets  missed  him.  At  last  he  reached  a  spot 
near  one  of  the  gates,  where  he  was  sheltered  from 
the  fire  directed  from  the  walls.  Again  and  again 
he  begged  the  soldiers  to  take  him  prisoner,  and 
carry  him  before  Governor  Uhrich.  Finally,  they 
consented.  When  brought  before  the  governor, 
he  presented  the  official  document  containing  his 
appointment  as  prefect.  Its  validity  was  at  once 
recognized,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day 
he  issued  a  proclamation  formally  announcing  his 
assumption  of  the  post,  and  the  establishment  of 
the  Republic.  He  was,  however,  little  more  than 
a  week  in  office. 

The  Swiss  delegates  were  the  bearers  not  only 
of  good  news,  but  also  of  kind  propositions.  Swit- 
zerland, mindful  of  its  old  relations  with  Strassburg, 
made  the  generous  offer  to  receive  and  provide 
refuge  for  its  unfortunate  citizens,  should  General 
von  Werder  permit  them  to  emigrate  en  masse. 
As  many  as  4000  applications  were  addressed  to 
General  Uhrich  for  permission  to  quit.  He  sent 
the  full  list  of  names,  with  a  notification  of  the 
age  and  condition  of  each  applicant,  to  General 
von  Werder,  who  began  by  granting  safe-conducts 
to  400,  either  aged  persons  or  who  had  been 
burned  out.  The  first  departure  of  emigrants  was 
on  the  17th  of  September,  the  second  a  few  days 
after,  and  the  third  was  fixed  for  the  27th,  the 
very  day  on  which  the  white  Hag  was  hoisted. 
Altogether,  1400  men,  women,  and  children  left 
Strassburg  for  Switzerland,  who  were  hospitably 
received. 

From  a  strictly  military  point  of  view  it  might 
be  doubted  whether  General  von  Werder  was  jus- 
tified in  thus  authorizing  so  numerous  an  exodus 
from  the  city.  If  he  erred  in  exercising  the  vir- 
tue of  mercy,  however,  it  was  on  the  right  side. 
The  delegates  from  the  cantons  of  Basle,  Zurich, 
and  Berne  took  a  practical  and  humane  view  of 
the  bombardment.  It  may  or  may  not,  they 
thought,  be  justifiable  in  a  military  view  to  burn 
private  homes,  throw  shells  into  girls'  schools,  and 
slaughter  inoffensive  men,  women,  and  children 


64 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


indiscriminately.  Setting  aside  this  question,  and 
without  considering  their  own  personal  risk,  the 
Swiss  only  saw  that  there  was  suffering  in  Strass- 
burg,  such  as,  fortunately,  had  not  been  known 
in  Europe  for  half  a  century,  and  determined  to 
relieve  it.  They  first  applied  to  General  von 
Werder,  with  whose  permission  they  sent  in  a 
letter,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  to  General  Uhrich. 
His  answer  was  as  follows: — "The  work  you 
have  undertaken,  gentlemen,  is  so  honourable 
that  it  insures  for  you  the  eternal  gratitude  of 
the  whole  population  of  this  city,  as  well  as  of 
its  civil  and  military  authorities.  For  my  own 
part,  I  cannot  find  words  in  which  to  express  my 
appreciation  of  your  noble  and  generous  initiative. 
But  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  tell  you  how  much  I  am 
touched  by  the  step  you  have  taken.  A  flag  of 
truce  shall  be  sent  to  Eckbolsheim  to-morrow 
about  eleven  o'clock,  and  the  bearer  will  have 
orders  to  accompany  you  here." 

When  the  first  band  of  emigrants,  400  in 
number,  left,  they  were  accompanied  by  General 
Uhrich  to  some  distance  beyond  the  gates,  the 
bombardment  being  suspended  for  the  time.  At 
the  first  fine  of  German  outposts  there  was  a 
barricade,  which  it  was  necessary  to  take  down 
to  let  the  emigrants  pass.  Great  hesitation  was 
shown  by  the  officers  and  men  in  charge,  which, 
however,  was  ultimately  overcome  by  General 
Uhrich  promising  to  allow  two  hours  for  recon- 
structing the  barricade,  during  which  the  outpost 
should  not  be  interfered  with.  Further  on  the 
delegates  and  their  charges  were  met  by  Prussian 
officers,  who  made  a  liberal  distribution  amono-st 
them  of  such  small  comforts  and  necessaries  as 
could  be  readily  spared.  The  second  convoy,  a 
few  days  later,  was  much  larger,  and  still  more 
singular.  Every  description  of  vehicle  was  made 
available  for  the  transport  of  goods  and  human 
beings,  furniture,  and  families.  Cabs,  carts,  hotel 
and  railway  omnibuses,  huge  market  waggons, 
one-horse  buggies,  nondescript  traps,  seemingly 
made  up  of  coachbuilders'  odds  and  ends,  fol- 
lowed each  other  in  slow  and  solemn  procession, 
laden  with  household  stuff  of  the  most  incon- 
gruous description — mattresses  and  canary  birds 
in  cages,  kitchen  utensils  and  bonnet  boxes, 
wardrobes  and  watering  pots,  all  huddled  to- 
gether, without  order  or  coherence,  as  if  their 
owners  had  snatched  them  up  just  as  they  came 
to   hand,    irrespective    of  their  value    or   utility. 


The  number  of  men,  women,  and  children  in 
this  long  train  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  vehicles 
was  over  a  thousand,  one-third  of  whom  con- 
sisted of  well-to-do  people,  and  the  remainder 
mostly  of  the  lower  middle  class.  The  feelings 
displayed  by  them  were  of  a  mixed  kind — de- 
spondency on  account  of  being  driven  into  exile, 
the  heavy  losses  they  had  sustained  by  the  siege, 
and  the  reverses  of  French  arms;  joy  at  being  so 
fortunate  as  to  get  away  from  the  doomed  city, 
and,  in  some  cases,  at  the  proclamation  of  a 
republic;  for  the  Alsatians  were  by  no  means 
ardent  imperialists.  Amongst  the  carmen  and 
cabdrivers  permitted  to  convey  the  fugitives  out 
of  the  town,  and  to  return  after  performing  that 
duty,  might  have  been  detected  some  gentlemanly- 
looking,  intelligent  faces,  which  unmistakably 
belonged  to  French  officers,  travestied  for  the 
nonce,  who  would  doubtless  have  an  interesting 
tale  to  tell  of  the  German  positions  and  disposi- 
tions when  they  presented  themselves  to  General 
Uhrich  a  few  hours  later;  though  their  reports 
could  do  no  great  harm  to  their  enemies,  who 
had  Strassburg  so  tightly  within  their  grasp,  and 
whose  strength  was  so  overwhelming,  that  they 
could  afford  to  tolerate  and  laugh  at  such  small 
espionage. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  which  tells  its  own  tale, 
that  the  avowedly  vicious  portion  of  the  female 
population  begged  for  permission  to  leave  Strass- 
burg under  a  flag  of  truce,  the  morning  after  the 
first  bombardment,  whereas  the  nuns  and  sisters 
of  charity  remained  to  the  end.  To  the  petition 
addressed  to  General  von  Werder  by  the  members 
of  the  former  class,  his  excellency  replied  that 
they  might  go  where  they  pleased,  provided  they 
kept  clear  of  his  army,  and  did  not  attempt  to 
enter  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Baden. 

The  exit  of  the  inhabitants  caused  but  a 
momentary  cessation  of  the  bombardment.  Day 
and  night,  with  relentless  activity,  deadly  projectiles 
from  more  than  240  heavy  guns  poured  upon  the 
doomed  fortress,  whose  reply  daily  became  more 
feeble.  The  guns  were  in  reality  insufficiently 
manned,  General  Uhrich  having  principally  to 
depend  upon  some  two  or  three  hundred  marine 
artillerists,  originally  intended  for  Rhine  gunboats. 
Of  these  a  large  number  were  now  killed  or 
wounded;  and  although  many  of  the  line  and 
mobile  garde  had  been  in  some  degree  trained  to 
take  their  places,  they  were  next  to  useless  for  the 


SIEGE      OF 
STRASBOURG. 
8  7  0. 


-ea  WBoben-Walte 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


65 


professional  operations  of  sighting,  elevation,  &c, 
so  that  in  numerous  instances  one  man  had 
practically  to  serve  several  guns.  Owing  to  this 
the  French  fire  was  sometimes  suspended  for 
several  hours,  and  then  broke  out  in  a  spasm  of 
salvos,  all  along  the  line,  which,  after  a  few 
minutes,  was  again  followed  by  another  long  inter- 
val of  silence.  Fortunate  indeed  were  those  whom 
German  humanity  permitted  to  fly  from  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  miserable  town.  The  prices  of 
provisions,  notwithstanding  the  diminution  in  the 
number  of  consumers,  rose  enormously,  and  hunger 
was  added  to  the  horrors  of  the  bombardment. 
The  soldiery,  grown  impatient  of  control,  gave 
themselves  up  to  drunkenness  and  debauchery; 
whilst,  despite  all  the  endeavours  of  the  besiegers 
to  restrict  their  fire  to  the  fortifications  and  purely 
military  establishments,  the  town  was  frequently 
on  fire  in  a  dozen  places  at  once,  and  burnt  for 
days  and  nights  together. 

Several  monster  mortars  were  established  near 
the  fortress;  and  the  projectiles  they  threw,  weigh- 
ing each  two  hundred  pounds,  caused  fresh  ruin 
and  devastation  with  every  discharge.  While  the 
German  batteries  were  fast  reducing  the  fortifica- 
tions to  heaps  of  battered  and  shapeless  rubbish, 
riflemen  were  day  and  night  firing  at  one  another 
with  Chassepot  and  needle  gun,  at  distances  rang- 
ing between  one  and  two  hundred  yards;  the  patter 
and  rattle  of  the  musketry  filling  up  the  short 
intervals  between  the  roar  and  crash  of  the  great 
siege  guns  and  mortars.  The  town  was  begirt 
with  a  semicircle  of  white  smoke  which  melted 
into  pale  blue  vapour  as  it  rose  from  the  trenches, 
whilst  over-head  hung  a  cloud  of  brown,  gloomy 
fog,  proceeding  from  the  burning  houses  of  its 
faubourgs. 

Amidst  all  the  carnage  and  destruction  the 
Strassburgers  bore  themselves  like  men.  Every 
day  the  municipal  council  met,  not  to  trouble 
General  Uhrich  with  their  complaints,  but  to 
consider  of  measures  for  the  public  safety.  An 
extra  service  of  fire-engines  was  organized;  a  pro- 
ject for  constructing  bomb-proof  places  of  shelter 
was  discussed;  refuges  were  publicly  notified  for 
those  who  had  been  burnt  out  of  their  houses, 
some  of  whom  slept  in  churches,  close  to  the 
entrance,  where  the  architecture  was  most  solid, 
some  behind  parapets  on  the  quays  of  the  canals, 
and  some  in  the  theatre,  where  nearly  200  poor 
persons  were  lying  the  night  it  took  fire,  and  was 

TOL.  II. 


burned  to  the  ground.  Many  of  the  leading 
burghers  helped  to  man  the  walls,  to  work  the 
guns,  to  repair  the  damages  caused  to  the  works, 
and  gave  their  money  and  their  lives  freely  in  a 
hopeless  cause.  They  also  exerted  their  influence 
over  their  poorer  fellow  citizens  to  prevent  any 
attempt  at  pressure  upon  the  military  governor  in 
favour  of  surrender.  And  throughout  the  German 
army,  from  the  general  downwards,  all  justly 
admired  and  honoured  General  Uhrich  for  the 
brilliant  and  heroic  defence  which  he  made  against 
forces  whom  he  knew  to  be  overwhelming. 

On  September  21  and  22  the  terrible  grasp  of  the 
enemy  upon  the  fortress  was  further  strengthened 
by  the  capture  of  three  of  the  lunettes,  known  as 
Nos.  53,  52,  and  51  respectively.  The  two  lunettes 
first  taken  were  small  detached  works,  lying  several 
hundred  feet  in  advance  of  the  main  rampart,  sur- 
rounded by  wide  inundations.  After  they  had 
been  battered  with  the  heaviest  guns  for  a  fort- 
night, mines  were  ultimately  sunk  under  the  water 
up  to  these  islet  strongholds.  Their  explosion 
destroyed  a  portion  of  the  walls  and  laid  them 
open  to  attack  from  without.  A  way  had  to  be 
made  across  the  water.  In  the  case  of  one  of  the 
lunettes,  which  was  protected  on  one  side  by  only 
a  broad  ditch,  a  dyke  was  improvised  of  stones, 
sandbags,  fascines,  &c. ;  a  work  which,  as  the 
French  had  evacuated  the  place  beforehand,  was 
completed  without  much  delay.  Another  lunette, 
with  a  sheet  of  water  in  front  180  feet  wide,  and 
a  still  larger  one  in  its  rear,  gave  more  trouble. 
Under  cover  of  night  a  bridge  was  made  of  a  string 
of  beer  barrels,  overlaid  with  boards,  and  placed 
between  what  may  be  called  the  mainland  and  the 
fortified  isle.  Though  the  French  had  been  forced 
to  clear  out  of  this  lunette  also,  the  greatest  caution 
was  required  in  making  this  makeshift  bridge,  as 
the  slightest  sound  would  have  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  sentinels  on  the  main  rampart  in  the 
rear,  and  spread  the  alarm.  But  so  well  had 
everything  been  prepared,  and  so  noiselessly  was 
the  work  carried  on,  that  not  a  shot  was  fired  on 
the  French  side  until  the  first  100  men  had  got 
over,  and  with  spades  and  axes  were  making  them- 
selves at  home  in  the  dilapidated  shell  of  the 
deserted  work.  The  next  100  crossed  under  a  rat- 
tling fire ;  and  as  the  shot  now  began  to  pour  into 
the  lunette,  the  greatest  despatch  had  to  be  used  in 
throwing  up  the  breastwork  which  eventually  shel- 
tered the  bold  adventurers.  Into  the  commanding 
I 


66 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


positions  thus  obtained  the  Germans  quickly  con- 
veyed artillery,  which  assisted  materially  in  the 
formation  of  two  breaches,  one  of  them  sixty  feet 
wide,  preparatory  to  the  intended  storming. 

As  General  Uhrich  yet  showed  no  sign  of 
yielding,  the  German  commander  now  contem- 
plated this  final  act  of  the  fearful  drama.  It  had 
been  hoped  that  so  excellent  an  officer  as  the 
governor  of  Strassburg  had  in  everything  proved 
himself,  would  have  made  a  virtue  of  necessity, 
and  by  yielding  up  a  charge  he  could  no  longer 
keep,  avoided  the  dreadful  alternative  of  having 
the  fortress  and  town  taken  by  storm.  The  time 
had  arrived  when  a  successful  assault  was  clearly 
practicable,  although  it  was  calculated  that  the 
passage  of  the  water  defences  alone  would  cost  the 
Germans  2000  men;  and  wide  as  was  the  breach 
which  had  been  made,  the  steep  slope  down  to 
the  water's  edge,  caused  by  the  fallen  debris,  was 
still  formidable  enough  to  startle  the  boldest  forlorn 
hope. 

From  the  captured  lunettes  there  ran  a  narrow 
dam  across  the  intermediate  lake  up  to  the  bastions 
of  the  main  rampart.  Along  this  dam,  and  up  the 
breach,  was  the  only  way  open  to  the  assaulting 
party,  with  fire  above  and  water  below.  It  was, 
however,  with  aversion  and  horror  that  the  German 
commanders  contemplated  the  necessity  of  the 
extreme  measure,  both  on  account  of  the  tremen- 
dous loss  of  fife  that  would  certainly  ensue  to  their 
own  troops,  should  they  be  compelled  to  adopt  it, 
and  on  account  of  the  additional  misery  to  which 
the  inhabitants  would  be  exposed  during  the  state 
of  furious  excitement  invariably  experienced  by  the 
soldiery  immediately  after  a  successful  assault. 
The  men  who  composed  the  army  before  Strass- 
burg were  of  an  exceptionally  humane  temper  as  a 
rule;  the  large  majority  of  them  belonged  to  land- 
wehr  regiments,  every  second  man  in  which  was 
married  and  the  father  of  a  young  family.  Such 
troops  were  less  likely  to  commit  excesses  in  a 
conquered  town  than  regular  liners — mostly  lads 
from  twenty  to  twenty-three  years  of  age,  inexpe- 
rienced in  the  cares  of  life  and  grave  family 
responsibilities.  But  even  German  troops  and 
landwehr,  obedient  as  they  were  to  their  officers, 
and  superior  in  civilization  to  the  soldiers  of  any 
other  army,  might  not  easily  be  restrained  from 
excesses  when  their  blood  was  fevered  with  the 
fury   of  a  successful  but  hardly-contested   storm. 

General  Werder,  however,  determined,  on  the 


breaches  being  effected,  to  force  the  capture 
of  the  place.  Accordingly,  on  the  27th  Sep- 
tember, a  demand  for  surrender  was  made, 
with  the  alternative  of  an  immediate  assault. 
The  German  soldiers  looked  forward  to  the 
enterprise,  although  perilous,  with  anything  but 
feelings  of  aversion.  Trench  duty  had  become 
tedious  and  harassing,  and  all  were  eager  in  the 
expression  of  their  hope  that  it  might  soon  come 
"  zum  Stiirmen,"  and  that  they  might  be  led  out 
against  the  fortress  to  take  it  by  assault,  instead 
of  being  pent  up  in  small  country  hamlets  or  kept 
crouching  night  after  night  in  damp  trenches.  A 
soldier  had  written  a  new  war  song  to  the  old 
popular  tune  of"  Ich  hatte  einen  Camerad,"  to  be 
sung  by  the  troops  as  they  marched  into  Strass- 
burg, and  the  camp  now  frequently  resounded 
with  the  chorus,  chanted  by  stalwart  Baden 
grenadiers.  Possessing  a  special  interest,  from 
its  having  been  composed  in  the  midst  of  this 
memorable  siege,  we  reproduce  it  here: — 

SONG  OF  THE  GERMAN  SOLDIERS  IN  ALSACE. 

In  Alsace,  over  the  Rhine, 
There  lives  a  brother  of  mine  ; 

It  grieves  my  soul  to  say 

He  hath  forgot  the  day 
We  were  one  land  and  line. 

Dear  brother,  torn  apart, 

Is't  true  that  changed  thou  art  ? 

The  French  have  clapped  on  thee 

Red  breeches,  as  we  see ; 
Have  they  Frenchified  thy  heart  ? 

Hark !  that's  the  Prussian  drum, 

And  it  tells  the  time  has  come. 

We  have  made  one  "  Germany," 
One  "  Deutschland,"  firm  and  free; 

And  our  civil  strifes  are  dumb. 

Thee  also,  fighting  sore, 
Ankle-deep  in  German  gore, 

We  have  won.     Ah,  brother,  dear! 

Thou  art  German — dost  thou  hear  r 
They  shall  never  part  us  more. 

Who  made  this  song  of  mine  ? 
Two  comrades  by  the  Rhine; — 

A  Suabian  man  began  it, 

And  a  Pomeranian  sang  it, 
In  Alsace,  on  the  Rhine. 

Shortly  after  the  siege  began,  General  Uhrich 
received  a  deputation  from  the  council  formed  for 
the  defence  of  the  city,  between  whom  and  the 
governor  opinions  were  freely  and  frankly  in- 
terchanged. The  result  was  a  unanimous  reso- 
lution by  the  council  to  strain  every  nerve  to 
prevent  the  city  from  falling  into  the  hands  of 
the    besiegers.      General    Uhrich,    on    his    part, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


67 


pledged  himself  to  avert  from  the  city  the  hor- 
rors of  an  assault,  but  reserved  to  himself  the 
sole  right  of  determining  when  the  critical 
moment  had  arrived.  Enough,  he  now  felt,  had 
been  done  for  honour;  hunger  would  soon  reduce 
the  city  to  the  last  extremity,  even  if  spared 
immediate  capture  by  the  Germans;  the  garrison 
was  fast  becoming  disorganized  and  mutinous;  the 
threatened  entrance  of  the  Germans  could  not  be 
successfully  opposed;  and  to  avert  the  sacrifice  of 
many  thousand  lives  which  the  assault  would  in- 
evitably cause,  the  governor  determined  to  capi- 
tulate. At  five  o'clock  the  white  flag  waved  from 
the  minster  tower,  and  the  air  ceased  to  resound 
with  the  fatal  thunder  of  artillery.  The  capitula- 
tion was  announced  in  the  following  proclamation: 

"  Inhabitants  of  Strassburg, — As  I  have  to-day 
perceived  that  the  defence  of  the  fortress  of  Strass- 
burg is  no  longer  possible,  and  as  the  council  of 
defence  unanimously  shared  my  opinion,  I  have 
been  obliged  to  resort  to  the  lamentable  necessity 
of  entering  into  negotiations  with  the  commander 
of  the  besieging  army.  Your  manly  attitude  during 
these  long  and  painful  trials  has  enabled  me  to  defer 
the  fall  of  your  town  as  much  as  possible ;  the 
honour  of  the  citizens  and  of  the  soldiers  is,  thank 
God,  unimpaired.  Thanks  also  are  due  to  you,  the 
prefect  of  the  Lower  Rhine,  and  the  municipal 
authorities,  who,  by  your  activity  and  unanimity, 
have  given  me  such  valuable  co-operation,  and  have 
known  how  to  assist  the  unfortunate  population  and 
maintain  their  dependence  on  our  common  father- 
land. Thanks  to  you,  officers  and  soldiers !  To 
you,  too,  especially,  members  of  my  council  of 
defence,  who  have  always  been  so  united,  so  ener- 
getic, so  devoted  to  the  great  task  which  we  had  to 
accomplish  ;  who  have  supported  me  in  moments 
of  hesitation,  the  consequence  of  the  heavy  respon- 
sibility which  rested  upon  me,  and  of  the  sight 
of  the  public  misfortunes  which  surrounded  me. 
Thanks  to  you,  representatives  of  our  marine 
force,  who  have  made  your  small  numbers  forgotten 
by  the  force  of  your  deeds.  Thanks,  finally, 
to  you,  children  of  Alsace,  to  you,  mobile  na- 
tional guards,  to  you,  francs-tireurs  and  volunteer 
companies,  to  you,  artillerymen  of  the  national 
guard,  who  have  so  nobly  paid  your  tribute  of  blood 
to  the  great  cause  which  to-day  is  lost,  and  to  you, 
custom-house  officers,  who  have  also  given  proofs 
of  courage  and  devotion.     I  owe  the  same  thanks 


to  the  Intendance  for  the  zeal  with  which  they  knew 
how  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  a  difficult  position, 
as  well  with  regard  to  the  supply  of  provisions  as 
to  hospital  service.  How  can  I  find  language  to 
express  my  sense  of  the  services  of  the  civil  and 
military  surgeons  who  have  devoted  themselves  to 
the  care  of  our  wounded  and  sick,  and  of  those 
noble  young  men  of  the  medical  school  who  have 
undertaken  with  so  much  enthusiasm  the  dangerous 
posts  of  the  ambulances  in  the  outworks  and  at  the 
gates  ?  How  can  I  sufficiently  thank  the  benevo- 
lent persons,  the  ecclesiastical  and  public  authorities, 
who  have  opened  their  houses  to  the  wounded,  have 
shown  them  such  attentions,  and  have  rescued 
many  from  death  ?  To  my  last  day  I  shall  retain 
the  recollection  of  the  two  last  months,  and  the 
feeling  of  gratitude  and  admiration  which  you  have 
excited  in  me  will  only  be  extinguished  with  my 
life.  Do  you  on  your  part  remember  without  bit- 
terness your  old  general,  who  would  have  thought 
himself  happy  could  he  have  spared  you  the  suffer- 
ings and  dangers  which  have  befallen  you,  but  who 
was  forced  to  close  his  heart  to  his  feelings,  for  the 
sake  of  the  duty  he  owed  to  that  country  which  is 
mourning  its  children.  Let  us,  if  we  can,  close  our 
eyes  to  the  sorrowful  and  painful  interest,  and  turn 
our  looks  to  the  future ;  there  we  still  find  the 
solace  of  the  unfortunate — hope.  Long  live  France 
for  ever. — Given  at  headquarters,  27  th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1870.  The  divisional  general,  commandant  of 
the  sixth  military  division,  u  Trnpifn  » 

The  mayor's  proclamation,  issued  on  the  following 
day,  stated  that  the  surrender  was  inevitable,  on 
account  of  two  breaches  and  a  threatened  storm, 
which  would  involve  frightful  loss.  The  general, 
he  said,  would  save  Strassburg  from  the  payment 
of  a  war  ransom,  and  would  insure  it  mild  treat- 
ment. He  exhorted  the  people  to  abstain  from  any 
hostile  demonstration  towards  the  enemy,  as  the 
least  act  of  hostility  would  entail  severe  reprisals  on 
the  entire  population.  The  laws  of  war  decreed 
that  any  house  from  which  a  shot  was  fired  should 
be  demolished  and  its  inhabitants  shot  down.  "  Let 
everybody,"  said  the  mayor,  "  remember  this,  and 
if  there  are  people  among  you  who  could  forget 
what  they  owe  to  their  fellow-citizens  by  thinking 
of  useless  attempts  at  resistance,  prevent  them  trom 
so  doing.  The  hour  for  resistance  is  past.  Let  us 
accept  the  unavoidable." 

Immediately  after  the  hanging  out  of  the  white 


68 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


flag  firing  ceased  on  both  sides.  Not  a  single  gun 
was  discharged  from  the  walls  or  the  trenches  after 
half-past  five  o'clock.  About  eleven  Lieutenant- 
colonel  von  Lesczynski  and  Captain  Count  Leo 
Donnersmarck  rode  out  through  Koenigshoffen,and 
asked  of  the  French  sentinels  to  see  the  general 
commanding  the  fortress.  Their  request  was  sent 
into  the  town  ;  and,  after  waiting  an  hour  sitting 
on  the  stumps  of  felled  trees,  close  by  the  Porte 
Nationale,  a  field-officer  came  to  them,  saying  that 
the  general  was  "  gone  out,"  that  he  lodged  at  a 
great  distance,  and  that  the  officer  did  not  know 
where  to  find  him.  With  considerable  coolness 
under  the  circumstances  he  then  inquired — "  What 
did  ces  messieurs  want?"  Ces  messieurs  explained 
that  they  desired  to  know  what  was  meant  by  the 
exhibition  of  the  white  flag,  and  to  see  the  general, 
or  some  person  duly  authorized  by  him  to  commu- 
nicate with  them.  The  officer  returned  into  the 
fortress,  and  the  German  plenipotentiaries  went  to 
Koenigshoffen,  where  they  set  about  preparing  a  place 
to  receive  the  expected  Frenchmen.  They  fixed 
upon  a  small  tent  on  the  railway,  hard  by  a  detached 
first-class  carriage  which  had  for  some  weeks  served 
as  a  resting-place  for  the  officers  belonging  to  cover- 
ing parties  stationed  round  a  24-pound  battery. 
Over  the  table  which  had  been  brought  into  this  tent 
was  hung  a  portrait  of  MacMahon,  in  compliment 
to  French  military  gallantry.  Outside  was  stationed 
half  a  company  of  Prussian  infantry  and  a  few 
drummers.  These  preparations  completed,  the 
German  plenipotentiaries  waited  the  coming  of  the 
French  delegates  ;  but  it  was  not  till  past  one  o'clock 
that  the  approach  of  the  second  commandant  and 
the  artillery  director  of  the  fortress  was  signified  to 
Colonel  von  Lesczynski.  The  drums  were  imme- 
diately beaten,  and  the  half  company  paraded  before 
the  tent.  The  delegates  appeared  much  gratified 
at  being  received  with  military  honours,  and  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  fulfil  their  mission  by  making  an 
unconditional  surrender  of  the  fortress.  The  treaty 
of  capitulation,  framed  on  the  basis  or  model  of  that 
of  Sedan,  was  drawn  up,  read,  and  finally  signed  at 
half-past  two  in  the  morning.  The  four  commission- 
ers took  leave  of  one  another  with  great  courtesy, 
and  Strassburg  ceased  to  be  a  French  fortress. 
At  eight  o'clock  the  French  guards  were  relieved 
by  Germans,  who  took  possession  of  the  gates  and 
all  other  important  posts.  The  garrison  surren- 
dered at  eleven  o'clock.  The  German  army  was 
paraded  on  an  open  ground,  abutting  on  the  glacis 


between  the  Portes  Nationale  and  De  Saverne, 
General  Werder  at  its  head,  surrounded  by  a 
brilliant  staff  in  full  uniform  (de  gala).  As  the 
clock  struck  eleven,  General  Uhrich,  followed  by 
his  staff,  emerged  from  the  former  gate,  and  ad- 
vanced towards  the  German  commander,  who, 
alighting  from  his  horse,  and  holding  out  his 
hand,  stepped  forward  to  meet  him.  Next  came 
Admiral  Bxcelmans,  Brigadier-general  de  Barral, 
and  the  other  superior  officers;  then  the  regulars, 
marines,  douaniers,  and  mobiles,  numbering  in  all 
15,347  men  and  451  officers,  with  flags  flying 
and  arms  shouldered.  With  the  exception  of  the 
marines  and  douaniers,  who  made  an  excellent 
appearance,  the  troops  behaved  disgracefully,  con- 
travening the  terms  of  the  capitulation  in  a  way 
that  too  plainly  showed  the  state  of  utter  insub- 
ordination into  which  they  had  fallen.  At  least 
two-thirds  of  the  men  were  drunk;  hundreds,  as 
they  stumbled  through  the  ruined  gateway,  dashed 
their  rifles  to  pieces  against  the  walls  or  the  paving 
stones,  and  flung  their  sword-bayonets  into  the 
moat ;  from  one  battalion  alone  came  cheers  of 
"  Vive  la  Republique!"  "  Vive  la  Prusse!"  "Vive 
l'Empereur!"  The  officers  made  no  attempt  to 
keep  the  men  in  order,  or  prevent  them  from 
destroying  the  arms  which  the  signers  of  the 
capitulation  had  engaged  to  deliver  up  to  the 
victors.  Many  of  the  men  even  danced  to  the 
music  of  the  Prussian  and  Baden  bands;  some 
rolled  about  on  the  grass,  uttering  inarticulate 
cries;  others  made  ludicrous  attempts  to  embrace 
the  grave  German  legionaries,  who  repulsed  them 
in  disgust  at  their  unworthy  bearing.  The  whole 
scene  was  calculated  to  bring  the  French  army 
into  contempt,  and  to  extinguish  the  small  rem- 
nants of  respect  for  les  militaires  francais  that  still 
survived  in  the  breasts  of  a  few  of  the  foreign 
bystanders.  In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  the 
whole  were  sent  off  under  an  escort,  as  prisoners 
of  war,  to  the  fortress  of  Rastatt,  in  Baden,  the 
officers  having  the  option  of  liberty  on  parole. 

After  the  surrender  the  Germans  entered,  about 
3000  strong,  with  banners  flying,  drums  beating, 
and  bands  playing  the  "  Watch  on  the  Rhine." 
Although  it  was  half-past  eleven,  and  the  inhabit- 
ants must  have  heard  of  the  capitulation  some 
hours  previously,  there  were  few  people  in  the 
streets  to  witness  the  martial  procession.  It 
seemed  as  if  they  felt  uncertain  whether  the  bom- 
bardment they  had  endured  so  long  might  not 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


69 


begin  again,  or  as  if  they  preferred  looking  at  their 
conquerors  from  the  windows  before  trusting  them- 
selves to  a  nearer  acquaintance.  They  had  been 
living  for  six  weeks  in  cellars  and  other  under- 
ground localities,  and  could  not  at  once  realize  that 
their  dreaded  enemies  might  now  be  safely  met. 
By  degrees  they  emerged  from  their  retreats.  The 
manure  and  mattresses  with  which  the  cellar 
windows  had  been  protected  against  bullets  were 
removed;  the  doors  of  the  subterranean  abodes 
were  thrown  open  to  admit  light  and  air,  and  one 
by  one,  pale  men  and  women,  sickly  by  confine- 
ment, crept  up  into  the  sunshine  they  had  missed 
for  weeks;  children,  timid  and  emaciated,  slowly 
came  'out  into  the  open  air,  to  be  rewarded  for 
their  temerity  by  the  sight  of  fresh  uniforms  and 
the  sound  of  military  music.  Many  afflicted 
parents  went  to  the  spot  in  the  courtyard,  where, 
in  default  of  a  more  sacred  resting-place,  one  of 
their  beloved  ones  had  been  laid  during  the  siege; 
the  way  to  the  cemetery,  which  was  at  some  dis- 
tance, having  been  too  dangerous  to  admit  of 
burial  there.  Having  ventured  so  far,  people, 
or,  at  any  rate,  as  many  as  had  their  houses  left 
standing,  went  up  stairs  to  enjoy  the  long  missed 
luxury  of  a  room,  and  the  everyday  comforts  it 
brings  with  it.  At  last,  after  the  Germans  had 
been  in  the  town  for  hours,  people  came  abroad  to 
acquaint  themselves  with  the  new  order  of  things, 
and  to  visit  the  relations  and  friends  from  whom 
they  had  been  separated  while  cannon  balls  were 
flying  about.  What  joyful  embracings  when  those 
they  sought  were  found  alive !  What  pangs  when 
they  were  found  to  have  died  a  premature  and 
violent  death ! 

With  one  exception  the  inhabitants  treated  their 
conquerors  with  great  consideration.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  28th  a  Baden  soldier  was  shot  in  a 
by-street  near  the  cathedral,  and  another  wounded. 
The  assassin  fled,  but  was  captured  by  several 
citizens,  and  immediately  shot  by  the  German 
soldiers.  As  soon  as  General  Werder  heard  the 
tidings,  he  ordered  the  city  to  pay  a  heavy  contri- 
bution, and  threatened  to  humiliate  the  inhabitants 
by  making  a  triumphal  entry  into  the  town  with 
his  whole  army.  But  being  ultimately  convinced 
that  the  act  was  entirely  attributable  to  isolated 
ruffians,  he  cancelled  the  orders,  and  relieved  the 
city  from  the  onerous  contribution  of  four  millions 
of  francs.  The  next  day  the  Prussian  commandant 
issued  the  following;  notice: — 


"  The  state  of  siege  still  continues.  Crimes  and 
offences  will  be  punished  by  martial  law.  All 
weapons  are  immediately  to  be  given  up.  All 
newspapers  and  publications  are  forbidden  till 
further  orders.  Public  houses  to  be  closed  at 
9  p.m. ;  after  that  hour  every  civilian  must  carry  a 
lantern.  The  municipal  authorities  have  to  pro- 
vide quarters,  without  food,  for  all  good  men. 

»  MEETENS." 

No  salute  was  fired  when  Strassburg  fell.  The 
28th  and  29th  of  September  passed  without  any 
signs  of  rejoicing;  and  it  was  not  till  the  30th — 
the  same  day  on  which,  189  years  before,  Louis 
XIV.  by  fraud  and  treachery  became  master  of 
the  town — that  the  joy  of  the  Germans  at  regain- 
ing possession  of  a  place  which  they  looked  upon 
as  their  indisputable  property,  was  expressed  in 
the  form  of  thanksgiving;  a  Protestant  service 
being  performed  on  one  side  of  the  Orangerie 
Gardens,  a  Catholic  service  on  the  other.  The 
officiating  pastor  in  the  Prussian  religious  camp 
was  the  chaplain  of  the  34th  regiment.  The 
troops  were  formed  into  a  hollow  square,  in  the 
middle  of  which  stood  a  group  of  officers.  The 
chaplain  took  his  place  on  one  side  of  the  square, 
beside  an  improvised  altar  composed  of  drums 
built  up  against  a  tree,  and  nothing  could  be  more 
simple  or  impressive  than  the  whole  service.  He 
took  for  his  text  the  opening  verses  of  the  105th 
Psalm,  and  gave  thanks  to  God  for  the  recovery  of 
Strassburg  from  the  hands  of  the  foreigner  and  its 
restoration  to  the  German  race,  from  whom,  for 
nearly  two  centuries,  it  had  been  unjustly  kept. 
The  30th  of  September,  instead  of  being  associated 
with  the  loss  of  Strassburg,  would  now,  he  said, 
be  regarded  as  the  happiest  day  in  its  history,  the 
second  birthday  of  the  ancient  German  city. 

After  the  services  in  the  Orangerie  a  thanks- 
giving was  celebrated  in  the  Protestant  church  of 
St.  Thomas,  at  which  General  von  Werder  and  his 
staff  were  present.  The  general  was  received  at 
the  door  by  the  clergy.  The  principal  pastor 
delivered  an  address,  in  which  he  assured  General 
von  Werder  that  the  "  immense  majority  "  of  the 
population  of  Strassburg  were  German  in  feeling. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Protestants  of  the  city 
were  well  disposed  towards  Germany,  and  this, 
perhaps,  the  speaker  chiefly  meant.  It  is  possible 
that  General  Werder,  remembering  the  desperate 


70 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


resistance  of  the  Strassburgers,  and  the  150  lb. 
shells  which  he  had  lately  been  throwing  into  their 
houses,  may  have  doubted  the  accuracy  of  the 
statement  that  the  "  immense  majority  "  were  glad 
to  see  him.  Be  that  as  it  may,  he  kept  his  eyes 
firmly  fixed  on  those  of  the  much-protesting  pastor, 
held  him  all  the  time,  as  if  affectionately,  by  the 
hand,  and  having  heard  him  to  the  close,  without 
altering  his  gaze  or  relaxing  his  grasp,  replied. 
His  answer,  simple  enough  in  itself,  was  delivered 
very  impressively,  and  had  a  great  effect  on  all  who 
heard  it.  Still  standing  on  the  threshhold,  he 
said: — "  I  am  obliged  to  you  for  the  manner  in 
which  you  receive  me.  One  thing  ought  to  re- 
assure you — my  first  visit  in  Strassburg  is  to  the 
church.  I  am  pained  at  the  manner  in  which  I 
have  been  forced  to  enter  this  German  city;  and, 
believe  me,  I  shall  do  my  utmost  to  heal  its  wounds. 
From  my  soldiers  you  have  nothing  whatever  to 
fear.  Their  order  and  discipline  are  perfect;  but 
do  not  forget  that  the  same  order  will  be  expected 
and  required  on  the  part  of  the  civil  population. 
Once  more  I  thank  you  for  your  expressions  of 
good-will." 

The  service  then  began.  The  body  of  the  church 
was  full  of  troops,  the  general  and  his  staff  occu- 
pying seats  in  front  of  the  pulpit.  The  sermon 
was  preached  by  Emil  Frommel,  royal  garrison 
chaplain  of  Berlin,  and  field-division  chaplain  of 
the  guard  landwehr  division.  The  discourse  was 
founded  on  1  Samuel  vii.  12,  and  was  a  fair  sample 
of  the  military  field  preaching  in  the  German 
armies.  Pitched  in  the  key  of  exultation  which 
at  the  time  found  an  echo  in  all  German  hearts  and 
households,  it  had  the  ring  of  the  song  of  Deborah 
and  of  Barak,  or  of  those  drumhead  discourses  to 
which  Cromwell's  grim  Ironsides  listened  after 
Marston  Moor  and  Dunbar. 

The  redoubts  and  other  fortifications  constructed 
by  the  besieged,  as  they  appeared  on  the  day  after 
the  surrender  of  Strassburg,  betrayed  the  tremen- 
dous effects  of  the  German  artillery  fire.  The 
parapets  and  epaulements  were  knocked  into 
hopeless  masses  of  loose  earth.  Most  of  the 
embrasures  had  been  closed  with  sand-bags ;  and 
the  earthen  tops  of  the  stone-Luilt  magazines,  in 
some  cases  forming  the  epaulements,  had  sand- 
bags added  to  preserve  them,  and  to  aid  their 
power  of  arresting  the  flanking  fire  of  the  besiegers. 
The  fire  from  the  Prussian  batteries  was  so  well 
directed  that  most  of  the  shells  struck  the  top  of 


these  epaulements,  and  bursting  at  the  same 
moment,  sent  destruction  to  the  men  and  guns 
underneath.  There  was  not  a  gun  but  bore 
evidence  that  the  flying  fragments  of  shell  had 
left  their  mark.  Many  of  the  guns  were  knocked 
over;  wheels  and  carriages  were  smashed  beyond 
repair ;  broken  guns  and  fragments  of  carriages 
lay  in  and  behind  the  batteries.  In  the  two  princi- 
pal redoubts  attacked,  the  appearances  tended  to 
indicate  that  the  guns  had  not  been  replaced  for 
some  time,  and  that  the  garrison  had  ceased  also 
to  repair  the  embrasures  and  parapets. 

Amongst  the  private  property  of  the  town 
nothing  was  more  striking  in  the  ravages  of  the 
bombardment  than  its  searching  character.  It 
was  a  fiery  furnace,  under  the  scorching  flames 
of  which  all  constructive  shams  and  artifices 
perished.  No  traces  were  left  of  paper-hanging, 
cornices,  mouldings,  or  ornamentation  ;  the  walls, 
after  the  ordeal,  wore  an  aspect  not  far  different 
from  that  they  would  exhibit  if  left  to  bleach  in 
the  rain  and  sunshine  of  centuries.  The  suburbs 
immediately  exposed  to  the  German  fire  were 
literally  a  heap  of  ruins,  scarcely  a  house  being 
left  standing. 

The  devastation  was  greatest  in  the  Jews' 
quarter,  the  fishermen's  quarter,  St.  Nicholas, 
Finkenmatt,  Broglie,  and  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  Stein  Strasse — all  of  them  wearing  exactly 
the  aspect  of  the  exhumed  remains  of  Pompeii  and 
Herculaneum.  In  the  town  itself  nearly  all  the 
principal  buildings  were  reduced  to  ashes.  The 
prefecture,  the  Protestant  church,  the  theatre, 
the  museum,  the  artillery  school,  infantry  bar- 
racks, military  magazine,  railway  station,  and, 
worst  of  all,  the  library,  with  its  invaluable  con- 
tents, were  entirely  destroyed.  In  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  the  public  buildings  many 
inhabited  houses  escaped  with  comparatively  little 
damage;  the  reason  assigned  being  that,  in  the 
public  buildings,  there  was  no  one  at  hand  to 
extinguish  the  first  flames,  and  when  these  were 
seen  ascending  into  the  ah,  they  served  as  a  mark 
for  the  enemy's  guns.  At  night  (and  the  severe 
bombardments  were  always  at  night)  flames  made 
a  tempting  target  for  the  besiegers.  The  hotel 
de  la  Ville  de  Paris  received  forty  shells  during 
the  siege,  but  engines  and  water-buckets  were 
kept  in  readiness  on  all  the  floors,  and  fires  in 
this  building  were  no  sooner  kindled  than  they 
were  extinguished. 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


71 


The  numerous  handsome  bridges  which  spanned 
the  canal  existed  so  far  as  their  roadways  were 
concerned,  but  scarcely  a  vestige  of  parapet  re- 
mained, while  the  canal  itself  was  almost  choked 
— quite  choked  towards  its  southern  extremity — 
with  barges  and  boats  of  every  kind  smashed  and 
sunken  with  everything  they  contained. 

All  that  remained  of  the  citadel,  at  one  time 
deemed  by  its  possessors  almost  impregnable,  was 
huge  masses  of  rubbish  produced  by  the  incessant 
fire  from  the  batteries  of  Kehl  on  the  one  side, 
and  the  bombs  thrown  from  those  near  Schiltig- 
heim  on  the  other. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  Lous  XIV.  on  taking 
the  city  in  1681,  was  to  dislodge  the  Protestants 
from  the  cathedral,  which  they  had  occupied  from 
the  period  of  the  Reformation.  The  Dominican 
church,  which  had  long  been  secularized,  was 
allotted  to  them  instead,  and  had  its  name  changed 
to  that  of  the  Temple  Neuf.  It  had  one  of  the 
most  famous  organs  of  Silbermann.  In  the  choir, 
divided  from  the  nave,  was  lodged  the  special 
glory  of  Alsace — its  library,  the  finest  on  the 
Rhine,  in  which  the  archives,  antiquities,  topo- 
graphy, and  early  printing  collections  were  trea- 
sured. All  perished.  Since  the  apocryphal  burning 
of  the  library  of  Alexandria,  perhaps  no  equally 
irreparable  loss  has  occurred.  Unfortunately  no 
catalogue  of  its  many  treasures  exists.  An 
elaborate  one  in  MS.  had  been  prepared  by  the 
librarian,  but  that  also  perished.  A  very  fine 
work,  the  "  Alsace  Antiquary,"  perished  among 
them — sixteen  folio  vols,  of  MS.  upon  Strassburg. 
Greatest  loss  of  all  was  that  of  the  most  precious 
record  connected  with  the  discovery  of  printing — 
the  documents  of  the  legal  process  instituted 
by  Gutenberg  against  the  heirs  of  his  partner 
Dreisehn,  to  establish  his  right  as  the  inventor  of 
typography.  Among  the  early  specimens  of  typo- 
graphy there  was  a  copy  of  the  first  German  Bible, 
printed  by  Mentelin  about  1466,  but  undated; 
also  three  early  Latin  Bibles  by  Mentelin,  Jenson, 
and  Eggestein,  the  last  bearing  the  manuscript 
date  1468.  There  was,  besides,  a  rare  copy  of 
Virgil  by  Mentelin,  a  still  rarer  Commentary  of 
Servius  upon  that  poet,  printed  by  the  celebrated 
Valdarfer;  a  Jerome's  "Epistles,"  by  Schoeffer, 
1470;  and  about  4000  other  books  printed  before 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  inner  part  of  the  town,  although  it  escaped 
the   measure    of    devastation    inflicted    upon    the 


fringe  of  suburbs  and  outer  circle  of  buildings 
adjoining  them,  but  belonging  properly  to  the 
city  within  the  111,  suffered  heavily.  The  stately 
picture  gallery  in  the  Kleberplatz  was  gutted  from 
basement  to  roof;  the  archiepiscopal  and  imperial 
palaces,  as  well  as  other  fine  mansions  near  the 
minster,  were  much  damaged ;  and  bridges 
over  the  canals  were  entirely  smashed,  and 
the  houses  in  the  Quai  des  Bateliers,  Quai  des 
Pecheurs,  Place  de  Broglie,  &c,  were  all  greatly 
injured.  The  cathedral  was  to  all  external  ap- 
pearance uninjured.  The  spire,  though  it  had 
been  struck  in  more  places  than  one,  was  as 
attractive  a  spectacle  as  ever.  The  cross  on  its 
summit  appeared  to  have  been  touched  by  a  pro- 
jectile, as  it  leaned  to  one  side.  Some  of  the 
ornamental  work  had  been  carried  away,  and  a 
portion  of  the  stone  stair  in  one  of  the  side  towers 
destroyed.  The  outer  roof  of  the  nave  had  been 
burned,  and  the  windows  here  and  there  pierced 
with  balls;  but  the  famous  clock  escaped,  and  the 
cathedral  was  on  the  whole  in  excellent  condition, 
owing  to  the  orders  of  the  Prussian  commander, 
who  would  not  permit  a  single  bullet  to  be  fired 
against  it,  except  at  the  commencement  of  the 
siege,  when  the  French  used  it  as  an  observatory. 
In  the  promenade,  where  the  bands  were  wont 
in  times  of  peace  to  play  of  afternoons,  trees  and 
lamp-posts  were  lying  about  amongst  Louis  Qua- 
torze  chairs  and  all  sorts  of  old  fashioned  furniture 
saved  from  burning  houses;  whilst  even  the  little 
orchestra,  struck  by  a  shell,  was  partly  smashed 
and  partly  burnt.  No  less  than  448  private  houses 
were  entirely  destroyed,  and  out  of  the  5150  in 
the  town  and  suburbs  nearly  3000  were  more 
or  less  injured;  1700  civilians  were  killed  or 
wounded,  and  10,000  persons  made  houseless. 
The  estimate  of  the  total  damage  to  the  city 
was  nearly  £8,000,000. 

Immediately  after  the  capitulation,  subscriptions 
were  opened  in  Berlin  and  Frankfort  to  relieve  the 
suffering  Strassburgers,  and  restore  the  town ;  but 
towards  the  latter  object  little  was  raised,  as  the 
magnitude  of  the  ruins  seemed  to  render  the 
efforts  of  private  charity  utterly  inadequate. 

In  the  narrow  space  of  the  botanic  gardens, 
hardly  exceeding  an  acre,  the  anguish  of  the  siege 
was  epitomized.  At  its  commencement  the  city 
had  three  cemeteries,  one  of  which  was  occupied 
for  its  defence;  another  was  overflowed;  the  third 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  whose  parallels 


72 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


were  driven  through  it.  As  the  only  space  avail- 
able, the  botanic  garden,  adjoining  the  arsenal  and 
citadel,  was  turned  into  a  burying-ground.  After 
the  siege  it  wore,  as  did,  in  fact,  all  the  garden- 
ground  for  miles  round,  the  aspect  of  a  neglected 
overgrown  wilderness.  Along  its  eastern  side  a 
trench,  much  deeper  and  broader  than  that  of 
the  parallel,  had  been  driven  in  two  rows  ;  and  in 
piles,  four  and  five  above  each  other,  the  dead  of 
the  last  six  weeks  had  there  been  crowded.  In 
this  dense  mass  of  mortality  it  was  painful  to  wit- 
ness the  anxiety  displayed  by  survivors  not  to  lose 
sight  of  the  remains  of  their  relatives.  Wooden 
crosses,  with  brief  inscriptions,  immortelles,  bead 
wreaths,  statuary,  floral  bouquets,  crowded  each 
other. 

The  open  town  of  Kehl,  opposite  Strassburg, 
met  with  an  even  worse  fate  than  the  latter.  It 
was  bombarded  early  in  the  siege  of  Strassburg, 
an  act  considered  by  the  Germans  a  piece  of  wan- 
ton and  unjustifiable  destruction,  as  its  utter  use- 
lessness  was  apparent.  By  reducing  Kehl  to  ashes 
the  French  did  not  retard  by  one  day  the  progress 
of  the  besiegers,  nor  cripple  them  in  the  slightest 
degree.  The  batteries  on  either  side  of  the  town 
were  as  effective,  after  the  inhabitants  had  been 
driven  forth  by  showers  of  shells  from  their  burn- 
ing houses,  as  they  were  before.  Pitiable  as  the 
destruction  in  Strassburg  appeared,  the  streets  and 
dwellings  of  Kehl  presented  a  spectacle  even 
more  saddening.  Not  above  five  houses  remained 
intact;  and  the  only  object  which  indicated  that 
the  ruins  in  the  main  street  had  once  been  habit- 
able dwellings  was  a  porcelain  stove,  standing  erect 
amid  the  heaps  of  charred  rubbish. 

The  catalogue  of  the  guns  employed  and  the 
shot  fired  in  the  siege  of  Strassburg  deserves  to 
be  mentioned.  There  were  241  pieces  placed  in 
battery  outside  the  walls.  During  the  thirty-one 
days  over  which  the  regular  operations  extended 
these  fired  193,722  rounds,  or,  on  an  average,  6249 
per  day,  269  per  hour,  or  between  four  and  five 
per  minute.  Of  the  total  of  the  rounds,  45,000 
shells  were  fired  from  the  rifled  12-pounders, 
28,000  shells  from  the  long  rifled  24-pounders  ; 
23,000  7-pound  bombs,  20,000  25-pound  bombs, 
and  15,000  50-pound  bombs  from  smooth-bore 
mortars  ;  11,000  shrapnels  from  the  rifled  12- 
pounders,  8000  shells  from  the  rifled  6-pound- 
ers,  5000  shrapnels  from  the  rifled  24-pounders, 
4000  shrapnels  from  the  rifled  6-pounders,  3000 


long  shells  from  the  15  centimetre  guns,  and  600 
long  shells  from  the  21  centimetre  guns. 

A  valuable  prize  fell  into  the  hands  of  Germany 
through  the  surrender  of  Strassburg.  No  fewer 
than  2000  cannon  were  found  in  the  fortifications, 
arsenal,  and  foundry:  1200  of  them  were  bronze 
guns  of  various  calibre,  mostly  rifled,  and  the 
large  majority  new,  having  been  made  in  1862, 
1863,  and  1864,  and  never  fired;  800  were  iron, 
some  of  them  very  large,  smooth-bored  and  rifled. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  tons  of  powder  made  up 
in  cartridges,  and  four  hundred  and  fifty  tons  in 
bulk,  were  discovered  in  store ;  besides  many  thou- 
sand stand  of  arms,  including  hosts  of  excellent 
Chassepots,  although  the  mobiles  and  sedentaires 
were  armed  only  with  "  tabatieres."  Clothing  also 
was  found,  enough  for  a  very  large  body  of  men. 
The  military  authorities  estimated  the  value  of  the 
materiel,  which  by  the  capitulation  legitimately 
became  the  property  of  Germany,  at  more  than 
two  millions  and  a  half  sterling.  In  hard  cash 
they  took  10,000,000  of  francs  (£400,000)  de- 
posited in  the  military  chest  of  the  garrison. 

Subsequently  a  commission  was  appointed  by 
the  Tours  delegate  government  to  investigate  the 
reasons  for  the  surrender  of  Strassburg.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  that  no  imputation  on  the  courage  and 
patriotism  of  its  defenders  could  be  for  a  moment 
sustained. 

The  fortress,  which  was  not  taken  either  in  1814 
or  in  1815,  made  on  this  occasion  a  most  heroic 
defence  against  an  overwhelming  force,  furnished 
with  tremendous  artillery  ;  and  it  is  hard  to  say 
whether  the  inhabitants  or  the  garrison  should  be 
held  as  entitled  to  most  praise.  The  endurance  of 
the  citizens  was  certainly  not  less  conspicuous  than 
the  bravery  of  the  troops  ;  and  perhaps  the  truest 
symptom  of  patriotic  feeling  which  the  French  nation 
showed  during  the  days  of  adversity  in  the  late  war, 
was  exhibited  in  the  hearty  loyalty  with  which  the 
Parisians  laid  their  laurel  wreaths  at  the  base  of  the 
civic  statue  of  Strassburg.  General  Uhrich  un- 
doubtedly "made  himself  an  everlasting  name"  by 
his  defence  of  the  Alsatian  city,  which  will  be  nar- 
rated by  Frenchmen  in  future  generations  as  one  of 
the  few  bright  spots  in  a  singularly  gloomy  period 
of  the  national  history. 

The  siege  of  Toul  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the 
bravery  and  endurance  with  which  its  small  gar- 
rison held  out  for  six  weeks  against  a  force  of 
20,000  Prussians  under  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


73 


and  thus  deprived  the  German  armies  during 
that  time  of  the  advantage  of  direct  railway  com- 
munication from  the  Rhine  at  Coblentz  and 
Mayence  via  Nancy  to  Paris.  The  town  lies  in 
the  valley  of  the  Moselle,  and  its  stout  and  pro- 
longed resistance  has  led  many  to  suppose  that  it 
occupied  an  elevated  position.  On  the  contrary, 
it  stands  in  a  sort  of  basin  formed  by  an  abrupt 
curve  of  the  Moselle,  and  may  be  said  to  be  com- 
pletely commanded  by  the  surrounding  heights, 
inasmuch  as  the  two  hills  St.  Michel  and  St.  Maurice 
overlook  it  at  a  distance  of  about  4000  yards. 
It  is  regularly  fortified  on  Vauban's  system  ;  and 
has  excellent  walls,  six  bastions,  and  deep  fosses 
filled  with  water.  It  was  formerly  deemed  a  very 
strong  fortress  ;  but  as  it  possessed  no  outworks  or 
detached  forts,  it  proved  to  be  untenable  for  any 
lengthened  period  before  new  long-range  siege 
artillery.  The  most  conspicuous  object  seen  on 
approaching  the  town  is  the  fine  old  cathedral,  one 
of  the  most  famous  Gothic  edifices  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Orders  were  given  by  the  German  com- 
mander to  spare  it  as  much  as  possible  ;  but  injuries 
to  the  external  walls  were  unavoidable,  and  a  large 
window  was  destroyed.  The  public  building  that 
suffered  most  severely  by  the  bombardment  was  the 
stately  residence  of  the  mayor,  which  was  pierced 
in  every  part.  It  seems,  however,  that  for  five 
weeks  the  besiegers  had  only  ordinary  field-guns 
in  use,  against  which  the  fortress  held  out  stoutly, 
and .  had  evidently  no  intention  to  give  in.  It 
capitulated  only  when  the  regular  siege  artillery  of 
the  Germans,  heavy  rifled  breechloaders,  came  up. 
On  the  20th,  the  besiegers  advanced  a  battery  within 
range  of  the  bastions,  and  some  well  -  directed 
rounds  drove  the  French  from  the  walls,  whence 
they  had  kept  up  a  vigorous  musketry-fire.  Six 
Bavarian  batteries  planted  on  the  heights  made  ter- 
rible havoc,  2000  bombs  and  grenades  being  fired 
daily  at  the  fortress.  By  the  fearful  bombard- 
ment of  the  22nd  and  23rd  September,  when  the 
town  was  on  fire  in  twenty-three  places  at  once, 
whole  streets  were  destroyed,  and  the  barracks, 
hospital,  and  chapel,  situate  on  the  plateau  of  the 
rock  forming  the  fortress,  became  a  heap  of  ruins. 
As  the  German  armies  around  Paris  were  suffering 
serious  inconvenience  from  the  railway  being  held  by 
Toul,  the  grand-duke  had  determined  to  storm  the 
place.  Before,  however,  the  siege  had  been  begun 
in  earnest,  and  the  first  parallel  dug  out,  on  the  23rd 
September,  while  the  bombardment  was  proceeding 
~vol.  n. 


on  all  sides,  suddenly  a  large  white  flag  was  exhi- 
bited from  the  Cathedral  tower.  All  the  batteries 
at  the  grand-duke's  command  were  immediately 
silent,  and  a  Prussian  parlcmentaire  rode  into  the 
town,  who  soon  returned  with  the  commandant  of 
Toul,  Colonel  Hiick.  After  long  negotiations,  the 
capitulation  was  agreed  to ;  and  as  darkness  had 
meanwhile  set  in,  the  commandant  and  the  chief 
of  the  grand-duke's  staff  appended  their  signatures 
by  the  dim  light  of  a  stable  lantern.  The  en  the 
garrison  of  about  2500,  including  500  infantry 
and  artillerymen,  the  others  being  mobile  guards, 
surrendered  as  prisoners  of  war.  The  terms  of  the 
capitulation  were  that  the  fortress,  war  material, 
and  soldiers  should  be  given  up,  with  the  exception 
of  those  mobile  and  national  guards  who  were  in- 
habitants of  the  place  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  the 
war.  In  consideration  of  the  gallant  defence  of  the 
fortress,  all  officers  and  officials  having  the  rank  of 
officers,  who  gave  their  word  of  honour  in  writing 
not  to  bear  arms  against  Germany,  nor  to  act  con- 
trary to  her  interests  in  any  other  way,  had  their 
liberty,  and  were  allowed  to  retain  their  swords, 
horses,  and  other  property.  An  inventory  of  the 
war  material,  consisting  of  eagles,  guns,  swords, 
horses,  war  chests,  and  articles  of  military  equip- 
ment, was  to  be  given  to  the  Prussians.  The 
convention  thus  far  was  similar  to  that  of  Sedan  ; 
but  there  was  another  article  which  said  : — "  In 
view  of  the  lamentable  accident  which  occurred  on 
the  occasion  of  the  capitulation  of  Laon,  it  is  agreed 
that  if  a  similar  thing  should  happen  on  the  entry 
of  the  German  troops  into  the  fortress  of  Toul,  the 
entire  garrison  shall  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  grand- 
duke  of  Mecklenburg." 

Some  eighty  officers,  including  all  those  belong- 
ing to  the  mobile  guards,  chose  to  give  their 
parole  and  remain  in  France.  Seventeen  superior 
officers,  including  Commandant  Hiick,  who  was 
complimented  on  his  bravery  by  the  grand-duke, 
preferred  Prussian  captivity.  The  reasons  given 
by  the  commandant  for  capitulating  were,  that  he 
had  only  ammunition  for  three  or  four  days,  when 
he  would  have  been  forced  to  surrender,  after  all 
Toul  had  possibly  been  destroyed;  and  that  the 
mobile  guards  were  undisciplined  and  not  suf- 
ficiently practised  in  arms  to  offer  a  long  defence 
or  to  repulse  a  storming  attack.  The  same  eve- 
ning the  French  garrison  marched  out  and 
bivouacked  in  a  meadow  under  guard.  The  next 
day  they  were  sent  by  railway  to  Prussia,  and  the 

K 


74 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


Mecklenburg  troops  occupied  the  place,  which 
•was  entered  by  the  grand-duke  with  a  brilliant 
staff  at  the  head  of  some  regiments. 

After  the  surrender  Toul  presented  a  scene  very 
different  from  what  is  usually  seen  on  such 
occasions.  Instead  of  the  bitter  feeling  on  the  one 
side  and  the  exultation  on  the  other,  which  are 
commonly  exhibited,  both  parties,  when  the  gate 
was  opened,  seemed  to  meet  like  the  best  of  friends. 
The  French  garrison  were  delighted  to  be  out,  and 
the  German  besiegers  no  less  so  to  find  their  work 
at  an  end.  As  there  were  many  Alsatians  among 
the  garrison,  besiegers  and  besieged  at  once 
entered  into  conversation,  shared  the  contents  of 
their  flasks  with  each  other,  and  but  for  the 
stringent  rules  separating  prisoner  from  conqueror, 
would  doubtless  have  made  a  jovial  night  of  it. 
The  anxious  families  had  passed  the  last  days 
chiefly  in  their  cellars,  the  windows  of  their  houses 
being  thickly  covered  with  manure.  All  now 
came  creeping  out,  sunning  themselves,  and 
spreading  out  their  beds  everywhere  to  dry  and 
air,  as  they  had  become  damp  in  the  underground 
abodes.  Pale  faces  were  visible  everywhere,  and 
loud  lamentations  were  heard;  but  the  habitual 
French  elasticity  and  cheerfulness  were  soon  mani- 
fested, the  inhabitants  being  gladdened  by  the 
thought   that  the   siege  was  ended,  and   life   and 


health  were  no  longer  endangered.  Excursions 
into  the  country  were  immediately  undertaken, 
and  civilians,  with  officers  released  on  parole,  were 
seen  driving  about  and  inspecting  the  positions 
which  had  so  recently  menaced  them. 

The  following  officers,  men,  arms,  and  muni- 
tions of  war,  &c,  were  captured  at  the  surrender 
of  Toul: — 109  officers,  2240  men,  120  horses,  one 
eagle  of  the  garde  mobile,  197  bronze  guns, 
including  48  pieces  of  rifled  ordnance,  3000  rifles, 
3000  sabres,  500  cuirasses,  and  a  considerable 
quantity  of  munitions  and  articles  of  equipment. 
Soldiers'  pay  for  143,025  days,  and  rations  for 
51,949  days,  also  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Prussians. 

It  is  no  idle  phrase  that  Strassburg  and  Toul 
"deserved  well"  of  their  country.  Citizens,  as 
well  as  regular  soldiers,  appear  to  have  conducted 
the  defence  of  the  two  cities.  All  that  could  be 
done  was  done.  Among  the  incidents  of  a  cam- 
paign prolific  in  startling  illustrations  of  the 
collapse  of  the  military  system  of  France,  it  must 
ever  be  remembered,  as  a  redeeming  fact,  that  a 
fourth-rate  fortress,  defended  by  a  garrison  con- 
sisting almost  entirely  of  civilians,  held  out  for  six 
weeks  against  the  invading  force,  and  blocked  up 
for  that  time  the  direct  communications  between 
Germany  and  the  bulk  of  her  army. 


CHAPTER      XIX. 

The  Position  of  the  German  Armies  in  the  beginning  of  October — Their  Depot  Battalions  of  the  Line  serving  as  Cadres — The  great 
importance  in  Modern  Warfare  of  Large  Intrenched  Camps,  with  a  Fortress  for  their  Nucleus — Count  von  Moltke's  Plans— Occupation 
of  Beauvais  by  General  Manteuffel — The  duty  of  General  von  Werder's  Army — Leve"e  en  Masse  ordered  by  the  French  Government — 
Formation  of  New  Armies — Sad  want  of  Discipline  and  Good  Officers — The  Franc-Tireurs — Severe  Treatment  of  them  by  the  Germans — 
Burning  of  Ablis  and  other  Places — Inconsistency  of  Prussia  in  attempting  to  put  down  Irregular  Warfare — Decree  of  the  French 
Government  with  the  view  of  protecting  the  Franc-Tirenrs — More  Prudence  than  Courage  shown  by  the  French  in  many  Places — Panic 
at  Orleans — Confusion  in  both  the  Military  and  Political  System  of  France— Great  Want  of  a  Real  General — M.  Gambetta  leaves  Paris 
for  Tours  in  a  Balloon — Biographical  Sketch  of  Him — Narrow  Escape  on  his  Aerial  Journey — Address  presented  to  him  at  Rouen — His 
Arrival  at  Tours,  and  his  First  Impressions  of  the  State  of  Affairs— Important  Proclamation  issued  by  Him — Arrival  of  Garibaldi  at 
Tours — He  is  despatched  to  the  East  to  take  Command  of  a  Body  of  Irregular  Troops — The  Extraordinary  Energy  of  M.  Gambetta — 
Engagement  between  the  French  and  Germans  at  Toury — Easy  Victory  of  the  French — Uneasiness  at  the  German  Headquarters,  and 
Despatch  of  the  First  Bavarian  Corps  Southwards — The  French  are  completely  surprised  at  Artenay  and  easily  overcome — Gross  Neglect 
of  the  French  Commanders — Obstinate  Encounter  near  Orleans — Panic  amongst  the  Franc-Tireurs  and  Terror  in  the  City  of  Orleans  itself 
— Disgraceful  Conduct  of  the  Troops — The  City  is  entered  by  the  Germans — Proclamation  of  the  German  Commander  to  the  Inhabitants — 
The  French  Army  of  the  Loire  retire  to  Bourges — General  d'Aurelles  de  Paladines  appointed  to  command  it — His  First  Order  of  the  Day — 
Importance  of  the  Capture  of  Orleans  to  the  Germans  in  two  ways — The  Franc-Tireurs  in  the  Forests  around  the  City  prove  a  great 
annoyance  to  them — Chartres  and  Chateandun  fortified — Determined  Resistance  at  the  Latter  Town — Chartres  capitulates  on  Favourable 
Terms — The  Military  Operations  in  Eastern  France — German  Victory  between  Raon  l'Etape  and  St.  Diey — Capture  of  Epinal,  by  which 
Lorraine  is  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  France — Arrival  of  Garibaldi  on  the  Scene,  and  Proclamation  to  his  Irregular  Troops — No  Combined 
Action  between  him  and  the  French  General  Cambriels,  who  is  actively  pursued  by  General  von  Werder — Another  German  Victory — Resigna- 
tion of  General  Cambriels — The  dislike  of  the  Catholics  to  Garibaldi,  and  the  obstacles  placed  in  his  way — Appointment  of  General 
Michel  in  the  room  of  Cambriels— Surrender  of  Schlestadt— Siege  and  Bombardment  of  Soissons — Acquisition  of  a  Second  Line  of 
Railway  to  Paris — Gallant  defence  of  St.  Quentin — Final  occupation  of  it  and  other  Towns  in  the  North  of  France — The  Excitement  in 
Rouen  and  Amiens — General  Bourbaki  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  French  Army  of  the  North — Short  Sketch  of  his  Career— First 
Proclamation  issued  by  him — Preparations  for  defence  in  Brittany  under  Count  de  Keratry — A  Company  of  Volunteer  Engineers  formed  in 
Eastern  France  to  operate  on  the  German  Lines  of  Communication — Plan  of  their  Operations — The  Germans  compel  the  most  respected 
Inhabitants  in  the  District  to  accompany  the  Trains  or  Locomotives — The  Great  Mistake  of  the  French  in  not  establishing  suitable  Cavalry 
Corps  to  harass  the  German  Line  of  Communication — The  Prospects  for  France  brighter  at  the  close  of  October  than  at  the  beginning, 
chiefly  owing  to  the  energy  of  M.  Gambetta — Martial  Law  Established  in  all  the  Departments  within  Seventy  Miles  of  the  Enemy's  Forces 
— Formation  of  Camps  and  adoption  of  Severe  Measures  in  various  parts  of  the  Country — The  extreme  Republicans  alone  devoid  of 
Patriotic  Feeling — A  Loan  of  £10,000,000  contracted — Appeals  from  France  to  England  and  other  Countries  for  Intervention  and 
Assistance — A  Negotiation  with  the  view  to  an  Armistice  is  agreed  on — Interview  between  M,  Thiers  and  Count  von  Bismarck — Great 
mistake  of  the  French  in  breaking  off  the  Negotiations  on  the  Question  of  Re-victualling  Paris — The  General  Feeling  in  France  when  the 
Failure  of  the  Negotiations  became  known — The  Germans  disappointed  at  the  Prolongation  of  the  War,  but  determined  to  support  their 
Political  and  Military  Leaders  until  Alsace  and  Lorraine  had  been  recovered — Manufacture  of  the  Pen  with  which  to  sign  the  Treaty  of 
Peace — Count  von  Bismarck's  Reply  on  receiving  it — The  serious  Consequences  of  the  War  in  France — The  advantage,  both  in  France  and 
Germany,  of  the  Women  being  able  to  undertake  Agricultural  Operations. 


During  the  sieges  of  Metz  and  Paris,  the  chief 
interest  of  the  war,  of  course,  centered  in  those 
two  cities.  But  while  France  watched  with  pride 
the  endurance  and  determination  displayed  by  her 
greatest  fortress  and  her  magnificent  capital,  the 
beleaguered  garrisons  and  citizens  in  each  case 
were  anxiously  looking  for  the  armies  of  the 
provinces  to  come  to  their  rescue,  and  assist  in 
dispersing  the  besieging  hosts.  In  the  present 
chapter  we  propose  to  review  the  state  of  France, 
and  the  military  operations  of  both  the  French 
and  Germans  elsewhere  than  at  Paris  and  Metz, 
during  the  month  of  October. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that,  even  after  the  fall 
of  Strassburg,  nearly  the  whole  of  the  immense 


German  army  in  France  was  fully  employed, 
although  not  one-sixth  of  the  territory  of  the 
country  was  held  by  the  invaders.  Metz,  with 
Bazaine's  army  inclosed  within  its  line  of  forts, 
found  occupation  for  eight  army  corps  (the  first, 
second,  third,  seventh,  eighth,  ninth,  tenth,  the 
division  of  Hessians,  and  General  Kummer's 
division  of  landwehr),  in  all,  sixteen  divisions  of 
infantry.  Paris  engaged  seventeen  divisions  of 
infantry  (the  guards,  fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  eleventh, 
twelfth  North  German,  first  and  second  Bavarian 
corps,  and  the  Wurtemburg  division).  The  newly 
formed  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  corps,  mostly 
landwehr,  and  some  detachments  from  the  corps 
already  named,  occupied  the  conquered  country, 


7G 


THE  FRANCO-PKUSSIAN  AVAR 


and  observed,  blockaded,  or  besieged  the  places 
which,  within  it,  still  belonged  to  the  French. 
The  fifteenth  corps,  the  Baden  division,  and  one 
division  of  landwehr,  set  free  by  the  capitulation 
of  Strassburg,  were  alone  disposable  for  active 
operations. 

These  forces  comprised  almost  all  the  organized 
troops  of  which  Germany  disposed.  In  accordance 
with  their  original  purpose,  the  depot  battalions 
served  as  cadres  for  the  drill  and  organization  of 
the  men  intended  to  fill  up  the  gaps  which  battles 
and  disease  caused  in  the  ranks  of  their  respective 
regiments.  Proportionately  as  the  thousand  men 
forming  the  battalion  were  sufficiently  broken  in 
to  do  duty  before  the  enemy,  they  were  sent  off 
by  detachments  to  join  the  three  field  battalions 
of  the  regiment;  this  was  done  on  a  large  scale 
after  the  severe  fighting  before  Metz  in  the  middle 
of  August.  But  the  officers  and  non-commissioned 
officers  of  the  battalion  remained  at  home,  ready 
to  receive  and  prepare  for  the  field  a  fresh  batch 
of  1000  men,  taken  from  the  recruits  called  out  in 
due  course.  This  measure  was  absolutely  necessary 
in  a  war  as  bloody  as  the  present  one,  and  the  end 
of  which  was  not  to  be  foreseen  with  certainty;  but 
it  deprived  the  Germans  of  the  active  services  for 
the  time  being  of  114  battalions,  and  a  correspond- 
ing force  of  cavalry  and  artillery,  representing 
in  all  fully  200,000  men.  With  the  exception 
of  these,  the  occupation  of  scarcely  one-sixth 
of  France  and  the  reduction  of  the  two  large 
fortresses  in  this  territory — Metz  and  Paris — 
kept  the  whole  of  the  German  forces  so  fully 
employed  that  they  had  barely  60,000  men  to 
spare  for  further  operations  beyond  the  territory 
already  conquered.  And  this,  while  there  was 
not  anywhere  a  French  army  in  the  field  to 
oppose  serious  resistance ! 

If  ever  there  was  needed  a  proof  of  the  immense 
importance,  in  modern  warfare,  of  large  intrenched 
camps  with  a  fortress  for  their  nucleus,  here  that 
proof  was  furnished.  The  two  intrenched  camps 
in  question  were  not  at  all  made  use  of  to  the  best 
advantage,  for  Metz  had  for  a  garrison  too  many 
troops  for  its  size  and  importance,  and  Paris  had 
of  real  troops  fit  for  the  field  scarcely  any  at  all. 
Still,  the  first  of  these  places  held  at  least  200,000, 
the  second  250,000  enemies  in  check;  and  if 
France  had  only  had  200,000  real  soldiers  behind 
the  Loire,  the  siege  of  Paris  would  have  been  an 
impossibility.     As   it  was,  however,  France  was 


virtually  at  the  mercy  of  a  conqueror  who  held 
possession  of  barely  one-sixth  of  her  territory. 

Count  von  Moltke's  plan  of  operations  embraced 
not  only  the  siege  of  the  capital,  but  also  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  northern  and  eastern  departments  as  far 
as  was  possible  with  the  forces  at  his  disposal,  thus 
pressing  at  once  on  Paris  and  the  provinces,  and 
rendering  each  unable  to  assist  the  other. 

On  September  29  Beauvais,  the  capital  of  the 
department  of  the  Oise,  was  occupied  by  the  first 
Prussian  corps,  under  General  Manteuffel,  who, 
with  a  portion  of  the  army  which  had  been  engaged 
at  Sedan,  was  commissioned  to  carry  the  war  into 
the  north-west  of  France;  from  this  point  threat- 
ening Rouen  on  the  west  and  Amiens  on  the  north. 
The  fall  of  Toul  and  Strassburg  in  the  last  week 
of  September  liberated  80,000  German  troops,  part 
of  whom  were  sent  to  assist  in  the  investment  of 
Paris,  while  the  remainder,  about  70,000,  were 
formed  into  an  army  under  General  von  Werder, 
to  be  employed  in  operations  over  southern  Alsace 
and  the  south-eastern  districts  of  France.  It  was 
to  seize  any  points  at  which  it  might  be  attempted 
to  form  military  organizations,  to  disperse  the  corps, 
break  up  depots,  and  destroy  stores.  It  was,  fur- 
ther, to  levy  contributions  upon  towns  which  had 
not  as  yet  felt  the  pressure  of  the  war,  and  which 
expressed  a  desire  for  its  continuance.  It  was 
hoped  that  in  this  way  accurate  conceptions  of  the 
state  of  the  country  and  the  helplessness  of  its 
government  would  be  communicated  to  that  part 
of  the  French  public  which  had  hitherto  derived 
its  impressions  from  the  bulletins  published  at  Paris 
and  Tours. 

On  October  1  the  Tours  government  issued  a 
decree  for  a  levie  en  masse  of  all  Frenchmen  of  the 
military  age— from  twenty-one  to  forty — to  be  or- 
ganized into  a  mobilized  national  guard.  Had  this 
decree  been  carried  out,  it  would  have  supplied  at 
least  three  millions  of  men,  for  not  one  in  three, 
even  of  those  liable  to  serve,  had  been  as  yet 
enrolled.  The  larger  towns  had  done  their  part, 
but  the  country  districts  were  surprisingly  apa- 
thetic, and  those  who  possessed  any  means  and 
desired  exemption  from  service  obtained  it  with 
little  trouble. 

From  this  date,  however,  commenced  the  forma- 
tion of  new  armies  in  the  north,  south,  east,  and  west 
of  France.  Indeed,  immediately  after  the  events  of 
the  2nd  September,  the  government  had  adopted 
vigorous  measures  to  raise  fresh  troops  by  means 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


77 


of  a  forced  conscription,  embracing  soldiers  whose 
term  of  service  had  long  since  expired,  and  youths 
not  yet  arrived  at  the  legal  age ;  and  by  calling  out 
all  the  retired,  invalided,  and  pensioned  general 
and  other  officers,  with  all  the  depot  and  garrison 
troops,  gardes  mobiles,  marines,  and  gendarmes. 
The  result  was  that,  early  in  October,  there  were, 
in  various  parts  of  France,  an  immense  number 
of  men  ready  for  service  when  provincial  armies 
should  be  organized.  This  was  especially  the  case 
in  the  district  of  the  Loire,  where  a  very  well- 
defined  nucleus  of  an  army  had  already  been 
got  together.  Its  headquarters  were  about  fifty- 
five  miles  south  of  Orleans,  at  Bourges,  a  place 
containing  a  large  cannon  foundry,  and  of  strate- 
gical importance  owing  to  its  being  situated 
within  the  loop  formed  by  the  Loire,  and  at  the 
junction  of  the  different  roads  leading  to  Tours, 
Blois,  Orleans,  and  Nevers,  all  commanding  pas- 
sages over  the  river.  The  force  numbered,  on 
October  1,  about  60,000  men,  well  armed,  but 
greatly  deficient  in  artillery.  The  regulars,  mostly 
fugitives  from  Sedan,  were  in  the  proportion  of 
one  in  nine;  but  even  out  of  this  unpromising 
material  a  very  formidable  army  might  have  been 
obtained  with  a  fair  amount  of  discipline.  There 
was,  however,  a  strong  republican  feeling  amongst 
them;  they  did  not  yield  a  willing  obedience  to 
superiors ;  they  thoroughly  distrusted  those  in  com- 
mand; and  this,  coupled  with  the  want  of  good 
officers,  went  far  to  neutralize  the  efforts  of  the 
government. 

Simultaneously  with  the  formation  of  armies, 
irregular  corps  of  volunteers,  or  franc-tireurs, 
began  to  spring  up  all  over  the  country.  Many 
of  these  were  expert  marksmen,  and  caused  great 
annoyance  to  the  Germans  by  cutting  off  their 
convoys,  carrying  out  night  surprises,  and  lying 
in  wait  and  falling  unexpectedly  on  their  outposts 
or  rearguard.  Many  others  were  merely  highway- 
men under  a  different  title,  who  shot  and  plundered 
friend  and  foe  alike.  On  the  ground  that  these 
franc-tireurs  wore  no  distinctive  uniform,  and  had 
no  regular  officers,  the  Germans  claimed  the  right, 
under  the  laws  of  war,  of  treating  them  as  unre- 
cognized combatants,  trying  them  by  drum-head 
court-martial,  and  shooting  them  as  soon  as  cap- 
tured. In  fact,  the  whole  policy  of  the  Germans, 
at  this  time,  seems  to  have  been  marked  by  extreme 
although  necessary  severity.  Their  rule  was  that 
every  town  or  village  where  one  or  more  of  the 


inhabitants  fired  upon  their  troops,  or  took  part  in 
the  defence,  should  be  burned  down  ;  that  every 
man  taken  in  arms  who  was  not,  according  to  their 
notion,  a  regular  soldier,  should  be  shot  at  once ; 
that  where  there  was  reason  to  believe  that  any 
considerable  portion  of  the  population  of  a  town 
actively  sided  against  them,  all  able-bodied  men 
should  be  treated  with  merciless  severity.  A 
squadron  of  German  cavalry  and  a  company  of 
infantry  took  up  their  quarters  in  Ablis,  a  vil- 
lage of  900  inhabitants,  just  off  the  railway  from 
Paris  to  Tours.  During  the  night  the  inhabitants, 
giving  way  to  a  patriotic  impulse,  with  the  aid  of 
franc-tireurs  attacked  the  sleeping  men,  killed 
several,  and  captured  or  dispersed  the  rest.  The 
next  day  the  German  general  sent  a  force  which 
burnt  Ablis  to  the  ground,  and  a  neighbouring 
village  from  which  the  franc-tireurs  had  come. 
The  threat,  by  the  French,  of  reprisals  upon  the 
captured  hussars,  alone  prevented  more  of  the 
able-bodied  men  of  the  place  from  being  shot. 
This  was  but  one  of  numberless  instances.  A 
Bavarian  detachment  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Orleans  burned  down  five  villages  in  twelve  days. 
Thus  the  mode  of  warfare  which  was  pursued 
in  the  days  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Frederick 
II.,  in  1870  was  again  found  necessary.  The 
Prussian  armies  should  have  been  the  last  in  the 
world  to  treat  with  severity  irregular  warfare  ; 
for  in  1806  Prussia  collapsed  from  the  absence 
of  that  spirit  of  national  resistance  which  in  1807 
those  at  the  head  of  affairs,  both  in  the  civil  and 
military  departments,  did  everything  in  their 
power  to  revive.  At  that  time  Spain  showed  a 
sagacious  example  of  resistance  to  an  invasion, 
which  the  military  leaders  of  Prussia — Scharn- 
horst,  Gneisenau,  Clausewitz — all  urged  their 
countrymen  to  emulate.  Gneisenau  even  went 
to  Spain  to  fight  against  Napoleon.  The  new 
military  system,  then  inaugurated  in  Prussia, 
was  an  attempt  to  organize  popular  resistance  to 
the  enemy,  as  far  as  this  was  possible  in  an  absolute 
monarchy.  Every  able-bodied  man  was  to  pass 
through  the  army,  and  to  serve  in  the  landwehr 
up  to  his  fortieth  year  ;  the  lads  between  seven- 
teen and  twenty,  and  the  men  between  forty  and 
sixty,  were  to  form  part  of  the  "  landsturm,"  or 
levie  en  masse,  which  was  to  rise  in  the  rear  and 
on  the  flanks  of  the  enemy,  to  harass  his  move- 
ments, intercept  his  supplies  and  couriers,  and  to 
employ  whatever  arms  it  could  find,  and  whatever 


78 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


means  were  at  hand  to  annoy  him.  "  The  more 
effective  these  means  the  better."  Above  all,  they 
were  to  "wear  no  uniform  of  any  kind,  so  that 
the  landsturmers  might  at  any  time  resume  their 
character  of  civilians,  and  remain  unknown  to 
the  enemy."  It  was  proposed  more  than  once 
that  the  Prussian  "  landsturm  ordinary "  should 
be  printed  and  issued  to  each  franc-tireur  as  his 
guide-book,  by  which,  upon  his  capture,  he  could 
at  least  show  the  Prussians  that  he  had  only  been 
acting  upon  the  instructions  issued  by  their  own 
king.^ 

With  the  view  of  protecting  these  guerilla 
troops  as  much  as  possible,  on  the  1st  of  November 
it  was  decreed  by  the  French  government,  that 
from  that  date  every  corps  of  franc-tireurs,  or 
volunteers,  should  be  attached  to  an  army  corps 
on  active  service,  or  to  a  territorial  division  ;  and 
they  were  strictly  prohibited  acting  independently 
or  beyond  the  assigned  limits,  under  penalty  of 
being  disarmed  and  dissolved. 

By  the  imposition  of  a  fine  of  a  million  francs 
upon  any  department  in  which  bands  of  franc- 
tireurs  should  be  met  with,  the  German  authorities 
strove  to  keep  down  the  perilous  annoyance.  On 
every  town  which  fell  into  their  hands  after 
resistance  offered,  they  also  made  heavy  requi- 
sitions in  money.  Under  these  circumstances, 
and  remembering  what  had  happened  at  Ablis 
and  elsewhere,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  local 
municipalities  sometimes  evinced  more  prudence 
than  courage. 

In  the  night  of  the  26th  to  the  27th  September, 
General  Polhes,  the  commandant  of  the  military 
division  of  Orleans,  suddenly  turned  out  the  garri- 
son, and  in  hot  haste  took  his  departure  southwards. 
The  Prussians  were  coming.  Next  day  it  was 
discovered  that  they  were  not  coming;  that  there 
were  only  a  very  few  of  them  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, who  certainly  were  not  advancing  on  Orleans. 
So  General  Polhes  came  back.  A  couple  of  hours 
after  his  departure,  however,  two  regiments  of 
French  cuirassiers  had  arrived  in  Orleans  from 
Blois,  who,  finding  no  one  to  give  them  orders, 
and  hearing  that  the  commander  had  retreated, 
also  returned.  In  the  forest  of  Orleans  about  800 
men,  apparently  forgotten,  had  been  left  without 
any  orders.  All  this  evidence  of  haste  naturally 
spread  alarm  :  the  consequence  was  that  the  rail- 
way authorities  went  off  with  their  rolling  stock 
towards  La  Ferte"  and  Beaugency,  and  those  con- 


nected with  the  telegraph  carried  off  their  apparatus. 
The  prefect,  thus  deprived  of  the  means  of  recall- 
ing the  runaway  garrison,  managed  at  last  to  press 
a  one-horse  chaise  into  the  service  of  the  state,  to 
convey  to  the  general  letters  informing  him  that 
a  spontaneous  deputation  was  about  to  start  for 
Tours  to  ask  of  the  government  a  general  able  and 
willing  to  defend  the  forest  of  Orleans  and  its 
environs.  Meanwhile  the  money  in  the  banks  and 
public  money-chests  had  all  been  removed ;  the 
municipal  council  had  met  and  protested  against 
the  abandonment  of  the  city;  and  all  was  confusion 
and  fear. 

The  whole  military  and  political  system  of 
France  was  in  fact  at  this  time  in  a  state  of  hope- 
less confusion,  without  a  directing  head  to  set  it 
right.  The  arrangement  which  gave  the  prefects 
the  military  command  of  their  respective  depart- 
ments, was  producing  its  natural  results  in  discon- 
nected and  useless  efforts  and  conflicting  authority. 
Marseilles  and  Lyons  were  threatened  with  a  red 
republican  insurrection,  which  was  only  prevented 
by  the  good  sense  and  patriotism  of  the  masses. 
At  Grenoble,  General  Monnet,  a  Crimean  veteran, 
was,  at  the  instigation  of  a  few  riotous  citizens, 
deposed  from  his  command  of  the  garrison  and 
imprisoned.  The  prefect  of  Lyons,  without  a 
shadow  of  justification,  arrested  General  Mazure, 
in  command  of  the  troops  in  the  city,  and  because 
the  senseless  act  was  approved  by  his  colleagues 
of  the  government  delegation  at  Tours,  Admiral 
Fourichon  resigned  the  portfolio  of  War.  On  the 
other  hand,  thirteen  departments  banded  together 
to  demand  the  nomination  of  a  general  of  indepen- 
dent authority,  to  organize  the  defence  of  the 
western  provinces.  Here  and  there  might  be 
heard  murmurs  of  revenge,  and  in  certain  districts 
corps  were  formed  which  the  government  would 
fain  have  dignified  with  the  name  of  armies.  But 
there  was  no  man  to  stir  up  popular  enthusiasm, 
or  turn  it  to  account;  and  France  merely  waited, 
every  day  increasing  her  peril.  With  an  enemy 
700,000  strong  in  their  country,  the  French  forces 
were  without  a  commander-in-chief !  No  energetic 
man  fit  to  be  endowed  with  supreme  authority, 
and  capable  of  reducing  the  chaos  to  order,  was 
forthcoming.  Bazaine,  the  only  man  thought  to 
be  equal  to  the  present  emergency,  was  closely 
besieged  in  Metz,  and  with  him  were  Canrobert, 
LAdmirault,  Jarras,  Coffinieres,  Lebosuf,  and  Bour 
baki.     MacMahon  was  a  prisoner  at  Wiesbaden, 


k  M  TT  A 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


79 


Uhrich  was  bound  down  by  his  parole,  while 
Trochu,  Vinoy,  and  Ducrot  were  busy  defending 
Paris.  Large  forces  were  being  concentrated  both 
on  the  Loire  and  the  Rhone,  but  no  one  had  been 
yet  appointed,  or  even  nominated  to  command 
them.  The  ministry  of  war,  by  Fourichon's 
resignation,  was  vacant,  and  M.  Cremieux,  an 
amiable,  easy  lawyer,  minister  of  justice  in  the 
Provisional  Government,  was  acting  war  minister. 
His  appointment,  at  such  a  crisis,  was  very  unsuit- 
able, and  there  were  loud  demands  for  transferring 
the  war  administration  to  a  commission  composed 
of  MM.  Glais-Bizoin,  Laurier,  Steenackers,  Frays- 
sinet,  Le  Cesne,  and  Alphonse  Gent.  The  nation 
was  becoming  absolutely  frantic  with  impatience 
and  despair  at  the  inaptitude  of  those  who  had  the 
direction  of  affairs,  and  at  the  utter  demoraliza- 
tion, both  civil  and  military,  which  was  spreading 
through  every  department. 

In  these  circumstances  M.  Laurier,  the  acting 
manager  for  the  department  of  the  Interior,  a  man 
of  considerable  capacity,  devoted  to  the  cause  of 
the  nation,  and  faithful  to  the  trust  reposed  in  him 
by  M.  Gambetta,  his  chief,  thought  that  the 
moment  had  come  when  the  government  of  Paris 
should  be  informed  of  the  serious  state  of  things. 
Two  words,  translated  "  Come  at  once,"  were 
addressed  by  him  to  Gambetta,  and  intrusted  to 
the  carriage  of  a  "pigeon  traveller."  The  minister 
of  the  Interior  knew  his  agent  well.  Without 
delay  he  consulted  with  his  colleagues,  who  all 
felt  convinced  that  his  presence  at  Tours  was 
indispensable,  and  that  he  ought  to  proceed  thither 
immediately. 

M.  Leon  Gambetta,  the  young  barrister  who  was 
thus  destined  to  play  such  an  important  part  in 
the  struggles  of  his  country,  won  a  seat  in  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  in  1869,  as  one  of  the  mem- 
bers for  Paris,  and  distinguished  himself  by  his 
bold  attacks  on  the  imperial  policy,  and  his  advo- 
cacy of  democratic  principles.  A  native  of  the 
south  of  France,  but  of  Genoese  family,  he  was 
endowed  with  all  the  ardent  physical  and  moral 
qualities  of  that  passionate  Italian  race.  His 
eloquence  and  capacity  for  business  were  proved  by 
many  successes  at  the  French  bar,  achieved  by  the 
time  he  was  thirty-two  years  of  age ;  but  he  came 
first  into  public  note  as  counsel  for  some  of  the 
accused  under  the  government  prosecutions  of 
1868,  against  the  promoters  of  the  subscription  for 
a  monument  to  Baudin,  one  of  the  members  of 


the  National  Assembly  killed  in  the  street-fighting 
after  the  coup  d'itat  of  December,  1851. 

For  fully  a  week  did  this  energetic  young  states- 
man have  to  wait  in  Paris  for  a  favourable  oppor- 
tunity of  starting.  Morning  after  morning  the 
Place  de  Saint- Pierre  at  Montmartre  was  thronged 
by  people  eager  to  witness  his  departure,  and 
morning  after  morning  pilot-balloons  were  sent  up, 
in  order  to  ascertain  the  direction  of  the  aerial 
currents;  but  the  wind  kept  persistently  in  the 
west,  and  would  probably  have  carried  the  balloon 
into  the  parts  of  France  occupied  by  the  enemy, 
and  possibly  into  Germany  itself,  had  the  attempt 
been  made  to  ascend.  At  length  it  changed  to 
the  south-east;  and  at  eleven  o'clock  on  the  morn- 
ing of  Thursday,  October  7,  M.  Gambetta,  accom- 
panied by  his  secretary  and  the  aeronaut  Trichet, 
ascended  in  the  Armand  Barbls,  carrying  with 
him  an  immense  quantity  of  letters  and  several 
pigeons.  During  the  night,  however,  a  con- 
trary breeze  sprung  up.  On  Friday  morning  the 
aeronaut  in  charge  of  the  balloon,  believing  they 
were  not  far  from  Tours,  allowed  the  machine 
to  descend — but  only  to  find  out  that  they  were 
hovering  over  Metz,  two  hundred  miles  away 
to  the  east.  The  Prussian  troops  fired  volley  after 
volley  at  the  travellers.  The  balloon  was  made 
to  rise  again,  but  not  a  moment  too  soon,  for 
already  some  half  dozen  balls  had  pierced  the  car; 
and  even  one  of  the  cords  which  attached  it  to  the 
balloon  was  cut,  and  had  to  be  spliced  by  the 
minister  himself,  who  was  slightly  wounded  in  the 
hand.  All  through  Friday  the  travellers  made 
little  or  no  progress,  but  on  Saturday,  at  daylight, 
they  descended  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Montdidier, 
a  small  town  about  four  leagues  from  Amiens,  and 
one  league  off  the  railway  between  it  and  Paris. 
M.  Gambetta  was  here  met  by  a  gentleman  who 
conveyed  him  in  his  carriage  to  Amiens,  whence 
he  shortly  after  departed  for  Rouen,  where  a  great 
demonstration  was  made  by  the  national  guard 
and  the  populace,  and  at  the  railway  station  the 
following  address  was  presented  to  him  : — "  Illus- 
trious Citoyen  Gambetta  ;  self-sacrifice  is  every- 
where, but  energy,  foresight,  and  management  are 
wanting.  Raise  up  these,  and  the  enemy  will 
be  driven  forth,  France  saved,  and  the  republic 
founded  definitively  and  for  ever.  Vive  la  France  ! 
Vive  la  Republique ! "  M.  Gambetta  made  a 
stirring  reply,  addressed  specially  to  the  people 
of  Normandy,  and  concluding  with  the  words,  "  If 


80 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


we  cannot  make  a  compact  with  victory,  let  us 
make  a  compact  with  death."  Immediately  after 
he  left  for  Tours.  Here  the  enthusiastic  republi- 
can was  unpleasantly  impressed  with  the  aspect  of 
the  place,  the  number  of  officers  and  soldiers  idling 
about  the  caf^s,  and  the  absence  of  that  stern  con- 
centration of  thought  on  one  object  which  he  left 
behind  him  in  Paris.  He  also  found  that  little  had 
been  done,  that  there  was  a  lack  of  resource  and 
vigour  ill  befitting  the  gravity  of  the  crisis  ;  and  it 
was  with  ill-concealed  displeasure  that  he  appeared 
at  the  Prefecture  window  in  answer  to  the  clam- 
orous crowd  below.  In  a  few  brief  words  he 
acknowledged  the  honour  done  him  and,  depre- 
cating demonstrations,  concluded  as  follows  : — 
"  Let  us  work  and  fight.  I  bring  you  the  instruc- 
tions and  decisions  of  the  Paris  government.  As 
I  cannot  speak  to  you  all,  I  have  written.  In  an 
hour's  time  you  will  be  able  to  read  the  object  of 
my  mission.  Once  more,  gentlemen,  let  us  work 
and  fight,  for  we  have  not  a  minute  to  spare. 
Everyone  to  his  post.  '  Vive  la  Republique ! '  " 
He  at  once  held  a  council  with  his  colleagues, 
and  at  night  a  decree  was  published,  postponing 
the  intended  elections  for  a  National  Assembly, 
chiefly  because  twenty-three  departments  were 
more  or  less  in  the  hands  of  the  invader.  Simul- 
taneously with  the  decree,  he  issued  the  following 
circular : — 

"  By  order  of  the  republican  government  I  have 
left  Paris  to  convey  to  you  the  hopes  of  the  Parisian 
people,  and  the  instructions  and  orders  of  those 
who  accepted  the  mission  of  delivering  France 
from  the  foreigner.  For  seventeen  days  Paris 
has  been  invested,  and  offers  the  spectacle  of  two 
millions  of  men  who,  forgetting  all  differences  to 
range  themselves  around  the  republican  flag,  will 
disappoint  the  expectations  of  the  invader,  who 
reckoned  upon  civil  discord.  The  revolution  found 
Paris  without  cannon  and  without  arms.  Now 
400,000  national  guards  are  armed,  100,000  mobiles 
have  been  summoned,  and  60,000  regular  troops 
are  assembled.  The  foundries  cast  cannon,  the 
women  make  1,000,000  cartridges  daily.  The 
national  guard  have  two  mitrailleuses  for  each  bat- 
talion. Field-pieces  are  being  made  for  sorties 
against  the  besiegers.  The  forts  are  manned  by 
marines,  and  are  furnished  with  marvellous  artil- 
lery, served  by  the  first  gunners  in  the  world. 
Up  till  now  their  fire  has  prevented  the  enemy 
from  establishing  the  smallest  work.    The  enceinte, 


which  on  the  4th  of  September  had  only  500 
cannons,  has  now  3800,  with  400  rounds  of 
ammunition  for  each.  The  casting  of  projectiles 
continues  with  ardour.  Every  one  is  at  the  post 
assigned  to  him  for  fighting.  The  enceinte  is 
uninterruptedly  covered  by  the  national  guard, 
who  from  morning  until  night  drill  for  the  war 
with  patriotism  and  steadiness.  The  experience  of 
these  improvised  soldiers  increases  daily.  Behind 
the  enceinte  there  is  a  third  line  of  defence  formed 
of  barricades,  behind  which  the  Parisians  are  found 
to  defend  the  republic — the  genius  of  street  fight- 
ing. All  this  has  been  executed  with  calmness 
and  order  by  the  concurrence  and  enthusiasm  of 
all.  It  is  not  a  vain  illusion  that  Paris  is  impreg- 
nable. It  cannot  be  captured  nor  surprised.  Two 
other  means  remain  to  the  Prussians — sedition  and 
famine.  But  sedition  will  not  arise,  nor  famine 
either.  Paris,  by  placing  herself  on  rations,  has 
enough  to  defy  the  enemy  for  long  months,  thanks 
to  the  provisions  which  have  been  accumulated,  and 
will  bear  restraint  and  scarcity  with  manly  con- 
stancy, in  order  to  afford  her  brothers  in  the  depart- 
ments time  to  gather.  Such  is  without  disguise 
the  state  of  Paris.  This  state  imposes  great  duties 
upon  you.  The  first  is  to  have  no  other  occupa- 
tion than  the  war;  the  second  is  to  accept  fraternally 
the  supremacy  of  the  republican  power,  emanat- 
ing from  necessity  and  right,  which  will  serve  no 
ambition.  It  has  no  other  passion  than  to  rescue 
France  from  the  abyss  into  which  monarchy  has 
plunged  her.  This  done,  the  republic  will  be 
founded,  sheltered  against  conspirators  and  reac- 
tionists. Therefore,  I  have  the  order,  without 
taking  into  account  difficulties  or  opposition,  to 
remedy  and,  although  time  fails,  to  make  up  by 
activity  the  shortcomings  caused  by  delay.  Men 
are  not  wanting.  What  has  failed  us  has  been  a 
decisive  resolution  and  the  consecutive  execution 
of  our  plans.  That  which  failed  us  after  the 
shameful  capitulation  at  Sedan  was  arms.  All 
supplies  of  this  nature  had  been  sent  on  to  Sedan, 
Metz,  and  Strassburg,  as  if,  one  would  think,  the 
authors  of  our  disaster,  by  a  last  criminal  combi- 
nation, had  desired,  at  their  fall,  to  deprive  us  of 
all  means  of  repairing  our  ruin.  Steps  have  now 
been  taken  to  obtain  rifles  and  equipments  from 
all  parts  of  the  world.  Neither  workmen  nor  money 
are  wanting.  We  must  bring  to  bear  all  our  re- 
sources, which  are  immense;  we  must  make  the 
provinces    shake   off    their   torpor,    react   against 


k  1  0  IB  i 


THE  FRANOO-PEUSSIAN  WAR. 


81 


foolish  panics,  multiply  our  partizans,  offer  traps 
and  ambushes  to  harass  the  enemy,  and  inaugurate 
a  national  war.  The  republic  demands  the  co- 
operation of  all;  it  will  utilize  the  courage  of  all 
its  citizens,  employ  the  capabilities  of  each,  and 
according  to  its  traditional  policy  will  make  young 
men  its  chiefs.  Heaven  itself  will  cease  to  favour 
our  adversaries;  the  autumn  rains  will  come,  and 
detained  and  held  in  check  by  the  capital,  far  from 
their  homes,  and  troubled  and  anxious  for  the 
future,  the  Prussians  will  be  decimated  one  by  one 
by  our  arms,  by  hunger,  and  by  nature.  No,  it  is 
not  possible  that  the  genius  of  France  should  be 
for  evermore  obscured;  it  cannot  be  that  a  great 
nation  shall  let  its  place  in  the  world  be  taken 
from  it  by  an  invasion  of  500,000  men!  Up  then 
in  a  mass,  and  let  us  die  rather  than  suffer  the  shame 
of  dismemberment !  In  the  midst  of  our  disasters 
we  have  still  the  sentiment  left  of  French  unity, 
and  the  indivisibility  of  the  Republic.  Paris,  sur- 
rounded by  the  enemy,  affirms  more  loudly  and 
more  gloriously  than  ever  the  immortal  device 
which  is  dictated  to  the  whole  of  France: — 'Long 
live  the  Republic !  Long  live  France !  Long  live 
the  Republic,  one  and  indivisible.'" 

While  the  minister  of  the  new  French  republic 
was  careering  through  the  clouds  in  a  balloon, 
another  and  more  celebrated  republican  was  hast- 
ening from  an  opposite  direction  to  meet  him. 
Till  lately  Garibaldi  had  been  virtually  a  prisoner 
in  his  island  home,  the  Italian  government  keeping 
a  vigilant  eye  on  him.  Ever  since  the  fall  of  the 
empire,  however,  it  had  been  his  anxious  desire 
to  come  to  the  assistance  of  the  newly  declared 
republic.  His  services  in  the  field  were  at  once 
offered,  but  the  reply  of  the  delegate  government 
to  his  offer  had  been  delayed.  A  brief  but  charac- 
teristic letter  to  his  son-in-law,  M.  Canzio,  explains 
his  position  in  the  meantime: — 

"Capeera,  September  13,  1870. 
"  My  dear  son — From  the  French  government 
I  have  not  received  any  reply,  and  that  rubbish 
(quella   robaccia)  which    calls   itself  the    govern- 
ment of  Italy,  holds  me  prisoner." 

"G.   GARIBALDI." 

The  pope's  temporal  power,  however,  had  fallen 
before  the  soldiers  of  Victor  Emmanuel.  Rome 
had  become  the  Italian  capital ;  and  if  the  Italian 
cruisers  still  hovered  round  Caprera,  at  least 
Garibaldi  found  no  great  difficulty  in  eluding  their 

VOL.   II. 


vigilance,  and  escaping  to  France  in  what  was 
there  known  as  a  yack.  He  arrived  in  Tours  the 
same  day  as  Gambetta  (October  9),  and  so  unex- 
pectedly, that  no  preparations  had  been  made 
for  his  reception.  On  the  news  of  his  arrival 
becoming  known,  however,  a  large  number  of 
franc-tireurs  assembled  before  the  prefecture  win- 
dow, at  which  the  general  presented  himself,  and 
in  reply  to  the  enthusiastic  cheers  with  which  he 
was  greeted,  said  : — "  My  children,  your  welcome 
and  that  of  your  brothers  overwhelms  me.  I  am 
only  a  soldier  like  yourselves.  I  come  to  place 
myself  among  you,  to  fight  for  the  holy  republic  ! " 

Garibaldi  brought  with  him  a  name,  but  little 
more,  to  the  aid  of  the  republic  he  loved.  The 
liberator  of  Italy,  whose  kindly  face,  loose  grey 
cloak,  and  scarlet  shirt,  were  familiar  to  every  child 
in  Christendom,  more  fitly  represented  the  idea  of 
a  republic  than  any  other  man  in  Europe ;  and  it 
was  hoped  that  his  presence  in  France  at  this 
time  would  give  to  the  popular  rising  throughout 
the  country  an  impetus,  such  as  the  appeals  and 
proclamations  of  the  new  government  had  failed 
to  impart.  The  state  of  his  health,  however,  totally 
unfitted  him  for  regular  warfare ;  he  knew  little 
of  the  duties  of  a  general  in  command  of  a  large 
army ;  and  he  was  looked  on  as  the  most  dangerous 
and  wicked  of  men  by  a  large  portion  of  the 
French,  and  by  such  persons  as  Colonel  Charette 
and  the  pontifical  zouaves,  whose  aid  in  this 
moment  of  need  had  also  been  tendered  to  and 
accepted  by  the  French  government.  Singularly 
enough,  Colonel  Charette  was  also  at  Tours  on 
this  memorable  day,  exercising  his  troops,  fresh 
from  the  defence  of  the  pope. 

To  General  Cambriels,  who  commanded  in  the 
east,  Garibaldi  was  despatched  to  Besancon,  to 
take  command  of  the  free  corps  and  of  a  brigade 
of  mobiles  in  the  Vosges.  He  carried  a  strong 
letter  of  recommendation  from  Gambetta,  and  he 
seems  to  have  been  received  with  the  utmost 
consideration  by  the  civil  and  military  authorities, 
as  well  as  with  great  enthusiasm  by  the  people. 

M.  Gambetta  at  the  head  of  affairs,  issuing  com- 
missions to  parties  so  antagonistic  as  Garibaldi 
and  the  champions  of  the  temporal  power,  offered 
to  the  imagination  a  strange,  if  not  grotesque, 
combination  of  circumstances.  But  although  he 
and  his  curious  allies  or  subordinates  were  all 
animated  with  the  most  intense  desire  to  benefit 
France,  it  seemed  impossible  that  elements  so  dis- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


cordant  should  long  cohere,  unless  welded  together 
for  a  time  by  a  success  which  they  shared  in 
common.  At  present  a  bright  spot  in  the  fortunes 
of  France  was  nowhere  visible ;  but  the  courage 
and  resources  of  her  people  were  great,  and  their 
feelings  of  hatred  against  the  invaders  intense;  and 
in  these  circumstances  it  was  impossible  to  say 
what  change  to  the  better  might  not  yet  take 
place.  Even  a  small  advantage  gained  over  a 
German  force  in  a  fair  fight,  might  have  the  effect 
of  reviving  the  confidence  of  the  French,  and 
inciting  them  to  put  forth  the  great  power  they 
undoubtedly  possessed.  With  all  the  energy 
of  which  he  was  capable,  M.  Gambetta  set 
about  organizing  armies  in  all  the  provinces 
of  France,  admonishing  prefects,  displacing  and 
appointing  generals,  and  showing  himself  where- 
ever  his  presence  could  stimulate  flagging  patriot- 
ism or  remove  the  depression  caused  by  reverses. 
He  issued  a  decree,  establishing  four  military 
regions:  1,  the  Northern,  to  be  commanded  by 
Bourbaki,  at  Lille;  2,  the  Western,  with  General 
Fiereck  commander,  and  Le  Mans  for  head- 
quarters; 3,  the  Central,  commanded  by  General 
Polhes,  at  Bourges;  4,  the  Eastern,  commanded 
by  General  Cambriels,  at  Besancon.  Besides  these, 
General  La  Motte  Rouge  on  the  Loire,  General 
Esterhazy  at  Lyons,  Count  Keratry  in  the  west, 
and  Garibaldi  in  the  east  held  distinct  commis- 
sions; eight  in  all,  acting  independently  of  each 
other.  The  wonderful  energy  thus  displayed  by 
M.  Gambetta  had  a  very  inspiriting  effect  on  the 
country,  and  the  despair  almost  universally  de- 
picted on  the  countenance  of  French  patriots 
shortly  before  gave  way  to  hope. 

Meanwhile  the  Prussians,  on  their  part,  were 
carrying  out  a  preconcerted  programme  in  their 
movements  to  the  north  and  south  of  Paris,  and 
in  the  east  of  France.  The  whole  district  between 
Paris  and  Orleans  was  daily  scoured  by  them  for 
requisitions.  At  Toury  a  large  force  under  Prince 
Albert  of  Prussia  protected  the  operations  for 
supplying  the  army  of  Paris,  and  an  immense 
quantity  of  provisions,  sheep,  and  cattle  had  been 
collected  here  from  the  plains  of  La  Beauce. 

Early  in  October  the  efforts  of  the  French  to 
raise  an  army  behind  the  Loire  had  produced  some 
little  result ;  and  on  the  5th  General  Eeyan, 
having  re-occupied  Orleans,  which  General  Polhes 
had  abandoned  so  hastily  some  ten  days  before, 
pushed  northwards  to  Arthenay  and  Toury  with 


10,000  men  against  the  German  foraging  forces. 
An  engagement  took  place  at  Toury,  which  lasted 
from  seven  a.m.  till  twelve.  The  German  artillery 
dismounted  several  of  the  French  guns,  but  by 
his  great  superiority  of  numbers  General  Reyan 
obtained  an  easy  victory,  and  pursued  the  enemy 
for  several  hours.  About  fifty  prisoners  were 
taken,  and  a  number  of  cattle  and  sheep,  which 
the  Germans  were  unable  to  carry  with  them. 

Such  a  sign  of  life  on  the  part  of  the  army  of  the 
Loire  gave  some  little  uneasiness  to  the  German 
commander  at  Paris  ;  and  to  extinguish  this  first 
gleam  of  success,  which  was  already  exciting  new 
enthusiasm  in  the  country,  the  first  corps  of 
Bavarians  under  Von  der  Tann,  wrhich  had  arrived 
last  at  Paris  from  Sedan  and  had  been  purposely 
held  in  reserve,  was  now  therefore  ordered  to 
march  southwards  to  discover  the  movements  of 
the  enemy.  It  was  strengthened  by  half  the 
infantry  of  the  twenty-second  Prussian  division, 
and  by  the  cavalry  divisions  of  Prince  Albert  and 
Count  Stolberg,  which  were  already  in  the  district. 

There  was  a  more  direct  line  of  railroad  than 
that  through  Orleans  to  Tours,  diverging  to  the 
westward  of  it  at  Bretigny,  and  running  through 
Chateaudun  and  Vendome.  This  line  it  was 
necessary  to  watch  with  cavalry,  in  order  to  cover 
the  right  of  Der  Tann.  It  was  the  advanced  guard 
of  a  column  sent  for  this  purpose  which,  on  the 
night  of  the  7th,  was  surprised  and  cut  up  by  the 
franc-tireurs  at  Ablis,  about  thirty-three  miles 
from  Paris,  and  which  led  to  the  destruction  of 
that  village  on  the  following  day,  as  stated  in  the 
early  part  of  the  chapter. 

Von  der  Tann  marched  from  his  late  quarters 
about  Longjumcau  on  the  6th,  and  on  the  8th 
gained  Etampes,  which  had  been  held  for  some 
days  previously  by  the  foraging  party  driven  out 
from  Toury,  twenty  miles  further  off,  by  General 
Eeyan,  on  the  5th.  The  latter  had  fallen  back  a 
day's  march  from  Toury,  after  the  trifling  success 
reported,  and  left  his  advanced  guard  of  a  brigade 
of  troops  at  Artenay,  the  next  large  village  to 
the  south.  The  officer  in  command,  General  de 
Longuerue,  seems  to  have  kept  no  better  look-out 
than  those  who  suffered  for  their  carelessness  at 
Wissembourg  and  Beaumont.  Early  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  10th  the  Bavarians  were  close  upon 
him,  and  soon  began  to  drive  his  troops  south- 
wards. Ignorant  of  the  enemy's  strength,  he 
hastened    to    support   his    advanced    guard    with 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


8a 


about  10,000  men,  all  that  he  had  ready  to  his 
hands.  Probably  Der  Tann's  advance  was  mis- 
taken for  a  separate  and  isolated  detachment.  At 
any  rate,  the  raw  French  troops  were  soon  engaged 
with  a  body  of  Germans  of  immensely  superior 
strength,  and  although  they  fought  desperately 
for  several  hours,  they  were  of  course  overcome, 
and,  with  the  loss  of  many  prisoners  and  some 
guns,  forced  back  towards  Orleans,  twelve  miles 
from  the  scene  of  the  morning's  action.  General 
Longuerue  and  a  large  body  of  the  fugitives 
gained  the  forest  of  Orleans,  where,  awaiting  rein- 
forcements, they  resolved  to  defend  themselves. 

The  army  of  the  Loire,  now  under  the  chief 
command  of  General  La  Motte  Rouge,  numbered 
at  least  60,000  men.  Of  these,  15,000  had  been 
left  the  whole  of  this  day  to  withstand  a  force 
three  times  their  numerical  strength,  and  pos- 
sessing six  times  their  effective  value  as  a  mili- 
tary body,  while  45,000  were  idle,  within  easy 
reach  of  the  battle-field.  Although  it  was  well 
known  that  the  Germans  were  coming  south- 
wards by  forced  marches,  no  measures  seem 
to  have  been  taken  to  signal  their  approach, 
or  to  assemble  reinforcements  on  any  particular 
spot.  The  roar  of  the  artillery  in  the  battle  of 
the  10th  was  distinctly  heard  in  Orleans,  and  to 
bring  out  the  mobile  guard  the  tocsin  was  rung 
all  day.  In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  and 
throughout  the  night  La  Motte  Rouge  arranged 
to  get  together  about  40,000  troops  of  all  descrip- 
tions, including  regulars,  garde  mobile,  the  foreign 
legion,  and  the  pontifical  zouaves;  and  with  these 
he  determined  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  further 
advance  of  the  enemy. 

The  renewed  engagement  began  early  on  the 
morning  of  the  11th,  and  lasted  nearly  all  day.  The 
occupation  by  the  French  of  the  forest  of  Orleans, 
by  which  they  obtained  the  cover  of  the  wood, 
proved  some  compensation  against  the  superior 
artillery  of  the  Germans,  and  towards  evening  gave 
the  affair  the  character  of  a  skirmish  rather  than 
of  a  battle.  At  eleven  o'clock  the  Prussian  van- 
guard was  in  position  at  La-Croix-Briquet,  between 
Artenay  and  Chevilly,  close  to  the  railway  line  and 
the  main  road,  which  passes  through  the  village. 
The  other  corps  were  placed  towards  Artenay, 
facing  the  borders  of  the  forest  of  Orleans. 

The  French,  advancing  from  Chevilly  and  Cer- 
cottes,  took  up  a  line  to  cover  their  retreat  on  the 
forest,  and  extendins  in  the  direction  of  Orleans. 


They  occupied  the  villages  of  Le  Vieux,  Cercottes, 
Salan,  and  the  chateau  of  Les  Quatre-cheminees 
and  that  of  La  Vallee,  nearly  reaching  Orleans. 

The  two  armies  were  soon  engaged  along  theii 
whole  line,  and  the  fighting  was  well  sustained 
by  both.  The  Bavarians,  however,  gradually 
gained  ground.  Their  artillery,  the  arm  in 
which  the  French  were  deplorably  weak,  ap- 
proached nearer  and  nearer,  and  occupied  the 
best  positions.  The  woods  between  Cercottes 
and  Chartan  and  the  village  of  Salan  were 
fiercely  contested,  but  ultimately  captured.  The 
bloodiest  part  of  the  day  was  the  afternoon. 
About  3  p.m.  the  French  were  giving  way  on 
all  sides  towards  Orleans,  but  at  St.  Jean  de  la 
Ruelle,  a  far-stretching  suburb  on  the  north,  they 
made  a  last  and  desperate  stand.  From  four  till 
seven  the  fighting  went  on;  and  it  can  only  be 
compared  to  the  storming  of  Bazeilles.  The  Ger- 
man troops  were  fired  on  from  the  interior  and 
the  roofs  of  all  the  dwellings,  and  from  the  church 
tower;  and  several  houses  at  different  points  were 
set  on  fire.  While  the  great  body  of  the  Bavarians 
now  advanced  in  front,  the  Prussian  infantry  divi- 
sion undertook  a  flank  movement,  supported  by 
the  cavalry,  who  could  not,  however,  get  speedily 
through  the  vineyards  and  narrow  roads.  When 
the  bulk  of  the  French,  mobiles  and  franc- tireurs, 
saw  the  danger  they  were  in  of  being  outflanked, 
most  of  them  discharged  their  guns  at  haphazard, 
and  a  panic  set  in,  during  which  3000  prisoners 
were  made,  and  three  guns  taken. 

As  the  conflict  drew  close  to  the  city  of  Orleans, 
the  shells  reached  the  houses,  and  the  confusion 
and  terror  was  extreme.  Soldiers  and  artillerymen 
crossed  the  Boulevards  close  to  the  railway.  Their 
route  was  stopped  by  mobiles,  but  they  continued 
their  retreat,  and  the  terrified  inhabitants  ran  in 
all  directions,  exclaiming,  "Les  Prussiens !  Les 
Prussiens!"  Reinforcements  arrived  in  the  town 
while  the  battle  was  going  on;  but  instead  of 
proceeding  to  the  field,  they  idled  in  the  streets 
and  caitis,  the  officers  playing  cards  and  the  men 
roaming  at  discretion.  When  the  flying  army 
began  to  pass,  those  men  hastened  to  join  the 
rout,  flung  away  their  arms  or  broke  them,  and 
crossed  the  bridge  over  the  Loire.  Fortunately 
the  principal  columns  of  the  French  force  had 
already  retreated  without  confusion  on  La  Ferte 
St.  Aubin,  at  Olivet,  on  the  little  river  Loiret. 
During  the  battle  the  regulars  behaved  very  ill, 


84 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


throwing  away  their  weapons  and  scampering  off 
as  if  in  panic  ;  the  mobiles,  the  foreign  legion, 
and  the  pontifical  zouaves  fought  nobly,  having 
contended  for  nine  hours  continuously  with  forces 
in  every  way  superior. 

At  eight  o'clock  the  Germans  entered  the  city. 
The  municipal  council  was  sitting  at  the  Hotel 
de  Ville,  intent  on  taking  some  decisive  steps  ; 
the  prefect  Pereira,  and  the  bishop,  Monseigneur 
Dupanloup,  met  the  Germans  at  the  Faubourg 
Bannier,  and  tried  to  arrange  a  basis  for  negotia- 
tions. All  the  works  of  defence  prepared  during 
the  last  few  days  had  now  been  abandoned  at 
the  approach  of  the  enemy,  and  it  was  evident 
that  peaceful  arrangements  alone  could  save  the 
place  from  devastation. 

On  the  13th,  the  morning  after  the  occupation, 
General  von  der  Tann  demanded  from  the  mayor 
a  contribution  of  1,000,000  francs  in  specie,  to 
be  paid  in  twenty-four  hours,  but  subsequently 
consented  to  accept  provisionally  600,000  francs. 
Monseigneur  Dupanloup  wrote  to  the  king  of 
Prussia,  praying  for  the  remission  of  the  remain- 
ing 400,000,  in  which,  however,  the  prelate  was 
not  successful.  Another  demand  was  made  of 
600  cattle,  300,000  cigars,  and  all  the  horses  in 
the  town.  The  soldiers  were  billeted  on  the  inhab- 
itants, and  the  jewellers'  shops  and  objets  de  luxe 
were  strictly  respected. 

On  the  following  day  the  German  commander 
issued  the  following  proclamation: — 

"  French  Citizens, — As  I  wish  to  alleviate  as 
far  as  in  my  power  the  fate  of  the  population 
visited  with  the  evils  of  war,  I  appeal  to  their 
good  sense,  in  the  hope  that  the  sincerity  of  my 
words  will  not  fail  to  open  their  eyes  to  the  exist- 
ing state  of  things,  and  determine  them  to  range 
themselves  on  the  side  of  the  reasonable  party, 
desirous  of  making  peace.  Your  late  government 
declared  war  against  Germany.  Never  was  a  de- 
claration of  war  more  frivolous.  The  German 
armies  could  do  nothing  else  than  reply  to  it  by 
crossing  the  frontier.  Another  government  suc- 
ceeded. It  was  hoped  that  it  woirid  restore  peace. 
It  has  done  nothing  of  the  kind.  And  why?  It 
feared  to  render  itself  impossible,  and  under  the 
pretence  that  the  conditions  proposed  by  the  Ger- 
man army  were  not  acceptable,  it  preferred  to 
continue  a  war  which  can  only  lead  to  the  ruin 
of  France.     And  what  are  the  conditions  of  the 


victorious  army,  which  it  was  deemed  impossible 
to  accept?  The  restitution  of  provinces  which 
belonged  to  Germany,  and  in  which  the  German 
language  still  prevails,  in  the  towns  as  well  as  in 
the  country,  viz.,  Alsace  and  German  Lorraine. 
Is  this  claim  an  exaggerated  one?  What  claims 
would  victorious  France  have  made?  You  have 
been  told  that  the  aim  of  the  operations  of  the 
German  armies  was  to  degrade  France.  This  is 
simply  a  lie,  invented  in  order  to  excite  the  pas- 
sions of  the  masses.  It  is,  on  the  contrary,  your 
government  which,  by  its  way  of  acting,  brings 
the  German  armies  necessarily  into  the  heart  of 
France,  brings  ruin  thither,  and  will  succeed,  if 
it  persists,  in  really  degrading  La  Belle  France, 
which  might  be  the  best  friend  of  the  very  nation 
whom  she  has  forced  to  fight  her. 

"  The  General  of  Infantry, 

"  BARON  VON  DER  TANN. 
"  Orleans,  October  13,  1870." 

With  quickness  and  energy  the  German  general 
had  thus  struck  the  only  force  that  could  venture 
to  the  relief  of  the  capital,  and  inflicted  on  the 
army  of  the  Loire  a  severe,  though  not  fatal  blow. 
Its  commander  would  seem  to  have  been  insensible 
to  the  lessons  of  experience,  which  should  have 
taught  him  that  the  Prussian  tactics  were  not  to 
rest  on  a  defeat,  trifling  perhaps,  as  in  the  case  of 
Toury  on  the  6th  ;  and  that  after  a  repulse  or  dis- 
advantage large  bodies  would  certainly  be  moved 
up,  to  take  a  decisive  revenge.  And  yet,  instead 
of  a  combined  advance  of  the  whole  army  on  and 
beyond  Orleans,  isolated  columns  were  sent,  and  a 
few  brigades  left  to  sustain  for  a  whole  day  an 
overpowering  attack.  General  La  Motte  Rouge  was 
now  relieved  of  his  command,  and  the  army  of  the 
Loire  looked  forward  to  a  brighter  future  under 
D'Aurelles  des  Paladines,  a  general  on  the  retired 
list,  but  with  the  reputation  of  a  resolute  soldier 
and  stern  disciplinarian,  qualities  much  needed  at 
the  time,  and  of  the  possession  of  which  he  soon 
gave  proof. 

At  Orleans,  the  Germans  had  reached  the  line 
usually  regarded  as  marking  the  boundaries  between 
northern  and  southern  France.  The  provinces 
bounding  on  the  Loire — Touraine,  Orleanois, 
Anjou,  Poitou — have  been  styled  the  garden  of 
France.  "  C'est  le  pays  de  rire  et  de  no  rien  faire;" 
but  Orleans  is  a  comparatively  poor  and  decaying 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


85 


city,  notwithstanding  its  historic  fame  and  its  fifty 
thousand  inhabitants. 

The  army  of  the  Loire  retired  into  comparative 
obscurity  after  its  misfortunes  at  Orleans,  and 
removed  its  headquarters  to  Bourges,  which,  as 
a  great  depot  and  foundry  for  artillery,  possessed 
special  advantages  for  strengthening  the  French 
in  this  most  essential  arm.  Large  reinforcements 
were  also  daily  coming  in,  which  General  d'Aur- 
elles  des  Paladines  was  energetically  preparing 
for  offensive  operations.  His  first  order  of  the 
day  to  his  troops  was  in  substance  as  follows: — 
"  Soldiers,  what  I  ask  of  you,  above  all  things,  is 
discipline  and  firmness.  I  am, moreover,  thoroughly 
determined  to  shoot  any  one  who  hesitates  before 
the  enemy  ;  and  should  I  myself  fail  to  do  my 
duty,  I  tell  you  to  shoot  me." 

A  short  time  after  the  investment  of  Paris  was 
completed,  the  German  commanders  seemed  dis- 
posed to  abandon  the  system  of  "  requisitions," 
which  was  better  suited  for  an  advancing  army 
than  for  one  needing  regular  supplies.  The  first 
steps  in  this  direction,  however,  called  forth  pro- 
clamations forbidding  the  sale  of  food  to  the 
Germans  upon  any  terms  ;  and  the  prefect  of  the 
Eure  announced  that  any  one  found  disposing  of 
corn,  hay,  or  provisions  to  the  enemy,  would  be 
liable  to  be  tried  by  court-martial  and  sentenced 
to  death.  As  the  enemy,  however,  were  not 
inclined  to  starve  while  there  was  anything  to 
eat,  they  helped  themselves  to  what  they  needed. 
The  region  north  of  Orleans,  the  so-called  Beauce, 
was  the  most  fertile  district  they  had  as  yet 
entered.  It  supplied  Paris  with  enormous  quan- 
tities of  excellent  wheat,  and  abounded  in  steam 
and  water  mills.  Of  oats  also,  there  was  a  large 
supply,  a  great  acquisition  for  the  German  cavalry. 
The  conquest  of  Orleans,  therefore,  served  a  very 
important  double  purpose  for  the  Prussians.  It 
not  only  relieved  the  army  investing  Paris  on  the 
south  from  any  fear  of  being  molested,  but  the 
rich  provinces  now  occupied  furnished  such  an 
abundance  of  provision  as  to  materially  relieve  the 
railway  from  Germany,  which  the  invader  was 
now  able  to  use  more  exclusively  for  bringing  up 
to  Paris  additional  troops,  siege  guns,  and  all  kinds 
of  war  matiriel. 

Von  der  Tann  did  not  follow  up  his  successes 
with  the  rapidity  which  might  have  been  looked 
for.  He  lay  at  Orleans  for  some  days  after 
it  was    captured,    the    main    body    of   his    army 


occupying  a  fine  of  about  thirty  miles  from  Jargeau 
to  Beaugency,  while  his  cavalry  scoured  the  valley 
of  the  Loire  for  provisions. 

Between  Chateaudun  and  the  capital  were  the 
large  forests  of  Rambouillet,  Batonneau,  Gazeleau, 
and  Bienonvienne.  Extending  to  the  very  neigh- 
bourhood of  Versailles,  these  immense  woods  had 
been  haunted  from  the  first  by  franc-tireurs,  who 
constantly  harassed  the  German  patrols,  and  from 
their  leafy  retreats  had  in  the  course  of  the  last 
few  weeks  shot  at  and  killed  many  a  solitary 
vedette.  Emboldened  by  impunity,  these  bands 
gradually  attracted  strong  reinforcements  from  the 
south,  until  the  whole  district  was  infested  by 
them.  A  small  army  was  thus  collected  in  the 
rear  of  the  besiegers,  not  dangerous,  indeed,  but 
numerous  and  active  enough  to  cause  serious  annoy- 
ance. General  von  Moltke  had  recently  taken 
vigorous  means  to  clear  the  country  of  them  near 
Paris,  in  consequence  of  which  they  fell  back  from 
the  neighbourhood  of  Versailles  to  the  southern 
outskirts  of  the  forest,  where  they  partially  fortified 
some  of  the  towns,  especially  Chartres  and  Cha- 
teaudun. To  prevent  renewed  annoyance  to  the 
besieging  army  of  Paris,  Von  der  Tann  sent 
General  Wittich  from  Orleans  with  7000  infantry, 
a  detachment  of  cavalry,  and  three  batteries  of 
artillery  towards  these  towns,  which  had  now 
become  the  headquarters  of  the  franc-tireurs. 

On  the  morning  of  the  18th  of  October  the  Prus- 
sians appeared  before  Chateaudun,  which,  though 
defended  by  only  irregular  troops,  gave  proof  of 
the  determined  stuff  of  which  these  were  made, 
and  of  what  might  have  been  done  by  them  had 
they  been  combined  under  good  leadership,  instead 
of  being  scattered  in  petty  bands  over  the  whole 
country.  About  4000  strong,  they  had  blocked 
up  every  entrance  to  the  town,  and  so  skilfully 
posted  themselves  behind  cover,  that  the  Germans 
had  to  bombard  the  place  for  eight  hours  before 
they  could  venture  on  a  more  direct  and  effective 
attack.  It  was  nine  p.m.  ere  the  thirty  guns  that 
had  opened  the  work  of  destruction  were  ordered 
off  to  make  way  for  the  storming  columns  ;  but 
the  progress  of  the  assaulting  parties  was  stopped 
by  the  most  solid  barricades  yet  encountered  in 
this  war  of  sieges.  Behind  a  thick  layer  of 
fascines,  a  wall  of  earth  was  heaped  up  five  feet 
high  and  three  wide.  The  earth  was  backed  by 
stones  and  felled  trees,  to  give  additional  solidity 
to  the  whole,  and   to   form   a   sort  of  breastwork 


86 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


on  the  top.  This  formidable  obstruction,  lined 
with  dense  rows  of  Chassepots,  proved  impreg- 
nable to  the  infantry  who  advanced,  drums  beating, 
with  levelled  bayonets.  After  one  or  two  vain 
attempts  to  get  at  the  defenders,  the  artillery  was 
set  to  work  again,  with  like  results ;  its  shells 
bursting  in  the  earthworks  and  doing  compara- 
tively little  injury.  Orders  were  then  given  by 
General  Wittich  to  beat  in  the  side  walls  of  the 
houses,  and  thus  penetrating  from  one  dwelling  to 
another,  to  take  the  barricades  in  the  rear.  But 
even  this  did  not  discourage  the  French,  who  dis- 
puted the  possession  of  each  house,  and  did  tre- 
mendous execution  among  the  engineers,  as  with 
pickaxe  in  hand  they  smashed  in  the  walls.  By 
this  time  nearly  half  the  town  was  in  flames,  and 
the  defenders  fought  with  the  fury  of  despair. 
At  eleven  o'clock  the  combat  seems  to  have 
ceased  by  mutual  consent.  The  Prussians  drew 
off  their  troops,  and  camped  outside  the  town  ; 
the  French,  collecting  their  forces  and  the  inhab- 
itants, retreated  unmolested  and  in  good  order, 
a  fact  which  shows  the  deep  impression  which 
the  desperate  defence  must  have  made  upon  the 
Prussians. 

The  loss  of  the  French  in  killed  and  wounded 
was  about  300  ;  that  of  the  Germans  probably 
more,  including  Pastor  Schwabe,  chaplain  to  the 
22nd  Prussian  division,  who,  while  in  attendance  on 
the  wounded,  was  killed  in  the  streets  of  Chateau- 
dun.  The  gallant  defence  was  duly  recognized 
by  the  Tours  government,  which  declared  in  a 
decree  of  the  21st  that  Chateaudun  deserved  well 
of  the  country,  and  granted  100,000  francs  in  aid 
of  the  houseless  inhabitants. 

Chartres,  the  capital  of  the  department  of  the 
Eure  and  Loire,  and  having  one  of  the  largest  corn 
markets  in  France,  was  invested  on  the  morning 
of  the  21st  by  the  Prussian  division  which  had  at- 
tacked Chateaudun,  and  detachments  arriving  from 
Kambouillet,  Etampes,  Angerville,  and  Patay.  On 
finding  that  the  German  artillery  had  been  planted 
before  the  city,  the  cure  of  Morancy  begged  per- 
mission to  enter  it  in  order  to  persuade  the 
authorities  to  capitulate.  General  Wittich  con- 
sented to  grant  a  respite  till  1  p.m.,  but  the  invest- 
ment of  the  place  was  meanwhile  proceeded  with. 
Happily,  the  authorities  agreed  to  a  capitulation, 
by  which  half  the  garrison  were  allowed  to  retire; 
only  2000  mobiles  being  disarmed.  The  terms, 
more  favourable  than  those  obtained  by  any  other 


place  since  the  commencement  of  the  war,  showed 
that  the  Germans  .were  not  unwilling  to  avoid 
a  repetition  of  the  Chateaudun  street  fighting. 
The  Prussian  troops  entered  and  enthusiastically 
cheered  Prince  Albrecht,  before  whom  they  defiled. 
It  had  been  stipulated  that  all  the  shops  should 
be  kept  open,  and  that  the  town  should  be  exempt 
from  requisitions.  The  streets  were  lighted  up, 
and  the  inhabitants,  who  collected  in  considerable 
numbers,  were  perfectly  quiet.  On  the  following 
day  the  troops,  whose  demeanour  was  very  be- 
coming, mustered  in  the  famous  crypt  of  the 
cathedral,  and  by  lamp-light  inspected  every  part 
of  that  elaborate  structure. 

The  principal  military  operations  during  October, 
other  than  those  between  Paris  and  Orleans,  were 
connected  with  the  eastern  department  of  France. 
Along  with  another  army,  which  entered  French 
territory  across  the  Upper  Rhine  about  Freiburg, 
General  von  Werder,  with  the  Prussian  and  Baden 
troops  released  from  Strassburg,  co-operated  in 
occupying  upper  Alsace,  and  in  besieging  Belfort, 
Schlestadt,  and  Xeu-Breisach.  From  an  early 
period  of  the  war  a  very  considerable  force,  alter- 
nately known  as  the  army  of  Lyons  and  the 
army  of  the  Rhone,  was  said  to  be  forming  in  the 
south  and  south-eastern  departments.  According 
to  French  reports  this  army  now  numbered  100,000 
men,  and  was  stationed  between  Belfort  and 
Langres.  To  disperse  such  a  force,  if  it  really 
existed,  the  German  operations  in  this  quarter 
were  pushed  forward  with  considerable  energy. 
On  October  6  the  Baden  troops,  under  General 
von  Degenfeld,  fell  in  with  a  French  army  under 
General  Dupre,  in  the  Vosges  mountains  between 
Raon  l'Etape  and  St.  Diey,  about  thirty  miles 
south-east  of  Luneville.  An  engagement  ensued, 
which  lasted  from  9  a.m.  till  4  p.m.,  when  the 
French  were  defeated  and  driven  back  on  Ramber- 
villers.  Their  force  consisted  of  a  few  regular 
troops  and  a  large  number  of  franc-tireurs,  alto- 
gether about  14,000  men.  The  Germans  were 
only  about  7000  strong,  but  their  superior  morale 
and  the  cavalry  and  artillery  in  which  they  vastly 
excelled  gave  them  immense  advantages.  General 
Dupre  was  wounded,  and  lost  1500  in  killed  and 
disabled,  and  660  prisoners ;  the  Germans  lost 
about  450.  The  villages  of  St.  Remy  and  Nom- 
patelize  and  the  wood  of  Jumelles  were  carried 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  by  the  Baden  troops, 
but  their  victory  was   by  no  means  easy,  as  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


87 


French  fought  gallantly  and  made  three  vigorous 
onslaughts. 

The  beaten  army  retreated  to  Epinal,  the  princi- 
pal town  of  the  department  of  the  Vosges,  but  was 
driven  out  on  the  12th;  and  the  capture  of  Epinal 
cut  off  Lorraine  from  the  rest  of  France.  The 
franc-tireurs  ran  away,  and  the  national  guards 
made  the  best  resistance  they  could  after  the  mass 
of  the  army  had  abandoned  the  town.  General  von 
Werder  then  turned  southward  and  gained  Vesoul, 
from  which  he  drove  the  French  so  rapidly  as  to 
cut  them  in  two,  sending  part  on  to  Besancon  and 
Dijon,  and  part  to  Belfort,  in  the  opposite  direction. 

General  Cambriels,  recently  appointed  by  the 
Tours  government  to  the  command  of  the  French 
army  of  the  east,  now  advanced  with  what  miscel- 
laneous forces  he  could  obtain,  as  far  as  Belfort. 
Fearing,  however,  to  be  cut  off,  he  fell  back  on 
Besancon,  where  he  met  with  Garibaldi,  who 
had  been  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
irregular  troops  of  the  east.  Garibaldi  shortly 
afterwards  removed  his  headquarters  to  Dole, 
where  he  issued  a  proclamation  reminding  those 
under  his  command,  that  "  in  the  country  occu- 
pied by  the  foreigner,  every  bush,  every  tree, 
should  threaten  him  with  a  shot,  so  that  his  men 
may  fear  to  leave  their  column  or  cantonments. 
Numerous  guerillas  would  render  very  difficult,  if 
not  impossible,  those  requisitions  which  hitherto 
a  simple  enemy's  corporal  has  presumed  to  make 
wherever  he  sets  his  foot."  The  Italian  hero 
recalled,  in  conclusion,  the  defence  of  Monte  Video 
for  nine  years  against  28,000  men  inured  to  war, 
although  that  town  had  then  but  30,000  inhabit- 
ants. "  Monte  Video  sold  its  palaces,  its  temples, 
its  customs  rights,  present  and  to  come,  unearthed 
the  old  cannon  which  served  as  boundaries  in  the 
streets,  forged  lances  to  supply  the  place  of  missing 
guns ;  while  the  women  gave  to  the  country  their 
last  jewel.  A.  village  of  France  has  more  resources 
than  Monte  Video  had  then.  Can  we  doubt  of  the 
success  of  the  national  defence  ?" 

There  was  no  combined  action  between  Gari- 
baldi and  Cambriels,  whose  forces  the  German 
general  still  pursued  with  relentless  activity. 
Indeed,  so  far  from  acting  in  concert,  after  his 
first  interview  with  Garibaldi,  General  Cambriels 
tendered  his  resignation,  which  was  declined 
by  Gambetta  ;  but  the  government  now  accepted 
it.  The  appointment  of  the  Italian  leader  to  a 
command  so  important  and  apparently  rival,  was 


viewed  by  Cambriels  as  equivalent  to  superseding 
him,  and  he  was  certainly  not  alone  in  regard- 
ing Garibaldi  with  disfavour.  The  acceptance 
of  his  services  by  the  government  was  looked 
upon  by  all  good  Catholics,  especially  those  of 
Brittany,  as  the  last  bitter  dregs  of  France's  humili- 
ation. It  is  clear  that  momentary  impulse  rather 
than  love  or  admiration  had  prompted  the  shouts 
of  "  Vive  Garibaldi ! "  for,  from  his  first  arrival  in 
the  east,  all  manner  of  obstacles  were  placed  in 
his  way  by  those  who  should  have  assisted  him. 
French  officers  viewed  him  with  extreme  jealousy, 
and  even  his  own  Breton  auxiliaries  thwarted 
him  on  every  opportunity.  There  was  no  doubt 
that  General  Cambriels  stood  his  ground  as  well 
as  was  possible  with  the  material  at  his  command  ; 
but  he  doubtless  thought  that,  had  the  forces  of 
Garibaldi,  which  had  done  nothing  at  all,  been 
with  him,  his  position  would  have  been  better. 
He  shared  largely,  moreover,  in  the  peculiar 
feelings  of  the  Catholics  towards  Garibaldi,  whose 
appointment,  indeed,  was  soon  found  to  be  far 
more  hurtful  than  advantageous  to  the  French 
cause. 

The  successor  of  General  Cambriels  was,  how- 
ever, a  more  congenial  colleague  to  the  great 
guerilla  chief.  General  Michel,  who  was  now 
appointed  to  the  command  of  the  French  forces 
in  the  east,  was  in  sentiment  a  republican  and 
a  freethinker,  and  was  one  of  the  superior  officers 
who  managed  to  evade  the  capitulation  of  Sedan, 
by  cutting  his  way  through  the  Prussian  lines  at 
the  head  of  2000  horsemen. 

Part  of  the  Baden  corps  which  had  driven  the 
French  before  them  at  St.  Remy  on  the  6th,  next 
proceeded  to  invest  Schlestadt,  which  was  then 
subjected  to  a  regular  siege.  After  it  had  been 
vigorously  bombarded  several  times,  preparations 
were  made  for  taking  it  by  assault.  For  this  pur- 
pose the  south-west  side  was  selected,  as  the  water 
from  the  111  could  be  diverted  from  the  fosses,  the 
ditches  laid  dry,  and  the  town  more  effectively 
cannonaded.  On  the  night  of  the  22nd  the  first 
parallels  were  easily  raised  at  a  distance  of  only 
500  to  700  paces  from  the  fortress,  and  the  guns 
brought  into  position.  But  when  the  command- 
ant saw  the  number  of  guns  constantly  increasing, 
new  troops  coming  up,  and  no  chance  of  relief, 
the  avoiding  of  useless  sacrifices  became  the  sub- 
ject of  imperative  consideration.  Like  his  colleague 
at  Strassburg,  he  had  no  engineer  detachment,  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


artillerymen  only  sufficed  for  the  manning  of  trie 
guns;  and  lie  therefore  capitulated  on  Monday 
afternoon,  October  24,  surrendering  2400  prisoners 
and  120  guns,  with  abundance  of  provisions  and 
war  material. 

The  siege  of  Neu-Breisach  was  commenced 
early  in  the  month ;  but  as  there  was  some  appre- 
hension that  all  the  disposable  German  force 
might  be  needed  in  the  field  by  General  von 
Werder,  operations  were  not  pushed  forward 
against  the  little  fortress  with  much  vigour. 

The  chief  interest  of  the  war  in  the  north  cen- 
tered round  the  two  towns  of  Soissons  and  St. 
Quentin.  Soissons  occupies  a  strategic  position 
of  the  first  importance,  and  its  value,  in  a  military 
point  of  view,  as  commanding  a  passage  over  the 
Aisne,  is  shown  by  its  fortunes  in  the  campaign 
of  1814,  when  it  was  besieged  three  times.  On 
the  13th  of  February,  the  Prussian  General  Cher- 
nicheff  took  it  by  a  coup  de  main,  when  General 
Rusca,  its  governor,  was  killed  by  a  cannon-shot 
on  its  antiquated  ramparts.  But  on  the  same  day 
the  French  retook  it,  and  Chernicheff  was  com- 
pelled to  withdraw.  Napoleon,  who  attached  the 
greatest  importance  to  the  possession  of  it,  urged 
its  garrison  to  hold  out  to  the  last ;  and  if  the 
French  governor  had  been  an  Uhrich,  Marshal 
Blucher  and  the  army  of  Silesia,  pursued  by 
Napoleon  across  the  Marne,  would  probably  have 
been  annihilated.  But  the  governor  capitulated, 
Blucher  escaped,  all  the  emperor's  plans  were 
overthrown,  and  the  surrender  decided  his  fall. 
Owing  to  what  it  has  suffered  by  wars,  Soissons 
has  a  modern  look,  although  it  is  one  of  the  oldest 
towns  in  France.  It  was  here  that  Clovis  estab- 
lished the  throne  of  the  Franks,  and  his  successors 
were  called  kings  of  Soissons.  The  town  and  fort- 
ress were  dominated  by  heights  which  formerly 
would  have  given  no  advantage  to  an  assailant, 
but  from  which  an  enemy  with  rifled  cannon  could 
now  destroy  the  whole  place.  When  Toul  fell,  a 
number  of  the  heavy  guns  which  had  been  em- 
ployed there  were  sent  to  Soissons;  but  though 
invested,  it  was  not  seriously  bombarded  until  the 
12th  of  October.  The  garrison  made  a  stout 
resistance,  sacrificing  everything  to  the  defence 
of  the  city.  As  one  of  the  suburbs,  the  Faubourg 
of  Kheims,  covered  the  position  of  the  Prussians, 
it  was  resolved  to  burn  it,  an  operation  which  was 
effected  on  two  successive  evenings.  The  guns  of 
the  place  protected  the  march  of  the  incendiaries, 


who  suddenly  invested  the  high  street  of  the 
faubourg.  Amid  a  shower  of  bullets,  the  houses 
occupied  by  the  Prussians  were  set  on  fire,  and  the 
French,  in  order  to  dislodge  the  enemy,  were 
obliged  to  break  open  the  doors  with  the  butt-ends 
of  their  muskets.  At  length  an  enormous  column 
of  smoke  shot  up,  and  in  less  than  an  hour  were 
destroyed  more  than  200  dwelling-houses,  a  large 
sugar  refinery,  a  foundry,  a  mill,  and  the  houses 
of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  besides  many  fashionable 
villas.  Several  of  the  inhabitants  lost  their  lives. 
On  October  12  the  heavy  guns  of  the  Germans 
opened  in  full  force  on  the  unfortunate  city,  and 
for  four  days  and  nights  poured  an  incessant  and 
furious  stream  of  deadly  missiles  into  it.  The  havoc 
done  to  the  people  and  their  houses  was  greater 
than  to  the  fortifications,  in  which  not  more  than 
one  hundred  men  were  killed  during  the  bombard- 
ment. On  the  16th  the  fortress  capitulated,  as  two 
breaches  opened  on  the  previous  day,  and  the  threat 
of  an  assault  by  the  Prussians,  accompanied  with 
the  offer  of  honourable  terms,  gave  resistless  force 
to  the  entreaties  of  the  population  for  immediate 
surrender.  By  its  fall,  4700  prisoners,  130  guns, 
70,000  rounds  of  ammunition,  and  a  considerable 
sum  in  the  military  chest,  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  Germans.  A  still  more  important  acqui- 
sition by  the  surrender  was  the  opening  of  a  second 
line  of  railway  from  Chalons  to  Paris,  as  the  direct 
line  along  the  valley  of  the  Marne  was  interrupted 
beyond  Meaux  by  the  destruction  of  the  tunnels 
and  bridges.  Of  the  22,000  Germans  under  the 
duke  of  Mecklenburg,  which  formed  the  besieging 
force,  the  greater  number  marched  at  once  to  Paris. 
To  St.  Quentin,  a  town  of  some  40,000  inhabit- 
ants on  the  line  between  Paris  and  Lille,  within 
ten  miles  of  the  fortress  of  Ham,  in  which  the 
ex-emperor  of  the  French  had  been  a  prisoner  for 
six  years,  the  Prussians  sent  a  considerable  party 
to  obtain  provisions.  On  Saturday,  October  8, 
they  were  announced  to  be  at  a  few  kilometres' 
distance  from  the  town,  on  the  road  to  La  Fere. 
The  drums  beat  to  arms.  The  national  guards 
hastened  to  their  posts.  The  prefect,  M.  Anatole 
de  la  Forge,  wearing  a  plain  uniform  of  the  national 
guard,  appeared  in  the  chief  square  of  the  town 
with  a  broadsword  in  one  hand  and  a  revolver  in 
the  other,  and  urged  the  population  to  fight.  Four 
formidable  barricades  had  been  constructed  during 
the  previous  fortnight  in  the  Rue  d'Isle — one  on 
the  banks  of  the  canal;  two  at  200  metres'  distance 


E  N  E  1  A  I      S  ®  HI  1  IB  A  DU 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


89 


from  each  other,  in  the  interior  of  the  town;  and 
the  fourth  closing  the  road  from  La  Fere  to  the 
top  of  the  Faubourg  d'Isle.  Ten  men  could  defend 
this  barricade  for  a  brief  space.  At  the  entrance 
of  the  town,  close  to  the  Grand  Canal  barricade, 
which  formed,  indeed,  a  very  strong  position,  the 
fight  began,  and  while  it  lasted  the  prefect  remained 
in  the  first  post  of  danger.  The  Prussians,  num- 
bering about  750,  intrenched  themselves  in  the 
railway  station.  Taking  advantage  of  the  angles 
of  the  houses,  and  of  the  openings  in  the  railway 
balustrades,  they  endeavoured  to  deploy  as  sharp- 
shooters, but  failed  to  reach  the  national  guard, 
and  suffered  rather  serious  losses,  every  man  who 
showed  himself  being  shot.  The  struggle  lasted 
from  half-past  ten  until  about  two  o'clock,  when 
the  Prussians  retreated,  taking  the  road  to  Marie. 
On  October  21  they  returned,  at  least  5000  strong, 
and  with  twelve  field-guns  they  for  half-an-hour 
cannonaded  the  town.  No  resistance  being  offered, 
they  entered,  and  demanded  2,000,000  francs, 
1,500,000  of  which  (£60,000)  was  paid — an 
exaction  which,  the  Germans  said,  would  have 
been  very  much  less  had  not  the  town  defended 
itself  on  the  first  occasion. 

Clermont  was  captured,  after  a  brief  resistance, 
in  the  end  of  September.  Beauvais,  Breteuil, 
Montdidier,  Vernon,  Gisors,  and  Gournay  were 
also  occupied,  and  from  these  points  the  Prussians 
scoured  the  country  for  provisions  for  the  army 
around  Paris.  Here  and  there  the  national  guard 
showed  in  force;  but  in  these  cases  a  requisition 
was  made  that  all  arms  should  be  given  up,  under 
penalty  of  death,  and  the  result  generally  was  that, 
a  few  hours  afterwards,  waggon-loads  of  muskets 
poured  into  the  German  camp.  In  Kouen,  Amiens, 
and  the  larger  towns,  the  inhabitants  were  kept  in 
a  feverish  state  of  excitement  by  the  frequent  raids 
made  in  the  places  around.  The  national  guards 
were  called  out,  equipped,  and  drilled,  and  through- 
out all  the  northern  departments  very  large  enrol- 
ments of  garde  mobile  took  place,  who  displayed 
a  better  spirit  than  was  shown  in  many  parts  of  the 
country;  but  it  needed  a  responsible  master-hand 
to  introduce  organization  and  discipline  amongst 
them.  Considerable  spirit  was  shown  by  the 
irregular  troops  of  the  northern  departments,  who 
on  every  opportunity  harassed  the  Germans,  and 
caused  them  the  loss  of  a  gun — the  first  sacrificed 
by  them  in  the  campaign — in  an  attempt  to  cut 
the  radroad  between  Amiens  and  Rouen.     Early  in 

VOL.  II. 


the  month  General  Bourbaki,  the  able  commander 
of  the  imperial  guard,  and  right  hand  of  Bazaine, 
as  we  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter,  found  his 
way  out  of  Metz  and  through  the  Prussian  lines,  in 
connection  with  a  mysterious  intrigue,  the  exact 
nature  and  object  of  which  did  not  at  the  time  tran- 
spire. Suffice  it  here  to  relate  that  he  came  over 
to  England,  to  visit  the  empress  at  Chiselhurst, 
who,  as  it  turned  out,  had  not  expected  him,  and 
had  nothing  to  say  to  him.  He  recrossed  into 
France,  hoping  that  the  Prussian  staff  would  allow 
him  to  rejoin  Bazaine;  but  as  they  threw  obstacles 
in  his  way,  he  repaired  to  Tours,  and  placed  his 
sword  at  the  disposal  of  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment, by  which  he  was  at  once  appointed  to  the 
command  of  the  army  of  the  north. 

This  general  is  of  Greek  origin,  and  his  father, 
a  staunch  imperialist,  rendered  important  services 
to  Napoleon  I.  It  was  he  who,  in  the  Egyptian 
campaign  of  1798—99,  went  over  from  France  in  a 
felucca,  and  aided  by  his  nationality,  succeeded  in 
duping  the  English  cruisers  and  entering  Egypt. 
He  brought  Napoleon  such  news  as  decided  him 
on  returning  immediately  to  Paris,  to  which  cir- 
cumstance he  owed  his  throne.  Seventeen  years 
later  the  same  faithful  adherent  was  sent  to  inform 
Bonaparte  of  the  decision  of  the  Allies,  that  he 
should  be  transferred  to  St.  Helena. 

General  Bourbaki  especially  distinguished  him- 
self by  his  cool  and  determined  courage  in  that 
training-ground  of  all  modern  French  generals — 
Algeria.  In  the  Crimean  war  he  served  as  general 
of  brigade,  and  his  gallantry  at  the  Alma,  Inker- 
man,  the  MalakofF,  and  the  taking  of  Sebastopol, 
is  too  well  known  to  be  dwelt  upon  here. 
General  of  division  in  1857,  he  took  no  mean  part 
in  the  Italian  war,  and  in  1870  was  nominated 
commander  of  the  second  camp  at  Chalons.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  war  he  was  appointed  to 
the  command  of  the  imperial  guard,  joined  Marshal 
Bazaine,  and  was  forced  with  him  into  Metz,  where 
he  remained  until  his  extraordinary  release.  He 
was  one  of  the  French  generals  who  received  a 
decoration  from  the  king  of  Prussia  in  1864.  No 
name  was  better  calculated  to  restore  confidence 
and  inspire  energy  into  the  newly-enrolled  troops 
throughout  the  North,  to  whom,  on  his  appoint- 
ment, he  issued  the  following  proclamation : — 

"  FRENCH   REPITBLIC. 

"  Citizens,  national  guards,  soldiers,  and  mobile 
M 


90 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


guards, — I  have  been  called  by  the  minister  of  War 
to  the  military  command  of  the  region  of  the  North. 
The  task  which  devolves  on  me  is  a  great  one,  and 
I  should  think  it  above  my  strength  were  I  not 
sustained  by  the  feelings  of  patriotism  which  ani- 
mate you.  All  my  endeavours  tend  to  the  creation, 
as  speedily  as  possible,  of  an  active  army  corps, 
which,  provided  with  a  war  materiel,  can  take  the 
field  and  proceed  to  the  assistance  of  the  fortresses, 
which  I  hasten  to  place  in  a  good  state  of  defence. 
As  to  me,  who  have  loyally  offered  my  sword  to 
the  government  of  the  national  defence,  my  endea- 
vours and  my  life  belong  to  the  common  work 
which  it  prosecutes  together  with  yourselves,  and 
in  the  moment  of  danger  you  will  see  me  at  the 
head  of  the  troops  who  will  soon  be  organized.  To 
fulfil  this  difficult  task,  and  to  make  our  implacable 
enemy  pay  dear  for  each  step  on  our  territory, 
concord  and  confidence  must  reign  among  us,  and 
our  hearts  must  be  animated  with  only  one  wish 
— to  save  and  avenge  our  unhappy  France.  You 
may  rely  upon  the  most  energetic  co-operation  and 
the  most  absolute  devotedness  on  my  part,  just  as 
I  rely  upon  your  courage  and  patriotism. 


(Signed) 
Lille,  October  29,  1870.' 


BOURBAKI. 


Brittany  and  the  district  west  of  Paris  began  in 
October  to  show  signs  of  activity  in  contributing 
towards  the  national  defence.  Early  in  the  month 
the  command  of  the  western  levies  was  intrusted 
by  the  government  to  Count  de  Keratry,  a  Breton 
noble,  who  forthwith  issued  a  proclamation  urging 
his  compatriots  to  emulate  the  noble  example  of 
their  brethren  of  Brittany  who  at  that  moment 
manned  the  ramparts  of  Paris.  The  army  of  the 
West  had  not,  it  is  true,  assumed  large  proportions 
as  yet;  but  with  good  organization  it  was  sufficiently 
numerous  to  be  no  mean  auxiliary  to  the  army 
of  the  Loire,  in  any  attempt  for  the  relief  of  the 
capital.  Before  Count  de  Keratry  took  the  com- 
mand of  the  army  of  the  West  it  had  been  a  con- 
tinued source  of  misfortune  to  the  district,  by  its 
ill-disciplined  and  scattered  bands  offering  resist- 
ance to  the  German  requisition  columns,  which, 
while  utterly  ineffectual,  brought  down  severe 
vengeance  upon  unoffending  villages,  several  of 
which  were  ruthlessly  destroyed.  The  count  soon 
afterwards  assumed  the  command  of  the  irregular 
forces   of  the    West,    franc-tireurs,    &c,    for   the 


organization  of  which  he  was  well  fitted  by  his 
influence  and  experience.  General  Fiereck  was 
appointed  over  the  western  regular  army. 

Besides  the  several  field  armies  organizing  in 
the  provinces  in  October,  a  corps  of  volunteer 
engineers  was  formed,  to  operate  upon  the  German 
lines  of  communication.  These  companies — known 
as  "  The  Wild  Boars  of  the  Ardennes,"  "  The 
Railway  Destroyers,"  &c.  — ■  were  composed  of 
artisans  of  all  classes,  and  carried  picks,  crowbars, 
mining  tools,  hatchets,  powder  petards  and  cases, 
for  pulling  up  rails,  blowing  up  bridges,  felling  trees, 
and  mining  roads.  Two  companies  were  specially 
designed  to  guard  them  when  at  work,  and  one  to 
collect  provisions  and  attend  generally  to  the  com- 
missariat. In  at  least  one  instance  the  operations 
of  this  corps  were  eminently  successful,  and  several 
railway  accidents  were  caused  to  the  German 
trains.  To  stop  these  proceedings,  however,  the 
Prussians  issued  an  order  that  the  trains  should 
"  be  accompanied  by  inhabitants  who  are  well 
known  and  generally  respected,  and  who  shall 
be  placed  on  the  locomotive,  so  that  it  may  be 
made  known  that  every  accident  caused  by  the 
hostility  of  the  inhabitants  will,  in  the  first  place, 
injure  their  countrymen."  At  Nancy  the  first 
hostage  was  M.  Leclair,  the  venerable  president 
of  the  Court  of  Appeal.  On  another  occasion, 
Procureur-geneVal  Isard  was  "  invited  "  to  make 
an  involuntary  journey.  Escorted  by  two  Prus- 
sian gendarmes,  he  had  to  mount  the  tender  and 
travel  to  Luneville,  where  his  colleague  in  that 
town  took  his  place.  The  president  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  a  judge,  and  a  barrister,  also 
occupied  in  turn  the  post  of  danger. 

While  speaking  of  the  "  railway  destroyers,"  it 
may  be  remarked  that,  although  the  war  we  are 
now  reviewing  gives  no  actual  examples  of  the 
working  of  the  well-known  theory  of  Marmont, 
that  mounted  infantry  should  play  a  striking  part 
in  the  warfare  of  the  future,  we  see  at  least  that 
the  German  cavalry  would  have  found  their  move- 
ments in  the  interior  of  France  paralyzed  by  the 
hostility  of  the  armed  bands  which  Lurked  in  every 
covert,  had  they  not  fallen  upon  the  device  of 
attaching  to  each  brigade  a  detachment  of  riflemen, 
to  assist  in  dispersing  these  secret  enemies.  The 
clearing  and  occupation  of  the  country  south  of 
Paris  was  accomplished  mainly  by  the  aid  of  the 
Bavarian  riflemen  who  were  employed  with  the 
fourth  and  sixth  cavalry  divisions;  and  when,  after 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


91 


the  fall  of  Metz,  Manteuffel  advanced  to  occupy 
the  north  of  France  with  the  first  army,  his  flank 
and  front  were  kept  clear  by  the  first  division 
under  Goben,  who  carried  similar  small  parties  of 
riflemen  with  each  of  his  brigades,  and  used  them 
constantly  in  his  occupation  of  villages  and  other 
inclosed  posts.  Such  infantry,  however  active, 
would  of  necessity  have  been  a  heavy  clog  upon 
the  movements  of  the  horse,  had  they  not  been 
repeatedly  hurried  forward  in  country  carts  or 
other  wheeled  carriages.  Indeed,  the  device  was 
simply  a  rude  expedient  to  meet  an  emergency  for 
which  the  Germans  were  not  prepared.  Had  the 
events  of  1870  been  fully  foreseen,  some  such 
scheme  would  doubtless  have  been  fallen  upon  as 
raising  bodies  of  mounted  riflemen  for  the  express 
purpose  of  ridding  the  advanced  guards  from 
lurking  franc-tireurs.  There  is  the  highest  au- 
thority— that  of  the  most  successful  of  the  generals 
who  have  used  this  modified  form  of  cavalry  on 
a  great  scale — for  asserting  that,  had  the  French 
early  in  this  war  trained  up  a  mass  of  horsemen 
such  as  those  that  followed  Sheridan  during  the 
American  civil  war,  instead  of  devoting  their  whole 
efforts  to  the  collection  of  masses  of  raw  infantry 
and  artillerymen,  they  might  have  so  threatened 
the  line  of  railroad  which  fed  the  German  host 
before  Paris  as  to  render  a  continued  investment 
impossible.  Few  at  least  will  doubt  that  such 
a  body,  acting  upon  the  communications  of  the 
Germans,  would  have  done  more  to  hinder  the 
conquest  of  the  country  than  tenfold  their  numbers 
sent  on  foot  to  be  fresh  food  for  the  enemy's 
powder. 

That  the  month  of  October  closed  with  far 
brighter  prospects  for  France  than  it  opened,  was 
due  mainly  to  the  energy  and  indefatigable  activity 
of  M.  Gambetta.  From  the  date  of  his  arrival  at 
Tours  he  had  virtually  been  the  government  of 
national  defence.  Indeed  the  various  proclama- 
tions and  decrees  issued  rarely  bore  even  the 
signatures  of  his  colleagues,  MM.  Cremieux, 
Glais-Bizoin,  and  Fourichon.  That  some  of  these 
decrees  were  in  spirit  extremely  revolutionary 
there  is  no  doubt;  but  it  is  equally  certain  that 
under  the  exceptional  circumstances  of  the  country 
they  offered  the  best  remedies  for  its  misfortunes. 
They  did  not  result  in  the  salvation  of  France, 
because  in  the  hour  of  need  no  great  military 
genius  arose  to  enforce  them.  Could  the  minister 
have  relied  upon  a  colleague  in  the  field  of  equal 


daring  and  energy  with  himself,  it  would  have 
fared  hard  even  with  the  magnificent  armies  of 
Germany.  The  first  decree  of  October,  for  a  levde 
en  masse  of  all  men  between  twenty-one  and  forty 
years,  ought  in  a  month  to  have  been  answered  by 
a  number  several  times  larger  than  any  trained 
army  which  Germany  could  bring  into  the  country; 
and  with  very  moderate  organization,  numerical 
strength  so  vastly  superior  should  have  had  a 
proportionate  effect  on  the  fortunes  of  the  war. 
October,  however,  closed  with  at  least  700,000 
German  soldiers  on  French  territory,  to  oppose 
which  there  were  not  250,000  organized  forces 
outside  Paris  and  Metz.  Twelve  fortresses  of 
France — namely,  Strassburg,  Toul,  Marsal,  Vitry, 
Sedan,  Laon,  Lutzelstein,  Lichtenberg,  Weissem- 
burg,  Soissons,  Schlestadt,  and  Metz — had  been 
captured  by  the  enemy;  and  Phalsburg,  Bitsche, 
Paris,  Thionville,  Mezieres,  Montmedy,  Verdun, 
Longwy,  and  Neu  Breisach  were  besieged. 

One  of  the  earliest  and  most  questionable  of 
Gambetta's  decrees  was  that  which  abolished  the 
laws  of  regular  promotion  in  the  army,  and  opened 
every  grade  to  civil  talent.  With  the  most  orderly 
army,  such  an  experiment  would  be  dangerous  in 
the  most  favourable  circumstances ;  it  was  especially 
so  in  the  midst  of  such  confusion.  M.  Gambetta 
thought,  however,  that  the  only  hope  of  France 
was  in  the  creation  of  entirely  new  armies  out  of 
the  civil  population;  and  while  he  betrayed  no 
little  distrust  of  the  regulars,  he  lost  no  opportunity 
of  praising  and  encouraging  the  new  levies,  upon 
whom  he  imagined  all  the  hopes  of  his  country 
now  rested. 

All  provinces  within  a  hundred  kilometres  (about 
seventy  miles)  of  the  enemy's  forces  were  placed 
under  martial  law,  and  in  each  a  commission  of 
defence  was  appointed  to  concoct  plans  of  defence, 
to  fortify  the  points  most  suitable  for  defensive 
purposes,  and  to  direct  the  local  forces.  It  was 
further  decreed  that  camps  should  be  formed  at  a 
distance  of  not  less  than  two  miles  from  each  town 
where  the  troops  of  all  arms  mustered  over  2000, 
and  that  officers  and  men  alike,  taking  up  their 
abode  there,  should  not  return  to  town  without  a 
special  permission.  In  these  camps  they  were  to 
undergo  severe  drill,  and  other  discipline,  to  fit 
them  in  every  way  for  service.  Another  decree 
enjoined  on  the  prefects  of  invaded  or  threatened 
provinces  to  see  that  the  country  was  laid  waste, 
and  all  carts,  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep  removed  to 


92 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


a  distance.  Soldiers  quitting  their  posts,  or  flying 
before  the  enemy,  were  to  be  brought  before  a 
court-martial,  and  shot.  Any  commanding  officer 
whose  troops  should  be  surprised  by  the  enemy, 
or  who  should  have  advanced  upon  a  position 
"  without  suspecting  the  hostile  presence,"  was 
also  to  be  brought  before  a  court-martial.  The 
authorities  of  every  town  were  to  defend  the  place, 
or  to  show  sufficient  reason  for  not  doing  so. 

Another  edict  was  issued  for  the  purpose  of  estab- 
lishing proper  systems  of  information.  Hitherto 
the  authorities  had  literally  been  acting  in  absolute 
ignorance  of  the  movements  and  intentions  of  the 
enemy,  while  the  Prussians,  by  their  widely-spread 
system  of  espionage  and  their  innumerable  cavalry 
scouts,  kept  themselves  perfectly  informed  of  the 
position  and  intentions  of  the  French.  The  govern- 
ment now  ordered  every  maire  to  employ  through- 
out his  commune  gardes  champetrcs,  workmen, 
&c,  who  should  instantly  report  to  him  the  ap- 
proach and  direction  of  any  body  of  the  enemy, 
with  an  approximate  estimate  of  their  force  and 
composition;  and  that  this  information  should  be 
immediately  despatched  to  the  prefect,  to  be  tele- 
graphed to  the  government.  Every  maire  who  failed 
in  these  details  was  to  be  tried  by  court-martial. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  the  month  the  conduct 
of  the  extreme  republicans,  who  alone  of  all 
the  French  nation  showed  themselves  devoid  of 
patriotic  feelings,  paralyzed  the  efforts  of  the  large 
towns.  Imperialists,  Legitimists,  Orleanists,  alike 
laid  aside  their  partialities  and  prejudices,  and  com- 
bined with  the  government  for  the  national  defence. 
The  extreme  republicans  alone  preferred  party 
to  patriotism,  caused  dissension,  sacrificed  France, 
under  pretence  of  saving  her,  and  thus  gave  a 
dim  presentiment  of  the  terrible  scenes  which,  in 
Paris,  were  to  aggravate  the  horrors  of  the  war  at 
its  close.  Paris,  Bordeaux,  Eouen,  Lille,  Havre, 
all  great  centres  of  industry,  nobly  allowed 
nothing  to  interfere  with  the  national  defence; 
while  Lyons,  Marseilles,  Toulouse,  and  Toulon 
were  sources  of  weakness,  rather  than  of  strength, 
to  the  country.  The  establishment  of  communal 
institutions  and  of  the  extremest  forms  of  repub- 
licanism were  deemed  matters  of  greater  impor- 
tance than  the  expulsion  of  the  invader.  Ardent 
republican  though  he  was,  so  ashamed  was  Gam- 
betta  of  the  conduct  of  the  Lyons  republicans, 
that  on  receiving  the  delegates  of  a  committee 
from  that  city  he  exclaimed,  "  Your  commune  of 


Lyons  is  a  disgrace  to  France  and  a  laughing- 
stock to  Europe.     Out  with  you  at  once!" 

To  meet  immediate  claims,  and  supply  articles 
necessary  for  the  purposes  of  the  war,  the  Tours 
government,  on  the  26th  of  October,  contracted  a 
loan  of  £10,000,000.  The  result  of  the  subscrip- 
tion to  it  proved  that  if  France  was  doomed  to 
succumb  in  the  war  it  would  not  be  for  want  of 
means  to  fight,  nor  of  the  spirit  to  use  them. 
In  her  then  critical  situation,  with  the  capital 
invested,  and  over  a  score  of  rich  departments 
terror-struck  by  Prussian  legions,  it  was  thought 
that  a  loan  of  this  extent  must  be  a  failure.  For 
the  first  time,  therefore,  a  French  loan  was  opened 
in  a  foreign  country — England.  Subscriptions 
were,  nevertheless,  invited  in  France,  and  in  less 
than  three  days  the  result  was  an  amount  equal, 
in  round  numbers,  to  £3,750,000.  When  it  is 
remembered  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  country, 
the  metropolis  included,  could  take  no  share  in  the 
subscriptions,  and  that  local  loans  to  an  enormous 
amount  had  been  contracted  in  all  quarters  for 
purposes  of  delence,  such  a  result  was  a  striking 
proof  of  the  internal  resources  of  France,  and  of 
confidence  in  the  credit  of  the  state. 

Throughout  October  the  French  government 
continually  appealed  to  England  and  the  various 
European  cabinets  for  interposition  or  assistance. 
In  an  important  interview  with  Lord  Lyons  on 
the  15  th,  the  French  delegate  minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs  suggested  that  England,  either  singly  or  in 
concert  with  other  neutrals,  should  request  Prussia 
to  state  the  conditions  of  peace  which  she  would 
accept;  that  France  should  then  submit  her  views; 
and  that  the  neutral  powers  should  in  a  conference, 
or  by  exchanging  notes,  give  out  with  authority 
what  in  their  opinion  were  equitable  terms  of 
peace,  and  call  upon  both  belligerents  to  accept 
them.  M.  de  Chandordy  seemed  to  think  that 
both  must  of  course  listen  to  the  voice  of  Europe  ; 
but  as  this  was  by  no  means  probable,  his  sug- 
gestion was  not  adopted. 

Count  von  Bismarck  had  indeed  pretty  plainly 
intimated  already  the  extent  of  the  German  terri- 
torial claims  ;  for  in  a  short  despatch  to  Count 
Bernstorff  on  the  1st  October,  in  which  he  com- 
bated the  statement  of  M.  Favre,  that  "  Prussia 
means  to  continue  the  war  and  to  bring  France 
back  to  the  position  of  a  power  of  the  second 
rank,"  he  said  : — "  The  cession  of  Strassburg  and 
Metz,    which    we   seek   in  territorial  connection, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


93 


implies  a  reduction  of  French  territory  equal  in 
area  to  the  increase  through  Savoy  and  Nice, 
while  the  population  of  these  provinces  obtained 
from  Italy  is  about  750,000  larger.  AVhen  it  is 
considered  that  France,  according  to  the  census  of 
1866,  numbers  38,000,000  of  inhabitants  without 
Algiers,  and  with  Algiers  now  furnishing  an 
essential  part  of  the  French  war  forces,  42,000,000, 
it  is  palpable  that  a  decrease  therein  of  750,000 
effects  no  change  in  the  importance  of  France  as 
against  foreign  countries." 

M.  de  Chandordy  represented  to  Lord  Lyons 
that,  to  these  claims  of  Prussia,  France  could  never 
submit.  He  added,  that  "  he  felt  he  was  entitled 
to  appeal  to  the  rest  of  Europe  for  support.  The 
time  for  good  offices  had  passed.  The  powers 
should  now  speak  to  Prussia  in  a  tone  which  could 
not  be  mistaken,  and  take  measures  to  insure  their 
being  listened  to."  Lord  Granville,  however,  re- 
plied that  England  was  not  prepared  to  support 
by  force  any  representations  they  might  make  to 
Prussia;  and  further  instructed  Lord  Lyons,  should 
opportunity  arise,  to  point  out  that  her  Majesty's 
government  thought  the  rigid  determination  ex- 
pressed by  M.  Favre,  not  to  yield  an  inch  of 
territory  nor  one  stone  of  a  fortress,  was  a  great 
obstacle  to  peace. 

But  though  the  English  government  could  not 
yield  to  the  appeals  of  France,  they  took  advantage 
of  a  circular  of  Count  von  Bismarck's  respecting 
the  danger  of  famine  with  which  Paris  was  threat- 
ened, to  make  a  formal  suggestion  that  both  bel- 
ligerents should  agree  upon  an  armistice  for  the 
convocation  of  a  French  constituent  assembly, 
which  might  decide  the  question  of  peace  or  war. 
This  proposal  Lord  Granville  pressed  with  great 
energy,  and  informed  Count  Bernstorff  that  M. 
Thiers,  backed  by  the  personal  intervention  of  the 
emperor  of  Russia,  had  proposed  to  undertake 
the  negotiation.  Eussia,  Austria,  Italy,  and  Spain 
joined  in  urging  the  armistice ;  Italy,  indeed, 
appeared  to  desire  even  more  decided  intervention. 
M.  Tissot  again  pressed  Lord  Granville  to  call  on 
Prussia  to  state  her  terms  of  peace,  "bring  them 
within  fair  limits,  and  then  communicate  them 
to  the  French  government."  All  the  principal 
powers,  however,  were  agreed  in  restricting  the  pro- 
posed negotiations  to  the  question  of  an  armistice. 
In  virtue  of  these  proceedings,  M.  Thiers  had 
his  first  interview  with  Count  von  Bismarck,  at 
Versailles,    on    November    1,    when    the    general 


arrangements  for  an  armistice  of  twenty-four  or 
twenty-eight  days  were  agreed  to.  The  main  diffi- 
culty arose  out  of  the  revictualling  of  Paris,  to  which 
the  Prussian  chancellor  ultimately  consented,  on 
condition  that,  as  a  "  military  equivalent,"  the  Ger- 
mans should  have  at  least  one  of  the  Paris  forts. 
The  veteran  French  statesman  had  not  expected 
this,  and  with  considerable  warmth  he  replied:  "  It 
is  Paris  that  you  ask  from  us ;  for  to  deny  us  the 
revictualling  during  the  armistice  is  to  take  from 
us  one  month  of  our  resistance;  to  require  from 
us  one  or  several  of  our  forts  is  to  ask  for  our 
ramparts.  It  is,  in  fact,  to  demand  Paris,  while 
we  should  give  you  the  means  of  starving  or 
bombarding  her.  In  treating  with  us  for  an 
armistice  you  could  never  suppose  its  condition 
to  be  that  we  should  give  up  Paris  herself  to  you 
— Paris,  our  chief  strength,  our  great  hope,  and 
for  you  the  great  difficulty,  which,  after  fifty  days 
of  siege,  you  have  not  been  able  to  overcome."  M. 
Thiers  then  left  to  consult  with  M.  Favre,  who, 
in  turn,  took  counsel  with  his  colleagues  of  the 
government  in  the  city.  The  result  was,  that  on 
the  following  day,  November  6,  M.  Thiers  received 
instructions  to  break  off  the  negotiations,  and  at 
once  left  the  German  headquarters.  For  a  third 
time,  therefore,  the  hopes  of  peace  were  frustrated, 
and  both  parties  girded  themselves  for  a  war  a 
outrance. 

Considered  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events, 
the  French  committed  a  grave  diplomatic  blunder 
in  refusing  the  terms  offered  by  the  Germans,  and 
allowing  the  negotiations  to  be  broken  off  on  the 
question  of  revictualling  Paris.  The  king  of  Prussia 
and  his  advisers  consented  to  the  armistice  under 
the  mistaken  idea  that  there  was  no  prospect  of  an 
efficient  force  being  formed  in  any  quarter  for  the 
relief  of  the  capital.  The  French  had  up  to  that 
time  been  everywhere  beaten,  and  were  therefore 
supposed  to  be  incapable  of  again  showing  any 
head  in  the  field.  On  the  contrary,  the  several 
armies  forming  in  the  provinces  only  needed  time 
to  render  them,  both  in  number  and  organization, 
extremely  formidable  to  the  Germans.  With  regard 
especially  to  the  army  of  the  Loire,  twenty-eight 
days  would  have  enabled  D'Aurelles  to  complete 
his  cavalry  and  artillery,  to  establish  discipline, 
and  to  concentrate  his  army  in  a  state  of  readiness 
for  an  immediate  advance.  The  Breton  levies  would 
have  been  prepared  to  operate  from  the  west  in 
force,  and  aid  in  a  simultaneous  march  to  the  capital. 


94 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


In  order  to  keep  the  truce,  Prince  Frederick  Charles, 
who  was  now  on  the  way  from  Metz,  would  have 
been  arrested  at  full  twelve  days'  march  from 
Orleans,  so  that  whatever  French  forces  could  have 
been  collected  within  one  hundred  miles  of  Paris 
during  the  armistice  would  have  been  free  from 
immediate  danger  of  the  overwhelming  German 
reinforcements  which  presently  proved  their  ruin. 
We  cannot  see  how  the  revictualling  of  Paris  would 
have  affected  matters  at  all.  The  inhabitants  would 
not  have  been  any  worse  off  at  the  end  of  the 
armistice,  supposing  they  had  obtained  no  new 
supplies,  since  there  was  at  any  rate  plenty  of  food 
to  last  them  for  that  time.  If,  therefore,  the  Ger- 
man armies  would  have  been  compelled  to  raise 
the  siege  in  December  at  all,  after  an  armistice, 
they  would  have  been  forced  to  abandon  it  whether 
Paris  were  revictualled  or  not. 

The  news  of  the  failure  of  the  negotiations 
produced  a  momentary  feeling  of  regret  and  disap- 
pointment in  most  parts  of  France.  On  November 
10,  however,  there  occurred  the  first  German 
reverse  of  any  magnitude  during  the  war,  re- 
sulting in  the  defeat  of  Von  der  Tann  and 
the  retreat  of  the  Bavarians  from  Orleans.  This 
raised  the  hopes  of  the  nation,  gave  a  new  light 
to  the  failure  of  M.  Thiers'  mission,  and  England 
and  the  neutral  powers  generally  were  bitterly 
denounced  for  having  suggested  a  temporary  ces- 
sation of  hostilities.  Many  of  the  journals  and 
prefects,  especially  of  southern  France,  repudiated 
with  scorn  the  idea  of  peace,  or  even  of  an  armis- 
tice, until  satisfaction  had  been  obtained  from 
Prussia  for  the  injuries  she  had  inflicted  upon  their 
country.  Thus  the  Progrh  of  Lyons  said  that  the 
idea  of  an  armistice  could  only  enter  into  the  skull 
of  a  Prussian,  and  could  only  have  been  proposed 
by  an  Englishman.  "It  is  only  when  the  Prussian 
hordes  are  hunting  for  their  food  like  wolves  in 
our  provinces  that  our  felon  ally  (England)  dares 
to  dash  her  bucket  of  water  upon  the  brasier  of 
our  patriotism.  Now  that  the  French  nation  is 
upon  the  point  of  turning  the  victories  of  our 
enemies  into  unprecedented  disaster,  the  quaking 
thrones  of  this  supreme  resurrection  are  trembling 
upon  their  bases,  and  seek,  by  means  of  an  armis- 
tice, to  smother  the  threatening  flame."  The 
prefect  of  the  Haute  Garonne  was  equally  opposed 
to  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  and  stated  in  a  procla- 
mation that  "  we  will  establish  the  republic  upon 
the  corpse  of  the  last  Prussian  and  the  body  of  the 


last  monopolist."  The  prefect  of  the  Ain  declared 
that,  "  whether  the  traitors  are  Prussians,  or  still 
dare  to  call  themselves  Frenchmen,  the  bullet  and 
the  axe  shall  render  equal  justice  to  both." 

Lord  Granville's  despatch,  urging  the  arrange- 
ment of  an  armistice,  was,  in  the  first  instance,  met 
on  the  part  of  Count  von  Bismarck  by  the  intima- 
tion that  any  overtures  for  negotiations  must  be 
made  by  France;  and  that  the  benevolent  offices 
of  England  were  regarded  with  no  less  coldness 
by  Germany  may  be  gathered  from  the  following 
remarks  of  the  Cologne  Gazette: — "  The  Glad- 
stone-Bright ministry,  and  especially  the  Foreign 
Secretary,  Lord  Granville,  unfortunately  did  not 
do  its  utmost  to  prevent  the  outbreak  of  this  great 
war.  Indeed,  one  may  say  not  its  least — viz.,  the 
public  declaration  that  France  had  no  right  to 
commence  this  wanton  war.  This  sin  of  omission 
is  now,  alas,  too  late  admitted  even  by  the  English. 
We  carry  on  this  war  in  a  certain  degree  for  Eng- 
land, for  had  imperial  France  conquered  in  it, 
Napoleon  would  certainly  have  seized  on  Belgium, 
which  he  coveted  more  than  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine.  It  would  then  have  been  seen  how  Eng- 
land defended  Belgium,  after  formally  assuming 
the  protection  of  it;  and  Napoleon  III.  would  cer- 
tainly have  gained  what  was  his  ultimate  object  in 
his  powerful  naval  armaments — the  humiliation  of 
England,  the  revenge  for  Waterloo  of  which  the 
French  are  always  thinking.  We  willingly  do  jus- 
tice to  the  considerations  on  which  England  now 
seeks  to  arrest  the  destruction  of  Paris.  It  is  only 
a  pity  that  England's  prestige  suffered  so  grievously 
through  its  cowardly  attitude  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  affair.  Per  se,  we  should  regret  as 
much  as  anybody  the  destruction  of  a  city  inhabited 
by  more  than  a  million  of  women  and  children, 
and  in  which  so  many  treasures  of  art  and  science, 
which  can  never  be  made  good,  are  collected. 
The  entry  into  Paris,  however,  is  a  necessity  for 
the  German  army,  and  an  event  which  cannot  now 
be  averted,  especially  after  the  fall  of  Metz.  May 
the  Parisians  therefore  come  to  their  senses,  and 
by  the  acceptance  of  reasonable  conditions  of  an 
armistice  and  peace,  release  us  from  that  lamentable 
necessity !" 

The  feeling  throughout  Germany  during  October 
was  one  of  extreme  disappointment  at  the  prolon- 
gation of  the  war,  which  every  one  expected  would 
have  ended  soon  after  Sedan.  But  it  would  have 
been  erroneous  to  mistake  this  wish  of  a  speedy 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


95 


cessation  of  hostilities  for  a  disinclination  to  con- ' 
tinue  it,  should  that  appear  imperative.  Notwith- 
standing that  the  military  system  of  the  country 
made  war  sensibly  felt,  yet  such  was  the  general 
confidence  in  the  military  and  political  leaders  that, 
as  these  held  the  objects  of  the  campaign  were  not 
yet  attained,  the  people  were  willing  to  support 
them  to  the  end.  If  the  generals  had  not  declared 
the  recovery  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  to  be  necessary 
for  the  protection  of  the  German  frontiers,  the  vast 
majority  in  the  country  would  have  been  in  favour 
of  concluding  peace  at  once,  and  on  the  terms 
proposed  by  M.  Favre ;  but  as  the  German  generals 
were,  and  indeed  had  been  for  the  last  hundred 
years,  of  the  opposite  opinion,  the  nation  was 
determined  to  profit  by  the  opportunity,  and 
acquire  the  territory  which  was  to  enable  them 
to  ward  off  future  invasions  with  a  greater  chance 
of  success  than  hitherto.  Count  von  Bismarck 
was  but  too  accurate  an  interpreter  of  the  thoughts 
of  his  countrymen  when,  in  his  negotiations  with  M. 
Thiers,  he  spoke  of  the  probability  of  future  colli- 
sions with  France,  and  of  the  duty  the  Germans 
owed  to  themselves  to  prepare  for  coming  attacks 
of  the  fiery  Gaul.  The  French  were  now  reaping 
the  fruits  of  the  treatment  they  had  accorded  Ger- 
many for  centuries  both  in  word  and  deed.  The 
people  were  but  too  keenly  aware  how  frequently 
they  had  been  invaded  in  the  past,  and  could  not 
help  remembering  with  what  intense  hostility  they 
had  been  spoken  of  by  nearly  every  political  celeb- 
rity in  France  up  to  the  very  outbreak  of  the  war. 
It  was  the  knowledge  of  the  inveteracy  of  this 
feeling  on  the  other  side  of  the  frontier,  coupled 
with  the  observation  that  the  French  even  now 
deemed  themselves  invincible,  which  led  popular 
feeling  in  Germany  to  look  forward  to  another  war 
in  the  wake  of  the  one  in  which  they  were  then 
engaged.  Had  the  French  admitted  that  they 
were  beaten,  and  that  they  had  better  give  up 
battling  with  Germany  for  the  mere  sake  of  pres- 
tige, they  would  perhaps  not  have  been  suspected 
of  a  design  to  resume  the  fray  as  soon  as  they 
could  after  the  conclusion  of  peace.  But  with  M. 
Gambetta  declaring  the  final  victory  of  France  a 
matter  of  course,  and  indispensable  to  civilization 
to  boot,  the  Germans  asked  —  "What  can  we 
expect  but  to  see  them  come  down  upon  us  when- 
ever the  opportunity  occurs?  And  the  contin- 
gency being  so  very  probable  a  one,  ought  we  not 
to  guard  against  it  by  securing  those  military  and 


territorial  advantages  commended  by  the  generals, 
whose  experience  and  judgment  we  have  every 
reason  to  confide  in?  Is  not  every  peace  with  the 
French  merely  an  armistice  while  they  do  not 
renounce  their  old  ambition  ;  and  should  we  not  be 
actually  encouraging  them  to  attack  us  again  were 
we  to  permit  them  to  repeat  the  thing  under  the 
same  favourable  conditions  as  formerly?" 

An  extract  from  the  Bremen  Weser  Zeitung  is 
subjoined  as  illustrative  of  this  state  of  popular 
feeling: — "It  is  remarkable  what  an  important 
influence  a  single  trait  in  the  national  character  of 
the  French  exercises  upon  the  destinies  of  Europe. 
The  constitutional  vanity  of  the  French,  their 
inability  to  realize  and  recognize  unpleasant  facts, 
becomes  as  terrible  a  scourge  to  themselves  as  to 
the  nations  around  them.  Vanity  has  stirred  them 
up  to  a  frivolous  war,  vanity  prevents  the  restora- 
tion of  peace.  Very  characteristic  in  this  respect 
is  that  passage  in  M.  Favre's  last  circular,  in  which 
he  depicts  the  ravishing  aspect  France  will  wear 
when  perishing  amid  the  flaring  halo  of  glory  and 
renown.  The  consciousness  of  playing  an  impos- 
ing role  before  the  world  to  a  certain  extent  con- 
soles him  for  the  ruin  of  his  country.  But  is  ruin 
likely  to  follow  the  acceptance  of  the  German 
terms?  Will  not  the  French  remain  a  powerful, 
gallant,  rich,  and  highly-gifted  nation  even  after 
the  forfeiture  of  their  German  provinces?  And, 
instead  of  revelling  in  the  prospect  of  fine  tragical 
catastrophes,  had  they  not  better  look  realities  in 
the  face,  consider  the  common-sense  question  how 
to  get  out  of  a  bad  job,  and  extricate  themselves  at 
as  cheap  a  price  as  possible?  All  the  statesmen  of 
Europe  have  had  to  do  this  occasionally,  and  his- 
tory mentions  even  some  French  ministers  who 
capitulated  when  there  was  nothing  left  but  to 
capitulate.  But  it  is  quite  true,  while  other  nations 
praise  those  of  their  statesmen  who  in  the  hour  of 
defeat  averted  greater  evils  by  timely  concessions, 
the  French  have  always  called  Talleyrand  a  traitor 
for  procuring  them  the  best  terms  possible  after  the 
discomfiture  of  1815.  Though  Talleyrand  saved 
all  he  could  for  them,  the  French,  in  their  uncon- 
trollable conceit,  only  look  to  what  he  was  com- 
pelled to  sign  away,  and  therefore  insist  upon 
regarding  him  as  a  rascal.  They  have  no  Talley- 
rand now,  no  man  sufficiently  courageous  to  bend 
to  the  inevitable.  Sheer  compulsion  alone  can 
terminate  the  war.  We  know  it,  and  are  prepared 
for  it." 


96 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR 


About  the  same  time  the  Prussian  government 
issued  an  important  manifesto  in  the  semi-official 
Provincial  Correspojidenz.  Considerable  impatience 
was  exhibited  in  Germany  at  the  delay  in  the  siege 
operations  before  Paris.  After  ascribing  this  delay 
to  purely  military  reasons,  the  article  went  on  to 
speak  generally  of  the  prospects  of  the  war  in  these 
terms : — 

"  Natural  as  it  is  to  wish  for  a  prompt  termina- 
tion of  the  war,  we  are  perhaps  not  wrong  in  seeing 
the  finger  of  Providence  in  the  retribution  which 
the  French  are  thus  bringing  in  full  measure  upon 
themselves.  It  seems  to  be  decreed  that  they  are 
to  empty  the  cup  of  bitterness  to  the  dregs,  and, 
by  having  their  insolence  thoroughly  chastised,  be 
weaned  from  their  bellicose  propensities  and  con- 
verted into  better  neighbours  for  the  future. 

"  All  of  us  would  have  been  delighted  had  the 
last  shot  in  this  sanguinary  contest  been  fired  on 
the  heights  of  Sedan.  Yet  there  is  no  denying  that 
had  peace  been  concluded  then  and  there,  the  idea 
of  holding  universal  supremacy,  so  firmly  rooted  in 
the  French  mind,  would  have  regained  irresistible 
ascendancy  the  moment  we  left  the  country.  Even 
now  the  majority  of  the  French  deem  themselves 
unconquerable,  and,  indeed,  unconquered.  They 
have  heard  of  nothing  but  of  victories,  with,  per- 
haps, a  few  insignificant  reverses  now  and  then. 
They  have  accustomed  themselves  to  pooh-pooh 
the  fancy  that  their  armies  have  been  subdued,  and 
tell  you,  with  the  most  implicit  confidence,  that  if 
he  liked  Bazaine  might  easily  get  out  of  Metz  and 
crush  the  forces  besieging  it.  They  smile  at  the 
thought  of  Paris  ever  falling  into  our  hands  when 
it  is  defended  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  mobiles, 
and  attacked  only  by  German  soldiers.  Last,  not 
least,  they  will  swear  that  Europe  will  come  to  the 
rescue  of  their  holy  city,  and  save  what  they  are 
pleased  to  call  the  '  metropolis  of  the  world.'  With 
these  hallucinations  the  French  are  consoling  them- 
selves in  the  present  disastrous  period  of  their  his- 
tory. Were  peace  to  be  re-established  before  they 
have  been  cured  of  their  self-sufficiency,  they  would 
doubtless  flatter  themselves  that  they  have  not  been 
vanquished  at  all — that  the  war  might  have  been 
continued,  and  that  if  it  has  not  been,  its  premature 
conclusion  is  mainly  owing  to  the  pusillanimity  and 
treachery  of  those  in  power.  With  these  intoxi- 
cating illusions  filling  their  brains,  so  arrogant  a 
people  as  the  French  would  not  wait  long  before 
they  attempted  to  win  back  what  they  had  lost. 


"  Only  after  the  Parisians,  and  with  them  the 
entire  population  of  France,  have  been  humbled  to 
the  dust ;  only  when  the  military  strength  of  their 
country  has  been  entirely  broken,  and  the  hope  of 
creating  fresh  armies  is  everywhere  annihilated — 
will  they  become  conscious  of  the  magnitude  of 
their  defeat,  and  perhaps  perceive  and  remember 
that  to  invade  a  neighbour  may  be  attended  with 
unpleasant  consequences  to  themselves." 

That  at  this  period  (October)  the  Germans  were 
sanguine  of  a  speedy  conclusion  of  peace,  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  the  pen  with  which  Count  von  Bis- 
marck was  to  sign  the  treaty  was  already  prepared. 
Herr  Bissinger,  jeweller,  of  Pforzheim,  manufac- 
tured out  of  massive  gold  an  imitation  of  an  ordi- 
nary stout  goosequill.  The  quill  itself  was  polished, 
in  order  that  it  might  be  more  conveniently  handled, 
but  the  feather  closely  resembled  a  real  quill,  every 
fibre  being  represented,  while  theback  of  the  feather 
was  thickly  studded  with  brilliants,  and  below  them 
a  count's  coronet  and  Bismarck's  monogram  were 
engraved.  Besides  the  engraver  and  maker,  two 
goldsmiths  were  engaged  on  it  for  five  weeks. 
The  gold  used  was  of  eighteen  carats,  and  that 
part  in  which  the  brilliants  were  set  was  of  twenty- 
one  carats. 

In  acknowledging  its  receipt  Count  von  Bismarck 
wrote  : — "  Your  beautiful  and  very  artistic  present 
has  been  delivered  to  me  by  Herr  Jolly.  I  feel 
some  difficulty  in  knowing  how  to  express  my 
thanks  for  it.  At  a  time  when  the  sword  of  the 
German  nation  has  performed  such  illustrious  feats, 
you  render  the  pen  almost  too  much  honour  in 
making  it  so  costly.  I  can  only  hope  that  the  use 
to  which  you  have  destined  the  pen  in  the  service 
of  our  country  may  conduce  to  its  permanent  wel- 
fare in  a  fortunate  peace,  and  I  can  promise  you 
that,  with  God's  help,  it  shall  in  my  hand  subscribe 
nothing  unworthy  of  German  feeling  and  of  the 
German  sword." 

Serious  as  were  the  consequences  of  the  war  for 
Germany,  under  a  military  system  by  which  almost 
all  the  able-bodied  male  population  were  liable  to 
be  called  away  from  their  occupations,  its  effects 
upon  the  French  were  far  more  serious.  A  policy 
of  prolonged  though  apparently  hopeless  resistance 
might,  indeed,  in  the  end  have  caused  extreme 
perplexity  to  the  Germans;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  seemed  as  if  the  king  of  Prussia  was  not  far 
wrong  in  his  assertion  that  the  social  system  of 
France  was  falling  to  pieces  under  the  enormous 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


97 


pressure  of  disorderly  war.  It  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  no  words  could  be  too  strong  to  describe 
the  critical  condition  of  the  French  cities  and 
great  towns,  seeing  that  all  the  familiar  phenomena 
(save  one)  of  the  first  French  revolution  were 
showing  themselves  at  Rouen,  Lyons,  Dijon,  and 
Marseilles.  The  clubs,  the  mobs,  the  municipali- 
ties claiming  to  be  supreme  over  every  other 
authority,  the  wholesale  imprisonment  of  priests 
and  so-called  reactionists,  the  rumours  of  con- 
spiracy, and  specially  of  conspiracy  in  the  prisons, 
the  popularity  of  newspapers  of  the  class  of  the 
Pere  Duchesne,  seemed  a  prelude  to  another  reign 
of  terror.  One  thing  only  was  wanting.  There 
was  an  almost  complete  absence  of  clamour  for 
civil  blood,  and  when  all  the  rest  was  so  like,  it 
was  natural  to  wonder  at  the  difference.  Had  the 
humanitarian  spirit  which  when  nations  are  at 
peace  shows  itself  in  effeminate  reluctance  to  inflict 
painful  punishment,  but  which  when  they  are  at 
war  fails  to  save  them  one  drop  of  blood,  at  least 
achieved  this  ?  Were  French  mobs  less  murderous 
because  they  had  grown  to  be  more  humane?  or 
was  it  that  attacks  on  life  had  been  exchanged  for 
attacks  on  property?  In  Lyons  the  manufactories 
were  still  at  work,  and  the  workmen  were  receiving 
the  highest  wages  required  by  the  rules  of  the 
International  Union.  But  the  manufacture  was 
only  continued  through  fear  of  the  consequences 
of  stopping  it;  and  it  appeared  as  if  general  bank- 
ruptcy must  sooner  or  later  show  what  strain 
socialist  theories  were  capable  of  bearing.  Lyons 
doubtless  spun  and  wove  silk  for  the  whole  world, 
and  thus,  in  spite  of  the  impoverishment  of  all 
foreign  customers  indirectly  caused  by  the  war, 
may  have  been  better  able  than  other  manufactur- 
ing towns  to  bear  up  against  the  loss  of  the  home 
market,  so  long  as  its  commodities  found  access  to 
sea.  But  some  of  the  cities  most  seriously  threatened 
by  revolutionary  fury  were  wholly  engaged  in 
manufacturing  goods  to  be  consumed  within  France 
itself.  In  this  condition  was  the  great  city  of 
VOL.    11. 


Rouen,  which,  with  its  surrounding  villages,  barely 
maintained  itself  against  the  competition  of  Man- 
chester in  the  best  of  times,  with  the  assistance  of 
duties  still  largely  protective.  Certain  political 
economists,  distinguished  for  peculiar  tenderness  to 
all  the  heresies  of  the  working  class,  have  argued 
that  the  share  of  profit  which  workmen  associated 
in  trade  unions  may  wring  from  their  employers, 
is  greater  than  an  older  generation  of  economical 
teachers  had  supposed.  But  the  new  doctrine  is  at 
best  only  intended  for  times  of  prosperity,  and  we 
have  yet  to  learn  how  an  arbitrary  rate  of  wages 
can  be  long  exacted  from  a  manufacturer  deprived 
of  customers.  The  moment  at  which  calamitous 
war  and  socialist  convictions  are  found  in  presence 
of  one  another  in  any  country,  may  well  be  regarded 
with  terror. 

Deplorable  as  was  the  case  of  both  France  and 
Germany  in  an  agricultural  point  of  view,  it  would 
have  been  incalculably  worse  if  the  women  had 
not  been  trained  to  do  much  of  the  farm  work 
which  in  England  devolves  on  men  alone.  Every 
tourist  in  Rhineland  and  the  south  of  France  has 
noticed,  and  deplored,  the  extent  to  which  female 
labour  is  there  employed — not  only  for  the  fighter 
tasks  of  weeding  and  hoeing,  as  with  us,  but  for 
ploughing,  reaping,  and  all  the  more  important 
branches  of  husbandry.  It  was  now  seen  that  such 
a  condition  of  things  renders  the  country  far  better 
able  to  sustain  the  requirements  of  war  than  other- 
wise it  could  be.  With  us  the  sudden  demand  on 
so  large  a  proportion  of  our  male  population  would 
almost  suspend  all  agricultural  operations ;  for 
steam,  although  it  reduces  the  number  of  hands 
employed,  throws  the  work  more  than  ever  upon 
the  men.  We  notice  these  facts  from  no  desire  to 
see  the  women  of  Great  Britain  converted  into 
farm  drudges ;  but  merely  to  show  that  soil, 
climate,  and  social  habits  abroad  have  combined 
with  custom  to  render  southern  countries  less 
dependent  upon  male  labour  than  can  be  the  case 
with  us. 


CHAPTER     XX. 


The  Great  Strength  of  Metz — Complete  Blockade  the  surest  means  of  Capturing  it — Treble  Cordon  thrown  around  it,  and  other  Measures 
tnken  by  the  Germans — Detailed  description  of  their  Positions,  and  of  those  occupied  by  the  French — GeDial  Feeling  between  the  Foreposts 
for  some  time — The  completeness  of  the  Prussian  Forepost  System — Repose  in  the  City  in  the  first  days  of  September— Excitement  in  the 
German  Army  when  the  victory  of  Sedan  became  known — The  Disastrous  News  conveyed  into  Metz  by  General  Wimpffen,  and  a  Request 
made  to  Bazaine  to  Surrender  the  City — His  Reply,  and  general  disbelief  of  the  News  in  Metz  for  some  days — Proclamation  of  General 
Coffinieres  urging  Resistance  to  the  uttermost — Bazaine,  at  last,  compelled  to  admit  the  Unwelcome  News  relating  to  Sedan  to  his  Troops 
— Establishment  of  a  Balloon  Service  for  Postal  Purposes — Novel  Contrivances  in  their  Manufacture — The  "  Spy"  Mania  in  Metz — Capture 
and  Execution  of  a  real  Spy — The  "  Intelligence  Department "  organized  by  the  Germans  to  remove  the  stigma  attached  to  a  Spy — Efforts 
of  the  Metz  Newspapers  to  keep  alive  the  spirits  of  the  Inhabitants — Chief  Events  in  the  City  in  September — The  Relative  Positions  of 
General  Coffinieres  and  Marshal  Bazaine — Organization  of  a  Corps  of  Sharpshooters  for  Dangerous  Service  by  the  French — The  Legion  of 
Honour  refused  on  Two  Occasions — Life  in  the  Besieger's  Camp — General  absence  of  Excitement — Burning  of  Nonilly  by  the  Germans — 
Daring  of  Lieutenant  Hosius  and  Fifteen  Men—  Discovery  of  Underground  Electric  Wires  by  the  Prussians — General  von  Steinmetz  relieved 
of  his  Command,  and  Prince  Frederick  Charles  appointed  sole  commander  of  the  Besieging  Forces — Sortie  and  obstinate  contest  on 
September  22 — Complete  Victory  of  the  Germans — More  serious  Sortie  on  the  24th — Severe  fighting — Fruitless  attempt  of  the  French  to 
Capture  the  village  of  Noisseville — Coolness  of  the  Germans  under  Fire — Successful  Foraging  Expedition  by  the  French  on  September  27 
■ — Fearful  Scene  in  a  Convent — The  Monotonous  Life  within  the  City  and  its  depressing  effects  on  the  Inhabitants — Review  of  the  National 
Guard — Dissatisfaction  at  no  real  attempt  to  break  through  the  Besieging  Army  being  made — Bazaine  thereupon  determines  upon  a 
vigorous  Sortie — The  Battle  of  Maizieres — Ruse  of  the  Germans  at  the  Chateau  of  Ladonchamps — Description  of  the  Country  and  of  the 
German  Positions  between  Maizieres  and  Metz — -The  French  advance  under  the  cover  of  a  dense  fog,  and  succeed  in  capturing  several 
Villages — Fearful  slaughter  in  the  ranks  of  two  German  Landwehr  Regiments,  who  would  neither  Retreat  nor  Surrender — The  French 
succeed  in  carrying  off  a  large  quantity  of  Forage,  but  are  unable  to  maintain  their  Positions — Desperate  and  Bloody  Encounter  in  Storming 
the  Villages  by  the  Germans — Gallant  Cavalry  Charge — Another  Desperate  Fight  at  Norroy — The  Results  of  the  Battle  and  the  Losses  on 
both  Sides — Particulars  of  an  Intrigue  attempted  with  the  view  of  restoring  the  Imperial  Dynasty — General  Bourbaki  leaves  Metz  on  a 
visit  to  the  Empress — The  Inhabitants  of  Metz  anxious  to  Garrison  the  Forts,  so  that  all  the  Military  Forces  should  attempt  a  Sortie  on  a 
Gigantic  Scale — Marshal  Bazaine  declines  to  accede  to  the  Request — The  Provisions  becoming  exhausted — Starvation  or  Surrender? — The 
Measures  taken  to  prevent  such  a  Calamity  are  too  Late — Domestic  Life  and  Prices  in  the  City  in  October — Horse-flesh  the  chief  food — 
Suppression  of  Newspapers  and  Retaliation  of  the  Editors — "  The  Beginning  of  the  End  " — Wholesale  Desertions  from  the  French  Army — 
A  Large  Number  of  the  Inhabitants  also  make  a  fruitless  attempt  to  get  through  the  German  Lines — Proposals  for  Capitulation — Import- 
ant Interview  between  General  Boyer  and  Count  von  Bismarck — General  Coffinieres  declines  to  give  up  the  Fortress — Meeting  of  Genera] 
Changarnier  and  Prince  Frederick  Charles— An  Unconditional  Surrender  demanded  by  the  Germans — Settlement  of  the  Terms  of  Capitu- 
lation, and  Departure  of  part  of  the  German  Troops  for  Paris  —  Proclamation  of  General  Coffinieres  and  General  Order  of  Marshal  Bazaine 
— Excitement  and  Scenes  in  the  City  when  the  truth  became  known— Meeting  of  the  Municipal  Council  for  the  Last  Time  and  Manifesto 
to  their  Fellow  Citizens — General  description  of  the  Scene  presented  by  the  French  laying  down  their  arms  and  marching  into  Captivity, 
and  of  the  Triumphant  Entry  of  the  Germans  into  Metz — Proclamation  of  General  von  Kummer,  the  new  German  Commandant  — The 
terrible  calamity  to  France  involved  in  the  loss  of  Metz — Feeling  in  the  German  Army  at  the  Result — Proclamation  of  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  and  Dispatch  from  the  King  of  Prussia — Reception  of  the  News  throughout  France — Proclamation  of  M.  Gambetta — Bazaine 
unfairly  denounced  as  a  Traitor — An  Impartial  Estimate  of  his  Conduct  and  Proceedings  during  the  Siege. 


THE    SIEGE    AND    CAPITULATION   OF   METZ. 

In  previous  chapters  we  have  given  a  description 
of  the  city  of  Metz  and  its  fortifications,  of  the 
retreat  of  the  French  army  thither  after  the  great 
battles  of  August  16  and  18,  and  of  the  sortie 
made  on  the  31st,  with  the  view  of  assisting  the 
movements  of  MacMahon  in  his  attempt  to  relieve 
Marshal  Bazaine.  In  the  present  chapter  it  is  pro- 
posed to  relate  the  chief  incidents  of  the  siege,  from 
the  close  of  August  to  the  date  of  the  capitulation 
of  the  city  on  October  27. 

As  the  record  of  the  siege  of  Strassburg  shows, 
the  German  armies  were  exceedingly  well  supplied 
with  all  the  necessary  means  for  carrying  on  such 


operations,  and  their  superior  officers  excelled  in 
scientific  and  professional  attainments.  But,  even 
with  the  immense  matvriel  and  resources  at  their 
command,  they  could  not  repeat  before  the  great 
Moselle  stronghold  the  process  by  which  Strassburg 
was  reduced.  The  fortifications  of  Metz  were  of 
enormous  extent  and  strength,  and  on  the  outbreak 
of  war  its  natural  position,  so  admirably  fitted  for 
resistance,  had  been  further  strengthened  by 
trenches,  new  forts,  bastions,  and  earthworks.  To 
such  extent,  indeed,  had  the  fortress  been  rendered 
impregnable,  that  to  attempt  to  storm  it  would  have 
been  madness.  The  actual  works  of  Metz  could 
not  be  attacked,  nor  the  city  approached  sufficiently 
near  to  render  bombardment  possible,  without  first 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


99 


carrying  strong  detached  works,  which  were  pro- 
tected by  heavy  guns  on  the  heights,  and  could  not 
be  held  or  even  passed  without  a  heavy  sacrifice 
of  lives.  The  frightful  price  at  which  the  recent 
victories  of  Vionville  and  Gravelotte  were  won,  had 
induced  the  king  to  issue  an  order  that  further 
effusion  of  blood  should  be  spared  ;  and  as  it  was 
considered  that  the  complete  blockade  of  Metz 
must,  sooner  or  later,  answer  the  purpose  of  the 
Germans,  it  was  resolved  so  to  invest  the  city  as  to 
render  any  further  sortie  from  the  fortress  a  forlorn 
hope  indeed. 

For  this  purpose  a  treble  cordon  of  investment 
was  thrown  around  the  place  ;  every  village  through 
which  these  lines  passed  being  strongly  fortified, 
its  streets  barricaded,  its  houses  loopholed,  and 
every  wall  that  could  shelter  a  man  or  gun  con- 
verted into  a  rough  and  ready  fortification.  At 
intervals  in  the  first  line  were  earthwork  batteries, 
surrounded  by  rifle-pits  and  trenches,  each  battery 
having  ten  12-pounder  brass  guns,  capable  of 
throwing  shells  of  between  twenty-three  and 
twenty-four  German  pounds  weight.  The  batteries 
in  the  second  line,  laid  out  in  the  same  manner, 
commanded  the  several  military  roads.  Beyond  as 
well  as  between  these  lines,  the  trees  were  felled 
and  the  fields  lined  with  rifle-pits  and  trenches. 
Outposts  and  sentries  were  placed  so  closely,  that 
it  was  hardly  possible  to  escape  without  notice  ; 
and  strong  patrols  passing  from  point  to  point  kept 
up  constant  communication.  The  foreposts,  forming 
the  first  line,  lay  either  in  single  houses  well  for- 
tified by  entrenchments  and  barricades,  or  in  the 
field,  behind  earthworks  of  no  inconsiderable  mag- 
nitude. The  next  line,  the  feldwaehts  ("  field- 
watches  "),  occupied  woods  or  the  gardens  of 
chateaux,  and  comprised  about  two  companies  each, 
which  rested,  arms  in  hand,  ready  for  a  sortie  at 
any  moment.  In  front  of  these,  and  within  easy 
shot  of  a  Chassepot  from  the  French  ramparts, 
were  the  single  sentries.  The  soldiers  remained 
a  week  in  the  most  advanced  line ;  then  they 
retired,  and  the  line  behind  took  their  places, 
thus  giving  a  change  of  position,  and  at  the 
same  time  a  change  of  duties.  In  the  third 
line  the  qui  vive,  or  look  out,  was  easy,  and 
the  men  got  more  rest.  Near  the  foreposts,  at 
intervals,  were  the  Prussian  beacons,  made  of 
bitumen,  placed  on  long  poles  and  covered  with 
straw,  so  that  they  looked  not  unlike  poplar  trees, 
which  are  so  common  in  France.     All  round  the 


Prussian  lines,  at  almost  every  half  mile  or  so, 
two  of  these  were  placed;  and  their  purpose  was 
to  give  an  alarm  in  case  of  a  night  attack.  By 
lighting  one,  the  exact  direction  of  the  attack 
could  be  indicated  to  the  troops  around,  and  it 
would  serve  as  a  guide  by  which  they  could  move 
forward  to  the  rescue.  There  were  guards  at  each 
beacon,  and  a  small  wooden  hut,  in  which  were 
kept  the  means  of  lighting  up. 

Two  observatories  were  erected:  one  at  Mercy  - 
le-Haut,  the  other,  which  was  the  principal,  near 
Corny,  the  German  headquarters.  A  very  favour- 
able point  for  the  purpose  was  here  obtained  in  St. 
Blaise,  an  old  ruin  situate  on  the  top  of  a  hill, 
nearly  facing  Fort  St.  Quentin,  and  having  to  its 
left  Fort  St.  Privat,  the  village  of  Jouy,  and  the 
Moselle  at  the  foot  of  the  hill.  From  this  point  a 
magnificent  view  could  be  had  of  the  picturesque 
valley  of  the  Upper  Moselle,  everywhere  dotted 
with  rich  vineyards,  sheltering  woods,  villages  and 
hamlets,  suggestive  of  anything  rather  than  of  war. 
Yet  each  of  these  quiet,  dreamy-looking  villages  was 
but  a  link  in  the  fatal*  chain  drawn  around  the 
maiden  fortress  ;-all  nooks  and  corners  being  filled 
with  troops  who  turned  everything  to  account  in 
strengthening  their  defensive  position.  The  walls 
of  each  house  were  pierced  with  several  rows  of 
loopholes  for  musketry;  and  the  garden  walls, 
likewise,  were  "  crenellated,"  or  notched  with 
indentations  at  the  top,  like  battlements,  through 
which  the  barrel  of  a  rifle  could  be  pointed 
at  the  foe  outside.  All  the  trees  and  bushes 
around  the  houses  were  cut  down  to  deprive  the 
approaching  enemy  of  cover;  the  roads  were  barri- 
caded with  trunks  and  branches  of  trees,  to  pre- 
vent cavalry  or  artillery  from  coming  near;  and 
trenches  were  dug  to  form  a  covered  way  for  the 
defenders  of  the  post,  from  house  to  house,  and 
from  village  to  village. 

From  St.  Blaise  the  besiegers  had  a  view  of  the 
entire  town  and  environs  of  Metz,  and,  by  a  power- 
ful telescope  mounted  in  the  observatory,  could  see 
every  movement  of  the  French  army.  Concentrated 
here  were  the  telegraphic  wires,  which  ran  in  an 
unbroken  circle  round  the  beleaguered  town,  and 
by  which  the  Germans  could  at  a  moment's  notice 
convey  intelligence  to  any  army  corps,  or  order 
movements  of  concentration  on  any  threatened  point 
from  a  score  of  different  directions.  They  could  thus 
in  fifteen  minutes  collect  8000  men  upon  any  spot, 
and  on  more  than  one  occasion,  when  the  assembly 


100 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


was  sounded,  a  force  of  22,000,  consisting  of  every 
branch  of  the  service,  was,  within  twenty-eight 
minutes,  in  full  marching  order,  ready  to  proceed 
to  the  front.  In  every  village  notices  were  issued 
that  the  German  authorities  would  hold  the  inhab- 
itants responsible  for  damage  done  to  the  telegraphic 
wires  ;  and  that  this  was  no  idle  threat  is  attested 
by  the  fact,  that  the  people  of  one  of  them  were  fined 
in  the  sum  of  200,000  francs  for  the  destruction  of 
the  wires  in  its  vicinity. 

From  the  commanding  position  of  St.  Blaise  the 
line  of  French  outposts  could  easily  be  traced.* 
Starting  from  Bevoye,  Magny,  in  front  of  Montigny, 
and  from  Moulin-les-Metz,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Moselle,  it  ran  in  the  direction  of  St.  Hubert,  be- 
tween St.  Ruffine  and  Chazells;  from  this  point,  in 
front  of  Sey,  right  under  Mont  St.  Quentin,  as  far 
as  Lessy ;  then  taking  a  bend  northwards  by  Plap- 
peville  to  Devant  les  Ponts,  and  thence  to  Vig- 
neulles  and  Woippy.  The  first  German  forepost  on 
the  right  of  the  observatory  was  in  the  village  of 
Peltre;  next  to  that,  La  Papetrie;  nearer  to  the  Mo- 
selle and  closer  to  Metz  was  the  outpost  of  Frescaty. 
From  Frescaty  the  fine  ran  backward  slightly  to 
the  Moselle,  a  little  in  front  of  Ars-sur-Moselle.  On 
the  slope  on  the  western  side  of  the  river  there  was 
a  forepost  at  Vaux,  a  village  in  the  middle  of  that 
gloomy  forest  the  glades  of  which  were  checkered 
with  so  many  graves  of  the  dead  who  fell  at  Grave- 
lotte.  Thence  for  a  space  the  foreposts  lay  among 
the  mementoes  of  the  slaughter  of  that  day.  That 
at  Chatel  St.  Germain  was  on  the  fringe  of  the 
plateau  which  was  the  closing  scene  of  that  des- 
perate struggle  on  the  18th  of  August.  From  St. 
Germain  the  intrenched  line  ran  across  the  plateau 
to  Saulny,  thence  by  Semecourt  down  into  the 
alluvial  plain  on  the  west  of  the  Moselle  to  the 
north  of  Fort  St.  Eloy,  and  thence  due  east  to  the 
river's  brink.  Not  only  was  it  possible  from  Mont 
St.  Blaise  to  see  the  positions  of  the  respective  fore- 
posts  and  their  supports,  but  also  the  lines  where 
Bazaine's  army,  as  distinguished  from  the  garrison 
proper  of  the  fortress  of  Metz,  in  divers  camps  was 
disposed.  These  occupied  the  suburbs  in  every 
direction,  under  the  protection  of  the  outworks 
of  St.  Quentin,  Plappeville,  St.  Julien,  Queleu, 
and  Montigny.  In  the  space  so  environed,  and 
outside  Metz,   the  French  had  in  all   four  great 

*  The  reader  who  wishes  to  obtain  a  clearer  impression  of  the  Ger- 
man positions  than  it  is  possible  to  convey  in  a  written  description, 
should  compare  this  with  the  Battle  Plans  of  Courcelles,  Vionville,  and 
Gravelotte,  in  which  nearly  all  the  places  here  named  are  shown. 


lagers  or  camps.  The  first  and  probably  the 
largest  was  on  the  slope  of  Mont  St.  Quentin, 
looking  toward  St.  Blaise,  where  the  rows  of  tents 
athwart  the  slope,  and  past  the  village  of  Sey, 
stretched  almost  down  to  Chazells.  Another, 
beginning  at  Longeville,  a  village  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Moselle,  in  a  line  between  St.  Quentin 
and  Metz,  straggled  up  the  river  margin,  first  to 
St.  Martin,  where  Bazaine  had  his  headquarters, 
and  on  to  the  north  as  far  as  Devant  les  Ponts. 
A  third  great  camp  was  in  front  of  St.  Julien, 
towards  Vauloux,  Vallieres;  and  the  fourth  was 
around  Borny  and  Grigy.  Besides  these  camps, 
there  were  two  great  collections  of  sick — one  on 
the  esplanade  in  front  of  the  cathedral  at  Metz, 
and  along  the  river  brink,  and  the  other  on  the 
island  of  Saulcy. 

Between  the  foreposts  of  the  two  armies  a  toler- 
ably genial  feeling  prevailed  until  September  28, 
when,  after  a  small  engagement,  a  wounded  Prus- 
sian officer  was  found  robbed  and  mutilated  in  a 
most  barbarous  way.  On  one  occasion  a  note  was 
left  under  a  stone,  addressed  to  the  French  officer 
in  command  of  the  foreposts,  and  requesting  a 
bottle  of  champagne  for  the  Prussian  forepost 
officer.  At  the  next  round  the  Prussian  patrol 
found  the  bottle  of  champagne,  along  with  a 
request  for  a  small  piece  of  salt,  which,  of  course, 
was  granted.  The  completeness  of  the  forepost 
system  was  a  marked  feature  of  the  Prussian  army, 
and  one  of  the  leading  causes  of  its  success.  At 
night  the  feldwacht  advanced  to  the  post  occupied 
during  the  day  by  the  furthest  outlying  sentry. 
Here  it  broke  right  and  left  into  small  pickets, 
leaving  a  strong  nucleus  in  the  centre.  The  front, 
at  a  distance  of  two  or  three  hundred  yards,  was 
occasionally  traversed  by  cavalry  patrols,  who  some- 
times rode  right  in  among  sleeping  Frenchmen, 
whose  system  of  night  vigilance  was  far  from 
perfect.  Then  there  was  a  pistol  shot  and  round 
of  bootless  Chassepot  firing  in  the  dark ;  the  daring 
horseman  dashing  out  through  the  French  back  to 
his  supports.  At  times,  and  especially  after  the 
incident  above  aUuded  to,  considerable  asperity 
was  shown  between  the  respective  advanced 
parties.  A  strict  order  was  issued  by  the  Prus- 
sian authorities  against  firing  at  small  detached 
groups ;  but  a  single  man  could  not  show  himself 
without  a  volley  from  the  French.  Not  an  uncom- 
mon amusement  of  the  besiegers  was  to  expose  a 
hat,  which  was  speedily  riddled.     The  long  range 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


101 


of  the  Chassepot  gave  the  French  a  decided  advan- 
tage in  this  kind  of  play ;  but  ere  long  the  Prussian 
foreposts  were  also  supplied  with  those  weapons,  a 
considerable  number  of  which  had  fallen  into  Ger- 
man hands;  indeed,  one  regiment  (the  thirty-fifth^) 
was  entirely  armed  with  them. 

During  the  first  days  of  September  there  was 
absolute  repose  in  Metz.  The  marshal  and  the 
army,  ignorant  of  the  doings  without,  knew 
nothing  of  the  fate  of  MacMahon.  For  his  army, 
however,  they  confidently  anticipated  success,  and 
daily  expected  to  see  their  brothers  in  arms,  vic- 
torious over  the  foe,  approaching  towards  the 
walls,  with  the  welcome  message  of  relief.  But 
on  the  4th  September  the  German  camp  and 
villages  around  became  more  than  commonly  ani- 
mated. The  Prussian  soldier  seemed  to  have 
thrown  off  his  usually  stolid  air  ;  stout  sergeants 
were  ardently  embracing  one  another;  privates 
throwing  their  caps  into  the  air,  and  shouting  like 
maniacs;  Frenchmen,  gathered  together  in  little 
knots,  talked  and  gesticulated  vehemently  ;  and 
hussars  and  mounted  officers  were  galloping  about 
in  every  direction.  All  this  extraordinary  excite- 
ment was  caused  by  the  following  official  bulletin 
from  the  king  of  Prussia,  which  was  here  and 
there  read  aloud  from  newspapers  to  astonished 
groups: — "This  day,  September  1,  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Sedan,  Marshal  MacMahon  has  sur- 
rendered himself  and  the  French  army  of  80,000 
men  to  the  Crown  Prince.  His  Majesty  the 
Emperor  of  the  French  has  also  given  himself  up 
as  a  prisoner  of  war."  A  few  days  later  a  flag  of 
truce,  accompanied  by  General  Wimpffen,  who 
had  assumed  the  command  of  the  army  when  Mac- 
Mahon was  disabled  by  his  wounds,  conveyed  into 
Metz  the  disastrous  news  of  the  annihilation  of 
the  forces  which  had  been  destined  for  its  relief. 
A  request  was  at  the  same  time  made  to  Bazaine 
to  surrender  the  city  without  further  bloodshed. 
His  answer  was  that  he  did  not  believe  the  report, 
that  he  should  hold  Metz  to  the  last,  and  that,  if 
the  Prussians  wanted  it,  they  must  come  and  take 
it.  The  news  was  indeed  regarded  as  a  device  of 
the  Germans  for  obtaining  easy  possession  of  the 
greatest  stronghold  of  France,  and  was  not  believed, 
even  when  both  French  and  German  newspapers 
were  received,  containing  detailed  accounts  of  the 
capitulation.  The  hopes  thus  cherished,  however, 
soon  received  a  crushing  blow.  In  the  August 
battles  around  Metz  the  French  had  captured  about 


750  Prussians;  but  judging  that  he  might  require 
all  the  provender  of  Metz  for  his  own  army, 
Bazaine  turned  out  those  prisoners  directly  after 
the  failure  of  the  sortie  of  August  31.  The 
courtesy  of  war  demanded  that  a  like  number  of 
French  should  be  returned,  but  just  then  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  had  no  prisoners,  having  sent 
them  all  off  to  Germany.  On  September  9,  how- 
ever, 750  men,  chosen  from  different  regiments 
taken  at  Sedan,  were  sent  into  the  town,  bearing 
only  too  palpable  evidence  to  the  tale  of  France's 
humiliation.  With  such  corroboration  there  were 
few  French  soldiers  or  citizens  in  Metz  so  sceptical 
as  not  to  believe,  or  so  light-hearted  as  not  to 
mourn,  the  dismal  tidings.  The  Orleanist  sym- 
pathies of  portions  of  the  army,  and  the  republican 
leanings  of  others,  were  soon  made  manifest,  while 
the  guards  appeared  to  be  the  only  troops  who 
were  decidedly  imperialist.  Bazaine  counselled 
and  maintained  a  dead  silence;  but  General  Coffi- 
nieres  issued  within  the  city  the  following  pro- 
clamation : — 

"  Inhabitants  of  Metz, — We  have  read  in  a 
German  journal — the  Gazette  de  la  Croix — the 
very  sad  news  of  the  fate  of  a  French  army  crushed 
by  the  numbers  of  its  enemies  after  a  three  days' 
struggle  under  the  walls  of  Sedan.  This  journal 
also  announces  the  establishment  of  a  new  govern- 
ment by  the  representatives  of  the  country.  We 
have  no  other  evidence  of  these  events ;  but  we  are 
not  able  to  contradict  this. 

"  In  these  very  grave  circumstances  our  only 
thoughts  should  be  for  France.  The  duty  of  each 
one  of  us,  whether  as  simple  citizens  or  as  officers, 
is  to  remain  at  our  posts,  and  to  vie  with  each 
other  in  defending  Metz.  In  this  solemn  moment, 
France,  our  country,  is  summed  up  for  each 
one  of  us  in  the  word  Metz !  that  city  which  has 
so  many  times  before  successfully  resisted  our 
country's  foe. 

"  Your  patriotism,  of  which  you  have  already 
given  such  proofs  by  your  care  for  our  wounded 
soldiers,  will  never  fail.  By  your  resistance  you 
will  make  yourselves  honoured  and  respected,  even 
by  your  enemies.  The  memory  of  the  deeds  of 
your  ancestors  will  sustain  you  in  the  coming 
struggle. 

"  The  army  which  is  about  our  walls,  and  which 
has  already  shown  its  valour  and  its  heroism  in 
the  combats  of  Borny,  Gravelotte,  and  Servigny, 


102 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR 


will  not  leave  you.  With  you  it  will  resist  the 
enemy  which  surrounds  us,  and  this  resistance 
will  give  the  government  time  to  create  the  means 
of  saving  France — of  saving  our  country. 

"  L.  COFFINIEEES, 
"  General  of  Division,  Commandant  of  Metz. 
"  PAUL  ODENT, 
"  Prefect  of  the  Moselle. 
"  FELIX  MAEECHAL, 
"  Mayor  of  Metz. 
"  Metz,  September  13,  1870." 

The  result  of  Bazaine's  persistent  silence  was  that 
the  army  felt  angry  at  not  receiving  any  official 
information  of  that  with  respect  to  which  the 
town  was  informed;  and  on  the  16th  the  marshal 
felt  compelled  to  issue  an  order  of  the  day,  stating 
that,  according  to  two  French  journals  brought 
in  by  a  prisoner  who  had  made  his  escape,  the 
emperor  had  been  interned  in  Germany  after  the 
battle  of  Sedan,  that  the  empress  and  the  prince 
imperial  had  quitted  Paris  on  the  4th,  and  that 
"  an  executive  power,  under  the  title  of  the  Govern- 
ment for  National  Defence,"  had  "  constituted 
itself"  in  Paris.  The  names  of  its  members  were 
then  given,  and  the  marshal  continued: — "  Gene- 
rals, officers,  and  soldiers  of  the  army  of  the 
Rhine,  our  military  obligation  towards  the  country 
in  danger  remains  the  same.  Let  us  continue 
then  to  serve  it  with  devotion,  and  with  equal 
energy  defend  its  territory  from  the  stranger  and 
social  order  against  evil  passions.  I  am  convinced 
that  your  morale,  of  which  you  have  already  given 
such  proof,  will  rise  to  the  height  of  the  circum- 
stances, and  that  you  will  add  new  claims  to  the 
admiration  of  France."  The  announcement  was 
a  good  deal  criticized,  and  political  factions  of  all 
shades  of  opinion  started  up,  and  reviled  each 
other  with  the  utmost  heartiness  from  day  to  day. 
In  other  respects  within  the  town  the  days  passed 
wearily  by,  cold  and  wet,  and  signalized  by  few 
events.  The  gates  of  the  town  were  only  opened 
two  hours  in  the  morning,  between  six  and  eight, 
and  two  in  the  evening,  between  five  and  seven. 
If  any  of  the  beleaguered  inhabitants  got  out 
within  three  or  four  miles  in  any  direction  they 
reached  the  Prussian  outpost,  which  cut  off  the 
chance  either  of  return  or  of  further  progress, 
and  such  outside  rambles  were,  therefore,  generally 


avoided.  One  event  which  occurred,  however, 
gave  unfeigned  delight  to  the  citizens,  namely, 
the  establishment  of  a  means  of  communication 
with  the  outer  world.  The  discovery  of  an  old 
balloon,  which  had  done  the  French  good  service 
eighty  years  before,  suggested  to  Mr.  Robinson, 
the  besieged  correspondent  of  the  Manchester 
Guardian  (and  to  whose  "Fall  of  Metz"  we  are 
indebted  for  many  incidents  in  this  chapter), 
that  balloons  might  be  used  for  communicating 
with  the  provinces  on  the  present  occasion.  Mr. 
Robinson  soon  found  himself  installed  as  balloon 
manufacturer -in -chief,  assisted,  and  sometimes 
hampered,  by  Colonel  Goulier,  of  the  Military 
Engineering  College,  and  Captain  Schultz,  the 
inventor  of  the  mitrailleuse.  An  "  aerostatic  post " 
was  opened,  and  the  first  balloon  manulactured  after 
a  world  of  pains.  It  was  fashioned  out  of  the  ordinary 
white  lining  paper  used  by  paper  stainers,  and  on 
being  experimentally  inflated  with  lighted  straw, 
after  the  primitive  method  of  Montgolfier  (lor  the 
stock  of  coal  in  the  city  was  too  small  to  allow  of 
gas  being  used),  was  found  to  succeed  extremely 
well.  Admiration  at  its  graceful  proportions  was 
being  expressed  on  all  hands,  when  one  of  the 
workmen,  in  his  delight  at  the  success,  shouldered 
a  ladder  in  a  manner  rather  more  triumphant  than 
usual,  and  accidentally  sent  the  end  of  it  straight 
through  into  the  machine,  which  of  course  col- 
lapsed. It  therefore  became  necessary  to  produce 
another,  and  on  the  15th  of  September  the  first 
balloon  was  launched.  It  carried  8000  letters, 
fastened  in  an  india-rubber  cloth,  and  accompanied 
by  a  notice,  promising  a  reward  of  100  francs  to 
any  one  who,  finding  the  packet,  and  taking  it  to 
the  nearest  post-office,  or  to  the  mayor  of  the  com- 
mune, should  there  obtain  a  receipt  for  it.  The  bal- 
loon first  went  nearly  due  south,  in  the  direction  of 
Vesoul  and  Besancon,  at  the  rate  of  about  nearly 
thirty  miles  an  hour.  Several  others  were  then 
made,  either  of  thin  paper  lined  with  muslin,  or  of 
cotton  cloth,  the  ordinary  "  Manchester  goods,"  of 
which  there  was  then  a  fair  stock  in  Metz.  Both 
were  inflated  with  atmospheric  air,  by  means  of  a 
huge  fan  bellows.  The  cloth  balloon  was  made 
by  Captain  Schultz.  It  was  heavier  and  stronger 
than  those  made  of  paper,  and  could  therefore 
carry  a  greater  number  of  letters.  It  took  up  a 
freight  of  45,000  letters ;  but,  after  rising  to  an 
immense  height,  it  slowly  descended,  was  fired  at 
by  the  Prussians,  and  fell  .vithin  their  lines.     The 


THE  FRANCO -PRUSSIAN  WAR 


103 


cause  of  this  failure  was  never  ascertained;  but  it 
had  the  effect  of  discrediting  the  captain,  who  was 
not  allowed  to  make  another  trial,  though,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Kobinson,  his  idea  was  a  very  good  one. 

Nevertheless,  the  aerostatic  plan  was  not  aban- 
doned. The  worthy  Englishman  and  his  assistants 
still  kept  working  away,  building  paper  balloons, 
improving  each  one,  and  ended  by  adding  an 
hydraulic  apparatus  to  serve  as  an  automatic  ballast, 
and  so  correct  the  too  rapid  ascent  and  the  loss  of 
gas  by  the  sudden  expansion  thus  created.  This 
hydraulic  ballast  consisted  of  a  flask  holding  about 
two  litres  of  water;  its  neck  was  corked  and  turned 
downwards,  and  two  glass  tubes,  a  long  one  and 
a  short  one,  were  inserted  in  it.  The  long  one 
admitted  the  air,  the  short  one  emitted  the  water, 
and  the  gradual  leakage  thus  created  corrected  the 
sudden  ascensional  power  of  the  balloons.  To  one 
balloon  was  appended  a  couple  of  carrier  pigeons, 
with  a  notice  attached  to  their  cage  offering  a 
supplementary  reward  of  another  100  francs  for 
any  one  who  would  send  them  back  with  news  of 
the  outer  world.  Poor  birds  !  their  fate  was  a  pie. 
The  balloon  was  captured  by  a  distant  band  of 
Prussians,  who  ate  the  pigeons,  and  sent  word  back 
by  a  parlementaire  that  they  were  both  welcome 
and  tender. 

The  spy  mania  reached  Metz,  and  arrests  were 
of  every-day  occurrence,  but  as  they  generally 
turned  out  mistakes  they  ceased  to  excite  atten- 
tion. That  a  large  number  of  spies  entered  and 
left  the  city  with  impunity  there  is  no  doubt,  for 
it  subsequently  appeared  that  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  was  kept  thoroughly  informed  of  every- 
thing that  passed,  even  to  the  deliberations  of  the 
French  councils  of  war.  On  one  occasion  a  spy  rode 
right  through  the  place  in  the  uniform  of  a  sous- 
intendant,  asking  all  sorts  of  questions  about  the 
supplies,  and  only  betraying  himself  by  inquiring 
where  the  bread  for  the  army  was  baked.  Such  a 
question  on  the  part  of  a  commissariat  officer  so 
utterly  astonished  the  gendarme  to  whom  it  was 
put,  that  before  he  could  reply  the  clever  Prussian 
saw  the  tell-tale  mistake  he  had  made,  and  de- 
camped. Orders  were  sent  round  to  all  the  gates 
to  let  no  sous-intendant  out  that  night  without 
strict  examination,  and  those  of  them  who  hap- 
pened to  be  in  the  town  had  to  prove  that  they 
were  what  they  professed  to  be,  before  they  were 
permitted  to  join  their  quarters;  but  the  spy  was  a 
great  deal  too  clever  for  the  gendarmes,  and  pro- 


bably rode  out  as  a  mounted  gendarme,  perhaps 
arresting  an  actual  sous-intendant  on  the  way. 
Early  in  August,  one  real  spy  was  caught  and 
shot  in  the  fosse,  a  more  honourable  fate  than  he 
deserved;  for  he  took  pay  from  both  sides,  and 
probably  served  neither.  The  French,  indeed, 
attributed  their  disaster  at  Woerth  to  the  intelli- 
gence he  gave  the  Prussians;  but  every  disaster 
was  attributed  to  a  like  cause.  This  man,  named 
Nicholas  Schull,  would  seem  to  have  been  a  person 
of  intelligence  and  fortitude.  A  Hungarian  by 
birth,  a  scion  of  the  noble  house  of  Degelmann, 
educated  in  Vienna,  a  naturalized  American,  who 
had  long  dwelt  in  Mexico  as  a  partisan  of  the 
Emperor  Maximilian,  from  whom  he  received  the 
decorations  of  the  order  of  Guadaloupe,  he  had  seen 
much  of  the  world  and  its  ways.  He  was  captured 
on  the  night  of  the  10th  of  August,  on  the  rail- 
way, while  surveying  the  new  earthworks  which 
were  in  course  of  being  raised  in  every  direction 
to  strengthen  the  already  strong  fortress  of  Metz. 
It  seemed  that  about  the  19th  of  July  he  was 
presented  to  General  Ducrot  at  Strassburg,  an- 
nouncing himself  as  the  sworn  enemy  of  Prussia, 
and  as  equally  the  sworn  friend  of  France.  With- 
out much  hesitation  or  inquiry  his  services  were 
accepted.  On  the  21st  he  left  Strassburg  and  re- 
turned on  the  26th,  with  an  amount  of  information 
which  induced  the  general  to  give  him  800  francs, 
in  German  cash,  with  which  to  enter  the  Prussian 
camp  and  carry  out  his  object.  From  that  time 
until  his  arrest  the  French  military  authorities  saw 
nothing  of  him.  That  he  did  visit  the  Prussian 
camp  is  certain;  for  on  his  arrest  there  was  found 
on  him  a  laisser  passer  from  Soleski,  the  quarter- 
master general  of  the  Prussian  army  at  Mayence, 
and  dated  the  6th  of  August,  requiring  all  military 
authorities  to  let  him  go  where  and  when  he 
would.  With  his  appointment  from  General 
Ducrot,  and  this  from  General  Soleski,  he  had  the 
entire  run  of  both  armies.  With  characteristic 
sagacity  the  Prussian  army  had  organized  an 
"  intelligence  department,"  with  different  grades, 
promotions,  and  good  pay.  By  this  means  the 
reproach  associated  with  espionage  was  taken  away, 
and  a  man  of  patriotic  enthusiasm  and  a  taste 
for  adventure  might  enter  such  service  without 
necessarily  exposing  himself  to  the  contempt  with 
which  the  spy  is  commonly  regarded.  When 
arrested,  there  was  found  on  Schull  the  medal 
carried  by  all  the  Prussian  spies,  to  be  produced 


104 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR 


as  a  voucher  of  their  being  enrolled  in  the  intel- 
ligence department.  This  and  1000  francs  in  gold 
were  quite  enough  to  convict  hirn  without  the 
laisser  passer,  which,  strange  to  say,  was  written, 
not  in  German,  but  in  French.  The  council  of 
war,  after  a  few  minutes'  deliberation,  condemned 
him  to  death.  Half  an  hour's  walk  through  the 
town  amidst  a  drizzling  rain,  at  five  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  brought  him  to  the  fosse  of  the  citadel, 
where  in  a  few  minutes  he  stoically  met  his  fate. 

The  Metz  newspapers  did  their  best  to  keep 
alive  the  spark  of  hope  in  the  breasts  of  the 
citizens,  by  informing  them  that  the  latest  arrivals 
from  Prussia  were  the  landsturm,  old  men  more 
affected  by  rheumatism  than  by  desire  of  military 
glory;  that  in  the  ranks  around  the  town  dysen- 
tery prevailed;  and  in  a  few  more  days  the  be- 
siegers would  cry  for  quarter.  For  publishing  the 
effective  of  the  army  of  Metz  one  journal  was 
suppressed  on  September  6.  Three  days  after 
another  informed  the  public  that  "  Italy,  Austria, 
and  Denmark,  for  reasons  easy  to  comprehend,  are 
hastening  to  our  side,  in  order  to  profit  by  our 
certain  victory."  There  followed  an  urgent  appeal 
to  stop  the  church  bells,  which  were  tolling  all 
day  in  honour  of  the  dead,  and  terrifying  the 
living.  On  the  10th  there  were  13,500  wounded 
and  sick  in  the  hospitals,  and  1500  in  private 
houses.  On  the  11th  an  order  was  issued  by 
Marshal  Bazaine  that  private  persons  should  reserve 
from  their  stores  thirty  days'  forage,  and  give  up 
the  surplus,  to  be  paid  for.  On  the  13th  the  water 
of  the  fountain  upon  the  Esplanade  became  cor- 
rupted by  washing  in  it  the  dirty  linen  of  the 
wounded  ;  a  circumstance  the  more  unfortunate 
as  the  inhabitants  were  now  compelled  to  drink 
veritable  Eau  de  Moselle,  the  Prussians  having  cut 
off"  the  water  supply  at  Gorze.  On  the  15  th  all 
the  grain  in  the  city  was  ordered  to  be  brought 
into  a  common  stock.  On  the  15th  V Independant 
reported  a  decree  of  the  town  council  for  extracting 
salt  from  the  tanneries.  Horseflesh  was  now  rising 
to  a  degree  which  caused  anxiety,  although  the 
military  administration  undertook  to  deliver  some 
horses  to  the  city  daily.  Prices  were  fixed  at  from 
sixpence  to  one  shilling  and  threepence  the  kilo- 
gramme. A  line  of  rails  was  carried  from  the 
station  into  the  Place  Boyale,  the  area  of  which 
was  turned  to  account  by  railway  carriages  being 
converted  into  ambulances.  Later  in  the  month  a 
saline  spring  was  found,  from  which  the  inhabitants 


were  allowed  to  fetch  water,  and  vine  tendrils  were 
recommended  for  forage.  Mock  telegrams  were 
issued  from  time  to  time,  one  of  which,  from  King 
William  to  the  queen,  may  serve  as  a  specimen : — 
"  Thank  God  for  our  astonishing  victory  ;  our 
losses  are  enormous  ;  the  enemy  displays  prodigies 
of  valour ;  two  regiments  have  twice,  like  a  hurri- 
cane, traversed  the  ranks  of  our  army."  Among 
other  grim  facetiousness  at  times  attempted  in  the 
same  paper,  the  cattle  market  report  of  September  19 
bristled  with  columns  of  ciphers,  the  only  animals 
for  sale  being  nineteen  pigs.  The  Prussians, 
having  opened  depots  in  the  surrounding  villages 
to  supply  the  inhabitants,  were  requested  to  open 
some  in  Metz,  where  they  would  get  good  prices. 
On  September  28  appeared  an  order  from  General 
Coffinieres,  prohibiting  the  sale  of  the  new  vintage 
as  unwholesome,  and  announcing  a  distribution 
three  days  a  week  of  horseflesh  for  the  poor.  Early 
in  September  the  papers  published  an  address  from 
Bazaine  to  his  army,  telling  them  not  to  be  down- 
cast, still  less  to  give  way  to  disaffection,  as  in  a 
few  weeks  he  would  turn  the  tables  on  the  Prus- 
sians by  taking  the  larger  proportion  of  their  guns 
and  great  store  of  their  provisions.  In  the  mean- 
time he  enjoined  vigilance  and  alertness,  and  in- 
structed his  officers  to  study  the  writings  of  the 
Archduke  Charles  and  Frederick  the  Great,  and 
the  History  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  to  learn 
how  to  conduct  the  defence  of  a  fortress.  It  is 
impossible  to  avoid  thinking  that,  had  the  officers 
received  a  proper  military  education,  there  would 
have  been  little  need  for  counselling  them  to  "  read 
up "  now  when  the  pinch  had  come. 

Considerable  unpleasantness  sometimes  arose 
from  the  relative  positions  of  Bazaine,  as  the  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  army,  and  General  Coffin- 
ieres, as  commandant- in-chief  of  the  town  of  Metz. 
Their  functions  often  clashed,  and  they  were 
divided  in  their  opinions.  This  they  had  in  com- 
mon, that  both  knew  the  city  well,  Bazaine  having 
been  born  on  the  hills  which  surround  it,  and 
Coffinieres  having  not  only  been  a  pupil  of  th.eEcole 
d!  Application  du  Genie  a  VArtillerie  in  the  town 
— the  one  great  military  engineering  school  of 
France — but  also  for  many  years  a  resident  in 
Metz  itself.  General  Coffinieres  was  about  some 
sixty-three  or  sixty-four  years  of  age,  a  large-built, 
kind-hearted  man,  but  of  no  great  vigour  of  mind. 
Like  most  officers  of  engineers  and  artillery,  his 
political   proclivities   were   towards   republicanism 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


105 


rather  than  imperialism.  Under  the  imperial 
rule  artillery  and  engineering  officers  in  France 
were  not  generally  intrusted  with  high  commands, 
and  many  of  them  were  thus  of  republican  ten- 
dencies. General  Coffinieres  presented  no  excep- 
tion to  the  rule,  save  that  promotion  had  naturally 
modified  his  dissatisfaction  with  the  imperial  rigime. 
Appointed  commandant  by  the  emperor  himself, 
and  responsible  only  to  him,  he  was  supreme 
within  the  town  and  the  detached  forts,  but  beyond 
that  he  had  no  power.  Strictly  speaking,  Bazaine 
had  nothing  to  do  with  the  defence  of  Metz.  No 
legislator  on  military  matters  could  ever  suppose 
that  a  commander-in-chief  would  exhibit  so  little 
knowledge  of  the  art  of  war  as  to  leave  perma- 
nently inactive  before  a  fortified  town  a  large 
army,  whose  active  force  neutralized  the  passive 
force  of  the  fortifications.  This  strong  fortress, 
instead  of  serving  as  the  refuge  for  a  small  body 
of  men,  who  by  the  aid  of  scientific  engineering 
multiplied  their  force,  became  smothered  by  the 
number  of  friends  which  surrounded  it,  and  who 
consumed  those  provisions  in  a  few  weeks  which 
would  have  sustained  an  ample  garrison  for  many 
months.  Under  these  circumstances  no  provision 
had  been  made  for  the  presence  of  a  commander- 
in-chief  of  an  army  in  the  field  at  the  council 
of  defence,  which,  as  stated  in  chapter  xxx.  of  the 
"  Reglement  du  13  October,  1863,"  the  last  statutes 
of  war  of  the  French  army,  consisted  of  the 
commandant-in-chief  of  the  place  (commandant 
supdrieur),  the  commandant  of  the  place,  the  com- 
mandant of  artillery,  the  chief  of  the  engineers, 
and  some  other  officers  of  minor  grade.  Not 
being  included  under  the  law,  Marshal  Bazaine 
would  almost  seem  to  have  considered  himself 
above  it ;  and  thus,  taking  advantage  of  General 
Coffinieres'  easy  disposition,  he  ruled  to  a  certain 
extent  in  Metz  as  well  as  out  of  it,  very  little  being 
done  without  his  opinion  and  consent. 

The  affairs  with  Prussian  outposts  at  times  fur- 
nished plenty  of  excitement.  One  of  the  most 
daring  leaders  of  the  French  guerillas  was  a  man 
of  the  name  of  Hitter.  He  was  a  good  shot, 
and  brought  down  the  Prussian  videttes  and 
sentinels  with  deadly  skill.  He  used  also  to  inter- 
cept convoys  of  provisions  and  forage,  and  ulti- 
mately he  organized  a  regular  body  of  sharpshooters 
for  night  service.  A  great  deal  of  execution  was 
done  on  a  small  scale,  and  Hitter  became  so  popular 
in  Metz  that  Marshal  Bazaine  offered  to  decorate 


him.  The  blunt  patriot,  however,  said  that  if  he 
was  forced  to  accept  the  decoration  he  would  wear 
it  on  his  back,  and  very  far  down  too;  and  the 
marshal,  of  course,  thereupon  ceased  to  insist. 
The  Legion  of  Honour  was  given  away  by  Mar- 
shal Bazaine  rather  freely  during  the  siege,  but  was 
subsequently  refused  in  another  instance  besides 
the  one  just  mentioned.  A  certain  M.  Bouchotte 
was  to  receive  this  order  for  his  eminent  qualities 
displayed  in  the  service  of  the  town  during  its 
investment.  He,  however,  declined  the  honour 
with  the  following  remarks:  "  I  will  not  receive  a 
decoration  signed  with  the  hand  which  has  signed 
the  capitulation  of  Metz."  There  was  indeed  no 
lack  in  Metz  of  those  who  were  willing  to  under- 
take extraordinary  and  dangerous  service,  which 
well  merited  more  than  ordinary  reward.  It  was 
thus  that  the  French  were  generally  kept  well 
informed  of  the  exact  position  and  strength  of  the 
Prussian  batteries.  Ihey  had  plans  of  all  of  them, 
and  these  they  obtained  by  the  daring  of  men  who 
devoted  themselves  to  the  task  of  observing  the 
works  of  the  enemy.  Night  after  night  they  went 
forth,  bearing  a  pocket  compass,  a  pistol,  and  a 
poignard,  and  in  secrecy  and  danger  they  did  the 
work  that  was  required  of  them. 

Save  that  it  was  possible  to  hear  of  everything 
going  on  in  the  country,  and  keep  up  communica- 
tions with  home  and  the  outer  world,  fife  in  the 
camp  of  the  besiegers  was  as  devoid  of  incident  as 
among  the  besieged.  There  was  nothing  of  the 
excitement  of  the  Strassburg  siege,  as  the  work 
was  very  much  of  the  nature  of  a  blockade;  and 
instead  of  opening  parallels  and  breaching  for- 
tresses, a  strict  though  tedious  guard  against 
approach  of  help  from  without  or  of  exit  from 
within  the  doomed  city  was  all  that  was  required. 
Now  and  then  a  small  skirmish  or  forepost  engage- 
ment relieved  the  monotony;  but  it  seemed  as  if 
Bazaine  had  given  up  all  idea  of  troubling  his 
gaolers  by  any  endeavour  to  regain  his  freedom. 

A  little  excitement  was  caused  in  the  camp  for 
one  night  by  the  burning  of  Nouilly,  a  village 
which  had  been  regarded  as  neutral  ground,  from 
its  being  situated  between  the  foreposts  of  the 
respective  armies,  and  directly  under  the  fire  of 
Fort  St.  Julien  and  Les  Bottes.  Considerable 
stores  of  provisions  were  known  to  have  been 
secreted  by  the  villagers,  who  were  now  inside 
Metz.  These  stores  the  Prussians  could  not 
succeed  in  unearthing;  but  the  peasants  revealed 
0 


106 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


to  their  countrymen  the  place  where  they  had 
been  deposited,  and  it  was  believed  the  French 
had  more  than  once  stolen  in  at  night  and  con- 
veyed some  of  them  away.  To  prevent  a  repe- 
tition of  this,  the  Prussian  commandant  resolved  to 
burn  the  village,  with  the  secret  stores  it  contained, 
and  issued  a  commission  to  that  effect  to  Lieuten- 
ant von  Hosius,  of  the  fifth  regiment.  Out  of 
quite  a  company  who  clamoured  to  be  sent  on  the 
expedition,  fifteen  were  selected  who  had  not 
left  wives  in  the  Fatherland;  for  in  truth  the 
dangerous  undertaking  partook  not  a  little  of  the 
nature  of  a  forlorn  hope.  A  few  hundred  yards 
in  the  rear  of  Nouilly  the  Prussians,  it  is  true,  had 
a  feldivacht ;  but  the  French  were  nearer  it  on  the 
other  side,  by  Mey  and  the  Bois  de  Grimont,  and 
had  strong  temptations  for  entering  it  by  night. 
Hosius  might  possibly  encounter  a  force  of  French 
inside  the  village,  and  in  that  case,  of  what  service 
would  be  his  fifteen  volunteers?  It  was,  indeed, 
almost  certain  that  the  party  would  meet  with 
fierce  resistance  in  the  execution  of  their  task, 
and  would  probably  on  their  return  be  shelled 
both  by  St.  Julien  and  Les  Bottes.  But  as  it 
was  now  close  upon  nine  o'clock,  the  hour  ap- 
pointed for  starting,  there  was  little  time  for  these 
considerations.  Supper  was  hastily  disposed  of, 
the  lieutenant  thrust  his  "Adams'"  revolver  into 
his  belt,  and  sallied  out  to  the  spot  where  his 
little  band  was  drawn  up.  In  a  few  minutes  was 
heard  the  measured  tread  of  the  party,  marching 
at  the  Prussian  quick  step,  which  is  quicker  than 
that  of  most  armies ;  and  after  a  parting  salute  to 
their  comrades,  they  disappeared  in  the  darkness. 
For  a  while  the  crash  of  feet  through  the  vines  fell 
on  the  ear ;  then  came  the  hoarse  challenge  of  the 
feldwackt  rear  sentry,  after  which  all  was  quiet. 

An  anxious  and  excited  group,  comprising 
nearly  all  the  officers  of  the  battalion,  soon  gathered 
round  the  bright  watch-fire,  where  everybody 
tried  to  appear  unconcerned,  though  it  was  certain 
that  none  was.  The  regiment,  it  was  known,  had 
never  failed  in  any  duty  assigned  it,  and  the 
chance  of  its  failure  now,  though  apparent  in  the 
minds  of  all,  was  a  subject  which  no  one  cared  to 
broach.  Von  Hosius  was  in  no  hurry  to  relieve 
the  suspense.  An  hour  had  gone — Nouilly  was 
but  ten  minutes'  distance  from  Noisseville,  and  the 
colonel's  nervousness  was  ill-concealed  as  he  hacked 
at  the  burning  log  with  his  naked  sword,  and 
drove  his  spur  into  the  leg  of  his  chair. 


A  smothered  shout  from  the  lieutenant  of  the 
post  caused  all  to  spring  to  their  feet.  Flame- 
coloured  smoke  at  last,  and  plenty  of  it;  but  it 
surely  could  not  be  so  far  away !  It  was  indeed 
a  false  alarm,  for  the  lowering  smoke  was  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Bois  de  Grimont,  and  arose  from 
a  private  bonfire  of  the  French.  The  dead  silence 
that  reigned  in  the  valley,  however,  was  favour- 
able. Von  Hosius  had  evidently  encountered  no 
French  in  the  place,  else  the  rattle  of  the  musketry 
would  have  been  heard  long  ere  now,  and  the 
battalion,  which  was  standing  to  its  arms  at  the 
various  company  posts,  would  have  been  lining 
the  entrenchment  with  the  needle-guns  poked 
over  the  earthwork.  Another  half-hour  of  sus- 
pense, and  then  a  loud  "Ha!"  simultaneously 
from  the  lieutenant  on  duty  and  the  sentry.  This 
time  it  was  no  mistake.  Von  Hosius  had  taken 
his  time,  that  he  might  do  his  work  thoroughly. 
From  six  places  at  once  belched  out  the  long 
streaks  of  flame  against  the  darkness  above,  and 
the  separate  fires  speedily  met.  In  ten  minutes 
the  whole  place  was  in  a  blaze ;  the  church  steeple, 
standing  out  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  of  flame, 
calling  to  mind  the  old  motto  of  the  Scottish  Kirk, 
"  Nee  tatnen  consumebatur."  But  the  steeple,  after 
all,  was  not  the  burning  bush ;  for  a  fierce  shower 
of  sparks  bore  testimony  to  its  fall.  Here  and 
there  against  the  flame  could  be  seen  a  human 
figure  in  frantic  flight,  and  on  a  bluff,  just  outside 
the  village,  stood  in  the  strong  light  a  woman 
wringing  her  hands.  These  were  the  innocent 
victims  of  war ! 

Presently  was  heard  again  the  crashing  through 
the  vinebrake,  and  the  Prussian  outpost  sentry 
challenge.  The  watchword  was  returned  in  the 
hearty  voice  of  Von  Hosius,  and  in  five  minutes 
more  the  little  party  was  inside  the  entrenchment 
of  the  replie.  The  affair  was  singularly  successful. 
The  duty  had  been  executed  without  the  exchange 
of  a  single  shot.  The  village  burnt  till  five  the 
next  morning ;  whatever  stores  were  in  it  must 
have  been  consumed ;  and  so  coolly  had  the  enter- 
prise been  gone  about,  that  a  respectable  old  horse, 
found  in  one  of  the  stables  of  the  village,  was  led 
back  in  triumph  as  a  trophy.  The  French  held 
their  fire  simply  because  they  did  not  know  whither 
to  direct  it.  To  have  shelled  Nouilly  would  only 
have  been  playing  into  the  hands  of  the  Prussians. 
The  party  which  wrought  the  destruction  might 
have  come  from  Servigny,  Noisseville,  the  Brasserie, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


107 


or  Montoy;  and  as  the  line  of  their  retreat  was  not 
known,  to  have  fired  at  haphazard  would  have  been 
a  useless  waste  of  ammunition. 

It  was  rumoured  that,  notwithstanding  the  strict 
investment,  Bazaine  contrived  by  some  means  to 
maintain  communications  with  parties  outside  Metz. 
With  apparent  reason,  the  Prussian  authorities 
doubted  the  statement,  until,  about  the  middle  of 
September,  it  was  corroborated  by  the  discovery 
of  underground  insulated  wires,  leading,  on  one 
side  of  Metz,  to  Strassburg,  on  the  other  to  Thion- 
ville,  Longwy,  Montmedy,  and  Sedan.  That  a 
mode  of  communication  so  obvious,  though  invisi- 
ble, should  have  escaped  such  engineers  and  elec- 
tricians as  the  Prussian  officers  appears  incredible. 
When  the  French  besieged  Sebastopol,  they  cut 
short,  shallow  trenches  in  all  the  directions  from 
which  they  thought  the  batteries  could  communi- 
cate. When  they  stormed  the  Malakoff  they  had 
a  picked  corps  of  200  men  with  sharp  spades,  who 
cut  behind  it  when  they  got  possession,  and  severed 
the  wires  supposed  to  communicate  with  the  mines 
under  the  work,  which  were  afterwards  actually 
found.  In  this  the  French  did  not  show  their 
usual  sagacity,  nor  the  Russians  their  usual  alert- 
ness. The  wires  were  actually  there,  passed  under 
the  harbour  across  the  Star  Fort,  and  had  the 
Russian  electrician  got  any  intimation,  even  by 
signal,  he  might  in  the  moment  of  triumph  have 
blown  the  French  corps  d'armee  into  the  air,  and, 
with  the  English  defeat  at  the  Redan,  have  changed 
the  whole  current  of  the  war. 

On  the  21st  of  September  General  von  Stein- 
metz,  who  till  then  had  played  a  most  important 
part  in  the  war,  was  removed  from  the  command 
of  the  first  army  round  Metz,  and  appointed  to 
the  governorship  of  Posen.  To  him  is  due  the 
credit  of  many  of  the  brilliant  and  resolute  attacks 
which  issued  in  Prussian  victories  during  the  war; 
but  he  sometimes  erred  in  attacking  too  rashly, 
and  permitting  his  battalions  to  advance  too  far 
unsupported.  Where,  however,  there  was  danger, 
or  the  army  received  a  check,  the  first  man  in  the 
breach  or  at  his  post  was  General  von  Steinmetz. 
He  left  the  first  army  commanding  the  respect  of 
every  one — the  friendship  of  but  few. 

The  command-in-chief  of  the  besieging  forces, 
which  hitherto  had  been  somewhat  divided,  now 
devolved  entirely  upon  Prince  Frederick  Charles; 
and  it  would  seem  as  if  Bazaine  at  once  resolved 
to  put  his  abilities  to  the  test.     On  the  22nd  of 


September,  the  day  after  the  removal  of  General 
Steinmetz,  there  occurred  the  first  sortie  in  any 
considerable  force  which  had  been  attempted  since 
the  memorable  one  of  August  31.  The  operations 
of  the  French,  however,  though  not  conducted  on 
a  vast  scale,  had  sufficed  to  keep  the  German  troops 
actively  occupied,  for  at  several  points  of  the  siege 
circle  the  men  were  frequently  under  arms  for 
thirty-six  hours  at  once,  with  but  short  intervals 
for  rest  and  food.  The  object  of  the  present  move- 
ment was  to  harass  the  investing  forces  while 
ascertaining  by  strong  armed  reconnaissances  the 
strength  of  the  German  positions.  Under  cover 
of  a  heavy  cannonade  from  Fort  Queleu,  preceded 
by  a  shower  of  shells — some  of  which  struck  the 
Grange,  and  others  fell  as  far  behind  as  Ars-Laque- 
nexy,  and  did  considerable  damage  to  the  church 
— a  strong  division  of  French  troops,  composed  of 
artillery,  cavalry,  and  infantry,  advanced  in  the 
direction  of  La  Grange-aux-Bois.  From  an  excel- 
lent point  of  observation  they  had  previously  been 
reconnoitred  by  the  Germans,  who  knew  their 
composition,  strength,  and  direction,  and  were 
therefore  at  once  prepared  tp  meet  them  and  to 
avoid  at  the  same  time  a  useless  sacrifice  of  lives 
at  their  outposts.  The  French  infantry  were 
thrown  into  the  woods  round  the  village  in  skir- 
mishing order  and  in  large  force,  occupying  a  line 
which  extended  for  about  one  mile  to  the  Prussian 
right.  This,  of  course,  rendered  the  position  of 
the  Prussian  outposts  at  La  Grange-aux-Bois  un- 
tenable. The  Prussians  in  retiring  availed  them- 
selves of  every  tree  and  knoll,  and  from  behind  a 
series  of  breastworks,  which  they  had  thrown  up  to 
strengthen  their  position,  fired  steadily  upon  the 
advancing  enemy,  and  inflicted  some  severe  losses. 
In  order  to  reach  the  point  at  which  their  main 
supports  were  concentrated  they  had  to  pass  over 
about  half-a-mile  of  ground,  every  inch  of  which 
was  gallantly  contested.  It  was  now  about  three 
o'clock.  The  French,  in  advancing,  lost  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  support  of  their  artillery  and  cavalry ; 
for  the  Germans  had  so  obstructed  the  roads  by 
frequent  and  strong  barricades,  constructed  of 
hewn  trees  which  lined  the  military  road  to  Metz, 
and  the  nature  of  the  ground,  covered  with  dense 
woods,  was  so  unfavourable,  that  mounted  forces 
could  not  act,  and  guns  could  not  be  brought  for- 
ward. All  this  time,  however,  a  heavy  and  con- 
tinuous rain  of  shells  of  great  weight  was  poured 
upon    Mercy-le-Haut    and    Ars-Laquenexy    from 


108 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Forts  Queleu  and  St.  Julien.  At  the  junction  of 
the  roads  leading  from  Mercy  and  Ars — which 
meet  nearly  at  right  angles — the  Germans  met 
their  supports.  A  large  body  of  troops  of  all 
arms  had  been  concentrated  here,  and  were  posted 
in  strong  positions.  The  Germans  at  once  assumed 
the  offensive,  and  rushing  impetuously  to  the  attack, 
fairly  drove  back  the  French  at  a  more  rapid  pace 
than  that  at  which  they  advanced.  All  the  Ger- 
man troops  engaged  carried  their  knapsacks,  mess- 
tins,  and  cloaks.  The  fashion  of  having  the  cloak 
slung  crosswise  over  the  shoulder,  round  the 
knapsack,  and  under  the  opposite  arm,  turned 
many  a  bullet  and  saved  many  a  soldier's  life  in 
this  and  other  engagements.  So  equipped,  they 
poured  upon  the  French  infantry  so  heavy  and 
close  a  fire  that  they  could  not  hold  their  ground. 
Already  in  advancing  thus  far  they  had  found  how 
effective  a  resistance  could  be  made  by  a  small 
body  of  men,  fighting  with  vigour  and  handled 
with  skill,  on  ground  whose  natural  strength  had 
been  increased  by  every  available  means.  The 
German  troops,  after  having  cleared  the  woods, 
drove  the  French  back  through  the  open,  with 
considerable  loss.  La  Grange -aux-Bois  was 
speedily  re-occupied,  and  by  five  o'clock  the 
French  had  been  forced  to  retire  within  their 
lines.  The  affair  lasted  -altogether  about  four 
hours.  This  village  had  now  the  second  time 
been  taken  by  the  French,  but  in  both  instances 
their  occupation  of  it  had  been  brief.  Their 
attacking  force  was  principally  composed  of 
Marshal  Leboeuf's  corps,  and  the  regiment 
which  bore  the  brunt  of  the  onset  on  the  Ger- 
man side  was  the  thirteenth  of  the  first  West- 
phalian  infantry  division.  The  loss  of  the  Prussians 
was  one  officer  and  fifteen  men  in  all,  wounded, 
and  one  killed.  The  French  losses  in  killed  and 
wounded  were  considerable,  besides  numerous 
prisoners  left  in  the  enemy's  hands. 

The  sortie  of  the  22nd  was  but  the  prelude  to  a 
more  serious  attack  on  the  24th.  Rightly  guessing 
that,  on  the  previous  occasion,  the  observatory  at 
Mercy -le-Haut  had  enabled  their  enemy  to  provide 
so  warm  a  reception  for  them,  the  utmost  efforts 
of  the  French  were  used  on  the  23rd  to  render 
it  untenable.  A  large  number  of  the  projectiles 
with  which  it  was  continuously  shelled  took  effect, 
and  made  far  more  holes  in  the  roof  than  were 
needed  for  the  purposes  of  observation.  The 
shelliner  was   continued  on   the  morning   of  the 


24th,  but  from  the  position,  nevertheless,  strong 
bodies  of  troops  were  observed  gathering  under  the 
walls  of  Fort  St.  Julien,  which  presently  poured  out 
along  the  road  leading  from  the  fort,  and  extend- 
ing towards  the  Prussian  right.  They  advanced 
in  marching  order,  the  infantry  well  supported  by 
artillery  and  cavalry.  Despatches  by  orderlies  and 
telegraph  carried  information  of  all  the  movements 
of  the  French,  and  the  threatened  points  received 
timely  warning,  while  preparations  were  made  for 
immediate  concentration.  It  was  now  two  o'clock, 
and  presently  the  fire  began.  The  guns  of  Fort 
Queleu  opened  a  heavy  fire,  and  the  shells  dropped 
fast  among  the  woods  immediately  to  the  left  and 
below  the  chateau  where  the  Prussian  troops  were 
hidden.  For  the  first  time,  too,  the  guns  from 
Fort  les  Bottes,  the  strong  earthwork  recently 
constructed  immediately  in  front  of  the  chateau 
and  below  the  fort,  delivered  a  maiden  fire.  The 
majority  of  the  shells,  however,  pitched  too  high, 
passed  over  the  woods,  and  fell  into  the  meadows. 
There  was  a  continuous  roar  of  cannon  on  the  right 
and  left  flanks,  and  volleys  from  both  Prussian 
and  French  infantry  in  the  chauss&s  showed  that 
sharp  fighting  was  going  on  at  close  quarters. 
Some  mitrailleuses  then  opened  fire  with  a  hoarse 
grating  sound,  as  if  a  ship  had  let  go  her  cable  and 
the  chain  was  scraping  out  through  the  hawsehole. 
For  some  time  the  French  advanced  far  into  the 
enemy's  lines ;  but  as  the  dusk  fell  the  vivid  flashes 
breaking  from  the  now  gray  woods,  and  the  louder 
roar  of  cannon,  told  that  the  Prussians  had  once 
more  held  their  own,  and  were  driving  back  their 
adversaries  under  shelter  of  the  forts,  by  this  time 
ablaze  with  signal  lights. 

The  most  exciting  part  of  the  day's  encounters 
occurred  during  an  attempt  on  the  village  of 
Noisseville,  which  had  already  changed  hands 
several  times.  The  attack  was  conducted  with  the 
greatest  caution,  as  a  French  company  had,  only 
an  hour  or  two  before,  been  severely  cut  up  in 
advancing  on  a  chateau  out  of  which  they  ima- 
gined the  enemy  had  been  driven,  but  where  he 
suddenly  appeared  in  great  force.  The  place, 
however,  was  ultimately  taken,  and,  that  it  might 
not  be  the  occasion  of  another  surprise,  was  set 
fire  to  and  burnt.  Making  this  house  a  turning 
point,  a  considerable  number  of  skirmishers  ad- 
vanced towards  the  little  village,  which  had  been 
so  drenched  with  French  and  German  blood.  They 
could  not  tell  if  it  was  occupied.     Not  a  blue  coat 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


109 


was  to  be  seen;  all  was  perfectly  still.  A  shell  or 
two  from  field-pieces  was  tried;  not  a  shot  was 
returned.  St.  Julien  sent  in  one  of  its  long 
twenty-four  shells  at  it,  which  went  crash  into  the 
first  house  on  the  left,  and  made  a  great  hole  in  it. 
Still  not  a  movement.  Another  shell  from  St. 
Julien  struck  the  house  on  the  right  side  of  the 
street  with  the  same  result.  Still  no  sign.  The 
French  praised  the  admirable  practice  of  St.  Julien, 
but  after  the  ruse  of  the  little  house  they  knew  not 
what  to  expect  from  the  big  village.  Meanwhile 
the  men  crept  steadily  on.  Crack  went  the  Chasse- 
pot  whenever  any  one  thought  he  saw  something 
worth  firing  at.  Still  no  reply.  Were  the  enemy 
there  or  were  they  not?  Just  then,  from  the 
other  side  of  the  hill,  was  noticed  a  column  of 
Prussian  cavalry  crawling  out  of  the  woods  of 
Failly,  like  a  big  black  snake,  half  a  mile  long. 
The  officer  in  command  gave  orders  to  sound  a 
retreat,  and  the  men  drew  back  again.  Then 
began  the  fire.  Noisseville  was  not  empty  now. 
Out  of  every  loophole,  from  behind  every  wall, 
from  every  little  hedge,  sprang  up  annedmen,  who 
fired  with  an  impetuosity  that  made  up  for  their 
previous  patience;  but  luckily  the  French  were  not 
quite  near  enough,  and  the  Prussians  thought  it 
wise  not  to  pursue.  Under  cover  of  their  artillery, 
which  went  to  the  front,  the  French  gradually  got 
again  within  the  shelter  of  the  guns  of  St.  Julien. 
On  the  27  th  of  September  another  sortie  in 
considerable  force,  intended  as  a  great  foraging 
expedition,  was  made  with  even  more  success  in  a 
military  view  than  those  a  few  days  before.  Peltre 
was  the  nearest  railway  station  to  Metz  on  the  line 
which  connected  it  with  Prussia,  and  was  therefore 
the  great  commissariat  station  for  the  Prussian 
camp  to  the  westward,  as  the  stations  of  Courcelles 
and  E^milly  were  for  the  eastern  portion.  The 
French  had  therefore  a  double  object,  to  destroy 
the  German  provisions  and  get  some  for  themselves, 
and  to  seize  the  opportunity,  should  any  occur,  of 
sending  a  few  men  through  with  despatches.  All 
being  ready,  very  early  in  the  morning,  before  the 
sun  was  up,  the  French  set  out.  To  effect  a  greater 
confusion,  simultaneous  demonstrations  were  made 
in  the  direction  of  Borny  and  Ladonchamps  ;  but 
the  main  line  of  attack  was  Peltre.  The  force 
consisted  principally  of  the  seventieth  and  eighty- 
fourth  regiments  of  the  line,  supported  by  a  bat- 
talion of  chasseurs,  and  accompanied  as  before  by 
cavalry  and  guns.     The  early  hour,  the  suddenness 


of  the  attack,  and  the  sallying  out  at  different 
points,  if  they  did  not  surprise  the  Prussians,  at  all 
events  rendered  them  less  prepared  than  usual  to 
make  any  effectual  resistance.  The  railway  was 
still  available  for  some  considerable  distance  of  the 
road,  and  the  French  troops  were  placed  in  the 
carriages,  a  field-piece  or  two  mounted  on  some 
vans  in  front,  and  the  engine  placed  behind  the 
train.  Alongside  the  line  marched  the  rest  of  the 
troops,  and  a  battery  of  mitrailleuses  took  up  their 
position  above  the  wood  of  Basse  Bevoye.  Quietly 
round  towards  the  castle  of  Crepy  crept  the  infantry, 
and  the  affray  began.  Hitherto  the  Prussians  had 
but  little  notice  of  the  approach  of  the  troops  ;  but 
now  it  became  earnest  hard  work.  Rattle  after 
rattle  of  musketry  fire  rang  out  from  one  side  or 
the  other.  At  last  the  Prussians  were  overcome, 
captured,  and  their  rifles  broken,  after  which 
they  were  set  free  again.  Meanwhile,  another 
portion  of  the  French  force  pushed  on  rapidly  to 
the  villages  of  Peltre  and  Mercy-le-Haut,  which  they 
occupied  and  fired,  completely  razing  the  observa- 
tory. In  one  part  of  their  retreat  the  Germans 
entered  a  convent — called  the  Sisters  of  Providence 
— whose  walls  were  already  loop-holed  ;  but  under 
a  deadly  fire  an  entrance  was  forced,  and  now  com- 
menced a  horrible  sight  for  those  poor  peace-loving 
sisters.  Their  church  became  a  charnel-house  ;  the 
very  sanctuary  was  stained  with  blood ;  and  the 
house  of  mercy  was  turned  into  the  house  of  ven- 
geance. The  Prussians  craved,  the  French  gave, 
no  quarter,  and  flight  there  was  none.  The  railway 
station  close  by  was  carried ;  men  were  killed  at 
every  step  ;  but  there  were  here  some  patient  look- 
ing quadrupeds  which  must  be  saved,  whatever 
became  of  the  bipeds.  The  order  of  the  day  was 
to  take  care  of  the  cows  and  sheep.  Cattle  trucks 
were  broken  open,  sheep  pens  invaded  ;  the  cows 
were  driven  up  the  line,  and  the  sheep  tucked  under 
the  arm,  or  borne  on  the  shoulder.  Sugar,  coffee, 
hay,  straw,  all  needed,  were  found  there,  and 
the  railway  carriages  were  filled  and  sent  back 
again.  The  German  forces  first  assailed  had  fallen 
back  as  far  as  Ars-Laquenexy,  on  the  road  to  Cour- 
celles, which  they  supposed  to  be  the  point  of  the 
French  attack.  Meanwhile  another  corps,  the  first 
corps  of  the  second  army,  prepared  to  attack  the 
French  in  flank,  and  to  cut  them  off  from  retreat 
to  Metz.  They,  however,  saw  their  danger  in  time 
and  withdrew,  carrying  with  them  their  dead  and 
wounded,  the  captured  provisions,  and  a  hundred 


110 


TILE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


prisoners.  The  guns  of  Fort  Queleu  kept  up  a 
heavy  fire  during  the  whole  affair,  and  Forts  St. 
Qucntin  and  St.  Julien  also  vigorously  cannonaded 
the  Prussian  positions  opposite  to  them.  In  driving 
back  the  French,  the  Prussian  field-guns,  which 
opened  a  heavy  fire  on  them,  caused  severe  loss, 
and  set  fire  to  the  villages  of  Colombey  and  La 
Grange-aux-Bois,  both  of  which  were  wholly  de- 
stroyed. So  rapid  and  well-executed  was  the  sortie, 
that  at  1 1.30  a.m.  all  was  again  comparatively  quiet, 
and,  save  the  burning  villages,  little  trace  appeared 
of  an  affray  in  which  about  8000  men  on  each  side 
had  been  engaged. 

Bazaine  had  been  blamed  for  giving  up  the  ad- 
vanced position  of  Peltre,  which  for  a  time  was  in 
French  hands  ;  but  the  sortie  was  not  made  with 
a  view  of  escaping  from  Metz,  so  much  as  ob- 
taining food  for  his  army  and  provender  for  his 
horses,  both  of  which  were  getting  exceedingly 
scarce  in  the  town.  So  far,  therefore,  the  object 
of  the  sortie  was  attained,  and  the  measure  of  suc- 
cess which  attended  it  encouraged  the  French  on 
the  following  day  to  make  a  similar  effort,  on  a 
smaller  scale,  in  nearly  the  same  direction.  The 
Prussian  foreposts  occupied  in  no  great  strength 
the  village  of  Colombey,  where  were  three  large 
chateaux,  in  the  upper  stories  of  which  a  consider- 
able store  of  grain  had  been  left  by  the  original 
occupants,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  Metz,  and 
probably  gave  information  of  the  existence  of  these 
stores.  At  all  events,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  28  th, 
the  French,  in  large  numbers,  and  covered  by  the 
artillery  of  St.  Julien,  made  a  dash  at  Colombey, 
their  advance  followed  by  a  number  of  empty 
waggons.  Once  more  they  surprised  the  compara- 
tively weak  Prussian  foreposts,  and  drove  them  out 
of  the  village.  Covering  their  operations  by  throw- 
ing forward  tirailleurs  into  the  woods  to  the  front 
and  towards  La  Planchette,  they  filled  the  waggons 
with  the  grain,  and  started  on  the  return  journey. 
In  the  meantime,  however,  the  Prussian  artillery 
had  come  to  the  front,  and  the  shells  fell  thick 
among  the  Frenchmen  in  Colombey  and  the  convoy 
on  the  road.  The  former  fell  back  in  great  haste 
under  the  guns  of  St.  Julien,  and  the  waggons 
went  on  at  a  gallop,  but  out  of  thirty-six  only 
fourteen  succeeded  in  getting  safe  off.  The  others 
were  arrested  in  transitu,  in  consequence  of  the 
animals  which  drew  them  being  disabled  by  the 
Prussian  shells.  Among  the  men  the  loss  in  killed 
or  wounded  was  not  great  on  either  side. 


But  while  outside  the  city  walls  the  monotony 
of  life  was  varied  by  these  occasional  sorties,  within 
Metz  the  autumn  wore  on  heavily.  There  was 
much  to  be  feared.  To  calculate  the  duration  of 
the  food  supply  ;  to  speculate  on  what  Bazaine  was 
doing,  or  meant  to  do  ;  to  build  frail  anticipations 
on  the  prospect  of  a  relieving  army,  and  to  find 
them  crumble  into  ruins ;  to  make  paper  balloons, 
which,  with  their  freight  of  letters,  frequently  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  ;  to  split  into  coteries, 
and  wrangle  about  the  future  of  France ;  to  hunt 
down  spies,  to  vex  the  Prussian  outposts,  and 
occasionally  to  engage  in  sorties — these  were  now 
the  sole  resources  of  the  beleaguered  citizens  and 
army.  The  weather  was  often  rainy  and  cold,  and 
the  spirits  of  the  people  were  depressed  by  the 
sense  of  confinement  and  the  monotony  of  exist- 
ence. The  Prussians  were  in  no  hurry ;  they 
could  very  well  afford  to  let  the  Metzers  wear 
themselves  out.  The  Metzers  fretted  against  the 
manacles  that  bound  them,  but  fretted  in  vain. 
Every  day  brought  the  end  nearer ;  yet  still  the 
way  seemed  long  and  wearisome.  The  citizens 
felt  that  they  were  shut  up  in  a  large  prison,  under 
sentence  of  being  slowly  starved  ;  and  they  knew 
that  their  fate  had  been  decreed  by  a  power  which 
never  faltered  in  its  will  or  failed  in  its  resources. 
A  little  excitement  was  caused  on  Sunday,  Sep- 
tember 25,  by  a  grand  review  of  the  national  guards 
in  the  Place  d'Armes  in  front  of  the  cathedral. 
They  numbered  four  corps,  and,  together  with 
the  volunteer  artillery,  mustered  about  7000  men. 
They  were  clad  in  blouses,  but  with  distinctive 
marks,  giving  roughly  the  character  of  a  uniform 
to  the  dress.  Their  arms  were  old-fashioned  per- 
cussion muzzle-loaders,  of  various  patterns,  and 
very  ineffective.  Not  that  there  were  not  plenty 
of  Chassepots  in  store ;  but  the  national  guards 
were  suspected  of  republicanism,  and  were  there- 
fore neglected  and  discouraged  by  the  military 
authorities,  though  popular  with  the  townsfolk. 

The  sorties  we  have  referred  to,  of  course, 
occupied  comparatively  few  of  the  large  army  now 
encamped  around  Metz ;  and  although  a  circle  of 
defence  extending  over  nearly  thirty  miles  afforded 
ample  employment  for  a  still  larger  number,  the 
fact  that  no  determined  effort  was  made  to  break 
away  from  the  town,  whose  provisions  were  being 
rapidly  diminished  by  those  outside,  created  great 
dissatisfaction  in  it,  and  caused  considerable  relaxa- 
tion  of  discipline   among  the  troops  themselves, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Ill 


great  numbers  of  whom  had  taken  no  active  part 
in  the  war  since  the  engagement  of  August  31  ; 
indeed,  the  imperial  guard  had  not  fired  a  shot, 
or  ever  moved  from  their  encampment,  since 
August  18.  Bazaine,  therefore,  notwithstanding 
the  almost  hopeless  nature  of  the  attempt,  deter- 
mined, early  in  October,  to  make  a  vigorous 
endeavour  to  break  out  in  the  direction  of  Thion- 
ville,  about  half  way  between  Metz  and  Luxem- 
bourg. Thionville  was  at  this  time  besieged  by 
a  large  force  under  General  Zastrow,  but  was 
extremely  well  supplied  with  provisions,  the  ob- 
taining of  which  would  have  been  of  immense 
advantage  to  the  marshal  and  his  army.  And 
even  if  this  scheme  could  not  be  fully  carried  out, 
it  was  thought  that  a  large  part  of  the  army  might 
possibly  reach  the  Dutch  frontier,  thus  leaving 
Metz  with  so  many  the  less  mouths  to  fill,  and  by 
surrendering  to  a  neutral  save  the  ignominy  of 
capitulating  to  the  enemy.  The  foggy  morning  of 
the  7th  October  was  therefore  appointed  to  usher 
in  what  turned  out  to  be  the  most  important  and 
determined  sortie  made  by  Bazaine  since  the  failure 
of  the  31st  August.  The  Germans  recognized  it 
as  the  "  Schlacht  bei  Mezie"res."  Battles  there 
were  in  plenty  in  this  bloody  campaign  that  showed 
a  larger  total  of  killed  and  wounded  ;  but  the 
"  Battle  of  Mezie"res  "  made  widows  and  orphans 
in  the  Fatherland  far  beyond  proportion,  for  the 
men  who  bore  the  brunt  of  it  were  husbands  and 
fathers — the  stout  landwehr  men  of  the  Division 
Kummer. 

At  an  early  stage  of  the  blockade  the  Prussians 
seized  upon  the  fine  old  chateau  of  Ladonchamps, 
which  had  often  played  an  important  part  in  the 
history  of  Metz.  As  it  was  necessary  the  French 
should  carry  the  position,  a  field-battery  was 
brought  against  it;  but  though  there  were  the 
guns  and  the  sentinel,  not  a  shot  was  returned 
from  it.  Presently  volumes  of  smoke  rose  up  from 
behind  the  chateau.  The  farm  was  evidently  burnt, 
and  a  rush  was  made  to  save  the  house.  After  a 
few  musket  shots .  had  been  fired  the  Prussians 
evacuated,  and  the  French  entered  the  place  to 
find  that  the  guns  they  had  so  much  feared  were 
simply  portions  of  poplar  trees  neatly  mounted  on 
the  wheels  of  broken  carts,  and  that  the  "  sentinel" 
was  a  man  of  straw.  Such  ruses,  which  were  not 
uncommon  during  the  war,  caused  many  a  mirth- 
ful moment,  and  relieved  the  weary  tediousness  of 
the  siege. 


Ladonchamps  was  taken  by  the  chasseurs,  who 
held  it,  with  some  few  intervals,  up  to  the  day  of  the 
surrender  of  Metz,  and  it  formed  the  avant  garde 
of  the  French  lines.  To  the  right  of  it  were  Great 
and  Little  Maxe,  and  in  front  the  two  large  farms 
of  Great  and  Little  Tapes.  It  was  felt  by  the 
Prussians  that  it  was  dangerous  to  allow  the  French 
to  continue  in  possession  of  Ladonchamps,  as  from 
it  their  batteries  enfiladed  the  whole  of  the  be- 
siegers' front  across  the  valley.  On  October  6, 
therefore,  it  was  subjected  to  a  most  severe  bom- 
bardment, resulting  in  the  retirement  of  its  garrison 
towards  Metz.  The  Prussians  then  threw  forward 
troops,  establishing  their  replis  in  its  rear,  and  sent 
sergeants'  parties  to  occupy  it  and  Grandes  and 
Petites  Tapes  villages,  which  formed  the  key  to  its 
possession.  St.  Bemy  constituted  the  chief  support, 
and  here  lay  the  fifty-ninth  regiment  of  the  land- 
wehr. Maxe,  close  to  the  river  and  considerably  in 
advance,  was  occupied  by  outposts  sent  forward 
by  the  tenth  army  corps,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Moselle.  The  two  divisions  of  the  landwehr 
stretched  right  across  the  valley  from  the  bridge 
at  Argancy,  where  they  touched  the  tenth  army 
corps,  to  near  Marange,  where  they  met  the  fifth, 
and  to  them  was  confided  the  keeping  of  the  flat 
alluvial  tract  on  the  western  side  of  the  Moselle. 

From  Metz  to  Mezieres,  which  was  now  the 
headquarters  of  General  von  Kummer,  command- 
ing the  landwehr,  there  is  a  long  trough  with  a 
flat  bottom,  the  alluvial  margin  of  the  Moselle. 
This  tract,  which  is  about  four  English  miles  wide, 
is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  heights  of  Le  Hori- 
ment,  and  nearer  Metz  by  Norroy  and  Saulny. 
On  the  east  it  is  bounded  by  a  lower  series  of 
bluffs,  on  which  stand  the  villages  of  Olgy  and 
Malroy;  but  between  them  and  the  bottom  runs 
the  Moselle,  infringing  considerably  on  the  flat 
expanse  just  opposite  Olgy.  Across  this  bottom, 
at  the  narrowest  part,  lies  a  series  of  villages — the 
two  Tapes  and  St.  Re'my,  with  Maxe  and  Ladon- 
champs, respectively,  slightly  to  the  east  and  west 
front.  In  all  of  them  there  were  more  or  fewer 
Prussian  troops. 

About  one  o'clock  on  the  7th  the  Prussian  bat- 
teries at  Semecourt  were  heard  delivering  a  vigor- 
ous fire,  which  was  supposed  to  be  caused  by  the 
tardy  evacuation  of  Ladonchamps  by  the  French. 
Over  the  valley  hung  a  mist,  which  prevented  any 
extended  observation;  but  little  importance  was 
attached  to  the  firing,  although  it  grew  louder  and 


112 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


louder,  until  an  aide-de-camp  galloped  up,  spread- 
ing the  alarm  in  every  direction,  and  dashing  on 
to  General  Rummer's  quarters  for  instructions  to 
guide  the  front. 

Covered  by  the  dense  fog,  Bazaine  had  made 
his  dispositions  with  such  adroitness,  that  when  it 
cleared  away  a  little  past  one  his  arrangements 
were  already  all  but  complete.  The  imperial  guard 
came  down  from  the  hills  of  Plappeville  and  defiled 
into  the  valley  of  the  Moselle.  Several  regiments 
of  infantry,  under  the  direction  of  General  L'Ad- 
mirault,  pushed  their  way  through  the  woods  to 
the  left  in  the  direction  of  Nassoy  and  Feves.  The 
sixth  corps  sent  some  few  regiments  to  assist  the 
guards,  and  together  they  marched  into  the  valley. 
A  strong  assault  was  first  directed  against  Ladon- 
champs,  which  the  landwehr  outpost  held  as  if  they 
had  been  10,000  instead  of  100  men,  and  the 
French  infantry  swarmed  into  it  while  their  artil- 
lery played  upon  it.  On  went  the  French  infantry, 
shell  after  shell  falling  thick  amongst  them,  but 
they  knew  the  nearer  they  got  the  less  likely  they 
were  to  be  stopped.  They  encountered  a  very 
determined  resistance.  In  addition  to  several 
fixed  batteries,  the  Prussians  brought  on  the 
ground  a  large  number  of  field  pieces,  all  con- 
verging on  the  French  fine  of  advance.  The 
brave  General  Gibon,  who  that  day  for  the  first 
time  carried  his  galon  as  a  general  in  the  field, 
cried  out,  "  Never  fear,  my  lads,  I'll  serve  as  a 
bastion  for  you ;"  and,  placing  himself  at  the  head 
of  his  brigade,  on  lie  went.  But  his  career  was 
brief;  he  fell  in  the  affray  mortally  wounded.  On 
rushed  the  guards,  unchecked  by  the  bullets  which, 
like  a  storm  of  hail,  assailed  them.  The  shock 
of  exploding  shells  made  the  ground  tremble. 
Fire  succeeded  fire.  The  smoke  of  the  sacrifice 
rose  not  to  heaven,  but  hung  over  the  earth. 
Inch  by  inch  the  ground  was  won,  and  Les 
Grandes  Tapes  was  at  length  reached.  Twice 
round  the  outworks  a  picked  body  of  seventy- 
five  guards  went ;  at  last,  espying  a  "  coign  of 
vantage,"  they  with  a  shout  leapt  the  trenches, 
followed  by  their  comrades,  and  Les  Grandes  Tapes 
was  theirs.  Suddenly,  also,  the  villages  of  Petites 
Tapes,  St.  Eemy,  and  Maxe  were  overwhelmed  by 
a  rush  of  Frenchmen.  The  fifty-ninth  landwehr 
in  St.  Eemy  would  not  fall  back,  as  in  common 
prudence  it  should  have  done,  but  stood  in  the 
street  till  the  French,  having  played  upon  it 
with  their  artillery,  and   rained    on  it  Chassepot 


and  mitrailleuse  bullets,  finally,  by  sheer  numbers, 
pushed  backward  the  shattered  remnant  on  to  the 
chaussh.  The  fusilier  battalion  of  the  fifty-eighth 
occupied  Grandes  Tapes  before,  and  occupied  it 
now,  but  with  the  dead  and  the  wounded.  The 
battalion  would  not  give  ground,  and  may  be  said 
to  have  been  annihilated,  as  the  men  stood  with 
their  backs  to  the  wall  and  their  faces  to  the  foe. 
The  other  battalions  of  the  same  regiment  also 
suffered  severely.  As  soon  as  they  had  gained 
possession  of  Les  Grandes  Tapes,  the  French 
began  loading  their  wagons  with  forage ;  and, 
though  the  Prussians  shelled  them  vigorously, 
they  did  not  cease  until  they  had  got  all  they 
wanted. 

So  far,  then,  Bazaine  had  succeeded.  He  had 
re-occupied  the  chain  of  villages  athwart  the 
valley,  and  had  got  a  few  batteries  of  artillery 
out  to  their  front  to  reply  to  the  Prussian  fire. 
But  the  status  quo  he  neither  wished  nor  had 
the  ability  to  retain,  prevented  as  he  was  by  the 
Prussian  artillery  throwing  its  projectiles  from 
three  sides  of  the  parallelogram.  It  seemed  clear, 
however,  that  Bazaine  would  not  have  done  what 
he  did  had  he  not  contemplated  something  more; 
and  that,  there  could  be  no  doubt,  was  a  sortie  to 
establish  connections  with  Thionville.  His  tactics 
were  well  conceived.  From  St.  Remy  and  the  two 
Tapes  he  kept  the  Prussian  fire  engrossed,  both 
musketry  and  artillery.  He  sent  forward  from 
Grandes  Tapes  swarms  of  tirailleurs,  who  fared 
very  ill  at  the  hands  of  the  landwehr.  He  massed 
nearly  30,000  men  on  the  bank  of  the  Moselle, 
under  cover  of  the  houses  of  Maxc,  with  the  de- 
sign of  cutting  through  the  Prussian  environment 
where  it  was  weakest,  close  to  the  river.  The 
moment  was  critical.  The  landwehr  had  all  been 
sent  forward  against  the  villages,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  brigade  that  was  in  reserve.  But  the 
tenth  army  corps  had  been  crossing  the  pontoon 
bridge,  and  massing  between  the  river  and  Ame- 
lange ;  General  von  Voigt  Rhetz,  who  was  in  command 
of  the  day's  operations,  gave  the  order  for  several 
regiments  to  advance.  It  was  a  sight  never  to  be 
forgotten.  First  came  the  fusiliers,  extending  at 
a  rapid  run  into  skirmishing  order,  and  covering 
the  whole  plain  with  their  thin  long  lines.  Then 
the  dense  columns  of  companies  of  the  grenadiers, 
with  their  bands  playing  and  their  colours  unfurled. 
But  all  the  work  was  not  left  to  the  infantry.  The 
artillery,  letting   the  villages   alone,   concentrated 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


113 


their  fire  on  the  advancing  columns  of  the  French 
by  the  Moselle.  Want  of  fodder,  which  caused 
many  of  his  horses  to  die  of  starvation,  and  the 
demand  for  horse  flesh  as  food,  both  in  the  camp 
and  town,  had  left  Bazaine  singularly  weak  in  field 
artillery,  and  the  only  reply  to  the  enemy  was  from 
the  fort  of  St.  Julien  or  from  the  ramparts  of  St. 
Eloy.  But  the  mitrailleuse  sounded  its  angry  whirr ; 
making  the  skirmishers  recoil  as  they  crossed  the 
line  of  fire,  and  tearing  chasms  in  the  fronts  of  the 
solid  masses  of  which  they  were  the  forerunners. 
The  dense  columns  of  the  French  staggered  and 
then  broke,  and  a  sauve  qui  peut  ensued  into  the 
village  of  Maxe.  Once  within  shelter,  they  obstin- 
ately refused  to  go  further.  In  vain  the  Prussian 
artillery,  advancing  closer  and  closer  in  alternate 
order  of  batteries,  fired  on  the  villages,  with  a  pre- 
cision and  rapidity  that  could  not  have  been  exceeded 
on  Woolwich  Common.  That  obstinate  battery  in 
front  of  Grandes  Tapes  would  not  cease,  and  the 
French  tirailleurs  still  lined  the  front  of  the  chaussie. 
It  was  now  nearly  four  o'clock,  and  the  German 
columns  halted,  as  if  for  breathing  time,  before 
storming  the  enemy's  position.  A  shell  from  St. 
Julien,  falling  near  a  captain  of  cavalry,  blew  him 
and  his  horse  into  fragments;  disturbing  at  the 
same  time  a  hare,  which  bounded  from  its  form, 
and  scampered  across  the  battle-field  right  in  a 
line  with  the  gun  fire.  As  the  landwehr  stood 
in  suspense,  a  staff  officer  galloped  along  the 
front  line  with  orders  for  a  general  advance  to 
take  the  villages  by  storm.  The  advance  was  to 
consist  of  four  brigades  of  the  landwehr,  supported 
by  two  of  the  tenth  army  corps.  In  a  few  minutes 
the  command  came  sounding  along  the  line,  and 
the  men,  springing  from  their  cover,  went  forward 
with  that  steady,  quick  step  so  characteristic  of  the 
Prussian  marching.  The  shells  from  the  battery 
in  front  of  Grandes  Tapes  tore  through  the  line, 
the  mitrailleuse  and  Chassepot  poured  against  it 
their  bullets ;  but  still  the  landwehr,  silent  and 
stern,  went  steadily  to  the  front.  Those  who  had 
been  in  many  engagements  had  never  experienced 
a  more  furious  fire  than  that  to  which  the  centre 
of  this  line  was  exposed.  General  von  Branden- 
stein,  commanding  the  third  brigade  of  the  land- 
wehr, was  shot  down  as  he  rode,  and  several  of  his 
staff  were  wounded.  At  length  the  entrenchments 
were  reached,  behind  which  were  lying  the  shat- 
tered remnants  of  the  fifty-ninth  and  fifty-eighth 
landwehr.  The  fraternization  consisted  in  the  cry 
vol.  n. 


of  "  Hurrah  Preussen,"  and  then  "  Vorwarts — 
immer  vorwarts,"  and  the  line  threw  itself  to  its 
front  in  a  run.  The  gunners  from  the  battery, 
brave  men  and  stubborn,  had  barely  time  to  get 
round  the  corner  before  the  landwehr  were  upon 
them.  The  guns  they  left  perforce.  In  the  vil- 
lages the  French  made  a  last  stand,  but  it  was  at 
serious  cost.  The  landwehr,  with  less  of  the  con- 
ventional warrior  in  them  than  the  line,  were  not 
so  much  inclined  to  give  quarter.  Many  a  French- 
man that  afternoon  had  for  a  shrift  a  bayonet 
thrust.  They  fought  furiously  in  the  narrow  ways 
of  the  villages,  and  used  the  mitrailleuses  with  rare 
judgment  and  effect.  But  then  came  the  steady, 
resolute  stride  of  the  landwehr,  who  by  the  lusty 
use  of  the  bayonet  soon  cleared  Les  Tapes  and 
Maxe  of  all  save  victors,  dead,  and  wounded.  The 
village  of  St.  Kemy  was  also  taken  in  the  same 
way  by  the  eighty-first  regiment  at  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  with  a  loss  to  the  Prussians  of  five 
officers  and  over  one  hundred  men.  The  end  of 
the  day  found  the  French,  though  dislodged  from 
the  neighbouring  villages,  still  in  possession  of  the 
old  chateau  of  Ladonchamps,  to  the  shelter  of 
which  and  its  barricades  they  retired  after  the 
determined  charge  of  landwehr,  which  had  proved 
as  resistless  as  that  of  the  imperial  guard  at  an 
earlier  hour.  From  this  shelter  after  dark  a  large 
body  of  troops  sallied  out,  under  the  impression 
that  a  regiment  of  their  comrades  were  still  out- 
side, and  near  the  Prussian  lines.  A  dim  outline 
in  the  distance  was  supposed  to  be  that  of  the 
absentees.  On  a  closer  inspection,  however,  the 
outline  was  resolved  into  a  body  of  Prussian 
cavalry,  who,  for  the  purpose  of  disguise,  were 
singing  a  French  chanson.  The  French  officer 
hesitated  a  moment  or  two,  when  all  at  once  the 
charge  was  sounded.  There  was  no  disguise  then. 
Horses'  hoofs  ploughed  the  ground,  as,  shouting 
now  in  German,  the  riders  came  on.  A  scamper 
was  made  by  the  French,  which  the  Prussians 
hastened  by  a  roll  of  carbine  fire.  Up  to  the  very 
barricades  they  went,  but  the  French  were  ready, 
and  many  a  riderless  horse  dashed  on  almost  into 
the  outworks.  The  infantry  having  reformed,  a 
stream  of  fire  from  Chassepots  ran  all  along  the 
front,  which  after  a  while  caused  the  Prussians 
to  retire,  leaving  the  enemy  in  undisturbed  pos- 
session of  the  chateau. 

In   another  part  of  the  field,  westward  of  St. 
ReVny,  and  the  two  hotly-contested  villages  of  Les 


114 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Tapes,  the  position  held  by  the  Prussians  on  the 
wooded  and  hilly  ground  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Norroy  and  Semecourt,  formed  from  the  peculiarity 
of  the  situation  a  natural  fortress.  It  had,  however, 
been  strengthened  by  art.  The  ground  in  front 
and  facing  Woippy  had  been  cut  up  into  a  regular 
honeycomb  of  "  Schutzengraben,"  whilst  behind 
every  wall  a  bank  had  been  carefully  erected,  and 
the  masonry  pierced  for  rifles.  The  Prussians  had 
become  so  accustomed  to  fortifying  the  small  villages 
they  occupied,  and  had  besides  so  many  oppor- 
tunities of  observing  the  dexterity  with  which  the 
French  made  such  places  tenable,  that  in  a  very 
short  time  a  battalion  would  convert  a  farmhouse,  a 
garden-wall,  or  a  hamlet,  into  a  fortification  from 
which  generally  nothing  but  artillery  could  dislodge 
them.  In  the  present  instance,  however,  all  this 
elaborate  defence  proved  of  little  avail,  for  the  well- 
conducted  steady  advance  of  the  French  guard  was 
irresistible.  They  carried  the  village  of  Norroy, 
and  were  moving  on  Semecourt  and  Feves,  with 
the  intention,  apparently,  of  penetrating  towards 
Thionville  by  way  of  Marange,  when  they  were 
attacked  in  flank  by  the  troops  lying  at  Aman- 
villers,  St.  Privat-la-Montagne,  and  Roncourt.  The 
fire  from  Plappeville  assisted  them  so  long  as  they 
were  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Saulny;  but  that 
assistance  failed  as  soon  as  they  got  clear  of  their 
own  outworks  and  carried  Norroy.  Here  an  obsti- 
nate fight  continued  for  many  hours  ;  but  the 
Prussians  having  been  reinforced,  the  French  fell 
back  towards  Saulny  and  Woippy,  contesting  every 
inch  of  the  road.  With  the  light  of  a  brilliant 
moon,  the  big  guns  had  no  difficulty  in  opening 
fire.  Plappeville,  the  works  in  Devant-les-Ponts, 
and  some  heavy  pieces  of  the  town  itself,  now  took 
part  in  the  action;  but  the  Prussians  seemed  deter- 
mined to  take  Woippy,  which  they  eventually  did 
at  nine  o'clock.  They  could  not,  however,  hold  it 
for  any  length  of  time,  and  when  about  eleven 
p.m.  the  action  ceased,  the  French  had  regained 
Woippy,  and  the  Prussian  troops  held  Saulny. 

This  battle,  the  severest  and  most  important 
which  had  taken  place  before  Metz  since  the  31st 
of  August,  was  without  positive  benefit  to  either 
side,  as  both  lost  heavily  without  gaining  any 
advantages.  The  sortie  only  demonstrated  to 
Marshal  Bazaine  the  utter  hopelessness  of  any 
attempt  to  break  the  bars  of  his  iron  cage,  while 
the  Prussians  found  it  impossible  to  follow  up 
their  victory  by  penetrating  into  the  immediate 


vicinity  of  the  fortress.  The  French  losses  in 
killed  and  wounded  were  stated  to  be  1100.  The 
estimate  was  published  in  Metz  as,  in  some  sort, 
a  reply  to  the  clamour  for  another  sortie,  which 
Bazaine  was  reluctant  to  risk.  There  is,  there- 
fore, every  reason  to  believe  this  total  correct.  If 
so,  the  French  losses  were  far  less  than  those  of  their 
enemy.  Eighteen  hundred  killed  and  wounded, 
and  sixty-five  officers,  were  the  fearful  sum-total 
of  these  few  hours,  among  the  landwehr  alone — 
who,  indeed,  bore  the  brunt  of  the  fray,  and 
checked  the  rush  of  the  French  advance,  by  hold- 
ing the  villages  while  they  had  a  man  that  could 
stand  upright  and  fire  the  needle-gun.  To  them 
also  was  intrusted  the  grand  final  advance  which 
swept  the  French  out  of  the  villages.  The  Prus- 
sian force  engaged  consisted  of  the  nineteenth, 
fifty-eighth,  and  fifty-ninth  landwehr  regiments, 
forming  the  Posen  and  West  Prussian  brigades; 
the  first  army  corps,  the  twenty-eighth,  twenty- 
ninth,  eighth,  and  seventh  line  regiments,  and  a 
portion  of  the  seventh  army  corps.  The  number 
of  French  engaged  exceeded  45,000.  The  roar  of 
the  artillery,  mingling  with  the  deadly  clatter  of 
the  mitrailleuse,  was  indescribable  ;  for  not  only 
were  the  French  and  Prussian  field  and  horse- 
artillery  engaged,  but  during  the  whole  battle  the 
forts  kept  up  a  continual  blaze  from  their  garrison 
guns.  Singularly  enough,  this  fire  was  fiercest 
about  nine  o'clock,  as  if  the  French  feared  an 
attempt  upon  the  fortress,  to  follow  up  the  day's 
success. 

During  the  time  when  these  important  events 
were  occurring,  the  imperialist  cause,  though  un- 
popular, had  not  been  quite  forgotten  by  some  of 
its  former  supporters.  At  least  one  intrigue  had 
been  attempted  with  the  view  of  restoring  the 
Napoleonic  dynasty  ;  and  as  it  was  partly  carried 
on  in  the  city  of  Metz,  it  may  be  right  to  notice 
it  here. 

M.  Regnier  was  a  landed  proprietor  in  France, 
and  the  Prussians  were  but  a  few  leagues  from  his 
residence  when  he  and  his  family  took  flight  for 
England,  which  they  reached  on  the  31st  of  August. 
On  the  4th  of  September  the  Empress  Eugenie 
quitted  Paris.  On  the  11th  he  knew  she  was  at 
Hastings,  and  on  the  12th  wrote  to  Madame 
Lebieton  a  letter,  which  he  requested  should  be 
communicated  to  her  Majesty,  apprising  her  of  his 
intention  to  submit  proposals  to  the  emperor  at  Wil- 
helmshb'he  for  the  preservation  of  the  Napoleonic 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


115 


dynasty.  The  first  of  these  proposals  rested  on 
the  assumption  that  the  regent  ought  not  to  quit 
French  territory,  of  which  the  imperial  fleet  was  a 
part,  and  that  a  portion  of  the  fleet  ought,  therefore, 
to  be  occupied  by  her  as  the  seat  of  government. 

Madame  Lebreton  gave  an  interview  to  M.  Reg- 
nier  at  the  Marine  Hotel,  Hastings,  when  she  told 
him  that  the  empress  had  read  his  letter,  but  that 
she  felt  that  the  interests  of  France  should  take 
precedence  of  those  of  the  dynasty,  and  that  she 
had  the  greatest  horror  of  any  step  likely  to  bring 
about  a  civil  war.  M.  Regnier  then  addressed 
another  letter  to  Madame  Lebreton,  and  subse- 
quently saw  three  officers  of  the  imperial  household, 
who  told  him  that  the  empress  would  not  stir  in 
the  matter.  He  then  proposed  that  certain  photo- 
graphs of  Hastings,  which  he  had  bought  for  the 
purpose,  might  be  inscribed  by  the  prince  imperial 
to  the  emperor.  On  the  17th  of  September,  M. 
Regnier  got  back  his  photographs,  on  one  of  which 
was  a  note  running  thus: — "  My  dear  papa, — I  send 
you  these  views  of  Hastings,  hoping  they  will  please 
you. — Louis  Napoleon."  The  empress,  through 
M.  Fillion,  told  M.  Regnier  that  there  would  be 
great  danger  in  carrying  out  his  project,  and  begged 
him  not  to  attempt  it.  Of  course,  M.  Regnier  made 
light  of  the  caution  ;  and  on  the  20th  of  Septem- 
ber, the  very  day  of  Jules  Favre's  interview  with 
Count  von  Bismarck,  he  was  standing  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  North  German  chancellor.  From  him 
he  requested  a  pass  permitting  him  free  access  to  the 
emperor  at  Wilhelmshb'he,  at  the  same  time  hinting 
that  his  object  was  to  give  peace  to  France  by 
restoring  Napoleon  to  power.  On  seeing  the  pho- 
tographic view  inscribed  by  the  prince  imperial, 
Count  von  Bismarck  seemed  disposed  to  attach  a 
little  importance  to  M.  Regnier's  mission,  and 
explained  to  him  the  extremely  embarrassing  posi- 
tion in  which  the  Prussian  government  found  itself 
by  not  having  a  definite  government  in  France  with 
which  to  treat.  He  also  expressed  his  regret  that 
the  emperor  and  his  advisers  had  not  accepted  his 
suggestion,  and  signed  a  peace  on  Prussian  terms 
after  Sedan ;  adding,  that  as  the  self-constituted 
government  of  France  also  refused  to  treat  on  those 
terms,  Germany  had  no  alternative  but  to  continue 
the  war  until  a  disposition  was  shown  to  concede 
the  indispensable  alteration  of  frontier. 

Later  in  the  day,  after  the  famous  conversation 
with  M.  Favre,  in  which  the  latter  refused  to  yield 
a  "  stone  of  the  fortresses  or  an  inch  of  territory," 


Bismarck  saw  M.  Regnier  again,  and  the  latter 
expressed  his  determination  to  go  at  once  to  Metz 
and  Strassburg,  to  see  the  commander-in-chief  of 
each  place,  and  to  make  an  agreement  that  those 
towns  should  only  be  surrendered  in  the  emperor's 
name.  Count  von  Bismarck's  answer  was  :  — 
Sir, — Fate  has  already  decided ;  to  blind  your- 
selves to  that  fact  is  the  action  not  of  an  indomit- 
able, but  of  an  undecided  nature.  Nothing  can 
prevent  what  is  from  being  as  it  is.  Do  what  you 
can  to  bring  before  us  some  one  with  power  to  treat 
with  us,  and  you  will  render  a  great  service  to  your 
country.  I  will  give  orders  for  a  "  general  safe- 
conduct"  which  will  allow  of  your  travelling  in  all 
German  possessions,  and  everywhere  in  the  places 
occupied  by  our  troops.  A  telegram  shall  precede 
you  to  Metz,  which  will  facilitate  your  entrance 
there. 

Disguised,  and  aided  by  Count  von  Bismarck's 
safe-conduct,  M.  Regnier  proceeded  to  Metz,  which 
he  entered  on  the  23rd  of  September,  and  made  his 
way  to  the  presence  of  Marshal  Bazaine,  who  told 
him  that  his  position  was  excellent,  and  that  he  had 
hope  of  holding  out  for  a  long  period.  Afterwards, 
however,  he  changed  his  tone,  and  said  it  would  be 
as  much  as  he  could  do  to  keep  his  ground  till 
October  18,  and  that  only  by  living  on  the  flesh 
of  the  officers'  horses.  The  marshal  hailed  with 
evident  satisfaction  a  proposal  that  he  should  be 
allowed  a  free  passage  for  himself  and  army,  with 
their  colours,  artillery,  ammunition,  &c,  through 
the  enemy's  lines,  on  strict  parole  not  to  fight 
against  the  Germans  during  the  remainder  of  the 
campaign  ;  it  being  moreover  understood,  first  of 
all,  that  he  and  his  army  would  put  themselves 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Chamber  and  the  imperial 
government,  which  would  then  be,  de  facto,  the 
only  legal  one. 

To  explain  all  this  to  the  empress,  and  pave  the 
way  for  a  treaty  of  peace  and  the  return  of  the 
emperor,  it  was  arranged  that  General  Bourbaki 
should  leave  Metz  for  Chislehurst;  travelling,  how- 
ever, in  strict  incognito,  and  not  allowing  the  real 
object  of  his  mission  to  transpire.  Though  one 
of  the  bravest  of  French  generals,  Bourbaki  was 
little  skilled  in  diplomacy ;  and  as  soon  as  he  found 
himself  outside  Metz  his  one  feeling  was  that  of 
regret  that  he  had  left  it.  Meeting  a  comrade  on 
his  way  through  Belgium,  who  taunted  him  with 
treason  in  flying  from  France,  he  indignantly 
produced  the   authorization   of  Marshal  Bazaine, 


116 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


and  in  maintaining  his  military  honour  exposed 
the  whole  intrigue.  He  presented  himself  before 
the  empress  at  Chislehurst,  on  the  understanding 
that  he  was  there  by  her  orders,  and  was  of 
course  surprised  and  chagrined  to  find  that  he 
had  been  made  the  tool  of  imperialist  manoeuvres. 
Bazaine  signed  his  name  under  that  of  the 
prince  imperial  on  the  stereoscopic  view  of 
Hastings,  as  a  proof  to  Count  von  Bismarck 
that  he  had  authorized  M.  Kegnier  to  treat. 
On  the  28th  of  September,  when  the  latter  again 
saw  the  German  chancellor,  he  was  told  that  his 
powers  were  not  sufficiently  defined,  and  that 
there  could  be  no  further  communication  between 
them.  Nevertheless,  Count  von  Bismarck  sent  a 
telegram  to  Bazaine,  asking  whether  he  authorized 
M.  Begnier  to  treat  for  the  surrender  of  Metz,  and 
received  for  answer,  "  I  cannot  reply  in  the  affir- 
mative to  these  questions.  I  have  told  M.  Kegnier 
that  I  cannot  arrange  for  the  capitulation  of  the 
city  of  Metz."  Here  the  whole  scheme  of  the 
latter  appears  to  have  broken  up.  He  reached 
Chislehurst  on  the  4th  of  October,  to  find  that 
General  Bourbaki  had  done  absolutely  nothing 
in  the  affair  committed  to  his  charge,  and  that  he 
had  left  en  route  for  Tours  to  offer  his  military 
services  to  the  provisional  government.  M. 
Begnier  laboured  to  persuade  the  empress  to  per- 
sist in  endeavouring  to  re-establish  the  dynasty. 
He  told  her  of  the  fearful  misery  he  had  witnessed 
in  the  country ;  village  after  village  entirely 
deserted,  the  inhabitants  seeking  refuge  in  the 
woods,  and  camping  there  without  shelter  or  know- 
ing where  to  find  food,  and  that  on  the  approach 
of  winter  famine  would  certainly  overtake  them, 
threatening  to  involve  all  in  destruction.  All 
was,  however,  in  vain.  He  could  not  alter  the 
opinions  of  the  imperial  exile,  who  feared  that 
posterity  would  only  see  in  her  yielding  a  proof 
of  dynastic  selfishness;  and  that  dishonour  would 
attach  to  the  name  of  anyone  who  should  sign  a 
treaty  based  upon  a  cession  of  territory.  Thus 
M.  Kegnier's  scheme,  which  had  been  effected 
with  much  trouble  and  danger,  ended,  and  with 
it  the  hopes  of  those  who  saw  in  the  imperial 
restoration  the  only  chance  of  maintaining  future 
order  in  France. 

The  failure  of  the  sorties  did  not  much  depress 
the  people  of  Metz.  On  the  contrary,  they  wished 
to  make  common  cause  with  the  army,  and  memor- 
ialized the  governor  to  be  allowed  to  garrison  the 


forts  while  the  whole  disposable  military  force 
made  another  sortie  on  a  gigantic  scale.  i'he 
expression  of  this  wish  they  conveyed  to  him 
through  General  Coffinieres.  At  the  same  time 
energetic  attempts  were  made  to  effect  a  frater- 
nization with  the  army,  and  a  spirited  address, 
signed  by  numbers  of  the  citizens  and  national 
guards,  was  circulated  in  the  camps.  "  We  will 
shed  with  you,"  it  said,  "  our  last  drop  of  blood; 
we  will  share  with  you  our  last  crust.  Let  us 
rise  as  one  man,  and  victory  is  ours.  Long  live 
our  brothers  of  the  army !  Long  live  France, 
one  and  indivisible  ! " 

The  marshal,  however,  who  had  accompanied 
his  men  to  the  hottest  part  of  the  fight  on  the 
memorable  7th  October,  and  who  knew  the  utter 
inutility  of  the  fearful  sacrifice  of  life  which 
another  sortie  must  occasion,  declined  for  the 
present  to  accede  to  the  citizens'  request.  He 
was  deterred  also  by  a  consideration  of  the  state 
of  his  army,  which  was  suffering  exceedingly 
from  the  exposure  of  their  camps  and  the  priva- 
tions to  which  they  were  subjected.  About  the 
13th,  the  date  of  the  memorial,  there  were,  of 
soldiers  alone,  23,000  in  ambulances  and  private 
houses.  There  was  also  an  enormous  increase 
of  sickness  amongst  the  civilians,  as  might  be 
expected  in  a  place  crowded  with  double  the 
ordinary  number  of  inhabitants  ;  the  surplus 
largely  consisting  of  the  poorer  class  of  agricultural 
labourers,  who  naturally  soon  fell  ill  in  a  town 
abounding  in  hospitals  fitted  only  to  be  human 
abattoirs,  surrounded  by  huge  camps  where  all 
sanitary  rules  were  utterly  neglected.  It  was, 
indeed,  a  marvel  that  Metz  was  not  one  huge 
lazar-house;  but  except  amongst  infants  and  the 
aged,  the  death-rate  was  by  no  means  excessive, 
and  the  dead  were  buried  without  murmuring. 

We  have  already  said  that  as  a  fortification 
Metz  might  well  have  been  deemed  impregnable. 
It  was  handed  down  to  the  present  generation, 
by  Cormontaigne  and  other  great  engineers  of 
the  last  century,  as  a  very  strong  fortress — 
strong  in  its  defensive  works.-  The  Second 
Empire  added  to  these  a  circle  of  seven  very 
large  detached  forts  at  distances  of  from  two 
and  a  half  to  three  miles  from  the  centre  of  the 
town,  so  as  to  secure  it  from  bombardment  even 
with  rifled  guns,  and  to  transform  the  whole  into 
a  large  entrenched  camp  second  to  Paris  only. 
With  an  army,  however,  of  about  180,000  men 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


117 


added  to  the  usual  population  of  60,000,  and  whole 
villages  of  country  people  who  had  sought  shelter 
behind  the  forts,  it  was  evident  that  the  stock  of 
provisions,  however  large,  must  soon  be  exhausted, 
and  the  terrible  alternative  of  starvation  or  sur- 
render arise.  This  moment  of  grief  appeared 
now  to  have  arrived.  Whispered  at  first,  with 
bated  breath,  in  quiet  corners;  then  talked  of 
amongst  twos  and  threes ;  then  murmured  in 
coteries  and  cafes;  and  at  last  the  general  com- 
manding the  town  called  the  municipal  council 
together  and  told  them  that  the  bread  was  done, 
and  the  city  must  capitulate.  "  Capitulate — never ! 
not  whilst  a  boot  remains  to  be  eaten,"  was  the 
response.  Measures  were  now  taken  to  at  least 
postpone  it.  But  they  came  too  late.  Not  a 
pastry  cook  was  allowed  to  bake  a  bun  for  luxury, 
bran  was  mixed  with  the  flour  already  existing, 
and  no  more  white  flour  was  allowed  to  be  made. 
Other  expedients  were  adopted,  and  good  brown 
bread  was  daily  to  be  had.  All  were  placed  on 
rations ;  if  any  went  out  to  dinner  they  had  to 
take  with  them  their  own  bread  ;  but  generally 
indeed,  dining  out  simply  meant  a  feast  of  reason, 
with  an  interlude  of  horse  flesh.  In  the  early 
part  of  October  a  leg  of  mutton  fetched  eight 
francs  the  pound.  Potatoes  rose  to  one  or  one 
and  a  half  franc  the  pound,  and  then  disappeared 
altogether.  Salad  vegetables  existed,  but  the 
places  in  which  they  were  kept  were  very  hard 
to  find.  Fowls  fetched  almost  any  price,  and 
the  lucky  avant  poste  who  could  kill  a  rabbit 
under  the  pretext  of  firing  at  a  Prussian  was  a 
wealthy  man ;  forty  francs  being  the  least  he  might 
expect  as  a  reward  for  his  dexterity,  plus  the 
rabbit.  Eggs  rose  to  one  franc  each,  and  sugar 
sold  at  five  francs  and  even  at  nine  francs  the 
pound.  Coals  there  were  none,  and  the  supply  of 
gas  was  almost  exhausted  when  the  end  came. 
But  the  greatest  privation  was  salt;  nine  francs 
had  been  paid  for  a  pound,  and  he  who  could  give 
a  pinch  of  it  was  regarded  as  a  valued  friend ;  for 
the  only  absolute  suffering  arose  from  the  want 
of  it.  Horse  flesh  required  some  seasoning  to 
make  it  palatable.  All  sauces  had  disappeared, 
and  food  was  equine  in  the  extreme:  horse-flesh 
soup  usually  excellent;  boiled  horse  flesh  by  no 
means  bad,  often  very  good;  horse  beans  as  a 
legume,  varied  by  lentils  occasionally  and  a  roti  of 
horse,  often  tough  beyond  mastication — made  the 
unvarying  round.       Such  rations  were  unsatisfy- 


ing and  far  from  nutritious,  as  the  animal  had 
generally  lived  as  long  as  possible,  and  was  only 
killed  to  prevent  his  dying.  The  army  was  often 
worse  off  than  the  town,  frequently  from  want  of 
direction  rather  than  of  food.  The  avanlpostes  were 
often  forty-eight  hours  without  victuals  through 
the  carelessness  and  neglect  of  the  intendance; 
and  as  no  additional  means  of  grinding  corn  had 
been  adopted,  grain  alone  was  often  served  out 
instead  of  bread.  Of  this  the  soldiers  had  to  make 
the  best  use  they  could,  bruising  rather  than 
grinding  it  in  coffee  mills,  and  boiling  or  baking 
the  crushed  mass. 

The  tedium  of  the  siege  to  the  inhabitants  was 
increased  at  this  time  by  the  rather  arbitrary  sup- 
pression of  several  journals;  and  a  curious  feature  of 
the  siege  was  the  excessive  tenderness  of  the  auth- 
orities towards  the  enemy.  One  newspaper,  the 
Independant,  was  even  suppressed  for  inserting  an 
article  severely  condemning  the  Prussian  proclama- 
tion which  described  the  franc-tireurs  as  traitors, 
and  threatened  them  with  death  whenever  captured. 
The  author  of  the  article  indignantly  protested 
against  the  suppression,  declined  writing  again 
under  such  liabilities,  and  threatened  that,  in  a  day 
not  far  distant,  he  would  once  more  use  his  pen 
"  to  write  history."  To  refer  with  any  amount  of 
respect  to  the  re23ublic  also  procured  the  exclusion 
of  the  article — for  all  articles  had  now  to  undergo 
a  preliminary  inspection.  At  length  the  journals 
retorted  by  suppressing  anything  that  came  to  them 
from  the  military  authorities,  or  by  refusing  to 
insert  any  communication  with  the  word  "capitula- 
tion "  in  it.  Numberless  sly  hits  were  made  at  the 
marshal,  with  that  adroitness  of  inuendo  in  which 
the  French  are  always  so  felicitous  ;  and  the  town 
swarmed  with  secretly  printed  pamphlets,  not  very 
complimentary  to  the  powers  that  were.  There 
was  a  great  scarcity  of  paper  in  Metz  at  the  time, 
and  the  journals  came  out  in  all  shades  of  colour, 
from  the  brightest  red  to  the  deepest  blue.  The 
people,  however,  considered  themselves  lucky  when 
they  could  get  anything  at  all  to  read  ;  and  were 
equally  compelled  to  be  satisfied  if  they  could 
obtain  a  meal  of  horse-flesh  and  a  ration  of  brown 
bread. 

With  such  a  state  of  things  existing  in  the  town 
and  camp,,  it  was  impossible  not  to  see  that  the  end 
was  fast  approaching.  Other  indications  were  not 
wanting.  From  about  the  15  th  October  neither 
besieged  nor  besiegers  fired  a  shot,  and  a  feeling  of 


118 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


cordiality  again  grew  up  between  the  outposts. 
The  officers  bowed  to  each  other,  and  the  men 
took  off  their  caps  in  sign  of  friendship,  and  talked 
together.  Sorties  indeed  continued,  but  their  char- 
acter was  wofully  changed.  Instead  of  brilliant 
and  impetuous  battalions,  they  consisted  first  of 
tens,  then  forties,  fifties,  and  even  hundreds,  of 
wretched,  haggard,  half-starved  deserters.  For  a 
time  these  were  received  by  the  Prussians;  but  on 
a  body  of  800  presenting  themselves,  they  were 
told  they  must  go  back  and  endure  their  troubles 
a  little  longer.  Another  day,  through  the  driving 
sleet  which  flew  like  a  thick  mist  across  the  plain, 
a  black  mass  was  descried  advancing  towards  the 
Prussian  lines,  which  at  first  was  supposed  to  indi- 
cate a  last  desperate  effort,  and  the  alarm  was  at 
once  given.  As  the  shower  passed  there  stood 
before  the  Germans,  not  soldiers,  but  thousands  of 
men,  women,  and  children,  the  civil  inhabitants  of 
Metz.  The  officer  at  once  despatched  orderlies  in 
all  directions,  with  orders  to  the  foreposts  to  allow 
no  individual  to  pass,  and  to  fire  upon  any  who 
should  persist  in  the  attempt.  One  man,  sent  as 
advance  guard  of  this  band,  advanced  a  little  too 
near,  and  was  shot.  The  unfortunate  citizens  came 
to  a  standstill ;  but  a  woman  advanced  with  a  white 
pocket-handkerchief  fastened  on  the  point  of  a 
stick.  The  Prussians  by  this  time  were  keeping 
up  a  sharp  fire  over  the  heads  of  this  jaded  crowd, 
who  took  the  warning,  and  in  a  short  time  went 
back  to  Metz.  The  female  kept  advancing,  but,  on 
looking  round  and  seeing  herself  deserted,  she  also 
turned  and  fled. 

But  if  military  operations  were  for  a  time  sus- 
pended, diplomacy  was  not  idle.  On  the  17th  of 
October  Marshal  Bazaine's  aide-de-camp,  General 
Boyer,  passed  blindfolded  through  the  German  mili- 
tary lines  to  the  headquarters  of  Prince  Frederick 
Charles.  On  the  18th  he  went  to  Versailles  and 
was  conducted  to  Count  von  Bismarck.  His  appear- 
ance created  such  a  sensation  among  the  French 
inhabitants,  that  a  guard  had  to  be  sent  for  to  keep 
an  open  space  in  front  of  the  count's  windows. 
According  to  an  apparently  trustworthy  account 
of  their  interview,  published  in  the  Debats  in 
June,  1871,  and  when  there  had  thus  been  ample 
time  to  obtain  correct  information,  the  general, 
after  a  few  formal  remarks,  asked  Count  von  Bis- 
marck what  were  his  aims  and  objects;  in  a  word, 
what  he  desired  as  the  result  of  the  war.  To  this 
Count  von  Bismarck  replied  very  frankly,  that  his 


policy  was  most  simple;  that  the  French  might 
do  as  they  please,  that  as  for  themselves  (the  Ger- 
mans) they  were  sure  of  Paris,  its  fall  being  merely 
a  question  of  time.  "  The  French  took  Eome 
without  injuring  its  monuments;  the  Germans  will 
do  the  same  with  Paris,  which  is  a  city  of  art  in 
which  nothing  shall  be  destroyed.  I  have  nothing 
to  say  to  the  various  considerations  that  you  lay 
before  me.  You  tell  me  that  your  Metz  army  is 
the  sole  element  of  order  remaining  in  France,  and 
that  it  is  alone  capable  of  establishing  and  uphold- 
ing a  government  in  the  country.  If  this  is  the 
ease,  constitute  this  government;  we  will  offer  no 
opposition,  and  we  will  even  render  you  some 
assistance.  The  marshal  will  repair  to  some  town  to 
be  named  with  his  army,  and  summon  the  empress 
thither.  In  our  eyes  the  sole  legal  government 
of  the  country  is  still  that  of  the  plebiscitum  of 
the  8th  of  May;  it  is  the  only  one  we  recognize. 
You  speak  to  me  of  the  necessity  for  putting  an 
end  to  a  war  such  as  this  one;  but  whom  am  I  to 
treat  with?  There  is  no  Chamber.  I  had  pro- 
posed to  let  the  elections  be  held  on  the  2nd  of 
October;  the  departments  occupied  by  the  Prussian 
troops  would  have  had  full  liberty  in  the  selection 
of  their  deputies.  This  offer  was  not  taken  advan- 
tage of.  I  then  suggested  the  date  of  the  18  th  of 
October,  with  no  better  success."  Count  von 
Bismarck,  entering  into  another  train  of  ideas,  then 
said  with  no  little  warmth,  "  I  cannot  say  what 
will  befall  France,  nor  what  is  the  future  that 
awaits  her;  but  I  do  know  this,  that  it  will  redound 
to  her  shame,  to  her  eternal  shame  in  all  time, 
in  all  ages,  and  in  all  tongues,  to  have  abandoned 
her  emperor  as  she  did  after  Sedan.  The  stain 
which  she  will  never  wash  out  is  the  revolution 
of  the  4th  of  September."  Finally,  returning  to 
what  was  peculiarly  the  object  of  the  interview, 
the  chancellor  repeated  that  he  would  offer  no 
opposition  to  the  reconstitution  of  a  government 
by  Marshal  Bazaine  and  his  army. 

General  Boyer  stayed  two  days  at  Versailles,  had 
two  interviews  with  the  count,  and  then  returned  to 
the  neighbourhood  of  Metz,  before  entering  which, 
however,  he  visited  Wilhelmshohe.  On  the  23rd  he 
once  more  repaired  to  Versailles.  From  his  state- 
ment it  appeared  that  Bazaine  was  now  quite  willing 
to  surrender  with  his  array,  but  the  commandant 
of  Metz,  General  Coffinieres,  would  not  consent  to 
give  up  the  fortress.  Prince  Frederick  Charles 
very  naturally  objected  to  take  charge  of  80,000 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN   WAR, 


119 


or  90,000  soldiers,  hampered  with  the  condition 
of  having  the  same  battle  to  fight  for  the  city,  and 
his  answer  simply  was,  "  Metz,  or  nothing  at  all." 
Meanwhile,  so  confident  were  the  German  author- 
ities of  the  early  surrender,  that  a  chateau  at 
Frescati  was  prepared  for  the  expected  negotiations. 
Morning  after  morning  every  eye  was  turned 
anxiously  in  the  direction  of  the  town  and  out- 
works, until,  on  the  25th,  a  flag  of  truce  appeared 
with  a  despatch  to  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  inti- 
mating that  General  Changarnier  would  wait  upon 
him  at  twelve  o'clock  that  day. 

Marshal  Bazaine  had  received,  almost  at  the 
same  moment,  a  despatch  from  General  Boyer, 
and  another  from  Count  von  Bismarck,  in  which 
the  latter  declined  all  negotiations  save  on  the 
basis  of  unconditional  surrender.  On  receipt 
of  these  documents,  which  destroyed  the  mar- 
shal's hopes  and  plans,  he  immediately  con- 
voked his  council  of  war.  The  council  decided 
unanimously,  with  one  exception,  that  the  capitu- 
lation was  necessary.  Almost  up  to  the  last 
moment  General  Coffinieres  desired  to  make 
another  attempt  to  break  through  the  Prussian 
investment.  By  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
however,  Bazaine  had  succeeded  in  convincing 
Coffinieres  that,  even  if  successful,  such  an  attempt 
would  only  postpone  the  capitulation  for  a  few 
weeks,  at  a  great  sacrifice  of  life;  and  accordingly 
a  messenger  was  sent  to  Prince  Frederick  Charles, 
intimating  an  intention  to  surrender.  This  was  the 
first  proposition  which  included  both  the  fortress 
and  the  army  of  Bazaine  encamped  outside.  In 
expectation  of  an  outbreak  on  the  24th,  Bazaine, 
whether  rightly  or  wrongly,  had  fully  made  up  his 
mind  that  further  sorties  were  useless,  and  that 
Metz  must  speedily  succumb.  The  Viscount  de 
Valcourt  contrived  to  escape  in  disguise  through 
the  Prussian  lines,  with  a  despatch  in  a  hollow  tooth, 
covered  with  a  top  dressing  of  gutta  percha.  This 
was  addressed  to  the  authorities  at  Tours,  and  ran 
thus: — "  I  must  give  up  Metz  in  a  day  or  two. 
Make  peace  as  soon  as  you  can. — Bazaine,  Mar- 
shal," &c.  On  the  25th  October  the  marshal 
communicated  to  the  council  of  war  that  he  had 
received  a  despatch  from  General  Boyer,  stating 
that  the  empress  would  not  accept  the  regency. 
Bazaine  added,  that  as  Bismarck  had  now  refused 
to  separate  the  fate  of  the  town  from  that  of  the 
army,  nothing  remained  to  be  done  but  to  en- 
deavour to   get   the   best  terms   possible,   and   to 


accustom   both   soldier    and   civilian    to   the    idea 
of  capitulation. 

General  Cissy  was  then  sent  to  arrange  a  meet- 
ing between  the  headquarters  of  the  two  armies, 
and,  as  we  have  just  stated,  General  Changarnier 
subsequently  had  an  interview  with  Prince 
Frederick  Charles.  It  was  hoped  that  the  vete- 
ran soldier  of  France  now  sent  to  negotiate 
would  be  able  to  obtain  exceptionally  honour- 
able terms  for  a  valiant  army,  which  had  held 
the  Prussians  in  check  for  three  months  and 
a  half,  after  having  been  beaten  by  them  several 
times.  The  prince  gave  the  general  an  affable  and 
cordial  reception,  but  told  him,  that  as  he  did  not 
form  part  of  the  active  army,  he  could  not  treat 
with  him  regarding  the  conditions  of  the  capitula- 
tion; and  that  their  conversation  must  be  confined 
to  pure  and  simple  details  respecting  local  events. 
He  said,  he  knew  well  that  Metz  had  victuals 
for  only  three  days,  and  showing  Changarnier  a 
train  in  the  railway  station  crammed  with  different 
kinds  of  provisions,  he  added:  "That  is  for  the 
city  of  Metz  and  for  your  army,  which  is  in  want 
of  everything.  We  wish  to  put  an  end  to  your 
suffering  ! "  Changarnier,  however,  proved  to  the 
prince  that,  although  holding  no  separate  command, 
he  was  nevertheless  officially  attached  to  Bazaine, 
and  was  acting  in  this  matter  with  his  authority. 
He  pleaded  hard  to  obtain  for  the  soldiers  the 
privilege  of  returning  to  their  homes  and  families; 
but  of  course  such  a  request  could  not  be  granted, 
and  it  is  almost  surprising  that  so  old  and  experi- 
enced an  officer  should  have  thought  of  making  it. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  interview  he  was  almost 
heartbroken,  and  said,  with  a  flood  of  tears,  "  We 
shall  fall,  but  with  honour.  I  wish,  gentlemen, 
that  neither  you  nor  any  brave  soldier  may  ever 
experience  this."  Changarnier  was  then  conducted 
back,  as  he  had  been  brought,  blindfolded,  through 
the  Prussian  camp,  and  General  Cissy  was  once  more 
sent  to  continue  the  negotiation.  He  urged  that 
though  the  army  capitulated,  that  was  no  reason 
why  Metz  should  surrender.  The  prince  replied : 
"  Before  the  declaration  of  war,  we  knew  as  well  as 
you,  down  to  the  most  minute  details,  the  state  of  the 
defences  of  the  town.  Then  the  forts  were  scarcely 
sketched  out,  and  the  town  could  only  make  a 
feeble  resistance.  It  is  since  the  presence  of  the 
French  army  under  its  walls  that  Metz  has  become 
what  it  is.  Through  your  exertions  it  has  been 
converted   into   a  fortress    of  the   first  class,  and 


120 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


must  accept,  as  a  consequence,  all  the  conditions 
of  a  capitulation  which  will  make  no  distinction 
between  the  town  and  the  army."  As  no  mitigation 
of  the  humiliating  terms  thus  seemed  possible, 
submission  only  remained,  and  General  Jarras,  of 
the  marshal's  staff,  was  sent  to  arrange  the  clauses 
of  the  capitulation. 

The  discussion  of  these  details  was  long,  obsti- 
nate, and  often  warm,  the  terms  demanded  by  the 
Germans  appearing  to  their  adversaries  extremely 
and  needlessly  severe.  The  evening  of  the  25th, 
the  whole  of  the  26th  and  the  27th,  was  occupied 
before  the  clauses  were  finally  settled.  So  certain, 
however,  were  the  Germans  of  the  ultimate  issue 
of  whatever  negotiations  were  carried  on,  that  their 
second  corps  received  marching  orders  for  Paris  at 
noon  on  the  25th,  and  was  on  its  way  early  in  the 
evening.  On  the  26th  the  interview  became  very 
stormy  on  the  part  of  the  French  commissioners. 
They  insisted  on  the  officers  retaining  their  side 
arms,  and  it  was  found  necessary  to  telegraph  to 
the  Prussian  king  at  Versailles  for  specific  instruc- 
tions. The  king  conceded  the  privilege  in  a  tele- 
graphic despatch  which  arrived  at  three  a.m.  on 
the  next  day.  Early  on  the  morning  of  that  day 
the  commissioners  again  met,  there  being  present 
General  Jarras,  Marshal  Bazaine's  chief  of  the 
staff,  and  Colonel  Fay  and  Major  Samucle  on  the 
part  of  General  Coffinieres,  the  commandant  of 
the  fortress.  The  German  commissioners  were 
Generals  Stiehle  and  Wartensleben.  The  con- 
ference lasted  until  eight  o'clock  at  night,  when  a 
draught  was  signed  for  the  absolute  surrender  of 
Metz  and  all  its  fortifications,  armaments,  stores, 
and  munitions,  together  with  the  garrison  and  the 
whole  of  Bazaine's  army. 

In  addition  to  the  leading  points  of  the  sur- 
render, the  draught  stipulated  that  the  French 
troops  should  be  conducted,  without  arms,  by 
regiments  or  regimental  corps,  in  military  order, 
to  some  place  to  be  afterwards  indicated  by  the 
Prussians;  that  the  French  officers  in  command  of 
the  men  should,  after  their  arrival  at  this  place,  be 
at  liberty  to  return  to  the  entrenched  camps,  or  to 
Metz,  on  giving  their  word  of  honour  not  to  quit 
either  place  without  an  order  of  permission  from 
the  German  commandant;  that  the  troops,  after 
surrender,  should  be  marched  to  bivouac,  retaining 
their  personal  effects,  cooking  utensils,  &c. ;  that 
the  French  generals,  officers,  and  military  employes 
ranking  as  commissioned  officers,  who  should  en- 


gage by  written  promise  not  to  bear  arms  against 
Germany,  or  to  agitate  against  Prussian  interests 
during  the  war,  should  not  be  made  prisoners,  but 
should  be  permitted  to  retain  their  arms,  and  to 
keep  their  personal  property,  in  recognition  of  the 
courage  displayed  by  them  during  the  campaign. 
It  was  also  agreed  that  all  questions  of  detail,  such 
as  might  concern  the  commercial  rights  of  the 
town  of  Metz,  and  the  interests  and  rights  of 
civilians  and  non-combatants,  should  be  considered 
and  treated  subsequently  in  an  appendix  to  the 
military  paper  of  capitulation ;  and  that  any  clause, 
sentence,  or  word  which  might  present  a  doubt 
as  to  its  exact  meaning,  should  be  interpreted  in 
favour  of  the  French  people. 

The  Metz  municipal  council,  wrought  up  to  the 
highest  pitch  of  excitement  by  the  reticence  of 
the  military  authorities,  went  on  the  24th  to 
General  Coffinieres  and  demanded  to  be  informed 
how  matters  stood.  The  governor  told  them 
he  had  no  information  to  give,  either  as  to  the 
position  of  affairs  in  the  rest  of  France  or  of 
those  more  immediately  outside  Metz;  and  advised 
them  to  apply  to  the  marshal,  which  they  agreed 
to  do.  The  result  of  the  inquiry  confirmed  their 
worst  fears,  that  a  capitulation  was  in  course  of 
arrangement.  A  thrill  of  rage  and  consternation 
passed  through  the  city  as  the  truth  flashed  upon 
it.  The  town  council  now  met  daily,  and  in 
answer  to  their  persistent  demand  for  a  true  state- 
ment of  the  situation,  General  Coffinieres,  on  the 
morning  of  the  27th,  issued  the  following  official 
proclamation : — 

"  Inhabitants  of  Metz, — It  is  my  duty  to  faith- 
fully state  to  you  our  situation,  well  persuaded 
that  your  manly  and  courageous  souls  will  rise  to 
the  height  of  this  grave  occasion.  Pound  us  is 
an  army  which  has  never  been  conquered,  which 
has  stood  firm  before  the  fire  of  the  foe,  and  with- 
stood the  rudest  shocks.  This  army,  interposed 
between  our  city  and  her  besiegers,  has  given  us 
time  to  put  our  forts  in  a  complete  state  of  defence, 
to  mount  upon  our  walls  more  than  600  pieces  of 
cannon,  and  has  held  in  check  an  army  of  more 
than  200,000  men.  Within  our  walls  we  have  a 
population  full  of  energy  and  patriotism,  firmly 
determined  to  defend  itself  to  the  last  extremity. 
I  have  already  informed  the  municipal  council  that, 
notwithstanding  the  reduction  of  rations,  notwith- 
standing the  perquisitions  made  by  the  civil  and 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


121 


military  authorities,  we  have  no  more  food  than 
will  serve  till  to-morrow.  Further  than  this,  our 
brave  army,  tried  already  by  the  fire  of  the  enemy, 
has  lust  42,000  men,  after  horrible  sufferings  from 
the  inclemency  of  the  season  and  privations  of 
every  kind.  The  council  of  war  has  proof  of  these 
facts,  and  the  marshal  commanding  in  chief  has 
given  formal  orders,  as  he  had  the  right,  to  direct 
a  portion  of  our  provisions  for  the  purposes  of  the 
army.  With  all  this,  thanks  to  our  economy,  we 
can  still  resist  up  to  the  30th  inst.,  but  then  our 
situation  will  not  be  sensibly  modified.  Never  in 
the  annals  of  military  history  has  a  place  resisted 
until  its  resources  have  been  so  completely  exhausted 
as  this  has,  and  none  has  ever  been  so  encumbered 
with  sick  and  wounded.  We  are,  then,  condemned 
to  succumb;  but  it  will  be  with  honour,  and  when 
we  find  ourselves  conquered  by  famine.  The 
enemy,  who  has  so  closely  invested  us  for  more 
than  seventy  days,  knows  that  he  has  almost 
attained  the  end  of  his  efforts.  He  demands  the 
town  and  the  army,  and  will  not  permit  the 
severance  of  the  interests  of  the  one  from  that 
of  the  other.  Four  or  five  days'  desperate  resistance 
would  only  place  the  inhabitants  in  a  worse  position. 
Rest  assured  that  your  private  interests  will  be 
defended  with  the  most  lively  solicitude.  Seek  to 
support  stoically  this  great  misfortune,  and  cherish 
the  firm  hope  that  Metz,  this  grand  and  patriotic 
city,  will  remain  to  France. 

"  F.  COFFINIERES," 
"  the  General,  &c. 
"Metz,  27 th  October,  1870." 

This  proclamation,  though  full  of  kindly  feeling, 
did  not  satisfy  the  people.  The  old  question  was 
asked  and  re-asked — Why  were  we  not  told  of 
the  shortness  of  provisions  before?  Why  were 
not  some  means  taken  to  prevent  waste?  Waste 
indeed  there  had  been.  On  the  retreat  from  the 
battle  of  Gravelotte,  coffee,  sugar,  and  biscuits,  to 
the  value  of  more  than  100,000  francs,  were  burnt 
because  they  encumbered  the  roads.  More  than 
seventy  carriages,  which  had  been  in  the  morning 
full  of  provisions,  entered  Metz  empty.  The  road- 
side ditches  were  choked  with  boxes  of  biscuit 
bearing  the  English  weight,  and  with  the  familiar 
inscription,  in  large  black  letters,  "  Navy  biscuit." 
Soldiers  filled  their  sacks  with  sugar,  which  they 
sold  in  town,  or  returned  with  a  sugar  loaf  on  each 
shoulder  as  a  trophy  of  the  maladministration  of 
vol.  n. 


the  army  and  the  weakness  of  their  generals. 
"  How  was.it,"  it  was  inquired,  "  that  in  the  early 
days  of  the  siege  officers  were  allowed  to  draw 
their  double  rations  in  camp,  and  then  to  come 
into  the  town  and  eat  and  drink  as  though  no 
allowance  had  been  made  them !  There  were  for 
three-quarters  of  the  time  an  average  of  8000 
officers,  with  double  rations  for  at  least  fifty  days 
of  the  blockade,  giving  a  total  of  800,000  single 
rations,  and  who,  meanwhile,  fed  upon  the  pro- 
visions of  the  town.  All  this,  if  you  knew  we 
had  not  sufficient  provisions  for  a  lengthened  time, 
you  should  have  prevented." 

There  seems  to  have  been  some  truth  in  this, 
but  expostulation  came  too  late  to  serve  any  good 
purpose ;  already  upon  the  walls  was  the  proclama- 
tion of  Marshal  Bazaine,  announcing  the  dreaded 
event  in  even  plainer  terms  than  that  of  the  com- 
mandant.    It  ran  as  follows: — 

"  GENERAL   OBDER. No.  12. 

"  To  the  Army  of  the  Rhine. 

"  Conquered  by  famine,  we  are  compelled  to 
submit  to  the  laws  of  war  by  constituting  ourselves 
prisoners.  At  various  epochs  in  our  military  his- 
tory brave  troops,  commanded  by  Massena,  Kleber, 
Gouvion  St.  Cyr,  have  experienced  the  same  fate, 
which  does  not  in  any  way  tarnish  military  honour 
when,  like  you,  their  duty  has  been  so  gloriously 
accomplished  to  the  extremity  of  human  limits. 

"  All  that  was  loyally  possible  to  be  done  in 
order  to  avoid  this  end  has  been  attempted,  and 
could  not  succeed. 

"  As  to  renewing  a  supreme  attempt  to  break 
through  the  fortified  lines  of  the  enemy,  in  spite 
of  your  gallantry  and  the  sacrifice  of  thousands  of 
lives,  which  may  still  be  useful  to  the  country, 
it  would  have  been  unavailing,  on  account  of  the 
armament  and  of  the  overwhelming  forces  which 
guard  and  support  those  lines  :  a  disaster  would 
have  been  the  consequence. 

"  Let  us  be  dignified  in  adversity.  Let  us 
respect  the  honourable  conventions  which  have 
been  stipulated,  if  we  wish  to  be  respected  as  we 
deserve  to  be. 

"  Let  us,  above  all,  for  the  reputation  of  our 
army,  shun  acts  of  indiscipline,  such  as  the  de- 
struction of  arms  and  materiel,  since,  according 
to  military  usages,  places  and  armament  will  be 
restored  to  France  when  peace  is  signed. 
Q 


122 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


"  In  leaving  the  command  I  make  it  a  duty  to 
express  to  generals,  officers,  and  soldiers  all,  my 
gratitude  for  their  loyal  co-operation,  their  brilliant 
valour  on  the  battle-field,  their  resignation  in  pri- 
vations, and  it  is  with  broken  heart  that  I  separate 
from  you. 

'•  The  Marshal  of  France,  Commander-in-Chief, 

"(Signed)  BAZAINE." 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  describe  the  excite- 
ment which  prevailed  when  this  order  was  issued. 
The  bewildered  citizens  ran  to  and  fro  in  the  streets, 
seeking  a  leader  but  finding  none.  The  national 
guard  refused  to  give  up  its  arms,  and  assembled 
in  the  Place  d'Armes.  Some  few  officers  of  dif- 
ferent regiments  would  have  placed  themselves 
at  their  head,  but  they  were  without  any  plan  or 
point  of  union,  and  ran  about  like  ants  in  an 
invaded  ant-hill.  The  door  leading  to  the  clock- 
tower  was  broken  in  with  the  butts  of  muskets; 
the  staircase  was  carried,  and  the  great  alarm  bell 
of  Metz  was  rung  for  the  first  time  since  1812. 
The  population  streamed  into  the  square  from  all 
quarters,  and  the  streets  were  crowded  with  angry 
citizens.  In  the  caserne  of  the  engineers,  a  huge 
building  on  the  esplanade,  a  band  of  officers  of 
artillery  and  engineers,  who  had  long  been  discon- 
tented with  their  enforced  inactivity,  were  gathered 
together,  and  8000  officers  and  men,  divided  into 
bodies,  hidden  in  different  parts  of  the  town,  were 
ready  to  put  themselves  under  a  general  who  had 
promised  to  lead  them ;  but  at  the  last  moment 
he  failed,  and  consternation  and  disorder  were  the 
result. 

Now  was  exhibited  a  ridiculous  feature  of  the 
outbreak.  Foolish  men  crept  in,  and  wise  men 
crept  out.  An  editor  of  one  of  the  Metz  news- 
papers, who  had  before  achieved  glory  by  entering 
the  ante-chamber  of  General  Coffinieres  and  break- 
ing down  the  harmless  bust  of  the  ex-emperor, 
preserving  the  whip  with  which  he  had  done  it  as 
a  trophy  of  his  prowess,  mounted  his  horse  armed 
with  a  revolver,  which  he  fired  repeatedly  in  the 
air.  He  was  attended  by  a  young  lady,  the 
daughter  of  a  gunsmith,  who,  mounted  on  one  of 
her  father's  horses,  and  armed  with  one  of  his 
pistols,  having  a  pocket  handkerchief  tied  to  it, 
bore  aloft  her  standard,  like  a  second  Joan  of  Arc, 
through  the  streets  of  Metz.  Ridicule  speedily 
put  an  end  to  the  silly  movement;  but  it  had  the 


effect  of  defeating  the  seriously-entertained  design 
of  spiking  the  guns  which  yet  remained  in  position, 
breaking  the  small  arms  contained  in  the  arsenal, 
and  finally  blowing  up  the  forts.  Men  were 
willing  to  brave  death,  but  they  feared  being 
laughed  at.  The  voltigeurs  of  the  imperial  guard, 
accompanied  by  the  half  of  a  regiment  of  the  line, 
quickly  suppressed  the  disorderly  demonstration. 
The  arms  of  the  national  guard  were  taken  from 
them,  and  the  few  officers  who  could  fled  in  sorrow 
from  their  last  hope.  Some  of  them  managed  to 
steal  through  the  gates  of  the  town,  and  tramped 
along  the  muddy  road  to  Grigy,  joined  here  and 
there  by  a  few  stragglers.  They  crept  through 
the  dark  wood,  but  there  all  hope  was  lost.  At 
four  metres  apart  stood  the  Prussian  outposts;  to 
proceed  was  death,  to  go  back  shame.  They  chose 
the  shame,  and  the  last  night  they  entered  Metz 
was  one  of  weeping  and  tears. 

Once  more,  and  for  the  last  time,  the  municipal 
council  of  the  French  city  of  Metz  assembled,  and, 
as  if  ashamed  of  the  childish  display  of  their 
fellow-townsmen,  addressed  to  them  a  manifesto 
as  follows  : — 

"  Dear  Fellow-citizens, — True  courage  consists 
in  supporting  an  evil  without  those  agitations 
which  but  serve  to  aggravate  it.  Afflicted  as  we 
all  are  by  that  which  has  fallen  upon  us  to-day, 
not  one  of  us  can  reproach  himself  with  having 
failed,  even  for  a  single  day,  to  do  his  duty.  Let 
us  not  present  the  wretched  spectacle  of  intestine 
strife,  nor  furnish  any  pretext  for  future  violence, 
or  for  new  and  worse  misfortunes.  The  thought 
that  this  trial  will  only  be  a  transient  one,  and  that 
we  have  assumed  none  of  the  responsibility  to  the 
country  or  to  history  attached  to  it,  should  be  in 
such  a  moment  our  consolation.  We  confide  the 
common  security  to  the  wisdom  of  the  population." 

This  proclamation  was  signed  by  the  mayor  and 
all  the  council,  but  it  had  no  date.  The  date  was, 
in  fact,  sufficiently  fixed  by  the  circumstances. 
That  black  Friday — a  day  henceforth  doubly  un- 
lucky in  the  history  of  the  city  of  Metz — needed 
no  formal  date. 

At  one  o'clock  on  the  28th  it  was  ordered  that 
the  French  army  should  formally  lay  down  its  arms 
within  the  city.  There  was  no  set  ceremony,  yet  the 
affair  was  imposing  from  its  very  simplicity.  Each 
corps,  in  order,  laid  down  its  arms  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  its  own  station.  The  third  armycorps — that 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR. 


123 


of  Leboeuf — began  the  movement,  and  the  marshal 
himself  came  first,  with  a  scowl  upon  his  swarthy 
features.  He  wheeled  to  one  side,  and  stood  by 
the  single  Prussian  officer  whose  duty  it  was  to 
superintend  the  stacking  of  the  arms.  Regiment 
after  regiment,  the  men  defiled  past,  piling  their 
arms  in  great  heaps  at  the  word  of  command  from 
their  own  officers,  who  gave  their  parole,  and  were 
allowed  to  retain  their  swords.  Some,  however, 
declined  accepting  the  terms,  and  preferring  to  go 
into  captivity  in  Prussia,  laid  down  their  swords 
as  the  men  did  their  Chassepots.  The  disarmed 
troops  then  returned  into  their  bivouacs,  which  they 
occupied  for  one  night  more,  before  quitting  for 
others  round  which  should  stand  Prussian  sentries. 
The  weather  on  the  29th  of  October  was  as  dismal 
as  the  day  was  a  dark  one  in  the  history  of  unhappy 
France.  Thick  masses  of  black  clouds  rolled  over- 
head, and  the  rain  poured  down  in  torrents  as  the 
Frenchmen  came  forth  and  rendered  themselves  to 
their  captors.  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  with  his 
staff  and  officers,  had  posted  themselves  behind 
Jouy,  on  the  Frescati  road.  Bazaine  appeared  first 
of  all ;  he  rode  at  the  head  of  his  officers  to  the 
prince,  to  whom  he  simply  said  :  "  Monseigneur,  I 
have  the  honour  to  present  myself."  The  prince 
motioned  him  to  his  side,  and  then  began  the  march 
of  the  officers  and  the  army,  jiartly  classified  accord- 
ing to  their  arms,  partly  pell-mell.  Those  who  had 
a  command  were  on  horseback  ;  the  others  had  their 
arms  in  the  state  in  which  they  afterwards  laid 
them  down  in  the  town.  Each  corps,  as  it  marched 
out,  was  received  by  the  Prussians  covering  the 
respective  section  of  the  environment.  They  were 
led  by  their  own  officers,  who  formally  handed  them 
over  to  those  of  Prussia,  after  which  those  who  had 
given  their  parole  were  at  liberty  to  quit  the  ranks 
and  return  to  Metz.  The  men  were  then  marched 
out  to  the  bivouac  places,  where  wood  for  fires  had 
been  collected,  and  a  supply  of  provisions  was  ready 
lor  distribution.  The  demeanour  of  the  French 
troops  was  on  the  whole  becoming,  though  here  and 
there  was  evidence  of  considerable  demoralization, 
the  men  being  in  a  state  of  intoxication,  and  their 
clothes  disarranged  in  utter  disregard  of  decency. 
The  officers,  however,  were  taciturn  and  downcast. 
The  reception  of  the  prisoners,  in  the  meadows  near 
the  Jouy  road,  lasted  from  1  till  9.  The  last  corps 
that  finished  the  procession  as  evening  closed  in 
was  the  finest  of  all — the  grenadiers  of  the  guard, 
and  they,  as  they  parted  from  their  officers,  in  many 


instances  embraced  them,  kissing  them  on  both 
cheeks.  Never  was  seen  more  quiet,  soldier-like 
demeanour  than  that  exhibited  by  this  splendid 
body  of  men  as  they  marched  past  in  perfect  silence. 
Not  a  word  was  spoken.  All  that  could  be  heard 
was  the  measured  tread  of  thousands  of  feet  as  they 
splashed  along  the  muddy  road.  The  Prussian 
officers  gazed  with  surprise  and  no  little  admiration, 
as  regiment  after  regiment  filed  past,  and  congra- 
tulated themselves  that  they  had  no  longer  to  fight 
such  men. 

At  the  same  hour  that  the  French  commenced 
leaving  the  city,  a  battalion  of  the  seventh  army 
corps  marched  forward  and  took  possession  of 
La  Porte  Serpenoise,  one  of  the  gates  of  Metz, 
and  another  battalion  from  the  same  corps  occu- 
pied the  Porte  Moselle.  Two  hours  before  the 
occupation  of  the  fortress,  an  artillery  officer  and 
a  small  body  of  under-officers,  accompanied  by 
engineers,  had  been  sent  forward  from  each  of  the 
occupying  detachments,  to  take  over  the  powder- 
magazines  and  the  respective  forts,  and  not  till  they 
had  reported  that  all  was  in  order  were  the  troops 
allowed  to  march  in.  This  precaution  was  no  doubt 
dictated  by  a  recollection  of  the  catastrophe  at 
Laon.  As  the  party  approached  the  gate  their 
wonderlul  discipline  revealed  the  secret  of  their 
victory.  Steady,  resolute,  unimpassioned,  not  a 
sign  of  exultation  was  visible  on  their  faces.  At 
a  word  they  scaled  the  slippery  glacis,  and  ranged 
themselves  with  mathematical  precision  along  the 
rampart's  crest.  Their  officers  marched  in  front, 
keenly  scanning  the  fosse,  and  guarding  against 
every  possibility  of  surprise ;  possession  of  the  town 
was  taken  with  as  much  caution  as  though  its  occu- 
pants had  formed  the  grand  guard  of  an  impending 
battle-field.  First  the  tete  du  pont  was  passed,  the 
ravelin  was  reached,  and  the  same  minute  sur- 
veillance was  used.  Lastly,  the  town's  gate  was 
entered  with  even  greater  precaution,  and  at  twenty 
minutes  past  one  o'clock  the  first  Prussian  foot  fell 
within  the  city  of  Metz-la-Pucelle.  Possession  was 
quietly  taken  of  the  Place  Moselle,  and  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  battalion  marched 
through  the  sad  and  silent  streets  (in  some  of  which 
the  houses  were  completely  shut  up),  playing  vic- 
torious Gernian  tunes.  They  entered  the  Place 
d'Armes,  where  the  first  object  they  saw  was  the 
black-draped  statue  of  the  gallant  Marshal  Fabert, 
who,  as  the  inscription  on  the  pedestal  recalled, 
would,  "  rather  than  yield  up  a  place  intrusted  to 


124 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


him  by  his  sovereign,  place  in  the  breach  himself, 
his  family,  his  goods,  and  all  he  had,  and  never 
hesitate  a  moment."  Four  bodies  of  infantry, 
whose  burnished  helmets  glistened  in  the  fading 
light,  marched  and  counter-marched  in  the  square, 
speedily  clearing  it  of  the  few  idle  gazers  of  the 
lower  classes  who  had  gathered  in  it. 

General  von  Kummer  was  appointed  provisional 
German  commandant  of  Metz,  and  on  the  day  after 
his  entry  he  issued  the  following  proclamation : — 

"-  The  fortress  of  Metz  was  occupied  yesterday 
by  the  Prussian  troops,  and  the  undersigned  is  pro- 
visionally commandant  of  the  place.  I  would  wish 
to  maintain  among  the  Prussian  troops  their  known 
discipline,  the  liberty  of  the  person,  and  the  secu- 
rity of  property.  Difficulties  may  occur  at  first  to 
the  inhabitants  before  all  affairs  are  properly  regu- 
lated ;  but  they  ought  to  be  brought  to  me,  and  I 
shall  know  how  to  appreciate  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  difficulties  have  occurred.  If  I 
encounter  disobedience  or  resistance,  I  shall  act 
with  all  severity  and  according  to  the  laws  of 
war ;  whoever  shall  place  in  danger  the  German 
troops,  or  shall  cause  prejudice  by  perfidy,  will  be 
brought  before  a  council  of  war  ;  whoever  shall  act 
as  a  spy  to  the  French  troops,  or  shall  lodge  or  give 
them  assistance ;  whoever  shows  the  roads  to  the 
French  troops  voluntarily  ;  whoever  shall  kill  or 
wound  the  German  troops,  or  the  persons  belonging 
to  their  suite ;  whoever  shall  destroy  the  canals, 
railways,  or  telegraph  wires  ;  whoever  shall  render 
the  roads  impracticable  ;  whoever  shall  burn  muni- 
tions and  provisions  of  war ;  and,  lastly,  whoever 
shall  take  up  arms  against  the  German  troops,  will 
be  punished  by  death. 

"  It  is  also  declared  that,  (1)  the  houses  in  which, 
or  from  out  of  which,  any  one  commits  acts  of  hos- 
tilities towards  the  German  troops  will  be  used  as 
barracks  ;  (2)  no  more  than  ten  persons  will  be 
allowed  to  assemble  in  the  streets  or  public  places; 
(3)  the  inhabitants  must  deliver  up  all  arms  by 
four  o'clock  on  Monday,  the  31st  of  October,  at  the 
Palais,  rue  de  la  Princerie ;  (4)  all  windows  are  to 
be  lighted  up  during  the  night  in  case  of  an  alarm. 

"VON  EUMMEE. 

"  Metz,  October  30,  1870." 

By  the  capitulation  of  Metz  a  terrible  blow, 
indeed,  was  inflicted  on  the  French  nation.  Metz  the 


invincible,  Metz  which  was  always  French  in  tongue 
and  race,  even  when  it  was  a  city  of  the  holy 
Roman  empire,  Metz  which  had  been  incorporated 
in  France  for  more  than  three  hundred  years — 
indeed,  from  before  the  English  lost  Calais- — Metz 
had  fallen,  and  three  marshals  of  France  and  a 
vast  army  had  surrendered  with  it  to  the  enemy. 
To  the  victorious  Prussians  the  Sedan  prize  of  an 
emperor  was  of  little  use.  But  the  great  strong- 
hold and  the  beautiful  city  that  the  French  loved, 
along  with  the  very  flower  and  front  of  the  army 
of  France,  and  a  mass  of  munitions  of  war,  among 
which  were  400  pieces  of  artillery,  100  mitrail- 
leuses, and  53  eagles — all  these  formed  a  trophy 
which  the  German  armies  looked  upon  as  shedding 
a  new  brilliancy  on  their  victorious  banners.  The 
material  gains  indeed  were  past  calculation.  The 
strongest  fortress  in  France,  surrounded  by  works 
so  extensive  and  formidable  that  the  army  of 
Bazaine  could  take  refuge  behind  them  without 
fear  of  a  direct  attack,  was  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
Germans.  On  French  territory  they  held  a  place 
from  which  all  the  armies  of  France,  if  France  had 
armies,  could  not  drive  them.  It  was  easily  acces- 
sible from  their  own  frontier,  connected  with  North 
and  South  Germany  by  lines  of  railway,  and  pos- 
sessed of  it  they  could,  even  if  they  held  nothing 
else,  command  the  north-east  of  France  up  to  the 
Argonne.  Nor  was  this  all.  Metz  was  an  arsenal 
as  well  as  a  fortress  ;  to  the  guns  on  its  fortifica- 
tions must  be  added  those  which  were  found  inside, 
as  well  as  a  vast  machinery  ready  for  the  fabrication 
of  arms  and  munitions  of  war.  The  spoils  of  the 
greatest  army  that  had  ever  laid  down  its  arms 
within  historical  times  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
victors.  The  entire  army  of  the  Rhine  was  armed 
with  the  Chassepot,  and  every  weapon,  except  those 
which  the  French  soldiers  destroyed  in  their  rage 
and  despair,  would  be  available  to  arm  the  German 
levies ;  while  such  was  the  quantity  of  field  artillery, 
both  of  guns  and  mitrailleuses,  which  now  fell  into 
German  hands,  that  it  would  be  in  the  power  of  the 
king  of  Prussia  to  equip  a  first-rate  army  with  the 
spoils  of  a  single  day.  As  to  Metz  itself,  the  French 
were,  as  we  have  said,  intensely  proud  of  their,  till 
now,  virgin  city — proud  of  her  historical  fame, 
proud  of  her  great  strength,  proud  of  her  gardens, 
and  bridges,  and  promenades  that  made  her  the 
queen  of  the  valley  of  the  Moselle.  Her  cathedral, 
if  less  renowned  than  that  of  Strassburg,  was  yet 
a  noble  and  stately  building  ;  and  there  was  this 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


125 


further  point  in  her  favour,  when  contrasted  with 
Strassburg,  that  she  was  a  French  city,  and  had 
never  belonged  to  Germany.  It  is  true  that  she 
was  once,  as  a  free  town,  under  the  protection  of 
the  German  empire  ;  but  then,  as  now,  Metz  was 
French  in  all  her  ways  and  habits,  her  speech 
and  costume.  And  in  her  present  days  of  bitter 
distress  France  had  never  ceased  to -look  towards 
Metz  for  some  faint  gleam  of  consolation  and 
hope.  The  sunlight  that  touched  the  grey 
forts  of  the  capital  of  Lorraine,  seemed  to  shed 
from  thence  a  vague  warmth  and  light  of  com- 
fort through  the  gloom  that  lay  dark  over  the 
nation.  The  hope  of  France  was  with  Bazaine. 
Bazaine  was  to  do  this  and  that ;  the  army  of 
the  Rhine  was  suddenly  to  appear  in  the  rear  of 
the  Germans  besieging  Paris.  Wild  stories  and 
rumours  grew  and  flourished  amid  these  eager  anti- 
cipations. Bazaine  could  get  away  if  he  wished. 
Bazaine  was  amply  provisioned  for  three  months. 
Bazaine  was  lying  inactive  only  that  he  might 
delude  his  foes,  and  strike  hard  and  sharp  when  the 
moment  came  for  his  co-operation  with  the  nebulous 
armies  which,  from  over  the  whole  of  France,  were 
supposed  to  be  floating  like  clouds  towards  him. 
Nay,  Bazaine  had  already  broken  through,  and  was 
at  Thionville.  Such  were  some  of  the  delusions 
which  the  French  people,  following  the  example  of 
their  rulers,  had  invented  for  each  other  to  believe. 
Long  anticipated  as  it  had  been,  the  capitulation 
of  Metz  came  upon  the  German  army  with  a  strange 
suddennesss.  It  had  been  announced  but  a  day  or 
two  before  that  the  negotiations  had  been  defini- 
tively closed  ;  and  men  prepared  themselves  as  they 
best  could  for  another  tedious  period  of  on- waiting, 
diversified  with  fighting.  It  was  not  till  the  fol- 
lowing proclamation  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles 
was  issued,  that  the  men  could  fully  comprehend 
the  extent  of  the  victory  their  patient  courage  had 
achieved : — 

"  Soldiers  of  the  First  and  Second  Armies, — You 
have  fought  and  invested  in  Metz  an  enemy  whom 
you  had  vanquished,  for  seventy  days,  seventy  long 
days,  which  have  made  most  of  your  regiments  the 
richer  in  fame  and  honour,  and  have  made  none 
poorer.  You  allowed  no  egress  to  the  brave  enemy 
until  he  would  lay  down  his  arms.  This  has  been 
done.  To-day  at  last  this  army,  still  1 73,000  men 
strong,  the  best  in  France,  consisting  of  more  than 
five  entire  army  corps,  including  the  imperial  guard, 


with  three  marshals  of  France,  with  more  than  fifty 
generals,  and  above  6000  officers,  has  capitulated, 
and  with  it  Metz,  never  before  taken.  With  this 
bulwark,  which  we  restore  to  Germany,  innumer- 
able stores  of  cannons,  arms,  and  war  material  have 
fallen  to  the  conqueror.  Besides  these  bloody 
laurels,  you  have  defeated  him  by  your  bravery  in 
the  two  days'  battle  at  Noisseville  and  in  the  engage- 
ments round  Metz,  which  are  more  numerous  than 
the  surrounding  villages  after  which  you  name  these 
combats.  I  acknowledge  your  bravery  gladly 
and  gratefully,  but  not  it  alone.  I  estimate  almost 
higher  your  obedience  and  your  composure,  cheer- 
fulness, and  resignation  in  enduring  difficulties  of 
many  kinds.  All  this  distinguishes  the  good  sol- 
dier. To-day's  great  and  memorable  success  was 
prepared  by  the  battles  which  we  fought  before  we 
invested  Metz,  and — as  we  should  remember  in 
gratitude  to  him — by  the  king  himself,  by  the 
corps  then  marching  with  him,  and  by  all  those 
dear  comrades  who  died  on  the  battle-field  or 
through  maladies  here.  All  this  previously  ren- 
dered possible  the  great  work  which,  by  God's 
blessing,  you  to-day  see  completed — viz.,  the  col- 
lapse of  the  power  of  France.  The  importance  of 
to-day's  event  is  incalculable.  You  soldiers,  who 
were  assembled  under  my  orders  for  this  object, 
are  about  to  proceed  to  various  destinations.  My 
farewell,  therefore,  to  the  generals,  officers,  and 
soldiers  of  the  first  army  and  Kummer's  division, 
and  a  God  speed  to  further  successes. 

"  (Signed)  The  General  of  Cavalry, 

"FREDERICK   CHARLES." 

"  He  ad- Quarters,  Corny  before  Metz, 
"  October  27,  1870." 

On  hearing  at  Versailles  of  the  fall  of  Metz,  the 
king  of  Prussia  telegraphed  to  Queen  Augusta  as 
follows: — 

"  This  morning  the  army  of  Marshal  Bazaine  and 
the  fortress  of  Metz  capitulated,  with  173,000  pri- 
soners, including  20,000  sick  and  wounded. 

"  This  afternoon  the  army  and  the  garrison  will 
lay  down  their  arms. 

"  This  is  one  of  the  most  important,  events  of  the 
month. 

"  Providence  be  thanked !" 

There  was  at  the  time  a  general  disposition  to 
sneer  at  his  Majesty's  way  of  describing  a  military 


126 


THE   FRANCO-PRUSSIAN    WAR. 


catastrophe  of  unprecedented  magnitude  as  the 
"  most  important  event  of  the  month."  And  yet 
a  very  slight  effort  of  memory  will  show  that  the 
language  was  as  strictly  warrantable  as  simple. 
July  had  the  declaration  of  war  and  the  arming 
of  Germany ;  August  the  triumphs  of  Woerth  and 
Spichern,  of  Vionville  and  Gravelotte  ;  September 
the  capitulation  of  Napoleon's  army  at  Sedan ;  and 
October,  ere  its  close,  gave  into  the  hands  of  the 
monarch  of  an  united  Germany  the  maiden  fortress 
which  in  other  times  Charles  Quint  beleaguered 
in  vain !  On  the  28th  the  king  conferred  the 
dignity  of  field-marshal  on  the  Crown  Prince  and 
Prince  Frederick  Charles ;  and  it  was  about  this 
time  that  rumour  first  began  to  speak  of  a  restored 
empire  of  Germany  in  the  person  of  the  Prussian 
mr^uarch — a  project  which  was  carried  into  effect 
not  many  months  later,  and  to  which  the  extra- 
ordinary successes  of  the  war  were  manifestly 
leading  the  thoughts,  and  probably  the  desires  of 
the  German  people. 

On  the  3rd  of  November  the  event  was  further 
alluded  to  in  the  following  order  of  the  day: — 

"  Soldiers  of  the  Confederate  Armies! — When 
we  took  the  field,  three  months  ago,  I  expressed 
my  confidence  that  God  would  be  with  our  just 
cause.  This  confidence  has  been  realized.  I 
recall  to  you  Woerth,  Saarbruck,  and  the  bloody 
battles  before  Metz,  Sedan,  Beaumont,  and  Strass- 
burg — each  engagement  was  a  victory  for  us. 
You  are  worthy  of  glory.  You  have  maintained 
all  the  virtues  which  especially  distinguish  soldiers. 
By  the  capitulation  of  Metz  the  last  army  of  the 
enemy  is  destroyed.  I  take  advantage  of  this 
moment  to  express  my  thanks  to  all  of  you,  from 
the  general  to  the  soldier.  Whatever  the  future 
may  still  bring  to  us,  I  look  forward  to  it  with 
calmness,  because  I  know  that  with  such  soldiers 
victory  cannot  fail ! 

"  WILHELM." 

That  King  William  did  not  overrate  the  import- 
ance of  the  great  event  of  October  27,  was 
abundantly  shown  by  the  way  in  which  the  news 
was  received  throughout  France.  Her  armies 
might  be  defeated,  her  emperor  made  prisoner,  her 
fortresses  of  minor  rank,  or  even  Strassburg,  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy;  but  that  Metz,  her 
virgin  and  greatest  stronghold,  should  share  the 
same  fate,  seemed  never  to  have  entered  the  minds 


of  Frenchmen.  At  Lyons,  some  persons  who 
repeated  the  rumour  of  the  capitulation  were 
assaulted  and  taken  to  the  police  station.  Several 
days  after  the  Journal  de  Geneve  ventured  to  inti- 
mate that  Bazaine  had  surrendered,  but  the  Lyon- 
nais  set  upon  the  vendors,  tore  their  papers,  and 
threatened  to  drown  all  who  should  be  found 
reading  them  ;  while  the  copies  which  had  been 
supplied  to  the  public  establishments  of  the  city 
were  publicly  burned.  In  Marseilles,  and  several 
other  large  towns,  the  news  was  received  with  a 
feeling  of  grief  and  depression  befitting  the  great- 
ness of  the  calamity.  Immense  crowds  of  work- 
men, displaying  flags  draped  in  mourning,  but 
crowned  with  immortelles,  marched  bareheaded 
and  in  silence  to  the  prefectures.  When  rumours 
of  the  capitulation  reached  Tours,  the  delegate 
government  were  besieged  with  crowds  of  excited 
citizens  eager  to  know  the  truth,  and  the  following 
official  notice  appeared  in  the  Moniteur  on  the 
evening  of  the  28th: — 

"  Grave  news,  concerning  the  origin  and  veracity 
of  which,  in  spite  of  my  active  researches,  I  have 
no  sort  of  official  information,  reach  me  from  all 
sides.  The  rumour  of  the  capitulation  of  Metz 
circulates.  It  is  good  that  you  should  know  what 
the  government  thinks  on  the  announcement  of 
such  a  disaster.  Such  an  event  could  only  be  the 
result  of  a  crime,  whose  authors  would  deserve  to 
be  outlawed.  I  will  keep  you  informed  of  what 
occurs;  but  be  convinced,  whatever  may  happen, 
that  we  will  not  allow  ourselves  to  be  cast  down 
even  by  the  most  frightful  misfortunes.  In  these 
days  of  vile  (scdlerates)  capitulations  there  is  one 
tiling  that  cannot,  and  must  not  capitulate,  and 
that  is  the  French  Republic. 

"LEON  GAMBETTA." 

As  the  unwelcome  truth  was  gradually  con- 
firmed, those  of  the  French  papers  formerly 
published  in  Paris,  but  which  now  appeared  at 
Tours,  Poitiers,  and  Bordeaux,  all  commented  upon 
the  fall  of  Metz  in  terms  expressive  of  pungent 
sorrow,  and  more  or  less  of  indignation.  The 
Frangais  referred  "  with  deep  grief  to  this  great 
catastrophe.  But  before  judging  and  denouncing 
we  feel  bound  to  wait  for  an  explanation  of  the 
cruel  necessities  which  induced  Marshal  Bazaine 
to  take  that  fatal  step,  and  also  for  a  statement  of 
the  clauses  of  the  capitulation.      The  disaster  of 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


127 


Sedan  struck  us  down;  that  of  Metz  overwhelms 
us.  It  is  now  a  time  to  repeat,  with  supplications 
and  tearful  eyes,  '  May  God  protect  France !' " 
The  Gazette  de  France  recorded  the  fact  "  with 
a  broken  heart.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  believe 
that  such  a  thing  is  possible.  What  curse  is  it 
that  weighs  upon  France?  150,000  men  formerly 
sufficed  to  gain  victories  over  400,000  enemies, 
but  now  tl.ey  only  serve  to  hasten  the  capitulation 
of  a  fortress.  What  a  melancholy  history  is  this ! 
Strassburg  fell  because  it  had  not  a  sufficient 
number  of  defenders,  while  Metz,  in  whose  walls 
the  enemy's  cannon  had  made  no  breach,  suc- 
cumbed because  it  had  too  many  soldiers  shut  up 
within  its  defences." 

The  fall  of  Metz  was  an  event  so  grave  as  to 
justify  a  little  caution  in  making  it  known  to  the 
French  nation,  in  the  excited  state  in  which  it  then 
was.  Anxious,  however,  to  account  for  the  event 
in  such  a  way  as  to  save  the  credit  of  the  country, 
and  at  the  same  time,  to  detract  from  the  triumph 
of  their  enemy,  the  Tours  government  scrupled 
not  to  heap  upon  the  head  of  Bazaine  charges 
of  the  vilest  treachery.  The  gallant  Uhrich  of 
Strassburg,  after  having  his  praises  sung  through- 
out France  for  weeks,  was  at  last  accused  of 
treason;  and  after  making  a  surrender  on  a  far 
greater  scale,  Bazaine  could  never  have  hoped  to 
escape  the  same  fate.  M.  de  Valcourt,  the  officer 
of  his  staff  who  had  escaped  from  Metz  and 
arrived  at  Tours  as  the  bearer  of  a  despatch, 
drew  up  a  long  indictment  against  his  chief, 
according  to  which  Bazaine  never  seriously 
attempted  to  make  an  exit  from  Metz,  from  the 
18th  of  August,  when  he  was  first  driven  under 
its  walls.  With  a  view  to  his  own  aggran- 
disement, he  first  of  all  deeply  involved  himself 
in  imperialist  intrigues,  and  proposed  to  the  king 
of  Prussia  that  the  army  of  Metz  should,  after 
being  neutralized  for  a  time,  return  to  France  to 
"insure  the  liberty  of  elections;"  his  real  design 
being  to  establish  himself  as  regent  during  the 
minority  of  the  prince  imperial.  But  when  his 
majesty  declined  to  listen  to  any  overtures  except 
those  of  unconditional  surrender,  and  Bazaine 
became  convinced  that  he  could  only  bring  France 
and  the  Prussians  to  adopt  the  idea  of  a  Bonapartist 
restoration,  by  adding  to  the  other  misfortunes 
which  were  already  weighing  down  the  unhappy 
country  that  of  the  capitulation  of  Metz,  then, 
said  M.  de  Valcourt,  the  marshal  made  it  his  busi- 


ness to  hasten  it;  and  to  secure  his  own  ambitious 
ends,  delivered  to  the  Prussians  the  town  and 
fortress  of  Metz,  with  the  army  of  120,000  men 
encamped  in  the  intrenched  enceinte. 

Unless  they  could  be  fully  established,  charges 
such  as  these  against  a  soldier  who  had  served  his 
country  with  distinction  for  forty  years,  came 
with  little  grace  from  the  delegate  government. 
There  is  no  doubt  that,  for  at  least  eight  days 
after  the  defeat  at  Gravelotte  and  retreat  to  Metz, 
Bazaine  gave  way  to  a  culpable  inactivity.  This 
time  was  invaluable  to  the  Germans;  it  gave  them 
the  means  of  counter-intrenching  their  army  so 
strongly  as  to  make  egress  from  Metz  very  difficult, 
and  enabled  them  to  withdraw  the  three  corps 
forming  their  new  fourth  army,  to  occupy  the 
line  of  the  Meuse,  and  frustrate  the  effort  of  Mac- 
Mahon  to  relieve  his  brother  marshal.  The  latter 
waited  for  his  coming,  and  at  his  supposed  approach 
attempted  his  one  real  sortie,  that  of  the  31st 
of  August,  which  opened  the  Prussian  line  east- 
ward of  Metz  at  the  time.  But  this  attack  was  so 
feebly  followed  up  that  at  daybreak  on  the  1st  the 
enemy  recovered  easily  the  positions  he  had  lost. 
Strategically,  indeed,  it  was  so  ill-directed  that  for 
the  time  its  success  would  have  carried  Bazaine 
towards  the  Sarre,  and  left  the  first  and  second 
armies  between  his  own  and  that  of  MacMahon 
which  he  had  expected. 

As  to  the  later  stages  of  the  investment,  when  we 
examine  the  French  and  the  German  accounts,  and 
compare  with  them  the  narrative  already  alluded  to 
of  Mr.  Robinson  of  the  Manchester  Guardian,  who 
spent  the  ill-fated  seventy  days  with  the  army  in 
Metz,  we  find  the  most  perfect  agreement  on  one 
point.  No  sortie  after  the  1st  September  ever 
showed  the  slightest  indication  of  a  real  design  to 
break  out  of  the  German  lines.  That  of  the  7  th 
October,  the  most  important,  was  conducted  on  a 
scale  which  sufficed  to  draw  the  attention  of  both 
armies  to  it,  and  to  convince  the  French  soldiers 
of  the  difficulty  of  the  undertaking;  but  it  was 
plainly  not  a  serious  attempt.  It  is  perhaps  possible 
that  loyalty  to  the  Empire,  the  political  state  of 
France,  and  the  supposed  prospect  of  an  imperialist 
restoration  influenced  Bazaine's  conduct ;  chiming 
in,  as  it  does,  with  his  direct  communication  with 
Versailles  and  Chislehurst,  and  with  all  that  is  known 
of  his  movements  during  the  seven  weeks  in  ques- 
tion. With  this  may  possibly  have  been  mixed 
up  the  idea,  that  in  case  of  the  tide  of  the  Prussian 


128 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


success  being  stayed  in  some  other  quarter,  France 
would  have  been  better  served  by  her  intact  army 
within  the  Metz  lines  than  by  its  disorganized 
remains,  after  a  long  and  fiercely  contested  retreat 
in  open  field.  To  those  who  witnessed  the  events 
transpiring  outside,  it  was  clear  that  in  detaining  a 
German  army  of  more  than  200,000  men  around 
Metz,  Marshal  Bazaine  was  rendering  his  country 
a  signal  service,  to  the  value  of  which  every  day 
added  greatly.  Thus,  had  he  held  out  until  the 
French  victory  of  Coulmiers,  that  is,  just  fifteen 
days  longer,  the  Germans  must  have  raised  the 
siege  of  Paris.  The  fact  of  his  capitulating 
at  the  end  of  October,  was,  for  France,  the 
most  calamitous  event  of  the  war;  as,  just  when 
a  gleam  of  success  seemed  to  dawn  on  her  strug- 
gling arms,  it  released  an  immense  army  to  sweep 
down  upon  her  and  stifle  for  ever  her  newly- 
born   hopes. 

That  a  retreat  was  very  difficult  it  is  extremely 
easy  to  see.  Of  course  there  would  have  been  a 
severe  sacrifice.  But  it  is  doubtful  whether  this 
sacrifice  would  have  achieved  this  just  result.  It 
was  not  only  his  army  which  the  French  marshal 
must  force  through  the  German  intrenchments, 
but  all  the  transport  stores  and  provisions  neces- 
sary to  keep  that  army  in  a  state  fit  to  march. 
When  we  remember  that  the  necessary  transport 
for  Bazaine's  army  would  have  covered  120  miles 
of  road,  if  arranged  along  one  road;  that  this  line 
would  have  been  perpetually  assaulted  in  flank  and 


rear  by  the  German  forces;  and  that  no  resting- 
place  nor  basis  of  operations  offered  him  a  friendly 
aid — we  may  well  stand  aghast  at  the  boldness  of 
the  criticisms  which  have  been  so  frequently 
indulged  in  in  the  siege  of  Metz.  Undoubtedly 
there  was  great  sickness  among  the  troops,  and  it 
is  said  that  one  marshal,  twenty-four  generals, 
2140  officers,  and  42,350  men  had  been  struck  down 
by  the  enemy's  fire.  The  statement  of  Marshal 
Bazaine,  if  correct,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
it,  that  when  he  surrendered  he  had  only  65,000 
men  available  for  offensive  operations,  supplies, 
when  collated  with  the  numbers  comprised  in  the 
capitulation,  at  once  the  strongest  condemnation 
of  the  soldiery,  and  an  undeniable  excuse  for  their 
commander's  inaction. 

A  calm  investigation  of  all  the  circumstances 
inclines  us  to  believe  that  Marshal  Bazaine  was 
forced  to  capitulate  by  the  immediate  prospect  of 
starvation  which  threatened  both  his  army  and  the 
city.  But  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  -doubt 
that  the  early  exhaustion  of  food  was  the  result  of 
the  grossest  waste  and  mismanagement,  and  that  no 
self-denial  or  restraint  was  practised  by  the  French 
officers,  such  as  might  have  been  expected  under 
the  circumstances.  Had  the  Metz  supplies  been 
properly  husbanded,  and  every  one  placed  upon 
rations  at  an  earlier  period,  the  place  could  have 
held  out  for  the  few  days  then  so  inestimably  pre- 
cious to  France.  But  who  at  the  commencement 
could  have  foretold  this? 


CIIAPTEK      XXI. 

The  Early  Days  of  the  Investment  of  Paris — The  National  Guards  and  their  New  Duties — General  Trochu's  Plan  of  Action  according  to  hia 
own  Explanation  —  The  German  Lines  of  Investment  strengthened  and  lengthened  —  Proclamation  of  M.  Gambetta,  to  raise  the 
Spirits  of  the  People  after  the  fall  of  Strassburg  and  Toul — Extraordinary  Precautions  taken  to  prevent  the  Enemy  from  obtaining  access 
to  the  City  through  the  Sewers  or  Subterranean  Passages — Surgeon-major  Wyatt's  Report  on  the  Condition  and  Prospects  of  Paris  at  this 
time — The  Rothschilds  serve  on  the  Ramparts — Reconnaissances  from  the  City — Payment  of  Rent  postponed — Demands  of  the  Extreme 
Republican  Gardes  Mobiles,  especially  as  to  the  Election  of  a  Municipal  Commune — Exciting  Scene  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville — Speech  of 
Jules  Favre — Count  von  Bismarck  and  the  Diplomatic  Corps  in  Paris — Fruitless  Visits  of  General  Burnside  to  Paris  in  the  hope  of  securing 
Peace — The  Headquarters  of  the  King  of  Prussia  established  in  the  Palace  of  Versailles — Description  of  his  Triumphal  Entry  into  the 
Town — Distribution  of  the  Order  of  the  Iron  Cross — The  Extensive  Preparations  being  made  inside  Paris — Firing  of  the  First  Shell  by  the 
Besiegers — -Sortie  of  the  Garrison — Defeat  of  the  French,  but  Great  Improvement  observable  in  their  Troops — Burning  of  the  Palace  of  St. 
Cloud  by  the  French — Sketch  of  its  History — Proclamation  of  General  Trochu  as  to  the  Mobilization  of  the  National  Gnard — His  wish 
to  obtain  good  Artillery  before  attempting  Sorties  on  a  large  scale,  and  determination  to  pursue  to  the  end  the  Plan  he  had  traced  out  to 
himself — The  System  pursued  by  the  Germans  in  resisting  Sorties — -The  Country  around  the  City  very  unfavourable  for  such  Operations — 
The  Germans  massed  in  the  largest  numbers  at  some  distance  from  the  City,  so  that  a  Sortie  was  like  "Pressure  against  a  Spring" — All 
Troops  for  outpost  duty  changed  every  Four  Days — Great  Sortie  from  Mont  Valerien  on  October  21 — General  Description  of  the  Engagement 
which  ensued — Improved  Behaviour  of  the  French  Troops — General  Ducrot  and  his  parole — The  Germans  prepared  to  raise  the  Siege 
if  necessary — The  Investing  Circle  widened — Attack  on  Le  Bourget  by  the  French — The  Prussians  completely  surprised,  and  the  French 
thoroughly  successful — Orders  of  Von  Moltke  to  retake  the  Village  at  any  cost — Very  severe  fighting  on  October  30 — Incidents  of  the 
Engagement — Complete  Victory  of  the  Prussians,  who  captured  30  officers  and  1200  men — The  Great  Loss  amongst  the  Francs  Tireurs — 
Depressing  Influence  of  the  Engagement  on  the  Parisians,  and  Disturbances  in  the  Capital  on  receipt  of  the  News  of  the  Fall  of  Metz — ■ 
Attack  on  Felix  Pyat  for  asserting  that  Bazaine  was  in  treaty  for  the  Surrender  of  that  City — /-nival  of  M.  Thiers  in  Paris  on  October 
30,  confirming  the  News  and  bearing  Proposals  for  an  Armistice — Riots  in  the  City — The  Commune  demanded — The  Rioters  form  them- 
selves into  a  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  and  arrest  the  Members  of  the  Provisional  Government — Energy  of  M.  Picard  on  behalf  of  his 
Colleagues — The  Rioters'  Feast  and  Disgraceful  Conduct  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville— Their  Attempts  to  obtain  possession  of  the  Government 
Offices  defeated — Liberation  of  the  Members  of  the  Government  without  Loss  of  Life  on  either  side — Proclamation  from  General  Trochu 
to  the  National  Guard,  explaining  the  real  state  of  affairs — Plebiscite  in  the  City — Enormous  Majority  in  favour  of  the  Government — 
The  hopes  of  the  Germans  that  the  Disturbances  in  the  City  would  lead  to  its  speedy  capture  not  realized — The  Position  of  the  Government 
much  strengthened  by  the  result  of  the  Plebiscite. 


In  a  previous  chapter  we  have  described  the  course 
of  events  in  Paris  up  to  the  time  of  its  final  invest- 
ment by  the  Germans,  and  have  shown  how  fully 
alive  the  Parisians  were  to  the  imminent  danger  of 
their  capital,  and  with  what  earnestness  and  energy 
they  set  about  defending  it.  The  last  communi- 
cations received  from  it  by  the  ordinary  channels 
stated  that  the  authorities  were  doing  their  utmost 
in  organizing  troops,  in  manufacturing  arms  and 
munitions  of  war,  in  strengthening  the  weak  points 
of  their  defences,  in  connecting  the  outlying  forts 
with  chains  of  earthworks,  and  in  husbanding 
their  commissariat  in  view  of  a  lengthened  siege. 
The  morale  of  the  troops  engaged  during  the  early 
days  of  the  investment  indicated  an  undoubted 
source  of  weakness.  The  governor  and  his  gen- 
erals were  therefore  unceasing  in  their  efforts  to 
raise  the  standard  of  discipline;  and  by  accustoming 
the  soldiery  to  the  military  duties  of  the  ramparts, 
to  the  manning  of  the  forts,  to  meet  the  exigencies 
of  the  outposts,  and  to  occasional  reconnaissances 
of  the  enemy's  position,    laboured    to  familiarize 

VOL.  II. 


them  with  the  perils  of  actual  warfare.  This 
latter  phase  of  General  Trochu's  duties  was  a  most 
important  task.  The  Parisian  national  guards 
formed  a  large  part  of  the  army  of  defence. 
Thousands  of  those,  before  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  were  indolent  and  pleasure-loving,  the  petits 
creve's  of  the  boulevards,  inveterate  loungers,  "  who 
would  have  thought  it  preposterous  to  rise  at  nine, 
and  would  have  been  horrified  at  getting  their  feet 
wet."  The  hardships  and  fatigues  of  the  siege 
were  weighty  matters  to  such  luxurious  citizens, 
although  they  passed  then-  twenty-four  hours'  duty, 
often  in  the  cold  and  rain,  without  a  murmur. 
Each  division  of  the  national  guard  did  duty  by 
rotation  on  the  ramparts,  when  it  was  the  object 
of  every  one  to  make  himself  as  cheerful  and  as 
comfortable  as  possible.  Besides  his  usual  accoutre- 
ments he  provided  himself  with  a  store  of  personal 
comforts,  by  which,  amid  the  vivacious  conver- 
sation of  his  comrades,  the  duty  was  lightened, 
and  often  regarded  more  as  a  rjlcasure  than  a  ne- 
cessity.    During  the  chilly   nights,  however,  the 


130 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


uncomfortable  arrangements  of  their  tents  awakened 
the  guards  to  tantalizing  recollections  of  their  warm 
caftSs  and  comfortable  beds,  and  rendered  welcome 
the  sound  of  the  reveille,  at  which  they  turned  out 
in  the  most  fantastic  costumes,  smoked  their 
cigarettes,  drank  their  morning  coffee,  greeted 
with  cheers  the  relieving  company,  and  then 
marched  to  their  quarters  in  the  city. 

Of  the  real  business  of  a  siege,  however,  the 
Parisians  for  some  time  remained  ignorant.  The 
main  body  of  the  armed  defenders  of  the  city  had 
hardly  seen  a  German  soldier.  Even  the  garrison 
of  the  forts,  the  regular  troops,  and  the  ilite  of  the 
provincial  mobiles,  who  were  stationed  permanently 
without  the  enceinte,  knew  as  yet  but  very  little  of 
their  assailants. 

A  dangerous  feature  of  the  case,  according  to 
the  statement  made  by  General  Trochu  in  the 
National  Assembly  in  June,  1871,  was  that, 
in  the  quota  of  National  Guards  returned  by 
certain  quarters  of  the  capital,  there  were  some 
6000  revolutionists,  and  25,000  returned  convicts, 
whose  influence  was  often  ielt  during  the  siege, 
and  told  with  terrible  effect  after  the  capitulation. 

General  Trochu,  in  conjunction  with  General 
Ducrot,  had  formed  a  plan  for  encountering  the 
invasion,  which  was  at  once  intelligent  and  bold, 
and  under  more  favourable  conditions  would  most 
probably  have  insured  success.  It  was  not, 
however,  as  generally  supposed  at  the  time, 
founded  upon  the  principle  of  making  Paris  the 
great  centre  and  rallying  point  of  national  resist- 
ance ;  of  detaining  the  Germans  around  its  walls 
until  formidable  armies  organized  throughout  the 
country  should  move  to  the  relief  of  the  capital, 
and,  by  co-operating  with  the  armed  masses  inside, 
should  compel  the  invaders  to  raise  the  siege. 
The  project,  as  subsequently  explained  by  General 
Trochu  before  the  National  Assembly,  was  rather 
to  utilize  the  forces  under  his  command,  to  break 
through  the  enemy's  lines  at  a  point  the  least 
expected,  to  force  a  passage  to  Rouen,  there  to 
establish  a  base  of  operations,  and  provision  Paris 
by  the  Lower  Seine.  Unlike  the  majority  of  his 
countrymen,  General  Trochu  did  not  depend  on 
the  assistance  of  the  army  of  the  Loire,  which 
he  knew  could  render  none.  A  hastily  got  up 
and  undisciplined  army,  such  as  that  was,  could 
never  prevail  in  the  field  against  a  regular  organ- 
ized force.  The  general  wished  that  the  army 
of  the    Loire    should    confine   itself  to    amusing: 


the  enemy,  by  defending  to  the  best  of  its  power 
such  towns  as  might  be  attacked,  while  he  was 
preparing  his  troops  and  field  artillery  for  active 
operations.  Circumstances,  however,  did  not 
favour  the  development  of  the  scheme,  which  was 
never  seriously  attempted,  as  will  be  seen  in  suc- 
ceeding chapters. 

It  is,  perhaps,  not  a  matter  of  surprise  that  no 
important  sorties  were  attempted  in  the  early  days 
of  the  siege,  although  the  red  republican  party  in 
the  capital  were  inclined  to  clamour  for  more 
offensive  proceedings  against  the  enemy.  The 
disciplinary  operations  above  alluded  to  were, 
however,  continued  with  vigour,  until  the  ramparts 
bristled  with  artillery,  and  a  constant  fire  was  kept 
up  which  interfered  in  a  considerable  degree  with 
the  works  of  the  besiegers,  who  on  their  side  were 
most  active  in  securing  their  positions  around  the 
capital,  until  their  lines  of  investment  began  to 
assume  formidable  proportions.  The  outer  circle 
formed  a  huge  chain  of  nearly  seventy  miles,  the 
inner  line  extending  over  fifty ;  and  day  by  day 
their  grasp  of  the  beleaguered  city  became  more 
tight  and  rigid.  As  soon  as  it  was  seen  that  Paris 
would  make  a  stubborn  resistance,  the  invaders 
applied  themselves  to  strengthen  their  communica- 
tions, increase  their  forces,  and  accumulate  stores 
and  supplies  for  a  regular  siege.  In  this  work  they 
were  very  greatly  assisted  by  the  surrender  of  Toul 
on  the  23rd,  and  the  fall  of  Strassburg  on  the  28th 
of  September,  which  gave  them  a  line  of  railway  and 
main  road  of  communication.  These  facilities  were 
immediately  taken  advantage  of  for  the  transport 
of  heavy  siege  guns  and  munitions  of  war,  while 
detachments  were  told  off  to  keep  open  the  com- 
munications, and  flying  columns  organized  to 
collect  provisions  and  other  necessaries.  The 
German  army,  in  fact,  took  the  place  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Paris.  The  fertile  country  within  a 
radius  of  some  thirty  miles  from  the  capital,  which 
in  time  of  peace  supplied  the  inhabitants  with  a 
large  percentage  of  their  daily  food,  now  yielded 
its  supplies  to  the  invader,  usually  on  payment, 
sometimes  on  compulsion.  The  whole  region  had 
become  an  immense  camp  of  armed  men,  and  with 
some  degree  of  complacency  a  German  writer 
avowed  himself  unable  to  guess  how,  after  the 
departure  of  the  German  troops,  the  population 
of  what  was  once  the  richest  and  most  luxurious 
district  of  Europe  would  find  subsistence  in  a 
region  which  would  be  as  devoid  of  provisions  as 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


131 


the  Desert  of  Sahara.  While  collecting  supplies, 
the  foraging  parties  served  at  tire  same  time  as  a  sort 
of  observing  force,  intended  to  baffle  any  attempt 
to  disturb  the  operations  of  the  besiegers. 

The  great  extent  and  immense  strength  of  the 
fortifications,  of  which  we  have  treated  fully  in 
a  previous  chapter,  presented  obstacles  to  the 
approach  of  the  besiegers  which  would  have 
deterred  a  less  resolute  enemy.  On  reconnoitring 
the  neighbourhood  of  St.  Denis,  to  the  north  of 
the  capital,  where  four  distinct  and  formidable 
fortresses  formed  a  square,  the  Germans  found  that 
it  would  have  to  be  reduced  by  a  regular  siege 
before  Paris  could  be  touched.  The  west  side, 
between  Mont  Valerien  and  St.  Denis,  was  the 
next  point  selected  as  most  vulnerable.  Between 
these  two  great  fortresses  there  is  a  space  of 
seven  miles,  partly  protected  by  the  river  Seine, 
which,  after  skirting  Paris  on  the  west,  runs  mid- 
way between  them.  To  fill  up  this  gap  the  French 
had  been  hastily  constructing  a  redoubt  at  Genne- 
villiers,  half-way  betwixt  Valerien  and  St.  Denis. 
This,  however,  like  other  projected  defences,  was 
so  incomplete  when  the  siege  commenced  that  it 
had  to  be  abandoned.  Again,  the  east  side  of 
Paris,  as  being  the  most  exposed,  was  fortified 
with  almost  superfluous  precaution,  with  a  num- 
ber of  detached  forts  lying  close  together,  and 
enfilading  the  approaches  to  each  other,  at  Auber- 
villiers,  Romainville,  Noisy,  Rosny,  and  Nogent, 
with  Vincennes  and  Charenton  on  the  south. 
This  rendered  attack  very  difficult,  although  the 
Germans  diverted  the  water  of  the  Ourcq  Canal 
in  order  to  strengthen  the  position  of  the  Prussian 
guards.  Due  south  the  same  system  of  forts  was 
kept  up  by  Ivry,  Bicetre,  Montrouge,  and  Vanves. 
The  Germans  therefore  resolved  on  attacking  the 
south-west  side.  A  concentration  of  forces  accord- 
ingly took  place  around  Versailles,  and  their  first 
attentions  were  paid  to  Fort  Issy.  When,  however, 
the  commandant  was  summoned  to  capitulate,  he 
replied  that  he  would  not,  "  as  long  as  breath 
remained  in  his  body."  Shortly  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  siege  the  villages  of  Sevres  and 
St.  Cloud  were  occupied  by  the  enemy,  who  erected 
batteries  opposite  the  Bois  de  Boulogne.  The 
terraces  of  Meudon,  the  heights  about  St.  Cloud, 
and  the  works  at  Montretout,  were  also  all  occu- 
pied by  the  German  artillery.  Thus  the  beginning 
of  October  found  Paris  so  completely  blockaded 
that  its   only  means   of  communication   with  the 


outer  world  was  by  carrier  pigeons  or  balloons, 
which  sometimes  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Prussians. 

The  discovery  that  the  difficulties  of  the  siege 
would  be  greater  than  had  at  first  been  anticipated, 
did  not  for  one  moment  deter  the  German  com- 
manders from  facing  them.  Their  unshaken 
confidence  was  the  more  remarkable,  when  it  is 
remembered  that  General  Trochu  had  500,000 
men  under  his  command,  half  of  whom  were 
employed  as  the  garrison  of  Paris,  and  the 
remainder  formed  into  two  armies  intended  for 
operations  outside. 

A  momentary  gloom  was  cast  over  Paris  by  the 
the  surrender  of  Toul  and  Strassburg — especially 
Strassburg,  the  defence  of  which  the  Parisians  had 
followed  with  intense  interest.  Their  demeanour, 
however,  was  quiet  and  dignified,  and  the  minister 
of  the  Interior  issued  a  stirring  ind  patriotic  pro- 
clamation, which  did  much  to  raise  the  spirits  of 
both  soldiers  and  people.  "  Citizens,"  wrote  M. 
Gambetta,  "  the  increasing  strokes  of  bad  fortune 
can  no  longer  disconcert  your  minds  nor  lower 
your  courage.  You  wait  for  France,  but  you 
depend  upon  yourselves — ready  for  all  things. 
Toul  and  Strassburg  have  just  succumbed.  During 
fifty  days  these  two  heroic  cities  have  been  exposed 
to  veritable  showers  of  bullets  and  shells.  In  want 
of  ammunition  and  of  provisions,  they  still  defied 
the  enemy.  They  have  only  capitulated  after 
having  seen  their  walls  crumble  under  the  fire  of 
the  assailants.  In  falling  they  have  cast  a  look 
towards  Paris,  to  declare  once  more  the  unity  and 
integrity  of  La  JPatrie.  The  indivisibility  of  the 
republic  devolves  on  us  the  duty  of  delivering 
them,  with  the  honour  of  avenging  them.  Vive 
la  France!  Vive  la  Republique I '"  General  Trochu 
likewise  issued  a  short  but  re-assuring  proclama- 
tion to  the  troops.  The  elections  for  a  National 
Assembly  were  further  deferred  till,  as  was  said, 
they  could  be  freely  held  throughout  the  entire 
country. 

As  yet  there  had  been  no  military  demonstra- 
tions of  an  important  character,  but  great  activity 
prevailed  within  the  capital.  A  peculiar  feature 
of  the  defence  was  the  armed  vigilance  of  the 
dgoufiers,  employed  in  the  main  sewers  of  the 
capital.  These  labourers  were  placed  on  guard 
lest  the  enemy  should  attempt  to  debouch  from 
the  outlets  of  those  subterranean  passages  on  the 
banks  of  the  Seine,  into  the  very  heart  of  Paris. 


132 


THE  FRANCO  -PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


The  engineers  also  fortified  the  interior  both  of 
the  sewers  and  aqueducts,  while  they  blocked  up 
the  shafts  entering  the  catacombs  and  underground 
quarries,  and  walled  up  every  gallery  that  might 
give  access  from  the  outside  to  the  inside  of  the 
circle  of  defences. 

Besides  the  various  journalists,  whose  com- 
munications furnished  much  valuable  informa- 
tion respecting  the  daily  progress  of  events, 
Surgeon-major  Wyatt,  of  the  Coldstream  Guards, 
who  had  arrived  a  day  or  two  before  the  final 
investment,  on  a  mission  from  the  British 
government  to  observe  and  report  on  matters  of 
sanitary  hygiene  and  military  surgery  in  connec- 
tion with  the  French  medical  staff,  reported  very 
favourably  on  the  condition  of  Paris  with  respect 
to  provisions.  During  the  first  weeks  of  the  siege 
he  expressed  a  firm  conviction  that  the  capture  of 
the  fortresses  would  prove  a  very  difficult  under- 
taking. "  The  zealous  patriotism  of  all  ranks," 
he  said,  "  is  remarkable,  and  no  exceptions  are 
asked  for,  the  Eothschilds  taking  their  turn  of 
duty  on  the  ramparts,  equally  with  all  the  other 
citizens,  as  privates  in  the  garde  mobile.  The 
Prussians  have  now  certainly  lost  all  chance  of 
success  by  assault,  for  delay  has  rendered  the  place 
almost  impregnable." 

The  forts  continued  to  throw  shells  into  the 
enemy's  works,  and  reconnaissances  were  made 
in  several  directions — a  party  from  the  Fort  de 
Noisy  dislodging  the  Prussians  from  a  post  at 
Bondy.  A  series  of  such  movements  was  con- 
tinued in  conjunction  with  the  fire  of  the  forts, 
but  generally  with  little  result  beyond  disturbing 
the  operations  of  the  enemy.  For  instance,  in 
front  of  Fort  de  Nogent,  three  companies  of 
mobiles  and  a  detachment  of  spahis  drove  back 
the  advanced  posts  of  the  Prussians,  but  falling 
into  an  ambush,  were  compelled  to  retire  after 
placing  some  twenty  men  hors  de  combat.  Re- 
connoitring parties  were  also  despatched  towards 
Clamart  and  Creteil,  Malmaison  and  Gennevil- 
liers,  and  on  the  route  of  the  Lyons  railway ; 
but  on  each  occasion  they  were  driven  back,  the 
Germans  having  been  seasonably  reinforced. 

Decrees  were  published  by  the  government  post- 
poning the  payment  of  the  Michaelmas  quarter's 
rent,  and  ordering  the  reproduction,  in  bronze,  of 
the  statue  of  the  city  of  Strassburg  in  the  Place 
de  la  Concorde.      On  the  3rd  of  October  General 


September,  was  buried  with  military  honours, 
when  General  Trochu  briefly  addressed  the  troops. 
In  the  afternoon  of  this  day  some  10,000  armed 
national  guards,  under  the  command  of  M.  Gus- 
tave  Flourens,  marched  to  the  headquarters,  and 
demanded  of  the  government  that  the  levy  en 
masse  of  the  entire  nation  should  be  decreed;  that 
an  immediate  appeal  should  be  made  to  repub- 
lican Europe;  that  all  suspected  government  func- 
tionaries, in  a  position  to  betray  the  republic,  should 
be  discharged ;  and  that  a  municipal  commune 
should  be  speedily  elected,  through  which  distri- 
bution should  be  made  of  all  articles  of  subsistence 
existing  in  the  capital.  Once  again  during  the 
week  Flourens  headed  five  battalions  of  national 
guards  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  demanding  to  be 
armed  with  Chassepots,  which  it  was  not  in  the 
power  of  the  government  to  supply.  A  day  or 
two  later  a  still  more  serious  demonstration  was 
made,  organized  by  the  central  republican  com- 
mittee, in  conjunction  with  citizens  Ledru  Kollin, 
Felix  Pyat,  Blanqui,  Delescluze,  and  Flourens,  at 
the  Hotel  de  Ville,  with  the  view  of  forcing  the 
government  to  consent  to  the  immediate  election 
of  a  municipal  commune.  Many  thousands  of 
people  assembled,  including  a  considerable  number 
of  national  guards;  and  in  front  of  the  open  win- 
dows of  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  where  several  members 
of  the  government  were  seated,  shouts  of  Vive  la 
Commune  were  raised.  The  only  response  to 
this  appeal  was  the  display  of  an  armed  battalion 
of  national  guards  drawn  up  in  line  in  front  of  the 
building,  behind  which  numerous  companies  of 
gardes  mobiles,  with  fixed  bayonets,  were  posted. 
Some  delegates  were  eventually  admitted,  who  were 
told  by  M.  Jules  Ferry  that  the  government  would 
not  entertain  their  demand.  Gradually  the  crowd 
had  enormously  increased,  when  General  Trochu 
appeared,  and  rode  unattended  round  three  sides 
of  the  Place,  assailed  with  cries  of  La  Commune! 
La  Commune!  uttered  in  a  menacing  tone,  to 
which,  however,  he  made  no  response.  The  gates 
of  the  Hotel  de  Ville  were  closed,  and  the  rappel 
beaten,  which  brought  other  armed  national  guards 
on  the  scene,  prepared  to  support  the  government. 
The  commander-in-chief  of  the  national  guards 
rode  from  group  to  group,  haranguing  the  more 
violent  among  the  crowd,  but  to  no  purpose.  They 
demanded,  and  would  have,  the  commune  of  Paris; 
and  not  until  the  place  became  completely  occu- 
pied by  national  guards  who  were  friendly  to  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


133 


provisional  government,  and  pronounced  emphatic- 
ally against  the  election  of  the  commune,  were  the 
agitators  quieted.  At  this  moment  the  members 
of  the  government  appeared  on  the  scene,  and 
passed  the  national  guards  drawn  up  in  line  in 
review.  The  warm  reception  they  met  with  from 
these  citizen  soldiers,  and  the  great  majority  of 
the  people  massed  around  the  three  sides  of  the 
Place,  furnished  a  convincing  proof  that  the 
demands  made  by  the  more  violent  demagogues 
were  entirely  out  of  favour  with  nine -tenths 
of  the  Parisians.  Shouts  of  Vive  la  France! 
Vive  la  Republique  I  Vive  le  Gouvernement ! 
Pas  de  Commune!  arose  on  all  sides,  and  were 
prolonged  until  the  members  of  the  government 
retired  in  front  of  the  entrance  to  the  Hotel  de 
Ville.  There  M.  Jules  Favre  made  an  eloquent 
speech  to  the  officers  of  the  national  guard,  con- 
gratulating them  upon  the  attitude  of  their  corps 
and  the  union  that  had  been  shown  to  prevail, 
and  urging  them  not  to  harbour  any  feelings  of 
animosity  in  reference  to  what  had  transpired  that 
day.  "We  have  no  enemies,"  said  he;  "I  do 
not  think  we  can  call  them  adversaries.  They 
have  been  led  astray,  but  let  us  bring  them  back 
by  means  of  our  patriotism."  Such  demonstra- 
tions oft-repeated  during  the  siege  were  a  source 
of  constant  embarrassment  to  the  authorities,  who, 
however,  generally  pursued  a  conciliatory  course, 
combined  with  firmness  sufficient  to  prevent  an 
actual  outbreak. 

As  before  stated,  diplomatic  agents  of  various 
states  determined  to  remain  in  Paris  during  the 
siege.  But  difficulties  speedily  arose.  In  the  first 
place,  a  request  in  their  name  by  M.  Jules  Favre 
that  Count  von  Bismarck  should  give  a  week's 
notice  before  opening  the  bombardment,  and  that 
there  should  be  a  weekly  courier  for  the  passage 
of  despatches  to  their  respective  governments,  was 
refused,  though  permission  was  granted  for  the 
passage  of  open  letters  expressing  no  opinion  on 
the  subject  of  the  war.  Against  this,  however, 
the  diplomatists  protested,  in  a  document  signed 
by  the  papal  nuncio,  the  ministers  of  Switzerland, 
Sweden  and  Norway,  Denmark,  Belgium,  Hon- 
duras and  Salvador,  the  Netherlands,  Brazil, 
Portugal,  the  United  States,  Monaco  and  San- 
Marino,  Hawaii,  the  Dominican  Republic,  Bolivia, 
and  Peru.  But  the  German  chancellor  was  inex- 
orable. After  reminding  them  of  his  previous 
warning  that  diplomatic  intercourse  must  be  sub- 


ordinate to  military  exigencies,  he  further  said : — 
"  The  present  French  authorities  have  thought 
proper  to  fix  the  seat  of  their  government  within 
the  fortifications  of  Paris,  and  to  select  that  city 
and  its  suburbs  as  the  theatre  of  war.  If  members 
of  the  diplomatic  body,  accredited  to  the  former 
government,  have  decided  to  share  with  the 
government  of  the  national  defence  the  privations 
inseparable  from  residence  in  a  beleaguered  fortress, 
the  responsibility  for  this  does  not  rest  with  the 
Prussian  government." 

Several  journeys,  to  and  from  the  besieged 
capital,  which  the  German  authorities  permitted  the 
American  General  Burnside  to  make  at  this  time, 
naturally  excited  considerable  attention,  but  their 
significance  was  in  many  quarters  over-estimated. 
The  first  visit  had  exclusive  reference  to  the 
diplomatists  just  alluded  to  ;  but  General  Burn- 
side  had  at  no  time  any  official  authority.  It 
was  simply  from  yielding  to  a  generous  impulse, 
that  he  endeavoured,  without  any  commission,  to 
effect  some  conciliatory  arrangement  between  the 
hostile  parties.  All  the  communications  he  carried 
to  the  Provisional  Government  from  the  Germans 
related  to  the  cession  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  and 
an  indemnity  of  £80,000,000,  which  it  was  hinted 
at  this  early  stage  of  the  siege  Count  von  Bismarck 
also  demanded.  These  terms  the  French  govern- 
ment would  not  listen  to,  and  his  visits  thus  led  to 
no  diplomatic  result. 

Outside  the  city  the  besiegers  continued  very 
active.  On  the  5th  of  October  the  king  of 
Prussia  left  Meaux  for  his  future  headquarters  in 
the  old  palace  at  Versailles,  and  was  met  near  that 
place  by  the  Crown  Prince,  attended  by  General 
von  Blumenthal  and  a  portion  of  his  staff.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  town  also  turned  out  in  consider- 
able numbers  to  see  King  William  establish  himself 
in  the  heart  of  France,  and  re-occupy  the  historical 
palace  of  their  kings.  The  streets  were  lined 
with  German  troops ;  and  awaiting  his  arrival 
were  General  von  Kirchbacb,  General  von  Voigts- 
Khetz,  commandant  of  the  city,  and  their  staff,  the 
duke  of  Coburg,  the  duke  of  Augustenburg,  two 
dukes  of  Wurtemburg,  the  Prince  Hereditary  of 
Wiirtemburg,  Prince  Leopold  of  Hohenzollern,  the 
Prince  Hereditary  of  Mecklenburg  Strelitz,  with 
their  officers  in  waiting. 

At  half  past  five  in  the  afternoon  the  king,  accom- 
panied by  the  Crown  Prince,  arrived  in  an  open 
carriage,  amid  the  vehement  cheers  of  the  officers 


134 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


and  troops,  and  tlie  triumphal  sound  of  drums  and 
trumpets.  Count  von  Bismarck  and  General  von 
Moltke  had  been  looked  for  with  scarcely  less 
eagerness,  but  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  was 
recognized  by  the  crowds  of  soldiers  or  citizens, 
and  they  passed  unobserved  to  their  quarters. 

Nothing  could  have  brought  home  more  vividly 
to  the  French  nation  the  true  nature  of  the  crisis, 
than  this  undisturbed  possession  of  Versailles  by 
the  Germans.  On  the  day  following  the  entry  of 
the  king,  he  and  his  generals  paraded  the  grounds 
amid  the  cheers  of  the  invading  army.  The 
German  colours  waved  over  the  palace,  wounded 
Germans  were  tended  in  the  hospitals  of  the  town, 
and  a  little  later  the  ceremony  was  gone  through 
of  distributing  the  order  of  the  Iron  Cross  to  the 
German  soldiers  who  had  distinguished  themselves 
in  the  campaign.  The  order  of  merit  was  distri- 
buted by  the  Crown  Prince,  who  referred  in 
glowing  terms  to  the  acts  of  heroism  which  had 
entitled  the  recipients  to  the  honour. 

Inside  Paris  the  spirit  of  the  people  was  now 
thoroughly  roused.  The  iron-masters  of  the  city 
were  turning  out  immense  siege  guns  and  batteries 
of  field  artillery  and  mitrailleuses,  while  the 
women  were  making  a  million  cartridges  daily. 
General  Trochu  was  likewise  rapidly  arming  the 
immense  levies  called  to  the  defence  of  the  capital. 
He  had  already  upwards  of  200,000  breechloading 
rifles,  more  than  sufficient  for  his  regulars  and 
the  mobiles;  while  M.  Dorian  was  busily  engaged 
in  manufacturing  similar  weapons  for  the  national 
guards. 

On  the  11th  of  October  the  first  shells  were 
fired  from  the  besiegers'  works,  one  of  which 
lodged  in  Fort  Ivry,  and  called  forth  a  tremendous 
reply  from  the  southern  line  of  forts,  which  was 
taken  up  by  the  entire  series  of  batteries.  Owing  to 
this  incident,  probably,  and  to  the  agitation  of  the 
Socialistic  section  of  the  populace  for  more  active 
efforts,  the  garrison  made  a  second  sortie  on  the 
13th  of  October.  The  attacking  force,  consisting 
of  General  Blanchard's  division,  issued  from  the 
French  lines  in  three  columns,  against  the  be- 
siegers' works  on  the  heights  of  Clamart,  Chatillon, 
and  Bagneux,  southward  of  the  city.  To  clear 
the  way  for  the  troops  the  guns  of  Montrouge, 
Issy,  and  Vanves  opened  a  heavy  fire  in  the  early 
morning,  and  the  brigade  of  General  Lusbielle 
attacked  with  considerable  intrepidity  the  barri- 
caded villages  in  their  front.     After  a  severe  hand- 


to-hand  contest  the  enemy  was  dislodged  and 
driven  out  of  his  advanced  positions;  the  French, 
elated  by  this  success,  somewhat  recklessly  exposed 
themselves,  and  Prussian  reinforcements  having 
arrived  on  the  ground,  they  were  forced  to  fall 
back  with  considerable  loss,  including  the  chef  de 
balaillon,  Count  Dampierre.  In  this  action,  how- 
ever, the  besieged  showed  great  improvement  in  the 
manner  of  handling  and  serving  the  field-guns,  as 
well  as  in  the  manoeuvring  of  their  troops.  The 
guns  of  the  forts  commanded  the  ground  occupied 
by  the  Germans,  and  it  is  clear  from  the  fact  of  their 
subsequently  demanding  an  armistice  to  take  away 
their  dead,  that  their  loss  was  heavy,  including 
some  fifty  prisoners. 

Nor  was  this  action  the  only  notable  event  of 
the  day.  The  French  regarded  with  a  jealous 
eye  the  occupation  of  St.  Cloud  by  the  Prussians, 
who  used  it  as  an  outpost,  and  had  previously 
poured  a  heavy  fire  in  the  supposed  direction  of 
their  works.  The  Duke  Max  of  Wiirtemburg  had 
also  been  wounded  there  by  a  French  tirailleur. 
To  prevent  the  chateau  being  turned  to  account  by 
the  enemy,  the  guns  of  Mont  Valerien  now  opened 
fire  upon  the  palace,  and  struck  it  with  shell  after 
shell.  Speedily  a  sheet  of  flame  shot  upwards 
from  it,  as  the  batteries  of  Mortemart  and  Issy 
joined  those  of  Mont  Valerien;  and  a  few  hours 
sufficed  to  render  the  elegant  chateau  a  smoulder- 
ing ruin.  The  village  of  St.  Cloud  was  also  made 
a  desolation  by  the  French  guns.  The  history  of 
St.  Cloud  is  peculiarly  interesting.  As  early  as 
533,  some  sailors,  intrusted  with  a  little  child  for 
the  purpose  of  its  destruction,  deposited  it  on  the 
banks  of  the  Seine  in  order  to  save  its  life.  Thus 
providentially  preserved,  Clodoald  became  a  monk, 
and  founded  a  monastery,  whence  the  district 
derived  its  name  of  St.  Cloud.  Being  one  of  the 
prettiest  environs  of  Paris,  it  was  always  a  favourite 
summer  residence,  and  the  old  French  kings  often 
stayed  there.  The  village  was  burnt  by  the  Eng- 
lish in  1358  ;  and  it  was  there  that  Henri  III.  was 
assassinated  in  1589.  In  1658  Louis  XIV.  pre- 
sented the  place  to  his  brother,  the  duke  of  Orleans, 
in  whose  family  it  remained  for  more  than  a 
century,  when  it  again  became  a  royal  residence. 
It  was  at  St.  Cloud  where  Napoleon  Bonaparte 
discussed  and  settled  the  arrangements  which 
made  him  master  of  France,  and  it  afterwards 
became  his  favourite  residence.  After  witnessing 
various  other  historic  evolutions,  it  fell  into  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


135 


possession  of  Napoleon  III.,  who  with  the  Empress 
Eugenie  were  its  frequent  occupants,  and  it  was 
from  it  that  the  emperor  started  on  the  disastrous 
campaign  of  1870. 

On  the  16  th  October  General  Trochu  issued  a 
proclamation  to  the  mayors  of  Paris  concerning 
the  mobilization  of  the  national  guards.  From  this 
document  he  appears  to  have  taken  an  exact  mea- 
sure both  of  the  exigencies  of  his  position  and  of 
his  resources  for  meeting  them.  After  referring  to 
the  difficulties  and  delays  which  had  taken  place  in 
the  matter,  and  the  "  very  animated  and  legitimately 
impatient  patriotism"  of  the  public  mind,  he  said : 
— "It  is  my  duty  to  enlighten  it  while  resisting 
its  enthusiasm,  and  to  prove  to  it  that  no  one  has 
more  than  I  at  heart  the  honour  of  the  national 
guard  of  Paris,  and  the  care  of  the  great  interests 
which  will  be  at  stake  the  day  that  that  guard 
carries  its  efforts  beyond  the  enceinte.  When  I 
undertook  the  defence  of  Paris,  with  the  co-opera- 
tion of  devoted  fellow-workers  whose  names  will 
one  day  be  remembered  by  the  public  gratitude, 
I  had  to  face  a  sentiment  vastly  different  from  the 
one  I  am  now  discussing.  It  was  believed  and 
asserted  that  a  city  like  our  capital,  governed  by 
such  various  interests,  passions,  and  requirements, 
was  incapable  of  being  defended.  It  was  hard  to 
believe  that  its  enceinte  and  its  forts,  constructed 
in  other  times  and  under  very  different  military 
circumstances  to  those  which  prevail  at  present, 
could  be  prepared  in  such  a  manner  as  to  offer, 
unsupported  by  an  army  operating  from  without, 
a  serious  and  durable  resistance  to  the  efforts  of  a 
victorious  enemy.  Still  less  was  it  admitted  that 
the  inhabitants  could  reconcile  themselves  to  the 
sacrifices  of  every  kind,  to  the  habits  of  resignation, 
which  a  siege  of  any  duration  implies.  Now 
that  this  great  trial  has  been  made,  that  is  to 
say,  that  the  placing  of  the  city  in  a  state  of 
defence  has  reached  a  degree  of  perfection  which 
renders  the  enceinte  unassailable,  the  outer  fortifi- 
cations being  at  a  great  distance;  now  that  the 
inhabitants  have  manifested  their  patriotism,  and 
of  their  own  accord  reduced  to  silence  the  small 
number  of  men  whose  culpable  views  subserved 
the  enemy's  projects;  now  that  the  enemy  himself, 
halting  before  these  formidable  defensive  prepara- 
tions, has  confined  himself  to  surrounding  them 
with  his  masses,  without  venturing  upon  an  attack, 
the  public  mind  has  changed,  and  shows  now  but 
one  preoccupation — the  desire  to    throw   out   in 


turn  masses  of  soldiers  beyond  the  enceinte  and 
to  attack  the  Prussian  army.  The  government  of 
the  national  defence  cannot  but  encourage  this 
enthusiasm  of  the  population,  but  it  belongs  to 
the  commander-in-chief  to  direct  it,  because  with 
this  right  are  connected,  for  him,  unlimited 
responsibilities.  In  this  respect  it  is  necessary 
to  be  guided  solely  by  the  rules  of  the  general 
experience  of  war,  and  by  those  of  the  special 
experience  which  we  owe  to  the  painful  events 
that  have  overwhelmed  the  army  of  the  Rhine. 
These  rules  demonstrate  that  no  infantry,  however 
steady  it  may  be,  can  be  safely  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  Prussian  army  unless  it  be  accompanied 
by  an  artillery  equal  to  that  which  the  enemy  has 
at  his  disposal;  and  it  is  to  the  formation  of  this 
artillery  that  I  am  applying  all  my  attention.  In 
the  next  place,  our  percussion  guns  are  excellent 
arms  behind  a  rampart,  where  there  is  no  need 
to  fire  quickly.  But  troops  who  with  such  arms 
engage  others  provided  with  rapidly-firing  rifles, 
would  expose  themselves  to  a  disaster  that  neither 
bravery  nor  moral  superiority  could  avert.  As 
regards  the  appeal  made  to  the  patriotism  of  the 
companies  destined  for  outside  service,  the  gov- 
ernment cannot  address  itself  exclusively  to  the 
battalions  provided  with  rapidly-firing  arms;  hence 
the  absolute  necessity  for  a  friendly  exchange  of 
arms,  effected  by  the  mayor  of  each  arrondissement, 
so  that  the  volunteers  destined  for  war  service  shall 
be  armed  with  the  best  rifles  of  their  battalion." 

After  giving  directions  for  recruiting  and  equip- 
ping the  mobilized  battalions,  and  intimating  that 
the  battalions  taking  the  field  would  be  placed 
exclusively  under  the  orders  of  generals  command- 
ing the  active  divisions  of  the  army,  and  subject  to 
military  laws  and  regulations,  the  document  con- 
cluded as  follows  : — 

"  In  the  month  of  July  last  the  French  army,  in 
all  the  splendour  of  its  strength,  passed  through 
Paris  amid  shouts  of  a  Berlin !  a  Berlin !  I 
was  far  from  sharing  their  confidence,  and  alone, 
perhaps,  among  all  the  general  officers,  I  ventured 
to  tell  the  marshal-minister  of  "War  that  I  perceived 
in  this  noisy  manner  of  entering  upon  a  campaign, 
as  well  as  in  the  means  brought  into  requisition, 
the  elements  of  a  great  disaster.  The  will  which 
at  this  period  I  placed  in  the  hands  of  M.  Ducloux, 
a  notary  of  Paris,  will  one  day  testify  to  the  painful 
and  too  well-grounded  presentiments  with  which 
my  soul  was  filled.     To-day,  in  presence  of  the 


136 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


fever  which  has  rightly  taken  possession  of  the 
public  mind,  I  meet  with  difficulties  which  present 
a  most  striking  analogy  with  those  that  showed 
themselves  in  the  past.  I  now  declare  that,  im- 
pressed with  the  most  complete  faith  in  a  return  of 
fortune,  which  will  be  due  to  the  great  work  of 
resistance  summed  up  in  the  siege  of  Paris,  I  will 
not  cede  to  the  pressure  of  the  public  impatience. 
Animating  myself  with  the  sense  of  the  duties 
which  are  common  to  us  all,  and  of  the  responsi- 
bilities which  no  one  shares  with  me,  I  shall  pursue 
to  the  end  the  plan  which  I  have  traced  out  without 
revealing  it ;  and  I  only  demand  of  the  population 
of  Paris,  in  exchange  for  my  efforts,  the  continu- 
ance of  that  confidence  with  which  it  has  hitherto 
honoured  me." 

On  the  21st  of  October  occurred  a  vigorous  sortie 
m  the  direction  of  Malmaison  ;  and  as  it  was  made 
under  almost  exactly  similar  conditions  to  those  of 
Chevilly  and  Chatillon,  previously  narrated,  it  may 
be  as  well  to  notice  the  system  of  investment  by 
which  the  Germans  so  successfully  resisted  these 
repeated  attacks. 

It  must  be  observed  that  the  country  around 
Paris  was  not  favourable  for  making  sorties  on  a 
large  scale.  The  first  difficulty  was  the  river.  It 
was  impossible  to  lay  the  bridges  without  the  move- 
ment being  observed  by  the  enemy,  and  to  inarch 
a  large  force  across  pontoons  required  a  consider- 
able time.  Again,  on  those  sides  of  Paris  which 
are  most  open  to  attack — those  not  naturally 
guarded  by  the  Seine — the  defences  are  so  close 
together  as  not  to  leave  sufficient  room  for  the 
manoeuvring  of  troops.  A  third  obstacle  existed 
in  the  natural  formation  of  the  ground,  which 
is  hilly  and  broken,  except  in  close  proximity  to 
the  river ;  and  in  the  immense  number  of  vil- 
lages, hamlets,  and  detached  houses  existing  in 
all  directions. 

The  Germans  did  not  form  a  fixed  or  continuous 
line  round  Paris,  but  were  massed  in  the  villages 
and  hamlets  ;  and  the  further  behind  the  advanced 
posts  the  more  numerous  were  the  troops.  The 
besieging  army  surrounded  the  city  in  three 
concentric  zones.  In  the  inner  belt  were  the 
outposts  and  the  rifle-pits,  where  the  advanced 
guards  were  sheltered ;  behind  these  were  the 
infantry  of  the  army  corps,  with  a  large  proportion 
of  the  horse,  and  a  smaller  division  of  artillery; 
and  outside  of  all,  the  great  mass  of  the  field 
batteries,  supported  by  the  reserves  of  the  infantry 


and  cavalry.  The  pickets  and  advanced  posts 
were  generally  within  easy  communication  with 
each  other,  their  supports,  and  the  regiments  from 
which  they  were  drawn,  being  placed  as  near  as 
circumstances  would  permit ;  but  all  the  heavy 
bodies  of  men  were  massed  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  the  front.  In  consequence  of  this 
arrangement,  any  sortie  in  force  sufficed  to  drive 
in  the  outposts ;  but,  as  has  been  well  remarked 
by  an  English  writer,  it  was  like  pressure  exerted 
against  a  spring.  The  Germans  had  to  retire  to 
a  distance  proportionate  to  the  pressure.  But  as 
they  retired  they  gathered  strength,  until  at  last, 
the  momentum  and  impetus  of  the  opposing  force 
being  overcome,  the  spring  expanded,  and  the 
French  were  driven  back  within  shelter  of  the  forts. 

To  the  comfort  of  the  men  occupied  in  the  dan- 
gerous and  arduous  work  of  the  German  outposts 
every  attention  was  paid.  Great  care  was  taken  that 
they  should  be  well  and  warmly  clothed,  and  the 
very  best  provision  obtainable  was  supplied  them 
by  the'  commissariat.  Those  at  Versailles  lived 
in  comparative  security  and  luxury ;  and  all 
regiments  and  detachments  were  therefore  changed 
every  four  days,  so  that  the  entire  army  might 
share  the  privileges  as  well  as  the  privations 
incidental  to  their  position. 

The  preparations  for  the  sortie  of  the  21st  were 
made  with  great  discretion  and  secrecy,  and  it  was 
the  nearest  approach  to  a  surprise  by  the  French  that 
had  yet  occurred.  The  attacking  force  was  under 
the  command  of  General  Ducrot,  who  massed  his 
troops  in  the  rear  of  forts  Mont  Valerien  and 
Issy.  On  the  night  of  the  20th  a  feint  was 
directed  against  the  southern  front  of  the  investing 
lines,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  21st  Mont 
Valerien  opened  a  heavy  fire  on  the  supposed 
positions  of  the  enemy.  Shortly  afterwards 
General  Ducrot  led  out  some  12,000  men,  well 
supported  by  artillery,  and  a  strong  force  in 
reserve.  The  alarm  was  soon  taken  at  Versailles, 
and  the  troops  were  immediately  called  to  arms 
and  thrown  towards  the  front,  while  the  boom  of 
the  guns  could  already  be  heard  in  the  distance. 
The  king  of  Prussia,  with  his  staff,  hastened 
towards  St.  Germains,  and  in  company  with  the 
Crown  Prince  watched  the  proceedings  from  the 
top  of  the  aqueduct  of  Marly,  which  commanded 
a  fine  view  of  the  scene  of  battle. 

The  French  made  a  spirited  advance  under 
cover  of  their  guns,  throwing  out  long  lines  of 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


137 


skirmishers  to  ascertain  the  situation  of  the  enemy. 
The  attack  was  directed  against  the  high  ground 
in  front  of  La  Celle,  St.  Cloud,  and  the  strong 
position  which  the  Prussians  had  taken  up  at 
Bougival.  The  French  were  well  led  by  their 
officers,  who  could  be  seen  at  the  head  of  their 
regiments  waving  their  swords  and  encouraging 
the  men.  The  most  vigorous  attack  was  made 
upon  tho1.  heights  of  Berene ;  but  it  made  no 
impression  upon  the  Prussians,  who  had  fallen 
back  into  the  woods,  from  which  they  could  not 
be  driven.  As  the  French  advanced  across  the 
open  they  caught  sight  of  the  spiked  helmets  of  the 
enemy,  who,  commanded  by  General  Eirchbach, 
were  stationed  along  the  vine-clad  ridges  in  front 
of  La  Jonchere,  awaiting  the  attack.  The  French 
were  constantly  strengthened  from  their  reserves, 
and  threw  forward  a  battery  of  their  field  artillery, 
which  incessantly  shelled  the  woods  in  their  front; 
but  the  Prussians  held  their  ground,  and  their 
assailants  appeared  to  contemplate  a  dash  at  them. 
The  fire  of  the  needle-guns,  however,  was  rapid 
and  constant  from  the  cover;  and  although  Ducrot 
gallantly  rode  in  front  of  his  troops,  and  a  couple 
of  guns  were  detached  from  the  foremost  batteries 
to  fire  on  the  German  position,  the  French  could 
not  be  induced  to  advance  across  the  open  ground. 
The  critical  moment  had  now  arrived;  reinforce- 
ments appeared  in  the  rear  of  the  Germans,  and 
speedily  some  battalions  of  the  landwehr  of  the 
guard,  headed  by  their  skirmishers,  caused  the 
French  to  falter,  and  eventually  to  give  way, 
leaving  their  two  advanced  guns  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  while  four  battalions  of 
zouaves  narrowly  escaped  capture.  The  Germans 
then  pushed  forward,  and  among  the  vines  a  fierce 
hand-to-hand  fight  ensued,  in  which  bayonets  were 
crossed  and  a  heavy  fire  of  musketry  maintained 
for  a  considerable  time.  The  French  were  ulti- 
mately forced  to  retire,  but  their  retreat  was 
covered  by  reinforcements  which  arrived,  and 
prevented  the  further  approach  of  the  enemy. 
The  Prussians,  however,  had  held  their  ground; 
and  from  that  circumstance,  coupled  with  the  fact 
of  their  having,  as  before  stated,  taken  two  guns 
and  above  a  hundred  prisoners,  they  considered 
their  success  complete.  The  official  list  of  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing  on  the  French  side  was 
given  at  443,  while  the  German  loss  was  estimated 
at  380.  In  this  action  the  French  behaved  well; 
but  the  force  engaged  was  insufficient  to  effect  any 

TOL.  H. 


important  practical  purpose,  and  led  to  little  more 
than  the  casualties  mentioned. 

It  may  here  be  stated  that  General  Ducrot,  who 
commanded  on  this  occasion,  and  whose  services 
throughout  the  siege  of  Paris  were  highly  valued 
by  General  Trochu,  was  especially  obnoxious  to 
the  Germans,  who  officially  accused  him  of  having 
broken  his  parole  after  the  catastrophe  at  Sedan, 
and  of  having  returned  to  Paris  to  take  a  high 
command  in  the  army.  But  in  a  letter  to  the 
governor,  which  was  forwarded  to  the  German 
headquarters,  he  indignantly  denied  the  charge 
of  a  breach  of  honour,  and  showed  that  he  had 
escaped  the  Prussian  sentries  disguised  as  a  work- 
man, after  he  had  surrendered  himself  prisoner  at 
the  appointed  rendezvous.  "  The  German  press," 
replied  the  general,  "  doubtless  inspired  by  com- 
petent authorities,  accuses  me  of  having  made  my 
escape  while  a  prisoner  on  parole,  of  having  com- 
mitted a  breach  of  honour,  and  of  thus  having 
placed  myself  outside  the  pale  of  the  law,  and 
thereby  of  having  given  to  an  enemy  the  right  to 
shoot  me,  should  I  again  fall  into  his  hands.  I 
heed  the  threat  but  little.  Whether  I  am  shot  by 
Prussian  bullets  on  the  field  of  battle,  or  when 
leaving  a  prison,  the  result  is  always  the  same. 
I  am  conscious  of  having  done  my  duty  to  the 
last,  both  as  a  soldier  and  a  citizen,  and  failing 
other  inheritance,  I  shall  leave  to  my  children  a 
memory  honoured  by  all  good  men,  both  friends 
and  enemies."  That  his  version  was  substantially 
correct  was  shown  by  the  subsequent  withdrawal 
of  the  charges  by  the  Germans. 

The  operations  of  the  besieged  which  have  been 
detailed  produced  one  result  which  might  have 
been  serious  for  the  Germans,  had  not  the  back- 
ward state  of  General  Trochu's  immense  levies 
prevented  him  from  making  more  effective  diver- 
sions. The  investing  circle,  although  not  broken 
through,  was  widened,  and  the  guns  of  the  forts 
swept  the  country  in  every  direction  to  an  extent 
so  considerable  as  to  render  an  actual  attack  by 
the  besieging  army  very  difficult.  It  is  also 
probable  that  at  this  period  the  investing  army 
was  at  its  lowest  point  in  numbers  judged  by  the 
German  strategists  to  be  safe,  and  the  result  of  the 
sortie  of  the  21st  was  awaited  with  considerable 
anxiety.  In  the  event  of  a  reverse  the  Germans, 
ever  prepared  for  eventualities,  had  arranged  for 
the  immediate  removal  of  their  headquarters,  and 
even  for  the  raising  of  the  siege  of  Paris,  had  it 


138 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


transpired  that  the  immense  forces  of  General 
Trochu  were  strong  enough  to  break  through  their 
lines,  and  defeat  them  in  the  open  field.  The  prac- 
tical failure  of  these  first  sorties  from  the  capital, 
however,  tended  to  render  the  Germans  confident 
of  ultimate  success,  and  from  this  time  the  belief 
was  general  that  no  assault  would  be  necessary. 
They  considered  that  they  held  Paris  as  in  a  trap, 
as  in  the  case  of  Sedan,  and  that  little  else  was 
required  than  to  starve  it  into  surrender. 

The  month  of  October,  however,  did  not  pass 
without  another  sortie,  which  was  of  the  most 
sanguinary  character,  although  again  resulting  in 
no  practical  advantage  to  the  French.  The  ham- 
let of  Le  Bourget,  situated  on  a  small  rivulet  that 
runs  into  the  Seine  on  the  north-eastern  side  of 
Paris,  lay  in  the  middle  of  a  considerable  plain 
midway  between  the  French  and  Prussian  out- 
posts. The  rivulet  had  been  dammed  up  by  the 
enemy,  and  the  country  flooded.  The  village  was 
occupied  by  a  company  of  Prussian  guards  to  pre- 
vent its  being  used  for  offensive  purposes  against 
them.  The  attack  on  it  on  October  28  was  planned 
with  great  secrecy  by  General  Bellemare,  who 
ordered  Commander  Kolland,  of  the  "  Franc- 
tireurs  of  the  Press,"  to  make  a  night  assault, 
supported  by  a  part  of  the  thirty-fourth  regiment 
and  the  fourteenth  battalion  of  the  mobiles  of 
the  Seine.  Taken  by  surprise,  and  not  knowing 
the  strength  of  the  attacking  force,  the  Prussians 
gave  way,  and  retired  in  disorder,  leaving  knap- 
sacks and  helmets  behind.  The  French  continued 
their  advance  on  the  village.  As  the  Prussians 
made  a  show  of  defending  the  church,  with  the 
design  of  taking  them  in  flank  the  supports  were 
ordered  up,  and  several  guns  and  a  mitrailleuse  were 
thrown  forward,  while  a  couple  of  heavy  guns 
were  posted  in  front  of  Courneuve.  On  this  the 
Prussians  were  compelled  to  retreat,  and  on  the 
arrival  of  General  Bellemare  at  eleven  o'clock  the 
French  were  in  complete  possession  of  the  village. 
Orders  were  then  given  to  strengthen  the  position; 
provisions  were  brought  up;  the  sixteenth  mobiles 
and  twenty-eighth  regiment  of  the  line  appeared  to 
relieve  and  support  their  successful  comrades;  and 
engineers  and  sappers  worked  unremittingly  in 
making  communications,  crenellating  houses,  and 
erecting  barricades.  The  loss  of  the  French 
amounted  to  some  twenty  wounded  and  four  or 
five  killed,  while  the  Prussians  appear  to  have 
suffered  considerably.    The  capture  of  Le  Bourget, 


said  General  Bellemare's  report,  "  enlarges  the 
circle  of  our  occupation  beyond  the  forts,  gives 
confidence  to  our  troops,  and  increases  the  supply 
of  vegetables  for  the  Parisian  population." 

The  Prussians,  however,  were  not  disposed  to 
bear  their  defeat  with  indifference.  Throughout 
the  29th  they  battered  the  village  with  their 
artillery,  and  at  one  time  a  deadly  combat  raged 
between  the  outposts  of  the  combatants,  in  which 
the  bayonet  was  freely  used. 

The  result  of  the  attack  had  been  at  once  com- 
municated to  the  German  headquarters,  and  Count 
von  Moltke  issued  orders  to  the  general  command- 
ing the  second  division  of  guards  to  retake  the 
place  at  any  cost — an  order  which  they  were  not 
slow  to  obey.  General  Budritzki,  early  on  the 
morning  of  the  30th,  in  turn  surprised  the  French 
with  seven  battalions  of  guards,  and  a  bloody  fight 
ensued,  in  which  the  Prussians  displayed  great 
exasperation  of  feeling,  but  were  met  with  most 
obstinate  resistance.  The  French  having  barri- 
caded the  streets,  and  made  the  most  of  every  avail- 
able means  of  defence,  it  required  a  desperate  effort 
to  force  them  out  of  their  stronghold.  At  the 
moment  when  the  fight  was  at  the  hottest,  and 
the  Prussians  appeared  in  danger  of  getting  the 
worst  of  it,  General  Budritzki  rode  to  the  front  of 
the  Elizabeth  regiment  on  their  advance,  and,  dis- 
mounting, seized  the  standard  in  order  to  lead 
them  to  the  storm.  With  heavy  sacrifices  a 
firm  foot  was  at  last  planted  in  the  village.  The 
Queen  Augusta  regiment  had  also  reached  Le 
Bourget.  A  detachment  was  about  to  advance, 
when  the  colonel,  Count  Valdersee,  who  had  so 
far  recovered  from  a  wound  at  Gravelotte  that  he 
rejoined  his  regiment  ten  days  previously,  was 
struck  by  a  ball  which  killed  him  on  the  spot. 
An  officer  was  hastening  to  catch  the  falling  leader 
in  his  arms  when  he  too  was  shot.  Colonel  Zalus- 
kowski  of  the  Elizabeth  regiment,  and  Count  von 
Keller,  were  also  killed.  These  losses  appear  to 
have  roused  the  vengeful  feelings  of  the  Germans, 
and  shouting  fiercely,  they  made  an  irresistible 
onslaught,  and  swept  the  French  out  of  the 
village  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  to  within  a 
short  distance  of  St.  Denis ;  and  so  closely  pur- 
sued them,  that  some  30  officers  and  1200  men 
were  captured,  including  a  whole  company  of 
mobiles,  stationed  to  the  north  of  Le  Bourget,  who 
had  not  fired  a  shot.  The  franc-tireurs  were  so 
cut  up  that,  out  of  380  men,  only  150  remained; 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


139 


and  being  all  Parisians,  their  fate  caused  great 
mourning  to  their  friends  in  the  city,  who  had 
lately  rejoiced  at  their  success.  The  fourteenth 
mobiles  also  suffered  fearfully.  Out  of  a  strength 
of  800  men,  200  only  answered  the  roll  call  after 
the  retreat.  The  Prussians  also  paid  dearly  for 
their  victory,  for  besides  those  whose  names  have 
been  already  mentioned,  the  Augusta  and  Eliza- 
beth regiments  lost  at  least  30  officers  killed  and 
wounded,  and  upwards  of  400  men.  Gallantly  as 
the  French  acted  in  this  affair,  it  was  altogether 
an  unfortunate  mistake,  undertaken  without  the 
authority  of  General  Trochu,  and  executed  without 
any  of  that  forethought  and  pre-arrangement  which 
were  necessary  in  order  to  turn  the  temporary 
advantage  to  account.  Supposing  it  had  been 
desirable  to  leave  a  small  French  force  in  so 
advanced  a  position  as  Le  Bourget,  it  should  have 
been  solidly  supported. 

The  result  of  the  engagement  had  a  very  depress- 
ing influence  upon  the  Parisians,  and  coupled  with 
the  unexpected  news  of  another  and  far  more 
serious  disaster,  caused  considerable  disturbances 
in  the  capital.  On  the  26th  October  a  paper 
published  in  Paris  by  the  notorious  communist 
Felix  Pyat,  announced  that  Bazaine  had  been 
negotiating  with  the  Prussians  for  the  surrender 
of  Metz.  On  the  27th  the  Journal  Ojjiciel  con- 
tained a  very  emphatic  contradiction,  which  read 
strangely  enough  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events. 
After  arraigning  the  "odious  lines"  before  the 
tribunal  of  public  opinion,  the  official  organ  said, 
"The  author  of  these  malignant  calumnies  has  not 
dared  to  sign  his  name;  he  has  signed  Le  Combat 
— surely,  the  combat  of  Prussia  against  France; 
for  in  lieu  of  a  bullet  which  could  reach  the  heart 
of  the  country,  he  levels  against  its  defenders  a 
double  accusation  equally  false  and  infamous.  He 
asserts  that  the  government  deceives  the  public  by 
concealing  from  it  important  news,  and  that  the 
glorious  soldier  of  Metz  is  disgracing  his  sword 
and  turning  traitor.  We  give  these  two  figments 
the  most  emphatic  contradiction.  Officially  brought 
under  the  notice  of  a  court-martial,  they  would 
expose  their  inventor  to  the  most  severe  punish- 
ment. We  think  the  sentence  of  public  opinion 
will  prove  more  effectual.  It  will  stigmatize  with 
just  severity  those  sham  patriots  whose  trade  it  is 
to  sow  distrust  with  the  enemy  at  our  gates,  and 
undermine  by  their  lies  the  authority  of  those  who 
fight  him."     The  punishment  of  Felix  Pyat,  how- 


ever, was  not  left  entirely  to  public  opinion ;  for  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  the  27th,  he  was 
mobbed  and  hustled  on  the  boulevards,  and  ran  a 
narrow  risk  of  falling  a  victim  to  the  indignation 
of  the  crowd.  On  the  following  day  his  office  was 
invaded  by  national  guards,  who,  abusing  him  for 
vending  false  news,  hauled  him  to  the  Hotel  de 
Ville  before  M.  Jules  Ferry  and  M.  Henri  Roche- 
fort,  who,  after  hearing  what  he  had  to  say  for 
himself,  dismissed  him  with  the  assurance  that  he 
must  have  been  hoaxed. 

As  has  been  related,  however,  in  the  previous 
chapter,  the  "  hoax"  was  an  accomplished  fact  at 
the  moment  when  M.  Pyat  was  being  mobbed  in 
Paris  for  hinting  at  its  possibility — a  fact  which, 
much  as  the  Parisians  might  be  indisposed  to  believe 
it,  was  soon  forced  upon  them  by  evidence  that 
could  not  be  gainsaid.  On  the  30th  of  October 
M.  Thiers  arrived  in  Paris  with  a  safe-conduct, 
confirming  the  surrender  of  Bazaine  and  the  fall 
of  Metz,  and  bringing  proposals  of  an  armistice 
by  England,  Bussia,  Austria,  and  Italy,  with  the 
view  of  arranging  for  the  convocation  of  a  National 
Assembly.  These  proposals,  as  we  have  seen  in 
Chapter  XVII.,  led  to  no  result,  owing  to  the 
French  insisting  on  the  victualling  of  Paris  as  a 
condition  of  the  armistice. 

Thus  a  three-fold  humiliation  was  inflicted  upon 
the  Parisians.  In  the  affair  at  Le  Bourget  they 
were  robbed  of  the  first  success,  small  enough  in 
itself,  which  had  attended  the  military  operations 
of  the  siege;  by  the  fall  of  Metz  the  last  barrier 
was  removed  to  the  full  outpouring  upon  their 
capital  of  all  the  warlike  resources  of  Germany; 
and  to  add  to  their  mortification,  their  rulers  were 
actually  willing  to  treat  for  an  armistice  with  the 
victors.  It  is  therefore  little  surprising  that  the 
temper  of  the  revolutionary  section  of  Paris  was 
inflamed,  and  their  rage  indiscriminating.  Bazaine 
was  at  Wilhelmshb'he,  beyond  their  reach,  but 
the  government  of  defence  was  at  hand,  and 
daring  to  suggest  terms  of  agreement  with  the 
Prussians.  Jamais!  A  Vennemi!  La  guerre  a  la 
mort !  A  bas  les  traitres !  cried  the  infuriated 
populace ;  and  by  noon  on  the  last  day  of  October 
the  Place  de  l'Hotel  de  Ville  and  its  approaches 
were  densely  crowded  by  an  excited  mass  from  all 
parts  of  Paris,  demanding  the  resignation  of  the 
government  and  the  election  of  the  commune.  In 
the  crowd  were  many  national  guards,  armed  and 
unarmed,   including  a  considerable  number  from 


HO 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  neighbourhood  of  Belleville  and  other  com- 
munist quarters,  some  of  whom  carried  placards 
inscribed  "No  peace!"  or  "No  armistice!"  and 
"  The  commune  for  ever ! "  General  Trochu,  Jules 
Simon,  and  others,  attempted  at  intervals  to  address 
the  insurgents,  but  their  voices  were  drowned 
by  shouts  of  Pas  cC armistice !  Guerre  a  outrance! 
During  the  tumult  a  shot  was  fired  by  an  indi- 
vidual in  the  crowd,  when  immediately  a  tre- 
mendous uproar  ensued,  accompanied  with  cries 
that  the  citizens  were  being  fired  upon.  Some  of 
the  mob,  calling  themselves  a  delegation  from  the 
people,  a  number  of  ultra-democrats,  having  pre- 
viously assembled  in  the  hall  of  St.  John,  forced 
their  way  into  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  in  an 
insolent  and  threatening  manner  demanded  ex- 
planations from  the  government  on  the  Bourget 
affair,  the  capitulation  of  Metz,  and  the  proposed 
armistice.  This  self-styled  delegation  brought  with 
them  the  following  decree  : — "In  the  name  of  the 
people,  the  provisional  government  of  national 
defence  is  dissolved.  The  armistice  is  refused. 
The  election'  to  the  commune  will  take  place 
within  forty-eight  hours.  The  provisional  com- 
mittee is  composed  of  the  members  whose  names 
are  affixed.  The  delegation  will  signify  the  purport 
of  this  decree  to  the  members  of  the  former  govern- 
ment, who  remain  always  confined  '  to  the  hall  of 
their  deliberations.' " 

The  delegation  was  received,  in  the  first  instance, 
by  M.  Jules  Ferry,  speedily  joined  by  General 
Trochu  and  Jules  Favre.  Respecting  Le  Bourget, 
General  Trochu  stated  the  facts  which  have  just 
been  detailed.  As  to  the  capitulation  of  Metz,  he 
assured  the  delegates  on  oath  that  the  government 
knew  nothing  of  it,  and  disbelieved  it  on  the 
morning  of  tbe  26th,  when  it  was  announced  in 
the  Combat.  With  regard  to  the  obnoxious  armis- 
tice, he  assured  them  that  nothing  was  decided, 
nor  would  be,  without  first  consulting  the  popular 
wishes.  The  latter  part  of  his  discourse  was 
drowned  by  tumultuous  cries  of  "  Down  with  the 
government !"  "  No  armistice  !"  "  The  commune !" 
A  scene  of  indescribable  confusion  followed;  all 
the  ill-disposed  battalions  of  the  national  guard 
surrounded  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  Hundreds  of 
them,  following  the  delegation,  and  headed  by  M. 
Flourens,  forced  their  way  into  the  apartment 
where  the  government  were  deliberating,  and 
proceeded  to  form  themselves  into  a  committee  of 
public  safety.      Flourens,  mounting  the  table  at 


which  the  government  were  sitting,  intimated  to 
them  that  they  were  under  arrest.  General  Trochu 
and  his  colleagues,  who  in  the  critical  circum- 
stances acted  with  calmness  and  dignity,  were 
called  upon  to  sign  their  resignation,  and  other- 
wise grossly  insulted.  A  little  later  a  red  flag- 
was  hoisted  from  one  of  the  windows  of  the  Hotel 
de  Ville,  and  in  the  balcony  underneath  appeared 
MM.  Blanqui,  Flourens,  Ledru  Rollin,  Pyat,  Mottu, 
Greppo,  Delescluze,  Victor  Hugo,  and  Louis  Blanc, 
who  proclaimed  themselves  the  government,  and 
that  M.  Dorian  had  been  nominated  president, 
which  post,  however,  the  minister  of  Public 
Works  prudently  declined.  The  announcement 
was  received  with  loud  applause  by  the  revolu- 
tionary section  below,  and  the  name  of  M.  Bochefort 
was  added  to  the  list. 

But  the  success  of  the  commune  on  this  occasion 
was  short-lived.  M.  Ernest  Picard  had  succeeded 
in  making  his  escape  from  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and 
hastened  to  the  ministry  of  Finance,  where  he 
took  the  speediest  possible  measures  to  counteract 
the  movements  of  the  revolutionists,  and  release 
his  colleagues  from  their  hands.  He  wrote  to  the 
staff  of  the  governor  and  the  staff  of  the  national 
guard,  ordering  the  call  to  arms  to  be  made  in  all 
the  quarters  of  Paris.  He  had  the  national  print- 
ing office  occupied  by  troops,  and  prohibited  the 
Official  Journal  from  printing  anything  not  sanc- 
tioned by  the  governor.  He  also  sent  word  to  the 
different  ministries  to  hold  themselves  ready  for 
defence.  In  these  conservative  measures  he  was 
assisted  by  the  characteristic  doings  of  the  revolu- 
tionary party  themselves,  who,  instead  of  imme- 
diately securing  the  various  ministries,  fell  upon 
the  provisions  stored  in  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  devour- 
ing the  dinner  prepared  for  the  government, 
distributing  the  other  viands,  and  broaching  in- 
numerable casks  of  wine,  of  which  they  freely 
partook.  They  then  set  about  amusing  themselves 
by  destroying  the  furniture,  breaking  the  mirrors, 
and  injuring  the  pictures  in  the  palace,  and  defiling 
the  sofas  and  the  painted  walls  and  wainscots. 
One  of  their  partizans,  however,  did  not  forget  the 
"  sinews  of  war."  A  messenger  from  the  Hotel 
de  Ville  was  sent  to  the  ministry  of  Finance,  with 
an  order  signed  by  Blanqui  for  15,000,000  francs, 
payable  to  bearer,  who  was,  however,  immediately 
arrested,  while  M.  Picard  retained  possession  of 
the  order,  as  proof  of  Blanqui's  participation  in  the 
events  of  the  day.     Another  communist,  Citizen 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


141 


Milliere,  thinking  to  steal  a  march  on  his  col- 
leagues, left  them  at  the  dinner  table  and  went  to 
instal  himself  as  minister  of  Finance,  but  he,  too, 
was  checkmated  and  missed  his  aim.  An  officer 
of  Blanqui's  battalion,  who  repaired  to  the  dtat 
major  of  the  national  guard  to  give  orders,  was 
also  placed  under  arrest.  The  prefecture  of  police 
was  surrounded  by  300  or  400  persons  demanding 
admission,  but  M.  Adam,  the  prefect,  resolutely 
refused  to  yield  to  their  demands. 

After  having  lasted  several  hours,  the  tumult 
was  rapidly  suppressed.  A  meeting  of  officers  was 
held  at  the  Bourse,  the  assembly  was  sounded,  and 
Admirals  de  la  Ronciere  and  De  la  Chaille  placed 
themselves  at  the  service  of  M.  Picard,  who 
throughout  the  disturbance  acted  with  a  cool- 
ness and  presence  of  mind  worthy  of  the  highest 
commendation.  At  nine  o'clock  he  arrived  at  the 
Hotel  de  Ville  with  the  106th  battalion  of  the 
national  guards,  who  immediately  ascended  the 
staircase,  forced  their  way  through  the  commune 
guard,  and  having  released  General  Trochu  and 
M.  Jules  Favre,  compelled  the  insurgents  to  lay 
down  their  arms  and  quit  the  building.  The 
governor,  as  soon  as  liberated,  proceeded  to  the 
Louvre,  and  being  joined  by  M.  Picard,  General 
Ducrot,  and  other  officers,  organized  active  measures 
for  the  restoration  of  order,  and  the  deliverance  of 
his  colleagues  who  still  remained  in  the  hands  of 
M.  Flourens  and  his  party.  Under  Trochu's  orders 
several  battalions  of  mobiles  quickly  assembled, 
and  the  national  guard  at  the  same  time  collected 
in  the  Place  Vendome.  Just  before  midnight 
parties  of  these  troops  defiled  in  the  direction  of 
the  Hotel  de  Ville,  where  MM.  Gamier  Pages, 
Jules  Simon,  and  Magnin  were  still  kept  in 
confinement  as  hostages  by  two  battalions  from 
Belleville.  M.  Jules  Favre  had  shown  great  firm- 
ness with  the  rioters,  telling  them  that,  as  he  had 
been  chosen  by  the  whole  population,  he  would 
only  retire  at  the  bidding  of  his  constituents.  The 
agitators  who  surrounded  Flourens  demanded  that 
the  members  of  the  government  should  be  sent  to 
Vincennes;  some  made  even  more  menacing  pro- 
posals. About  half-past  twelve  seven  battalions 
of  mobile  guards  concentrated  behind  the  Hotel 
de  Ville,  where  those  from  Belleville  had  barri- 
caded themselves.  A  company  of  the  mobiles 
now  succeeded  in  effecting  an  entrance  by  a  sub- 
terranean passage  from  an  adjoining  barracks,  and 
proceeded  to  open  one  of  the  large  gates,  by  which 


they  admitted  a  goodly  number  of  their  comrades, 
who  gradually  drove  back  the  rioters  to  the  upper 
stories.  At  the  same  time  numerous  battalions  of 
the  national  guard  arrived  on  the  spot,  shouting, 
"  Long  live  the  Republic  !  Long  live  Trochu !" 
The  mobiles,  once  masters  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
shut  the  rioters  up  in  the  cellars,  from  which  they 
subsequently  brought  them  out,  disarmed  them, 
and  set  them  at  liberty.  Their  leaders  were  also 
treated  with  great  leniency,  and  freely  allowed  to 
depart,  although  the  Citizen  Blanqui  subsequently 
complained  of  rough  usage  at  the  hands  of  the 
troops.  The  mairies  of  the  first  and  eleventh  arron- 
dissements  had  been  taken  possession  of  by  the 
rioters.  The  former  was  occupied  by  a  Dr.  Pillot, 
who  was  ejected  at  two  o'clock  on  the  following 
morning  by  the  commander  of  the  eleventh  bat- 
talion of  national  guards,  and  carried  off  in  custody 
to  the  hotel  of  General  Trochu.  The  other  mairie 
was  seized  by  the  ex-mayor,  Citizen  Mottu,  who 
had  been  dismissed  a  week  or  two  before  for  forbid- 
ding all  kinds  of  religious  instruction  at  the  schools 
in  his  district,  and  even  interdicting  the  masters 
and  mistresses  from  taking  their  pupils  to  church. 
He  was,  however,  apprised  of  the  order  given  for 
his  arrest,  and  thought  it  prudent  to  decamp 
in  the  course  of  the  night.  At  three  a.m.  all  was 
quiet.  The  movement  was  merely  a  surprise,  and 
the  national  guard,  by  their  behaviour  in  the  course 
of  the  evening,  showed  that  it  met  with  no 
sympathy  from  them.  The  riot  might  have  been 
suppressed  much  sooner,  but  for  the  wish  to  avoid 
bloodshed  ;  and  happily  the  proceedings  of  the  31st 
of  October,  as  well  as  those  of  the  4th  of  September, 
terminated  without  loss  of  life  on  either  side. 

On  the  following  day  General  Trochu  issued  the 
subjoined  proclamation  to  the  national  guards: — 

"  Your  firm  attitude  has  preserved  the  republic 
from  a  great  political  humiliation,  possibly  from  a 
great  social  danger,  certainly  from  the  ruin  of  our 
forces  for  the  defence.  The  disaster  of  Metz,  fore- 
seen though  it  was,  but  deeply  to  be  lamented,  has 
very  naturally  disturbed  the  public  mind,  and 
doubled  the  anguish  of  the  public.  In  connection 
with  that  sad  event  the  government  of  the  national 
defence  has  been  insulted  by  the  supposition  that 
it  was  aware  of  it,  but  kept  it  concealed  from  the 
population  of  Paris,  when,  I  affirm  it,  we  only  heard 
of  it  for  the  first  time  on  the  evening  of  the  30th. 
It  is  true  that  the  rumour  was  circulated  by  the 


142 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Prussian  outposts  for  the  two  days  previous,  but 
we  are  so  used  to  false  statements  of  the  enemy, 
that  we  had  refused  to  believe  it.  The  painful 
accident  which  happened  at  Le  Bourget,  through 
a  force  which  had  surprised  the  enemy  allowing 
itself  to  be  surprised  in  its  turn  by  its  utter  want  of 
vigilance,  had  also  deeply  affected  public  opinion. 
Finally,  the  proposal  for  an  armistice  unexpectedly 
proposed  by  the  neutral  powers  has  been  construed, 
in  utter  disregard  of  truth  and  justice,  as  the  pre- 
lude to  a  capitulation,  when  in  reality  it  is  a  tribute 
to  the  attitude  and  firmness  of  the  population  of 
Paris.  That  proposal  was  honourable  for  us.  The 
government  itself  arranged  its  conditions  in  terms 
which  it  considered  firm  and  dignified  ;  it  stipu- 
lated a  suspension  of  hostilities  for  twenty-five 
days  at  least,  the  revictuaUing  of  Paris  during  that 
period,  and  the  right  of  voting  for  the  election  of 
a  National  Assembly  for  every  citizen  in  all  the 
French  departments.  There  was  a  wide  difference 
between  these  conditions  and  those  previously 
offered  by  the  enemy — to  wit,  48  hours'  truce, 
very  limited  intercourse  with  the  provinces  to  pre- 
pare the  elections,  no  revictualling,  a  fortress  to  be 
given  up  by  way  of  guarantee,  and  the  exclusion 
of  the  citizens  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  from  any 
participation  in  the  elections.  The  armistice  now 
proposed  has  other  advantages  to  recommend  it 
which  Paris  can  fully  appreciate,  without  its  being 
necessary  to  enumerate  them  ;  and  this  is  what  is 
reproached  to  the  government  as  a  weakness,  nay, 
rank  treason.  An  insignificant  minority,  which 
cannot  pretend  to  represent  the  feelings  of  the 
population  of  Paris,  has  availed  itself  of  the  public 
excitement  to  try  and  substitute  itself  by  violence 
in  the  place  of  the  government.  The  government, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  anxious  to  have  protected 
interests  which  no  government  ever  had  the  duty 
of  watching  over  simultaneously — the  interests  of 
a  besieged  city  of  two  millions  of  souls,  the  inter- 
ests of  absolutely  unlimited  liberty.  You  have 
co-operated  in  the  discharge  of  that  duty,  and  the 
support  you  have  afforded  the  government  will  for 
the  future  give  it  strength  to  put  down  our  enemies 
from  within,  as  well  as  to  oppose  our  enemies 
without." 

After  the  above  episode  in  the  history  of  the  siege, 
the  conduct  of  the  government  of  national  defence 
became  somewhat  dubious  and  vacillating.  Early 
on  the  morning  of  the  1st  of  November  the  walls  of 


Paris  were  found  covered  with  a  notice,  signed 
by  MM.  Arago,  Dorian,  Schoelcher,  and  other 
officials,  apprising  the  inhabitants  that  they  were 
to  elect  on  that  day  four  representatives  in  each 
arrondissement.  An  ambiguous  notice,  intended 
as  a  disavowal  of  the  one  signed  by  the  mayor  and 
the  minister  of  Public  Works,  appeared  later  in  the 
day  ;  and  later  still,  fresh  intimations  were  posted 
up  all  over  Paris,  intimating  that  the  people  would 
have  an  opportunity  afforded  them  of  saying  whether 
they  desired  the  commune  or  not.  Again,  on  the 
2nd  November,  the  Journal  Officiel  published  a 
decree,  to  the  effect  that,  on  the  day  following,  they 
would  be  called  upon  to  vote  Yes  or  No,  whether 
they  wished  to  maintain  the  government  of  national 
defence,  and  that  on  Saturday  the  elections  of  the 
mayors  and  adjoints  of  the  different  arrondissements 
would  be  proceeded  with.  Decrees  were  also  pub- 
lished revoking  the  commands  of  numerous  chefs 
de  bataillons  of  national  guards,  including  that  of 
M.  Flourens,  compromised  in  the  proceedings  of 
the  31st ;  and  announcing  that  any  battalion  going 
out  armed  without  superior  orders  would  be  forth- 
with disarmed  and  dissolved,  and  the  commander 
brought  before  a  court-martial.  By  these  pro- 
ceedings the  position  of  M.  Rochefort  in  the 
government  of  national  defence  was  rendered 
untenable,  and  his  resignation  was  forthwith 
announced,  avowedly  in  consequence  of  the  post- 
ponement of  the  municipal  elections. 

Notwithstanding  that  the  plebiscite  was  or- 
dered immediately  after  the  tumult  caused  by  the 
communists,  the  actual  voting  took  place  amidst 
the  utmost  order  and  quietude.  The  machinery 
for  the  working  of  the  ballot  in  France  is  simple 
and  complete,  and  very  easily  put  into  operation. 
The  3rd  of  November,  therefore,  passed  off  much 
as  any  ordinary  day;  the  only  difference  observable 
being  some  small  crowds  collected  in  front  of  the 
various  mairies  and  other  places  where  the  votes 
had  been  appointed  to  be  taken.  In  the  evening 
it  was  commonly  known  that  the  government  had 
obtained  an  enormous  majority;  and  at  ten  o'clock 
a  proclamation  of  the  result,  so  far  as  then  ascer- 
tained, was  made  by  torchlight,  on  the  Place  de 
l'Hotel  de  Ville,  by  M.  Eticnne  Arago,  the  mayor, 
in  presence  of  an  immense  assemblage,  composed 
principally  of  national  guards.  The  crowd  next 
proceeded  to  the  hotel  of  General  Trochu,  and  with 
enthusiastic  cheers  saluted  the  members  of  the 
government  who  were  there  assembled.     They,  in 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


143 


turn,  all  made  their  appearance  on  the  steps  of  the 
entrance  doorway,  from  which  General  Trocliu 
and  M.  Jules  Favre  addressed  short  speeches  to  the 
populace,  thanking  them  for  the  confidence  they 
had  shown  in  them  by  that  day's  voting.  On  the 
following  morning  the  official  announcement  of 
the  result  of  the  plebiscitum  showed  that  321,373 
had  voted  Yes,  against  53,585  No.  The  voting  of 
the  army,  which  was  not  included  in  the  above, 
was  subsequently  published,  with  the  following 
results:  236,623  Yes,  against  9053  No;  giving  a 
general  total  of  557,996  Yes,  against  62,618  No, 
being  as  nearly  as  possible  at  the  rate  of  nine  to 
one.  By  order  of  the  government,  in  the  course 
of  the  day  about  a  dozen  of  the  leaders  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  31st  were  arrested,  amongst 
them  Citizen  Felix  Pyat,  who  was  at  once  con- 
ducted to  the  Conciergerie.  Citizens  Flourens 
and  Blanqui  succeeded  in  concealing  themselves. 
A  decree  appeared  in  the  Journal  Officiel  appoint- 
ing General  Clement  Thomas  commander-in-chief 
of  the  national  guard,  in  place  of  General  Tami- 
eier,  who  had  been  severely  injured  in  the  tumult 
of  the  31st. 


The  news  of  the  proceedings  which  have  just 
been  related  reached  the  besiegers  in  an  exag- 
gerated and  distorted  form,  and  raised  their 
expectations  of  a  speedy  capture  of  the  city. 
Internal  discord  had  from  the  first  been  reckoned 
upon  by  Count  von  Bismarck  as  a  powerful  ally; 
and  it  may  therefore  be  easily  understood  that  the 
intelligence  of  the  outbreak  after  the  surrender  of 
Metz  was  received  with  great  satisfaction,  which 
was,  however,  followed  by  disappointment  when 
the  actual  truth  came  to  be  known. 

To  the  great  bulk  of  the  French  community 
this  futile  attempt  at  open  rebellion  brought  a 
positive  relief.  The  fact  of  its  utter  failure  secured 
them  to  a  certain  extent  against  the  efforts  of  the 
disaffected,  and  by  means  of  the  plebiscite  afforded 
an  opportunity  of  placing  General  Trochu  and  his 
colleagues  more  firmly  in  their  seats.  Backed  by 
the  universal  suffrages  of  the  citizens,  the  provi- 
sional government  had  now  real  claims  to  general 
respect,  and  was  enabled  to  proclaim  that  hence- 
forth it  would  not  permit  "a  minority  to  attack 
the  rights  of  the  majority,  and  by  defying  the  laws, 
to  become  the  effective  allies  of  Prussia." 


CHAPTER     XXII. 

The  Provisional  Government  at  Tours  and  tbe  Fall  of  Metz — Imprudent  Proclamation  charging  Marshal  Bazaine  with  Treason— Bad  Feeling 
caused  by  it  in  the  Army — Protest  of  the  Moniteur  against  the  Proclamation  and  its  Reasons  for  the  "  betrayal "  of  France — Reception  of 
the  News  of  the  Capitulation  in  other  parts  of  France — General  Feeling  in  the  North  that  it  was  useless  to  attempt  to  continue  the 
Struggle  after  such  a  Disaster,  and  Efforts  made  there  to  bring  about  Peace — The  Actual  Position  of  Affairs  at  this  Time — Patriotic 
Addresses  and  Promises  of  Resistance  from  other  parts  of  France — Strange  Proceedings  of  the  "  League  of  the  South  " — Divisions, 
and  Distrust  of  the  Republic  in  many  Quarters — The  Energetic  Exertions  of  M.  Gambetta — The  Capitulation  of  Metz  most  fortunate  for 
the  Germans — Improvement  in  the  French  Troops  and  slight  Successes  on  their  Side — The  German  Commander  arranges  for  raising 
the  Siege  of  Paris  if  necessary — Capture  of  Dijon  by  Von  Werder — The  German  Mistake  as  to  Jhe  Strength  of  the  French  Army  of  the 
Loire — Hesitation  of  its  Commander — The  Actual  Condition  of  that  Army  at  this  time — Its  strange  medley  of  Uniforms  and  Arms — 
Qualifications  of  General  d'Aurelles  de  Paladine  for  its  Command — His  Strict  Discipline  and  its  Beneficial  Results — He  resolves  to  attempt 
to  annihilate  the  Bavarian  Force  in  and  around  Orleans — Repulse  of  a  Bavarian  Reconnoitring  Party  on  November  6 — The  French  prepare 
to  assume  the  Offensive — Retreat  of  Von  der  Tann  from  Orleans — The  Battle  of  Coulmiers — General  Description  of  the  Engagement — 
Fierceness  of  the  German  resistance  at  Baccon — They  are  at  last  compelled  to  retreat  and  leave  the  French  Masters  of  the  Field — 
General  Review  of  the  Engagement  and  its  Results — Energetic  Measures  of  Von  Moltke  to  prevent  the  expected  March  of  the  French 
on  Paris — M.  Gambetta  visits  the  French  Camp  and  issues  a  Proclamation  of  Thanks  to  the  Troops — The  Mistake  of  the  French  in  not 
following  up  their  Victory — General  Paladine's  Reasons  for  refusing  to  Advance — Temporary  Alarm  of  the  German  Headquarters — The 
Operations  in  the  North  of  France  under  General  Manteuffel — Capture  of  Verdun  after  a  Prolonged  and  Determined  Resistance — Bombard- 
ment and  Capitulation  of  Thionville  and  La  Fere — The  Germans  advance  to  Amiens — Great  Battle  near  the  City  on  November  27 — Defeat 
of  the  French  after  a  most  Obstinate  Struggle — Retreat  of  the  French  from  Amiens  and  the  Entry  of  the  Germans — Vain  Attempt  to 
defend  the  City  by  the  Commandant  of  the  Citadel. 


On  receipt  of  intelligence  of  the  fall  of  Metz,  the 
Provisional  Government  at  Tours  seem  to  have 
been  lost  in  rage  and  humiliation.  Assuming 
that  Metz  could  have  held  out,  and  that  Bazaine 
had  betrayed  it  to  the  enemy,  they  issued  an 
imprudent  proclamation,  declaring  that  he  had 
"  committed  treason,"  had  made  himself  the  accom- 
plice of  the  "  man  of  Sedan,"  had  been  guilty  of 
a  "  crime  beyond  the  reach  even  of  the  chastise- 
ments of  justice;"  and  that  the  "  army  of  France, 
deprived  of  its  national  character,  had  unknowingly 
become  the  instrument  of  a  reign  of  servitude." 
So  great  was  the  irritation  created  among  officers 
by  this  proclamation,  that  on  the  following  day 
the  Tours  government  issued  another  to  the  effect, 
that  the  soldiers  were  "  deceived,  not  dishonoured;" 
that  "  those  who  called  them  accomplices  were 
calumniators;"  that  "their  brothers  of  the  army 
of  the  Rhine  have  already  protested  against  the 
cowardly  attempt,  and  have  withdrawn  their  hands 
with  horror  from  the  accursed  capitulation"- — ■ 
which,  considering  they  were  not  asked  to  sign, 
but  only  to  submit  to  it,  and  did  submit,  was  not 
very  intelligible.  Altogether,  the  conduct  of  this 
government  at  Tours  was  not  fitted  to  reassure 
the  public.  M.  Gambetta  and  his  companions, 
in  fact,  forgot  at  the  time  that  they  occupied  the 
position  of  ministers  of  France,  and  that  language 
and  behaviour  which  might  be  pardonable  in  a 


demagogue  holding  no  office,  and  without  any 
feeling  of  responsibility,  were  inexcusable  in  the 
leaders  of  a  great  nation.  It  would  seem,  indeed, 
as  if  the  government  were  eager  to  accuse,  lest 
they  should  themselves  be  accused.  It  was  of 
them  that  France  had  a  right  to  demand  why, 
during  their  six  weeks'  tenure  of  power,  nothing 
whatever  had  been  done  or  attempted  to  relieve 
Metz.  They  had  allowed  the  enemy  to  go  where 
they  liked  outside  Paris,  and  to  besiege  and 
capture  such  towns  as  seemed  best  to  thein.  Not 
a  single  victory  or  success  of  importance  had  the 
republic  yet  obtained;  and  fearing  lest  it  should 
be  asked  of  them  why  Metz  had  been  allowed  to"  fall 
unaided,  after  a  siege  of  ten  weeks,  the  government 
apparently  hastened  to  throw  the  blame  upon  the 
generals  who  commanded.  Their  accusation  suc- 
ceeded with  the  mass,  whose  favourite  cry  was 
ever  treachery,  but  it  lost  them  much  of  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  intelligent  France. 

The  effect  of  the  proclamation  on  the  army  was 
pernicious.  The  serious  difficulties  which  the  sev- 
eral commanders  had  to  encounter  in  maintaining 
discipline,  proved  that  the  soldiers  were  not  so  well 
disposed  to  obey  and  confide  in  their  chiefs  that 
the  minister  of  War  could  afford  thus  to  inspire 
them  with  mistrust.  Admiral  Fourichon  refused 
to  sign  the  proclamation.  A  triumvirate  of  three 
civilians  it  was  that  brought  the  accusation  against 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


145 


Bazaine — the  soldier  who  had  fought  the  battles 
most  honourable  to  France  during  the  campaign, 
who  gave  breathing  time  to  Paris  to  fortify  itself, 
who  had  occupied  250,000  of  the  enemy's  troops 
for  two  months  and  a  half,  who  had  held  out  until 
forced  by  famine  to  surrender — and  that  accusation 
was  recklessly  urged  without  inquiry  and  without 
knowledge.  The  army  was  indignant  that  no 
efforts,  no  bravery,  no  sacrifices  were  accounted 
of  in  the  moment  of  a  reverse,  and  that  the  men 
who  were  trumpeted  as  heroes  one  day  should  be 
denounced  as  traitors  the  next.  The  Moniteur, 
without  mentioning  the  proclamation  itself,  in- 
dignantly protested  against  this  cry  of  "  treason" 
being  raised  upon  the  occasion  of  every  misfortune. 
We  have  been  betrayed,  indeed,  it  said,  but 
not  as  the  multitude  imply,  by  one  or  more  indi- 
viduals, who  have  sold  us  to  the  enemy  for  some 
pieces  of  money,  but  by  the  incapacity  and  care- 
lessness of  most  of  those  who  have  exercised  an 
influence  upon  the  success  of  the  war,  either  in 
declaring  it,  or  preparing  for  it,  or  conducting  it. 
The  sovereign  first  was  betrayed,  a  little  by  the 
reports  of  his  ambassadors  and  marshals,  nrach 
by  his  own  blindness,  his  obstinacy  before  the 
hostilities  had  commenced,  and  his  indecision 
afterwards.  The  generals  have  been  betrayed  by 
their  incapacity,  and  by  the  disorganization  of 
the  administration,  and  by  the  negligence  of  their 
subordinates.  The  inferior  officers  have  been 
betrayed  by  the  vices  of  an  organization,  which 
doubtless  it  was  not  their  place  to  reform ;  but 
they  have  been  betrayed  also  by  their  too  great 
confidence,  by  the  insufficiency  of  their  military 
knowledge  and  preparatory  studies.  The  soldiers, 
in  their  turn,  have  been  betrayed  by  the  bad  tactics 
of  their  chiefs  ;  but  they  have  betrayed  themselves 
frequently  by  their  insubordination  and  undis- 
cipline.  Let  us  examine  and  correct  ourselves, 
and  we  shall  be  no  longer  betrayed. 

Throughout  the  country  the  news  of  the  fall  of 
Metz  was  variously  received,  and  to  many  French- 
men, chiefly  in  the  northern  departments,  it  appeared 
hopeless  to  continue  the  war  after  so  terrible  a  mis- 
fortune, following  on  the  crushing  blows  that  had 
descended  on  the  nation.  Almost  the  last  regular 
army  of  any  importance  which  France  possessed 
had  been  handed  over  to  the  enemy,  with  weapons 
and  munitions  of  war  that  could  not  easily  be 
replaced.  Of  the  fighting  men  who  remained  the 
majority  were  raw  troops,  hastily  raised,  imperfectly 

VOL.  II. 


drilled  and  armed,  whom  it  seemed  vain,  as  well  as 
cruel,  to-  send  against  the  tried  and  successful  war- 
riors of  Prussia;  and  many  who  had  been  hopeful 
till  then  now  cried  for  peace.  Winter  was  ap- 
proaching, which  would  tell,  indeed,  against  the 
invader,  but  would  also  aggravate  the  sufferings 
of  the  poorer  classes  of  Frenchmen.  The  harvest 
had  been  bad,  the  fields  in  many  places  cut  up 
by  the  struggles  of  embattled  hosts;  trade  and 
commerce  were  almost  destroyed;  rinderpest  was 
spreading  with  alarming  rapidity  among  the  cattle ; 
and  the  requisitions  of  the  Germans  became  more 
onerous  every  day.  In  the  north  of  France,  where 
this  feeling  of  apprehension  especially  prevailed, 
an  appeal  to  the  members  of  the  provincial  coun- 
cils was  circulated  in  favour  of  peace.  This  docu- 
ment stated  that,  as  the  ministry  had  postponed  the 
elections  till  the  retreat  of  the  enemy,  while  Prussia 
would  only  conclude  peace  with  a  government 
empowered  by  the  nation;  and  that  as  these  con- 
flicting views  might  prolong  the  war,  it  behoved 
men  of  influence,  such  as  those  composing  the 
councils,  to  meet,  and  send  a  petition  or  deputa- 
tion to  the  government,  urging  the  importance  of 
taking  immediate  steps  to  enable  the  nation  to 
declare  either  for  peace,  or  for  the  continuation 
of  the  war,  if  the  Prussian  conditions  should  be 
deemed  unacceptable.  "  One  must  place  justice 
higher  even  than  patriotism,"  the  circular  pro- 
ceeded, "  and  must  confess  that  it  was  France 
which,  badly  influenced,  declared  war  against 
Prussia,  and  that,  had  the  fortune  of  war  been 
so  favourable  to  it  that  its  armies  had  penetrated 
to  Berlin,  it  would  scarcely  have  made  peace 
except  on  a  rectification  of  frontier  at  the  expense 
of  Germany.  France,  therefore,  should  not  deem 
it  unreasonable  if  Prussia  to-day  makes  the  same 
demand,  as  long  as  it  restricts  it  within  reasonable 
limits.  They  will  not  be  humbled  who  submit 
to  a  peace,  but  rather  those  senseless  people  who, 
in  their  mad  pride  and  presumptuous  patriotism, 
approved  the  war,  and  contributed  to  its  being 
declared." 

The  tone  of  several  of  the  northern  papers  was 
in  somewhat  similar  strain.  The  Courrier  du  Havre 
exclaimed  :  "  Peace !  That  is  the  cry  which  at 
this  moment  millions  of  voices  raise  in  all  quarters 
of  the  earth,  as  well  as  in  down-trodden  France; 
in  Germany,  intoxicated  with  unexpected  triumph, 
in  intelligent  England,  in  practical  America,  in 
far-sighteJ  Kussia,  in  loyal  Spain,  and  in  Italy, 
T 


146 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


where  war  is  still  fresh  in  people's  recollection. 
Everywhere  this  cry  is  raised  to  the  Almighty, 
and  seeks  to  make  heaven  gracious,  seeing  that 
the  leaders  of  the  peoples  are  without  mercy." 
The  Journal  de  Fdcamp,  commenting  on  this 
article,  said  :  "  Yes  ;  conquered  and  humbled 
France  desires  and  demands  peace.  All  resist- 
ance is  for  the  future  unavailing.  It  will  only 
add  new  hecatombs  of  a  million  of  corpses 
to  the  million  of  corpses  mouldering  on  the 
fields  of  Wissembourg,  Keichshofen,  Jaumont,  and 
Sedan.  We  are  conquered,  scattered,  as  a  nation 
has  never  been  before.  Let  us  cease  to  delude 
ourselves  with  new  hopes,  and  to  calculate  on  an 
impossible  resistance.  We  are  honourably  con- 
quered. Our  army,  which  is  no  more,  has  made 
heroic  exertions.  It  has  even  won  the  respect  of 
the  victor.  Honour  is  saved.  We  are  conquered. 
Let  us  humble  ourselves.  Let  us  assume  the 
dignity  of  misfortune.  Silent  and  modest,  let  us 
submit.  Peace,  peace  alone,  which  is  everywhere 
demanded  by  all  France,  can  save  the  country's 
future,  by  its  men  and  resources  being  spared.  In 
view  of  the  country's  misfortune,  we  must  at  this 
hour  have  the  courage  to  bow  our  necks,  and  sue 
for  peace." 

Looking  to  the  heroic  efforts  subsequently  put 
forth  by  Frenchmen  on  the  Loire,  or  even  by  those 
in  the  northern  departments  themselves,  such  lan- 
guage appears  craven  and  unpatriotic;  but  a  calm 
review  of  the  situation  at  this  time  could  hardly 
fail  to  excite  the  most  anxious  fear  for  the  future 
of  France.  The  war  had  been  begun  with  400,000 
men,  ready  for  service,  with  some  1200  field-pieces, 
and  with  two  first-class  fortresses  on  the  frontier 
to  support  the  operations:  100,000  men  killed  and 
wounded  had  fallen,  and  300,000  were  prisoners. 
The  1200  field  guns  had  nearly  all  been  captured, 
and  the  fortresses  had  surrendered ;  the  emperor 
and  his  imperial  guard  were  in  the  enemy's 
hands,  the  most  experienced  officers  wounded  or 
prisoners;  and  would  France,  with  a  third  of  its 
territory  occupied,  be  able  with  raw  levies  to  turn 
the  tide  which  had  swept  away  its  veteran  army? 
The  loss  of  men  sustained  by  the  Germans  in  actual 
fighting  was  not  greater  than  that  of  the  French, 
while  the  balance  of  prisoners  was  enormously  in 
their  favour.  It  would  be  next  to  a  miracle  if  the 
raw  levies  of  France  could  chase  away  the  invader, 
or  even  long  hold  him  in  check. 

In  spite,  however,  of  such  discouraging  pros- 


pects, from  almost  every  part  of  France  except 
the  north  addresses  were  sent  to  Tours,  assuring 
the  government  of  support,  and  declaring  that  the 
population  were  ready  to  die  rather  than  surrender, 
or  accept  a  dishonourable  peace.  At  Marseilles 
the  body  styling  itself  the  League  of  the  South 
issued  a  manifesto;  concluding  with  a  decree  that, 
in  all  the  departments  which  have  adhered  to  the 
League,  all  citizens  must  hold  themselves  in  readi- 
ness to  quit  their  homes  at  the  first  summons,  and 
to  march  under  the  standards  of  the  republic 
against  Prussian  and  monarchical  despotism.  "  The 
point  of  rendezvous  for  the  national  forces  will 
be  the  city  of  Valence  and  the  surrounding  plains. 
The  delegates  of  the  co-operating  departments  are 
designated  as  general  commissioners  of  the  League 
of  the  South.  They  will  traverse  the  departments 
to  preach  a  holy  war,  to  call  together  republican 
committees  in  the  various  localities,  and  to  act 
in  concert  with  them  in  order  to  effect,  by  all  pos- 
sible means,  a  general  uprising."  The  expense  of 
equipping  the  forces  of  the  League  was  to  be  met 
by  public  subscription,  and  the  general  commis- 
sioners were  to  arrange  with  the  republicans  of  each 
department  for  the  election  of  cantonal  delegates, 
who  should  attend  the  general  assembly  of  the 
League  of  the  South  at  Marseilles,  on  November 
5.  The  document  concluded  by  saying,  that 
"  In  the  name  of  the  republic,  one  and  indivisible, 
the  members  of  municipal  and  administrative 
bodies  owe  the  most  energetic  assistance,  as  citi- 
zens, to  the  members  of  the  League  of  the  South, 
created  for  the  defence  of  the  republic,  and  to 
their  representatives.  Done  at  Marseilles,  October, 
1870." 

It  would  have  been  better  for  France  had  these 
southern  republicans  seen,  that  the  safety  of  their 
country  at  this  painful  crisis  depended  not  so 
much  upon  the  promulgation  of  the  republic,  as 
upon  unity  of  co-operation  with  the  government 
of  "  National  Defence,"  and  the  sinking  of  all 
political  predilections  until  the  common  enemy  had 
been  overthrown.  M.  Gambetta  himself,  however, 
had  set  the  example  of  so  mixing  up  republicanism 
with  his  measures  for  national  defence  that,  of  the 
two,  he  frequently  appeared  to  be  holding  up 
rather  the  banner  of  the  revolution  than  that  of 
France;  which  led  one  of  the  most  influential 
papers,  referring  to  his  proclamation  after  the 
surrender  of  Metz,  to  remark,  "  It  is  the  republic, 
one  and  indivisible,  that  must  be  greeted  before 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


147 


everything.  One  and  indivisible!  And  how  are 
you  to  avoid  the  division  of  the  territory  when 
you  scatter  broadcast  divisions  in  hearts  and 
minds,  by  charging  with  treason  all  those  who 
do  not  bow  the  knee  before  you,  or  who  destroy, 
even  unintentionally,  your  calculations  and  your 
lies  ?"  The  article  went  on  to  observe  that,  while 
Gambetta  was  stigmatizing  Bazaine  as  a  traitor, 
a  Marseilles  club  was  condemning  Gambetta  as  a 
scoundrel.  "  How,"  it  was  asked,  "  could  any 
new  form  of  government  be  permanently  established 
in  the  midst  of  such  revolting  confusion  ?  or  what 
chance  existed  of  the  struggle  being  effectively  car- 
ried on  against  the  invasion?"  A  French  clerical 
paper,  the  Union,  also  speaking  of  the  sarcasm 
implied  in  the  words  "  one  and  indivisible,"  when 
compared  with  the  distracted  state  of  the  country, 
said  that  "  at  this  moment  it  would  be  betraying 
our  country  not  to  tell  the  truth.  Every  day 
which  is  passing  is  only  deepening  the  abyss  into 
which  we  are  plunged.  Resistance  to  the  enemy 
is  weak;  the  Prussian  flood  is  still  rising,  and 
anarchy  is  extending  its  ravages  more  and  more. 
There  are  two  governments,  one  at  Paris,  the 
other  at  Tours.  The  investment  of  the  capital 
renders  concert  impossible,  and  the  official  bulletin 
is  exposed  to  registering  contradictory  decisions. 
There  exists  at  Marseilles  a  revolutionary  power, 
which  is  self-constituted,  and  oppresses  a  noble 
city;  Lyons  has  again  become  a  free  town  in  this 
sense,  that  as  the  violent  administration  of  that 
great  city  only  breathes  demagogic  ardour,  it  is 
free  from  everything  which  restrained  it.  In 
almost  all  our  departments  there  is  a  tendency 
among  the  prefects  to  obey  Paris  or  Tours  as  little 
as  possible.  The  country  is  on  the  way  to  being 
covered  with  governments,  and  all  this  being 
developed  alongside  the  Prussian  invasion.  These 
are  frightful  complications  which  have  no  name 
in  political  language." 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  truth  in  all  this, 
though  it  is  difficult  to  say  that  any  one  in  parti- 
cular was  responsible  for  the  state  of  semi-anarchy 
that  prevailed.  In  fact,  when  it  is  considered 
that  France  had  now  been  two  months  without 
any  definite  ruling  power,  and  that  nowhere  in  the 
world  is  faction  so  general,  it  seems  almost  a 
wonder  to  find  order  or  unity  of  action  present  at 
all.  As  a  rule,  the  artizans  supported  a  republic, 
while  the  peasantry  and  trading  classes  were  in 
favour  of  some  form  of  monarchy.     The  republic, 


however,  though  not  generally  loved  for  itself, 
was  accepted  as  representing,  for  the  time  being, 
the  principle  of  nationality  and  the  determination 
to  fight ;  and  with  the  majority  the  Provisional 
Government,  up  to  the  present  time  (November), 
had  gained  rather  than  lost  in  popularity  by  its 
determination  not  to  lower  the  national  flag. 
Men  argued  that  France  was  lost  if  she  permitted 
herself  to  be  disheartened,  even  by  such  a  succes- 
sion of  defeats  as  those  she  had  endured ;  and 
no  people  that  values  its  own  historic  reputation 
can  blame  them  for  so  thinking.  M.  Gambetta 
became  the  most  influential  man  in  the  Provisional 
Government,  because  he  was  the  most  earnest  in 
devising  means  for  continuing  the  war.  Being 
minister  of  the  Interior  as  well  as  of  the  depart- 
ment of  "War  he  had,  by  the  authority  of  the 
government  in  Paris,  been  invested  with  two  votes 
in  the  Ministerial  Council  of  Tours.  He  thus 
acquired  nearly  dictatorial  powers ;  for  unless  all 
the  other  three  voted  against  him — a  not  very 
likely  circumstance — his  will  would  be  law.  The 
present  and  succeeding  chapters  will  show  with 
what  almost  frantic  energy  he  used  this  power. 
The  national  defence  during  the  autumn  and 
winter  was  mainly  due  to  him;  and  though  the 
prolonged  and  agonizing  struggle  was  destined  to 
fail,  the  endeavour  cannot  be  said  to  have  been 
utterly  vain,  for,  as  we  shall  presently  show, 
France  was  never  so  near  victory  during  the  whole 
course  of  the  war,  as  in  the  autumn  months  that 
followed  the  capitulation  of  Metz. 

The  internal  state  of  the  country  being  so 
unsettled,  the  prospects  of  France  in  entering  on 
another  stage  of  the  war,  were  thus  far  from 
cheering.  On  the  one  side  were  the  hosts  of 
Germany,  by  this  time  flushed  with  their  unbroken 
successes,  and,  confident  in  their  skilful  generals, 
their  splendid  organization,  their  enormous  re- 
sources, and  their  perfect  discipline  and  equipment, 
regarding  themselves  as  invincible.  On  the  other 
side  were  the  half-formed  armies  of  France,  con- 
sisting for  the  most  part  of  men  who  knew  nothing 
of  actual  vrar,  who  had  never  been  under  fire, 
who  had  little  confidence  in  themselves  and  less 
in  their  leaders ;  who  in  many  instances  were 
poorly  furnished  with  the  necessary  weapons, 
and  some  of  whom  seemed  to  think  that  little 
more  was  needed  in  meeting  the  enemy  than  to 
cry  "  Long  live  the  Republic."  As  we  shall  see, 
however,  in  their  future  struggles  they  displayed 


118 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


in  many  instances  heroic  courage  and  self-sacrifice; 
and  they  more  than  once  inflicted  most  serious 
blows  on  their  enemy. 

For  the  German  armies  the  capitulation  of  Metz 
on  October  28  came  in  very  good  time.  Al- 
though the  enormous  forces  around  Paris,  and 
those  on  the  Loire,  on  the  Saone,  on  the  Somme, 
and  elsewhere,  had  hitherto  held  their  ground  with 
unshaken  firmness,  still  it  was  no  wonder  if  they 
began  to  feel  the  strain  which  the  task  before  them 
put  upon  their  energies.  And  there  were  not 
wanting  signs  that  the  hastily-gathered  levies  of 
France  were  beginning  to  gain  the  necessary 
martial  confidence  and  discipline  that  would  enable 
them  to  hold  their  own  before  the  well-drilled 
soldiers  of  Germany.  In  an  engagement  between 
the  Prussian  royal  guards  and  some  of  the  Paris 
garrison,  General  Trochu's  raw  levies  did  not  fly 
in  "  wild  confusion,"  as  they  were  wont  to  do 
on  former  occasions.  At  Le  Bourget,  near  St. 
Denis,  on  October  21,  the  German  outposts  were 
driven  in  by  a  sortie  of  the  French,  who  proceeded 
to  entrench  themselves  on  the  spot,  from  which 
they  were  not  dislodged  by  the  guards  till  the 
23rd;  and  then  only  after  a  well-contested  engage- 
ment, in  which  the  Prussians  took  more  than 
1200  prisoners,  and  among  them  thirty  officers, 
but  not  without  sustaining  "  heavy  losses  them- 
selves." In  the  north,  on  the  21st  October,  at 
Formerie,  a  town  of  the  Oise,  between  Amiens 
and  Eouen,  an  attempt  made  by  the  Prussians  to 
cut  the  railway  line  was  frustrated  by  a  party  of 
French  regular  infantry  and  mobiles,  who  were 
left  masters  of  the  position. 

These,  indeed,  were  trifling  advantages,  only 
to  be  noticed  as  slight  breaks  in  that  uniform  run 
of  ill  fortune  which  had  so  long  attended  the 
French.  But,  independently  of  such  incidents, 
there  was  undeniable  evidence  that,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  German  line  around  Paris  had  been 
somewhat  inconveniently  thinned  to  strengthen 
the  detached  forces  under  General  von  der  Tann 
and  Prince  Albrecht;  and  on  the  other,  that  the 
Paris  garrison  had  been  making  the  most  of  the 
respite  allowed  to  it  in  acquiring  that  steadiness, 
the  lack  of  which  had  hitherto  proved  a  bar  to 
its  success.  Besides,  Von  der  Tann,  though 
apparently  equal  to  maintaining  his  position  at 
Orleans  and  on  the  Loire,  seemed  to  evince  some 
hesitation  as  to  any  further  advance,  and  awaited 
the  onset  of  the  French  army  under  Aurelles  de 


Paladine;  who,  it  was  supposed,  would  soon  muster 
up  strength  and  courage  either  to  force  the  Prus- 
sian general's  position  at  Orleans,  or  to  turn  its 
flank  and  steal  a  march  upon  it  on  the  way  to 
Paris.  In  the  north,  again,  the  invasion  seemed 
to  have  abated  in  activity,  and  people  wondered 
how  long  it  would  be  ere  Bourbaki  had  collected, 
out  of  the  various  frontier  garrisons  and  the  solid 
populations  of  those  districts,  a  force  large  enough 
to  embolden  him  to  take  the  offensive;  while, 
again,  Bazaine's  army  at  Metz,  exhausted  and  dis- 
pirited though  it  was  said  to  be,  hung  in  the  rear 
of  the  German  forces,  and  created  some  apprehen- 
sion of  danger,  however  indefinite  and  remote, 
that  it  might  break  loose  and  throw  itself  upon 
their  lines  of  communication. 

Bazaine's  capitulation  put  an  end  to  these  appre- 
hensions, and  rendered  Germany  stronger,  almost 
to  the  full  extent  of  the  forces  by  which  she 
protected  herself  against  danger  from  that  quarter; 
for,  besides  placing  173,000  men,  four  marshals  of 
France,  6000  officers,  and  one  of  the  strongest 
places  in  Europe  in  the  hands  of  the  victors,  it 
set  free  nearly  200,000  of  them  for  new  efforts 
and  triumphs.  The  general  importance  of  this 
event  was,  of  course,  apparent  from  the  first;  but 
not  until  some  weeks  afterwards  did  it  fully  appear 
how  seriously  its  occurrence  at  this  particular  time 
affected  the  fortunes  of  the  war.  Had  Bazaine 
been  able  to  prolong  the  defence  for  another 
month,  a  relieving  army,  of  which  even  the 
existence  had  come  to  be  doubted,  would  almost 
certainly  have  made  its  way  to  the  neighbourhood 
of  Paris.  In  view  of  this  contingency,  indeed, 
as  we  explained  near  the  end  of  Chapter  XX., 
the  German  commander  had  actually  arranged  for 
raising  the  siege. 

Of  the  immense  force  now  liberated,  one  part 
remained  to  garrison  Metz  ;  another,  nearly  50,000 
strong,  was  despatched  against  the  French  army 
of  the  north ;  a  third,  comprising  a  single  corps, 
was  sent  to  Paris  to  aid  the  besiegers;  and  the 
remainder,  about  75,000  men,  under  the  command 
of  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  was  directed  to  the 
south  and  east  of  France,  to  occupy  the  Upper 
Loire,  and  to  co-operate  with  the  army  under 
Werder.  For  it  must  be  remembered  that,  besides 
the  campaigns  on  the  Loire  and  the  Somme,  there 
had  been  for  some  time  in  the  east  of  France 
another  struggle,  which  had  resulted  in  the  advance 
of  a  German  army,  under  this  general,  into  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


149 


departments  of  the  Vosges,  the  Upper  Sa6ne,  and 
the  Doubs,  to  Epinal,  Vesoul,  and  Besancon;  at 
which  latter  place  he  seemed  to  pause,  fearing,  it 
was  said,  the  opposition  of  General  Cambriels,  at 
the  head  of  the  so-called  army  of  the  Vosges. 
Cambriels  had  recently  reported  that  he  had  checked 
the  enemy  on  the  Ognon,  compelled  him  to  fall  back 
upon  Gray,  and  relieved  from  uneasiness  not  only 
Besancon  and  Dole — his  own  and  Garibaldi's  head- 
quarters— but  also  Belfort  and  Dijon.  As  a 
practical  reply  to  this  boast,  Von  Werder,  who 
had  gone  back  to  the  Saone  at  Gray,  followed  the 
course  of  that  river  to  Pontailler,  and  struck  across 
the  country  to  Dijon,  due  north  of  Lyons  and 
almost  due  east  of  Bourges,  at  about  100  miles' 
distance  from  either  place.  He  appeared  before  it 
on  October  29,  and  took  it  after  a  short  cannonade. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  no  portion  of  the 
German  forces  liberated  by  the  capitulation  of 
Metz  was  moved,  in  the  first  instance,  against  the 
French  massed  on  the  Lower  Loire,  whom,  indeed, 
a  combination  of  circumstances  had  caused  the 
German  commanders,  with  less  than  their  wonted 
caution,  to  disregard.  As  stated  in  a  previous 
chapter,  one  corps  of  that  army  had  been  defeated 
with  great  ease,  in  the  middle  of  October,  by  a 
Bavarian  detachment,  which  had  captured  Orleans 
and  still  held  it;  and  as  the  entire  body  had  since 
made  no  sign,  its  real  strength  was  not  known, 
and  it  was  supposed  to  be  worthless. 

To  serve  a  purpose,  no  doubt,  there  had  indeed 
been  an  immense  amount  of  mystification  about 
this  army,  especially  a  statement  that  it  had  been 
sent  off  northwards.  Reports  varied  from  day  to 
day  regarding  its  discipline,  proficiency  in  drill, 
numbers,  armament,  equipment,  artillery,  trans- 
port. All  that  was  known  with  any  degree  of 
certainty  respecting  it  was  that  it  wanted  officers, 
arms,  horses,  all  kinds  of  materiel,  and  especially 
time.  It  had  its  origin  in  a  collection  of  com- 
panies, of  squadrons  of  regiments,  where  the 
lancers  mingled  with  the  chasseurs,  the  dragoon 
with  the  Turco,  the  chasseurs  de  Vincennes  with 
the  zouave,  a  battalion  of  infantry  with  a  battery 
of  artillery,  gardes  mobiles  with  franc -tireurs. 
The  large  admixture  of  the  latter  corps  gave  an 
extremely  picturesque  aspect  to  the  miscellaneous 
aggregate.  Obedient  to  the  summons,  they  had 
flocked  together  in  larger  or  smaller  bodies  from 
every  province  of  France,  from  the  colonies,  from 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  from  Algeria  and 


Greece,  from  Italy  and  Spain,  from  Rio  Janeiro 
and  Monte  Video.  Almost  all  wore  the  short 
tunic  or  thick  woollen  blouse,  generally  of  dark 
colours,  black,  green,  blue,  and  brown,  while  some 
few  corps  adopted  the  grays  and  buffs  in  favour 
among  English  volunteers.  There  were  Tyrolese 
and  wide-awake  hats  of  every  description,  with 
cockades  of  all  sizes  and  feathers  of  every  tint. 
The  brigand  was  largely  represented,  reminding 
the  stranger  of  Fra  Diavola  and  Massaroni,  and 
other  well-known  types  and  theatrical  celebrities. 
The  South  American  corps  was  got  up  with  a 
particular  eye  to  effect.  Its  chief,  M.  de  Frie"s, 
received  the  name  of  D'Artagnan,  after  Alexandre 
Dumas'  hero,  and  Melingue  himself  never  looked 
the  part  better.  He  and  his  men  wore  the 
South  American  poncho  as  an  overcoat,  carried 
the  lasso,  and  could  noose  a  horse  at  full  speed 
and  bring  him  to  the  ground.  The  Basque  bat- 
talion, composed  of  hardy  mountaineers  used  to 
toil  up  Pyrenean  steeps,  and  wearing  their  national 
head-dress,  the  flat  beret,  red,  blue,  or  white,  with 
a  tassel  pendant  from  its  centre,  presented  a  good 
appearance.  Then  there  was  the  mysterious 
company  of  the  Gers,  consisting  of  fifty  picked 
men,  in  black  costume,  with  skull  and  cross-bone 
facings,  and  who  never  spoke.  The  arming  of 
the  troops  was  various.  Those  worst  provided 
had  the  old  Minie,  but  for  this  the  Remington 
or  Chassepot  was  substituted  as  soon  as  obtain- 
able. Numbers  of  them  carried  revolvers  and 
poniards.  The  "  Foreign  Legion,"  which,  it  is 
only  just  to  say,  was  always  cheerfully  in  the  front 
when  the  greatest  danger  and  hardest  fighting  were 
to  be  met,  comprised  among  others  about  a  score 
of  finely-built,  soldierly-looking  Englishmen,  and 
several  Irishmen,  lured  to  France  at  this  juncture 
either  by  zeal  for  the  cause  or  by  a  love  of  adven- 
ture. Not  the  least  picturesque  feature  was  the 
Arab  cavalry,  formed  in  the  colony  of  Algiers, 
of  volunteers  recruited  in  the  great  tribes  of  the 
desert.  The  original  design  was  that  every  pro- 
vince should  supply  a  contingent;  but  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  the  total  number  of  these  Spahi  warriors 
in  the  Loire  army  ever  exceeded  600  men.  Their 
presence  was  generally  heralded  by  a  clang  of 
barbaric  trumpets,  and  a  chief  with  a  face  like  a 
bronze  statue  headed  the  rather  straggling  columns 
of  fiery  little  Arab  horses.  The  men  wore  their 
native  dress,  their  heads,  as  usual,  being  wrapped 
up  as  if  they  had  all  been  afflicted  with  toothache, 


150 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


and  they  sat  perched  high  up  on  their  peculiar 
Moorish  saddles.  The  chasseurs  d'Afrique,  the 
hussars,  and  the  chasseurs  a  cheval,  mustered 
largely,  but  it  could  not  escape  notice  how  absurdly 
overweighted  the  whole  cavalry  force  was,  by 
having  to  carry  all  sorts  of  cooking  pots,  tentes 
d'abri,  and  other  impedimenta,  which  rendered 
them  utterly  useless  in  a  charge.  Smartness, 
cleanliness  of  horses,  and  pride  of  corps,  as  known 
in  the  English  service,  seemed  not  to  exist  in  the 
cavalry  of  this  army;  and  the  men,  seen  on  the 
march,  always  gave  one  the  idea  that  their  first  and 
last  business  in  life  was  to  make  their  soup,  not 
to  fight.  Besides  their  sabres,  which  they  were 
hardly  taught  how  to  use,  they  were  armed  with 
a  long,  lumbering  carbine,  which  was  slung  at 
their  backs,  and  greatly  hindered  the  use  of  the 
sword-arm. 

Such  was  someof  the  rather  unpromising  material, 
gathered  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  which, 
in  the  hope  that  it  might  be  welded  into  some- 
thing like  an  army,  was  intrusted  to  the  command 
of  General  d'Aurelles  de  Paladine,  a  soldier  who 
had  seen  hard  service  in  the  field,  and  had  come 
out  of  his  well-earned  retirement  to  organize  the 
forces  of  his  country.  By  birth  he  was  of  an 
Auvergnat  house.  At  an  early  age  he  entered 
the  army,  and  in  1843  served  in  a  campaign 
against  Abd-el-Kader,  under  the  Due  d'Aumale, 
who  was  then  governor  of  Algeria.  At  that  time 
d'Aurelles  was  chef  de  bataillon  of  the  sixty- fourth 
infantry,  and  considered  an  excellent  officer.  He 
had  the  reputation  of  being  a  strict  disciplinarian ; 
and  his  passion  for  order  and  prompt  obedience 
specially  qualified  him  for  reducing  into  shape  the 
loose  mass  of  regulars,  gardes  mobiles,  foreigners, 
and  franc-tireurs,  dignified  with  the  name  of  the 
Army  of  the  Loire,  which  he  found  little  better 
than  a  mob,  and  succeeded  in  rendering  almost  a 
match  for  the  best  troops  of  Prussia.  The  mutinous 
spirit  which  prevailed  when  he  took  the  command 
he  put  down  by  offering  the  alternative  of  obedi- 
ence or  death ;  and  before  firing  a  shot  at  the 
Germans  he  shot  down  several  score  of  his  own 
men.  General  d'Aurelles  de  Paladine  in  several 
respects  was  like  General  Trochu.  Both  were 
strongly  imbued  with  a  religious  spirit;  both  had 
lived  in  retirement  for  years — the  one  unknown, 
the  other  known  only  to  strategists;  and  on  the 
exertions  of  both  seemed  now  to  depend  the  last 
hopes  of  France. 


As  may  be  imagined,  the  task  of  D'Aurelles 
was  not  an  easy  one.  For  several  weeks  the 
troops  were  kept  in  the  open  air,  exposed  to  all 
vicissitudes  of  weather,  and  engaged  incessantly  in 
the  varied  exercises  which  were  necessary  to  accus- 
tom them  to  the  tactics  of  war.  To  enforce  good 
discipline  amongst  them  proved  for  a  time  most 
difficult.  Their  idea  of  subordination  seemed  to 
be  extinguished — a  spirit  which  could  be  overcome 
only  by  a  rigorous  discipline,  like  that  maintained 
in  the  Prussian  army,  in  which  insubordination 
is  always  punished  by  death.  There  were  many 
loud  and  bitter  complaints  of  D'Aurelles'  severity; 
but  the  good  fruits  of  the  hardy  training  were 
soon  seen  in  improved  solidity  and  promptitude 
in  manoeuvring,  in  the  excellent  health  of  the 
troops,  and  in  their  renewed  hope  and  confidence. 

The  most  ardent  hopes  of  the  French  govern- 
ment, therefore,  now  centred  in  this  army  of  the 
Loire.  Should  it  have  the  fortune  to  gain  a  con- 
siderable victory,  the  effect  throughout  France,  it 
was  felt,  would  be  incalculable  in  putting  down 
resistance  to  the  government,  and  in  converting 
into  soldiers,  inspired  with  some  confidence  in  their 
leaders  and  some  respect  for  themselves,  those 
hordes  of  armed  men  by  courtesy  styled  armies. 

The  forces  under  General  d'Aurelles  de  Paladine, 
early  in  November,  amounted  to  180,000  men, 
with  400  gun3,  and  nearly  15,000  cavalry.  Since 
the  disaster  of  Metz  the  authorities  waited  with 
intense  anxiety  for  some  serious  movement  on 
the  part  of  this  army  before  the  victorious  legions 
of  Prince  Frederick  Charles  should  have  time  to 
approach.  Although  composed,  as  we  have  seen, 
of  such  heterogeneous  masses,  it  was  from  its 
numbers  by  no  means  despicable ;  and  at  this  con- 
juncture an  opportunity  was  afforded  its  leader  of 
striking  a  blow  of  which  the  results  might  have 
been  momentous.  At  the  beginning  of  Novem- 
ber it  was  separated  by  a  few  miles  only  from 
a  single  Bavarian  corps  of  not  more  than  25,000, 
scattered  somewhat  disorderly  between  Orleans 
and  Chateaudun,  and  virtually  forming  the  only 
German  force  between  Orleans  and  the  lines 
round  Paris.  General  d'Aurelles  de  Paladine  saw 
the  favourable  opportunity,  and  laid  his  plans 
for  cutting  off,  and  if  possible  annihilating,  the 
small  hostile  corps  which  lay  temptingly  in  his 
front.  For  this  purpose  he  resolved  to  cross  the 
Loire  below  and  above  Orleans,  thus,  by  a  con- 
verging movement,  to  close  in  completely  on  his 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


151 


foe;  and  in  case  lie  should  succeed  in  sweeping 
away  this  only  obstacle  in  his  path,  he  intended  to 
march  straight  on  Paris,  and  endeavour  to  relieve  it. 

It  thus  happened  that  the  9th  of  November, 
which  witnessed  the  surrender  of  Verdun,  brought 
to  the  French,  as  a  compensation  in  another  quar- 
ter, their  first  gleam  of  success.  After  the  battles 
before  Orleans,  Von  der  Tann,  reduced  to  his  own 
corps  by  the  recall  of  the  twenty-second  division 
to  Paris  and  the  detachment  of  Prince  Albrecht's 
cavalry  to  Chartres,  remained  inactive  on  the  Loire. 
A  force  of  20,000,  including  Prince  Albrecht's 
horsemen,  was  at  Chartres  about  the  end  of  October, 
to  hold  in  check  the  army  of  Brittany ;  and  Von  der 
Tann's  right  flank  was  covered  by  a  detachment 
at  Chateaudun.  Columns  of  various  strength, 
detached  from  the  investment  on  the  different 
roads,  occasionally  suffering  a  reverse,  formed  a 
large  semicircle  round  the  rest  of  Paris  from 
Compiegne  on  the  north,  by  Montdidier,  Breteuil, 
Beauvais,  Evreux,  Chartres,  and  Chateaudun,  to 
Orleans  on  the  south. 

The  occupation  of  Orleans,  indeed,  had  proved 
scarcely  less  difficult  than  its  capture.  For  more 
than  a  month  the  Bavarian  general  had  kept  the 
French  constantly  employed  and  himself  informed 
of  their  movements,  by  a  system  of  reconnaissances 
and  patrols,  which  extended  over  a  comparatively 
wide  area,  and  necessarily  exposed  those  engaged 
in  them  to  the  constant  attacks  of  franc- tireurs 
concentrated  at  Tours,  whose  most  energetic  efforts 
were  directed  to  harassing  the  troops  in  the  occu- 
pation of  Orleans,  while  the  larger  army  was  form- 
ing below  the  Loire  to  attack  the  comparatively 
small  force  at  the  disposal  of  General  von  der 
Tann.  The  occupation  of  Chartres  and  Chateau- 
dun by  General  Wittich  weakened  the  army  at 
Orleans,  which,  receiving  no  reinforcement  from 
other  quarters,  and  reduced  to  a  force  of  about 
15,000  men,  began  to  find  itself  in  a  somewhat 
critical  position.  The  position,  in  fact,  of  the 
Prussian  garrison  of  Orleans  was  one  of  even 
greater  danger  than  Von  der  Tann  suspected,  for 
by  about  the  end  of  October  General  dAurelles' 
army  had  assumed  a  form  which  enabled  him  to 
act,  and  it  was  agreed  that  he  should  begin  to 
move  forward  from  Blois  on  the  morning  of  the 
29th,  with  the  intention  of  driving  back  the 
Bavarians,  and  then  trying  to  reach  Paris.  But 
at  the  last  moment  DAurelles  changed  his  mind; 
he  telegraphed  to  Tours  on  the  night  of  the  28th, 


to  say  that  the  roads  were  bad,  the  equipment  of 
part  of  the  garde  mobile  very  insufficient,  and  that 
it  was  consequently  imprudent  to  attempt  an  action. 
It  transpired  subsequently  that  the  news  of  the 
capitulation  of  Metz  had  become  known  to  General 
dAurelles  that  very  afternoon,  some  hours  before 
the  Tours  government  heard  of  it;  and  this  was 
the  main  cause  of  his  resolution  not  to  move.  His 
decision  caused  great  disappointment  at  Tours, 
where  it  was  immediately  recognized  that  the  Ked 
Prince's  army,  suddenly  set  free,  would  come  west- 
ward as  fast  as  possible,  and  that  it  was  indispens- 
able to  relieve  Paris  before  its  arrival,  which  was 
expected  to  take  place  about  the  16th  or  18th  of 
November.  But  instead  of  hastening  forward,  the 
Loire  army  was  delayed  by  various  circumstances 
which  it  is  difficult  to  determine  with  precision, 
amongst  which,  however,  the  current  reports  that 
an  armistice  had  been  concluded  appear  to  have 
had  much  influence  on  General  d'Aurelles,  and  to 
have  disposed  him  to  stop  where  he  was.  The 
despatches  afterwards  made  public,  and  a  work 
published  at  the  close  of  the  war  by  M.  de  Frey- 
cinet,  M.  Gambetta's  delegate  to  the  ministry  of 
War,  show  that  the  hesitations  of  the  commander- 
in-chief  were  the  object  of  continual  correspond- 
ence between  that  officer  and  the  ministry  of  War; 
but  however  strong  may  have  been  the  pressure 
employed,  it  was  not  till  the  6th  November,  more 
than  a  week  after  the  date  originally  fixed,  that 
the  French  army  at  last  marched  forward. 

While  this  was  going  forward  along  the  Loire, 
the  Prussians  had  decided  to  send  reinforcements 
to  General  Von  der  Tann.  Some  30,000  men  had 
therefore  been  detached  from  the  army  before 
Paris,  and  had  been  sent  towards  him  under  the 
orders  of  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg.  The  arrange- 
ment was  made  too  late;  for  on  the  same  day  (the 
11th  November)  that  the  duke  reached  Toury  en 
route  for  Orleans,  Von  der  Tann  entered  the  same 
town  with  the  remnant  of  his  valiant  but  thoroughly 
beaten  troops,  who,  swept  forward  by  the  masses 
of  D'Aurelles,  had  escaped  entire  capture  only  by 
a  kind  of  miracle.  We  will,  however,  revert  to 
the  first  dispositions  of  the  French  commander, 
which  had  resulted  in  this  signal  reverse  for  the 
German  arms. 

On  November  6,  leaving  one  corps  at  Mer, 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  Loire,  to  cover  Tours, 
three  others,  moving  from  their  headquarters  at 
La  Ferte  (twelve  miles  south  of  Orleans),  crossed 


152 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  river  at  Beaugency  and  formed,  with  the  corps 
from  Mer,  a  general  line  extending  from  the  Loire, 
on  the  right,  to  Marchenoir,  behind  the  forest  of 
that  name,  on  the  left.  To  ascertain  the  real 
nature  of  this  movement,  which  appeared  to 
threaten  the  Bavarian  communications  with  Paris, 
Von  dcr  Tann,  on  November  7,  ordered  a  recon- 
naissance, which,  led  by  Count  Stolberg,  was 
pushed  as  far  as  Autainville,  in  the  direction  of 
Vendome.  This  showed  that  the  French  were 
massed  in  the  forest  of  Marchenoir,  in  that  neigh- 
bourhood, in  a  force  estimated  at  60,000  men. 
The  reconnoitring  party  consisted  of  6000  men, 
with  cavalry  and  artillery,  and  had  been  despatched 
with  the  further  object  of  dislodging  the  French, 
if  possible,  from  the  wood.  The  Bavarians, 
however,  had  seriously  under-estimated  the  number 
of  their  enemies,  and  were  repulsed  with  loss. 
The  French,  elated  with  their  success,  on  the 
following  day  assumed  the  offensive,  marched 
forward  to  occupy  various  positions,  with  the 
view  of  cutting  off  the  communications  of  the 
Bavarian  army,  and  by  interposing  between 
Orleans  and  the  base  of  operations,  render  their 
escape  impossible.  De  Paladine  had  carefully 
studied  the  situation,  and  a  curious  chance  had 
furnished  him  with  the  most  reliable  and  precise 
information.  A  paper,  torn  into  the  smallest  pieces, 
was  found  lying  on  a  table  in  a  chateau  which  had 
been  the  headquarters  of  General  von  der  Tann. 
It  proved  to  be  the  rough  draft  of  his  orders  to 
his  officers,  with  a  plan  for  the  dispositions  of  the 
troops.  The  pieces  were  carefully  pasted  together 
by  a  person  in  Orleans,  who  obtained  a  translation 
of  their  contents  into  French,  and  sent  them  to 
the  minister  of  War  at  Tours.  This  paper,  con- 
taining the  exact  number  of  troops  to  be  engaged, 
precise  instructions  as  to  their  disposition,  and  even 
the  place  of  each  gun,  was  transcribed  with  fear 
and  trembling,  in  a  house  actually  filled  with  Bava- 
rians; it  proved  of  incalculable  use  to  the  French 
troops,  who,  as  the  Germans  owned,  had  never 
before  been  so  well  directed  as  now.  The  French 
army  of  Beaugency  was  ordered  to  advance  towards 
Orleans  ;  the  right  wing  to  halt  on  the  side  of 
Ormes;  but  the  centre  and  left  wing,  pivoting  on 
the  right,  were  to  proceed  in  the  direction  of  Gem- 
igny,  St.  Peravy,  Boulay,  and  Briey,  to  meet  the 
cavalry  corps  which  General  Martin  des  Pallieres, 
stationed  a  few  leagues  above  Orleans,  at  St.  Benoit- 
sui-Loire,  was  bringing  towards  Cercottes. 


As  soon  as  General  von  der  Tann  perceived  this 
design,  he  ordered  the  immediate  retreat  of  the 
baggage  and  heavy  material  of  the  army  by  the 
direct  road  towards  Paris  ;  and,  compelled  to  leave 
about  1000  sick  and  wounded  in  the  hospitals  of 
Orleans,  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  fifteen 
battalions  which  still  remained  to  him,  and  marched 
directly  to  meet  the  enemy.  Wishing  to  extricate 
himself  from  the  maze  of  woods  and  vineyards,  and 
to  reach  the  open  plain,  where  his  cavalry  and  artil- 
lery would  tell,  he  moved  in  a  north-westerly 
direction.  For  a  day  or  two  previously  there  had 
been  some  excitement,  the  cause  of  which  the 
French  inhabitants  of  Orleans  could  not  make 
out.  It  was  supposed  that  a  battle  was  going  on, 
but  where  no  one  knew.  On  the  night  of  the 
evacuation,  however,  all  became  clear.  At  about 
ten  p.m.  there  was  a  general  running  in  the 
streets,  into  which  the  inhabitants  were  not 
allowed  to  go  ;  but  the  greater  the  running  of 
the  Germans,  and  the  driving  of  all  sorts  of 
carriages,  the  stronger  was  the  temptation  of 
Frenchmen  to  learn  the  cause  of  the  stir.  At 
midnight  the  Place  du  Martroi,  the  Rue  Royale, 
the  Hue  Bannier,  and  all  the  adjacent  streets  were 
blocked  with  gun,  provision,  and  ammunition 
carriages,  and  in  the  morning  the  regiment  of 
Bavarian  guards  were  all  that  remained  to  tell  of  a 
German  occupation.  About  noon  on  the  9th  these 
filed  off,  with  drums  beating  and  colours  flying,  by 
the  Rue  Jeanne  d  Arc  and  Rue  Bannier,  as  though 
they  had  been  going  out  for  a  promenade  militaire. 
The  townspeople  were  naturally  delighted  when, 
at  the  close  of  the  day,  they  saw  troops  advancing 
towards  the  town  under  the  tricolor  instead  of 
the  abhorred  black  and  white.  Their  exultation 
was  natural,  though,  judging  from  the  following 
notice  issued  by  the  municipality,  it  was  rather 
overstrained: — "  The  mayor  of  the  city  of  Orleans 
appeals  to  the  generous  feeling  of  the  population ; 
he  is  sure  that  the  German  wounded  and  prisoners 
will  be  treated  by  his  fellow  townsmen  in  confor- 
mity with  the  dictates  of  humanity.  The  mayor 
warns  those  of  his  fellow  citizens  who  may  have  in 
their  possession  arms  and  ammunition,  consequent 
on  the  disarming  of  the  German  soldiers,  that  they 
must  immediately  lodge  them  at  the  Hotel  de  Yille. 
They  belong  to  the  state,  and  those  detaining  them 
will  be  prosecuted  according  to  law. — Orleaks, 
November  10." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  there  was  some  haste  in 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


153 


the  retreat  of  the  Bavarians ;  and  that  they  were 
followed  up  pretty  closely,  is  proved  by  the 
capture  of  Von  der  Tann's  carriage  and  other 
articles  of  his  property,  by  the  leaving  of  the 
sick  and  wounded,  and  by  the  fact  that  many 
of  the  inhabitants  made  prisoners  of  the  soldiers 
who  had  been  billeted  upon  them.  It  was  these 
accidental  captures  to  whose  "disarming"  the 
notice  pointed. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  November  9  the  two 
armies  became  aware  of  each  other's  presence  near 
Coulmiers,  between  that  place  and  Baccon,  a  small 
village  about  fourteen  miles  to  the  west  of  Orleans. 
About  ten  o'clock  the  engagement  began.  The 
spot  had  already  been  rendered  classic  as  the  scene 
of  a  battle  in  1409,  in  which  the  French,  under 
the  Maid  of  Orleans,  defeated  the  English  under 
Sir  John  Fastolf. 

In  the  present  instance,  also,  and  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  this  war,  the  tide  of  victory 
turned  in  favour  of  the  French,  who  outnumbered 
the  Germans  in  the  proportion  of  four  to  one,  and 
could  not  have  been  fewer  than  90,000  men,  with 
120  field  guns.  The  most  that  General  von  der 
Tann  could  hope  to  accomplish  against  such  over- 
whelming odds,  was  to  make  good  his  retreat  in 
the  direction  of  Paris  with  the  least  possible  loss  of 
men  and  material.  The  nature  of  the  country  was 
such  as  to  render  cavalry  operations  impracticable, 
and  for  more  than  seven  hours  his  small  force,  of 
little  more  than  12,000  infantry,  succeeded  in  hold- 
ing the  whole  French  army  in  check.  The  action 
commenced  by  a  well-sustained  attack  on  the  German 
centre  and  right  wing,  forcing  the  latter  to  give 
way,  until  General  Orff,  with  the  second  Bavarian 
brigade,  wheeled  round  the  left  wing  to  its  support, 
and  for  a  moment  almost  seemed  about  to  change 
the  fortunes  of  the  day.  The  French,  however, 
brought  up  strong  reinforcements,  and  were  sup- 
ported by  an  admirably  served  marine  artillery  ; 
an  arm  hitherto  little  feared  in  their  hands,  but 
which  was  now  employed  with  a  precision  and 
efficiency  which  were  the  theme  of  universal  remark 
among  the  German  officers,  who  perhaps,  consider- 
ing their  past  experience,  had  begun  to  fall  into 
the  not  unnatural  error  of  underrating  their  enemy. 

From  this  time  the  French  continued  to  advance 
steadily  towards  Baccon,  i.e.,  from  the  south-west 
to  the  north-east.  The  Bavarians  had  taken  up  a 
position  which  formed  an  acute  angle  with  the 
French   line,    their   line   of  battle   being   nearly 


parallel  with  the  range  of  woods  extending  from 
Chaingy  to  some  distance  beyond  Bucy  St.  Siphard. 
To  deploy  their  forces  they  availed  themselves  of 
the  ground  between  the  farm  of  La  Benardiere,  the 
fields  of  Huisseau,  the  farms  and  plantations  of 
Coulmiers  on  the  one  hand,  to  Bosieres  and  the 
fields  around  Gemigny.  At  Baccon  the  French 
met  with  a  stubborn  resistance.  The  Germans  had 
loopholed  the  houses,  constructed  barriers,  and 
taken  advantage  of  every  wall  and  every  hedge  for 
cover.  The  village  of  Baccon  is  built  on  a  hillock, 
on  which  the  houses  rise  in  tiers  ;  the  lowest  being 
scattered  about  the  plain  at  its  foot.  From  that 
culminating  point  the  Germans  kept  up  a  mur- 
derous fire  on  the  French  troops,  who  promptly 
responded  to  the  orders  of  their  officers  to  move 
forward.  After  a  brief  but  desperate  struggle, 
Baccon  was  carried  by  storm,  and  the  Germans 
gave  way.  The  French,  even  to  the  mobiles,  most 
of  whom  were  in  this  action  for  the  first  time  under 
fire,  behaved  with  great  bravery  and  steadiness  in 
the  heat  of  the  fight ;  but  to  the  marine  infantry 
and  artillery,  previously  alluded  to,  D'Aurelles 
subsequently  awarded  the  highest  praise. 

Notwithstanding,  however,  the  repeated  and 
furious  assaults  of  the  French,  and  the  fearful  loss 
they  managed  to  inflict  upon  their  opponents,  they 
could  not  force  them  from  the  position  they  had 
occupied  during  the  day,  and  night  closed  in,  leav- 
ing the  Germans  worn  out  and  decimated  by  the 
fight,  but  not  vanquished.  They  had  already 
marched  all  the  preceding  night;  they  had  fought 
during  the  whole  day  of  the  9th  ;  and  now  their 
only  chance  of  escape  was  to  make  another  night 
march  on  Artenay.  Leaving  about  700  of  their 
comrades,  including  42  officers,  dead  and  wounded, 
in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  they  turned  their  backs 
on  the  bloody  field  of  Baccon  as  soon  as  the  dark- 
ness set  in,  and  under  a  fall  of  sleet  and  snow 
tramped  their  weary  way  to  Artenay,  having  for 
thirty-six  hours  scarcely  tasted  a  mouthful  of  food. 
It  is  said  that,  when  Prince  Frederick  Charles 
asked  Marshal  Bazaine  why  the  French  army  did 
not  follow  up  their  partial  success  on  the  16th  of 
August,  and  escape  from  their  critical  position 
before  Metz  during  the  night,  he  replied,  "  On 
ne  marche  pas  la  nuit."  The  Germans  under  Von 
der  Tann,  eschewing  this  comfortable  principle, 
succeeded  in  reaching  Artenay  on  the  following 
morning  in  perfect  order,  and  without  much  loss 
of  material.     The  Bavarian  life  guards,   who,  it 


154 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


will  be  remembered,  bad  been  left  at  Orleans,  and 
who  quitted  tbat  city  on  the  9th,  found  themselves 
separated  from  the  main  body  of  the  army  by  the 
events  of  that  day,  and  came  into  unexpected 
proximity  to  the  enemy,  from  whom  they  only 
escaped  by  a  forced  and  arduous  night  march  of 
fifteen  hours,  during  which  they  were  compelled 
to  pass  almost  within  earshot  of  the  French  posi- 
tion. Finally,  the  morning  of  the  10th  found 
the  gallant  little  army  of  Von  der  Tann  united  at 
Artenay,  where,  by  having  outmarched  the  enemy, 
they  were  enabled  to  enjoy  a  day's  rest  after  their 
brilliant  retreat,  and  take  up  a  defensive  attitude. 

The  result  of  the  engagement  was  made  known 
to  the  government  at  Tours  by  the  following  des- 
patch on  tbe  10th  : — "  The  army  of  the  Loire, 
under  the  command  of  General  d'Aurelles  de 
Paladine,  carried  Orleans  yesterday  after  two 
days'  fighting.  Our  losses  in  killed  and  wounded 
do  not  reach  2000;  those  of  the  enemy  are  more 
considerable.  We  have  taken  more  than  1000 
prisoners,  and  this  number  is  being  increased  by 
the  pursuit.  We  have  also  captured  two  guns  of 
Prussian  make,  more  than  twenty  powder  and 
munition  waggons  with  their  horses,  and  a  large 
quantity  of  fourgons  and  provision  waggons.  The 
principal  seat  of  the  action  was  round  Coulmiers, 
and  the  ardour  of  the  troops  was  admirable,  not- 
withstanding the  bad  weather." 

While  the  French  thus  acknowledged  a  loss  of 
2000,  the  official  report  of  the  German  commander 
gave  that  of  the  Bavarians,  in  killed  and  wounded, 
at  42  officers  and  667  men.  The  1000  prisoners 
were  the  sick  and  wounded  left  at  Orleans,  and 
the  two  guns  were  two  small  unlimbered  useless 
cannon  which  the  Germans  abandoned,  as  encum- 
bering their  movements.  The  despatches  and 
report  of  General  d'Aurelles  de  Paladine  respecting 
the  battle  of  Baccon  were,  however,  written  with 
a  fairness  and  modesty  which  were  new  to  the 
French,  and  the  advantages  he  gained  were  not 
overstated.  Had  he  claimed  to  have  reduced  the 
effective  strength  of  the  Bavarian  corps  by  at  least 
4000  men,  he  would  have  been  quite  within  the 
truth.  Nor  was  this  the  only  advantage  gained. 
The  morale  of  both  men  and  officers  was  much 
improved.  Cheered  by  a  victory  after  continuous 
defeat,  they  did  their  duty  better  and  more 
smartly;  and  all  believed  that  the  day  had  at  last 
come  when  they  would  be  able  to  beat  back  the 
invader,  and  re-assert  their  old  standing  amongst 


the  warriors  of  Europe.  Under  their  commander 
the  new  army  had  learned  the  very  important 
lesson  of  light  infantry  duty,  which  the  first  French 
armies  seemed  to  have  quite  forgotten — the  art  of 
protecting  flanks  and  rear  from  surprise,  of  feeling 
for  the  enemy,  surprising  his  detachments,  pro- 
curing information,  and  taking  prisoners.  It  was 
at  length  the  Germans  who  had  to  grope  in  the 
dark  in  order  to  ascertain  the  position  of  the 
enemy. 

But  the  energetic  measures  which  General  von 
Moltke  took  to  meet  its  expected  march  upon  Paris, 
furnished  the  most  remarkable  proof  of  the  respect 
which  the  army  of  the  Loire  now  inspired.  As 
we  have  before  remarked,  so  well  had  the  prepara- 
tions of  this  army  been  concealed  that  its  very 
existence  was  doubted  amongst  the  Germans. 
Now,  however,  even  at  the  risk  of  actually  raising 
the  investment  of  Paris,  the  Prussian  strategist 
found  it  necessary  to  hold  in  readiness  against 
it  the  greater  portion  of  the  blockading  forces  on 
the  south  side  of  the  city.  He  changed  at  once 
the  direction  of  march  of  the  two  armies  arriving 
from  Metz,  so  as  to  draw  them  closer  to  Paris, 
that  thus  the  whole  of  the  German  forces  might 
be  concentrated  around  it;  and  steps  were  also 
taken  to  surround  the  siege  park  with  defensive 
works. 

M.  Gambetta  was  not  slow  to  congratulate  the 
army  on  its  success.  He  at  once  visited  the 
camp,  and  published  the  following  proclamation 
to  the  troops: — 

"  Soldiers !  Your  courage  and  your  efforts  have 
brought  back  victory.  To  you  France  owes  her 
first  consolation,  her  first  ray  of  hope.  I  am 
happy  to  convey  to  you  the  expression  of  the 
public  gratitude,  and  the  praises  and  recompenses 
which  the  government  awards  to  success.  Led 
by  chiefs  vigilant,  faithful,  and  worthy  of  you,  you 
have  recovered  discipline  and  strength,  you  have 
retaken  Orleans  with  the  ardour  of  old  troops 
accustomed  to  conquer,  and  have  proved  that 
France,  far  from  being  overwhelmed  by  reverses 
which  have  no  precedent  in  history,  intends  to 
assume  in  her  turn  a  vigorous  and  general  offen- 
sive. The  advanced  guard  of  the  country,  you 
are  on  the  road  to  Paris !  Let  us  not  forget  that 
Paris  awaits  us.  Our  honour  is  staked  upon  our 
succeeding  in  loosening  the  grasp  of  the  barbarians 
who  threaten  her  with  fire  and  pillage.     Kedouble 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


155 


your  constancy  and  your  ardour.  You  now  know 
the  enemy.  Their  superiority  consists  in  the 
number  of  their  cannon.  Recover  the  French 
dash  and  the  fury  which  ought  to  help  to  save 
the  country.  With  such  soldiers  the  republic  will 
issue  victorious  from  the  struggle." 

The  army  of  the  Loire,  however,  had  yet  to 
prove  its  mettle  in  a  general  engagement  with  the 
"  barbarians  "  in  numbers  more  nearly  equal ;  and 
as  subsequent  events  showed  that  it  was  unequal 
to  this  task,  we  are  confirmed  in  the  opinion  that 
it  was  a  fatal  error  its  success  at  Baccon  was  not 
at  once  followed  up. 

It  is  impossible  for  Frenchmen  to  recall  the 
important  phase  of  their  great  struggle  which  we 
have  just  described,  without  a  pang  of  bitter  regret 
that  the  successes  of  D'Aurelles  at  Baccon  were 
not  promptly  followed  up,  presenting,  as  they  did, 
by  far  the  fairest  and  most  promising  opportunity 
during  the  war  for  reversing  the  ill-fortune  of 
France.  The  Germans  themselves  admitted  that 
if  they  had  been  pursued,  every  one  of  them,  from 
the  general  to  the  last  camp-follower,  would  inevi- 
tably have  been  taken  prisoner.  Having  marched 
all  night  to  come  into  action,  they  had  to  march 
all  the  next  night  to  get  away  from  it;  and  it  was 
with  the  most  intense  astonishment  that  the  ex- 
hausted Bavarians  discovered  on  the  10th  that 
General  d'Aurelles  was  not  attempting  to  come 
after  them.  And  this  was  not  their  only  surprise. 
On  the  11th  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg  met  Von 
der  Tann  at  Toury;  and  the  latter  was  proposing 
arrangements  to  unite  their  two  armies,  so  as  to 
make  a  stand  against  the  victorious  French  and 
cover  Paris,  when  to  his  bewilderment  instructions 
were  telegraphed  from  Versailles  to  abandon  the 
direct  line  of  defence,  and  to  immediately  march 
north-west  to  Dreux  (leaving  D'Aurelles  to  do  what 
he  liked),  in  order  to  stop  another  French  army 
which  was  said  to  be  marching  straight  on  Ver- 
sailles from  Argentan  and  Laigle.  Looking  back 
at  all  this  in  the  light  of  what  subsequently  trans- 
pired, it  seems  incredible  that  the  clever  Prussians 
should  have  been  so  utterly  taken  in  by  the  fear  of 
an  army  which  really  did  not  exist,  that  they  left 
the  road  to  Paris  wide  open  before  D'Aurelles  ; 
and,  more  incredible  still,  that  the  Tours  govern- 
ment should  have  failed  to  profit  by  the  prodigious 
opportunity  which  was  offered  to  them  by  this 
mistake  of  General  von  Moltke.     The  altogether 


insignificant  character  of  what  the  German  com- 
mander imagined  to  be  an  army  approaching  from 
the  west  is  explained  in  the  following  chapter, 
and  the  explanations  of  General  Chanzy  and  M.  de 
Freycinet  afterwards  enlightened  the  world  as  to 
why  the  opportunity  of  capturing  the  defeated 
Bavarian  army  and  of  raising  the  siege  of  Paris 
was  not  utilized. 

It  appears  that,  when  the  fight  began  on  the 
morning  of  the  9th,  General  Reyan,  with  ten  regi- 
ments of  cavalry  and  some  batteries  of  horse-artil- 
lery, was  ordered  to  cover  the  French  left  wing 
and  turn  the  German  right.  General  Reyan  had 
been  at  some  distance  from  the  scene  of  action, 
and  on  the  morning  of  November  9,  after  a  long 
and  tiresome  march  of  fourteen  hours,  he  came 
within  view  of  German  batteries.  Instead  of  has- 
tening on  to  the  battle-field  and  executing  the 
manoeuvre  ordered,  he  opened  fire  on  the  batteries 
alluded  to,  and  at  two  o'clock  reported  to  D'Aurel- 
les that  his  artillery  had  lost  heavily  in  men  and 
horses,  and  had  no  more  ammunition,  and  that  his 
cavalry  had  met  with  serious  resistance  every- 
where. He  added  that  he  feared  the  enemy  would 
outflank  him,  and  he  thought  he  should  have  to 
fall  back.  At  five  o'clock  General  Reyan  again 
sent  word  that  a  column  of  infantry  was  now 
appearing  before  him  at  Villamblain,  and  he  con- 
sidered it  indispensable  to  return  to  his  encamp- 
ment of  the  previous  night.  It  was  soon  discovered 
that  the  column  in  question  was  composed  of  French 
franc-tireurs;  but,  unfortunately,  the  cavalry  had 
already  fallen  back,  night  was  coming  on,  and 
exhausted  as  they  were  with  continuous  marching, 
it  was  impossible  to  get  the  regiments  forward 
again.  The  force,  therefore,  which  was  effectually 
to  have  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  Bavarians,  did 
not  come  into  the  engagement  at  all;  and  when 
the  battle  was  won  by  the  centre  and  right  no 
cavalry  was  up  to  pursue  the  victory,  or  to  ascer- 
tain the  movements  of  the  retiring  Germans.  The 
French  slept  on  the  field,  but  it  began  to  rain  and 
snow;  the  night  was  bad,  there  was  no  wood  for 
fires,  and  the  supplies  of  food  and  ammunition 
were  got  to  the  front  with  much  difficulty.  When 
day  broke  Admiral  Jaureguiberry  sent  his  own 
escort,  forty-five  men,  in  pursuit  of  the  Bavarians, 
and  they  took  two  guns,  130  prisoners,  and  quan- 
tities of  baggage  and  ammunition.  If  forty-five 
hussars  could  do  this,  what  would  General  Reyan 's 
ten  regiments  have  effected?     General  d'Aurelles 


156 


TIIE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


does  not  seem,  however,  to  have  thought  of  follow- 
ing up  his  victory,  though  he  must  have  had  at 
least  80,000  men  still  in  good  fighting  condition, 
against  about  half  that  number  under  Mecklen- 
burg and  Von  der  Tann,  supposing,  indeed,  the 
two  latter  to  have  united  and  made  a  stand.  The 
days  following  the  9th  were  occupied  in  organizing 
convoys,  in  completing  the  artillery,  and  in  pro- 
curing clothes  for  the  soldiers,  arrangements  which 
it  seems  a  singular  lack  of  foresight  to  have  left 
till  a  time  like  this.  Day  followed  day,  and  the 
French  did  not  move;  their  outposts  advanced, 
but  the  army  remained  inactive.  Von  der  Tann 
left  a  few  troops  at  Etampes,  and  marched  away 
with  the  rest  to  join  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg  at 
Chartres;  so  that,  by  the  14th,  there  were  not  more 
than  3000  Germans  between  D'Aurelles  and  Paris. 

With  these  facts  before  us,  it  is  easy  to  under- 
stand the  alarm  which  we  have  described  in 
Chapter  XXIV.  as  prevailing  at  Versailles  at  this 
time.  General  von  Moltke  knew  that  nothing  would 
stop  D'Aurelles  if  he  marched  resolutely  on  by 
Etampes  to  the  Seine ;  he  feared  that  Mecklenburg 
would  not  get  into  position  between  Chartres  and 
Dreux  in  time  to  paralyze  the  other  imaginary 
army,  which  was  supposed  to  be  driving  on 
Versailles  in  that  direction;  so  that  on  the  14th 
and  15th  November  the  German  headquarters 
expected  to  be  attacked  behind  from  Eambouillet 
and  to  be  cut  off  from  their  line  of  communications 
eastward  by  D'Aurelles.  It  is  not  strange,  there- 
fore, that  they  should  have  packed  up  their  boxes, 
as  was  actually  the  case;  it  seemed  impossible  to 
the  energetic  Prussians  that  their  enemy  should 
not  rush  at  them  instantly,  and  make  a  desperate 
attempt  to  break  the  line  of  investment  south  of 
Paris,  before  Prince  Frederick  Charles  could  reach 
it.  But  when  they  learnt,  on  the  night  of  the 
15th,  that  D'Aurelles  had  made  no  sign,  that  the 
Red  Prince's  outposts  had  reached,  the  line  of 
which  Montargis  is  the  centre,  and  that  no 
French  army  had  shown  itself  beyond  Dreux,  they 
took  courage,  stopped  where  they  were,  and  so 
evaded  the  grave  moral  consequences  which  would 
have  ensued  on  an  evacuation  of  Versailles. 

While  the  German  headquarters  were  in  this 
critical  position,  a  conference  had  taken  place,  on 
November  12,  between  the  French  generals  and 
M.  Gambetta,  who  had  come  up  from  Tours  to 
congratulate  the  troops  on  the  victory  of  Coulmiers. 
General  Borel,  a  very  able  officer,  afterwards  chief 


of  the  staff  of  Marshal  MacMahon  during  the 
Communist  siege  of  Paris,  proposed  to  march 
straight  to  the  Seine,  but  General  D'Aurelles  would 
not  have  that  at  all ;  not  only  did  it  seem  to  him 
impossible  to  continue  the  offensive,  but  he  con- 
sidered it  was  dangerous  even  to  remain  at  Orleans. 
M.  Thiers,  who,  as  described  in  a  previous  chapter, 
had  been  endeavouring  to  arrange  with  the  Prus- 
sians for  an  armistice,  had  just  returned  from 
Versailles,  and  reported  that  he  had  come  through 
an  army  of  80,000  men;  his  imagination,  in  fact, 
having  more  than  doubled  the  force,  which  was 
none  other  than  that  of  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg, 
now  off  to  the  west.  To  D'Aurelles,  however, 
this  was  sufficient  reason  for  not  advancing.  He 
said  the  enemy  would  be  back  on  him  directly; 
that  an  indisputable  eye-witness  had  seen  80,000 
Prussians  marching  down  from  Paris;  that  he  was 
certain  to  be  attacked  in  a  day  or  two,  and  that 
his  army  was  unfit  to  stand  the  shock.  Finally, 
he  proposed  to  immediately  evacuate  Orleans, 
and  to  return  to  his  old  position  at  Salbris.  M. 
Gambetta,  M.  de  Freycinet,  and  General  Borel 
energetically  opposed  these  arguments;  but  all 
they  could  obtain  from  D'Aurelles  was,  that 
instead  of  abandoning  Orleans,  the  army  should 
intrench  itself  round  the  town :  no  forward  move- 
ment should  be  made,  for  the  moment  at  least; 
but  it  was  admitted  that  Paris  should  still  be 
considered  to  be  the  destination  of  the  army.  A 
fortified  camp  was  immediately  formed  round 
Orleans,  new  troops  arrived,  and  in  a  few  days  the 
French  had  more  than  200,000  men  in  position. 

Leaving  for  the  present  the  army  of  the  Loire, 
we  will  glance  at  the  events  then  transpiring  in 
the  north  of  France,  which,  next  to  those  south 
of  Paris,  were  the  most  important  that  occurred 
during  the  month  of  November. 

Of  the  large  force  detached  to  operate  in  the 
north  under  General  Manteuffel,  a  considerable 
portion  was  sent  to  assist  in  reducing  several  fort- 
resses which  had  hitherto  been  rather  invested  than 
besieged,  but  whose  fall,  on  the  release  of  the 
immense  siege  materiel  from  around  Metz,  might 
now  be  counted  on  in  a  few  days.  The  first  place 
which  followed  the  fate  of  the  great  Moselle  strong- 
hold was  Verdun,  a  fortress  of  the  second  class, 
standing  on  the  Meuse,  where  it  begins  to  be  navig- 
able, about  150  miles  east  of  Paris,  120  west  of  the 
Rhine,  30  north-west  of  Bar-le-Duc,  and  40  from 
Metz.     It   has  13,000  inhabitants  ;  and  although 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


157 


partly  fortified  by  Vauban,  its  strength  is  not  great 
against  modern  artillery,  as  it  is  commanded  by  the 
adjacent  bills,  and  the  river  is  fordable  in  several 
places  near  the  works.  Its  fortifications  consist  of 
a  citadel,  separated  from  the  town  by  an  esplanade, 
and  of  an  enceinte  of  ten  bastioned  fronts.  The 
place  had  been  the  object  of  much  attention  ever 
since  the  German  armies  crossed  the  Moselle.  In 
the  attempt  to  gain  it,  the  army  of  the  Rhine  had 
fought  the  great  battles  of  Vionville  and  Grave- 
lotte  ;  an  immense  store  of  provisions  having  been 
accumulated  here  as  soon  as  Bazaine's  retreat 
was  contemplated. 

Verdun  was  first  invested  on  September  25, 
but  not  so  strictly  as  to  prevent  the  garrison  from 
being  subsequently  largely  increased.  Early  in 
October  the  place  was  completely  closed  in,  and 
the  usual  summons  to  surrender  made.  Baron 
Guerin  de  Waldersback,  the  commandant,  replied 
by  expressing  to  the  Prussian  envoy  his  resolution 
to  hold  out  as  long  as  one  stone  remained  on 
another  ;  adding,  "  We  shall  meet  in  the  breach." 
The  breach,  however,  was  precisely  the  place 
where,  in  this  war  of  sieges,  no  German  and  French 
officers  ever  did  meet.  The  bombardment  from  the 
German  artillery  was  terrific,  and  was  effected  from 
two  strong  batteries,  the  one  situated  due  north,  the 
other  east,  of  the  place.  On  the  13th  and  14th  of 
October  a  perfect  hurricane  of  shells  was  poured 
upon  the  devoted  town,  but  without  shaking  the 
determination  of  the  garrison.  The  brave  General 
Marnier,  sub-commandant  of  Verdun,  putting  him- 
self at  the  head  of  some  3000  men,  made  a  sortie 
in  a  north-easterly  direction  on  the  28th.  Without 
firing  a  shot,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  he  drove 
back  the  German  advanced  posts.  He  then  attacked 
the  batteries,  and  carried  them  by  assault,  destroy- 
ing the  works,  dismounting  and  spiking  the  guns, 
and  returning  safe  to  Verdun.  The  conduct  of 
the  civilians,  like  that  of  their  fellow-countrymen 
at  Strassburg,  Toul,  and  elsewhere,  was  honourable 
and  spirited.  From  the  first  "they  were  anxious  to 
make  the  best  possible  defence,  irrespective  of 
personal  losses.  During  the  furious  bombardment 
they  took  refuge  in  the  cellars,  where  some  of  the 
more  timid  remained  during  almost  the  whole  of  the 
siege,  while  their  houses  were  burning  over  their 
heads.  This  state  of  things  could  not,  of  course,  con- 
tinue long.  Disease — small-pox  especially — was 
adding  its  ravages  to  those  of  the  enemy's  cannon, 
and  the  mortality  increased  rapidly  from  day  to 


day.  Prospect  of  relief  there  was  none.  So  long 
as  Metz  stood,  and  there  was  a  possibility  of 
Bazaine's  army,  or  any  portion  of  it,  forcing  its 
way  through  Prince  Frederick  Charles'  lines,  and 
throwing  itself  upon  Verdun,  there  might  have  been 
a  propriety  in  continued  resistance.  But  the  fall 
of  Metz  changed  the  whole  position  of  affairs,  and 
it  then  became  simply  a  question  whether  the  barren 
honour  of  holding  out  to  no  purpose  for  a  few  days 
longer  was  worth  the  penalty  that  must  be  incurred 
in  the  demolition  of  the  remains  of  the  town,  and 
the  slaughter  of  a  great  portion,  at  all  events,  of 
the  surviving  garrison  and  inhabitants. 

At  this  point,  too,  the  severely-tried  endurance 
of  the  townspeople  began  in  some  measure  to  fail 
them.  So  long  as  their  sufferings  were  of  any  use 
to  France  they  had  borne  them  with  exemplary 
patience,  and  had  shown  as  little  desire  to  yield  as 
General  Guerin  himself.  But  they  now  felt  that 
nothing  was  to  be  gained  by  prolonging  the  struggle. 
The  devastation  wrought  was  greater  even  than  at 
Strassburg,  as  the  German  guns  easily  dominated 
the  entire  town.  It  was  this  almost  complete 
destruction  that  led  to  the  ultimate  surrender  of 
the  place,  which  was  coerced  into  submission  with- 
out having  had  to  endure  any  very  serious  want  of 
food,  the  supplies  of  which  would,  at  the  time  of 
the  surrender,  have  enabled  the  inhabitants  to  hold 
out  for  a  while  longer.  The  9  th  of  November, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  brought  the  first  and 
most  considerable  victory  of  the  war  to  the  French 
arms,  witnessed  the  capitulation  of  Verdun,  when 
two  generals,  160  officers,  and  4000  men  were 
made  prisoners,  and  136  guns  and  23,000  rifles, 
with  a  considerable  store  of  material  of  war,  were 
taken. 

As  soon  as  Metz  had  fallen,  Thionville  also  was 
very  soon  vigorously  bombarded,  and  set  on  fire. 
Until  the  surrender  of  Metz  the  position  of  Thion- 
ville gave  it  an  importance  in  the  war  with  which 
no  other  fortress  of  its  size  and  strength,  except 
Toul,  could  compare.  At  the  end  of  July  it  sup- 
ported the  left  wing  of  the  French  army  of  the 
Rhine.  During  the  operations  before  Metz  its 
proximity  was  a  cause  of  extreme  annoyance  to 
Prince  Frederick  Charles,  as  its  abundant  supplies 
presented  a  constant  temptation  to  the  hungry 
garrison  of  the  larger  fortress  to  endeavour  to 
establish  a  communication  with  it,  in  which  they 
once  nearly  succeeded.  The  town  has  between 
7000  and  8000  inhabitants.     The  fortress  is  built 


158 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


almost  entirely  on  the  left  or  western  bank  of  the 
Moselle ;  that  part  of  it  which  stands  on  the  right 
bank  consisting  of  a  fort  of  modern  construction, 
containing  magazines  and  fine  cavalry  barracks. 
It  was  formerly  the  residence  of  the  Merovingian 
and  Carlovingian  kings,  has  been  a  fortified  place 
since  the  thirteenth  century,  and  has  sustained 
numerous  sieges,  from  that  of  1643,  when  the  prince 
of  Conde  took  it,  until  1814,  when  General  Hugo, 
father  of  Victor  Hugo,  successfully  defended  it 
against  the  Prussians.  When  besieged  by  the 
allies  in  1792,  the  citizens  hung  the  figure  of  an 
ass  over  the  wall  with  a  bundle  of  hay  at  its 
mouth,  and  the  inscription,  "  When  the  ass  eats  the 
hay  you  will  take  Thionville."  The  story  illus- 
trates the  short  range  of  artillery  eighty  years 
ago.  Besiegers  and  besieged  must  have  been  very 
close  together,  or  the  placard  could  not  have  been 
legible.  From  1815  Thionville  was  the  advanced 
post  of  the  north-east  of  France,  between  Metz 
and  Luxemburg  and  Sarrelouis.  Its  fortifications 
belong  to  different  epochs  and  systems  of  engin- 
eering. The  corps  de  la  place  consists  of  an 
irregular  heptagon,  with  demilunes,  contregardes, 
and  lunettes.  The  fort  of  the  Double  Crown  is 
on  the  right  bank.  The  full  complement  of  the 
garrison  of  Thionville  is  8000  men,  but  at  the 
time  of  its  investment  there  were  not  more  than 
half  this  number.  The  fortress,  however,  held  out 
until  November  24,  and  was  expected,  from  the 
boastful  declaration  of  its  commandant,  to  resist 
much  longer.  Less  than  three  day's  experience 
of  the  German  artillery,  however,  was  enough  for 
him ;  and  with  a  great  part  of  the  town  in  flames, 
a  capitulation  was  signed,  which  gave  the  Prussians 
4000  more  prisoners  and  an  additional  200  cannon. 

In  the  course  of  General  Manteuffel's  progress 
towards  Amiens,  the  only  other  fortified  place  which 
had  not  yet  surrendered  was  that  of  La  Fere,  near 
the  confluence  of  the  Oise  and  the  Serre,  fourteen 
miles  north-west  of  Laon,  and  on  the  road  from 
that  town  to  Amiens.  It  was  invested  about  the 
middle  of  November,  and  on  the  20th  a  courageous 
attempt  to  relieve  it  was  made  by  a  French  force, 
which,  however,  was  repulsed  with  heavy  loss.  On 
the  27th  La  Fere  capitulated  after  two  days'  bom- 
bardment, yielding  2000  prisoners  and  70  guns. 

By  a  ministerial  decision  of  November  18, 
General  Bourbaki  was  summoned  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  newly-formed  eighteenth  French 
corps   d'arme'e  at   Nevers ;    General  Farre  being 


intrusted  provisionally  with  his  charge  in  the 
north.  It  would  seem  from  this  that  M.  Gambetta, 
now  the  presiding  genius  of  France  outside 
Paris,  had  underrated  the  danger  which  menaced 
the  wealthy  and  populous  cities  of  the  north  from 
the  advance  of  Manteuffel.  So  little,  indeed,  had 
been  heard  of  the  movements  of  this  commander, 
that  it  was  generally  supposed  he  was  hesitating 
to  venture  into  a  district  where  the  brilliant  fame 
of  General  Bourbaki  had  in  a  short  time  made 
him  the  rallying  point  for  a  French  army  of  no 
mean  pretensions.  The  fact  was,  that  the  advance 
of  the  first  German  army  had  been  halted  on  the 
receipt  of  the  news  of  the  French  movements 
about  Orleans  on  the  9th,  and  its  dispositions  then 
seemed  to  indicate  an  intention  to  remove  south- 
ward. This,  however,  was  not  the  case.  General 
Manteuffel  left  Rheims  on  November  17,  and  at 
this  time  his  troops  were  reported  as  never  having 
been  in  better  case  to  meet  an  enemy,  or  to 
encounter  the  exigencies  of  a  campaign.  The 
artillery  and  cavalry  horses  were  in  splendid  con- 
dition. Dysentery  and  other  sickness,  which  pre- 
vailed around  Metz,  had  gradually  disappeared 
through  change  of  air,  exercise,  and  a  good  com- 
missariat, and  every  thing  was  hopeful.  Soissons 
was  reached  on  the  19th,  Compiegne — where 
the  German  commander  occupied  the  emperor's 
chateau — on  the  21st,  and  from  this  date  little 
more  was  heard  of  Manteuffel's  advance  until  the 
24th,  when  a  detachment  forming  his  advanced 
guard  was  defeated  in  a  smart  skirmish  with  a 
large  body  of  French,  mostly  mobiles.  This 
occurred  in  the  Santerre  district,  the  eastern  part 
of  the  Somme,  and  at  the  same  time  Prussian 
scouts  were  signalled  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Amiens,  plainly  indicating  an  early  advance  upon 
the  city. 

Afraid  to  defend  the  slight  intrenchmcnts  thrown 
up  just  outside  the  place,  and  reluctant  to  bring  a 
battle  so  near  their  chief  northern  city,  the  French 
army  moved  out  and  took  up  positions  extending 
from  Boves  to  Villers-Bretonneux,  about  twelve 
miles  east  of  Amiens.  Here  were  constructed  strong 
earthworks  and  batteries,  which  early  on  Sunday 
morning,  November  27,  were  assailed  by  a  vigor- 
ous fire  from  the  German  artillery.  The  division 
of  General  von  Goben  had  come  to  the  front,  and 
a  battle  along  the  whole  line  shortly  commenced. 
The  French  army  of  the  north,  numbering  about 
50,000  men,  were  divided  into  three  corps — at 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


159 


Villcrs  Bretonneux,  a  large  manufacturing  village 
commanding  the  road  to  Fergnier,  at  the  entrance  of 
the  plains  of  Santerre  ;  at  Boves,  which  commands 
the  road  to  Paris ;  and  at  a  little  village  called 
Dury,  commanding  that  to  Breteuil.  The  artillery 
force  was  largely  composed  of  seamen,  who  came 
very  prominently  into  notice  during  the  later 
phases  of  the  war,  and  on  all  occasions  bore 
themselves  with  signal  bravery.  In  the  present 
instance  they  sustained  the  heaviest  brunt  of 
the  fight,  and  were  almost  all  killed  or  wounded, 
only  three  officers  escaping  with  their  lives.  The 
mobiles  also  showed  great  steadiness  and  resolu- 
tion, and  were  the  last  to  leave  the  field  when 
the  fortunes  of  the  day  proved  decisive  against 
them.  The  battle  was  to  a  large  extent  an 
artillery  contest.  The  most  serious  engagement 
took  place  in  front  of  Villers.  At  Boves  the 
chief  event  was  a  charge  of  the  ninth  Prussian 
hussars  upon  a  battery  of  marine  volunteers,  who 
were  completely  cut  to  pieces,  though  with  con- 
siderable loss  to  the  Germans,  including  Prince 
Hatzfeld,  who  was  killed.  Later  in  the  day  the 
thirty-third  regiment  advanced  to  the  ravine 
between  St.  Nicholas  and  Boves,  to  storm  the 
village  and  the  French  position  ;  whilst  a  battery 
of  artillery  stationed  themselves  at  a  distance  of 
2000  yards,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  front  of 
the  farm  at  Cambos.  No  sooner  had  the  thirty- 
third  deployed,  and,  covered  by  half  a  company 
of  skirmishers,  advanced  to  the  attack,  than  the 
French  opened  the  most  determined  fire.  They, 
however,  were  weak  in  artillery,  and  after  about 
half  an  hour  were  driven  from  their  position,  the 
thirty-third  storming  the  village  of  Boves,  and 
taking  300  prisoners. 

The  French  right  rested  in  Ilebecourt,  a  village 
in  front  of  Dury ;  and  the  sixteenth  division  was 
sent  to  oust  them  from  their  positions,  and  drive 
them  back  upon  Amiens.  This  done,  Dury 
was  stormed.  Both  these  hamlets  lie  on  the 
Amiens  and  Dunkirk  road.  About  three-quarters 
of  a  mile  beyond  Dury  were  the  French  works, 
with  a  battery  of  four  heavy  guns  placed  upon  the 
road  itself.  Immediately  in  front  of  these  works, 
at  a  distance  of  300  yards  to  the  left  of  the  road, 
was  a  small  graveyard,  surrounded  by  a  hedge. 
For  upwards  of  two  hours  this  graveyard  was  held 
by  two  companies  of  the  seventieth  regiment,  in 
face  of  the  French  battery,  and  of  the  long  line' of 
rifle-pits  lying  right  and  left  of  it.    The  only  cover 


the  men  had  was  the  gravestones,  of  which  there 
were  very  few,  the  greater  portion  of  the  monu- 
ments being  iron  crosses.  A  display  of  more 
determined  courage  the  campaign  did  not  present. 
The  Prussian  batteries  at  Dury  took  up  a  position  at 
1200  yards,  and  although  they  lost  five  officers  and 
half  their  horses,  nothing  would  induce  the  com- 
mandant to  retire  to  2000  yards.  It  was  principally 
owing  to  their  fire  that  the  French  were  ultimately 
driven  out  of  the  works  and  retired  into  Amiens. 
The  final  storming  of  the  village  was  witnessed 
from  a  neighbouring  church  tower  by  an  English 
officer,  who,  fascinated  by  the  splendid  advance 
of  the  thirty-third  regiment,  and  forgetful  of  the 
elevation  on  which  he  stood,  enthusiastically  threw 
up  his  hat  into  the  air,  and  incurred  the  penalty 
of  having  afterwards  to  trudge  a  long  distance 
bareheaded. 

Around  Villers-Bretonneux  a  fierce  battle  raged 
between  the  main  portion  of  the  two  contending 
armies  for  several  hours.  Between  Boves  and 
Villers  is  a  wood,  under  cover  of  which  the  Prus- 
sians advanced,  debouching  about  noon,  with 
eighteen  guns,  which  immediately  opened  on  the 
French,  who  were  massed  on  the  plateau  of  Villers. 
After  awhile  they  showed  signs  of  wavering,  but 
at  this  critical  juncture  reinforcements,  principally 
in  artillery,  came  up  from  Amiens,  and  roused  the 
sinking  spirit  of  the  French  troops ;  at  every 
point  their  enemies  now  seemed  to  be  giving  way, 
until,  at  half  past  four  o'clock,  they  had  been 
driven  some  three  kilometres  from  Villers-Breton- 
neux. The  Germans,  like  history,  seem  fond  of 
repeating  themselves  ;  as,  indeed,  is  also  the  case 
with  the  French.  In  several  engagements,  the 
moment  at  which  the  invaders  appeared  ready 
to  yield  was  precisely  that  when  they  were  pre- 
paring a  last  great  effort  to  advance.  When, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  French  troops  had  gained 
a  slight  advantage,  they — forgetting  that  the  lull 
among  the  enemy  foreboded  a  storm — fell  too 
speedily  into  the  mistake  of  congratulating  them- 
selves. At  half  past  four  o'clock  the  Prussians 
seemed  defeated  ;  but  from  that  hour  they  made 
a  determined  advance,  and  swept  the  enemy  before 
them.  The  firing  having  for  a  time  ceased,  the 
French  assumed  that  they  were  masters  of  the 
field,  and  had  begun  to  establish  themselves,  when 
a  murderous  fire  was  suddenly  opened  upon  them 
from  positions  where  no  enemies  were  supposed 
to   be.      Altogether   taken   by  surprise,  they   at 


160 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


once  fled.  Fortunately  for  them,  night  came  to 
their  assistance ;  and  before  the  sun  of  the  next 
morning  had  arisen  they  were  many  miles  away 
from  the  scene  of  conflict.  Following  up  their 
advantage,  the  Prussians  entered  Villers,  causing  no 
small  panic  among  the  inhabitants.  The  women 
with  children  in  arms  shrieked  and  rushed  wildly 
about.  A  number  of  them  heedlessly  ran  in  the 
line  of  fire,  and  were  killed  by  shot  and  shell,  and 
many  more  were  drowned  in  the  marshes  about  the 
city.  Finding  further  resistance  hopeless,  General 
Farre  ordered  a  retreat  along  the  whole  line ;  and 
great  was  the  disappointment  of  the  good  citizens 
of  Amiens  to  see  approaching  the  disorderly  rem- 
nants of  that  army  of  the  north  which  it  was 
expected  should  turn  the  fortunes  of  France,  and 
drive  back  the  Prussian  veterans  of  Gravelotte  in 
confusion. 

On  arriving  at  Amiens  a  council  of  war  was 
hurriedly  convened,  at  which  it  was  resolved  not 
to  make  any  further  stand  behind  the  entrench- 
ments around  the  city.  The  retreat  was  therefore 
continued,  headed  by  General  Farre  and  brought  up 
in  the  rear  by  the  prefect  of  the  Somme.  Before 
leaving  the  town,  the  following  proclamation  was 
addressed  by  the  latter  to  the  inhabitants : — 

"Citizens, — The  day  of  trial  has  come.  In  spite 
of  the  incessant  efforts  made  by  me  for  three 
months,  to  the  feeble  extent  of  my  means  of  action, 
the  chief  town  of  the  department  falls,  in  its  turn, 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The  council  of 
superior  officers  has  just  determined  on  the  retreat 
of  the  army  of  the  north  and  the  disarmament  of 
the  national  guard.  I  am  absolutely  obliged  to 
leave  you,  but  in  the  firmest  hope  of  an  early 
return.  Calmness  and  confidence  ! — France  will 
be  saved.    Vive  la  France  !    Vive  la  Republique ! " 

The  mayor,  left  to  his  own  devices,  immediately 
followed  with  another: — "  The  generals  intrusted 
with  the  defence  of  Amiens  have  suddenly  departed 
with  the  troops,  and,  considering  them  too  feeble, 
have  abandoned  us.  The  military  committee  has 
not  been  consulted.  The  prefect  quitted  Amiens 
to-night.  As  for  me,  I  remain  with  my  municipal 
council  in  despair,  but  without  forces  against  the 
enemy:  devoted  to  my  fellow-citizens,  and  ready 
for  all  sacrifices  in  their  behalf." 

As  it  was  well  known  to  the  German  com- 
manders that  the  forces  opposed  to  them  greatly 
outnumbered  their  own,  it  was  deemed  unwise  to 


follow  the  pursuit  too  far,  and  orders  were  accord- 
ingly given  to  remain  on  the  defensive.  Very 
early  on  the  morning  of  the  28  th  there  was  an 
unusual  stillness,  and  no  sentries  were  visible  in 
front  of  the  spot  where  the  French  were  supposed 
to  be.  The  commanding  officer,  therefore,  sent 
forward  a  patrol  the  distance  of  some  300  yards  to 
reconnoitre ;  and  great  was  the  surprise  when, 
entering  the  works,  they  found  nothing  but  the 
cannon  and  the  dead  bodies  of  those  slain  in  the 
recent  combat.  Intelligence  was  immediately  sent 
to  General  von  Goben,  who  at  once  ordered  an 
advance  of  the  troops.  Taking  the  road  through 
Hebecourt  and  Dury,  over  a  course  thickly  strewn 
with  military  accoutrements  and  the  bodies  of  dead 
men  and  horses,  the  victorious  army  soon  came  upon 
an  undulating  plain,  bounded  by  the  town  of 
Amiens.  On  the  highest  ridge  of  the  plain  the 
French  had  thrown  up  long  lines  of  rifle  pits ;  and 
the  road  was  defended  by  a  battery  mounting  two 
howitzers  and  two  16-pounder  rifled  guns,  all  of 
which  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  victors.  Right 
and  left  of  the  road  the  barracks  of  the  troops  came 
into  view — plain  wooden  huts,  on  each  side  of 
which  were  raised  platforms  covered  by  straw  mat- 
tresses. Half  way  between  thes-e  lines  and  the 
town  were  two  emplacements  tor  guns,  one  to  the 
right,  the  other  to  the  left.  The  position  was 
strong,  and  if  resolutely  defended  would  have  been 
no  easy  matter  to  take.  After  some  little  delay 
Amiens  was  entered  by  three  battalions  of  the  40th 
regiment,  and  two  batteries  of  artillery,  which 
filed  past  the  general  in  the  principal  part  of  the 
town.  The  45,000  Frenchmen  that  should  have 
held  it  were  in  rapid  retreat  upon  Arras,  Doullens, 
and  Rouen.  The  citadel  had  not,  however,  sur- 
rendered, and  the  commandant  refused  to  give  in 
upon  any  terms. 

The  mayor  of  Amiens  took  an  early  opportunity 
of  waiting  upon  General  von  Goben,  and  with  tears 
begged  him  to  persuade  Captain  Fogel,  the  old 
line  officer  who  commanded  the  citadel,  to  capitu- 
late, and  thus  to  set  free  300  gentlemen  belonging 
to  the  best  families  in  the  city,  who  were  only 
increasing  the  general  misery  by  a  useless  resist- 
ance. So  far,  however,  from  complying,  the  officer 
caused  the  citadel  to  open  fire  upon  the  town,  the 
"  gentlemen  of  the  best  families  "  thus  doing  all 
they  could  to  destroy  their  own  homes  and  kins- 
folk. Two  companies,  therefore,  of  the  40th  regi- 
ment took  possession  of  the  houses  in  the  immediate 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


1G1 


neighbourhood  of  the  glacis,  and  opened  a  small-arm 
fire  upon  the  place,  which  was  returned  by  the 
garrison  with  artillery  and  Chassepot  fire.  All  day 
long  this  sort  of  guerilla  warfare  continued.  On 
the  evening  of  the  29th  it  was  determined  to  shell 
the  earthwork,  and  eight  batteries  marched  out  at 
three  in  the  morning,  taking  up  their  positions 
right  and  left  of  the  citadel  at  2000  yards.  But, 
as  day  dawned,  the  white  emblem  of  submission 
was  seen  waving  from  the  ramparts ;  the  com- 
mandant having  been  killed  during  the  night. 

The  citadel  was  much  stronger  than  had  been 
supposed.  The  garrison  was  composed  of  400 
men  and  twelve  officers,  with  thirty  pieces  of 
ordnance.  The  height  of  the  revUement  was  80 
feet  from  the  bottom  of  the  ditch,  so  that  to  cap- 
ture the  place  would  have  taken  some  little  time, 
and  occasioned  no  small  loss ;  but   the  death  of 


the  commandant — killed  while  superintending  the 
training  of  a  gun — put  an  end  to  farther  resistance. 
The  loss  of  the  defenders  was  four  killed  and  thir- 
teen wounded.  Within  the  citadel  were  found 
one  officer  and  sixteen  men  of  the  fourth  Prussian 
regiment,  who  had  been  taken  prisoners  a  day  or 
two  previously  in  the  fight  before  the  town,  and 
who  were  agreeably  surprised  when  their  country- 
men knocked  in  the  door  of  the  room  in  which 
they  were  confined. 

In  the  end,  the  city  of  Amiens  had  to  pay  dearly 
for  its  resistance,  and  the  possession  of  the  citadel 
enabled  the  general  to  take  far  more  troops  with 
him  in  his  farther  progress  than  he  could  have 
otherwise  done.  Very  speedily  a  German  prefect 
and  sub-prefect  were  appointed,  under  whose  aus- 
picious rule,  much  to  the  astonishment  of  the 
mayor,  affairs  soon  assumed  their  ordinary  aspect. 
x 


CnAPTEK     XXIII. 


Gambetta  the  Real  Governor  of  France  early  in  November — The  French  Position  after  their  Victory  at  Baccon— Mistake  of  General 
D'Aurelles  in  not  advancing  at  once  on  Paris — Military  Reasons  for  his  remaining  inactive— Determination  of  the  French  to  marcli  on 
Paris  at  all  Costs — The  worst  time  possible  chosen  by  them  for  this  purpose — What  might  have  happened  had  they  made  their  way  to  the 
German  Lines — The  new  Disposition  of  the  German  Forces  in  consequence  of  Von  der  Tann's  Defeat,  and  the  celerity  with  which  they 
were  carried  out — Difference  of  the  French  Prospects  on  November  10  and  November  19— The  Cause  of  the  False  Alarm  at  Versailles — 
General  D'Aurelles  made  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  whole  of  the  French  Armies  South  and  East  of  Paris — His  Dispositions  of  his  Troops 
—The  Duke  of  Mecklenburg  withdrawn  from  Le  Mans  and  other  Reinforcements  sent  to  Von  der  Tann — Positions  of  both  Armies  on 
November  26— The  Advantage  still  on  the  Side  of  the  French— Reluctance  of  General  D'Aurelles  to  Advance— Battle  of  Beaune-la- 
Rollande  on  November  28— Incidents  of  the  Fight— Critical  Position  of  Affairs  for  the  Germans — Great  Bravery  and  Determination  of  the 
Hanoverians— Arrival  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  who  turns  the  Fortunes  of  the  day — The  French  compelled  to  Retreat— Losses  on  both 
Sides— Another  Fatal  Delay  on  the  part  of  D'Aurelles  taken  Advantage  of  by  the  Enemy — A  Plan  of  Combined  Action  arranged  between 
D'Aurelles  and  Trochu — Battle  at  Patay  between  the  French,  under  General  Chanzy,  and  the  Bavarians,  on  December  1— Another  hard- 
earned  German  Victory— Arrival  of  Balloon  Despatches  from  Paris,  and  Great  Excitement  at  Tours— Further  Engagement  on  December  2 
and  Retreat  of  the  French — The  Germans  assume  the  Offensive  on  December  3,  bring  on  the  Battle  of  Chevilly,  and  achieve  another  Victory — 
Scene  on  the  Battle  Field  at  Night— Resumption  of  the  Engagement  at  Cercottes  on  December  4,  and  ultimate  Recapture  of  Orleans  by  the 
Germans — Difference  between  D'Aurelles  and  Gambetta  as  to  Defending  the  City — Narrow  Escape  of  If.  Gambetta — The  Scene  in  Orleans 
on  December  4— Complete  defeat  of  the  Loire  Army  and  Loss  of  15,000  Prisoners— General  Review  of  the  Operations  on  both  Sides  from 
November  28  to  December  4— Superior  Strategy  of  the  Germans — Operations  in  the  Eastern  Departments  of  France— Fighting  on  the  river 
Ognon — Bombardment  and  Capitulation  of  Dijon— The  Proceedings  of  Garibaldi — His  Animosity  to  the  Clergy,  and  Desire  to  establish  the 
"Universal  Republic"— Victory  of  Ricciotti  Garibaldi  over  the  Germans  at  Chatillon— Garibaldi  himself  advances  to  the  Relief  of  Dijon- 
Extraordinary  Panic  amongst  his  Troops,  who  are  compelled  to  beat  a  hasty  Retreat — Ill-feeling  between  Garibaldi  and  the  French  Generals 
and  the  Priesthood — The  Composition  of  his  Army— Capture  of  Neu  Breisach  by  the  Germans— Proceedings  in  Brittany — A  Common  Plan  of 
Defence  agreed  on  for  the  South  of  France— Unpopular  Decree  of  the  French  Government  annulling  the  Exemption  of  Married  Men  and 
Widowers  from  Military  Service— Formation  of  Camps  for  the  Instruction  and  Concentration  of  National  Guards — The  Bells  of  the  Churches 
offered  for  Cannon— The  Triduum,  or  Exposition  of  the  Real  Presence,  celebrated  throughout  France — Exports  of  Guns  and  War  Materiel 
from  the  United  States  to  France— The  Friendly  Feeling  between  America  and  Prussia  nevertheless  continued— Contrast  with  the  Feeling 
manifested  towards  England — Important  Circular  of  the  Russian  Government  repudiating  part  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris  of  1856 — Reply  of 
Lord  Granville — General  Indignation  in  England  and  Expectation  of  War— Count  von  Bismarck's  Proposal  for  a  Conference  adopted — 
The  Pros  and  Cons  on  the  side  of  Prussia— Change  of  Feeling  in  England  with  regard  to  Germany  and  much  Sympathy  shown  for  France 
— Celebrated  Letter  from  Mr.  Carlyle  on  the  German  side. 


We  have  shown  in  the  preceding  chapter  that, 
early  in  November,  the  operations  of  the  French 
on  the  south  and  south-west  of  Paris  were  no 
longer  those  of  incoherent  bodies  of  timid  recruits, 
but  those  of  a  regular  army  under  a  general  in  whom 
it  had  confidence ;  and  that  they  were  conducted 
on  a  most  extensive  scale.  M.  Gambetta,  too,  had 
established  himself  as  the  temporary  dictator  of 
France.  His  efforts  to  revive  the  spirit  and  draw 
out  the  military  resources  of  the  country  had  been 
equally  unremitting  and  successful.  He  made 
and  unmade  generals,  and  nothing  was  heard  of 
his  colleagues.  The  fiery,  thorough  Frenchman 
of  the  southern  type,  in  fact,  alone  governed,  and 
his  government  was  recognized.  In  the  east  of 
France  he  appointed  several  new  generals,  and  those 
deposed  could  only  offer  piteous  protests  against 
his  misconstruction  of  their  conduct.  He  ordered 
Bourbaki  to  give  up  the  command  of  the  army 
of  the   north,    and    Bourbaki    obeyed.      France, 


outside  Paris,  had  a  government  once  more ;  it 
had  a  large  army ;  it  kept  the  enemy  in  check.  At 
Paris  the  Germans  made  apparently  no  progress  in 
the  direct  operations  of  the  siege.  They  seemed 
unable  to  take  the  forts ;  and  had  probably  been 
led  to  abandon  all  thought  of  an  assault  as  too 
dangerous  and  costly,  by  the  immense  preparations 
made  against  it  since  the  investment  of  the  city. 
The  boast  of  General  Trochu  that  Paris  was  im- 
pregnable, seemed  so  far  justified ;  while  the  pro- 
vinces were  not  merely  doing  their  best,  but  doing 
a  very  great  deal,  to  relieve  it.  The  news  of  the 
French  victory  at  Baccon  had  given  new  life  and 
spirit  to  the  city  population.  It  appeared,  as  M. 
About  put  it,  that  after  all  there  was  such  a  thing 
as  provincial  France ;  and  the  Parisians,  who 
thought  themselves  deserted,  were  now  ready  to 
co-operate  with  their  deliverers  as  soon  as  they  saw 
a  fair  chance.  The  successes  of  General  d'Aurelles 
de  Paladine  on  November  9  had,  in  fact,  given  to 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


163 


France  a  new  soul  as  well  as  a  new  army,  wliicli 
was  designed  for  the  relief  of  Paris  ;  and  in  the 
opinion  of  every  one  except  De  Paladine  himself, 
the  auspicious  day  of  hope  and  of  triumph  had  at 
last  dawned. 

There  are  moments  in  almost  every  campaign 
when  a  single  bold  stroke,  well  aimed  and  delivered, 
will  gain  extraordinary  results  from  fortune.  Had 
General  D'Aurelles,  after  his  success  at  Baccon, 
pushed  forward  rapidly,  either  by  the  roads  which 
lead  straight  from  Toury  to  Paris  or  by  the  more 
circuitous  route  by  Chartres,  he  could  scarcely 
have  failed  to  overwhelm  the  small  force  in  his 
front,  or  at  least  to  compel  it  to  retreat  with  loss  ; 
in  which  case  he  would  have  found  his  way  to  the 
German  lines  open.  When  the  news  of  the  combats 
of  the  9th  and  10th  arrived,  the  great  general  on 
whom  devolved  the  direction  of  the  German  opera- 
tions, alive  to  the  extreme  danger  of  a  possible 
attack  from  without  and  within,  had,  as  already 
stated,  made  preparations  for  removing  his  head- 
quarters and  raising  the  siege  should  it  turn  out 
that  D'Aurelles  was  advancing  on  the  French 
capital.  But  at  this  critical  hour  the  latter  was 
found  wanting  in  genius  and  determination.  He 
shrank  from  following  up  his  success,  and  instead 
of  making  at  once  for  Paris,  he  fell  back  on  Arthe- 
nay  and  Orleans  in  order  to  obtain  reinforcements 
and  to  form  an  entrenched  camp  under  the  screen 
of  the  forest,  intended  as  a  base  for  future  opera- 
tions. This  was  unquestionably  a  most  unhappy 
resolve;  but  in  justice  to  a  veteran  officer,  who 
possessed  no  common  organizing  skill,  it  is  fair 
to  say  that  military  reasons  of  a  plausible  kind 
may  be  assigned  for  it.  There  is  no  evidence 
to  show  that  General  Trochu,  who  communicated 
frequently  with  the  provinces  by  balloons,  pigeons, 
and  other  devices,  expected  relief  at  this  moment ; 
and  if  he  had  been  unprepared  to  attack  as  soon 
as  D'Aurelles  appeared  outside,  the  army  of  the 
Loire  would  perhaps  have  found  itself  in  a  danger- 
ous position.  In  one  respect  General  Paladine 
was,  by  what  appeared  a  good  authority,  entirely 
misled  as  to  the  military  obstacles  in  his  path 
to  Paris.  M.  Thiers  had  alarmed  the  French 
commander-in-chief  by  his  report  of  having  wit- 
nessed 80,000  Prussians  on  the  way  to  Orleans; 
although  this  force,  as  explained  in  the  previous 
chapter,  was  less  than  half  the  strength  attributed 
to  it  by  the  veteran  statesman.  And  whatever 
\his  army  may  have  amounted  to,  it  was  quite 


diverted  from  the  Orleans  direction  a  day  or  two 
after  M.  Thiers  had  seen  it,  by  being  sent  west- 
ward to  Dreux,  to  cover  the  investing  circle  from 
the  expected  attack  in  that  direction.  The  road 
from  Orleans  to  Paris  was  thus  left  wholly  unde- 
fended; for  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  although 
known  to  be  coming,  did  not  arrive  from  Metz 
till  a  fortnight  later.  It  is  true  that  the  army  of 
the  Loire  was  as  yet  imperfectly  trained,  that  its 
commissariat  and  ammunition  service  was  but  very 
indifferently  organized,  and  that  the  depression 
caused  by  appalling  reverses  hung  like  a  spell 
on  the  French  commanders  ;  and  this  may  help  us 
to  understand  why  D'Aurelles  hesitated  to  attempt 
the  course  which  a  bolder  captain  would  have  taken. 
The  fact,  however,  remains,  that  this  was  the 
one  golden  opportunity  of  the  war,  and  the  respon- 
sibility of  neglecting  it  must  rest  with  the  com- 
mander-in-chief, whose  extreme  caution  led  to  his 
ultimate  removal.  When  at  last  the  patience  of 
the  minister  of  War  was  exhausted,  and  a  letter 
by  balloon  from  General  Trochu,  which  unfortu- 
nately fell  in  Norway,  informed  Gambetta  of  the 
intended  sortie  by  Ducrot,  he  allowed  the  generals 
near  Orleans  no  further  discretion  in  the  matter. 
Accordingly,  from  November  28  to  December 
2,  the  operations  of  the  army  of  the  Loire  took 
place  which  we  shall  presently  describe ;  but 
unfortunately  they  were  carried  out  by  D'Aurelles 
at  the  most  unfavourable  moment  that  could  have 
been  chosen,  whereas  a  fortnight  earlier  would 
have  been  the  best.  In  the  words  of  an  anony- 
mous, but  very  able  military  critic  in  the  Times, 
to  whom  we  have  been  greatly  indebted,  and 
whose  impartial  resumi  of  the  events  of  the 
campaign  has  since  been  republished,  *  "  It  is 
useless,  perhaps,  to  speculate  on  what  would 
have  been  the  probable  result,  had  D'Aurelles 
made  good  his  way  to  the  German  lines  in  the 
middle  of  November.  We  do  not  agree  with 
those  who  think  that  the  Germans,  caught  between 
two  fires,  would  have  suffered  a  terrible  reverse; 
Von  Moltke  would  have  certainly  drawn  off  in 
time,  as  Napoleon  did  before  Mantua  when  he 
became  aware  of  the  approach  of  Wurmser;  and  it 
may  be  assumed  that  the  army  of  the  Loire  would 
before  long  have  been  compelled  to  retreat.  Never- 
theless, the  siege  would  have  been  raised  ;  the 
armies  of  Paris,  now  in  fair  order,  would  have 

*  The  Campaign  of  1870-71.     Republished  bj  permission  from  the 
Times.     London  :  Bentley  and  Son. 


164 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WaR. 


marched  out  and  made  the  renewal  of  the  invest- 
ment in  winter  almost  impossible;  and  it  is  difficult 
to  imagine  what  the  effect  would  have  been  on  a 
brave  and  emotional  race  like  the  French.  This 
indicates  what  a  misfortune  to  France  was  the  fall 
of  Metz  at  the  close  of  October ;  how,  in  the 
words  of  one  in  the  German  camp,  the  capitulation 
'  came  in  the  nick  of  time.'  Had  the  fortress  held 
out  ten  days  longer  no  additional  corps  could 
have  been  moved  to  Paris;  in  all  probability  the 
Grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg  could  not  have  been 
detached  from  the  besieger's  lines ;  no  apparition 
of  Prince  Frederick  Charles  could  have  alarmed 
the  chief  of  the  army  of  the  Loire — and,  in  these 
events,  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  D'Aurelles,  who 
had  already  defeated,  would  have  overwhelmed 
Von  der  Tann,  and  marched  with  his  whole  force 
to  Paris." 

General  von  Moltke,  alive  to  the  danger  with 
which  he  had  been  threatened  in  consequence  of 
Von  der  Tann's  defeat,  made  a  new  disposition  of 
the  German  forces  without  the  delay  of  an  instant. 
While  the  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg  and  Von 
der  Tann  were  kept  on  the  arc  between  Dreux 
and  Toury,  observing  D'Aurelles  and  the  French 
army  of  the  west,  the  corps  intended  to  march 
northwards  were  placed  on  an  interior  line  from 
Laon  in  the  direction  of  Kouen.  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  received  orders  to  suspend  his  movement 
towards  the  Upper  Loire,  to  send  a  detachment 
to  co-operate  with  the  besiegers  to  the  south  of 
their  lines,  and  to  push  "  by  forced  marches  "  past 
the  Upper  Yonne,  and  take  up  positions  in  which 
he  could  communicate  with  Von  der  Tann  and 
the  grand-duke,  and  menace  the  right  flank  of 
the  army  of  the  Loire  should  it  venture  to  make 
a  move  northwards.  These  movements  were 
executed  with  the  precision  and  celerity  of  well- 
commanded  armies.  Within  a  week  after  D'Aurelles 
had  fallen  back  to  his  camp  near  Orleans,  ManteufFel 
had  formed  a  covering  force  against  any  incursion 
from  the  north ;  and  the  advanced  guard  of 
Prince  Frederick  Charles,  reaching  Fontainebleau, 
Nemours,  and  Pithiviers,  and  approaching  the 
extreme  left  of  Von  der  Tann,  had  almost  closed 
the  vast  semicircle  designed  to  oppose  an  iron 
barrier  to  the  French  armies  of  the  Loire  and 
west.  Thus,  the  prospects  of  France,  which  on 
the  10th  of  November  would  have  been  really 
full  of  hope  had  a  great  commander  wielded  her 
forces,  were  overclouded  by  the  19th,  and  an  oppor- 


tunity equally  favourable  for  repairing  hei  disasters 
did  not  again  occur. 

Meanwhile  great  uneasiness  had  been  caused  at 
Versailles  by  the  appearance  of  bodies  of  French 
troops  on  the  roads  leading  to  Paris  from  Eouen, 
Evreux,  and  Dreux.  It  was  believed  that  the 
French  armies  of  the  north,  and  especially  of 
Brittany,  were  about  to  make  a  convergent  move- 
ment on  Paris  in  combination  with  that  of  the 
Loire,  and  the  French  movements  at  Dreux  seemed 
to  confirm  the  belief.  Detachments  of  the  fiftl 
and  twelfth  corps  were  therefore  ordered  from 
the  neighbourhood  of  Versailles  to  support  the 
grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg  in  meeting  the  antici- 
pated attempt  along  the  roads  to  Chartres  and 
Dreux.  This  commotion  proved,  however,  to  have 
been  caused  chiefly  by  mere  detachments  of  the 
forces  of  Brittany,  which,  upon  the  news  of  Von 
der  Tann's  retreat,  had  been  pushed  towards  Paris. 
Dreux  was  held  by  about  6000  mobiles  and  marines, 
who,  on  the  appearance  of  the  duke  of  Mecklen- 
burg, fought  well;  but  as  the  opposing  forces 
numbered  more  than  30,000  men,  the  French 
retired  in  great  confusion  towards  Xonancourt. 
Here  they  rested  for  the  night,  and  were  preparing 
the  inevitable  coffee  early  the  following  morning, 
when  the  alarm  spread  that  the  Prussians  were 
coming.  The  headlong  flight  was  resumed  in  the 
direction  of  Le  Mans.  For  thirty  leagues  they 
were  harassed  by  their  pursuers,  whose  tread  they 
could  still  hear  while  traversing  with  difficulty  the 
woods  under  cover  of  a  fog.  It  was  this  handful 
of  Breton  mobiles  and  of  marines  which  had  thus, 
perhaps  unintentionally,  given  to  their  comrades 
of  the  Loire  the  immense  opportunity  to  which 
we  have  alluded.  General  von  Moltke  had  been 
completely  deceived  as  to  its  numbers,  and  in 
order  to  disperse  it  he  had  left  the  road  from 
Orleans  to  Paris  entirely  undefended,  and  sent 
westward  an  army  beyond  all  proportion  to  the 
danger  he  had  to  fear. 

After  the  victory  of  the  9th,  M.  Gambetta,  who 
showed  much  of  real  greatness  and  capacity  at  this 
crisis,  determined  that  at  any  rate  divided  counsels 
should  be  no  impediment  to  vigour  of  action. 
General  Keyan,  who  on  the  9th  had  not  been 
successful  in  outflanking  Von  der  Tann,  was  civilly 
got  rid  of  by  an  order  removing  all  retired  generals 
lately  appointed  to  the  staff;  an  order  construed 
by  Gambetta  as  applying  to  those  only  whom  it 
was  not  considered  desirable  to  retain,  for  General 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


165 


D'Aurelles  stood  in  the  same  list  with  the  officer 
thus  superseded.  Longuerue,  who  had  been  under 
Eeyan  at  the  first,  succeeded  him,  and  D'Aurelles 
was  promoted  to  the  command-in-chief  of  the 
whole  Loire  army,  having  at  the  time  of  the  battle 
had  charge  of  only  two  corps,  his  own  and  the 
fifteenth.  The  former  was  handed  over  to  General 
Pallieres,  one  of  the  officers  promoted  by  Gambetta 
after  the  battle,  in  recognition  of  the  first  success 
obtained  by  a  French  army  in  the  war.  Bourbaki 
was  removed  from  his  separate  charge  in  the  north 
to  serve  more  immediately  under  D'Aurelles  in 
the  command  of  the  eighteenth  corps,  and  the 
independent  command  of  General  Fiereck  and 
Count  Keratry  were  also  abolished.  These  ar- 
rangements were  readily  acquiesced  in  by  all  except 
Count  Keratry,  who  hastily  resigned  his  command, 
in  a  letter  betraying  a  feeling  of  injured  dignity. 

Thus  constituted  generalissimo  of  the  entire 
French  forces  south  and  east  of  Paris,  General 
d' Aurelles  de  Paladine  disposed  of  the  army  of  the 
Loire  as  follows : — On  the  extreme  left  the  seven- 
teenth corps,  under  General  Sonnis,  was  placed  at 
Chateaudun,  between  which  and  Artenay,  on  the 
left  also,  was  General  Chanzy,  with  the  sixteenth 
corps.  The  fifteenth  corps,  under  General  Martin 
des  Pallieres,  was  in  the  centre,  with  the  head- 
quarters behind  Artenay;  the  twentieth,  known 
hitherto  as  the  army  of  the  East,  now  under  General 
Creuzot,  was  placed  on  the  right  about  Ladon,  nine 
miles  due  west  from  Montargis,  and  seven  south- 
east from  Beaune-la-Eollande ;  the  extreme  right, 
formed  by  the  eighteenth  corps  under  General 
Bourbaki,  took  up  a  position  near  Montargis.  The 
united  strength  of  the  army  thus  brought  into 
line  amounted  to  200,000  men,  with  about  14,000 
cavalry,  and  between  500  and  600  guns. 

After  the  false  alarm  at  Versailles  of  a  move- 
ment on  Paris  by  Dreux  was  dissipated  by  the 
duke  of  Mecklenburg's  successes  over  the  petty 
levies  which  had  created  it,  his  triumphant  pro- 
gress towards  Le  Mans  was  suddenly  checked  by 
orders  directing  him  to  return  and  close  in  upon 
the  right  of  Von  der  Tann,  who  lay  isolated  in 
front  of  the  French  camp.  It  had  been  discovered 
that  D'Aurelles  had  not  really  moved;  and  it  was 
either  known  or  conjectured  that  behind  his 
screen  of  wood  he  was  receiving  large  reinforce- 
ments, to  enable  him  to  make  a  direct  advance  in 
overwhelming  strength. 

Whilst  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg  drew  in  from 


the  vicinity  of  Le  Mans,  and  marched  due  east- 
ward on  Chateaudun,  still  more  important  rein- 
forcements were  on  their  way  towards  the  other 
flank  of  Von  der  Tann.  The  march  of  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  with  the  three  corps  set  free 
from  Metz,  was  reported  from  day  to  day  to  be 
directed  steadily  on  the  passages  of  the  Yonne, 
which  crossed,  he  would  be  able  to  cover  all  the 
country  between  Fontainebleau  and  the  Loire 
with  the  head  of  his  columns.  By  November  24 
these  various  corps  had  arrived,  and  the  united 
armies  of  the  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg,  Von 
der  Tann,  and  Prince  Frederick  Charles  now 
stretched  away  in  a  great  arc  of  some  130  miles, 
trending  nearly  east  and  west,  from  Mamers  by 
Chartres  and  Pithiviers  to  Montargis.  The  duke 
of  Mecklenburg  commanded  on  the  western  side  of 
the  arc,  Von  der  Tann  under  him  in  the  centre, 
and  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  whose  headquarters 
were  at  Pithiviers,  on  the  east.  The  principal 
forces  of  the  Germans  were  on  a  line  curving 
round  from  Senonches,  eighteen  miles  south-west 
of  Dreux  on  the  left  of  Beaune-la-Eollande.  Von 
der  Tann's  corps  was  between  Bonneval,  nine  miles 
north  from  Chateaudun,  and  the  Paris  and  Orleans 
road.  The  ninth  Prussian  corps  was  across  that 
road  in  front  of  Toury;  the  third  corps  was  in 
front  of  Pithiviers,  and  the  tenth,  forming  the 
extreme  left,   was  at  Beaune-la-Rollande. 

Such,  about  the  25th  and  26th  of  November, 
were  the  positions  of  the  armies  intended  to  relieve 
and  cover  the  siege  of  Paris.  A  glance  at  the  map 
will  show  that,  strategically,  the  French  had  a 
great  advantage;  from  Marchenoir  by  Orleans  to  the 
road  to  Montargis,  they  had  possession  of  the  chord 
of  the  arc  from  Nogent-le-Eotrou,  Chartres,  Toury, 
to  the  left  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  still  some- 
what to  the  east  of  Montargis;  they  held  the 
principal  roads  to  Paris,  and  could  concentrate  by 
shorter  lines  and  more  quickly  than  the  enemy 
in  front.  United,  they  were  in  the  proportion  of 
nearly  two  to  one  to  the  Germans,  for  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  had  not  more  than  from  55,000 
to  60,000  men,  after  the  detachment  he  had  made 
to  the  besieger's  lines;  Von  der  Tann  and  the 
grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg  had  probably  not  more 
than  45,000;  and  though  the  French  troops,  as  a 
whole,  were  not  to  be  compared  with  their  foes, 
one  half  of  them  certainly  were  very  fan-  soldiers. 
The  arrangements  did  great  credit  to  the  military 
skill  of  D'Aurelles,  and  the  zeal  and  patriotism  of 


1G6 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  French  people;  they  showed  either  that  the 
German  commanders  underrated  the  strength  of 
the  army  of  the  Loire,  or  were  still  exceedingly 
hard  pressed ;  and  though  they  did  not  present  a 
prospect  of  success  equal  to  that  of  the  9th  and 
10th  November,  a  great  commander  would  have 
known  how  to  turn  them  to  good  account.  In 
fact,  with  this  difference,  that  his  numerical 
strength  was  not  half,  but  double,  that  of  his  foes, 
D'Aurelles  was  in  a  position  similar  to  that  of 
Napoleon  when  he  invaded  Belgium  in  1815. 

During  all  this  time  Prince  Frederick  Charles 
had  been  marching  with  extraordinary  speed.  His 
brigades  advanced  separately,  by  various  roads, 
to  their  general  rendezvous  at  Pithiviers;  but 
D'Aurelles  let  them  come  without  attempting  to 
attack  them,  though  General  des  Pallieres  asked 
to  be  allowed  to  march  against  them  with  his 
division,  and  though  M.  Gambetta  wrote  a  despatch 
on  the  subject  on  the  13th  November.  General 
D'Aurelles,  however,  invoked  the  old  arguments 
of  bad  weather,  bad  roads,  and  ill-clothed  troops ; 
and  time  passed  uselessly  until  the  19th  November, 
when  M.  Gambetta  seems  to  have  lost  patience. 
On  that  day  he  wrote  to  the  general  as  follows : — 
"  We  cannot  stop  eternally  at  Orleans.  Paris  is 
hungry,  and  calls  for  us.  Prepare  a  plan  which 
will  enable  us  to  reach  Trochu,  who  will  come 
out  to  meet  us."  General  D'Aurelles  declined, 
however,  to  prepare  a  plan,  on  the  ground  that 
he  could  not  do  so  without  knowing  what  General 
Trochu  meant  to  do.  It  was  not  till  about  the 
23rd  November  that  orders  were  at  last  given  to 
get  ready  to  march,  and  to  send  forward  a  few 
divisions  to  open  the  road. 

The  first  movement  of  D'Aurelles,  judged  by 
strategic  principles,  apart  from  its  eventual  failure, 
cannot  be  said  to  have  been  the  wisest  or  most 
promising  operation.  He  threw  forward  his  right 
wing  by  Ladon,  Maizieres,  and  Montargis,  without 
any  similar  advance  of  his  centre  and  left;  and  on 
November  28  he  attacked  with  two  corps,  more 
than  60,000  strong,  the  tenth  Hanoverian  corps 
of  General  Voigts-Rhetz,  which  held  the  left  of  the 
Prussian  line,  and  lay  in  position  between  the 
towns  of  Corbeille  and  Beaune-la-Rollande,  across 
the  road  to  Fontainebleau  and  Melun.  The  attack 
was  begun  on  the  outposts,  early  in  the  morning, 
by  the  advanced  guards  of  several  French  columns 
which  debouched  from  the  wooded  country  in 
front.     They  showed  in  such  force  that  the  Prus- 


sian pickets  were  obliged  to  retire  hastily  on  their 
supports,  which  took  up  a  position  between  Beaune 
and  the  Montargis  Railway,  covered  in  front  by 
a  small  brook,  and  withdrew  from  Corbeille  alto- 
gether. The  French  advanced  rapidly,  and  soon 
after  eleven  a.m.  drew  up  in  a  parallel  line,  their 
main  columns  being  concealed  in  the  hollows  of  the 
undulating  ground.  Swarms  of  their  skirmishers 
opened  a  biting  fire  on  the  position  of  the  Prus- 
sians, who  replied  as  warmly,  and  obstinately  held 
Beaune.  The  French  artillery  advanced  at  a 
gallop  and  crowned  a  high  mound  or  hill  which 
almost  overlooks  the  town;  while  several  heavy 
columns  of  infantry  prepared  to  storm  it  under 
their  fire.  The  artillery  actually  came  within  500 
yards  of  Beaune  and  seemed  to  riddle  it,  as  well 
as  the  barricades  at  its  entrance,  with  their  shell 
splinters.  Bullets  came  thick  in  return  from  these 
barricades  and  through  the  loopholed  walls;  but 
General  Voigts-Rhetz  could  only  hold  his  own. 
The  French,  who  were  in  far  superior  numbers, 
began  to  extend  their  left,  and  enveloping  the 
Prussian  right,  threatened  to  cut  it  off  from 
Pithiviers,  whence  Prince  Frederick  Charles  was 
bringing  up  supports  in  person.  And  sorely  were 
they  needed.  The  French  left  gradually  closed 
round  more  and  more.  At  one  o'clock  a  mitrail- 
leuse battery  was  established  on  the  very  road  to 
Pithiviers.  It  opened  on  the  rear  of  the  hard-set 
Prussians,  while  the  shell  and  mitrailleuse  batteries 
on  the  hill  referred  to  above  tore  their  front;  and 
on  three  sides  they  were  assailed  by  a  continuous 
fire  of  musketry  from  the  infantry,  which  Hart- 
mann's  cavalry  in  vain  tried  to  check  by  frequent 
demonstrations  on  the  flanks.  The  position  was 
most  critical.  It  was  only  the  courage  and  con- 
stancy of  the  men  which  rendered  it  tenable  at 
all.  General  Voigts-Rhetz,  seemingly  with  a 
presentiment  of  the  desperate  work  the  defence 
would  involve,  had  issued  orders  for  the  corps  to 
hold  the  village  to  the  last  man,  and  above  all  not 
to  be  made  prisoners,  even  if  surrounded.  The 
corps  was  Hanoverian,  and  had  never  yet  been 
beaten,  even  during  the  war  of  1866,  in  the  course 
of  which,  indeed,  they  had  seen  the  backs  of  their 
Prussian  foes.  General  Wedel,  who  commanded 
in  Beaune,  responded  to  the  order  of  Voigts-Rhetz 
by  expressing  his  determination  to  hold  the  place 
as  long  as  he  had  a  man  left.  The  French  General 
Creuzot  had  been  bombarding  the  place  for  several 
hours,  his  troops  throwing  ball  and  shell  into  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


167 


dwellings  of  their  own  countrymen,  whose  severe 
sufferings  caused  them  to  fly  into  the  surrounding 
woods  for  shelter  from  the  fire  of  their  defenders. 
The  town  was  on  fire,  but  through  smoke  and 
flame  the  white  jets  of  the  musketry  fire  spurted 
out  continuously  with  the  roar  of  the  artillery  and 
the  fitful  grunts  of  the  mitrailleuse.  Meantime 
a  sustained  action  was  going  on  between  the  two 
other  brigades  of  Voigts-Rhetz's  corps  and  a  French 
force  which  exceeded  them  in  number;  but  for  this 
the  superiority  of  the  Prussian  artillery  in  open 
ground  compensated. 

The  tenth  corps,  unsupported,  had  now  held 
their  position  against  overwhelming  odds  for  nearly 
six  hours.  They  were  entirely  surrounded  by 
three  French  divisions,  but  refused  to  yield  to  a 
summons  to  surrender;  on  which  the  French 
suddenly  pushed  forward  a  great  column  to  the 
assault  of  Beaune-la-Rollande,  down  the  road  to 
the  main  street.  Men  fell  fast,  but  the  column 
went  on  till  it  reached  the  barricade,  where  it  was 
greeted  with  glistening  bayonets,  and  soon  melted 
away  beneath  a  rolling  fire.  Long  lines  of  dead 
and  dying  marked  its  path,  thickest  where  the 
crossing  of  the  brook  caused  a  momentary  delay 
and  gave  a  steadier  aim  to  their  enemy.  General 
Voigts-Ehetz,  however,  was  very  dangerously 
pressed,  and  his  ammunition  was  expended  almost 
to  the  last  cartridge,  when  he  received  the  wel- 
come news  that  the  "  Red  Prince "  was  close  at 
hand,  who,  with  his  troops,  began  to  show  in  the 
rear  along  the  Pithiviers  road.  With  steadiness 
and  coolness,  as  if  on  parade,  the  columns  drew 
up  and  formed  in  order  of  battle  across  the  road, 
while  thirty  guns  dashing  forward  covered  a  ridge 
north  of  Beaune,  and  opened  fire  on  the  French 
left.  The  arrival  of  these  troops  turned  the  day. 
Before  they  had  formed  up,  the  French  began  to 
withdraw  their  left,  and  D'Aurelles'  took  up  a 
position  in  a  line  on  the  front  of  those  troops  who 
were  fighting  beyond  the  brook.  But  rapidly  and 
skilfully  as  the  French  left  retired,  it  could  not 
avoid  the  attack  directed  against  it  by  Stulpnagel, 
who  drove  straight  at  the  heights  over  Beaune, 
and  captured  more  than  1000  prisoners,  who  had 
held  the  various  farmhouses.  Voigts-Rhetz,  thus 
relieved,  at  once  assumed  the  offensive;  but  it  was 
now  dark,  and  pursuit  was  not  possible,  except 
in  such  charges  as,  by  the  light  of  the  blazing 
town,  Hartmann's  cavalry  could  make  on  detached 
parties.    The  French  artillery  covered  their  retreat, 


and  they  drew  off  unmolested ;  but  they  left 
behind  them  their  dead  and  wounded,  and  lost  in 
all  nearly  7000,  including  prisoners  and  missing; 
while  the  Prussians  estimated  their  loss  at  only 
1000  in  that  desperate  fight. 

At  the  time  it  was  thought  that  this  attack 
of  the  28th  was  concerted  with  General  Trochu 
in  Paris,  and  that  it  threw  a  clear  light  on  the 
object  proposed  by  the  latter  in  his  sorties  of  the 
29th,  when  Ducrot's  attack  on  Villiers,  postponed 
to  the  30th  on  account  of  the  rising  of  the  Marne, 
was  to  have  been  made  simultaneously  with  the 
demonstrations  against  Choisy  and  other  points  of 
the  investing  circle.  It  is  now  known,  however, 
that  the  attack  of  the  28  th  was  made  in  compliance 
with  the  urging  of  the  Tours  government,  rather 
than  as  the  result  of  any  arrangement  between 
D'Aurelles  and  Paris.  A  combined  movement 
was  certainly  proposed  by  General  Trochu,  but, 
as  we  shall  presently  explain,  it  did  not  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  commander  of  the  Loire 
army  until  after  the  battle  of  Beaune  la  Rollande. 
Trochu's  plan  was  limited  to  effecting  a  lodgment 
on  the  further  side  of  the  Marne,  close  to  the 
besiegers'  lines,  and  holding  it  until  the  arrival  of 
a  French  army  from  the  south,  which  he  looked 
for  on  the  1st  of  December.  As  will  be  shown  in 
the  next  chapter,  he  entirely  performed  his  part  of 
the  plan;  and  it  is  obvious  that,  had  an  attack 
been  made  on  the  rear  of  the  Wiirtemburgers  by 
the  troops  coming  from  Beaune,  at  the  same  time 
that  Ducrot  assailed  them  in  front,  the  Germans, 
obliged  to  concentrate  their  forces  for  a  great  battle, 
must  have  raised  the  investment.  How  nearly  the 
only  half-arranged  plan  succeeded  is  clear  from 
the  fact  that,  had  the  arrival  of  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  been  delayed  only  one  hour,  he  would  in 
all  likelihood  have  met  the  tenth  corps  in  full 
retreat,  and  the  two  victorious  French  corps  might 
then  have  marched  to  Paris  by  Fontainebleau. 
D'Aurelles,  who  in  this  operation  had  committed 
the  grave  strategical  error  of  first  striking  at  the 
strongest  part  of  his  enemy's  line,  now  fell 
back  towards  his  camp  at  Orleans,  and  remained 
inactive  for  two  days,  a  delay  which  his  adversaries 
turned  to  fatal  account  against  him. 

On  the  13th  November  M.  Gambetta  had  sent 
a  pigeon-telegram  to  General  Trochu,  informing 
him  of  the  victory  of  Coulmiers,  and  proposing 
joint  action  between  the  Loire  and  Paris  armies. 
A  balloon  reply   was  received,    agreeing  to  the 


168 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR 


proposal,  although  Trochu  himself  had  previously 
contemplated  a  great  sortie  in  the  direction  of 
Rouen,  and  was  rather  disconcerted  than  other- 
wise at  the  success  at  Coulmiers.  Another  balloon 
left  Paris  on  the  24th  November,  carrying  word 
to  D'Aurelles  that  a  sortie  on  a  large  scale  would 
be  made  on  the  29th,  in  the  hope  of  breaking  the 
investing  lines,  and  of  effecting  a  junction  with 
the  army  of  the  Loire.  Most  unfortunately,  how- 
ever, this  balloon  was  carried  into  Norway,  and  it 
was  not  till  the  30th  that  its  intelligence  reached 
Tours  by  telegraph.  Such  a  definitive  announce- 
ment from  Paris  was  of  course  of  the  highest 
importance,  and  M.  de  Freycinet,  M.  Gambetta's 
delegate,  was  instantly  sent  up  from  Tours  to 
General  D'Aurelles,  with  instructions  to  send  the 
whole  army  forward  next  morning  towards  Pithi- 
viers,  where  the  Red  Prince's  troops  were  supposed 
to  be  massed  by  this  time.  A  council  of  war 
was  called  to  meet  M.  de  Freycinet,  whose  arrival 
was  announced  by  telegraph;  and  though  a  march 
forward  under  such  hasty  circumstances  was  con- 
sidered to  be  dangerous,  and  was  objected  to  by 
the  generals  present,  M.  Gambetta's  will  prevailed. 
It  was  decided  to  attempt  to  form  a  junction  with 
General  Ducrot  from  Paris  at  Fontainebleau,  and 
the  details  of  the  operation  were  discussed  and 
settled.  A  large  stock  of  food,  representing  eight 
days'  rations  for  300,000  men,  had  been  prepared, 
and  was  to  be  sent  after  the  army  directly  Pithi- 
viers  was  taken. 

These  arrangements  were  made  in  the  two 
Jays  which  followed  the  engagement  of  the  28th 
November.  In  the  meantime,  however,  Prince 
Frederick  Charles,  warned  by  the  affair  of  Beaune- 
la-Rollande,  and  having  learnt,  perhaps  for  the 
(irst  time,  the  real  strength  of  the  French,  per- 
ceived at  a  glance  the  disadvantageous  position 
of  the  German  forces,  and  issued  orders  for  their 
concentration  upon  a  narrower  front,  taking  care, 
especially,  to  close  the  interval  between  Von  der 
Tann  and  the  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg.  Before 
this  could  be  effected,  however,  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  French  corps,  under  Chanzy  and  Son- 
nis,  on  December  1st  attacked  the  Bavarians  at 
Patay.  Isolated  as  the  Bavarians  were,  they  were 
unable  to  withstand  the  impetuosity  of  a  force 
nearly  three  times  their  strength ;  and  for  the 
greater  part  of  a  short  winter's  day  a  gleam  of 
success  warmed  the  hearts  of  the  ill- fed  and  ill- 
supplied  legions  of  General  Paladine.      Von  der 


Tann's  brigade  was  driven  back  with  heavy  loss; 
but  it  was  almost  immediately  supported  by  two 
other  brigades,  and  after  a  bloody  fight  the  French 
were,  by  night-time,  repulsed,  though  not  until 
they  had  inflicted  upon  their  adversaries  losses 
amounting  to  above  400  in  killed  and  wounded, 
of  which  the  proportion  of  officers  was  unusually 
great.  Had  they  been  able  to  follow  up  their 
first  advantage,  and  to  push  on  somewhat  further, 
the  communication  would  have  been  severed  be- 
tween Von  der  Tann  and  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg. 
On  the  same  day,  December  1,  another  balloon 
reached  Belle  Isle,  bringing  news  of  the  first  day's 
sortie  from  Paris,  announcing  a  victory,  and  stating 
that  the  battle  would  go  on  next  day.  Thereupon 
General  D'Aurelles  issued  a  proclamation  to  his 
men,  saying,  "  Paris,  by  a  sublime  effort  of  courage 
and  patriotism,  has  broken  the  Prussian  lines. 
General  Ducrot,  at  the  head  of  his  army,  is  march- 
ing toward  us;  let  us  march  towards  him  with  a 
vigour  equal  to  that  of  the  Paris  army."  Des- 
patches were  sent  to  Generals  Briand  at  Rouen, 
and  Faidherbe  at  Lille,  begging  them  to  support 
the  movement  by  a  concentric  march  on  Paris,  so 
as  to  occupy  the  Germans  at  all  points.  M.  Gam- 
betta  telegraphed  all  over  France  that  the  hour 
of  success  had  come  at  last,  and  in  the  course  of 
a  speech  delivered  at  Tours  the  same  day,  said, 
"  Thanks  to  the  efforts  of  the  entire  country,  vic- 
tory returns  to  us,  as  if  to  make  us  forget  the  long 
series  of  our  misfortunes.  It  favours  us  from  every 
point.  In  effect,  our  army  of  the  Loire  has  for 
three  weeks  disconcerted  all  the  plans  of  the  Prus- 
sians, and  repulsed  all  their  attacks.  Their  tactics 
have  been  powerless  against  the  solidity  of  our 
troops,  who  have  now  vigorously  launched  them- 
selves in  advance.  Our  two  great  armies  march 
to  meet  each  other.  In  their  ranks  each  officer 
and  soldier  knows  that  he  holds  in  his  hands  the 
fate  of  the  country  itself.  That  alone  renders  them 
invincible.  Who  then  would  doubt  henceforth  the 
final  issue  of  this  gigantic  struggle  ?  The  Prus- 
sians can  appreciate  to-day  the  difference  between 
a  despot  who  fights  to  satisfy  his  personal  ambition, 
and  an  armed  people  which  refuses  to  perish.  It 
will  be  the  everlasting  honour  of  the  republic  to 
have  given  back  to  France  the  sentiment  of  herself, 
and,  having  found  her  in  the  depths  of  abasement, 
her  armies  betrayed,  her  soil  occupied  by  the 
stranger,  to  have  brought  back  to  her  military 
honour,  the  discipline  of  her  armies,  and  victory. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


169 


The  invader  is  now  upon  the  route  where  he  is 
awaited  by  the  fire  of  our  population  raised  in  his 
rear.  Behold,  citizens,  what  can  be  done  by  a 
great  nation  which  wishes  to  preserve  intact  the 
glory  of  its  name,  and  to  assert  the  triumph  of 
right  and  of  justice  in  the  world  !  France  and 
the  universe  will  never  forget  that  Paris  first  of 
all  has  given  that  example,  has  inculcated  that 
policy,  and  has  thus  established  her  moral  supre- 
macy in  remaining  faithful  to  the  heroic  spirit  of 
the  Revolution." 

Alas,  that  such  fair  prospects  should  be  doomed 
to  be  so  speedily  extinguished !  In  the  night  fol- 
lowing the  battle  of  the  1st  Von  der  Tann  and  the 
duke  of  Mecklenburg  effected  a  junction  with  their 
respective  forces,  and  on  the  morrow  a  more  difficult 
task  lay  before  the  army  of  D' Aurelles.  His  troops, 
however,  nothing  daunted,  resumed  their  attack  on 
the  2nd,  and  a  desperate  conilict  ensued,  known 
afterwards  as  the  battle  of  Bazoche-des-Hautes, 
which  raged  most  fiercely  round  the  chateau  of 
Goury,  a  position  which  the  French  would  certainly 
have  captured  but  for  the  timely  arrival  of  the 
Hanseatic  brigade.  Shortly  afterwards,  Prince 
Albrecht's  cavalry  also  arrived,  and  the  French 
retired  to  the  village  of  Poupry,  where  for  a  time 
they  made  a  gallant  resistance.  But  though  rein- 
forced, they  were  unable  to  resist  the  steady  wave 
of  opposition  which  rolled  upon  them  from  nearly 
every  side.  The  most  they  could  hope  to  do  was 
to  retire  as  slowly  as  possible,  and  in  this  they 
succeeded,  fighting  well,  and  showing  far  more 
dan,  the  German  officers  said,  than  had  been  dis- 
played by  any  of  the  troops  they  had  already  con- 
quered. The  village  of  Poupry  was  stormed  soon 
after  the  middle  of  the  day,  and  resulted  in  the 
capture  of  several  coveted  positions,  sixteen  guns, 
and  about  2000  prisoners.  The  cost  to  the  Germans 
was  serious,  but  the  result  enabled  them  to  inter- 
pose between  the  two  French  corps  engaged  (the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth)  and  Pallieres'  fifteenth 
corps,  which  in  consequence  of  the  exposure  of  its 
left  flank  fell  back  before  the  enemy  to  Chevilly. 

Prince  Frederick  Charles  by  this  time  had  the 
whole  German  army  nearly  in  hand,  and  resolved 
in  turn  to  deal  a  decisive  blow  at  the  enemy  now 
extended  before  him.  Directing  one  of  his  corps 
to  Beaumont,  he  restrained  and  paralyzed  the  whole 
French  right  wing,  and  struck  rapidly  at  the  com- 
paratively scattered  left  and  centre  with  the  rest 
of  his  forces.     On  the  3rd  he  directed  his  ninth 


corps  against  Pallieres'  (fifteenth  French  corps)  at 
Chevilly,  and  his  third  from  Pithiviers,  against 
Creuzot's  twentieth  corps  at  Chilleurs-aux-bois  (due 
east  from  Artenay  on  the  road  from  Orleans  to 
Pithiviers).  His  tenth  corps  was  advanced  from 
Beaumont  so  as  to  interpose  between  the  French 
eighteenth  corps  at  Ladon  and  the  twentieth  at 
Chilleurs. 

The  engagements  of  December  3  were  not  of 
the  sanguinary  character  of  those  of  the  two  pre- 
ceding days.  The  vast  plain  between  Artenay 
and  Orleans  affords  ample  scope  for  the  manoeuvres 
of  immense  masses  of  troops,  and  as  there  could 
not  have  been  fewer  than  150,000  men  visible  at 
one  time  in  battle  array,  the  spectacle  was  unriv- 
alled. Here  large  bodies  of  cavalry  scoured  the 
plain ;  there  artillery  dashed  to  the  front,  and 
opened  suddenly  on  the  enemy,  as  any  fresh  points 
were  exposed  in  his  retreat ;  while  dense  masses 
of  troops  steadily  advanced  to  the  attack  of 
new  positions.  The  main  point  of  assault  was 
Chevilly.  The  troops  looked  well  in  spite  of  the 
searching  severity  of  the  weather,  and  of  their 
having,  for  the  most  part,  bivouacked  unprotected 
under  wintry  skies  and  on  the  cold  ground.  The 
landscape,  of  broken  woodland,  somewhat  resem- 
bling the  neighbourhood  of  Strathfieldsaye,  was 
slightly  covered  with  snow.  Forage  was  difficult 
to  get,  for  the  country,  thrice  fought  over  in  six 
weeks,  had  been  eaten  bare.  But  Prince  Frederick 
Charles'  commissariat  had  done  its  duty,  and  the 
men  went  into  action  with  the  full  stomach  that 
so  remarkably  ministers  to  courage.  The  snow 
was  not  deep  enough  as  yet  to  muffle  their  tread, 
and  the  roads,  hard  as  iron,  gave  out  a  ringing 
sound  under  every  galloping  hoof.  Once  in  the 
day  the  French  made  a  desperate  attempt  to  turn 
the  grand-duke's  right  flank,  but  the  Bavarians 
gallantly  baffled  it,  and  got  round  south  as  far  as 
Giday.  For  the  most  part,  however,  the  tactics 
of  the  French  were  defensive  ;  and  assisted  by  the 
heavy  batteries  of  position  so  well  served  by  the 
marines,  they  made  the  work  of  the  assailants 
arduous  and  costly.  At  one  time  a  dexterous  and 
bold  charge  was  made  by  a  regiment  of  hussars, 
who  crept  round  a  French  battery,  rapidly  charged 
it  from  the  rear,  and  simply  escorted  it  off  with 
everyhorse,  gun,  man,  sponge,  and  stick  belonging 
to  it;  a  few  hours  afterwards  the  Germans  had  all, 
beautifully  complete,  exposed  to  view  just  behind 
the   Great   Louis'  statue  in  front  of  the  chateau 


170 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


near  Orleans.  Night,  however,  which  came  so 
early  at  that  season  of  the  year,  and  which  might 
well  fall  upon  drawn  battles,  saw  the  French  line 
abandoned.  Five  villages  blazing  in  unison,  the 
fair  result  of  deadly  and  mutual  fire,  shed  a  lovely, 
if  lurid,  light  over  the  snowy  prospect;  and  by 
their  assistant  flames  the  victors  read  in  deserted 
entrenchments  and  surrendered  guns  the  measures 
of  that  day's  success. 

The  troops  bivouacked  on  the  ground  won,  and 
the  scene  was  as  full  of  picturesque  interest  as  that 
of  the  day.  The  night  of  the  3rd  found  at  least 
50,000  men  of  the  German  army  sleeping  "  unter 
freiem  Himmel."  Huge  fires  of  unthrashed  wheat 
straw  added  their  quota  of  blaze  to  the  burning 
villages,  and  the  heavens  were  aglow  with  ruddy 
lights.  Around  these  fires  were  grouped  crowds 
of  soldiers  unable  to  do  more  than  take  brief  naps 
on  account  of  the  cold,  and  constantly  making 
short  pilgrimages  between  the  straw  in  which  they 
tried  to  bury  themselves  when  asleep,  and  that 
straw  at  which  they  warmed  themselves  when 
awake.  It  was  melancholy  to  see  the  amount  of 
food  thus  necessarily  burnt.  In  the  two  miserable 
farmhouses  which  compose  Beaugency,  were  quar- 
tered the  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg  and  his  train, 
including  more  than  one  other  royal  personage, 
all  of  whom  had  to  content  themselves  with  straw 
to  lie  upon  and  short  rations ;  for  the  column 
which  contained  the  army  provisions  had  not 
arrived,  and  the  men  had  to  put  up  with  such  as 
might  happen  to  be  in  their  pockets.  But  the 
morrow — after  a  darkness  not  too  long  for  rest  or 
respite — brought  them  face  to  face  with  another 
iron  line.  Chevilly  had  been  won;  but  behind  it 
stood  Cercottes,  and  behind  Cercottes  were  the 
lunettes  and  batteries  of  Montjoie  If  ever  a 
hard  day's  work  was  set  for  an  army  flushed,  yet 
fatigued,  with  victory,  it  would  seem  to  be  the  work 
of  that  unsabbath-fike  Sabbath.  Would  Orleans  be 
reached  before  the  frosty  stars  once  more  glittered 
upon  their  weakened  ranks  ?  There  were  eighteen 
marine  pieces  in  position  at  Cercottes,  six  to  the 
right  and  twelve  to  the  left;  another  twelve  stood 
ready  to  defend  Montjoie  ;  whilst  the  intersection 
of  four  railways  immediately  north  of  Orleans  itself 
was  known  to  have  been  turned  to  very  important 
account.  Yet  with  all  the  excellence  of  their 
position  and  its  adjuncts,  the  French  fought  but  ill. 
Their  guns  were  admirably  served,  but  there  was 
no  heart  in  the  infantry ;  and  when  an  entire  battery 


was  triumphantly  carried  by  a  battalion  of  jagers 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  there  were  no  serried 
lines  ambitious  to  retake  it.  The  troops,  once 
finding  themselves  hurrying  to  the  rear,  though 
they  did  not  actually  run  away,  were  not  suffi- 
ciently disciplined  to  obey  their  commanders 
blindly;  and,  like  a  horse  who  has  taken  the  bit 
between  his  teeth,  moved  steadily  backwards, 
fighting  as  they  went,  but  refusing  to  wait  any- 
where long  enough  permanently  to  arrest  the 
advance  of  the  enemy.  The  latter,  finding  them 
in  this  mood,  and  feeling  sure  of  their  object,  did 
not  press  them  unduly,  and  hence,  perhaps,  the 
comparatively  small  loss  on  their  part,  and  the 
order  with  which  the  retreat  was  conducted.  It 
seemed  almost  as  though  it  had  been  arranged  that 
the  one  party  should  recede,  and  the  other  advance, 
at  a  given  pace.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Ger- 
mans saved  a  great  many  lives  by  this  policy ;  but 
it  is  not  the  less  certain  that,  had  they  pressed  the 
enemy  as  severely  as  they  might  have  done,  the 
enormous  stores  and  materials  of  all  sorts  collected 
in  Orleans  for  Paris  would  have  fallen  into  their 
hands.  These  the  French  succeeded  afterwards  in 
carrying  away  in  safety.  Before  twelve  o'clock 
on  the  4th  Cercottes  had  been  carried,  and  late  in 
the  afternoon,  Montjoie  ceased  to  resist.  At  five 
o'clock  darkness  descended  upon  victors  and  van- 
quished ;  the  latter  still  keeping  up  a  sullen  fire  as 
they  retreated.  The  darkness,  however,  was  not 
for  long.  At  seven  the  moon  rose,  not  quite  full, 
but  clear,  and  brightening  the  frosty  air ;  and  with 
it  came  the  cry  of  "  Forward." 

The  fifteenth  French  corps  had  fallen  back, 
routed,  on  Orleans;  the  twentieth,  prevented  from 
gaining  that  city  by  the  turning  of  its  left,  retreated 
across  the  Loire  at  Jargeau  towards  Vierzon.  The 
eighteenth,  thus  isolated,  retired  to  Sully  on  the 
Loire  (about  midway  between  Jargeau  and  Gien), 
and  thence  by  Gien  towards  Bourges.  These  two 
corps  then  pursued  their  retreat  separately,  and 
were  ultimately  united  at  Bourges,  with  the  fif- 
teenth corps  coming  direct  from  Orleans,  under 
Bourbaki.  On  the  other  flank,  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  French  corps,  forming  the  right  wing, 
had  been  cut  off  from  all  communication  with  the 
centre;  and  thus  the  fifteenth  corps  under  Pallieres 
was  alone  available  for  the  defence  of  Orleans,  which 
was  supposed  to  be  intrenched.  In  reality,  a  few 
earthen  batteries  had  been  thrown  up,  but  uncon- 
nected with  each  other:  while  nothing  effectual  had 


'eriZle 


Drawn  unior  tke  Sup erintand once   of  Cirp 


£rarea   ty  Tk>"b«rt  Walter. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


171 


been  done  towards  clearing  their  line  of  fire  in 
front,  or  for  connecting  them  with  each  other,  so 
that  the  position  could  be  got  through  at  almost  any 
point  by  the  enemy's  skirmishers.  With  the  large 
amount  of  labour  available  after  the  reoccupation 
of  Orleans,  there  was  apparently  ample  time  to 
have  constructed  a  really  strong  intrenched  posi- 
tion, behind  which  D'Aurelles  might  have  made 
an  effective  stand  with  the  whole  French  army. 
As  it  was,  these  imperfect  works  were  quite  in- 
sufficient to  reassure  the  young  levies  under  his 
command,  demoralized  by  defeat  and  hardship.  If 
ever  a  lesson  was  to  be  learnt  of  the  importance 
of  the  spade  in  war,  it  was  here. 

General  D'Aurelles  having  sent  word  to  Tours 
that  he  considered  it  impossible  to  defend  Or- 
leans successfully,  Gambetta  instantly  replied  by 
telegraph:  "  Your  despatch  of  to-night  causes  the 
most  painful  stupefaction.  I  can  see  nothing  in 
the  facts  it  communicates  to  justify  the  desperate 
resolution  with  which  it  concludes.  Thus  far 
you  have  managed  badly,  and  have  got  yourself 
beaten  in  detail;  but  you  still  have  200,000  men 
in  a  state  to  fight,  provided  their  leaders  set  them 
the  example  of  courage  and  patriotism.  The 
evacuation  you  propose  would  be,  irrespective  of 
its  military  consequences,  an  immense  disaster. 
It  is  not  at  the  very  moment  when  the  heroic 
Ducrot  is  fighting  his  way  to  us  that  we  can 
withdraw  from  him ;  the  moment  for  such  an 
extremity  is  not  yet  come.  I  see  nothing  to 
change  for  the  present  in  the  instructions  which  I 
sent  you  last  evening.  Operate  a  general  move- 
ment of  concentration,  as  I  have  ordered."  The 
greater  part  of  D'Aurelles'  army  had  by  this  time 
been  beaten  and  scattered ;  and  to  Gambetta's 
telegram  he  replied  at  eight  on  the  morning  of 
the  4th:  "  I  am  on  the  spot,  and  am  more  able 
than  you  are  to  judge  the  situation.  It  gives  me 
as  much  grief  as  you  to  adopt  this  extreme  resolu- 
tion. Orleans  is  surrounded,  and  can  no  longer 
be  defended  by  troops  exhausted  by  three  days  of 
fatigue  and  battle,  and  demoralized  by  the  heavy 
losses  they  have  sustained.  The  enemy's  forces 
exceed  all  my  expectations,  and  all  the  estimates 
which  you  have  given  me.  The  city  will  fall  into 
the  enemy's  hands  to-night  or  to-morrow.  That 
will  be  a  great  misfortune;  but  the  only  way  to 
avoid  a  still  greater  catastrophe,  is  to  have  the 
courage  to  make  a  sacrifice  while  it  is  yet  time.  I 
therefore  maintain  the  orders  which  I  have  given." 


This  brought  back,  two  hours  later,  another  angry 
protest  from  Tours,  leaving,  however,  to  General 
d'Aurelles  the  power  to  retreat  on  his  own  respon- 
sibility. This  despatch  left  Tours  at  11  a.m.  on 
the  4th,  and  at  noon  D'Aurelles  wrote  from  Or- 
leans as  follows: — "I  change  my  plans.  I  send  to 
Orleans  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  corps.  I 
have  summoned  the  eighteenth  and  twentieth  corps. 
I  am  organizing  the  defence.  I  am  at  Orleans,  at 
my  post." 

The  Prussians,  however,  arrived  near  the  city 
before  either  of  these  corps  could  be  brought  up, 
and  from  three  p.m.  till  after  dark  the  fifteenth 
corps  sustained  a  severe  onset,  which  resulted  in 
their  retreat  on  the  town.  M.  Gambetta  came  up 
by  special  train  from  Tours  in  the  afternoon,  with 
the  idea  that  his  presence  might  produce  some 
effect;  but  on  getting  within  about  ten  miles 
of  Orleans  his  train  ran  into  a  barricade,  which 
had  been  hastily  thrown  across  the  line  by  the 
enemy.  At  the  same  time  some  uhlans  lying 
in  ambush  fired  upon  him,  and  he  escaped  almost 
by  a  miracle.  Severely  shaken  though  he  was 
by  the  shock  of  the  collision,  the  minister  got 
back  on  foot  to  Beaugency,  where  he  took  a 
carriage  to  Ecouis,  in  the  hope  of  there  getting 
some  news  from  Orleans,  but  he  could  find  none. 
He  then  made  his  way  to  Blois,  where  at  nine 
in  the  evening  he  received,  through  Tours,  from 
D'Aurelles  the  disheartening  despatch: — "I  had 
hoped  up  to  the  last  moment  not  to  evacuate 
Orleans;  but  all  my  efforts  were  useless.  I  shall 
evacuate  to-night." 

The  general  belief  in  the  efficient  state  of  the 
army  of  the  Loire,  the  news  about  Ducrot,  the 
success  on  the  1st  of  December,  followed  by  the 
decoration  of  Chanzy  with  the  grand  cross  of  the 
Legion  of  Honour,  and  certain  intimations  of  the 
archbishop  while  conducting  a  special  divine  ser- 
vice, had  not  prepared  the  people  of  Orleans  to  expect 
the  reverse  which  had  already  occurred.  But  the 
vague  rumours  which  began  to  circulate  on  the 
3rd,  and  which  were  considerably  strengthened 
by  the  arrival  of  fractions  of  the  defeated  regular 
regiments,  had  begun  to  excite  fears  among  the 
inhabitants  that  they  might  once  more  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  Germans.  Many  wealthy  families, 
therefore,  who,  since  the  reoccupation  of  Orleans 
by  the  French,  had  returned  to  their  homes,  again 
began  to  prepare  for  leaving.  Saturday  night  (the 
3rd)  saw  the  beginning  of  the  flow  of  emigration, 


172 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


which  was  then  ascribed  mainly  to  timidity  and 
exaggerated  fears.  Circumstances  which  occurred 
on  the  4th,  however,  justified  these  apprehensions. 
A  fearful  noise  of  military  carriages  and  waggons 
driving  towards  the  bridge  of  the  Loire  had  been 
heard  through  the  whole  night;  all  the  stores  of 
provisions  intended  to  be  carried  into  Paris  as  soon 
as  an  opportunity  should  occur,  were  sent  to  the 
southern  bank  of  the  river  ;  and  this,  coupled  with 
the  further  fact  that  in  the  morning,  about  seven 
o'clock,  some  ammunition  carriages  were  observed 
taking  the  same  direction,  and  blocking  up  the 
street  by  attempting  to  go  three  abreast — clearly 
indicative,  not  of  precautionary  measures,  but  of 
an  intention  to  retreat — placed  the  unpleasant 
truth  beyond  further  doubt. 

In  the  afternoon  and  evening  of  the  4th  the  panic 
spread  to  the  troops,  who  in  retreating  resembled 
more  a  flying  mob  than  retiring  columns.  Men, 
horses,  and  waggons  were  jammed  in  the  struggles 
to  cross  the  bridge,  as  if  the  enemy  had  been  at 
their  heels.  At  a  later  hour  quiet  was  restored,  as 
it  was  generally  supposed  that  the  Germans  would 
not  enter  the  town  until  the  following  morning. 
The  hotels  were  full  of  French  officers  carousing, 
as  usual,  and  who  were  captured  in  great  numbers, 
most  of  them  in  their  beds.  The  reason  of  the  mid- 
night evacuation  of  the  town  was  the  sudden 
arrival  of  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg's  army,  about 
nine  o'clock,  from  the  direction  of  Chartres,  of 
the  Bavarians  by  a  road  a  little  further  to  the 
west,  while  the  third  army  corps  was  arriving 
from  the  east.  Finding  himself  thus  encompassed 
on  all  sides,  General  Pallieres  proposed  to  the 
grand-duke  that  his  troops  should  be  allowed 
three  hours'  grace  to  get  across  the  bridge; 
threatening  at  the  same  time  to  blow  it  up  and 
continue  the  defence  of  the  town,  should  the 
proposal  be  rejected.  As  the  Loire  was  then  full 
of  ice,  and  it  woidd  have  been  the  work  of  some 
days  to  throw  across  a  pontoon  bridge,  the  grand- 
duke  consented;  thus  probably  saving  much  blood- 
shed. The  retreat  was  then  hurriedly  effected, 
and  when,  at  midnight,  the  Bavarians  once  more 
poured  into  the  city,  only  a  few  isolated  detach- 
ments remained  to  swell  their  already  long  roll 
of  prisoners.  The  fifteenth  corps,  after  crossing  the 
river  at  Orleans,  retreated  on  Vierzon. 

The  army  of  the  Loire  was  thus  broken  to 
pieces,  with  a  loss,  including  prisoners,  of  more 
than   15,000  men.     All  the  heavy  naval  guns  in 


the  entrenched  camp  around  the  city  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  with  four  gun  boats,  which 
had  also  been  designed  to.  assist  in  the  defence. 
The  attempt  to  relieve  Paris  had  resulted  in  com- 
plete failure;  but  that  the  retreat  was  conducted 
with  more  than  usual  order,  with  the  exception 
of  the  panic  in  getting  away  from  Orleans,  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  the  loss  of  field  artillery 
was  comparatively  small:  eighty  guns  only  were 
claimed,  about  forty-five  of  which  were  those 
of  the  entrenched  camp.  The  French,  during 
four  days,  disputed  every  available  point,  and 
retired  as  slowly  as  was  practicable,  consistently 
with  their  knowledge  that  two  German  corps 
d'armee  were  marching  rapidly  from  opposite 
directions  to  get  at  their  rear.  "  Talent  in  a 
general,"  said  Napoleon,  "  is  nothing  without  vigour 
and  strength  of  character;  and  few  men  are  able 
to  direct  an  army  150,000  strong" — a  remark 
which  forms  a  fitting  commentary  on  the  conduct 
of  D'Aurclles  during  these  days.  He  had  arranged 
his  troops  with  much  ability,  but  he  failed  in 
moving  them  so  as  to  improve  the  advantage 
which  his  great  superiority  in  numbers  gave  him. 
In  his  advance  on  Beaune-la-Rollande  he  had  struck 
at  his  enemy  at  the  strongest  side,  entirely  neglect- 
ing that  which  was  weak — the  uncovered  gap 
between  Chartres  and  Toury  ;  and  though  he 
was  in  the  proportion  of  two  to  one,  he  had 
struck  feebly  and  partially.  He  might  have  attacked 
with  at  least  20,000  more  men,  in  which  case  he 
would  probably  have  won,  ill-planned  as  we  may 
think  his  scheme  to  have  been.  If  so,  it  would 
have  been  difficult  to  have  intercepted  him  on  the 
way  to  Paris,  and  what  might  the  result  have 
been  if,  in  place  of  assailing  Prince  Frederick 
Charles,  he  had  pushed  in  between  Von  der  Tann 
and  the  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg  with  a  force 
which,  on  the  28th  and  29th,  the  Germans  certainly 
could  not  have  withstood ;  or  had  he  even  thrown  his 
whole  line  forward  instead  of  advancing  a  single 
army?  In  truth,  his  movements  on  the  28th 
were  vacillating,  tentative,  doubtful,  and  weak; 
and  they  not  only  led  to  defeat,  but  enabled  his 
antagonists  to  form  their  plans.  His  hesitation,  too, 
on  the  1st  of  December,  on  which  day  his  principal 
attack  was  not  made  till  past  noon,  allowed  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  to  collect  his  comparatively 
small  and  ill-united  army  within  menacing  dis- 
tance of  the  French,  who  were  superior  in  numbers 
and   better  concentrated  ;    and   the   feeble  efforts 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


173 


he  then  made,  and  the  remissness  with  which 
he  saw  his  enemy  close  upon  his  centre  and 
crush  it,  between  his  disseminated  wings,  are 
proofs  of  incompetence  for  high  command.  Con- 
trast with  this  his  enemy's  movements.  The 
German  army  was  dangerously  divided  at  first ; 
and  the  single  corps  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles 
was  seriously  threatened  on  the  28th  of  November. 
But  the  peril  once  seen,  with  what  clear  insight 
he  averted  it,  and  plucked  from  it  safety!  How 
skilfully  he  took  advantage  of  the  slackness  of 
his  foe,  and  held  one  of  the  French  wings  in 
check  with  a  force  probably  not  a  third  its  num- 
bers, while  he  collected  the  mass  which  he 
rightly  calculated  would  suffice  to  overwhelm 
D'Aurelles'  centre,  and  render  his  own  army 
irresistible  at  the  decisive  point !  The  more  these 
operations  of  the  combatants  are  studied,  the  more 
it  will  appear  that  the  French  were  defeated  rather 
by  superior  strategy  than  because  of  the  bad  quality 
of  their  troops.  Events,  indeed,  were  quickly  to 
show  how  a  fragment  of  the  army  of  the  Loire, 
under  another  commander,  could  contend  with 
honour  against  a  victorious  enemy;  but  this  we 
leave  for  the  more  detailed  narrative  of  December 
events. 

In  the  eastern  departments  the  German  army 
under  General  Werder,  after  investing  Schlestadt, 
Neu  Breisach,  and  Belfort,  and  clearing  the 
southern  Vosges,  advanced  to  within  ten  miles 
of  Besancon,  a  fortress  of  the  first-class  and  the 
headquarters  of  the  so-called  French  army  of  the 
east.  Here  detachments  of  troops  were  found  in 
outpost  on  all  the  roads  leading  to  the  Ognon; 
behind  which  river  they  drew  into  position, 
apparently  determined  to  dispute  the  passages 
which  the  Germans  broke  into  several  columns 
to  make.  The  principal  fighting  was  on  October 
22,  at  Cussey,  where  the  stone  bridge,  though 
neither  destroyed  nor  barricaded,  was  defended  by 
a  sharp  fire  from  the  village  beyond,  which  the 
French  occupied  in  force.  General  Degenfeld,  the 
German  commander,  after  letting  his  guns  play 
for  some  time  on  the  houses,  suddenly  ordered 
the  leading  battalion,  formed  in  column,  to  storm 
at  a  double ;  and  the  order  was  so  well  carried  out 
that  the  Prussians,  crossing  the  bridge  at  a  rush, 
carried  the  village  beyond  with  the  bayonet, 
taking  more  than  200  of  the  defenders  pris- 
oners, and  driving  the  rest  into  a  wood — a  feat 
on   the  achievement  of  which   General   Werder, 


who  witnessed  it,  personally  congratulated  the 
troops.  The  brigade,  having  lost  only  twenty- 
seven  men  in  the  assault,  now  ascended  the  hill 
beyond,  which  divides  the  valley  of  the  Ognon 
from  that  of  the  Doubs,  in  which  Besancon  lies. 
The  other  columns  crossed  the  Ognon  at  various 
passages,  and  closed  in.  They  soon  found  the 
French  posted  in  a  strong  position,  flanked  by 
heavy  field  guns,  from  which,  however,  the  reserve 
artillery  of  the  Germans,  which  Werder  ordered  to 
be  brought  into  action,  dislodged  them  without 
further  fighting.  The  cavalry  followed  up  the 
retreat,  but  were  soon  repulsed  by  the  fire  from 
skirmishers  in  woods  on  the  flank;  and  on  a  sup- 
port of  infantry  being  sent  to  dislodge  these,  it  was 
found  that  they  had  fallen  back  finally  on  a  line 
of  earthworks,  constructed  with  some  pains  to 
cover  the  approaches  to  Besancon  on  this  side.  The 
flanking  columns  had  lost  about  sixty  killed  and 
wounded.  General  Werder  estimated  the  French 
now  concentrated  before  him  at  about  1 2 ,000  strong ; 
but  he  had  no  intention  of  attacking  them  further, 
having  already  accomplished  his  object,  which  was 
to  clear  his  way  thoroughly  before  turning  west- 
ward to  make  the  flank  march  on  Dijon.  On  the 
24th  he  began  to  file  off  by  his  right  towards  Gray, 
a  change  of  direction  which  he  effected  without 
being  disturbed.  On  the  27th  two  petty  actions 
were  fought  during  the  advance  beyond  this  place, 
where  the  columns,  meeting  separately,  found  the 
roads  barricaded  and  preparations  made  for  resist- 
ance. In  each  of  these  affairs  the  French  stood 
just  long  enough  to  enable  the  column  they 
encountered  to  turn  one  flank  and  take  a  number 
of  prisoners,  among  them  several  armed  peasants, 
who  were  tried  next  day  by  a  court-martial  and 
shot,  in  accordance  with  the  severe  policy  which 
the  German  authorities  had  adopted  with  regard 
to  persons  of  this  class.  On  the  28th  Gray  was 
left  by  the  headquarters,  and  in  the  evening  ad- 
vanced posts  were  in  sight  of  Dijon:  they  had 
come  up  so  rapidly  as  to  capture  the  French  mail 
on  its  way  into  the  town. 

The  comparative  inaction  of  the  Germans,  for 
the  week  or  ten  days  prior  to  these  events,  had  led 
to  the  belief  amongst  the  French  that  the  presence 
of  Garibaldi  and  their  army  of  the  east  had  so 
scared  General  Werder  as  to  deter  him  from  any 
further  advance  in  that  quarter.  Keports,  indeed, 
ascribed  several  victories  to  the  Garibaldians,  who 
were  popularly  supposed  to  have  captured  many 


176 


THE  FRANCO-rRUSSIAK  WAR 


This  naturally  produced  considerable  confusion  in 
the  ranks,  which  was  not  lessened  by  their  clumsily 
repeating  the  infliction  in  rising.  Some  were 
wounded  in  the  feet,  others  in  the  legs,  others  in 
the  hands  and  arms,  and  others  in  the  back.  Once 
up,  however,  they  brought  their  rifles  to  their 
shoulders  and  fired,  although  they  had  been  ex- 
pressly ordered  to  use  their  bayonets  only.  A 
large  portion  of  the  French  troops,  who  were  some 
distance  ahead,  of  course  received  the  volley,  which 
caused  amongst  them  indescribable  confusion.  The 
Italians  and  franc-tireurs.  who  up  to  the  present 
had  sustained  the  German  fire  with  coolness, 
imagined  that  they  were  attacked  by  the  enemy 
in  the  rear.  Many  thought  that  they  were  cut 
off  from  the  other  portion  of  the  army,  and  did 
their  best  to  reach  it.  The  mobiles,  seeing  men 
coming  towards  them,  turned  and  fled,  and  neither 
persuasion  nor  menace  availed  to  bring  them  back. 
The  retreat  now  became  general,  and  Garibaldi 
and  his  staff  were  left  almost  alone,  surrounded 
only  by  the  seventh  chasseurs  d'Afrique  and  the 
Italians.  Had  500  horsemen  been  sent  at  this 
moment  in  pursuit,  half  of  the  army  would  have 
been  either  made  prisoners  or  cut  to  pieces.  For- 
tunately for  the  Garibaldians,  the  Germans  appeared 
contented  with  having  driven  them  back,  and  did 
not  seem  to  be  aware  of  the  advantage  they  had 


Save  those  under  the  immediate  orders  of  Gari- 
baldi and  his  sons,  there  were  no  large  bands  of 
franc-tireurs  in  the  Vosges  and  eastern  districts 
generally.  This  was  principally  owing  to  the 
unfavourable  light  in  which  the  general  was 
regarded,  and  was  the  more  to  be  regretted  by 
the  French,  as  no  other  part  of  the  country  offered 
such  opportunities  for  the  tactics  of  well-organized 
free-shooters.  The  French  generals  of  the  regular 
army  would  neither  serve  under  him  nor  give 
him  any  assistance,  and  they  derided  the  orders  of 
the  government  at  Tours  when  it  tried  to  compel 
them  to  do  so.  General  Cambriels  was  superseded 
chiefly  because  he  entirely  ignored  him,  and  would 
not  even  take  the  trouble  to  read  his  reports  and 
orders.  General  Michel,  Cambriels'  successor,  was 
at  bottom  of  the  same  disposition,  though  he 
cloaked  it  with  outward  civility.  Garibaldi,  it 
was  remembered,  had  fought  against  the  French 
army  in  1849  and  1868,  and  had  so  habitually 
abused  them  that  sympathy  with  him  from  their 
superior  officers  was  hardly  to  be  expected.      He 


had  also  a  very  dangerous  enemy  in  the  entire 
Catholic  priesthood,  whose  influence  with  the 
people  was  unlimited.  The  French  peasant, 
especially  in  the  Vosges  and  in  the  Jura,  can 
seldom  read,  and  in  all  political  matters  follows 
blindly  the  leading  of  his  priest.  The  village 
priests,  with  few  exceptions,  bitterly  disliked  Gari- 
baldi as  the  pope's  most  dangerous  enemy.  Some, 
indeed,  confessed  that  as  Frenchmen  they  hated  all 
Prussians  intensely  ;  but  as  good  Catholics  they 
hated  Garibaldi  still  more,  and  refused  absolution 
to  any  of  their  flock  who  dared  to  assist  or  serve 
under  him.  Thus  the  largest  following  which  ever 
assembled  under  his  command  in  the  Vosges  was 
about  8000  badly-armed  and  undisciplined  men; 
3000  of  whom  were  Italians,  1500  Hungarians, 
Poles,  Americans,  &c,  and  scarcely  3000  French- 
men. These  last  were  chiefly  youths  from  Lyons 
and  other  large  towns,  enthusiastic  but  undisci- 
plined, and  all  expecting  to  be  speedily  made 
officers.  They  had  only  twelve  guns  and  300 
cavalry,  and  the  whole  corps  must  have  been 
scattered  to  the  winds  on  the  first  encounter  with 
a  well-commanded  Prussian  division. 

The  various  fortresses  which  were  either  regu- 
larly besieged  or  invested  in  this  portion  of  France, 
became  an  easier  prey  to  the  enemy  in  consequence 
of  the  withdrawal  in  November  of  General  Michel 
and  his  army  of  the  east,  to  form  part  of  the  left 
wing  of  the  great  army  of  the  Loire  under 
D'Aurelles  de  Paladine,  designed  to  advance  on  the 
besiegers  of  Paris.  Early  in  October  commenced 
the  siege  of  Neu  Breisach,  a  place  constructed  on 
the  plan  which  Vauban  almost  uniformly  followed 
in  erecting  his  small  fortresses.  It  is  in  the  form 
of  a  regular  octagon,  the  enceinte  of  which  is 
pierced  with  four  gates  ;  it  has  also  barracks  and 
a  tolerably  spacious  arsenal.  Louis  XIV.,  having 
been  obliged  to  cede  Alt  Breisach  to  Austria  by 
the  treaty  of  Byswick,  built  the  new  fortress  two 
years  afterwards  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Bhine. 
Fort  Mortier,  an  outwork  at  a  distance  of  about  a 
mile,  was  subjected  to  a  severe  bombardment,  and 
captured  after  a  gallant  defence  on  November  9. 
For  eleven  days  succeeding,  Neu  Breisach  itself 
was  fiercely  and  continuously  bombarded.  The 
engineer  officer  in  command,  Captain  Marsal,  was 
killed  by  a  shell  on  the  19th,  and  his  death  had  a 
very  discouraging  effect  on  the  garrison.  Most  of 
the  guns  having  been  rendered  totally  useless,  it  was 
seen  that  further  resistance  would  only  occasion 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


177 


unnecessary  bloodshed.  A  council  of  war  was 
therefore  held,  which  assented  to  a  proposition  for 
capitulation.  The  garrison,  numbering  5000  men, 
were  conveyed  as  prisoners  of  war  to  Eastadt. 
This  made  the  twelfth  French  fortress  captured  by 
the  Germans,  and  there  were  at  the  same  time  six 
others  in  a  state  of  siege  or  investment. 

Brittany  and  most  of  the  western  departments 
had  as  yet  escaped  the  raids  of  enterprising 
uhlans.  It  was  rumoured  that  60,000  Prussians 
had  been  told  off  after  the  siege  of  Metz  to  over- 
run the  west,  but  the  Bretons  themselves  were 
little  alarmed.  The  natural  defences  of  the  pro- 
vince are  stronger  than  in  any  part  of  France. 
The  mountains,  rivers,  and  bridges  are  very 
numerous  ;  and  all  the  land  under  cultivation  is 
divided  into  small  fields  of  from  four  to  eight 
acres,  each  surrounded  by  a  bank  seven  or  eight 
feet  high,  and  six  feet  thick.  No  detachment  of 
the  enemy  could  have  marched  through  a  region 
so  protected  without  serious  risk.  Here,  as  in 
some  other  parts  of  the  country,  the  call  to  arms 
was  responded  to  with  an  alacrity  and  self-sacrifice 
unprecedented.  The  greater  number  of  the  garde 
mobile  were  already  before  the  enemy ;  and  the 
remainder,  who  were  ready  to  start  at  an  hour's 
notice,  might  be  seen  drilling  every  morning  with 
the  garde  sedentaire,  from  seven  o'clock  till  nine. 
The  calling  out  of  the  latter  class  would  appear 
to  have  been  a  great  mistake  ;  for  there  was  not 
the  least  probability  of  their  services  ever  being 
required.  Many  of  the  Breton  peasants,  also, 
complained  bitterly  of  the  decree  which  called  out 
all  men  up  to  forty  years  of  age.  It  was  found  to 
be  particularly  oppressive  at  a  time  when  they 
were  employed  on  their  farms  in  sowing  corn  for 
the  next  year's  consumption  ;  and  as  the  days  at 
that  season  are  short,  three  hours  taken  from  them 
daily  to  military  exercises,  seriously  diminished  the 
time  required  for  agricultural  pursuits.  The  people 
justly  argued  that  this  and  a  few  other  favoured 
departments,  not  likely  to  be  laid  waste  by  the 
victorious  armies  of  King  William,  would  be  the 
only  ones  that  could  grow  corn  for  the  next  year's 
consumption,  and  that  their  time  would  therefore 
be  better  employed  in  raising  bread  for  the  sur- 
vivors of  their  country,  than  in  going  to  drill  for 
the  amusement  of  M.  Gambetta. 

In  the  more  southern  departments  nothing  of 
importance  occurred  beyond  the  desperate  attempts 
of  bands  of  socialists  to  establish  in  Marseilles  and 


Lyons  those  communal  institutions,  which  sub- 
sequently at  Paris  brought  additional  disaster  and 
confusion  upon  the  country,  after  the  Franco- 
German  war  terminated. 

The  delegate  government  at  Tours  was  not  so 
profuse  in  its  issue  of  decrees,  during  November, 
as  in  the  previous  month.  Among  the  most 
important  was  one  to  the  effect,  that  the  depart- 
ments situated  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhone,  between 
Lyons  and  the  sea,  should,  from  their  geographical 
position,  have  a  common  plan  of  defence.  To 
organize  such  a  plan  a  superior  committee  was 
appointed,  composed  of  the  general  commanding 
the  eighth  military  division,  the  director  of  for- 
tifications and  engineers  at  Lyons,  Marseilles, 
Grenoble,  and  Nimes,  two  civilian  managers  of 
ironworks,  two  engineers  of  mines  and  bridges, 
and  an  inspector  of  telegraphs.  They  had  power, 
in  concert  with  the  departmental  committees  of 
defence,  to  execute  works,  to  find  artillery,  and  to 
transport  and  place  in  position  heavy  guns.  The 
fortified  posts  were  to  be  united  by  a  special  line 
of  telegraph  wire. 

An  extremely  unpopular  decree,  already  incid- 
entally alluded  to,  was  issued  early  in  November, 
that  married  men  and  widowers  were  no  longer  to 
be  exempt  from  military  service  during  the  war. 
In  many  parts  the  decree  was  resented  by  the 
peasantry,  who  openly  refused  to  obey  it,  saying 
that  they  would  rather  be  shot  for  disobedience 
near  home,  than  killed  by  the  enemy  at  a  distance. 
The  decree  was  ill-advised,  as  France  had  already 
far  more  volunteers  than  she  could  find  arms  for, 
and  it  was  certainly  against  her  established  law 
and  custom  that  a  married  man  or  widower  with 
children  dependent  on  him  should  be  forced  to 
take  service.  The  measure  was  one  proof  among 
others  of  M.  Gambetta's  determination  to  war  to 
the  death,  and  to  provide  that  the  defence  should 
increase  in  strength  and  obstinacy  with  the  onward 
march  of  the  Prussians.  The  intense  ill  feeling, 
however,  provoked  throughout  the  country  by  this 
unpopular  decree,  led,  shortly  after,  to  its  recall. 

An  order  was  also  issued  to  the  various  depart- 
ments to  provide  a  battery  of  artillery  for  every 
100,000  of  their  population,  with  200  projectiles 
for  every  cannon.  Had  M.  Gambetta's  various 
decrees  been  carried  out,  France,  by  the  end  of 
December,  would  have  been  in  possession  of  2000 
field  pieces  and  3,000,000  soldiers,  irrespective  of 
the  army  of  the  Loire. 


176 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


This  naturally  produced  considerable  confusion  in 
the  ranks,  which  was  not  lessened  by  their  clumsily 
repeating  the  infliction  in  rising.  Some  were 
wounded  in  the  feet,  others  in  the  legs,  others  in 
the  hands  and  arms,  and  others  in  the  back.  Once 
up,  however,  they  brought  their  rifles  to  their 
shoulders  and  fired,  although  they  had  been  ex- 
pressly ordered  to  use  their  bayonets  only.  A 
large  portion  of  the  French  troops,  who  were  some 
distance  ahead,  of  course  received  the  volley,  which 
caused  amongst  them  indescribable  confusion.  The 
Italians  and  franc-tireurs,  who  up  to  the  present 
had  sustained  the  German  fire  with  coolness, 
imagined  that  they  were  attacked  by  the  enemy 
in  the  rear.  Many  thought  that  they  were  cut 
off  from  the  other  portion  of  the  army,  and  did 
their  best  to  reach  it.  The  mobiles,  seeing  men 
coming  towards  them,  turned  and  fled,  and  neither 
persuasion  nor  menace  availed  to  bring  them  back. 
The  retreat  now  became  general,  and  Garibaldi 
and  his  staff  were  left  almost  alone,  surrounded 
only  by  the  seventh  chasseurs  d'Afrique  and  the 
Italians.  Had  500  horsemen  been  sent  at  this 
moment  in  pursuit,  half  of  the  army  would  have 
been  either  made  prisoners  or  cut  to  pieces.  For- 
tunately for  the  Garibaldians,  the  Germans  appeared 
contented  with  having  driven  them  back,  and  did 
not  seem  to  be  aware  of  the  advantage  they  had 


Save  those  under  the  immediate  orders  of  Gari- 
baldi and  his  sons,  there  were  no  large  bands  of 
franc-tireurs  in  the  Vosges  and  eastern  districts 
generally.  This  was  principally  owing  to  the 
unfavourable  light  in  which  the  general  was 
regarded,  and  was  the  more  to  be  regretted  by 
the  French,  as  no  other  part  of  the  country  offered 
such  opportunities  for  the  tactics  of  well-organized 
free-shooters.  The  French  generals  of  the  regular 
army  would  neither  serve  under  him  nor  give 
him  any  assistance,  and  they  derided  the  orders  of 
the  government  at  Tours  when  it  tried  to  compel 
them  to  do  so.  General  Cambriels  was  superseded 
chiefly  because  he  entirely  ignored  him,  and  would 
not  even  take  the  trouble  to  read  his  reports  and 
orders.  General  Michel,  Cambriels'  successor,  was 
at  bottom  of  the  same  disposition,  though  he 
cloaked  it  with  outward  civility.  Garibaldi,  it 
was  remembered,  had  fought  against  the  French 
army  in  1849  and  1868,  and  had  so  habitually 
abused  them  that  sympathy  with  him  from  their 
superior  officers  was  hardly  to  be  expected.      He 


had  also  a  very  dangerous  enemy  in  the  entire 
Catholic  priesthood,  whose  influence  with  the 
people  was  unlimited.  The  French  peasant, 
especially  in  the  Vosges  and  in  the  Jura,  can 
seldom  read,  and  in  all  political  matters  follows 
blindly  the  leading  of  his  priest.  The  village 
priests,  with  few  exceptions,  bitterly  disliked  Gari- 
baldi as  the  pope's  most  dangerous  enemy.  Some, 
indeed,  confessed  that  as  Frenchmen  they  hated  all 
Prussians  intensely  ;  but  as  good  Catholics  they 
hated  Garibaldi  still  more,  and  refused  absolution 
to  any  of  their  flock  who  dared  to  assist  or  serve 
under  him.  Thus  the  largest  following  which  ever 
assembled  under  his  command  in  the  Vosges  was 
about  8000  badly-armed  and  undisciplined  men; 
3000  of  whom  were  Italians,  1500  Hungarians, 
Poles,  Americans,  &c,  and  scarcely  3000  French- 
men. These  last  were  chiefly  youths  from  Lyons 
and  other  large  towns,  enthusiastic  but  undisci- 
plined, and  all  expecting  to  be  speedily  made 
officers.  They  had  only  twelve  guns  and  300 
cavalry,  and  the  whole  corps  must  have  been 
scattered  to  the  winds  on  the  first  encounter  with 
a  well-commanded  Prussian  division. 

The  various  fortresses  which  were  either  regu- 
larly besieged  or  invested  in  this  portion  of  France, 
became  an  easier  prey  to  the  enemy  in  consequence 
of  the  withdrawal  in  November  of  General  Michel 
and  his  army  of  the  east,  to  form  part  of  the  left 
wing  of  the  great  army  of  the  Loire  under 
D'Aurelles  de  Paladine,  designed  to  advance  on  the 
besiegers  of  Paris.  Early  in  October  commenced 
the  siege  of  Neu  Breisach,  a  place  constructed  on 
the  plan  which  Vauban  almost  uniformly  followed 
in  erecting  his  small  fortresses.  It  is  in  the  form 
of  a  regular  octagon,  the  enceinte  of  which  is 
pierced  with  four  gates  ;  it  has  also  barracks  and 
a  tolerably  spacious  arsenal.  Louis  XIV.,  having 
been  obliged  to  cede  Alt  Breisach  to  Austria  by 
the  treaty  of  Kyswick,  built  the  new  fortress  two 
years  afterwards  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine. 
Fort  Mortier,  an  outwork  at  a  distance  of  about  a 
mile,  was  subjected  to  a  severe  bombardment,  and 
captured  after  a  gallant  defence  on  November  9. 
For  eleven  days  succeeding,  Neu  Breisach  itself 
was  fiercely  and  continuously  bombarded.  The 
engineer  officer  in  command,  Captain  Marsal,  was 
killed  by  a  shell  on  the  19th,  and  his  death  had  a 
very  discouraging  effect  on  the  garrison.  Most  of 
the  guns  having  been  rendered  totally  useless,  it  was 
seen  that  further  resistance  would  only  occasion 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


177 


unnecessary  bloodshed.  A  council  of  war  was 
therefore  held,  which  assented  to  a  proposition  for 
capitulation.  The  garrison,  numbering  5000  men, 
were  conveyed  as  prisoners  of  war  to  Rastadt. 
This  made  the  twelfth  French  fortress  captured  by 
the  Germans,  and  there  were  at  the  same  time  six 
others  in  a  state  of  siege  or  investment. 

Brittany  and  most  of  the  western  departments 
had  as  yet  escaped  the  raids  of  enterprising 
uhlans.  It  was  rumoured  that  60,000  Prussians 
had  been  told  off  after  the  siege  of  Metz  to  over- 
run the  west,  but  the  Bretons  themselves  were 
little  alarmed.  The  natural  defences  of  the  pro- 
vince are  stronger  than  in  any  part  of  France. 
The  mountains,  rivers,  and  bridges  are  very 
numerous  ;  and  all  the  land  under  cultivation  is 
divided  into  small  fields  of  from  four  to  eight 
acres,  each  surrounded  by  a  bank  seven  or  eight 
feet  high,  and  six  feet  thick.  No  detachment  of 
the  enemy  could  have  marched  through  a  region 
so  protected  without  serious  risk.  Here,  as  in 
some  other  parts  of  the  country,  the  call  to  arms 
was  responded  to  with  an  alacrity  and  self-sacrifice 
unprecedented.  The  greater  number  of  the  garde 
mobile  were  already  before  the  enemy ;  and  the 
remainder,  who  were  ready  to  start  at  an  hour's 
notice,  might  be  seen  drilling  every  morning  with 
the  garde  sedentaire,  from  seven  o'clock  till  nine. 
The  calling  out  of  the  latter  class  would  appear 
to  have  been  a  great  mistake  ;  for  there  was  not 
the  least  probability  of  their  services  ever  being 
required.  Many  of  the  Breton  peasants,  also, 
complained  bitterly  of  the  decree  which  called  out 
all  men  up  to  forty  years  of  age.  It  was  found  to 
be  particularly  oppressive  at  a  time  when  they 
were  employed  on  their  farms  in  sowing  corn  for 
the  next  year's  consumption  ;  and  as  the  days  at 
that  season  are  short,  three  hours  taken  from  them 
daily  to  military  exercises,  seriously  diminished  the 
time  required  for  agricultural  pursuits.  The  people 
justly  argued  that  this  and  a  few  other  favoured 
departments,  not  likely  to  be  laid  waste  by  the 
victorious  armies  of  King  William,  would  be  the 
only  ones  that  could  grow  corn  for  the  next  year's 
consumption,  and  that  their  time  would  therefore 
be  better  employed  in  raising  bread  for  the  sur- 
vivors of  their  country,  than  in  going  to  drill  for 
the  amusement  of  M.  Gambetta. 

In  the  more  southern  departments  nothing  of 
importance  occurred  beyond  the  desperate  attempts 
of  bands  of  socialists  to  establish  in  Marseilles  and 


Lyons  those  communal  institutions,  which  sub- 
sequently at  Paris  brought  additional  disaster  and 
confusion  upon  the  country,  after  the  Franco- 
German  war  terminated. 

The  delegate  government  at  Tours  was  not  so 
profuse  in  its  issue  of  decrees,  during  November, 
as  in  the  previous  month.  Among  the  most 
important  was  one  to  the  effect,  that  the  depart- 
ments situated  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhone,  between 
Lyons  and  the  sea,  should,  from  their  geographical 
position,  have  a  common  plan  of  defence.  To 
organize  such  a  plan  a  superior  committee  was 
appointed,  composed  of  the  general  commanding 
the  eighth  military  division,  the  director  of  for- 
tifications and  engineers  at  Lyons,  Marseilles, 
Grenoble,  and  Nimes,  two  civilian  managers  of 
ironworks,  two  engineers  of  mines  and  bridges, 
and  an  inspector  of  telegraphs.  They  had  power, 
in  concert  with  the  departmental  committees  of 
defence,  to  execute  works,  to  find  artillery,  and  to 
transport  and  place  in  position  heavy  guns.  The 
fortified  posts  were  to  be  united  by  a  special  line 
of  telegraph  wire. 

An  extremely  unpopular  decree,  already  incid- 
entally alluded  to,  was  issued  early  in  November, 
that  married  men  and  widowers  were  no  longer  to 
be  exempt  from  military  service  during  the  war. 
In  many  parts  the  decree  was  resented  by  the 
peasantry,  who  openly  refused  to  obey  it,  saying 
that  they  would  rather  be  shot  for  disobedience 
near  home,  than  killed  by  the  enemy  at  a  distance. 
The  decree  was  ill-advised,  as  France  had  already 
far  more  volunteers  than  she  could  find  arms  for, 
and  it  was  certainly  against  her  established  law 
and  custom  that  a  married  man  or  widower  with 
children  dependent  on  him  should  be  forced  to 
take  service.  The  measure  was  one  proof  among 
others  of  M.  Gambetta's  determination  to  war  to 
the  death,  and  to  provide  that  the  defence  should 
increase  in  strength  and  obstinacy  with  the  onward 
march  of  the  Prussians.  The  intense  ill  feeling, 
however,  provoked  throughout  the  country  by  this 
unpopular  decree,  led,  shortly  after,  to  its  recall. 

An  order  was  also  issued  to  the  various  depart- 
ments to  provide  a  battery  of  artillery  for  every 
100,000  of  their  population,  with  200  projectiles 
for  every  cannon.  Had  M.  Gambetta's  various 
decrees  been  carried  out,  France,  by  the  end  of 
December,  would  have  been  in  possession  of  2000 
field  pieces  and  3,000,000  soldiers,  irrespective  of 
the  army  of  the  Loire. 

z 


178 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Another  decree,  on  the  26th  November,  ordered 
the  immediate  formation  of  camps  for  instructing 
and  concentrating  mobilized  national  guards  called 
out  by  the  decree  of  the  2nd.  Mobile  guards,  free 
corps,  and  contingents  of  the  regular  army,  were 
also  to  be  admitted  into  these  camps,  which  were 
to  be  formed  at  St.  Omer,  Cherbourg,  Conlie, 
Nevers,  La  Rochelle,  Bordeaux,  Clermont-Fer- 
rand, Toulouse,  Pas  des  Lanciers,  Bouches  du 
Rhone,  and  Lyons.  Those  at  St.  Omer,  Cher- 
bourg, La  Rochelle,  and  Pas  des  Lanciers,  were 
specially  intended  for  strategical  purposes,  and 
were  to  be  put  in  a  fit  state  to  receive  250,000 
men.  The  others  were  to  be  capable  of  containing 
60,000  men,  and  to  be  only  camps  of  instruction. 
The  artillery  demanded  of  the  provinces  was  to  be 
delivered  at  these  camps. 

The  happy  liberty  insured  by  a  republic  was 
exemplified  by  the  somewhat  peremptory  manner 
in  which  M.  Gambetta's  prefects  carried  out  his 
instructions.  He  had  ordered  that  the  Bulletin  of 
the  Republic  should  be  read  at  certain  times  to 
"  educate "  the  people  in  republican  principles. 
Some  of  the  newly-appointed  prefects,  enthusiastic 
disciples  of  the  creed,  went  the  length  of  attaching 
to  disobedience  of  the  order  all  sorts  of  pains  and 
penalties.  One  of  them,  the  prefect  of  Vienne, 
tearing  probably  that  the  immoral  stories  in  which 
the  Bulletin  abounds  might  be  slurred  over,  issued 
instructions  that  the  schoolmasters  should  read  in 
a  loud  and  solemn  voice,  that  they  should  enter 
into  explanations,  and  that  those  who  showed  any 
lack  of  zeal  in  this  service  should  be  dismissed 
from  their  offices.  In  many  of  the  districts  the 
prefects  forbade  all  religious  instruction  whatever, 
and  some  teachers,  male  and  female,  resigned  their 
posts  rather  than  submit  to  such  a  prohibition. 

Early  in  the  month  many  of  the  clergy  patrioti- 
cally united  in  offering  the  bells  of  their  churches 
to  be  cast  into  cannon,  an  offer  which  M.  Gam- 
betta,  on  behalf  of  the  government,  accepted. 
Some  of  the  newspapers  remarked  at  the  time,  that 
the  next  step  would  be  to  seize  those  which  had 
not  been  offered,  and  in  one  or  two  places  this 
anticipation  was  actually  realized.  The  prefect  of 
Perpignan  asked  the  various  parishes  in  his  district 
for  a  return  of  the  size  and  weight  of  their  bells, 
which  he  stated,  however,  would  be  taken  only 
as  required.  The  country  people,  however,  very 
strongly  objected  to  part  with  them ;  nor  was 
there   the    slightest    occasion    why   they   should. 


During  the  war  of  the  old  republic,  when  France 
was  blockaded  by  sea,  and  had  no  means  of  obtain- 
ing copper,  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  seize  the 
church  bells.  But  she  could  now  get,  without 
difficulty,  as  much  of  it  from  abroad  as  she  pleased. 
Besides,  she  had  in  one  arsenal  alone  2,000,000 
kilos,  of  it ;  and  in  case  of  urgent  necessity,  every 
household  in  France  could,  if  asked,  have  contri- 
buted at  least  one  copper  utensil,  all  the  cooking 
apparatus  there  being  made  of  that  metal. 

The  evening  of  November  23  witnessed  in  every 
church  throughout  France  the  closing  ceremonial 
of  the  Triduum.  The  gravity  of  events  and  the 
continued  suffering  of  the  people  led  the  bishops 
to  summon  a  special  general  council,  in  which  it 
was  decreed  that  a  Triduum,  or,  in  other  words, 
the  exposition  of  the  real  presence — the  most 
solemn  act  of  devotion  in  the  Catholic  Church — 
should  be  celebrated  for  three  consecutive  days  in 
every  diocese  and  parish  in  the  kingdom.  What- 
ever the  religion  of  a  country,  there  is  nothing 
more  solemn  or  touching  than  the  spectacle  of  an 
entire  nation,  and  that  nation  in  mourning,  lifting 
up  its  voice  in  united  supplication  to  Heaven  for 
deliverance  from  a  cruel  and  heavy  scourge.  The 
response  furnished  a  striking  proof  that  French- 
men fully  realized  the  unprecedented  danger  of 
their  position,  and  that  they  would  neglect  no 
means,  human  or  divine,  to  avert  the  awful  calamity 
impending  over  them. 

The  collateral  evils  and  dangers  arising  from  the 
war  must  have  convinced  the  most  obstinate  be- 
lievers in  a  policy  of  isolation,  how  universally  the 
security  of  Europe  is  affected  by  a  conflict  between 
two  of  its  greatest  powers.  The  general  sympathy 
of  England  with  a  just  cause  failed  to  conciliate 
the  goodwill  of  the  Prussian  government  or  of  the 
German  army  and  nation.  During  the  Crimean 
struggle  arms  and  munitions  of  war  had  been 
freely  exported  from  Prussia  to  Russia;  and  in  the 
present  contest  the  following  rifled  cannon  and 
ammunition  were  furnished  to  the  French  from 
the  United  States  within  a  period  of  about  two 
months  : — Pereire,  date  of  shipment,  September 
3,  2500  guns  and  carbines  ;  Lafayette,  September 
20,  6000  guns  and  carbines,  and  3,000,000  cart- 
ridges ;  Ville  de  Paris,  October  8,  90,000  guns  and 
carbines,  and  8,000,000  cartridges  ;  St.  Lawrence, 
October  20,  60,000  guns  and  carbines,  and 
7,000,000  cartridges  ;  Pereire,  October  29,  50,000 
guns  and  carbines,  and  9,000,000  cartridges;  Avon, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


179 


November  2,  80,000  guns  and  carbines,  11,000 
boxes  of  cartridges,  five  Gatling  batteries,  and 
2000  pistols  ;  Ontario,  November  7,  90,000  guns 
and  carbines,  18,000.000  cartridges,  and  fifty-five 
cannon ;  total,  378,500  guns  and  carbines, 
45,000,000  and  11,000  boxes  cartridges,  fifty-five 
cannon,  five  Gatling  batteries,  and  2000  pistols. 

The  North  German  government  expressly  for- 
bade its  consul  at  New  York  to  interfere  with  the 
traffic  in  arms,  and  the  relations  of  the  confedera- 
tion with  the  United  States  were  friendly  and 
even  intimate  ;  yet,  as  we  have  seen  in  a  previous 
chapter,  a  comparatively  insignificant  exportation 
of  arms  from  England  to  France  served  as  a  pre- 
text for  repeated  protests.  In  his  first  complaint 
Count  BernstorfF,  conscious  of  the  legal  weakness 
of  his  case,  invented  a  new  doctrine  of  benevolent 
neutrality  which  ought,  as  he  contended,  to  have 
been  observed  by  England.  Lord  Granville,  in  a 
despatch  equally  courteous  and  conclusive,  showed 
that,  as  benevolence  to  one  belligerent  could  only 
be  exercised  at  the  expense  of  the  other,  Count 
BernstorfF's  proposed  rule  for  the  conduct  of  neu- 
trals involved  a  contradiction  in  terms.  The  new 
paradox  was  retracted,  but  the  complaint  was  re- 
peated in  stronger  language ;  and  it  was  difficult  at 
the  time  to  avoid  a  suspicion  that  Count  von  Bis- 
marck was  actuated  by  political  motives  in  display- 
ing coldness  to  England.  The  suspicion  seemed 
to  be  confirmed  when,  in  the  middle  of  November, 
the  Russian  government  suddenly  issued  a  circular 
repudiating  a  principal  clause  in  the  Paris  treaty 
of  1856.  Prince  GortschakofF  stated  that  recent 
events  affecting  the  balance  of  power  had  com- 
pelled the  czar  to  reconsider  the  position  of  his 
empire,  to  which  he  found  the  neutralization  of 
the  Black  Sea  was  injurious.  Turkey  could  keep 
fleets  in  the  Archipelago  and  the  Straits.  Eng- 
land and  France  could  keep  fleets  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean ;  while  the  southern  coasts  of  Russia  were 
undefended.  Written  international  law  was  no 
longer  held  in  respect ;  the  principalities  of  Mol- 
davia and  Wallachia  bad  been  united ;  the  Black 
Sea  had  been  entered  by  whole  squadrons  ;  in  fact, 
the  treaty  bad  been  violated  in  its  essential  provi- 
sions, and  the  emperor,  therefore,  "  bids  his  envoys 
declare  that  he  can  no  longer  consider  himself  as 
being  bound  ('  ne  saurait  se  considerer  plus  long- 
temps  comme  liee ')  by  the  obligations  of  the 
treaty  of  1856."  He  withdrew  also  from  the  con- 
vention with  Turkey  limiting  the  fleet  of  each 


power  in  the  Black  Sea,  and  permitted  Turkey  to 
do  the  same.  Otherwise,  he  entirely  adhered  to 
the  treaty,  and  did  not  wish  to  re-open  the  eastern 
question. 

Lord  Granville's  reply  was  very  firm,  though 
courteous  in  tone.  He  pointed  out  that,  though 
Russia  did  not  profess  to  release  herself  at  present 
from  all  the  engagements  of  the  treaty,  "  yet  the 
assumption  of  a  right  to  renounce  any  one  of 
its  terms  involves  the  assumption  of  a  right  to 
renounce  the  whole."  Prince  GortschakofF  had 
indeed  professed  the  intention  of  the  Russian 
government  to  respect  certain  of  these  terms  while 
it  proposed  to  set  aside  others;  but  "however 
satisfactory  this  may  be  in  itself,  it  is  obviously 
an  expression  of  the  free-will  of  that  power,  which 
it  might  at  any  time  alter  or  withdraw,  and  in  this 
it  is  thus  open  to  the  same  objections  as  the  other 
portions  of  the  communication,  because  it  implies 
the  right  of  Russia  to  annul  the  treaty  on  the 
ground  of  allegations  of  which  she  constitutes 
herself  the  only  judge.  Her  Majesty's  govern- 
ment have  received  this  communication  with  deep 
regret,  because  it  opens  a  discussion  which  might 
unsettle  the  cordial  understanding  it  has  been 
their  earnest  endeavour  to  maintain  with  the 
Russian  government."  Had  Russia  invited  a  con- 
gress to  reconsider  the  provisions  to  which  she 
now  objected,  her  Majesty's  government  would 
not  have  refused  to  examine  the  question,  in  con- 
cert with  the  co-signataries  to  the  treaty;  and  by 
that  means  "  a  risk  of  future  complications  and 
a  very  dangerous  precedent  as  to  the  validity  of 
international  obligations  would  have  been  avoided." 
Lord  Granville's  language  was  felt  to  be  very 
grave,  perhaps  not  the  less  grave  for  its  studious 
self-restraint  and  reserve.  The  great  question  now 
seemed  to  be  whether  the  struggle  in  which  it 
appeared  almost  certain  that  England  must  be 
involved,  was  to  be  with  Russia  alone,  or  with 
Russia  and  Prussia  together,  a  secret  understand- 
ing between  these  two  powers  being  strongly 
suspected.  Mr.  Odo  Russell  was  accordingly  sent 
to  the  king  of  Prussia's  headquarters  at  Versailles 
to  ascertain,  if  possible,  whether  the  North  German 
government  had  been  privy  to  the  offensive 
menace  of  Russia.  Prince  GortschakofFs  circular 
had  been  issued  when  it  might  have  been  thought 
that  the  war  was  practically  ended  by  the  sur- 
render of  Metz,  and  its  publication  while  the 
German  armies  still  lay  outside  the  walls  of  Paris 


180 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


was  inopportune  and  unwelcome.  The  envoy 
of  England  was  received  with  profuse  courtesy 
at  Versailles;  the  German  government  repudiated 
the  idea  of  any  secret  agreement  with  Eussia, 
and  the  immediate  risk  of  collision  was  staved 
off  by  the  general  adoption  of  Count  von  Bis- 
marck's proposal  of  a  conference. 

The  circular  of  Prince  Gortschakoff  excited  in 
England  universal  indignation,  all  classes  and 
nearly  all  journals  contending  that,  unless  Russia 
receded  from  her  position,  there  must  be  a  declara- 
tion of  war.  The  effect  on  Change  was  nearly  as 
great  as  that  of  the  Due  de  Gramont's  declaration, 
ill  securities  falling  2  per  cent.,  and  the  weaker 
continental  stocks  from  2  to  5 ;  while  Turkish 
securities  dropped  9  per  cent,  in  two  days.  The 
panic  in  Frankfort  was  even  greater,  the  tone  of  the 
Viennese  press  being  most  warlike,  while  that  of 
Berlin  affected  to  make  light  of  the  whole  subject. 
The  Turkish  government  at  once  commenced  arm- 
ing, and  in  the  English  War  Office  an  unusual 
bustle  and  excitement  prevailed.  There  seems 
little  doubt  that,  but  for  the  adoption  of  Count  von 
Bismarck's  amicable  suggestion,  Great  Britain,  Tur- 
key, and  Austria  would  have  declared  war  against 
Eussia,  and  proceeded  to  immediate  operations. 

The  repudiation  of  the  treaty  was  received 
throughout  Russia  with  immense  enthusiasm,  and 
considerably  smoothed  the  way  for  the  execution 
of  a  decree,  already  issued,  introducing  the  Prus- 
sian system  of  a  compulsory  three  years'  service 
binding  on  the  whole  population.  The  reply  of 
Prince  Gortschakoff,  in  which  he  accepted  the 
proposal  of  a  conference,  was  couched  in  extremely 
courteous  and  conciliatory  terms;  but  still  it  was 
clearly  the  intention  of  Eussia  to  insist,  forcibly 
if  necessary,  on  being  relieved  from  the  treaty. 
Studiously  polite  as  Gortschakoff's  despatch  was, 
it  said — "  It  was  impossible  that  Eussia  should 
agree  to  remain  the  only  power  bound  indefinitely 
by  an  arrangement  which,  onerous  as  it  was  at 
the  time  when  it  was  concluded,  became  daily 
weaker  in  its  guarantees.  Our  august  master  has 
too  deep  a  sense  of  what  he  owes  to  his  country, 
to  force  it  to  submit  any  longer  to  an  obligation 
against  which  the  national  sentiment  protests." 

Opinions  may  very  much  differ  as  to  the  wisdom 
and  policy  of  imposing,  even  after  the  most  suc- 
cessful war,  on  a  great  power  like  Eussia  conditions 
at  once  humiliating  to  its  dignity  and  very  difficult 
to  enforce.     It  was  easy  to  see  that  Eussia  would 


tolerate  these  conditions  only  so  long  as  she  was 
compelled,  and  that  she  would  seize  the  first  oppor- 
tunity to  free  herself  from  them.  Indeed,  the 
wonder  is  that  she  so  long  conscientiously  kept, 
instead  of  eluding  them,  as  she  might  easily  have 
done.  Had  she  been  so  inclined,  she  might  have 
built  a  whole  fleet  of  ironclads  and  monitors,  with- 
out incurring  any  serious  risk  that  the  powers 
who  signed  the  treaty  of  1856  would  undertake 
another  war  on  that  account.  It  was  also  said  that 
the  Eussian  government,  by  limiting  its  action 
to  the  one  offensive  point,  and  seeking  a  settlement 
of  it  in  a  way  that  would  satisfy  her  people,  proved 
that  it  had  been  unjustly  accused  of  harbouring 
sinister  designs  against  Turkey,  and  wishing  to 
bring  about  complications  in  the  East.  It,  on  the 
contrary,  wanted  to  avoid  them.  Had  Eussia 
wished  for  such  complications,  she  had  abundant 
means  of  bringing  them  about  in  an  indirect  way. 
She  might,  for  instance,  had  her  wish  been  to 
complicate  matters,  have  asked  back  the  territory 
which  she  had  given  up  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Danube.  But  she  merely  withdrew  from  the  limita- 
tion of  her  sovereign  rights  in  the  Black  Sea,  by 
which  a  feeling  of  humiliation  and  heartburning 
was  kept  awake  amongst  her  people,  that  time  would 
certainly  increase  instead  of  diminishing.  Besides, 
Eussia,  as  the  note  said,  was  quite  ready  to  con- 
firm anew  all  the  other  stipulations  of  the  treaty, 
or  to  amend  them,  in  concert  with  the  other 
powers,  as  might  be  thought  necessary. 

The  conference,  which  assembled  in  London  in 
February,  1871,  resulted  in  a  decision  favourable  to 
Eussia,  the  objectionable  provision  of  the  treaty 
being  removed,  and  the  Black  Sea  deneutralized. 

A  very  great  change  had  come  over  English 
opinion  regarding  the  respective  combatants  in  the 
war  since  the  battle  of  Sedan  and  the  capture  of 
the  emperor  and  his  army.  Many  who  up  to  that 
time  had  been  against  France,  now  warmly  sympa- 
thized with  her,  believing  the  war  to  be  continued 
by  the  Germans  merely  for  territorial  aggrandise- 
ment. Some,  on  the  other  hand,  remained  firm  to 
the  German  side,  the  most  notable  amongst  them 
being  Thomas  Carlyle,  who,  in  a  celebrated  letter 
in  the  Times  of  November  18,  energetically  pleaded 
the  German  cause  against  the  "  cheap  pity  and 
newspaper  lamentation  over  fallen  and  afflicted 
France."  An  amiable  trait  of  human  nature 
probably,  but  a  very  idle,  dangerous,  and  mis- 
guided feeling  as  applied  to  the  cession  of  Alsace 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


181 


and  Lorraine  by  France  to  her  conquerors,  Mr. 
Carlyle  accounted  that  same  pity  and  lamentation. 
The  question  for  the  Germans  in  this  crisis  was  not 
one  of  "  magnanimity,"  of  "  heroic  pity  and  for- 
giveness to  a  fallen  foe,"  but  of  prudence  and 
consideration  as  to  what  the  fallen  foe  would,  in 
all  likelihood,  do  when  once  again  on  his  feet. 

Germany  had  400  years  of  dismal  experience 
for  her  guidance  in  this  matter,  which  Mr.  Carlyle 
proceeded  to  summarize  in  his  graphic  way. 
First,  there  was  Louis  XL's  behaviour  to  Kaiser 
Max,  which  was  not  unlike  the  behaviour  of  the 
younger  Louis:  "You  accursed  Head  of  Germany, 
you  have  been  prospering  in  the  world  lately,  and 
I  not ;  have  at  you,  then,  with  fire  and  sword ! " 
The  end  was  that  opulent,  noble  Burgundy  did 
not  get  reunited  to  her  old  Teutonic  mother,  but 
to  France,  her  grasping  stepmother,  and  remains 
French  to  this  day.  Max's  grandson  and  successor, 
Charles  V.,  suffered  similarly  from  Francis  I., 
whose  life  was  spent  in  the  violation  of  treaties  and 
ever-recurring  war  and  injury  to  Germany,  against 
whom  his  most  Christian  Majesty  did  not  scruple 
to  commit  the  atrocity  of  covenanting  with  Sultan 
Soliman — "  that  is  to  say,  letting  loose  the  then 
quasi-infernal  roaring-lion  of  a  Turk,  then  in  the 
height  of  his  sanguinary  fury  and  fanaticism,  not 
sunk  to  caput  mortuum  and  a  torpid  nuisance  as 
now."  Richelieu  carried  on  the  game  of  plunder- 
ing, weakening,  thwarting,  and  in  every  way 
tormenting  the  German  empire.  No  French  ruler, 
not  even  Napoleon  I.,  was  a  feller  or  crueller 
enemy  to  Germany,  or  half  so  pernicious  to  it  (to 
its  very  soul  as  well  as  to  its  body)  ;  and  Germany 
had  done  him  no  injury,  except  that  of  existing 
beside  him. 

So,  of  Louis  XIV.'s  "  four  grand  plunderings 
and  incendiarisms  of  Europe;"  of  Louis  XV. 's 
"  fine  scheme  to  cut  Germany  into  four  little  king- 
doms, and  have  them  dance  and  fence  to  the 
piping  of  Versailles;"  and  of  the  treatment  of 
Germany  by  the  revolution  and  Napoleon  I.,  Mr. 
Carlyle  spoke  by  turns. 

"No  nation,"  said  he,  "ever  had  so  bad  a 
neighbour  as  Germany  has  had  in  France  for  the 
last  400  years;  bad  in  all  manner  of  ways;  inso- 
lent, rapacious,  insatiable,  unappeasable,  continually 
aggressive.  And  now,  furthermore,  in  all  history 
there  is  no  insolent,  unjust  neighbour  that  ever 
got  so  complete,  instantaneous,  and  ignominious 
a  smashing  down   as  France  has  now  got  from 


Germany.  Germany,  after  400  years  of  ill-usage, 
and  generally  ill-fortune,  from  that  neighbour,  has 
had  at  last  the  great  happiness  to  see  its  enemy 
fairly  down  in  this  manner;  and  Germany,  I  do 
clearly  believe,  would  be  a  foolish  nation  not  to 
think  of  raising  up  some  secure  boundary-fence 
between  herself  and  such  a  neighbour  now  that 
she  has  the  chance. 

"  There  is  no  law  of  nature  that  I  know  of,  no 
Heaven's  Act  of  Parliament,  whereby  France,  alone 
of  terrestrial  beings,  shall  not  restore  any  portion 
of  her  plundered  goods  when  the  owners  they 
were  wrenched  from  have  an  opportunity  upon 
them.  To  nobody,  except  France  herself  for  the 
moment,  can  it  be  credible  that  there  is  such  a  law 
of  nature.  Alsace  and  Lorraine  were  not  got, 
either  of  them,  in  so  divine  a  manner  as  to  render 
that  a  probability.  The  cunning  of  Richelieu,  the 
grandiose  long-sword  of  Louis  XIV.,  these  are  the 
only  titles  of  France  to  those  German  countries. 
There  was  also  a  good  deal  of  extortionate  law 
practice,  what  we  may  fairly  call  violently  sharp 
attorneyism,  put  in  use.  Nay,  as  to  Strassburg,  it 
was  not  even  attorneyism,  much  less  a  long  sword, 
that  did  the  feat;  it  was  a  housebreaker's  jemmy 
on  the  part  of  the  Grand  Monarque.  Strassburg 
was  got  in  time  of  profound  peace  by  bribing 
of  the  magistrate  to  do  treason,  on  his  part,  and 
admit  his  garrison  one  night.  Nor  as  to  Metz  la 
Pucelle,  nor  any  of  these  three  bishoprics,  was  it 
force  of  war  that  brought  them  over  to  France; 
rather  it  was  fouce  of  fraudulent  pawnbroking. 
King  Henry  II.  (year  1552)  got  these  places — 
Protestants,  applying  to  him  in  their  extreme 
need — as  we  may  say,  in  the  way  of  pledge. 
Henri  entered  there  with  banners  spread  and 
drums  beating, '  solely  in  defence  of  German  liberty, 
as  God  shall  witness ; '  did  nothing  for  Protestant- 
ism or  German  liberty  (German  liberty  managing 
rapidly  to  help  itself  in  this  instance)  ;  and  then, 
like  a  brazen-faced,  unjust  pawnbroker,  refused 
to  give  the  places  back — had  ancient  rights  over 
them,  extremely  indubitable  to  him,  and  could  not 
give  them  back." 

As  to  the  complaint  by  France  of  threatened 
"  loss  of  honour,"  Mr.  Carlyle  asked  whether  it 
would  save  the  honour  of  France  to  refuse  pay- 
ing for  the  glass  she  had  voluntarily  broken  in 
her  neighbour's  windows?  "  The  attack  upon 
the  windows  was  her  dishonour.  Signally  dis- 
graceful  to   any  nation  was   her   late  assault  on 


182 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Germany ;  equally  signal  has  been  the  ignominy 
of  its  execution  on  the  part  of  France.  The 
honour  of  France  can  be  saved  only  by  the  deep 
repentance  of  France,  and  by  the  serious  deter- 
mination never  to  do  so  again — to  do  the  reverse 
of  so  for  ever  henceforth.  In  that  way  may  the 
honour  of  France  again  gradually  brighten  to 
the  height  of  its  old  splendour,  far  beyond  the 
First  Napoleonic,  much  more  the  Tliird,  or  any 
recent  sort,  and  offer  again  to  our  voluntary  love 
and  grateful  estimation  all  the  fine  and  graceful 
qualities  nature  has  implanted  in  the  French. 
For  the  present,  I  must  say  France  looks  more  and 
more  delirious,  miserable,  blameable,  pitiable,  and 
even  contemptible.  She  refuses  to  see  the  facts 
that  are  lying  palpable  before  her  face,  and  the 
penalties  she  has  brought  upon  herself.  A  France 
scattered  into  anarchic  ruin,  without  recognizable 
head;  head,  or  chief,  indistinguishable  from  feet,  or 
rabble;  ministers  flying  up  in  balloons  ballasted 
with  nothing  but  outrageous  public  lies,  proclama- 
tions of  victories  that  were  creatures  of  the  fancy  ; 
a  government  subsisting  altogether  on  mendacity, 
willing  that  horrid  bloodshed  should  continue  and 
increase  rather  than  that  they,  beautiful  republican 
creatures,  should  cease  to  have  the  guidance  of  it: 
I  know  not  when  or  where  there  was  seen  a  nation 
so  covering  itself  with  dishonour." 

True  friendship,  Mr.  Carlyle  considered,  would 
counsel  France  to  face  the  facts  and  recognize 
that  they  came  by  invitation  of  her  own.  "  She 
— a  mass  of  gilded,  proudly  varnished  anarchy — 
has  wilfully  insulted  and  defied  to  mortal  duel  a 
neighbour  not  anarchic,  but  still  in  a  quietly 
human,  sober,  and  governed  state,  and  has  pros- 
pered accordingly — prospered  as  an  array  of  san- 
guinary mountebanks  versus  a  Macedonian  phalanx 


must  needs  do — and  now  lies  smitten  down  into 
hideous  wreck  and  impotence,  testifying  to  gods 
and  men  what  extent  of  rottenness,  anarchy,  and 
hidden  vileness  lay  in  her."  That  Bismarck,  and 
Germany  along  with  him,  should  now  at  this 
propitious  juncture  demand  Alsace  and  Lorraine 
was,  Mr.  Carlyle  declared,  no  surprise  to  him. 
After  such  provocation,  and  after  such  a  victory, 
the  resolution  was  rational,  just,  and  even  modest. 
"I  believe  Bismarck  will  get  his  Alsace  and  what 
he  wants  of  Lorraine ;  and  likewise  that  it  will 
do  him  and  us,  and  all  the  world,  and  even  France 
itself  by-and-by,  a  great  deal  of  good.  Anarchic 
France  gets  her  first  stern  lesson  there  (a  terribly 
drastic  dose  of  physic  to  sick  France  !)  ;  and  well 
will  it  be  for  her  if  she  can  learn  her  lesson  hon- 
estly. If  she  cannot,  she  will  get  another,  and  ever 
another  ;  learnt  the  lesson  must  be." 

Finally  Mr.  Carlyle  asserted  : — "  Considerable 
misconception  as  to  Herr  von  Bismarck  is  still  pre- 
valent in  England.  The  English  newspapers,  nearly 
all  of  them,  seem  to  me  to  be  only  getting  towards 
a  true  knowledge  of  Bismarck,  but  not  yet  got  to 
it.  "  Bismarck,  as  I  read  him,  is  not  a  person  of 
Napoleonic  ideas,  but  of  ideas  quite  superior  to 
Napoleonic  ;  shows  no  invincible  lust  of  territory, 
nor  is  tormented  with  vulgar  ambition,  &c. ;  but 
has  aims  very  far  beyond  that  sphere ;  and  in  fact 
seems  to  me  to  be  striving  with  strong  faculty,  by 
patient,  grand,  and  successful  steps,  towards  an 
object  beneficial  to  Germans  and  to  all  other  men. 
That  noble,  patient,  deep,  pious,  and  solid  Germany 
should  be  at  length  welded  into  a  nation  and 
become  queen  of  the  Continent,  instead  of  vapouring, 
vain-glorious,  gesticulating,  quarrelsome,  restless, 
and  over-sensitive  France,  seems  to  me  the  hope- 
fullest  public  fact  that  has  occurred  in  my  time." 


wou^as   are  still  open,  prescribe  absolute  condi-  |  capital   were  therefore  pushed  on  with  increased 


182 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR 


Germany ;  equally  signal  has  been  the  ignominy 
of  its  execution  on  the  part  of  France.  The 
honour  of  France  can  be  saved  only  by  the  deep 
repentance  of  France,  and  by  the  serious  deter- 
mination never  to  do  so  again — to  do  the  reverse 
of  so  for  ever  henceforth.  In  that  way  may  the 
honour  of  France  again  gradually  brighten  to 
the  height  of  its  old  splendour,  far  beyond  the 
First  Napoleonic,  much  more  the  TJdrd,  or  any 
recent  sort,  and  offer  again  to  our  voluntary  love 
and  grateful  estimation  all  the  fine  and  graceful 
qualities  nature  has  implanted  in  the  French. 
For  the  present,  I  must  say  France  looks  more  and 
more  delirious,  miserable,  blameable,  pitiable,  and 
even  contemptible.  She  refuses  to  see  the  facts 
that  are  lying  palpable  before  her  face,  and  the 
penalties  she  has  brought  upon  herself.  A  France 
scattered  into  anarchic  ruin,  without  recognizable 
head ;  head,  or  chief,  indistinguishable  from  feet,  or 
rabble;  ministers  flying  up  in  balloons  ballasted 
with  nothing  but  outrageous  public  lies,  proclama- 
tions of  victories  that  were  creatures  of  the  fancy  ; 
a  government  subsisting  altogether  on  mendacity, 
willing  that  horrid  bloodshed  should  continue  and 
increase  rather  than  that  they,  beautiful  republican 
creatures,  should  cease  to  have  the  guidance  of  it: 
I  know  not  when  or  where  there  was  seen  a  nation 
so  covering  itself  with  dishonour." 

True  friendship,  Mr.  Carlyle  considered,  would 
counsel  France  to  face  the  facts  and  recognize 
that  they  came  by  invitation  of  her  own.  "  She 
— a  mass  of  gilded,  proudly  varnished  anarchy — 
has  wilfully  insulted  and  defied  to  mortal  duel  a 
neighbour  not  anarchic,  but  still  in  a  quietly 
human,  sober,  and  governed  state,  and  has  pros- 
pered accordingly — prospered  as  an  array  of  san- 
guinary mountebanks  versus  a  Macedonian  phalanx 


must  needs  do — and  now  lies  smitten  down  into 
hideous  wreck  and  impotence,  testifying  to  gods 
and  men  what  extent  of  rottenness,  anarchy,  and 
hidden  vileness  lay  in  her."  That  Bismarck,  and 
Germany  along  with  him,  should  now  at  this 
propitious  juncture  demand  Alsace  and  Lorraine 
was,  Mr.  Carlyle  declared,  no  surprise  to  him. 
After  such  provocation,  and  after  such  a  victory, 
the  resolution  was  rational,  just,  and  even  modest. 
"I  believe  Bismarck  will  get  his  Alsace  and  what 
he  wants  of  Lorraine ;  and  likewise  that  it  will 
do  him  and  us,  and  all  the  world,  and  even  France 
itself  by-and-by,  a  great  deal  of  good.  Anarchic 
France  gets  her  first  stern  lesson  there  (a  terribly 
drastic  dose  of  physic  to  sick  France  !)  ;  and  well 
will  it  be  for  her  if  she  can  learn  her  lesson  hon- 
estly. If  she  cannot,  she  will  get  another,  and  ever 
another  ;  learnt  the  lesson  must  be." 

Finally  Mr.  Carlyle  asserted  : — "  Considerable 
misconception  as  to  Herr  von  Bismarck  is  still  pre- 
valent in  England.  The  English  newspapers,  nearly 
all  of  them,  seem  to  me  to  be  only  getting  towards 
a  true  knowledge  of  Bismarck,  but  not  yet  got  to 
it.  "  Bismarck,  as  I  read  him,  is  not  a  person  of 
Napoleonic  ideas,  but  of  ideas  quite  superior  to 
Napoleonic  ;  shows  no  invincible  lust  of  territory, 
nor  is  tormented  with  vulgar  ambition,  &c. ;  but 
has  aims  very  far  beyond  that  sphere ;  and  in  fact 
seems  to  me  to  be  striving  with  strong  faculty,  by 
patient,  grand,  and  successful  steps,  towards  an 
object  beneficial  to  Germans  and  to  all  other  men. 
That  noble,  patient,  deep,  pious,  and  solid  Germany 
should  be  at  length  welded  into  a  nation  and 
become  queen  of  the  Continent,  instead  of  vapouring, 
vain-glorious,  gesticulating,  quarrelsome,  restless, 
and  over-sensitive  France,  seems  to  me  the  hope- 
fullest  public  fact  that  has  occurred  in  my  time." 


CHAPTER      XXIV. 


Feeling  in  Paris  at  the  Commencement  of  November — Several  Newspapers  suggest  a  Capitulation,  but  the  Government  determine  to  continue 
tie  Defence — Measures  adopted  with  that  Object  in  View — The  Last  Foreigners  leave  the  Capital  on  November  7 — Circular  of  the  French 
Government  as  to  the  Position  of  Affairs,  and  blaming  Prussia  for  the  Continuance  of  the  War — Critical  Position  of  Affairs  at  the  German 
Headquarters  after  the  French  Victory  at  Coulmiers,  on  November  10 — Excitement  at  Versailles  at  the  expected  Departure  of  tbe  Germans — 
Despondency  in  Paris  prior  to  the  Reception  of  the  News  of  the  Victory — Important  Proclamation  of  General  Trochu — New  Life  infused 
into  the  City  on  the  Receipt  of  the  News  of  the  recapture  of  Orleans  by  the  French — The  General  Rejoicing  not  shared  by  General 
Trochu — Suspension  of  the  Siege  Operations— Amenities  between  the  Combatants  at  the  Outposts — Order  of  the  Day  by  General  Trochu 
on  the  Subject — Troubles  in  the  Turbulent  Quarters  of  Paris — The  Condition  of  the  Forts — Gallantry  and  Ability  of  the  Sailors— The 
French  advance  their  Works  towards  the  Prussian  Lines — The  Skill  displayed  by  the  Germans  in  erecting  New  Works — Stores  of  Food 
collected  in  Anticipation  of  the  Expected  Surrender  of  the  City — Preparations  for  a  Great  Sortie — General  Trochu's  Original  Plan  obliged 
to  be  set  aside — Communications  between  him  and  M.  Gambetta — The  New  Plan  of  Operations — Inspiring  Address  of  General  Ducrot  to 
his  Troops — He  resolves  not  to  re-enter  Paris  unless  "Dead  or  Victorious" — Successful  Feint  of  the  French  at  L'Hay  and  Choisy — The 
Bridges  on  the  Marne  having  been  carried  away  delays  the  Serious  Operations  in  that  Direction  for  a  Day — Pontoon  Bridges  thrown 
across  and  the  Attack  commenced  in  earnest  on  November  30 — The  Peculiar  Course  of  the  Marne  and  the  Scene  of  the  Battle — Bravery  of 
the  Saxons  and  the  Wiirtemburgers — The  French,  greatly  assisted  by  the  Forts,  succeed  io  capturing  Champigny,  Brie,  and  Villiers — Serious 
Position  of  Affairs  tor  the  Germans — Dreadful  Struggle  to  drive  the  French  out  of  the  Village  of  Villiers — General  Results  of  the  Day's 
Fighting — The  French  again  remain  inactive  at  the  Critical  Moment — Preparations  on  the  German  Side  for  a  renewal  of  the  Engagement — 
A  Council  of  War  decides  that  Champigny  and  Brie  must  be  retaken — The  Dispositions  of  the  Troops  on  both  Sides  on  the  morning  of 
December  2 — The  French  again  taken  by  Surprise  and  Brie  easily  recaptured — The  Outposts  at  Champigny  also  retaken — -Panic  amongst 
the  French — Fearful  and  Destructive  Fire  from  the  French  Forts— The  Saxons  fairly  shelled  out  of  Brie — Their  Great  Losses  in  attempting 
to  secure  the  Bridges  over  the  Marne — The  French  again  occupy  Brie  and  part  of  Champigny — Despatch  from  General  Trochu  to  the 
Governor  of  Paris  during  the  Battle — Review  of  the  General  Result  of  the  Sorlie — The  French  retreat  across  the  Marne — Order  of  the  Day  by 
General  Ducrot — The  Journal  OfficieVs  Explanation  of  the  French  retreat — Letter  from  the  Provisional  Government  to  General  Trochu — 
The  Losses  on  both  Sides — An  Impartial  Critic's  estimate  of  General  Trochu's  Operations — Ought  he  not  to  have  resumed  the  Struggle  on 
December  3,  and  have  forced  a  Passage  through  the  German  Lines  at  any  Cost  ? 


After  the  result  of  the  plebiscite  of  November  had 
been  made  known  in  Paris,  and  the  negotiations  for 
an  armistice  had  failed,  the  capital  assumed  an  atti- 
tude of  calm  preparation  for  future  eventualities. 
The  military  operations  were  confined  to  mere 
outpost  encounters,  and  the  persevering  bombard- 
ment of  the  German  positions  by  the  various  forts 
and  redoubts;  but  the  less  sanguine  among  the 
Parisians,  and  the  higher  class  of  journalists,  look- 
ing at  the  facts,  were  beginning  to  question  the 
possibility  of  breaking  through  the  living  wall 
which  encompassed  them,  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
government  in  further  exposing  the  defenceless 
millions  of  the  city  to  the  horrors  of  a  prolonged 
siege.  "  It  is  time,"  said  the  Journal  des  Debats, 
"  for  illusions  to  cease;  now  or  never  is  the  hour 
boldly  to  look  the  reality  in  the  face.  We  are 
vanquished.  We  are  expiating  the  blunders  of 
that  government  which,  falling  to  pieces,  has 
involved  us  in  its  fate.  The  surrender  of  Metz 
is  the  unhappy  counterpart  of  Sedan.  In  this  ter- 
rible duel  between  two  nations,  fought  out  under 
the  eyes  of  all  the  European  powers,  France  lies 
prostrate,  beaten,  and  wounded.  Can  it,  while  its 
wounds  are  still  open,  prescribe  absolute  condi- 


tions? Can  it  speak  as  if  it  were  the  victorious 
party?  No,  that  is  impossible.  Paris  has  reso- 
lutely equipped  itself  for  its  defence;  it  has  become 
impregnable ;  it  may  be  so.  Our  enemies  will  not 
coerce  us  with  arms ;  but,  alas  !  they  will  overpower 
us  by  famine.  .  .  .  We  must  not  delude  our- 
selves; the  provinces  are  but  little  in  a  position  to 
help  us;  they  are  themselves  a  prey  to  the  invasion, 
and  the  enemy's  requisitions  bring  upon  them  ruin 
and  desolation.  What  will  happen,  then,  if  Paris, 
the  beleaguered  city,  is  confined  to  its  own  re- 
sources? It  will  succumb.  Prussia  in  1806  was 
in  a  still  more  desperate  position  than  ours;  it 
knew  how  to  resign  itself  to  it,  and  afterwards  to 
raise  itself  up  again.  Let  us  then  act  as  reasonable 
people;  let  us  make  a  painful  but  temporary  sacri- 
fice ;  and  when  by  peace  we  regain  our  freedom  of 
action,  let  us,  with  energy  and  patriotism,  set  to 
work  to  redeem  our  lost  dignity."  Other  Parisian 
journals  followed  in  a  similar  strain ;  but  the 
government  considered  that  a  continuance  of  the 
defence  of  the  city  was  the  only  way  of  escaping 
honourably  from  the  acknowledged  dangers  of  the 
situation.  The  measures  for  the  defence  of  the 
capital   were  therefore  pushed  on  with  increased 


184 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


activity.  Fresh  earthworks,  redoubts,  and  rifle- 
pits  were  formed.  Trees  were  cut  down  for  con- 
struction and  for  fuel.  The  space  between  the 
ramparts  and  the  forts  became  a  zone  of  desolation. 
Destruction  was  a  work  congenial  to  the  spirit  of 
the  young  mobiles,  some  of  them  mischief-loving 
Parisians,  some  hardy  striplings  from  the  provinces, 
and  they  were  not  slack  in  performing  this  part  of 
their  duty. 

The  government,  too,  continued  its  exertions 
in  organizing  the  army,  and  in  forming,  equipping, 
and  drilling  the  war  battalions  of  the  national 
guard.  From  each  of  the  250  battalions  of  which 
it  was  composed,  General  Trochu  had,  in  the  first 
instance,  called  for  150  men  as  volunteers;  but 
only  some  12,000  had  responded  ;  and  subsequently 
a  draft  was  ordered,  which  legally  mobilized  the 
battalions,  taking  from  the  ranks,  first,  the  volun- 
teers, who  had  inscribed  their  names  in  the 
"  offices  of  glory,"  and  been  honoured  with  a  roll 
of  the  drum  ;  then  the  unmarried  men,  or  widowers 
without  children,  from  twenty  to  thirty-five  years 
of  age  ;  next,  unmarried  men  or  widowers  from 
thirty-five  to  forty-five ;  fourth,  fathers  from  twenty 
to  thirty-five;  fifth,  fathers  from  thirty-five  to 
forty.  This  law  fell  much  more  heavily  on  the  old, 
respectable  regiments  of  the  quiet  and  wealthy 
quarters  of  Paris,  in  which  nearly  all  the  men  were 
married,  than  on  the  newly-formed  battalions  raised 
in  the  turbulent  districts  of  Belleville,  where  the 
unmarried  were  in  a  large  majority,  and  from  which 
the  minimum  of  volunteers  had  been  forthcoming. 

On  the  7th  of  November  permission  was  given 
to  a  considerable  number  of  foreigners  to  pass  the 
French  and  Prussian  lines ;  but  an  order  was 
immediately  afterwards  issued  that  no  one  should 
be  allowed  either  to  enter  or  quit  Paris.  Among 
those  who  availed  themselves  of  the  permission  to 
leave  on  the  above  day,  were  many  English  resi- 
dents, who  left  by  the  gate  of  Charenton  en  route 
for  Versailles,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Woodhouse,  of 
the  British  embassy.  Colonel  Claremont,  the  mili- 
tary, and  Captain  Hore,  the  naval  attache  to  the 
embassy,  still  remained  for  the  protection  of  the 
few  British  subjects  who  held  by  the  besieged  city. 

A  further  disclosure  of  the  plans  of  the  govern- 
ment was  made  in  a  circular  of  the  foreign  minister, 
issued  at  this  period  to  the  French  diplomatic 
agents  abroad,  regarding  the  nature  of  the  negotia- 
tions for  an  armistice.  This  document  set  forth 
that  the  war  was  continued  solely  to  gratify  the  am- 


bition of  the  men  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  Prussia ; 
that,  although  the  enemy's  forces  had  been  besieg- 
ing Paris  for  fifty  days,  its  inhabitants  showed  no 
signs  of  weakness  ;  and  that,  in  spite  of  some  sedi- 
tious attempts,  the  powers  of  the  government  of 
National  Defence  had  been  confirmed  by  the  votes 
of  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  population. 
After  insisting  that  the  revictualling  of  the  capital 
was  necessarily  assumed  as  a  consequence  in  any 
suspension  of  hostilities,  M.  Jules  Favre  con- 
cluded— "  By  refusing  our  demand  to  be  allowed  to 
revictual  Paris,  Prussia  rejected  the  armistice.  It 
is  not  only  the  French  army,  but  the  French  nation, 
that  she  seeks  to  annihilate,  when  she  proposes  to 
reduce  Paris  by  the  horrors  of  famine.  Let  it  be 
well  understood  that  up  to  the  last  moment  the 
government  of  National  Defence,  absorbed  by  the 
immense  interests  confided  to  it,  will  do  everything 
in  its  power  to  render  an  honourable  peace  possible. 
The  means  of  consulting  France  were  refused  to  it, 
and  it  thereupon  interrogated  Paris.  All  Paris,  in 
reply,  rises  to  arms  to  show  France  and  the  world 
what  a  great  people  can  do  when  it  defends  its 
honour,  its  homes,  and  the  independence  of  its 
country." 

While  the  government  were  thus  engaged, 
the  events  to  the  south  of  Paris,  as  we  have 
already  seen  in  Chapter  XXII.,  caused  the  Ger- 
mans considerable  uneasiness.  On  the  9th  and 
10th  of  November  General  DAurelles  de  Paladine, 
with  the  army  of  the  Loire,  obtained  a  victory 
over  General  von  der  Tann,  which  resulted  in  the 
recapture  of  Orleans  by  the  French,  and  rendered 
the  position  of  the  besieging  force  around  Paris 
very  precarious.  On  the  morning  of  the  14  th 
a  wild  rumour  spread  through  Versailles  to  the 
effect  that  "the  Prussians  were  going  away." 
By  mid-day  a  crowd  had  assembled  near  the 
Prefecture,  waiting  eagerly  for  the  announcement 
that  the  conqueror  had  departed.  The  enthusi- 
asm of  the  city  grew  from  hour  to  hour,  as  details 
of  the  royal  preparations  began  to  be  generally 
known.  The  mayor  informed  his  friends  that 
the  king  of  Prussia's  boxes  were  loaded  in  the 
fourgons;  spies  came  in  haste  from  the  Ombrages, 
with  the  news  that  the  baggage  of  the  Crown 
Prince  was  being  brought  out  to  the  carriage 
drive ;  while  inhabitants  of  the  Kue  de  Provence 
and  the  Kue  Neuve  hurried  up  with  the  intelli- 
gence that  they  had  seen  Count  von  Bismarck 
and  Generals  von  Moltke  and  Von  Boon  clearing 


THE  FRANCO-PKUSSIAN  WAR. 


185 


out  their  papers.  And  these  statements  were 
facts.  It  had  been  determined  that  the  German 
headquarters  should  be  removed  to  a  safer  place 
— to  Ferrieres  or  Lagny.  The  besiegers,  not 
pleased  with  the  situation  westward,  though  they 
kept  the  reason  a  profound  secret,  had  decided  to 
evacuate  Versailles.  The  day  wore  on,  however, 
and  they  did  not  go.  The  mob  which  had  lined 
the  pavement  of  the  Rue  des  Chantiers,  waiting 
to  see  the  royal  staff  disappear,  went  home. 
Night  came,  and  the  next  day,  but  the  black  and 
white  flag  still  waved  over  the  Prefecture.  The 
15th  was  also  an  anxious  day;  the  Prussians 
themselves  did  not  know  what  was  going  to 
happen,  beyond  the  fact  that  all  the  staffs  were 
ordered  to  be  in  readiness  to  leave,  and  that  the 
baggage  was  loaded  in  the  vans.  No  officer 
could  give  one  word  of  information,  but  observed 
gloomily,  "  There  must  be  something  wrong  with 
Von  der  Tann."  By  the  16th,  however,  the  crisis 
had  passed ;  joy  filled  the  hearts  of  the  Germans, 
and  dismay  those  of  the  French.  Orders  were 
given  to  unpack  ;  boxes  were  returned  to  their 
quarters ;  and  once  more  the  besiegers  settled  down 
to  then-  work. 

It  will  be  thus  seen  that  for  a  moment  the 
possibility  of  failure  was  contemplated  at  the 
German  headquarters,  and  that  they  practically 
acknowledged  the  danger  of  their  situation  in 
the  event  of  a  powerful  and  victorious  force 
marching  to  the  rescue  of  the  capital.  They 
had  evidently  underrated  the  capabilities  of  Paris 
and  the  power  of  France  to  reappear  in  the  field 
after  the  destruction  of  her  regular  armies.  As  a 
rule  they  professed  to  make  light  of  the  attempts 
of  General  Trochu's  ill-disciplined  levies  to  break 
through  their  lines  of  investment;  but  they  well 
knew  the  inspiriting  influence  that  a  fair  prospect 
of  relief  would  have  upon  the  besieged,  and 
dreaded  a  sortie  en  masse  while  assaulted  in  the 
rear.  When,  however,  it  was  ascertained  that 
General  DAurelles  de  Paladine  was  resting  on  his 
laurels,  and  in  no  condition  to  take  the  field  in  the 
direction  of  Versailles,  the  Germans  proceeded  to 
the  disposition  of  their  immense  forces  described 
in  a  previous  chapter,  in  order  to  secure  the  pro- 
tection of  their  investing  lines. 

For  some  days  before  the  news  of  the  recapture 
of  Orleans  reached  Paris,  the  tone  of  the  press 
and  the  spirit  of  the  people  was  despondent,  and 
by  some  peace  was  earnestly  desired.     Communi- 

VOL.   II. 


cation  with  the  provinces  had  become  exceedingly 
difficult;  and  as  no  carrier  pigeon,  almost  the  only 
means  of  information,  had  arrived  for  several  days, 
the  Parisians  began  to  feel  that  they  were  likely 
to  be  thrown  upon  their  own  resources.  One 
military  writer  frankly  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that 
to  break  the  Prussian  lines  was  impossible.  "  No 
man,"  said  he,  "  who  is  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  position  of  affairs,  and  possesses  any 
knowledge  of  the  progress  of  contemporary  strate- 
gical science,  will  entertain  such  an  idea.  If  the 
three  corps  d'armee,  the  cadres  of  which  were  set 
forth  the  other  day  in  the  Journal  Officiel  (even 
supposing  them  five  times  as  numerous,  and  had 
they  at  their  disposal  an  artillery  ten-fold  more 
powerful),  were  to  make  any  offensive  movement 
against  the  enemy,  it  would  be  a  most  unpardon- 
able fault."  A  day  or  two  later  this  document 
was  copied  into  the  Prussian  Moniteur  Officiel 
published  at  Versailles.  The  Journal  de  Paris 
followed  in  the  same  strain,  treating  the  relieving 
army  as  a  myth,  and  ridiculing  the  idea  that  a 
force  consisting  of  the  raw  material  of  Paris 
would  succeed  in  doing  what  Bazaine  was  unable 
to  accomplish  with  the  flower  of  the  French 
troops — beating  an  enemy  invigorated  by  his 
victories. 

Several  journals  also  reproached  the  government 
with  imitating  the  example  of  their  predecessors, 
in  concealing  from  the  public  the  disagreeable 
intelligence  they  received.  The  answer  in  the 
Official  Journal  was  unfortunately  too  easy.  In 
common  with  the  rest  of  Paris,  the  government 
had  to  bear  the  consequences  of  an  investment, 
which,  notwithstanding  repeated  efforts,  it  had  not 
yet  been  able  to  break  through.  It  regularly  sent 
off  its  despatches.  During  the  first  few  weeks  of 
the  siege  it  had  received  some  replies,  which  it 
immediately  published.  Since  the  26th  of  October 
no  information  had  reached  it — a  fact  which  it 
was  unable  to  explain.  But  the  ignorance  which 
was  an  unavoidable  result  of  the  siege,  could 
not  justly  be  imputed  to  it  as  a  crime.  Dur- 
ing this  period,  too,  General  Trochu  prepared  a 
proclamation,  calm,  truthful,  and  manly,  but 
which,  though  intended  to  encourage,  gave  little 
indication  of  confidence  in  the  ultimate  result 
of  the  defence,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  follow- 
ing sentence  at  its  close : — "  We  have  not  done 
all  we  desired;  we  have  done  what  we  could  in 
a  series  of  extemporizations,  the  object  of  which 
2  A. 


186 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


had  enormous  proportions,  amid  the  most  grievous 
impression  which  can  afflict  the  patriotism  of  a 
great  nation.  "Well,  the  future  still  demands  of 
us  a  greater  effort,  for  time  presses.  But  time 
presses  the  enemy  also,  and  his  interests,  the  public 
feeling  of  Germany,  and  the  European  public 
conscience,  press  him  still  more.  It  would  be 
unworthy  of  Franco,  and  the  world  would  not 
understand  it,  if  the  people  and  army  of  Paris, 
after  having  so  energetically  prepared  themselves 
for  all  sacrifices,  did  not  know  how  to  go  further, 
viz.,  to  suffer  and  fight  until  they  can  no  longer 
suffer  and  fight.  Let  us,  then,  close  our  ranks 
around  the  republic  and  lift  up  our  hearts.  I 
have  told  you  the  truth,  such  as  1  see  it.  I  wished 
to  show  that  our  duty  was  to  look  our  difficulties 
and  perils  in  the  face,  to  approach  them  without 
alarm,  to  cling  to  every  form  of  resistance  and 
struggle.  If  we  triumph,  we  shall  have  deserved 
well  of  our  country  by  giving  it  a  great  example  ; 
if  we  succumb,  we  shall  have  bequeathed  to  Prussia, 
which  will  have  succeeded  the  first  empire  in 
the  sanguinary  annals  of  conquest  and  violence, 
a  work  impossible  to  realize,  a  heritage  of  male- 
diction and  hatreds,  under  which  it  will  succumb 
in  its  turn." 

"What  migbt  have  been  the  effect  of  this  pro- 
clamation under  the  ordinary  aspect  of  affairs  it 
is  impossible  to  tell;  but  a  day  or  two  before,  a 
rumour  had  obtained  currency  in  the  Journal  des 
Debate  of  the  victory  of  the  army  of  the  Loire 
and  the  defeat  of  Von  der  Tann.  The  rumour 
was  not  generally  believed,  but  immediately  after 
the  proclamation  had  been  issued,  the  governor 
received  a  despatch  from  M.  Gambetta,  reporting 
the  recapture  of  Orleans,  and  detailing  the  success 
of  the  French  troops.  New  life  ran  through  the 
city,  the  hopes  of  the  populace  revived  under  the 
influence  of  the  reassuring  message;  and  on  the 
following  morning  M.  Favre  reproduced  the  news  in 
the  Official  Journal  "  with  inexpressible  joy."  The 
press  followed  suit;  newspapers  which  with  bated 
breath  were  whispering  peace  a  few  days  before, 
enlarged  in  glowing  terms  upon  the  victory  gained 
by  the  army  ofthe  Loire,  and  declared  that  all  ideas 
of  an  armistice  must  be  abandoned,  in  presence  of 
this  happy  augury.  Was  it  not  at  Orleans,  said 
they,  that  four  centuries  and  a  half  before,  Jeanne 
d'Arc  gained  a  victory  which  gave  the  first  blow  to 
the  English  dominion  in  France?  and  might  not  the 
same  city  again  begin  the  movement  which  should 


rid  France  of  the  hated  presence  of  the  Prussians? 
Groups  of  people  assembled  to  rejoice  over  the 
victory,  almost  all  of  whom  drew  sanguine  parallels 
between  the  deliverance  of  France  by  Jeanne  d'Arc 
and  this  new  turn  in  the  fortune  of  war,  which 
came  from  the  same  propitious  quarter.  By  some, 
D'Aurelles  was  honoured  with  the  nom  de  plume 
of  "  Jean  d'Arc,"  or  "  le  Garcon  d'Orleans."  It 
was  also  thought  by  wiser  observers  than  the 
volatile  Parisians,  that  a  change  for  the  better 
had  indeed  taken  place  in  the  disastrous  fortunes 
of  France. 

The  effect  of  the  news  was  to  prolong  the 
resistance  of  Paris,  although,  as  we  shall  see 
afterwards,  it  was  bitterly  repented  by  General 
Trochu,  whose  celebrated  "  plan  "  it  disconcerted 
by  turning  attention  to  the  army  of  the  Loire, 
and  seriously  shifting  the  scene  of  his  intended 
operations. 

For  some  days  following,  the  operations  of  the 
siege  were  suspended  both  inside  and  outside  the 
French  capital ;  and  during  this  pause  a  scene 
occurred  at  the  outposts  of  the  combatants,  which 
was  at  utter  variance  with  military  discipline,  but 
illustrated  the  triumph  of  humanity  over  national 
animosity.  At  some  points  of  the  line  of  invest- 
ment the  French  and  Germans  approached  so 
closely,  that  to  the  north-east  of  the  city  a  degree 
of  intimacy  sprang  up  between  them,  and  exchanges 
of  tobacco  and  spirits  were  effected.  On  one  occa- 
sion, indeed,  several  officers  of  a  mobile  regiment 
accepted  an  invitation  by  German  officers  to 
breakfast  in  the  chateau  of  Stains.  The  festivities 
were  somewhat  prolonged,  and  the  absence  of 
the  Frenchmen  was  reported  to  their  superiors. 
These  military  escapades  had  in  fact  now  become 
matter  of  public  scandal,  and  General  Trochu 
issued  an  order  of  the  day  intimating  that 
they  could  not  be  tolerated  in  the  presence  of 
the  enemy.  "  Such  a  state  of  things,"  he  said, 
"  very  seriously  compromises  the  reputation  and 
dignity  of  the  troops,  and  has  been  a  source  of 
danger  to  the  cause  of  the  defence.  The  enemy 
fails  not  to  take  advantage  of  disorders  which 
occur  before  their  eyes;  and  the  government  has 
learnt,  with  equal  indignation  and  surprise,  that 
an  intercourse,  the  effect  of  which  cannot  be 
comprehended  either  by  the  troops  or  their 
officers,  is  occasionally  established  between  our 
advanced  posts  and  those  of  the  Prussians.  My 
severity  will  be  exercised  to  its  fullest  extent  to 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


187 


recall  to  a  sense  of  duty  those  who  may  fail  to 
observe  its  dictates." 

This  caution,  of  General  Trochu  had  the  desired 
effect ;  but  another  source  of  anxiety  to  the 
governor  arose  from  marauders,  who  scoured  the 
country  within  the  circle  of  investment,  plunder- 
ing houses  and  estates  outside  Paris,  and  for 
whose  suppression  bodies  of  national  guards  had 
to  be  organized.  Some  trouble  was  also  occasioned 
by  large  parties  of  peasants,  including  women 
and  children,  who,  in  search  of  potatoes  and  other 
vegetables,  sometimes  came  close  to  the  German 
outposts,  which  led  to  their  being  fired  upon  by 
the  besiegers.  Many  of  these  people  were  killed,  and 
more  wounded,  by  the  Prussian  bullets.  General 
Trochu  therefore  issued  warnings  against  these 
explorations,  unless  the  parties  were  defended  by 
bodies  of  troops,  which  were  accordingly  detailed 
for  the  purpose. 

Reverting  to  the  internal  life  of  the  city  at  this 
time,  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  a  social  and  political 
undercurrent  which  had  eventually  a  most  disas- 
trous issue.  The  turbulent  quarters  of  the  city 
swarmed  with  democratic  clubs,  in  which  indig- 
nant citizens  denounced  the  incompetency  of  the 
authorities,  and  vented  their  spleen  against  the 
king  of  Prussia  and  his  retainers.  Bombs,  too,  of 
a  violently  explosive  kind  were  manufactured,  and 
stored  away  in  the  city,  evidently  intended  for 
use  in  other  directions  than  against  the  besieging 
army.  Attempts  were  also  made  by  these  demo- 
crats to  organize  bodies  of  "  Amazons,"  which, 
although  at  the  time  they  tended  to  excite  only 
laughter  and  ridicule,  undoubtedly  formed  the 
basis  of  subsequent  outbursts  of  feminine  fury. 
It  was,  besides,  most  difficult  to  bring  the  national 
guards  of  these  quarters  to  face  the  common 
enemy.  General  Trochu's  decree  to  form  war 
companies  proved  almost  a  nullity;  and  while  the 
required  quota  for  active  operations  in  the  field 
could  not  be  got,  a  disposition  was  shown  to 
secrete  arms  and  ammunition  for  a  possible  oppor- 
tunity of  internecine  warfare  and  of  plunder. 

But  amidst  all  these  difficulties  and  discourage- 
ments, the  governor  and  his  generals  were  unceas- 
ing in  their  activity,  and  the  general  spirit  both 
of  troops  and  people  was  a  steady  source  of 
strength.  The  conduct  of  the  artillerists  of  the 
forts  especially  was  truly  admirable ;  nor  was 
that  of  the  French  sailors  who  took  part  in  the 
operations  of  the  siege  less  deserving  of  praise. 


The  only  section  of  their  country's  defenders 
undaunted  by  defeat,  they  maintained  a  manly, 
cheerful  bearing,  the  moral  effect  of  which  was 
highly  valuable.  The  condition  of  the  forts  dis- 
played the  most  systematic  order  and  cleanliness, 
and  the  splendid  and  almost  unceasing  practice 
of  these  marine  pointeurs  won  the  admiration  of 
beholders,  and  served  effectually  to  check  the 
operations  of  the  most  skilful  engineers  and  strate- 
gists which  have  arisen  in  Europe  since  the  days 
of  the  First  Napoleon.  "  The  marine,"  observed 
an  able  French  writer,  "  has  given  all  for  the 
defence  of  Paris — admirals,  officers,  and  sailors,  an 
admirable  system  of  signals,  and  an  incomparable 
artillery.  Six  of  the  forts  are  commanded  by 
naval  officers.  All  the  semaphores  at  Montmartre, 
Mont  Valerien,  Passy,  Issy,  and  the  Opera  have 
been  intrusted  to  them.  These  gunners  have 
become  famous  for  the  accuracy  of  their  fire,  and 
after  the  siege  people  will  speak  of  them  as, 
after  Sebastopol  and  Solferino,  they  spoke  of  the 
zouaves." 

Not  content  with  strengthening  their  defences 
inside  the  forts  and  ramparts,  the  Paris  garrison, 
as  the  siege  went  on,  also  pushed  out  fresh  works 
towards  the  Prussian  outposts,  and  in  a  manner 
besieged  the  lines  of  the  besiegers,  as  the  Russians 
had  done  at  Sebastopol  in  1855. 

These  facts  were  taken  into  due  consideration 
by  the  besiegers  in  the  careful  arrangement  of 
their  investing  lines.  The  Germans  worked  un- 
ceasingly in  strengthening  their  hold  upon  the 
capital,  but  their  advanced  lines  were  meant  simply 
to  guard  them  against  surprises,  and  were  most 
skilfully  concealed;  for  many  weeks  their  really 
dangerous  works  did  not  make  a  near  approach, 
and  their  true  positions  were  established  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  guns  of  the  forts.  Their  works 
were  admirably  constructed  for  defence;  but  up 
to  the  period  of  which  we  are  writing  it  was  only 
from  the  fire  of  the  guns  of  the  redoubts  originally 
erected  at  Chatillon,  Montretout,  and  other  points, 
and  which  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy 
at  the  beginning  of  the  siege,  that  danger  was 
really  to  be  apprehended. 

In  anticipation  of  the  surrender,  stores  of  food 
were  already  being  collected  by  the  investing 
forces,  to  allay  the  agonies  of  hunger,  which  it 
was  believed  the  inhabitants  would  suffer  before 
that  crowning  humiliation  should  take  place  ;  but, 
as  we  shall  see,  the  provisions  proved  to  be  more 


188 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


abundant  than  was  anticipated  by  those  who 
formed  their  conclusions  outside  the  walls  of  the 
blockaded  city. 

THE    GREAT   SORTIE    FROM   PARIS. 

Towards  the  latter  end  of  November  indica- 
tions were  not  wanting  that  the  brief  pause  in 
the  actual  warfare  of  the  siege  was  about  to  end. 
On  the  24th  there  was  fighting  at  Pierrefitte;  and 
on  the  29th,  while  the  important  events  narrated 
in  the  preceding  chapter  were  occurring  north  and 
south  of  Orleans,  the  army  of  Paris  began  its 
mightiest  effort  to  break  through  the  German 
troops  which  hemmed  it  in  on  every  side,  in  the 
hope  of  effecting  a  junction  with  the  army  of  the 
Loire  at  Fontainebleau,  and  so  compelling  their 
enemies  to  raise  the  siege.  To  insure  this  result, 
it  was  of  course  necessary  that  each  should  succeed 
in  its  separate  enterprize;  but  we  have  already 
shown  how  D'Aurelles  de  Paladine  was  prevented 
from  carrying  out  his  part  of  the  arrangement,  and 
we  shall  now  see  that,  notwithstanding  some 
important  temporary  successes,  the  great  sortie 
from  Paris  also  utterly  failed  to  accomplish  the 
purpose  intended  by  it. 

General  Trochu,  the  "  patient  governor,"  had 
brought  the  armies  within  the  walls  of  the  city  to 
as  high  a  state  of  efficiency  and  discipline  as  he 
could,  but  only  about  150,000  of  them  could  fairly 
be  classed  as  even  tolerable  soldiers.  His  purpose 
originally  was  to  make  his  way  through  the  penin- 
sula of  Gennevilliers  to  Corneille,  and  so  on  to 
Rouen  and  Havre;  but,  as  he  afterwards  asserted 
in  his  celebrated  defence  speech  before  the  National 
Assembly  at  Versailles,  "  when  the  news  of  the 
unfortunate,  because  delusive,  success  at  Coulmiers 
became  known  in  Paris,  his  plan  was  defeated. 
The  works  had  been  constructed  for  an  attempt 
by  way  of  Rouen  ;  but  the  press  and  the  govern- 
ment immediately  demanded  that  a  sortie  should 
be  made  to  meet  the  army  which  (they  said)  was 
coming  from  the  Loire,  a  demand  so  impetuously 
urged  by  the  public  that  it  could  not  be  resisted." 
He  accordingly  had  to  renounce  all  his  preparations 
for  a  movement  towards  Rouen,  and  to  prepare  for 
a  sortie  in  the  direction  of  Orleans,  although  he 
confesses  he  had  no  hope  of  success  when  he 
undertook  the  task.  However,  being  "  summoned  " 
in  peremptory  terms  by  his  colleagues  and  by 
Gambetta  (who  had  previously  reproached  him  for 
his  "persistent  inaction")  to  join  the  combined 


movement,  he  concealed  his  misgivings  and  gave 
directions  to  mass  the  troops  on  the  eastern  for- 
tresses and  ramparts. 

From  official  documents  which  have  since  been 
published,  it  appears  that  in  November  M.  Gam- 
betta had  sent  a  pigeon-telegram  to  General 
Trochu,  informing  him  of  the  victory  of  Coul- 
miers, and  proposing  joint  action  between  the 
Loire  and  Paris  armies.  General  Trochu  replied 
on  the  18th,  by  balloon:  "  Your  telegram  excites 
my  interest  and  my  zeal  to  the  utmost;  but  it 
has  been  five  days  coming,  and  we  shall  want  a 
week  to  get  ready.  I  will  not  lose  one  instant. 
We  have  ample  food  till  the  end  of  the  year, 
but  perhaps  the  population  will  not  wait  till  then, 
and  we  must  solve  the  problem  long  before  that." 
On  the  24th  another  balloon  was  sent  out  with 
the  news  that  a  great  sortie  would  be  made  on 
the  29th,  in  the  hope  of  breaking  the  investing 
lines  and  effecting  a  junction  with  D'Aurelles. 
But,  most  unluckily,  this  balloon  was  carried  into 
Norway,  and  it  was  not  till  the  30th  that  its 
intelligence  reached  Tours  by  telegraph.  Of 
course  it  created  an  immense  sensation;  for 
though  it  was  expected,  the  definitive  announce- 
ment of  a  great  sortie  was  an  event  of  the  gravest 
importance.  The  telegram  was  as  follows:  "The 
news  received  from  the  Loire  army  has  decided 
me  to  go  out  on  the  southern  side,  and  to  march 
towards  that  army  at  any  cost.  On  Monday,  28th 
November,  my  preparations  will  be  finished.  I 
am  carrying  them  on  day  and  night.  On  Tuesday, 
the  29th,  an  army  commanded  by  General  Ducrot, 
the  most  energetic  of  us  all,  will  attack  the 
enemy's  positions,  and  if  they  are  carried,  will 
push  onwards  towards  the  Loire  in  the  direction 
of  Gien.  I  suppose  that  if  your  army  is  turned 
on  its  left  flank "  (an  allusion  to  the  duke  of 
Mecklenburg,  who,  General  Trochu  thought, 
would  move  down  from  Chartres),  "  it  will  pass 
the  Loire,  and  will  withdraw  on  Bourges."  It 
has  just  been  stated  that  this  important  despatch, 
which  announced  the  Paris  sortie  for  the  29th, 
was  not  received  at  Tours  till  the  30th. 

The  first  sign  to  the  Parisians  that  the  long  in- 
action was  to  be  broken  was  given  on  the  night  of 
Friday,  the  25th  of  November,  when  it  was  an- 
nounced by  posters  all  over  the  city  that  from  the 
evening  of  the  next  day  all  the  gates  would  be 
rigorously  closed,  and  no  one  would  be  allowed  to 
pass  in  or  out,  except  troops  and  such  as  had  a 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


189 


special  order  from  headquarters.  On  Monday,  the 
28th,  an  order  was  issued  requiring  tradesmen  to 
surrender  to  the  government  bacon,  hams,  sausages, 
and  provisions  of  all  kinds — the  stores  of  fresh 
meat  having  been  entirely  consumed  in  supplying 
rations  for  the  army.  Each  man  was  provided 
with  a  loaf  of  bread,  a  bottle  of  wine,  and  two  lbs.  of 
bacon  or  meat,  as  they  might  be  out  of  the  way  of 
obtaining  supplies  for  a  day  or  two.  The  same 
day  it  was  announced  that  on  the  morrow  the  great 
effort  for  the  deliverance  of  Paris  would  commence. 
All  the  ambulances  had  orders  to  get  ready,  and 
to  send  their  waggons  and  appliances  to  certain 
places  at  certain  hours.  During  the  whole  of  the 
28th  the  streets  were  filled  with  armed  men  march- 
ing towards  the  south  and  south-eastern  quarters 
of  the  city.  The  plan  of  operations  was  to  make  a 
real  attack  by  the  second  army,  under  General 
Ducrot,  against  the  position  held  by  the  Wiirtem- 
burgers  and  Saxons,  between  Bonneuil  and  Noisy- 
le-Grand  ;  at  the  same  time  demonstrations,  more 
or  less  serious,  were  to  be  made  on  the  south  side 
by  General  Vinoy  against  L'Hay  and  Choisy  ;  on 
the  west  from  Valerien,  against  Bougival,  and  on 
the  north  from  St.  Denis. 

General  Ducrot  prepared  his  troops  for  the 
"supreme  effort"  by  the  following  stirring  address: 
— "  Soldiers  of  the  Second  Army  of  Paris, — The 
moment  has  arrived  to  break  the  iron  circle  which  has 
too  long  inclosed  you,  and  threatened  to  stifle  you 
by  a  slow  and  dreadful  agony.  Upon  you  has  de- 
volved the  honour  of  attempting  this  great  undertak- 
ing. That  you  will  prove  yourselves  worthy  of  it 
I  am  convinced.  Doubtless,  at  first,  our  task  will 
be  difficult,  and  we  shall  have  to  overcome  serious 
obstacles.  We  must  face  them  with  calmness  and 
resolution,  without  exaggeration,  as  well  as  without 
weakness.  Here  is  the  truth.  At  the  outset, 
touching  our  advanced  posts,  we  shall  find  implac- 
able enemies,  rendered  confident  and  audacious  by 
too  frequent  success.  A  vigorous  effort  will,  there- 
fore, be  required,  but  it  will  not  be  beyond  your 
powers.  In  order  to  prepare  for  your  action,  the 
foresight  of  him  who  holds  the  chief  command 
over  us  has  accumulated  more  than  400  pieces  of 
artillery,  of  which  at  least  two-thirds  are  of  the 
largest  calibre.  No  material  obstacle  can  resist  it, 
and  in  order  to  enable  you  to  cut  a  way  out,  you 
will  be  more  than  150,000  men,  well  armed  and 
well  equipped,  abundantly  provided  with  ammuni- 
tion, and,  I  venture  to  hope,  all  animated  by  an 


irresistible  ardour.  Victorious  in  the  first  period  of 
the  struggle,  your  success  is  assured,  for  the  enemy 
has  directed  to  the  banks  of  the  Loire  the  greater 
number  and  the  best  of  his  soldiers.  The  heroic 
and  successful  efforts  of  your  brothers  detain  them 
there.  Courage,  then,  and  confidence !  Remember 
that  in  this  supreme  struggle  we  fight  for  our 
honour,  for  our  liberty,  for  the  salvation  of  our  dear 
and  unhappy  country;  and  if  this  motive  suffice  not 
to  inflame  your  hearts,  think  of  your  fields,  which 
are  devastated  ;  of  your  families,  which  are  ruined ; 
of  your  sisters,  your  wives,  and  your  mothers,  who 
are  desolate.  May  these  thoughts  lead  you  to 
share  in  the  thirst  for  vengeance,  the  intense  rage 
which  fills  my  soul,  and  may  it  inspire  you  to  con- 
tempt of  danger.  For  me,  I  have  fully  resolved 
— and  I  swear  it  before  you,  before  the  whole 
nation — I  will  not  re-enter  Paris  unless  dead  or 
victorious.  You  may  see  me  fall,  but  you  shall 
not  see  me  recoil.  Then  halt  not,  but  avenge  me ! 
Forward !  forward !  and  may  God  be  your  shield  ! 
"  The  General-in-chief  of  the  Second  Army  of 
Paris, 


A.  DUCEOT. 


Paris,  November  28. 


It  is  difficult  to  imagine  an  English  general  ad- 
dressing his  army  in  such  terms,  but  it  is  stated 
that  this  language  was  exactly  suited  to  the  occa- 
sion, and  that,  "  going  straight  to  the  heart  of  the 
discouraged  French  soldier,  it  had  a  tremendous 
effect  on  the  army  and  the  people  of  Paris." 

At  eleven  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  28th  a  fearful 
fire,  opened  by  forts  Charenton  and  Ivry,  was 
caught  up  by  Bicetre,  Montrouge,  Vanves,  and  Issy, 
aided  by  gunboats,  which,  from  a  position  above 
Pont  a  1' Anglais  on  the  Seine,  joined  in  the  infernal 
concert.  At  the  appointed  hour  on  the  following 
morning  (November  29J  a  strong  force,  sallying 
from  Valerien,  threatened  the  German  position  west 
of  that  fortress  ;  while  two  columns,  issuing  from 
behind  Bicetre  and  Ivry,  under  General  Vinoy, 
made  a  vigorous  attack  on  L'Hay  and  Choisy. 
This  operation  was  a  mere  feint,  intended  to  dis- 
tract the  attention  of  the  Germans,  and  was  effected 
with  comparative  ease,  as  the  whole  road  between 
Sceaux  and  Choisy,  passing  by  L'Hay  and  Chevilly, 
was  untenable  by  the  besiegers,  on  account  of  the 
fire  from  two  formidable  redoubts  constructed  by 
the  French  at  Hautes  Bruyeres  and  Moulin- Saquet. 
The  attacking  force  succeeded  in  driving  the  Ger- 
mans from  L'Hay  and  Choisy;  but  just  as  fresh 


190 


THE  FEANCO-PEUSSIAN  WAR. 


troops  were  coming  up  to  retake  these  positions, 
the  French  retired  to  the  forts  in  obedience,  to  an 
order  from  General  Ducrot,  who,  as  we  shall  see 
below,  had  found  it  impossible  to  execute  the  more 
difficult  part  of  the  plan.  The  Prussian  reserves, 
on  approaching  L'Hay  and  Choisy,  suffered  great 
loss  from  the  two  redoubts  already  mentioned,  as 
well  as  from  the  gunboats  on  the  Seine,  and  from 
a  new  kind  of  battery,  consisting  of  guns  mounted 
on  iron-clad  carriages,  run  out  on  the  Orleans  rail- 
road towards  Choisy. 

To  reach  the  points  destined  for  the  most 
serious  attack  the  French  had  to  cross  the  Marne, 
and  march  through  the  loop  formed  by  that  river 
just  before  its  fall  into  the  Seine;  but  on  reaching 
their  allotted  posts  early  on  the  morning  of  the 
29th,  they  found  that  a  sudden  rise  of  the  waters 
had  carried  away  the  bridges  over  which  they  had 
intended  to  pass,  so  that  they  were  compelled  to 
remain  idle  for  that  day  at  least.  The  Marne 
doubles  on  itself  several  times  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Paris;  and  its  waters,  together  with  those 
of  the  canal,  have  to  be  carefully  managed  by 
sluices,  which  had  been  neglected  by  the  persons 
whose  duty  it  was  to  attend  to  them  for  the 
previous  two  months,  from  fear  of  the  German 
army.  In  consequence  of  the  recent  heavy  rains, 
the  water  flowed  over  the  gates,  so  that  the  river 
suddenly  rose  to  nearly  four  feet  above  its  or- 
dinary level,  forming,  of  course,  an  impassable 
barrier.  During  the  night  eight  pontoon  bridges 
were  thrown  across  the  Marne  at  Joinville — close 
under  the  guns  of  the  double  redoubt  of  Gravelle 
and  La  Faisanderie — and  at  Nogent;  and  the 
water  having  somewhat  subsided,  the  attack  was 
begun  in  earnest  on  the  following  morning, 
Wednesday,  November  30.  A  second  sortie,  in 
which  he  succeeded,  was  also  made  on  this  morn- 
ing by  General  Vinoy  against  L'Hay  and  Choisy, 
for  the  purpose  of  alarming  the  Prussians  in  that 
quarter.  At  the  same  time  the  French,  sallying 
forth  from  St.  Denis  on  the  north,  gained  possession 
of  the  villages  of  Le  Bourget,  Stains,  and  Epinay, 
in  the  attack  on  which  they  were  aided  by  gun- 
boats on  the  Seine.  Reserve  troops  of  the  fourth 
Prussian  corps  were  soon  brought  up ;  and  the 
French  retired,  having  effected  their  object  of 
preventing  the  Germans  from  weakening  that  part 
of  their  lines  by  the  detachment  of  forces  to  the 
other  side  of  the  city. 

Meanwhile  the  extremely  formidable  attack  was 


being  made  by  General  Ducrot  upon  the  German 
intrenchments  on  the  east  of  Paris.  Before  join- 
ing the  Seine  the  course  of  the  Marne  forms  an 
immense  Si  the  upper  or  northern  bend  approach- 
ing Paris,  and  the  lower  receding  from  it.  Both 
are  commanded  by  the  fire  from  the  forts;  but 
while  the  upper  or  advancing  bend  favours  a 
sortie  by  its  configuration,  the  lower  or  receding 
one  is  completely  commanded  by  the  ground  on 
the  left  bank  as  well  as  by  the  forts;  and  here 
the  river,  also,  both  from  the  line  it  takes  and 
from  its  many  branches,  is  unfavourable  to  the 
construction  of  bridges  under  fire.  Hence  the 
greater  part  of  this  bend  remained  a  kind  of 
neutral  ground,  on  each  side  of  which  the  real 
fighting  took  place.  The  line  of  battle  extended 
for  about  four  English  miles,  from  Noisy  to 
Bonneuil;  but  the  severity  of  the  conflict 
was  confined  almost  entirely  to  the  end  of  the 
horse-shoe  formed  by  the  Marne,  between  Brie 
and  Champigny,  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  in 
length.  It  was  a  cold  but  brilliant  winter's  day; 
and  as  early  as  half-past  seven  o'clock  in  the 
morning — indeed  as  soon  as  it  was  light — bodies 
of  French  troops,  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery, 
were  seen  descending  the  sloping  ground  from 
Fort  Nogent,  while  others  were  advancing  on 
Champigny  from  Chennevieres,  where  they  had 
crossed  the  Marne  during  the  night.  The  main 
body  of  Ducrot's  troops,  with  their  artillery, 
passed  over  the  river  on  the  pontoon  bridges  at 
Joinville  and  Nogent,  Renault's  second  corps 
being  in  front;  and  soon  there  were  three  corps, 
numbering  from  50,000  to  60,000  men,  below  the 
fortifications.  As  they  descended  into  the  plateau, 
forts  Charenton,  Nogent,  Rosny,  and  the  formi- 
dable batteries  recently  erected  in  front  of  Mont 
Avron,  directed  a  constant  fire  on  the  outposts  of 
the  Wiirtemburgers  and  Saxons  at  Champigny, 
Villiers,  Brie,  and  Noisy.  The  points  thus  selected 
for  attack  were  the  weakest  in  all  the  investing 
circle,  and  the  sortie  was  made  at  the  very 
moment  when  they  were  even  weaker  than  ordi- 
nary; for  Moltke,  perceiving  indications  of  the 
intention  of  the  French  to  advance  down  the 
triangle,  had  given  instructions  for  the  line  to  be 
strengthened.  The  Wurtemburgers  were  accord- 
ingly ordered  to  fall  back  from  the  front  of  their 
position  to  its  second  line;  and  the  ground  thus 
left  vacant  by  them  was  to  be  occupied  by  the 
sixth  (Saxon)  corps.     Thus  it  happened  that  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


191 


Germans  were  caught  In  a  transition  state:  for 
the  Wiirtemburgers  retired  rather  early,  and  the 
troops  intended  for  their  relief  came  rather  late; 
and  it  was  precisely  at  this  moment — when  the 
ground  that  had  been  left  empty  by  one  had 
not  been  filled  by  another  portion  of  the  invest- 
ing forces — that  the  French  made  their  attack. 
At  first  the  German  outposts  had  to  bear  the 
brunt  of  the  fighting,  but  before  mid-day  there 
were  three  regiments  of  Saxons  on  the  field 
(104th,  106th,  and  107th),  all  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  de  Nehrhof,  and  a  brigade  of 
Wiirtemburgers,  commanded  by  Brigadier-general 
Reitzenstein.  The  Saxons  had  two  regiments 
of  cavalry  and  six  of  artillery,  their  entire  force 
amounting  to  about  11,000  men.  The  Wiirtem- 
burg  brigade  was  about  7000,  so  that  the  whole 
of  the  German  force  in  position  to  resist  the  sortie 
was  only  18,000  men.  The  French  advanced  in 
excellent  order  under  the  guns  of  their  forts,  and 
it  soon  became  evident  that  they  intended  to  make 
a  most  serious  attempt  to  break  through  the  Ger- 
man intrenchments.  The  troops  on  that  side 
accordingly  sallied  forth  into  the  plateau,  in  order 
to  meet  their  attack  ;  and  now  came  a  mur- 
derous cross-fire  from  Nogent  and  Mont  Avron. 
High  into  the  air  rose  shells,  that  were  liter- 
ally vomited  forth  from  both  the  fort  and  the 
batteries.  They  shot  through  the  atmosphere  like 
blazing  comets,  and  fell  in  showers  among  the 
German  soldiers,  causing  death  and  destruction 
all  around  the  places  where  they  exploded.  The 
Saxons  and  Wiirtemburgers  fought  gallantly,  but 
they  were  overwhelmed  by  superior  numbers;  and 
after  a  brief,  though  murderous  struggle,  they  were 
compelled  to  retreat,  and  the  French  at  once  seized 
upon  Champigny  and  Brie,  the  fire  from  the  forts 
being  discontinued  the  moment  they  got  close  to 
those  places.  A  third  French  column  had  in  the 
meantime  marched  up  the  Marne  as  far  as  Neuilly, 
there  crossed  the  river,  and  now  proceeded  to  co- 
operate with  their  comrades  from  Brie  in  an  attack 
on  Villiers,  an  important  post  in  the  investing 
circle,  which  was  also  captured  after  a  fierce  con- 
test. Noisy-le-Grand,  too,  was  seriously  threat- 
ened ;  and  indeed  the  assailants  had  a  decided 
advantage  along  the  whole  battle-field  for  several 
hours,  their  force  being  too  great  to  resist,  although, 
owing  to  the  nature  of  the  ground,  it  was  impos- 
sible fully  to  deploy  their  columns,  and  to  make 
the  whole  power  of  their  fire  felt.     Matters  were 


now  looking  extremely  serious  for  the  German 
troops,  but  operations  were  suspended  for  a  short 
time.  The  Wiirtemburgers  were  reinforced  by 
detachments  from  the  Saxon,  Pomeranian,  and 
Silesian  corps  ;  and  then  a  change  in  the  situation 
of  affairs  was  made  by  Colonel  Abendorth,  who 
acted  as  brigadier-general  in  the  room  of  General 
Schultz,  wounded  at  Sedan.  Placing  himself  at 
the  head  of  a  body  of  Saxons,  he  called  on  them 
to  follow  him  into  the  village  of  Villiers.  They 
responded  with  a  loud  "Hurrah,"  and  rushed  upon 
the  French  who  held  it.  A  dreadful  struggle 
ensued.  It  was  then  that  the  only  firing  at  very 
close  quarters  took  place,  because  on  the  plateau 
the  French,  while  using  the  Chassepot,  kept  at  a 
long  distance  from  the  enemy,  to  avoid  coming 
under  the  fire  of  their  own  forts.  In  the  village 
it  was  necessarily  otherwise ;  but  neither  during 
this  fight,  nor  at  any  other  time  in  the  day,  was 
there  a  bayonet  charge.  After  an  obstinate  resist- 
ance the  French  were  driven  out  of  Villiers :  many 
of  them  were  made  prisoners,  and  the  rest  had  now 
to  defend  themselves  in  the  open  field.  While 
Colonel  Abendorth  was  leading  an  attack  on  them 
in  the  plateau,  a  battery  of  mitrailleuses  placed 
right  opposite  Villiers  was  worked  with  great 
rapidity.  Four  mitrailleuse  balls  entered  the  chest 
of  the  colonel's  horse,  which  dropped  dead.  An 
officer  galloped  up  to  him  with  another;  and  again 
he  was  in  the  saddle,  and  leading  his  men,  who 
followed  him  impetuously  with  another  loud 
"  Hurrah."  This  was  a  most  exciting  moment. 
They  had  only  proceeded  a  hundred  yards  when 
the  second  horse  was  killed  by  a  rifle  shot,  and, 
with  its  rider,  came  to  the  ground.  Though  hurt 
by  the  fall,  the  colonel  got  to  his  feet  and  called 
on  his  men  to  continue  the  charge.  They  did  so, 
and  actually  took  some  prisoners  on  the  plateau. 
There  was  now  a  fierce  cannonading  on  both 
sides,  and  the  artillery  did  terrific  execution. 
Some  of  the  German  troops  stationed  themselves 
behind  a  wall  to  fire  upon  the  French  with  the 
advantage  of  that  cover ;  but  the  shells  smashed 
the  wall,  and  annihilated  several  of  the  men  be- 
hind. The  Germans  captured  two  field-guns,  but 
such  a  shower  of  shot,  shell,  and  grenades  was 
poured  upon  the  troops  who  attempted  to  remove 
them,  that  they  were  obliged  to  leave  them  on  the 
field.  The  fighting  gradually  ceased,  and  soon 
after  four  o'clock  the  French  retired,  leaving  strong 
garrisons   in   Champigny  and  Brie ;    but  it   was 


192 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


nearly  five,  and  quite  dark,  before  the  guns  of  the 
forts  were  entirely  silent. 

While  the  contest  was  raging  in  this  quarter,  a 
column  of  French  troops  was  directed  eastwards 
towards  Chelles,  along  the  right  bank  of  the  Marne, 
in  order  to  keep  off  the  twelfth  (Saxon)  corps  ; 
and  another  army,  debouching  by  Fort  Charenton, 
advanced  in  the  direction  of  Mesly  and  Bonneuil, 
in  front  of  Creteil.  They  succeeded  in  obtaining 
possession  of  Mont  Mesly,  and  with  it  the  villages 
at  its  foot,  about  noon ;  and  could  they  have  held 
and  entrenched  it,  a  very  important  point  would 
have  been  gained ;  but  the  Germans  having  been 
reinforced  in  the  after  part  of  the  day  by  the  seventh 
brigade  of  the  second  corps,  the  lost  positions  were 
reconquered,  and  the  French  driven  back  under 
the  shelter  of  Fort  Charenton. 

At  the  close  of  the  day  the  Saxons  stood  fast 
in  Villiers,  in  spite  of  all  that  the  French  troops 
and  forts  could  do  to  dislodge  them;  while  the 
army  of  Ducrot  solidly  held  the  villages  of 
Champigny  and  Brie,  which  in  the  morning  had 
been  German  posts;  and  which,  in  the  possession 
of  the  French,  were  a  standing  menace  to  the 
safety  of  the  main  line  of  investment,  only  2000 
yards  distant.  Their  success  was  therefore  real, 
though  incomplete,  for  they  had  won  positions 
which  might  prove  of  much  value  for  ulterior 
operations.  The  French  brought  fourteen  batteries 
across  the  Marne;  but  owing  to  the  nature  of  the 
ground  they  could  not  get  their  guns  on  a  height, 
at  a  fair  range  from  the  enemy's  infantry,  so  that 
they  did  not  make  much  use  of  them.  The  cavalry 
on  either  side  took  no  part  in  the  battle.  Though 
the  French  had  displayed  unquestionable  bravery 
and  steadiness  in  these  engagements,  and  though 
they  had  fought  well  and  manoeuvred  fairly,  show- 
ing that  the  governor  of  Paris  had  created  out  of 
rude  masses  a  disciplined  and  tolerably  efficient 
army,  yet  they  were  unequal  to  their  German  foes, 
who  were  strung  to  the  height  of  daring  by 
continual  success.  The  French  had  not  as  yet 
reached  the  besieger's  lines  :  they  had  only  won 
advanced  posts  from  which  they  could  gather 
and  attack  in  force;  still  these  made  their  position 
very  threatening,  and  it  is  hard  to  say  what  the 
result  might  have  been  if  Ducrot,  sacrificing  every 
consideration  to  the  primary  object  of  breaking 
out,  had  called  in  his  reserves  during  the  night, 
and,  advancing  from  Brie  and  Champigny,  had 
endeavoured  to  storm  the  German  intrenchments 


the  next  day.  He  would  certainly  have  had  the 
superiority  of  numbers,  and  would  have  begun 
with  some  advantages  of  ground;  and  even  those 
who  can  fully  appreciate  the  obstacles  he  would 
have  had  to  overcome  will,  at  least,  doubt  whether 
he  might  not  have  triumphed.  The  French, 
however,  as  on  so  many  previous  occasions  in  the 
war,  remained  inactive  at  the  critical  moment,  and 
their  opportunity  was  lost  for  ever. 

Instead  of  resuming  the  attack,  the  French 
army  remained  perfectly  quiet  during  the  whole 
of  the  next  day,  December  1,  repairing  losses  and 
collecting  supplies;  and  though  it  still  held  its 
ground  beyond  the  Marne,  it  was  not  reinforced 
to  any  great  extent;  neither  was  much  advantage 
taken  of  the  day's  rest  to  fortify  the  captured  posi- 
tions. On  the  German  side,  artillery  and  ammuni- 
tion were  brought  up  by  various  roads,  followed 
by  regiment  after  regiment  of  infantry.  The 
second  army  corps  was  ordered  to  assist  in  the 
operations,  for  it  was  expected  that  the  French, 
from  Champigny  and  Brie,  with  reinforcements 
from  Paris,  would  attack  the  German  lines,  and 
a  second  day's  fighting  was  regarded  as  certain. 
Not  a  moment  was  lost,  for  by  halfpast  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning  the  infantry  and  artillery 
had  taken  up  their  positions  for  resisting  any  move- 
ment either  from  Brie  or  against  Villiers.  It  was 
bitterly  cold  all  day,  and  it  was  consequently  a 
severe  duty  for  officers  and  men  to  rest  there  inac- 
tively, while  exposed  to  the  shot  and  shell  from 
Fort  Xogent  and  the  battery  at  Avron ;  from  both 
of  which  there  was  firing,  though  only  now  and 
then  was  it  very  frequent,  and  it  did  no  damage. 
During  the  day  a  truce  was  agreed  upon  for  some 
hours,  at  the  request  of  the  French,  to  enable 
them  to  bury  their  dead  and  collect  the  wounded ; 
unfortunately  not  an  easy  task,  for  owing  to  the 
severity  of  the  conflict  the  losses  on  both  sides 
had  been  fearfully  heavy.  Late  in  the  evening 
the  German  leaders  held  a  council  of  war  at  the 
Prefecture  at  Versailles,  at  which  it  was  decided  that 
Champigny  and  Brie  must  be  retaken.  General 
ven  Moltke  held  that  it  was  essential ;  though  the 
other  generals  expressed  great  doubts  as  to  the 
advantage  of  an  attack  in  which  the  lives  of  their 
soldiers  must  be  so  freely  sacrificed.  However, 
orders  were  given  to  regain  possession  of  these 
two  villages  "  at  any  cost,"  and  to  drive  the  French 
behind  the  Marne.  For  this  purpose  as  many 
men  as  could  be  spared  were  to  be  massed  together; 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


193 


and  all  night  troops  were  marching  in  the  direction 
of  Brie  and  Villiers.  It  was  arranged  that  the 
Saxons  should  attack  Brie,  and  the  Wiirtemburgers 
Champigny.  The  troops  engaged  consisted  of  the 
second  division  of  the  royal  Saxon  army  (the 
twenty-fourth  division  of  the  German  host),  under 
General  von  NehrofF,  and  comprising  the  104th, 
105th,  106th,  107th,  and  108th  regiments.  Taking 
each  regiment  at  its  full  strength  of  three  bat- 
talions, these  would  represent  fifteen  battalions,  or 
about  12,000  men;  but  as  more  than  one  battalion 
was  naturally  employed  elsewhere  on  outpost  duty, 
it  may  be  outside  the  exact  number  to  put  down 
the  Saxon  force  at  10,000  men.  Before  the  com- 
mencement of  operations  these  splendid  troops 
occupied  'positions  in  Cournay,  Champs,  Noisy, 
Villiers,  and  the  vicinity.  The  division  of  the 
Wiirtemburgers  was  commanded  by  General  von 
Obernitz,  a  Prussian  officer,  and  they  were  posted 
at  La  Queue  Noiseau,  Ormesson,  Chennevieres, 
and  the  surrounding  country.  A  contingent 
made  up  of  contributions  from  various  portions  of 
the  second  army  corps,  supported  and  co-operated 
with  the  Wiirtemburgers;  so  that  altogether  the 
Germans  engaged,  or  immediately  supporting,  must 
not  have  been  less  than  25,000.  The  troops  belong- 
ing to  the  second  army  corps  were  commanded 
by  General  von  Fransecki,  who  in  virtue  of  his 
seniority  had  the  nominal  direction  of  all  the 
operations,  which  were,  however,  supervised  gen- 
erally as  regarded  the  Saxons  by  Prince  George  of 
Saxony  in  person.  To  oppose  these  veterans  the 
entire  second  army  of  Paris  had  been  assembled  on 
the  plateau  between  Brie  and  Champigny.  The 
first  and  second  corps  (of  three  divisions  each) 
commanded  respectively  by  Generals  Blanchard  and 
Renault,  occupied  the  centre  and  right ;  while  the 
third  corps  (D'Exea's)  was  a  cheval  on  the  Marne, 
opposite  Nogent — the  first  division  (Bellemare's) 
holding  Brie,  and  the  second,  or  reserve  (Mattat's), 
lying  on  the  rising  ground  forming  the  watershed 
at  the  other  side.  In  all  there  were  over  100,000 
French  bayonets  in  the  elbow  of  the  Marne, 
though  probably  not  quite  half  that  number  were 
actively  engaged  at  any  time.  The  third  army 
(seven  divisions,  or  about  110,000  rank  and  file), 
under  General  Vinoy,  were  stationed  right  and 
left  of  General  Ducrot,  all  round  the  city ;  but  their 
orders  were  merely  to  harass  the  enemy  as  much 
as  possible,  without  making  a  serious  attack  at  any 
point. 

VOL.  II. 


Friday  morning  (December  2),  was  again 
bitterly  cold  and  frosty;  and  the  German  soldiers 
who  had  bivouacked  in  the  fields  lay  crouched 
around  huge  fires  of  green  wood,  which  they 
had  cut  from  the  trees.  Soon  after  seven  o'clock 
the  107th  Saxon  regiment  inarched  directly 
on  Brie,  a  portion  of  them  advancing  from  the 
direction  of  Noisy,  and  the  rest  coming  up  from 
Villiers.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that,  although  the 
French  had  every  reason  to  expect  an  attack,  they 
were  taken  completely  by  surprise;  there  were 
only  about  100  of  them  in  front  of  the  village — - 
the  greater  number  being  in  the  houses,  some 
asleep,  others  composedly  drinking  their  coffee. 
The  Saxons  rushed  on  the  outposts,  who  com- 
menced rifle-firing,  and  a  fight,  carried  on  from 
one  end  of  the  village  to  the  other,  at  once  ensued, 
in  which  some  French  reinforcements,  who  had 
already  crossed  the  Marne  with  the  intention  of 
marching  on  Villiers  and  Noisy,  took  part.  The 
attack  was  so  sudden  and  impetuous  that — unaided 
by  the  artillery  of  their  forts,  which  could  not 
be  brought  to  bear  on  the  position  without  des- 
troying their  own  men — the  French  were  unable 
to  withstand  it.  Amid  wild  "  hurrahs  I"  from  the 
Saxons  Brie  was  retaken,  and  about  300  prisoners 
were  captured,  including  eight  officers. 

Just  before  eight  o'clock  the  Wiirtemburgers, 
coming  up  from  their  posts  on  the  south,  assaulted 
Champigny  with  rapid  discharges  from  their  needle- 
guns:  the  French  replied;  but  after  a  struggle, 
vigorously  maintained  on  both  sides,  the  Wiirtem- 
burgers repossessed  themselves  of  the  outposts  they 
lost  on  the  30th.  This  proved  a  critical  moment  for 
the  French  troops.  In  the  plain  below  Champigny 
some  hundreds  of  panic-stricken  men  were  flying 
from  the  front,  and  the  German  shells  began  to  fall 
among  them,  hastening  their  flight  and  increasing 
their  confusion.  The  promptitude  of  the  French 
commanders,  however,  prevented  a  terrible  dis- 
aster. The  bridges  across  the  Marne  were  burned ; 
gendarmes  galloped  to  and  fro,  and  belaboured  the 
fugitives  with  the  flat  of  their  swords;  batteries  of 
artillery  trotted  into  the  plain  and  wheeled  into 
position,  and  the  heavy  guns  posted  in  the  redoubt 
of  St.  Maur  poured  a  murderous  fire  into  the 
opposing  German  batteries,  and  in  half-an-hour 
had  silenced  them.  The  heavy  artillery  of  the 
French  forts  also  continued  to  fire  on  Noisy; 
and  about  nine  o'clock  Nogent,  Rosny,  and 
Avron  commenced  shelling  Brie,  which  had  the 
2  B 


194 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


effect  of  changing  the  'whole  aspect  of  affairs. 
During  the  preceding  day  the  neighbouring  forts 
and  batteries  had  received  many  additional  guns, 
and  the  rain  of  shot  and  shell  which  they  now 
began  to  pour  into  the  devoted  German  ranks, 
has  been  described  by  experienced  soldiers  as  more 
tremendous  than  they  had  ever  before  witnessed. 
The  French  troops  now  rallied  and  reformed, 
and  were  moved  to  the  front  again,  where  they 
resisted  and  finally  repulsed  the  German  attack. 
The  correspondent  of  the  Times,  who  was  present, 
gave  the  following  graphic  description  of  the 
scene: — "  There  was  the  direct  and  the  vertical 
fire.  Avron  and  Rosny  fired  their  shells  right 
across.  One  of  the  batteries  on  Nogent  fired  in 
that  way,  while  the  other  threw  its  shells  high 
up  in  the  air,  and  they  descended  from  a  point 
directly  over  the  place  in  which  they  were  intended 
to  explode.  No  shelter  could  be  found  from  Noisy 
down  to  the  near  end  of  Champigny.  Houses 
were  battered  into  ruins,  trees  were  smashed  into 
fragments,  and  men  fell  dead  and  wounded  every- 
where. It  was  simply  impossible  for  any  troops 
to  live  under  such  a  fire  as  was  then  descending 
on  Brie,  and  the  Saxons  were  fairly  shelled  out 
.  of  it.  After  an  immense  loss  of  men  and  officers, 
they  evacuated  it  at  ten  o'clock.  While  this 
terrible  and  persistent  discharge  of  shot  and  shell 
was  going  on,  some  of  the  Saxon  regiments 
attempted  to  make  their  way  to  the  bridges  by 
which  the  French  had  crossed  the  Marne,  while 
the  latter  were  coming  out  by  thousands  in  column 
after  column  from  under  Rosny  and  Nogent.  I  saw, 
I  should  think,  not  fewer  than  20,000  of  them 
in  one  long  column  on  the  sloping  ground  between 
those  two  forts.  The  attempts  to  get  at  the  bridges 
were  repeated  over  and  over  again,  not  only  under 
the  shelling  from  the  forts,  but  in  face  of  two 
batteries  of  mitrailleuses,  the  fire  from  which  was 
scarcely  less  dreadful.  In  the  distance  were  French 
infantry,  scattered  here  and  there,  who  kept  up 
a  continuous  fusillade  from  their  Chassepots.  The 
Schutzen  or  chasseur  regiment  of  Saxons  replied 
to  them.  One  line  of  this  regiment  was  on  a 
slope,  and  was  so  completely  exposed  to  a  com- 
bined fire,  that  an  aide-de-camp  was  sent  to  tell 
it  to  retire.  As  he  was  approaching  it,  a  ball 
struck  him  in  the  breast,  and  he  fell  dead.  Colonel 
Hausen,  of  the  Schutzen  regiment,  and  thirty-four 
of  its  other  officers  were  also  killed,  and  the  men 
were  shot  down  like  deer  in  a  battue.     Attempts 


were  made  by  the  Germans  to  bring  their  artillery 
into  play,  but  such  was  the  unfavourable  nature 
of  the  ground  that  the  guns  could  only  be  placed 
in  positions  where  the  shells  from  the  forts  would 
have  knocked  them  to  pieces  in  five  minutes. 
Only  one  or  two  batteries  fired,  and  that  under 
circumstances  which  prevented  their  being  of 
much  service.  There  was  cavalry  on  both  sides, 
but  they  again  took  no  part  in  the  engagement. 
The  Germans  had  to  depend  entirely  on  their 
infantry,  which  behaved  admirably,  and  inflicted 
very  great  loss  on  the  enemy.  The  lines  of  French 
were  constantly  thinned,  but  they  were  replaced 
by  others,  who  kept  up  the  Chassepot  practice  at 
just  such  a  distance  as  enabled  them  to  be  safe 
from  the  fire  of  their  own  forts.  There  was  a 
lull  now  and  then  in  the  rifle  slaughter  as  the 
Germans  retreated  from  the  near  approaches  to  the 
bridges  over  the  Marne,  but  the  shelling  never 
for  a  moment  ceased;  and  the  mitrailleuses  and 
Chassepots  again  performed  their  work  of  destruc- 
tion, and  again  lines  of  Frenchmen  fell  dead  and 
wounded  from  the  fire  of  the  needle-gun,  as  often 
as  the  Germans  renewed  the  attempt  to  get  at  and 
destroy  the  bridges.  All  this  time  the  wounded 
were  being  carried  off  the  field  by  both  parties; 
while  some  unfortunate  soldiers,  who  though 
maimed  were  able  to  rise,  fell  dead  from  another 
ball,  or  the  fragment  of  a  shell,  as  they  endeavoured 
to  hobble  off  the  ground.  For  miles  round  the 
whole  earth  seemed  to  shake  from  the  thunder  of 
the  forts,  while  shells  were  passing  over  the  battle- 
field and  exploding  in  the  woods  and  highways. 
Some  of  the  projectiles  reached  a  distance  of  7000 
yards  from  the  batteries  whence  they  were  dis- 
charged. Ultimately  the  Germans  were  obliged  to 
desist  from  the  attempt  on  the  bridges,  though 
it  was  nearly  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when 
they  did  so."  Another  eye-witness  said: — "As 
the  Germans  advanced  and  the  French  retired, 
a  most  tremendous  fire  burst  on  the  attacking 
columns.  In  vain,  exulting  in  the  pride  of  success, 
did  the  Germans  press  forward  with  shouts  of 
defiance;  in  vain  did  officers  break  from  their  ranks 
and  cheer  them  on  against  the  receding  enemy: 
whole  files  were  literally  swept  away,  until,  at 
last,  after  a  heroic  effort,  the  retreat  was  sounded, 
and  the  German  front  fell  back."  Then  the  tide 
of  battle  turned  again;  the  French  pressed  for- 
ward in  dense  masses,  and  the  tricolor  was  once 
more  seen  in  Brie  and  Champigny,  although  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


195 


Wiirtemburgers  still  continued  to  hold  several 
outposts  at  their  extreme  end  of  the  latter  village. 
That  portion  of  the  French  army  who  had  not 
crossed  the  Marne  then  retired,  and  after  a  few 
parting  shots  the  forts  became  silent.  So  ended 
this  second  engagement. 

While  the  battle  was  still  raging,  General 
Trochu  forwarded  the  following  despatch  to  the 
chief  of  the  general  staff  in  Paris: — 

"  The  Governor  of  Paris  to  General  Sclimitz. 
"December  2. 
"  Plateau  between  Champigny 
and  Vllliees,  1.15  p.m. 

"  Attacked  this  morning  by  enormous  forces 
at  break  of  day.  We  have  been  fighting  for 
nearly  seven  hours.  At  the  moment  I  write  to 
you  the  enemy  is  retiring  along  the  whole  line, 
giving  up  the  heights  to  us  once  more.  Traversing 
the  lines  of  riflemen  from  Champigny  to  Brie,  I 
received  the  honour  and  the  unspeakable  pleasure 
of  being  cheered  by  the  troops,  exposed  to  the 
most  violent  lire.  We  shall  doubtless  have  dread- 
ful returns,  and  this  second  battle,  like  the  first, 
will  last  the  whole  day.  I  do  not  know  what 
future  is  reserved  for  these  generous  efforts  of  the 
troops  of  the  republic ;  but  I  owe  this  justice  to 
them,  that  in  the  midst  of  trials  of  all  kinds  they 
have  deserved  well  of  the  country.  I  must  add 
that  to  General  Ducrot  belongs  the  honour  of 
these  two  days.         „  GENERAL  TR0CHU." 

The  actual  result  of  these  two  days  of  slaughter 
bore  no  proportion  to  the  fearful  loss  of  life ;  for 
while  nothing  had  been  gained  by  either  party, 
both  had  lost  much.  The  desperate  action  on 
Friday  pretty  clearly  showed  that,  notwithstand- 
ing their  overwhelming  superiority  of  numbers, 
and  the  bravery  of  the  greater  portion  of  the 
French  troops,  they  could  not  defeat  their 
enemies  in  the  open  field.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
on  the  second  day  the  Germans  acted  on  the 
offensive;  and  it  was  only  by  the  aid  of  the  heavy 
guns  of  the  forts  that  the  French  were  able  to 
maintain  the  positions  they  carried  on  Wednesday. 
Giving  them  full  credit  for  the  bravery  and  hero- 
ism displayed  by  those  of  them  who  fought,  it 
must  still  be  said  that,  with  all  their  valour,  they 
were  not  equal  to  the  task  before  them ;  for  they 
could  gain  no  ground  against  enemies  over  whom 


they  had  the  advantage  of  numbers,  of  position, 
and  of  weapons.  Considering  the  intention  with 
which  the  sortie  was  made,  it  had  proved  a  grievous 
failure.  Its  object,  on  the  part  of  the  French, 
was  not  merely  a  trial  of  strength  between  the 
two  armies,  or  even  to  gain  certain  positions  (in 
which  case  they  might  have  had  reason  to  con- 
gratulate themselves);  but  they  wished  to  force  a 
passage  through  the  Prussian  lines,  and  as  they 
were  no  nearer  the  attainment  of  this  end  than 
they  had  been  a  week  before,  they  could  not  be 
said  to  have  gained  anything.  On  the  other 
hand,  they  had  lost  nothing,  for  the  troops  were 
encouraged  by  finding  they  could  cope  on  equal 
terms  with  the  Prussians  in  a  protracted  engage- 
ment on  a  large  scale,  rather  than  dispirited  by 
the  failure  of  their  object. 

The  Germans  made  every  preparation  for  a 
renewal  of  the  murderous  conflict  on  the  following 
morning,  and  before  daybreak  troops  to  reinforce 
their  army  were  pouring  from  all  sides  into  Champs 
(the  headquarters  of  the  Saxon  corps)  :  the  Bavar- 
ians were  marched  up  from  Lagny,  and  the  roads 
bristled  with  bayonets.  These  precautions,  how- 
ever, proved  unnecessary ;  for  on  the  afternoon  of 
December  3  the  mass  of  the  French  retired  across 
the  Marne,  unmolested,  to  the  shelter  of  Vincennes, 
leaving  garrisons  in  the  villages  which  had  been 
the  occasion  of  so  much  slaughter.  These  garri- 
sons also  were  finally  withdrawn  on  the  evening 
of  the  4th,  after  which  General  Ducrot  issued  the 
following  order  of  the  day: — "Soldiers!  After 
two  days'  glorious  battles  I  have  made  you  recross 
the  Marne,  because  I  was  convinced  that  further 
efforts  would  be  fruitless  in  the  direction  in  which 
the  enemy  had  time  to  concentrate  his  forces,  and 
to  prepare  means  of  action.  Had  we  persisted  in 
that  way,  I  should  have  uselessly  sacrificed  thou- 
sands of  brave  men.  Far  from  aiding  the  work 
of  deliverance  I  should  have  seriously  compromised 
it,  and  at  the  same  time  have  led  you  to  an 
irreparable  disaster.  But  the  conflict  has  only 
ceased  for  a  moment;  let  us  resume  it  with  courage. 
Be  ready  !  Complete  with  speed  your  ammunition 
and  your  provisions.  Above  all,  raise  your  hearts 
to  the  height  of  the  sacrifice  which  is  demanded 
by  the  holy  cause  for  which  we  must  not  hesitate 
to  lay  down  our  lives." 

True  to  the  French  characteristic  of  never 
admitting  a  defeat,  the  Journal  OJieiel  of  Decem- 
ber   5,    after    announcing    that    the    troops    had 


19G 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


recrossed  the  Maine  and  were  encamped  in  the 
wood  of  Vincennes,  gave  to  the  Parisians  the 
following  elaborate  explanation  of  this  backward 
"  strategical  movement:" — "  The  plan,  the  execu- 
tion of  which  has  been  for  the  last  four  days  so 
vigorously  earned  out,  now  enters  upon  a  new 
phase.  In  broad  daylight  our  troops  came  down 
again  in  excellent  order  towards  the  Marne, 
while  the  enemy  did  not  dare  to  molest  them. 
The  forts  kept  good  watch.  The  fatigues  so 
courageously  endured  by  the  young  army  of 
Paris  required  a  short  rest.  The  cold  is  much 
more  severe  and  piercing  on  the  hills  than  in 
the  open  country  or  inside  Paris.  The  fight 
had  lasted  the  whole  day,  and  strict  vigilance  was 
necessary  to  avoid  an  unexpected  attack,  as  was 
the  case  on  the  morning  of  the  2nd.  Therefore 
no  sleep  was  possible;  added  to  which  any  one 
indulging  in  sleep  on  the  hard  ground  in  such 
a  temperature  would  have  risked  being  frozen  to 
death.  These,  and  strategical  reasons,  caused  the 
movement,  which  will  lead  to  fresh  engagements, 
as  announced  in  the  order  of  the  day  of  General 
Ducrot,  the  true  meaning  and  import  of  which 
has  been  perfectly  understood  by  the  Parisian 
population.  Some  papers  suppose  that  we  have 
abandoned  Champigny.  This  is  not  the  case;  on 
the  contrary,  we  are  assured  that  our  troops  remain 
strongly  established  in  those  positions.  The 
number  of  German  prisoners  taken  from  the  battle- 
field now  amounts  to  more  than  800;  many  of 
them  are  detained  in  the  forts.  No  serious  affair 
has  occurred  since  the  2nd,  but  that  does  not 
prevent  our  generals  preparing  for  the  new  stage 
of  the  struggle  upon  which  we  are  now  about  to 
enter.  The  Prussian  staff  is  reported  to  show 
uneasiness  at  the  prospect.  The  enemy,  who  has 
in  all  directions  to  go  over  enormous  distances 
before  facing  us,  begins  indeed  to  feel  that  he  will 
soon  be  exhausted  by  marches  and  countermarches 
if  we  continue  ever  so  little  successively  to  attack 
him  on  several  opposite  points.  The  immense 
circle  round  which  he  has  to  manoeuvre  grows 
daily  more  extended,  in  consequence  of  our  con- 
quering advanced  positions  after  each  engagement, 
and  therefore  the  increasing  difficulties  of  quickly 
concentrating  troops  which  threaten  General  von 
Moltke's  plans,  must  be  contemplated  at  Versailles 
with  some  legitimate  fear.  Paris,  on  the  con- 
trary, perfectly  understanding  what  is  going  on, 
co-operates  by  all  the  means  at  her  disposal  with 


the  views  of  her  skilful  and  gallant  governor 
The  business  of  general  organization,  equipment, 
and  the  artillery  works,  is  pushed  on  with  fresh 
efficiency  and  vigour.  The  military  resources 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  battalions  armed  by  private 
industry  are,  so  to  say,  inexhaustible." 

In  order  to  show  the  intense  delight  inspired 
by  the  French  successes,  (?)  the  following  letter 
was  addressed  by  the  members  of  the  Provisional 
Government  to  their  president,  General  Trochu.: — 

"  General  and  Dear  President, — For  three  days 
we  have  been  with  you  in  mind  upon  the  field 
of  battle,  where  the  destinies  of  the  country  are 
being  decided.  We  would  wish  to  share  that 
danger  while  leaving  you  that  glory  which  so 
justly  belongs  to  you,  of  having  prepared  and 
assured  by  your  noble  devotion  the  success  of  our 
valiant  army.  No  one  has  a  greater  right  to  be 
proud  of  it  than  you.  No  one  can  more  worthily 
pronounce  its  eulogium.  You  are  only  unmindful 
of  yourself,  but  you  withdraw  yourself  from  the 
acclamations  of  your  companions  in  arms,  electrified 
by  your  example.  It  would  have  been  agreeable 
to  us  to  add  our  own,  but  permit  us  at  least  to 
express  to  you  our  hearty  sentiments  of  gratitude 
and  affection.  Say  to  the  brave  General  Ducrot 
and  his  gallant  soldiers  that  we  admire  them. 
Republican  France  recognizes  in  them  the  noble 
and  pure  heroism  which  already  has  saved  it. 
France  now  knows  that  she  rests  her  hopes  of 
safety  on  them  and  on  you.  We,  your  colleagues, 
acquainted  with  your  ideas,  hail  with  joy  those 
grand  and  noble  days  in  which  you  completely 
revealed  yourself,  and  which  we  are  convinced 
are  the  commencement  of  our  deliverance."  Neither 
then,  nor  at  any  subsequent  period,  did  the  true 
state  of  affairs  justify  the  use  of  this  highly 
inflated  language. 

As  may  be  supposed,  the  list  of  casualties  for  the 
two  days  was  on  both  sides  frightfully  heavy.  On 
the  30th  of  November  the  French  suffered  equally 
with  their  enemies,  for  then  they  were  the  assail- 
ants, and  it  was  only  the  fire  from  their  forts  which 
restored  the  balance  of  loss  that  must  otherwise 
have  been  against  them.  But  on  the  2nd  ol 
December  the  German  casualties  far  exceeded 
those  of  the  French.  The  Schutzen  and  the  108th 
regiments,  especially,  were  dreadfully  cut  up.  The 
latter,  after  going  into  action,  returned  at  the 
end  of  twenty  minutes  with  the  loss  of  thirty-five 
out  of  forty-five    officers.      The  former    covered 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


197 


themselves  with  immortal  honour,  but  at  a  terrible 
sacrifice.  They  went  into  action  about  2000 
strong,  and  lost  760  men  and  36  officers — more 
than  a  third  of  their  entire  strength.  One  com- 
pany which  began  the  fight  with  170  men,  came 
out  with  70,  and  in  another  every  one  of  the  lieu- 
tenants was  killed.  The  total  loss  on  the  French 
side  was  officially  stated  to  be  1008  killed  and 
5082  wounded,  who  strewed  the  plateau  in  front 
of  the  villages  of  Champigny,  Brie,  and  Villiers  ; 
and  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  a  great  many  of  the 
deaths  were  owing  to  the  want  of  attention  during 
the  severe  weather.  On  one  night  the  thermometer 
was  twelve  degrees,  and  the  next  nine  degrees, 
below  zero  (Fahr.) — the  cold  being  intensified  by 
a  cutting  wind  which  pierced  through  the  very 
bones,  and  transferred  many  of  the  poor  fellows 
from  the  list  of  the  wounded  to  that  of  the  dead. 
The  French  superior  officers  also  were  very  un- 
fortunate :  General  de  la  Charriere  was  killed ; 
General  Renaud  had  to  undergo  amputation  of  the 
leg,  and  General  Falherbe  of  the  arm  ;  and  Colonel 
de  Talhouet  was  also  severely  wounded:  On  the 
German  side  nearly  8000  officers  and  men  were 
placed  hors  de  combat  by  the  two  days'  hostilities 
— a  heavy  total,  which  was  chiefly  due  to  the  gal- 
lantry of  the  regiments  engaged,  "  for  they  fought 
like  lions."  Perhaps  no  men  were  ever  called 
upon  to  oppose  by  rifles  alone  such  a  cannonade 
and  rifle  fire  as  the  Saxons,  in  particular,  were 
subjected  to  ;  and  they  well  deserved  the  con- 
gratulations and  thanks  which  the  king  of  Saxony 
sent  them.  It  has  been  stated  that  the  French 
army  was  principally  composed  of  raw  recruits  :  no 
doubt  thousands  of  them  were  new  to  the  service  ; 
but  there  were  present  zouaves  brought  from  Al- 
geria after  the  battle  of  Sedan,  and  the  great  major- 
ity of  the  men  who  fought  on  the  two  days  had 
the  bearing  of  seasoned  soldiers.  As  an  instance 
of  the  privations  caused  by  the  siege,  some  of 
them  cut  up  the  dead  horses  with  their  swords, 
and  proceeded  to  cook  and  eat  portions  on  the 
battlefield. 

In  his  general  review  of  this  sortie,  and  of  the 
last  engagement  in  particular,  the  able  writer  of  the 
"Campaign  of  1870-71,"  in  the  Times  (since  col- 
lected and  republished),  says: — The  governor  of 
Paris  had  witnessed  the  vicissitudes  of  this  memor- 
able day,  and  he  had  seen  his  enemy,  frightfully 
thinned,  recoil  baffled,  if  not  routed.  Nevertheless, 
rigidly  adhering  to  his  plan,  he  did  not  attempt 


to  improve  his  advantage,  and  contented  himself 
with  maintaining  his  hold  on  the  valuable  outposts 
he  had  regained.  That  these  tactics  were  in 
accordance  with  the  general  rules  of  the  art  of 
war,  which  almost  assume  that  the  garrison  of 
a  fortress  cannot,  when  once  invested,  escape 
unless  aided  by  a  relieving  army,  will  be  hardly 
denied  by  competent  critics.  Still,  Trochu  may 
have  considered  the  question  from  too  narrow 
a  point  of  view;  and  possibly  he  had  then  an 
opportunity  of  severing  the  circle  around  Paris, 
even  without  any  external  assistance.  The  whole 
German  force  on  the  French  front  on  the  2nd  of 
December  was  25,000  men;  this  had  been  reduced 
at  least  a  fifth ;  and  though  it  had  retired  in  good 
order,  the  extraordinary  losses  of  its  officers  induce 
us  to  think  that  it  had  suffered  some  abatement 
from  its  high  martial  courage.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  French  were  not  less,  certainly,  than 
55,000  strong;  these  could  have  been  raised  to 
100,000  by  immediate  reinforcements  from  Paris; 
they  were  full  of  confidence,  and  the  terrible 
execution  done  by  the  forts  had  inspired  them 
with  exulting  hope.  It  may  be,  therefore,  that 
had  Trochu  combined  the  troops  he  could  have 
made  available  for  a  great  effort  on  the  3rd  of 
December,  he  might  possibly  have  cleared  a 
passage.  Such  was  the  opinion  of  eye-witnesses 
writing  from  the  German  camp  after  the  war  had 
ended;  and,  had  he  done  so,  and  marched  boldly 
on  the  great  German  depot  of  Lagny,  on  the 
main  line  of  the  hostile  communications,  he  might 
have  caused  the  siege  to  have  been  raised,  and  have 
practically  gained  a  base  for  his  army.  Such  an 
attempt  certainly  would  have  been  perilous,  but 
there  were  strong  arguments,  we  think,  in  its 
favour.  The  force  inside  Paris  was  not  a  mere 
garrison ;  a  large  and  far  from  despicable  army  had 
been  formed  for  active  operations;  and  as  Trochu 
ought  to  have  been  aware  that,  in  the  actual  cir- 
cumstances of  the  war,  the  arrival  of  a  relieving 
army  was  an  event  he  could  not  fully  rely  on,  he 
ought,  perhaps,  to  have  made  up  his  mind  to  act 
decisively  with  the  means  in  his  hands;  and  had 
he  done  so,  he  certainly  had  a  favourable  oppor- 
tunity at  this  moment.  Instead,  however,  of 
making  the  effort,  the  governor  of  Paris  remained 
immovable.  Without  seeking  to  blame  Trochu, 
we  shall  only  remark  that  he  never  found  so  good 
an  opportunity  again,  and  that  possibly  genius  and 
daring  might  at  this  moment  have  led  to  fortune. 


CHAPTER      XXV. 


Scenes  on  the  re-occupation  of  Orleans  by  the  Germans — Difficulty  of  disposing  of  the  large  number  of  Prisoners — Important  Proclamation  of 
the  King  of  Prussia,  stating  that  another  Crisis  of  the  War  had  been  reached — The  French  Seat  of  Government  transferred  from  Tours 
to  Bordeaux — Panic  in  the  former  City  on  the  decision  of  the  Government  being  made  known — Visit  of  If.  Gambetta  to  the  French  Army, 
and  issue  of  a  Stirring  and  Hopeful  Manifesto  by  him — Results  of  the  Capture  of  Orleans  to  the  French — New  Arrangements  made  by 
them — General  D'Anrelles  removed  from  the  Chief  Command,  and  General  Chanzy  appointed  in  his  stead — Good  Reasons  for  the  Step — 
Chanzy's  Skill  and  Energy — Position  occupied  by  his  Army  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Loire — Battle  of  Beaugency  on  December  7 — Timely 
Arrival  of  the  Bavarians,  and  the  French  driven  back  after  a  very  Gallant  Resistance — Resnmption  of  the  Engagement  by  them  on  the 
following  morning,  and  continued  Obstinate  Fighting  on  both  Sides  during  the  day — The  Germans  finally  again  Victorious — Capture  of 
400  Prisoners  by  them  at  Midnight  without  firing  a  shot  or  losing  a  Man — Fearful  Scenes  in  Beaugency — Another  Battle  on  the  9th,  in 
which  the  Germans  are  again  Successful — The  French,  however,  commence  another  Engagement  on  the  10th,  and  are  again  defeated  after 
a  Severe  Straggle — The  Scenes  in  the  Villages  around  in  consequence  of  there  having  been  no  time  to  attend  to  the  Dead  and  Wounded — 
Skilful  Movement  of  General  Chanzy,  who  takes  up  a  very  Strong  Position  near  Fre"teval,  on  the  road  to  Paris — Timely  Arrival  of  Rein- 
forcements to  the  Grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg,  and  the  French  ultimately  compelled  to  retreat  to  Le  Mans — General  Review  of  the  Strategy 
on  both  Sides  during  this  period — The  Fearful  Losses  amongst  the  Bavarians — Letter  from  the  King  of  Prussia  specially  thanking  them — 
Attack  on  Tours  by  the  Germans — Capture  of  Rouen  after  an  unavailing  attempt  at  Defence — Panic  amongst  the  French  Troops  and 
Inhabitants  of  the  City — The  Germans  actually  invited  to  enter  to  protect  the  Citizens  from  the  Mob — The  Strategical  Importance  of  the 
City  to  the  Germans — Visit  of  the  Germans  to  Dieppe,  they  having  thus  crossed  France  from  the  Rhine  to  the  British  Channel — Scenes  in 
the  Town — Blockade  of  their  own  Seaports  by  the  French — Second  Occupation  of  Dieppe — The  Prussian  Garrison  at  Ham  surprised  and 
taken  Prisoners — Surrender  of  Phalsbourg  and  MontmeMy  by  the  French — Contrast  between  Cbateaudun  and  Chartres — New  Levy  of 
Germans  Troops,  and  unabated  Enthusiasm  throughout  the  Country — Severe  Decree  of  the  French  Government  as  to  Desertion — Abolition 
of  the  General  Councils  of  Departments  by  M.  Gambetta — Great  Dissatisfaction  throughout  the  Country  at  the  Measure— Repudiation  of 
the  Treaty  of  1867  for  the  Neutrality  of  Luxemburg  by  the  Germans — Reasons  for  such  a  Step,  and  Reply  of  the  Luxemburg  Government — 
Sinking  of  English  Vessels  by  the  Germans  on  the  Seine — Remonstrance  of  the  British  Government,  and  Prompt  Reply  by  Count  von 
Bismarck,  guaranteeing  Compensation  to  the  Owners  and  Crews. 


Our  last  review  of  the  events  upon  the  Loire 
closed  with  the  fall,  for  the  second  time,  of 
Orleans  before  the  victorious  enemy.  The  entry 
of  the  Germans  into  the  city,  on  the  morning 
of  Sunday,  December  5,  was  a  scene  fitted  to 
impress  deeply  both  the  victors  and  the  van- 
quished. The  rattle  of  the  artillery  trains,  the 
roll  of  drums,  the  jingle  of  the  trotting  cavalry, 
the  shouts  of  officers,  the  tramp  of  battalions,  the 
hopeless  "jams"  of  the  baggage  trains,  the  squads 
of  prisoners  arriving  from  different  directions,  the 
cowering,  stray  civilians,  crushed  by  this  din  of 
war,  and  the  weeping  women — all  combined  to 
form  a  picture  full  of  strong  and  striking  contrast. 
If  nations,  like  individuals,  must  pass  through 
humiliation  and  suffering  to  rise  to  a  higher  and 
purer  standard  of  virtue,  the  French  were  at  this 
time  draining  the  bitter  cup  to  the  dregs;  while 
their  opponents  had  the  difficult  lesson  to  learn  of 
triumphing  in  a  spirit  of  gentleness  and  modera- 
tion. The  fact  that  the  Germans  had  already 
once  bombarded  the  town  and  driven  out  the 
enemy;  and  that,  after  occupying  it  for  four  weeks 
and  being  driven  out  in  turn,  they  were  now  once 
more  victorious  over  an  army,  the  raising  of  which 
for  her    own   defence   had  taxed   the  energies  of 


Republican  France  to  the  utmost,  naturally  caused 
a  high  degree  of  exultation,  and  invested  the 
second  capture  of  Orleans  with  an  interest  peculiar 
to  itself.  The  intensity  of  feeling  arising  out  of 
these  special  circumstances  was  observable  on  both 
sides,  and  the  proud  elated  air  of  the  regiments 
which,  with  colours  flying  and  bands  playing, 
followed  each  other  along  the  street,  finally  leading 
into  the  centre  of  the  town,  was  in  striking  contrast 
with  the  dejected  appearance  of  the  inhabitants. 
At  one  point  had  been  a  barricade  which  raked  the 
whole  length  of  the  street  by  which  the  city  was 
entered,  and  along  which  the  French  had,  during 
the  night,  kept  up  a  storm  of  rifle  bullets  which, 
for  a  time,  held  their  enemies  at  bay.  Passing 
along  this  street  the  German  troops  finally  de- 
bouched upon  the  Place  du  Martroy,  in  the 
centre  of  which,  upon  her  bronze  charger,  and 
waving  her  sword,  rode  "  The  Maid,"  surrounded 
now  by  a  dense  throng  of  French  prisoners  cap- 
tured in  course  of  the  night.  As  the  whole  army 
came  pouring  into  the  city,  street  after  street  began 
to  resound  with  the  strains  of  martial  music  and 
the  tramp  of  armed  men ;  and  at  every  lattice,  over 
which  the  blinds  were  kept  closed  for  the  most 
part,  excepting  some  little  chink  left  as  a  peep-hole, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


199 


Inquisitive  and  anxious  eyes  looked  out.  There 
must  have  been  something  appalling  to  the  in- 
habitants in  the  numbers  of  the  hostile  army,  as, 
in  seemingly  never-ending  columns,  regiment  after 
regiment  marched  to  the  position  assigned  to  it. 
On  the  balcony  of  the  Hotel  d'Orleans  stood  the 
grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg  returning  the  salute 
of  his  men,  who  looked  for  the  most  part  as  fresh 
and  clean  as  if  they  had  just  turned  out  for  parade, 
instead  of  having  had  three  days  of  hard  fighting 
in  mid-winter.  The  j'ager  battalions,  each  man 
with  a  sprig  of  pine  in  his  shako,  were  especially 
gallant-looking;  and  when  the  inhabitants  came  to 
compare  the  numbers  and  aspect  of  the  conquerors, 
with  their  own  troops  huddled  together  and  shiv- 
ering in  the  middle  of  the  square,  they  must  have 
ceased  to  wonder  at  the  result. 

As  usual,  the  number  of  prisoners  was  enor- 
mous, and  considerable  difficulty  was  felt  by  their 
captors  in  disposing  of  them.  As  many  thousands 
as  could  possibly  be  crammed  into  it  passed  the 
night  in  the  magnificent  cathedral,  which  pre- 
sented a  very  remarkable  scene. 

Considering  all  the  circumstances  under  which 
Orleans  was  captured,  and  that  for  several  hours 
its  streets  were  actually  defended  by  riflemen,  it 
must  in  justice  be  said  that  the  German  troops 
displayed  considerable  moderation  at  a  moment 
when,  according  to  the  rules  of  war,  a  certain 
amount  of  licence  is  supposed  to  be  permitted  to 
soldiers  who  may  almost  be  said  to  have  taken  by 
storm  a  besieged  town.  This  might  possibly  be 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Bavarians,  who  were 
among  the  first  to  enter,  had  during  their  former 
month's  stay  in  the  place  made  many  friends,  who 
now  from  motives  of  policy,  if  from  no  other 
sentiment,  received  them  warmly  as  old  acquaint- 
ances. No  additional  contributions  were  exacted 
from  the  city  until,  a  few  days  after  its  occupation, 
the  driver  of  a  Prussian  provision  column  was 
killed.  He  had  asked  a  Frenchman  in  a  blouse 
the  way  to  the  bivouac  outside  the  town,  where 
his  waggon  was  standing.  The  Frenchman  pointed 
in  the  direction  he  was  to  take;  but  the  unfortunate 
waggoner,  thanking  him,  had  hardly  turned  away 
when  a  bullet  passed  through  his  back  and  entered 
his  lungs.  As  the  offender  could  not  be  discovered, 
a  fine  of  £24,000  was  imposed.  Half  the  money 
was  paid  down  in  cash,  and  plate  and  other  articles 
were  offered  in  liquidation  of  the  second  moiety. 
The  Bavarian  officer,  however,  replied  that  he  was 


commandant,  and  not  a  storekeeper;  and  that  the 
amount  would  be  increased  by  £4000  a  day  until 
the  fine  was  paid.  On  the  same  or  following  day 
the  money  was  forthcoming. 

Numerous  events  following  each  other  closely 
up  to  the  present  time,  point  to  the  early  days  of 
December  as  marking  an  important  stage  in  the 
operations  of  the  war.  Not  only  had  the  army  of 
the  Loire  been  a  second  time  defeated  and  Orleans 
reoccupied,  but  in  the  east  Dijon  had  been  cap- 
tured; in  the  north  the  French  army  raised  there 
had  been  shattered  and  dispersed,  the  large  cities 
of  Amiens  and  Rouen  had  been  taken;  and  at 
Paris  sorties  on  a  great  scale  had  been  victoriously 
repulsed.  The  king  of  Prussia  therefore  issued 
the  following  important  proclamation  : — 

"  Soldiers  of  the  Confederate  German  Armies! 
— We  have  again  arrived  at  a  crisis  of  the  war. 
When  I  last  addressed  you  the  last  of  the  hostile 
armies  which  at  the  commencement  of  the  cam- 
paign confronted  us  had,  by  the  capitulation  of 
Metz,  been  destroyed.  The  enemy  has  since,  by 
extraordinary  exertions,  opposed  to  us  newly- 
formed  troops,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  inhabitants 
of  France  have  forsaken  their  peaceful,  and  by  us 
unhindered,  vocations  in  order  to  take  up  arms. 
The  enemy  was  frequently  superior  to  us  in  num- 
bers, but  you  have  nevertheless  again  defeated 
him,  for  valour  and  discipline  and  confidence  in  a 
righteous  cause  are  worth  more  than  numerical 
preponderance.  All  attempts  of  the  enemy  to 
break  through  the  investment  lines  of  Paris  have 
been  firmly  repulsed,  often,  indeed,  with  many 
bloody  sacrifices,  as  at  Champigny  and  at  Le  Bour- 
get,  but  with  a  heroism  such  as  you  have  every- 
where displayed  towards  him.  The  armies  of  the 
enemy,  which  were  advancing  in  every  direction 
to  the  relief  of  Paris,  have  all  been  defeated.  Our 
troops,  some  of  whom  only  a  few  weeks  ago  stood 
before  Metz  and  Strassburg,  have  to-day  advanced 
as  far  as  Bouen,  Orleans,  and  Dijon,  and  among 
many  smaller  victorious  engagements,  two  new 
important  battles — those  of  Amiens  and  the  several 
days'  fight  at  Orleans — have  been  added  to  our 
former  triumphs.  Several  fortresses  have  been 
conquered,  and  much  war  material  has  been  taken. 
I  have  reason,  therefore,  for  the  greatest  satisfac- 
tion, and  it  is  to  me  a  gratification  and  a  duty  to 
express  this  to  you.  I  thank  you  all,  from  the 
general  to  the  common  soldier.    Should  the  enemy 


200 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


persist  in  a  further  prosecution  of  the  war,  I  know 
you  will  continue  to  show  that  exertion  of  all  your 
powers  to  which  we  owe  our  great  success  hitherto, 
until  we  wring  from  him  an  honourable  peace, 
worthy  of  the  great  sacrifices  of  blood  and  life 
which  have  been  offered  up.  »  WILLIAM 

"  Headquarters,  Versailles,  Dec.  6,  1870." 

With  the  defeat  of  the  Loire  army  a  general 
impression  prevailed  that  the  entry  of  the  enemy 
into  Tours  was  simply  a  question  of  time.  Whether 
this  feeling  was  or  was  not  shared  by  M.  Gambetta 
and  his  colleagues,  they  doubtless  judged  that  the 
victorious  Prussians  would  at  once  make  for  the 
city  which,  since  the  investment  of  Paris,  had  been 
the  second  capital  of  France.  A  proclamation  was 
therefore  issued  by  the  ministers,  in  which  they 
announced  the  abandonment  of  Tours  as  the  seat 
of  the  delegate  government,  as  under  the  circum- 
stances of  the  hour  it  was  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  prevent  the  freedom  of  the  army  from  being 
impeded  in  any  way  by  political  or  administrative 
considerations.  As,  therefore,  the  proximity  of 
the  seat  of  government  at  Tours  might  hinder  the 
military  operations,  it  had  been  decided  that  the 
whole  of  the  government  offices  should  be  trans- 
ferred to  Bordeaux ;  which,  owing  to  the  facilities 
of  communication  which  it  offered  both  by  land 
and  sea  with  the  rest  of  France,  afforded  peculiar 
advantages  for  the  organization  of  the  army  and 
the  continuance  of  the  work  of  the  national  defence. 
Often  during  the  campaign  there  might  have  been 
witnessed  the  sudden  flight  of  a  whole  population 
before  the  dreaded  Germans,  but  never  was  there 
seen  a  spectacle  of  the  kind  so  general,  or  a  terror 
so  universal,  as  that  which  reigned  in  Tours  when 
the  decision  of  the  government  became  known. 
The  city  has  a  population  of  41,000  inhabitants; 
and  after  the  government  had  made  it  their  head- 
quarters, at  least  20,000  persons  who  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  place  itself  had  taken  up  their 
residence  there.  All  these  had  to  move,  or  felt 
themselves  bound  to  move  in  accordance  with 
.their  own  interests,  when  the  authorities  had 
decided  on  flying  southwards.  Many  of  course 
were  obliged,  by  considerations  other  than  selfish, 
to  follow  the  fortunes  of  the  emigrating  ministers. 
Besides  the  different  embassies,  various  official 
and  semi-official  newspaper  establishments,  a  large 
body  who  had  obtained,  and  who  were  trying  to 
obtain,    contracts    for    every    conceivable    article 


which  the  soldier  could  eat,  drink,  wear,  or  use 
in  fighting,  there  were  a  vast  number  of  persons 
who,  living  more  or  less  on  their  own  means, 
had  fled  from  Paris,  and  were  now  anxious  to 
escape  again  from  the  Germans,  supposed  to  be  in 
full  march  on  Tours.  It  may  therefore  be  easily 
understood  how  huge  the  exodus  became  when  it 
was  known  the  government  had  positively  decided 
upon  going  south.  The  inhabitants  of  the  place, 
French  as  well  as  foreigners,  had  been  one  and  all 
so  greatly  deceived  by  the  falsehoods  told,  and  the 
greater  falsehoods  insinuated,  regarding  the  doings 
and  prospects  of  the  army  of  the  Loire,  that  in 
spite  of  themselves  they  read  every  official  docu- 
ment in  a  sense  almost  exactly  contrary  to  that 
which  it  bore.  That  the  military  situation  was 
good,  and  that  the  government  was  departing 
merely  to  leave  greater  freedom  of  action  to  the 
army  of  the  Loire,  might  have  been  credited  after 
the  battle  of  Coulmiers  and  the  re-occupation  of 
Orleans  by  the  French;  but  it  would  not  go  down 
after  the  disastrous  fight  at  Patay,  the  return  of 
the  Prussians  to  Orleans,  the  removal  of  D'Aurelles 
from  the  command,  and  the  arrival  in  Tours  of 
a  host  of  wounded  and  of  fugitives,  both  officers 
and  men,  from  the  beaten  forces  which  had 
struggled  with  more  or  less  valour,  but  with  very 
little  success,  to  stem  the  ever-advancing  Prussian 
tide.  The  persistent  misrepresentations  of  the 
French  government  had  demoralized  the  public, 
and  no  good  news  was  now  credited  until  actually 
proved  to  be  true.  So  everybody  believed  the 
worst  to  have  happened,  when  it  was  known  that 
the  government  was  going.  Meanwhile  the  rail- 
way terminus  was  besieged  by  multitudes  of  fugi- 
tives, waiting  all  day  and  all  night  for  opportunities 
of  departure. 

But  although  the  delegate  government  was 
supposed  to  have  removed  to  Bordeaux,  the 
course  of  events  led  its  chief  member  to  take 
an  opposite  direction,  and  proceed  to  the  right 
bank  of  the  Loire,  between  Meaux  and  Beau- 
gency.  Ever  anxious  to  be  where  his  personal 
presence  might  inspire  new  life  and  lead  to 
renewed  efforts  for  his  country,  M.  Gambetta 
had,  as  already  stated,  narrowly  escaped  falling 
into  German  hands  in  his  endeavour  to  reach 
Orleans  on  the  4th;  and  leaving  his  colleagues 
to  manage  the  details  of  government  at  Bordeaux, 
he  now,  regardless  of  danger,  hastened  to  where 
a  portion  of  the  lately-beaten  army  was  fighting 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


201 


so  as  to  deserve  bis  commendation,  and  to  justify 
the  hope  that,  under  favourable  circumstances, 
they  would  be  able  once  more  to  resume  their 
forward  march.  The  events  of  the  first  few  days 
of  December  had,  indeed,  sorely  tried  the  faith 
of  those  who  were  still  sanguine  as  to  the  ultimate 
prospects  of  France;  but  whoever  else  might, 
Gambetta  certainly  was  not  disposed  to  give  way 
to  despair.  His  most  cherished  and  loudly  pro- 
claimed anticipations  had  been  rudely  thwarted; 
the  army  which  at  such  infinite  pains  he  had 
collected,  and  which  was  to  provide  a  grave  for 
the  enemies  of  France,  had  been  defeated  and 
dispersed:  but  all  this  failed  to  damp  his  ardent 
enthusiasm.  In  a  manifesto,  issued  only  a  day 
or  two  after  the  proclamation  of  King  William,  he 
wrote — "  Have  no  apprehensions.  .  .  .  The 
military  situation,  notwithstanding  the  evacuation 
of  Orleans,  is  good.  .  .  .  Our  enemies  regard 
their  situation  as  critical;  I  have  proof  of  that. 
Patience  and  courage !  We  shall  get  through  the 
work.  Show  energy,  guard  against  panic,  dis- 
trust all  false  rumours,  and  believe  in  the  good 
star  of  France!"  The  succeeding  narrative  of 
events  upon  the  Loire  will  show  the  grounds  upon 
which  M.  Gambetta's  renewed  hopes  were  founded. 
By  the  capture  of  Orleans  the  army  of  the  Loire 
had  been  cut  in  two.  General  Chanzy,  with  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  corps,  composing  the 
left  wing,  had  been  cut  off  from  Orleans  on  the 
2nd,  and  fell  back  along  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
towards  Meung,  on  the  road  to  Blois.  The  right 
wing,  consisting  of  Bourbaki's  eighteenth  and 
Crouzat's  twentieth  corps,  crossing  the  river  at 
Jargeau,  retreated  up  its  left  or  southern  bank 
towards  Gien;  and  the  centre,  comprising  the 
fifteenth  and  nineteenth  corps,  which  had  been 
driven  back  through  Orleans,  subsequently  separ- 
ated, the  former  making  its  way  for  Blois  in  concert 
with  General  Chanzy,  and  the  latter  moving  east- 
ward to  effect  a  junction  with  Bourbaki.  The 
involuntary  situation  was  accepted  by  M.  Gambetta 
with  characteristic  promptitude.  A  decree  was 
issued  on  the  6th,  announcing  that,  in  consequence 
of  the  recent  military  events  on  the  Loire  and  the 
evacuation  of  Orleans,  the  government  had  decided 
on  the  formation  of  two  distinct  armies,  to  operate 
in  the  two  regions  separated  by  the  course  of  the 
river,  "  thus  preserving  means  of  effecting  a  junc- 
tion with  Paris,  which  was  the  immediate  and 
supreme   object  in    view."      The  decree    further 

VOL    II. 


announced  the  appointment  of  D'Aurelles  de  Pala- 
dine  to  the  command  of  the  camp  of  instruction 
at  Cherbourg,  and  of  Generals  Bourbaki  and 
Chanzy  to  the  command  of  the  first  and  second 
armies  respectively.  The  new  appointment  of 
D'Aurelles  was,  of  course,  equivalent  to  dismissal 
from  his  position  as  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Loire  forces.  We  have  shown  in  Chapters  XXII. 
and  XXIII.  that  the  generalissimo  of  the  Loire 
army  was  vacillating  throughout  between  the 
offensive  operations  for  which  M.  Gambetta  was 
urgent,  and  the  more  Fabian  policy  to  which  he 
was  himself  inclined;  and  it  is  certain  that  dis- 
couragement caused  by  his  vacillation  spread  rapidly 
among  the  troops.  What  might  have  been  ex- 
pected from  the  whole  Loire  army  had  he  been 
inspired  with  some  of  the  boldness  and  intrepidity 
of  M.  Gambetta  himself,  was  shown  by  the  splendid 
rally  of  the  left  under  General  Chanzy,  as  contrasted 
with  the  wretched  behaviour  of  the  French  centre 
when  driven  within  the  defensive  works  around 
Orleans.  An  impartial  view  of  the  events  of  the 
first  few  days  of  December,  forces  on  us  the  con- 
viction that  Gambetta  was  justified,  not  in  inter- 
fering from  a  distance  with  the  details  of  the 
operations  of  D'Aurelles,  but  in  removing  him  after 
it  became  clear  that  he  had  not  the  requisite  power 
over  his  men  for  holding  them  together,  and  that 
he  had  suffered  his  army,  in  its  chosen  position,  to 
be  dissevered  by  the  attack  of  a  force  not  more  than 
half  its  numerical  strength.  It  would  have  been 
more  prudent  to  have  drawn  in  the  French  corps, 
spread  out  like  the  circumference  of  an  open  fan 
across  the  different  roads  centering  on  Orleans,  so 
as  to  cover  that  city  on  a  shorter  line,  and  thus 
bring  the  several  corps  into  closer  communication, 
and  prevent  that  separation  which  proved  fatal  to 
the  defence  of  Orleans.  The  fact  that  the  eight- 
eenth corps  on  the  right  was  obliged  to  retire 
eccentrically  across  the  Loire  without  striking  a 
blow,  seems  an  instance  of  bad  generalship  on  the 
part  of  D'Aurelles,  which  from  his  antecedents  could 
not  have  been  looked  for.  He  bad,  too,  managed 
to  lose  much  influence  with  his  generally  republi- 
can and  free- thinking  soldiers,  by  having  gone  to 
venerate  some  relics  in  the  Orleans  cathedral,  on 
an  altar  before  which  Joan  of  Arc  had  seen  a  vision 
of  the  Virgin  Mary.  The  gratitude  of  France 
was,  however,  due  to  him  for  having  formed,  from 
an  undisciplined  mob,  the  first  army  which  with- 
stood the  Germans  in  the  field;  and  although  M. 
2c 


202 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Gambetta  exercised  a  wise  discretion  in  assigning 
the  Loire  army  to  younger  and  bolder  men,  he  only 
paid  a  just  tribute  to  his  merits  in  offering  him  the 
command  (declined  on  the  ground  of  ill-health)  of 
the  new  camp  of  instruction  at  Cherbourg. 

When  it  was  decided  to  remove  General 
d'Aurelles  from  the  charge  of  the  army,  it  was 
generally  acknowledged  that  M.  Gambetta  made  a 
good  choice  of  a  successor,  for  there  was  no  doubt 
that  Chanzy  had  shown  more  military  capacity 
than  any  general  as  yet  tried  on  the  Loire.  It  was 
he  who  really  won  the  battle  of  Coulmiers  on  the 
9th  of  November;  it  was  the  left  wing,  under  his 
command,  which  had  fought — at  Patay,  on  the  1st 
December — the  only  creditable  engagement  of  the 
Loire  army  in  the  several  days  previous  to  its 
retreat  from  before  Orleans;  and  of  all  the  undis- 
tinguished crowd  of  worn-out  veterans,  naval 
officers,  and  hastily-promoted  colonels  under  whom 
that  army  was  first  brought  together  from  its  scat- 
tered depots,  Chanzy  was  the  only  general  who  had 
shone  out  conspicuously  for  vigour  and  military 
capacity  in  the  field. 

Even  before  the  Bordeaux  government  had 
settled  itself  in  its  new  home,  General  Chanzy  had 
thoroughly  justified  his  title  to  the  most  import- 
ant military  command  M.  Gambetta  had  to  confer. 
We  have  seen  how  he  was  cut  off  from  Orleans 
on  the  2nd  and  3rd  of  December,  with  his  own 
(sixteenth)  corps  and  the  seventeenth.  These, 
reinforced  on  the  following  week  by  the  twenty- 
first  corps,  sent  to  him  from  Tours,  constituted 
the  new  active  army  of  the  Loire,  with  which  he 
was  to  endeavour  to  fulfil  the  hopes  which  General 
D'Aurelles  had  failed  to  realize.  M.  Gambetta 
had  pledged  himself  to  support  the  new  commander 
with  all  the  forces  of  the  west;  but  as  yet  these 
were  only  in  a  rudimentary  condition,  and  weeks 
must  elapse  before  they  could  with  any  certainty 
be  drawn  upon.  Meanwhile,  it  was  most  import- 
ant to  present  the  best  possible  face  to  the  enemy. 

The  sixteenth  corps,  after  the  defeats  of  the  3rd 
and  4th  of  December,  had  retreated  down  the 
river  as  far  as  Mer,  within  fourteen  miles  of  Blois. 
General  Chanzy  ordered  its  columns  to  re-form  at 
Beaugency,  seven  miles  nearer  to  Orleans.  With 
marvellous  rapidity  he  established  a  new  system  of 
defence,  presented  himself,  much  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  his  enemy,  at  the  head  of  at  least  100,000 
men,  and  offered  a  resistance  which  forms  one  of 
the  most  interesting  episodes  of  the  war.      The 


newly-organized  army  was  posted  between  the  two 
railway  lines,  one  coming  from  Paris  and  Orleans, 
along  the  banks  of  the  Loire,  to  Blois  and  Tours, 
the  other  from  Paris  direct  to  Tours  by  Chateaudun 
and  Vendome.  Between  Beaugency,  on  the  first 
line,  and  Freteval,  a  few  miles  north  of  Vendome, 
on  the  second,  extends  the  forest  of  Marchenoir — 
a  region  chosen  by  the  French  at  an  early  period 
in  the  campaign  as  well  adapted  for  defensive 
operations. 

Up  to  the  evening  of  the  8th,  Prince  Frederick 
Charles,  with  the  tenth  corps,  remained  at  Orleans, 
while  the  rest  of  the  German  forces  spread  them- 
selves out  like  a  fan,  along  the  roads  which  the 
retreating  enemy  had  taken.  Not  at  all  expecting 
to  meet  with  any  serious  opposition,  the  prince 
sent  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg,  with  about  40,000 
troops,  comprising  the  seventeenth  division,  and 
the  remnant  of  Von  der  Tann's  Bavarians,  to 
follow  up  those  who  had  taken  the  right  bank  of 
the  river.  It  did  not  seem  probable  that  the 
advance  upon  Tours  would  be  impeded  by  only 
a  portion  of  that  French  army  which,  as  a  whole, 
had  already  been  beaten  and  dispersed.  On  the 
6th  of  December  the  cavalry,  who  were  sent  to 
clear  the  way  to  Blois,  were,  on  entering  the  town 
of  Meung,  fired  upon  by  a  body  of  1200  foot 
gendarmes,  who  alter  a  short  resistance  disap- 
peared, and  the  road  was  reported  clear  for  the 
advance  of  the  army.  Accordingly  the  leading 
columns  passed  through  the  town,  unmolested  and 
without  suspicion,  about  ten  o'clock  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  7  th;  but  no  sooner  did  they  debouch 
upon  the  plain  covered  with  vineyards,  on  the 
side  towards  Beaugency,  than  they  were  received 
with  a  hot  artillery  and  Chassepot  fire,  which 
compelled  them  to  fall  back  behind  the  extreme 
houses  of  Meung,  which  they  rapidly  loopholed 
and  defended.  After  a  short  delay  the  artillery 
came  to  the  front,  the  Mecklenburgers  again 
advanced,  and  the  battle  became  general.  The 
French  army  was  in  position  along  the  road  which 
runs  at  right  angles  to  the  Loire  by  Ouzouer-le- 
Marche.  Some  brigades  had  been  pushed  along 
in  echelon  towards  Meung,  but  the  main  body 
extended  from  Villorceau  on  the  right  to  Cravant 
on  the  left,  the  village  of  Beaumont  forming  the 
centre  of  the  position.  A  slightly  undulating 
plain  separated  the  two  armies,  and  owing  to  the 
hard  frost,  the  country  was  in  admirable  condition 
for  the  passage  of  artillery  and  cavalry.     But  the 


Y  B 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


203 


precaution  taken  by  the  French  commander  of 
causing  the  vine  stakes  to  be  left  in  the  ground, 
paralyzed  to  a  great  extent  the  latter  arm,  in 
which  the  Germans  were  exceedingly  strong. 
The  seventeenth  division,  which  found  itself  thus 
suddenly  engaged  with  an  enemy  in  very  superior 
force,  was  for  a  time  obliged  to  bear  alone  the 
whole  brunt  of  the  attack,  and  the  seventy-sixth 
and  ninetieth  regiments  of  Mecklenburgers  suffered 
severely  both  in  men  and  officers.  Cavalry  opera- 
tions, as  we  have  said,  were  impracticable ;  but 
the  country  was  very  favourable  for  riflemen  and 
skirmishers.  The  German  artillery,  however,  by 
their  excellent  range  and  practice,  prevented  any- 
thing like  a  forward  movement  on  the  part  of  the 
French,  until  the  Bavarians,  who  were  at  some 
distance  in  the  rear  when  the  fight  began,  by  an 
extraordinary  feat  in  marching  came  up  on  the 
right  of  the  Mecklenburgers  late  in  the  afternoon, 
and  by  their  dash  and  impetuosity  carried  all  before 
them.  At  dark  the  French,  who  had  made  a 
gallant  fight  throughout  the  day,  found  themselves 
driven  back  at  all  points,  and  the  German  army 
camped  upon  their  hardly-won  field. 

During  the  night  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg  was 
strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  the  twenty-second 
Prussian  division.  General  Chanzy  also  received 
reinforcements,  and  early  on  the  morning  of  the 
8th  commenced  a  vigorous  attack,  which  might 
have  seriously  altered  the  German  position  but 
for  the  timely  arrival  mentioned.  At  first  the 
form  of  the  battle-field  was  very  nearly  that  of 
a  horse-shoe  halved  into  pieces,  separated  at  some 
distance  from  each  other.  One  end  of  the  shoe 
rested  upon  the  village  of  Baulle,  about  half  way 
between  Meung  and  Beaugency,  and  the  other 
upon  Tavers,  a  village  beyond  Beaugency,  on  a 
ridge  at  the  bottom  of  which  a  small  stream  flows 
into  the  Loire.  On  this  ridge  the  French  were 
posted;  their  position  extending  in  a  curve  as  if 
to  complete  the  horse-shoe,  which  it  was  prevented 
from  doing  by  the  German  position  occupying  the 
corresponding  curve.  The  strength  of  the  French 
position  was  on  the  ridge  near  the  end  of  the 
straight  part  of  the  shoe;  that  of  the  Germans  at 
the  curve.  In  other  words,  the  force  of  the  attack 
of  both  armies  was  from  their  respective  right 
wings.  Between  Baulle  and  Beaugency,  a  little 
to  the  right  of  the  main  road,  was  the  village  of 
Messas;  in  the  same  direction,  and  a  little  in  rear 
of  it,  lay  Villeneuve.     Yet  further  back,  and  more 


to  the  right,  was  Langclochere,  the  centre  of  the 
battle-field  of  the  7th.  Still  further  round  the 
curve,  but  far  more  to  the  front,  was  Beaumont, 
and  beyond  that,  at  the  broken  end  of  the  German 
part  of  the  horse-shoe,  Cravant.  These  villages 
were  generally  from  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  a  half 
distant  from  each  other.  The  twenty-second 
Prussian  division,  which  formed  the  German  right 
wing,  was  to  have  commenced  the  attack,  but 
was  anticipated  by  the  French.  The  Bavarians, 
who  as  usual  had  to  sustain  the  brunt  of  the 
action,  occupied  the  centre;  and  the  seventeenth 
division,  forming  the  left  wing,  held  the  high 
road  leading  to  Beaugency  at  Baulle,  a  little  in 
rear  of  Messas,  which  with  Cravant  had  not  yet 
been  taken.  For  a  long  time  the  battle  lay  with 
the  artillery  of  the  respective  armies,  and  this  arm 
of  the  French  force  did  much  to  retrieve  its 
character.  About  one  o'clock  the  Germans  en- 
deavoured to  storm  several  of  the  villages  in  their 
front,  but  found  the  work  by  no  means  easy  ; 
mobiles  as  well  as  the  more  seasoned  troops  con- 
testing gallantly  every  inch  of  ground.  Messas, 
Cravant,  and  Beaumont  were,  however,  ultimately 
taken,  though  after  severe  loss.  Batteries  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Loire  commenced  bombarding 
Beaugency  in  the  afternoon,  and  painful  havoc 
was  committed  among  the  wounded  soldiers,  with 
whom  many  of  the  houses  and  public  buildings 
were  crowded. 

Towards  evening  a  storming  party  pushed  for- 
ward, and  after  severe  fighting  managed  to  occupy 
the  town  and  capture  a  battery  of  six  guns  and 
1 100  prisoners.  The  day  thus  closed  favourably  on 
the  whole  for  the  Germans,  who  had  slowly  gained 
ground.  The  resistance  of  the  enemy,  however, 
had  been  as  obstinate  as  it  was  unexpected,  and 
throughout  the  camp  an  unpleasant  sense  of  dis- 
appointment prevailed.  It  was,  therefore,  resolved 
that  something  further  should  be  done  to  augment 
the  acquisitions  of  the  day;  and  about  midnight 
two  Hanseatic  regiments  who  were  occupying 
Messas,  finding  that  the  village  of  Vernon,  imme- 
diately in  front  of  them,  was  still  occupied  by  the 
French,  determined  on  surprising  it;  and  rushing 
suddenly  in,  captured  400  prisoners  without  firing 
a  shot  or  losing  a  man.  The  Bavarians  were 
equally  successful  in  a  night  sortie  from  Beaumont 
upon  the  neighbouring  village  of  La  Mee,  which 
they  also  took  by  surprise  and  without  loss. 

The  scenes  in  Beaugency,  immediately  after  its 


Ai      K 


Y  D 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


203 


precaution  taken  by  the  French  commander  of 
causing  the  vine  stakes  to  be  left  in  the  ground, 
paralyzed  to  a  great  extent  the  latter  arm,  in 
which  the  Germans  were  exceedingly  strong. 
The  seventeenth  division,  which  found  itself  thus 
suddenly  engaged  with  an  enemy  in  very  superior 
force,  was  for  a  time  obliged  to  bear  alone  the 
whole  brunt  of  the  attack,  and  the  seventy-sixth 
and  ninetieth  regiments  of  Mecklenburgers  suffered 
severely  both  in  men  and  officers.  Cavalry  opera- 
tions, as  we  have  said,  were  impracticable ;  but 
the  country  was  very  favourable  for  riflemen  and 
skirmishers.  The  German  artillery,  however,  by 
their  excellent  range  and  practice,  prevented  any- 
thing like  a  forward  movement  on  the  part  of  the 
French,  until  the  Bavarians,  who  were  at  some 
distance  in  the  rear  when  the  fight  began,  by  an 
extraordinary  feat  in  marching  came  up  on  the 
right  of  the  Mecklenburgers  late  in  the  afternoon, 
and  by  their  dash  and  impetuosity  carried  all  before 
them.  At  dark  the  French,  who  had  made  a 
gallant  fight  throughout  the  day,  found  themselves 
driven  back  at  all  points,  and  the  German  army 
camped  upon  their  hardly-won  field. 

During  the  night  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg  was 
strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  the  twenty-second 
Prussian  division.  General  Chanzy  also  received 
reinforcements,  and  early  on  the  morning  of  the 
8th  commenced  a  vigorous  attack,  which  might 
have  seriously  altered  the  German  position  but 
for  the  timely  arrival  mentioned.  At  first  the 
form  of  the  battle-field  was  very  nearly  that  of 
a  horse-shoe  halved  into  pieces,  separated  at  some 
distance  from  each  other.  One  end  of  the  shoe 
rested  upon  the  village  of  Baulle,  about  half  way 
between  Meung  and  Beaugency,  and  the  other 
upon  Tavers,  a  village  beyond  Beaugency,  on  a 
ridge  at  the  bottom  of  which  a  small  stream  flows 
into  the  Loire.  On  this  ridge  the  French  were 
posted;  their  position  extending  in  a  curve  as  if 
to  complete  the  horse-shoe,  which  it  was  prevented 
from  doing  by  the  German  position  occupying  the 
corresponding  curve.  The  strength  of  the  French 
position  was  on  the  ridge  near  the  end  of  the 
straight  part  of  the  shoe;  that  of  the  Germans  at 
the  curve.  In  other  words,  the  force  of  the  attack 
of  both  armies  was  from  their  respective  right 
wings.  Between  Baulle  and  Beaugency,  a  little 
to  the  right  of  the  main  road,  was  the  village  of 
Messas;  in  the  same  direction,  and  a  little  in  rear 
of  it,  lay  Villeneuve.     Yet  further  back,  and  more 


to  the  right,  was  Langclochere,  the  centre  of  the 
battle-field  of  the  7th.  Still  further  round  the 
curve,  but  far  more  to  the  front,  was  Beaumont, 
and  beyond  that,  at  the  broken  end  of  the  German 
part  of  the  horse-shoe,  Cravant.  These  villages 
were  generally  from  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  a  half 
distant  from  each  other.  The  twenty-second 
Prussian  division,  which  formed  the  German  right 
wing,  was  to  have  commenced  the  attack,  but 
was  anticipated  by  the  French.  The  Bavarians, 
who  as  usual  had  to  sustain  the  brunt  of  the 
action,  occupied  the  centre;  and  the  seventeenth 
division,  forming  the  left  wing,  held  the  high 
road  leading  to  Beaugency  at  Baulle,  a  little  in 
rear  of  Messas,  which  with  Cravant  had  not  yet 
been  taken.  For  a  long  time  the  battle  lay  with 
the  artillery  of  the  respective  armies,  and  this  arm 
of  the  French  force  did  much  to  retrieve  its 
character.  About  one  o'clock  the  Germans  en- 
deavoured to  storm  several  of  the  villages  in  their 
front,  but  found  the  work  by  no  means  easy  ; 
mobiles  as  well  as  the  more  seasoned  troops  con- 
testing gallantly  every  inch  of  ground.  Messas, 
Cravant,  and  Beaumont  were,  however,  ultimately 
taken,  though  after  severe  loss.  Batteries  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Loire  commenced  bombarding 
Beaugency  in  the  afternoon,  and  painful  havoc 
was  committed  among  the  wounded  soldiers,  with 
whom  many  of  the  houses  and  public  buildings 
were  crowded. 

Towards  evening  a  storming  party  pushed  for- 
ward, and  after  severe  fighting  managed  to  occupy 
the  town  and  capture  a  battery  of  six  guns  and 
1 100  prisoners.  The  day  thus  closed  favourably  on 
the  whole  for  the  Germans,  who  had  slowly  gained 
ground.  The  resistance  of  the  enemy,  however, 
had  been  as  obstinate  as  it  was  unexpected,  and 
throughout  the  camp  an  unpleasant  sense  of  dis- 
appointment prevailed.  It  was,  therefore,  resolved 
that  something  further  should  be  done  to  augment 
the  acquisitions  of  the  day;  and  about  midnight 
two  Hanseatic  regiments  who  were  occupying 
Messas,  finding  that  the  village  of  Vernon,  imme- 
diately in  front  of  them,  was  still  occupied  by  the 
French,  determined  on  surprising  it;  and  rushing 
suddenly  in,  captured  400  prisoners  without  firing 
a  shot  or  losing  a  man.  The  Bavarians  were 
equally  successful  in  a  night  sortie  from  Beaumont 
upon  the  neighbouring  village  of  La  Mee,  which 
they  also  took  by  surprise  and  without  loss. 

The  scenes  in  Beaugency,  immediately  after  its 


204 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


capture,  were  painfully  memorable.  The  night 
was  very  starry,  and  the  rattle  of  the  musketry 
never  quite  ceased.  There  was  also  a  good  deal 
of  desultory  firing  about  the  streets  by  Prussian 
patrols,  who  sometimes  caught  sight  of  the  uni- 
forms of  French  soldiers  who  had  brought  in 
wounded  comrades,  and  were  endeavouring  to 
rejoin  their  corps.  The  whole  town  was  a  vast 
hospital,  and  there  was  only  one  doctor  capable 
of  performing  amputations !  In  the  theatre  alone 
were  upwards  of  200  desperately  wounded  men, 
forming  a  scene  which  those  who  speak  lightly  of 
war,  or  who  hold  in  their  hands  the  power  of 
making  it,  should  have  witnessed.  For  many 
hours  there  was  no  medical  man  in  the  place.  The 
cold  was  intense,  and  many  a  man's  life  slipped 
away  because  there  was  no  one  sufficiently  skilled 
to  bind  up  his  wounds.  The  dead  lay  thick  among 
the  dying;  and  as  the  former  were  dragged  out 
their  places  were  instantly  filled.  Miserable  objects, 
with  broken  jaws  or  faces  half  shot  away,  wandered 
about,  pointing  to  their  wounds,  and  making  piteous 
signals  for  water  which  they  could  not  swallow. 
Officers  and  men,  veterans  and  boys,  all  lay  in  one 
indistinguisable  mass  of  misery,  from  which  the 
cries  of  "  Water !  For  the  love  of  God,  water ! 
A  doctor !  A  doctor ! "  never  ceased  to  come.  It 
was  indeed  a  relief  when  the  surgeon  arrived 
from  other  similar  scenes,  and  calling  out  loudly, 
"  Voyons,  ou  sont  les  gravement  blesses  ?  ou 
sont  les  amputations?"  set  to  work  with  deter- 
mined but  kindly  energy.  It  will  always  be  a 
satisfaction  to  the  subscribers  to  the  great  English 
fund  for  the  sick  and  wounded  to  know,  that  num- 
bers of  the  French  were  spared  unutterable  tor- 
ture, and  owed  their  lives  to  the  supply  of  English 
chloroform,  blankets,  bandages,  and  wine  which 
was  fortunately  forthcoming  on  that  fearful  night, 
and  called  forth  many  blessings  on  our  nation. 

On  the  9th  cannonading  began  at  daybreak,  and 
both  sides  were  soon  engaged  along  their  whole 
lines.  The  German  position  had  been  improved, 
the  grand-duke's  army  occupying  almost  the  exact 
front  of  the  French  on  the  previous  day.  The 
shape  of  the  half  horse-shoe  was  still  preserved, 
but  the  French  half  was  now  occupied  by  the 
Germans,  who  were  slowly  pushing  their  enemy 
back  in  every  direction,  though  the  latter  still 
pertinaciously  strove  to  hold  their  ground,  and 
replied  furiously  to  the  German  batteries.  The 
village  of  Villorceau  was  taken  by  the  Bavarians 


early  in  the  day,  and  Cernay  about  the  same  time 
by  some  regiments  of  the  twenty-second  division. 
Both  villages  were  the  scene  of  desperate  engage- 
ments; and  at  the  close  of  the  day  the  dead 
Bavarians  and  French  around  Villorceau  lay  thicker 
than  pheasants  after  the  hottest  battue  in  England. 
It  was  noticed  towards  the  afternoon  that  General 
Chanzy  was  concentrating  strongly  on  the  Ger- 
man right:  he  was  in  reality  falling  back  on  the 
forest  of  Marchenoir.  About  three  o'clock  the 
order  was  given  for  a  general  advance;  and  as 
the  artillery  went  to  the  front,  and  the  sharp- 
shooters began  to  feel  the  enemy  along  the  whole 
line,  the  firing  became  terrific.  The  rifles  seemed 
endeavouring  to  rival  the  mitrailleuse  in  loudness 
and  rapidity,  and  the  two,  combined  with  the 
bursting  of  the  shells  and  the  fire  of  some  heavy 
naval  guns  which  the  French  had  in  position, 
made  four  distinct  sounds,  which  between  four  and 
five  o'clock  blended  in  a  roar  fierce  beyond  descrip- 
tion. At  this  time,  immediately  under  the  blaze  of 
the  setting  sun,  might  be  seen  long  lines  of  French 
troops  apparently  retreating  rapidly  northwards, 
and  their  opponents  had  clearly  the  best  of  the 
fight.  The  day  before  it  might  have  been  con- 
sidered a  drawn  game,  but  it  could  not  be  doubted 
who  were  the  victors  this  evening;  and  the  shade 
of  anxiety  which  clouded  all  countenances  the 
previous  night  and  this  morning,  at  the  unexpected 
check  which  the  German  armies  received,  had  now 
disappeared.  Still  the  French  were  spoken  of  in 
far  higher  terms  than  at  any  time  since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war,  and  general  admiration 
was  expressed  for  the  commander  who,  out  of  a 
beaten  and  flying  army,  could  have  got  together 
material  to  present  so  bold  and  determined  a  front. 
In  the  course  of  the  day  the  grand-duke  -was 
strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  the  tenth  corps 
from  Orleans,  and  the  army  once  more  camped 
among  the  frozen  bodies  of  friends  and  foes,  the 
interment  of  which  had  been  prevented  by  long- 
continued  fighting  on  almost  the  same  area  of 
operations.  The  duke  of  Mecklenburg,  in  imita- 
tion of  his  illustrious  master,  telegraphed  to  his 
wife  with  reference  to  this  engagement  of  the 
9th :  "  The  enemy  attacked  us  violently,  but  was 
victoriously  repulsed  by  the  advance  of  the  seven- 
teenth and  twenty-second  divisions.  God  was  with 
us.     Our  losses  were  smaller  than  yesterday." 

As  if  by  signal  the  firing  ceased  at  dusk  on  the 
9th,  and   it  might  have  been  inferred  that  both 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


205 


sides  were  utterly  exhausted  by  the  three  days' 
carnage.  Quiet  was  therefore  expected  on  the 
10th,  and  by  a  few  hours  of  much  needed  repose 
the  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg  hoped  to  prepare 
his  troops  for  the  decisive  battle,  which  it  was 
thought  might  be  looked  for  on  the  11th.  There 
were  two  parties,  however,  to  this  arrangement, 
and  the  irrepressible  French  seemed  little  disposed 
to  enjoy  the  luxury  of  rest.  On  the  10th  they 
hastened  to  commence  an  attack  upon  the  twenty- 
second  division,  which  was  holding  Cernay  and 
Cravant,  and  bombarded  those  villages  furiously  for 
two  hours.  The  Germans  quickly  brought  their 
artillery  into  position,  and  an  engagement  became 
general  along  a  line  extending  from  Villorceau 
to  L'Hay,  a  little  eastward  of  Cravant.  The  two 
armies  were  now  in  almost  parallel  lines,  from  north- 
west to  south-east,  the  French  right  resting  on 
Josnes  and  the  left  on  Villermain  and  Montigny. 
The  attack  made  by  the  French  in  the  early  part 
of  the  day  ceased,  after  having  been  replied  to  for 
a  while;  and  the  German  army  was  too  much  in 
need  of  rest  to  court  a  struggle  which  would  in 
all  probability  have  to  be  renewed  on  the  morrow. 
Only  one  incident  of  special  note  occurred  during 
the  day.  The  Prussians  had  taken  the  village  of 
Villejouan,  but  the  French  in  considerable  force 
attacked  and  retook  it,  making  more  than  100 
prisoners.  A  couple  of  German  regiments  came 
to  the  rescue,  and,  after  losing  very  severely, 
again  took  the  village;  but  their  comrades  had 
been  passed  to  the  rear  in  time  to  prevent  their 
liberation.  The  French  still  swarmed  around  the 
village,  and  the  Germans  found  themselves  with- 
out ammunition.  A  number  of  the  enemy,  how- 
ever, were  made  prisoners,  whose  cartouche  boxes 
were  still  well  supplied;  and  the  Germans,  seizing 
their  Chassepots,  returned  the  French  fire  with 
their  own  weapons.  While  still  hotly  engaged, 
the  ammunition  waggon  on  its  way  to  their  relief 
was  suddenly  brought  to  a  standstill  by  three 
of  its  horses  being  shot,  on  which  a  party  ran 
out  under  a  heavy  fire,  brought  in  the  waggon 
in  safety,  and  finally  succeeded  in  repelling  the 
French  attempt  to  retake  the  village.  As  all  the 
superior  officers  had  been  previously  killed,  the 
battalion  was  commanded  by  a  captain,  who  for 
this  brilliant  feat  of  arms  received  thanks  from 
the  grand-duke  in  person,  and  a  promise  of  the 
iron  cross.  Along  the  whole  of  the  now  very 
extended  line,  however,   the  chief  characteristic 


of  the  day  was  caution.  With  this  one  exception 
there  were  no  brilliant  dashes,  no  furious  fusillades 
of  small  arms,  and  after  a  time  even  the  artillery 
fire  languished;  but  the  day  being  remarkably 
clear,  the  scene,  as  a  military  spectacle,  was 
perfect. 

The  incessant  fighting  of  the  last  four  days 
over  almost  the  same  few  acres,  rendered  it  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  administer  the  usual  alleviations 
to  the  sufferings  of  the  wounded  and  dying.  The 
scenes  occurring  in  Villorceau  might  have  been 
witnessed  in  almost  every  one  of  the  numerous 
hamlets  in  and  about  which  the  work  of  slaughter 
had  been  done.  The  chief  house  in  the  place 
was  a  Pension  de  Jeunes  Filles,  and  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  any  of  the  horrors  of  war  depicted  by  the 
truthful  pens  of  Erckmann-Chatrian  equal  those 
which  that  house  exhibited.  Every  room  (and 
there  were  many),  from  the  cellar  to  the  roof, 
was  crowded  with  dead  and  starving  men,  lying 
so  thick  that  it  was  impossible  to  move  among 
them.  Some  had  been  there  since  Tuesday 
evening,  many  of  them  since  Wednesday.  It 
was  now  Saturday,  and  not  one  drop  of  water, 
not  one  atom  of  food,  had  yet  passed  their 
lips.  Many  were  desperately  wounded,  although 
still  alive.  Among  them  were  several  officers. 
The  house  contained  no  furniture;  the  windows 
had  been  broken ;  and  all  these  days  and  nights  of 
almost  arctic  cold  had  the  men  been  lying  on  the 
bare  floor  with  their  wounds  undressed.  The 
stench  was  fearful.  Every  house  in  the  village 
was  in  the  same  state.  In  some  rooms  were 
twelve  or  fourteen  men — many  of  them  corpses ! 
That  night  a  kind  uhlan  doctor  volunteered  to 
bind  up  a  few  of  the  worst  wounds,  to  enable  the 
men  to  be  transported,  but  he  had  nothing  with 
him  but  a  pair  of  scissors  and  some  pins.  For- 
tunately the  resources  of  the  English  society  did 
not  fail,  and  most  of  the  sufferers  were  removed 
during  the  night  of  the  10th  or  on  the  following 
day  to  the  Couvent  des  Ursulines  at  Beaugency. 
Many  were  too  near  their  end  to  bear  being 
moved,  and  an  excellent  French  abbe" — himself 
a  martyr  to  consumption — spent  the  night  with 
them  in  prayer,  and  in  dispensing,  with  the 
assistance  of  an  English  Protestant  soldier,  the 
last  sacraments  of  the  church. 

On  December  11  the  two  armies  remained 
inactive,  and  on  the  12th  it  was  found  that  the 
French  had    mysteriously    disappeared.      It    was 


206 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


evident  that  the  attack  of  the  I  Oth  was  designed 
to  mask  a  movement  of  retreat,  for  General  Chanzy 
had  retired  in  perfect  order,  leaving  not  the 
slightest  trace  behind.  The  army  of  the  grand- 
duke  of  Mecklenburg  immediately  set  out  by  cross- 
roads, in  full  pursuit.  Chanzy,  however,  eluded 
his  pursuers,  and  while  they  were  thinking  of 
driving  him  upon  Tours,  he  moved  to  take  up  a 
position,  stronger  than  that  which  he  had  aban- 
doned, on  the  direct  road  to  Paris,  and  where  he 
could  receive  reinforcements  from  the  west. 

Eunning  almost  parallel  with  the  Loire  is  the 
Loir,  upon  which  are  the  towns  of  Chateaudun 
and  Venddme,  about  midway  between  which  the 
river  traverses  a  range  of  hills — winding  round 
the  spur  of  one,  and  passing  through  a  narrow 
valley,  scarcely  abrupt  enough  to  be  called  a 
gorge,  in  the  hollow  of  which  lies  the  little  town 
of  Freteval.  From  the  left  bank  of  the  Loir  the 
extensive  forest  of  Marchenoir  runs  back  in  the 
direction  of  Beaugency,  for  a  distance  of  twenty 
miles  or  more ;  while  on  the  right  bank  the  forest 
of  Freteval  extends  westward  to  almost  an  equal 
distance.  The  French  had  taken  up  a  position 
on  the  spur  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  with 
the  wood  of  Freteval  on  the  left  and  in  rear,  the 
wood  of  Marchenoir  on  the  right,  and  the  river 
Loir,  which  there  makes  a  bend,  in  front.  To 
strengthen  the  immense  natural  facilities  for  de- 
fence offered  by  his  new  position,  General  Chanzy 
planted  batteries  wherever  any  advantage  of  ground 
was  to  be  had,  and  filled  the  wooded  slopes  with 
sharpshooters.  The  village  of  Freteval  was  taken 
by  the  Germans  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  after 
some  fighting  on  the  14th,  but  coidd  not  be  held 
on  account  of  its  exposed  position  ;  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  15th  the  state  of  affairs  was  critical 
for  them,  and  singularly  creditable  to  the  tactics 
of  General  Chanzy.  The  duke  of  Mecklenburg 
had  been  sent  to  drive  farther  away  from  Paris 
the  army  of  the  Loire,  and  now  by  a  skilful 
movement  it  had  not  only  placed  itself  on  the 
road  to  the  capital,  but  had  got  the  start  and 
left  its  pursuers  in  the  rear.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  on  the  9th  of  the  previous  month  the 
small  Bavarian  force  under  the  command  of  General 
von  der  Tann,  after  making  a  gallant  stand  at 
Coulmiers,  was  obliged  to  retreat  before  the  French 
army  of  the  Loire.  Now,  after  the  lapse  of  five 
weeks,  after  marching  incessantly  and  fighting 
eight  battles,   the  Germans  found  themselves  in 


sight  of  the  wood  on  the  other  side  of  which  the 
battle  of  the  9th  was  fought,  with  the  same  army 
before  them,  and  in  a  stronger  position  than  it 
had  ever  previously  occupied  !  No  German  army 
was  now  between  General  Chanzy 's  and  that 
which  was  investing  the  capital,  and  only  an 
inferior  force  was  behind.  As  Chanzy  was  in 
communication  with  Le  Mans  and  the  west,  he 
might  at  any  time  become  strong  enough  to  ad- 
vance, and  might  then,  indeed,  be  advancing  upon 
Paris  by  Chateaudun.  The  position  of  the  French 
at  Freteval  was  too  strong  to  be  stormed  with  the 
force  at  the  grand-duke's  disposal;  but,  fortunately 
for  him,  a  direct  attack  became  unnecessary. 

Prince  Frederick  Charles  had  sent  the  ninth 
corps  down  the  Loire  (a  different  river,  it  must  be 
remembered,  from  the  Loir),  which  had  appeared 
in  the  rear  of  Blois,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river, 
on  the  12th;  but  as  the  bridge  was  broken  the 
corps  could  not  enter  Blois  until  the  tenth  corps, 
marching  to  that  city,  held  out  a  hand  to  it  by 
throwing  up  hastily  a  bridge  of  boats,  by  which  it 
passed  over.  The  tenth  corps  was  sent  to  Ven- 
dome,  and  by  threatening  the  right  of  General 
Chanzy,  succeeded  in  compelling  the  French  to 
abandon  their  strong  position  at  Freteval,  higher 
up  the  river.  The  French  were  posted  in  front 
of  Vendoine,  which  they  held  on  the  14th  and 
15th;  but  having  been  beaten  in  an  artillery 
duel,  they,  on  the  evening  of  the  latter  day, 
evacuated  the  town,  which  the  Germans  entered 
on  the  16th.  The  German  line  was  now  formed, 
the  duke  of  Mecklenburg  occupying  Cloyes  and 
Morde,  the  tenth  army  corps  being  at  Vendoine, 
and  the  ninth  at  Blois.  On  the  17th  Chanzy 
had  another  rear-guard  action  with  Yon  der  Tann 
at  Epuisay,  where  the  roads  from  Yendome  and 
Moree  to  St.  Calais  meet,  and  then  withdrew  to 
Le  Mans,  which  he  entered  on  the  21st. 

The  French  had  throughout  been  fighting 
a  losing  battle,  but  their  commander  felt  that 
anything  was  better  than  the  continued  retreats 
by  which  the  soldiers  had  been  disheartened.  A 
peculiar  character  was  given  to  these  daily  encoun- 
ters by  the  stern  determination  with  which  the 
French  renewed  the  struggle,  day  after  day,  refus- 
ing to  consider  themselves  as  beaten,  even  after  a 
series  of  undeniable  defeats.  Again  and  again  the 
Germans  in  the  morning  found  themselves  occu- 
pying the  positions  held  by  their  opponents  in 
the  evening;  but  the  French  held  others  in  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


207 


immediate  neighbourhood — every  village  serving 
as  a  fortress.  When  dislodged  from  one,  they  took 
up  their  stand  in  another,  and  so  on  from  sunrise 
to  sunset.  Each  battle  was  a  mere  series  of  skir- 
mishes, in  which,  though  the  Germans  were  vic- 
torious, both  armies  left  a  vast  tract  of  country 
strewed  with  their  dead,  who  lay  unheeded  day 
after  day. 

Had  the  movements  of  General  Chanzy  since 
the  evacuation  of  Orleans  been  dictated  by  the 
most  profound  strategy,  instead  of  by  necessity  or 
accident,  they  could  not  have  been  executed  more 
skilfully,  or  in  a  manner  more  harassing  to  his 
foes.  The  vast  quantity  of  stores  which  had  been 
accumulated  in  Orleans  were  sent  across  to  the  left 
bank  of  the  Loire,  with  a  comparatively  small  force 
to  protect  them,  and  to  deceive  the  Germans  as  to 
the  position  of  the  main  body  of  the  army,  which 
waited  on  the  right  bank,  and  fell  upon  the  flank 
of  the  inferior  German  force  at  Meung.  Here,  for 
four  successive  days,  Chanzy  fought  so  hard  that 
the  Germans  gained  very  little  ground,  and  had 
to  send  for  heavy  reinforcements ;  when  they 
expected  him  to  rest  he  attacked  them ;  and  when 
they  expected  him  to  attack,  he  was  gone,  no  one 
at  first  knew  whither.  He  thus  forced  the  duke 
of  Mecklenburg  to  change  his  front  and  follow  the 
retreating  enemy  to  the  almost  impregnable  position 
he  had  taken  up  at  Freteval,  and  in  the  vast  forests 
upon  the  right  and  left  banks  of  the  Loir;  where 
there  seemed  to  be  nothing  to  prevent  his  keeping 
the  Germans  at  bay,  while  the  bulk  of  his  army 
might  by  forced  marches  have  moved  in  four  days, 
by  Chateaudun  and  Chartres,  upon  Versailles.  As 
it  was,  the  French  held  their  opponents  in  front 
of  Freteval  for  four  days,  till  their  position  being 
turned  by  the  tenth  and  third  army  corps,  directed 
by  Prince  Frederick  Charles  upon  Vendome, 
Chanzy  was  forced  to  choose  between  retreating 
upon  Le  Mans  or  upon  Paris.  The  former  town, 
with  the  great  naval  fortresses  in  its  rear,  offered 
important  advantages  to  a  retiring  army  wearied 
with  constant  fighting;  and  once  reached,  a  junc- 
tion with  the  French  army  of  the  west  would 
be  effected,  and  large  reinforcements  obtained. 
Chanzy,  therefore,  directed  his  march  thither, 
making  admirable  use  of  many  defensive  positions, 
and  on  the  21st  of  December  reached  Le  Mans, 
having  saved  his  army  and  joined  his  supports. 
Although  his  troops  had  suffered  terribly,  he  had 
lost  only  seven  or  eight  guns. 


These  operations  reflected  high  credit  from 
every  point  of  view  on  the  French  commander, 
and  proved  what  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  army  of 
the  Loire  could  do  in  untoward  circumstances. 
Prince  Frederick  Charles  apparently  calculated 
that  Von  der  Tann  and  the  grand  -  duke  of 
Mecklenburg  were  in  sufficient  force  to  destroy 
Chanzy;  but  he  baffled  these  expectations,  and  his 
vigorous  stand  at  Beaugency  and  Marchenoir 
not  only  weakened  his  foes,  but  by  drawing  a 
detachment  against  his  right  perhaps  saved  the 
rest  of  the  army  of  the  Loire.  In  falling  back 
on  Le  Mans,  and  retreating  upon  his  reinforce- 
ments when  his  wing  was  menaced,  eye-witnesses 
told  with  what  foresight  he  availed  himself  of 
natural  obstacles  to  baffle  and  impede  his  pursuers. 

Though  the  retreat  had  been  trying  in  the 
extreme,  and  many  hundreds  had  disbanded,  the 
great  majority  of  the  French  troops  had  con- 
tended not  without  honour  against  their  veteran 
and  well-seasoned  foes.  That  they  should  have 
been  fighting  in  the  open  field  at  all,  considering 
the  helpless  condition  of  France  after  Sedan,  is 
not  a  little  surprising.  But  that  they  should 
have  fought,  within  thirteen  days,  ten  such 
battles  as  Beaune-la-Bollande,  Patay,  Bazoches, 
Chevilly,  Chilleure,  Orleans,  and  the  four  about 
Beaugency,  on  terms  so  nearly  equal,  sometimes 
superior,  against  the  best  German  troops,  effect- 
ing their  retreat  on  almost  all  occasions  without 
any  disastrous  loss  or  confusion — is  an  achieve- 
ment which  reflects  the  highest  honour  on  the 
generals  who  organized  and  commanded  the  army 
of  the  Loire.  The  weather  had  throughout  been 
dreadful.  As  described  by  General  Chanzy  himself 
at  one  place  in  his  valuable  and  concise  work,  "La 
Deuxieme  Armee  de  la  Loire,"  "  A  torrent  of 
rain  since  the  morning  had  melted  the  snow  and 
produced  a  thaw.  The  roads  were  everywhere 
exceedingly  slippery,  and  the  fields  were  too 
muddy  for  the  passage  of  horses  and  carriages. 
In  point  of  fatigue  to  men  and  cattle,  this  day 
(12th  December)  was  one  of  the  most  distressing 
of  the  campaign.  Nevertheless,  the  march  was 
effected  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  regularity, 
and  by  night  all  the  corps  were  established  pre- 
cisely in  the  positions  assigned  to  them." 

In  fact,  the  sufferings  of  the  troops  can  have 
been  but  little  less  severe  while  they  lasted  than 
what  was  endured  in  the  retreat  from  Kussia.  To 
fight  all  through  a  short  winter's  day,  the  fingers 


208 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


almost  too  cold  to  handle  a  rifle,  and  to  find  oneself 
at  nightfall  on  a  bare  frozen  plain,  or,  even  worse, 
a  muddy  field,  with  no  supplies  at  hand,  and  often 
even  no  fuel,  shivering  the  long  night  through  in 
a  furrow,  or  wandering  about  in  a  vain  search  for 
food — a  night  of  this  sort,  followed  by  another 
day  of  hopeless  fighting,  was,  during  the  first 
fortnight  of  this  dreary  December,  the  condition 
of  the  soldiers  of  the  French  army,  in  which  the 
sufferings  of  the  sound  were  only  surpassed  by 
those  of  the  miserable  wounded,  who  crawled 
unaided  into  the  nearest  ditch  to  die.  Notwith- 
standing all  these  disadvantages,  the  methodical 
way  in  which  the  business  of  the  headquarters 
was  conducted  during  this  time  was  most  admir- 
able. Night  after  night,  when  the  troops  were 
getting  such  fragments  of  rest  as  their  condition 
made  possible,  was  passed  by  Chanzy  in  writing 
long  despatches  to  the  provisional  government, 
and  dictating  orders  for  the  following  day.  Pro- 
motions were  made,  casualties  filled  up,  and  the 
business  of  the  army  generally  carried  on  with 
the  greatest  detail  and  precision.  To  read  Gen- 
eral Chanzy's  orders  of  the  day  at  this  time,  one 
might  suppose  that  they  were  issued  by  the 
commander  of  a  confident,  well-conditioned  army, 
making  war  in  ordinary  fashion,  in  regular  cam- 
paigning weather.  The  whole  episode  is  a 
remarkable  instance  of  the  effect  of  character  in 
war.  With  a  less  determined  and  obstinate  com- 
mander, it  is  hardly  doubtful  that  this  army  would 
have  gone  to  pieces.  As  it  was,  Chanzy's  deter- 
mined attitude,  and  the  spirit  he  succeeded  in 
infusing  into  those  around  him,  had  the  effect  of 
keeping  the  Germans,  who  were  also  of  course 
suffering  very  much  from  the  weather,  on  very 
respectful  terms.  Altogether,  the  retreat  from 
Orleans  to  the  Loire  during  the  first  half  of  De- 
cember was  perhaps  as  creditable  to  French  arms 
as  anything  that  occurred  during  the  whole  war. 

It  must  in  justice  be  remarked,  however,  that  if 
the  French  had  thus  fought  with  heroic  steadiness 
and  courage,  the  Germans  also  bore  up  against  their 
great  hardships  and  heavy  losses  with  their  wonted 
fortitude;  not  excepting  the  Bavarians,  about  whose 
demoralization  idle  tales  had  been  in  circulation  ever 
since  their  first  mishap  at  Coulmiers.  These  troops 
had,  indeed,  suffered  so  severely,  that  they  were 
reduced  to  about  one-fifth  of  their  original  force ; 
yet  to  the  last  they  exhibited  the  utmost  gallantry. 
Each  corps  d'armee  left  Germany  30,000  strong ; 


before  any  of  the  fighting  round  Beaugency,  the 
first  was  in  sixteen  battles,  without  reinforce- 
ments, and  General  von  der  Tann  could  not 
number  more  than  5000  effective  bayonets.  Some 
reserves  arrived  from  Germany  on  the  7th  Decem- 
ber, and  the  active  part  they  took  in  the  engage- 
ments of  that  and  the  two  following  days  may 
be  judged  by  the  fact  that  the  corps  sustained  an 
additional  loss  of  1200  men  and  forty-eight  officers. 
On  the  12th  the  corps  was  ordered  back  to  Orleans 
to  enjoy  a  season  of  well-merited  repose,  and  a 
very  complimentary  letter  was  addressed  by  the 
king  of  Prussia  to  General  von  der  Tann. 

Not  deeming  it  prudent  to  pursue  their  enemy 
further  for  the  present,  the  armies  of  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  and  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg 
remained  in  the  country  between  Orleans,  Ven- 
dome,  and  Blois;  and  with  the  exception  of  an 
expedition  to  Tours  by  Voigts-Ehetz  and  part  of 
the  tenth  corps,  no  further  encounter  took  place 
between  the  combatants  until  the  winter  campaign 
in  January,  the  events  of  which  will  be  related  in 
a  future  chapter.  When  the  Germans  reached 
Blois  and  Vendome  they  were  at  less  than  two 
day's  march  from  Tours,  on  the  two  railways  con- 
verging on  that  town,  the  one  from  Orleans,  and 
the  other  from  Chateaudun.  After  the  government 
delegation  left  for  Bordeaux,  General  Sol,  who 
had  the  command  of  the  Tours  military  division, 
seeing  himself  exposed  to  attack  from  these  two 
lines,  and  also  from  Vierzon,  immediately  retreated. 
M.  Gambetta,  deeming  the  evacuation  of  Tours 
precipitate,  removed  him  from  active  service,  and 
appointed  General  Pisani  in  his  place.  The  force 
of  Voigts-Rhetz  having  been  signalled  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood,  General  Chanzy  sent 
a  despatch  to  Pisani  ordering  him,  with  the  6000 
troops  under  his  command,  to  harass  the  enemy 
as  much  as  possible,  but  by  no  means  to  risk  a 
defeat.  Accordingly,  on  December  20,  he,  with 
his  little  army,  attacked  the  Prussians  at  Monnaie, 
and  after  inflicting  on  them  no  little  damage  and 
taking  sixty  prisoners,  retreated  with  consider- 
able loss.  Pisani,  watching  the  course  of  events, 
lingered  for  some  time  about  the  vicinity  of  Tours, 
before  which  the  Prussians  appeared  the  next 
morning.  Thinking  that,  as  the  garrison  had  left, 
the  town  would  make  no  resistance,  they  sent 
forward  a  squadron  of  cavalry  to  take  possession. 
The  towns-people,  however,  had  made  up  their 
minds  to  attempt  a  defence,  and  when  the  hostile 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


209 


cuirassiers  came  within  easy  range,  the  Tours 
national  guards  fired  on  them,  and  forced  them  to 
retreat  at  full  gallop.  The  Prussians  then  deter- 
mined to  try  the  effect  of  a  bombardment,  unlim- 
bered  a  battery  of  artillery  on  the  edge  of  the  lofty 
plateau  rising  at  only  a  few  hundred  yards  to  the 
north,  and  began  shelling  the  town.  As  Tours  was 
perfectly  open  and  totally  unprovided  with  the 
means  of  defence,  this  mode  of  attack  soon  began 
to  tell.  Several  were  killed  by  the  shells,  and 
amongst  them  M.  Beurtheret,the  editor  of  the  Union 
Liberale.  Fearing  that  the  town  might  be  totally 
destroyed,  M.  Eugene  Gouiz,  the  mayor,  accom- 
panied by  his  adjuncts  and  an  interpreter,  went  to 
the  Prussian  commander  with  a  flag  of  truce,  and 
asked  for  a  cessation  of  the  bombardment,  which 
was  at  once  and  unconditionally  accorded.  The 
Prussians  did  not  occupy  the  town,  but,  probably 
supposing  that  considerable  French  forces  were 
in  the  neighbourhood,  retired  soon  afterwards  to 
Blois.  Tours  was  thus  again  left  in  peace,  and 
was  re-occupied  by  General  Pisani  and  his  troops 
as  soon  as  the  enemy  disappeared. 

Dropping  for  the  present  the  subject  of  the 
operations  of  the  armies  on  the  several  zones 
around  Paris,  we  will  glance  briefly  at  the  princi- 
pal towns  and  fortresses  captured  by  the  Germans 
during  December,  taking  them  in  chronological 
order. 

After  the  first  battle  of  Amiens,  which  took 
place  on  the  26th  and  27th  November,  and  which 
resulted  in  the  destruction  of  what  was  then  called 
the  French  army  of  the  north,  some  remnants  of 
that  force  were  said  to  have  fled  in  the  direction 
of  Caen.  General  von  Gbben,  with  the  first  corps, 
was  despatched  to  pursue  these,  with  instructions 
also  to  make  a  reconnaissance  upon  the  Rouen 
road,  but  not  to  attack  the  enemy  there  if  in 
positions  behind  earthworks.  At  a  meeting  of 
the  principal  inhabitants  and  the  military  and 
civil  authorities,  it  was  determined  not  to  defend 
Rouen,  as  in  consequence  of  the  incomplete  state 
of  the  lines  of  defence  any  attempt  at  resistance 
would  be  useless.  But  changing  their  minds,  an 
address  was  issued  by  the  municipal  council,  inti- 
mating that  the  enemy  was  approaching  nearer 
and  nearer,  that  the  military  were  concentrating 
for  defence,  and  exciting  the  citizens  to  make  an 
effort  equal  to  the  sacrifices  the  country  required 
of  them.  The  available  forces  of  the  town  were 
accordingly  sent  to  Buchy  to  arrest  the  course  of 
vol.  n. 


the  enemy,  and  the  result'  closely  resembled  the 
memorable  battle  of  Bull's  Run. 

Buchy  is  a  village,  very  insignificant  in  itself, 
but  strategically  of  no  small  importance,  as  there 
the  road  and  railway  from  Amiens  to  Rouen  bifur- 
cates, the  northern  branch  going  on  to  Cleres  and 
St.  Victor  (on  the  way  from  Rouen  to  Dieppe), 
thus  forming  the  apex  of  a  triangle,  of  which  the 
lines  to  Rouen  and  to  Cleres  form  the  sides,  and 
the  railway  from  Rouen  to  the  Cleres  station  of 
the  Dieppe  Railway,  the  base.  The  French  force 
consisted  of  undisciplined  mobiles  and  mobilized 
national  guards,  from  several  departments,  of  a 
corps  of  franc-tireurs,  a  provisional  regiment  of 
the  line  {regiment  de  marche),  and  a  small  detach- 
ment of  cavalry.  The  Prussians  advanced  on 
Buchy  from  St.  Saens,  and  about  five  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  3rd  December  sent  some  shells 
into  the  French  positions.  The  first  discharge 
dismounted  one  of  the  three  guns  with  which  the 
French  attempted  to  open  fire  against  a  Prussian 
battery  of  from  thirty  to  forty.  The  mobiles,  who 
were  drawn  up  to  protect  them,  no  sooner  heard  a 
shell  bursting  than  they  fled  across  country,  and 
paused  not  until  they  reached  Rouen  in  the  even- 
ing. There  they  scattered  all  over  the  place,  filled 
every  cafe  and  wine  shop,  drank  very  freely,  con- 
fessed that  they  had  retired,  but  boasted  loudly 
of  what  they  would  have  done  in  other  circum- 
stances, and  gave  exaggerated  accounts  of  the 
enemy's  numbers.  A  panic  spread  throughout 
the  city.  The  treasure  and  notes  in  the  Bank  of 
France  and  in  the  receveur-general's  hands  were 
embarked  on  board  the  Protectrice,  a  powerful  iron- 
clad floating  battery,  supposed  to  have  been  moved 
to  Rouen  for  the  defence  of  the  city ;  but  she  now 
got  up  steam  and  was  soon  out  of  sight.  The  vari- 
ous French  merchantmen  in  the  river  also  dropped 
down  with  the  tide.  Early  next  morning,  which 
was  very  cold,  the  rappel  was  sounded  for  the 
muster  of  the  national  guard,  who  turned  out  with 
readiness.  They  were  kept  waiting  for  nearly  six 
hours  in  the  cold,  and  were  then  marched  to  the 
railway  station  for  conveyance  to  Cleres.  Ulti- 
mately, however,  the  authorities  again  changed 
their  minds,  and  the  guards  remained,  to  be  dis- 
armed and  disbanded  by  the  Prussians.  A  number 
of  siege  guns,  which  had  been  landed  on  the  quay 
only  two  days  before,  were  spiked  and  thrown 
into  the  river.  The  town,  meanwhile,  was  seem- 
ingly emptied  of  its  male  population,  and  the  sad, 
2d 


210 


THE  FRANCO-PKUSSIAN  WAR. 


anxious  faces  of  the  women  expressed  the  fears 
by  which  they  were  agitated. 

In  the  meantime,  the  strange  manner  in  which 
the  French  troops,  evidently  strong  in  numbers, 
had  abandoned  position  after  position  from  Gaille- 
fontaine  along  the  road  to  Rouen,  induced  General 
von  Goben  to  make  one  of  those  rapid  advances 
which  had  so  often  led  to  triumph.  The  forces 
under  his  command  received  with  their  usual  en- 
thusiasm the  order  to  advance  upon  the  road  to 
Rouen;  and  notwithstanding  the  severe  marching 
and  fighting  of  the  last  few  days,  all  strode  along 
seemingly  as  fresh  as  when  they  left  the  banks 
of  the  Rhine.  They  anticipated  a  battle  before 
Rouen;  believing  that  the  French  were  strong  in 
numbers,  well  armed,  and  provided  with  artillery, 
with  the  advantage  of  occupying  a  fortified  position. 

A  halt  was  made  at  Buchy,  where  the  precipitate 
retreat  of  the  French  took  place  to  which  we  have 
already  alluded.  Little  knowing  the  terror  they 
had  caused,  the  Prussians  concluded  the  force  they 
had  dispersed  was  but  the  outpost  of  a  more  formid- 
able body.  But  on  their  arrival  at  Quincampoix, 
on  the  morning  of  December  5,  the  advanced  guard 
brought  in  an  elderly  gentleman,  taken  prisoner  as 
he  drove  from  Rouen  in  his  gig,  and  who  turned 
out  to  be  the  mayor  of  Quincampoix.  From 
him  the  Prussians  learned  that  35,000  troops  had 
camped  at  Quincampoix  the  previous  night,  but 
had  only  remained  for  an  hour,  and  then  continued 
their  retreat  upon  Rouen,  which  intended  to  make 
no  resistance.  The  intelligence  was  so  astounding, 
that  it  was  at  first  believed  to  be  a  ruse  to  induce 
the  somewhat  wearied  Germans  to  advance  upon  a 
strong  position  defended  by  fresh  troops.  But  after 
a  short  consultation  with  Colonel  von  Witzendorff, 
the  chief  of  his  staff,  and  Major  Bomki,  General 
von  Goben  ordered  the  troops  to  advance.  Just 
at  this  moment  the  omnibus  from  Rouen  arrived, 
with  intelligence  to  the  general  which  seemed 
almost  incredible.  In  the  morning  the  French 
troops  had  all  retreated  upon  Havre.  The  town 
had  subscribed  10,000,000  francs  as  a  contribution, 
which  General  von  Goben  was  invited  to  come 
and  take.  Everything  was  now  boot  and  saddle; 
the  fortieth  and  seventieth  regiments,  forming  the 
thirty-first  brigade,  with  the  ninth  hussars  and 
two  batteries  of  artillery,  pushed  along  the  road  to 
Isneauville,  and  the  staff  waited  in  Quincampoix, 
to  let  the  infantry  advance. 

Arrived  at  Isneauville,  the  Germans  came  upon 


the  Grst  lines  of  the  French  works.  In  the  middle 
of  the  road  lay  two  heavy  ship  guns,  24-pounders, 
which  it  was  clear  that  the  French  had  not  had 
time  to  put  into  position.  Everything  betokened 
a  hasty  retreat.  The  batteries  were  unfinished; 
while,  on  either  side  of  the  road,  the  Prussian 
troops  actually  marched  among  the  still  burning 
camp-fires  of  their  opponents.  The  question  natu- 
rally arose,  what  had  the  French  general  at  Rouen 
been  doing  for  the  last  two  months  ?  He  had 
more  than  ample  time,  money,  and  material,  to  say 
nothing  of  his  close  proximity  to  Havre,  Dieppe, 
and  Boulogne,  to  establish  a  line  of  defence  before 
the  city  that  might  have  very  greatly  altered  the 
face  of  matters.  He  had  done  nothing  but  aban- 
don every  position  which,  with  immense  labour, 
his  troops  had  constructed  between  Isneauville 
and  Gaillefontaine,  where  every  village  might  have 
been  made  a  fortress;  all  the  more  easily  because 
his  army,  instead  of  being  made  up  entirely  of 
mobiles,  included  several  line  regiments,  and  the 
fifth  hussars,  with  thirty-five  guns. 

Rouen  lies  in  a  basin,  surrounded  by  high  hills, 
from  which  Von  Goben's  army  quickly  had  a 
view  of  the  famous  city.  A  patrol  of  hussars  was 
sent  forward  to  arrange  for  the  entry  of  the  troops ; 
but  in  the  meantime  a  magistrate  appeared,  a  thin 
old  man,  with  the  ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honour 
on  his  coat,  asking  the  general  to  send  some  troops 
into  the  town  as  quickly  as  possible?  The  square 
of  the  H6tel  de  Ville  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
gamins,  who,  armed  with  the  weapons  thrown 
away  by  the  national  guard,  were  trying  their  best 
to  shoot  the  mayor.  In  that  drunken,  reckless 
style  in  which  a  French  mob  delights,  they  were 
firing  upon  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  the  fagade  of  which 
was  pitted  with  bullets,  the  windows  broken,  and 
the  members  of  the  commune,  huddled  together 
in  a  back  room,  in  despair.  Fortunately  for  the 
mayor  and  the  town,  the  German  troops  were  soon 
upon  the  spot,  when  one  battalion  of  the  fortieth, 
with  two  guns,  took  up  its  position  in  the  Place 
Cauchoise ;  while  the  other  two  battalions,  with 
the  seventieth  regiment,  filed  in  different  direc- 
tions through  the  town.  The  general  then  rode 
to  the  Place  de  l'Hotel  de  Ville,  where,  beside 
the  statue  of  Napoleon  I.,  he  saw  the  sixteenth 
division,  with  bands  playing  and  colours  flying, 
march  past. 

Great  indignation  was  expressed  in  other  parts 
of  France  at   the  capitulation  of  Rouen  without 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


211 


resistance;  but  it  was  only  one  of  a  large  number 
of  instances  in  the  course  of  the  war,  in  which 
every  one  cried  "forward"  to  his  neighbour  with- 
out moving  a  foot  in  advance  himself.  Nancy 
and  Rheims  were  pronounced  cowards  because 
they  offered  no  resistance  to  the  enemy,  having 
indeed  neither  arms  nor  men.  Chateaudun  was, 
in  fact,  the  single  open  town  which  defended 
itself ;  for  with  this  exception  every  other  in 
France,  so  defiant  when  the  enemy  was  distant, 
learned  prudence  at  its  near  approach. 

A  "  mild  invasion  "  is  almost  a  contradiction  in 
terms;  yet  if  ever  a  city  was  mildly  invaded  it  was 
Rouen.  Not  one  shop  was  closed,  nor,  as  far  as 
an  ordinary  observer  could  judge,  was  the  petty 
commerce  of  the  place  interfered  with.  But  capi- 
tal was  too  sensitive  not  to  take  the  alarm.  Nearly 
all  the  great  factories  and  printworks,  on  whose 
operations  Rouen  depended,  were  closed,  and  the 
distress  of  the  workpeople  was  soon  obviously  very 
great.  Some  ingenious  speculators  in  the  locality 
had  formed  a  special  insurance  company  for  guar- 
anteeing subscribers  against  the  various  evils  of 
war ;  but  among  these  evils  the  occupation  of 
Rouen  by  the  enemy  had  not  been  foreseen,  and 
the  company,  too  severely  tested  at  the  very  outset 
of  its  enterprise,  collapsed. 

In  Rouen  the  German  army  of  the  north  found 
many  of  its  wants  abundantly  met.  Among  other 
things  obtained  was  a  supply  of  fresh  horses, 
40,000  pairs  of  boots,  10,000  blankets,  2000 
shirts,  20,000  pairs  of  socks,  and  100,000  cigars, 
and  the  city  could,  if  needful,  have  furnished  a 
considerable  amount  of  specie.  Here  the  army 
was  in  secure  and  comfortable  winter  quarters, 
in  direct  communication  with  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Saxony  and  the  army  of  Paris  ;  and  from  this 
point,  unless  the  communication  by  way  of  Amiens 
should  be  disturbed,  a  great  military  movement 
might  be  organized.  The  cost  of  all  these  advan- 
tages to  the  army  of  the  north  was  eleven  men 
killed  and  fifty  wounded,  without  the  loss  of  a 
single  officer.  The  French  had  lost  five  officers 
killed  and  eighteen  wounded,  forty-five  rank 
and  file  killed,  100  wounded,  600  prisoners,  and 
twenty-seven  pieces  of  heavy  marine  artillery, 
together  with  the  wealthiest  city  of  Western  France. 

Apparently  from  a  desire  to  reach  the  sea,  and 
thus  be  able  to  say  that  the  Prussians  had  crossed 
France  from  the  Rhine  to  the  British  Channel,  a 
detachment  of  ManteuffcTs  army   visited   Dieppe 


from  Amiens.  The  much  -  dreaded  occupation 
had  been  for  weeks  past  the  nightmare  of  the 
worthy  Dieppois,  who  had  spent  much  time 
in  making  defensive  preparations.  In  spite, 
however,  of  wooden  barricades  and  innumer- 
able drillings  of  the  national  guards,  when  the 
inhabitants  heard  of  the  near  approach  of  the 
enemy,  the  guns  were  spiked,  the  arms  and  ammu- 
nition were  shipped  to  Havre,  the  brave  nationales 
and  douaniers  doffed  their  uniforms,  and  all  pre- 
pared to  receive  the  invader  as  amicably  and 
cordially  as  dignity  would  permit.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  December  9  the  usual  advanced  guard  of 
uhlans  gave  the  customary  warning  of  a  large 
body  of  troops  being  behind  them,  who  would 
require  unlimited  food,  board,  and  lodging.  Ac- 
cordingly, a  few  hours  afterwards,  in  marched  the 
main  body,  with  bands  playing  and  colours  flying, 
as  if  they  were  returning  from  a  victory  into  one 
of  their  own  towns.  Many  of  the  houses  had  been 
dressed  out  with  flags  of  various  nationalities,  the 
English  strongly  predominating;  hung  out  to  show 
that  the  occupants  were  not  French,  and  therefore 
not  liable  to  the  obligation  of  billeting  the  enemy. 
Every  house,  however,  on  which  the  lot  fell  had 
to  receive  its  soldier  guests;  and  the  English  resi- 
dences were  apparently  at  a  premium — perhaps  a 
delicate  though  unwelcome  compliment  to  prover- 
bial British  hospitality.  The  troops  behaved  with 
great  moderation,  and  all  passed  off  quietly.  As 
no  resistance  was  offered,  the  Prussians  levied  no 
contribution.  There  were  even  less  than  the  usual 
requisitions,  though  25,000  cigars  were  demanded 
at  the  manufactory,  and  the  authorities  had  to  supply 
large  quantities  of  provisions,  wine,  and  brandy. 
Shortly  after  their  entry  into  the  town  the  uhlans 
rode  to  the  Plage,  where  many  of  them  for  the 
first  time  saw  with  admiration  the  broad  expanse  of 
the  ocean,  and  gave  three  hurrahs  for  the  king  and 
Vaterland.  Orders  were  issued  towards  nightfall 
that  no  lights  should  be  exhibited  at  the  entrance 
of  the  port.  Frenchmen  were  stationed  at  the 
pierhead  to  warn  off  every  vessel  that  should 
attempt  to  force  an  entrance,  under  the  penalty 
of  being  fired  upon  by  the  enemy.  This  measure 
seemed  hard;  but  a  man-of-war  had  been  seen 
cruising  in  the  offing  in  the  latter  part  of  the  after- 
noon, and  measures  had  to  be  adopted  to  thwart  a 
night  attack  from  the  seaboard,  should  such  be 
attempted.  The  departure  of  the  troops,  which 
took  place  the  day  after  their  arrival,  was  regretted 


21: 


THE  FRANCO -PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


by  those  of  the  inhabitants  who  were  engaged  in 
commerce,  and  who  had  realized  no  small  harvest. 
As  the  Prussians  seemed  to  intend  making  Dieppe 
a  provision  depot  for  themselves,  both  this  port, 
and  Fecamp  and  Havre,  were  shortly  afterwards 
declared  by  the  French  government  in  a  state  of 
blockade,  and  men-of-war  were  stationed  near  to 
enforce  its  observance. 

On  December  19  Dieppe  was  occupied  a  second 
time  by  the  Prussians,  and  as  the  little  army  quar- 
tered there  were  in  want  of  boots  and  horses,  all 
residents  and  visitors,  not  being  foreigners,  were 
called  upon  to  send  their  horses  to  the  market- 
place, where  a  Prussian  officer  selected  a  certain 
number,  and,  according  to  the  custom  in  such  cases, 
bought  them  at  his  own  valuation,  paying  for 
them  in  paper  redeemable  at  the  end  of  the  war. 
As  nearly  all  the  good  horses  at  Dieppe  belonged 
to  Englishmen,  the  Prussians,  out  of  many  hun- 
dreds brought  forward,  found  very  few  worth  taking 
— altogether,  not  more  than  a  dozen.  In  the  mat- 
ter of  boots  they  were  more  successful;  the  dealers 
in  these  articles  having  been  required  to  send  to 
an  appointed  place  all  the  ready  made  goods  they 
had  on  hand,  on  assurance  that  whatever  was  taken 
from  them  would  be  paid  for  at  its  full  value. 

Of  course,  too,  there  was  a  little  money  transac- 
tion. No  contribution  was  levied.  But  Dieppe 
possessed  a  tobacco  manufactory,  which,  like  all 
such  establishments  in  France,  belonged  to  the 
state;  and  General  von  Goben  explained  to  the 
municipality  that,  as  state  property,  the  tobacco 
manufactory  passed  from  the  hands  of  the  French 
to  those  of  the  Prussian  government.  As  the 
representative  of  that  government  he  could  not 
work  the  manufactory,  neither  could  he  carry  it 
away  with  him,  and  he  had  no  wish  to  burn  it. 
He  therefore  proposed  to  sell  it,  and  (making  a 
good  guess)  fixed  the  value  at  the  round  sum  of 
100,000  francs.  The  muncipality  protested  against 
the  exorbitancy  of  the  demand,  which  was  ulti- 
mately reduced  to  75,000  francs.  Part  of  the 
money  was  paid  down  at  once,  and  the  rest  in 
a  day  or  two  after. 

On  the  9th  of  December,  the  same  day  on  which 
Dieppe  was  occupied  the  first  time  by  the  Prus- 
sians, a  somewhat  compensating  advantage  was 
achieved  by  a  band  of  active  and  daring  Lille 
mobiles,  who  surprised  the  Prussian  garrison  at 
Ham,  the  fortress  where  Napoleon  III.  was  once 
imprisoned.     At  six   o'clock  in   the  evening  the 


detachment  of  French  arriving  before  the  town, 
which  is  protected  by  a  strong  castle,  first  fell  on 
the  sentries,  and  then  sounded  the  Prussian  signal 
for  a  general  march.  About  200  of  the  garrison, 
mostly  belonging  to  the  field  railway  detachment, 
hastily  collected,  and  were  caught  as  in  a  trap. 
Others  fled  to  the  fort,  pursued  by  the  French 
with  levelled  bayonets.  At  midnight  a  parlemen- 
taire,  accompanied  by  "a  lieutenant,  appeared  before 
the  fort ;  but  they  were  fired  upon,  when  the  flag- 
bearer  was  killed  and  the  lieutenant  wounded. 
At  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  French  captain, 
accompanied  by  a  Prussian  officer  who  had  been 
made  prisoner,  presented  himself  as  a  parlementaire, 
when  in  an  interview  with  the  commandant  it  was 
agreed  that  the  place  should  be  surrendered  at 
six  o'clock,  and  that  officers  who  were  prisoners 
on  either  side  should  be  exchanged.  At  the 
appointed  hour  the  French  entered  the  fortress 
and  found  the  Prussians,  seventy-six  in  number, 
drawn  up  in  line  and  disarmed. 

Of  all  the  towns  besieged  by  the  Prussians  during 
the  war,  none  held  out  more  gallantly  than  Vau- 
ban's  virgin  fortress  of  Phalsbourg,  a  description 
of  which  is  given  in  Chapter  X. 

Phalsbourg  was  closely  invested  on  the  9th  of 
August,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  10th  it  was 
bombarded  for  an  hour  and  a  half  by  two  batteries, 
under  the  command  of  General  GersdorfF,  with  four 
and  six  pounder  shell  guns.  In  that  brief  space 
3000  projectiles  are  computed  to  have  been  thrown 
into  the  fortress ;  but  only  one  house  was  seriously 
injured.  On  the  14th,  at  seven  in  the  morning, 
the  bombardment  was  renewed,  and  raged  until 
four  in  the  afternoon,  along  the  side  of  Phalsbourg 
which  runs  parallel  with  the  Port  de  France.  In 
the  conflagration  which  it  occasioned,  few  of 
the  houses  of  the  town  escaped  without  more 
or  less  injury,  while  forty,  including  the  church, 
were  burnt.  Towards  the  close  of  the  day  a  sum- 
mons to  surrender  was  sent  to  the  governor, 
General  Talhouet,  who  returned  a  firm  refusal. 
The  siege  was  soon  after  changed  into  a  blockade. 
The  beleaguering  troops  were  relieved  from  time 
to  time  on  their  march  westward,  no  week  passing 
without  parlementaires  knocking  at  the  gates. 
The  garrison  consisted  of  about  1000  regular 
troops  and  800  gardes  mobiles.  The  investing 
force  varied;  at  the  close  it  numbered  5000  infan- 
try, with  artillerj',  and  a  squadron  of  Bavarian 
cavalry.       On    November   24    there    was    another 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


213 


smart  bombardment,  but  famine  at  the  last  com- 
pelled the  garrison  to  open  the  gates.  The  fortress 
was  not  well  provisioned.  Very  early  in  October 
they  began  to  eat  horse  flesh.  Salt,  tobacco, 
coffee,  and  sugar  rapidly  failed,  and  latterly  wine. 
Towards  the  close,  every  other  day,  the  rations  of 
the  garrison  consisted  of  a  water  soup,  whose  only 
nutritive  properties  were  derived  from  the  fat  of 
cattle  and  horses.  The  population  of  Phalsbourg 
is  set  down  in  gazetteers  at  4000,  but  nearly  half 
that  number  had  quitted  the  town,  or  been  turned 
out  of  it  at  the  commencement  of  the  siege.  Those 
who  remained  suffered  the  same  privations  as  the 
garrison,  and  to  scarcity  of  food  was  added  want 
of  water,  a  Prussian  spy  having  cut  the  conduit 
which  supplied  it.  After  the  rout  of  Woerth 
the  wreck  of  MacMahon's  army  was  rallied  upon 
Phalsbourg,  when  35,000  kilogrammes  of  its 
provisions  were  drawn  upon,  and  there  was  not 
sufficient  time  to  revictual.  The  earlier  sorties 
of  the  garrison,  for  collecting  supplies,  were  often 
successful ;  but  in  the  later  the  villages  were  found 
cleared  bare  by  the  besiegers. 

An  enormous  quantity  of  powder  had  been 
stored  at  Phalsbourg,  at  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
for  the  use  of  the  army  of  the  Rhine.  For  some 
days  previous  to  the  surrender  volumes  of  smoke 
ascending  from  the  place  told  that  these  stores 
were  being  gradually  burnt,  that  they  might  not 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Before  the 
gates  were  thrown  open  to  the  besiegers,  12,000 
rifles,  with  9,600,000  rounds  of  cartridge,  were 
destroyed,  and  12,000,000  lbs.  of  powder  were  flung 
into  the  moat,  all  the  cannon  spiked,  and  their 
wheels  and  carriages  broken.  On  December  12, 
after  sustaining  a  siege  of  five  months,  the  fortress 
capitulated  unconditionally;  and  fifty-two  officers, 
1839  men,  and  sixty-five  guns,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  captors. 

The  only  fortress  in  German  Lorraine  which 
now  remained  in  French  hands  was  Bitsche.  This 
place  also  had  been  besieged  since  August ;  but 
its  natural  position  was  so  strong  that  it  was  un- 
likely to  yield  except  to  famine,  and  there  had  for 
some  time  been  a  tacit  understanding  on  both 
sides  to  suspend  firing,  and  thus  avoid  useless 
bloodshed. 

On  the  14th  December  Montmedy  capitulated, 
yielding  to  the  Germans  an  additional  sixty-five 
guns  and  3000  prisoners.  The  fortress  had  been 
bombarded  by  about  seventy  heavy  guns,  throw- 


ing balls  of  the  average  weight  of  150  lbs.,  which 
did  frightful  execution.  The  upper  town  was 
almost  destroyed,  while  the  lower  suffered  but 
little.  The  iron  roof  of  the  powder  magazine 
had  been  struck,  and  the  commandant,  seeing 
that  the  fortress  and  both  the  towns  were  likely 
to  be  blown  up,  called  a  council  of  war,  which 
unanimously  decided  on  capitulation.  Thirty  or 
forty  persons  were  killed  during  the  siege,  and 
sixty  wounded.  The  Germans  lost  only  a  few,  as 
their  guns  were  beyond  the  range  of  those  in  the 
fortress.  The  surrender  released  nearly  400  Ger- 
man soldiers,  principally  landwehr,  who  had  been 
imprisoned  here  for  several  months.  Negotiations 
for  an  exchange  failed  on  account  of  the  com- 
mandant demanding  two  Frenchmen  for  one  Ger- 
man, a  demand  which  provoked  the  retort  that 
one  German  soldier  was  worth  much  more  than 
two  Frenchmen. 

Montmedy  did  not  possess  much  strategic  import- 
ance for  the  Germans,  as  it  was  too  remote  from 
the  real  scene  of  operations ;  but  it  had  long  been 
a  favourite  rendezvous  for  the  franc-tireurs  of  the 
Ardennes,  and  its  possession  was  necessary  to  pre- 
vent the  communications  of  detachments  operat- 
ing along  the  Belgian  frontier  against  M^zieres, 
Longwy,  &c,  with  Metz  and  Thionville,  being 
exposed  to  the  chances  of  a  guerilla  war. 

We  have  spoken  of  Chateaudun  as  affording  the 
only  instance  of  an  open  town  which  in  the  whole 
course  of  the  war  made  a  vigorous  stand  against 
the  enemy.  A  visit  to  that  and  the  neighbouring 
town  of  Chartres  afforded  reflection  for  the  moralist, 
and  ample  explanation  of  the  non-resistance  of  open 
towns.  Chateaudun,  with  the  hand  of  war  resting 
heavily  upon  it,  was  continually  experiencing  a 
change  of  garrison,  and  every  change  brought  a 
pang  of  some  sort.  One  day  came  the  Germans, 
and  left  after  staying  a  week ;  then  came  the  French, 
taking  what  the  Germans  had  left,  scolding  the 
inhabitants  for  giving  these  Germans  anything,  and 
going;  back  came  the  Germans  the  same  evening, 
squeezed  the  sponge  for  the  last  drop,  lived  upon 
the  inhabitants  until  it  was  a  mystery  how  any- 
body in  the  wretched  place  lived  at  all,  only  to 
make  way  once  more  for  the  French,  and  so  on. 
For  weeks  after  the  memorable  fight,  for  which 
Chateaudun  was  voted  to  have  "  deserved  well  of 
its  country,"  there  might  have  been  seen  groups  of 
men  and  women  gloomily  huddled  together  among 
the  ruins    of  their  burnt  houses,  the  picture  of 


214 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


misery  and  woe,  and  who  seemed  to  pass  their 
existence  in  brooding  over  their  misfortunes,  or  in 
watching  the  ingress  and  egress  of  the  various 
troops.  It  was  a  pleasing  contrast  to  leave  such  a 
scene,  and  arrive  in  the  sleek,  well-preserved  town 
where  the  mayor  had  made  friends  with  the  enemy 
the  moment  he  presented  himself  at  his  gates, 
so  that  Chartres  scarcely  suffered  perceptibly  from 
the  war.  The  Chateaudun  church  was  riddled 
with  shot  and  shell,  and  showed  great  gaps  in  its 
walls  and  roof.  The  gigantic  Chartres  cathedral, 
towering  above  every  surrounding  object,  and 
visible  for  leagues  from  every  quarter  of  the  land- 
scape, stood  intact.  The  narrow  winding  streets  of 
the  picturesque  and  historic  old  town  were  always 
alive  and  animated;  all  the  shops  open  and  well 
stocked,  and  even  the  market-place  well  supplied 
with  provisions.  No  sign  of  plunder  or  pillage 
here;  people  received  payment  for  everything,  and 
in  consequence  of  their  good  behaviour  escaped 
heavy  requisitions.  Certainly,  alack  of  patriotism 
was  attended  with  great  advantages  both  to  con- 
querors and  conquered ;  and  it  was  astonishing  how 
well  all  seemed  to  get  on  together,  and  how  few 
bitter  recollections  the  Germans  left  behind  them 
in  places  where  from  the  beginning  they  had  been 
humbly  received  and  systematically  well  treated. 

We  have  pointed  out  in  a  previous  chapter  that 
the  desperate  attempt  of  D'Aurelles  on  December 
1  to  push  his  army  towards  Paris,  was  part  of  a 
scheme  arranged  with  General  Trochu  to  break  up 
the  besieging  forces.  The  defeat  of  the  army  of 
the  Loire,  therefore,  and  the  retirement  of  Ducrot 
from  across  the  Marne,  marked  the  failure  of  the 
first  combined  attempt  on  a  great  scale  to  raise 
the  siege  of  Paris.  The  Germans  were  on  all 
points  triumphant;  and  yet  their  able  and  experi- 
enced chiefs  did  not  share  in  the  exultation  of 
the  camp.  No  one  knew  better  than  the  great 
strategist  who  directed  the  movements  of  the 
invading  host,  how  perilous  is  a  miscalculation 
in  war,  how  insecure  the  German  position  had 
been  made,  and  how  success  was  even  yet  pos- 
sible, if  not  prevented  by  mighty  exertions.  Vic- 
torious, too,  as  the  Germans  had  been,  their  losses 
round  Paris,  and  especially  in  the  protracted 
struggle  with  Chanzy's  army,  had  been  severe; 
and  as  Paris  still  held  out  resolutely,  and  the 
winter  was  extremely  rigorous,  it  was  obvious 
that  new  and  immense  demands  on  the  German 
resources  were  required.    It  had  become  necessary 


to  strengthen  considerably  the  barrier  to  the  armies 
intended  to  relieve  the  capital,  to  fill  up  the  gaps 
caused  by  the  prolonged  contest,  and  to  increase 
the  efficiency  of  the  means  employed  to  reduce 
the  besieged  city.  For  this  purpose  reinforce- 
ments, numbering  not  less  than  200,000  men, 
were  in  the  course  of  December  marched  into 
France.  The  new  levy  consisted  partly  of  a 
portion  of  the  supplementary  (ersatz)  reserve; 
men  who  had  been  passed  over  year  by  year, 
from  the  practice  in  Prussia  of  absorbing  into 
the  line  less  than  one-half  of  the  young  men 
qualified  and  legally  bound  to  serve.  Citizens  of 
all  classes  and  occupations,  who  never  dreamed 
of  being  again  called  upon  for  military  service, 
received  a  peremptory  summons  to  start,  after  a 
short  drill,  for  the  seat  of  war.  There  was,  how- 
ever, no  grumbling,  for  the  persistency  with  which 
it  was  believed  the  French  had  for  many  years 
contemplated  the  invasion  of  Germany,  and  the 
recklessness  with  which  they  entered  upon  it  at 
what  appeared  to  them  a  favourable  moment, 
created  and  sustained  a  degree  of  indignation 
which  nothing  hitherto  had  been  able  to  allay. 
This  feeling  was  not  confined  to  the  towns  and 
centres  of  culture,  but  penetrated  even  to  the 
remotest  villages,  and  promised  a  supply  of  will- 
ing and  ardent  reserves  quite  as  long  as  the 
patriotic  zeal  of  the  French  was  likely  to  fill 
the  ranks  of  M.  Gambetta.  The  new  comers 
occupied  the  captured  towns  and  the  extensive 
line  of  communication,  while  the  more  seasoned 
troops  whom  they  relieved  were  sent  to  the  front. 
With  them  the  shrunken  battalions  of  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  and  the  grand-duke  of  Meck- 
lenburg were  replenished,  the  armies  of  Manteuffel 
in  the  north,  and  Werder  in  the  east,  were  aug- 
mented, and  the  sphere  of  their  operations  ex- 
tended ;  the  hold  on  the  communications  was 
tightened,  the  siege  of  new  fortresses  undertaken, 
whilst  at  Paris  every  nerve  was  strained  to  accele- 
rate the  attack,  and  lessen  the  difficulties  of  a  mere 
investment. 

Two  decrees  of  special  importance  were  issued 
by  the  French  during  the  month,  the  first  referring 
to  the  numerous  desertions  from  the  army,  which 
were  now  of  daily  occurrence.  It  was  notorious 
that  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  prisoners 
"  captured  "  in  the  fighting  at  and  around  Orleans, 
were  men  who  delivered  themselves  up  to  the 
enemy,  preferring  a  temporary  sojourn  in  Germany 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


215 


to  the  chances  of  Prussian  steel  or  bullets.  The 
ill-success  of  the  armies,  also,  was  largely  ascribed 
to  panics  raised  by  troops  who,  terrified  at  the 
approach  of  danger,  fled  from  the  enemy.  To 
prevent  these  scandals,  M.  Gambetta  decreed  that 
to  all  the  armies  of  the  republic  should  be  attached 
a  regiment  of  mounted  gendai*mes,  the  officer  in 
command  of  which  was  to  preside  over  a  per- 
manent court-martial,  to  be  established  in  the  rear 
of  each  army,  with  the  following  instructions : — 
"To  follow  the  army,  and  to  dispose  his  men  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  watch  and  close  all  the  issues 
from  it.  To  arrest  fugitives,  and  hand  them 
over  to  a  troop  in  due  formation.  They  will 
regard  as  fugitives  every  soldier,  every  officer,  or 
group  of  soldiers,  found  retreating  without  a  written 
order,  or  without  being  placed  under  the  command 
of  a  superior  officer.  Every  soldier,  not  being 
wounded,  found  in  the  rear  of  the  army  without 
arms  or  equipment,  will  immediately  be  brought 
before  the  court-martial.  Any  one  who  shall  raise 
a  cry  of  '  Saicve  qui  petit,'  or  of  '  We  are  pursued,' 
will  be  taken  before  the  court-martial.  Exercise 
the  greatest  rigour  and  the  greatest  vigilance  in 
the  performance  of  these  duties  " 

On  the  25th  of  December  a  far  more  unpopular, 
and  in  every  way  unjustifiable,  decree  was  issued, 
abolishing  the  councils  general  of  departments, 
as  well  as  the  councils  of  arrondissements;  and  it 
proved  that  the  "government  of  the  three  lawyers," 
as  it  was  frequently  called,  or  to  speak  more  cor- 
rectly, the  Gambetta  dictatorship,  was  every  whit 
as  absolute,  and  when  occasion  arose  much  more 
tyrannical,  than  was  ever  that  of  the  much-reviled 
"  man  of  Sedan."  The  act  can  only  be  compared 
to  a  ministerial  warrant  of  the  Home  office  in  this 
country,  which  should  abolish  all  boards  of  magis- 
trates and  municipal  councils,  and  hand  over  the 
county  property  and  the  control  of  county  rates 
to  a  band  of  hungry  adventurers  and  government 
adherents.  The  councils  general  sat  regularly  in 
the  month  of  August,  and  for  many  years  their 
meetings  had  been  looked  forward  to  with  strong 
interest,  as  presenting  one  of  the  few  opportunities 
that  remained  for  the  expression  of  public  opinion. 
They  had  the  almost  absolute  control  of  financial 
contributions, expenditure, receipts,  and  local  taxes; 
they  created  resources,  and  contracted  loans. 

Such  a  provincial  representation  was  peculiarly 
dear  to  the  nation,  and  there  were  not  wanting 
loud   and   vigorous    protests    against   the   decree. 


The  patriotic  portion  ol  the  country,  however, 
saw  that  the  time  would  be  equally  ill-chosen  on 
their  part  for  domestic  discords;  and  after  the  first 
feeling  of  indignation  the  decree  was  admitted, 
and  agitation  left  over  for  the  future.  It  may  be 
here  remarked  that  not  long  after  the  conclusion 
of  peace  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  rescind  the 
decree  of  M.  Gambetta  and  his  co-delegates,  and 
the  councils  general  were  re-established. 

As  in  November,  when  Russia  repudiated  the 
treaty  of  1855,  so  in  December  another  danger 
burst  upon  Europe,  in  consequence  of  Count  von 
Bismarck  repudiating  the  treaty  of  1867  for  main- 
taining the  neutrality  of  Luxemburg,  on  the  alleged 
ground  that  she  had  not  preserved  her  neutrality 
during  the  war.  In  his  note  to  the  government  of 
the  grand-duchy  he  declared,  that  "  the  hostile 
sentiments  of  the  population  have  manifested  them- 
selves in  the  maltreatment  of  German  officials  in 
the  duchy;  but  Prussia  does  not  hold  the  govern- 
ment of  Luxemburg  responsible  for  the  bad  con- 
duct of  individuals,  although  more  might  have  been 
done  to  repress  it.  The  provisioning  of  Thionville, 
however,  by  trains  run  from  Luxemburg,  was 
a  flagrant  breach  of  the  laws  of  neutrality,  which 
could  not  have  taken  place  without  the  conni- 
vance of  the  officials.  The  Prussian  government 
at  the  time  lodged  a  complaint  with  the  govern- 
ment of  the  grand-duchy,  and  pointed  out  the 
consequences  to  which  proceedings  of  the  kind 
must  inevitably  lead.  The  warning  was  disre- 
garded. After  the  fall  of  Metz  numbers  of  French 
officers  and  soldiers,  escaping  from  the  captured 
fortress,  passed  through  the  territory  of  Luxem- 
burg to  evade  the  German  troops,  and  to  rejoin  the 
French  army  of  the  north.  In  the  city  of  Luxem- 
burg itself  the  resident  French  vice-consul  had  an 
office  at  the  railway  station,  designed  to  assist  the 
French  fugitives  in  reaching  their  own  country; 
and  at  least  2000  soldiers  had  in  this  manner  re- 
inforced the  French  army.  The  government  of 
Luxemburg  did  nothing  to  prevent  these  acts  ;  and 
the  fact  undoubtedly  constitutes  a  gross  violation 
of  neutrality.  The  conditions  upon  which  Prussia 
had  based  her  neutrality  have,  therefore,  ceased  to 
exist ;  and,  consequently,  Prussia  declares  that  on 
her  part  she  no  longer  considers  herself,  in  the  con- 
duct of  her  military  operations,  bound  by  any  re- 
gard for  the  neutrality  of  Luxemburg,  and  reserves 
to  herself  the  right  of  claiming  compensation  from 
the  grand-ducal  government  for  the  German  losses 


216 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


arising  through  the  non-observance  of  neutrality, 
and  of  taking  the  necessary  steps  to  secure  herself 
against  the  repetition  of  similar  proceedings." 

The  note  was  answered  by  M.  Servais,  minister 
of  State  and  president  of  the  Luxemburg  govern- 
ment, in  a  long  and  elaborate  document,  disputing 
the  truth  of  some  of  the  Prussian  chancellor's  state- 
ments, and  diminishing  the  significance  of  others. 
The  Luxemburg  government  had  evidently  not 
been  sufficiently  vigilant  in  preventing  breaches 
of  neutrality;  but  it  was  equally  clear  that  Count 
von  Bismarck  had  been  to  some  extent  misled  by 
the  exaggerations  of  persons  who,  as  M.  Servais 
remarked,  "  never  tired  of  lightly  reporting  things 
calculated  to  endanger  and  cast  suspicion  on  the 
grand-duchy,  while  keeping  themselves  out  of  all 
responsibility."  Fearing  absorption  into  Germany 
by  the  Prussian  chancellor,  the  inhabitants  hastened 
to  testify  their  attachment  to  their  legitimate  rulers 
by  numerous  addresses ;  but  the  matter  was  at 
length  amicably  settled  by  a  special  Prussian  officer 
being  sent  to  Luxemburg  to  confer  with  the  grand- 
ducal  government  with  a  view  to  the  prevention 
of  any  similar  ground  of  complaint. 

It  was  impossible  that,  when  our  nearest  neigh- 
bours were  fighting,  we  should  not  in  a  vast  variety 
of  ways  be  inconvenienced,  and  run  the  risk  of 
being  involved  in  the  broil — an  illustration  of 
which  occurred  on  the  21st  December.  Six  Eng- 
lish colliers,  returning  from  Rouen,  were  stopped 
at  Duclair,  twelve  miles  lower  down  the  Seine  ; 
some  shots  were  fired,  and  the  vessels  themselves 
were  sunk  to  bar  the  navigation.  The  incident  was 
readily  seized  on  by  that  numerous  section  of  Eng- 
lishmen who,  without  any  real  intention  of  forcing 
the  country  into  a  war  with  Germany,  caught  at 
an  opportunity  of  showing  sympathy  with  France 
by  a  paper  quarrel  with  Count  von  Bismarck. 

The  facts  were  that  six  small  sailing  colliers 
had  been  discharging  coals  at  Bouen,  by  permission 
of  the  Prussian  authorities  ;  and  after  unloading 
had  received,  through  the  British  consul  there,  a 
permit  to  return  to  England.  Following  the  usual 
course,  they  dropped  down  the  river  to  a  village 
called  Duclair,  about  twenty-eight  miles  below 
Rouen,  where  ballast  is  taken  in  for  the  homeward 
run.  When  the  crews  had  finished  ballasting,  the 
ships  were  seized  by  the  Prussians,  towed  into 
position  across  the  fair-way  channel,  scuttled,  and 
sunk.  The  British  consul,  informed  of  what  was 
going  on,  started  from  Rouen  by  land,  reached 


Duclair  at  the  moment  the  soldiers  were  about  to 
sink  the  vessels,  and  entered  a  vigorous  protest, 
of  course  without  effect.  He  then  undertook  the 
negotiations  for  the  bonds  of  indemnity,  which  the 
officer  in  command  of  the  Prussians  was  willing 
enough  to  furnish. 

In  considering  the  question  involved  in  this 
attack  upon  neutral  property,  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  it  occurred  in  time  of  war,  and  in  waters 
which,  after  the  expulsion  of  the  French,  were 
subject  to  the  German  military  authorities.  Trad- 
ing vessels  have  not,  like  men-of-war,  the  ex- 
ceptional property  of  being  extra-territorial ;  and 
there  is,  therefore,  a  great  difference  between  the 
confiscation  of  an  English  man-of-war  and  that  of 
an  English  collier.  In  this  case  the  act  was  a 
kind  of  military  necessity.  French  men-of-war 
had  frequently  steamed  up  the  river,  landed  troops, 
and  caused  loss  to  the  German  forces  by  firing 
upon  them.  Hence  the  determination  of  the  Prus- 
sians to  have  the  Seine  blocked  up  ;  and  as  this 
could  not  immediately  be  done  by  means  of  bat- 
teries or  torpedoes,  they  seized  and  sunk,  off 
Duclair,  eleven  vessels,  of  which  six  were  English. 

Lord  Granville,  on  hearing  of  the  seizure,  sent 
a  remonstrance  to  the  Prussian  authorities,  and 
Count  von  Bismarck  at  once  wrote  as  follows  to 
the  representative  of  Germany  in  London : — 

"  Versailles,  Jan.  8,  1871. 

"  The  report  of  the  commander  of  that  part  of 
our  army  by  which  the  English  collier-ships  were 
sunk  in  the  Seine  has  not  yet  arrived  ;  but  as  far 
as  our  intelligence  goes,  the  general  outline  of  the 
facts  is  known. 

"You  are  authorized ,  in  consequence,  to  say  to  Lord 
Granville,  that  we  sincerely  regret  that  our  troops, 
in  order  to  avert  immediate  danger,  were  obliged 
to  seize  ships  which  belonged  to  British  subjects. 

"  We  admit  their  claim  to  indemnification,  and 
shall  pay  to  the  owners  the  value  of  the  ships, 
according  to  equitable  estimation,  without  keeping 
them  waiting  for  the  decision  of  the  question  who 
is  finally  to  indemnify  them.  Should  it  be  proved 
that  excesses  have  been  committed  which  were  not 
justified  by  the  necessity  of  defence,  we  should  regret 
it  still  more,  and  call  the  guilty  persons  to  account." 

The  reply  of  the  Prussian  chancellor  was  con- 
sidered satisfactory,  and  the  fullest  compensation 
was  shortly  after  made  to  the  owners  and  crews 
of  the  vessels. 


DraMfi  ander  the  Sorperiiitenden.ee  of  Captain  Hosier. 


Bnfjraveil  "cv  Robert  VTaXker. 


CHAPTER     XXVI. 


The  German  Plan  of  Campaign  in  the  North  of  France — Alarm  in  the  town  of  Havre — Singular  Treatment  of  a  Government  Order — Appoint- 
ment of  General  Faidherbe  to  the  Command  of  the  French  Army  of  the  North — The  Germans  lose  an  Opportunity — Advance  of  Faidherbe 
on  Amiens — Von  Goben  despatched  to  accept  the  Challenge — The  Positions  of  the  respective  Armies — Battle  of  Pont  Noyelles — The 
Struggle  around  Querrieux — Gallant  Conduct  of  the  French — Ingenious  Device  of  General  Faidherbe  to  secure  an  Unmolested  Retreat — By 
an  Incautious  Advance  Von  Goben  provokes  another  Attack  from  the  French — The  Battle  of  Bapaume — Positions  of  the  Armies — Excel- 
lence of  the  French  Artillery — The  Prussians  forced  back  into  Bapaume — Critical  Position  of  Von  Goben's  Troops — General  Faidherbe 
claims  the  Victory,  but  omits  to  follow  up  the  Advantages — Incident  of  the  Pursuit — Von  Goben  retires  from  Bapaume — Fall  of  Peronne 
— Sharp  Engagement  near  Havre — Siege  and  Capitulation  of  Mezieres — France  in  very  Serious  Circumstances — 51.  Gambetta  conceives  a 
last  desperate  Effort  against  the  Invader — Prompt  Consent  of  General  Faidherbe  for  the  Army  of  the  North  to  do  its  Share — The  French 
descend  in  force  upon  St.  Quentin — Characteristics  of  Von  Goben — The  Battle  of  St.  Qnentin — Position  of  the  Town  and  of  the  respec- 
tive Combatants — Fatal  Separation  of  the  French  Army — Fearful  Charge  of  Prussian  Cavalry — The  French  obliged  to  give  way,  and 
finally  retreat  in  disorder — Imposing  Advance  of  the  German  Army — Storming  of  St.  Quentin — An  Opportune  Railway  Trip — The  Siege 
and  Fall  of  the  Fortress  of  Longwy. 


The  plan  of  campaign  adopted  by  the  Germans  in 
the  north,  after  the  capture  of  Amiens  on  Nov- 
ember 27,  was  considered  as  pointing  to  immediate 
operations  against  Havre.  The  greatest  excite- 
ment, therefore,  prevailed  there  on  news  being 
brought  that  Rouen  had  been  occupied;  and  the 
excitement  was  by  no  means  allayed  by  the  fur- 
ther intelligence  that  on  the  same  day  the  Prus- 
sians had  succeeded  in  recapturing  Orleans.  The 
commandant -in -chief  of  Havre  and  the  mayor 
at  once  issued  the  following  proclamation  to  the 
inhabitants: — "  By  a  rapid  march  the  enemy  has 
arrived  at  the  gates  of  Rouen.  Havre,  more 
menaced  than  ever,  but  long  prepared,  is  deter- 
mined to  offer  the  most  energetic  defence.  At  the 
approach  of  danger  we  make  a  new  appeal  to  the 
patriotism  of  the  population.  No  sacrifice  will  be 
too  great  to  repulse  the  enemy,  and  preserve  our 
rich  and  valiant  city  from  pillage  and  the  inroads 
of  the  foreigner.  Supported  by  its  energetic  co- 
operation, we  answer  for  the  safety  of  Havre." 
The  inhabitants  of  the  neighbouring  communes 
were  invited  to  take  refuge  within  the  town,  large 
stores  of  cattle  and  fodder  were  collected,  and  such 
things  as  could  not  be  received,  but  which  might 
have  been  serviceable  to  the  enemy,  were  destroyed. 
The  situation  of  Havre  was  especially  favourable  for 
defence.  There  was  no  lack  of  men,  arms,  and 
ammunition.  The  fortified  works  around  the  town 
were  formidable;  and  as  it  could  not  be  entirely 
surrounded  by  the  Germans,  it  could  evidently 
stand  a  very  protracted  siege.  General  Briand, 
with  the  forces  which  had  evacuated  Rouen, 
shortly  came  in,  together  with  a  large  number  of 
franc-tireurs  and  moblots.  Almost  simultaneously 
vol.  ir. 


came  an  order  from  the  Tours  government  for  4000 
of  the  troops,  and  a  proper  complement  of  guns, 
to  be  embarked  for  Cherbourg.  This  created  a 
furious  scene  of  riot  and  disorder.  Vast  crowds 
paraded  the  town,  protesting  against  the  order, 
which  the  authorities  were  about  to  carry  into 
effect.  The  guns  had  been  shipped,  but  the  mob 
proceeded  to  the  harbour  and  compelled  the  com- 
mander of  the  transport  vessel  to  unship  them. 
Finding  that  no  other  course  would  appease  the 
populace,  both  the  civil  and  military  authorities 
resolved  to  disobey  M.  Gambetta's  order,  and  issued 
all  over  the  town  a  proclamation  to  the  effect,  that  in 
their  opinion  he  was  not  in  so  good  a  position  as 
themselves  to  judge  of  the  local  necessities  of  the 
defence.  "  In  presence,  therefore,  of  circumstances 
the  gravity  of  which  hourly  increases,  and  the 
legitimate  emotion  of  the  population,  the  superior 
commandant  and  the  sub-prefect  have  replied  to 
the  government  that  the  departure  of  troops  from 
Havre  was  inexpedient  just  now."  The  proclama- 
tion afforded  a  curious  illustration  of  the  state  of 
discipline  prevailing  in  the  country  at  this  time. 
There  have  been  instances  of  disobedience  of 
orders  in  all  countries;  but  the  conduct  of  the 
authorities  of  an  unruly  town  in  informing  the 
mob,  under  whose  pressure  they  acted,  that  they 
had  disobeyed  because  they  knew  better,  was 
unprecedented  even  in  the  history  of  France. 

After  the  battle  of  Villers-Bretonneux  and  the 
capture  of  Amiens,  the  remnants  of  the  French 
army  of  the  north  fell  back  behind  the  formidable 
network  of  fortresses  by  which  France  is  defended 
on  her  Flemish  frontier. 

The  three  northernmost  departments,  from  the 
2  E 


218 


THE  FEANCO-PEUSSIAN  WAE. 


Somme  to  the  Belgian  frontier,  hold  about  twenty- 
fortresses  of  various  sizes,  which,  though  wholly 
useless  nowadays  against  a  large  invasion  from 
Belgium,  formed  a  most  welcome  and  almost  un- 
attackable  basis  of  operations  in  this  case.  When 
Vauban  planned  them  nearly  200  years  before, 
he  could  not  have  foreseen  that  they  would  serve 
as  a  great  entrenched  camp,  a  sort  of  multiplied 
quadrilateral,  to  a  French  army  against  an  enemy 
advancing  from  the  heart  of  France !  But  so  it 
was;  and  small  as  this  piece  of  territory  is,  it  was 
for  the  nonce  impregnable,  as  well  as  important 
on  account  of  its  manufacturing  resources,  and  its 
dense,  hardy,  and  patriotic  population. 

The  army  of  the  north  first  assembled  under 
the  command  of  General  Bourbaki ;  and  when  the 
ex-commander  of  the  imperial  guard  was  sum- 
moned to  take  charge  of  part  of  the  Loire  army, 
the  northern  forces  were  left  for  a  time  under 
the  direction  of  General  Farre.  It  was  during 
this  interval  that  the  battle  of  Villers-Breton- 
neux  was  fought  and  Amiens  captured.  On 
the  3rd  December  M.  Gambetta  replaced  General 
Farre  by  the  appointment  of  General  Faidherbe, 
one  of  the  most  competent  commanders  the  war 
produced.  He  was  a  native  of  the  provinces  he 
was  called  to  defend,  having  been  born  at  Lille 
on  June  3,  1818,  and  had  greatly  distinguished 
himself  in  Algeria  and  Senegal. 

Opposed  to  Faidherbe  was  probably  the  least 
dangerous  of  the  German  military  leaders,  as  was 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that,  had  the  advantages 
secured  by  the  battles  before  Amiens  on  the  26th 
and  27th  November  been  promptly  followed  up, 
the  greater  part  of  the  beaten  French  army  would 
undoubtedly  have  been  captured.  So  great  was 
the  panic  that  whole  regiments  of  the  French  lay 
concealed  for  days  in  the  woods  adjoining  Amiens, 
not  daring,  in  the  presence  of  the  dreaded  German 
troops,  to  retire  on  the  open  field.  But  when, 
much  to  their  surprise,  they  found  they  were  not 
pursued,  they  collected  their  scattered  forces  and 
retired  behind  their  northern  fortresses,  while  the 
main  body  of  the  Germans  went  off  towards  Rouen. 
Had  General  Manteuffel,  instead  of  taking  this 
course,  made  a  bold  effort  to  cut  off  the  retreat,  it 
seems  certain  that  French  operations  in  the  north 
would  have  been  permanently  paralyzed.  As  it 
was,  the  number  who  escaped  to  the  triangle  pro- 
tected by  Arras,  Cambrai,  and  Lille  was  so  large 
that,  with  the  addition  of  some  mobiles  and  drafts 


from  various  neighbouring  garrisons,  they  formed 
for  General  Faidherbe  an  army  of  about  50,000 
men  and  70  guns. 

The  20th  of  December  was  fast  approaching  when 
Manteuffel,  while  engaged  in  the  comparatively 
sentimental  work  of  capturing  open  towns  and  taking 
seaside  trips  to  Dieppe,  received  intelligence  that  a 
new  French  army  of  the  north  was  descending  upon 
Amiens,  and  Von  Goben  was  hastily  despatched 
back  to  the  scene  of  his  encounters  of  November 
27.  General  Faidherbe  had  advanced  much  sooner 
than  was  originally  intended,  in  consequence  of 
a  rumour  that  the  Germans  were  preparing  an 
attack  upon  Havre.  He  had  gathered  together 
a  large  number  of  men,  and  in  his  safe  northern 
retreat  would  gladly  have  had  a  little  longer  time 
for  reorganizing  them.  The  fact,  however,  that 
the  second  seaport  of  the  country  was  threatened 
hastened  his  movements,  and  he  advanced  on  St. 
Quentin,  a  detachment  capturing  Ham  in  passing; 
reconnoitred  La  Fere;  and  on  the  14th  December 
commenced  demonstrations  in  the  direction  of 
Amiens.  The  German  commander  had  been  too 
well  aware  of  the  strength  of  Havre  to  lightly 
attempt  an  attack  upon  it;  and  the  fears  of  the 
inhabitants,  for  which,  indeed,  there  had  been  no 
real  cause,  were  dispelled  by  the  manoeuvres  of 
General  Faidherbe ;  in  consequence  of  which  large 
detachments  of  Manteuffel's  army  were  at  once 
recalled,  and  a  series  of  closely-contested  engage- 
ments ensued,  the  most  serious  commencing  on 
December  23  and  ending  on  January  3. 

At  a  little  distance  from  Amiens  General  Faid- 
herbe found  that  nature  had  supplied  him  with 
defences  much  superior  to  those  of  the  best  en- 
gineer. From  Querrieux  to  Bussy,  on  the  summit 
of  a  hill,  or  kind  of  elevated  plateau,  about  three 
miles  in  length,  the  French  army  was  posted, 
with  its  artillery,  ready  for  action.  Near  the  foot 
of  this  hill  ran  a  small  river,  the  L'Hallu,  skirted 
by  a  long  narrow  line  of  wood,  beyond  which  were 
numerous  small  villages — Daours,  Pont  Noyelles, 
Querrieux,  Bavelincourt,  &c.  The  French  right 
wing  rested  on  a  wood  on  the  brow  of  the  hill 
overlooking  Contay  and  Vadencourt;  the  centre 
was  at  Pont  Noyelles  and  Querrieux,  and  the  left 
at  Daours. 

The  great  festive  season  of  the  year  had  come, 
and  throughout  England  bright  faces,  blazing  fires, 
groaning  tables,  mirth  and  laughter  were  to  be  seen 
on  every  side.     It  was  far  different,  however,  with 


IF   A 


E    I  %   IF. 


N  C1NQ0N.    EOII 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


219 


our  nearest  neighbours,  who,  especially  here  in 
the  north,  were  busily  preparing  again  to  defy 
their  enemies  to  mortal  combat.  The  morning 
of  December  23  was  bitterly  cold  and  the  frost 
most  intense,  as  the  army  of  General  von  Goben 
assembled  on  a  vast  plain  near  Querrieux,  before 
marching  to  accept  the  challenge  of  the  French. 
The  fifteenth  division,  under  General  Kummer, 
crossed  the  Somme  by  some  pontoon  bridges  near 
Carnon,  and,  leaving  Eivery  to  the  left,  formed 
on  the  plateau  in  front  of  Allonville,  with  the 
cavalry  of  General  Count  Groben  on  the  right. 
The  sixteenth  division,  under  General  Barnakow, 
marched  up  the  road  to  Rainneville  and  Pierregot 
to  the  north  of  Amiens,  whilst  a  brigade  proceeded 
along  the  Somme  from  La  Motte  upon  Vecquemont. 
General  von  Goben's  plan  was  to  advance  upon 
the  French  position  of  Allonville  and  Querrieux, 
and  to  make  a  strong  demonstration  on  their  centre 
and  left  flank;  whilst  General  Barnakow,  with  the 
sixteenth  division,  after  arriving  at  Rubempre,  was 
to  wheel  round,  and,  having  first  taken  the  villages 
along  the  extreme  right,  to  advance  upon  the  French 
position,  and  endeavour  to  turn  their  right  flank, 
thus  encircling  them  so  as  to  shut  them  up  to  a 
retreat  on  the  Somne,  which  it  was  thought  would 
be  fatal. 

Having  ridden  some  distance  out  upon  the  Albert 
road,  the  general  and  his  staff  dismounted,  and, 
sending  their  horses  to  the  rear,  awaited  the  advance 
of  the  troops  upon  Allonville.  This  little  village 
is  situated  upon  one  of  those  ridges  of  hills  that 
lie  along  the  east  side  of  the  valley  which  stretches 
from  Frechencourt  past  Querrieux  to  Corbie.  A 
magnificent  sight  was  presented  by  the  advance  of 
the  troops.  The  twenty-ninth  brigade,  commanded 
by  Colonel  von  Bock,  and  composed  of  the  thirty- 
third  and  sixty-fifth  regiments,  with  artillery,  and 
one  squadron  of  the  king's  hussars,  marched  for- 
ward to  the  right  of  the  farm  of  Les-Alencons; 
the  thirtieth  brigade,  with  the  seventieth  and 
twenty-eighth  regiments,  and  two  batteries  of 
artillery,  advanced  upon  the  left  of  Allonville, 
covered  by  a  regiment  of  lancers;  whilst  Count 
Groben's  dragoons  rode  along  the  crest  of  the  hill, 
looking  across  to  the  heights  on  the  other  side, 
above  Corbie.  Steadily,  as  if  on  parade,  marched 
the  compact  masses  of  infantry;  the  skirmishers 
in  front,  with  their  supports  to  the  right  and  left 
of  the  Albert  road.  They  took  possession  of  the 
woods  beside  Allonville,  and   in  a  moment   the 


village  was  occupied,  while  as  yet  not  a  French 
soldier  was  to  be  seen.  But  an  orderly  galloped 
up  to  say  that  the  village  of  Querrieux  in  the 
front  was  strongly  held  by  French  troops.  At  Les- 
Alencons  a  road  leads  off  to  the  left  through  the 
village  of  Cardonette,  and  on  to  the  Pierregot  road. 
Along  this  galloped  Captain  Allborn  with  orders 
from  General  von  Goben  to  the  sixteenth  division 
to  change  front  to  their  right  flank,  and,  marching 
across  between  Molliens-aux-Bois  and  Mirvaux,  to 
storm  the  French  positions  in  the  villages  of  Bave- 
lincourt,  Behencourt,  and  Frechencourt.  From 
the  chateau  of  Bengerie  the  French  tirailleurs  were 
seen  retiring  upon  Querrieux.  The  twenty-ninth 
brigade  then  brought  their  left  shoulders  forward, 
and  two  batteries  of  artillery  took  up  position  on  the 
right.  At  ten  minutes  past  eleven  the  first  shot 
was  fired  by  the  French  infantry  from  a  windmill 
to  the  right  of  Querrieux,  and  the  batttle  of  Quer- 
rieux— or  of  Pont  Noyelles,  as  it  was  called  by 
the  French — commenced.  By  twelve  (noon)  the 
village  was  stormed,  and  the  French  had  retreated 
upon  the  well-nigh  impregnable  position  already 
referred  to.  The  considerable  village  forming  the 
centre  of  their  line  of  battle  was  thus  taken;  but 
the  position  of  the  Germans  was  anything  but 
pleasant,  as  the  ridge  and  village  they  occupied 
were  easily  commanded  by  Faidherbe's  artillery 
from  the  elevated  plateau  opposite;  and  the  French 
batteries  all  along  the  height,  especially  that  to  the 
right  of  the  villages  of  La  Houssoye,  kept  up  a 
determined  and  well-directed  fire  upon  it.  Mean- 
time, to  the  right  the  Prussians  had  taken  the 
villages  of  Daours,  Vecquemont,  and  Bussy,  the 
French  retiring  upon  their  intrenched  position  in 
front  of  Corbie.  Here  both  sides  fought  hard, 
appealing  to  the  bayonet  to  settle  the  disputed 
possession  of  the  villages,  whose  capture  in  fact 
formed  one  of  the  most  remarkable  incidents  of 
the  battle,  as  it  was  accomplished  by  the  Rhenish 
rifle  battalion  against  a  whole  division  of  the 
French  army.  With  only  about  800  men,  Major 
Bronikowski  waited  till  the  heavy  columns  of  the 
enemy  who  came  to  attack  him  were  within  ninety 
paces.  The  Germans  had  every  one  been  waiting 
at  this  point  with  the  eye  on  their  enemy  and  the 
finger  on  the  trigger;  and  when  their  commander 
gave  the  word,  "Nun!  Kinder,  schnell  Feuer!" 
they  sent  such  a  volley  into  the  ranks  of  the 
French  as  to  leave  upwards  of  forty  dead  in  one 
place.     The  Germans  had  in  the  meantime  been 


220 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


reinforced,  but  they  had  not  more  than  2500  men 
in  all  at  this  point;  and  with  this  inferior  number 
the  French  left  was  forced  back  upon  Corbie,  the 
villages  of  Bussy,  Daours,  and  Vecquemont  were 
taken,  and,  still  more  surprising,  held  against 
repeated  assaults. 

At  two  p.m.  the  French,  under  a  heavy  fire  of 
artillery,  endeavoured  to  retake  the  village  of 
Querrieux.  Hard,  indeed,  was  the  struggle  between 
the  combatants  here.  For  nearly  twenty  minutes 
they  fought,  actually  looking  into  each  other's 
eyes.  But  the  French  again  retired,  and  again 
their  five  batteries  of  thirty  guns  opened  a  crush- 
ing fire  upon  the  Prussian  line.  Every  eye  was 
now  anxiously  turned  to  the  left  flank,  but  as  yet 
there  were  no  signs  of  Barnakow's  division.  The 
Prussians  were  very  weak  before  Querrieux,  and 
the  reserve  was  ordered  to  move  up  to  the  left 
of  that  village.  The  thirtieth  brigade  deployed  in 
the  valley  and  took  a  small  village,  into  which  the 
French  poured  a  shower  of  shell  and  shrapnel 
from  their  batteries  to  the  right  of  the  Albert 
Road.  And  now  the  space  between  Querrieux 
and  Bengerie  began  to  be  filled  with  those  tell- 
tales of  an  action— carts  and  carriages  of  all 
descriptions,  bearing  ghastly  burdens  to  the  rear. 
Fortunate  it  was  that  the  waggons  of  the  British 
Society  were  there,  for  they  supplied  blankets  to 
cover  the  poor  suffering  soldiers,  the  pain  of 
whose  wounds  was  increased  by  the  biting  frost 
and  intensely  cold  winds.  About  this  time — 
half-past  two  p.m. — the  French  made  a  strong 
demonstration  between  La-Neuville  and  Daours. 
With  their  guns  planted  to  the  left  of  La  Houssoye 
they  opened  a  heavy  fire  upon  the  Prussian  right 
flank,  a  considerable  body  of  troops  at  the  same 
time  advancing  as  if  to  retake  Bussy.  But  Cap- 
tain Fuchius'  battery  of  horse  artillery  galloped 
to  the  right,  unlimbered,  and  opened  such  a  hot 
fire  upon  them  that  first  of  all  the  infantry  halted, 
then  faced  to  the  right  about,  and  eventually 
doubled  to  the  rear  in  a  most  orderly  manner,  the 
artillery  quickly  following  their  example. 

About  three  o'clock  the  welcome  sound  of 
General  Barnakow's  artillery  was  heard,  and  his 
troops  were  shortly  seen  advancing  on  Frechen- 
court  from  the  Contay  road.  At  four  p.m.  the 
sixteenth  division  had  stormed  the  villages  of 
Bavelincourt,  Behencourt,  and  Frechencourt;  but 
their  further  advance  was  stopped  by  the  same 
formidable  position    which   had   brought  the   fif- 


teenth division  to  a  halt.  Now,  however,  the 
Germans  held  the  line  of  villages  in  the  valley 
through  which  the  small  river  L'Hallu  flows,  and 
which  now  formed  the  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  two  armies.  On  the  other  side  of  this  stream  a 
natural  glacis  extended  to  the  summit  of  the  ridge 
of  hills  occupied  by  the  French.  Up  this  glacis, 
with  50,000  troops  at  the  top,  and  fifty  or  sixty 
guns,  it  was  both  too  late  and  too  dangerous  to 
advance;  but  the  artillery  on  both  sides  continued 
firing,  as  did  also  the  skirmishers,  some  of  whom 
were  at  a  distance  of  but  300  yards  apart. 

Meantime  the  village  of  Querrieux  was  held  by 
two  battalions  of  the  thirty -third  and  the  sixty -fifth 
regiment.  Again  and  again  had  the  French  un- 
successfully tried  to  retake  it.  Thus  far  all  had 
gone  well  for  the  Germans  throughout  the  day, 
and  as  darkness  set  in  it  was  hoped  the  French 
would  give  up  the  contest.  Suddenly,  however, 
a  fire  was  opened  from  the  hill,  far  exceeding 
in  intensity  and  deadliness  the  artillery  play  at 
Gravelotte.  It  was  dusk,  and  the  spectacle  was 
indescribably  grand.  To  this  fire  the  Germans 
responded  but  feebly,  as  the  men  had  expended 
their  ammunition,  which  encouraged  the  French 
to  come  down  the  hill  and  renew  their  attack  on 
Querrieux.  The  sixty-fifth  were  obliged  to  fall 
back,  and  as  they  did  so  the  dark  uniforms  of  the 
French  chasseurs  were  seen  advancing  at  the  other 
end  of  the  principal  thoroughfare.  They  had  not 
proceeded  far,  however,  before  they  were  received 
by  a  murderous  fire  from  the  thirty-third,  who 
advanced  upon  them  from  the  cross  streets  with 
the  bayonet,  and  once  more  drove  them  back  pell- 
mell  out  of  the  village.  The  thirty-third  and 
sixty-fifth  were  now  nearly  without  ammunition, 
but  the  gallant  fellows  would  not  give  up  the 
position  so  dearly  bought;  and  there  they  stood, 
each  man  in  his  place,  determined  to  make  cold 
steel  do  the  work  of  ball-cartridge.  It  was  now 
dark.  The  Prussian  artillery  had  ceased  firing, 
and  the  village  of  Querrieux  was  burning  in  four 
places,  the  flames  throwing  their  light  far  and 
wide  over  the  surrounding  country.  Six  com- 
panies of  the  thirty-third  regiment  determined  to 
avenge  the  last  attack  of  the  French.  In  the 
dark  they  stole  out  of  the  village,  formed  line,  and 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  charged  up  to  the 
French  battery  on  the  right  of  the  Albert  Eoad. 
They  had  spiked  two  guns  and  taken  the  horses 
when  they   were   attacked    by    five   French   bat- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


221 


talions,  before  whom  they  were  forced  to  retire 
into  Querrieux,  followed  so  closely  that  at  one 
moment  it  was  thought  the  village  was  lost.  By 
this  time,  however,  the  sixty-fifth  had  received 
ammunition,  and  drove  the  French  back  with  a 
withering  fire.  It  was  now  nearly  six  o'clock,  and 
the  battle  of  Pont  Noyelles  was  over,  in  which  the 
Germans  had  taken  seven  villages,  900  prisoners, 
a  lieutenant-colonel,  and  a  post-captain  in  the 
navy,  who  was  jocosely  asked  why  he  had  not 
brought  his  ship  with  him.  The  day  had  wit- 
nessed one  of  the  severest  actions  of  the  cam- 
paign, but  had  resulted  in  no  real  gain  to  either 
party.  The  Germans  had  captured  the  villages 
and  numerous  prisoners,  but  the  French  still  held 
the  formidable  position  just  beyond  them,  across 
the  little  stream.  For  that  reason  General  Faid- 
herbe  claimed  the  victory,  and  in  support  of  his 
claim  made  his  men  bivouac  on  the  ground, 
with  the  thermometer  marking  8°  below  zero, 
impressing  on  them,  with  the  susceptibility  of 
a  French  general,  that  the  hardship  was  absol- 
utely necessary  to  show  that  the  day  was  theirs. 
That  they  fought  stoutly  there  is  not  the  least 
question,  and  great  credit  was  due  to  their  artil- 
lery, which  was  well  served;  but  from  the  course 
their  general  felt  compelled  to  take  almost  directly 
afterwards,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  he  could  fairly 
claim  to  have  obtained  any  advantage. 

As  night  closed  in  each  army  could  observe  the 
position  of  the  other,  clearly  marked  by  the  lines 
of  bivouac  fires,  which  burnt  brightly  in  the  in- 
tensely frosty  atmosphere  at  intervals  of  1500  to 
2000  yards.  Early  next  morning  Generals  von 
Goben  and  ManteufFel  visited  the  field  of  battle, 
and  witnessed  the  curious  sight  of  nearly  60,000 
French  troops,  with  at  least  seventy  cannon,  look- 
ing down  upon  24,000  Prussians  with  forty  guns. 
There  stood  the  heavy  masses  of  the  French 
infantry,  drawn  up  along  the  brow  of  the  hill,  with 
their  batteries  right  and  left  of  the  brigades, 
covered  by  cavalry  ;  there  stretched  a  long  line  of 
tirailleurs  covering  the  whole  front,  keeping  up  a 
constant  fire,  wherever  there  was  a  chance,  upon 
the  valley  below.  On  the  German  side  all  was 
still.  The  troops  stood  to  their  arms,  the  artillery 
was  unlimbered,  the  cavalry  kept  their  bridles  over 
their  arms;  but  not  a  shot  was  fired.  They  felt 
that  they  were  too  weak  to  attack  the  powerful 
force  opposed  to  them,  by  which  every  moment 
they  expected  to  be  assailed.     The  day,  however, 


wore  on;  General  Faidherbe  declined  to  follow  up 
his  "victory;"  and  the  two  armies  stood  still, 
silently  confronting  each  other.  Their  weakness 
in  numbers  had  been  apparent  to  the  German  com- 
manders early  on  the  23rd,  and  Manteuffel  had 
telegraphed  for  reinforcements.  About  midday  on 
the  24th,  intelligence  was  received  that  Prince 
Albrecht  was  coming  from  Paris  with  a  cavalry 
division  of  the  guard,  and  that  General  Schiiler 
von  Senden,  with  a  division,  was  advancing  in  the 
direction  of  Corbie  from  St.  Quentin.  Meanwhile, 
General  Barnakow  had  been  detached  to  the  French 
right,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  turn  their  position; 
and  the  Germans  now  commenced  such  disposi- 
tions of  their  troops  as  would  enable  them  to  avoid 
making  an  assault  on  the  Franvillers  heights. 
Towards  the  afternoon  a  heavy  cannonade,  inter- 
mingled with  the  discharge  of  rifles,  was  opened 
from  the  hill,  the  reason  of  which  was  soon  after 
apparent.  The  French,  witnessing  the  movements 
of  their  enemies,  had  seen  at  once  the  great  peril 
they  would  be  in  should  the  Germans  succeed  in 
completing  their  tactics,  which  must  have  led  to 
a  repetition  of  the  manoeuvre  at  Sedan.  They 
peopled,  therefore,  the  top  of  the  hill  with  soldiers, 
and  feigned  an  intention  to  continue  the  battle. 
For  that  purpose  they  discharged  cannons  and  rifles, 
galloped  to  and  fro  along  the  line,  and  showed 
themselves  exceedingly  busy  But  in  the  rear, 
behind  the  hill,  was  going  on  the  very  different 
movement  of  conveying  men,  horses,  and  cannon  to 
the  railway  train.  This  completed,  the  dummies 
on  the  summit  suddenly  disappeared,  and  when 
the  sixteenth  German  division  had  completed  their 
arrangements  for  attack,  they  found  that  the  French 
had  abandoned  the  most  magnificent  position  nature 
could  give  them,  and  were  in  full  retreat  upon 
Arras  and  Lille.  General  Faidherbe  admitted  the 
loss  of  1400  in  killed  and  wounded,  while  that  of 
the  Germans  was  officially  returned  as  800,  includ- 
ing twenty-six  officers.  The  brunt  of  the  day's 
action  was  borne,  on  the  German  side,  by  the  forces 
under  Von  Gb'ben,  who  from  this,  time  became 
general  of  the  army  of  the  Somne,  while  Ben- 
theim,  at  the  same  time,  took  command  of  the 
army  of  the  Seine,  with  headquarters  at  Bouen, 
General  Manteuffel  still  holding  the  command- 
in-chief. 

With  only  one  of  his  divisions — the  fifteenth, 
with  which  he  had  fought  at  Pont  Noyelles — and 
with  the  younger  Prince  Albrecht's  flying  column, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


of  about  the  strength  of  a  brigade,  Von  Goben 
followed  Faidherbe  to  Bapaume,  sending  the  six- 
teenth division  to  invest  Peronne,  and  keep  the 
communications  ;  a  disposition  of  his  army  which 
could  only  be  justified  by  the  event,  and  which 
could  not  fail  to  tempt  the  French  commander  to 
attack  him  before  he  could  concentrate  his  forces. 
He  very  speedily  had  reason  to  recall  the  sixteenth 
division,  and  to  leave  the  besieging  of  Peronne 
to  General  von  Senden,  with  what  forces  and  mate- 
rial he  could  collect  from  St.  Quentin  and  Amiens, 
which  the  result  proved  to  be  sufficient. 

Faidherbe  gave  as  an  excuse  for  his  retreat  on 
the  24th  the  failure  of  his  commissariat  and  train ; 
experience,  apparently,  not  having  yet  taught  the 
French  the  value  of  these  services,  to  the  short- 
comings of  which  their  earliest  disasters  of  the 
campaign  were  to  a  great  extent  due.  This,  how- 
ever, was  doubtless  only  part  of  his  reason  for 
retreating  behind  his  fortresses.  Here  he  received 
intelligence  of  the  somewhat  incautious  advance 
of  Von  Goben  to  Bapaume,  and  perceiving  his 
chances,  determined  at  once  to  resume  the  offen- 
sive. On  Friday,  the  30th  December,  the  country 
round  Arras  was  swept  by  the  division  Lecointe, 
which  on  the  following  day  proceeded  to  advance, 
with  its  left  wing  resting  on  La  Scarpe,  and  its 
right  on  the  heights  of  Beaumont-les-Loges.  The 
front  of  the  army,  slightly  convex  in  shape,  ex- 
tended for  about  a  league  before  Arras.  On  the  2nd 
January  the  advanced  guard  attacked  the  Prussian 
post  before  Bapaume,  but,  owing  to  the  failure  of 
a  subordinate  general,  without  serious  effect.  Some 
detachments  made  a  reconnaissance  on  the  Arras 
and  Douai  roads,  and  came  so  near  to  a  battery  of 
artillery  that,  had  it  not  been  for  Count  Portalais 
and  his  squadron  of  king's  hussars,  the  French 
might  have  recorded  the  capture  of  some  Prussian 
guns.  When,  however,  they  were  within  200 
yards  of  the  battery,  it  was  saved  by  the  hussars, 
who  rushed  upon  them,  cutting  them  down  where 
they  stood,  and  making  200  prisoners.  Having 
thoroughly  felt  his  way  on  the  German  left  flank, 
General  Faidherbe  determined  to  attack  at  Ba- 
paume the  next  morning.  Accordingly,  at  nine 
a.m.  on  the  3rd  January,  just  as  General  von 
Goben  with  his  staff  arrived  at  Le  Transloy,  half 
way  on  the  Peronne  road  between  Combles  and 
Bapaume,  the  French  commenced  the  action. 

Bapaume,  with  the  villages  of  Avesnes-les- 
Bapaume,  Ligny-Tilloy,  and  Grevillers,  were  held 


by  the  fifteenth  division,  under  General  Kummer. 
The  twenty-ninth  brigade  consisted  of  the  bat- 
talions of  the  thirty-third  and  the  sixty-fifth  regi- 
ment. Two  battalions  of  the  thirty-third  held  the 
villages  of  Avesnes  and  Grevillers;  the  sixty-fifth 
regiment  the  suburb  of  Bapaume,  called  the  Fau- 
bourg dArras.  The  thirtieth  brigade,  consisting 
of  the  twenty-eighth  regiment  and  the  second 
battalion  of  the  sixty-eighth,  made  ground  towards 
the  Arras  road  and  the  wooded  heights  of  Sapig- 
nies.  Bapaume  and  its  environs  were  conse- 
quently held  by  about  eight  battalions,  with  six 
batteries  of  artillery.  As  at  this  moment,  with 
the  exception  of  those  of  the  nineteenth  regiment, 
no  battalion  could  bring  more  than  600  men  into 
action,  the  Prussian  force  at  Bapaume  may  be  put 
down  at  5000  infantry,  with  thirty-six  guns.  To 
their  left  was  the  brigade  of  General  Count  Groben, 
who  lay  at  Miraumont,  on  the  Arras  and  Amiens 
Railway.  The  Prussian  right  was  commanded  by 
Prince  Albrecht,  the  younger,  with  the  fortieth 
regiment,  three  batteries  of  horse  artillery,  and  the 
division  of  the  cavalry  of  the  guard,  whose  head- 
quarters were  in  Equancourt,  at  the  juncture  of 
the  Cambrai,  Bapaume,  and  Peronne  roads.  The 
reserve  consisted  of  the  eighth  jager  battalion, 
one  battalion  of  the  thirty-third  regiment,  one  bat- 
talion of  the  sixty-eighth,  and  the  artillery  reserve. 
These  lay  upon  the  Bapaume  and  Peronne  road, 
between  the  villages  of  Beaulincourt  and  Le  Tran- 
sloy. The  position  of  the  Prussian  troops  was, 
therefore,  with  their  left  at  Miraumont,  centre  at 
Bapaume,  and  right  at  Equancourt.  The  French 
right  extended  beyond  Achiet-le-Petit,  and  lay  in 
the  villages  of  Bihucourt,  Achiet-le-Grand,  and 
Gomiecourt;  their  centre  was  in  Behagnies  and 
Sapignies;  whilst  their  left  rested  upon  Vaulx  and 
Lagnicourt. 

The  French  began  with  an  attack  upon  the 
Faubourg  dArras,  and  by  an  attempt  to  drive  the 
thirty-third  regiment  out  of  the  village  of  Grevil- 
lers. In  this  they  failed,  being  driven  back  and 
pursued  by  the  thirty-third  into  the  village  of 
Biefvillers,  which  the  Prussians  stormed  and  took 
possession  of,  but  were  soon  obliged  to  evacuate. 
Heavy  masses  of  infantry  came  on  to  attack  the 
gallant  little  band,  amongst  whom  the  French 
artillery  was  making  sad  havoc.  Slowly,  and  with 
their  faces  to  the  enemy,  they  retreated  upon  the 
suburb  of  Bapaume,  where  they  found  the  sixty- 
fifth  regiment  at  their  backs,  and  whence  a  quick 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


223 


and  uninterrupted  fire  was  soon  opened  upon  the 
French  troops.  Meantime  the  Prussian  artillery 
posted  on  the  Arras  road  swept  the  plateau  be- 
neath, and  poured  a  plunging  fire  of  shell  into  the 
heavy  French  masses  as  they  struggled  across  to 
gain  the  Faubourg  d' Arras.  The  French  artillery 
was  never  better  served  than  on  this  occasion, 
both  for  rapidity  and  precision.  Besides  having 
excellent  cannon,  and  knowing  how  to  use  them, 
the  soldiers  of  the  army  of  the  north  behaved  most 
admirably  under  fire,  although  composed  mainly 
of  recruits,  and  without  skilled  leaders.  Numerous 
bayonet  charges  were  executed  with  creditable 
courage  and  gallantry  against  old  and  well-trained 
Prussian  warriors.  During  one  of  those  charges 
one  battalion  had  to  pass  battalions  of  Prussians 
hidden  at  about  five  yards'  distance.  A  full 
charge  was  given  from  the  needle-guns  with 
such  terrible  effect,  that  it  seemed  as  if  little 
more  than  fifty  men  of  that  battalion  remained 
alive  or  unwounded. 

In  the  course  of  the  morning  the  thirty-third 
regiment,  now  fearfully  reduced,  was  obliged  to 
retire  from  the  suburb  it  had  held  so  bravely,  and 
took  possession  of  the  old  citadel  of  Bapaume, 
situated  on  the  Albert  road,  and  of  the  windmill 
to  the  left.  The  sixty-fifth  still  held  a  part  of  the 
Faubourg  dArras,  while  two  horse-artillery  bat- 
teries were  sent  forward  to  the  left,  and,  taking  up 
a  position  at  Ligny,  opened  fire  upon  the  French 
right. 

The  action  now  became  general  and  Bapaume 
was  in  a  circle  of  fire  and  smoke.  The  Prussian 
centre,  overwhelmed  by  the  numbers  of  the  enemy 
and  the  hot  artillery  fire,  was  beginning  slowly  to 
give  .ground,  when  the  Rhenish  jiigers,  with  two 
fresh  batteries,  deployed  to  their  left  and  went 
into  action.  Meantime  Prince  Albrecht  had 
marched  upon  Baucourt  from  Equancourt,  and 
had  detached  two  batteries  with  some  cavalry 
in  the  direction  of  Beugny-le-Chateau,  whilst  he 
himself,  with  the  fortieth  regiment  and  the  remain- 
der of  his  command,  excepting  the  hussars  of  the 
guard,  engaged  the  French  left  from  Fremicourt. 
The  hussars  of  the  guard  were  sent  along  the  road 
to  Cambrai,  to  make  sure  that  no  troops  were 
advancing  on  the  Prussian  right  from  that  place. 
At  the  village  of  Boursies  two  regiments  of  French 
infantry,  with  a  squadron  of  cavalry,  were  reported 
as  advancing  on  the  Cambrai  road  upon  the  Ger- 
man  right  Hank.     The   officer  in   command  was 


equal  to  the  emergency.  A  squadron  was  dis- 
mounted, and  took  possession  of  the  buildings  and 
outhouses  of  the  village.  The  hussars  with  their 
carabines  opened  a  heavy  fire  upon  the  French  as 
soon  as  they  were  within  range  ;  who,  thinking 
that  the  village  was  held  by  infantry,  made  a  hasty 
retreat.  While  matters  were  going  on  thus  on 
the  centre  and  right  of  the  Prussian  army,  General 
Count  Groben  marched  from  Miraumout  against 
the  French  right.  Making  a  slight  dttour  to  his 
left  flank,  he  suddenly  appeared  on  the  enemy's 
rear,  and,  opening  fire  from  his  artillery,  made 
them  imagine  he  was  about  to  attack  them  in 
reverse,  which  speedily  had  the  effect  of  compelling 
the  French  centre  to  draw  off  some  of  their  forces, 
and  gave  a  little  breathing  time  to  the  gallant 
defenders  of  Bapaume. 

There,  in  the  meantime,  confusion  reigned 
supreme.  The  inhabitants  were  rushing  off  pell- 
mell  in  all  directions.  Shells  went  hurtling  into 
the  houses,  bullets  smashed  the  windows,  and  the 
town  was  set  on  fire  in  several  places.  On  the 
road  outside  Bapaume,  leading  towards  Beaulin- 
court,  could  be  heard  the  sound  of  the  heavy  guns 
playing  upon  Peronne;  and  anxious  must  have 
been  the  commander  of  that  fortress  for  news  of 
those  who  were  trying  to  relieve  him,  and  whose 
fire  he  could  distinctly  recognize.  Towards  half- 
past  one  things  had  a  serious  aspect  for  the  Ger- 
mans. The  heavy  fire  and  superior  numbers  of 
the  French  had  told  so  effectually,  that  the  whole 
of  the  suburb  of  Arras  was  relinquished,  and  the 
twenty-ninth  brigade,  under  Colonel  von  Bock, 
retired  into  Bapaume.  The  thirtieth  brigade 
formed  up  in  rear  of  the  town  on  the  Peronne 
road,  and  for  a  brief  period  the  French  suspended 
operations,  except  on  the  right  flank,  where  Prince 
Albrecht  was  hotly  engaged,  but  where  neither 
side  gained  any  advantage  for  a  time.  By  sunset, 
however,  the  French  had  not  only  entered  the 
suburb  of  Arras,  where  they  at  once  erected  strong 
barricades,  but,  after  desperate  fighting,  had  taken 
most  of  the  villages  around  Bapaume,  and  even 
had  their  posts  in  some  of  the  streets  of  the 
town  itself,  at  only  about  thirty  yards  from  the 
German  outposts.  The  sixty-fifth  regiment  accord- 
ingly began  to  prepare  for  a  fight  in  the  streets  by 
building  barricades  at  every  corner,  and  turning 
every  window  into  a  loop-hole.  The  terrified  in- 
habitants fled  into  the  cellars,  and  even  the  soldiers 
were   not  without    apprehension,   in   consequence 


224 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


of  the  very  superior  strength  of  the  French. 
Fortunately  for  them,  the  battle  did  not  extend 
into  Bapaume,  and  the  day  closed  upon  a  sanguin- 
ary fight,  which  again  produced  little  or  no  real 
advantage  to  either  party. 

General  Faidherbe  subsequently  issued  a  pro- 
clamation, expressing  the  greatest  indignation  at 
the  pretensions  put  forward  by  the  Prussians  of 
having  had  the  advantage  in  the  action,  and 
claimed  to  have  won  a  "  complete  victory;"  which, 
he  asserted,  was  proved  by  the  fact  that  his  army 
slept  in  the  villages  it  had  taken.  He  had  not,  be 
said,  followed  up  his  victory,  because  of  the  failure 
of  his  commissariat,  and  his  fear  that  an  advance 
would  involve  the  destruction  of  Bapaume.  The 
battle  may,  indeed,  be  fairly  said  to  have  been 
won  by  the  French,  but  a  fatality  seemed  to  attend 
their  movements  even  when  they  were  successful. 
Faidherbe's  army  had  behaved  with  the  greatest 
gallantry,  and  their  repeated  attacks  so  exhausted 
the  Germans — the  thirty-third  regiment,  for  in- 
instance,  having  less  than  half  its  strength  and 
only  three  officers  left — that  at  six  p.m.  General 
von  Goben  gave  the  order  to  retreat  across  the 
Somme.  The  heavy  baggage  trains  were  already 
in  motion  when  it  was  discovered  that  the  French 
commander,  whether  unaware  of  his  victory,  or 
dismayed  by  his  own  losses,  or  alarmed  by  the 
prospect  of  wanting  food,  retreated,  and  the  Ger- 
man movement  was  stayed.  Had  he  only  advanced, 
or  even  maintained  his  position  till  morning,  he 
would  have  secured  an  unmistakable  victory,  which 
might  possibly  have  given  new  life  to  France.  It 
would,  at  the  least,  have  enabled  him  to  relieve 
Peronne,  and  to  partially  clear  the  left  bank  of  the 
Somme;  and  this  would  have  had  much  more  effect 
in  inspiring  his  troops  with  ardour  and  energy 
than  a  paper  assertion  of  victory  while  in  full 
retreat  before  the  enemy.  It  was  this  want  of 
vigour,  rather  than  of  capacity  or  courage,  in  the 
French  generals,  which  on  more  than  one  occasion 
made  their  greatest  efforts  of  so  little  avail. 

The  real  fruits  of  the  victory  remained,  of 
course,  with  the  Germans,  though  dearly  purchased 
by  the  loss  of  nearly  1000  killed  and  wounded. 
If  the  French  slept  in  the  captured  positions,  their 
nap  must  have  been  brief  indeed,  for  by  midnight 
a  movement  of  retreat  was  commenced  along  their 
whole  line.  The  proof  of  a  victory  is  in  its  results : 
and  General  Faidherbe  would  have  furnished  the 
best  evidence  of  having  gained  it   if,   instead  of 


wasting  time  in  undignified  discussions  with  Gen- 
eral ManteufFel,  he  had  by  advancing  made  the 
most  of  it:  for  he  must  have  known  that  every 
day  which  passed  added  to  the  difficulties,  the 
dangers,  the  agony  of  Paris.  The  allegation  that 
the  object  of  the  fighting  at  Bapaume  was  frus- 
trated by  the  shortcomings  of  the  French  com- 
missariat, acquitted  the  soldiers  at  the  expense  of 
their  commander,  who  had  full  time  for  the 
organization  of  the  service  in  the  north,  and  should 
therefore  have  seen  that  his  army  was  in  a  con- 
dition to  keep  the  field.  As  to  his  other  reason 
for  stopping  short  before  Bapaume,  "  lest  an  attack 
upon  that  place  might  involve  its  destruction," 
he  ought  to  have  considered  that  between  him 
and  Paris  there  were  many  such  places,  within 
which  the  Germans  might  have  chosen  to  await 
his  onset,  and  that  if  he  were  equally  scrupulous 
about  the  safety  of  all  of  them,  he  would  never 
achieve  the  deliverance  of  the  capital.  Pursued 
to  within  about  four  miles  of  Arras  by  the  Prussian 
cavalry — who,  however,  captured  no  guns  and  but 
few  prisoners — the  army  of  the  north  again  found 
itself  under  the  friendly  shelter  of  their  fortresses. 

The  principal  cavalry  intrusted  with  the  pursuit 
were  the  eighth  Eheinischer  cuirassiers,  com- 
manded by  Captain  von  Marees,  who,  just  beyond 
the  village  of  Sapignies — between  it  and  Mory — 
came  upon  two  retreating  battalions  of  French 
infantry,  one  a  chasseur  regiment,  the  other  con- 
sisting of  gardes  mobiles.  At  the  moment  he 
discovered  them  he  was  riding  exactly  parallel 
to  them,  the  undulating  country  having  hitherto 
hidden  them  from  his  view.  He  at  once  determined 
upon  attacking  them.  The  greater  part  of  the 
country  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bapaume  is  a/able 
land,  most  of  which  had  been  ploughed,  and  the 
furrows,  from  the  severe  frost  of  the  previous 
ten  days,  were  frozen  as  hard  as  bars  of  iron. 
Every  one  can  see  how  serious  were  the  difficulties 
which  a  heavy  cavalry  regiment  would  have  to 
encounter  in  an  attack  over  such  ground.  After 
some  deliberation  a  spot  was,  however,  chosen 
upon  which  to  attack. 

No  sooner  did  the  French  infantry  perceive  the 
approach  of  the  Prussian  cuirassiers  than  they 
formed  two  squares.  The  foremost  square,  which 
was  first  attacked,  waited  until  the  cavalry  came 
within  300  yards  before  it  opened  fire.  Then,  how- 
ever, a  perfect  shower  of  bullets  rang  against  and 
pierced  the  cuirasses  of  the  advancing  horsemen. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR, 


225 


The  captain  was  shot  through  the  knee,  and 
his  charger  through  the  head;  the  lieutenant 
was  unhorsed,  and  suffered  a  severe  concussion; 
and  the  squadron  sergeant-major  received  a  bullet 
through  the  heart.  Undaunted  by  the  fall  of 
their  officers  and  sergeant-major,  the  men  rode 
boldly  at  and  right  through  the  square,  scattering 
their  foes  on  all  sides,  and  sabring  and  trampling 
down  many.  Having  thus  pierced  their  way  to 
the  other  side  of  the  French,  they  immediately 
spread  to  avoid  any  concentrated  fire.  Had  they 
been  supported,  which  unfortunately  for  them 
they  were  not,  in  all  probability  the  regiment  of 
infantry  would  have  been  cut  to  pieces;  but  a 
ravine  of  great  depth  separated  them  from  their 
comrades,  who  were  unable  to  cross  in  time  to 
take  part  in  this  gallant  action.  The  remains  of 
the  shattered  French  square  were  thus  able  to 
gain  the  shelter  of  a  village,  against  which  it  was 
of  course  impossible  to  advance  with  cavalry. 

Von  Goben  did  not  consider  it  wise  to  hold 
Bapaume,  and  soon  after  the  battle  of  the  3rd 
retired  to  Domprere.  The  retrograde  movement 
was  carried  out  along  the  whole  German  line; 
General  Kummer,  who  with  the  fifteenth  division 
was  at  Albert,  withdrawing  upon  Bray-sur-Somme, 
and  Prince  Albrecht  retiring  upon  Combles.  Con- 
siderable detachments  of  men  and  siege  material 
were  despatched  to  Peronne,  which,  under  the 
fearful  artillery  fire  poured  upon  it,  speedily 
became  a  mass  of  ruins,  and  on  January  10 
capitulated  unconditionally,  with  its  garrison  of 
2000  men,  to  General  von  Senden. 

The  same  day  on  which  the  severe  action  at 
Bapaume  was  fought  General  von  Bentheim,  on 
the  Seine,  had  a  somewhat  sharp  engagement  with 
the  French  troops  from  Havre;  to  which  place  a 
new  commander  had  been  recently  appointed,  who 
had  won  considerable  popularity  by  encouraging 
and  organizing  a  scheme  for  attacking  the  Prus- 
sian forces  in  the  neighbourhood.  For  several 
days  the  Prussian  commander  had  heard  that 
large  numbers  of  French  were  massing  upon  the 
left  bank  of  the  Seine,  threatening  Eouen.  To 
prevent  the  completion  of  these  movements  Von 
Bentheim,  with  a  strong  division,  on  the  3rd  of 
January,  at  five  a.m.,  surprised  the  French  army 
in  their  quarters.  The  attack  was  short,  sharp, 
and  decisive;  four  standards,  500  prisoners,  and 
two  rifled  guns  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
Prussians.     Not  satisfied  with  the  result,  a  com- 

YOL.  II. 


pany  of  infantry  were  immediately  placed  upon 
waggons,  and,  with  two  horse-artillery  guns  and 
two  squadrons  of  cavalry,  under  the  command  of 
Major  Preinezer,  of  the  artillery,  went  in  pursuit 
of  the  flying  enemy,  and  captured  two  more  guns 
and  many  additional  prisoners,  before  they  could 
ensconce  themselves  behind  the  earthworks  of 
Havre. 

Besides  Peronne,  two  other  fortresses  fell  early 
in  the  new  year;  namely,  Mezieres  on  January 
2,  and  Rocroi  on  January  4.  The  former  had 
undergone  a  tedious  process  of  investment,  almost 
since  the  capitulation  of  Sedan;  for  as  it  could 
give  little  annoyance  to  the  Germans,  its  reduction 
by  siege  guns  was  deferred.  Like  almost  all  the 
other  fortresses  besieged,  it  speedily  yielded  to 
powerful  artillery,  which  in  a  bombardment  of 
about  three  days  caused  a  vast  amount  of  damage 
to  life  and  property.  The  wreck,  indeed,  baffles 
description;  terrible  as  was  the  scene  presented 
by  Bazeilles  after  being  fired  by  the  Bavarians,  it 
was  not  so  fearful  as  that  which  met  the  eye  in 
some  parts  of  Me'zieres.  At  Bazeilles  the  walls 
of  most  of  the  houses  were  left  standing,  and 
the  streets  were  free  of  dibris;  but  at  Mezieres,  in 
many  places,  the  houses  were  a  mere  waste,  and 
not  a  stone  of  the  front  walls  was  left  standing. 
The  narrow  streets  were  so  choked  up  with  fallen 
stones,  that  it  was  often  difficult  to  get  along.  The 
church  was  also  much  injured.  The  2nd  of 
January  witnessed  the  capitulation  of  the  fortress 
and  the  surrender  of  the  garrison,  numbering 
2000  men. 

Part  of  the  force  which  had  reduced  Me'zieres  at 
once  marched  north-west  to  Rocroi,  on  the  Belgian 
frontier.  Early  on  the  morning  of  January  4 
some  cavalry  appeared  suddenly  at  the  gate,  and 
demanded  an  immediate  surrender,  threatening 
bombardment  in  case  of  refusal.  The  commandant, 
believing  that  the  enemy  were  unprovided  with 
siege  guns,  returned  a  firm  reply  in  the  negative. 
The  effective  garrison  consisted  of  150  mobiles  and 
120  artillerymen  and  engineers.  The  guns  were 
old-fashioned  pieces,  and  the  fortifications  antique. 
A  dense  fog  prevailed,  when  at  noon  the  sound  of 
a  cannon  was  heard  and  a  hissing  shell  fell  within 
the  fort.  It  appears  that  about  thirty-six  German 
guns  were  ranged  in  batteries  against  the  town,  and 
a  fierce  fire  was  at  once  opened  from  them.  A  num- 
ber of  long-range  guns  were  placed  further  in  the 
rear,  and  the  whole  were  supported  by  a  force  of 
2f 


226 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


several  thousand  men.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fort 
of  Rocroi  possessed  only  four  guns  of  serviceable 
range.  "When  the  first  shell  fell  the  mobiles 
rushed  towards  the  ramparts  on  the  side  away 
from  the  fire,  climbed  over  them,  and  fled  in  all 
directions.  The  120  men  who  kept  their  ground, 
for  five  and  a  half  hours  bore  an  unrelenting  bom- 
bardment, of  which  every  shot  told,  and  which 
crushed  the  town  by  the  weight  of  2000  pro- 
jectiles. Fires  broke  out  in  several  places,  and 
a  dozen  houses  were  in  flames.  The  four  French 
pieces  which  were  available  fired  as  rapidly  as 
possible  against  an  enemy  who  could  not  be  seen, 
and  their  balls  fell  at  random.  The  powder 
magazine  was  so  much  damaged  that  there  was 
imminent  danger  of  its  explosion.  At  half-past 
five  another  parlementaire  appeared,  stating  that 
it  was  useless  to  prolong  the  resistance,  and  that 
only  from  respect  to  the  valour  displayed  had  the 
Germans  been  induced  to  take  the  unusual  course 
of  sending  a  second  summons.  The  town  continued 
to  burn,  and  no  assistance  was  to  be  looked  for. 
The  commandant,  therefore,  consented  to  capi- 
tulate, and  the  Germans  entered  and  extinguished 
the  fires,  which,  owing  to  a  violent  wind,  threatened 
to  destroy  the  whole  place.  Of  the  120  men,  nearly 
one-half  managed  to  escape  after  the  capitulation; 
the  remainder,  together  with  the  officers,  were  sent 
to  Germany. 

While  General  Faidherbe  was,  as  we  have  seen, 
availing  himself  of  all  opportunities  of  annoying 
and  injuring  his  enemies  in  the  north,  things  in 
other  parts  of  the  country  were  beginning  to  look 
extremely  serious  for  France.  Paris,  patient  and 
resolute,  still  kept  at  bay  the  hosts  encompassing 
it,  but  only  by  submitting  to  privations  so  severe 
that  it  was  easily  seen  they  must  soon  issue  in 
starvation  or  submission.  The  army  of  the  Loire, 
at  one  time  so  full  of  promise  to  the  nation,  had 
been  obliged  to  retire,  defeated  and  scattered,  upon 
Le  Mans ;  and  already  the  Germans  were  concen- 
trating to  deal  it  the  last  crushing  blow.  Seeing 
that  his  chances  depended  upon  the  hazard  of  one 
last  desperate  throw,  M.  Gambetta  conceived  the 
idea  of  a  simultaneous  offensive  movement  through- 
out the  country.  Paris  was  to  make  a  formidable 
sortie  in  force,  Faidherbe  was  to  advance  from  the 
north,  and  Chanzy  from  the  south,  while  Bour- 
baki  was  to  put  forth  all  his  strength  to  cut  the 
Prussian  communications,  and  even  push  his  way 
into   Germany.      M.    Gambetta   accordingly   tele- 


graphed to  General  Faidherbe  that  the  moment 
for  the  supreme  effort  had  come,  and  directed  him 
to  draw  upon  himself  as  many  of  the  Germans  as 
could  be  diverted  from  Paris.  Promptly  obeying, 
he  eluded  the  troops  who  were  watching  him,  and 
by  forced  marches  arrived  on  the  south  of  St. 
Quentin,  threatening  his  enemy's  lines  of  com- 
munication. It  was  thought  advisable,  however, 
to  conceal  if  possible  the  extent  and  object  of  this 
movement.  In  a  despatch  to  Bordeaux  published 
on  the  18th  January,  General  Faidherbe  therefore 
stated  that,  "  having  learnt  that  the  Prussians  at 
St.  Quentin  demanded  of  the  inhabitants  a  sum  of 
548,000  francs,  he  had  resolved  to  put  an  end  to 
their  exactions,  and  sent  a  flying  column  for  that 
purpose  under  the  orders  of  Colonel  Isnard.  That 
officer  encountered  the  enemy  at  Catelet  Bellicourt, 
and  pursued  him,  killing  and  wounding  thirty 
men.  Colonel  Isnard  subsequently  entered  St. 
Quentin  on  the  16th,  the  enemy  flying  in  great 
disorder,  and  abandoning  130  prisoners,  as  well 
as  a  considerable  store  of  provisions.  The  inhab- 
itants of  the  town  received  the  troops  with  great 
enthusiasm." 

Though  somewhat  coloured  as  to  the  "  great 
disorder,"  &c,  the  despatch  was  correct  in  stating 
that  St.  Quentin  was  evacuated  by  the  Germans. 
No  artifice,  however,  could  conceal  from  the  well- 
informed  Von  Goben  that  the  French  had  really 
advanced  in  great  force ;  and  promptly  gathering 
together  his  little  army,  he  gave  orders  for  an 
immediate  attack.  The  remarkable  feature  in  the 
conduct  of  this  commander  was  the  great  exactness 
with  which  he  carried  out  his  plans,  and  the  care 
taken  by  him  of  all  parts  :  none  were  neglected  by 
him,  even  while  each  was  working  for  itself  for  a 
certain  time,  and  scarcely  knowing  it  was  con- 
nected with  another  until  the  moment  came  when 
all  acted  together  as  a  whole.  He  cared  com- 
paratively little  how  many  perished  on  the  march, 
provided  it  was  completed  in  the  given  time ;  and 
in  the  operations  around  St.  Quentin  on  the  19th 
were  seen  the  results  of  his  exact  method.  Every 
one  was  in  his  right  place  at  the  right  time.  The 
officers  of  the  Prussian  army  attributed  to  Man- 
teuffei's  slowness  the  fact  that  Faidherbe  had 
not  been  more  decisively  beaten  on  previous 
occasions,  while  the  confidence  of  the  common 
soldiers  in  Von  Gbben's  talent  was  great.  On 
the  fatiguing  march  through  snow  and  mud,  from 
morning  till  evening,  they  might  often  be  heard 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


227 


saying,  "  Well,  Goben  knows  that  all  this  is 
necessary,"  and  they  held  on  as  merrily  as  ever. 

The  fighting  commenced  by  some  skirmishes  on 
Wednesday,  the  18th  of  January.  On  the  previous 
day  General  Faidherbe  had  established  his  quar- 
tier-general  at  St.  Quentin,  and  early  the  following 
morning  despatched  a  brigade  of  the  twenty- 
second  corps  in  advance  of  the  main  army,  which 
shortly  after  followed,  in  a  southerly  direction 
towards  Mezieres  on  the  Oise.  The  French  being 
very  deficient  in  cavalry,  his  reconnaisances  were 
too  limited  to  enable  him  to  know  for  certain  the 
direction  occupied  by  the  enemy,  and  in  conse- 
quence a  portion  of  General  Faidherbe's  men  came 
unexpectedly  upon  advanced  posts  near  the  village 
of  Roupy.  They  were  suddenly  attacked  by  a 
Prussian  battery,  and  compelled  to  fly  with  severe 
loss.  Several  other  skirmishes  of  a  similar  nature 
and  with  like  result  occurred  in  the  course  of 
the  18th,  showing  clearly  the  proximity  of  very 
numerous  hostile  forces,  and  giving  some  indica- 
tion of  the  severity  of  the  battle  next  day. 

About  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  19th 
the  principal  engagement  commenced  by  an  attack 
of  the  Prussians,  from  some  heights  overlooking 
the  villages  of  Grugis  and  Castres,  upon  the  twenty- 
third  French  corps,  commanded  by  General  Gislin. 
The  unceasing  fire  of  the  Chassepots  was  not  to 
be  mistaken,  and  served  to  point  out  distinctly 
the  French  position.  To  understand  this  fully 
the  reader  must  picture  St.  Quentin  situated  in 
a  hollow,  inclosed  by  hills,  the  hilly  circle  being 
separated  by  a  valley  from  a  second  similar  cir- 
curnvallation.  Eastward  of  this  natural  fortress, 
about  5000  paces  from  the  second  height,  between 
St.  Quentin  and  Savy,  a  small  village  to  the 
south  of  it,  is  a  thick  forest  of  considerable  length, 
separated  by  a  plain  of  about  500  paces  from  a 
second  forest,  less  extensive  than  the  former,  still 
more  westward,  towards  the  road  to  Peronne,  near 
Vermand.  The  French  army  was  so  posted  on 
the  second  height  as  to  have  its  left  wing  eastward 
of  St.  Quentin,  the  right  beyond  the  second  forest, 
and  the  bulk  behind  both  forests,  which  were 
lined  with  soldiers.  Two  batteries  were,  in  a 
masterly  fashion,  placed  behind  the  height  sepa- 
rating the  two  forests,  and  so  concealed  that  their 
existence  became  known  only  by  the  smoke  after 
the  discharge.  On  the  Prussian  side  the  six- 
teenth division  was  on  the  right,  the  third  cavalry 
division  on  the  left  wing,  and  the  fifteenth  division 


in  the  centre.  The  respective  batteries  were 
with  their  divisions,  and  the  artillery  corps  kept 
in  reserve. 

At  Savy  orders  were  given  to  the  Prussian 
infantry  to  take  the  forests  ;  and  to  help  them, 
three  batteries  were  mounted  near  a  windmill 
behind  the  village,  which  threw  their  shells  partly 
into  the  forests,  and  partly  amidst  those  troops 
who  were  posted  on  the  height  connecting  them. 
The  French  batteries,  likewise,  began  to  roar  from 
behind  the  hill,  and  aimed  well.  So  long  was  the 
range  of  the  Chassepots,  that  at  a  distance  of  1000 
yards  the  advancing  infantry  had  already  several 
wounded. 

So  early  as  ten  o'clock  the  French  had  to 
abandon  several  of  their  positions,  and  a  powerful 
attack  was  then  made  upon  their  lines  by  the 
Prussians  with  a  large  artillery  force.  The  twenty- 
second  French  corps,  however,  held  its  ground 
well  for  a  time,  but  the  twenty-third  soon  began 
to  give  way.  The  two  corps  had  unfortunately 
become  separated  by  the  Canal  Crozat,  too  broad 
and  deep  to  be  crossed  but  by  bridges,  and  conse- 
quently could  not  aid  each  other.  The  twenty- 
third  corps,  therefore,  soon  began  to  yield,  and  by 
three  o'clock  made  a  disorderly  retreat — in  fact, 
"  ran  away "  would  more  correctly  describe  the 
conduct  of  those  who  had  not  become  prisoners. 
General  Faidherbe  endeavoured  to  restore  con- 
fidence by  directing  some  battalions  of  the  twenty- 
second  corps  to  go  to  their  aid  ;  but  before  this 
movement  could  be  accomplished  the  panic  was 
too  great. 

The  cavalry  fared  no  better.  Immediately 
behind  Savy  several  squadrons  of  French  dra- 
goons were  drawn  up  in  line  against  about  an 
equal  number  of  the  king's  hussars.  The  former 
were  extremely  nice  and  clean ;  their  horses 
well  tended ;  saddles  and  bridles  apparently  a 
few  days  only  in  use ;  their  white  cloaks  as  if 
put  on  for  the  occasion.  The  hussars,  on  the 
other  hand,  as  well  as  their  horses,  were  covered 
with  mud ;  their  uniforms,  usually  so  neat  and 
shiny,  were  all  soiled  from  the  long  and  toilsome 
marches  of  the  last  few  days.  Suddenly,  and 
without  a  moment's  warning,  the  hussars  dashed 
forward  like  lightning  against  the  enemy,  and 
fairly  overrode  him.  The  first  shock  dismounted 
half  of  the  French  dragoons  ;  their  white  cloaks 
covered  the  ground,  or  were  trodden  into  the 
earth  ;  while  the  other  half  fell  under  the  strokes 


228 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


of  the  hussars'  sharp  sabres,  or  were  made  prisoners. 
When  brought  in  it  transpired  that  they  had 
entered  the  army  only  three  weeks  before,  and  had 
never  previously  been  on  horseback. 

At  noon  the  Prussian  artillery,  having  no  means 
of  estimating  the  effect  of  their  shells  on  the  con- 
cealed batteries  of  the  enemy,  left  off  firing.  They 
resumed  it  only  when  the  French  batteries,  pressed 
hard  by  the  German  cavalry  division,  had  changed 
their  front  towards  their  right  flank,  and  continued 
it  until  they  had  compelled  General  Faidherbe  to 
give  up  his  excellent  position.  The  twenty-third 
French  corps  having  given  way,  the  forests  were 
already  in  possession  of  the  Prussian  infantry. 
About  three  o'clock  two  light  and  one  heavy  bat- 
tery advanced  in  columns  in  the  direction  of  St. 
Quentin,  leaving  the  first  forest  to  their  left.  Be- 
fore that  forest  they  were  drawn  up  in  line  against 
the  artillery  of  the  French,  who,  being  in  retreat, 
had  taken  position  on  the  first  height  around  St. 
Quentin.  Nearly  at  the  same  time  four  batteries  of 
the  corps  artillery  were  summoned  to  the  battle- 
field, and  placed  themselves  at  the  right  of  the 
former  three.  Thus,  on  the  west  side  of  St. 
Quentin,  seven  batteries  came  into  action,  and  the 
grandeur  of  their  roaring,  and  the  whistling  of 
their  shells,  were  indescribable.  The  cavalry  divi- 
sion continued  to  exercise  the  utmost  pressure  on 
the  French  right,  as  the  sixteenth  division  did 
on  the  left,  and  General  Faidherbe  had  no  other 
course  but  to  abandon  the  last  heights,  and  to  fall 
back  into  the  town. 

From  the  time  the  twenty-third  French  corps 
had  commenced  their  early  retreat,  the  twenty- 
second,  under  Generals  Deroja  and  Paulze  d'lvoy, 
sustained  the  brunt  of  the  fight.  Even  among 
them  some  mobiles  gave  way,  but  were  again 
rallied  and  placed  in  front  of  the  regiment  of 
zouaves  of  the  north.  These  latter  were  as  fine 
and  daring  a  body  of  troops  as  the  French  had  ; 
but  by  four  o'clock  General  Paulze  d'lvoy,  being 
unable  any  longer  to  continue  the  defence,  the 
retreat  was  sounded ;  and  under  a  tremendous  fire 
from  the  augmented  Prussian  batteries,  the  dis- 
heartened French  set  out  for  St.  Quentin,  but  only 
en  route  for  a  farther  distance  still ;  for,  determined 
to  repossess  the  town  they  had  evacuated  three 
days  before,  the  Germans  were  gathering  fast  for 
the  pursuit.  Thus,  when  evening  was  falling,  the 
weary  men — almost  dead  with  several  days'  march- 
ing to  and  fro,  first  upon   Albert,  next  tacking 


westward  upon  Fins — were  trudging  several  kilo- 
metres to  Cambrai,  in  the  dreary  darkness,  know- 
ing they  had  lost  an  important  day,  and  that  their 
conquerors  were  pressing  forward  to  occupy  the 
town  they  held  the  night  before. 

One  of  the  grandest  war  pictures  ever  witnessed 
was  now  displayed.  The  full  light  of  day  had 
already  disappeared;  the  wide  plain  on  which  a 
fierce  battle  had  raged  was  silent ;  but  on  the 
right  and  left  wing  were  heard  the  cries  of  vic- 
torious troops.  When  the  enemy  was  driven  from 
his  last  position,  the  whole  long  line  of  German 
infantry  and  cavalry,  followed  by  the  artillery, 
began  to  march  on  St.  Quentin,  with  drums  beat- 
ing and  banners  fluttering  in  the  air  ;  and  amidst 
the  shouts  of  "  Hurrah  ! "  advanced  until  they 
reached  the  heights  just  abandoned  by  the  French. 
The  batteries  were  then  mounted  in  a  semicircle 
around  the  town,  which  the  fifteenth  division  now 
took  by  storm,  assisted  by  the  sixteenth,  which 
attacked  it  on  the  east.  To  defend  the  place  suc- 
cessfully was  impossible;  to  remain  within  it  was 
either  to  become  victims  to  the  pitiless  rain  of 
Prussian  shells,  or  be  taken  prisoners.  The  ma- 
jority of  the  French,  therefore,  after  some  slight 
show  of  resistance,  fled  in  utter  confusion,  some  to 
Guise,  but  most  to  Cambrai,  the  Prussian  cavalry 
making  about  4000  prisoners  at  St.  Quentin  alone. 
They  had  previously  taken  an  equal  number,  and, 
in  all,  the  battle  finally  resulted  in  the  capture  of 
more  than  12,000.  Had  not  night  retarded  the 
pursuit,  it  is  probable  that  few,  indeed,  would  have 
been  left  to  France  of  its  army  of  the  north. 

Thus,  within  ten  days,  a  second  French  army, 
upon  which  high  hopes  had  been  built,  was 
shattered  and  dispersed  beyond  recovery.  In  a 
report  to  the  minister  of  War,  General  Faidherbe 
stated  that  at  this  battle  his  troops  amounted  to 
only  25,000,  his  four  divisions  having  been  reduced 
during  six  weeks'  operations  to  6000  or  7000  men 
each;  and  that,  resolved  to  sacrifice  his  own  army 
in  order  to  assist  the  sortie  from  Paris,  he  had  gone 
forward  certain  of  meeting  an  overwhelming  force. 
If  the  army  of  the  north  was  indeed  reduced  to  a 
strength  of  25,000  men,  France  and  Paris,  which 
had  been  led  to  believe  that  it  had  at  least  three 
times  that  number,  had  been  shamefully  deceived. 

In  a  pamphlet  published  by  him  at  the  close  of 
the  war,  General  Faidherbe  also  remarked  some- 
what complainingly  respecting  this  battle,  "  How 
could  we  withstand  indefinitely  the  fresh  troops 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


229 


brought  continuously  by  rail  on  the  field  of  battle, 
even  from  Paris?"  That  no  very  great  force  was 
despatched  from  among  the  besiegers  of  Paris  might 
be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  they  themselves  had 
serious  work  on  hand  just  at  this  time,  the  sortie 
on  Montretout  having  taken  place  on  the  same  day 
as  the  battle  of  St.  Quentin.  It  is  doubtful,-  how- 
ever, if  the  whole  war  affords  a  more  striking 
example  of  the  military  genius  of  Von  Moltke 
than  an  opportune  railway  trip  he  ordered  for  the 
sixteenth  brigade,  forming  part  of  the  beleaguering 
army.  As  the  result  of  calculation  he  had  found 
that  Von  Goben  would  make  his  mark  at  St. 
Quentin  all  the  deeper  if  he  were  strengthened 
with  4000  or  5000  men  and  a  few  guns;  by  cal- 
culation and  good  information  together,  he  had 
even  learnt  the  hour  at  which  this  help  would  be 
most  useful.  The  brigade  quietly  went  away  for 
the  fight,  just  as  a  lawyer  goes  down  to  a  pro- 
vincial town  for  the  circuit ;  and,  the  work  done, 
it  returned  immediately  to  its  quarters  before  Paris, 
just  as  the  lawyer  returns  to  his  cases  in  the 
Queen's  Bench.  The  device  had  simply  for  the 
time  converted  5000  men  into  10,000.  Of  all 
Von  Moltke's  predecessors,  Napoleon  I.  perhaps 
most  effectively  utilized  his  soldiery  by  means  of 
rapid  movements  ;  but  he  had  not  the  locomotive 
and  the  militar-zug.  General  Faidherbe  had  carried 
out  M.  Gambetta's  instructions  to  the  letter ;  he 
had  drawn  upon  himself  as  many  of  the  Prussians 
from  around  Paris  as  could  be  spared,  but  by 
doing  so  he  had  effectually  insured  his  own 
irremediable  defeat.  The  victory  had  cost  the 
Germans  94  officers  and  3000  men. 

The  only  other  matter  of  any  importance  which 
occurred  during  the  war  in  the  north  of  France, 
was  the  siege  and  fall  of  the  fortress  of  Longwy, 
the  strict  investment  of  which  was  not  undertaken 
by  the  Germans  until  after  the  fall  of  Mezieres. 
It  is  situated  on  the  Belgian  frontier,  thirty-three 
miles  north-north-west  of  Metz.  Its  citadel  stands 
on  a  steep  rock,  below  which  extends  the  town, 
hospital,  military  prison,  &c.  Longwy,  which 
has  been  termed  the  "  Iron  Gate  of  France,"  was 
taken  by  the  Prussians  in  1792,  and  again  by  the 
allies  in  1815.  The  details  of  the  siege  of  1871 
prove  that  the  defence  of  the   place  was  in  no 


way  exceptional  as  compared  with  that  of  similar 
crowded  fortresses  in  north-eastern  France,  and 
that  it  was  given  up  owing  to  the  same  causes 
which  led  to  the  surrender  of  Thionville,  Mezieres, 
and  Pe"ronn.  The  working  parties,  with  the  siege 
train,  were  brought  into  the  vicinity  on  the  18th 
of  January,  concealed  in  distant  villages  during 
the  daytime,  and  in  the  evening  advanced  to  begin 
the  work  of  throwing  up  the  usual  concentric  bat- 
teries which  the  Germans  had  found  so  effectual 
in  like  cases,  and  which  were  placed  at  points 
averaging  1500  yards  from  the  town.  Their  con- 
struction was  attended  with  unusual  difficulties, 
owing  to  the  severe  frost  which  prevailed,  and  in 
consequence  they  were  not  completed  until  the 
night  of  January  21.  There  were  nine  of  them 
in  all;  eight  armed  each  with  four  rifled  German 
12-pounders  or  24-pounders,  and  one  with  four 
French  mortars,  the  same  as  at  Thionville.  Fire 
was  opened  at  seven  a.m.  on  the  22nd,  and  was 
hotly  replied  to  by  the  fortress  at  first,  the  French 
causing  a  good  many  casualties,  and  dismounting 
three  of  the  guns  in  one  Prussian  battery  (No.  6), 
on  which  they  directed  their  chief  fire.  This, 
however,  soon  slackened,  from  the  effects  of  the 
constant  shower  of  missiles  thrown  into  the  bas- 
tions, and  then  the  German  artillery  began  to 
direct  their  shots  against  the  public  buildings  and 
barracks.  Their  fire  was  kept  up  at  the  usual 
measured  intervals  during  the  night,  and  resumed 
continuously  next  morning.  At  ten  a.m.  of  the 
24th  the  church  tower  fell  with  a  mighty  crash, 
audible  above  the  din  of  the  firing;  and  at  four  p.m., 
after  thirty-three  hours'  bombardment,  Colonel 
Massaroli  hoisted  the  white  flag  and  sent  out  a 
parlementaire  to  treat  for  terms,  which  Von  Kren- 
ski  readily  granted.  Nearly  all  the  houses  in  the 
town  were  more  or  less  damaged,  some,  however, 
very  slightly;  but  the  public  buildings  had  been 
set  on  fire  by  the  shells,  and  were  wholly  destroyed. 
It  needed  not  this  fresh  proof  to  show  how  unten- 
able the  second-rate  Vauban  fortresses  of  France 
had  become  in  the  face  of  modern  artillery,  before 
which  they  inevitably  fell  without  even  causing 
the  besiegers  the  trouble  of  opening  approaches, 
unless  the  inhabitants  had  consented  to  be  wholly 
sacrificed  to  the  defence. 


CHAPTER      XXVII. 


The  State  of  France  at  the  Close  of  1870 — The  Accumulated  Misfortunes  of  the  Country — German  Strategy  and  its  Object — Activity  of  Chanzy 
— An  Expedition  to  St.  Calais  and  its  Results — A  Warm  Protest — German  Preparation  for  the  Winter  Campaign — The  Progress  towards 
Le  Mans — "Beating  up"  the  Enemy  in  a  Fog — "Only  an  Incident" — Closing  in  upon  General  Chanzy — Great  Strength  of  Le  Mans — 
The  Utility  of  a  Map  in  War — The  Battle  of  Change" — Audacity  serving  the  Purpose  of  Numbers — The  Wisdom  of  Secrecy  in  War — -Gal- 
lant Behaviour  of  the  Third  Corps — Carrying  the  Heights  of  Champigne" — A  Brave  Officer  not  to  be  Deserted — The  Beginning  of  the  End — 
The  Army  of  General  Chanzy  in  Full  Retreat — Capture  of  Le  Mans — The  Takings  of  the  Victors — The  German  Losses. 


How  many  years  must  pass  before  a  Frenchman 
shall  have  forgotten  the  closing  scenes  of  1870  ? 
Christmas  and  the  new  year  was  fast  approaching, 
but  men's  minds  were  oppressed  from  day  to  day 
with  thoughts  contrasting  sadly  with  the  associa- 
tions of  the  season.  Not  a  single  rift  could  be 
seen  in  the  clouds  which  hung  over  the  fairest  part 
of  Europe.  Prom  every  quarter  came  distressing 
reports  of  the  misery  already  inflicted  by  the  war, 
and  gloomy  anticipations  of  the  future.  The 
bitter  severity  of  the  weather  intensified  the  ago- 
nies of  the  wounded,  whose  sufferings  were  too 
horrible  to  relate ;  while  in  rural  parts  a  distressing 
solitude,  only  broken  by  the  occasional  appear- 
ance of  women  or  old  men,  reigned  along  the  roads 
t±nd  around  farm-houses  and  hamlets.  Ploughs 
rusted  in  untilled  fields,  and  the  only  sign  of  life 
in  connection  with  farming  affairs,  was  the  sight 
now  and  then  of  a  woman  tending  sheep  or  goats, 
as  in  some  barren  mountain  district.  The  young 
and  middle-aged  men  had  been  drained  away  to 
such  fields  as  now  surrounded  Beaugency.  Thou- 
sands of  wounded  constantly  passed  southwards, 
until  there  was  scarcely  a  town  in  France  without 
a  military  hospital ;  and  yet  the  prospect  of  a  de- 
cisive issue  to  the  war  seemed  as  faint  as  ever. 
Throughout  the  United  Kingdom  there  prevailed 
a  strong  feeling  of  sympathy  with  France  in  her 
misfortunes,  and  an  impression  that  Germany  could 
now  well  afford  to  show  a  generosity  which  would 
encourage  the  French  to  entertain  the  idea  of  con- 
cession and  peace.  It  could  not  be  denied  that  the 
Germans  had  been  driven  into  a  war  of  defence, 
and  that  the  disasters  they  had  inflicted  on  the 
French  were  justly  merited ;  but  the  punish- 
ment had  already  been  exemplary  beyond  any 
recorded  in  history.  They  had  taken  prisoner 
the  emperor  who  menaced  them  and  the  states- 
men who  joined  with  him  in  his  schemes  were 
driven  into  exile.    They  had  destroyed  or  led  into 


captivity  his  whole  army,  with  nearly  all  its  mar- 
shals and  most  renowned  commanders.  They 
had  taken  Strassburg  and  Metz,  with  a  number 
of  minor  fortresses;  they  had  overrun  France  and 
laid  her  provinces  under  contribution  from  the 
Rhine  to  the  Channel ;  they  threatened  her  beautiful 
capital  with  fire  and  famine;  the  ruler  of  Germany 
had  occupied  for  three  months  the  palace  of  the 
man  who  was  his  greatest  enemy,  and  "  all  the 
glories  of  France"  were  humbled  under  his  flag. 
Was  not  such  a  punishment  enough  for  justice  ? 
Would  it  not  be  a  cruelty  akin  to  that  practised 
by  the  Roman  on  the  Gaul  if  Germany,  with  her 
veteran  army  and  her  incomparable  organization, 
continued  to  crush  the  gallant  but  undisciplined 
bands  who  were  now  fighting  in  desperation  to 
save  some  shreds  of  the  honour  of  France? 

To  such  reasoning  the  impassive  Bismarck  still 
had  but  one  answer.  His  royal,  and  soon  to 
become  imperial,  master  was  quite  willing  to  listen 
to  overtures  from  France,  but  would  not  surrender 
his  claim  to  a  solid  security  for  the  future,  and 
a  substantial  compensation  for  the  thousands  of 
precious  lives  he  had  been  compelled  to  sacrifice. 
On  the  other  hand,  M.  Gambetta's  answer  to  this 
demand  for  a  "  solid  security  "  was  the  organiza- 
tion of  new  armies  and  defences  on  every  side. 

We  have  shown  in  previous  chapters  that  the 
great  object  of  the  German  commander  was  to 
cover  the  army  investing  Paris.  Every  movement 
was  necessarily  subordinate  to  the  siege  of  the 
capital.  D'Aurelles  de  Paladine,  strongly  posted 
at  Orleans,  constituted  a  danger  which  it  was 
requisite  to  remove.  But  that  object  attained,  it 
was  questionable  whether  success  in  that  direc- 
tion need  be  much  further  pursued.  The  one 
essential  point  was,  that  no  French  army  in  the 
provinces  should  be  suffered  to  acquire  sufficient 
consistency  to  threaten  the  rear  of  the  Germans 
before  Paris.      To  secure  this  object  General  von 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


231 


Moltke  required  as  much  caution  as  boldness.  It 
was  necessary  that  his  base  of  operations  should 
not  be  so  widened  as  to  weaken  it.  His  armies 
away  from  Paris  must  be  like  an  outer  suit  of 
armour  to  his  army  around  it:  they  must  stop 
every  gap,  and  make  fast  every  link  and  joint  in 
defence  of  the  inner  panoply.  At  first  the  Ger- 
man flying  columns  merely  threatened  Orleans, 
Chartres,  Dreux,  Nantes,  Beauvais,  and  Soissons; 
but  after  subduing  this  first  zone,  their  excursions 
extended  towards  Bourges  and  Tours,  Evreux  and 
Rouen,  Amiens  and  St.  Quentin.  The  advanc- 
ing tide  had  been  here  and  there  momentarily 
stemmed,  but  hardly  ever  forced  permanently 
backwards.  It  mattered  very  little  whether  or 
not  Prince  Frederick  Charles  entered  Bourges,  or 
the  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg,  Tours,  or  Man- 
teuffel,  Havre.  The  important  point  was  that 
neither  Chanzy  from  Vend6me,  nor  Bourbaki  from 
Gien,  nor  Faidherbe  from  St.  Quentin,  should  have 
a  chance  of  marching  to  the  relief  of  Paris. 

Bearing  these  strategical  motives  in  mind,  it 
will  be  readily  seen  why,  after  General  Chanzy's 
brilliant  and  gallantly  defended  retreat  to  Le 
Mans,  fully  described  in  Chapter  XXV.,  the  German 
commanders  stopped  short  in  the  pursuit  at  Ven- 
d6me.  They  were  undoubtedly  weary  of  the 
continual  strife;  but  apart  from  this,  further  sac- 
rifice in  following  Chanzy  was  needless,  as  the 
besiegers  of  Paris  were  relieved  from  present 
anxiety,  and  it  was  hoped  that  the  speedy  fall 
of  the  capital  would  be  the  signal  for  a  cessation 
of  hostilities.  Such,  however,  was  not  Chanzy's 
opinion.  Once  behind  the  fortifications  of  Le 
Mans,  he,  though  almost  under  his  enemy's  eye, 
set  to  work  with  immense  energy  to  reorganize 
his  shattered  forces.  The  camp  of  Conlie  was 
broken  up;  the  best  of  its  recruits  were  drafted  to 
Le  Mans ;  and  with  these  and  other  reinforcements 
he  soon  found  himself  again  at  the  head  of  about 
150,000  men,  thoroughly  armed  with  Remington 
or  Chassepot  rifles,  and  provided  with  a  field  train 
of  at  least  300  guns.  But  the  result  of  all  these 
preparations  will  abundantly  prove  that  armed  men 
do  not,  strictly  speaking,  constitute  armies.* 

From  the  15th  of  December,  the  day  on  which 
the  last  serious  fighting  occurred,  to  the  first  few 
days   of  January,  the  army  of  Prince  Frederick 

*  For  much  useful  information  in  this  Chapter,  we  here,  with  pleasure, 
acknowledge  our  indebtedness  to  Captain  Brackenbury,  the  very  able 
military  correspondent  of  the  Times,  who  at  this  time  accompanied 
the  German  armies. 


Charles  was  comparatively  inactive;  the  men,  save 
in  a  few  reconnoitring  expeditions,  enjoying  a 
period  of  well-earned  rest.  One  of  these  expedi- 
tions threw  a  little  light  upon  the  question,  often 
suggested,  but  never  fully  tried,  as  to  how  the 
invariably  victorious  Germans  would  behave  in 
a  retreat.  In  retaliation  for  the  doings  of  some 
franc-tireurs,  a  small  column  of  troops  was  ordered 
to  sweep  the  country  from  Vend6me  as  far  as 
Souge-,  on  the  bank  of  the  Braye,  and  levy  re- 
quisitions. The  orders  were  to  advance  as  far 
as  Montoire  on  December  26,  to  push  on  through 
Les  Roches  on  the  27th,  remain  the  unbidden 
guests  of  the  villagers  at  Souge\  and  return  on 
the  28th.  The  advanced  guard  reached  Troo  on 
the  27th,  and  here  met  with  determined  opposi- 
tion from  the  French,  who,  from  the  shelter  of 
houses  and  walled  gardens,  poured  forth  such  a 
fire  as  checked  the  advance.  After  a  two  hours' 
conflict  the  French  were  thrust  out,  and  leaving 
a  company  to  hold  the  village  the  column  pushed 
on  to  Souge\  This  was  found  filled  with  troops, 
and  another  fight  ensued,  during  which  it  was 
observed  that  the  heights  in  the  rear  were  being 
crowded  with  Frenchmen  bent  on  cutting  off  the 
retreat  of  their  diminutive  enemies.  It  was  seen 
that  the  only  chance  was  at  once  to  fight  their  way 
back  to  Vendome;  and  relinquishing  the  idea  of 
passing  the  night  at  Souge,  Colonel  Boltenstern 
ordered  a  hasty  retreat,  the  thundering  of  artillery 
and  Chassepots  on  all  sides  now  telling  him  only 
too  plainly  into  what  a  hornet's  nest  he  had  fallen. 
The  men  marched  rapidly,  and  had  well  nigh 
gained  the  shelter  of  Montoire,  when  a  row  of 
armed  men  appeared  in  their  front,  blocking  up 
the  entire  retreat.  Shells  fell  fast  among  the 
little  band  from  the  sides  and  behind ;  rifle  bullets 
whistled  through  the  air  from  the  foe  in  front; 
and  many  a  spiked  helmet  sank  from  its  place. 
Still  before  them  rolled  the  icy  waters  of  the 
Loir,  bridgeless  until  that  fine  in  front  could  be 
passed.  Scattering  four  companies  into  skirmish- 
ing order,  the  colonel  took  the  rest  of  his  men 
in  hand,  and  sent  them  full  at  the  French.  The 
line  barring  the  passage  hesitated,  wavered,  and 
broke;  too  soon  for  success,  too  late  for  safety. 
There  was  no  time  to  count  the  killed  and 
wounded,  nor  the  prisoners  whom  the  Germans 
took  and  drove  before  them  as  they  went,  for 
the  increasing  fire  told  of  an  enemy  gathering  in 
strength  for  pursuit.     Steadily   the  little  column 


232 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


trimmed  their  ranks  and  crossed  to  the  left  bank 
of  the  river,  carrying  their  prisoners,  uncounted 
as  yet,  with  them.  For  some  time  hostile  infantry 
pursued  along  the  road ;  then  all  was  quiet,  and  on 
the  Germans  marched  in  the  twilight  and  the  dark- 
ness, driving  their  herd  of  prisoners,  until,  having 
accomplished  his  orders,  the  colonel  reported  him- 
self at  Vendome  about  an  hour  before  midnight. 
He  had  lost  in  round  numbers  100  men;  but  when 
the  unwounded  prisoners  came  to  be  counted,  it 
was  found  there  were  ten  officers  and  230  men. 

Another  expedition  was  followed  by  such  im- 
portant events  that  a  brief  mention  of  it  cannot 
be  omitted.  At  St.  Calais,  a  little  town  of  4000 
inhabitants,  lying  between  Le  Mans  and  Blois, 
some  franc-tireurs  and  French  dragoons  lodging 
there  saw  a  small  Prussian  force  approaching  on 
the  morning  of  December  25,  and  took  the  op- 
portunity of  firing  upon  it  from  some  houses. 
The  Germans  vigorously  replied;  the  franc-tireurs 
retired ;  and  the  mayor  went  out  and  endeavoured 
to  explain  to  the  Prussians  that  the  inhabitants 
were  not  responsible  for  the  resistance  offered.  He 
was,  however,  rather  rudely  repulsed,  and  the  unfor- 
tunate town  ordered  to  pay  20,000  francs  immedi- 
ately. The  sum  was  afterwards  reduced  to  15,000 
francs,  and  the  town  was  asserted  to  have  been  given 
over  to  pillage  for  an  hour.  This,  however,  has 
been  as  loudly  denied  ;  but  the  report  exasperated 
General  Chanzy,  and  induced  him  to  write  a  warm 
protest  to  the  Prussian  commandant  at  Venddme. 
The  protest  was  embodied  in  an  order  of  the  day, 
and  read  three  times  to  the  French  troops  on  parade; 
General  Chanzy  expressing  confidence  that  every 
one  would  share  his  indignation,  and  his  desire  to 
take  revenge  for  the  insults  heaped  upon  the  French 
nation.  The  following  is  the  text  of  the  protest: — 

"  To  the  Prussian  Commandant  at  Vendome, — I 
am  informed  that  violence,  for  which  I  can  find  no 
language  suitable  to  express  my  indignation,  has 
been  resorted  to  by  the  troops  under  your  com- 
mand against  an  innocent  population  at  St.  Calais, 
notwithstanding  their  good  treatment  of  your 
sick  and  wounded.  Your  officers  have  extorted 
money  and  authorized  pillage.  This  is  an  abuse 
of  power  which  will  weigh  upon  your  conscience, 
though  patriotism  may  enable  our  countrymen 
to  bear  it.  But  it  cannot  be  permitted  that  you 
should  add  to  this  injury  a  gratuitous  insult. 
You  have  alleged  that  we  are  defeated.  This  is 
false.     We  have  fought  and  held  you  in   check 


since  the  4th  of  December.  You  have  dared  to 
treat  as  cowards  men  who  could  not  answer  you, 
pretending  that  they  submitted  to  the  will  of 
the  government  of  National  Defence  in  resisting 
when  they  really  wished  for  peace.  I  am  justified 
in  protesting  against  this  statement  by  the  resist- 
ance of  the  army,  which  up  to  the  present  time 
you  have  not  been  able  to  conquer.  We  reassert 
what  our  struggle  has  already  taught  you;  we 
shall  struggle  on,  conscious  of  our  good  right, 
and  determined  to  triumph  at  any  cost.  We  shall 
struggle  on  a  outrance,  without  truce  or  mercy.  It 
is  no  longer  a  question  of  fighting  against  a  loyal 
enemy,  but  against  devastating  hordes,  whose  sole 
object  is  the  ruin  and  humiliation  of  a  nation 
fighting  for  the  preservation  of  its  honour,  its 
independence,  and  the  maintenance  of  its  rank. 
You  reply  to  the  generosity  with  which  we  treat 
your  prisoners  and  wounded  by  insolence,  by 
arson,  and  by  pillage.  I  protest  with  indignation, 
in  the  name  of  humanity  and  the  law  of  nations, 
which  you  trample  under  foot." 

General  Voigts-Ehetz  sent  the  letter  to  his  chief 
at  Orleans,  saying  that  he  knew  not  what  answer  to 
give  to  such  a  document,  which  differed  strangely 
from  all  that  he  had  read  in  the  history  of  warfare. 
Meantime  he  bid  his  men  hold  fast  to  their  posts, 
and  guard  patiently  the  line  of  the  Loir.  At 
Orleans  the  letter  was  regarded  as  a  challenge  to 
a  renewal  of  fighting,  and  confirmed  the  suspicion 
as  to  the  mischief  which  had  been  brewing  around 
Le  Mans.  General  Chanzy  was  doubtless  about 
to  commence  some  new  movement  for  the  relief 
of  Paris,  and  severe  as  the  weather  was,  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  resolved  to  take  the  initiative, 
and  march  out  to  meet  him.  Two  main  circum- 
stances contributed  to  this  resolution.  In  the  first 
place,  by  his  eccentric  movement  eastward  (de- 
scribed in  the  succeeding  chapterj,  General  Bour- 
baki  had  removed  all  apprehension  the  prince 
might  have  entertained  on  his  account,  and  enabled 
Viim  to  take  with  him  the  bulk  of  his  force  to  the 
west  without  any  uneasiness  as  to  the  safety  of 
his  position  on  the  Loire  at  Orleans.  In  the 
second  place,  Von  Moltke  had  determined  on 
resorting  to  extreme  measures  against  Paris ;  and 
as  he  was  about  to  use  his  heavy  guns,  he  was 
able  to  spare  bayonets  and  sabres  for  the  armies 
in  the  provinces.  Accordingly,  dispositions  were 
made  for  a  gradual  concentration  towards  Vcn- 
d6me,  and  for  the  first  three  days   of   the  new 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


233 


year  the  roads  from  Orleans  leading  in  that 
direction  were  covered,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  with  infantry,  cavalry,  and  train,  all  ad- 
vancing with  the  regularity  of  a  well-directed 
machine  to  their  respective  starting  points.  The 
tenth  German  corps  (Hanoverians)  guarded  the 
advanced  positions  on  the  Loir,  occupying  Blois 
and  Vend6me,  and  the  country  between.  Von  der 
Tann  s  Bavarians  were  resting  near  Orleans.  The 
ninth  corps  (Schleswig-Holsteiners  and  Hessians) 
held  Orleans,  with  detachments  before  it  and  higher 
up  the  Loire.  The  third  corps  (Brandenburgers) 
were  higher  up  the  river  towards  Gien.  It  was 
intended  that  these  various  corps  should  advance 
by  different  roads  towards  the  line  of  the  Loir,  drive 
back  the  French  before  Vendome,  find  out  and 
overthrow  the  army  of  Chanzy,  and  by  taking  Le 
Mans  relieve  the  investing  army  before  Paris  of  all 
fear  for  its  safety.  The  eighteenth  division  (ninth 
corps)  was  to  reach  the  Loir  at  Moree,  and  having 
cleared  the  way,  prepare  to  act  as  a  reserve.  The 
third  corps  were  to  cross  the  river  near  Vendome, 
while  the  tenth  were  to  march  to  La  Chartre,  and 
be  ready  to  turn  Chanzy's  right,  and  then  join  the 
other  corps  in  the  battle  before  Le  Mans.  The 
duke  of  Mecklenburg,  who  was  at  Chartres,  was 
to  advance  and  drive  in  Chanzy's  left.  Duke 
William  of  Mecklenburg,  with  the  sixth  cavalry 
division,  was  to  keep  on  the  left  of  the  prince's 
forces;  the  second  cavalry  division  was  to  main- 
tain the  communication  between  the  ninth  corps, 
which  formed  the  prince's  right,  and  the  left  of 
the  duke  of  Mecklenburg's  army.  The  fourth 
cavalry  division  was  to  protect  the  grand-duke's 
right,  and  the  fifth  was  sent  to  keep  watch  in  the 
country  north  of  his  line  of  march. 

For  the  success  which  eventually  resulted  from 
these  movements  the  Germans  were  indebted  in 
no  small  degree  to  the  masterly  strategy  of  their 
commander.  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  various  movements  we  are  about  to 
relate,  put  in  practice  against  Chanzy  the  prin- 
ciples which  had  succeeded  so  well  against 
Benedek  in  the  Bohemian  campaign — a  double 
attack  was  made  upon  his  opponent,  the  one  line 
at  right  angles  to  the  other.  The  gi'and-duke  of 
Mecklenburg's  corps  were  not  moved  up  directly 
against  Le  Mans  from  Chartres,  but  were  required 
to  make  a  detour,  so  as  to  descend  in  a  northerly 
direction,  and  compel  Chanzy's  army  to  present 
two  fronts — a  mode  of  operation  implying  a  cer- 

VOL.    II. 


tain  contempt  for  the  enemy,  inasmuch  as  it 
offends  against  the  rule  of  attacking  with  superior 
numbers.  But  the  capacity  of  a  commander  is 
shown  by  his  knowing  when  a  rule  must  be 
observed,  and  when  it  may  safely  be  set  aside. 

On  the  4th  of  January  Prince  Frederick  Charles 
moved  his  headquarters  to  Beaugency,  the  grand- 
duke  of  Mecklenburg  being  still  at  Chartres.  The 
third  corps  was  by  that  time  concentrated  in  and 
around  Marchenoir,  the  eighteenth  division  was 
near  Orleans,  the  nineteenth  at  Blois,  and  the 
twentieth  at  Vendcime. 

On  the  5th  the  prince  moved  to  Oucques,  where 
the  third  corps  had  their  headquarters.  The . 
eighteenth  division  moved  up  from  Orleans  to 
Ouzouer-le-Marche',  and  took  its  place  on  the  right 
of  the  force,  under  the  immediate  command  of  the 
prince.  The  twentieth  was  still  before  Vendome, 
skirmishing  with  General  Chanzy's  advanced  posts, 
and  the  nineteenth  moved  up  from  Blois  towards 
St.  Amand.  The  grand -duke  advanced  from 
Chartres  southwards  to  Illiers. 

On  the  6th  Prince  Frederick  Charles  marched 
from  Oucques  to  Vendome,  close  on  the  other  side 
of  which  the  tenth  corps  was  seriously  engaged 
with  the  French  before  the  forest  of  Vendome, 
supported  by  the  third  corps,  which  had  advanced 
that  day  from  Marchenoir.  The  opposition  was 
greater  than  the  Germans  had  expected,  as  the 
French  fought  better  than  usual.  The  fire  of 
musketry  was  hot  in  the  front,  but  the  Hano- 
verians and  Brandenburgers  pressed  on  until  their 
artillery  and  needle  guns  had  borne  down  all  oppo- 
sition, and  their  leading  division,  the  fifth,  had 
reached  a  rivulet  between  Azay  and  Villiers.  It 
subsequently  transpired  that  General  Chanzy  had 
determined  upon  forcing  his  way  towards  Paris  at 
whatever  cost,  and  with  this  view  had  arranged 
for  his  army  to  move  in  several  columns,  every 
man  being  furnished  with  four  or  five  days'  pro- 
visions. It  was  one  of  these  columns,  on  its  way  to 
attack  Vendome  on  the  6th,  which  came  in  contact 
with  the  fifth  division  (third  corps),  and  for  a  time 
resisted  all  the  efforts  of  the  Germans  to  continue 
their  advance.  Night,  however,  found  the  French 
forced  back  beyond  the  Azay- Villiers  line,  where 
the  Prussians  halted,  after  taking  500  prisoners. 
On  the  right  the  eighteenth  division  reached 
Mor<5e,  on  the  Loire,-  north  of  VendSme.  While 
this  engagement  was  going  on,  Duke  William  of 
Mecklenburg  fell  in  with  considerable  forces  of 
2g 


234 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


the  French  on  the  left,  near  Villerporcher,  and 
was  unable  to  proceed.  General  Hartmann  was 
therefore  sent  with  a  cavalry  division  and  a  brigade 
of  infantry  from  the  tenth  corps,  in  the  direction 
of  St.  Amand,  which  caused  the  French  troops  in 
that  quarter  to  fall  back  towards  Tours,  whence 
they  were  transported  by  railway  to  Le  Mans.  On 
the  same  day  the  grand-duke  marched  with  the 
seventeenth  division  to  Brou,  and  the  twenty- 
second  advanced  to  La  Loupe  and  La  Fourche. 

All  the  marches  from  Orleans  had  been  made  in 
bitter  weather.  Three  or  four  inches  of  snow  lay 
upon  the  hard  frozen  ground,  and  a  piercing  wind 
blew.  The  moisture  exhaled  from  the  lungs  or 
skin  froze  instantly,  and  covered  hair,  beards,  and 
greatcoats  with  rime.  Icicles  hung  from  mous- 
taches and  formed  curious  frames  for  the  indis- 
pensable pipes  or  cigars  which  protruded  from  all 
mouths. 

On  the  7th  a  thaw  set  in ;  the  roads  were  covered 
with  melting  snow,  the  ditches  were  fast  turning 
to  running  streams,  and  the  rivers  were  more 
impassable  than  usual.  A  dark  fog,  sometimes 
concealing  all  objects  at  a  distance  of  100  yards, 
obliged  the  Germans  to  advance  with  caution. 
The  tenth  corps  was  delayed  by  the  attack  on 
Duke  William,  and  not  till  next  day,  when  the 
French  had  retreated  towards  Tours,  was  its  march 
resumed.  The  fifth,  sixth,  and  eighteenth  divi- 
sions, however,  advanced  steadily,  occasionally 
coming  in  contact  with  the  rear-guards  of  the 
French  columns.  By  night-fall  the  first  two  of 
the  three  divisions  had  reached  the  line  of  the 
Braye,  at  Savigny  and  Sarge\  and  the  last  was  at 
Epinay.  The  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg  moved 
his  headquarters  to  Beaumont  -  les  -  Autels  ;  the 
seventeenth  division  being  at  Authon  and  the 
twenty-second  at  Nogent-le-Rotrou. 

The  doings  of  the  Prussian  army  during  these 
first  few  days  of  January  thus  consisted  principally 
in  a  well-devised  concentration ;  and  no  part  of  the 
strategy  of  the  war  better  showed  how  thoroughly 
both  officers  and  men  had  been  trained  by  a  system 
of  peace  manoeuvres  to  act  together  in  war  with  the 
greatest  intelligence.  The  sagacity  displayed  by  the 
Prussian  soldiers,  indeed,  is  worthy  of  admiration. 
A  description  of  the  advance  of  one  of  the  columns 
on  the  seventh  will  give  a  fair  idea  of  the  progress 
of  the  army  generally.  Imagine  a  straight  road 
leading  over  a  succession  of  round  hills;  on  either 
side  of  it  a  rich  country,  dotted  with  farm-houses, 


cottages,  orchards  and  walled  gardens,  hedges, 
(exactly  like  those  of  England),  and  occasional 
woods.  In  fact,  Kent  and  Surrey  combined,  with 
vineyards  instead  of  hop-gardens,  would  be  an 
exact  picture  of  the  country  through  which  the 
Germans  were  pushing  on,  under  all  the  disad- 
vantage of  the  fog,  in  a  land  never  seen  before. 

The  column  was  led  by  a  small  detachment  of 
cuirassiers.  After  these  came  three  infantry  sol- 
diers, two  of  them  about  150  yards  in  front  of  the 
column,  and  one  behind  to  connect  these  foremost 
men  with  the  detachment  of  infantry  which  fol- 
lowed. The  three  foremost  soldiers  of  the  German 
army  in  face  of  the  enemy  were  accompanied  by 
four  pet  dogs,  trotting  quickly  along  beside  them. 
After  the  infantry  detachment  came  a  squadron 
of  cuirassiers,  then  more  infantry,  all  of  the  same 
regiment,  and  followed  by  the  light  battery  of  the 
advanced  guard.  Owing  to  the  thick  mist  the 
troops  moved  cautiously,  for  they  knew  that  the 
enemy  might  appear  at  any  moment.  The  pace 
was  a  moderate  walk,  about  three  miles  an  hour, 
with  occasional  halts,  to  examine  a  farm  or  a  group 
of  cottages  near  the  road.  Right  and  left  of  the 
road  were  cavalry  and  infantry  marching  in  pairs, 
searching  like  dogs  for  game.  They  were  gene- 
rally concealed  by  the  fog,  but  now  and  then  a 
small  party  would  peep  out  from  a  lane  or  cottage 
garden,  and  vanish  again  into  the  mist,  when  they 
saw  that  all  was  going  smoothly,  and  that  they 
had  not  lost  their  place  beside  the  column.  The 
troops  marching  along  the  undulating  road  had 
no  reason  to  take  thought  for  anything,  save 
in  front,  as  they  had  perfect  confidence  in  the 
sagacity  of  their  comrades,  who,  sometimes  walk- 
ing quickly,  sometimes  with  rifle  at  the  charge, 
were  pushing  on  as  well  as  they  could  over  vine- 
yards and  gardens,  ploughed  fields  and  stubble, 
walls  and  fences,  peering  into  every  tree  and  bush 
for  any  enemy  who  might  possibly  be  concealed 
by  a  copse,  a  garden  wall,  or  a  cottage.  Occa- 
sionally one  would  run  to  the  road  and  report 
something  that  had  a  suspicious  look,  when  instantly 
some  of  his  comrades  were  sent  in  the  direction 
named  to  see  whether  any  Frenchmen  might  be 
concealed  there.  All  this  was  done  so  quickly  as 
scarcely  to  interrupt  the  march  of  the  column. 

After  a  time  there  was  a  halt.  The  red  trowsers 
had  been  seen  to  the  right  for  a  moment,  and 
had  immediately  disappeared  in  the  fog.  Quest 
was  made  with  increased  numbers  and  redoubled 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


235 


caution  among  the  small  fields  and  hedges,  but  no 
sign  of  the  enemy.  The  march  was  resumed,  and 
continued  until  the  few  horsemen  in  front  rode 
back  to  the  head  of  the  column,  reporting  some- 
thing like  men  on  the  road.  Slowly  the  infantry 
advanced,  straining  their  eyes  to  ascertain  the 
nature  of  the  obstacle.  The  fog  became  thicker, 
and  closed  in  the  view  to  within  a  few  paces. 
The  foot  soldiers,  with  outstretched  necks,  felt 
their  way  onwards.  The  fog  became  gradually 
lighter,  when  dim  figures  assembled  together,  and 
above  the  group  an  appearance  like  the  erect  quills 
of  a  porcupine — soldiers,  probably,  with  bayonets. 
Instantly  there  is  a  murmur,  "Are  they  ours?" 
Has  one  of  the  searching  parties  gone  a  little  too 
much  to  the  front?  Nay.  The  figures  remain 
still,  and  seem  to  block  the  way.  "  Cuirassiers  to 
the  front!"  In  a  sort  of  good-humoured  growl, 
some  one  says,  "  Yes,  it  is  always  cuirassiers 
here,  cuirassiers  there."  But  the  order  has  been 
given,  and  the  cuirassiers  know  no  other  obli- 
gation but  the  call  to  duty.  The  men,  who 
had  been  brought  in  behind  the  infantry  de- 
tachment, draw  their  swords,  set  their  helmets 
firmly  on  their  brows,  press  their  knees  firmly  to 
their  horses,  and  file  past  the  infantry  once  more 
to  the  front.  "  Trot!"  The  fog  comes  down 
again,  and  the  dim  figures  with  the  spikes  become 
once  more  invisible,  but  not  unheard.  The  horses 
have  not  gone  more  than  half  the  400  or  500  yards 
uphill  in  the  direction  given  to  the  riders,  when 
the  air  is  filled  with  a  crackling,  whizzing  sound,  as 
of  innumerable  heavy  insects  flying  faster  than 
insects  ever  flew  before.  Every  horseman  bends 
to  his  saddle-bow.  The  officer  who  leads  them 
waves  his  sword,  and  gives  a  word  of  command. 
The  cuirassiers  who  went  at  a  trot  return  at  a 
gallop,  but  always  steadily  and  in  order,  followed 
by  those  swift  hornets  with  the  fierce  stings.  Like 
magic  the  foremost  infantry  soldiers  dissolve,  but 
not  to  retreat.  They  spring  to  the  sides  of  the 
road  into  the  ditch,  full  of  half-melted  ice,  into 
the  fields,  and  begin  in  their  turn  to  creep  forward. 
The  enemy  is  still  in  the  mist,  though  near :  and 
as  the  hornets  come  thickly  and  fast,  the  squadron 
of  cavalry  now  occupying  the  front  seems  inclined 
to  follow  the  example  of  the  infantry,  and  dive  for 
shelter.  But  such  is  not  their  part  in  battle,  and 
one  simple  "  No,"  in  an  expostulatory  tone,  from 
their  commander,  recalls  them  to  their  steady  atti- 
tude. One  of  them,  and  not  theleast  steady,  remarked 


quietly,  "  These  French  Chassepots .  shoot  so  far 
that  one  gets  killed  without  seeing  them.  A 
comrade  of  mine  was  shot  yesterday  through  his 
heart,  and  I  don't  think  he  even  heard  the  rifle." 

Cavalry  are  of  no  use  where  these  men  stand,  so 
their  officer  soon  draws  them  off  into  a  field  at  the 
side.  On  the  left,  behind  a  house  a  little  removed 
from  the  road,  cavalry  patrols  are  calmly  waiting 
under  shelter.  Along  the  strait  road  for  miles  is 
a  column  of  infantry,  artillery,  and  train.  Now 
for  the  mitrailleuse  at  work  in  its  proper  place. 
Its  horrible  growl  must  have  been  expected  by 
many,  but  it  came  not.  The  French  always  seem 
to  do  the  wrong  thing.  Their  shells  burst  high 
in  the  air,  and  they  pit  their  mitrailleuses  against 
field  artillery  at  long  ranges. 

Meanwhile,  the  infantiy  soldiers  work  steadily 
forward,  firing  at  the  flashes  of  the  enemy's  rifles, 
and  helping  to  create  a  denser  cloud  than  ever, 
though  the  sun  at  that  moment,  half-past  twelve 
o'clock,  seemed  striving  to  break  through  the  fog. 
The  fight  is  partly  transferred  to  the  fields,  for  the 
bullets  fly  more  at  the  sides  of  the  road,  and  strike 
the  trees  with  a  sound  like  the  chopping  of  an 
axe.  Several  minutes  go  by,  long  minutes,  when 
the  hornets  are  whizzing  past  with  their  sharp 
stings.  The  firing  increases  in  intensity,  but  there 
are  several  shots  now  for  every  bullet  that  comes 
down  the  road  or  at  the  sides.  The  report  of  the 
needle-gun,  too,  sounds  farther  off.  It  increases 
to  a  heavy  fire  as  more  men  come  up.  Still  the 
French  hold  their  ground.  Guns  begin  to  press 
forward,  but  as  they  cannot  be  made  to  tell,  they 
do  not  fire  a  single  shell.  The  sounds  grow  faster 
and  fiercer.  The  combatants  approach  each  other. 
A  loud  hurrah  makes  the  mist  quiver  again.  The 
Prussians  have  skirmished  enough  ;  they  bound 
forward,  reckless  of  consequences,  and  carry  the 
position  by  storm. 

It  was  only  an  incident  which  checked  the 
march  for  a  few  minutes.  It  is  past,  and  the 
Prussians  move  on,  looking  sadly  on  the  stretcher 
with  its  straw,  and  the  fine  young  fellow  with 
the  pale  face  trying  to  support  his  broken 
arm  and  save  it  from  the  swing  of  the  bearers; 
looking  yet  more  seriously  at  those  forms  lying 
quietly  by  the  side  of  the  road,  their  faces 
covered  decently  from  the  light,  which  they  will 
never  see  more. 

On  the  8th  the  ground  was  again  frozen,  and 
the  prince  moved  his  headquarters  to  St.  Calais, 


236 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


where  he  had  the  fifth  and  sixth  divisions  not  far 
in  front  of  him,  on  each  side  of  the  high  road; 
the  eighteenth  division  being  just  behind  Illiers. 
The  tenth  corps,  in  spite  of  the  obstacles  to  its 
advance,  was  at  La  Chartre  on  the  Loir,  on  its 
way  to  Le  Mans.  To  connect  La  Chartre  with  St. 
Calais,  a  detachment  of  six  squadrons  of  cavalry, 
one  battalion  of  infantry,  and  six  guns,  was  formed, 
and  placed  under  the  command  of  General  Schmidt. 
On  the  same  day  (the  8th)  the  grand-duke  of 
Mecklenburg  reached  La  Ferte"  St.  Bernard  with 
his  entire  infantry  corps ;  the  fourth  cavalry  divi- 
sion marched  down  the  Huisne  to  Belleme;  the 
second  kept  up  the  communication  between  the 
grand-duke's  and  the  prince's  corps ;  and  the  fifth 
was  on  the  grand-duke's  right. 

On  the  9  th  the  roads  were  once  more  hard 
as  iron  with  frost,  and  covered  with  ice,  which 
remained  for  days,  and  made  the  cavalry  all  but 
useless  in  the  actions  which  were  to  result  in  the 
capture  of  Le  Mans.  A  strange  sight  was  pre- 
sented by  the  army,  as  it  struggled  on  over  the 
icy  roads.  Even  the  prince  had  to  dismount  and 
walk ;  most  of  the  staff  and  cavalry  escort  were  also 
dismounted;  others,  mounted,  forced  their  horses 
to  stumble  on  in  the  ditch  by  the  side  of  the  road. 
The  horses  of  the  artillery  and  train  were  falling 
every  instant,  and  ice  nails  became  worth  nearly 
their  weight  in  gold.  Still,  however,  the  army 
pressed  on,  slipping  and  falling,  but  never  halt- 
ing, driving  before  it  the  French,  who  had 
hesitated  too  long  to  descend  on  Vendome,  and 
were  now  recoiling  from  the  first  shock  of  contact 
with  the  burly  Brandenburgers  on  the  hills  above 
the  Loir.  The  prince's  headquarters  were  this 
day  moved  to  Bouloire.  Both  divisions  of  the 
third  corps  were  at  Ardenay  and  along  the  line 
of  the  Narrais.  The  eighteenth  -division  was  with 
the  prince;  the  nineteenth  about  Vance-;  the 
twentieth  at  Grand  Luce\  The  grand-duke  moved 
with  the  seventeenth  division  to  Le  Luard,  near 
Connerre^  the  twenty-second  occupying  Sceaux, 
on  the  main  road  six  miles  in  advance  of  La  Ferte" 
The  German  army  was  now  within  fighting  dis- 
tance of  Le  Mans.  The  prince  had  in  front  of 
him  an  army  numbering,  according  to  telegrams 
from  Bordeaux  a  week  before,  200,000  men,  but 
rated  by  the  Germans  at  the  time  at  160,000,  and 
afterwards  said  by  English  correspondents  at  Gen- 
eral Chanzy's  headquarters  to  have  been  118,000. 
The  armies   of  Prince  Frederick  Charles  and  the 


duke  of  Mecklenburg  numbered  only  85,000, 
although  in  telegrams  sent  to  Bordeaux  from 
Le  Mans  they  were  reported  to  reach  a  strength 
of  180,000.  But  both  men  and  horses  were  in 
the  finest  condition,  and  the  supply  departments 
were  admirably  served.  The  ninth  corps  had 
very  recently  shown  its  marching  powers  by 
having  advanced,  on  the  16th  and  17th  of  De- 
cember, more  than  fifty  English  miles  in  twenty- 
four  hours !  The  men  were  much  attached  to 
the  prince,  their  commander,  who  on  the  9th 
marched  with  them  for  twelve  miles  with  the 
greatest  ease. 

Le  Mans,  towards  which  the  Germans  were 
now  hastening,  is  naturally  a  place  of  considerable 
strength,  being  situated  just  above  the  confluence 
of  the  two  rivers,  the  Sarthe  and  the  Huisne,  the 
former  flowing  from  north  to  south  parallel  to 
the  railway  line  which,  from  Cherbourg  and  Caen, 
goes  by  Alencon  and  Le  Mans  to  Tours;  the 
latter  following  a  north-westerly  course  parallel 
to  the  other  line  which,  from  Paris  by  Chartres, 
Nogent-le-Rotrou,  and  Le  Mans,  proceeds  to 
Angers.  The  town  lies  on  both  banks  of  the 
Sarthe,  and  the  Huisne  winds  round  the  hills 
which  dominate  the  place  on  the  east  and  south. 
To  these  natural  advantages  the  French  had  for 
several  weeks  been  adding  earthworks  of  some 
magnitude,  rendering  the  position  one  of  extra- 
ordinary strength  and  security.  In  addition  to  these 
points  in  their  favour  General  Chanzy's  men  were 
armed  with  breech-loading  rifles  from  the  United 
States,  of  a  pattern  far  surpassing  the  needle-gun; 
and  he  was  also  well  supplied  with  the  Gatling 
gun — a  mitrailleuse  firing  a  heavier  projectile 
than  that  used  in  the  imperial  army  early  in 
the  campaign. 

On  the  10th  Prince  Frederick  Charles  had  drawn 
so  near  the  French  position,  that  the  question 
seemed  to  be  how  to  get  into  Le  Mans.  This, 
however,  was  a  problem,  for  the  grand-duke  was 
not  coming  up  so  quickly  as  had  been  expected. 
The  tenth  corps,  delayed  by  the  state  of  the  roads, 
was  still  behind,  though  the  brave  Hanoverians 
were  toiling  and  sliding  along  as  best  they  could. 
Using  the  only  force  immediately  at  his  disposal, 
the  prince  ordered  General  Alvensleben  to  lead  the 
third  corps  (his  Brandenburgers)  from  Ardenay, 
and  clear  the  principal  roads  to  Le  Mans,  nearly 
up  to  the  Huisne,  behind  which  the  French  had 
taken  up  their  position.     He  accordingly  ordered 


BATTLE     OF     L  E 

January    IIth     187 


FRENCH  r~  I  PRUSSIANS 


Drawn  under  -tfu»  Sixp arinmndgpre  e£  Captain 


En^TBTOl~br  Hob  art  Walker. 


.OINBURbH    8   QLASGOW. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


237 


three  of  his  brigades  to  advance  by  different  forest 
tracks  and  meet  at  night  at  Change,  while  the 
fourth  was  to  push  on  and  clear  the  woods  to  the 
right  as  far  as  Champigne.  One  of  the  three  bri- 
gades, the  ninth,  met  a  French  corps  in  the  woods 
near  Challes,  and  succeeded  in  driving  them  back 
towards  Parigne-,  where  a  stand  was  made.  The 
commander  of  the  tenth  brigade,  General  Schwerin, 
hearing  the  sound  of  firing  at  Challes,  took  at 
once  a  decided  step,  accepting  the  responsibility 
without  hesitation.  He  saw  by  his  map  that  there 
was  a  road  leading  behind  the  battle,  where  he 
might  take  the  French  in  rear.  He  marched  his 
men  quickly  towards  the  place,  which  he  had 
never  seen,  but  knew  to  be  there,  because  a  mili- 
tary map  was  as  familiar  to  him  and  as  easily  read 
as  a  book,  and  the  careful  Prussian  war  office  had 
supplied  him  with  the  means  of  knowing  France 
better  than  Frenchmen  themselves  knew  it.  When 
the  enemy  began  to  retreat,  therefore,  they  found 
the  Germans  barring  the  way  beyond  Parigne. 
Defeated,  broken  down,  and  bewildered,  they  sur- 
rendered themselves  and  two  mitrailleuses,  because 
General  Schwerin  had  a  map,  could  read  it,  and 
knew  how  to  take  on  himself  responsibility. 

Parigne,  behind  Challes,  the  place  thus  taken 
by  General  Schwerin,  did  not  surrender  without 
a  fight.  It  was  strongly  occupied  by  the  French, 
and  so  built  that  several  streets,  slightly  divergent, 
ran  from  the  centre  of  the  town  in  the  direction  of 
the  German  advance.  It  would  have  been  hard  to 
carry  the  place  had  it  only  been  attacked  in  front; 
but  the  turning  movement  was  irresistible,  and 
Parigne  soon  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Prussians. 

The  eleventh  brigade,  keeping  more  to  the 
right,  pressed  on  until  it  found  itself  close  to 
Change  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Then 
the  men  were  halted  to  take  five  minutes'  rest, 
while  the  church  bell  rung  out  an  alarm  in  their 
ears.  The  sound  of  the  bell  was  soon  drowned  by 
the  rolling  fire  of  rifles  and  the  explosion  of  burst- 
ing shrapnels.  The  men  sang,  mocked  the  hideous 
crash  of  the  iron  missiles,  and  speedily  threw  them- 
selves into  their  work,  like  well-trained  fox  hounds 
in  a  cover.  The  French  had  no  need  of  intrench- 
ments,  for  every  field  had  its  banks  and  hedges. 
Along  these  the  thirty-fifth  regiment  (Berliners), 
scattered  into  skirmishing  order,  crept  or  ran  sud- 
denly from  bank  to  bank,  across  the  fields,  always 
driving  back  the  French,  but  leaving  many  dead 
and  wounded.     At  last  they  gathered  together  in 


groups,  and  dashing  forward  with  a  vociferous 
cheer,  carried  the  hamlet  Gu^  la  Har,  about  1000 
yards  short  of  Change.  Supposing  their  work  to 
be  over  for  the  day,  they  must  have  felt  disap- 
pointed in  finding  that  there  were  many  banks  yet 
to  be  carried,  and  a  natural  wet  ditch,  now  covered 
with  ice,  to  be  passed  before  their  quarters  for  the 
night  could  be  won.  The  evening  closed  in  ;  the 
fight  raged  in  the  twilight  and  in  the  darkness, 
under  the  gloom  of  which  it  was  hard  to  tell 
friends  from  foes.  The  Berliners  doubted  some- 
times whether  they  should  fire  against  some  dark 
group  visible  against  the  snow,  until,  in  measured 
accents,  broke  forth  the  war  cry,  "  Brand-en-burg  ! 
hur-rah  ! "  quickly  answered  in  like  fashion.  The 
dead  lay  thickly,  and  the  wounded  must  surely 
perish  that  bitter  night  unless  room  should  be 
won  for  them  in  Change\  Still  the  Chassepot 
bullets,  fired  at  random  by  Frenchmen  who  were 
comparatively  safe  behind  banks  or  in  houses, 
whizzed  through  the  air  in  a  fearful  leaden  storm. 
The  Prussians  were  discouraged,  but  still  constant, 
when  they  heard  sudden  firing  in  advance  of  them, 
and  to  the  left  of  the  village  much  crackling  of 
Chassepots,  and  the  well-known  sound  of  the 
needle-gun,  speedily  followed  by  a  "  Hurrah,"  and 
they  knew  that  Change  was  theirs.  The  timely 
friend  was  again  General  Schwerin  with  the  tenth 
brigade,  who,  by  bringing  his  troops  round  in  rear 
of  Parigne',  which  they  had  taken,  had  now  out- 
flanked and  turned  the  position  of  Change.  Still 
the  ill-fed,  thinly-clad  soldiers  of  France,  though 
startled,  behaved  well,  maintaining  a  gallant  de- 
fence in  the  streets  for  some  time  after  the  place 
was  entered.  All,  however,  was  in  vain;  for  when 
man  met  man  at  close  quarters,  the  terrible  Chasse- 
pot was  no  longer  of  advantage;  and  finding  further 
resistance  useless,  the  Frenchmen  took  refuge 
in  the  houses,  only  to  be  made  prisoners.  Eight 
hundred  of  them  soon  lay  huddled  together  in 
heaps  for  warmth  within  the  walls  of  the  church, 
whence  the  tocsin  had  sounded  that  afternoon. 
The  orders  of  General  Alvensleben  had  been  faith- 
fully carried  out,  and  the  three  brigades  made  their 
hardly-won  quarters  that  night  in  the  village.  This 
action  of  the  10th  was  distinguished  by  the  Ger- 
mans as  the  Battle  of  Change;  those  of  the  11th 
and  12th  being  called  the  Battles  of  Le  Mans. 

On  the  morning  of  the  11th  the  French  watched 
the  enemy  from  a  position  which  might  well  be 
deemed  impregnable.     A  curving  range  of  hills 


238 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


forms  a  vast  natural  parapet  before  Le  Mans,  the 
river  Huisne  forming  its  wet  ditch.  On  this 
parapet  guns  and  mitrailleuses,  side  by  side,  were 
more  thickly  planted  than  the  Germans  had  ever 
seen  before  in  the  campaign.  All  the  bridges 
over  the  river  were  also  in  the  hands  of  the 
French.  The  grand  chausse"e  from  St.  Calais  and 
Vendome  was  that  by  which  the  prince's  eight- 
eenth division  was  advancing;  but  the  river  is 
fenced  off  from  the  road  by  a  range  of  hills  which, 
running  from  the  north-east  towards  Le  Mans, 
meets  the  Huisne  at  Yvre\  The  prince  had  only 
three  divisions  with  him — the  fifth  and  sixth 
of  the  third  corps,  and  the  eighteenth  of  the 
ninth  corps;  for  the  grand-duke  was  still  at  some 
distance,  and  the  tenth  corps,  detained  at  Montoire, 
had  got  no  farther  than  Mulsanne  and  Ruaudin, 
on  the  south-westerly  road  from  Le  Mans.  Across 
the  Huisne  the  prince's  three  divisions  had  in 
front  of  them,  at  one  time  or  another,  almost  the 
whole  of  the  French  army,  and  all  the  while  the 
whole  passages  of  the  river  were  in  their  hands. 
Cautious  and  timid  commanders  would  have  hesi- 
tated, perhaps  retired,  before  a  danger  so  imminent. 
But  neither  Prince  Frederick  Charles  nor  Alvens- 
leben  of  Mars- la-Tour  were  timid  commanders. 
"  The  whole  country  is  full  of  woods,  right  down 
to  the  Huisne,"  they  said.  "  Let  us  attack,  and 
the  French  will  never  know  how  weak  we  are." 
The  wisdom  of  secrecy  in  war  was,  in  fact,  never 
more  manifest  than  in  the  operations  of  this  day; 
for  had  the  French  known  the  real  number  of  the 
force  opposed  to  them,  they  would  certainly  never 
have  permitted  their  position  to  be  taken.  Their 
ignorance,  or  at  least  the  possibility  of  deceiving 
them  by  an  audacious  movement,  was  one  of  the 
elements  in  the  calculations  of  the  German  com- 
mander, who  might  have  been  attacked  with  a 
fair  chance  of  success  if  the  French  had  been 
well  served  by  spies.  The  prince  ordered  the 
eighteeenth  division  to  carry  the  hills  above 
Champigne\  and  sent  the  fifth  and  sixth  divisions, 
forming  the  third  corps,  against  the  Huisne.  The 
third  received  the  order  to  advance  on  the  11th, 
in  the  middle  of  the  day.  Their  numbers  could 
not  have  exceeded  18,000  men,  for  they  left 
Orleans  only  22,000  strong,  and  had  been  fighting 
ever  since.  They  advanced,  however,  against  the 
great  natural  rampart  held  by  50,000  men,  over 
ground  covered  with  woods,  and  intersected  by 
lanes  separated  from  them  by  ditches  and  banks. 


The  woods  were  filled  by  French  riflemen,  and 
beyond  the  river,  in  front,  were  their  artillery  and 
mitrailleuses.  Alvensleben's  brigades  advanced,  the 
tenth  going  northward  to  try  and  gain  the  road  to 
Le  Mans  by  Savignd;  the  eleventh  marched  upon 
Chateau-les-Noyers,  about  500  yards  from  the 
Huisne;  the  twelfth  was  sent  to  attack  Yvr^;  and 
the  ninth  was  held  in  reserve.  The  eleventh,  in 
executing  its  orders,  soon  found  itself  enveloped 
in  a  furious  tempest  of  fire  from  the  French  bat- 
teries on  the  hill  opposite  Chateau -les- Arches. 
After  the  battle  not  a  tree  could  be  found  that 
was  not  marked  with  balls.  The  eleventh  was 
compelled  to  give  way,  and  the  twelfth,  recalled 
from  Yvre,  was  sent  to  its  aid.  The  latter 
attacked  Les  Arches  and  drove  the  French  out; 
but  when  the  divisional  artillery  was  brought  up, 
it  could  not  hold  the  position  in  face  of  the 
French  fire.  Towards  evening  the  eighth  regi- 
ment was  sent  forward  from  the  reserves  to  its 
assistance,  as  a  French  force  of  25,000  was  push- 
ing forward  to  secure,  as  was  afterwards  found,  the 
road  by  which  another  French  force,  retreating 
from  before  the  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg,  might 
enter  Le  Mans.  This,  however,  was  not  known 
at  the  time;  and  had  the  French  at  this  moment 
advanced  boldly,  they  might  very  likely  have 
swept  away  the  small  number  of  Germans  opposed 
to  them.  But  they  were  contented  with  simply 
holding  the  position,  which  the  third  corps  was 
not  strong  enough  to  carry.  Help  had  been  hoped 
for  from  the  tenth  corps,  but  these  were  still 
toiling  painfully  along  the  slippery  road  from  La 
Chartre;  so  on  this,  as  on  other  occasions,  the 
Germans  had  to  multiply  their  numbers  by  audacity 
and  quickness.  They  ran  from  hedge  to  hedge 
and  from  tree  to  tree,  never  exposing  themselves 
unnecessarily,  yet  always  ready  for  a  charge  and 
hurrah  when  a  chance  presented  itself.  But 
Chassepots  innumerable  crackled  in  front,  the 
mitrailleuse  snarled  from  its  cover,  and  the  per- 
petually recurring  thump  of  the  Gatling  was  met 
on  every  path.  The  third  corps  could  do  wonders, 
and  on  this  fatal  11th  it  fought  gallantly  all  day, 
and  held  its  own  against  fearful  odds;  but  it  failed 
to  accomplish  the  task  assigned  to  it,  and  the 
face  of  General  Alvensleben  wore  an  anxious  and 
unsatisfied  expression,  as  he  saw  his  men  struggling 
in  vain  against  superior  numbers,  and  falling 
wounded  or  dying  in  the  snow,  while  the  mournful 
wind  sane;  dirges  over  them  through  the  pine  trees. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


239 


Meanwhile  the  action  on  the  main  road  was 
progressing.  The  twelfth  brigade,  which  had 
occupied  Chateau-les- Arches,  hard  by  the  road,  in 
the  morning,  then  joined  the  rest  of  the  third 
corps,  and  it  came  to  the  turn  of  the  eighteenth 
division  to  carry  the  heights  of  Champigne,  which 
tower  above  the  road,  not  parallel  to  it,  but  con- 
verging from  about  a  mile  to  the  right  of  St. 
Hubert,  and  coming  close  to  the  highway  not  far 
from  the  river  Huisne  in  the  direction  of  Le  Mans. 
The  hills  are  steep,  and  the  end  nearest  St.  Hubert 
is  broken  by  three  ravines.  The  prince,  who  was 
at  St.  Hubert,  ordered  the  attack  to  be  made,  and 
moved  near  to  watch  it.  A  road  from  St.  Hubert 
leads  towards  the  right  to  Champigne,  at  the  foot 
of  the  heights  nearest  to  where  the  Prussians  were 
advancing.  One  brigade  remained  at  St.  Hubert. 
About  four  battalions  marched  along  the  main  road 
towards  Yvre,  which  lies  in  the  rear  of  the  heights 
and  the  river;  nearly  an  equal  force  took  a  path 
through  the  woods  leading  to  the  village  of  Cham- 
pigne". The  former  force,  spreading  out  into  com- 
pany columns,  covered  by  skirmishers,  went  at  the 
heights  in  front,  with  its  left  towards  the  river, 
and  took  the  hills  before  it  in  gallant  style.  The 
other  four  battalions,  or  three  with  some  jagers, 
pushed  through  Champigne^  and  moved  steadily 
at  the  flank  of  the  hill.  One  battalion  remained 
below  in  reserve;  one  company  mounted  the  hill, 
upwards,  onwards,  driving  the  enemy  before  them, 
over  one  elevation,  down  into  the  ravine,  up  and 
down  again,  striving  to  gain  the  flank  of  the 
French,  and  assist  their  struggling  friends  who 
were  attacking  the  hills  in  front.  But  on  the  last 
crest  stood  three  mitrailleuses  snarling  defiance, 
and  causing  even  the  Germans  to  recoil.  The  fire 
was  terrible,  especially  when  artillery  could  not 
fire  at  it  from  long  range.  The  small  force  lay 
down  to  save  themselves  as  well  as  they  could,  and 
when  the  company  rose  afterwards  it  was  short  of 
thirteen  men.  The  rest  of  the  brigade  cleared  the 
back  of  the  heights. 

Then  Captain  Mauntz,  of  the  eleventh  infantry, 
chose  a  small  body  of  picked  men,  determined  that 
the  prince's  commands  should  not  remain  unful- 
filled. Quietly  they  stole  through  the  ravine, 
quietly  gained  the  crest  where  stood  the  many- 
barrelled  pieces  belching  forth  volleys  of  bullets. 
The  hill  was  so  steep  that  the  muzzles  of  the  mit- 
railleuses could  not  be  pointed  low  enough  to  meet 
them  until  the  band  of  brave  men  had  reached 


the  summit.  One  moment's  breath,  and  then  with 
a  wild  hurrah  they  sprang  forward,  and  carried 
everything  before  them.  The  road  was  cleared, 
the  men  on  the  other  bank  rose  to  their  feet — all 
except  the  thirteen  who  never  rose  more — and 
the  heights  commanding  the  Huisne  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  Prussians,  though  not  completely 
until  the  next  day.  While  Captain  Mauntz  and 
his  chosen  comrades  stood  beside  the  pieces  they 
had  taken,  a  Prussian  battery  opened  upon  them, 
not  knowing  of  the  gallant  deed  they  had  accom- 
plished ;  and  either  here,  or  a  little  later  from  the 
French,  he  received  a  wound,  "light"  in  the  voca- 
bulary of  soldiers,  but  heavy  enough  to  prevent 
him  from  advancing  further  that  day.  He  was 
reposing  quietly  in  a  little  hamlet  on  the  heights, 
when  it  was  reoccupied  by  the  French,  who  held 
it  through  the  night.  They  would  have  carried 
him  off  as  a  prisoner,  but  a  woman  who  had  seen 
his  gentleness  to  her  wounded  countrymen  caused 
him  to  lie  on  her  bed,  and  represented  to  the  French 
that  his  wound  was  dangerous,  so  that  they  also 
pitied  him  and  left  him  there.  Night  came,  and 
the  faithful  few  whom  he  had  led  so  well,  con- 
sulting how  they  might  rescue  him,  moved  silently 
out  in  the  darkness  and  crept  into  the  village, 
where  the  French  were  taking  their  rest  after  the 
battle.  The  Prussian  kinder,  who  knew  where 
their  captain  lay,  stole  quietly  into  the  house  with 
a  stretcher,  and  saluting  him  with  "  Here,  captain, 
now  is  your  time,"  they  set  him  on  the  canvas, 
and  slipped  out  as  they  had  come,  unperceived. 

By  this  time  it  must  have  been  perceived  by 
the  gallant  General  Chanzy  that  his  army  was  in 
sore  peril.  Before  him  were  the  advancing  troops 
of  Germany ;  on  his  left  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg 
was  ceaselessly  pressing,  driving  his  outstretched 
wing  so  closely  to  the  body  as  to  cripple  his 
powers  of  motion ;  behind  him  was  the  Sarthe. 
Another  day  and  his  army  would  be  taken  as  in 
a  net.  There  was  only  one  chance  for  him.  He 
had  his  railways,  while  the  roads  were  in  such 
a  state  that  the  Prussians  could  hardly  move  on 
them.  Not  unwisely,  he  began  at  once  to  retreat. 
The  German  cavalry  saw  with  bitter  disappoint- 
ment trains  moving  towards  Sille\  Le  Guillaume, 
Sable,  and  La  Fleche,  while  they  were  prevented 
from  cutting  the  iron  way  by  the  ice  on  the  roads 
and  the  closeness  of  the  country,  everywhere  inter- 
sected by  numerous  small  hedges,  gardens,  and 
farm   inclosures.      So   the  French   lines   became 


240 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


weaker,  while  the  Germans  were  strengthened  by 
the  arrival  at  last  of  the  tenth  corps. 

The  night  of  the  11th  was  passed  in  some 
anxiety  by  General  Alvensleben.  When  compli- 
mented in  the  evening  on  the  behaviour  of  his 
men  he  remarked,  "  Yes,  but  I  am  not  quite  satis- 
fied with  what  the  third  corps  has  done."  Not 
satisfied,  when  he  had  shown  so  bold  a  front  that 
the  French  must  have  believed  they  had  a  whole 
army  before  them !  The  Germans,  indeed,  disap- 
pointed as  they  were  with  their  tactical  achieve- 
ments, did  not  know  what  advantages  they  had 
really  gained  this  day.  While  Alvensleben  was 
vexing  himself  in  his  quarters,  General  Chanzy 
was  writing  a  despatch  announcing  his  own  defeat. 
In  the  course  of  the  night  he  telegraphed  from  Le 
Mans  to  Bordeaux  the  following  message  to  M. 
Gambetta: — "  Our  positions  were  good  last  night 
excepting  at  La  Tuillerie,  where  the  mobiles  of 
Brittany  disbanded  themselves,  thereby  causing 
the  abandonment  of  the  positions  we  occupied 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Huisne.  Vice-admiral 
Jaureguiberry  and  the  other  generals  think  a 
retreat  is  necessary  under  these  circumstances.  I 
resign  myself  to  it  unwillingly."  La  Tuillerie  was 
an  important  link  of  the  positions  stretching  from 
Change"  to  Savigne"  l'Eveque,  and  upon  its  main- 
tenance Chanzy  calculated  as  the  key  to  his  whole 
plan  of  resistance.  The  Brittany  mobiles  who 
held  it  had  been  warmly  praised  for  their  behaviour 
under  fire  hitherto;  but  an  attack  of  artillery 
opened  upon  them  on  the  evening  of  the  11th 
completely  disconcerted  both  officers  and  men. 
The  officers  were  too  astounded  to  give  orders, 
and  the  men,  thus  left  to  themselves,  in  an  evil 
moment  determined  upon  instant  flight.  Horses 
were  precipitately  harnessed  to  the  guns,  and  the 
column  commenced  a  retreat  which  never  paused 
till  they  reached  Le  Mans.  A  movement  of 
retreat  had  been  previously  commenced  by  other 
parts  of  the  army,  but  it  was  not  until  the  aban- 
donment of  this  essentially  important  position  that 
General  Chanzy  became  convinced  of  the  utter 
hopelessness  of  further  resistance.  The  possession 
of  La  Tuillerie  would  have  enabled  the  Germans 
effectually  to  turn  the  French  position  and  attack 
them  in  the  rear,  a  manoeuvre  which  might  have 
resulted  in  a  worse  misfortune  than  a  retreat. 
Had  La  Tuillerie  been  held  by  such  men  as  held 
the  left  bank  of  the  Lisane — as  in  the  next  chapter 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  show — the  chances  of 


Prince  Frederick  Charles  entering  Le  Mans  would 
have  been  exceedingly  small. 

On  the  12th  the  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg, 
who  had  fought  a  successful  action  at  Connerre, 
was  able  to  move  his  own  headquarters  to  Montfort, 
his  seventeenth  division  being  at  Corneille,  and 
the  twenty-second  at  La  Croix.  The  French,  as 
we  have  seen,  were  already  in  full  retreat,  and 
their  guns  had  almost  all  disappeared  from  the 
hills  ;  nevertheless,  as  a  matter  of  prudence,  Gen- 
eral Chanzy  ordered  an  attack  on  Les  Noyers, 
which,  in  the  prevailing  uncertainty,  and  after  the 
heavy  loss  of  life  on  the  previous  day,  caused  some 
anxiety  to  the  Germans.  The  attack,  however, 
was  repulsed;  the  sixth  division  took  Yvre;  while 
the  tenth  corps  and  General  Schmidt's  detachment, 
after  some  fighting  at  Chateau  de  la  Paillerie,  reached 
the  heights  above  Le  Mans,  and  threw  some  shells 
into  the  town  on  the  retreating  columns  of  the 
French.  The  fifth  division  followed  in  the  same 
direction,  and  the  Germanspassed  into  Le  Mans,  not, 
however,  without  some  opposition  from  the  French, 
who  fired  upon  them  from  houses,  and  maintained 
an  obstinate  contest  in  the  streets  and  squares.  It 
was  not  until  the  following  day,  January  13,  that 
Prince  Frederick  Charles  thought  it  prudent  to 
remove  his  headquarters  to  the  prefecture  of  the 
captured  town.  The  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg 
was  sent  towards  Alencon,  which  in  a  few  days 
experienced  the  fate  of  Le  Mans.  The  eighteenth 
division  pushed  on,  and  occupied  the  entrenched 
camp  at  Conlie.  The  tenth  corps  was  sent  on 
towards  Laval,  but  found  the  bridges  broken  up, 
and  was  not  sufficiently  strong  to  overcome  such 
opposition  as  Chanzy's  troops  were  still  able  to  offer. 
At  Le  Mans  and  Conlie  an  enormous  quantity  of 
arms,  ammunition,  food,  and  what  was  even  of 
more  consequence,  railway  materials  and  rolling 
stock,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Germans.  On 
the  16th  Prince  Frederick  Charles  reported  that, 
in  the  engagements  from  the  6  th  of  January  to 
that  date,  he  and  the  grand-duke  of  Mecklenburg 
had  taken  from  the  enemy  more  than  22,000 
unwounded  prisoners,  two  colours,  nineteen  guns, 
and  more  than  a  thousand  loaded  ammunition  con- 
veyances, besides  a  large  quantity  of  arms  and  other 
war  material.  The  army  of  the  Loire  was  in  fact 
broken  up,  and  with  it  Paris  had  lost  its  best  hope 
of  relief.  The  losses  of  the  Germans  in  the  fight- 
ing about  Le  Mans  amounted,  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  prisoners,  to  177  officers  and  3203  men. 


Drawn.  na3«r  t&s  SxtferaiOsaiBneo  of  Cxptaxn.  Ba< 


En^rirpei  Try  Bcbert  Tallrn-. 


CHAPTER     XXVIII. 


The  War  protracted  in  the  East  —The  Germans  at  Dijon— The  Battle  of  Nuits — Evacuation  of  Dijon — The  last  Great  Effort  of  France — Com- 
position of  the  Loire  Army — The  Portion  under  the  Command  of  Bourbaki — The  Scheme  of  Colonel  de  Bigot — Vital  Importance  of  the 
German  Communications — Pro  and  Con  of  the  proposed  Eastern  Expedition — Result  of  it  as  concerned  Chanzy's  Army — Errors  in 
Bourbaki's  Arrangements  for  marching — The  confusion  resulting — Arrival  of  General  Werder  at  Vesoul — Battle  of  Villersexel — The 
German  Position  for  covering  the  Besiegers  of  Belfort — Battle  of  Hericourt — Piteous  Sufferings  of  the  French  from  Defective  Supplies — The 
attack  on  General  Werder  resumed — Temporary  Success  of  General  Cremer's  Division — Repulse  of  the  Second  Attack — Deadly  Precision  of 
German  fire— Third  Day  of  the  Battle,  and  Retreat  of  Bourbaki's  Army— Criticism  upon  the  Engagements— Von  Moltke's  Master-stroke— 
The  Expedition  of  Manteuffel— Garibaldi  hoodwinked— Fatal  irresolution  of  Bourbaki — Exclusion  of  the  East  from  the  Armistice — The 
Horrors  of  the  Moscow  retreat  renewed — The  French  Army  driven  into  Switzerland— Gratitude  of  the  Emperor  to  General  Werder — An 
Extraordinary  Feat  of  Marching — Exit  Garibaldi — Siege  of  Belfort — Failure  of  the  German  Assault — Capitulation,  with  Honourable  Terms. 


We  now  resume  our  narrative  of  the  events 
which  transpired  in  the  east  of  France,  and  which 
will  conclude  our  history  of  the  war,  apart  from 
Paris.  The  struggle  was  practically  closed  in  the 
south  and  west  by  the  capture  of  Le  Mans  and 
the  dispersion  of  Chanzy's  army,  just  described; 
in  the  north  by  the  defeat  of  Faidherbe  at  St. 
Quentin  on  January  19;  and  at  Paris,  by  the 
capitulation,  on  January  28 :  but  for  several  days 
a  portion  of  eastern  France  was  unfortunately 
excluded  from  the  operation  of  the  armistice 
concluded  at  Versailles,  and  the  war  was  conse- 
quently prolonged  there  to  a  later  date  than  in 
any  other  quarter. 

Our  last  notice  of  affairs  in  the  east  was  on 
the  occasion  of  the  expedition  of  Garibaldi  for 
the  relief  of  Dijon,  an  enterprise  which  resulted 
in  almost  disastrous,  certainly  ridiculous,  failure. 
The  motley  assemblage  of  troops  of  all  nations, 
generally  known  as  "  Garibaldini,"  was  pursued 
by  a  Prussian  detachment  as  far  as  Autun,  where 
a  smart  fight  took  place,  after  which  the  Ger- 
mans deemed  it  prudent  to  retire  back  to  Dijon, 
being  considerably  harassed  by  the  French  on 
the  way.  At  that  town  General  Werder,  with 
the  Baden  corps,  remained,  as  it  served  as  an 
advanced  post  of  observation  in  case  any  serious 
movements  were  made  by  the  French  to  interrupt 
the  lines  of  German  supply  and  communication 
from  Strassburg,  via  Nancy,  &c,  to  Paris.  The 
great  and  important  fortress  of  Belfort,  which 
formed  the  key  to  central  and  southern  France, 
had  been  for  some  time  besieged  by  a  force  under 
General  von  Tresckow ;  and  in  addition  to  its  other 
uses  General  Werder's  position  at  Dijon  afforded  a 
safeguard  against  the  approach  of  any  relieving 
corps  to  this  stronghold. 


The  position  was  held  without  any  incident 
worthy  of  notice  until  the  middle  of  December, 
when  General  Werder  became  unpleasantly  aware 
of  a  concentration  of  French  in  his  front,  and  he 
determined  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  its  proportions. 
Accordingly,  on  the  18th  of  December,  the  first 
and  second  Baden  brigades,  under  General  Glumer 
and  Prince  William  of  Baden,  proceeded  towards 
Beaune,  and  at  Nuits,  a  small  town  about  eight 
miles  north-east  of  the  former  place,  encountered 
a  strong  French  force  under  General  Cremer.  A 
most  desperate  engagement  ensued,  which  lasted 
for  five  hours,  and  issued  in  the  Germans  storming, 
with  severe  loss,  the  defensive  position  of  the 
French.  General  Glumer  and  Prince  William 
were  both  put  hors  de  combat;  and  Colonel  von 
Eeutz,  the  officer  upon  whom  the  command  then 
devolved,  was  himself  soon  after  mortally  wounded. 
Of  the  Germans  fifty-four  officers  and  880  men, 
killed  and  wounded,  covered  the  field,  while  the 
loss  of  the  French  was  not  less  than  1000,  besides 
sixteen  officers  and  700  men  taken  prisoners,  and 
the  capture  of  four  gun-carriages,  three  ammu- 
nition waggons,  and  a  large  quantity  of  arms. 
But  as  the  position  thus  won  was  considered 
too  advanced  and  exposed  to  be  held  with  any 
advantage,  it  was  evacuated  on  the  20th  by  its 
conquerors,  and  at  once  reoccupied  by  the  French. 

The  evacuation  of  Dijon  by  the  Germans  fol- 
lowed soon  after  the  battle  at  Nuits.  This  step 
was  taken  in  consequence  of  the  very  large  con- 
centration of  French  troops  discovered  not  only 
at  Beaune  but  at  Besancon,  the  entire  suspension 
of  civilian  traffic  on  the  Lyons  and  Besancon  Rail- 
way, the  possibility  of  portions  of  the  Loire  army 
being  despatched  to  the  east,  and  the  probability 
of  those  forces  attempting  the  relief  of  Belfort 
2h 


242 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


or  a  movement  on  his  flank.  General  Werder  was 
accordingly  directed  to  concentrate  the  Baden 
division  on  the  line  of  Vesoul,  Lure,  and  Mont- 
beliard,  to  give  up  the  advanced  positions  of  Dijon 
and  Langres,  and  to  repel  any  attempt  to  relieve 
Belfort.  The  French  ships  of  war  had  about  this 
time  captured  several  German  merchant  vessels, 
and  detained  the  captains  as  prisoners  of  war.  In 
retaliation  the  Prussians,  a  few  days  before  leaving 
Dijon,  summoned  thirty  of  the  "notables"  of  the 
place,  and  explained  to  them  that  they  required 
forty  hostages,  who  would  be  sent  off  to  Ger- 
many, where,  however,  they  were  assured  they 
would  be  well  treated.  Twenty  were  taken  from 
Dijon,  ten  from  Vesoul,  and  ten  from  Gray,  and 
in  spite  of  some  strong  protestations  were  at  once 
despatched  to  Prussia.  Dijon  had  been  required, 
on  the  entry  of  the  Germans,  to  deposit  £20,000 
as  security  for  the  good  behaviour  of  its  townsfolk; 
but  at  the  entreaty  of  the  mayor,  who  gave  a 
touching  description  of  the  distressed  condition 
of  the  working  classes,  the  amount  was  reduced 
to  £12,000.  This  was  returned  to  the  mayor  by 
General  Werder  on  his  departure,  with  a  letter 
complimenting  the  inhabitants  on  their  exemplary 
conduct. 

We  now  approach  the  last  effort  that  could  at 
all  be  regarded  as  formidable,  made  by  the  pro- 
vincial armies  to  retrieve  the  disasters  of  France 
and  checkmate  the  enemy,  whose  hitherto  triumph- 
ant progress  had  been  without  a  parallel.  Our 
readers  will  remember  that  after  the  army  of  the 
Loire  had  been  dispersed  from  Orleans  on  Decem- 
ber 4,  it  was  divided  involuntarily  into  two  main 
portions,  and  that  M.  Gambetta,  accepting  the 
situation,  constituted  the  two  halves  respectively 
as  the  first  and  second  armies.  That  which  had 
fallen  back  along  the  upper,  or  left  bank  of  the 
Loire,  towards  Bourges,  now  called  the  first  army, 
was  placed  under  the  command  of  Bourbaki,  the 
late  chief  of  the  imperial  guard;  while  the  other 
division,  or  second  army,  was  confided  to  General 
Chanzy.  The  "  great  and  paramount  object "  of 
the  forces  of  both  generals,  as  announced  by  M. 
Gambetta  at  the  time,  was  the  relief  of  Paris  ;  and 
in  order  to  effect  this  the  two  armies  were  each  rein- 
forced, reorganized,  and  thoroughly  equipped,  as 
far  as  was  possible  whilst  under  the  surveillance  of  a 
vigilant  enemy.  In  all,  including  the  forces  oper- 
ating in  the  east  and  north,  there  could  not  at  this 
time  (about  the  end  of  December)  have  been  less 


than  450,000  Frenchmen,  with  from  700  to  800 
guns,  under  arms,  exclusive  of  the  garrison  and 
army  of  Paris — a  marvellous  spectacle,  considering 
the  circumstances;  but  unfortunately,  as  Napoleon 
has  observed,  there  is  a  wide  difference  between 
men  and  soldiers.  The  great  bulk  of  these  troops 
were  unformed  levies ;  and  as  most  of  what  was  best 
in  the  force  originally  under  D'Aurelles  had  fallen 
in  the  terrible  struggle  of  the  previous  two  months, 
it  may  be  affirmed  that  the  real  strength  of  the 
principal  armies  in  the  field,  under  Chanzy  and 
Bourbaki,  was  not  nearly  equal,  even  if  united,  to 
that  of  the  first  army  of  the  Loire.  The  organiza- 
tion of  the  new  corps  was  pitiable,  and  there  was 
such  a  lamentable  want  of  officers,  that  their  pro- 
portion to  the  men  was  wholly  inadequate.  Thus, 
while  the  victorious  armies  of  Germany,  as  we 
have  seen  in  the  previous  chapter,  had  been  largely 
and  formidably  strengthened,  there  was  nothing  like 
a  corresponding  increase  in  the  forces  of  France. 

So  far,  however,  as  comparative  numbers  could 
constitute  strength,  the  forces  of  Bourbaki  and 
Chanzy  were  strong  indeed,  considerably  outnum- 
bering the  united  forces  of  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  and  the  duke  of  Mecklenburg,  who  were 
thus  exposed  to  an  overwhelming  onset,  had  both 
branches  of  the  Loire  army  resolved  upon  closing 
in  upon  them.  Though  Bourbaki  had  remained 
inactive  for  several  weeks,  he  with  such  good 
effect  held  in  check  the  German  army  occupying 
the  line  of  the  Loire,  under  the  command  of 
Prince  Frederick  Charles,  that,  enterprising  and 
adventurous  as  the  prince  was  known  to  be,  he 
seemed  reluctant  either  to  attack  Bourbaki  or  to 
withdraw  from  his  position  in  front  of  him.  The 
prince's  duty  was  to  cover  Paris  on  the  southern 
side;  and  he  co-operated  with  the  grand-duke  of 
Mecklenburg,  who,  with  his  army  at  Chartres, 
was  almost  daily  awaiting  Chanzy's  attack  from 
Le  Mans.  If  at  this  juncture  any  important  event 
of  the  war  could  have  been  confidently  anticipated, 
it  was  a  combined  movement  by  the  two  French 
generals  against  the  prince  and  the  grand-duke. 
The  courage  and  firmness  with  which  Chanzy  held 
every  position  from  Vendome  to  Le  Mans,  although 
he  fought  single-handed  and  stood  on  the  defen- 
sive, may  be  taken  as  an  earnest  of  what  he  might 
have  achieved  had  he  been  seconded  by  Bourbaki 
and  acted  on  the  offensive,  as  best  suits  French 
soldiers.  That  he  had  by  far  the  best  disciplined 
half  of  the  Loire  army  may  be  inferred  from  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


243 


fact  that,  while  his  troops  performed  prodigies  of 
valour  at  Beaugency,  and  stubbornly  contested 
every  inch  of  their  retreat,  those  under  Bourbaki 
had  fallen  back  along  the  Upper  Loire  without 
firing  a  shot.  Bourbaki's  soldiers,  however,  if 
properly  provisioned,  were  by  no  means  unfit  to 
take  the  field;  and,  such  as  it  was,  his  army  was 
sufficient  to  paralyze  all  German  movements.  To 
withdraw  it,  therefore,  from  Bourges,  till  it  was 
demonstrated  either  that  Chanzy  could  raise  the 
siege  of  Paris  without  Bourbaki's  help,  or  that  he 
could  not  raise  it  even  with  his  help,  would  appear 
to  be  the  height  of  folly. 

Not  so,  however,  thought  Lieutenant-colonel 
de  Bigot,  a  staff  officer  of  the  regular  army,  and 
attached  to  the  seventh  division  at  Besancon.  It 
was  natural  that  the  mind  of  this  intelligent  officer 
should  dwell  especially  on  the  best  means  of 
striking  an  effective  blow  in  the  part  of  his 
country  in  which  he  was,  or  had  been,  more  im- 
mediately interested.  He  saw  that  Belfort  was 
invested  by  some  divisions  of  Werder's  army, 
while  Werder  himself  was  operating  generally  in 
Franche  Comte\  His  forces,  however,  were  incon- 
siderable, numbering  perhaps  40,000  or  50,000  in 
the  field.  They  were,  withal,  occupied  in  reducing 
or  holding  the  northern  towns  of  the  province, 
and  in  guarding  the  railway  lines  that  from  Dijon 
and  Vesoul  converged  on  Paris ;  they  were  already 
kept  somewhat  in  check  by  Garibaldi  and  the 
French  army  of  the  east,  and  had  even  suffered 
some  slight  reverses.  Bourbaki,  however,  and  his 
numerous  army  were  in  force  at  Bourges  and 
Nevers — that  is,  at  no  great  distance  to  the  west; 
and  Colonel  Bigot  thought  an  opportunity  was 
thus  presented  to  strike  a  sudden  and  decisive  blow 
which,  if  successful,  would  completely  change  the 
position  of  France  in  the  east,  and  might  lead  to 
the  relief  of  Paris.  If  Bourbaki,  with  90,000  out 
of  his  120,000  troops,  were  to  unite  with  a  part  of 
the  army  of  the  east,  he  might,  by  a  rapid  attack, 
isolate  and  overwhelm  Werder,  and  cause  the 
siege  of  Belfort  to  be  raised.  This  done,  he  could 
not  only  master  the  German  communications  by 
Dijon  and  Vesoul,  but  a  few  marches  would  place 
him  upon  the  leading  railway  line  which,  from 
Strassburg  to  Paris,  via  the  great  depots  at  Nancy, 
was  the  mainstay  of  the  besieging  army,  and 
essential  to  its  safe  existence.  A  move  of  this 
kind,  vigorously  executed,  might  compel  the 
invaders    to    relax    their   gripe    on    the   invested 


capital;  nor  was  it  necessarily  attended  with  peril 
to  the  operations  of  the  French  as  a  whole.  True, 
the  withdrawal  of  Bourbaki  might  subject  Chanzy 
to  the  necessity  of  fighting  single-handed  with 
Prince  Frederick  Charles  and  the  grand-duke  of 
Mecklenburg,  who  were  now  extended  from  Char- 
tres  to  Orleans,  with  detachments  pointing  towards 
Le  Mans  ;  but  having  been  largely  reinforced,  he 
could,  it  might  be  expected,  hold  his  own;  nor 
was  it  likely  that  a  combined  movement  of  this 
kind  would  be  made  against  him.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  was  reasonable  to  suppose  that,  when 
informed  of  Bourbaki's  march,  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  would  detach  against  him  the  whole  or  a 
large  part  of  his  troops,  or  would  pause,  hesitate,  and 
delay  at  Orleans.  In  either  case  Chanzy  would 
be  safe,  and  might  perhaps  be  able,  by  a  bold 
advance,  to  defeat  the  enemies  in  his  front  in 
detail,  and  so  open  a  way  to  Paris.  Nor  would 
the  operations  of  Bourbaki  be  marred  even  were 
he  followed  by  Prince  Frederick  Charles;  for  he 
would  have  greatly  the  start  of  him ;  and  a  French 
corps  could  be  left  in  his  rear  to  observe  and  retard 
the  prince's  movements. 

Such  was  the  scheme  for  the  last  effort  of  the 
provincial  armies  in  behalf  of  Paris ;  and  although 
it  is  unfair  to  judge  of  strategy  by  the  event,  yet 
looking  at  the  relative  condition  and  strength  of 
the  belligerents,  the  project  from  the  first  might 
have  been  pronounced  desperate.  No  doubt  the 
communications  of  the  Germans  formed  their  most 
vulnerable  point,  and  a  few  facts  will  suffice  to 
show  their  vital  importance.  Experience  had 
shown  that  "  requisitioning "  was  of  but  trifling 
use  in  providing  for  the  wants  of  an  army.  Only 
upon  the  first  occupation  of  a  district  did  it  supply 
any  considerable  amount  of  food.  If  the  enemy 
remained  for  any  length  of  time  the  provisions 
of  the  inhabitants  were  either  exhausted  or  con- 
cealed, and  were  not  to  be  had  for  love  or  money. 
Throughout  the  siege  of  Metz  the  troops  engaged 
in  that  undertaking  had  to  be  fed  by  Germany; 
and  although  the  army  besieging  Paris,  and  those 
in  the  several  zones  around,  resorted  at  first  to 
extensive  requisitions,  the  supplies  from  this  source 
ultimately  proved  so  precarious  as  hardly  to  be 
worth  the  danger  incurred  by  the  detachments 
told  off  to  gather  them  in.  Throughout  the  war, 
therefore,  Germany  was  the  main  base  of  supplies 
for  her  armies,  whose  enormous  requirements 
may  be  conceived  when  we  remember  that,  in  the 


244 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


course  of  twenty-four  hours,  each  corps  d'arcnee 
consumed  1800  loaves  of  3  lbs.  each ;  120  cwts. 
of  rice  or  pearl  barley;  either  70  oxen,  120  cwts. 
of  bacon,  or  a  proportionate  amount  of  prepared 
sausage;  18  cwts.  of  salt;  30  cwts.  of  coffee;  12 
cwts.  of  oats;  3  cwts.  of  hay;  35,000  quarts  of  spirits 
and  3500  ounces  of  orange  essence,  or  some  other 
bitter  tincture,  to  mix  with  the  spirits.  To  this 
gigantic  repast  must  be  added  60  cwts.  of  tobacco, 
1,100,000  ordinary  cigars,  and  50,000  officers' 
cigars  for  each  ten  days.  Multiply  these  figures 
by  twenty-five,  and  we  have  the  sum  total  of  the 
consumption  in  one  day,  or  as  regards  tobacco  in 
ten  days,  of  the  German  troops  in  France.  The 
difficulties  of  bringing  up  such  gigantic  stores 
were  often  aggravated  by  the  usual  disasters  inci- 
dental to  warfare.  Sometimes  a  large  number  of 
the  oxen,  having  become  infected  with  the  cattle 
plague,  had  to  be  destroyed;  and  frequently  stores 
would  arrive  in  such  a  condition  that  they  had  to 
be  thrown  away  and  replaced  by  fresh  cargoes. 
The  wear  and  tear  of  the  war  in  a  rainy  autumn 
and  an  unusually  cold  winter,  moreover,  required 
the  continuous  forwarding  of  an  incalculably  large 
stock  of  every  article  of  clothing.  Several  times 
during  the  campaign  each  corps  had  distributed 
among  them  woollen  shirts,  flannel  bandages, 
woollen  comforters,  woollen  plaids,  woollen  stock- 
ings, boots,  &c.  The  field-post,  too,  in  an  army 
where  everybody  could  read  and  write,  took  up 
no  inconsiderable  amount  of  rolling  stock.  From 
the  16th  of  July  to  the  31st  of  December,  1870, 
no  fewer  than  67,600,000  letters  and  1,536,000 
newspapers — in  other  words,  about  400,000  letters 
and  9090  papers  per  day — were  despatched  from 
and  to  the  army.  In  the  same  period  41,000,000 
thalers  and  58,000  parcels  of  all  sizes  and  weights 
were  sent  by  the  War  Office  to  the  German  mili- 
tary authorities  in  France.  The  soldiers  received 
from  or  sent  to  their  friends  and  relatives  at  home 
13,000,000  thalers  and  1,219,533  parcels,  or 
22,173  of  the  latter  per  day.  A  large  number  of 
sick  and  wounded  were  constantly  being  conveyed 
back  to  Germany,  besides  prisoners,  the  number 
of  whom  was  unprecedentedly  large.  Add  to  all 
this  that,  towards  the  close  of  1870,  from  180,000 
to  200,000  new  troops  were  brought  up  to  the  seat 
of  war,  and  that  the  transport  of  guns,  shell,  and 
every  variety  of  ammunition  never  ceased  for  one 
day  until  peace  was  declared,  and  we  can  then 
form    some   idea   of  the    extreme   importance  of 


having  secure  command  of  the  various  roads  and 
railways  of  German  communications.  Colonel  de 
Bigot  rightly  judged,  therefore,  that  if  the  tran- 
sport of  such  vast  and  necessary  supplies  could  be 
effectually  stopped,  German  armies  in  France  must 
soon  cease  to  exist,  and  they  would  fall  an  easy 
prey  to  levies  of  men  who,  however  raw,  were  well 
armed,  and  operating  in  their  own  country. 

The  scheme  of  isolating  the  Germans  from  their 
base  of  supplies,  after  defeating  them  in  Franche 
Comte,  would  have  been  feasible,  and  even  prom 
ising,  had  Bourbaki  had  a  trained  and  well-organ- 
ized army  of  150,000  men,  and  could  the  forces  of 
Chanzy  have  been  counted  on  to  cope  successfully 
with  Prince  Frederick  Charles  and  the  grand- 
duke  of  Mecklenburg,  on  the  supposition  of  then- 
acting  together.  But  even  on  these  hypotheses 
it  is  doubtful  whether  it  would  not  have  been 
more  prudent  to  attack  the  communications  of  the 
Germans  at  points  considerably  nearer  Paris  than 
a  few  marches  to  the  west  of  Belfort;  and  in  the 
actual  state  of  the  combatants  the  whole  project 
was,  we  think,  desperate.  Bourbaki's  army,  even 
if  reinforced  to  150,000  men,  was  known  to  be 
raw  and  ill  provided;  its  movements  would  have 
to  be  conducted  in  an  exceedingly  intricate  and 
mountainous  country,  in  the  depths  of  a  severe 
winter ;  it  was,  therefore,  by  no  means  certain  that 
it  would  overpower  Werder  and  raise  the  siege  of 
Belfort,  and  far  from  probable  that  it  could  master, 
at  least  for  a  sufficiently  long  time,  the  great  line 
of  the  German  communications,  already  not  with- 
out protection,  and  which  reinforcements  could 
easily  reach.  Success,  therefore  was  far  from 
assured,  even  where  it  appeared  most  promising; 
and  even  success,  unless  extraordinary,  would 
leave  the  rest  of  the  forces  of  France  exposed  to 
defeat  and  disaster.  The  march  of  Bourbaki  from 
Bourges  and  Nevers  would  obviously  set  Prince 
Frederick  Charles,  in  conjunction  with  the  grand- 
duke,  free  to  move  against  and  attack  Chanzy; 
and  how  could  he,  with  an  unorganized  and  in- 
efficient army,  contend  against  masses  of  veteran 
troops,  who  could,  moreover,  speedily  receive 
additions?  The  notion  that  Prince  Frederick 
Charles  would  follow  Bourbaki,  and  leave  Chanzy 
to  deal  separately  with  the  grand-duke,  was  a  mere 
assumption;  and  it  was  absurd  to  imagine  that 
the  prince,  a  really  great  commander,  would  halt, 
irresolute  where  to  strike,  and  allow  his  enemies 
to   elude   him.      Thus,  while   the  operations   of 


BATTLE      OF      B  E  L  F  0  R  T 


Drawn,  under  the  Superaxten.aence  of  Captain  Sozier. 


Engraved'  "by  JLobert  "Walker- 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


245 


Bourbaki  were  not  very  promising  in  themselves, 
and  would  expose  Chanzy  to  defeat  and  ruin, 
their  failure  would  not  only  mar  the  prospect  of 
raising  the  siege  of  Paris,  but  bring  down  disaster 
on  his  own  army. 

Properly  considered,  the  project,  in  truth,  was 
simply  a  series  of  eccentric  movements,  to  be 
executed  by  inadequate  forces,  against  an  enemy 
vastly  superior  and  in  a  formidable  central  posi- 
tion; and  those  who  admire  it  overlook  the  deci- 
sive fact  of  the  immense  disparity  between  the 
combatants.  There  seems  very  little  doubt  that 
at  this  conjuncture  it  had  become  impossible  to 
relieve  Paris;  the  German  commanders  had  recti- 
fied the  miscalculation  they  had  made,  and  the 
barrier  of  the  covering  armies,  which  in  conse- 
quence of  the  bombardment  could  now  be  rein- 
forced from  within,  had  become  too  formidable 
to  be  broken.  Nevertheless,  one  chance  there 
perhaps  was;  and  had  it  been  seized  by  the 
French  generals,  they  would  at  least  have  averted 
a  frightful  catastrophe.  Had  Bourbaki  vigor- 
ously attacked  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  instead 
of  going  off  to  the  east,  he  would  certainly  have 
detained  a  very  large  part  of  the  prince's  forces. 
By  that  means,  although  the*  operation  might  not 
have  succeeded,  Chanzy  might  have  defeated  the 
grand-duke  and  any  other  divisions  in  his  front, 
and  at  least  have  endeavoured  to  reach  Paris.  In 
any  case  the  French  armies  would  have  had  their 
lines  of  retreat  open,  and  would  have  followed  the 
rules  of  prudent  strategy.  The  contrary  course, 
however,  was  adopted.  A  scheme  which  might  be 
attended  with  results  so  dazzling  seized  on  the 
imagination  of  the  ardent  Gambetta;  and  in  the 
last  days  of  December  Bourbaki,  leaving  one  corps 
under  Le  Comte  at  Bourges,  to  observe  the  move- 
ments of  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  set  off  with 
three  corps  from  his  headquarters  to  effect  a  junc- 
tion with  the  army  of  the  east,  a  portion  of  which 
was  to  co-operate  with  him. 

The  result  was  what  might  have  been  expected 
by  those  familiar  with  the  German  strategy.  Prince 
Frederick  Charles  no  sooner  saw  that  the  enemy, 
who  at  Bourges  and  Nevers  had  compelled  him  to 
remain  in  force  at  Orleans,  had  gone  away,  than 
he  instantly  prepared  to  turn  upon  Chanzy,  his 
nearest  antagonist,  and  if  possible  to  overwhelm 
him.  For  this  purpose  he  directed  a  general 
movement  of  his  whole  troops,  in  concert  with 
those  of  the  grand-duke,  against  Le   Mans;  and 


as  he  had  three  well-recruited  corps,  with  more 
than  300  guns,  and  the  grand-duke  had  perhaps 
60,000  men,  with  probably  detachments  from  the 
besiegers'  lines,  it  was  certain  that  this  splendid 
force  would  suffice  to  crush  a  French  army  com- 
posed chiefly  of  raw  levies,  and  hardly,  if  at  all, 
superior  in  numbers.  By  the  first  days  of  January 
the  broad  German  line,  extending  from  Chartres 
to  Beaugency,  was  in  full  march  on  the  positions 
of  the  enemy;  and  in  the  preceding  chapter  we 
have  traced  the  disastrous  fate  of  the  best  half 
of  one  of  the  largest  and  most  patriotic  French 
armies  the  campaign  produced. 

The  command  of  the  proposed  expedition  to 
the  east  was,  in  the  first  instance,  offered  by  M. 
Gambetta  to  the  staff  officer  who  had  devised  it. 
The  reason  why  he  declined  it,  and  the  manner 
in  which  it  was  ultimately  carried  out,  reveals 
with  fearful  significance  the  concurrence  of 
causes  which  contributed  to  the  misfortunes  of 
France.  Colonel  de  Bigot  refused  to  accept  the 
command,  "because  he  would  not  serve  under 
a  revolutionary  government ! "  and  the  choice  of 
M.  Gambetta  then  naturally  enough,  but  unfor- 
tunately, fell  on  Bourbaki,  who  did  not  thor- 
oughly apprehend  the  plan  he  was  commissioned 
to  execute.  Rightly  appreciating  the  necessity  of 
rapid  movements  and  good  lines  of  retreat,  Colonel 
Bigot  had  proposed  that  the  French  army  should 
advance  in  four  or  five  columns  at  least,  and 
should  especially  hold  in  force  the  passages  along 
the  Swiss  frontier.  For  this  purpose  he  had 
insisted  that  the  march  to  Belfort  should  be 
made  by  a  number  of  converging  routes,  and  that 
the  roads  by  Montbeliard  and  Pontarlier  should 
be  occupied  by  several  divisions.  Instead  of  this, 
Bourbaki  chose  to  move  with  the  great  mass  of 
his  men  in  a  single  column  through  the  rugged 
defiles  in  the  valley  between  the  Ognon  and  the 
Doubs,  throwing  out  only  very  feeble  wings. 
The  result  was,  of  course,  to  retard  his  progress, 
and  to  confine  him  almost  to  one  line  of  opera- 
tions. His  force  consisted  of  four  corps  of  three 
divisions  each  and  a  reserve  division,  and  numbered 
altogether  133,000  men  and  332  guns  and  mitrail- 
leuses. The  cavalry  were  hardly  worth  taking  into 
account,  being  composed  of  the  debris  of  all  sorts 
of  regiments,  and,  as  a  rule,  badly  mounted.  The 
infantry,  on  the  other  hand,  taken  altogether, 
were  good :  the  mobiles  especially  were  strong  and 
young ;  the  regiments  de  marche  were  indifferent, 


246 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


but  they  were  blest  with  officers  worthy  to  com- 
mand, whereas  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  officers  of 
mobiles  were  not  fit  to  be  corporals.  Though  the 
greater  number  were  supposed  to  have  had  four 
months'  training,  they  were  incapable  of  carrying 
out  the  orders  issued,  and  in  many  instances, 
under  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  had  to  be  shown  how 
to  execute  the  simplest  movements.  In  general, 
however,  they  were  not  wanting  in  courage.  It 
is  due  to  General  Bourbaki  to  say,  that  the  expedi- 
tion was  undertaken  in  spite  of  his  protest  that 
his  troops  were  not  equipped  and  supplied  for  an 
arduous  campaign;  though,  had  the  original  plan 
of  different  routes  been  adhered  to,  much  of  the 
misery  that  ensued  would  doubtless  have  been 
avoided.  As  it  was,  the  march  was  heart-rending; 
the  troops  were  half  famished  for  want  of  food, 
without  shoes,  and  starved  by  the  cold;  the  few 
staff  officers,  knowing  nothing,  were  continually 
giving  wrong  orders,  and  the  artillery  and  trains 
were  in  hopeless  confusion.  One  instance  will 
suffice.  On  the  very  day  of  the  first  attack  on 
Von  Werder,  when  it  might  be  supposed  moments 
were  of  priceless  importance,  the  division  of 
General  Cremer,  while  marching  to  take  the  Ger- 
mans in  rear  at  Prahier,  were  actually  cut  in  two 
by  the  eighteenth  corps  of  30,000  men  and  seventy- 
two  guns  marching  on  Chagey.  A  delay  of  three 
hours  took  place  before  the  two  corps  got  disen- 
tangled, and  the  contemplated  rear  attack  on  the 
enemy  never  took  place. 

As  already  mentioned,  General  Werder  retired 
from  Dijon  on  December  27,  to  Vesoul,  where  he 
arrived  on  the  30th.  Several  strategic  movements 
were  made  from  the  town,  with  the  intention  of 
deceiving  the  French,  and  gaining  time  for  reinforce- 
ments to  arrive.  Twice  the  whole  army  left  Vesoul, 
bag  and  baggage,  but  returned  the  same  evening, 
after  a  promenade  of  four  or  five  hours.  This  lured 
the  French  general  to  approach  within  a  couple  of 
leagues  of  Vesoul ;  but  as  it  was  a  strong  position, 
he  retreated  without  hazarding  an  attack.  Finding 
this,  on  the  9th  of  January  General  von  Werder 
quitted  Vesoul  to  take  up  a  strong  position  before 
Belfort,  at  Brevilliers.  On  his  way  he  met  a  part 
of  Bourbaki's  army  at  Villersexel,  and  a  desperate 
struggle  ensued  for  the  place,  from  which  an  active 
general  might  easily  have  outflanked  the  Germans. 
Werder  won  the  position,  capturing  some  1000 
prisoners,  but  gave  the  enemy  an  apparent  claim 
to    victory  by   immediately    evacuating    it.     The 


truth  was  that  a  part  of  his  forces  had  fought 
the  action  to  detain  the  French  and  give  time 
to  the  main  body  to  fall  back  to  strong  posi- 
tions before  Belfort,  along  the  east  side  of  the 
little  river  Lisane,  a  tributary  of  the  Doubs, 
from  Montbeliard  by  Hericourt  to  Chenebier. 
On  the  12th  January  Werder  reached  his  goal, 
his  army  was  completely  concentrated  and  strongly 
entrenched;  and  with  reinforcements  of  heavy 
guns  from  the  lines  around  Belfort,  he  confidently 
awaited  the  arrival  of  the  French.  Villersexel  was 
only  about  twenty  miles  from  the  Prussian  posi- 
tion at  Hericourt,  and  it  took  Bourbaki  five  days 
— from  the  9th  to  the  14th — to  bring  his  troops 
up  in  front  of  that  position,  so  as  to  be  able  to 
attack  it  next  morning  !  To  meet  the  133,000 
Frenchmen  now  before  him  General  Werder  had 
less  than  40,000  men,  of  whom  4000  were  cavalry, 
so  that  in  round  numbers  the  French  were  nearly 
four  to  one.  The  original  plan  of  Colonel  de 
Bigot  embraced  a  simultaneous  attack  upon  the 
front  and  rear  of  the  Germans,  which,  with  the 
immense  preponderance  of  men,  might  easily  have 
been  effected.  But  the  time  lost  by  the  French 
was  an  important  gain  to  their  enemy,  whose  dis- 
positions now  rendered  such  a  movement  extremely 
difficult,  and  the  attack  was  mainly  confined  to  the 
front  at  Hericourt. 

At  eight  o'clock  a.m.  on  the  morning  of  Sun- 
day, January  15,  General  Bourbaki  commenced 
the  attack  with  artillery,  which  kept  up  a  con- 
tinual fire  until  dusk.  The  small-arms,  which 
did  not  come  into  play  until  a  couple  of  hours 
later  in  the  morning,  never  ceased  throughout 
the  day,  and  at  about  four  o'clock  the  roar  of  all 
arms  was  fearful.  The  Germans  kept  steadily  the 
position  they  had  taken,  and  when  night  put  an 
end  to  the  conflict  they  bivouacked,  along  the 
whole  fine,  on  the  same  spot  on  which  they  were 
attacked  in  the  morning.  The  frost  was  about 
twenty-five  degrees  below  the  freezing  point,  and 
no  adequate  idea  can  be  formed  of  the  horrible 
sufferings  which  resulted  on  this  night  from  the 
defectiveness  of  the  French  arrangements.  To 
General  Cremer's  corps  was  intrusted  the  oper- 
ations against  the  extreme  right  of  the  Prussian 
position,  near  Chenebier,  and  of  all  Bourbaki's 
army  no  portion  had  made  such  energetic  efforts 
in  getting  to  the  scene  of  action.  It  had  been 
detained  at  Dijon  till  January  9  by  a  piteous 
call  from    Garibaldi,  who  mistook  the  appearance 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


247 


of  a  few  uhlans  at  Flavigny  and  Semur  for  an 
advance  of  the  whole  Prussian  army  on  the  capital 
of  Cote  d'Or.  By  forced  marches  the  corps 
reached  Lure  on  the  14th,  cold  and  liungry,  and 
wearied  with  a  march  of  twenty-five  miles  in  the 
snow.  Wearied,  as  may  be  imagined  when  it  is 
remembered  that  the  French  soldier  carried  sixty 
pounds;  and  cold,  because  shoe  leather  had  failed, 
and  in  many  instances  the  men  were  barefooted. 
Pushing  rapidly  on,  the  gallant  corps  reached 
Etoban  at  half-past  three  on  the  15th,  and  did  ex- 
cellent service  with  their  artillery  on  the  Prussian 
position  at  Chenebier.  Neither  officers  nor  men 
had  anything  to  eat  from  seven  a.m.  on  the  14th 
till  six  p.m.  on  the  15th,  although  during  that  time 
they  had  marched  over  forty  miles,  and  been  for 
several  hours  under  fire  of  the  enemy.  Night 
closed  in,  the  hardest  the  French  had  yet  known, 
and  the  Prussians  were  but  800  yards  distant 
from  the  main  body.  The  only  thought,  however, 
was  how  to  fight  against  the  cold,  and  contrary  to 
all  military  rule  fires  were  lit,  round  which  there 
huddled,  without  distinction  of  rank,  generals, 
officers,  and  men,  ay,  and  even  horses,  to  avoid 
being  frozen  to  death.  A  strong  cutting  wind 
swept  across  the  plateau,  carrying  before  it  blinding 
clouds  of  snow,  and  drifting  into  small  mounds 
that  buried  the  men  up  to  the  knee.  Sitting 
on  their  knapsacks  they  passed  the  night  with 
their  feet  almost  in  the  fires,  in  the  hope  of 
retaining  the  vital  heat.  Their  craving  for  food 
was  forgotten  in  the  torpor  that  gradually  stole 
over  the  camp,  and  the  rest  so  anxiously  looked 
forward  to  was  found  by  many  in  that  "  sleep 
which  knows  no  waking." 

Next  morning,  the  16th,  General  Bourbaki 
renewed  the  attack,  principally  on  the  right  wing, 
against  which  immense  masses  of  troops  were 
thrown  in  a  vain  endeavour  to  break  the  German 
line.  Had  that  object  been  accomplished  at  this 
point,  and  the  advantage  actively  pursued,  the 
French  would  have  obtained  the  considerable 
siege  material  before  Belfort;  the  investment  of 
that  place  would  have  been  raised;  fresh  troops 
would  have  been  thrown  into  the  garrison,  and 
a  further  supply  of  victuals  into  the  town;  the 
army  of  General  von  Werder,  if  not  beaten, 
must  have  retired,  and  it  would  then  have  been 
possible  at  once  to  cross  the  Rhine  and  carry  the 
war  into  German  territory  at  Baden.  On  the 
second  day,  as  on  the  first,   however,   along  the 


whole  line  the  inflexible  German  troops  remained 
almost  unshaken  in  their  position:  almost,  for 
the  divisions  under  General  Cremer,  by  far  the 
best  of  Bourbaki's  force,  succeeded  in  an  attack 
on  Chenebier,  and  a  bold,  well-supported  flank 
movement  at  this  crisis  would  have  enabled  the 
assailants  to  reach  Belfort.  As,  however,  on  so 
many  other  occasions  during  the  war,  the  French 
success  was  not  followed  up,  and  the  Germans 
were  allowed  to  take  up  a  still  stronger  position 
at  Frahier.  In  the  attack  the  French  sustained 
a  very  heavy  loss,  and  that  of  the  Germans  was 
much  greater  than  on  the  first  day,  when  it  was 
only  from  200  to  300.  On  the  second  it  was 
nearly  1200,  principally  at  Chenebier  and  Champ- 
ney.  In  killed,  wounded,  and  taken  prisoners, 
the  French  lost  a  far  greater  number  ;  while  the 
waste  of  ammunition  may  be  conceived  from  the 
fact  that  on  one  acre  of  ground,  where  there  was 
not  a  single  man,  about  a  thousand  shells  were 
thrown.  The  mitrailleuses  made  a  fearful  uproar, 
but  either  they  were  difficult  to  manage  or  were 
ill  served,  for  they  did  comparatively  little  damage. 
When  they  did  strike,  however,  the  result  was  mur- 
derous; twenty-one  men  were  killed  and  wounded 
by  one  volley.  The  fire  of  the  Germans  on  this 
occasion  was  marked  by  a  precision  perhaps  never 
before  equalled.  Near  Bussurel  an  attack  was 
made  on  a  battalion  of  landwehr  by  600  French, 
who  were  allowed  to  come  within  150  paces,  when 
the  Germans  fired  and  killed  or  wounded  the 
whole  600,  with  the  exception  of  forty-two,  who, 
panic-stricken,  were  made  prisoners.  Again,  the 
second  day,  the  German  army  bivouacked  on  the 
ground  they  had  taken  up  in  the  morning. 

The  third  day,  January  17,  the  attack  was 
renewed,  but  faintly.  Bourbaki's  orders  clearly 
showed  that  he  had  lost  all  confidence,  not  only 
in  his  men  but  in  himself;  and  in  the  afternoon 
he  directed  a  retreat  along  his  whole  line,  having 
failed  to  attain  even  his  first  object,  much  more 
to  reach  the  German  communications.  The  luck- 
less commander  retreated  by  the  narrow  valley 
through  which  he  had  advanced,  and  it  was 
not  until  the  22nd  that  his  army,  a  beaten  and 
disbanded  mass,  found  a  temporary  shelter  under 
the  guns  of  Besancon. 

In  this  three  days'  battle  133,000  Frenchmen 
fought  against  35,000  to  40,000  Germans,  and 
could  not  force  their  entrenched  position.  With 
such   a   numerical  superiority,    the   boldest  flank 


248 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


movements  were  possible.  Fifty  thousand  men 
resolutely  thrown  upon  the  rear  of  the  Ger- 
mans, while  the  rest  occupied  them  in  front,  could 
scarcely  have  failed  to  force  them  from  their 
position.  But  merely  its  entrenched  front  was 
attacked,  with  immense  loss  as  the  result.  The 
flank  attacks  were  carried  out  so  weakly  that 
a  single  brigade  (Keller's,)  not  only  sufficed  to 
counteract  that  on  the  German  right,  but  to  hold 
Frahier,  and  ultimately  Chenebier,  so  as  in  turn 
to  outflank  the  French.  Bourbaki's  young  troops 
were  thus  put  to  the  severest  task  which  can  be 
found  for  a  soldier  in  battle ;  while  their  superior 
numbers  would  have  rendered  it  easier  to  carry 
the  position  by  manoeuvring. 

Though  successful,  the  troops  of  Von  Werder 
were  sorely  tried  in  the  engagements;  and  not 
until  the  20th,  two  days  after  Bourbaki's  retreat, 
were  they  able  to  commence  the  pursuit.  For 
three  nights  in  severe  frost,  and  a  fourth  under 
a  complete  thaw,  the  Germans  had  bivouacked 
on  the  field,  and  had  made  efforts  which  perhaps 
have  never  been  surpassed,  if  equalled,  in  the  long 
roll  of  battles.  When  it  is  considered  that  this 
defence  was  made  between  two  hostile  fortresses 
(Belfort  on  the  north,  not  four  miles  distant,  and 
Besancon,  from  two  to  three  days'  march  to  the 
south-west),  against  an  enemy  very  nearly  four 
times  as  numerous,  who  never  once  shook  the 
German  position,  the  brilliancy  of  such  a  defence 
and  the  heroism  of  the  troops  will  remain  one  of 
the  greatest  achievements  of  the  war. 

On  the  20th  General  Werder  began  his  south- 
ward march,  and  found  everywhere  traces  of  an 
army  not  only  demoralized  but  starving.  The 
road  as  far  as  Eougemont  was  strewn  with  knap- 
sacks, broken  Chassepots  and  swords,  cartouche 
pouches,  caps,  cooking  utensils,  and  indescribable 
refuse.  Dead  horses  abounded,  from  which  the  flesh 
had  been  hacked  as  they  lay.  By  the  23rd 
12,000  prisoners  had  been  taken.  The  French 
army,  in  fact,  was  in  a  state  of  dissolution,  when 
a  new  enemy  descended  on  its  path. 

The  French  operations  had  been  arranged  with 
the  greatest  possible  secrecy  ;  but  Von  Moltke 
seems  from  the  first  to  have  divined  Bourbaki's 
mission,  and  set  himself  to  baffle,  and,  if  fortune 
favoured,  to  defeat  and  crush  him.  The  stage 
which  the  siege  of  Paris  had  reached  enabled 
the  great  strategist  to  diminish  the  force  of  the 
investing  army,  and  a  whole  corps  (the  second) 


was  directed  from  the  capital  to  watch  from  Troyes 
and  Chatillon-sur-Seine  the  operations  of  Bour- 
baki's army.  This  corps,  supported  by  some  divi- 
sions from  Metz  and  the  German  army  of  the  north, 
was  placed  under  the  command  of  Manteuffel,  with 
orders  to  push  forward  rapidly,  as  soon  as  Bourbaki 
had  begun  his  march  to  Belfort,  and  fall  on  his 
flank  and  rear.  Disregarding  all  obstacles,  the 
Germans,  not  more  than  50,000  strong,  but  well 
provided,  in  perfect  order,  and  in  the  highest  state 
of  efficiency  for  war,  were  soon,  therefore,  closing  in 
upon  him.  The  four  divisions  comprising  the  expedi- 
tion were  concentrated  about  Chatillon  on  the  12th 
of  January,  when  Manteuffel  arrived  from  Versailles 
to  take  personal  command.  To  move  rapidly  to 
Werder 's  aid  it  was  necessary  to  cross  the  hills  as 
directly  as  possible,  and  the  chief  routes  were  closed 
by  the  French  holding  Dijon  and  Langres.  The 
march  was,  however,  commenced  without  delay  on 
the  three  cross-roads  between  those  places  which 
debouched  at  Selongey,  Pranthoy,  and  Longueau, 
into  the  great  valley  which  runs  north  and  south 
between  the  Cote  d'Or  and  the  Vosges  and  Jura 
ranges.  The  second  corps,  being  to  the  right  or 
south  on  the  march,  detached  Kettler's  brigade  on 
Dijon  to  keep  Garibaldi  occupied.  The  roads, 
naturally  bad,  were  rendered  almost  impassable 
for  artillery  by  the  frost;  but  large  working 
parties  dragged  the  guns  up  the  slippery  inclines; 
and  through  the  untiring  exertions  of  men  and 
officers  the  main  body  of  the  army  was  debouch- 
ing from  the  hills  by  the  18th,  undiscovered  by 
the  French  on  either  side.  On  the  19th  the  ad- 
vance reached  the  valley  of  the  Saone.  At  this 
time  it  was  intended  to  continue  the  movement 
eastward  on  Belfort;  but  news  of  Werder's  successes 
before  that  place,  and  of  the  retreat  of  Bourbaki,  now 
reached  Manteuffel,  who  swung  round  to  his  right, 
and  turned  southwards  to  intercept  the  French. 

For  several  days  the  detachment  left  at  Dijon 
furnished  ample  employment  for  Garibaldi,  who 
imagined  himself  and  his  troops  to  be  hemmed  in 
by  a  besieging  host.  To  sustain  this  idea  some 
attacks  were  made  by  his  opponents,  and  as  they 
were  "  victoriously  repulsed,"  the  old  general  pub- 
lished flaming  proclamations,  congratulating  his 
men  upon  having  "  conquered  the  most  experi- 
enced troops  in  the  world."  "  In  an  obstinate 
two  days'  struggle,"  he  added,  "  you  have  written 
a  glorious  page  in  the  annals  of  the  republic,  and 
the  oppressors  of  the  great  human  family  will  once 


a  rn  i  h  i[  i 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


249 


more  recognize  in  you  the  noble  champions  of 
right  and  justice."  In  a  defence  of  his  military 
conduct  afterwards  published  in  the  Italian  papers, 
it  transpired  that  General  Garibaldi  was  all  this 
time  utterly  ignorant  of  the  manoeuvres  of  the 
Germans  which  were  going  on  around  him.  The 
detachment  from  Manteuffel's  force  thus  effectually 
hoodwinked  him,  while  the  main  body  of  the  army 
moved  past  his  position  to  accumulate  upon  Bour- 
baki's  rear.  Manteuffel  reached  Dole  on  the  24th, 
and  here  captured  230  railway  waggons  loaded 
with  provisions,  forage,  and  clothing — an  irre- 
parable disaster  under  the  circumstances  to  the 
now  hardly-pressed  French.  From  Dole  the 
Germans  crossed  the  Doubs,  and  rapidly  marched 
to  seize  the  defiles  along  the  Swiss  frontier,  and 
thus  hem  in  their  intended  victim. 

Bourbaki  reached  Besancon  on  the  22nd,  where 
with  fatal  irresolution  he  halted  until  the  26th, 
issuing  orders,  meanwhile,  which  can  only  be 
explained  on  the  supposition  of  his  utter  bewilder- 
ment. The  ex-commander  of  the  imperial  guard 
may  have  been  a  dashing  officer  at  the  head  of 
a  division;  but  the  nerve  required  to  brace  oneself 
up  to  a  bold  resolution  in  a  decisive  moment  is 
very  different  from  that  which  enables  one  to 
command  a  division  with  Mat  under  fire;  and 
like  many  men  of  undoubted  personal  bravery, 
Bourbaki  seemed  deficient  in  the  moral  courage 
so  necessary  to  decision  of  character  and  prompti- 
tude in  action.  From  the  moment  when  he  saw 
that  he  could  not  pierce  Werder's  lines,  his  mind 
ought  to  have  been  made  up  as  to  the  course  he 
should  take.  He  must  have  known  that  Prussian 
reinforcements  were  approaching  his  line  of  retreat 
from  the  north-west;  that  his  position,  with  a 
victorious  enemy  in  his  front  and  a  long  line  of 
retreat,  close  to  a  neutral  frontier,  in  his  rear,  was 
extremely  dangerous;  that  in  regard  to  its  object 
this  expedition  had  irretrievably  failed;  and  that 
his  most  pressing,  nay,  his  only  duty,  under  the 
circumstances,  was  to  save  his  army  by  retiring 
as  hastily  as  he  could.  But  the  resolution  to 
retire,  involving  as  it  did  a  practical  confession 
that  he  had  failed  in  his  expedition,  appears  to 
have  been  too  much  for  him.  He  dallied  about 
as  if  loath  to  quit  the  scene  of  his  last  battles, 
unable  to  advance,  unwilling  to  retreat,  and  thus 
gave  Manteuffel  the  time  to  cut  off  his  retreat. 
After  four  days  of  inactivity  a  reckless  order  for 
a    retreat    southwards     towards    Lons-le-Saulnier 


was  given;  but  at  that  very  time  the  Germans 
at  Mouchard  and  Salins  were  nearer  the  Swiss 
frontier  than  the  fugitives,  and  their  retreat  was 
virtually  cut  off.  It  was  no  longer  a  race;  for  the 
Germans  could  occupy  leisurely  the  outlets  of  all 
the  valleys  by  which  escape  was  possible,  while 
Von  Werder  pressed  on  the  French  rear.  The 
unhappy  Bourbaki,  frenzied  by  finding  his  enemies 
thus  closing  in  upon  him,  madly  shot  himself,  and 
his  ruined  army  rushed  forth  from  Besancon  almost 
literally  without  a  commander.  The  horrors  of 
that  flight  were  like  those  of  the  retreat  from 
Moscow;  cold,  hunger,  and  terror  soon  breaking 
up  the  mass  into  a  horde  of  pitiful  fugitives. 

Such  was  the  situation  of  military  affairs  in 
the  east  of  France  when  Paris  capitulated  and  M. 
Jules  Favre  negotiated  the  armistice.  Count  von 
Bismarck,  desirous  that  Belfort  should  be  in  Ger- 
man hands  when  terms  of  peace  were  discussed, 
demanded  that  the  fortress  should  be  surrendered. 
As  he  must  have  expected,  this  demand  was 
refused,  and  he  therefore  declared  that  the  siege 
operations  must  go  on.  M.  Jules  Favre  had  been 
for  months  past  shut  up  in  the  besieged  capital, 
and  if  he  knew  aught  of  the  operations  in  the 
east,  it  was  only  through  the  medium  of  a 
sanguine  despatch  from  M.  Gambetta,  conveyed 
through  the  precarious  pigeon  post.  Having, 
therefore,  no  definite  idea  of  the  real  state  of 
matters,  he  actually  stipulated  that  if  Werder  were 
left  at  liberty  to  besiege  Belfort,  Bourbaki  should 
be  free  to  endeavour  to  raise  the  siege.  The 
stipulation  was  acceded  to,  and  the  consequence 
of  M.  Favre's  ignorance  was  that  the  army  of  the 
east,  of  which,  since  the  incapacity  of  Bourbaki, 
General  Clinchamp  had  taken  the  command,  was 
given  over  to  the  last  horrors  of  defeat.  Driven 
like  a  flock  of  sheep  into  a  mountainous  country, 
where  skilful  leading  alone  could  have  saved  even 
well- formed  and  well-disciplined  troops;  hemmed 
in  upon  the  Swiss  frontier  without  hope  of  escape; 
pressed  closer  and  ever  closer  by  a  relentless 
enemy — the  army  lost  provision  waggons  by  the 
hundred,  and  the  men  walked  they  hardly  knew 
whither,  over  icy  roads  or  through  the  deep  snow, 
day  after  day.  General  Clinchamp  made  a  last  effort 
to  escape  by  the  only  route  which  he  could  now 
hope  might  be  open;  but  in  anticipation  of  this 
the  narrow  strip  of  country  along  the  NeufcMtel 
frontier  was  already  blocked  by  the  columns  of 
Manteuffel.  A  series  of  running  fights  ensued 
2i 


250 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


near  Pontarlier,  which  ended  in  the  French  being 
fairly  driven  over  the  frontier.  A  convention 
was  signed  between  General  Clinchamp  and  the 
Swiss  General  Herzog,  who  with  a  large  force  had 
been  guarding  the  neutral  line;  and  on  the  1st 
of  February  the  relics  of  what  had  once  been  an 
army  of  133,000  men  crossed  that  line  and  laid 
down  their  arms.  The  Germans  had  captured  about 
15,000  men,  with  19  guns,  before  their  escape  to 
neutral  territory  could  be  effected;  while  84,000 
surrendered  to  the  Swiss.  Most  of  these  unfortun- 
ate men — surely  the  most  to  be  pitied  of  any  of  the 
victims  of  the  war — arrived  in  Switzerland  in  a 
state  which  defies  description.  Their  clothes  were 
rent,  and  dropping  off  them  in  tatters;  their  feet 
and  hands  were  frost-bitten.  While  the  shrunk 
features  and  crouching  gait  told  of  gnawing  hunger, 
the  deep  cough  and  hoarse  voice  bore  witness  to 
long  nights  spent  on  snow  and  frozen  ground. 
Some  had  bits  of  wood  under  their  bare  feet  to 
protect  them  from  the  stones;  others  wore  wooden 
sabots ;  hundreds  had  merely  thin  cotton  socks, 
and  many  none  at  all ;  others  who  appeared  well 
shod  would  show  a  boot  without  sole  or  heel — the 
exposed  part  of  the  foot,  once  frozen,  now  present- 
ing a  wound  crusted  with  dirt.  For  weeks  none 
had  washed  or  changed  their  clothes,  or  put  ofF 
their  boots.  Their  hands  were  blacker  than  any 
African's.  Some  had  lost  their  toes;  the  limbs  of 
others  were  so  frozen  that  every  movement  was 
agony.  The  men  stated  that  for  three  days  they 
had  neither  food  nor  fodder  served  out  to  them, 
and  that  even  prior  to  that  period  of  absolute 
famine  one  loaf  was  often  shared  between  eight  of 
them.  One  corps,  the  twenty- fourth,  escaped,  and 
regained  Lyons;  but  with  this  exception,  such  was 
the  melancholy  fate  of  the  army  led  by  the  brave 
and  brilliant  Bourbaki.  It  was  ill  organized,  ill 
formed,  and  execrably  led;  for  the  officers  of  the 
general's  staff  proved  themselves  ignorant  of  the 
very  roads  of  their  own  country,  and  continually 
compromised  the  safety  of  the  corps  by  their  mis- 
takes. Yet  such  as  it  was,  its  capabilities,  or  what 
were  deemed  such,  caused  for  the  first  fortnight  of 
the  year  much  anxiety  at  Versailles ;  and  the  Ger- 
man emperor  celebrated  its  defeat  in  the  battles  of 
January  15,  16,  and  17,  by  the  bestowal  of  pre- 
eminent honours  and  rewards  upon  General  Wer- 
der,  the  commander.  On  the  18  th  of  January  the 
emperor  sent  the  oak-leaf  for  the  Order  of  Merit, 
which  General  Werder  had  already  received.     On 


the  20th  he  issued  150  Orders  of  the  Iron  Cross 
for  distribution  among  the  army,  accompanied  with 
the  following  telegram : — ■ 

"  Versailles,  January  20. 
"  General  von  Werder, — Your  heroic  three  days 
victorious  defence  of  your  position,  in  the  rear  of 
a  besieged  fortress,  is  one  of  the  greatest  feats  of 
arms  in  all  history. 

"  I  express  my  royal  thanks,  my  deepest  ack- 
nowledgments, and  bestow  upon  you  the  Grand 
Cross  of  the  Red  Eagle,  with  the  Sword,  as  a  proof 
of  this  acknowledgment. 

"  Your  grateful  king, 

"  WILLIAM." 

The  catastrophe  of  Bourbaki's  army  was  the 
Sedan  of  the  war  in  its  second  phase.  In  a  purely 
military  point  of  view  it  was  as  heavy  a  blow  as 
the  fall  of  Paris,  for  it  deprived  France  of  the 
only  force  available  to  defend  the  east  and  centre. 
Though  not  necessarily  the  result  of  the  false 
strategy  we  have  described,  it  must,  in  a  good 
measure,  be  ascribed  to  it;  though  doubtless  the 
main  causes  were  the  disorganized  state  of  Bour- 
baki's troops,  his  own  incapacity,  and  the  great 
ability  with  which  Manteuffel's  movements  against 
him  were  directed.  If  Von  Moltke  had  never 
done  anything  else,  this  single  operation  would 
mark  him  out  as  one  of  the  master  spirits  of  war ; 
nor  less  admirable  were  the  precision,  the  intelli- 
gence, and  the  promptitude  with  which  the  Ger- 
mans went  down  on  their  foe.  The  march  of 
ManteufFel  has,  perhaps,  not  a  parallel  in  modern 
war,  and  formed  a  most  striking  proof  of  the 
perfection  of  the  Prussian  administration  of  sup- 
plies upon  the  march.  In  sixteen  days  his  force, 
with  all  its  trains  of  necessaries  and  other  impedi- 
ments, crossed  two  ranges  of  mountains  over  by- 
roads; and,  leaving  enemies  on  each  flank,  and 
passing  through  the  heart  of  one  poor  and  hostile 
district,  plunged  directly  into  another  equally  poor 
and  hostile,  to  intercept  and  finally  destroy  an  army 
numerically  twice  as  large.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
uselessness  of  attempting  great  combinations  with 
undisciplined  troops  and  an  inefficient  commis- 
sariat, was  shown  at  every  stage  of  the  miserable 
failure  in  which  Bourbaki's  career  well-nigh  ended. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  the  news  of  Bour- 
baki's reverses  reached  him,  Garibaldi  withdrew, 
comparatively  unmolested,  into  a  department  pro- 
tected by  the  armistice,  and  Dijon  was  immediately 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


251 


reoccupied  by  the  Germans.  The  part  which  he 
played  in  the  war,  although  doubtless  well-meant, 
will  always  form  one  of  the  most  singular  and 
humiliating  features  of  the  struggle.  To  the  dire 
necessities  of  the  nation  alone  he  owed  his  position 
in  France.  The  fanciful  garb  and  swaggering 
mien  of  the  foreign  adventurers  who  followed  him, 
caused  them  to  be  sneered  at  as  "  Franconi's 
circus;"  but  in  the  anguish  of  her  defeat  France 
was  loath  to  part  with  even  the  least  chance  of 
deliverance,  and  Ricciotti's  success  at  Chatillon, 
and  the  capture  of  the  one  Prussian  flag  at  Dijon 
on  January  23,  reconciled  many  Frenchmen  to 
the  presence  of  the  Garibaldini.  But  unfortu- 
nately for  himself,  the  general  was  loudly  blowing 
his  own  trumpet  at  Dijon,  and  claiming  a  great 
victory,  at  the  very  time  when  he  was  duped  by 
Manteuffel  and  prevented  from  rendering  any  aid 
to  Bourbaki.  Scarcely  troubling  himself  to  inquire 
how  it  was  that,  in  the  midst  of  his  fancied  triumph, 
he  found  himself  in  full  retreat,  Garibaldi  heard  of 
his  return  as  a  member  of  the  National  Assembly, 
and  leaving  his  disorderly  army  to  take  care  of 
itself,  he  made  his  way  to  Bordeaux.  He  had  on 
his  arrival  his  programme  all  ready ;  he  would  vote 
for  a  republic,  and  for  a  peace  on  the  conditions 
of  the  status  quo  ante  helium,  allowing  the  Ger- 
mans only  a  pecuniary  indemnity,  to  be  paid  by 
the  partisans  of  the  empire  and  by  the  priests.  On 
the  following  day  he  resigned  both  his  seat  in  the 
Chamber  and  his  command  in  the  army ;  and 
asserting  that  his  duty  was  at  an  end  and  his 
mission  concluded,  he  retired  to  Caprera. 

Of  all  sieges  during  the  war  that  of  Belfort  was 
the  most  prolonged,  and  the  most  trying  equally 
to  victors  and  vanquished.  The  fortress  was 
invested  on  the  3rd  of  November,  but  not  until 
the  3rd  of  December  was  a  formal  bombardment 
opened,  which  down  to  the  18th  of  February 
was  kept  up  almost  continuously  night  and  day, 
For  seventy-three  days  without  interruption  the 
civil  population  lived  in  the  vaults  and  cellars  of 
the  town.  At  the  moment  of  investment  the 
population,  usually  8000,  numbered  about  6000. 
There  was  a  garrison  of  16,000  troops,  composed 
of  gardes  mobiles,  with  a  fair  proportion  of  line, 
artillery,  and  457  officers.  These  at  the  close  were 
reduced,  by  wounds,  disease,  and  some  slight  deser- 
tions, to  13,500,  and  400  of  the  population  perished 
during  the  siege. 

The  besieging  force  seized  early  upon  the  posi- 


tion occupied  by  the  Prussians  in  1814 — that  is,  the 
villages  of  Danjoutin  and  Bauvilliers — the  south 
or  Swiss  side  raking  the  town  and  forts  in  profile, 
and  intercepting  the  approach  of  a  relieving  army 
from  the  east;  but  the  heights  to  the  right  and 
left,  those  of  the  two  Perches  and  of  Bellevue,  from 
which  in  1814  the  town  was  bombarded,  were 
crowned  with  recently  constructed  forts,  with 
which  an  incessant  contest  had  to  be  maintained. 
The  most  noticeable  incident  of  the  siege  oc- 
curred on  the  night  of  January  26,  by  which 
time  the  besiegers'  parallels  were  within  thirty 
yards  of  the  two  forts.  Then  the  assault  was 
delivered.  Through  the  Bois  des  Perches,  the 
trees  of  which  had  been  cut  to  spikes,  pressed 
the  heavy  German  columns,  to  be  received  by  a 
murderous  fire.  That  night,  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  prisoners,  they  lost  nearly  1000  men.  The 
assault  failed,  but  the  next  day  the  French 
vacated  the  two  forts.  The  tidings  of  their 
abandonment  were  communicated  by  some  de- 
serters, and  the  besiegers  lost  no  time  in  occupying 
them  and  placing  guns  in  position.  From  this 
moment  the  fate  of  Belfort  was  decided.  The 
fort  of  Bellevue  opposite,  at  a  lower  altitude,  was 
speedily  silenced.  The  population  were  notified 
by  M.  Denfert  Kocherau,  the  commandant,  that 
beyond  a  certain  point  no  fortress  was  defensible; 
and  its  condition  having  been  communicated  to 
the  Paris  government,  their  despatch  authorizing 
surrender  relieved  the  garrison  from  hopeless 
resistance,  and  the  town  from  imminent  destruc- 
tion. Belfort  passed  through  a  somewhat  similar 
ordeal  in  1814,  when  it  was  bombarded  by  the 
Allies,  and  from  the  very  heights  which  now 
were  French  forts;  but  the  power  of  the  artillery, 
though  at  a  longer  distance,  was  so  much  greater 
now  than  then  that  it  did  much  more  injury. 
Then,  as  on  the  present  occasion,  the  town  sur- 
rendered only  in  consequence  of  negotiations 
preliminary  to  peace.  The  troops  were  allowed 
to  quit  with  the  honours  of  war  the  place  they 
had  so  well  defended,  and  the  garrison  marched 
out  with  arms  and  baggage,  taking  with  them 
also  their  papers  and  archives.  The  town  was 
originally  included  in  the  territory  demanded  by 
the  Prussians  preliminary  to  peace;  but  Count  von 
Bismarck  ultimately  offered  to  yield  it  on  con- 
dition of  the  German  occupation  of  Paris  ;  and  to 
save  a  position  of  such  importance,  M.  Thiers  con- 
sented to  this  last  act  of  humiliation  for  the  capital. 


CHAPTER      XXIX. 


Keeling  in  Paris  after  the  Sortie  on  November  30  and  December  2 — Communications  between  Count  von  Moltke  and  General  Trocha  as  to  the 
Fall  of  Orleans — Paris  Determines  to  Resist  to  the  Last — Disbandment  of  some  of  the  Republican  National  Guards — Difficulties  of  the 
Government  with  the  Democratic  Clubs,  which  advocate  most  Extreme  Measures — Irritation  amongst  the  Germans  at  the  Long  Continu- 
ance of  the  Struggle,  and  Preparations  for  the  Bombardment  of  the  City — Presentation  of  an  Address  to  the  King  of  Prussia  on  the 
Unification  of  Germany,  and  His  Majesty's  Reply — Proclamation  of  General  Trochu  to  the  Army,  and  Reception  of  Encouraging  News  from 
M.  Gambetta — Great  Sortie  at  Three  Different  Points  on  December  21 — Description  of  the  Engagements  and  their  Results — Severity  of 
the  Cold,  and  Sufferings  of  the  French  in  Consequence — Christmas  Inside  and  Outside  the  City — Commencement  of  Active  Siege  Operations, 
and  Capture  of  Fort  Avron  by  the  Germans — The  Last  Days  of  1870  in  Paris — Waflt  of  Food  and  Fuel — Bombardment  of  the  City — 
Renewed  Determination  to  resist  on  the  part  of  the  Inhabitants — Results  of  the  German  Fire — Remonstrances  of  M.  Jules  Favre  and  the 
Diplomatic  Agents  against  the  Destruction  of  Hospitals,  Churches,  and  Schools,  and  Count  von  Moltke's  Reply — Installation  of  the  King  of 
Prussia  as  Emperor  of  Germany  at  Versailles — Description  of  the  Ceremony,  and  Address  of  the  King — Bloody  Sortie  on  January  21 — 
The  Germans  at  first  surprised,  and  Desperate  Fighting  on  both  Sides — The  French  unable  to  maintain  their  First  Successes — Excited 
State  of  Public  Feeling  in  the  City  during  the  Fight,  and  Despair  when  the  Soldiers  returned — Military  Reflections  on  the  Engagement. 


Although  the  result  of  the  great  sortie  on  No- 
vember 30  and  December  2,  described  at  the  close 
of  Chapter  XXIV.,  failed  to  secure  any  advan- 
tage to  the  besieged,  the  Parisians  were  fain  to 
believe  that  the  retrograde  movement  of  their 
troops  on  that  occasion  had  only  been  undertaken 
with  a  view  to  future  and  more  effective  operations. 
In  fact,  the  prevailing  opinion  was  that  the  retreat 
was  purely  strategical,  and  that  the  army  encamped 
in  the  Bois  de  Vincennes  was  yet  destined  to  re- 
trieve the  fortunes  of  the  capital.  It  was  even 
currently  reported  in  tbe  city  that  the  Prussians 
had  evacuated  Versailles,  and  crowds  assembled  in 
the  public  places,  hoping  to  find  the  information 
officially  confirmed.  These  illusions,  however, 
were  rapidly  dispelled.  The  German  successes 
at  Orleans  on  December  4  were  immediately  com- 
municated to  General  Trochu  by  General  von 
Moltke ;  with  an  offer  that,  if  he  deemed  it  expe- 
dient to  receive  confirmation  of  the  fact  through 
one  of  his  own  officers,  a  safe  conduct  to  come  and 
return  should  be  provided  for  him.  This  intelli- 
gence was,  of  course,  forwarded  in  the  hope  that 
the  government  of  Defence  would  see  from  it  the 
desperate  character  of  their  position,  and  be  induced 
to  capitulate  ;  and  when  the  document  was  dis- 
cussed at  a  council  of  ministers,  the  minister  of 
Finance,  M.  Ernest  Picard,  seemed  disposed  to 
embrace  the  opportunity  of  considering  whether 
a  cessation  of  hostilities  were  possible.  Whatever 
impression  his  counsels  might  have  made  upon 
his  colleagues,  was  speedily  nullified  by  the 
determined  course  of  the  governor  of  Paris,  whose 
conduct  on  this  occasion  was  certainly  not  that  of 
a  man  who  thought  himself  engaged  in  a  hopeless 


cause.  General  Trochu  contended  that  the  over- 
tures of  the  enemy  went  to  prove  their  critical 
position  in  the  heart  of  a  hostile  country  in  mid- 
winter; that  the  victory  at  Orleans  might  not  be 
so  conclusive  as  was  represented  ;  and  that  every- 
thing was  to  be  gained  by  continuing  the  struggle 
until  help  came  from  the  provinces,  as  Paris  could 
still  hold  out,  and  victories  might  follow  reverses. 
Accordingly,  yielding  to  his  eloquence  and  enthu- 
siasm, the  council  decided  unanimously  on  the 
continuance  of  the  war,  and  the  German  parlemen- 
taire  was  despatched  with  a  reply  declining  Count 
von  Moltke's  offer. 

The  Parisians  were  immediately  informed  of 
this  interchange  of  correspondence  by  a  note  sent 
to  the  press,  in  which  the  members  of  the  govern- 
ment again  expressed  their  determination  to  prose- 
cute the  defence  with  vigour.  "  This  news,"  said 
they,  "  which  reaches  us  through  the  enemy, 
supposing  it  to  be  accurate,  does  not  deprive  us  of 
our  right  to  rely  on  the  great  movement  of  France 
rushing  to  our  relief.  It  changes  nothing  either 
in  our  resolutions  or  our  duties.  A  single  word 
sums  them  up — to  fight !  Long  live  France  I 
Long  live  the  Eepublic  !" 

A  profound  impression  was,  however,  produced 
in  the  city  by  the  intelligence.  The  question  as  to 
the  truth  and  importance  of  General  von  Moltke's 
communication  was  freely  discussed,  and  led  to 
the  expression  of  very  conflicting  opinions;  but  at 
best  the  tidings  were  unwelcome,  and  confirmed 
the  misgiving  which  now  prevailed  respecting 
the  possibility  of  averting  the  fall  of  the  capital. 

On  December  8  a  decree  was  published  dis- 
banding   the    tirailleurs    of   Belleville,   consisting 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


253 


chiefly  of  red  republicans.  They  had  repeatedly 
demanded  to  be  led  against  the  enemy,  but  on  the 
only  occasion  on  •which  they  were  called  to  encoun- 
ter the  least  danger  they  had  behaved  in  the  most 
cowardly  and  disgraceful  manner;  many  of  them 
afterwards  deserted,  and  it  was  next  to  impossible 
to  maintain  even  the  appearance  of  discipline 
amongst  the  remainder,  either  officers  or  men. 
In  fact,  they  were  useless  for  service,  and  were, 
moreover,  on  such  bad  terms  with  the  battalion 
of  La  Villette,  that  a  barricade  had  been  erected 
in  the  trenches  to  separate  them,  and  prevent 
collision  !  A  day  or  two  later  another  order  of  the 
day  was  published,  dissolving  the  battalion  known 
as  the  volunteers  of  the  147th.  It  had  received 
orders  to  proceed  to  Eosny,  but  mustered  only  100 
men,  half  of  whom  presented  themselves  without 
arms.  The  battalion  refused  to  march,  on  the  plea 
that  their  wives  had  not  been  paid  the  allowance 
which,  by  order  of  the  government,  they  were  to 
receive  while  their  husbands  were  in  the  field. 

While  these  extreme  military  measures  were 
required  to  preserve  discipline  in  the  ranks  of  the 
disaffected  national  guards,  the  government  expe- 
rienced no  small  difficulty  through  democratic 
clubs  inside  the  city.  At  most  of  these  gatherings 
the  authorities  were  loudly  denounced  as  betrayers 
of  the  republic  ;  and  at  one  of  them  a  motion  was 
proposed,  signed  by  M.  Ledru-Rollin,  calling  on 
them  to  renounce  the  idea  of  capitulation,  and  to 
make  a  sortie  en  masse,  so  as  to  force  the  Prussian 
lines  and  deliver  Paris  with  the  least  possible 
delay !  It  was  urged,  with  somewhat  more  reason 
than  was  displayed  in  the  discussion  of  other 
matters,  that  battle  should  be  given  to  the  enemy 
before  famine  had  weakened  the  bodies  and  damped 
the  courage  of  the  people.  Eight  days — a  space 
which  was  considerably  reduced  by  the  more  enthu- 
siastic— were  allowed  the  government  to  raise  the 
siege.  If  they  failed  to  do  anything  within  that 
period,  they  were  threatened  with  another  demon- 
stration at  the  H6tel  de  Ville  and  the  proclamation 
of  the  Commune. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  prolongation  of  the 
struggle  was  causing  irritation,  not  only  in  the 
besieging  camp  but  throughout  Germany,  and  in 
some  quarters  a  change  of  tactics  was  warmly 
urged,  to  bring  about  the  capitulation  of  the  city. 
Preparations  for  bombardment  were  therefore  car- 
ried on,  but  the  plan  of  "waiting  and  watching" 
was  still  continued.    The  weak  points  of  the  Ger- 


man investment  were  also  strengthened,  although 
the  general  feeling  was  that  the  delay  in  striking 
a  successful  blow  from  inside  the  city  had  ren- 
dered General  Trochu's  operations  comparatively 
hopeless.  The  promised  relief  had  failed;  the 
army  by  which  it  was  to  be  achieved  had  been 
hurled  back  beyond  the  Loire;  and  although  the 
besieged  garrison  might  make  a  gallant  effort, 
the  Germans  entertained  little  apprehension  of 
their  succeeding  in  breaking  through  the  lines 
of  investment. 

On  the  afternoon  of  December  16  a  deputation 
of  thirty  members  from  the  North  German  Reichs- 
tag, headed  by  the  president,  Herr  Simson,  arrived 
at  Versailles  with  an  address  from  the  legislature 
to  King  William,  and  to  congratulate  him  on  the 
decision  of  the  South  German  princes  to  offer  him 
the  imperial  crown  of  Germany.  On  the  18th  the 
deputation  was  received  at  the  headquarters  in  the 
prefecture  of  Versailles.  Herr  Simson  read  the 
address,  setting  forth  that,  by  means  of  treaties 
with  the  South  German  states  and  by  making 
two  alterations  in  the  constitution,  titles  were 
secured  to  the  future  (German)  state  and  to  its 
most  exalted  head,  which  had  been  revered  for 
long  centuries,  and  to  the  restoration  of  which 
the  yearning  of  the  German  people  had  never 
ceased  to  be  directed.  The  address  then  con- 
tinued : — "  Your  Majesty  receives  the  deputies 
of  the  Reichstag  in  a  city  in  which  more  than 
one  destructive  armed  incursion  against  our  coun- 
try has  been  considered  and  put  into  execution. 
Near  it,  under  the  pressure  of  foreign  force,  were 
concluded  the  treaties  in  immediate  consequence 
of  which  the  German  empire  collapsed.  To-day, 
however,  the  nation  may  from  this  very  spot  con- 
sole itself  with  the  assurance  that  emperor  and 
empire  are  again  erected  in  the  spirit  of  a  new 
and  living  present,  and  that,  with  the  further 
assistance  and  the  blessing  of  God,  it  will  secure 
in  both  the  certainty  of  unity  and  might,  of  right 
and  law,  of  freedom  and  peace."  In  his  reply, 
after  referring  to  the  wonderful  dispensations  of 
Providence  which  had  brought  them  together  in 
that  "  old  French  royal  residence,"  and  to  the  sup- 
port he  had  received  from  the  German  provinces, 
the  king  said: — "The  victorious  German  armies, 
among  which  you  have  sought  me,  have  found  in 
the  self-sacrificing  spirit  of  the  country,  in  the  loyal 
sympathy  and  ministering  care  of  the  people  at 
home,  and  in  its  unanimity  with  the  army,  that 


254 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


encouragement  which  has  supported  them  in  the 
midst  of  battles  and  privations.  The  grant  of  the 
means  for  the  continuation  of  the  war  which  the 
governments  of  the  North  German  Confederation 
have  asked  for  in  the  session  of  the  Diet  that  is 
just  concluded,  has  given  me  a  new  proof  that  the 
nation  is  determined  to  exert  all  its  energies  to 
secure  that  the  great  and  painful  sacrifices,  which 
touch  my  heart  as  they  do  yours,  shall  not  have 
been  made  in  vain,  and  not  to  lay  aside  its  arms 
until  German  frontier  shall  have  been  secured 
against  future  attacks.  The  North  German  Diet, 
whose  greetings  and  congratulations  you  bring 
me,  has  been  called  upon  before  its  close  to  co- 
operate by  its  decision  in  the  work  of  the  uni- 
fication of  Germany.  I  feel  grateful  to  it  for  the 
readiness  with  which  it  has  almost  unanimously 
pronounced  its  assent  to  the  treaties  which  will 
give  an  organic  expression  to  the  unity  of  the 
nation.  The  Diet,  like  the  allied  governments,  has 
assented  to  these  treaties  in  the  conviction  that  the 
common  political  life  of  the  Germans  will  develop 
itself  with  the  more  beneficial  results,  inasmuch  as 
the  basis  which  has  been  obtained  for  it  has  been 
measured  and  offered  by  our  South  German  allies 
of  their  own  free  choice,  and  in  agreement  with 
their  own  estimate  of  the  national  requirements." 

In  the  evening  the  deputies  dined  with  the 
king,  and  the  following  morning  (Sunday)  were 
taken  to  the  front  to  obtain  a  glimpse  of  the  be- 
leaguered city.  They  then  attended  divine  service 
at  the  chapel  of  Louis  XIV.  in  the  palace  of 
Versailles,  where  King  William  was  attended  by 
a  large  number  of  illustrious  personages. 

Returning  to  Paris  at  this  period,  there  were 
evident  indications  that  another  sortie  was  in 
active  preparation.  On  the  17th  of  December 
General  Trochu  issued  an  address  to  the  army,  in 
which,  after  giving  them  credit  for  having  made 
efforts  on  behalf  of  the  country  which  had  been 
of  good  service  to  their  sacred  cause,  he  pro- 
ceeded:— "  Our  companions  in  arms  of  the  army 
of  the  Loire — improvized  by  the  patriotism  of 
the  departments,  as  the  patriotism  of  Paris  has 
improvized  the  army  of  Paris — set  us  an  admir- 
able example.  They  recruit  themselves  under 
fire,  as  we  do,  at  the  price  of  heroic  sacrifices, 
in  a  combat  which  astonishes  the  enemy,  who 
staggers  under  the  magnitude  of  his  losses  and 
the  indomitable  energy  of  our  defence.  May 
these    noble  examples  strengthen  you;    may    the 


touching  spectacle  of  the  citizens  of  Paris  become 
soldiers  like  yourselves,  and  fighting  with  you  in 
the  close  bonds  of  duty  and  peril,  raise  you  to  the 
high  level  of  all  duties  and  dangers ;  and  may  your 
commander  succeed  in  instilling  into  your  souls 
the  sentiments,  the  hopes,  and  the  firm  resolutions 
which  animate  him." 

On  the  following  morning  the  Official  Journal 
contained  a  despatch  from  M.  Gambetta,  to  the 
effect  that  the  army  of  the  Loire,  far  from  being 
annihilated,  "  according  to  the  lies  of  the  Prus- 
sians," had  been  divided,  and  that  now  two 
armies,  instead  of  one,  were  marching  upon  Paris 
from  the  south.  A  hopeful  view  was  likewise 
taken  of  General  Faidherbe's  operations  in  the 
north.  "  The  Prussian  retreat,"  continued  M. 
Gambetta,  "  is  a  movement  concerning  which 
there  can  be  no  mistake.  If  we  can  only  hold 
out,  and  we  can  if  we  have  only  the  will,  we 
shall  beat  them.  They  have  suffered  enormous 
losses,  and  experience  the  greatest  difficulty  in 
obtaining  supplies  of  food.  But  to  triumph  we 
must  resign  ourselves  to  supreme  sacrifices  with- 
out murmuring,  and  fight  even  unto  death."  Most 
of  the  Parisian  journals  received  the  announcement 
with  exultation,  and  began  to  speculate  upon  the 
German  retreat. 

In  preparing  for  the  approaching  sortie  orders 
were  given  that  the  gates  of  the  city  should  be 
closed;  the  marching  companies  of  the  national 
guard,  provided  with  120  rounds  of  ammunition 
per  man,  had  their  posts  assigned  them;  battalions 
of  sappers  and  miners  were  despatched  to  the  front 
with  materials  for  the  construction  of  bridges; 
and  trains  of  artillery  waggons  proceeded  to  the 
scene  of  the  proposed  operations. 

The  action  commenced  about  eight  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  the  21st,  and  extended  over  an 
area  reaching  from  Mont  Valerien  to  Nogent-sur- 
Marne,  or  half  round  the  city.  On  their  right  the 
French,  commanded  by  Generals  Malroy  and  Blaise, 
acting  under  the  orders  of  General  Vinoy,  attacked 
the  village  of  Neuilly-sur-Marne,  the  Villa  Evrard, 
a  lunatic  asylum  in  advance  of  Neuilly,  and  the 
Maison  Blanche,  a  farmhouse  near  the  Strassburg 
railway.  The  attack  was  opened  and  maintained 
with  great  vigour,  but  the  fighting  was  carried  on 
almost  exclusively  by  artillery.  The  French  soon 
gained  a  decided  advantage,  the  superiority  of  their 
new  heavy  guns  being  speedily  established.  The 
Prussian  batteries  at  Noisy-le-Grand  maintained  a 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


255 


stubborn  ordnance  duel  with  theirs  on  the  plateau 
of  Avron,  and  somewhat  checked  the  advance  for 
a  time;  but  although  in  one  redoubt  alone  they 
had  placed  a  battery  of  twenty  pieces  of  artillery, 
the  guns  of  Avron,  assisted  by  the  Fort  de  No- 
gent,  dismounted  every  one  of  them  and  destroyed 
the  work.  After  this  the  French  succeeded,  in 
spite  of  a  vigorous  defence  by  the  Prussians,  in 
successively  taking  and  occupying  Neuilly-sur- 
Marne,  La  Maison  Blanche,  and  Villa  Evrard, 
which  had  been  occupied  as  the  headquarters 
of  the  Prince-royal  of  Saxony.  Meanwhile  Fort 
Nogent  kept  silent  the  Prussian  batteries  of  Noisy- 
le-Grand  and  Villiers. 

The  centre  of  the  movement,  and  that  which 
sustained  the  heaviest  of  the  fighting,  was  com- 
manded by  Admiral  la  Eonciere,  under  General 
Ducrot,  whose  troops  consisted  of  soldiers  of  the  line, 
a  brigade  of  sailors,  and  the  mobiles  of  the  Seine. 
Preliminary  to  the  attack  on  Le  Bourget,  which 
was  the  centre  of  the  action,  the  Forts  Aubervilliers 
and  L'Est  directed  a  vigorous  fire  on  the  village, 
as  did  also  a  couple  of  batteries  stationed  at  Cour- 
neuve.  Pieces  of  flying  artillery  were  likewise 
moved  up,  and  on  the  Soissons  Railway  a  novel 
mode  of  attack  was  made  by  a  couple  of  cuirassed 
locomotives,  which  were  used  to  considerable 
advantage.  Steaming  forward  to  the  most  favour- 
able point  with  comparative  impunity,  these  for- 
midable batteries  of  cannon  and  mitrailleuses  poured 
a  destructive  fire  into  the  German  positions.  At 
eight  o'clock  there  was  a  lull  in  the  fire  from  the 
forts,  and  the  infantry  were  thrown  forward  to  the 
attack.  An  attempt  to  take  the  village  by  storm 
was  made  by  a  battalion  of  marines,  commanded 
by  M.  Lamothe  Heuet,  and  the  138th  regiment  of 
the  line,  supported  by  the  tenth  and  twelfth  bat- 
talions of  the  mobiles  of  the  Seine.  The  marines, 
at  the  head  of  the  column,  went  into  action 
hatchets  in  hand,  and  rifles  slung  at  their  backs, 
and  had  a  desperate  hand-to-hand  struggle  with 
the  men  of  the  Prussian  royal  guard  at  the  entrance 
of  the  village.  The  marines,  however,  succeeded 
in  getting  into  some  houses,  and  took  ninety-seven 
prisoners,  who  were  immediately  sent  to  the  rear. 
The  northern  part  of  Le  Bourget  was  held  for 
three  hours,  but  the  fierce  and  stubborn  resistance 
made  by  the  Prussian  guard  caused  it  to  be  aban- 
doned. The  French  had  lost  very  heavily.  Of 
600  who  went  forward  to  the  assault,  279  were 
wanting  at  its  close.     Of  fourteen  marine  officers 


engaged,  four  were  killed,  and  four  others  seriously 
wounded.  The  tenth  mobiles  had  its  lieutenant- 
colonel,  the  commandant,  the  captain-adjutant- 
major,  a  captain,  and  a  lieutenant,  put  hors  de 
combat  almost  at  the  first  fire. 

While  this  column  was  engaged  on  the  left  of 
the  village,  another  attack  was  directed  on  it  from 
the  south  by  a  second  column,  composed  of  the 
franc-tireurs  of  the  press  (300  strong),  and  the 
134th  regiment  of  the  line,  under  the  leadership 
of  General  la  Voignet.  The  first  and  second 
companies  of  franc-tireurs  extended  in  skirmish- 
ing order  and  advanced  at  the  pas  gymnastique, 
with  the  intention  of  entering  the  village  by  the 
left;  the  third  company  entered  by  the  right;  and 
the  fourth  advanced  on  the  full  front.  The  Prus- 
sians were  admirably  protected  by  barricades  and 
breastworks;  every  house  was  a  small  fortress,  and 
from  every  window,  roof,  and  cellar  a  formidable 
fusillade  kept  the  assailants  at  bay.  The  French, 
however,  showed  great  coolness  and  courage;  but  the 
attack  failed.  At  two  o'clock  the  fire  of  the  small 
arms  ceased ;  the  baffled  columns  retired,  carrying 
some  of  their  wounded  with  them;  and  the  forts 
renewed  their  cannonade.  Generals  Trochu  and 
Ducrot  were  on  this  part  of  the  field,  and  ordered 
up  three  batteries  of  field-guns,  which  opened  on 
the  enemy's  position.  His  guns  at  the  Pont  Iblon 
and  Blanc-Mesnil  were  silenced,  and  a  portion  of 
Ducrot's  army  was  enabled  to  advance  on  the  farm 
of  Groslay  and  Drancy,  to  the  south  of  Bourget. 
A  diversion  was  also  made  during  the  attack  on 
this  quarter,  on  the  village  of  Epinay,  by  mobiles 
of  the  Seine  and  national  guards  of  St.  Denis. 

On  the  west,  and  simultaneously  with  the  attack 
upon  Le  Bourget,  General  Noel  also  made  a  demon- 
stration against  Montretout  on  the  left,  Busanval 
and  Longboyau  in  the  centre,  and  on  the  right 
against  LTle  du  Chiard ;  the  latter  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  chef  de  bataillon  Faure,  commandant  of 
the  engineers  at  Mont  Valerien,  who  was  griev- 
ously wounded  at  the  head  of  a  company  of  the 
Paris  freeshooters.  The  only  purpose  of  this  move- 
ment was  to  distract  the  attention  of  the  besiegers. 

During  the  general  attack  the  weather  was 
intensely  cold,  and  although  a  large  number  of 
Frenchmen  had  been  provided  with  pickaxes  and 
spades  to  intrench  the  troops  as  soon  as  an  advan- 
tage had  been  gained,  the  ground  was  frozen  so 
hard  that  they  could  not  carry  out  their  purpose. 
To  this  excessive  cold  the  French  attributed  their 


256 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  "WAR 


want  of  success,  and  certainly  it  told  very  much 
against  their  movements. 

At  the  close  of  the  day  the  French  right  still 
held  the  positions  they  had  gained,  but  the  main 
body  of  the  troops  was  withdrawn  to  the  trenches, 
a  sufficient  force  being  left  to  hold  Neuilly,  Villa 
Evrard,  and  Maison  Blanche.  At  Villa  Evrard  a 
somewhat  remarkable  incident  occurred.  When 
the  action  was  over  the  French  prepared  to  encamp, 
and  lighted  their  bivouac  fires.  General  Blaise 
and  some  officers  of  his  staff  were  warming  them- 
selves round  one  of  these,  and  discussing  the  inci- 
dents of  the  day,  when  suddenly  a  Prussian  bugle 
was  heard,  followed  in  an  instant  by  a  discharge  of 
musketry.  General  Blaise  was  killed  on  the  spot, 
and  several  of  his  staff  were  severely  wounded. 
The  enemy  who  had  done  this  turned  out  to  be 
some  Saxons  who  had  remained  in  the  cellars  of 
Villa  Evrard,  and  had  crept  out  of  their  place  of 
concealment  when  all  was  quiet.  Few  of  them, 
however,  escaped. 

In  this  sortie  it  will  be  seen  that  the  French 
had  obtained  considerable  advantages,  and  occupied 
several  positions  which  they  had  taken  from  the 
Prussians;  but  contrary  to  expectation  the  move- 
ment was  not  followed  up,  avowedly  owing  to  the 
cold,  which,  as  already  stated,  was  exceptionally 
severe  for  the  French  climate.  In  one  of  the  out- 
posts on  the  night  of  the  23rd,  125  men  were 
frost-bitten,  and  several  instances  occurred  of  others 
who  were  frozen  to  death. 

This  state  of  affairs  continued  until  the  morning 
of  the  25th  ushered  in  Christmas,  which  found  the 
besieged  capital  undergoing  fearful  hardships,  but 
still  determined  to  hold  out  against  the  invader. 
Hardly  a  cannon  shot,  however,  disturbed  the  hours 
of  the  Christmas  festival,  such  as  it  was.  Rations 
of  beef,  with  a  small  portion  of  butter  per  head, 
were  served  out  instead  of  horseflesh.  On  the 
German  side  it  was  made  as  comfortable  as  cir- 
cumstances would  permit,  and  although  the  fear 
of  renewed  sorties  required  the  strictest  watch  to 
be  kept,  there  were  many  very  successful  merry- 
makings and  much  joviality. 

Almost  immediately  after  Christmas  active  siege 
operations  were  commenced  by  the  German  com- 
manders. The  French  position  on  the  .plateau  of 
Avron  was  first  selected  as  the  object  of  attack. 
One  of  the  results  of  the  sortie  of  November  30 
was  the  occupation  by  the  French  of  a  broad  spur 
of  land  lying  along  the  front  of  Fort  Eosny,  and 


reaching  from  Drancy  to  Neuilly-sur-Marne.  On 
this  ground,  which  included  the  plateau  of  Avron, 
the  besieged  had  established  batteries,  amounting 
in  the  aggregate  to  100  guns,  some  of  which  were 
powerful  marine  artillery,  supported  by  a  large 
infantry  force.  From  this  point  d'appui,  which 
bulged  out  into  the  lines  of  the  besiegers,  much 
trouble  and  annoyance  had  been  caused  to  them. 

On  the  21st  December,  when  the  French  ad- 
vanced to  the  capture  of  Villa  Evrard  and  Maison 
Blanche,  they  made  this  excellent  position  their 
starting  point,  and  were  materially  supported  by 
the  fire  of  the  guns  from  the  redoubt.  This  finally 
determined  the  Germans  to  destroy  it,  although 
their  engineers  had  been  for  some  time  previous 
selecting  their  points  of  attack,  and  working  par- 
ties had  been  engaged  during  the  nights  in  making 
preparations.  The  works  were  completed  with 
great  rapidity  after  the  sortie,  and  on  December 
26  the  Germans  had  established  twelve  batteries 
of  heavy  guns  brought  from  Strassburg,  Toul,  La 
Ferte",  and  Soissons — three  at  Eaincy,  three  at 
Gagny,  three  at  Noisy-le-Grand,  and  three  at  the 
bridge  of  Gournay.  Lieutenant-general  von  Kameke 
was  appointed  chief  engineer,  and  Major-general 
Prince  Hohenloe  commanded  the  batteries,  with 
Colonels  Eeeff  and  Bartsch  as  chief  assistants. 

The  positions,  which  were  admirably  chosen, 
completely  enfiladed  the  plateau  of  Avron,  and 
also  covered  the  Forts  Noisy,  Eosny,  and  Nogent. 
During  the  night  of  the  26th  the  German  pioneers 
were  busy  cutting  down  the  trees  which  had  masked 
their  works,  and  met  with  considerable  attention 
from  the  French  forts,  which  had  awakened  to  the 
dangers  of  the  situation.  On  the  following  morning 
the  weather  was  intensely  cold,  and  the  snow  was 
falling  quickly,  but  the  German  guns  opened  a  tre- 
mendous fire  upon  the  plateau,  which  was  continued 
with  systematic  steadiness  throughout  the  day,  and 
was  only  partially  suspended  when  far  into  the 
night.  Some  of  the  shells  from  the  batteries  of 
Eaincy  actually  fell  within  the  district  of  Belle- 
ville. The  besiegers  made  a  vigorous  reply, 
although  their  discharge  was  less  regular  and 
their  aim  less  accurate.  The  troops,  however, 
stood  firm,  and  although  some  3000  shells  were 
thrown  from  the  German  batteries  the  entire  casu- 
alties were  less  than  sixty.  On  the  morning  of 
the  28th  the  cannonade  recommenced,  and  con- 
tinued during  the  day  at  the  rate  of  about  five  to 
eight  shots  per  minute. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


257 


General  Trochu  rode  out  early  to  the  plateau, 
and  visited  the  trenches,  addressing  some  words  of 
encouragement  to  the  troops.  During  the  after- 
noon the  Prussians  brought  up  some  field  batteries, 
and  pelted  most  furiously  at  the  French  positions 
on  the  plateau,  which  was  completely  furrowed 
by  the  fire  of  eight  converging  batteries.  During 
this  fierce  cannonade,  the  French  troops  sought 
concealment  in  the  trenches,  but  the  ground,  hard 
as  granite  through  the  frost,  opposed  a  resistance 
which  caused  almost  every  shell  to  burst.  The 
French  batteries,  the  parapets  of  which  were  almost 
as  brittle  as  glass,  were  also  struck  full  in  front 
by  shots  from  Chelles,  right  and  left  by  the  enfil- 
ading fire  of  Eaincy  and  Gagny,  and  pounded  at 
in  the  rear  from  Noisy.  The  powerful  artillery  of 
the  French  was  unable  to  cope  with  the  Krupp 
cannon;  the  plateau  became  untenable;  and  orders 
were  consequently  given  to  the  troops  occupying 
it  to  retire.  The  retreat  commenced  at  six  o'clock 
in  the  evening;  but  as  there  were  about  100  guns, 
many  of  them  of  large  calibre,  to  carry  off  along 
the  slippery  roads  and  in  darkness — for  the  camp 
fires  were  extinguished,  so  that  they  might  not 
attract  the  enemy's  fire — it  was  three  o'clock  on 
the  following  morning  before  the  mitrailleuses 
which  had  remained  behind  to  protect  the  retreat 
were  enabled  to  quit  the  plateau.  The  gardes 
mobiles,  exposed  in  the  trenches  for  six  and  thirty 
hours  to  the  Prussian  cannonade,  lost  about  300 
in  killed  and  wounded.  One  shell  alone  laid  six 
low  out  of  a  party  of  nine  gathered  round  the 
breakfast  table  of  a  commander  of  mobiles,  who, 
together  with  his  wife,  was  wounded,  while  only 
a  single  one  of  his  guests  escaped  scathless. 

The  Germans,  however,  were  surprised  at  their 
own  success,  and  not  until  the  afternoon  of  the 
29th  did  their  patrols,  who  groped  their  way  up 
the  sides  of  the  plateau,  discover  that  the  position 
had  been  evacuated.  The  same  evening  the  vil- 
lages of  Bondy  and  Villemonble  were  found 
deserted,  and  at  midnight  the  German  advance 
came  upon  the  late  French  positions  on  the  crest 
of  Avron,  amidst  an  awful  scene  of  devastation. 

The  military  bulletin  announcing  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  plateau  had  a  most  depressing  effect 
upon  the  Parisians,  whom  no  consoling  news  now 
reached  from  outside,  and  who  were  without  fuel 
and  almost  without  food.  The  document  intimated 
that  the  conditions  of  the  defence  would  have  to 
be  changed,  although  its  means  and  its  energy 
vol.  n. 


would  not  be  affected  by  the  bombardment.  During 
the  whole  of  the  29th  the  Germans  continued  to 
bombard  Forts  Noisy,  Kosny,  and  Nogent.  In 
the  course  of  five  hours  155  shells  fell  on  the 
barracks  in  Fort  Eosny ;  casemates  believed  to 
be  impenetrable  to  every  kind  of  missile  were 
rent  and  torn  away;  and  from  eight  o'clock  in 
the  morning  till  six  in  the  evening  nearly 
2000  shells  fell  within  the  enceinte  and  on  the 
scarp  and  counterscarp  of  Fort  Eosny  alone ; 
yet  very  few  of  the  naval  gunners  were  injured, 
and  "  the  men  stood  to  their  pieces  firm,  reso- 
lute, vigilant,  and  undauntable."  In  the  adjacent 
village  only  a  few  houses  were  damaged,  and 
yet  the  road  between  Eosny  and  Avron  was  so 
ploughed  up  by  the  number  of  projectiles  which 
had  struck  it,  as  to  be  impassable.  The  military 
report  stated  that  altogether  between  5000  and 
6000  shells  were  thrown  against  the  three  forts 
in  the  course  of  the  29th.  The  closing  days  of  the 
year  1870  proved  a  trying  time  indeed  to  the  be- 
leaguered city.  While  the  German  guns  were 
pounding  away  at  the  eastern  forts,  the  inhabitants 
were  suffering  not  only  from  the  want  of  food  but 
also  from  the  bitter  cold.  The  price  of  fuel  in 
consequence  rose  immensely,  and  the  government 
had  been  unable  to  obtain  a  supply  for  the  wants 
of  the  people.  They  therefore  resolved  to  cut 
down  the  woods  of  Vincennes  and  Boulogne,  and 
the  trees  on  the  boulevards ;  but  the  necessary 
preparations  consumed  time,  in  which  the  poorer 
classes  were  perishing.  An  indiscriminate  on- 
slaught was  consequently  made  upon  trees,  pal- 
ings, and  trellis-work,  without  distinction  of  public 
or  private  property.  These  proceedings  led  the 
authorities  to  speedily  accumulate  a  sufficient 
supply. 

Thus  closed  the  year  1870  in  and  around  the 
capital  of  France.  Provisions  were  getting  dearer 
and  dearer.  The  death  rate  had  doubled.  The 
"  Eed  "  party  were  showing  signs  of  uneasiness.  The 
popular  voice  bespoke  impatience  with  the  feeble- 
ness of  the  government  operations;  and  the  Prus- 
sians were  thundering  at  their  very  doors.  But 
no  one  dared  to  whisper  the  word  "  surrender!  " 

The  new  year  was  ushered  in  by  the  booming 
of  the  guns  from  the  Paris  forts,  while  the  Ger- 
man sentinels  stood  to  their  posts  in  the  biting 
cold  which  prevailed.  The  besiegers,  strength- 
ened by  their  easy  success  at  Mont  Avron,  had 
the  fullest  confidence  in  their  ultimate  triumph ; 
2k 


258 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


and  the  besieged,  amidst  hardship,  disease,  and 
death,  appeared  equally  determined  to  prolong 
the  struggle.  The  gloom  of  the  city,  as  on  the 
emperor's  fete  day,  when  the  army  of  the  Rhine 
was  grappling  with  the  invader,  was  increased 
by  its  contrast  with  the  usual  festivities  of  the 
season,  and  by  a  growing  apprehension  that  the 
energies  of  the  provisional  government  were  not 
equal  to  the  duties  which  the  emergency  imposed 
on  them. 

The  morning  of  the  5th  of  January  commenced 
a  fresh  era  in  the  history  of  the  siege,  for  on  that 
day  the  bombardment  of  the  city  itself  really  com- 
menced. The  months  spent  in  watching  an  enemy 
who  contented  himself  with  remaining  passive,  not 
even  answering  the  fire  of  the  forts,  combined  with 
the  growing  scarcity  of  food,  had  told  heavily  on 
the  Parisians,  wbose  martial  ardour  was  fading  fast 
under  the  ever-present  shadow  of  the  Germans. 
The  bombardment  came  like  a  ray  of  light  to 
restore  energy  and  give  the  required  excitement. 

The  Germans  directed  their  shells  on  the  city 
from  the  south,  and  continued  their  fire  from 
day  to  day  with  great  severity.  Their  pro- 
jectiles fell  in  the  quarters  of  Grenelle,  Vau- 
girard,  and  Montrouge,  reaching  even  to  the 
gardens  of  the  Luxembourg,  killing  and  wound- 
ing men,  women,  and  children,  and  striking  alike 
public  buildings,  private  dwellings,  and  mili- 
tary hospitals.  Some  40,000  deadly  missiles  were 
hurled  upon  the  forts  alone  before  the  general 
bombardment  commenced;  but  after  the  5th  of 
January  10,000  shells  on  the  average  were  daily 
fired  from  the  German  batteries,  of  which  500  fell 
within  the  city  proper.  The  French,  however, 
replied  with  considerable  effect,  and  caused  much 
damage  to  the  enemy's  batteries;  many  of  their 
naval  guns  being  superior  in  weight  to  any  that 
the  Germans  could  bring  against  them. 

The  bombardment  has  been  described  as  "  the 
one  mistake  made  by  the  Germans  during  the 
war,"  and  very  probably  it  prolonged  the  de- 
fence of  the  city.  That  it  was  commenced 
without  the  previous  warning  usually  given  by 
civilized  nations  where  the  fate  of  non-com- 
batants is  at  stake,  excited  the  just  indignation 
of  the  French  government,  as  well  as  of  the 
various  diplomatic  agents  within  the  city;  and 
this  bitter  feeling  was  intensified  by  the  presumed 
peculiar  direction  given  to  the  Prussian  fire.  In 
one  night  five  shells   struck  the  Hospital  of  the 


Infant  Jesus,  where  600  sick  children  were  do- 
miciled. On  the  night  of  the  8th,  a  poor  woman 
was  slain  in  the  Hospital  de  la  Pitie;  men  were 
killed  and  wounded  in  the  Military  Hospital  of  Val 
de  Grace;  and  five  little  children  asleep  in  their 
beds  at  the  school  of  St.  Nicholas  fell  victims  to 
a  shell,  which  also  wounded  many  others.  Nor 
was  any  respect  shown  by  the  besiegers  to  asso- 
ciations connected  with  scientific  research.  The 
garden  of  Medical  Botany,  founded  in  1626  by 
Louis  XIII.,  and  associated  with  the  greatest 
names  among  the  savants  of  the  nation,  was  vig- 
orously assailed,  and  a  greenhouse  filled  with 
rare  tropical  plants  was  totally  destroyed.  These 
occurrences  roused  the  faltering  spirits  of  the 
people;  and  the  government  issued  an  indignant 
protest,  in  which  they  deprecated  the  fact  that 
"  Prussian  shells  had  been  wantonly  launched 
against  hospitals,  ambulances,  churches,  schools, 
and  prisons,  and  that  the  exigencies  of  war  could 
never  be  an  excuse  for  the  shelling  of  private 
buildings,  the  massacre  of  peaceful  citizens,  and 
the  destruction  of  hospitals  and  asylums.  The 
government  of  National  Defence,  therefore,"  con- 
tinued the  document,  "  protest  loudly,  in  the  face 
of  the  whole  world,  against  this  useless  act  of 
barbarism."  Notwithstanding  protests  of  this 
nature,  however,  the  bombardment  continued 
with  great  violence,  and  spread  death  and  dismay 
throughout  the  more  exposed  quarters  of  Paris. 
Count  von  Moltke,  in  reply  to  the  French  com- 
plaints, said  that  the  striking  of  hospitals  and 
ambulances  was  purely  accidental,  owing  chiefly 
to  the  long  range  and  the  fog.  "  When  the 
batteries  are  approached  nearer  the  city,"  said 
the  general,  "  the  gunners  will  be  able  to  take 
better  aim." 

During  this  time  also,  much  internal  uneasiness 
prevailed  in  the  capital.  Rumours  of  treachery 
and  espionage  were  rife,  and  suspicion  was  openly 
expressed  against  the  households  of  those  high 
in  position.  The  members  of  the  government  of 
Defence  had  hitherto  worked  harmoniously;  and 
although  the  confidence  of  the  populace  in  Gen- 
eral Trochu  had  at  times  wavered,  it  was  not  till 
late  in  the  history  of  the  siege  that  there  appeared 
reason  to  believe  the  other  members  of  the  cabinet 
doubted  his  ability  to  offer  effective  resistance  to 
the  German  army. 

Beyond  the  bombardment,  almost  the  only 
movement  among  the  opposing  armies  consisted 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


259 


in  casual  engagements  between  outposts  and 
patrols.  In  some  of  these  skirmishes,  which 
were  secretly  planned,  the  French  obtained 
slight  advantages,  taking  and  killing  some  of  the 
enemy.  The  range  of  the  French  operations  em- 
braced demonstrations  against  the  bloody  ground 
around  Le  Bourget  and  Mont  Avron;  and  the 
Saxons  put  out  a  feeler  to  test  the  capacities  of 
Fort  Noisy,  but  only  to  discover  the  impossibility 
of  a  successful  assault.  Thus  while  cold,  hunger, 
and  death  prevailed  in  the  French  capital,  the 
besiegers  also  were  subjected  to  a  heavy  penalty, 
and  had  to  encounter  much  hardship  and  danger 
as  they  closed  their  grip  upon  the  city. 

But  there  is  perhaps  nothing  more  remarkable 
in  the  history  of  the  war  than  the  scene  which 
was  witnessed  in  the  palace  of  Versailles  on  the 
18th  of  January.  After  having  long  lain  in  abey- 
ance, the  title  of  Emperor  of  Germany  was  to  be 
restored  to  the  Prussian  king  in  the  midst  of  an 
enemy's  country  !  Could  any  event  more  forcibly 
illustrate  the  astounding  victories  of  the  German 
arms  and  the  humiliation  of  their  opponents? 
The  previous  day  witnessed  a  great  "  gathering 
of  the  clans,"  and  the  ceremony  of  formally  pro- 
claiming William  Emperor  was  made  the  occasion 
of  a  grand  military  display.  The  Galerie  des 
Glaces  had  been  prepared,  delegates  from  all  the 
regiments  of  the  third  army  with  their  colours 
had  been  summoned,  the  Bavarian  regiments  also 
sending  their  colours.  The  flags  were  arranged 
in  a  semicircle  in  the  order  in  which  their  regi- 
ments lay  before  Paris,  the  place  of  honour  being 
given  to  those  of  the  landwehr  guard,  which, 
placed  in  the  centre  on  a  raised  platform,  were 
protected  by  the  gardes  du  corps.  An  altar  had 
been  erected  on  the  side  of  the  gallery  facing  the 
park,  and  here  stood  the  army  chaplains,  con- 
spicuous among  whom  was  the  king's  favourite 
preacher,  Chaplain  Rugger.  On  the  right  of  the 
altar  were  ranged  the  military  choristers  and 
musicians,  to  the  left  the  delegates  from  the 
various  regiments,  decorated  with  the  Iron  Cross. 
At  twelve  o'clock  the  king  arrived,  followed  by  a 
host  of  grand-dukes,  princes,  counts,  and  generals. 
After  prayers  and  a  consecration  sermon  by 
Rugger,  the  king  from  the  steps  of  the  altar 
made  a  short  speech,  and  commanded  the  chan- 
cellor to  read  aloud  his  address  to  the  German 
people,  as  follows: — 

We,  William,  by  God's  grace  king  of  Prussia, 


hereby  announce  that,  the  German  princes  and 
free  towns  having  addressed  to  us  a  unanimous 
call  to  renew  and  undertake  with  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  German  empire  the  dignity  of  emperor, 
which  now  for  sixty  years  has  been  in  abeyance, 
and  the  requisite  provisions  having  been  inserted 
in  the  constitution  of  the  German  Confederation, 
we  regard  it  as  a  duty  we  owe  to  the  entire  Father- 
land to  comply  with  this  call  of  the  united  Ger- 
man princes  and  free  towns,  and  to  accept  the 
dignity  of  emperor.  Accordingly,  we  and  our 
successors  to  the  crown  of  Prussia  henceforth  shall 
use  the  imperial  title  in  all  our  relations  and  affairs 
of  the  German  empire,  and  we  hope  to  God  that 
it  may  be  vouchsafed  to  the  German  nation  to 
lead  the  Fatherland  on  to  a  blessed  future  under 
the  auspices  of  its  ancient  splendour.  We  under- 
take the  imperial  dignity,  conscious  of  the  duty 
to  protect  with  German  loyalty  the  rights  of  the 
empire  and  its  members,  to  preserve  peace,  to 
maintain  the  independence  of  Germany,  and  to 
strengthen  the  power  of  the  people.  We  accept 
it  in  the  hope  that  it  will  be  granted  to  the  Ger- 
man people  to  enjoy  in  lasting  peace  the  reward 
of  its  arduous  and  heroic  struggles,  within  boun- 
daries which  will  give  to  the  Fatherland  that 
security  against  renewed  French  attacks  which 
it  has  lacked  for  centuries.  May  God  grant  to 
us  and  our  successors  to  the  imperial  crown  that 
we  may  be  the  defenders  of  the  German  empire 
at  all  times,  not  in  martial  conquests,  but  in  works 
of  peace,  in  the  sphere  of  national  prosperity, 
freedom,  and  civilisation." 

Count  von  Bismarck  read  the  proclamation,  and 
the  grand-duke  of  Baden  advancing,  cried,  "Es 
lebe  Seine  Majestat  der  Deutsche  Kaiser  Wilhelm, 
hoch !"  The  assembly  cheered,  and  the  German 
princes  did  homage  to  their  new  suzerain.  In 
the  evening  a  dinner  was  given  to  the  emperor,  to 
which  all  the  German  princes  were  invited,  and 
at  which  Mr.  Odo  Russell  represented  England. 

On  the  same  day,  at  home  in  Prussia,  Count 
Itzenplitz  had  read  the  proclamation  of  the  king 
relative  to  the  imperial  dignity  in  both  houses 
of  the  Prussian  Diet,  when  a  call  for  cheers  for 
Germany's  emperor,  King  William,  was  responded 
to  amidst  great  enthusiasm. 

While  these  important  historical  events  were  tak- 
ing place  at  the  German  headquarters,  the  interior 
of  Paris  was  busied  with  preparations  for  a  great 
military   movement — the   last  and    most   bloody 


260 


THE  FEANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAK. 


which  took  place  under  the  walls  of  the  capital. 
It  was  felt  that  the  time  for  the  final  great  effort 
had  arrived.  All  promises  of  help  from  the  pro- 
vinces had  collapsed,  and  there  was  nothing  for  it 
but  that  General  Trochu  should  silence  his  detrac- 
tors, and  play  his  last  card  by  making  a  great  sortie 
on  the  besiegers'  lines.  All  through  the  day 
troops  marched  merrily  along  towards  the  western 
gates  of  the  city,  singing  the  "  Marseillaise  "  and 
the  "  Chant  du  Depart."  The  populace  assembled 
in  the  principal  thoroughfares  to  see  them  pass, 
and  great  anxiety  was  shown  by  many  of  their 
relatives.  The  troops  consisted  of  regulars,  mobile 
guards,  and  mobilized  national  guards ;  and  on  the 
night  of  the  18  th  they  encamped  without  the 
walls,  behind  Mont  Valerien  and  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne,  so  that  they  were  ready  for  action  early 
on  the  following  morning.  The  plan  of  the  sortie 
had  been  carefully  prepared  by  a  council  of  war 
under  the  presidency  of  the  governor  of  Paris,  the 
base  of  operations  being  Mont  Valerien.  The 
army  of  operation  was  composed  of  100,000  men, 
formed  in  three  main  columns,  and  supported  by 
300  guns.  The  movement  was  directed  by  General 
Trochu  in  person,  who  had  left  General  le  Flo  in 
Paris  as  governor  ad  interim. 

The  column  of  the  left,  under  the  command  of 
General  Vinoy,  was  ordered  to  carry  the  redoubt 
at  Montretout  and  the  villas  of  Beam,  Pozzo  di 
Borgo,  Armagand,  and  Ermenonneuve;  the  centre, 
under  General  Bellemare,  was  to  proceed  to  the 
east  of  the  Bergerie.  The  column  of  the  right, 
commanded  by  General  Ducrot,  was  to  operate 
against  the  west  of  the  park  of  Busanval. 

The  line  of  front  from  Montretout  to  Ruel 
extended,  as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  map, 
about  three  English  miles  across.  The  task  of 
bringing  together  and  handling  a  force  so  large, 
and  most  of  them  novices,  in  such  a  narrow  com- 
pass, was  difficult  and  delicate;  and  their  concen- 
tration was  not  effected  without  immense  trouble. 
The  night  was  dark,  and  the  morning  of  the  19th 
enveloped  in  a  curtain  of  thick  fog. 

The  preparations,  however,  had  been  carried  out 
with  great  secrecy,  and  in  the  earlier  period  of  the 
action  the  Germans  were  taken  completely  by  sur- 
prise. But  the  positions  attacked  had  been  selected 
by  the  besiegers  from  the  natural  difficulties  which 
they  presented  to  the  enemy,  and  every  accident 
of  the  ground  had  been  turned  to  profitable  account. 
There  were  a  series  of  intrenchments  and  crenel- 


lated walls  and  barricades,  in  addition  to  a  most 
formidable  abattis  created  by  the  felling  of  the 
woods.  The  trees  had  been  all  made  to  fall  with 
their  branches  towards  Paris,  and  the  base  of  each 
trunk  served  as  a  cover  for  a  marksman  to  fire  over 
as  his  opponent  was  struggling  to  get  at  him. 

Daybreak  found  each  division  of  the  French 
troops  under  arms,  but  considerable  delay  occurred 
through  difficulties  encountered  by  the  right,  under 
General  Ducrot.  About  ten  a.m.  General  Vinoy 
advanced  against  Montretout,  defended  by  a  single 
company,  before  any  general  alarm  had  been  raised 
in  the  German  camp.  This  division  pushed  on 
from  behind  Mont  Valerien  by  the  road  parallel  to 
the  Seine,  hidden  for  a  space  by  the  hillock  of  La 
Fouilleuse.  The  column  of  assault  consisted  of 
the  zouaves,  the  106th  of  the  line,  and  several 
battalions  of  the  national  guard.  The  French 
rapidly  swept  into  the  village,  and  thence  envelop- 
ing the  earthwork  rushed  upon  the  little  garrison. 
The  Germans  fought  stubbornly,  and  a  bloody  hand- 
to-hand  struggle  ensued ;  but  they  were  speedily 
overpowered  by  numbers.  Those  who  were  not 
killed  were  taken  prisoners.  Following  up  their 
success,  Vinoy 's  army  descended  upon  the  village 
of  St.  Cloud,  which  they  quickly  took,  together 
with  many  prisoners.  The  Germans  then  began 
to  fall  back  upon  the  woods,  followed  by  a  host  of 
skirmishers,  who  kept  up  a  brisk  fire,  which  made 
much  noise  but  did  little  damage,  as  the  Prussians 
took  advantage  of  every  object  that  offered  cover. 

Meantime  General  Bellemare,  who  commanded 
the  French  centre,  attacked  the  cMteau  of  Busan- 
val and  the  height  of  La  Bergerie.  These  posi- 
tions were  held  by  a  force  far  superior  to  that 
with  which  the  French  left  had  to  contend.  The 
first  obstacle  met  with  was  the  farm  of  La  Fouil- 
leuse, whence  a  withering  fire  of  small-arms  was 
poured  in  upon  the  French  advance.  Twice  were 
they  driven  back,  but  still  persisting  and  trusting 
to  a  rapid  advance,  they,  at  a  third  effort,  carried 
the  farm  with  a  rush  and  cheer.  Still  pressing 
onwards  with  undaunted  courage,  another  spirited 
charge  rendered  them  masters  of  that  portion  of 
the  German  position  which  lies  between  La  Fouil- 
leuse and  St.  Cloud.  Having  thus  effected  a  junc- 
tion with  the  right  of  Vinoy's  corps,  and  the  right 
of  Bellemare 's  corps  having  captured  the  chateau 
of  Busanval  and  the  heights  of  La  Bergerie,  they 
were  insensibly  broken  up  into  detached  masses, 
and  the  fight  subsided  into  a  number  of  isolated 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


261 


combats,  in  which  the  French  wasted  much  am- 
munition, and  in  return  were  shot  down  by  the 
Germans,  who  fired  steadily  and  securely  from  the 
cover  of  trenches  and  stone  walls.  The  heavy 
force  thrown  into  the  park  of  Busanval  was  per- 
mitted by  the  Prussians  to  approach  within  less 
than  200  yards  of  a  loopholed  wall  which  they 
held  at  the  top  of  a  slope,  when  presently  a  terrible 
discharge  of  musketry  from  their  infantry  within 
an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  covered  the 
ground  with  dead  and  wounded  Frenchmen.  As 
the  French  troops  were  struggling  in  the  forest, 
General  Vinoy  had  massed  some  regiments  of 
mobilized  national  guards  to  act  as  reserves,  and 
to  support  the  attacking  forces.  The  only  Prus- 
sian shells  thrown  at  this  point  during  the  day  fell 
among  these  guards ;  and  although  some  of  them 
had  fought  splendidly  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
engagement,  these  terrible  missiles  so  scared  them 
that  they  broke  and  ran  amidst  the  wildest  con- 
fusion. In  the  garrison  at  La  Bergerie  were  two 
companies  of  the  garde  landwehr,  who,  when  the 
French  advanced,  lined  the  park  walls  of  that 
place,  and  held  the  whole  column  in  check  by 
a  murderous  fire,  which  piled  the  front  with  dead. 
Again  and  again  the  French  tried  to  carry  the 
position,  but  failed.  The  Prussians  fought  till 
mid-day,  when  a  detachment  of  the  fifth  corps 
came  to  their  help,  at  the  sight  of  whom  the  men 
who  were  left  gave  a  tremendous  cheer ;  but  at 
eleven  o'clock  the  French,  coming  on  in  force 
against  Garches,  once  more  occupied  the  heights 
and  carried  the  village. 

The  weak  point  of  the  attack,  however,  was  the 
French  right  under  General  Ducrot.  This  division 
had  received  orders  to  march  from  St.  Denis,  a 
distance  of  ten  miles,  during  the  night.  The 
route  lay  along  a  defective  line  of  rail,  and  on  a 
road  encumbered  by  a  column  of  artillery  which 
had  lost  its  way  in  the  dark.  The  district,  besides, 
was  swept  by  a  Prussian  battery  at  the  Carrieres 
de  St.  Denis,  which  took  the  advancing  troops  in 
flank.  From  these  causes  the  march  of  the  French 
was  greatly  delayed,  and  their  passage  secured 
only  by  a  cuirassed  locomotive  mounting  a  couple 
of  guns,  which  General  Trochu  sent  along  the  St. 
Germains  Railway  to  their  assistance.  Eventually 
the  troops  under  General  Ducrot  formed  into  line 
of  battle;  but  at  the  very  outset  his  right,  estab- 
lished at  Rueil,  was  fiercely  cannonaded  by  for- 
midable German  batteries  from  the  other  side  of 


the  Seine.  His  late  arrival  proved  disastrous. 
The  Germans  had  taken  the  alarm;  and  although 
the  right  rushed  bravely  on  and  stormed  and 
took  Busanval,  when  they  reached  La  Jonchere 
and  the  Porte  de  Longboyau  they  encountered, 
equally  with  the  left  and  centre,  a  deadly 
fire  from  behind  loopholed  walls  and  crenellated 
houses,  so  that  here  too  the  bodies  of  the  slain 
were  literally  piled  in  heaps.  Again  and  again 
General  Ducrot  led  his  troops  to  the  attack,  and 
at  a  fearful  cost  succeeded  in  taking  La  Jonchere; 
but  their  utmost  efforts  failed  to  obtain  the  desired 
object  of  forcing  a  way  to  Celle  St.  Cloud  and 
joining  hands  with  General  Bellemare  to  the  south 
of  La  Bergerie. 

The  tactics  of  the  besiegers  on  the  19th  January 
were  identical  with  those  previously  pursued;  and 
although,  as  has  been  stated,  the  Germans  were 
taken  by  surprise,  the  probability  of  attack  had 
been  foreseen.  A  rumour  to  that  effect,  indeed, 
had  nearly  a  fortnight  before  reached  General  von 
Blumenthal,  who  then  made  dispositions  which 
were  nearly  identical  with  those  of  the  19th. 
When  the  sortie  was  developed  General  Kirchbach 
sent  word  to  the  emperor  "not  to  be  uneasy;  he 
could  promise  his  Majesty  the  enemy  should  never 
pass  his  lines."  He  kept  his  word;  but  it  proved 
a  hard  task.  A  hotter  fire  was  never  perhaps 
maintained  than  during  part  of  the  day. 

The  rush  of  the  French  at  first  carried  the  fore- 
most positions  of  the  Germans;  but  the  supports 
were  coming  quickly  from  every  quarter,  and  the 
artillery  poured  in  a  fire  of  great  precision,  which 
caused  much  havoc.  The  seventh  grenadiers  and 
the  forty-seventh  battalion  marched  to  Vaucresson, 
formed  for  attack,  and  at  twelve  o'clock  came  down 
on  Garches  with  great  impetuosity,  driving  out 
the  French,  who  still,  however,  hung  about  the 
position  till  two  o'clock.  The  fusilier  battalion  of 
the  seventh  being  ordered  to  attack  and  take  the 
place,  made  a  grand  advance,  sustained  by  the 
jagers  and  the  rest  of  the  fifty-ninth.  Reserving 
their  fire  till  they  were  within  200  feet  of  the 
French,  they  then  literally  destroyed  them. 

When  the  full  force  of  the  Prussian  attack  was 
brought  to  bear,  the  effect  was  deadly.  The  Ger- 
mans made  a  fierce  onslaught  on  the  centre  and 
left  of  the  French  position,  which  caused  them  to  fall 
back;  but  a  little  later  they  moved  forward  again, 
and  the  summit  of  the  plateau  was  once  more  recap- 
tured.   As  night  set  in,  however,  it  was  impossible 


262 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


to  bring  up  artillery  to  secure  the  position;  and 
the  French  troops,  fatigued  by  twelve  hours' 
fighting,  and  by  the  marching  on  the  preceding 
nights,  were  ordered  to  retreat.  Montretout, 
however,  the  first  position  captured  in  the  morn- 
ing, was  the  last  to  be  retaken  by  the  Germans, 
who  at  half-past  ten  p.m.  drove  out  the  enemy  by 
a  splendid  dash ;  but  a  French  regiment  of  mobiles, 
notwithstanding,  actually  held  out  in  St.  Cloud 
until  the  following  day.  Even  then  they  per- 
sistently refused  to  surrender;  but  at  length  such 
a  force  of  artillery  was  brought  to  bear  on  the 
village  from  the  heights  above,  that  further  resist- 
ance was  seen  to  be  useless.  Of  this  regiment 
only  300  remained  to  lay  down  their  arms.  The 
Germans,  profiting  by  this  incident,  at  once  com- 
pleted the  destruction  of  the  village  of  St.  Cloud, 
so  that  it  could  offer  no  further  shelter  to  the 
troops  of  the  besieged. 

During  the  progress  of  the  sortie  great  anxiety 
was  felt  in  the  French  capital.  Every  available 
point  of  observation  was  eagerly  seized,  and  the 
people  waited  in  hope  of  favourable  news.  About 
six  o'clock  in  the  evening  a  cheering  bulletin  was 
issued  by  General  Trochu.  But  the  arrival  of 
ambulances  filled  with  wounded  men  told  of  ter- 
rible slaughter  at  the  front;  and  the  truth  became 
partially  known  at  half-past  nine,  when  another 
bulletin  from  General  Trochu  was  issued,  stating 
that  the  enterprise  so  happily  commenced  had  not 
resulted  so  favourably  as  might  have  been  hoped, 
as  the  enemy,  who  had  been  surprised  in  the 
morning,  brought  up  towards  the  latter  part  of 
the  day  immense  masses  of  artillery,  with  infantry 
of  reserve. 

On  the  morning  of  the  20th  the  presentiment 
of  coming  evil  was  fully  verified.  The  army  had 
retired  within  the  line  of  forts,  every  house  in 
Neuilly  and  Courbevoie  was  full  of  troops,  and 
regiments  were  camping  out  in  the  fields,  where 
they  had  passed  the  night  without  tents.  Many 
of  the  men  were  so  tired  that  they  threw  them- 
selves down  with  their  muskets  at  their  sides, 
and  fell  asleep  in  the  mud,  which  was  almost 
knee-deep.  Bitter  were  the  complaints  of  the  com- 
missariat. Bread  and  eau  de  vie  were  at  a  high 
premium.  During  the  fight  many  of  the  men 
had  thrown  away  their  knapsacks,  with  their 
loaves  strapped  to  them,  which  now  became  the 
property  of  the  Prussians.  Some  of  the  regiments, 
chiefly  those  which  had    not  been  in  the  action, 


kept  well  together;  but  a  vast  number  of  stragglers 
were  wandering  about  looking  for  their  battalions 
and  their  companies.  About  twelve  o'clock  it 
became  known  that  the  troops  were  to  re-enter 
Paris,  and  that  the  battle  was  not  to  be  renewed. 
About  one  the  march  through  the  gate  of  Neuilly 
commenced.  Most  of  the  onlookers  appeared  to 
be  in  blank  despair,  so  fully  had  they  been  im- 
pressed with  the  conviction  that  the  great  sortie 
must  end  in  a  decisive  victory.  Their  loss  was 
estimated  at  between  6000  and  7000  in  killed  and 
wounded.  General  Trochu  requested  of  the  Ger- 
man commanders  an  armistice  of  a  couple  of  days, 
in  which  to  collect  the  wounded  and  bury  the 
dead.  The  request  was  refused;  but  an  interval 
of  a  couple  of  hours  was  granted,  during  which 
the  artillery  ceased,  and  the  work  of  mercy  was 
heartily  engaged  in,  while  a  large  portion  of  the 
dead  which  had  been  left  within  the  Prussian  lines 
were  buried  by  the  German  krankentragers. 

On  reviewing  the  results  of  the  sortie,  it  would 
seem  that  the  concentration  of  a  large  army  between 
the  forts  and  the  enceinte  of  Paris  demanded  too 
much  time ;  that  the  French  troops  were  not 
sufficiently  organized  for  extensive  manoeuvres ; 
and  that  the  object  of  the  action  was  not  suffi- 
ciently important  to  warrant  the  sacrifices  made. 
The  details  of  the  affair  and  of  the  minor  sallies 
that  preceded  it  show  beyond  doubt,  that  Trochu's 
troops  had  attained  just  so  much  discipline  as 
enabled  him  to  bring  them  out  from  cover  under 
fire,  but  that  neither  he  nor  his  lieutenants  could 
get  them  to  advance  when  the  fire  was  fairly 
opened  on  them.  The  strength  of  the  German 
intrenchments  and  the  excellence  of  the  German 
batteries  was  indeed  great;  but  no  one  can  suppose 
that,  had  the  besiegers  and  besieged  been  com- 
pelled to  change  places  for  forty-eight  hours,  the 
former,  with  their  accumulated  moral  fighting 
power  to  back  them,  would  not  have  found  a  way 
through  the  miles  of  circuit  round  their  army. 
Nor  can  it  fail  to  be  observed  that  on  this  occasion 
the  energy  shown  for  a  brief  space,  in  the  at- 
tempts of  General  Ducrot  to  seize  the  loops  of  the 
Marne  seven  weeks  before,  was  almost  wholly 
absent.  The  causes  of  this  depression  were  the 
ruin  of  the  French.  General  Trochu,  though 
obeyed,  did  not  lead  to  victory;  and  as  he  thus 
failed  to  inspire  his  troops  with  confidence  in  his 
generalship,  Paris  was  doomed  to  the  heavy  fate 
before  her. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

Irritation  against  General  Trochu — He  is  compelled  to  retire  and  is  sncceeded  by  General  Vinoy — Bad  News  from  the  Provinces — The 
Government  compelled  to  ration  Bread — Revolutionary  Rising  on  January  21 — Liberation  of  Gnstave  Flourens  from  Prison — An  Attack 
on  the  Hotel  de  Ville  completely  frustrated,  and  several  Insurgents  killed  and  wounded  in  the  Streets — Opening  of  new  Siege  Batteries 
and  Continuation  of  the  Bombardment — Error  as  to  the  Amount  of  Food  in  the  City — Interview  between  M.  Jules  Favre  and  Count  von 
Bismarck — Feeling  in  the  City — The  Capitulation  and  its  Terms — Occupation  of  the  Forts  by  the  Germans — The  Return  of  the  French 
Soldiers  and  Sailors  into  the  City — Revictnalling  of  Paris — Munificence  of  England — The  Effect  of  the  Capitulation  at  Bordeaux — 
Magnificent  Proclamation  of  M.  Gambetta — He  forbids  the  Election  of  Adherents  of  the  Empire — Despatch  from  Count  von  Bismarck 
on  the  Matter,  and  Reply  of  M.  Gambetta — Action  of  the  Paris  Government  and  Resignation  of  M.  Gambetta — Election  of  the  National 
Assembly  and  its  Meeting  at  Bordeaux — Resignation  of  their  Powers  by  the  Government  of  National  Defence — M.  Thiers  chosen  as  Chief 
of  the  Executive  Power — Declaration  from  the  Departments  to  be  annexed  to  Germany  declaring  their  Unalterable  Attachment  to  France 
— Action  of  the  Assembly  thereupon — Negotiations  for  Peace  at  Versailles — The  Great  Struggle  with  regard  to  the  Cession  of  Metz — ■ 
Peace  at  Last — Important  Telegram  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia  announcing  the  Fact — The  German  Plan  of  Operations  in  case  Peace  had 
not  been  concluded — Scenes  in  the  National  Assembly  when  the  Terms  were  discussed — Large  Majority  in  Favour  of  their  Adoption — 
Action  of  England  with  regard  to  the  Reduction  of  the  Indemnity — Letter  from  the  King  of  Italy  against  the  Hard  Terms  imposed  on  the 
French — Occupation  of  Paris  by  the  Germans — Last  Telegram  from  the  Emperor  King — Reception  of  the  News  of  the  Conclusion  of 
Peace  at  Berlin. 


The  failure  of  the  sortie  of  the  19th  January 
produced  a  greater  effect  on  Paris  than  any  other 
incident  had  caused  since  the  beginning  of  the 
siege,  and  excited  violent  public  irritation  against 
General  Trochu.  Several  members  of  the  govern- 
ment resolved  on  appointing  another  military  com- 
mander, and  the  mayors  of  Paris  also  called  on 
him  to  give  in  his  resignation.  His  position  had, 
in  fact,  become  untenable;  but,  according  to  his 
own  statement  in  his  "  Defence  Speech"  before 
the  National  Assembly  at  Versailles,  he  deter- 
mined not  to  resign,  believing  that  to  do  so  would 
be  an  act  of  cowardice  ;  and  not  until  he  was 
actually  compelled  to  do  so  by  the  government  did 
he  retire.  He,  however,  retained  his  post  as  presi- 
dent. His  successor  as  commander-in-chief  was 
the  old  comrade  of  Lord  Clyde,  General  Vinoy, 
who  had  specially  distinguished  himself  in  the 
Crimean  War.  He  was  very  popular  in  the  city 
for  having  saved  his  division  from  the  catastrophe 
of  Sedan,  and  brought  it  back  to  Paris. 

But  Paris  had  by  this  time  two  other  great 
causes  of  alarm.  The  utter  defeat  of  Chanzy  had 
become  known,  and  although  fabulous  reports  of 
the  success  of  Bourbaki  were  current,  he  was  a 
very  long  way  off;  and  then  bread  was  getting 
short.  Some  time  previously  the  government 
promised  that  it  should  not  be  rationed;  but  it 
had  been  rationed,  and  the  ration  consisted  of  a 
piece  the  size  of  a  penny  roll,  made  of  rye,  bran, 
hay,  and  a  very  little  wheat.  Even  this  miserable 
pittance  was  not  always  to  be  had,  so  that  many 


who  went  for  rations  had  to  return  without  any. 
The  thoughts  of  the  Parisian  populace,  however, 
pointed  not  to  capitulation,  but  to  revolution. 
The  wild  spirits  of  Belleville  thought  the  sure 
way  to  save  the  capital  was  to  turn  out  the  gov- 
ernment, instal  the  Commune,  and  place  all  the 
forces  under  some  unknown  young  officer,  whose 
military  aptitude  might  be  doubtful,  but  who 
could  be  trusted  to  show  himself  the  reddest 
of  red  republicans.  Accordingly  on  Saturday, 
January  21,  a  number  of  these  agitators  combin- 
ing went  to  the  prison  of  Mazas,  where  M.  Gustave 
Flourens,  a  leader  of  the  ultra-democratic  faction, 
had  been  confined  since  the  former  attempt,  early 
in  November,  to  upset  the  government  at  the 
Hotel  de  Ville.  Five  or  six  hundred  men,  armed 
with  Chassepots,  among  whom  were  many  of  the 
mutinous  battalion  of  national  guards  that  M. 
Flourens  had  commanded,  arrived  at  the  prison 
about  midnight,  and,  through  the  vacillation  of 
the  superintendent,  they  were  enabled  to  rush  in 
and  liberate  M.  Flourens  and  five  of  his  political 
friends,  whom  they  at  once  conducted  in  triumph, 
with  drums  beating,  to  Belleville.  Next  day  a  party 
of  200  or  300  insurgents,  mostly  wearing  the 
uniform  of  the  national  guard,  proceeded  to  the 
Hotel  de  Ville,  shouting  "Vive  la  Commune!" 
and  in  the  true  spirit  of  cowards  shot  at  two 
officers  who  came  out  to  speak  to  them.  Upon 
this  the  gardes  mobiles  in  the  building  fired 
steadily  and  deliberately  from  the  windows  at 
the  most  active  and  forward  of  the  assailants,  who, 


264 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


returning  the  fire  as  they  fled,  made  off,  some 
taking  refuge  behind  the  lamp-posts,  some  crouch- 
ing or  lying  down  behind  the  heaps  of  earth  in 
the  Place  de  l'Hotel  de  Ville,  others  entering  the 
nearest  houses  and  continuing  to  fire  out  of  the 
windows,  or  from  their  roofs  and  balconies.  The 
conflict  lasted  half  an  hour,  when  the  insurgents, 
who  had  collected  in  the  Avenue  Victoria,  hoisted 
a  white  handkerchief  in  token  of  submission. 
About  thirty  of  them  were  overtaken  and  arrested. 
Nearly  a  hundred  persons  lay  prostrate  on  the 
ground;  but  when  the  firing  ceased,  many  of  them 
who  had  escaped  scatheless  at  once  got  up  and 
sneaked  away.  A  dozen  were  severely  wounded, 
and  five  or  six  killed.  On  the  following  day  the 
clubs  were  extinguished  in  which  certain  ranters 
had  nightly  spouted  sedition;  and  the  Combat  and 
the  Reveil,  the  two  newspapers  which — the  one 
in  the  morning,  the  other  in  the  evening — had 
daily  stirred  up  the  people  to  rebellion,  were 
suppressed. 

While  these  lamentable  occurrences  were  taking 
place  inside  the  city,  and  Frenchmen  were  shed- 
ding the  blood  of  their  brethren,  the  bombard- 
ment was  vigorously  pressed  by  the  Germans 
outside.  The  siege  batteries  on  the  north,  in  the 
construction  of  which  little  opposition  had  been 
encountered,  and  which  were  armed  with  the 
heavy  artillery  which  had  reduced  M^zieres,  opened 
fire  on  Saturday  the  21st,  after  a  summons  to  St. 
Denis  to  surrender  had  been  refused.  They  con- 
tinued to  ply  as  vigorously  as  their  companions 
on  the  east,  during  the  few  remaining  days  of  the 
siege.  The  forts  of  La  Briche,  La  Double  Cour- 
onne,  and  De  l'Est  were,  however,  very  strong, 
and  responded  vigorously  to  the  German  attack. 
The  bombardment  of  the  capital  during  the  last 
week  of  the  siege  presented,  however,  few  points 
of  interest.  The  shells  which  fell  within  the 
enceinte  caused  little  loss  of  life,  and  still  less 
alarm.  The  citizens  made  up  parties  to  watch 
their  descent  on  Auteuil  and  Vaugirard,  and  the 
gamins  applauded  when  an  "  obus  "  ever  and  anon 
splashed  in  the  ice  of  the  still  half-frozen  Seine. 

General  Vinoy's  appointment  as  commander-in- 
chief  had  been  hailed  as  giving  promise  of  renewed 
efforts;  but  on  Tuesday,  January  24,  it  began  to 
be  whispered  about  that  an  error  of  several  days 
had  been  made  in  the  calculation  of  the  period 
that  provisions  would  last,  and  that,  between  Paris 
and  actual  starvation,  there  remained  barely  suffi- 


cient time  to  collect  and  bring  in  supplies  of  food. 
That  the  government  must  therefore,  and  at  once, 
treat  for  terms  of  capitulation,  was  evident  to  all 
who  knew  the  facts  of  the  case.  The  newspapers 
had  up  to  this  time  been  silent  on  the  subject,  but 
by  degrees  the  truth  percolated  through  the  well 
informed,  and  by  the  evening  half  Paris  knew 
that  Jules  Favre  had  actually  left  that  morning 
for  Versailles  to  ask  for  terms.  The  news  came 
first  as  a  great  surprise,  then  as  a  great  disappoint- 
ment, and  lastly,  as  a  considerable  relief — except 
in  the  tumultuous  district  of  Belleville,  where 
some  serious  signs  of  insubordination  were  shown, 
which  were,  however,  instantly  suppressed ;  General 
Vinoy  having  guaranteed  to  maintain  order  there  at 
all  costs  during  the  negotiations.  Not  only  had 
Chanzy's  collapse  become  generally  known  in  the 
city,  but  also  that  Bourbaki  had  been  defeated; 
and  as  the  last  chances  of  Paris  were  thus  ex- 
hausted, there  was  no  reason  for  any  longer  holding 
out.  The  government  was,  indeed,  very  much 
blamed  for  allowing  itself  to  be  driven  into  a 
corner  by  not  having  discovered  sooner  the  actual 
state  of  the  provisions,  and  above  all,  for  not 
having  replaced  Trochu  by  Vinoy  three  months 
earlier.  But  these  censures  apart,  the  idea  of 
capitulation  was  accepted  as  a  melancholy  necessity, 
relieved  greatly  by  the  reflection  that  Paris  had, 
at  least,  made  a  splendid  defence,  and  that  it  had 
yielded,  not  to  arms,  but  to  hunger. 

The  negotiations,  between  M.  Favre  and  Count 
von  Bismarck  were  continued  daily  till  the  28th, 
when  a  general  armistice  for  twenty-one  days  was 
agreed  on,  and  the  bombardment  of  the  city  ceased 
and  was  not  afterwards  renewed.  The  war  may 
thus  be  said  to  have  lasted  exactly  half  a  year ;  for 
on  the  very  day  six  months  that  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  left  St.  Cloud  for  Metz,  the  capitulation 
was  signed.  With  one  exception,  the  terms  of  the 
capitulation  were  comparatively  light.  The  excep- 
tion was  a  fine  of  £8,000,000,  which  was  levied 
on  the  Parisians.  The  city  itself  was  not  to  be 
occupied,  and  even  its  name  did  not  occur  in  the 
articles  of  capitulation,  which  professed  to  treat 
only  of  the  surrender  of  the  forts.  The  troops  in 
these  were  to  be  disarmed  and  confined  in  Paris; 
but  the  national  guard  and  one  division  of  the 
line,  deputed  to  keep  order  in  the  city,  were  to 
receive  tabatieres  and  muzzle-loaders  in  exchange 
for  Chassepots.  No  public  property  was  to  be 
removed,  but  all  munitions  of  war  were  to  come 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


265 


into  the  possession  of  the  captors.  The  general 
armistice  included  the  revictualling  of  the  city, 
and  the  convocation  of  a  freely-elected  Assembly 
which  should  authorize  either  the  conditions  of 
peace  or  the  continuance  of  the  war. 

Thus  the  prize  for  which  the  German  army  had 
watched  and  waited  for  more  than  four  weary 
months  (the  siege  having  lasted  131  days  and  the 
bombardment  twenty-three),  was  at  length  within 
their  grasp,  and,  as  may  be  naturally  supposed, 
they  lost  no  time  in  entering  upon  the  possession 
of  the  forts  they  had  so  hardly  won.  That  of 
Vale"rien  was  the  first  occupied,  and  was  visited  by 
the  king  of  Prussia — now  emperor  of  Germany — 
on  January  29.  Altogether  602  field-pieces  belong- 
ing to  the  army  of  Paris  were  handed  over  to  the 
Germans,  and  1357  guns  in  perfect  condition  were 
found  in  the  forts. 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  exultation  of  the 
Germans  was  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  city.  On 
the  same  day  that  Valdrien  was  occupied,  the 
French  troops  who  had  been  camped  outside 
during  the  siege — mobiles,  sailors,  linesmen,  and 
franc-tireurs — came  within  the  walls.  They  were 
without  their  arms,  dirty,  tired,  many  of  them  so 
ill  that  they  could  scarcely  walk,  and  with  that 
dead,  despairing  look  which  the  beaten  soldier 
always  wears. 

The  most  pressing  matter  after  the  capitula- 
tion was,  of  course,  the  revictualling  of  the  city, 
which  was  indeed  within  not  many  hours  of 
actual  famine  when  the  armistice  was  agreed  to, 
and  neither  any  government  nor  any  charitable 
societies  could,  by  the  most  strenuous  efforts, 
have  prevented  thousands  of  human  beings  dying 
of  hunger,  had  the  siege  continued  another  week. 

On  February  4  the  supplies  included  a  very 
large  quantity  of  provisions  from  England,  under 
the  care  of  Colonel  Stuart  Wortley  and  Mr. 
George  Moore,  which  had  been  purchased  with 
subscriptions  received  by  the  Mansion  House 
Committee,  and  consisted  chiefly  of  concentrated 
milk,  cheese,  bacon,  biscuits,  flour,  Liebig's  extract 
of  meat,  and  preserved  soup.  These  supplies  were 
distributed  among  the  twenty  arrondissements  of 
the  city,  according  to  their  respective  population. 
On  the  arrival  of  Colonel  Stuart  Wortley  and  Mr. 
Moore,  they  were  received  by  M.  Jules  Favre, 
who,  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  Paris,  expressed 
his  heartfelt  thanks  to  them  for  the  efforts  made 
in  England  to  relieve  the  distress  in  the  capital. 
vol.  n. 


The  English  cabinet,  on  February  1,  had  also 
placed  all  the  stores  of  the  administration  at  the 
joint  service  of  the  French  and  German  govern- 
ments for  the  purpose  of  revictualling  the  city; 
and  when  the  fact  was  announced  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  the  general  cheering  which  it  elicited 
showed  the  warm  and  universal  approbation  with 
which  it  was  received  by  the  representatives  of 
the  people.  Food  to  the  value  of  £50,000  was 
forwarded  in  the  first  government  despatch.  The 
energy  and  zeal  thus  shown  on  all  hands  pre- 
vented any  deaths  occurring  from  actual  starvation, 
and  in  a  few  days  there  were  supplies  of  every- 
thing in  abundance. 

The  intelligence  of  the  capitulation  of  Paris  fell 
upon  Bordeaux  like  a  peal  of  thunder.  Tidings 
of  the  negotiations  arrived  in  the  city  from  Eng- 
land, before  M.  Jules  Favre's  despatch  could  reach 
the  Delegate  Government.  M.  Gambetta  at  first 
refused  to  credit  the  report ;  and  when  the  official 
news  was  received,  he  published  a  magnificent 
proclamation,  which  was  really  worthy  of  the 
occasion.  He  assumed,  indeed,  with  more  of 
French  vanity  than  truth,  that  though,  over- 
powered by  famine,  she  had  been  compelled  to 
surrender  her  forts,  "  Paris  remained  still  intact, 
as  a  last  homage  which  had  been  wrested  by  the 
power  of  moral  grandeur  from  the  barbarians." 
To  the  determination  of  Paris,  and  the  value  of 
the  delay  her  resistance  had  caused,  he  did  ample 
justice,  but  insisted  eloquently  on  the  misfortune 
entailed  on  the  eastern  armies  by  the  armistice 
which  M.  Favre  had  negotiated  without  taking 
counsel  of  the  Bordeaux  government,  and  with- 
out really  understanding  its  drift.  He,  however, 
accepted  the  armistice,  and  urged  the  duty  of 
turning  it  to  account  as  a  war  measure.  "Instead 
of  a  reactionary  and  cowardly  Assembly,  of  which 
the  foreigner  dreams,  let  us  summon  a  really 
national  and  republican  one,  which  desires  peace, 
if  peace  secures  honour,  rank,  and  integrity  to 
our  country,  but  would  also  be  determined  to 
wage  war  and  be  ready  for  everything  rather 
than  assist  at  the  assassination  of  France.  French- 
men !  let  us  think  of  our  fathers  who  bequeathed 
to  us  France,  compact  and  indivisible.  Let  us 
not  alienate  our  inheritance  into  the  hands  of 
barbarians.  Who  would  sign  it?  Not  you,  Legiti- 
mists, who  have  so  boldly  fought  beneath  the 
banners  of  the  republic  to  defend  the  territory 
of  the  ancient  kingdom  of  France.  Nor  vou, 
2  L 


266 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


descendants  of  the  citizens  of  1789,  whose  master- 
piece it  was  to  seal  the  old  provinces  into  an  indis- 
soluble union ;  and  it  is  not  we,  the  working  men 
of  the  towns,  whose  intelligence  and  generous 
patriotism  have  always  been  the  representatives 
of  France  in  her  strength  and  unity,  as  a  people 
initiating  modern  liberties;  nor  you,  labouring 
men  of  the  country,  who  have  never  withheld 
your  blood  in  defence  of  the  revolution  to 
which  you  owe  your  property  in  land  and  the 
dignity  of  citizens.  No!  not  one  Frenchman  will 
be  found  to  sign  this  infamous  pact.  The  foreigner 
will  be  deceived.  He  will  be  compelled  to  relin- 
quish the  idea  of  mutilating  France,  because  we 
are  all  inspired  by  the  same  love  for  our  mother 
country,  and  we  are  unmoved  by  defeats.  We 
shall  again  become  strong,  and  we  shall  expel  the 
foreigner.  To  achieve  this  sacred  object  we  must 
devote  our  hearts,  our  wills,  and  our  lives.  We 
must  all  rally  round  the  republic,  and  above  all 
prove  our  calmness  and  firmness  of  soul.  Let  us 
have  neither  passions  nor  weaknesses.  Let  us 
simply  swear,  as  free  men,  to  defend  before  and 
against  everybody,  France  and  the  republic.  To 
arms !  To  arms !  Long  live  France !  Long  live 
the  republic,  one  and  indivisible ! 

"LEON   GAMBETTA." 

On  the  same  day  M.  Gambetta  issued  a  decree 
forbidding  the  election  to  the  Constituent  As- 
sembly of  any  who  had  been  councillors  of  state, 
ministers,  senators,  members  of  departmental  coun- 
cils-general, or  government  candidates  for  the  Corps 
Legislatif  under  the  empire. 

A  great  meeting  of  the  republican  party  was 
held  at  Bordeaux  in  the  evening,  when  resolu- 
tions were  passed  declaring  that  the  capitulation 
of  Paris  was  not  binding  on  the  provinces,  and 
requesting  M.  Gambetta  to  become  president  of  a 
committee  of  public  safety,  to  act  independently 
of  the  Paris  government.  This  step  he  hesitated 
to  take;  having  received  from  the  diplomatic 
representatives  of  Austria,  Spain,  and  Italy,  who 
were  sojourning  at  Bordeaux,  a  communication 
stating  that  they  were  accredited  to  the  Paris 
government,  and  that  if  he  separated  himself  from 
it  they  would  leave.  But  fresh  cause  of  irritation 
was  furnished  by  a  telegraphic  despatch  to  him 
from  Count  von  Bismarck,  protesting  against  his 
decree  concerning  the  elections,  as  irreconcilable 
with    the    freedom    of  choice   stipulated   by   the 


armistice.  The  decree  was  stigmatized  as  an 
"arbitrary  and  oppressive"  act  of  M.  Gambetta 
himself.  This  despatch  he  immediately  published, 
with  an  indignant  comment,  exposing  the  "  inso- 
lent pretension  "  of  Prussia  to  interfere  with  the 
constitution  of  a  French  Assembly;  and  declaring 
that  its  object  was  to  obtain  the  support  of  "  ac- 
complices and  flatterers  of  the  fallen  dynasty  and 
allies  of  Count  von  Bismarck."  The  Paris  govern- 
ment, however,  met  the  remonstrance  in  a  very 
different  spirit.  M.  Jules  Favre,  in  replying  to  it, 
assured  Count  von  Bismarck  that,  as  the  country 
wished  free  election,  there  should  be  no  restriction 
upon  the  right  of  voting,  and  promised  that  the 
decree  of  M.  Gambetta  should  be  rescinded;  though, 
with  the  ingrained  intolerance  of  French  politicians, 
this  was  afterwards  qualified  by  withholding  from 
members  of  the  families  who  had  reigned  over 
France  the  right  to  a  seat  in  the  Assembly. 
To  prevent  any  confusion  which  might  arise 
from  M.  Gambetta's  decree,  the  elections  were  ad- 
journed from  Sunday  to  Wednesday ;  and  M.  Jules 
Simon,  a  member  of  the  Paris  government,  was  sent 
to  Bordeaux  with  instructions  for  their  manage- 
ment. These  were  rejected  by  M.  Gambetta  and 
his  colleagues,  who  published  a  note  in  the  Moni- 
teur,  stating  that  they  felt  it  their  duty  to  maintain 
their  own  decree,  for  the  sake  of  the  national 
interest  and  honour,  despite  "  the  interference  of 
Bismarck  in  the  internal  affairs  of  France."  The 
Paris  government  then  resolved  to  put  an  end  to 
the  authority  of  the  delegation  government  in  the 
provinces;  but  to  avoid  further  complication  M. 
Gambetta  resigned  on  the  8th  of  February,  and 
along  with  his  resignation  sent  to  the  prefects  a 
despatch  characterized  by  extreme  moderation  and 
good  sense,  recommending  them  not  to  resign, 
but  to  carry  out  the  elections  of  February  8,  a 
course  by  which  they  would  "  render  to  the 
republic   a  supreme  service." 

The  elections,  considering  the  state  of  the 
country,  were  conducted  with  facility  and  good 
order  not  a  little  remarkable,  and  an  Assembly 
was  returned  which  was  Conservative,  Orleanist, 
Legitimist,  Republican,  or  anything  but  Imperialist. 
In  Paris  the  extreme  Radicals,  to  the  surprise  of 
every  one,  gained  the  day  ;  but  this  was  partly 
explained  by  the  fact  that  the  more  moderate 
Parisians  had  abstained  from  voting,  and  by  the 
exodus  of  140,000  whose  means  had  allowed 
them   to   quit  the   city.     The    candidate    chosen 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


267 


by  the  largest  number  of  constituencies  was  M. 
Thiers,  who  was  elected  in  no  fewer  than  eighteen 
departments. 

The  National  Assembly  met  at  Bordeaux  for 
a  preliminary  sitting  on  the  12th  of  February, 
and  immediately  constituted  itself,  although  its 
members  were  not  nearly  all  present.  On  the 
following  day  it  held  its  first  public  sitting,  when 
M.  Jules  Favre,  in  the  name  of  his  colleagues 
both  at  Bordeaux  and  Paris,  resigned  their  powers 
as  the  government  for  National  Defence  into  the 
hands  of  the  representatives.  He  said — "  We 
have  borne  the  burden  of  government,  but  we 
have  no  other  desire,  under  existing  circum- 
stances, than  to  be  able  to  place  our  temporary 
plans  in  the  hands  of  the  National  Assembly. 
Thanks  to  your  patriotism  and  reunion,  we  hope 
that  the  country,  having  been  taught  by  mis- 
fortune, will  know  how  to  heal  her  wounds  and 
to  reconstitute  the  national  existence.  We  no 
longer  hold  any  power.  We  depend  entirely 
upon  your  decision.  We  confidently  expect  the 
constitution  of  the  new  and  legitimate  powers." 
M.  Favre  then  announced  that  he  and  his  col- 
leagues would  remain  at  their  post,  to  maintain 
respect  for  the  laws,  until  the  establishment  of  the 
new  government. 

On  the  16th  the  Assembly,  by  an  immense 
majority,  elected  as  its  president  M.  Grevy,  a 
moderate  republican  of  long  experience  in  public 
life.  Next  day  it  proceeded  to  the  most  im- 
portant duty  which  it  had  to  perform  prior  to 
the  negotiations  for  peace,  and  chose  M.  Thiers 
chief  of  the  executive  power,  who  the  same  even- 
ing received  the  congratulations  of  the  ministers 
of  England,  Austria,  and  Italy,  and  was  immedi- 
ately called  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  his  office. 
At  the  sitting  of  the  Assembly  the  next  day 
(February  18),  M.  Keller,  a  deputy,  laid  on  the 
table  a  declaration,  signed  by  the  deputies  of  the 
Lower  and  Upper  Bhine,  Meurthe,  and  Moselle 
departments,  in  which  lay  the  territories  under- 
stood to  be  required  by  Germany.  The  declaration 
expressed  in  the  strongest  terms  the  unalterable 
attachment  of  these  departments  to  France,  and 
earnestly  entreated  the  Assembly  not  to  abandon 
them  to  the  enemy.  The  document  was  very  well 
framed,  and  the  pathetic  spirit  which  it  breathed 
must  have  gone  to  the  hearts  of  many  who  heard 
it.  In  reality,  however,  it  virtually  called  on  the 
Assembly  to  abide  by  the  famous  declaration   that 


"  France  would  never  cede  an  inch  of  her  soil  or 
a  stone  of  her  fortresses;"  and  that,  of  course,  was 
now  impossible.  There  was  immense  republican 
applause  when  the  declaration  was  read,  and  M. 
Rochefort  demanded  that  it  should  be  immediately 
referred  to  the  bureaux,  so  that  the  Assembly 
might  give  to  the  negotiators  of  peace  either  im- 
perative orders  not  to  agree  to  the  cession,  or  full 
freedom.  M.  Thiers,  instead  of  proposing  delay, 
boldly  and  unexpectedly  supported  the  motion,  as 
he  evidently  saw  that  its  presentation  furnished 
an  opportunity  of  making  the  Assembly  itself  a 
party  to  the  retraction  of  the  vow  that  no  terri- 
tory should  be  ceded.  He  said,  from  the  bottom 
of  his  heart  he  fully  shared  M.  Keller's  feelings, 
and  urged  that,  after  so  affecting  and  grave  a 
document  had  been  read,  the  Assembly,  without 
loss  of  a  moment,  must  in  honour  deal  with  it, 
and  order  its  bureaux  to  report  instantly  on  the 
proper  answer  to  give  to  it.  In  two  hours  the 
Assembly  received  and  adopted  a  report  to  the 
effect,  that  the  petition  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine 
must  be  referred  to  the  negotiators  to  deal  with 
as  they  thought  best.  Thus  quietly  and  unmis- 
takably, though  indirectly,  the  negotiators  were 
empowered  to  make  a  cession  of  territory  the  basis 
of  negotiation.  In  times  of  sudden  and  rapid 
change  a  whole  line  of  policy  is  often  abandoned, 
simply  because  at  a  particular  moment  it  ceases 
to  be  insisted  on.  The  policy  of  carrying  on 
the  war  a  outrance  was  tested  and  abandoned,  with- 
out one  word  being  said  about  it  when  the  report 
of  the  bureaux  was  received  by  the  Assembly. 
No  voice  was  lifted  up  to  propose  that  Alsace 
and  Lorraine  must  remain  French  at  all  hazards. 

At  the  same  sitting  M.  Jules  Favre  astutely 
proposed  that  the  government  should  be  supported 
in  its  negotiation  by  a  committee  of  fifteen  mem- 
bers of  the  Assembly,  who  should  be  in  constant 
communication  with  the  actual  negotiators,  and 
would,  of  course,  be  pledged  to  support  the  treaty 
of  peace  when  finally  referred  to  the  Assembly  for 
ratification.  The  precaution  was  not  unnecessary, 
as  it  was  possible  that  very  severe  terms  of  peace 
might  cause  in  the  Bordeaux  Assembly  some 
sudden  revulsion  of  feeling  against  the  negotia- 
tors. But  twenty  men  of  great  influence,  all  sup- 
porting each  other,  would  be  more  than  likely  to 
prevent  such  a  turn  of  the  tide. 

M.  Thiers  arrived  at  Versailles  early  on  Tuesday, 
February  2 1 ,  and  spent  the  whole  day  in  conference 


268 


THE  FRANCO -PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


with  Count  von  Bismarck.  He  fought  gallantly  to 
the  last,  but  could  not,  of  course,  either  by  argu- 
ment or  entreaty  shake  the  fixed  resolution  of  the 
Germans,  which  imposed  conditions  more  onerous 
than  France  had  been  prepared  to  expect.  The 
indemnity  which  the  Germans  demanded  was 
resisted  as  one  without  precedent  in  history,  the 
very  attempt  to  comply  with  which  would  derange 
the  finances  of  the  entire  world.  France  had  been 
weighed  down  with  German  requisitions  for  seven 
months  ;  Paris  had  just  paid  a  war  contribution 
of  £8,000,000  sterling,  and  had,  besides,  her  own 
war  debt  to  provide  for.  The  interest  of  the  loan 
that  would  be  necessary  to  provide  such  an  in- 
demnity as  that  demanded  would  utterly  crush  the 
great  body  of  the  tax-payers  of  the  country,  make 
their  position  intolerable,  and  lead  them  to  prefer 
war  at  any  risk  to  life  under  such  burdens.  The 
imperial  chancellor  was,  however,  inexorable. 
France  had  caused  the  expenditure  incurred  by 
the  Germans,  and  she  must  defray  it.  In  the  end, 
M.  Thiers  consented  that  France  should  bind  her- 
self to  furnish  the  sum  named. 

The  territorial  surrender  gave  more  trouble.  It 
was  known  that  Alsace,  with  Strassburg,  must  be 
sacrificed,  but  it  was  hoped,  even  against  hope, 
that  Metz  might  be  saved  to  France;  and  M. 
Thiers  exerted  his  utmost  efforts  to  retain  it,  even 
though  it  should  be  without  fortifications  if  neces- 
sary. Count  von  Bismarck  urged  that  the  Germans 
must  have  Metz  as  a  security  against  invasion.  M. 
Thiers  pleaded  the  nationality  of  the  inhabitants; 
but  he  was  reminded  that  those  among  them  who 
did  not  like  to  become  Germans  had  been  promised 
ample  time  in  which  to  wind  up  their  affairs,  sell 
their  property,  and  retire  to  France.  So  strongly 
did  M.  Thiers  feel  on  this  point,  that  at  one  time 
he  seemed  determined  to  withdraw  rather  than  incur 
the  responsibility  of  ceding  it;  and  he  personally 
waited  on  the  emperor  and  the  imperial  prince  of 
Germany  to  lay  his  appeal  with  regard  to  it  before 
them.  Those  august  personages  received  him  with 
politeness,  but  finally  remitted  him  again  to  Count 
von  Bismarck.  At  last,  after  eight  hours  and  a 
half  of  discussion  on  Friday,  five  hours  and  a  half 
on  Saturday,  and  five  hours  on  Sunday,  the  name 
of  M.  Thiers  was  affixed  to  the  treaty  of  peace  on 
February  26.  All  that  time  had  to  be  added  to  the 
hours  spent  in  previous  conversation,  negotiation, 
and  exposition,  which,  as  we  have  said,  M.  Thiers 
managed  with  consummate  ability  and  address,  but 


without  material  result.  At  the  close  of  the  last 
day's  interview  there  was  a  stormy  scene.  Count 
von  Bismarck,  who  was  not  very  well  at  this  time, 
became  impatient  of  delay,  and  insisted  on  the 
signature  of  the  treaty  on  the  close  of  the  discus- 
sion, which  would  be  the  signal  for  the  German 
troops  recommencing  the  war.  M.  Thiers  was 
consequently  obliged  to  sign.  When  all  was  over 
the  emperor  sent  for  the  Crown  Prince,  and  the 
father  and  son,  tenderly  embracing,  wept  for  joy 
and  thankfulness.  The  gratifying  news  was  imme- 
diately telegraphed  to  the  empress,  at  Berlin;  to 
the  emperor  of  Kussia,  and  to  the  king  of  Bavaria. 
The  telegram  to  the  emperor  of  Russia  concluded 
as  follows,  and  excited  considerable  interest  at 
the  time: — "We  have  thus  arrived  at  the  end  of 
the  glorious  and  bloody  war  which  has  been  forced 
upon  us  by  the  frivolity  of  the  French.  Prussia 
will  never  forget  that  she  owes  it  to  you  that  the 
war  did  not  enter  upon  extreme  dimensions.  May 
God  bless  you  for  it ! — Yours  till  death, 

"  WILLIAM." 

The  threat  of  Count  von  Bismarck,  that  the 
German  armies  would  immediately  resume  offen- 
sive operations  in  case  the  treaty  was  not  agreed 
to,  was  not  a  mere  formal  one,  for  during  the 
whole  period  of  the  armistice  the  Germans  were 
as  active  as  if  war  was  inevitable;  and  those  mili- 
tary men  who  were  in  the  secret  spoke  with  the 
utmost  enthusiasm  of  the  grand  plan  of  attack  on 
all  the  French  positions  which  General  von  Moltke 
had  prepared  for  the  opening  of  hostilities,  if 
necessary.  In  two  days  the  Germans  would  have 
been  engaged  in  sweeping  away  the  levies  which 
had  been  collected  to  oppose  them  at  every  point 
where  they  stood  in  force;  and  an  advance  on  five 
great  fronts,  converging  at  certain  points,  would 
have  led  to  the  most  complete  discomfiture  yet 
seen  of  the  armies  of  France.  The  country  would, 
in  fact,  have  been  overrun  from  the  Mediterranean 
to  the  Pyrenees,  and  the  disasters  of  January 
repeated  on  a  larger  scale. 

M.  Thiers  arrived  at  Bordeaux  on  February  28, 
when  a  sitting  of  the  Assembly  was  at  once  held, 
at  which,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  profound 
silence,  he  rose  and  said :  "  We  have  accepted  a 
painful  mission;  and  after  having  used  all  possible 
endeavours  we  come  with  regret  to  submit  for  your 
approval  a  bill  for  which  we  ask  urgency.  '  Art. 
1.  The  National  Assembly,  forced  by  necessity, 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


269 


and  not  being  therefore  responsible,  adopts  the 
preliminaries  of  peace  signed  at  Versailles  on  the 
26th  February.' " 

At  this  point  M.  Thiers,  overpowered  by  his 
feelings,  was  obliged  to  leave  the  hall.  His  old 
friend,  M.  Barthelemy  St.  Hilaire,  therefore  con- 
tinued to  read  the  preliminaries : — 

"  1.  France  renounces  in  favour  of  the  German 
empire  the  following  rights: — The  fifth  part  of 
Lorraine,  including  Metz  and  Thionville ;  and 
Alsace,  less  Belfort. 

"2.  France  will  pay  the  sum  of  five  milliards 
of  francs,  of  which  one  milliard  is  to  be  paid  in 
1871,  and  the  remaining  four  milliards  by  instal- 
ments extending  over  three  years. 

"3.  The  German  troops  will  begin  to  evacuate 
the  French  territory  so  soon  as  the  treaty  is  rati- 
fied. They  will  then  evacuate  the  interior  of  Paris, 
and  some  departments  lying  in  the  western  region. 
The  evacuation  of  the  other  departments  will  take 
place  gradually,  after  payment  of  the  first  milliard, 
and  proportionally  to  the  payment  of  the  other 
four  milliards.  Interest  at  the  rate  of  5  per  cent, 
will  be  paid  on  the  amount  remaining  due  from 
the  date  of  the  ratification  of  the  treaty. 

"4.  The  German  troops  will  not  levy  any 
requisitions  in  the  departments  occupied  by  them, 
but  will  be  maintained  at  the  cost  of  France. 

"  5.  A  delay  will  be  granted  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  territories  annexed  to  choose  between  the 
two  nationalities. 

"6.  Prisoners  of  war  will  be  immediately  set  at 
liberty. 

"  7.  Negotiations  for  a  definitive  treaty  of  peace 
will  be  opened  at  Brussels  after  the  ratification  of 
the  treaty. 

"  8.  The  administration  of  the  departments 
occupied  by  the  German  troops  will  be  intrusted 
to  French  officials,  but  under  the  control  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  German  corps  of  occupation. 

"  9.  The  present  treaty  confers  upon  the  Ger- 
mans no  rights  whatever  in  the  portion  of  territory 
not  occupied. 

"  10.  The  treaty  will  have  to  be  ratified  by  the 
National  Assembly  of  France." 

The  government  asked  the  Assembly  to  declare 
the  urgency  of  the  discussion  of  the  treaty,  and 
Mi  Thiers  made  a  touching  and  passionate  appeal 
to  its  patriotism,  in  the  painful  situation  in  which 
the  country  was  placed. 

Several   deputies    for    Paris,  supported   by   M. 


Gambetta,  proposed  motions  in  favour  of  delay,  on 
which  M.  Thiers  said:  "We,  like  you,  are  the 
victims  of  a  state  of  things  which  we  have  not 
created,  but  must  submit  to.  We  entreat  you  not 
to  lose  a  moment.  I  implore  you  to  lose  no  time. 
In  doing  so  you  may  perhaps  spare  Paris  a  great 
grief.  I  have  engaged  my  responsibility,  my  col- 
leagues have  engaged  theirs,  you  must  engage 
yours.  There  must  be  no  abstention  from  voting. 
We  must  all  take  our  share  in  the  responsibility." 
M.  Thiers  concluded  by  expressing  the  wish  that 
the  committee  would  meet  that  evening  at  nine 
o'clock,  and  that  a  public  sitting  of  the  Assembly 
would  be  held  next  day  at  noon,  which  accord- 
ingly took  place.  At  this  sitting  M.  Victor 
Lefranc  read  the  report  of  the  committee  on  the 
preliminaries  of  peace,  which  recommended  their 
immediate  acceptance  by  the  Assembly,  as  their 
refusal  would  involve  the  occupation  of  Paris,  the 
invasion  of  the  whole  of  France,  and  occasion 
terrible  calamities.  The  committee  earnestly  urged 
the  meeting  not  to  take  a  step  fraught  with  such 
consequences,  and  expressed  confidence  that  no 
member  would,  in  the  circumstances,  fail  of  his 
duty.  The  Assembly  was  much  agitated.  M. 
Edgar  Quinet  protested  strongly  against  the  accep- 
tance of  the  preliminaries,  which  would,  he  said, 
destroy  the  present  and  future  of  France.  M. 
Bamberger,  a  deputy  from  the  department  of  the 
Moselle,  followed  in  the  same  course ;  and  con- 
cluded by  condemning  Napoleon  III.,  saying  he 
was  the  person  who  ought  to  be  compelled  to  sign 
the  treaty.  When  M.  Conti,  the  late  chief  of  the 
emperor's  cabinet,  rose  and  attempted  to  justify  the 
empire,  the  Assembly  almost  unanimously  (there 
being  only  five  dissentients)  voted  by  acclama- 
tion a  resolution  confirming  the  fall  of  the  empire, 
and  stigmatizing  Napoleon  III.  as  responsible  for 
the  heavy  misfortunes  of  France.  M.  Louis  Blanc 
spoke  against  ratifying  the  preliminaries  of  peace, 
believing  it  possible  to  continue  the  struggle  by 
substituting  partizan  warfare  for  hostilities  on  a 
large  scale.  He  also  made  an  appeal  to  Europe, 
declaring  that  if  she  did  not  arrest  the  arms  of 
Prussia,  she  would  sign  her  own  death-warrant. 
M.  Victor  Hugo  made  a  most  impressive  speech 
on  the  same  side;  but  the  bill  for  ratifying  the 
preliminaries  was  carried  by  546  against  107 — a 
majority  of  fully  five  to  one. 

After   the    vote,  M.    Keller,    in   name   of  the 
deputies  for  Alsace,  the  Meuse,  and  the  Moselle, 


270 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


renewed  the  protest  proclaiming  the  cession  of 
territory  to  be  null  and  void,  and  declaring  that, 
one  and  all,  they  reserved  to  themselves  the  right 
of  claiming  to  be  united  with  France,  which  would 
always  keep  a  place  in  their  hearts.  M.  Keller 
further  stated  that,  in  the  circumstances  created  by 
the  vote,  they  could  no  longer  retain  their  seats 
in  the  Assembly,  as  they  could  not  represent  a 
country  ceded  to  the  enemy. 

Thus  peace  came  at  last,  and  France,  burning 
with  shame  and  heartbroken  by  sufferings,  showed 
by  the  votes  of  her  representatives  that  she  was 
glad  to  have  got  it  on  any  terms.  In  fact,  her 
only  choice  lay  between  the  acceptance  of  peace 
on  the  terms  offered  and  ruin.  However  dearly 
the  purchase  had  been  made,  it  would  buy  the 
invaders  out  of  the  country.  To  Frenchmen  the 
terms  must,  of  course,  have  seemed  oppressive,  and 
what  a  pang  must  have  shot  through  the  hearts 
of  all  the  deputies  when,  after  the  vote  of  ratifica- 
tion, the  representatives  of  Alsace  and  German 
Lorraine  bade  their  brethren  farewell,  on  the 
ground  that,  the  departments  from  which  they 
came  having  ceased  to  be  French,  they  could  no 
longer  sit  in  the  Assembly  ! 

The  negotiations  for  peace  were  throughout 
carried  on  entirely  between  the  principals,  and  the 
intervention  of  neutrals  was  avowedly  discarded. 
The  only  approach  to  it  was  on  the  part  of  Eng- 
land. M.  Thiers  had  seen  fit  to  communicate  the 
most  important  article  of  the  conditions,  that 
relating  to  the  cession  of  territory,  to  no  one, 
not  even  to  M.  Jules  Favre.  He  took  the  entire 
responsibility  of  dealing  with  Count  von  Bismarck 
on  that  head,  and  England  had  therefore  no  room 
to  say  a  word  in  the  matter.  But  M.  Thiers 
having  informed  the  new  French  ambassador  to 
England  (the  duke  of  Broglie)  that  the  indemnity 
was  fixed  at  six  milliards,  and  that  this  was  more 
than  France  could  pay,  he  called  on  Lord  Granville 
on  the  morning  of  February  24,  and  asked  him 
to  interfere  in  order  to  obtain  a  reduction.  Lord 
Granville  immediately  presented  him  to  the  queen, 
a  cabinet  council  was  held,  and  in  the  evening  his 
lordship  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Odo  Bussell,  stating 
that  England  advocated  a  reduction  of  the  amount 
demanded.  By  the  time  that  Mr.  Bussell  received 
the  telegram  the  demand  had  been  reduced  by 
£40,000,000  sterling,  and  to  this  final  arrange- 
ment M.  Thiers  agreed.  Lord  Granville  had, 
however,   sent  early  in   the  day  through    Count 


Bernstorff  to  Count  von  Bismarck  a  telegram  of 
the  same  import  as  that  which  had  been  forwarded 
to  Mr.  Odo  Russell;  and  Mr.  Bussell,  in  his  reply, 
expressed  a  hope  that  this  telegram  might  have  had 
something  to  do  with  the  reduction  in  the  amount 
of  the  indemnity.  Lord  Granville  stated  to  the 
French  ambassador,  that  he  thought  the  confining 
of  the  negotiation  to  the  representatives  of  the 
belligerents  was  the  wisest  and  best  course,  and 
the  most  likely  to  be  beneficial  to  France;  and  the 
French  ambassador  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  assent 
to  it,  as  it  had  been  adopted  by  the  head  of  his 
government.  The  king  of  Italy  wrote  to  the 
German  emperor,  expressing  his  surprise  and 
disappointment  at  the  hard  terms  exacted  from 
the  French,  especially  with  regard  to  the  cession 
of  territory;  but  hard  as  they  were,  there  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  active  intervention  of 
neutrals  would  have  led  to  their  modification, 
while  it  would  almost  certainly  have  issued  in  a 
rupture  of  the  negotiations,  and  in  a  renewal  of 
the  war. 

One  of  the  conditions  on  which  the  armistice 
was  renewed  at  Versailles  was,  that  30,000  Ger- 
man troops  should  enter  Faris  and  occupy  the 
Champs  Elysees  and  the  Place  de  la  Concorde. 
Such  triumphs  have  been  the  reward  of  victory 
ever  since  war  began,  and  will  probably  be 
claimed  so  long  as  it  exists.  In  the  present  in- 
stance the  feeling  amongst  the  Germans  on  the 
subject,  officers  as  well  as  men,  was  so  strong,  that 
even  Count  von  Bismarck  would  scarcely  have 
dared  to  refuse  them  the  gratification,  and  such 
a  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  new  emperor  would 
have  made  him  unpopular  where  he  most  desired 
to  be  venerated.  The  feeling  was  also  unquestion- 
ably strengthened  by  the  arrogant  tone  in  which 
the  Parisian  press  spoke  of  the  victorious  army 
while  under  the  walls  of  the  city.  "  The  German 
hordes,"  they  said,  "  had  not  ventured  to  pollute 
Paris  with  their  presence,  so  imposing  was  the 
Holy  City  even  in  her  great  distress."  Such 
sayings  were  pleasing  to  the  Parisian  public,  and, 
not  without  success,  they  tried  to  believe  them.  It 
was  pleasant  to  think  that  the  "  barbarians,"  like 
that  awe-stricken  slave  who  dared  not  slay  Caius 
Marius,  seized  with  respect  on  the  threshold  of 
Paris,  would  not  presume  to  enter.  It  was  pleasant 
to  read  and  to  write  to  that  effect,  but  certainly 
not  very  prudent  as  regarded  the  conquerors,  by 
whom  it  was  felt  that  the  actual  occupation  of  the 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


271 


city  would  be  the  most  effectual  means  of  putting 
an  end  to  these  vain  and  boastful  exaggerations. 
It  was  a  curious  proof  of  the  ascendancy  which 
Paris  exercised  over  French  feeling,  as  well  as 
imagination,  that  all  Frenchmen  seemed  to  regard 
this  occupation  in  the  light  of  an  inexpiable  insult 
— though  they  have  entered  every  capital  in 
Europe  except  London.  The  Prussian  Moniteur 
Officiel  at  Versailles  sarcastically  published  the 
description  of  Napoleon's  triumphal  entry  into 
Berlin  in  1806,  after  the  battle  of  Jena,  from  the 
"  History  of  the  Consulate  and  the  Empire,"  by 
M.  Thiers.  Yet  M.  Thiers  himself  was  on  the 
present  occasion  very  much  affected  by  the  occu- 
pation; and  General  Trochu,  a  moderate  man  if 
ever  one  existed,  was  driven  by  grief  and  irritation 
into  writing  a  silly  letter,  advising  the  Parisians 
to  close  their  gates  and  let  them  be  blown  open 
by  German  cannon — in  other  words,  to  risk  an 
absolutely  purposeless  massacre. 

When  the  determination  of  the  Germans  became 
positively  known  on  Monday,  February  27,  the 
agitation  in  the  city  was  indescribable.  Groups 
of  excited  civilians  assembled  on  the  boulevards, 
vociferating  for  guerre  a  outrance,  and  several 
companies  of  the  national  guard  declared  their 
intention  of  opposing  the  Prussian  entrance.  A 
proclamation  issued  by  MM.  Thiers,  Favre,  and 
Picard,  stating  that  they  had  done  all  in  their 
power  to  secure  good  terms,  somewhat  calmed  the 
excitement,  and  the  more  moderate  admitted  that 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  conclude  peace. 
Even  the  temperate  Journal  des  Debats,  however, 
said,  "  Our  conquerors  have  used  their  victory 
cruelly;  their  demands,  financial  and  territorial, 
have  been  such  that  in  the  conferences  with  M. 
Bismarck  our  negotiators,  M.  Thiers  and  M.  Jules 
Favre,  have  several  times  been  on  the  point  of 
breaking  off,  even  at  the  risk  of  seeing  the  war 
recommence.  The  commission  of  the  National 
Assembly  partook  of  the  emotion  of  the  negotiators 
when  the  conditions  were  communicated  to  them. 
It  is  death  at  heart  and  the  having  nothing  more 
to  hope,  except  in  the  justice  of  God,  that  have 
forced  them  to  submit  to  the  frightful  yoke  of 
necessity."  Patience  and  abstention  from  all 
attempt  at  disorder  were,  however,  advocated  on 
all  hands,  and  even  the  radical  journals  exhorted 
the  people  to  be  calm.  On  Tuesday,  General 
Vinoy  issued  an  order  of  the  day  condemning  the 
disorderly  conduct  of  the  national  guard,  who  had 


beaten  the  rappel  the  previous  evening.  M.  Picard 
also  published  a  manifesto  declaring  that  Belfort 
had  been  saved  by  giving  way  to  the  entry, 
reminding  the  population  that  the  safety  of  Paris, 
and  indeed  the  whole  of  France,  was  now  in  their 
hands,  and  imploring  them  to  remain  calm,  united, 
and  dignified  in  their  misfortune.  Still  consider- 
able agitation  prevailed.  Many  of  the  Belleville 
and  La  Villette  Beds  loudly  proclaimed  their 
dissatisfaction  at  the  treaty,  and  vented  their 
indignation  by  tearing  down  the  ministerial  procla- 
mations. A  large  meeting  of  national  guards  was 
also  held,  at  which  it  was  decided  that  the  entry 
of  the  Germans  should  be  energetically  resisted, 
and  that  the  Hotel  de  Ville  should  be  attacked. 
Accordingly,  on  Tuesday  morning  an  attempt  was 
made  to  seize  that  building;  but  the  government 
was  prepared,  and  the  rioters  had  to  beat  a  retreat. 
They  then  went  to  the  Place  de  la  Bastille,  and 
established  a  formidable  park  of  artillery.  The 
enceinte  at  Belleville  and  Montmartre  had  also 
been  refortified,  and  sentries  were  placed  on  the 
ramparts.  The  Vengeur,  however,  a  journal  of 
the  most  ultra  opinions,  published  an  article 
strongly  protesting  against  any  resistance  being 
offered  to  the  entrance  of  the  enemy. 

The  "  occupation"  commenced  on  Wednesday, 
March  1,  when  the  German  legions  made  then- 
entry  along  the  broad  Avenue  de  la  Grande 
Arme"e;  and  skirted  or  passed  beneath  the  lofty 
Arc  de  Triomphe,  inscribed  from  summit  to  base 
with  the  names  of  victories  gained  by  the  French 
over  their  present  conquerors  and  others.  For 
two  days  the  Champs  Elysees  and  the  Place  de  la 
Concorde  were  German  military  parade-grounds 
and  camps.  Martial  music  resounded  from  morn 
till  night,  generals  caroused  in  the  palaces  of  the 
Elysee  and  of  Queen  Christine  of  Spain,  hussars 
stalled  then-  horses  in  the  Palais  de  l'lndustrie, 
artillery  kindled  their  bivouac  fires  around  the 
Arc  de  l'Etoile,  cavalry  paraded  the  Cours  la 
Reine,  infantry  manoeuvred  in  the  side  walks  of 
the  Champs  Elysees,  and  uhlans  slept  by  moon- 
light beside  their  horses  under  the  trees.  On 
Wednesday,  when  the  troops  entered,  the  Parisians 
looked  angry  and  reserved,  and  the  Prussian 
quarter,  as  it  was  styled,  was  far  from  thronged; 
but  by  the  afternoon  of  the  following  day  the 
Champs  Elysees  presented  the  aspect  of  a  fair. 
The  assemblage,  of  course,  consisted  chiefly  of  the 
lowest  classes,  but  amongst  them  were  also  some 


272 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


well  dressed  persons,  who  had  come  out  to  listen 
to  the  music  and  to  take  a  look  at  those  "  Goths 
and  Vandals"  of  whom  they  had  heard  so  much. 

Owing  to  the  quarter  where  the  German  troops 
were  installed  being  inclosed  by  barricades  at  all 
its  principal  entrances,  and  to  the  subordinate 
thoroughfares  being  strictly  guarded  by  both 
French  and  German  sentinels,  the  most  complete 
order  was  observed.  Neither  French  soldier  nor 
national  guard  was  permitted  there  in  uniform; 
sections  of  the  mob  were  at  times  unruly  and 
more  or  less  insulting  towards  their  conquerors, 
whose  admirable  forbearance,  however,  prevented 
any  outbreak.  The  greatest  humiliation  they 
inflicted  on  the  Parisians  was  performing  martial 
airs,  long  after  sunset  on  the  Thursday,  under  the 
Arc  de  Triomphe,  that  cherished  souvenir  of 
French  military  renown.  All  the  shops  in  the 
city  were  closed,  as  were  all  the  cafe's  and  restaur- 
ants; no  papers  were  published;  every  blind  was 
drawn  down;  the  city  was  sad  and  solemn,  even 
in  those  remote  districts  where  no  Prussians  were; 
so  that  this  seclusion  was  no  parade  of  tribulation 
before  the  enemy,  but  was  the  real  expression  of 
the  national  sorrow.  Nothing,  in  fact,  could  be 
more  dignified  or  becoming  than  the  bearing  of 
the  people  in  general.  There  can,  however,  be 
no  doubt  that  the  main  reason  why  the  occupa- 
tion passed  off  so  quietly  was,  that  two  days  had 
been  allowed  to  elapse  between  the  time  when  it 
was  known  that  it  was  to  take  place,  and  that  of 
its  actual  occurrence.  In  those  two  days  the 
excited  population  had  time  to  calm  down,  and 
to  calculate  all  the  consequences  of  offering 
violence  to  an  enemy  within  the  gates,  and  while 
every  gun  of  the  forts  pointed  towards  the  city. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  the  occupation  the 
Germans  behaved  in  a  manner  worthy  of  them- 
selves and  of  their  country.  The  Bavarians,  who 
had  suffered  so  severely  and  fought  so  gallantly 
in  the  war,  were  assigned  a  place  of  especial 
honour  ;  and  portions  of  the  Prussian  corps 
who  had  done  most  hard  work  were  allowed 
the  honour  of  entering  the  city.  But  there 
was  no  air  of  triumph  or  parade.  It  was  looked 
on  as  a  mere  military  operation  which  had  to 
be  got  through  in  a  business-like,  unpretending 
way.  Neither  the  Emperor  William  nor  his  son 
entered  the  city.  Count  von  Bismarck  rode 
up  to  witness  the  scene  as  the  Prussian  regi- 
ments passed  in;   but  he  turned  his  horse's  head 


and  did  not  enter.  The  soldiers  were  good- 
humoured  and  grave,  and  impassive  to  the  petty 
insults  of  the  mob  that  stared  at  them ;  and 
nowhere  did  the  army  of  occupation  or  its  leaders 
exhibit  any  of  that  flaunting  arrogance  with  which 
the  first  Napoleon  and  his  marshals  and  soldiers 
used  to  ride  through  the  cities  they  had  captured. 

As  early  as  six  o'clock  on  Thursday  morning 
M.  Jules  Favre  went  to  Versailles  with  the  news 
of  the  vote  at  Bordeaux,  ratifying  the  treaty  of 
peace,  and  demanding  the  immediate  evacuation  of 
Paris.  This  was  refused  until  the  French  foreign 
minister  could  show  official  documents.  This 
difficulty,  however,  had  been  foreseen,  and  a 
special  messenger  was  despatched  from  Bordeaux 
with  an  official,  account  of  the  sitting  in  the 
chamber  as  soon  as  the  vote  had  taken  place.  At 
eleven  a.m.  the  courier  reached  Paris,  and  at  once 
started  for  Versailles.  Arrangements  were  then 
entered  into  between  the  French  and  Prussian 
generals  for  the  immediate  evacuation  of  the  city, 
which  was  commenced  on  Friday  at  an  early  hour, 
and  terminated  about  noon.  The  exit  of  the 
Germans  was  even  more  imposing  than  their 
entry.  The  road  under  the  Arc  de  Triomphe, 
which  had  been  purposely  blocked  up  by  the 
Parisians  before  the  entry,  was  carefully  levelled, 
and  regiment  after  regiment  passed  through, 
cheering  as  they  marked  the  names  of  the  vari- 
ous German  towns  once  conquered  by  that  great 
enemy  of  their  ancestors,  Napoleon  I. 

On  the  previous  day  (Thursday,  March  2),  the 
emperor  king  sent  the  following  characteristic 
telegram  to  his  queen  at  Berlin : — "  I  have  just 
ratified  the  conclusion  of  peace,  it  having  been 
accepted  yesterday  by  the  National  Assembly  in 
Bordeaux.  Thus  far  is  the  great  work  complete, 
which  through  seven  months'  victorious  battles 
has  been  achieved,  thanks  to  the  valour,  devotion, 
and  endurance  of  our  incomparable  army  in  all 
its  parts,  and  the  willing  sacrifices  of  the  whole 
Fatherland.  The  Lord  of  Hosts  has  everywhere 
visibly  blessed  our  enterprizes,  and  therefore,  by 
his  mercy,  has  permitted  this  honourable  peace 
to  be  achieved.  To  him  be  the  honour ;  to  the 
army  and  the  Fatherland  I  render  thanks  from  a 
heart  deeply  moved." 

This  telegram  was  publicly  read  at  Berlin  on 
Friday  amid  salvos  of  artillery  and  peals  from  the 
church  bells,  and  the  city  was  brilliantly  illu- 
minated at  night  in  honour  of  the  peace. 


CHAPTER     XXXI. 


Naval  Operations — Projected  Sea  and  Land  Attack  on  Germany — Danish  Feeling  in  favour  of  France — Total  want  of  Preparation  in  tbe  French 
Navy  as  well  as  in  the  Army— Part  of  the  intended  Fleet  only  despatched — Conflicting  and  Absurd  Orders  to  the  Admiral — Precautions 
taken  by  the  Germans  to  prevent  a  Landing  on  their  Coast — The  Blockade  of  their  Ports  more  Nominal  than  Real — Discouragement  in  the 
French  Fleet  and  Return  Home — Final  Resume'  of  the  Events  of  tbe  War — Contrast  in  the  Preparation  for  War  in  France  and  Germany — 
The  Reports  of  Baron  Stoffel  to  tbe  French  Government  on  the  German  Military  System — The  hopelessness  of  the  Struggle  in  France  after 
the  Collapse  of  her  Regular  Army — Military  Opinion  of  the  Siege  of  Paris  and  its  Bombardment — Conduct  of  tbe  Germans  in  France — 
Chronological  List  of  the  German  Victories — The  Spoils  of  the  War  and  the  Extraordinary  Number  of  French  Prisoners — Total  Losses  on 
both  Sides — Territorial  Alterations  made  by  the  War — Prince  Bismarck's  Reasons  for  Annexation — The  Military  Positions  of  France  and 
Germany  entirely  reversed — Official  Publications  issued  after  the  War — The  True  History  of  the  Secret  Treaty  contemplating  tbe  Annexa- 
tion of  Belgium  by  France — Tbe  Mission  of  M.  Thiers  and  the  Influence  of  M.  Gambetta — English  Benevolent  Operations  during  the  War. 


NATAL   OPERATIONS   OF    THE    WAR. 

From  a  statement  on  the  subject  in  Chapters  IV. 
and  V.,  it  will  be  seen  tbat  the  naval  strength  of 
Prussia  was  in  power  and  extent  only  about  one- 
third  of  that  of  France,  which  had,  in  fact,  a  mari- 
time armament  only  second  to  that  of  England. 
With  such  a  preponderance  of  ships  and  guns,  it 
was  natural  that  France  should  at  the  outset  count 
upon  achievements  at  sea  even  more  completely 
triumphant  than  the  victories  anticipated  with  such 
certainty  on  land.  Unfortunately  for  her,  what- 
ever has  been  said  of  want  of  preparation  and  of 
blundering  with  respect  to  the  army,  applies  equally 
to  the  navy,  though  in  the  case  of  the  latter  it 
was  not  attended  with  such  disastrous  results.  The 
plan  of  attack  meditated  by  France  when  war  was 
declared  included  a  joint  advance  by  the  army 
into  Germany,  by  both  its  western  and  northern 
frontier.  The  main  advance  was  of  course  entirely 
by  land;  but  a  large  force  was  at  the  same  time 
to  be  conveyed  by  ships  of  war  to  the  Baltic  coasts, 
and  by  an  invasion  of  Hanover  and  Holstein  to 
embarrass  the  Germans  with  an  attack  in  rear.  An 
air  of  feasibility  was  given  to  the  scheme  by  the 
popular  feeling  in  Denmark,  which  was  at  first  so 
extremely  warlike  and  anti-German,  that  it  was 
thought  probable  the  Danes  would  seize  the  oppor- 
tunity of  rising,  and,  by  joining  the  French  side, 
endeavour  to  pay  off  the  scores  of  1864.  A  sub- 
scription for  the  French  wounded  was  set  on  foot 
in  Denmark,  and  speedily  reached  the  sum  of 
80,000  francs,  while  one  opened  for  the  Germans 
only  amounted  to  1800  francs  in  the  same  time. 
The  Danish  press  vehemently  advocated  war  and 
revenge  on  the  Germans,  and  stated  that  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  French  fleet  in  the  Baltic  would 

VOL.  II. 


command  a  ready  ally.  As  Denmark  could  have 
at  once  assembled  40,000  men,  to  co-operate  with 
the  proposed  30,000  from  France,  Prussia  would 
have  been  menaced  in  the  north  by  an  army  of 
70,000,  which  would  have  compelled  her  to  con- 
centrate 200,000  men  in  that  part  alone,  besides 
the  garrisons  of  the  different  towns,  which  could 
not  be  withdrawn  with  an  enemy  threatening  her 
coasts. 

After  war  was  declared  several  days  of  uncer- 
tainty passed  respecting  the  appointment  to  the 
command  of  the  important  Baltic  expedition,  when 
on  the  22nd  of  July  Vice-admiral  Count  Bouet- 
Villaumez  was  suddenly  informed  of  his  nomina- 
tion to  this  duty  by  the  emperor.  The  fleet  was 
to  consist  of  fourteen  ironclads,  a  large  number  of 
corvettes,  and  other  vessels  necessary  for  the  expe- 
dition. A  second  fleet,  commanded  by  Vice-ad- 
miral La  Bonciere  le  Noury,  was  to  follow  shortly, 
made  up  of  gunboats,  floating  batteries,  and  large 
transport  steamers,  with  the  30,000  troops  on 
board,  under  General  Bourbaki.  Cherbourg,  how- 
ever, had  been  stripped  to  foster  Brest  and 
Toulon,  till  there  were  neither  fire-arms,  victuals, 
nor  sailors,  and  the  fleet  at  last  consisted  of  only 
seven  ironclads  and  one  corvette.  Especially  was 
it  without  the  American  ram  the  Rochambeau,  the 
only  vessel  capable  of  encountering  the  King  Wil- 
liam, but  so  disliked  by  the  French  builders  as  an 
American  vessel,  that  they  had  hidden  her  up  under 
pretence  of  repairs.  The  admiral,  however,  con- 
sidered he  could  at  least  neutralize  the  great  Prus- 
sian ship,  by  smashing  in  its  iron  sides  with  the 
ram  of  his  flagship  the  Surveillante ;  and  thus  elate 
with  hope,  and  determined  to  make  the  best  of  the 
first  instalment  of  his  promised  fleet,  Villaumez  set 
sail  on  the  24th  July,  all  his  fears  allayed  by  a 
2m 


274 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  AVAR. 


ministerial  despatch  promising  that  more  vessels 
should  speedily  follow  in  his  wake. 

The  admiral's  orders  were  to  direct  his  first 
operations  against  Jahde,  near  which  he  hoped  to 
surprise  the  Prussian  admiral,  Prince  Adalbert,  in 
the  open  sea  and  compel  him  to  fight.  The 
prince,  however,  was  not  to  be  found;  and  find- 
ing his  fleet  was  insufficiently  supplied  with  coal, 
Villaumez  was  obliged  to  make  for  a  port  in 
Denmark.  Here  he  received  a  verbal  order  from 
the  French  minister  to  sail  for  the  Baltic.  As 
this,  however,  was  at  variance  with  his  first  and 
more  definite  instructions,  a  telegram  was  sent  for 
fresh  orders,  which  had  scarcely  gone  when  a 
despatch  from  Paris  arrived  advising  him  to  choose 
"  some  point  of  observation,"  whence,  while  re- 
specting Danish  neutrality,  he  could  still  watch 
the  enemy's  shores  and  supply  his  ships  with 
everything  they  needed.  The  necessity  was  at 
the  same  time  impressed  strongly  upon  him,  of 
leaving  a  powerful  force  at  Jahde  to  take  note 
of  the  enemy's  movements. 

Here  was  a  fair  specimen  of  orders,  counter 
orders,  and  messages  without  aim  or  purpose. 
Where  should  this  point  of  observation  be?  In 
the  North  Sea  or  the  Baltic?  But  how  was  it 
possible  to  watch  the  Hanoverian  coast  from  the 
Baltic,  or  to  exert  any  influence  at  the  North  Sea 
upon  what  was  going  on  along  the  Pomeranian 
shores?  Could  this  double  task  be  accomplished 
with  seven  ships?  A  German  philosopher  long 
since  reproached  the  French  with  total  ignorance 
of  geography;  and  whether  the  taunt  was  just  or 
not,  it  is  certain  that  a  more  insane  contempt  was 
never  shown  for  it  than  when  Admiral  Villaumez' 
fleet  was  sent,  entirely  unprovided  with  maps,  to 
cruise  about  the  Danish  coast.  The  intricate  straits 
through  which  the  Baltic  is  reached  are  difficult 
enough  to  navigate  in  fair  weather;  but  for  ships 
of  the  heavy  draught  of  French  ironclads,  with 
stormy  seas,  and  no  maps,  it  would  be  a  miracle  if 
they  escaped  the  fate  of  the  armada.  It  would 
seem  as  if  the  ministry  of  Marine  at  Paris  had  been 
equally  ignorant  of  geography,  for  on  no  other 
supposition  can  the  despatches  to  the  admiral  be 
explained.  A  glance  at  the  map  -would  have  shown 
that  from  Jahde  to  Kiel  was  a  distance  of  900  miles, 
and  as  it  was  difficult  to  see  how  seven  ships  could 
prove  an  effectual  patrol  over  this  extent  of  coast, 
Admiral  Bouet  determined  to  wait  for  the  answer 
to  his  telegram.   An  order  to  proceed  to  the  Baltic 


soon  arrived,  and,  indefinite  as  it  was,  the  com- 
mander hesitated  no  longer.  Skilful  Danish  pilots 
were  procured,  by  whose  help  the  Great  Belt  was 
passed,  and  after  reconnoitring  Kiel  and  Femern, 
the  admiral  pursued  his  route  for  the  purpose  of 
discovering  a  suitable  landing-place  for  the  pro- 
mised and  long-expected  troops.  This  enterprise 
was  one  of  no  little  difficulty,  for  all  the  light- 
house lights  and  beacons  along  the  coast  had  been 
purposely  extinguished,  the  buoys  taken  up,  and 
an  abundance  of  torpedoes  laid  near  any  place 
favourable  for  observation.  If  any  spot  or  harbour 
was  pitched  upon  as  fit  for  attack  and  effecting  a 
landing,  it  was  generally  the  case  as  with  Kiel. 
A  large  ship  would  be  lying  athwart  the  harbour 
mouth  ready  to  be  sunk  at  a  moment's  notice,  with 
three  rows  of  stakes,  several  rows  of  torpedoes,  and 
a  regular  hedge  of  fishing  nets  ranged  behind  her. 
To  commence  operations  against  any  such  place 
gunboats,  floating  batteries,  and  troops  to  secure 
the  ground  gained  were  indispensable;  and  with 
all  these  the  fleet  was  totally  unprovided.  The 
admiral  sent  off  to  apprise  the  minister  of  his 
difficulties,  and  on  the  same  day  received  three 
despatches,  the  first  dated  6th  August,  command- 
ing his  instant  return  to  France;  another,  dated  a 
day  later,  bade  him  remain  where  he  was.  Another, 
later  still,  but  written  on  the  same  day,  informed 
him  that  the  army  had  suffered  reverses,  and  re- 
minded him  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  fleet  to 
strain  every  nerve  and  lose  no  opportunity  to  do 
the  enemy  an  injury.  Distracted  with  contradic- 
tory orders  and  bad  news,  the  admiral  determined 
to  form  a  committee,  consisting  of  the  six  principal 
officers  of  the  squadron,  who  should  report  upon 
the  most  attackable  part  of  the  sea-board.  The 
committee  came  to  the  conclusion  that  of  all  points 
on  the  Prussian  coast  Colberg  and  Dantzic  alone 
could  be  attacked,  but  the  slight  impression  likely 
to  be  made  would  only  weaken  the  prestige  of  the 
French  fleet.  To  do  any  good,  ships  of  a  peculiar 
construction  would  be  required,  and,  above  all,  a 
respectable  force  for  landing.  Just  as  this  rather 
despairing  report  was  presented  Admiral  Villaumez 
heard  that  the  Prussian  fleet  had  left  Jahde  Bay, 
and  was  making  for  the  Baltic.  Delighted  with 
the  prospect  of  at  least  doing  something,  he  hastily 
collected  his  ships  and  made  for  the  Great  Belt, 
there  to  dispute  the  passage  of  the  enemy's  vessels 
and  offer  battle.  But  the  Prussian  fleet  had  not 
left  Jahde  at  all.     On  the  contrary,  it  was  closely 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


275 


blockaded  there  by  Admiral  Fouriclion.  Finding 
little  chance  of  accomplishing  anything  else,  Ad- 
miral Bouet  now  declared  the  Prussian  harbours 
of  Kiel,  Lubeck,  Neustadt,  Stettin,  Stralsund,  and 
Rugen,  to  be  in  a  state  of  blockade,  and  caused 
official  notices  to  be  issued  accordingly.  Having 
only  large  ships,  however,  the  blockade  was  more 
nominal  than  real ;  for  the  light  German  craft  could 
always  creep  along  the  coast  and  elude  the  utmost 
vigilance  of  the  French.  More  than  this,  when- 
ever an  opportunity  offered,  in  thick  weather  or  on 
dark  nights,  the  small,  fast-sailing  Prussian  cor- 
vettes would  steal  out,  and  gliding  quietly  along 
the  coast,  would  take  the  huge  French  frigates  by 
surprise,  fire  at  them,  thrust  torpedoes  under  their 
keels,  and  make  off,  without  the  possibility  of  pur- 
suing them.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  discourage- 
ment of  both  officers  and  crews  when  they  plainly 
perceived  that,  notwithstanding  their  patriotic 
efforts,  they  must  give  up  all  hope  of  being  re- 
warded by  victory.  All  the  intelligence  from 
France  told  only  of  fresh  misfortune,  while  they 
themselves  were  condemned  to  a  fatal  and  humili- 
ating inactivity. 

While  Vice-admiral  Bouet  made  the  best  of  a 
bad  matter  in  the  Baltic,  Vice-admiral  Fourichon 
entered  the  North  Sea  upon  an  even  more  useless 
cruise  along  the  shores  of  Schleswig  and  Hanover. 
An  ordinary  map  will  show  the  reader  why 
cuirassed  vessels  can  effect  nothing  in  these  waters. 
Having  been  ordered  to  watch  the  mouths  of  the 
Weser,  Elbe,  and  Jahde,  Admiral  Fourichon 
found  himself,  about  the  middle  of  August,  in  a 
boisterous  sea  washing  a  shallow  coast,  without 
a  harbour  of  refuge  for  many  leagues  around. 
The  English  island  of  Heligoland  was  closed 
against  him,  and  all  other  harbours  being  distant, 
he  had  to  take  in  coals  and  provisions  when  out 
on  the  high  seas.  With  storms  almost  constantly 
blowing  from  the  south-west — that  is,  away  from 
the  land — as  is  usual  in  those  latitudes,  he  was 
expected  to  blockade  one  of  the  most  dangerous 
and  inaccessible  coasts  known  to  navigators.  Thus 
circumstanced,  the  chief  thing  he  had  to  guard 
against  was  injury  to  mast  and  engine.  If  seri- 
ously damaged  in  either  of  these  particulars, 
any  frigate  would  be  hopelessly  lost  on  the 
Hanoverian   shores. 

Unfortunately,  the  weather  soon  became  ex- 
tremely bad,  and  storm  following  storm,  the 
provisioning  on  the  high  seas  was  very  difficult. 


Though  the  frigates  themselves  might  hold  out 
against  the  weather,  the  ships  that  brought  them 
coals  and  victuals  had  to  tack  about  for  days  before 
they  could  come  alongside.  Not  a  few  were  lost. 
As  the  season  advanced,  the  more  dangerous  became 
the  equinoctial  gales,  and  the  fuel  diminishing,  the 
situation  of  the  squadron  began  to  be  critical. 
In  this  extremity,  on  September  12,  Admiral 
Fourichon  determined  to  return  to  Cherbourg, 
where  he  was  met  by  the  yacht  Hirondelle,  which 
had  been  looking  out  for  him  for  several  days. 
The  Hirondelle  was  charged  with  despatches  in- 
forming him  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Imperial 
government  and  his  appointment  to  the  ministry 
of  Marine.  Leaving  his  squadron  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  rear-admirals,  and  informing  Admiral 
Bouet  that  he  had  quitted  the  North  Sea,  Admiral 
Fourichon  left  for  Paris,  and  for  him  and  his 
second  in  command,  Admiral  Jaureguiberry,  a 
more  distinguished  part  in  the  war  now  remained. 
As  minister  of  Marine,  Fourichon  was  colleague 
and  companion  of  M.  Gambetta  after  his  balloon 
exit  from  Paris,  and  was  as  conspicuous  for  his 
wisdom  and  moderation  as  was  the  minister  of 
War  for  his  impetuosity.  Jaureguiberry  was  ap- 
pointed to  high  command  in  the  army  of  the  Loire, 
and  fought  with  extraordinary  talent  and  bravery 
in  the  various  engagements  with  which  General 
Chanzy  was  connected,  from  December  2  to  the 
final  dispersion  of  the  Loire  army  at  Le  Mans 
about  the  middle  of  January,  1871.  The  whole 
French  fleet  was  subsequently  ordered  again  to 
the  Baltic,  but  returned  to  the  North  Sea,  and 
ultimately  to  France.  It  had  driven  the  Prussian 
fleet  into  harbour,  where,  if  it  gained  nothing, 
it  suffered  as  little.  During  a  blockade  of  four 
months,  maintained  along  700  miles  of  coast,  twenty 
small  German  merchant  craft  were  captured;  but 
beyond  these  trifling  items  the  French  navy 
achieved  literally  nothing. 

At  home  a  more  remarkable  use  was  found  for 
the  fleet,  and  a  more  curious  phase  of  war  is  not 
to  be  found.  The  Germans  had  invaded  France 
from  the  Rhine  to  the  Channel,  and  fearing  lest 
Dieppe,  Rouen,  and  Havre  should  be  made  by 
them  bases  of  operations  or  of  supplies,  the  French 
government  stationed  several  vessels  of  war  off 
each  of  these  places;  and  the  singular  spectacle  was 
presented  of  a  French  fleet  blockading  its  own 
ports,  a  task  it  performed  far  more  effectually  than 
it  had  been  able  to  do  with  those  of  the  enemy. 


276 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


A  large  number  of  the  sailors  and  men  of  the 
marine  were  drafted  into  land  corps,  and  at  Paris, 
Orleans,  Le  Mans,  in  the  north  under  General 
Faidherbe,  and  in  many  other  parts  of  France,  did 
excellent  service  in  manning  the  artillery,  and  not 
unfrequently  bore  a  part  in  the  thickest  of  the 
numerous  sanguinary  actions  of  the  campaign. 

FINAL   RESUME    OF   THE    EVENTS    OF   THE    WAR,    AND 
MLTJTARY   OPINION   OF   THE    SIEGE    OF    PARIS. 

In  Chapters  IV.  and  V.  of  this  work  we  des- 
cribed in  detail  the  various  features  of  the  military 
systems  of  France  and  Germany  respectively.  A 
number  of  books  and  pamphlets  published  after 
the  war  threw  additional  light  upon  these  character- 
istics, and  their  influence  upon  the  singular  course 
of  the  events  of  the  campaign.  Any  one  con- 
versant with  the  systems  of  the  two  nations  would 
naturally  suppose,  from  the  readiness  with  which 
Napoleon  III.  plunged  into  the  struggle,  either 
that  he  was  ignorant  of  the  immense  superiority 
of  the  German  organization,  or  that  he  believed 
the  war  would  bring  into  relief  in  the  French  mili- 
tary machine  decisive  reforms,  which  Marshal  Niel 
was  supposed  to  have  carried  out  into  law.  The 
reforms,  however,  proved  to  have  been  only  upon 
paper,  and  the  writings  of  the  emperor  himself 
show  that  he  was  quite  familiar  with  the  nume- 
rical and  other  disadvantages  of  his  army  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  Germany ;  but  his  dependence 
was  upon  a  somewhat  desperate  and  rapidly  exe- 
cuted strategy,  which  proved  to  be  utterly  imprac- 
ticable. What  the  war,  even  within  a  week  or  two 
from  the  time  when  it  was  declared,  did  bring  into 
prominent  and  terrible  relief,  was  a  monstrous  im- 
perfection in  the  French  organization,  of  which  the 
War  office  was  grossly  and  unpardonably  ignorant ; 
and  this  ignorance  forms  the  key  to  the  overwhelm- 
ing misfortunes  we  have  narrated. 

Considerable  indignation  was  at  first  vented 
against  Colonel  Stofiel,  the  French  military  attache 
at  Berlin,  for  not  having  more  fully  apprised  his 
government  of  the  immense  resources  and  prepara- 
tions for  hostilities  throughout  Germany.  Im- 
mediately after  the  war,  however,  Baron  Stofiel 
published  the  reports  on  these  subjects  which  he 
had  made  from  1866  to  1870,  many  of  which  it 
transpired  had  never  so  much  as  been  opened.  These 
reports  not  only  described  most  fully  the  formidable 
nature  of  the  German  organization,  but  pointed 
out  in  contrast  the  feebleness  and  inefficiency  of 


the  French  system ;  and  had  the  Imperial  govern- 
ment studied  them,  it  would  have  been  more  fully 
alive  to  the  madness  of  the  enterprise  entered  upon 
on  the  dark  and  calamitous  15th  July,  1870. 

According  to  a  calculation  of  Baron  Stofiel 
made  some  months  before  hostilities  broke  out, 
and  essentially  corresponding  with  that  of  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  in  January,  1871,*  the  stand- 
ing army  of  France  consisted  of  372,558  men 
and  72,600  horses,  whereas  that  of  Northern 
and  Southern  Germany,  when  united,  amounted 
to  about  429,000  men,  and  from  80,000  to 
90,000  horses.  Thus,  even  in  the  single  parti- 
cular in  which  it  was  generally  believed  in  Europe 
that  she  would  possess  a  decided  advantage — a 
regular  army  ready  for  the  field — France  was 
considerably  overmatched;  but  this  disproportion 
gives  no  idea  of  her  immense  inferiority  in  mili- 
tary power  to  her  enemy.  Apart  from  an  unknown 
number  of  discharged  soldiers  and  worn-out  veter- 
ans, and  from  the  practically  worthless  national 
guard,  the  whole  reserves  of  France  were  com- 
posed of  about  320,000  men,  the  residue  of  seven 
contingents  of  conscripts  who  had  never  actually 
joined  the  colours,  and  of  the  garde  mobile,  who 
on  paper  numbered  rather  more  than  half  a  million 
of  men,  but  who  had  not  yet  been  even  embodied. 
The  numerically  imposing  reserves  of  France, 
therefore,  were  simply  a  collection  of  "  men  with 
muskets;"  and,  good  as  might  be  their  natural 
qualities,  this  circumstance  was  decisive  against 
her  in  the  contest  in  which  she  was  engaged.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  reserves  of  Germany,  compris- 
ing the  landwehr  and  the  reserve  proper,  formed, 
in  round  numbers,  about  800,000  men,  all  practised 
soldiers,  in  the  flower  of  their  age,  and  though 
separated  for  a  time  from  their  colours,  all  dis- 
ciplined by  long  military  service,  and  maintained 
in  their  martial  bearing  and  spirit  by  frequent 
exercises  even  during  peace. 

After  the  events  of  the  war,  it  would  be  useless 
to  comment  on  the  worth  of  this  colossal  force; 
but  we  may  observe  that,  although  its  real  qualities 
were  never  understood  in  France,  Baron  Stofiel 
had  furnished  the  emperor  with  the  fullest  infor- 
mation respecting  it.  A  report  presented  in  1869, 
after  showing  with  remarkable  clearness  the  homo- 
geneous character  of  the  German  regular  army  and 
reserves,  declared  that  a  war  even  with   Prussia 

*  Notesnrl'Organization  Militaire  de  la  Confederation  de  l'Allemagne 
duNord.  Wilhelmshohe,  January,  1871.  By  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


277 


alone  could,  humanly  speaking,  have  no  chance  of 
success : — "  Prussia,  or  more  accurately,  the  North 
German  Confederation,  can  dispose  of  a  million  of 
soldiers,  well  trained,  'well  disciplined,  and  admir- 
ably organized,  whereas  France  possesses  only 
between  300,000  and  400,000." 

Yet  even  these  figures  do  not  furnish  anything 
like  the  real  measure  of  the  strength  of  the  belli- 
gerent powers  for  military  operations.  The  prin- 
ciple of  local  preparation  for  war  was  utterly 
disregarded  in  France;  the  elements  required  to 
form  her  armies  were  scattered  over  all  parts  of 
the  country.  In  one  place  there  was  an  immense 
material,  in  another  a  vast  aggregation  of  soldiers ; 
and  a  disunited  regimental  system  was  the  most 
striking  feature  of  her  military  organization.  More- 
over, even  in  her  regimental  units,  local  association 
was  never  the  rule;  each  regiment  was  composed 
of  men  collected  indifferently  throughout  the 
empire;  and  owing  to  a  singular  regulation,  which 
required  recruits  under  all  circumstances  to  pro- 
ceed to  their  depots  in  the  first  instance,  the 
increasing  the  force  of  any  given  regiment  always 
consumed  no  little  time.  This  system  obviously 
threw  great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  rapidly  com- 
bining troops  and  forming  them  into  well-appointed 
armies — a  vital  point  in  modern  warfare.  When 
the  reserves  of  regiments  were  separated  from  each 
other  by  great  and  irregular  distances,  and  when, 
in  order  to  take  the  field,  it  was  necessary  to  draw 
from  remote  points  the  materials  of  each  corps 
d'armee  and  to  fashion  into  organic  masses  men, 
horses,  guns,  and  other  impedimenta,  delay  and 
confusion  were  the  inevitable  result,  and  the  array- 
ing the  armies  of  France  was  a  tedious,  uncertain, 
and  cumbrous  process.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
Prussia  and  throughout  Germany  the  principle  of 
military  organization  was  local;  the  empire  was 
parcelled  out  into  districts,  each  of  which  could 
furnish  ■  a  separate  army,  complete  in  every  appli- 
ance of  war ;  and  these  distinct  units  of  the  mighty 
array  which  made  up  the  collective  national  force 
were  locally  recruited,  administered,  and  com- 
manded. In  a  corrupt,  an  unwarlike,  or  a  divided 
state,  such  a  system  might  be  very  dangerous;  but 
in  the  actual  condition  of  Germany  it  enabled  her 
to  put  forth  her  strength  with  extraordinary  facility 
and  despatch ;  it  being  obviously  comparatively  easy 
to  combine  troops  collected  from  no  great  distances 
and  already  organized,  and  to  expand  them  into 
even  the  largest  armies.     The  result  was  that  the 


"mobilization"  of  the  forces  of  Germany,  immense 
as  they  were,  was  swiftly,  surely,  and  thoroughly 
accomplished,  and  under  the  conditions  of  modern 
warfare  this  feature  of  her  military  organization 
augmented  her  power  in  a  wonderful  degree,  and 
largely  multiplied  the  advantages  she  possessed 
already  over  her  weaker  antagonist. 

Nor  in  this  vital  point  of  preparation  for  war 
did  the  difference  end  here.  In  France  power  over 
the  military  machine  was  centralized  in  the  highest 
degree ;  the  minister  of  War  had  complete  control 
over  every  department  of  the  service;  hardly  any 
arrangements  could  be  made  without  his  orders 
and  supervision,  and  local  subordinates  were  de- 
prived of  almost  all  direct  authority.  This  system 
had  its  good  side;  but  it  threw  an  undue  and 
intolerable  burden  at  the  outbreak  of  war  on  a 
single  person.  It  thus  caused  responsibility  to  be 
ill  divided,  and  tended  to  complication,  to  delay, 
and  to  irreparable  mistakes.  In  Germany,  on  the 
contrary,  power  is  localized  in  the  army  to  the 
widest  extent;  the  commanders  of  the  different 
corps  d'armee  have  an  ample  range  of  control,  and 
the  central  authority  seldom  interferes.  A  system 
like  this,  in  certain  conceivable  cases,  might  lead 
to  great  and  dangerous  abuses;  but  it  worked  well 
in  the  last  campaign,  and  contributed  to  the  pre- 
cision and  swiftness  which  characterized  the  Ger- 
man operations.  The  contrast  between  the  two 
systems  is  thus  presented  in  one  of  the  numerous 
publications  by  actors  in  the  war: — * 

"  It  became  necessary  to  form  into  brigades, 
divisions,  and  corps  d'armee  the  scattered  elements 
of  our  military  power.  This  important  duty,  which 
requires  calm  reflection  and  a  profound  knowledge 
of  the  means  within  reach,  devolved,  owing  to  our 
vicious  system  of  centralization,  upon  the  minister 
of  War  and  his  office,  and  had  to  be  accomplished 
in  a  few  days.  In  Prussia,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
central  authority  does  not  pretend  to  do  everything ; 
it  imposes  on  the  commander  of  each  coi  ps  d'armee 
the  task  of  completing  all  needful  preparations." 

These  opposite  modes  of  setting  in  motion  the 
antagonist  armies  led  to  moral  results  not  unim- 
portant. The  hastily-collected  French  corps  had 
little  of  the  unity  or  cohesion  which  long  and 
intimate  association  had  given  to  the  arrays  of 
Germany.  We  should  not,  of  course,  lay  too  much 
stress   on   a  mere   circumstance    of    organization, 

*  La  Campagne  de  1870.  Par  un  Officier  de  l'Armee  du  Rbin 
Bruxelles,  1870. 


278 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


but  the  "Officer  of  the  Army  of  the  Rhine" 
is  probably  correct  in  saying: — "Confusion  and 
slowness  in  the  earlier  operations  were  not  the 
only  unfortunate  results  of  this  system  of  mob- 
ilization; it  produced  even  more  decisive  effects 
throughout  the  entire  campaign.  By  throwing 
together  elements  not  previously  united,  by  giv- 
ing the  troops  commanders  whom  they  did  not 
know,  and  the  commanders  forces  and  means  not 
familiar  to  them,  the  unity  and  mutual  confidence 
which  ought  to  connect  the  soldier  with  his  supe- 
riors of  every  grade  were  seriously  diminished  in 
the  French  army." 

The  general  result  of  the  utter  inferiority  of 
France  in  force  and  military  organization  was 
that,  though  the  first  to  draw  the  sword,  she  had 
not,  probably,  set  in  motion  more  than  220,000 
men  when  the  battles  of  Woerth  and  Forbach 
were  fought,  and  that  less  than  120,000  were 
added  during  the  crisis  which  ended  in  the  cap- 
ture of  Sedan,  when  her  fate  may  be  said  to  have 
been  virtually  sealed.  On  the  other  hand,  though 
the  German  commanders  were  taken  somewhat  by 
surprise — a  point  on  which  Baron  Stoffel  insisted 
in  the  preface  to  his  reports — they  were,  never- 
theless, able  to  bring  into  the  field,  within  three 
weeks  after  war  was  declared,  armies  of  which  the 
aggregate  numbers  were  over  500,000  men,  and  to 
add  enormous  reserves  to  these. 

Independently,  too,  of  inherent  defects,  the  French 
army  had  felt  the  pernicious  influence  of  the  polit- 
ical and  social  state  of  the  country.  Too  much 
is  not  to  be  made  of  this;  for  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  French  armies  have  marched  to  victory 
under  an  order  of  things  essentially  similar  to  that 
which  existed  in  France  in  1870.  Xor  can  it  be 
fairly  asserted  that  the  institutions  of  Germany 
must  necessarily  produce  an  excellent  military 
instrument:  one  has  only  to  read  the  remarkable 
preface  to  the  "Military  Memorial"  of  Prince 
Frederick  Charles,  and  the  observations  of  the 
gifted  author  of  the  "  Prussian  Infantry  in  1869," 
to  see  that  German  officers  of  a  high  order  of 
mind  regard  the  autocratic  system  of  Prussia  as 
having  a  bad  effect  on  the  German  soldier,  and 
believe  that  the  natural  dash  of  the  French  is 
largely  due  to  the  usages  of  the  country.  But 
the  evils  at  the  root  of  society  in  France  had  in 
1870  a  peculiar  tendency  to  injure  and  demoralize 
the  army,  whereas  those  which  existed  in  Germany 
were  not  felt  in  her  military  service.    The  French 


generals  were,  in  too  many  instances,  the  mere 
favourites  of  a  sovereign  who  was,  from  the  nature 
of  his  position,  compelled  to  consider  devotion  to 
himself  before  merit.  The  venal  corruption  of  an 
age  of  revolutions  had  found  its  way  into  the 
ranks  of  the  French  officers,  and  had  made  them 
dissolute,  ambitious,  and  selfish;  and  the  fortune 
which  had  long  smiled  on  their  arms  had  filled 
them  with  self-conceit  and  vanity.  Above  all, 
the  constant  agitation  and  changes  of  society 
in  France  had  spread  insubordination  throughout 
the  army  and  seriously  impaired  its  discipline ;  and 
the  dangers  had  been  much  aggravated  which  seem 
inseparable  from  its  democratic  organization.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  energies  of  the  Prussian  govern- 
ment had  been  concentrated  for  years  upon  the 
creation  of  a  formidable  army;  the  discernment  of 
the  king  and  the  skill  and  integrity  of  Yon  Moltke 
and  Yon  Pioon  had  neutralized  the  ordinary  evils 
of  an  aristocratic  military  system,  by  making  pro- 
motion depend  upon  merit;  and  the  national  move- 
ment which  was  stirring  Germany  had  given  her 
soldiers  the  energy  and  impulse  which  the  insti- 
tutions under  which  they  live  are  not  in  themselves 
calculated  to  encourage.  The  subordination,  the 
discipline,  the  order  which  naturally  belong  to  the 
German  army  were  seconded  in  1870  by  science, 
ability  in  command,  and  fervent  patriotic  enthusi- 
asm, and  this  rare  combination  proved  irresistible. 

Such,  then,  or  nearly  so,  were  the  forces  of 
France  and  Germany  at  the  beginning  of  the 
campaign.  Overmatched  in  numbers,  and  very 
inferior  in  organization,  in  efficiency,  and  in  mili- 
tary qualities,  the  French  army  was  directed  against 
an  enemy  in  overwhelming  strength  and  in  a  state 
of  complete  preparation  for  war.  France,  humanly 
speaking,  could  not  have  triumphed;  but  this  is  no 
reason  why  her  army  should  have  suffered  disasters 
almost  unparalleled,  or  why  the  country  should 
have  been  overrun  and  conquered.  Errors  in 
command  which  have  never  been  surpassed,  and  a 
fatal  sacrifice  of  military  considerations  to  the  exi- 
gencies of  a  political  situation,  were  the  causes  why 
the  ruin  was  so  overwhelming;  for,  notwithstand- 
ing all  that  has  been  written  to  the  contrary,  the 
French  army  in  this  calamitous  struggle  was  not 
devoid  of  the  high  qualities  which  had  justly 
gained  for  it  glory  and  renown. 

Our  brief  retrospective  remarks  have  thus  far 
had  special  reference  to  the  war  as  carried  on 
between  the  regular  armies  of  the  two  nations. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


?79 


As  to  that  great  phase  of  the  campaign  subse- 
quent to  Sedan,  which  closed  in  the  overthrow  of 
Chanzy,  Faidherbe,  and  Bourbaki,  if  the  lesson  is 
not  to  be  taken  home,  that  trained  soldiers  cannot 
be  met  with  untrained  levies,  however  gallant  and 
patriotic,  then  are  the  lessons  of  history  written  to  no 
purpose.  Well  would  it  have  been  if,  in  September, 
1870,  the  French  had  consented  to  put  an  end  to 
the  war.  The  terms  they  would  have  had  to  accept 
then  might  have  been  onerous,  but  they  were  sure 
to  be  aggravated  by  the  continuance  of  a  struggle 
to  which  he  must  have  been  sanguine  indeed  who 
should  have  predicted  a  happy  issue.  Still,  "France 
was  bound  to  fight  on  for  honour's  sake,"  it  was 
said.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  there  is  any  honour 
to  be  reaped  in  enterprises  absolutely  hopeless ;  and 
suicide,  in  either  nations  or  individuals,  is  a  very 
questionable  proof  of  courage.  The  struggle,  as 
we  have  shown,  was  unequal  from  the  outset,  and 
subsequently,  when  the  French  army  was  so  utterly 
prostrated  in  the  field  as  no  other  within  historical 
record  had  ever  been,  the  condition  of  France 
became  infinitely  worse;  because  it  was  impossible 
that  she  should  supply  a  second  army  equal  in 
efficiency  to  that  which  had  been  lost,  and  no  less 
impossible  that,  had  the  second  even  been  as  good, 
it  would  have  proved  itself  equal  to  the  exigency. 
For  a  better  one  the  elements  were  nowhere  to  be 
found.  The  men,  however,  into  whose  hands 
power  had  fallen  could  not  be  made  to  see  the  true 
position  of  the  case,  or  brought  to  acknowledge  it. 
France  in  their  hands  apparently  had  ceased  to  be 
capable  of  acting  rationally,  and  her  measures  were 
as  those  of  a  man  in  a  dream  or  delirium.  Orators 
appealing  to  frenzied  mobs,  and  substituting  for 
political  facts  the  impressions  of  an  assembly,  a 
market  place,  and  a  single  hour,  collected  crowds 
of  men  and  boys,  called  them  armies,  gave  them 
officers  like  themselves,  and  then  dashed  them  in 
the  face  of  a  foe  who  was,  in  fact,  what  they  could 
only  pretend  to  be.  On  the  one  side  it  was  his- 
tory; on  the  other,  a  theatrical  performance  re- 
deemed from  ridicule  only  by  the  sacrifice  of  the 
miserable  actors.  The  contrast  was  greatest  where 
it  was  most  dangerous.  Men  who  could  only  talk 
of  war  as  of  a  thousand  other  subjects  waged  it 
against  those  who  lived  for  it  alone,  and  who  were 
warriors,  if  nothing  else.  On  the  one  side  were 
trading  politicians,  republican  "prifets,  jealous  of 
military  command,  and  soldiers  who  had  served, 
if  at  all,  only  against  half  savages;  on  the  other 


side,  men  who  lived,  thought,  and  felt  by  act  and 
rule  of  war,  deeply  imbued  with  its  subtle  skill, 
its  hard  sway,  its  cruel  logic,  and  its  fell  liberties, 
enforcing  its  rights  to  the  letter.  The  result  was 
almost  always  and  everywhere  the  same,  and  it  is 
hard  to  say  whether  the  incapacity  of  the  com- 
manders, the  inadequacy  of  the  preparations,  or 
the  unsoldierlike  quality  of  the  men,  most  con- 
tributed to  it.  The  French  troops,  as  might  have 
been  expected  with  raw  and  untrained  levies,  were 
invariably  found  incapable  of  holding  positions, 
maintaining  advances,  supporting  one  another,  or 
converting  into  a  reality  some  momentary  semb- 
lance of  success.  The  enormous  disasters  with 
which  the  campaign  opened  were  repeated,  with 
variations  of  circumstances,  over  a  third  of  France, 
and  for  half  a  year.  Crowds  of  fighting  men  were 
surrounded  and  caught  like  shoals  of  fish.  The 
only  result  of  their  courage  was  that  after  heaps 
fell  under  the  fire  of  batteries  never  reached,  and 
often  not  even  seen,  they  surrendered  or  fled.  The 
Great  Napoleon  long  since  told  the  French  in  the 
plainest  terms,  that  it  was  one  of  their  national 
delusions  to  believe  that  the  revolutionary  levies 
of  1793  saved  France  from  the  Allies;  and  the 
wisdom  of  his  views  has  been  recently  even  more 
strikingly  illustrated.  It  is  vain  to  think  that 
collecting  mobs  of  armed  men  in  uniform,  whether 
under  the  name  of  mobiles,  sedentary  guards,  or 
volunteers,  or  county  militia,  will  avail  to  defend 
a  country  that  is  seriously  attacked.  Massed  to- 
gether by  the  hundred  thousand,  as  before  Orleans, 
such  a  body  becomes  too  unwieldy  to  move  with 
effect,  and  a  panic  ruins  it  at  once.  Divided,  as 
before  Le  Mans,  it  is  simply  exposed  to  be  cut  up 
in  detail.  Scattered  out  by  a  march  over  a  long 
distance,  as  near  Belfort,  it  is  at  the  mercy  of  any 
small  regular  force  that  manoeuvres  boldly  against  it. 
With  regard  to  the  siege  of  Paris,  that  a  popu- 
lation so  vast  should  have  held  out  for  such  a 
lengthened  period,  and  have  willingly  endured 
such  hardships  and  privations,  said  much  for  the 
government  arrangements,  and  did  infinite  credit 
to  the  patriotism  of  the  people  themselves;  but, 
looked  at  from  a  purely  military  point  of  view, 
the  general  opinion  amongst  those  best  qualified 
to  judge — and  which  was  well  expressed  by  a 
very  able  military  critic  in  the  Saturday  Review 
— is,  that  the  defence  of  the  city  was  tame-  and 
passive ;  and  that,  had  different  weapons  been 
adopted,  the   world   could   not   have  beheld  the 


280 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


singular  spectacle  of  500,000  men  compelled  to  lay 
down  their  arms  and  surrender  their  scarcely  in- 
jured forts  to  an  army  less  than  half  their  number, 
which  had,  in  the  open  field,  hemmed  them  in  till 
their  resources  failed.  Had  General  Trochu  had 
as  much  constructive  power  as  he  undoubtedly 
had  critical  genius,  the  result  might  have  been 
very  different.  From  the  first  he  seemed  to  have 
overlooked  those  engineering  resources  at  his 
command,  which  might  have  sufficed  to  render 
the  siege  impracticable  to  the  moderate  number 
of  Germans  which  finally  triumphed  over  him. 

Supposing  there  really  was  not  sufficient  time, 
before  the  Prussians  came  up  from  Sedan,  to  destroy 
thoroughly  the  huge  belt  of  shelter  which  after- 
wards saved  their  army  from  being  paralyzed  by 
the  frost,  it  would  certainly  have  been  quite 
possible  to  remove  wholly  the  timber  which  they 
used  so  freely  during  the  siege.  As  to  the  vil- 
lages and  detached  buildings,  there  will  probably 
be  different  opinions,  and  many  will  think  that  the 
cheapest  and  safest  defence  in  the  end  would  have 
been  such  wholesale  demolition  as  would  have 
deprived  the  Prussian  corps  allotted  to  the  invest- 
ment, of  any  ready  made  means  of  covering  the 
continuous  lines  which  they  held  throughout  it  in 
comfort.  But  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  adopt- 
ing this  course  were  no  doubt  appalling ;  and  we 
therefore  pass  from  this  part  of  the  question  to  look 
at  the  investment  completed,  as  it  was  in  September, 
with  but  trifling  opposition,  and  the  outlying 
villages  in  the  enemy's  hands.  Let  us  then  sup- 
pose that  Trochu's  plans  had  been  guided  by  a 
general  of  such  constructive  genius  as  Todleben, 
who,  in  view  of  the  manifest  uncertainty  of  relief, 
was  prepared  from  the  first  to  use  all  the  resources 
at  his  command  in  an  active  and  vigorous  defence, 
instead  of  maintaining  the  passive  attitude  which 
was  actually  assumed. 

Early  in  the  siege  there  was  at  the  governor's 
command  such  a  supply  of  labour  as  no  com- 
mander had  ever  before  collected  on  one  spot; 
nor  were  the  other  means  wanting,  both  for 
strengthening  the  existing  defences  and  for  carry- 
ing on  outside  them  a  system  of  intrenchments, 
which  would  have  mightily  enhanced  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  problem  placed  before  the  German 
staff.  Tools  there  must  have  been  in  abundance, 
since  the  resources  of  that  vast  metropolis  were 
at  the  command  of  a  firm  and  decided  governor. 
There  was  a  good  supply  of  brushwood  for  fascine 


works  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  and  the  stocks 
might  have  been  largely  supplemented  by  rough 
and  ready  expedients.  Timber  was  plentiful, 
stacked  in  the  builders'  yards;  and,  above  all,  the 
sandbags,  for  rapid  construction  of  shelter  the 
handiest  of  all  means,  might  have  been  made  to 
any  extent  required.  In  short,  it  would  have  been 
easier  to  organize  vast  bodies  of  improvized  pioneers 
with  their  tools,  than  to  create  out  of  the  chaos 
inclosed  that  active  army  which  promised  so  much 
and  did  so  little.  And  in  methodically  fighting 
from  the  first  under  cover,  the  most  irregular 
troops  that  Ducrot  or  Vinoy  could  put  in  line 
would  have  been  almost  as  formidable — in  a  finished 
work  certainly — as  the  best  soldiers  France  had 
sent  into  the  field  to  be  slaughtered  under  Mac- 
Mahon  or  entrapped  with  Bazaine.  Such  a  system 
would  have  gone  far  to  put  the  ill-matched  forces 
upon  an  equality,  even  if  it  had  not  restored  to 
the  defenders  the  natural  advantage  of  superior 
numbers. 

If  it  be  asked  how  the  hundred  thousand  armed 
workmen,  that  might  have  been  at  once  organized, 
could  have  been  employed  more  profitably  than  the 
large  parties  which  actually  laboured  in  the  later 
stages  of  the  siege,  we  turn  to  the  facts  recorded, 
and  point,  as  a  single  example,  to  what  happened 
with  regard  to  Mont  Avron.  The  work  thrown 
up  on  this  hill  was  the  only  serious  attempt  made, 
from  first  to  last,  to  extend  the  limits  of  the 
defence.  Its  mere  occupation  caused  the  Germans 
to  erect  against  it  a  dozen  batteries  in  a  semicircle 
five  miles  long,  protected  by  a  parallel,  covered  by 
strong  guards,  and  giving  work  to  a  whole  corps. 
But  Mont  AvTon  was  occupied  by  a  redoubt  quite 
detached,  left  destitute  of  bombproof  shelter,  and, 
above  all,  placed  there  nearly  three  months  too 
late,  when  the  enemy's  siege  train  had  arrived. 
Had  Trochu  been  fortunate  enough  to  have  had 
for  chief  engineer  an  officer  of  such  intelligence  and 
energy  as  Todleben,  or  he  to  whom  Belgium  owes 
the  strength  of  Antwerp,  what  could  have  hin- 
dered a  number  of  such  redoubts  appearing  early  in 
the  siege,  their  works  pushed  gradually  forward, 
connected  by  cover  with  the  place,  supplied  with 
rough  bombproofs  that  would  have  made  them 
safe  from  distant  bombardment,  and  well  manned 
by  guards  regularly  relieved  every  twenty-four 
hours  ?  Of  course  the  Germans  would  have  at- 
tacked them ;  the  nature  of  the  circumstances  would 
have   impelled   them    to    do   sot   since    otherwise 


THE  FKANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


281 


their  lines  would  have  had  to  recede  bit  by  bit, 
and  must  have  grown  longer  and  weaker  in  reced- 
ing. Let  any  one  who  wishes  to  understand 
the  necessities  of  the  supposed  case  remember  what 
anxieties  the  first  occupation  of  Le  Bourget  gave 
Count  von  Moltke,  the  hasty  order  which  came  to 
Prince  Augustus,  that  the  guards  must  retake  it  at 
all  costs,  and  the  heavy  lists  of  killed  and  wounded 
to  which  the  execution  of  the  order  led.  Yet 
Le  Bourget  was  merely  an  ordinary  walled  village, 
taken  by  a  young  brigadier,  and  occupied  without 
even  the  care  to  loophole  it  properly  before  it  was 
re-attacked.  A  strong  work  thrown  out  there 
early  in  the  siege  would  have  cost  the  Germans 
ten  times  as  many  men  to  take  it  as  the  village  did 
at  the  end  of  October;  and  as  their  heavy  guns 
were  not  then  up,  a  similar  front  of  offence  might 
have  been  pushed  forward  in  half-a-dozen  different 
places  simultaneously.  To  erect  such  works  would 
have  been  slow  and  toilsome;  but  to  prevent  their 
advance  altogether  would  have  overtaxed  the 
siege  materials  of  the  Germans,  and  by  forcing 
them  to  assault  would  have  caused  a  constant  drain 
on  their  limited  supplies  of  men,  even  in  case  of 
success;  whilst  one  or  two  serious  failures  would 
have  stimulated  the  zeal  and  energy  of  the  defen- 
ders to  put  forth  redoubled  exertions,  to  the  pro- 
portional cost  of  the  enemy. 

Had  a  Todleben  or  a  Brialmont  been  present  to 
advise  Trochu,  such  a  series  of  defences  could,  no 
doubt,  have  been  started  before  the  end  of  Sep- 
tember ;  and  if  conducted  with  the  vigour  and 
skill  which  either  of  those  renowned  engineers 
would  have  infused,  would  soon  have  driven  the 
Germans  so  far  off,  at  more  than  one  point,  as 
practically  to  cut  their  circle  into  isolated  seg- 
ments ;  or,  had  the  Germans  effectually  restrained 
them,  it  must  have  been  at  such  an  expense  of  life 
as  of  itself  would  have  raised  the  siege,  or  at  the 
least  drawn  in  their  detachments  from  all  other 
quarters,  and  left  their  rear  and  communications 
dangerously  weak.  Their  headquarters  at  Ver- 
sailles might  have  been  threatened,  their  depots  on 
the  railroad  driven  further  off,  and,  above  all,  the 
first  decided  advantage  gained  in  this  manner 
would  have  given  that  moral  impulse  to  the 
defenders  which  from  first  to  last  no  step  taken 
by  their  chiefs  ever  evoked  among  them.  The 
effect  of  the  most  rousing  proclamation,  or  of  the 
most  carefully  coloured  intelligence,  is  but  tran- 
sient ;  but  to  have  held  a  mile  or  two  of  ground 
vol.  n. 


fairly  won  from  their  foes  would  have  stimulated 
every  soldier  in  the  garrison  to  new  efforts  by  a 
definite  and  tangible  object.  The  battalions  that 
wasted  their  time  in  purposeless  drilling  for  a  field 
they  never  entered  would  here  have  found  useful 
scope  for  their  services;  and  their  officers,  raw  to 
their  duties  at  first,  would  with  practice  have 
come  to  display  the  well-known  ingenuity  of  their 
nation,  so  often  exhibited  in  defences  on  a  smaller 
scale. 

In  consequence  of  the  tactics  adopted  by  the 
French,  the  Germans  had  time  to  so  strongly 
entrench  their  positions,  and  so  dispose  their 
numerous  field  artillery,  as  to  enable  them  to 
hold  securely  any  point  suddenly  attacked,  even 
against  very  superior  numbers.  Yet  their  own 
forces  at  any  given  point  were  of  necessity  com- 
paratively weak.  The  extent  of  their  inner  line 
of  investment  was  fifty  miles  ;  that  of  the  outer 
circle,  occupied  by  the  headquarters  of  the  two 
besieging  armies,  was  at  least  sixty-six  miles. 
Taking  fifty  miles  as  the  basis,  and  estimating  the 
German  force  at  200,000,  the  average  strength  at 
any  given  point  was  only  in  the  proportion  of 
4000  men  to  one  mile.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, good  soldiers,  led  by  well-instructed  offi- 
cers, could  not  have  been  held  in  so  long;  but 
Trochu's  army  did  not  consist  of  good  soldiers, 
and  it  may  reasonably  be  doubted  whether  he 
would  at  any  time  have  been  justified  in  attempt- 
ing to  break  clean  through  the  German  lines  of 
investment,  having  no  promise  of  assistance  from 
without.  To  have  done  so  for  the  mere  purpose 
of  carrying  into  the  field  beyond  an  army  of  raw 
soldiers  of  the  strength  just  mentioned,  short  of 
provisions,  short  of  horses,  would  have  been  to 
weaken  the  defence  without  gaining  any  corre- 
sponding advantage,  save  that  of  diminishing  the 
number  of  mouths  which  remained  inclosed.  With- 
out the  requisite  accessories  such  an  army  could 
not  have  sustained  a  campaign;  and  in  order  to 
subsist  it  woidd  have  had,  even  if  not  pressed  by 
the  Germans,  to  break  up  into  separate  fragments 
and  hasten  from  the  district  near  the  capital.  A 
number  of  recruits  might  possibly  thus  have  been 
gained  for  Bourbaki  and  D'Aurelles ;  but  they 
could  have  no  effect  upon  the  investment,  unless 
the  Germans  had  given  it  up  for  a  time,  and 
changed  it  into  such  an  unremitting  pursuit  of 
their  new  enemy  as,  under  the  conditions  sup- 
posed, would  have  insured  his  destruction.  No 
2  N 


282 


THE  FRANCO  PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


real  attempt  was,  in  fact,  ever  made  to  carry  the 
army  through  the  lines,  except  on  the  one  occa- 
sion when  Trochu's  information  led  him  to  suppose 
that  D'Aurelles  was  approaching  Fontainebleau  in 
November,  with  the  vast  train  of  supplies  known 
to  have  been  gathered  behind  his  intrenched  camp 
at  Orleans.  A  junction  with  him  thus  provided 
would  have  put  matters  on  altogether  a  different 
footing  from  the  mere  escape  of  100,000  or  150,000 
men  out  of  the  lines  with  three  days'  rations  in 
their  haversacks ;  and  the  position  assigned  for  the 
meeting  would  have  planted  the  French  so  threat- 
eningly on  the  flank  of  the  German  communications, 
as  to  have  caused  the  instant  and  complete  aban- 
donment of  the  investment.  This  was  the  only 
practical  attempt  at  strategic  combination  shown 
during  the  four  months'  siege;  but  it  was  foiled 
doubly  in  its  execution,  by  the  superiority  in 
tactical  power  of  Prince  Frederick  Charles'  army 
to  that  of  the  army  of  the  Loire,  and  by  the  failure 
of  Ducrot  to  win  sufficient  ground  beyond  the 
loops  of  the  Marne  to  enable  him  to  develop  his 
masses  of  men  on  a  broad  front,  and  so  make  some 
decisive  use  of  his  superiority  of  numbers. 

Yet  admitting  that  Trochu  was  probably  right 
in  determining  not  to  risk  bodies  of  his  troops  in 
the  open  field  without  supplies  and  unsupported, 
even  supposing  they  could  force  a  passage  by  sur- 
prise, his  plan  of  waiting  for  relief  from  without, 
and  holding  his  defences  passively  until  it  came, 
stands  self-condemned  by  the  results.  The  inter- 
mediate course  of  an  active  and  vigorous  resist- 
ance, so  active  and  vigorous  as  to  have  placed  the 
besiegers,  with  their  inferior  numbers,  practically 
on  the  defensive,  was,  as  we  have  said,  hardly 
thought  of,  and  rejected  as  too  difficult  and  labo- 
rious. At  least,  no  systematic  effort  was  made  to 
carry  it  out. 

With  regard  to  the  bombardment  of  the  city  by 
the  Germans,  that  is  also  now  admitted  to  have  been 
a  mistake  and  failure.  In  the  words  of  the  able  and 
very  impartial  military  correspondent  of  the  Times, 
"  There  was  nothing  gained  by  it;  not  a  single  day 
sooner  did  Paris  yield.  No  practicable  breach  was 
formed  except  one,  very  small,  in  the  rear  of  Fort 
Montrouge.  There  was,  in  fact,  no  military  effect 
whatever  from  the  bombardment  of  Paris." 

The  final  German  triumph  at  Paris  was  undoubt- 
edly somewhat  marred  by  the  thought,  that  another 
month  of  the  same  patience  which  they  had  shown 
till  the  new  year  opened  would  have  given  them 


uninjured  the  prize  they  sought.  The  very  works 
surrendered  into  their  hands  to  save  the  lives  of 
the  starving  multitude  within,  must  have  seemed 
to  reproach  silently  the  hasty  counsels  of  those 
who  led  the  emperor-king  from  his  original  plan 
to  adopt  sharper  measures,  which  proved  abortive 
and  fruitless.  The  conquest  so  won  was  stained 
by  what  was  then  plainly  seen  to  have  been  a 
superfluous  use  of  the  resources  of  war.  For  more 
than  three  months  the  German  staff  held  to  the 
resolve  to  reduce  Paris  by  starvation,  and  there  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  they  could  have  main- 
tained their  lines  throughout  intact  for  that 
purpose.  After  suddenly  changing  their  minds 
and  beginning  a  direct  double  attack  by  bombard- 
ment and  approach,  the  capital  fell,  before  either 
of  these  methods  had  in  any  way  affected  its 
powers  of  resistance,  under  the  inevitable  pres- 
sure of  coming  famine.  In  using  the  other  modes 
the  Germans  were  not,  of  course,  going  beyond 
their  rights.  A  capital  which,  for  strategic  ends, 
has  been  deliberately  turned  into  a  fortress,  is 
beyond  dispute  liable  to  be  treated  as  a  fortress. 

A  great  deal  of  angry  recrimination  passed  be- 
tween Count  von  Bismarck  and  M.  de  Chandordy, 
delegate  of  the  French  Foreign  minister,  respecting 
the  general  conduct  of  the  war  by  the  respective 
belligerents.  The  Frenchman  accused  the  Ger- 
mans of  committing  needless  and  unjustifiable 
atrocities  while  overrunning  his  country;  and  the 
Count  retorted  by  counter-charges  of  using  explo- 
sive bullets,  barbarities  committed  by  Turcos, 
burning  and  scuttling  of  German  merchantmen, 
and  systematic  disregard  of  the  Geneva  conven- 
tion. None  of  the  despatches,  however,  drawn  up 
under  the  influence  inspired  by  war,  can  be  looked 
upon  as  impartial  or  altogether  reliable.  They  all 
naturally  took  their  tone  from  exaggerated  state- 
ments, and  from  reports  and  testimony  distorted 
by  passion  or  by  suffering. 

The  concurrent  testimony  of  all  observers  was 
that,  at  the  opening  of  the  campaign,  the  conduct 
of  the  German  troops  was  excellent;  they  were  not 
more  remarkable  for  courage  and  discipline  than 
for  honourable  treatment  of  the  invaded  country. 
The  picture  was  subsequently  darkened;  complaints 
were  made  that  the  German  leaders  acted  like  Tilly 
and  Wallenstein ;  and  dreadful  stories  were  told  of 
murdered  free-shooters,  of  villages  burnt  by  way 
of  reprisals,  of  barbarous  executions,  of  innocent 
citizens  made  hostages,  of  devastation  carried  out 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


2S3 


on  system,  as  if  by  the  savage  hordes  of  Attila. 
According  to  the  remark  of  the  old  Greek,  that 
human  nature  in  the  same  circumstances  is  usually 
pretty  nearly  the  same,  we  can  easily  account  for 
these  things,  without  imputing  any  peculiar  guilt, 
or  even  ferocity,  to  the  German  armies.  In  the 
first  place — and  this  unhappily  is  attested  through- 
out the  history  of  our  race — prolonged  war  makes 
men  indifferent  to  the  sight  of  suffering;  the  sol- 
dier who  knows  he  may  die  to-morrow  becomes 
reckless  of  the  miseries  of  others;  and  we  cannot 
doubt  that  a  change  like  this  passed  over  the 
character  of  the  invaders  of  France  as  the  contest 
went  on  and  deepened.  In  the  second  place,  the 
system  of  requisitions  pursued  by  the  German 
commanders — a  system,  it  must  be  said  with 
regret,  perhaps  necessary  in  a  campaign  con- 
ducted on  such  an  enormous  scale — has  invari- 
ably been  attended  with  the  consequences  before 
mentioned.  Forced  contributions  generate  resist- 
ance among  the  non-combatant  population;  this 
leads  to  a  guerilla  warfare,  which  compels  the 
generals  of  the  invading  army  to  exercise  severi- 
ties of  all  kinds,  unhappily  often  without  discrimi- 
nation; for  no  officer  will  allow  his  men  to  be 
destroyed,  and  his  army  perhaps  endangered,  by 
irregular  bands  of  armed  peasants. 

In  the  course  of  a  letter  addressed  to  his  daughter 
by  an  officer  of  high  rank  at  the  German  head- 
quarters, the  following  passages  occurred: — "  I 
have  now  been  for  four  months  in  the  thick 
of  the  war.  You  know  that  I  am  just  to  friend 
and  foe,  and  have  a  feeling  heart  for  any  suffer- 
ing on  whatever  side.  This  much  premised,  I 
can  assert  with  a  good  conscience  that  so  great 
and  sanguinary  a  war  has  never  been  conducted 
with  so  little  suffering  or  hardship.  That  in 
isolated  cases  things  happen  on  both  sides  which, 
without  exact  information  and  inquiry,  might  be 
denounced  as  barbarities,  is  quite  conceivable  in 
a  struggle  in  which  unchained  passions  are  so 
powerfully  excited.  Never  before,  however,  have 
three-fourths  of  all  wanted  by  the  troops  been 
supplied  from  the  victor's  country,  or  bought  for 
ready  money  from  the  enemy,  in  order  to  spare 
the  country  visited  by  the  war.  It  has  never  come 
to  my  ears  or  those  of  my  many  acquaintances  that 
a  German  soldier  has  ill-treated  a  French  woman. 
The  entire  contributions  hitherto(December,  1870) 
levied  by  our  armies,  do  not  reach  the  sum  exacted 
by  the  French  under  Napoleon  from  many  a  large 


town  in  Germany,  although  money  was  worth  much 
more  then  than  now.  As  evidence  of  the  discip- 
line of  our  troops,  I  may  mention  that  while  in 
France,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  case  at 
Nancy,  I  have  not  seen  a  drunken  German  sol- 
dier. In  numberless  cases  our  troops  have,  at  the 
request  of  officials  or  communities,  protected  priv- 
ate property  against  attacks  by  Frenchmen — e.g., 
the  champagne  vineyards." 

We  give  these  extracts  as  only  fair  statements, 
especially  in  regard  to  the  treatment  of  French 
women;  and  we  may  remark  that  many  alleged 
atrocities,  the  subject  of  comment  all  over  Europe 
at  the  time — such,  for  instance,  as  the  reported 
roasting  alive  of  a  franc- tireur  near  Dijon — ap- 
peared in  quite  a  different  light  upon  closer 
inquiry.  Whatever  wrongs  may  have  been  com- 
mitted under  the  excitement  of  the  war,  the 
authorities  of  both  sides  willingly  rendered 
homage  to  the  leading  international  principles 
of  civilization,  and  in  their  despatches  earnestly 
endeavoured  to  justify  themselves  in  the  eyes  of 
Europe  for  any  violation  of  the  sacred  duties  of 
humanity. 

LIST   OF   THE    GERMAN    VICTORIES  ;     THE    TOTAL    LOSSES 

ON  BOTH  SIDES  ;    AND  THE  TERRITORIAL  ALTERATIONS 

MADE    BY   THE    WAR. 

In  a  previous  part  of  this  chapter  we  have 
pointed  out  the  disastrous  consequences  to  France 
of  her  unpreparedness  for  the  war,  and  we  will 
here  present  a  summary  of  the  results  accruing  to 
Germany  through  her  superior  mobility,  organiza- 
tion, and  numbers.  War  was  declared  on  July 
15,  1870,  and  terminated  February  16,  1871,  after 
lasting  210  days.  In  the  first  week  after  the  declara- 
tion of  war  the  German  troops  were  mobilized,  their 
despatch  to  the  west  and  disposition  along  the 
Treves-Landau  line  requiring  nearly  a  fortnight. 
The  troops  sent  to  the  frontier  amounted  to  over 
500,000  men,  and  to  bring  the  whole  mass  up  in 
a  fortnight  about  42,000  had  to  be  conveyed  by 
rail  per  day.  The  transport  was  effected  on  five 
lines,  two  of  which,  however,  were  but  little  used. 
Besides  the  men,  there  were  horses,  guns,  car- 
riages, ammunition,  and  provisions  to  be  sent. 
Pour  Prussian  corps  d'armee,  to  get  to  the  French 
frontier,  had  to  travel  a  distance  of  from  400  to 
600  miles,  and  had  to  be  fed  on  the  way.  As  in 
the  first  few  days  of  the  campaign,  and  during  the 
last  period,  there  were  no  engagements,  the  war 


284 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


was  practically  reduced  to  180  days.  In  the 
course  of  these  there  were  considerably  more  than 
100  engagements,  besides  twenty-one  great  battles, 
the  chronological  order  of  the  latter  being — Wis- 
sembourg,  Woerth,  Spicheren,  Courcelles,  Vion- 
ville,  Gravelotte,  Beaumont,  Sedan,  Noisseville 
(before  Metz),  Beaune-la-Rollande,  the  three  battles 
round  Orleans,  Amiens,  Champigny  and  Brie 
(before  Paris),  Beaugency,  Bapaume,  Vendome, 
Le  Mans,  Belfort,  St.  Quentin,  and  the  great  sortie 
against  St.  Cloud.  Twenty-six  fortresses  were 
taken,  namely,  Lutzelstein,  Lichtenberg,  Marsal, 
Vitry,  Sedan,  Laon,  Toul,  Strassburg,  Soissons, 
Schlestadt,  Metz,  Verdun,  Montbeliard,  Neu- 
Breisach,  Ham,  Thionville,  La  Fere,  the  citadel  of 
Amiens,  Phalsbourg,  Montmedy,  Mezieres,  Rocroi, 
Peronne,  Longwy,  Paris,  and  Belfort.  Reckoning 
only  those  actually  transported  to  German  fort- 
resses and  towns,  11,650  officers  and  363,000 
rank  and  file  were  made  prisoners.  The  prisoners 
at  the  capitulation  of  Paris  amounted  to  nearly 
500,000,  that  being  the  number  actually  engaged 
in  the  defence  of  the  city.  Had  not  the  war 
closed  with  the  fall  of  the  capital,  these  also  would 
most  likely  have  been  transferred  to  Germany. 
Of  the  ill-fated  army  under  Bourbaki  84,900  were 
driven  across  the  frontier  and  compelled  to  lay 
down  their  arms  in  Switzerland,  and  fully  20,000 
fled  into  Belgium  after  the  battles  of  Metz  and 
Sedan.  The  total  number  of  prisoners  and  of 
fugitives  interned  in  neighbouring  states  thus 
amounts  to  the  extraordinary  total  of  nearly  one 
million.  The  quantity  of  arms  and  other  warlike 
material  captured  was  equally  remarkable,  and 
altogether  unprecedented  in  any  former  war. 
Thus  at  the  Alma  the  Allies  took  two  colours  and 
two  guns,  at  Inkermann  they  lost  three  guns,  and 
at  the  storming  of  the  Malakoff  one  standard  and 
thirty-one  guns  were  captured.  The  number  of 
prisoners  in  the  campaign  did  not  exceed  6000. 
The  entire  spoils  of  the  French  in  1859  consisted 
of  three  colours,  twenty-six  guns,  and  16,000 
prisoners.  The  Prussians,  on  the  other  hand,  took 
at  Dlippel  nineteen  colours,  119  guns,  and  3400 
prisoners  ;  at  Alsen,  thirteen  colours,  ninety-nine 
guns,  and  2494  prisoners ;  at  Koniggratz,  seven 
colours,  161  guns,  and  19,800  prisoners  ;  altogether 
in  1866,  thirteen  colours,  208  guns,  and  49,000 
prisoners.  The  more  formidable  total  of  1870-71 
consisted  of  6700  guns  (including  mitrailleuses), 
120  eagles  and  colours,  and  sufficient  chassepots  to 


equip  the  entire  German  army.  Such  large  stores 
of  cloth  were  captured  at  Metz  and  Le  Mans  as 
sufficed  to  renew  the  whole  of  the  uniforms  re- 
quired ;  and  notwithstanding  the  great  number  of 
horses  which  perished,  the  end  of  the  war  found 
Germany  richer  than  before  in  this  description  of 
live  stock — Sedan  and  other  battlefields  having 
yielded  far  more  than  the  number  lost. 

The  losses  of  both  combatants  were  in  propor- 
tion to  the  magnitude  and  fierceness  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  campaign.  Considering  the  hasty  and 
confused  manner  in  which  the  French  forces  were 
collected  after  Sedan,  it  is  doubtful  if  accurate 
returns  of  their  loss  can  ever  be  forthcoming. 
Some  months  after  the  campaign  closed  the  num- 
bers were  returned  as  89,000  "  killed ; "  and  if 
this  is  to  be  taken  as  including  wounded  and 
missing,  the  German  loss  far  exceeded  it,  for 
the  entire  loss  of  Germany  has  been  ascertained 
to  have  been  about  180,000 — rather  more  than 
half  of  whom  arc  invalided. 

The  most  costly  fight  to  the  Germans  was  that 
of  Yionville,  on  August  16,  1870,  when,  in  order 
to  prevent  the  escape  of  Marshal  Bazaine's  army, 
more  than  17,000  men  were  sacrificed.  There 
was  a  great  disparity  of  numbers  in  the  battle,  as 
45,000  Prussians  fought  from  8  a.m.  till  4  p.m.,  at 
first  against  160,000  and  by  noon  against  nearly 
200,000  French.  Another  instance  of  similar 
disparity  was  at  Belfort,  where  about  36,000  Prus- 
sians and  Badeners  maintained  a  three  days'  battle 
against  Bourbaki's  army  of  nearly  130,000.  There 
were  instances,  on  the  other  hand,  in  which  the 
disparity  was  reversed — notably  at  Wissembourg 
and  Woerth,  where,  although  the  fortune  of  the 
day  was  in  the  end  against  them,  the  French 
undoubtedly  made  a  most  gallant  and  heroic  stand. 
Gravelotte,  also,  was  a  most  costly  and  hardly-won 
victory,  although  full  270,000  Germans  confronted 
less  than  210,000  French — including,  however, 
the  elite  of  the  army. 

Losses  in  men  and  warlike  material  to  a  certain 
extent  were  what  France  must  have  laid  her  ac- 
count with  in  entering  upon  the  campaign.  That 
the  loss  should  have  been  far  beyond  all  precedent 
was  what  she  might  in  time  have  become  recon- 
ciled to,  had  even  a  small  measure  of  success 
attended  her  arms.  Unfortunately,  the  terms  of 
peace  which  she  was  eventually  obliged  to  accept 
involved  sacrifices  inflicting  a  rankling  wound, 
which    it  is   to   be   feared  time  alone  will   never 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAJNI   WAR. 


285 


heal.  Alison  observes  that,  "  The  policy  of  the 
Allies,  when  dictating  terms  to  France  in  1814, 
was  founded  on  a  noble  spirit — it  rested  on  the 
principle  of  eradicating  hostility  by  generosity, 
and  avenging  injury  by  forgiveness.  The  result 
proved  that,  in  doing  so,  they  proceeded  on  too 
exalted  an  estimate  of  human  nature."  The  Ger- 
mans of  1871  comfort  themselves  by  reflecting, 
that  they  profited  by  the  teachings  of  history  and 
avoided  the  errors  of  their  forefathers.  Without 
seeking  to  eradicate  hostility  by  generosity,  they 
calculated  on  France  nursing  the  spirit  of  ven- 
geance and  retaliation;  and  their  one  aim  in  dic- 
tating the  terms  of  peace  was  to  make  her  enter 
on  any  future  war  with  Germany  with  the  odds 
heavily  against  her.  The  population  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  had  so  conclusively  shown  their  wish  to 
be  united  to  France,  as  to  satisfy  their  conquerors 
that,  in  spite  of  their  common  language,  they  would 
have  to  treat  them  as  vanquished  aliens.  There 
was  therefore  no  pretence  of  moderation,  nor  any 
further  talk  of  uniting  to  Germany  the  lands  torn 
from  her  in  past  ages.  By  a  turn  of  events  as 
surprising  to  the  conquerors  as  to  the  rest  of  the 
world,  France  had  in  a  few  months  been  so  utterly 
crushed  that  Germany  could  ask  of  her  what  she 
liked.  That  which  she  asked  was  safety,  as  abso- 
lute and  complete  as  possible.  She  might  perhaps 
have  had  more,  but  she  obtained  all  she  wanted; 
and  the  maximum  of  military  defence  with  the 
minimum  of  disaffected  population,  sufficiently 
explains  why  the  demand  was  made  for  only  a 
fifth  of  Lorraine  with  Metz,  and  the  other  four- 
fifths  were  allowed  to  remain  French. 

Had  no  loss  of  territory  been  involved,  peace 
might  doubtless  have  been  arranged  after  the  col- 
lapse of  the  empire  and  army  at  Sedan;  and  many 
deeply  sympathized  with  France  in  the  agony  of 
dismemberment  she  had  struggled  so  heroically 
but  vainly  to  resist.  The  Germans,  however,  lis- 
tened neither  to  the  counsels  of  neutrals  in  the 
matter,  nor  to  pleadings  urged  in  the  name  of 
the  civilization  of  the  nineteenth  century.  One 
idea  filled  their  minds,  that  France  would  seize 
the  earliest  opportunity  of  making  war  upon  them 
again.  The  Allies,  they  said,  in  1814  were  very 
moderate  towards  France,  and  Prussia  especially 
failed  in  her  desire  to  obtain  a  good  military 
frontier  on  the  French  side,  because,  it  was  said, 
the  way  to  keep  France  quiet  was  to  treat  her 
generously.      Since  then   one  generation  of  her 


people  after  another,  almost  every  statesman,  and 
every  political  chief,  had  been  hungering  for  the 
Khenish  provinces  and  threatening  Germany  with 
war.  Government  after  government  had  arisen 
in  the  country,  some  of  them  upholding  social 
order,  some  singing  the  pseans  of  humanity  and 
rushing  into  the  arms  of  universal  brotherhood; 
but  all  alike,  royalist,  imperial,  or  republican, 
good  or  bad,  liberal  or  illiberal,  thirsting  for  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine.  In  a  moment  of  profound 
peace  war  had  been  made  upon  Germany,  on  a 
pretext  so  frivolous  that  the  warmest  partizans  of 
France  were  scandalized.  There  was  now  a  chance 
of  making  the  French  see  that  war  with  Germany 
would  henceforth  be  a  very  serious  thing,  and  the 
opportunity  was  used  to  the  full.  The  Germans 
were  told  that  to  cripple  and  humiliate  France 
unduly  could  not  be  for  the  good  of  Europe. 
They  replied  that  they  had  first  to  think  of  them- 
selves; and  that  in  July,  1870,  a  strong  military 
frontier  would  have  been  of  much  more  use  to 
them  than  any  preservation  of  the  balance  of 
power.  They  were  taunted  with  forcing  men  into 
citizenship  with  them  by  tearing  them  from  France, 
and  with  thus  violating  the  unwritten  laws  of  ad- 
vancing civilization.  But  they  closed  their  ears, 
like  deaf  adders,  to  all  this,  and  listened  only  to 
the  voice  that  bade  them  think  of  their  own  safety. 
Of  course  there  were  many  who  thought  that  the 
policy  of  Germany  was  due  simply  to  a  greedy  and 
relentless  extortion,  which  had  always  been  one 
of  her  principal  characteristics — a  view  on  which 
we  here  pronounce  no  judgment.  We  have  merely 
endeavoured  to  give  as  faithfully  as  possible  the 
reasons  in  support  of  the  territorial  claim  advanced 
by  the  government  and  by  the  principal  organs  of 
public  opinion  throughout  Germany. 

Were  the  terms  of  peace  to  be  judged  apart  from 
any  political  or  national  aspect,  and  solely  in  the 
highest  interests  of  mankind,  it  could  perhaps  be 
wished  that  Germany  had  displayed  a  magnanimity 
unparalleled  in  history,  by  declining  to  take  any 
French  territory,  and  resolving  to  abide  the  con- 
sequences. She  might  have  suffered  for  her 
magnanimity,  but  a  magnanimity  that  counts  the 
risk  it  runs  is  the  highest  and  most  ennobling  of 
virtues.  The  world  would  have  been  a  better 
world  had  Germany,  relying  on  her  own  strength, 
refused  additional  guarantees  for  her  security.  The 
Germans,  however,  in  their  intense  horror  of  the 
miseries  of  war,  and  under  the  irritation  caused 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


by  the  constant  restlessness  and  aggressiveness  of 
France,  could  not  bring  themselves  to  set  before 
mankind  so  elevating  a  spectacle.  They  were 
bent  upon  security ;  and  so  far  as  that  is  possible, 
to  all  human  views  they  attained  their  object. 

The  territory  conceded  is  5580  square  miles 
in  area,  or  about  equal  in  extent  to  that  of  the 
three  departments  of  the  Haut  Rhin,  Bas  Rhin, 
and  Moselle.  It  is  inhabited  by  1,597,219 
people,  200,000  of  whom  are  French,  the  rest 
German,  or  mixed,  in  race  and  language,  but 
all  strongly  French  in  feeling.  The  new  fron- 
tier line  begins  at  Cattenom,  near  Longwy,  on 
the  borders  of  the  duchy  of  Luxemburg,  and 
takes  a  southern  course,  having  Thionville,  Metz, 
Chateau-Salins,  on  the  east  (all  of  which  there- 
fore now  belong  to  Germany) ;  and  Verdun, 
Toul,  Nancy,  and  Luneville,  on  the  west. 
After  cutting  a  corner  off  the  department  of  the 
Vosges,  the  line  then  coincides  with  the  western 
boundary  of  the  department  of  the  Haut  Ehin  as 
far  as  the  canton  of  Belfort,  which  it  leaves  to 
France  by  striking  off  to  the  canton  of  Delle, 
between  which  town  and  Joncherey  it  terminates 
on  the  Swiss  frontier.  Germany  is  thus  advanced 
about  100  miles  nearer  Paris,  and  comes  into 
possession  of  a  long  line  of  forts  invaluable  for 
defensive  purposes.  The  principal  are  Metz  la 
Pucelle,  Thionville,  Strassburg,  Schlestadt,  Bitsche, 
Marsal,  Neu  Breisach,  Phalsbourg,  and  Hagenau ; 
while  amongst  the  towns  are  Colmar,  Mulhausen, 
Guebwiller,  Molsheim,  Saverne,  Chateau-Salins, 
Sarrcguemines,  and  Forbach.  Thus  the  whole 
department  of  the  Bas  Ehin,  the  greater  portion  of 
the  Moselle,  the  Meurthe,  and  the  Haut  Rhin,  and 
a  small  corner  of  the  Vosges,  are  comprised  in  the 
concession,  which  may  be  more  briefly  described 
as  the  whole  of  Alsace  (minus  Belfort)  and  about 
a  fifth  of  Lorraine. 

The  annexation  of  this  strip  of  land,  narrow  as 
it  looks  upon  the  map,  entirely  reverses  the  relative 
military  positions  of  France  and  Germany.  Up  to 
July,  1870,  France  had  the  aggressive  position. 
Metz,  with  its  recently  built  forts,  was  her  sally- 
port towards  the  German  left  bank  of  the  Rhine, 
as  Strassburg  was  towards  South  Germany.  Either 
of  these  places  was  important  enough  to  serve  as  a 
base  of  operations  for  a  large  field  army  ;  while  on 
the  German  side  the  nearest  base  opposed  to  Metz 
was  Mayence,  opposed  to  Strassburg,  Ulm — both 
places  a  long  way  to  the  rear.    By  its  geographical 


configuration,  the  ground  on  the  German  side  does 
not  furnish  any  nearer  positions  of  sufficient  stra- 
tegical importance  to  make  it  worth  while  turning 
them  into  large  fortresses,  and  thus  the  whole  of  the 
German  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  and  a  large  portion 
of  Southern  Germany,  including  all  Baden  and 
Wiirtemburg,  were  always  open  to  French  invasion. 
There  was  only  one  way  to  meet  this  danger — the 
way  made  use  of  in  this  war — that  the  Germans, 
ready  before  the  French,  should  concentrate  the 
whole  of  their  force  on  the  border  line  between 
the  Moselle  and  the  Rhine,  and  invade  France  in 
their  turn.  In  that  case,  however,  a  lost  battle 
would  have  driven  them  back  to  Mayence  and 
across  the  Rhine,  and  laid  open  all  Baden  and 
AVurtemburg. 

Thus  the  German  Rhine  fortresses,  Germersheim, 
Mayence,  Coblenz,  and  Cologne,  though  forming 
a  strong  line  in  themselves,  were  a  protection  only 
to  the  country  behind  them — that  is  to  say,  to  the 
country  east  of  the  Rhine  and  north  of  the  Main. 
The  fortresses  situated  in  advance  of  the  Rhine, 
Landau,  Saarlouis,  and  even  Luxemburg,  were 
of  no  great  importance  ;  at  most,  they  closed  bines 
of  railway,  but  none  of  them  could  arrest  the  march 
of  an  army. 

In  his  speech  on  the  government  of  the  newly- 
acquired  territory  in  the  German  Parliament  in 
May,  1872,  Prince  Bismarck  said  that  Germany 
could  not  permit  the  state  of  things  we  have 
described  to  continue,  and  it  would  have  been 
suicidal  on  her  part  not  to  have  availed  herself  of 
the  opportunity  offered  by  the  war  to  amend  it. 
He  regretted  to  say  that  some  other  powers  had 
not  been  of  that  opinion.  These  powers  had  not 
been  particularly  gratified  by  the  determination 
of  Germany  to  recover  her  lost  provinces  ;  and 
when  they  found  her  firm  bad  proposed  that  the 
affair  should  be  compromised  either  by  a  dis- 
mantling of  the  Alsace  and  Lorraine  fortresses,  or 
by  the  formation  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  into  an 
independent  and  neutralized  state,  protected  by  a 
European  guarantee.  For  Germany  it  had  been 
quite  impossible  to  entertain  either  of  these  sug- 
gestions. A  joint  guarantee  might  be  valuable 
enough,  had  not  some  states  been  latterly  in  the 
habit  of  explaining  it  away  the  moment  after 
acceding  to  it.  Besides,  even  if  honestly  enforced, 
no  guarantee  could  have  prevented  France  from 
attacking  the  German  shores,  while  Germany, 
with  a  small  fleet  and  cut  off  from  France  by  an 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


287 


intermediate  barrier  of  neutralized  states,  would 
have  been  powerless  to  reciprocate.  As  to  trie 
idea  of  razing  the  fortresses,  this  would  have  in- 
flicted upon  France  a  more  severe  humiliation 
than  the  mere  loss  of  territory.  It  would  have 
deprived  France  of  the  right  to  exercise  her  sove- 
reignty in  a  portion  of  her  own  territory — a 
penalty  which  no  great  state  is  likely  to  submit 
to  long.  Add  to  this  that  the  Alsatians  would 
not  have  been  very  good  neutrals,  and  it  was  clear 
that  there  remained  nothing  but  to  solve  the 
difficulty  by  downright  annexation. 

The  treaty  of  peace  completely  reversed  the 
military  position  of  the  two  countries.  By  the 
possession  of  Strassburg  and  all  Alsace,  the  whole 
line  of  the  Rhine,  up  to  Basel,  became  German 
property ;  and  Strassburg,  flanked  to  the  south 
by  Schlestadt  and  Neu  Breisach,  from  a  sally- 
port against  South  Germany,  becomes  its  chief 
and  central  bulwark,  the  Vosges  range  forming 
the  first  fine  of  defence.  North  of  Strassburg, 
even  the  western  slopes  of  these  hills  belong  to 
Germany,  and  with  them  the  small  places  of  Phals- 
bourg,  Petite  Pierre,  Lichtenberg,  and  Bitsche, 
which  more  or  less  effectively  command  the  passes. 
Thus  South  Germany  received  not  only  a  powerful 
barrier  against  French  aggression,  but  also  a  strong 
basis  of  operation,  with  the  roads  prepared  and 
secured,  for  attack  against  France. 

But  this  is  only  the  least  important  point.  The 
transfer  of  Metz  gave  the  Germans  a  power  of  at- 
tacking France  such  as  she  would  obtain  against 
Germany  by  the  possession  of  the  whole  left  bank 
of  the  Rhine,  with  all  its  fortresses  and  their 
bridge-heads  on  the  right  bank.  If  the  French 
had  Coblenz  with  Ehrenbreitstein  and  Mayence 
with  Castel,  then  Germany  would  be  in  the  same 
weak  strategical  position  relatively  to  France  that 
she  is  now  in  with  regard  to  Germany.  The  pos- 
session of  Metz  advanced  the  German  base  of  attack 
against  France  by  fully  120  miles.  It  gave  them 
a  stronghold  superior  in  natural  position,  engineer- 
ing strength,  and  extent,  to  any  one  they  had 
before,  situated  exactly  where  they  must  wish  such 
a  powerful  outpost  of  their  Rhenish  system  of 
fortification  to  be — flanked,  moreover,  to  the  north 
by  Thionville  and  by  Luxemburg.  And,  just  as 
beyond  the  Rhine,  in  the  interior  of  Germany, 
there  are  scarcely  any  points  naturally  adapted  for 
large  fortresses  to  bar  the  road  to  Berlin,  so  there 
is,  west  of  the  Moselle,  the  same  dearth  of  strate- 


gical positions  capable  of  being  turned  to  account 
in  keeping  the  enemy  at  a  distance  from  Paris. 
With  the  Germans  in  Metz,  the  road  to  Paris  is 
open  to  them,  as  soon  as  the  French  army  in  the 
field  shall  have  lost  one  great  battle.  Verdun  and 
Toul,  with  Frouard  or  Nancy,  might  hereafter  be 
formed  into  a  system  of  fortifications,  but  they 
could  never  counterbalance  or  replace  Metz  ;  and 
between  the  Meuse  and  Paris  there  appears  to  be 
no  position,  were  it  ever  so  much  fortified,  where 
a  defeated  army  could  arrest  the  conquerors. 

On  the  other  hand,  were  the  German  army  to 
be  beaten  before  Metz,  the  garrison  of  that  fortress 
(unless  the  whole  army  blundered  into  it,  as  was 
done  in  August,  1870)  would  hold  in  check  more 
than  twice  its  numbers,  and  the  whole  territory 
between  the  Moselle  and  the  Rhine  would  remain 
disputed  ground  until  Metz  were  again  reduced  by 
the  French.  No  army  will  like  to  undertake  the 
reduction  of  two  such  places  as  Metz  and  Mayence 
at  one  and  the  same  time,  unless  the  enemy  repeat 
the  Bonapartist  campaign  of  1870,  which  is  not  to 
be  expected.  Thus  the  possession  of  Metz  enables 
the  Germans,  in  case  of  defeat,  to  carry  on  the 
campaign  for  at  least  a  couple  of  months  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  and  to  weaken  a  successful 
enemy  to  a  serious  extent  before  he  arrives  on  that 
river,  their  main  line  of  defence. 

In  the  same  spirit  in  which  the  Germans  claimed 
Metz  and  the  line  of  the  Vosges,  they  further  in- 
sisted on  making  France  pay  the  largest  indemnity 
it  could  afford.  The  terms  as  to  money,  no  less 
than  as  to  territory,  appeared  merciless.  Eminent 
financiers  were  solemnly  summoned  to  consider 
how  much  could  be  squeezed  out  of  France ;  and 
the  sum  of  two  hundred  millions  was  by  them 
scientifically  ascertained  to  be  the  extremest  bur- 
den the  camel  could  bear  without  breaking  its 
back.  The  Germans,  of  course,  liked  the  money 
for  its  own  sake,  and  no  nation  on  earth  was  more 
likely  to  prize  a  windfall  of  £200,000,000  sterling. 
But  perhaps  their  main  idea  was  not  the  mere 
pocketing  of  this  magnificent  prize,  but  to  obtain 
a  guarantee  of  safety.  A  very  heavily  taxed  nation 
shrinks  from  war,  and  France  for  the  next  quarter 
of  a  century  will  be  most  severely  taxed  in  propor- 
tion to  her  resources  and  population.  Altogether 
she  will  be  fortunate  if,  in  1874,  when  the  indemnity 
is  paid,  she  has  a  debt  of  less  than  £1,200,000,000 
sterling,  and  a  mortgage  of  less  than  £40,000,000 
a  year  upon  her  industry.      For  many  years  she 


288 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


will  thus  be  exposed  to  all  the  disorders  which 
heavy  taxes,  constant  deficits,  and  revolutionary 
finance  experiments  bring  in  their  train.  It  is 
true  that  in  course  of  time  peace  and  industry 
may  make  the  augmented  debt  felt  as  little  as 
that  of  1870.  This,  however,  must  be  a  slow  pro- 
cess, and  meanwhile  France,  under  the  penalty  of 
risking  national  bankruptcy,  will  be  bound  over 
to  keep  the  peace  towards  Germany ;  while  the 
latter,  with  £200,000,000  to  make  good  its  losses, 
and  enriched  by  the  industry  and  commerce  of 
Alsace,  may  count  on  keeping  ahead  in  the  race, 
and  entering  on  a  future  war  with  a  sounder  fin- 
ancial system  and  a  more  solid  credit  than  France 
can  hope  for. 

OFFICIAL   PUBLICATIONS   ISSUED    AFTER   THE    WAR. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  war  most  of  the 
leading  actors  on  the  French  side  published  de- 
fences or  explanations  of  the  various  parts  they 
had  taken  in  it.  In  fact,  so  great  was  the  flood  of 
publications  on  the  subject,  that  such  a  profusion 
of  information,  instead  of  enlightening  the  reader, 
only  bewildered  him.  It  seems  necessary,  however, 
in  dealing  with  the  consequences  and  results  of 
the  war,  to  notice  a  few  of  the  works  which  bear 
very  specially  on  some  of  the  chief  events  narrated, 
and  which,  in  one  or  two  instances,  throw  a  little 
additional  light  upon  them,  without,  however,  on 
any  material  point  affecting  the  truth  of  our  ori- 
ginal statements  with  regard  to  them. 

Perhaps  the  most  historically  important  and 
remarkable  work  of  all  was  that  of  Count  Bene- 
detti,  explaining  the  relations  between  France  and 
Prussia  from  1864  to  1871,  and  especially  with 
regard  to  the  celebrated  secret  treaty,  as  to  the 
annexation  of  Belgium  by  France,  which  caused 
so  much  consternation  in  England,  and  which 
is  fully  described  in  Chapter  III.  Soon  after 
the  secret  treaty  was  divulged,  Count  Benedetti 
took  occasion  to  publish  a  letter  to  the  effect  that, 
although  the  treaty  was  in  his  handwriting,  it 
was  written  by  him  purely  at  the  suggestion  and 
dictation  of  Prince  Bismarck.  This  statement 
might  possibly  have  been  allowed  to  stand  un- 
challenged, had  not  Count  Benedetti,  at  the  close 
of  the  war,  become  infected  with  the  prevailing 
mania  of  rushing  into  print  in  further  justification 
of  his  conduct.  In  his  work,  "  Ma  Mission  en 
Prusse,"  he  stated  that  when  the  negotiation  as  to 
Belgium  was  going  on,  he  communicated  solely 


with  M.  Rouher,  and  as  his  correspondence  was 
not  official,  he  could  not  refer  his  readers  to  any 
official  record  of  it;  but  so  extremely  scrupulous 
was  he,  that  he  would  not  write  a  line  the  accuracy 
of  which  could  not  be  verified.  Thus  all  that  passed 
between  him  and  the  French  government,  while 
the  negotiations  were  in  progress,  was  necessarily 
buried  in  darkness.  Still  he  could  give  his  readers 
the  general  tenor  of  this  buried  correspondence, 
and  he  particularly  requested  them  to  treasure  in 
their  minds  two  great  truths — that  the  proposal 
for  the  annexation  of  Belgium  to  France  was,  in 
his  words,  a  purely  Prussian  conception,  as  he 
merely  embodied  in  the  famous  draught  treaty  the 
suggestions  of  Count  von  Bismarck  ;  and  secondly, 
that  the  emperor  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
annexation  of  Belgium,  and  would  only  take  Luxem- 
burg, whereas  Count  von  Bismarck  offered,  in  return 
for  Prussia  being  allowed  to  consolidate  its  power 
from  the  Baltic  to  the  Alps,  that  France  should 
first  get  Luxemburg  and  then  Belgium. 

The  luckless  diplomatist  was  not  aware  that  the 
French  government,  to  aggravate  the  humiliation 
they  had  brought  upon  themselves,  had  left  the 
most  important  state  papers  to  be  seized  by  the 
invader  at  St.  Cloud.  The  fact,  however,  was 
that  while,  in  honour  of  himself  and  the  imperial 
government,  M.  Benedetti  was  printing  the  above 
version  of  what  had  happened,  his  enemies  were  in 
possession  of  the  documents  which  he  supposed 
were  for  ever  safe  in  the  custody  of  M.  Rouher, 
and  of  which  they  availed  themselves  as  soon  as 
M.  Benedetti's  work  appeared.  According  to  these 
documents,  what  really  happened  in  the  latter  half 
of  August,  1866,  with  regard  to  Belgium,  seems 
to  have  been  as  follows : — On  the  12th  the 
emperor  wrote  to  M.  Benedetti  to  say  that  he 
finally  abandoned  all  claim  to  Mayencc  and  to  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine.  It  is  acknowledged  by 
both  parties,  that  the  emperor's  reasons  for  doing 
so  were,  that  Count  von  Bismarck  had  plainly 
told  M.  Benedetti  a  week  before  that  to  persist  in 
such  a  demand  meant  instant  war.  On  August  16 
a  diplomatic  messenger  was  sent  from  Paris  with 
a  letter  of  instructions  to  M.  Benedetti  to  make 
new  demands;  and  these  instructions  Count  von 
Bismarck  used  as  the  weapon  to  annihilate  the 
pretensions  of  M.  Benedetti  after  the  publication 
of  his  volume.  After  a  caution  as  to  the  strictly 
confidential  character  of  the  negotiations,  the  letter 
proceeded,    "  In    proportion    to    the    chance    of 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


289 


success  our  demands  will  have  to  be  graduated 
as  follows : — In  the  first  place,  you  will  have  to 
combine  into  one  proposition  the  recovery  of  the 
frontiers  of  1814  and  the  annexation  of  Belgium. 
You  have,  therefore,  to  ask  for  the  extradition, 
by  formal  treaty,  of  Landau,  Saarlouis,  Saarbruck, 
and  the  duchy  of  Luxemburg;  and  you  have  to 
aim  at  the  annexation  of  Belgium,  by  the  con- 
clusion of  an  offensive  and  defensive  treaty  which 
is  to  be  kept  secret.  Secondly,  should  this  basis 
appear  to  promise  no  result,  you  will  resign  Saar- 
louis, Saarbruck,  and  even  Landau,  which,  after 
all,  is  but  a  dilapidated  nest  of  a  place,  the  occu- 
pation of  which  might  excite  German  national 
feeling  against  us.  In  this  eventuality  your  public 
agreement  will  be  confined  to  the  duchy  of  Lux- 
emburg, and  your  secret  treaty  to  the  reunion  of 
Belgium  with  France.  Thirdly,  supposing  a  clear 
and  unmistakable  reference  to  the  incorporation 
of  Belgium  is  found  unpalatable,  you  are  author- 
ized to  assent  to  a  clause  in  which,  to  obviate 
the  intervention  of  England,  Antwerp  is  declared 
a  free  city.  In  no  case,  however,  are  you  to 
permit  the  reunion  of  Antwerp  with  Holland,  or 
the  incorporation  of  Maestricht  with  Prussia. 

"  Should  Herr  von  Bismarck  put  the  question, 
what  advantage  would  accrue  to  him  from  such  a 
treaty,  the  simple  reply  would  be,  that  he  would 
thereby  secure  a  powerful  ally;  that  he  would 
consolidate  his  recent  acquisitions;  that  he  was 
only  desired  to  consent  to  the  cession  of  what  does 
not  belong  to  him ;  and  that  he  makes  no  sacrifice 
at  all  to  be  compared  to  his  gains.  To  sum  up, 
the  minimum  we  require  is  an  ostensible  treaty 
which  gives  us  Luxemburg,  and  a  secret  treaty, 
which,  stipulating  for  an  offensive  and  defensive 
alliance,  leaves  us  the  chance  of  annexing  Belgium 
at  the  right  moment,  Prussia  engaging  to  assist  us, 
if  necessary,  by  force  of  arms,  in  carrying  out  this 
purpose." 

These  instructions  of  August  16  were  answered 
by  Count  Benedetti  in  a  letter  dated  Berlin, 
August  23,  and  commenting  upon  it,  in  replying 
to  his  book,  published  in  1871,  Prince  Bismarck 
drily  observed  that  "  this  letter,  which  is  en- 
tirely in  his  own  hand,  like  so  many  other  inter- 
esting documents  of  the  same  kind,  is  at  this 
moment  in  the  possession  of  the  German  Foreign 
Office."  In  the  letter  Count  Benedetti  told  his 
correspondent  that  he  had  received  his  communi- 
cation, and  would  conform  as  closely  as  possible 
vol,.  II. 


to  the  principles  laid  down  in  it.  He  inclosed  a 
draught  treaty,  explaining  that  he  preferred  one 
treaty  to  two;  that  he  found  Landau  and  Saar- 
bruck unattainable,  and  that  he  had  accordingly 
kept  to  Luxemburg  and  Belgium.  The  Germans 
had  also  got  hold  of  the  reply  to  Count  Benedetti's 
letter  from  the  French  government.  A  general 
approval  was  given  to  his  draught;  but  whereas 
the  fourth  article  contemplated  the  extension  of 
Prussian  supremacy  south  of  the  Main,  and  the 
fifth  provided  for  the  annexation  of  Belgium,  the 
French  government  wished  it  to  be  made  clear 
that  the  latter  article  was  not  to  be  regarded  as 
only  binding  if  the  former  had  been  carried  out. 
"  It  is  obvious  that  the  extension  of  the  supremacy 
of  Prussia  across  the  Main  will,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  compel  us  to  seize  Belgium.  But  the 
same  necessity  may  be  brought  on  by  other  events, 
on  which  subject  we  must  reserve  to  ourselves 
exclusively  the  right  to  judge." 

Amendments  to  carry  out  the  views  of  the 
French  government  were  added  on  the  margin  of 
M.  Benedetti's  draught  treaty,  and  as  thus  amended, 
it  also  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  German  govern- 
ment. On  the  receipt  of  his  revised  draught,  Count 
Benedetti  presented  to  Count  von  Bismarck  a 
draught  treaty  incorporating  the  amendments  with 
his  original  handiwork,  and  this  was  the  treaty 
which  Count  von  Bismarck  published  to  the  world 
in  1870.  When,  however,  M.  Benedetti  came  to 
discuss  the  project  he  was  disappointed  at  the 
reception  he  met  with;  and  he  wrote  home  on 
the  29th  of  August,  expressing  for  the  first  time 
a  doubt  whether  France  could  count  on  the  sin- 
cerity of  Prussia,  which,  according  to  his  belief, 
had  succeeded  in  establishing  an  alliance  with 
Kussia,  that  might  lead  to  the  co-operation  of 
France  being  refused.  The  whole  matter,  for 
the  time  at  least,  thus  dropped,  and  secret  nego- 
tiations were  suspended  for  several  months. 

These  documents  entirely  disposed  of  M.  Bene- 
detti's case,  which  was  that  the  suggestion  for  the 
annexation  of  Belgium  came  solely  from  Count 
von  Bismarck,  at  whose  dictation  the  draught 
treaty  had  been  written;  and  that  the  treaty  was 
at  once  rejected  by  the  French  government,  which 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  annexation  of 
Belgium.  In  short,  Count  Benedetti's  story  was 
shown  by  the  documents  of  his  own  government 
to  be  entirely  untrue. 

In  so  far  as  regards  France,  there  is  the  clearest 
20 


290 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


evidence  of  her  determined  design  upon  Belgium, 
and  the  French  government  had  actually  conde- 
scended to  calculate  what  it  might  be  necessary  to 
provide  as  a  sop  to  appease  England.  It  is  more 
difficult  to  say  what  was  the  true  history  of  the 
part  played  by  Count  von  Bismarck  and  Prussia 
in  the  matter.  A  part  of  M.  Benedetti's  book  is 
proved  to  have  been  utterly  false,  but  other  parts 
the  Prussian  minister  by  no  means  explained.  All 
that  is  really  proved  by  the  emperor's  instructions 
of  August  16  to  Count  Benedetti  is,  that  the  French 
government  was  plotting  to  seize  Belgium,  while 
he — anxious  to  put  his  government  forth  as  a 
paragon  of  virtue — endeavoured  to  make  the  world 
believe  that  France  would  not  have  Belgium,  even 
if  offered.  Prince  Bismarck's  revelations  would  have 
us  infer  that  the  proposal  to  lay  hands  on  Belgium 
originated  with  her,  but  this  by  no  means  follows. 
Louis  Napoleon  had  manifested  considerable  un- 
easiness at  the  growing  power  of  Prussia,  and  could 
not  but  see  that  it  was  quite  possible  for  him  to  pre- 
vent the  easy  subjugation  of  Austria  in  the  war  of 
1866.  He  thought  it  reasonable,  therefore,  to  inquire 
of  Count  von  Bismarck,  what  compensation  he  might 
expect  in  return  for  allowing  Prussia  unmolested 
to  absorb  German  territory  on  all  hands.  The 
idea  of  French  interference  evidently  caused  great 
uneasiness  in  Prussia;  and  on  the  6th  of  June 
(more  than  two  months  prior  to  the  letter  of  in- 
structions above  quoted)  M.  Benedetti  wrote  to 
his  government  that  Count  von  Bismarck  had 
told  him  that  the  compensation  France  might 
require  in  consideration  of  any  future  territorial 
aggrandizement  of  Prussia  must  be  sought  in  a 
French-speaking  district.  This,  it  appears  to  us, 
was  the  first  intimation  of  the  secret  treaty  busi- 
ness. Count  von  Bismarck  wished  to  disarm  the 
hostility  of  Napoleon  III.,  and  in  order  to  this  he 
chose  to  keep  dangling  before  him  the  prospect  of 
an  accession  of  territory  to  France  at  no  risk  or 
cost  to  himself.  By  this  device  he  was  completely 
taken  in,  and  confirmed  in  his  intention  of  main- 
taining an  absolute  neutrality  between  Prussia  and 
Austria.  On  the  16th  of  July  M.  Benedetti  wrote 
that  Count  von  Bismarck  had  pressed  on  him  the 
advantages  of  an  alliance  between  the  two  coun- 
tries. On  his  objection  that  to  take  the  compensa- 
tion offered  would  involve  a  breach  of  international 
treaties,  Bismarck  replied  that  if  France  and  Prussia 
were  united  they  need  not  fear  armed  resistance 
either  from  Russia  or  England.     On  the  26th  of 


July  M.  Benedetti  wrote  again,  that  he  should  be 
telling  the  French  Foreign  minister  nothing  new 
in  saying  that  Count  von  Bismarck  "  is  of  opinion 
that  we  ought  to  seek  compensation  in  Belgium, 
and  has  offered  to  come  to  an  understanding  with 
France  on  this  head."  All  these  letters,  written 
from  time  to  time  by  M.  Benedetti,  in  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  his  business,  for  the  exclusive  and 
private  information  of  his  own  government,  were 
published  in  his  book,  and  their  accuracy  was 
certainly  not  impugned  by  anything  Prince  Bis- 
marck afterwards  published. 

Putting  all  the  accounts  together,  therefore,  we 
think  it  is  not  very  difficult  to  guess  what  really 
happened.  Prince  Bismarck  was,  in  June  and 
July,  1866,  very  much  afraid  of  France  helping 
Austria,  and  thought  it  expedient  to  agree  that 
the  former  should  have  some  makeweight  to  coun- 
terpoise the  increased  power  of  Prussia.  As  he 
did  not  wish  to  give  up  German  soil,  he  suggested 
that  France  should  take  Belgium.  France  did  not 
at  all  approve  of  this.  She  did  not  wish  to  get 
into  a  great  international  quarrel,  and  held  that, 
as  it  was  Prussia  that  was  winning,  she  it  was 
that  ought  to  pay.  France  demanded  Mayence 
and  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine.  Count  von  Bis- 
marck rejoined  that,  rather  than  agree,  he  would 
prefer  war.  France  backed  out  of  the  demand, 
but  immediately  caught  at  his  suggestion  for  the 
annexation  of  Belgium,  with,  however,  a  demand 
for  Luxemburg  and  a  slice  of  Germany.  Count 
von  Bismarck  would  consent  to  no  infraction  of 
German  territory,  but  was  quite  open  to  discuss 
what  compensation  he  was  to  receive  for  Luxem- 
burg and  Belgium.  During  all  this  time  that  he 
was  keeping  France  and  M.  Benedetti  in  play, 
he  was  arranging  a  Russian  alliance;  and  no 
sooner  had  that  point  been  gained  than  he  threw 
M.  Benedetti  and  his  draught  treaty  to  the  winds, 
and  vowed  that  he  could  never  have  the  heart  to 
do  anything  distasteful  to  England. 

Under  the  title  of  "A  Ministry  of  "War  for 
Twenty-four  Days,"  Count  de  Palikao  endeavoured 
to  shuffle  all  the  responsibility  of  the  march  to 
Sedan  off  his  shoulders,  and  to  justify  the  other 
acts  of  his  administration.  He  admitted  having 
been  the  author  of  the  plan  which  proved  so  dis- 
astrous to  MacMahon,  but  endeavoured  to  show 
that  it  was  founded  upon  military  considerations 
suggested  by  a  former  well-known  campaign  of 
Dumouriez  in  the  Argonne.     Dumouriez  marched 


THE  FEANCO-PKUSSIAN  WAR. 


291 


from  Sedan  southwards  and  won  the  decisive  battle 
of  Valmy  ;  therefore  Count  de  Palikao  thought  if 
MacMahon  marched  northward  towards  Sedan  he 
too  would  win  a  great  battle  over  the  sons  of  those 
who  were  defeated  at  Valmy.  "When  I  con- 
ceived the  march  of  the  army  of  Chalons  on  Metz, 
in  order  to  operate  its  junction  with  that  of  Marshal 
Bazaine,"  says  the  War  minister  of  twenty-four 
days,  "  I  understood  that  Dumouriez's  plan  could 
be  executed  in  an  inverse  sense,  that  is  to  say,  by 
a  rapid  march  from  the  valley  of  the  Marne  to  the 
valley  of  the  Meuse."  In  Chapter  X.  of  this  work 
we  have  expressed  our  opinion  that  the  sending  of 
MacMahon  northwards  in  the  attempt  to  relieve 
Bazaine  was  one  of  the  most  striking  examples 
in  all  history  in  which  military  were  sacrificed  to 
political  considerations;  and  notwithstanding  Count 
Palikao's  explanations,  to  that  opinion  we  still 
adhere. 

From  M.  J.  Valfrey's  "  History  of  French 
Diplomacy  since  the  6th  September,"  and  the 
official  documents  published  by  M.  Jules  Favre, 
we  obtain  a  clear  insight  into  the  extraordinary 
part  played  by  M.  Gambetta  in  the  misfortunes  of 
France,  and  some  very  interesting  details  respecting 
the  mission  of  M.  Thiers  to  this  and  other  countries 
in  September,  1871.  The  mission  intrusted  to  M. 
Thiers  was  the  opening  of  a  series  of  illusions 
destined  to  be  dispelled  by  a  terribly  painful  ex- 
perience ;  and  the  manoeuvres  of  M.  Gambetta  to 
paralyze  the  small  results  of  the  mission  inaugurated 
what  may  be  called  the  "  era  of  patriotic  false- 
hoods." It  was  an  understood  thing  that,  with 
M.  Gambetta,  "country"  was  synonymous  with 
"  republic  ;  "  if  no  republic  there  was  no  country ; 
to  save  the  country,  therefore,  it  was  necessary  to 
save  the  republic.  But  if  the  republic  signed  a 
disastrous  peace  it  was  lost.  This  was  the  reason 
why,  after  the  4th  of  September,  M.  Gambetta  was 
ever  found  impeding  all  attempts  at  a  peace,  or 
even  an  armistice.  Before  leaving  Paris  by  balloon 
he  was  hostile  to  the  pacific  projects  of  M.  Jules 
Favre,  and  he  found  a  powerful  auxiliary  in  the 
famous  "  plan  "  of  General  Trochu  ;  at  the  end  of 
October  he  resisted  in  his  despatches  the  attempts 
at  an  armistice  made  by  M.  Thiers ;  in  February, 
at  Bordeaux,  he  voted  against  peace.  His  conduct 
was  consistent,  and  from  his  own  point  of  view 
irreproachable. 

M.  Thiers  had  been  charged  by  the  government 
of  the  4th   September  with  a  mission  to   all  the 


great  powers,  the  main  object  of  which. was,  if 
possible,  to  draw  them  into  alliances  with  France, 
so  as  to  continue  the  war  and  expel  the  Germans 
from  French  territory.  Where,  however,  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  in  the  fulness  of  his  power, 
and  his  cousin  Prince  Napoleon,  had,  after  a  first 
disaster,  been  unsuccessful,  there  could  be  little 
chance  for  the  representative  of  a  country  without 
an  army  and  without  a  government.  Besides, 
these  projects  of  coalition  "  against  the  common 
enemy  "  were  little  likely  to  be  favourably  enter- 
tained by  cabinets  accustomed  to  look  upon  France 
as  "  the  common  enemy."  In  case  of  the  failure 
of  these  projects  M.  Thiers  was  to  induce  the  vari- 
ous powers  to  remonstrate  strongly  with  Germany 
upon  the  exorbitancy  of  her  demands.  But  to 
extort  from  Germany  better  terms  than  she  deemed 
equitable  was  a  task  which  would  have  required 
the  combined  efforts  of  Europe — a  task,  withal,  in 
which  it  was  doubtful  whether  Russia  would,  or 
Austria  could,  co-operate.  It  would  be  hard  to 
say  what  England  alone,  or  even  England  with 
Italy,  could  have  done  for  France  after  Sedan  ; 
and  M.  Thiers  should  have  considered  how  little 
influenced  France  herself  would  have  been  by  the 
mere  remonstrances  of  Europe,  had  the  Prussian 
armies  been  overpowered  in  two  pitched  battles, 
Mayence  and  Coblenz  besieged,  and  the  French 
van-guard  in  sight  of  Berlin. 

In  spite  of  his  quick  intelligence,  M.  Thiers 
did  not  at  once  perceive  how  difficult  it  would  be 
to  turn  the  opinion  of  Europe  in  favour  of  France, 
or  instead  of  listening  to  his  fears,  he  obeyed  only 
the  promptings  of  his  devotion  to  his  country.  He 
went  to  London,  and  there  proved  in  lengthy 
conversations,  to  his  own  satisfaction  at  least, 
how  necessary  France  was  to  the  equilibrium  of 
Europe  and  to  the  happiness  of  mankind.  He 
was  listened  to,  as  he  always  had  been,  with  defer- 
ence, with  sympathy,  and  even  with  pleasure  ;  but 
Lord  Granville  answered  that  England  "  did  not 
mean  to  go  to  war ;  that  by  interfering  in  behalf 
of  the  neutral  powers  she  might  run  a  risk  of 
offending  Prussia,  who  would  not  put  up  with  her 
intervention ;  and  that  such  an  intervention  might 
do  more  harm  than  good."  He  added,  that  Eng- 
land had  already  paid  the  penalty  sure  to  fall  on 
all  neutrality  ;  that  she  had  given  offence  to  both 
belligerents,  and  the  Germans  complained  of  her 
too  great  partiality  to  France.  M.  Thiers  insisted 
that  the  course  England  had  followed,  and  was 


292 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 


bent  on  following,  would  cause  her  to  fall  from 
her  rank  among  nations,  and  that  her  inaction, 
under  present  circumstances,  amounted  to  conniv- 
ance with  Prussia,  as  it  would  necessarily  turn  to 
her  advantage. 

The  English  minister  had,  however,  made  up  his 
mind  not  to  compromise  his  country  on  any  account. 
Her  Majesty's  government  were  fully  aware  of  the 
futility  of  offering  mediation  between  two  belliger- 
ents who  could  not  agree  upon  a  basis  of  negotia- 
tion. They  had  brought  the  two  plenipotentiaries 
face  to  face  at  Ferrieres,  and  there  left  them  to  do 
the  best  they  could  together. 

M.  Thiers  next  went  to  Vienna,  charmed  Count 
Beust,  thought  that  he  had  won  him  over,  and 
went  on  to  St.  Petersburg.  There  all  was  cordi- 
ality and  goodwill;  the  Emperor  Alexander  was 
understood  to  renew  his  promise  that  the  French 
territory  should  be  spared;  this  was  much.  Re- 
turning to  Vienna,  M.  Thiers  was  received  with 
good  words,  but  it  was  necessary  to  make  sure 
of  Italy.  King  Victor  Emmanuel  was  frankness 
itself;  he  acceded  to  everything  asked  by  him, 
provided  that  his  cabinet  consented,  but  the  cab- 
inet did  not  consent.  These  great  armies,  this 
general  rising  announced  by  M.  Gambetta,  were 
they  indeed  real?  M.  Thiers,  speaking  officially, 
had  no  doubt  about  them,  but  when  he  spoke  in 
his  own  name  he  was  full  of  anxieties.  His  sad 
pilgrimage  over,  he  returned  to  the  government  of 
the  Delegation,  bringing  with  him,  besides  the 
fair  words  which  he  everywhere  received,  a  tele- 
gram from  the  Emperor  Alexander  to  the  king  of 
Prussia,  the  object  of  which  was  to  arrange  for 
the  entrance  of  M.  Thiers  into  Paris,  and  to  facili- 
tate overtures  for  an  armistice.  If  the  Delegation 
approved,  the  telegram  would  be  sent.  At  Tours 
the  proposal  was  met  by  a  similar  proposal  from 
the  British  cabinet.  The  combination  decided 
their  acceptance;  for  fear  of  showing  unreason- 
able stubbornness,  M.  Gambetta  yielded.  While 
apparently  joining  in  the  opinion  of  his  colleagues, 
however,  he  drew  up  privately  for  the  government 
of  Defence  a  long  despatch,  intended  to  precede 
M.  Thiers  and  to  destroy  beforehand  the  effect  of 
his  speeches  and  his  advice.  This  despatch  may 
be  said  to  throw  a  full  light  upon  the  character 
of  M.  Gambetta,  as  well  as  upon  this  episode  of  a 
very  dark  story.  Overpowered  by  the  authority 
of  M.  Thiers,  M.  Gambetta  gave  his  vote  for  peace, 
but  by  underhand  means  he  endeavoured  to  make 


it  impossible.  He  put  the  government  of  Paris  on 
its  guard  against  the  very  objectionable  views  of 
the  negotiator;  the  country  was  not  so  exhausted 
as  he  thought,  men  abounded,  the  staff  of  officers 
was  being  reformed.  There  existed  in  reality  an 
army  of  the  Loire  of  110,000  men,  well  armed  and 
equipped.  The  general  who  commanded  them 
was  not  a  great  captain,  but  he  was  fully  com- 
petent for  his  task.  Another  army  was  forming 
in  the  east ;  the  west  was  getting  ready ;  the  north 
would  stand  firm ;  the  franc-tireurs  were  the  terror 
of  the  enemy ;  with  Keratry  and  Garibaldi  to  com- 
mand them  they  formed  important  resources.  In 
a  word,  the  military  position  was  excellent,  and  as 
Paris  would  hold  out  long  enough  for  all  these 
forces  to  come  into  action,  the  state  of  affairs,  from 
being  critical,  would  become  favourable ;  the  flight 
of  time,  the  rigours  of  winter,  were  so  many  auxil- 
iaries which  might  be  counted  on. 

This  picture  was  drawn  with  the  view  of  ren- 
dering the  government  remaining  in  Paris  more 
exacting  with  regard  to  the  conditions  and  even 
the  acceptance  of  the  armistice.  To  give  addi- 
tional effect  to  the  picture,  M.  Gambetta  furnished 
a  highly  coloured  description  of  the  state  of  people's 
minds  in  France.  According  to  him  elections 
were  demanded  only  by  a  minority  in  the  country. 
All  the  towns  were  "  passionately  republican  and 
warlike;"  even  the  provinces  began  to  show  their 
teeth.  The  Legitimists  and  the  Orleanists  alone, 
enemies  to  the  supremacy  of  the  capital,  demanded 
new  elections.  There  were  no  disturbances  in  the 
large  towns.  Lyons  and  Marseilles  recognized  the 
authority  of  the  central  government;  leagues  had 
been  formed,  but  a  little  firmness  and  plain  dealing 
sufficed  to  disperse  them.  Besides  the  republican 
party,  "with  the  exception  of  two  or  three  ultra- 
moderate  individuals,  are  unanimous  in  consider- 
ing the  elections  as  a  perilous  diversion  from  the 
necessities  of  the  war."  If  an  armistice  was  to  be 
concluded,  it  must  serve  to  reinforce  the  defence 
and  not  to  weaken  it.  There  must,  therefore,  be 
laid  down  as  absolute  conditions  the  revictualling 
of  besieged  places. 

"  Far  from  weakening  the  spirit  of  resistance," 
says  he,  "we  ought  to  excite  it  still  more;  we  ought 
only  to  accept  the  truce  proposed  to  lis  if  it  is  advan- 
tageous from  a  military  point  of  view,  and  only  to 
make  use  of  it  from  a  political  point  of  view  if  we 
are  resolved  to  hold  really  republican  elections." 
The  eloquence  of  Gambetta  had  the  most  disastrous 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


293 


influence  upon  those  who  read  his  fatal  despatch; 
it  persuaded  them  that  the  armies  from  the  outside 
were  hastening  towards  them,  that  the  enemy  was 
about  to  raise  the  siege,  was  imploring  quarter, 
and  must  be  made  to  pay  for  it.  The  armistice, 
as  we  know,  was  rejected,  because  the  Germans 
would  not  consent  to  the  re-victualling  of  Paris, 
and  ultimately  France  had  to  pay  three  milliards 
more  than  would  probably  then  have  satisfied  her 
enemy,  and  to  lose,  besides  Strassburg  and  Metz, 
the  whole  of  Alsace  and  a  portion  of  Lorraine. 

A  singular  feature  of  the  war  publications  was 
the  complaisance  with  which  all  the  French  gen- 
erals sang  their  own  praises.  General  Faidherbe 
was  always  victorious,  and  General  Chanzy  would 
have  ultimately  triumphed  had  the  war  continued. 
In  our  account  of  the  operations  in  the  north  of 
France  we  have  already  alluded  to  M.  Faidherbe's 
work, "  Campagne  de  1' Armee  du  Nord  en  1 8  70-7 1 ," 
and  see  no  reason  to  modify  the  opinions  then 
expressed.  The  object  of  successful  war  is  not  to 
fight  battles,  or  win  them,  for  their  own  sakes, 
but  as  means  to  certain  desired  ends ;  and  the 
whole  question  of  a  general's  alleged  victories 
turns  on  the  degree  in  which  he  approached  to 
or  attained  his  object.  Now,  if  Faidherbe  in 
December  wished  merely  to  fight  a  defensive 
action  and  then  move  off,  or  in  January  to  fight 
a  defensive  action  and  then  move  off,  he  certainly 
succeeded.  But  if  the  battle  of  Pont-a-Noyelles 
came  out  of  an  attempt  to  recover  Amiens,  as  is 
generally  supposed,  or  that  of  Bapaume  of  the 
desire  to  save  P^ronne,  as  Faidherbe  himself  tells 
us,  then  it  is  certain  that  he  failed  on  each  occasion, 
and  can  claim  no  success  merely  because  he  was 
not  re-attacked  or  pursued. 

ENGLISH  BENEVOLENT  OPERATIONS  DURING  THE  WAR. 

We  have  more  than  once,  in  the  course  of  this 
history,  alluded  to  the  difficult  part  which  Eng- 
land, as  a  neutral  nation,  had  to  play  during  the 
war.  We  were  regarded  by  the  belligerents  as 
cold-blooded  and  lukewarm,  for  not  taking  an 
active  share  in  a  contest  which  stirred  up  the 
fiercest  passions  of  both  countries,  and  which  each 
worked  itself  up  to  consider  could  only  be  right- 
fully regarded  from  its  own  point  of  view.  Many 
Frenchmen  felt  more  disposed  to  forgive  Germany 
the  invasion  of  their  country  than  to  forgive  Eng- 
land for  "permitting"  it;  while  on  the  other  hand, 
many  German  newspapers  demanded  a  "  bloody 


reckoning"  of  us  for  allowing  the  export  of  arms; 
forgetful  that  Prussia  supplied  Russia  with  them 
in  the  Crimean  war,  and  that  her  jurists  maintained 
that  it  was  then  both  legal  and  expedient. 

There  is,  however,  one  field  where  the  much- 
maligned  neutral  is  allowed  fair  play — the  hospital 
and  the  ambulance.  Here,  at  least,  the  United 
Kingdom  showed  that  its  neutrality  was  owing  to 
no  indifference,  and  that  it  is  possible  for  outsiders 
to  feel  that  there  is  a  certain  amount  of  truth  and 
right  on  both  sides,  which  the  eager  combatants 
overlook  in  the  heat  of  the  fearful  strife — 

"  Where  furious  Frank  and  fiery  Hun 
Charge  'neath  their  sulph'rous  canopy." 

In  these  days  of  close  intercourse  and  free  trade 
among  nations,  England  must  suffer  by  all  the 
misfortunes  of  its  neighbours;  a  truth  which,  it 
may  be  hoped,  will  in  time  bring  about  a  more 
charitable  spirit  towards  us.  Commerce  is  a  sen- 
sitive plant,  which  shrivels  up  immediately  under 
any  cold  chill,  and  our  commerce,  as  the  greatest 
in  the  world,  is  the  most  quickly  affected.  Yet 
the  British  contributions  on  behalf  of  the  sufferers 
by  the  war  exceeded  those  for  any  former  object, 
and  were  larger  by  far  than  for  our  own  Patriotic 
Fund,  in  the  Crimean  distress,  in  the  same  time. 
Such  aid  by  neutral  nations  is  regarded  by  some 
as  an  indirect  subsidy  for  the  carrying  on  of  war  ; 
but  a  little  reflection  as  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  recent  contest  will  show  that  such  was  not  the 
case  in  1870—71.  Under  ordinary  circumstances 
it  is  an  admitted  fact  that  any  provision  which  a 
government  can  maintain  for  the  service  of  the 
sick  and  wounded  in  time  of  peace,  is  invariably 
inadequate  to  meet  the  enormously  increased 
demands  which  instantly  spring  up  at  the  com- 
mencement of  war.  While  the  French  arrange- 
ments in  this  respect  were  found  on  almost  every 
occasion  to  be  very  greatly  defective,  the  abundant 
provision  made  by  Germany  often  seemed  equally 
shortcoming.  For  the  reason  of  this  we  have  not 
far  to  seek.  The  campaign  was  one  of  unprece- 
dented mutilation  and  slaughter;  but  in  addition 
to  this,  and  as  a  natural  result  of  the  extraordinary 
success  of  the  Germans,  a  battle  invariably  threw 
upon  their  hands  the  sick  and  wounded  of  both 
sides;  and  the  enormous  strain  under  which  they 
laboured  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  the 
three  first  battles,  Wissembourg,  Woerth,  and  For- 
bach,  left  with  them  no  less  than  20,000  wounded. 


294 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


Vast  as  were  the  efforts  made,  the  utmost  that 
one  side  could  do  proved  a  very  inadequate  pro- 
vision for  such  an  excessive  mass  of  suffering;  and 
the  object  of  the  British  National  Society  for  aid 
to  the  sick  and  wounded  in  war  was  to  supplement 
the  overtaxed  exertions  of  the  military  surgeons, 
and  provide  some  few  comforts  for  the  sufferers 
beyond  those  allowed  by  the  somewhat  Spartan 
practice  of  military  hospitals. 

Subscriptions  were  opened  in  August,  1870.  In 
six  weeks  a  sum  of  £145,000  had  been  raised, 
vast  stores  of  every  description  were  being  judi- 
ciously distributed,  and  fifty  thoroughly  qualified 
surgeons  bad  been  despatched  to  the  scene  of  con- 
flict. The  total  sum  ultimately  received  by  the 
society  in  voluntary,  and  even  unsolicited,  sub- 
scriptions was  £296,928 — sent  by  899  auxiliary 
committees,  317  bankers,  30  masonic  lodges,  139 
managers  of  concerts,  lectures,  &c. ;  the  employes 
of  100  firms,  65  servants'  halls,  257  schools,  172 
regiments,  including  militia  and  volunteers ;  30 
ships  of  war,  5824  congregations  and  parishes, 
and  11,832  individuals.  The  value  of  the  stores, 
no  less  important  than  the  money,  contributed  by 
the  public  was  estimated  at  £45,000  ;  and  a 
classification  of  the  donors  showed  that  stores  of 
various  kinds  had  been  received  from  224  branch 
committees,  252  parochial,  congregational,  and 
other  collections,  69  schools  and  asylums,  and 
4354  individual  contributions,  of  whom  380  sent 
their  gifts  anonymously.  The  stores  embraced 
every  conceivable  article  of  hospital  utility — 
bedding,  clothing,  medicines  and  surgeons'  stores, 
food,  and  surgical  instruments.  As  the  war 
progressed  the  supplies  of  the  last-named  were 
especially  acceptable,  none  being  procurable  in 
either  of  the  belligerent  countries,  as  German 
makers  were  in  the  army,  and  Paris,  the  regular 
source  of  French  supply,  was  besieged.  Large 
supplies  of  chloroform  were  also  sent,  and  in 
addition  to  its  use  in  the  ambulance  hospitals, 
permission  was  given  by  the  king  of  Prussia  for 
its  conveyance  into  Metz,  Strassburg,  and  Phals- 
bourg,  some  time  before  their  surrender — the  first 
instance  of  such  mitigation  of  the  horrors  of  a 
siege.  The  final  report  of  the  society  showed  that 
£20,000  was  given  to  the  German  military  at 
Versailles,  and  £20,000  to  General  Trochu  in 
Paris,  under  a  promise  in  both  cases  that  it  should 
be  used  purely  for  extra  comforts,  additional  to 
the  usual  hospital  allowance  of  each  army ;   that 


£27,472  was  spent  in  food,  wines,  spirits,  and 
medical  comforts  for  the  disabled  soldiers  ;  that 
£28,971  was  devoted  to  the  purchase  of  clothing 
and  bedding,  £8090  to  the  purchase  of  surgical 
instruments,  and  £7866  to  that  of  medical  stores, 
disinfectants,  &c.  Besides  these  amounts  we  find 
an  entry  of  £2111  expended  in  buildings  for 
hospitals  and  stores,  £21,705  on  the  transport 
service,  including  the  purchase  and  hire  of  horses, 
vehicles,  and  forage,  stable  expenses,  repairs,  and 
packing  and  carriage  of  stores ;  and  £23,845  on 
staff  allowances  and  expenses  abroad,  including  the 
pay  of  surgeons,  dressers,  nurses,  lay-agents,  in- 
firmiers,  drivers,  grooms,  porters,  messengers,  &c. 
Different  other  aid  societies  and  ambulances,  whose 
members  by  their  local  knowledge  proved  the  best 
almoners  that  the  committee  could  employ,  were 
subsidized  by  the  British  society  to  the  extent  of 
£89,898. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  the  large  sum  of  about 
£70,000  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  bankers,  and 
it  was  resolved  to  apply  for  a  charter  of  incorpora- 
tion for  the  society,  so  as  to  insure  permanence  to 
its  operations  ;  the  money  being  invested  in  the 
joint  names  of  Prince  Arthur,  Lord  Shaftesbury, 
and  Colonel  Lloyd  Lindsay,  as  trustees,  in  order 
to  form  the  nucleus  of  a  fund  for  future  use  should 
occasion  arise.  One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  of 
the  committee  was  to  allay  the  jealousies  of  the 
different  military  and  medical  authorities  of  both 
armies,  who,  though  the  system  of  distribution 
was  rigidly  impartial,*  were  always  complaining 
that  they  did  not  get  their  share  of  good  things. 
In  the  course  of  their  report  the  committee  ob- 
served:— "We  know  that  we  have  saved  lives, 
mitigated  the  sufferings,  and  carried  assistance 
and  comfort,  which  could  not  otherwise  have 
reached  them,  to  thousands  of  sick  and  wounded 
in  every  stage  and  degree  of  their  misery."  "  We 
simply  administer  the  funds  which  the  public 
intrusts  to  us,  never  having  solicited  subscriptions, 
remembering  that  our  legitimate  function  is  only 
to  assist  the  government  and  people  of  Germany 
and  France  to  do  their  own  work,  and  is  only  of  a 
supplementary  nature." 

Some  agreeable  proofs  were  received  that,  in 
spite  of  small  misunderstandings,  our  efforts  to 
mitijrate  the  sufferings  of  the  wounded  on  both 


*  "  You  are  very  impartial,  indeed,"  said  the  king  of  Prussia,  with 
a  bow,  wheD  thanking  the  chairman  of  the  committee  for  the  large 
supplies  sent  from  England. 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


295 


sides  were  received  by  the  two  belligerents  in  the 
same  spirit  with  which  the  help  was  offered.  The 
Crown  Prince  of  Germany,  whose  wife,  our  princess, 
conducted  an  admirable  war  hospital  at  Homburg, 
wrote  to  Colonel  Lloyd  Lindsay : — 

"  Headqitaeteks,  Versailles, 
"November  2,  1870. 

"  The  noble  contributions  brought  by  Colonel 
Lloyd  Lindsay,  for  the  use  of  the  sick  and 
wounded,  from  the  English  society  of  which  he 
is  the  director,  deserves  somewhat  more  than  a 
simple  acknowledgment. 

"  On  this,  as  on  other  occasions  of  distress,  the 
help  of  the  English  public  has  been  poured  out 
with  a  liberal  and  impartial  hand. 

"  The  gifts  which  have  been  offered,  in  a  truly 
Christian  spirit,  have  excited  a  feeling  of  heart-felt 
gratitude  amongst  those  in  whose  name  I  speak. 
In  doing  so,  I  am  repeating  the  feelings  of  the 
whole  of  my  country  people,  in  this  instance 
represented  by  those  for  whose  special  benefit 
these  gifts  are  destined." 

"(Signed),     FREDERICK  WILLIAM." 

The  queen  of  Prussia  also  sent  word  to  the  com- 
mittee, that  she  had  observed  with  sincere  admira- 
tion the  generous  manner  in  which  the  English 
nation  endeavoured  to  alleviate  the  fearful  sufferings 
of  the  present  war,  and  to  participate  in  the  care 
of  the  numerous  wounded,  by  supporting  the  exist- 
ing societies  and  hospitals,  by  the  erection  of  their 
own  hospitals,  establishment  of  depots,  and  the 
distribution  of  gifts.  "  In  my  relations  with  the 
German  societies,  I  feel  it  an  urgent  obligation  to 
express  this  to  the  English  committee  for  aid  to 
wounded  and  sick  soldiers  which  directs  this  bene- 
volent activity,  and  in  their  name,  as  well  as  in 
the  name  of  my  countrymen  far  and  near  whom 
this  assistance  has  benefited,  to  offer  the  most 
sincere  and  deep-felt  thanks.  By  such  proofs  of 
true  humanity  the  nation  does  honour  to  itself, 
and  preserves  its  old  reputation  of  maintaining  the 
interests  of  humanity  as  everywhere  the  first  con- 
sideration. It  may  likewise  rest  assured  that  with 
us  in  Germany  what  we  owe  to  it  in  this  respect 
is  most  warmly  acknowledged  and  felt. 


AUGUSTA. 


"  Homburg,  Nov.  8,  1870." 


The  minister  of  War  in  France,  General  Le 
Flo,  in  acknowledging  the  gift  of  half  a  million 
of  francs  (£20,000),  said  that  he  understood  the 
wish  of  the  English  subscribers  to  be,  that  the  sum 
should  be  specially  devoted  to  procuring  for  our 
sick  and  wounded,  such  additions  to  the  regular 
hospital  allowances  as  may  enable  them  to  feel 
that  a  friendly  hand  has  been  extended  for  the 
relief  of  their  sufferings.  "  Allow  me  to  express, 
in  the  name  of  the  army  and  of  our  whole  country, 
the  sentiment  of  profound  gratitude  with  which 
this  brilliant  manifestation  of  the  sympathy  of 
your  generous  nation  inspires  me.  In  happier 
and  still  recent  times,  it  was  granted  to  the  sol- 
diers of  our  two  countries  to  fight  side  by  side 
for  a  common  cause,  and  the  deed  which  you 
this  day  perform  is  a  proof  of  the  esteem  with 
which  you  still  regard  us.  I  am  deeply  touched 
by  it,  as  the  interpreter  of  the  grateful  feelings 
of  my  nation." 

Large,  however,  as  was  the  sum  received  by  the 
British  National  Society,  it  by  no  means  represented 
the  whole  amount  subscribed  for  the  same  or  similar 
objects  in  Great  Britain  and  its  colonies.  The 
Society  of  Friends  raised  a  sum  of  no  less  than 
£75,681,  known  as  the  "  War  Victims'  Fund," 
which  was  disbursed  by  members  of  the  worthy 
community,  who  at  their  own  expense  visited  the 
scenes  of  the  war,  and  distributed  help  in  the  most 
judicious  manner  among  the  French  civilian  popu- 
lation suffering  from  its  consequences.  A  large 
portion  of  the  money  was  devoted  to  providing 
seed  corn  and  vegetables  for  the  impoverished 
inhabitants,  who  were  thus  relieved  from  the 
fearful  contingency  of  a  severe  famine  in  addition 
to  the  other  horrors  of  the  war. 

To  carry  out  more  fully  the  view  of  the  Society 
of  Friends  in  providing  seed  corn,  a  special  sub- 
scription was  commenced  among  the  farmers  and 
agricultural  interest  generally  of  England  and 
Scotland.  The  "French  Peasant  Farmers'  Seed 
Fund"  which  was  thus  raised, amounted  to  £51,582, 
and  was  distributed,  without  almost  any  cost  to 
the  fund,  by  gentlemen  whose  practical  experience 
insured  the  certainty  of  the  money  being  expended 
to  the  greatest  possible  advantage. 

The  Daily  News'  Fund,  a  subscription  received 
entirely  through  the  office  of  the  popular  news- 
paper of  that  name,  amounted  to  £21,679,  and  was 
gratuitously  distributed  by  several  gentlemen — 
principally  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Bullock,  who  for  six 


296 


THE  FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR. 


months  devoted  the  whole  of  his  time,  and  not  a 
little  severe  labour,  to  the  task. 

When  the  siege  of  Paris  was  evidently  drawing 
to  the  only  end  to  which  it  could  come,  it  occurred 
to  Mr.  Knowles  and  some  other  gentlemen  in  Lon- 
don, that  if  the  French  capital  stood  out  until  the 
food  within  the  city  was  exhausted,  there  would  be 
the  terrible  likelihood  of  2,000,000  of  their  fellow- 
creatures  starving  within  twelve  hours  of  our  own 
shores.  The  sympathies  of  the  great  British  capi- 
tal for  its  sister  city  were  aroused  by  such  a  pros- 
pect. A  meeting  was  held  at  the  Mansion  House 
without  delay,  a  committee  was  formed  of  repre- 
sentative men  of  all  creeds  and  classes,  and  with 
the  view  of  accumulating  large  supplies  of  food, 
to  be  sent  into  Paris  as  soon  as  the  gates  should 
be  opened,  the  sum  of  £130,000  was  subscribed 
in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time.  The  British 
government  also  came  handsomely  to  the  help  of 
the  committee,  and  supplied  it  with  the  means  of 
transport,  and  with  large  donations  of  provisions 
from  the  Admiralty  victualling  yards.  The  work 
of  distribution  was  confided  to  Lieutenant-cotonel 
Stuart  Wortley  and  Mr.  George  Moore,  two  gen- 
tlemen enjoying  universal  esteem  and  confidence, 
and  both  well  acquainted  with  Paris  and  with  the 
means  best  suited  to  the  pressing  emergency.  To 
food,  fuel,  garden  seeds,  and  to  setting  free  from 
pledge  tools  and  implements,  to  enable  the  popu- 
lation of  Paris  to  resume  its  industry,  £70,000  was 
devoted  by  the  committee ;  and  the  immediate 
relief  of  the  city  being  effected,  attention  was 
turned  to  the  suffering  districts  outside  its  walls. 
Large  sums  were  distributed  to  relieve  the  dis- 
tressed inhabitants  of  the  circle  of  investment; 
and  considerable  grants  were  made  to  committees 
appointed  to  inquire  into  the  cases  of  those  who, 
in  the  various  departments  around  Paris,  had  been 
entirely  deprived  of  their  homes  and  means  of 
livelihood.  To  the  Peasant  Farmers'  Seed  Fund 
a  sum  of  £13,000  was  granted;  and  many  of  our 
fellow-countrymen  in  Paris,  impoverished  by  the 
continuance  of  the  siege,  were  assisted  in  leaving  the 
city,  or  received  temporary  aid  within  it.  During 
the  siege  the  English  residents  had  been  supported 
mainly  by  the  munificence  of  Richard  Wallace, 
Esq.,  whose  liberality  was  also  amply  extended  to 
the  poor  of  the  city  generally.  Through  Lord 
Granville,  Mr.  Wallace  received  the  thanks  of  the 
British  government,  and  he  was  shortly  after 
created  a  baronet.      The  French  authorities  also 


showed  their  sense  of  his  generosity  by  re-naming 
one  of  the  Paris  streets  the  Rue  de  Wallace. 

Whatever  form  of  government  ultimately  pre- 
vails in  France,  among  all  sober  minds  and  honest 
hearts  the  memory  of  the  proofs  of  generous  friend- 
ship shown  by  England  towards  that  country,  and 
more  particularly  towards  the  city  of  Paris,  will 
not  be  easily  effaced.  Those  Frenchmen  who, 
during  the  war,  sought  an  asylum  across  the 
channel,  the  wives  and  daughters  of  those  hus- 
bands and  fathers  in  Paris  who  desired  to  save 
them  from  the  dangers  and  severe  privations  of 
the  siege,  know  what  a  kind,  sometimes  almost 
enthusiastic,  reception  was  given  them;  they  wit- 
nessed the  wide  sympathetic  movement  which 
sprang  up  on  all  sides ;  they  saw  the  solicitude 
with  which  high  and  low  in  our  great  metropolis 
went  to  the  succour  of  their  besieged  city,  to  save 
it  from  the  horrors  of  famine.  London  was  more 
concerned  with  the  care  of  revictualling  exhausted 
Paris  than  was  the  French  government,  and  suc- 
ceeded better.  The  report  of  a  commission  of 
inquiry  upon  markets,  subsequently  revealed  the 
extent  of  the  services  rendered  by  the  English  to 
Paris;  and  judging  by  this,  it  is  fearful  to  think 
what  would  have  become  of  a  population  of  two 
millions  of  souls  had  not  the  English  waggons 
arrived  almost  as  soon  as  the  gates  were  opened, 
whilst  the  provisions  bought  by  the  French 
government  were  waited  for  in  vain   for  weeks. 

When,  after  the  new  disasters  caused  to  Paris 
by  the  Commune,  regular  authority  had  resumed 
its  sway,  and  a  legal  municipality  had  been  estab- 
lished, one  of  the  first  acts  of  the  authorities  was 
to  show  to  England  that  there  still  existed  in 
Paris  grateful  spirits,  and  that  the  recollection  of 
her  bounty  was  not  effaced.  A  medal  was  struck ; 
a  bronze  model  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  the  symbol 
of  the  town  itself,  was  added  to  the  medal;  the 
insignia  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  were  given  by 
the  government,  and  a  Parisian  deputation,  com- 
posed of  the  prefect  of  the  Seine,  M.  Le'on  Say, 
and  the  president  of  the  Elective  Municipal  Council, 
M.  Vautrain,  was  commissioned  to  carry  to  London 
these  souvenirs,  and  to  tell  in  that  city  what  true 
Parisians  had  been  thinking  and  saying  for  months. 
The  mission  was  well  fulfilled ;  the  reception  given 
to  the  French  representatives  was  such  as  to  enhance 
the  value  of  the  services  already  rendered;  and  a 
return  visit  by  the  lord  mayor  of  London  tended 
to  strengthen  the  ties  between  the  two  nations. 


PARIS 


DURING    THE    SIEGE, 


HISTORY    OF    THE 


RISE   AND    FALL    OF    THE    COMMUNE. 


BY     A     RESIDENT. 

7 


nozier^^  VW<vry  MorfTagv*. 


LONDON : 
WILLIAM    MACKENZIE,   22   PATERNOSTER   ROW; 

43  to  51  HOWARD  STREET,  GLASGOW;  59  SOUTH  BRIDGE,  EDINBURGH. 


I.ICRENZIE,    43    Jj    4",    HOWARD    STREET,    GLASGOW. 


TO    THE    BINDER 


THE  PLATES  GIVEN  IN  THIS  DIVISION  SHOULD  BE  PLACED  AS  FOLLOWS:— 


FACE  PACE 


Jules  Favre 

Chanzy, 

Faidherbe, 

Plan  of  Paris  CWesteen  Division), 
"         "  (Eastern  Division), 


202 
218 


TO  FACK  PAGE 

RHINE  VALLEY. 

CONSTANZ   FROM  THE  HaRBOUR,            15 

constanz  from  council  hall, 18 

Worms 91 

Castle  of  Marksburg, 103 

Andep.nach, 110 


-VHi 


-J. 


SFSS^OTy^'  :/^74  T^^SFA4i^^1- 


PARIS, 


BEFORE,   DURING,   AND   AFTER  THE   SIEGE; 


WITH    AN    ACCOUNT    OF    THE 


RISE  AND  FALL  OF    THE   COMMUNE, 

BY     A      RESIDENT. 


CHAPTER     I. 

Convulsions  of  Nature  and  of  States — Paris  the  Metropolis  of  Brilliancy— The  Boulevards  and  their  Cost — Rebuilding  of  Paris,  and  a  Delusion 
caused  thereby — The  first  Reverses  of  the  War,  and  their  Effect  upon  the  Capital — The  News  of  Sedan  and  approaching  Imprisonment  of 
the  Parisians — Energy  and  Self-denial  of  the  People  aroused — Great  Want  of  a  Controlling  Head  at  this  Crisis — Difficulties  arising  in  con- 
sequence— Paris  previous  to  the  War — The  Contrast  when  the  National  Disasters  began — The  Boulevards  invaded — Enormous  Victualling 
Supplies,  and  the  Hopes  excited  thereby — "  Many  a  true  word  spoken  in  jest " — Failure  of  Dairy  Produce — Vegetables  at  a  Premium — The 
Dawn  of  Horse-beef — Exorbitant  Prices  of  all  Provisions — Hopes  founded  upon  Delusions — "All  Lost,  except  Honour" — Cats,  Dogs,  and 
Rats  in  the  Market — "  Ordinary  "  Prices  for  Delicacies — Elephant  Steaks — Disappearance  of  Fish — Unpleasant  Substitutes  for  Butter  and 
Fat — Articles  of  Drink,  Coffee,  Chocolate,  &c. — The  Policy  and  Necessity  of  High  Prices — Failure  of  Official  Interference  with  Prices, 
except  in  the  case  of  Meat — Conduct  of  Purveyors  generally — Consternation  respecting  Bread — How  Corn-mills  were  improvised — Bread 
rationed  at  last — The  Quality  of  the  Bread  supplied,  and  its  Composition— The  Effect  of  the  Interdict  upon  Flour — Siege  Fare  and  Siege 
Flavour — Distressing  Monotony — The  Greatest  Sufferers— Mendacious  Newspaper  Statements — Restaurant  Customers  notified  to  "bring 
their  own  Bread  " — The  Sufferings  from  the  Scarcity  of  Fuel — Not  so  bad  after  all  as  things  might  have  been — Water  Supply — The  Con- 
sumption of  Wines,  Spirits,  Alcoholic  Drinks,  and  Tobacco — General  Effect  of  the  Diet  and  other  Circumstances — A  Calamity  which  might 
have  been  a  Catastrophe — Uncontrollable  Yearning  for  Fresh  Food  when  the  Gates  were  opened— Arrival  of  Provisions  from  England,  and 
Change  of  Feeling  in  the  City  towards  Great  Britain — Markets  immediately  established  under  German  Supervision — The  Return  of  the 
Sailors  to  the  City — Distressing  Incident  at  Mont  ValeVien — General  Condition  of  Society  under  the  Siege — Lights  put  out  and  Places  of 
Amusement  closed — The  Theatres  and  Actors  in  Siege-time — Paris  the  Brilliant  becomes  Paris  the  Dull — Efforts  to  keep  up  Communi- 
cation with  the  Outside  World— Balloon  Experiments— The  Torture  of  Suspense — The  Pigeon-post  and  Marvels  of  Photography- 
Deciphering  Despatches— Sensation  caused  by  the  Arrival  of  the  First  Post — Escape  from  the  City  and  its  Difficulties. 


Convulsions  of  all  kinds  naturally  attract  more 
attention  than  the  phenomena,  however  grand  and 
important,  which  are  the  fruit  of  nature  and  pro- 
gress. The  dismemberment  of  an  old  kingdom 
causes  more  surprise  than  the  creation  of  a  new 
one  out  of  a  desert,  although  the  latter  is  the  more 
important  event;  but  this  is  the  natural  result  of 
the  progress  of  civilization,  while  the  former  is 
unexpected,  violent,  extraordinary.  Again,  great 
social  convulsions  appeal  far  more  directly  to  the 
mind  than  mere  material  ones,  however  startling 
and  horrible ;  the  latter  affect  our  senses  and  call 
forth  our  sympathies,  but  the  former  appeal  to 
every  feeling,  and  set  in  vibration  every  chord  of 
our  system.  The  world  is  deeply  moved  by  the 
vol.  n. 


news  of  earthquakes  that  bury  thousands  of  human 
beings .  beneath  the  ruins  of  their  dwellings ;  it 
shudders  at  the  progress  of  epidemics  that  fill  the 
land  with  desolation,  and  at  wars  which  devour 
the  flower  of  the  manhood  of  nations,  break  up 
kingdoms,  and  snap  old  associations,  but  the  effects 
soon  pass  away;  the  alteration  of  the  arbitrary  or 
imaginary  "  Balance  of  Power,"  that  ill-defined 
theorem  of  diplomacy,  leaves  society  almost  as 
little  affected  by  it  as  is  the  rotation  of  the  earth 
or  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes.  But  when  we 
see  an  old,  and  once  great,  nation  utterly  ruined, 
its  government  and  institutions  all  swept  away  like 
chaff  before  the  wind,  and  its  whole  social  system, 
political,  material,  and  intellectual,  reduced  to 
2  p 


298 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


chaos,  surprise  and  sympathy  give  way  to  aston- 
ishment and  dismay.  We  feel  for  the  moment 
that  all  laws  and  principles  are  set  aside,  that 
human  nature  is  suffering  shipwreck,  and  that  all 
our  philosophy,  all  our  learning,  all  our  art  and 
science,  are  built  upon  sand,  and  may  be  _ngulfed 
should  the  terrible  storm  extend  to  our  own  land. 
The  situation  is  one  of  fearful  interest,  of  sublime 
horror;  and  the  wonder  is,  not  that  all  the  world 
should  be  so  deeply  moved  as  it  is,  but  rather,  that 
even  the  pressing  necessities  of  life  and  the  demands 
of  duty  should  allow  of  its  being  for  an  instant  absent 
from  our  minds.  Great  kingdoms  and  empires  have 
been  subverted,  and  will  doubtless  be  so  again;  the 
sceptre  has  passed  from  one  hand  to  another  like  a 
harlequin's  wand;  powers  and  landmarks  have  dis- 
appeared, after  the  world  has  been  familiar  with 
them  for  ages ;  great  states  have  slipped  down  from 
their  stations,  or  new  ones  have  grown  up  and  over- 
topped them :  but  the  spectacle  of  a  nation  of  forty 
millions  of  people  reduced,  in  a  few  months,  from 
a  condition  of  apparent  prosperity  to  the  verge  of 
bankruptcy,  material  and  social,  surpasses  all  that 
is  recorded  in  history,  or  that  the  most  imaginative 
mind  could  have  conjured  up  in  the  way  of  con- 
vulsion. Such  a  saturnalia  of  bloodshed,  revolu- 
tion, famine,  and  ruin,  such  a  subversion  of  powers, 
military,  political,  and  social,  has  never  before  been 
presented  to  the  bewildered  senses  of  the  civilized 
world,  and  the  eye  strains  itself  painfully  and  hope- 
lessly to  see  the  finale  of  the  terrible  drama. 

The  struggle  between  France  and  Germany,  and 
the  fortunes  of  the  former  especially,  will  supply 
future  historians  with  an  inexhaustible  theme;  and 
we  hope  to  contribute  a  page  or  two  of  materials 
by  recording  our  own  impressions  of  Paris,  after 
a  residence  of  many  years,  received  before,  during, 
and  after  the  siege. 

Gay,  beautiful,  splendid,  brilliant,  all  the  adjec- 
tives of  admiration  have  been  lavished  on  Paris, 
and  many  of  them  were  deserved.  The  atmosphere, 
the  out-of-door  life,  art,  fashion,  and  fancy,  have 
always  rendered  Paris  a  kind  of  paradise  to  the 
visitor  from  gigantic,  magnificent,  but  gloomy 
London ;  and  during  the  last  twenty  years  so  much 
had  been  done  to  make  Paris  more  attractive,  more 
coquet,  as  our  neighbours  say,  cleaner,  more  beau- 
tiful and  brilliant,  that  it  is  not  surprising  that 
the  great  mass  of  foreigners  should  have  accepted 
Paris,  at  the  valuation  of  the  Parisians,  as  the 
queen  of  cities,  the   great   capital   of  the  world. 


Visitors  bent  on  pleasure,  and  even  residents  in 
search  of  elegance  and  ease,  took  no  note  of  poli- 
tics and  economics;  they  did  not  calculate  the 
cost,  they  had  not  to  consider  the  future;  and  as 
this  state  of  mind  exactly  suited  the  great  majority 
of  the  natives  also,  Paris  was  declared,  pretty 
generally,  to  be  not  only  pleasant,  but  prosperous 
and  glorious  in  the  highest  degree. 

The  skill  of  the  engineer  and  gardener  had  done 
wonders  for  Paris.  The  Bois  de  Boulogne,  the 
public  promenades,  the  great  new  boulevards  and 
avenues,  the  public  squares  or  gardens,  the  pro- 
fusion of  fountains  and  flowers,  even  the  sewers 
themselves,  had  been  the  subjects  of  fashionable 
gossip,  and  of  enthusiastic  admiration  and  lauda- 
tion, not  only  from  journalists  and  sketchers,  but 
from  practical  men  of  the  world,  from  ministers  of 
state  downwards;  while  those  who  counted  the  cost 
too  carefully  were  set  down  as  belonging  to  that 
unamiable  class  of  individuals  who  would  point 
out  the  incipient  wrinkles  on  the  brow  of  beauty, 
or  search  for  flaws  in  a  precious  gem. 

Beyond  all  question,  the  new  boulevards  and 
houses  of  Paris  are  stately,  airy,  and  gay,  the 
promenades  and  pleasure  grounds  are  charmingly 
planted,  and  they  are,  or  rather  were,  tended  and 
garnished  and  watered  and  lighted  in  the  most 
admirable  manner,  and,  which  deserves  special 
notice,  by  highly  scientific  and  economical  means. 
Those  who  are  curious  on  these  subjects  should 
read  the  "  Pares  et  Promenades  de  Paris,"  by  M. 
Alphand,  under  whose  management  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne,  the  Bois  de  Vincennes,  and  all  the 
pleasure  grounds  of  Paris  were  laid  out  and  kept 
in  order.  Side  by  side  with  the  description  of 
these  extensive  works  will  be  found  detailed 
accounts  of  the  expenses,  not  only  of  the  original 
operations,  but  also  of  the  whole  of  their  main- 
tenance ;  and  this  portion  supplies  many  most 
valuable  hints  for  all  who  have  to  manage  public 
places  and  municipal  affairs.  It  would  have  been 
well  for  the  city  of  Paris  and  for  France,  had  the 
demolition  and  reconstruction  in  the  capital  and 
other  towns  been  conducted  with  like  economy. 

The  rebuilding  of  Paris,  as  the  alterations  of 
the  city  were  called,  was  principally  caused  by 
the  necessity  which  the  government  felt  for  pro- 
tecting itself  against  revolutionary  attacks ;  but  it 
was  warmly  advocated,  on  the  other  hand,  on  the 
score  of  salubrity,  which  was  a  well-founded  argu- 
ment, and  as  making  Paris  the  central  attraction 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


299 


and  mart  of  luxury  of  continental  Europe;  and 
the  swarm  of  visitors  and  customers  which  new 
Paris  attracted  warranted  this  argument  also,  in 
the  opinion  of  those  who  only  looked  upon  the 
surface  of  affairs.  On  the  other  hand,  the  discon- 
tent was  great,  as  there  was  a  strong  feeling  that 
all  that  was  being  done  for  the  capital  was  done 
at  the  cost  of  the  rest  of  the  country;  and  this 
feeling,  as  we  shall  see,  bore  poisonous  fruit 
in  the  jealousy  and  mistrust  which  split  the 
nation  into  many  parties,  and  threatened  to 
replace  centralization  by  isolation  under  the  name 
of  federalism. 

The  enormous  expenditure  of  the  government 
and  of  the  municipality  of  Paris  gave  rise,  naturally, 
to  enormous  extravagance  and  speculation;  the 
monied  aristocracy,  and  indeed  all  classes,  vied 
with  each  other  in  luxury  and  show;  the  Bois 
was  filled  with  carriages  and  horses  of  the  most 
costly  and  elegant  description,  in  rivalry  of  the 
wealthy  aristocracy  of  England ;  balls  and  enter- 
tainments assumed  a  pretentious  and  costly  char- 
acter, out  of  keeping  with  the  old  habits  of  Paris; 
and  thus  a  fictitious  appearance  of  great  wealth  was 
produced,  which  deceived  the  general  world.  But 
the  most  marked  effect  of  the  governmental  and 
civic  extravagance  was  a  system  of  ingenious  yet 
heedless  speculation,  which  enriched  the  few  and 
ruined  thousands;  immense  gambling  was  taken 
for  great  financial  prosperity,  and  until  the  greater 
part  of  the  brilliant  bubbles  burst,  Paris  claimed 
to  have  assumed  the  first  place  in  the  monetary  as 
well  as  in  the  artistic  and  fashionable  world.  We 
know  now  how  hollow  was  the  claim,  how  com- 
plete the  delusion  !  Before  the  Into  fatal  war  was 
declared  the  financial  position  of  the  government, 
as  well  as  of  the  city  of  Paris,  was  disastrous,  while 
extravagance,  public  and  private,  had  rendered  all 
the  necessaries  of  life  inordinately  dear;  visitors 
became  less  numerous,  and  natives  as  well  as 
foreigners  were  compelled  to  fly  from  a  city 
where  rent,  food,  and  fuel,  in  fact,  all  articles  of 
common  consumption,  were  ruinously  dear. 

It  was  just  as  the  truth  was  breaking  upon  the 
most  unthinking,  when  the  means  of  public  and 
private  life  were  becoming  almost  impossible,  that 
the  declaration  of  war  burst  upon  astonished 
Europe,  and  terrified  the  thinking  portion  of  the 
French  people.  The  cry,  a  Berlin,  was  naturally 
taken  up  by  the  army  and  by  the  least  trustworthy 
portion  of  the  population,  and  was  certainly  not 


discouraged  by  the  government  in  its  inconceiv- 
able blindness ;  and  whilst  the  Marseillaise  was 
being  roared  in  the  streets  and  theatres  in  the 
hope  of  coming  victories,  it  fell  upon  the  ears  of 
thousands  like  the  knell  of  the  sad  disasters  which 
were  so  soon  to  arrive. 

With  the  war  itself  we  have  nothing  to  do  in 
this  chapter,  but  only  with  its  effects  on  Paris.  At 
first,  by  means  of  shamefully  deceitful  information, 
Paris  was  led  to  believe  that  a  new  era  of  glory  had 
actually  set  in;  but  this  deception  was  of  short 
duration,  and  the  effect  of  the  disasters  that  fol- 
lowed each  other  with  such  appalling  force  and 
rapidity  is  indescribable.  Paris  was  stunned  at 
first,  then  almost  driven  to  madness;  her  usual 
life  was  suspended  as  if  by  catalepsy;  the  gay 
throng  seemed  to  have  melted  into  air  ;  art, 
literature,  science,  even  frivolity  and  glaring 
vice,  were  at  once  quenched;  theatres  and  other 
places  of  amusement  were  closed ;  the  detested 
police,  which  had  swept  the  streets  fortunately 
of  thousands  of  vagabonds  of  both  sexes,  was,  in 
its  turn,  swept  away;  and  Paris,  left  to  itself, 
ceased  to  be  gay,  and,  instead  of  rushing  into 
excesses,  sank  into  lethargy. 

The  disgrace  of  Sedan  fell  like  a  thunderbolt 
upon  the  people  of  Paris.  Deception,  whether 
from  without  or  within,  could  not  gloze  over  that 
dreadful  capitulation;  it  could  not  be  converted 
even  into  a  glorious  failure;  there  was  not  a 
single  extenuating  circumstance  surrounding  it; 
all  the  glory  and  prestige  of  French  arms  seemed 
extinguished  for  ever,  and  the  leaders  were 
openly  denounced  as  cowards  and  imbeciles.  The 
only  consolation  was  that  he  who  proclaimed  and 
directed  the  war  had  succumbed  in  the  catas- 
trophe. Democracy  again  raised  its  head,  and 
calling  upon  the  people  to  rise  as  one  man  and 
defend  the  fatherland,  awoke  them  from  the  torpor 
that  looked  like  death.  For  a  time  again  hope 
revived,  and  the  nation  seemed  roused  to  action; 
but  promise  after  promise  proved  delusive,  and  at 
length,  when  it  was  known  that  the  enemy  was 
marching  with  calm  but  decided  steps  towards 
Paris,  the  agony  of  the  people  became  almost 
insupportable.  The  apathy  with  which  the  great 
mass  of  the  population  waited  for  the  moment 
when  we  were  all  to  be  made  prisoners  within 
the  walls,  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  the  total 
absence  of  political  life  and  individual  action  which 
had  been    imposed    upon   the   population    by  an 


300 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


absolute  government,  working  on  the  weaknesses 
of  the  national  character. 

When  General  Trochu  and  others  at  the  head  of 
affairs  commenced  the  preparations  for  the  defences 
of  the  city,  able  assistance  was  offered  on  every 
side;  engineers,  architects,  and  scientific  men  of 
all  classes,  not  only  organized,  but  helped  to  carry 
out  with  great  energy  the  necessary  works;  mem- 
bers of  the  Institute,  with  the  weight  of  sixty  and 
more  years  upon  their  shoulders,  laboured  side  by 
side  with  the  pupils  of  the  schools,  literary  men, 
and  ouvriers,  and  the  amount  of  work  that  was 
done  was  prodigious.  On  every  side  and  in  every 
form  individual  devotion  and  self-negation  were 
common,  the  absence  of  it  in  fact  was  quite  excep- 
tional; every  one's  powers  and  capabilities  were 
freely  placed  at  the  disposition  of  the  chiefs,  or 
were  employed  in  auxiliary  work,  amongst  which 
the  establishment  of  temporary  hospitals  and  am- 
bulances occupied  a  prominent  place.  This  was 
work  in  which  all  could  contribute,  and  it  was 
executed  generously  and  ardently ;  Sisters  of  Mercy 
and  Sisters  of  Charity,  high-born  dames  and  famous 
actresses,  doctors  and  priests,  frh'es  and  nuns  of  all 
classes,  in  cloister,  tent,  theatre,  saloon,  and  hotel, 
devoted  themselves  day  and  night,  uncomplain- 
ingly, to  their  sad  labour,  while  those  who  had  the 
means  filled  the  cellars  with  wines  and  cordials, 
the  store-rooms  with  linen,  and  the  wards  with 
beds  and  bedding.  Amongst  the  few  bright 
points  in  the  siege  of  Paris,  the  most  prominent 
are  the  devotion  and  the  sacrifices  that  were  made 
in  aid  of  the  wounded  and  the  suffering.  Many 
strangers  aided  greatly  in  the  work,  but  none  to 
the  same  extent  as  our  own  countryman,  Mr. 
Richard  Wallace,  whose  name  has  in  consequence 
been  given  to  the  street  formerly  known  as  the 
Rue  de  Berlin. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  individual  activity 
and  devotion  there  was  one  great  want — pecu- 
liarly patent  to  the  eye  of  an  Englishman,  and 
characteristic  of  Paris  —  the  city  was  a  great 
agglomeration  of  individuals  without  a  head  ; 
there  was  no  general  action,  no  public  life.  It 
is  true  that  a  number  of  clubs  were  opened,  and 
that  speech  was  free,  but,  with  one  or  two 
memorable  exceptions,  the  discussions  there 
exhibited  nothing  but  ignorance  and  violence. 
Population,  like  children,  cannot  be  expected  to 
perform  at  a  moment's  notice  acts  for  which 
they  have  not  been  trained.     Accustomed  to  look 


to  government  for  everything  ;  shut  out  from 
all  the  rights,  though  not  from  the  duties  and 
obligations  of  citizens ;  accustomed  to  be  led 
or  driven,  as  the  case  might  be,  by  the  agents 
of  authority,  just  as  flocks  of  sheep  are  con- 
ducted by  the  shepherds  and  their  dogs — the 
disappearance  of  the  directing  powers  reduced  the 
population  of  Paris  to  a  helpless,  excited,  and 
sometimes  a  mischievous  crowd.  Here  and  there 
men  of  commanding  talent,  such  as  Professor 
Wolowski,  M.  Desmarest.  one  of  the  ornaments 
of  the  Parisian  bar,  and  the  Protestant  ministers, 
Coquereland  Pressense,  produced  considerable  effect 
on  crowded  audiences ;  but,  speaking  generally, 
nearly  all  who  should  have  been  the  leaders  and 
directors  of  the  people  were  dumb,  or  wasted  their 
words.  The  silence  of  the  clergy  of  France, 
almost  absolute,  was  one  of  the  most  marked  and 
extraordinary  lacts  during  the  whole  period  of 
which  we  are  speaking.  The  archbishop  of  Paris 
issued  one  admirable  address,  touching  the  duty 
of  the  people  under  the  circumstances,  calling 
upon  the  clergy  and  the  laity  to  lay  aside  all  ani- 
mosity, and  be  charitable  and  considerate  towards 
each  other,  to  respect  the  powers  that  were,  and 
thus  to  aid  in  the  re-establishment  of  order ;  but 
this  and  one  or  two  other  rare  examples  were 
more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  violence  of  a 
well-known  religious  journal,  which  even  surpassed 
the  lowest  club  in  the  virulence  of  its  personal 
abuse.  Generally,  the  clergy  felt  it  could  not 
safely  interfere;  it  knew  it  had  not  the  slightest 
hold  on  the  masses  in  Paris;  and  the  editor  of 
the  journal  in  question  had  the  incredible  folly 
and  wickedness  to  seize  on  the  fact  of  a  shot 
being  fired  on  a  flag  of  truce,  to  declare  that  "  it 
was  probably  aimed  at  a  priest  who  was  present, 
as  the  democrats  would  rather  kill  a  French  priest 
or  frere  than  a  Prussian." 

The  government  of  the  national  defence  suf- 
fered seriously  from  this  state  of  things.  While 
the  work  of  preparation  was  new  the  people 
generally  supported  and  individually  helped  it, 
and,  with  few  exceptions,  the  press  showed  a 
most  friendly  spirit ;  but  the  new  government, 
like  that  which  had  preceded,  was  utterly  isolated 
from  the  people;  it  had  neither  the  aid  of  aris- 
tocracy, middle  classy  or  the  masses;  it  could 
not  call  around  it,  or  obtain  the  opinion  of  any 
one  class  or  party;  it  could  gain  no  moral  sup- 
port   anywhere,    and    consequently,   having    been 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


301 


compelled  to  act  unaided  during  the  early  and 
more  hopeful  days  of  the  siege,  it  had  the 
whole  of  Paris  against  it  when  faint  hope  was 
converted  into  blank  despair.  Nor  was  it  in 
a  political  sense  only  that  it  was  isolated.  The 
founders,  the  engineers,  the  railway  companies, 
and  others,  gave  most  valuable  aid  in  the  arma- 
ment of  the  city;  but  the  mercantile  and  shop- 
keeping  classes  seemed  to  have  been  paralyzed 
in  all  their  members  by  the  loss  of  their  old 
directing  heads.  The  consequence  was,  that  the 
management  of  the  food  and  other  supplies,  and 
nearly  all  the  ordinary  business  of  a  city  that 
then  contained  more  than  2,000,000  of  souls,  was 
left  to  advocates  and  others,  as  ignorant  of 
trade  and  its  thousand  requirements  as  grocers 
and  others  of  the  law  of  evidence.  The  result 
was  a  violent  breach  between  the  government  and 
nearly  all  the  wholesale  and  retail  tradesmen  of 
the  city,  the  complete  disorganization  of  the  whole 
of  the  ordinary  modes  of  supply,  a  frightful 
waste  of  provisions,  an  amount  of  suffering  and 
a  mortality  which  are  frightful  to  look  back  upon. 
It  is  only  when  such  facts  as  these  are  laid 
before  us,  and  their  effects  are  considered,  that 
the  causes  of  the  difficulties  of  France  in  general 
can  be  traced.  Louis  XIV.  and  XV.  broke 
down  the  influence  and  ruined  the  character  of 
the  old  aristocracy,  the  first  Empire  reduced  the 
whole  nation  politically  to  the  condition  of  slaves, 
the  second  Empire  completed  the  work  of  des- 
truction, first  by  its  overweening  pretension  and 
extravagance,  and  finally  by  the  utter  incompetency 
of  its  chief  and  instruments.  Where  is  the  man,  or 
where  are  the  men,  the  assemblies,  the  representa- 
tives, to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  new  France,  able 
and  worthy  to  hold  its  own?  Who  will  make 
the  French  understand  that  the  time  for  domina- 
tion, false  glory,  and  pretension  is  past,  and  that 
France  must  be  content  to  take  her  own  proper 
place  amongst  the  nations  and  keep  it,  or  follow 
the  fate  of  the  fallen  empires  of  the  ancient 
world?     Time  alone  can  show. 

The  grand  characteristic  of  new  Paris  when  the 
word  for  war  was  given  at  the  Tuileries  was  spruce- 
ness.  If  the  greater  part  of  the  new  structures  had 
too  much  the  air  of  barracks,  if  the  new  boulevards 
were  fatiguing  on  account  of  their  length  and 
monotony,  if  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  had  somewhat 
of  a  cockney,  theatrical,  over-wrought  appearance, 
if  the  banishment  of  every    natural    element   in 


favour  of  an  artificial  one,  wherever  possible,  pro- 
duced something  of  a  vulgar,  parvenu  air,  still  the 
exquisite  cleanliness  of  the  streets  in  the  better 
parts  of  the  city — not  the  inferior  portions — the 
care  with  which  the  capital  was  swept  and  gar- 
nished, planted  and  watered,  and  decorated  in  every 
way,  made  it  an  attractive  place;  and  especially  so 
for  those  who  were  satisfied  while  they  themselves 
were  comfortable,  cared  nothing  about  principles  of 
government,  the  rights  of  humanity,  or  the  pro- 
gress of  civilization. 

With  the  destruction  at  once  of  the  army  and 
the  empire  the  aspect  of  Paris  underwent  an  extra- 
ordinary change ;  the  police  and  nearly  all  the  other 
agents  of  the  late  government  disappeared,  the 
whole  municipal  organization  fell  at  one  blow,  and 
dirt  and  disorder  assumed  universal  sway.  It  would 
be  difficult  to  conceive  the  rapidity  and  complete- 
ness of  the  change  that  took  place ;  smiling  frivolous 
Paris  became  at  once  a  dirty  camp.  In  the  first 
place  lodgings  had  to  be  found  for  80,000  mobiles, 
besides  the  national  guards  from  the  districts  just 
outside  of  Paris ;  they  were  billeted  on  the  inhabit- 
ants while  huts  were  being  provided  for  them. 
These  were  erected  in  the  centre  of  what  used  to  be 
the  outer  boulevards  of  the  city,  following  the  line 
of  the  old  octroi  wall,  demolished  when  the  city  was 
extended  to  the  fortifications,  and  on  the  unoccu- 
pied ground  in  the  new  districts.  During  the 
day  the  new  and  least  frequented  boulevards  were 
continually  occupied  by  troops  drilling,  marching, 
skirmishing,  cooking,  or  eating.  Quiet,  "  gen- 
teel "  squares  and  places  in  the  new  districts  were 
converted  into  places  d'armes,  and  a  large  portion  of 
the  Avenue  Wagram  was  converted  into  a  park  for 
the  artillery  of  the  national  guard,  the  staff  of  the 
corps  being  established  in  the  very  house  in  which 
about  ten  years  since  the  emperor  was  entertained  at 
a  collation  upon  the  occasion  of  the  opening  of  the 
magnificent  Boulevard  Malesherbes.  All  the  unoc- 
cupied apartments  in  the  handsome  hotels,  or  private 
residences,  whether  furnished  or  not,  were  taken 
possession  of  and  converted  into  staff  quarters, 
stations,  and  ambulances;  and  from  break  of  day. 
and  even  earlier,  all  the  prominent  corners  were 
occupied  by  coffee  and  other  stalls,  superintended 
by  neat,  coquettish,  or  brazen,  slatternly  vivan- 
dieres,  or,  as  they  are  commonly  called  in  France, 
cantinieres.  Every  scrap  of  waste  ground  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  huts  and  places  referred  to 
was   seized  upon   as  sites  for  refreshment   booths 


302 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


and  shanties,  which  were  generally  constructed  of 
old  boards  and  window  frames  brought  in  by  the 
suburban  population  on  the  approach  of  the  German 
army.  Bifteks  and  cotelettes,  soup  and  bouilli, 
coffee,  wine,  and  brandy  were  offered,  and  very 
freely  accepted,  at  prices  alarmingly  low.  Some  of 
these  establishments  were  of  a  curious  character : 
near  the  Pare  Monceaux  an  adventurous  caterer  for 
the  thousands  of  mouths  set  up  a  cafe-restaurant  in 
two  old  omnibuses,  and  seemed  to  have  plenty  of 
customers.  The  mobiles  received  their  rations  in 
the  streets  and  boulevards,  set  up  their  soup  kettles, 
and  fried  their  potatoes  on  the  side  walks,  and 
ate,  drank,  smoked,  sang,  and  talked,  when  off  duty, 
as  if  they  were  perfectly  at  home;  the  patois  of 
Alsace,  Normandy,  Brittany,  and  Provence  ming- 
ling curiously  with  the  Parisian  tongue.  In  very 
bad  weather  the  shops  and  ground  floors  of  unten- 
anted houses  served  as  refuges  to  those  who  could 
not  afford  to  frequent  cafes  and  wine  shops;  but, 
generally  speaking,  from  the  first  streak  of  day- 
light to  late  in  the  evening,  the  whole  of  the 
boulevards  and  broad  streets  were  thronged  with 
soldiers  and  recruits  in  the  most  varied  costumes, 
from  the  common  blouse  of  the  workman  to  the 
gay  uniform  of  the  citizen  soldier.  The  national 
guard  included  men  nearly  of  all  ages  and  of  all 
classes  of  society ;  and  it  was  a  curious  sight  to  see 
highly  respectable  citizens,  often  "  with  fair  round 
belly  with  good  capon  lined,"  fling  themselves 
flat  on  the  ground,  in  dust  or  mud,  at  the  word  of 
command  of  the  drill  serjeant  who  was  busy  con- 
verting them  into  sharpshooters. 

The  military  were  not  the  only  invaders  of  the 
boulevards;  the  great  mass  of  the  washing  of  the 
city  is  usually  carried  on  in  the  outskirts  of  Paris, 
and  when  the  blanchisseurs  and  blanchisseuses  were 
compelled  to  retreat  within  the  walls,  they  also 
seized  upon  the  boulevards  as  their  ground;  and 
the  trees  which  the  other  day  were  watched  with 
such  sharp  eyes  by  the  police  that  scarcely  any 
one  dared  touch  them  with  his  finger,  now  served 
as  supports  for  clothes'  lines,  and  in  many  parts 
these  were  covered  continually  with  masses  of 
linen  that  would  have  made  Falstaff's  army  mad 
with  delight.  Still  another  class  took  advantage 
of  the  occasion;  those  who  could  manage  to  bring 
in  from  their  own  or  somebody  else's  garden  out- 
side, any  kind  of  vegetable  or  green  meat,  from  a 
few  cabbages  and  cauliflowers  to  a  bag  of  potatoes, 
a  few  handfuls  of  onions,  leeks,  garlic,  or  salad, 


planted  themselves  where  they  thought  best;  and 
the  corners  of  many  of  the  boulevards  were  con- 
verted into  regular,  or  rather,  irregular  markets, 
for  the  sale  of  every  conceivable  article  of  con- 
sumption, except  those  of  a  superior  kind.  To 
complete  the  picture,  the  chiffoniers  and  chif- 
fonieres,  male  and  female  rag  and  bone  collectors, 
had  disappeared,  and  the  refuse  from  the  houses 
lay  continually  before  the  doors  till  dissipated  by 
the  traffic  or  the  wind ;  and  when  the  gates  of  the 
city  were  finally  closed,  the  dung  and  litter  from 
all  the  stables  in  Paris  was  collected  here  and  there 
on  vacant  bits  of  ground,  and  added  greatly  to  the 
general  metamorphosis.  At  first  this  threatened 
to  be  the  source  of  serious  mischief,  for  the  weather 
was  extremely  hot,  and  the  number  of  flies  was 
incredible;  in  houses  near  the  stations  of  the  omni- 
bus company  they  hung  in  great  black  clusters  in 
every  corner  and  attractive  spot,  and  pestered  us 
in  the  house  abominably.  At  length  the  frost  fell 
upon  us,  which  banished  the  flies  and  subdued 
the  effluvia,  but  which  brought  terrible  evils  of 
other  kinds  in  its  train. 

It  was  a  curious  sight  for  the  Parisians,  usually 
so  regularly  and  systematically  supplied  with  the 
necessaries  of  life,  to  have  the  whole  system  of 
supply  laid  open  before  their  eyes.  In  ordinary 
times  no  cattle  are  seen  in  the  streets  of  Paris, 
few  heavy  waggons  laden  with  hay  and  straw;  and 
the  supplies  of  wheat,  vegetables,  fish,  &c,  come 
to  the  markets  in  the  small  hours,  when  Paris  gen- 
erally is  asleep.  The  abattoirs,  where  the  cattle 
are  slaughtered,  are  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city, 
and  the  meat  is  brought  to  the  butchers  in  great 
covered  carts;  the  sides  of  beef,  &c,  being  cur- 
tained over  generally  by  means  of  white  cloths. 
Now  all  was  changed !  Every  railway  station  was 
choked  up  with  corn,  hay,  straw,  cattle,  sheep, 
pigs,  and  provisions;  the  streets  were  blocked  up 
by  huge  carts,  military  waggons,  trucks,  and 
vehicles  of  all  kinds;  the  wine  merchants  were 
bringing  in  thousands  and  thousands  of  barrels 
of  wine  and  pieces  of  spirits  from  their  cellars 
beyond  the  octroi  circle;  droves  of  bullocks,  sheep, 
and  pig3  crowded  every  boulevard;  the  little  far- 
mers and  dairymen  brought  in  their  cows  and 
poultry  with  their  children  and  household  goods; 
here  a  poor  woman  had  several  cocks  and  hens  in 
each  hand;  now  a  man  brought  in  a  barrow  with 
half  a  dozen  white  geese  sitting  with  all  gravity 
and  grace,  their  necks  erect,  their  eyes  wide  open 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


303 


and  gazing  curious  on  the  novel  scene,  with  nothing 
to  indicate  the  fact  of  their  ieet  being  imprisoned 
beneath  them.  Pigs,  goats,  and  rabbits  came  in 
at  every  gate,  and  had  to  take  up  their  abode 
in  empty  shop,  cellar,  or  elsewhere.  One  land- 
lord who  had  given  shelter  to  a  farmer  and  his 
family,  was  not  a  little  astonished  a  month  after- 
wards to  find  a  magnificent  suite  of  rooms  con- 
verted into  a  menagerie;  a  litter  of  pigs  grunted 
around  Mama  Sow  in  one  room,  flocks  of  pigeons 
flitted  and  cooed  in  a  second,  while  a  third  was 
occupied  by  a  large  family  of  ducks,  who  were 
revelling  in  the  delights  of  a  bath  standing  in  the 
centre  of  the  drawing-room  floor. 

The  cattle  and  sheep  were  collected  together  in 
the  Champ  de  Mars  and  other  open  spaces,  on  the 
green  slopes  of  the  fortifications  and  all  around 
between  the  ramparts  and  the  forts,  under  the 
protection  of  the  latter.  The  flour  market,  the 
military  storehouses,  the  cellars  of  the  great  cen- 
tral Holies,  or  market  of  Paris,  and  many  buildings, 
including  amongst  others  the  new  opera  house, 
which  it  was  little  supposed  would  ever  be  turned 
to  such  use,  were  crammed  with  flour,  corn,  hay 
and  straw,  biscuits,  salt  beef,  pork,  and  fish,  pre- 
served meats,  cheese,  butter,  potatoes,  and  pro- 
visions of  all  kinds.  Paris  was  amply  victualled; 
the  siege  could  not  last  more  than  a  few  weeks, 
the  forts  were  impregnable,  the  enemy  would  soon 
find  himself  between  two  fires,  and  in  the  mean- 
time there  was  no  fear  of  famine,  or  even  scarcity, 
except  of  green  vegetables !  Such  was  the  tenor 
of  nearly  all  that  was  said  and  printed  in  Paris  in 
September,  1870;  those  who  had  laid  in  stocks 
of  provisions  on  their  own  account  kept  the  fact 
secret  for  fear  of  being  laughed  at,  and  in  some 
cases,  perhaps,  as  a  precaution  against  exciting 
envy  in  their  neighbours'  bosoms.  The  govern- 
ment assured  the  people  that  the  provisions  were 
ample,  that  the  stock  of  meat  was  good,  and  that 
of  breadstufls  inexhaustible;  and  this  we  are  as- 
sured was  said  in  all  good  faith.  Some  doubters 
joked  upon  the  subject,  said  that  horse  was  capital 
eating,  and  that  the  omnibus  cavalerie  would  feed 
all  the  population  of  Paris  for  weeks,  that  when 
the  horses  were  gone  we  should  relish  cats  and 
rats;  the  dubbing  of  a  rat  by  the  name  of  the 
"  future  partridge"  was  pronounced  a  capital  joke. 
We  little  dreamed  of  the  grim  reality  that  was 
to  come  upon  us  before  the  waning  year  should 
have  finished  its  course ! 


We  very  soon  found  to  our  cost  what  a  serious 
matter  was  the  feeding  of  2,000,000  of  people, 
and  how  miserably  helpless  was  a  great  city  cut 
off  from  the  rest  of  the  world ;  the  thousands  of 
sheep  and  hundreds  of  other  animals  required  for 
such  a  carnivorous  monster  as  Paris  were  reckoned 
up,  and  various  calculations  made  as  to  how  long 
our  meat  would  last  at  the  rate  of  the  fifth  of  a 
pound  per  head  per  diem,  the  quantity  fixed  by 
the  first  rationment  of  the  authorities.  We  had 
not  to  trust  long  to  guesses  or  calculations,  for 
we  soon  learnt  that  the  "  salutary  precaution  of 
rationing  the  amount  of  food"  was  nothing  more 
than  a  euphonistic  phrase  for  scarcity  and  ap- 
proaching famine. 

No  sooner  was  Paris  invested  than  we  began  to 
feel  our  helplessness.  Dairy  produce  was  the  first 
to  fail  us;  a  large  number  of  cows  had  been 
brought  into  the  city,  but  the  supply  of  milk  was 
far  below  the  average ;  even  during  the  first  month 
it  was  allowed  by  law  to  be  mixed  with  water  to 
the  amount  of  forty  per  cent.:  a  great  error,  not 
only  on  account  of  its  deterioration,  but  also  it 
was  found  impossible  to  prevent  the  dose  of  water 
being  increased,  and  the  consequence  was,  that 
while  we  paid  more  than  double  the  usual  price, 
the  milk  was  almost  worthless.  Before  long  the 
fodder  began  to  fail,  numbers  of  the  cows  were 
killed  and  eaten,  no  one  being  allowed  to  retain 
them  unless  he  could  show  that  he  had  plenty  of 
food  to  give  them.  Concentrated  milk  was  largely 
used,  but  the  stock  was  soon  exhausted,  and  the 
small  tins  that  sold  usually  for  tenpence  became 
worth  five  or  six  francs,  and  even  more.  The 
value  of  asses'  milk  is  rated  very  high  in  Paris, 
and  previous  to  the  siege  many  of  those  animals 
might  be  seen,  or  heard,  for  they  wore  bells 
round  their  necks,  trotting  into  the  city  in' the 
morning  to  the  various  markets ;  one  person 
living  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Paris  kept  some 
hundreds  of  asses,  and  we  saw  them  come  in  just 
before  the  actual  closing  of  the  city.  The  pro- 
prietor generously  placed  the  whole  of  the  milk 
gratuitously  at  the  disposition  of  the  medical 
profession  for  the  use  of  the  sick  and  infirm; 
but  like  the  cows,  the  poor  asses  also  disap- 
peared, and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  not 
one  of  them  ever  saw  their  fields  and  stables 
again.  Goats  helped  our  supply  for  some  time, 
for  these  creatures  are  always  numerous  in  and 
around.  Paris,  and  as  they  live  and  thrive  where 


304 


PARIS,   BEFORE,  DURING, 


almost  any  other  animal  would  starve,  they  held 
out  till  fresh  meat  of  any  kind  became  worth 
almost  its  weight  in  gold.  Eggs  were  of  course 
scarce  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  siege, 
and  when  a  fowl,  young  or  old,  became  worth 
forty  or  even  fifty  shillings,  and  corn  of  all 
kinds  was  wanted  for  bread,  eggs  were  almost 
unattainable,  and  fetched  one,  two,  and  finally 
three  francs  each ! 

The  disappearance  of  butter  was  a  terrible  de- 
privation to  the  Parisians,  who  consume  immense 
quantities  of  it  in  all  forms,  but  especially  in 
cookery;  the  commonest  salt  butter  soon  became 
worth  ten  francs  a  pound,  and  finally  even  four 
times  that  price,  while  the  small  quantity  of  fresh 
butter  made  in  Paris  rose  gradually  to  forty,  fifty, 
and  even  sixty  francs;  the  first  pastry  cooks  and 
provision  shops  in  the  city  sold  little  pats  of  it 
at  a  franc  or  more  each,  and  ladies  carried  these 
precious  morsels  away  with  more  delight  than  at 
another  time  they  would  have  exhibited  over  a 
brilliant  ring  or  bracelet.  Cheese  disappeared  at 
a  very  early  period;  Gruyere,  which  generally 
sells  for  tenpence  or  a  shilling  a  pound,  was 
worth  at  least  five-and-twenty  shillings.  On  the 
first  day  of  the  new  year,  when  every  gentleman 
calls  and  presents  each  of  his  lady  friends  with 
a  bouquet,  sweetmeats,  costly  jewels  or  trinkets, 
a  pound  of  fresh  butter  or  cheese  or  half-a-dozen 
new-laid  eggs  formed  a  princely  offering,  far  above 
rubies.  Those  who  spent  the  New-year's  Day  of 
1871  in  Paris  are  not  likely  to  forget  it  as  long 
as  they  live;  rich  as  well  as  poor,  with  few  excep- 
tions, learnt  then,  if  they  never  knew  before,  what 
cold  and  hunger,  or  at  any  rate  the  craving  for 
wholesome  food,  were  like ! 

Vegetables  were  of  course  dear,  and  very  soon 
excessively  scarce;  cauliflowers  and  cabbages  rose 
in  price  rapidly,  from  one  to  fifteen  francs  a-piece; 
carrots,  turnips,  and  wretched  heads  of  green 
celery  fetched  two  and  three  francs  each;  beetroot 
reached  eight  francs  a  pound  ;  a  clove  of  garlic 
or  a  leek  was  worth  a  franc,  and  at  last  even 
double  that  sum ;  and  onions,  without  which 
cooks  are  badly  off  indeed,  were  amongst  the 
rarest  of  provisions,  and  rose  in  price  from  one 
to  seven  francs  the  litre,  which  holds  a  pint  and 
three-quarters.  All  this  was  bad  enough,  but 
worse  still  was  the  failure  of  potatoes.  The  season 
had  been  bad  for  them ;  they  were  dug  up  before 
they  were  thoroughly  ripe,  and  stored  anywhere ; 


the  consequence  was  the  price  soon  rose  from  six- 
pence and  eightpence  the  boisseau,  a  measure  con- 
taining less  than  a  peck,  to  three,  four,  and  five 
francs,  and  finally  they  were  quoted  at  the  market 
at  fifty  francs,  or  two  pounds !  The  deprivation 
was  felt  severely,  and  some  time  before  the  end  of 
the  siege  placards  appeared  in  various  parts  of  the 
town  offering  thirty-five  francs  the  boisseau,  but 
without  producing  any  results.  Nor  were  there 
any  substitutes  to  be  found,  when  the  haricot 
beans  and  lentils,  of  which  there  is  an  enormous 
consumption  in  France,  had  been  all  eaten  up ; 
rice,  dried  peas,  and  even  dried  Windsor  beans, 
were  sought  after  with  avidity,  and  each  in  its 
turn  became  exhausted,  as  macaroni,  vermicelli, 
and  the  other  pates  oVItalie  had  previously.  The 
prices  which  some  of  these  articles  had  attained  in 
the  month  of  January  will  show  at  once  how  rare 
they  had  become : — Kice,  two  francs  a  pound ;  small 
tins  of  preserved  peas,  ordinarily  sold  for  one  or 
two  francs,  became  worth  seven  and  eight  francs, 
and  then  disappeared  altogether ;  tins  of  preserved 
haricot  beans  were  equally  dear  and  scarce;  and  at 
the  last  period  of  the  siege  we  were  asked  eight 
francs  a  pound  for  the  remainder  of  a  jar  of  the 
commonest  dried  peas ! 

When  the  quantity  of  meat  to  be  sold  to  each 
family  was  fixed  by  the  municipal  authorities,  that 
is  to  say,  when  the  rationnement  commenced,  and 
horse  and  other  meat  took  their  places  beside  that 
of  beeves,  we  came  to  understand  fully  what  a  state 
of  real  siege  meant.  At  first  the  allowance  was 
the  fifth  of  a  pound  per  head  per  diem  ;  this  was 
soon  reduced  to  two  ounces,  and  finally  and  for 
many  weeks  the  quantity  to  be  obtained  did  not 
equal  one  ounce  of  raw  meat  per  head  daily.  The 
prices  of  beef  and  horse  flesh  were  fixed,  and  not 
high ;  but  pork,  veal,  and  mutton  had  almost 
entirely  disappeared  when  the  first  rationnement 
took  place.  Very  soon  there  remained  nothing 
but  horse  flesh,  the  small  supply  of  beef  being 
reserved  for  the  sick  and  the  aged.  It  is  needless 
to  dwell  on  the  condition  of  the  population,  reduced 
to  an  ounce  of  horse  flesh  a  day,  without  fish  or 
poultry,  except  at  enormous,  prices,  butter,  eggs, 
potatoes,  or  other  vegetables.  But  the  smallness  of 
the  amount  of  animal  food  was  not  the  only  cause 
of  suffering ;  the  moment  the  rationnement  com- 
menced the  whole  system  of  supply  was  deranged, 
the  butchers  declared  they  could  not  keep  their 
shops  open  with  the  prices  fixed  by  the  authorities; 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


305 


most  of  them  were  closed,  and  special  places  were 
opened  for  the  sale  of  meat  in  each  of  the  arron- 
dissements,  or  sections  of  the  city  ;  the  maires  and 
other  officials,  with  few  exceptions,  were  utterly 
incapable  of  the  management  of  the  business,  and 
the  greatest  possible  confusion  and  suffering  were 
the  consequence.  The  poor  women  and  the  cooks 
in  every  family  were  compelled  to  stand  for  hours 
at  the  doors  of  the  boucheries,  waiting  to  purchase 
their  morsels  of  meat ;  in  many  cases  they  took  their 
places  over  night  in  order  to  reach  the  counter 
before  the  meat  had  all  disappeared,  and  thus 
during  the  coldest  weeks  of  one  of  the  severest 
winters  known,  and  frequently  with  masses  of 
half-melted  snow  beneath  their  feet,  five,  six, 
and  even  eight  hours  did  these  poor  women  wait, 
and  then  often  found  the  stock  of  meat  exhausted; 
and  as  the  distribution  only  took  place  once  in 
three  days,  sometimes  extended  to  four,  the  supply 
of  meat  really  became  insignificant.  At  first  only 
beef  was  placed  under  requisition,  and  other  kinds 
of  meat  were  left  free;  then  horse  flesh  was  taxed, 
and  the  price  fixed,  and  each  person  might  pur- 
chase two  ounces  of  that  in  place  of  one  ounce  of 
beef;  mule  and  asses'  meat  was  still  free,  and  in 
great  demand,  especially  the  latter,  at  high  prices  ; 
but  it  was  found  that  horse  was  sold  as  mule  flesh, 
and  finally  all  kinds  of  meat  were  placed  under  the 
same  regulations.  By  this  time,  however,  very 
little  but  horse  flesh  remained,  and  much  of  that 
was  execrable. 

During  the  last  three  months  of  the  siege  small 
quantities  of  mutton,  veal,  cow-beef,  mule  and 
asses'  flesh,  that  came  few  know  from  where,  were 
sold  at  rates  varying  from  six  to  twelve  francs 
a  pound,  and  purchasers  almost  fought  for  it. 
Coarse  sausage,  of  horse  flesh,  fetched  eight  francs 
a  pound,  and  that  made  from  mule  and  asses'  meat 
nearly  twice  as  much;  black-pudding  composed 
of  horse  blood  sold  readily  at  six  and  eight  francs 
a  pound,  and  was  pronounced  capital  eating,  al- 
though there  was  little  or  no  bacon  or  fat  of  any 
kind  in  it.  For  a  time  we  were  led  to  believe  that 
there  were  large  supplies  of  salt  meat  in  store,  but 
this  ended  in  nothing  but  disappointment ;  once 
we  obtained  some  wretched  salt  beef  or  horse,  but 
only  once,  and  we  did  not  desire  a  repetition. 
It  was  said,  we  believe  with  some  truth,  that  by 
the  negligence  or  inexperience  of  the  authorities, 
or  by  the  unprincipled  conduct  of  speculators, 
large  quantities  of  meat  salted  down  were  quite- 
vol.  n. 


uneatable ;    at  any  rate,   the  promised    salt   beef 
never  reached  our  mouths. 

Under  such  circumstances,  it  seems  incredible 
that  the  population  of  Paris  should  have  existed 
at  all,  or  that  the  authorities  were  not  forced  to 
capitulate  by  popular  clamour.  In  the  first  place, 
the  feeling  of  honour  was  very  lively ;  to  propose 
capitulation  at  one  of  the  clubs,  or  in  any  public 
place,  would  have  been  an  act  of  the  greatest 
temerity,  and  might  have  cost  the  author  of  it 
his  life  ;  secondly,  the  mass  of  the  people  and, 
we  believe,  the  government  also,  deceived  by  the 
reports  sent  from  Tours  and  Bordeaux,  fully 
expected  that,  although  detained,  the  new  armies 
levied  in  the  provinces  would  arrive  to  the  rescue 
of  the  capital.  We  know  now  how  utterly  fal- 
lacious was  that  hope,  but  it  was  impossible  for 
Paris  to  know  the  truth  at  the  time.  We  heard 
of  the  victories  of  Chanzy  and  other  generals,  and 
the  account  came  all  dressed  in  glowing  colours 
for  our  special  ears;  and  we  could  not  conceive 
that  the  whole  organized  power  of  a  great  country 
like  France  was  at  an  end,  or  so  near  it  as  scarcely 
to  form  an  element  in  the  question  between  her 
and  the  enemy.  We  were  starved,  or  nearly  so, 
materially,  but  we  were  fed  with  false  hopes,  so 
that  capitulation  looked  like  the  grossest  coward- 
ice ;  and  France  will  be  intensely  thankful  here- 
after to  the  people  of  Paris,  who  in  thus  suffering, 
and  still  upholding  the  honour  of  the  city,  did 
so  much  to  save  the  national  pride.  The  people 
of  Paris  deserve  to  rank  with  the  Old  Guard  at 
Waterloo ;  their  leaders  were  incapable,  their 
force  was  broken  down  by  that  of  the  enemy, 
everything  around  them  was  chaos,  but  they  stood 
their  ground  as  long  as  human  nature  was  capable 
of  enduring ;  and  they  may  honestly  adopt  the 
words  of  the  brave  Francis  I.,  "  All  is  lost,  except 
honour!"  But  when  honour  is  saved,  all  is  saved 
for  the  future;  a  nation  whose  honour  is  intact 
is  only  scotched,  not  killed.  When  France  shall 
find  worthy  rulers,  and  cease  to  be  the  plaything 
of  adventurers  and  revolutionists,  she  will,-  let  us 
hope,  again  take  a  high  place  amongst  nations, 
and  commence  another,  brighter,  and  purer  career 
than  that  already  written  against  her  name  in  the 
book  of  European  civilization. 

But  even  honour  cannot  exist  upon  air !     How 

then  were  the  people  kept  alive  ?     At  the  time 

when  an  ounce  of  horse  flesh  a  day  first  became 

the  ordinary  allowance,  the  quantity  and  quality 

2Q 


306 


PARIS,   BEFORE,  DURING, 


of  the  bread  were  excellent  and  unlimited  ;  there 
was  an  immense  supply  of  biscuit,  plenty  of  sugar, 
coffee,  chocolate,  and  wine ;  the  elements  of  life- 
sustaining  diet  were  still  present  though  unequal; 
the  destitute  were  well  supplied  with  soup,  made 
from  refuse  meat,  bones,  and  annual  greases  ;  as 
for  the  mass,  they  took  kindly  enough  to  horse- 
flesh, and  eked  out  the  supply  of  meat  from  all 
sources.  For  a  time,  the  accounts  of  the  con- 
sumption of  the  flesh  of  cats  and  dogs  were 
regarded  as  jokes,  but  they  soon  proved  their 
veracity;  dogs  and  cats  were  not  only  eaten,  but 
declared  by  many  to  supply  excellent  food ;  and 
finally  they  appeared  regularly  in  the  markets,  and 
ended  by  being  actually  in  great  demand,  at  prices 
ranging  from  four  to  six  shillings  a  pound.  Eats 
were  strongly  eulogized  by  the  members  of  a  some- 
what fantastic  club  of  naturalists,  and  were  cer- 
tainly eaten  at  last  in  large  numbers,  selling  for 
two  and  three  francs  each  ;  it  was  said  that  Paris 
was  thereby  cleared  of  rats.  This  is  probably  an 
exaggeration,  but  it  was  absolutely  true  that  cats 
and  dogs  had  almost  entirely  disappeared.  The 
beautiful  half-angoras,  which  used  to  be  so  com- 
mon, were  only  to  be  found  in  houses  where  they 
were  protected  with  the  greatest  possible  care. 
When  a  cat  came  to  be  worth  ten  and  even  twenty 
francs,  the  pussy  that  ventured  out  alone  was  a 
"  gone  coon." 

The  affluent  classes,  and  indeed  all  who  had 
money  at  command,  whether  they  could  afford 
it  or  not,  added  to  the  common  fare  delicacies, 
which  in  the  end  rose  to  almost  fabulous  prices ; 
a  few  of  these,  the  result  of  personal  experience 
and  observation,  will  be  interesting  by  way  of 
record : — 

Fowls 40s.  to  50s. 

Turkeys  and  geese, 51.  to  61. 

A  fine  turkey  stuffed  with  truffles,  ....  Si 

Ducks, 30s. 

Pigeons, 8s.  to  15s. 

Rooks, 5s. 

Sparrows,  or  any  other  small  birds,       ...        Is.  to  2s. 

Hares, 21.  to  31. 

Rabbits, 30s.  to  40s. 

Ham, 40s.  per  lb. 

Preserved  beef, 15s.  per  lb. 

The  above  were  ordinary  prices  which  ruled  for 
weeks;  special  instances  of  still  higher  rates  might 
be  adduced. 

The  papers  amused  their  readers  considerably 
with  accounts  of  the  immense  success  of  elephant 
and  other  meats  which  were  sold  at  great  prices ;  but 


these  belong  simply  to  the  curiosities  of  the  siege. 
The  elephants  killed  were  but  two  very  small 
ones,  and  the  whole  of  the  rare  animals  and  large 
birds  killed  for  food  were  the  property  of  the 
Acclimatization  Society,  which  had  not  fodder 
enough  to  maintain  them;  none  of  the  animals 
belonging  to  the  Jardin  des  Plantes  were  slaugh- 
tered. A  well-known  butcher  made  a  great  show 
of  these  rare  meats,  and  of  pates  and  preparations 
made  from  them ;  and  those  who  could  find  nothing 
better  to  do  with  their  money  paid  exorbitant 
prices  for  elephant  steaks,  elan  beef,  roasted  cas- 
sowary, and  other  delicacies,  from  which  under 
ordinary  circumstances  they  would  have  turned 
away  with  disgust. 

Fish,  of  course,  was  almost  unattainable;  the 
appearance  of  a  fine  fresh  salmon  caused  a  positive 
sensation  in  the  city ;  a  small  plate  of  Seine  gud- 
geons was  worth  five  shillings;  and  the  few  pike, 
carp,  tench,  eels,  and  other  fish  that  appeared  in 
the  markets,  sold  almost  for  their  weight  in  gold. 
It  will  give  an  idea  of  the  absolute  dearth  of  any- 
thing like  fish  to  mention  that  the  ordinary  shilling 
box  of  sardines  in  oil  became  towards  the  end  of 
the  siege  worth  at  least  a  dozen  shillings. 

Few  articles  attained  such  high  prices  relatively 
as  oils  and  greases;  the  absence  of  butter  and  the 
want  of  fat  was  not  only  felt  in  cookery,  but  began 
to  tell  most  seriously  upon  the  health  of  the  people ; 
olive  oil  was  almost  exhausted,  and  was  worth 
from  ten  to  twenty  shillings  a  pint,  and  rapeseed 
oil,  which  was  used  as  a  substitute,  was  not  to  be 
had  under  three  or  four  shillings.  The  whole  of 
the  suet,  and  all  the  other  fat,  was  melted  and 
purified  at  the  abattoirs,  and  sold  for  four  to  five 
shillings  a  pound;  the  very  commonest  grease, 
even  cocoa  butter,  generally  used  only  by  the 
fine  soapmakers,  although  declared  detestable  in 
flavour,  was  not  to  be  had  under  eighteenpence 
a  pound. 

It  may  be  remarked,  that  while  almost  every 
kind  of  meat  was  accepted  and  eaten  with  very 
little  complaint,  the  substitution  of  grease  for 
butter  created  general  disgust.  The  Academy  of 
Sciences  tried  to  persuade  the  people  that  any 
kind  of  oil  or  grease,  even  tallow,  might  be  easily 
purified  and  rendered  tasteless;  but  the  universal 
verdict  was  that  none  of  the  substitutes  for  oil  and 
butter  were  fit  for  human  consumption.  The  one 
article  which  supplied  the  place  of  fat  in  the  food 
was  chocolate,  and  its  consumption  was  enormous ; 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


307 


fortunately  the  supply  was  large,  and  although  it 
at  last  became  scarce,  the  price  did  not  rise  very 
high.  Honey  was  also  a  useful  auxiliary,  but  the 
stock  was  not  great,  and  before  the  armistice  was 
agreed  to  it  was  worth  eight  or  ten  francs  a  pound. 
Chocolate  and  sugar  were  used  in  enormous  quan- 
tities, and  although  the  raw  material  began  to  run 
low,  and  the  refiners  and  manufacturers  had  great 
difficulty  in  obtaining  fuel,  and  had  to  pay  enor- 
mous prices  for  it,  the  supply  held  out  to  the  end. 
At  one  moment  the  prices  of  these  important 
articles  threatened  to  increase  seriously,  and  the 
authorities  made  an  attempt  to  fix  the  price  of 
sugar;  but  this  attempt  at  controlling  trade,  like 
most  others  of  the  same  kind,  failed  utterly:  re- 
finers refused,  in  fact  were  generally  speaking 
unable,  to  sell  large  quantities  at  a  loss,  and  retailers 
who  had  made  heavy  contracts  refused  to  sell  at 
less  rates  than  they  paid  for  the  goods  wholesale. 
At  one  moment  we  feared  that  chocolate  and  sugar 
were  both  all  but  exhausted,  for  the  grocers  almost 
universally  refused  to  sell  to  one  person  more  than 
half  a  pound  of  the  former  or  a  pound  of  the 
latter,  so  that  the  members  of  a  family  had  to 
visit  different  shops  in  order  to  obtain  sufficient 
quantities  of  these  always  useful,  and  now  almost 
indispensable,  articles  of  consumption.  It  seems 
extraordinary  to  lay  so  much  stress  upon  an  article 
like  chocolate,  which  many  persons,  and  the  writer 
amongst  the  number,  scarcely  ever  touch;  but  for 
a  long  time  the  only  substantial  aliment  within 
common  reach  was  chocolate,  made  without  milk, 
or  with  an  exceedingly  small  quantity,  with  dry 
bread;  chocolate  was  used  also  largely  with  rice, 
while  the  latter  held  out,  and  a  small  quantity  of 
rum.  Coffee  was  plentiful,  but  the  absence  of 
milk  made  it  of  little  use;  a  thimbleful  of  black 
coffee,  made  as  strong  as  brandy,  is  much  relished 
after  a  good  dinner,  but  a  large  cup  of  black  coffee 
fasting  is  anything  but  an  agreeable  beverage,  and 
if  persisted  in  would  soon  tell  upon  the  health  of 
the  consumer.  Had  the  siege  occurred  in  hot 
weather  coffee  would  have  been  invaluable,  as  it 
forms  one  of  the  most  wholesome  drinks  possible 
for  the  summer,  and  is  specially  recommended  to 
the  army.  This  beverage  is  called  mazagrin,  and 
is  made  by  pouring  iced-water  on  strong  cold 
coffee,  and  adding  sugar  and  a  small  glass  of 
brandy,  according  to  taste;  it  never  disorders  the 
stomach,  and  therefore  is  invaluable  in  the  dog- 
days.     But  although   we    led  a  dog's    life   of  it 


during  the  latter  portion  of  the  siege,  it  was  not 
the  heat  that  troubled  us ;  and  our  ounce  of  horse- 
flesh did  not  produce  that  amount  of  oppres- 
sion which  demands  large  libations  of  any  kind, 
except  those  which  supplied  warmth  and  comfort, 
and  a  feeling,  if  not  the  reality,  of  support. 

The  exorbitant  prices  of  many  articles  of  con- 
sumption have  been  referred  to  more  than  once, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that  a  number  of  persons 
traded  largely  on  the  scarcity  of  provisions,  and 
demanded  and  obtained  outrageous  prices,  but 
these  did  not  in  all  cases  represent  great  profits. 
The  poulterers,  for  instance,  who  sold  miserable 
fowls  or  small  rabbits  for  thirty  and  forty  shillings 
each,  had  immense  trouble  to  obtain  a  supply, 
which,  after  all,  was  extremely  limited;  and  the 
poor  man  or  woman  who  sold  the  few  fowls  or 
rabbits  that  they  possessed,  could  not  certainly  be 
blamed  for  selling  them  at  high  prices,  when  they 
themselves  often  wanted  the  means  to  obtain  a 
dinner  except  by  charity ;  moreover,  had  the  prices 
been  maintained  at  the  usual  rates  all  the  poultry, 
and  many  other  articles,  would  have  been  con- 
sumed long  before  they  were,  and  even  the  sick 
and  invalided  would  have  been  unable  to  obtain 
the  slightest  delicacy,  or  even  change  of  diet. 
Some  grocers  and  other  tradesmen  undoubtedly 
kept  back  provisions  until  almost  famine  prices 
were  reached;  but  nothing  proved  that  this  was 
done  on  a  large  scale,  and  many  respectable  shops 
refused  to  buy  of  wholesale  dealers  who  thus 
traded  on  the  sufferings  of  others,  and  announced 
the  fact  by  placards  in  their  windows,  somewhat 
in  the  following  form: — 

"  We  beg   to  inform   our  customers   that   our 

stock  of ■  is  exhausted,   and  that  we  refuse 

to  purchase  more  of  those  wholesale  dealers  who 
have  kept  back  their  stocks  until  they  could  obtain 
exorbitant  prices  for  it." 

The  great  mass  of  retail  dealers  did  not  take 
undue  advantage  of  the  state  of  affairs,  and  we 
believe  that  the  number  of  wholesale  dealers  who 
did  so  was  very  small.  In  many  cases  within  our 
own  experience  respectable  shopkeepers  made  no 
advance  at  all.  They  said,  so  long  as  our  stock 
lasts  we  shall  sell  at  the  usual  rates;  and  they  kept 
their  word.  On  the  whole,  the  usual  course  of 
trade  was  not  interfered  with,  and  wherever  an 
attempt  was  made  to  fix  prices  by  authority  utter 
failure  was  the  result,  the  article  generally  disap- 
pearing at  once  from  the  public    view.     Official 


308 


PARIS,   BEFORE,  DURING, 


interference  simply  caused  secret  instead  of  open 
dealing.  The  case  of  meat  was  different;  the 
supply  was  precisely  known,  and  as  all  the  animals 
are  sold  and  killed  in  one  place  in  Paris,  under 
the  eye  of  the  municipal  authorities,  the  requi- 
sition and  rationing  which  were  necessary,  first, 
to  limit  the  consumption,  and,  secondly,  to  keep 
down  the  prices,  only  interfered  with  the  butchers' 
trade,  and  was  fully  justifiable  on  the  score  of 
necessity. 

Manufacturers,  dealers,  shopkeepers,  the  mass  of 
purveyors  generally,  acted,  on  the  whole,  admirably. 
Thousands  of  them  were  utterly  ruined,  and  many 
of  them  met  their  ruin  with  truly  noble  courage, 
giving  liberally,  putting  all  considerations  for  the 
future  out  of  sight,  and  turning  all  their  atten- 
tion to  the  defence  of  the  city  or  the  succour  of 
the  sick  and  wounded.  The  members  of  the 
literary  professions  also  exhibited  the  most  praise- 
worthy devotion. 

We  have  not  yet  reached  the  culminating  point 
in  the  alimentary  view  of  the  siege  of  Paris ;  meat 
we  knew  must  very  soon  run  short  if  the  siege 
were  prolonged,  vegetables  we  knew  we  must  be 
content  to  do  without;  many  other  articles  of 
food  we  were  aware  would  either  vanish  alto- 
gether or  become  very  scarce,  but  up  to  a  late 
period  of  the  investment  we  were  positively 
assured  that  there  was  no  lack  of  flour  or  corn, 
and  that  there  could  be  no  necessity  for  restrict- 
ing the  consumption  of  bread.  We  believed  this, 
as  we  believed  the  approach  of  the  provincial 
armies  to  our  relief,  because  we  believed  the 
members  of  the  government  to  be  honourable 
men;  we  came  to  know  how  utterly  unfounded 
were  both  beliefs,  yet  the  government  could 
hardly  be  charged  with  deception;  the  suffi- 
ciency of  bread  depended  on  the  length  of  the 
siege,  that  again  on  the  arrival  of  the  armies  of 
the  departments,  while  the  knowledge  that  the 
government  possessed  respecting  those  armies 
reached  it  from  sources  in  which  it  certainly 
had  a  full  right  to  trust.  It  deceived  the  people 
because  it  was  itself  deceived,  and  bread  only 
failed  us  because  the  hoped-for  aid  from  the  pro- 
vinces turned  out  to  be  a  mere  will-o'-the-wisp. 
When  it  was  whispered  that  bread  was  about  to 
be  rationed  the  dismay  was  extreme,  but  assur- 
ances were  given  that  the  measure  was  one  of 
precaution  only,  that  the  supply  of  wheat  was 
immense,  only  there  was  some  difficulty  in  grind- 


ing it  into  flour.  The  task,  in  fact,  was  one  of 
great  difficulty ;  Paris  possessed  at  the  time  of  the 
investment  no  flour  mills  worth  speaking  of,  with 
the  exception  of  those  belonging  to  the  army ;  all 
had  to  be  created.  Fortunately  large  numbers 
of  fine  millstones  had  been  brought  in  for  safety, 
and  numbers  of  millers  had  come  in  from  the 
surrounding  country  ;  these,  with  the  aid  of 
engineers  and  others,  set  to  work  manfully;  mills 
were  established  at  railway  stations,  locomotives 
being  used  to  supply  power;  numbers  of  small 
iron  mills  of  improved  construction  were  made 
and  set  to  work  at  the  large  engineering  estab- 
lishment of  MM.  Cail  &  Co.,  and  finally,  nearly 
four  hundred  mills  of  different  kinds  were  in 
operation.  Unfortunately,  just  as  the  means  for 
converting  corn  into  flour  were  complete,  it  was 
discovered  that  the  wheat  was  nearly  all  gone ! 

In  spite  of  all  the  assurances  that  were  put 
forth,  the  appearance  of  the  decree  fixing  the 
quantity  of  bread  to  be  purchased  daily  at  300 
grammes,  or  little  more  than  ten  ounces  per  head 
per  diem,  caused  universal  consternation;  and  as 
the  official  arrangements — as  a  matter  of  course 
— broke  down,  certain  quarters  of  the  town  were 
short  of  flour,  no  bread  was  to  be  had,  and  num- 
bers of  men  paraded  the  streets  declaring  that  the 
government  was  starving  them;  in  other  districts 
many  persons,  on  the  day  before  the  decree  ap- 
peared, bought  up  all  the  bread  they  could  find, 
cut  it  up  and  dried  it  in  ovens,  storing  it  away 
for  the  last  emergency.  This  gave  rise,  of  course, 
also  to  general  insufficiency,  and  increased  the  dis- 
may of  the  people.  Assurances  were  put  forth  that 
all  these  errors  and  accidents  would  be  immediately 
corrected  or  avoided  for  the  future,  and  that  the 
population  would  be  supplied  with  pure  wheaten 
bread,  not  so  white  as  usual,  but  more  wholesome 
and  economical;  in  other  words,  the  flour  was 
only  sifted  once,  and  consequently  only  the  coarse 
bran  was  removed.  The  promised  bread  appeared 
and  quite  fulfilled  the  promise  which  had  been 
given  for  it,  and  Paris  was  satisfied;  when  one 
morning  the  supply  nearly  failed  altogether,  thou- 
sands of  families  could  not  obtain  a  single  crust 
of  bread  on  that  day,  and  stale  pieces  were  worth 
almost  their  weight  in  gold.  This  state  of  things 
went  on  for  a  week  or  two,  the  supply  always 
being  below  the  amount  fixed,  and  consequently 
people  were  turned  away  every  day  with  empty 
hands  from  the  bakers'  doors,  and  women  carrying 


AND  AFTEK  THE  SIEGE. 


309 


loaves  home  were  positively  afraid  to  meet  the 
gaze  of  their  disappointed  neighbours.  Not  only 
women  and  children,  but  soldiers  and  men  in  the 
vigour  of  life,  would  stop  a  person  in  the  street 
and  beg  with  tears  in  their  eyes  to  be  allowed  to 
buy  even  a  slice  of  the  loaf  he  or  she  was  carry- 
ing home — and  who  could  refuse  such  a  request, 
although  he  knew  that  at  home  every  slice  missed 
was  a  calamity?  The  condition  and  feelings  of 
those  unfortunate  creatures  who  waited,  frequently 
all  night  and  always  for  hours,  in  the  bitter  frosty 
air,  standing  with  aching  feet  in  half-melted 
snow,  and  were  told  when  they  were  in  sight  of 
the  baker's  shop  that  there  was  no  more  bread, 
may  be  imagined  but  cannot  be  described;  this 
happened  several  times  in  the  district  where  we 
lived.  Still  the  bread,  though  short  in  quantity, 
was  excellent  in  quality,  appetizing  and  satisfac- 
tory; but  it  did  not  long  remain  so.  It  was 
announced  that  in  order  to  economize  the  wheaten 
flour  a  certain  quantity  of  rice  would  be  mixed 
with  it,  and  we  were  curious  rather  than  anxious 
to  know  what  would  be  the  effect  of  such  mix- 
ture; our  consternation  was  extreme  when  the 
first  sample  of  the  new  kind  of  bread  appeared. 
It  was  a  dark  mass  of  heavy  indigestible  stuff, 
that  not  a  single  individual  in  Paris  would  have 
touched  under  ordinary  circumstances.  The  bakers 
did  not  know  how  to  manage  the  rice,  said  the 
savans  of  the  Acadimie  des  Sciences;  a  day  or  two 
would  suffice  to  teach  them  this,  and  then  the 
bread  would  be  good  again !  The  day  or  two 
fled,  and  a  week  or  two  after  them;  the  bread 
was  certainly  better  made,  but  its  composition 
became  a  subject  of  general  curiosity.  The  fact 
was,  that  wheat  flour  formed  a  very  minute  por- 
tion of  the  whole ;  rice  of  the  poorest  quality, 
ground  oats,  haricot  beans  and  lentils,  bran,  and 
as  some  declared,  cut  straw,  were  all  called  into 
requisition,  and  the  result  defies  description,  as 
it  defied  digestion.  A  hale,  active  man  could 
manage  with  the  aid  of  stimulants  and  exercise 
to  turn  the  gritty,  leaden  mass  into  chyle,  but 
for  the  sedentary,  the  sick,  the  delicate,  such 
bread  was  almost  entirely  valueless;  small  as  the 
quantity  eaten  was,  the  result  was  long  sleepless 
nights  and  a  continuous  feeling  of  uneasiness, 
if  not  actual  pain.  A  sort  of  specific  disease 
was  .created,  for  which  the  prescribed  remedies 
were  ether,  ginger,  and  peppermint,  separate  or 
mixed. 


It  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  effect  of  scarcity 
of  flour  without  having  witnessed  it;  the  decree, 
calling  up  all  corn,  flour,  biscuit,  and  other  bread- 
stuffs,  interdicted  the  application  of  flour  to  any- 
thing but  breadmaking;  none  was  to  be  obtained 
for  culinary  purposes,  and  no  baker  or  confec- 
tioner was  permitted  to  rebolt  or  sift  the  flour 
he  received  from  the  government  mills.  The 
consequence  was,  that  the  pastrycooks'  shops, 
generally  so  well  supplied  in  Paris,  gradually 
became  almost  empty,  and  were  finally  closed 
one  after  the  other.  A  very  few,  in  the  most 
conspicuous  situations,  managed  to  supply  a  cer- 
tain number  of  pates  to  the  end  of  the  siege  by 
the  use  of  rice  flour,  or  by  some  clever  evasion 
of  the  law;  these  were  excellent,  the  ability  of 
the  cooks,  with  the  aid  of  mushrooms,  converting 
horseflesh  into  a  delicious  compound — at  least, 
it  seemed  delicious  to  us  then.  Those  ■pate's  were 
of  course  very  dear,  but  they  were  almost  scram- 
bled for,  and  ladies  and  gentlemen  bore  them  off 
in  triumph,  dropping  sous  right  and  left  into  the 
hands  of  the  half-famished  creatures,  or  the  cun- 
ning beggars  that  crowded  around  the  doors  and 
stared  longingly  at  the  tempting  wares  in  the 
windows.  A  person  endowed  with  any  natural 
sensibility,  although  knowing  that  much  of  the 
appearance  of  starvation  was  assumed,  felt  almost 
ashamed  to  pass  through  the  eager,  watching 
groups,  buy  a  pate,  which  the  very  children 
amongst  them  knew  cost  enough  to  keep  a  poor 
family  for  two  or  three  days  in  ordinary  times, 
and  pass  out  again  with  the  dainty  morsel  in 
his  hand  in  presence  of  a  hundred  beseeching  or 
envious  eyes. 

The  stock  of  dry  confectionery  did  not  hold 
out  long,  and  finally  the  commonest  ship  biscuit 
was  worth  several  pence;  the  pieces  of  broken 
ones  were  laid  carefully  together  on  paper,  and 
exhibited  and  sold  at  the  best  shops.  Eating 
became  so  absorbing  a  matter,  that  jewellers, 
goldsmiths,  shopkeepers  of  all  kinds  in  the  very 
best  and  most  fashionable  streets  of  Paris,  became 
dealers  in  chocolate,  or  in  poultry  or  other  rarity 
attainable,  including  butter  and  eggs. 

The  above  is  an  accurate  account  of  the  general 
state  of  food  supplies,  and  those  who  had  no 
reserves  and  who  could  not  afford,  that  is  to  say, 
who  positively  had  not  the  cash  to  purchase  ex- 
pensive additions  to  their  ordinary  fare,  came  fully 
to  understand  the  true  meaning  of  the  words  siege 


310 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


fare.  Even  those  who  were  most  fortunate  could 
not  escape  altogether;  they  could  not  obtain  good 
bread  by  any  outlay  whatever,  and  scarcely  a 
morsel  of  fresh  meat,  except  the  diurnal  ounce 
of  horse  flesh;  while  even  the  most  extravagant 
comestibles  were  frequently  more  or  less  musty, 
and  everything  almost  had  an  antiquated  taste, 
which  we  designated  amongst  us  as  the  "  siege 
flavour."  The  positive  physical  deprivation  was 
galling,  but  the  greatest  punishment  of  all  was 
the  dreadful  monotony;  the  mind  could  never 
entirely  free  itself  from  considerations  of  the  im- 
mediate wants  of  the  day,  and  fears  respecting 
the  morrow;  servants  were  almost  always  out 
seeking  bread,  meat,  or  some  other  necessary, 
the  tradesmen  ceased  their  calls,  every  one  had 
to  go  to  shop  or  market  cash  in  hand  and  bring 
home  his  or  her  purchases;  there  were  no  errand 
boys,  no  vehicles,  every  one  was  at  once  his  own 
purveyor  and  his  own  porter.  Soldiers  and  single 
men  who  lived  out  were  relatively  better  off;  the 
latter  got  their  rations  like  other  people  through 
the  restaurateurs,  to  whom  they  transferred  their 
meat  tickets,  and  the  soldiers  cooked  theirs  with 
their  comrades  in  the  barracks,  huts,  or  on  the 
sides  of  the  boulevards,  or  they  ate  it  at  the 
cheap  canteens  which  were  established  in  all 
quarters  of  the  town.  As  to  the  very  poorest 
of  all,  they  were  fed  at  the  public  soup  kitchens, 
and  were  relatively  as  well,  if  not  better  off,  than 
any  one.  The  classes  that  suffered  most  were 
those  which  always  suffer  most,  the  lower  ranks 
of  the  middle  class,  those  who  had  scarcely  any- 
thing to  spend,  and  yet  who  were  too  independent 
to  appeal  to  public  charity.  It  was  in  those 
classes  that  the  mortality  was  greatest ;  poor 
seamstresses,  shop-girls  thrown  out  of  work,  men 
too  old  for  service,  singers,  dancers,  actors  and 
actresses,  starved  or  fell  into  ill  health  in  their 
garrets,  with  few  to  heed  them  or  lend  them  a 
helping  hand.  Many  a  poor  actress  accustomed 
to  lively  society,  played  constantly  for  charitable 
objects,  receiving  nothing  but  a  franc  or  two  for 
the  necessary  gloves  or  other  trifles,  and  returned 
home  weary  and  famished,  ready  to  fall  a  victim 
to  the  small-pox  or  other  disease  that  predomi- 
nated. The  secret  history  of  these  poor  creatures 
can  never  be  written,  or  it  would  present  one  of 
the  saddest  records  that  a  civilized  society  ever 
presented. 

Certain   newspaper   correspondents    and    others 


have  made  light  of  the  sufferings  of  the  popula- 
tion during  the  siege,  and  some  have  declared 
that  they  dined  at  their  restaurants  as  usual,  only 
paying  a  6omewhat  higher  rate  for  what  they 
ate:  such  assertions  are  reckless  and  untruthful. 
It  is  true  that  a  few  of  the  best  restaurants  had 
wonderful  supplies  of  preserved  meat,  and  could 
obtain  poultry  and  other  things  at  exorbitant 
prices;  but  fresh  meat  was  only  to  be  found  here 
and  there,  and  a  good  wholesome  dinner  could 
only  be  obtained  by  the  expenditure  of  three  or 
four  times  the  usual  amount,  and  frequently  much 
more.  Speaking  generally,  the  restaurants  were 
closed,  many  houses  famous  for  their  cuisine  put  up 
their  shutters  at  the  very  commencement  of  the 
scarcity;  the  best  and  most  popular  of  the  fixed 
price  dining  houses  struggled  manfully  for  a  time, 
diminished  their  portions,  doubled  their  prices,  yet 
were  compelled  finally  to  shut  up.  The  cheap 
restaurants,  or  etablissements  de  bouillon,  as  they 
are  called,  were  kept  open  by  some  arrangement  of 
the  authorities,  as  it  would  have  been  absolutely 
dangerous  to  have  left  thousands  of  single  men  and 
women  without  some  such  resource.  We  visited 
some  of  these  more  than  once,  and  found  them 
crowded,  but  the  fare  was  limited  to  a  few  dishes 
of  horse,  dog,  cat,  or  what  not,  while  in  the 
absence  of  butter  and  oil  everything  had  a  nasty 
tallowy  taste,  that  disgusted  all  but  the  heartiest; 
omelettes  and  eggs  in  any  form  were  out  of  the 
question;  there  were  no  vegetables  but  the  com- 
monest haricots  and  lentils,  and  these  were  very 
dear;  few  sweets  and  very  rarely  any  cheese;  when 
a  morsel  of  the  last-named  article  was  to  be  had,  it 
was  worth  almost  any  price,  and  we  remember  one 
instance  amongst  others  when  we  were  charged 
about  seven  pence  for  a  morsel  of  bad  Dutch 
cheese  that  certainly  did  not  weigh  half  an  ounce. 
Those  who  found  the  restaurants  "  the  same  as 
ever  "  must  have  been  peculiarly  lucky  during  the 
siege,  or  very  unfortunate  previously.  To  give 
another  instance  of  the  price  of  ordinary  provi- 
sions, it  may  be  mentioned  that  several  shops  made 
a  special  trade  of  providing  little  luncheons  for 
men  on  duty;  these  consisted  of  a  small  round  tin 
box  about  an  inch  high  and  two  inches  in  diameter, 
containing  a  rough  kind  of  potted  horse  flesh, 
and  were  purchased  eagerly  at  a  franc  each. 

The  positive  scarcity  of  bread,  or  rather  the 
impossibility  of  obtaining  an  extra  morsel  of  that 
which  is  eaten  so  lavishly  in  Paris  by  all  classes  in 


AND  AFTER  THE   SIEGE. 


311 


ordinary  times,  may  be  illustrated  by  the  fact  that 
all  the  restaurants  and  cafes  were  compelled  to  ask 
their  customers  to  bring  their  own  bread,  and  this 
was  not  a  mere  request,  but  an  actual  necessity, 
as  we  found  on  one  occasion  when  entering  a  well- 
known  restaurant  on  the  boulevards  without  our 
slab  of  baked  bran ;  we  were  compelled  to  consume 
what  we  could  get  without  bread,  potatoes,  or  other 
vegetables,  except  haricots.  Even  the  clubs  were 
compelled  to  act  in  the  same  manner;  a  rich  man 
of  title,  on  one  occasion,  talking  to  some  ladies  of 
our  acquaintance  on  whom  he  had  called,  said,  "  I 
am  going  to  dine  at  my  club,  and  here  is  my 
bread,"  taking  a  slice  out  of  his  pocket.  He  did 
not  find  dining  out  "  as  usual !  " 

The  excessive  rigour  of  the  weather  was  a  fear- 
ful addition  to  the  sufferings  of  the  people;  fuel  is 
always  a  dear  thing  in  Paris,  coals  twice  the  price 
they  are  in  London,  wood  very  expensive  to  burn, 
charcoal  also  dear  ;  coke  alone,  which  is  coming 
much  into  use,  is  the  only  fuel  to  be  had  at  a 
moderate  rate.  The  coal  was  all  requisitioned  at 
an  early  part  of  the  siege,  the  gasworks  were  soon 
stopped,  and  then  there  was  no  more  coke  to  be 
had  ;  charcoal  was  sold,  when  it  could  be  found, 
at  four  times,  and  even  more,  the  ordinary  rates, 
and,  finally,  wood  was  requisitioned  for  baking 
and  other  purposes,  and  then  we  understood  that 
it  also  was  nearly  exhausted.  The  authorities  had 
already  cut  down  a  quantity  of  timber  in  the  Bois 
de  Boulogne,  to  prevent  its  forming  a  cover  for 
the  enemy  ;  the  axe  was  now  called  into  requisi- 
tion, not  only  there  but  in  the  Bois  de  Vincennes 
and  in  the  outlying  boulevards,  and  this  green 
wood  was  the  only  fuel  which  the  people  had  to 
depend  upon  for  weeks  ;  moreover,  the  quantity 
which  each  family  could  purchase  was  limited  to 
half  a  hundredweight  for  five  days,  or  about  ten 
pounds  in  weight  of  green  wood,  which  was  half 
water,  per  diem  !  No  matter  how  large  was  the 
family,  unless  it  possessed  a  store  of  wood  of  its 
own,  it  was  impossible  to  maintain  more  than  one 
fire  for  all  the  purposes  of  cooking  and  warming  ; 
and  this  at  a  time  when  two  coats,  a  railway  rug, 
and  thick  woollen  mittens  scarcely  kept  the  body 
warm  enough  for  the  fingers  to  manage  a  pen. 
Moreover,  as  in  the  case  of  the  meat  and  the  bread, 
this  miserable  modicum  of  wet  wood  that  splut- 
tered and  smouldered,  and  finally  shrunk  up  into 
something  like  a  black  sponge,  was  only  to  be 
obtained  at  a  high  price,  and  after  spending  hours 


with  hundreds  of  others,  exposed  to  cutting  winds, 
or  the  feet  buried  in  half-melted  snow;  and  when 
obtained,  the  means  of  carrying  it  home  rested 
with  each  purchaser.  Under  such  circumstances, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  everything  wooden  began 
to  disappear  ;  small  trees  on  the  boulevards  were 
cut  down  and  made  off  with,  every  atom  of  wooden 
railing  disappeared  bit  by  bit,  unoccupied  huts 
were  robbed  of  their  doors  and  planks,  gardens 
were  invaded  and  were  denuded  of  their  trees ; 
there  were  no  guardians  but  the  national  guards, 
and  the  national  guards  wanted  firewood.  At  last 
the  suffering  from  the  want  of  fuel  rendered  people 
desperate,  and  depredations  began  to  be  effected  in 
open  daylight;  in  one  case,  close  to  our  house,  the 
remains  of  a  fine  old  property,  on  which  there  was 
a  grove  and  clumps  of  fine  walnuts,  elms,  and  other 
trees,  was  invaded  by  a  number  of  men  with  axes 
and  saws  ;  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time 
every  tree  was  brought  to  the  ground,  and  all  were 
soon  reduced  to  logs,  which  were  carried  off  by 
the  men,  while  troops  of  women  and  children  col- 
lected and  carried  off  every  twig  that  they  could 
find.  The  authorities  were  utterly  powerless,  so 
they  contented  themselves  by  causing  the  roots 
to  be  grubbed  up  and  sent  to  the  public  kitchens. 
The  proprietor  must  have  stared  when  he  visited 
his  land  again,  and  would  find  some  difficulty  in 
getting  any  compensation  for  his  lost  timber. 

So  great  was  the  want  of  fuel  at  last  that  all 
kinds  of  wood,  whether  for  building  or  cabinet 
making,  was  put  in  requisition;  little  builders  sold 
their  scaffold  poles,  and  almost  everything  they 
possessed  that  would  burn,  at  exorbitant  rates,  and 
the  flooring  of  a  vast  number  of  rooms  doubtless 
met  a  similar  fate  to  that  of  the  furniture  of  the 
enthusiastic  Palissy  the  Potter.  A  few  more  days 
of  such  paucity  of  fuel  would  have  caused  the  fur- 
niture of  Paris  houses  to  begin  to  find  its  way  into 
the  stoves  and  grates. 

Paris,  however,  escaped  some  of  the  worst 
features  of  a  siege ;  water  never  ran  short,  although 
the  enemy,  according  to  the  military  custom  of 
civilized  nations,  cut  off  one  of  the  sources  of 
supply,  and  salt,  although  dear,  can  hardly  be  said 
to  have  become  scarce;  on  the  other  hand,  the  evils 
that  commonly  arise  from  the  use  of  too  much  salt 
meat  were  happily  escaped  by  the  fact,  that  nearly 
all  the  provisions  salted  down  at  a  great  cost  by  the 
authorities  and  their  contractors  and  agents  turned 
out   totally   unfit   for    use.     This    was  only    one 


312 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


instance  of  fearful  waste  caused  by  the  inexperience 
or  carelessness  of  those  who  had  the  management 
of  the  provisions  ;  tons  of  cheese,  potatoes,  and 
other  commodities  were  forgotten  or  left  to  rot  in 
cellars  at  the  markets  and  elsewhere,  while  the 
population  would  have  eagerly  purchased  them 
at  exorbitant  prices. 

Wine  and  spirits,  those  highly-lauded  and  much- 
deprecated  aids  to  diet,  became  of  immense  import- 
ance during  the  siege;  their  consumption  was 
enormous,  and  doubtless  their  use  ran  frequently 
into  abuse.  Soldiers  exposed  for  hours  in  the  most 
inclement  weather  were  not,  as  it  may  well  be  sup- 
posed, scrupulous  about  the  number  of  cannons,  or 
petite  verves — the  common  name  for  the  wine  glass 
of  the  shops  and  the  dram  glass  ,  intoxication 
was  prevalent,  and  gave  rise  to  constant  complaints 
on  the  part  of  the  military  commanders,  some  of 
whom  were  themselves  accused  of  going  drunk 
upon  duty;  these  were,  however,  officers  of  the 
national  guard,  to  whom  the  duties  of  the  camp  were 
new,  and  whose  habits  were  utterly  subverted. 
With  less  sustaining  food  than  usual  at  their  com- 
mand, and  having  much  time  on  their  hands,  they 
flew  to  the  diva  bouteille  as  a  resource  against  ennui. 
Every  little  cafi  and  coffee  stall  sold  wine  as  well 
as  brandy;  and  although  this  seems  in  ordinary 
times  to  produce  no  bad  result,  under  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  the  siege  it  doubtless  held  out 
unusual  temptations  to  the  young  and  the  thought- 
less. But  wine  and  spirits  in  other  ways  were  of 
immense  service;  in  the  absence  of  butter,  fat,  and 
oily  substances  they  supplied  the  carbon  which 
is  so  necessary  a  portion  of  diet  that  without  it 
otherwise  good  food  becomes  unsatisfactory  and 
unsustaining.  Brandy,  but  more  especially  rum,  was 
largely  used  in  cookery ;  rice  and  rum  was  a  com- 
mon sweet  dish  while  the  rice  held  out;  wine  was 
employed  in  the  stewing  of  horse  flesh,  and  hot 
wine  was  strongly  recommended  by  doctors  even 
for  females  and  young  persons.  The  method  of 
preparing  it  was  similar  to  that  adopted  in  France 
and  elsewhere  for  punch;  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  spirit  was  got  rid  of  by  setting  the  wine  for 
some  time  over  the  fire,  and  then  the  latter  was 
poured  upon  toast,  and  all  eaten  together  like  soup ; 
the  dish  was,  in  fact,  called  soup  au  vin.  Rum  was 
also  drunk  in  small  quantities,  burned,  just  as  the 
Chinese  drink  thimbles'  full  of  their  rice  spirit  at 
meals;  and  ladies,  who  scarcely  ever  before  drank 
a  drop  of  spirit  in  their  lives,  found  great  benefit 


from  it.  They  were  not  likely  to  have  acquired 
a  taste  for  it  from  their  siege  practice ;  on  the 
contrary,  the  very  smell  of  rum  was  afterwards,  as 
far  as  our  experience  taught  us,  peculiarly  repug- 
nant in  consequence. 

Bread,  haricot  beans,  soup,  and  wine,  form  the 
staple  diet  of  the  French  ouvriers,  and  indeed  of 
all  classes  except  the  wealthy;  and  there  being 
no  beans  or  potatoes,  and  but  little  bad  bread  to  be 
had,  the  consumption  of  wine  must  have  increased 
at  least  threefold.  The  consequence  was,  all  the 
common  wine  was  consumed,  and  the  poor  soldiers 
and  others,  instead  of  getting  a  litre,  nearly  a 
quart,  for  sixpence  or  sevenpence,  had  to  pay  ten- 
pence  or  more  for  an  ordinary  bottle,  which  does 
not  hold  two-thirds  of  a  litre. 

The  English  residents  in  Paris,  and  many  of  the 
French,  soon  found  out  the  value  of  good  English 
porter,  stout,  and  ale;  and  the  stocks  of  the  agents  of 
the  Burton  and  other  brewers  were  soon  exhausted, 
for  unfortunately  the  siege  happened  just  previously 
to  the  period  for  the  importation  of  the  new  beer; 
and  long  before  the  gates  of  Paris  were  opened 
again,  there  was  not  a  bottle  of  ale  or  stout  to  be 
obtained,  except  out  of  a  private  cellar.  French 
beer,  bad  at  all  times,  was  almost  undrinkable  during 
the  siege,  and  the  Austrian  and  other  foreign  beer 
establishments  were  all  quickly  closed  in  conse- 
quence of  the  exhaustion  of  their  stocks. 

Tobacco,  too,  was  a  precious  auxiliary;  and 
when  a  report  went  abroad  that  it  was  likely  to 
be  rationed,  the  consternation  was  extreme.  This 
dreaded  necessity,  however,  never  arose ;  and  if  the 
ordinary  tobacco  became  a  little  worse  than  usual, 
the  supply  held  out  without  stint. 

The  effect  of  the  diet  and  other  circumstances 
of  the  siege  may  be  pictured  in  a  few  words.  The 
mortality  increased  from  less  than  3000  to  more 
than  5000  deaths  per  week,  exclusive  of  those  in 
the  military  hospitals  and  ambulances;  in  other 
words,  the  number  increased  to  nearly  the  extent 
of  500  a  day ;  add  to  this,  first,  the  effect  on  the 
constitutions  of  thousands  of  survivors  and  upon 
their  offspring,  the  deaths  and  sufferings  of  the  army, 
to  say  nothing  of  property  wasted,  debts  incurred, 
and  consequent  taxation,  and  we  obtain  a  glimpse 
of  the  effects  produced  by  the  royal  game  of  war. 

The  calamity  which  fell  upon  Paris  was  serious 
enough,  but  it  narrowly  escaped  taking  the  form 
of  a  frightful  catastrophe.  The  feeling  of  the 
people  was  so  intensely  opposed  to  capitulation, 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


313 


the  hope  of  succour  arriving  was  clung  to  natu- 
'rally  with  so  much  tenacity,  that  the  government 
put  off  to  the  last  moment  the  hateful  act  of  suc- 
cumbing to  the  enemy;  while  the  forts  around  the 
town  were  almost  entirely  uninjured,  while  men 
and  arms  and  ammunition  held  out,  while  there 
was  food  enough  to  keep  the  population  from 
starving,  every  man  who  had  a  spark  of  the  hero 
within  him  naturally  shuddered  at  the  very  idea 
of  capitulation.  But  the  time  came  when  valour 
would  have  become  crime;  and  had  the  armis- 
tice been  deferred  three  days  longer  there  is  no 
saying  what  might  have  been  the  consequences. 
The  moment  the  gates  were  opened  the  people 
were  seized  with  an  uncontrollable  yearning  for 
fresh  food.  The  first  who  brought  loaves  of  white 
bread,  joints  of  fresh  mutton,  and  vegetables  into 
Paris,  were  regarded  with  as  much  curiosity  as 
artists  who  had  produced  new  forms  of  beauty,  or 
searchers  who  had  discovered  hidden  treasures. 
To  obtain  something  different  from  siege  fare 
seemed  the  sole  object  of  the  whole  world.  The 
arrival  of  quantities  of  provisions  from  England 
caused  profound  sensation,  and  Paris  would  cer- 
tainly not  have  refused  a  vote  of  thanks,  as  the 
Bordeaux  Assembly  did;  on  the  contrary,  the 
papers  the  least  friendly  to  Great  Britain  were 
loud  in  their  praise,  not  only  of  the  munificence 
of  the  British  nation,  but  of  the  determination 
and  rapidity  with  which  the  succour  was  brought 
to  the  doors  of  those  who  wanted  it  so  visibly. 
There  was  sad  delay  in  the  distribution,  but  this 
was  not  the  fault  of  the  English  committee,  as  the 
Parisians  knew  well  enough.  The  people  of  Paris, 
always  either  kept  in  the  dark  or  led  with  false- 
hood, were  ignorant  of  the  motives  and  acts  of  the 
English  government,  and  the  press,  unfortunately, 
was  either  ignorant  or  malicious,  and  led  the  people, 
who  were  foolish  enough  to  believe  it,  to  think 
that  the  English  nation  rejoiced  in  the  sufferings 
of  its  neighbour;  but  the  gates  once  open,  the 
falsehood  was  soon  exposed,  and  the  gratitude  felt 
for  the  munificent  aid  sent  to  Paris  and  other  parts 
of  France  was  spontaneous  and  general. 

The  moment  the  gates  were  open  the  people 
flocked  to  the  outposts  of  the  enemy  for  provisions ; 
regular  markets  were  held  at  a  dozen  points  around 
Paris,  at  the  outposts  of  St.  Denis,  the  bridge  of 
Courbevoie,  and  elsewhere ;  it  was  an  extraordinary 
sight  to  see,  as  we  did,  hundreds  of  Parisians 
around  the  barriers,  which  were  kept  by  German 
vol.  n. 


soldiers  and  French  gendarmes  acting  in  concert, 
eagerly  pressing  for  the  chance  of  purchasing  what 
the  country  people  had  brought  in;  the  contents 
of  waggons,  carts,  and  trucks  were  swept  away 
almost  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  the  Germans 
keeping  watch  over  the  transactions,  and  suppress- 
ing any  attempt  at  unusual  extortion.  In  some 
cases,  where  exorbitant  prices  were  demanded,  the 
German  officials  fixed  the  prices  and  superintended 
the  sales.  Here  and  there  there  were  some  un- 
fortunate scenes,  some  very  rough  justice;  but  on 
the  whole  the  management  was  better  and  the 
disorder  less  than  could  fairly  be  expected. 

It  took  some  time,  of  course,  to  revictual  Paris ; 
supplies  came  in  fast,  but  not  fast  enough;  prices 
fell,  but  not  rapidly,  on  account  of  the  eagerness  of 
the  purchasers;  twice  and  three  times  the  ordinary 
prices  were  cheerfully  paid  by  those  who  had  money 
for  butter  and  many  other  articles;  white  bread 
reappeared  almost  immediately,  but  for  some  days 
a  leg  of  mutton  was  worth  twenty  or  more  francs. 
It  was  no  easy  matter  to  stock  the  market  of  a  city 
which  required  400  to  500  head  of  cattle  and  3000 
sheep  a  day.  Fuel,  too,  presented  a  great  difficulty ; 
the  railways  were  encumbered,  the  river  traffic  in- 
terrupted by  the  breaking  down  of  bridges  and  the 
removal  of  dams,  but  thanks  to  the  re-establishment 
of  the  natural  modes  of  trade,  to  the  energy  of 
philanthropists  as  well  as  of  men  of  business,  a  few 
days  sufficed  to  fill  our  cupboards,  Paris  became 
a  civilized  city  once  again,  and  its  inhabitants  were 
no  longer  reduced  to  the  grovelling  necessity  of 
giving  nearly  their  whole  time  and  thought  to 
the  supply  of  merely  animal  wants.  One  must 
pass  through  a  siege  before  he  can  estimate  the 
value  of  a  bit  of  wholesome  mutton,  a  potato,  and 
a  slice  of  good  bread,  and  understand  the  real 
difference  between  civilized  society  and  that  state 
of  things  which  poets  have  often  dwelt  upon  with 
much  misplaced  rapture,  anent  the  noble  savage 
and  free  fife  in  forest  or  prairie. 

There  was  one  terrible  drawback  to  the  sensa- 
tion of  relief  which,  in  spite  of  the  hard  conditions, 
followed  the  armistice;  the  enemy  was  to  occupy 
Paris,  not  in  the  ordinary  fashion  of  conquerors,  it 
is  true,  but  almost  by  way  of  form.  The  whole 
of  the  Champs  Elysees,  from  the  Arc  de  Triomphe 
to  the  Tuileries,  and  thence  to  the  river,  was  to 
be  occupied  by  the  Germans;  all  the  side  streets 
leading  to  the  Champs  Elysees  were  closed  at  the 
further  end  by  French  picquets,  and  the  space 
2b 


314 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


marked  out  left  entirely  to  the  conquering  army. 
The  press  and  the  clubs  called  upon  the  people  to 
treat  the  days  of  occupation  as  days  of  mourning, 
and  the  appeal  had  its  effect;  the  figures  of  the 
towns  of  France  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  had 
their  faces  covered  with  crape,  a  puerile  act,  per- 
haps, but  not  without  significance.  With  one 
solitary  exception,  every  shop,  cafe,  restaurant, 
and  garden  was  closed  in  the  Champs  Elysees; 
the  same  was  the  case  in  all  the  side  streets,  all 
along  the  parallel  Faubourg  Saint  Honored  the 
great  boulevards,  and  in  all  the  principal  streets 
at  the  western  part  of  the  city.  There  were  few 
but  soldiers  visible,  and  these  parts  of  Paris 
seemed  almost  to  belong  to  a  city  of  the  dead;  at 
the  ends  of  the  Eue  Eivoli  and  the  Rue  Royale, 
where  they  touch  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  were 
lines  of  artillery  waggons,  drawn  up  under  the 
charge  of  a  few  unarmed  artillerymen. 

In  the  Champs  Elysees  itself  a  certain  number 
of  persons  .went  about  amongst  the  German  troops; 
these  included  a  fair  proportion  of  well-dressed 
people,  some  military  men,  inhabitants  of  the 
quarter,  newspaper  correspondents  on  duty,  a 
sprinkling  of  ladies,  and  a  number,  not  very 
large,  of  the  lowest  orders,  principally  boys. 
There  were  three  or  four  slight  disturbances 
during  the  two  days  of  occupation;  the  people 
of  the  single  cafe  the  door  of  which  was  open, 
and  frequented  by  the  Germans,  were  hooted,  and 
finally  the  tables  and  contents  destroyed;  and  if, 
as  asserted,  the  Germans  compelled  the  proprietor 
to  serve  them,  this  was  against  the  stipulations 
of  the  convention,  and  very  hard  upon  the  cafe 
keeper.  The  gamins  of  Paris,  the  most  insolent 
street  boys  in  Europe,  jeered  and  hooted  a  few 
German  officers,  and  caused  some  little  difficulty, 
and  one  or  two  women  who  gave  offence  were 
very  roughly  handled ;  but  on  the  whole,  the  con- 
duct of  both  the  French  and  Germans  was  excel- 
lent, and  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  such  a  painful 
occurrence  as  the  occupation  of  a  portion  of  a 
city  by  a  triumphant  enemy  giving  rise  to  less 
disturbance.  Fortunately,  too,  that  occupation 
was  suddenly  shortened  by  the  early  payment  of 
an  instalment  of  the  indemnity,  and  the  Champs 
Elysees  was  cleared  of  the  Germans. 

Another  painfully  exciting  scene  was  the  return 
of  the  sailors  into  Paris  from  the  forts,  after  these 
had  been  given  up  to  the  enemy.  The  sailors, 
or  infantry  and  artillery  of  the  marine,  as  they  are 


called  in  France,  behaved  splendidly  in  the  various 
sorties  and  in  the  manning  of  the  forts;  and  the 
armistice  was  a  bitter  disappointment  to  them. 
The  excitement  of  the  men  was  so  great  that  it 
was  considered  dangerous  to  attempt  to  disarm 
them,  so  they  all  came  into  Paris  with  their  guns 
slung  over  their  shoulders.  Their  appearance  as 
they  issued  from  the  Paris  terminus  of  the  Western 
Railway  will  not  easily  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
witnessed  it;  the  officers  marched  along  calmly 
with  compressed  lips,  the  blue-jackets  swarmed 
along  the  streets  as  if  they  were  going  to  charge  a 
redoubt;  he  would  have  been  a  bold  man  who 
should  have  dared  to  say  a  word  to  displease  them ; 
their  step  was  far  from  steady,  for  it  was  evident 
enough  that  they  had  been  allowed  to  seek  solace 
for  their  injured  feelings  in  the  bottle.  A  terrible 
incident  will  show  how  the  sailors  fought  and  felt; 
when  the  armistice  was  made,  five  lieutenants  had 
fallen  as  seconds  in  command  at  Mont  Valc'rien, 
and  when  the  sixth,  who  was  then  acting,  heard 
of  the  capitulation,  he  cried: — "  It  shall  never  be 
said  that  the  fort  was  delivered  up  while  I  was 
alive,"  and  deliberately  blew  out  his  brains  in  the 
presence  of  the  man.  Xo  wonder  his  brother 
officers  and  the  brave  fellows  under  them  came 
into  the  city  with  knitted  brows  and  flashing 
eyes.  If  the  army  of  France  had  been  made  of  the 
same  stuff  as  these  noble  sailors,  the  history  of 
the  fearful  struggle  might  have  been  strangely 
different.  Officers  and  men,  although  somewhat 
slighter,  looked  so  like  English  salts  that  it  was 
difficult  to  imagine  them  belonging  to  another 
country.  The  sons  of  the  ocean  have  a  strong 
family  likeness. 

It  must  be  difficult  for  any  one  who  was  not  in 
Paris  at  the  time  of  the  siege  to  realize  the  condi- 
tion of  society  at  that  time.  It  is  almost  needless 
to  say  that  commerce  was  utterly  at  an  end,  for 
that  was  a  natural  result  of  communications  inter- 
rupted, but  nearly  all  business  was  at  a  stand-still, 
with  the  exception  of  that  which  had  to  do  with 
the  necessaries  of  life  or  the  material  of  war  ; 
and  even  for  the  latter  the  supply  of  workmen  was 
frequently  very  inadequate.  Once  taken  away 
from  the  foundry  or  workshop,  numbers  of  men 
preferred  idleness  and  fifteen  pence  a  day  to  hard 
work  with  three  times  that  amount  of  pay  ;  it  was 
with  great  difficulty  that  hands  enough  were  found 
for  the  casting  of  cannon,  the  transformation  of 
muskets,  the  repair  of  arms,  and  the  manufacture 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


315 


of  ammunition  of  various  kinds.  As  to  money 
matters,  few  landlords,  except  the  poor  proprietors 
of  single  houses  or  grasping  misers,  asked  their 
tenants  for  rent,  and  fewer  still  obtained  it  when 
they  asked ;  and  Paris,  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
siege,  presented  the  extraordinary  condition  of  a 
city  that  owed  three  quarters'  rent  !  All  other 
payments  were  suspended,  bills  stood  over  by  law, 
houses  of  undoubted  stability  declined  to  pay 
accounts  until  after  the  war,  and,  generally  speak- 
ing, no  one  asked  for  what  was  due  to  him,  and 
no  one  tendered  what  he  owed.  Pay  as  you  go 
now,  was  the  general  cry ;  we  must  leave  out- 
standing affairs  till  we  have  got  rid  of  the  Prus- 
sians. Many  persons,  doubtless,  took  care  to  place 
all  the  money  and  property  they  could  in  safety 
when  the  first  news  of  the  reverses  arrived,  but 
the  great  mass  of  the  manufacturing  and  shop- 
keeping  class,  and  many  other  classes,  were  utterly 
ruined. 

The  aspect  of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  the  Champs 
Elysees,  and  the  boulevards,  was  most  extra- 
ordinary. In  the  busy  central  portions  of  the 
town  the  streets  presented  much  the  same  aspect 
as  usual,  but  in  the  fashionable  and  main  streets 
the  change  was  very  remarkable.  There  were 
no  carriages  in  the  Bois,  for  most  of  the  owners 
had  fled  the  city  and  most  of  the  horses  were  eaten. 
The  splendid  half-bred  pair,  purchased  for  hundreds 
of  pounds  a  few  months  previously,  and  the  poor 
cab  hack,  alike  were  requisitioned,  paid  for  by  the 
government  at  a  fixed  rate  per  pound,  live  weight, 
sent  to  the  abattoir,  and  converted  into  "  beef." 
Valuable  horses  thus  fetched  a  tenth  part  of  their 
value,  while  a  good  fat  cab  or  umnibus  horse 
fetched  more  than  usual.  Thirty  to  forty  thousand 
horses  were  eaten.  The  reader  may  imagine 
the  void  that  their  absence  created.  There  were 
no  parties,  few  ladies  were  left  in  the  city,  people 
wanted  all  their  cash  for  the  supply  of  the  cup- 
board; those  who  rode  at  all  used  the  omnibuses, 
and  the  few  cabs  to  be  seen  were  only  in  demand 
by  officers  on  duty,  or  luxurious  national  guards 
riding  to  their  posts  of  duty.  There  were  no 
carriages  at  the  door  of  the  jockey  club,  no  crowd 
of  voitures  at  the  Grand  Hotel;  all  were  reduced  to 
the  democratic  omnibus,  or  the  still  more  demo- 
cratic Shanks'  mare,  or,  as  the  Cockneys  call  it, 
the  Marrowbone  stage.  The  roads  thus  were  left 
free  to  the  national  guards,  who  inhabited  many 
of  the  boulevards  almost  in  permanence,  and  the 


pavements  were  nearly  as  vacant  as  the  carriage 
ways;  many  of  the  great  cafes  were  closed,  and, 
with  very  few  exceptions,  those  which  remained 
open  were  nearly  deserted ;  even  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  town,  where  at  midday,  just  before  dinner- 
time, and  all  the  evening,  there  used  to  be  a 
continual  throng  of  visitors  and  a  flying  crowd  of 
waiters,  was  exhibited  the  spectacle  of  a  superan- 
nuated attendant  hovering  over  one  or  two  equally 
superannuated  customers.  In  one  of  the  best  cafes 
in  Paris  the  chain  of  one  of  the  three  great  iron 
shutters  was  broken  by  accident.  The  shutter 
remained  closed  for  weeks.  The  waiter  shrugged 
his  shoulders,  and  said  it  didn't  matter;  half  the 
room  was  three  times  as  much  as  was  required 
then — and  it  was  perfectly  true. 

Paris  the  brilliant  was  not  only  dirty,  but  dull. 
All  the  theatres  were  closed  by  order  of  the  prefect 
of  police  at  the  commencement  of  the  siege  ;  and 
the  scenery  and  properties  packed  away  in  secure 
places  against  the  danger  of  fire.  The  cafes  clian- 
tants,  casinos,  and  all  other  places  of  amusement, 
were  also  closed,  and,  with  the  exception  of  per- 
formances in  aid  of  the  funds  for  the  ambulances 
and  other  charitable  purposes,  there  were  scarcely 
any  means  of  relaxation  in  the  city  for  the  80,000 
provincial  mobiles  far  away  from  family  and  home, 
and  the  thousands  of  national  guards ;  and  the  poor 
fellows  had  no  resource  but  drinking  at  the  wine 
shops  and  cafes,  or  going  to  bed  with  the  fowls. 
The  streets  were  miserably  dull ;  in  place  of  two 
or  three  gaslights  they  were  lighted  with  one 
small  petroleum  lamp,  that  looked  more  like  a  taper 
burning  before  a  statue  of  the  Virgin  than  a  street 
light;  and  in  the  bitter,  cold,  dark  nights  of  Jan- 
uary few  who  had  a  home  of  their  own  troubled 
the  pavements  of  Paris  with  their  presence. 

When  performances  took  place  at  the  theatres 
the  scene  was  a  curious  one;  whatever  the  play, 
it  was  acted  without  scenery  or  costumes.  The 
actors  of  the  Theatre  Francais  performed  a  classical 
play,  some  of  them  dressed  in  the  uniform  of  the 
national  guard,  while  the  others  wore  evening  dress 
and  white  gloves,  and  carried  a  crush  hat;  and  a 
well-known  actress  of  the  same  theatre  played  the 
mischievous  page  Cherubino  in  a  black  silk  dress. 
The  saloon  of  the  theatre  was  converted  into  an 
ambulance,  and  sick  and  wounded  men  lay  around 
the  statues  and  busts  of  Voltaire,  Moliere,  Cor- 
neille,  Racine,  and  all  the  stars  of  past  days,  and 
the  actresses   superintended   the   ambulance   with 


316 


PARIS,   BEFORE,  DURING, 


great  assiduity   and  kindliness.     On  the  evening 

in   question   Mile.  ■,  who  had  just  left  the 

stage  after  an  admirable  performance  of  the  page, 
and  being  the  only  one  of  the  lady  attendants 
present  in  the  theatre,  was  summoned,  all  panting 
with  excitement,  to  receive  a  patient  who  had  been 
injured  in  the  street.  A  few  weeks  later  still  M. 
Seveste,  a  clever  young  actor  of  the  theatre,  was 
brought  to  the  ambulance  there  mortally  wounded, 
and  died  in  the  arms  of  his  sister  artistes.  Such 
were  a  few  of  the  effects  of  the  siege  on  the  theatres 
and  on  the  actors  and  actresses,  a  body  often  shame- 
fully maligned,  but  which  did  its  duty  in  every 
way  during  the  siege  with  great  devotion  and 
gallantry,  as  did  the  artists  of  every  class,  writers, 
painters,  sculptors,  and  others. 

It  was  a  melancholy  sight  to  see  the  Theatre 
Francais  filled  almost  exclusively  with  dark-blue 
uniforms  and  black  dresses,  and  lighted  with  a  few 
lamps  in  place  of  chandeliers,  lustres,  and  float- 
lights.  The  opera  house,  when  it  opened,  resorted 
to  the  old  method,  and  lighted  up  with  wax  candles, 
but  at  all  the  other  theatres  petroleum  reigned 
alone,  but  shone  with  no  imperial  lustre. 

At  home  the  like  dulness  pressed  upon  all; 
scarcely  a  visitor  rang  the  bell  from  one  week's 
end  to  the  other;  the  news  that  reached  us  was 
often  disastrous,  generally  unsatisfactory;  sickness 
and  death,  ruin  and  hopelessness,  pressed  upon  all, 
and  when  common  daily  wants  left  the  mind  a  few 
moments  of  repose,  it  was  difficult  to  find  any 
intellectual  solace.  As  may  be  supposed,  the  pub- 
lishers produced  few  works;  in  fact,  the  appearance 
of  a  single  volume  was  an  extraordinary  event,  a 
few  pamphlets  relative  to  passing  events  forming 
nearly  the  whole  literature  of  the  period.  Nearly 
the  whole  of  the  scientific  and  literary  periodicals 
ceased  to  appear;  almost  all  engaged  in  them, 
writers,  artists,  publishers,  and  printers,  were  en- 
rolled in  the  mobiles  or  the  national  guard;  old 
men,  women,  and  children  were  alone  left  to  carry 
on  most  of  the  business  of  the  city.  At  first  the 
newspapers  brought  us  daily  budgets  of  most 
exciting  news,  and  the  accounts  of  the  vast  pre- 
parations which  were  being  made  for  the  defence 
of  the  city  filled  our  minds;  but  the  seal  of  secrecy 
was  naturally  affixed  on  many  operations  lest  the 
enemy  should  benefit  thereby.  The  result  was, 
however,  just  what  it  always  is  in  France,  where 
publicity  is  never  in  favour  with  the  authorities, 
the  enemy  knew  everything,  while  the  besieged 


population  was  only  supplied  with  incomplete  or 
false  inlbrmation.  When  the  English  and  Ger- 
man papers  were  completely  shut  out,  we  in  Paris 
scarcely  knew  more  about  what  was  going  on 
within  a  mile  or  two  .of  us  than  we  did  of  the 
events  in  Timbuctoo. 

The  scarcity  of  paper,  too,  added  to  the  diffi- 
culties of  publishers;  the  numberless  little  political 
papers  which  made  their  appearance  and  sold  for 
one  or  two  sons,  were  printed  on  the  most  wretched 
paper  that  ever  passed  through  the  press,  and  were 
scarcely  legible,  and  the  established  journals  of 
large  circulation  were  put  to  the  greatest  straits ; 
large-sized  paper  was  almost  entirely  exhausted, 
and  the  Gaulois  and  others,  in  order  to  print  two 
copies  at  once,  were  compelled  to  paste  two  small 
sheets  together  and  then  cut  them  apart  after  they 
were  printed.  Towards  the  end  of  the  siege  the 
scarcity  increased  to  such  an  extent,  that  four  half 
sheets  had  to  be  pasted  together  to  produce  the 
double  sheet. 

When,  on  Sunday  the  18th  of  September,  we 
learnt  that  the  railways  were  all  cut,  and  that  no 
more  letters  could  be  sent  out  or  received,  we  be- 
gan to  understand  what  a  state  of  real  siege  meant; 
we  groaned  over  the  prospect  of  being  shut  out 
from  communication  with  the  rest  of  the  world  for 
weeks.  What  would  have  been  our  feelings,  had 
we  known  that  our  isolation  was  to  last  for  more 
than  five  long  miserable  months ! 

The  greatest  efforts  were  made  to  maintain  cor- 
respondence. Of  course,  the  telegraph  wires  were 
cut  at  once  by  the  enemy,  and  it  is  said  that  a 
cable  laid  in  the  bed  of  the  Seine  was  found  and 
severed ;  the  director-general  of  the  post  and  tele- 
graphs, one  of  the  few  really  capable  men  that  the 
war  brought  forward,  had  light  copper  balls  made 
in  which  letters  were  sent  down  the  river,  but  the 
enemy  soon  discovered  them,  and  by  the  simple 
expedient  of  a  net  across  a  bridge  fished  them  all 
up.  Numbers  of  men  attached  to  the  post  office, 
tempted  by  large  offers  of  reward,  tried  to  make 
their  way  across  the  enemy's  lines;  a  few  suc- 
ceeded, one  or  two  even  went  out  and  returned 
more  than  once,  but  the  majority  were  never  heard 
of.  These  brave  fellows  underwent  great  hard- 
ships; one  of  them  remained  hidden  for  nearly  a 
day  in  the  icy  waters  of  the  Seine,  and  others  were 
several  days  without  food  while  exposed  to  the  cold 
of  an  almost  arctic  winter,  or  struggling  against 
snow  drifts,  in  which  some  doubtless  perished. 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


317 


It  remained  to  try  the  worth  ofballoons,  and  these 
turned  out  of  the  greatest  value  to  us ;  an  extensive 
manufactory  was  established  at  one  of  the  railway 
termini,  which  eventually  had  to  be  moved  to 
another  on  the  arrival  of  German  shells;  all  the 
gas  that  could  be  produced  was  reserved  for  the 
inflation,  all  the  aeronauts  were  called  into  requisi- 
tion, and  a  number  of  intelligent  young  sailors 
instructed  in  the  art  of  aerial  navigation.  The 
departure  of  the  first  balloon,  with  half  a  ton  of 
letters,  was  an  event  which  created  immense 
interest,  which  went  on  increasing  with  every  suc- 
cessive departure;  the  balloons  were  named  after 
the  heroes  of  the  day  or  the  towns  which  had 
held  out  courageously  against  the  enemy,  and  the 
privilege  of  being  present  at  the  departure  of  a 
balloon  was  sought  for  most  eagerly.  More  than 
forty  balloons  were  despatched,  but  not  one  came 
into  Paris ;  several  attempts  at  directing  their 
course  were  made,  but  they  were  all  fruitless.  The 
fate  of  some  of  the  aeronauts  became  known  to  us ; 
one  poor  fellow  perished  in  the  ocean,  but  a  por- 
tion of  the  letters  in  his  charge  were  recovered ; 
one  or  two  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and 
one  reached  his  destination  after  having  been 
carried  to  Christiania,  in  Sweden.  For  the  rest, 
we  hoped  that  they  had  arrived  safely  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  enemy,  who  fired  upon  them  when- 
ever they  appeared,  but  only  in  one  instance  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  the  balloon  down;  but  when 
the  siege  was  raised  we  were  astonished  at  the 
success  of  the  balloon  post,  and  of  the  small  num- 
ber of  mails  that  had  been  lost. 

But  the  anxiety  of  the  population  for  news  from 
without  soon  arose  to  positive  torture.  Govern- 
ment and  other  messengers  came  in  now  and  then, 
and  spies  and  agents  brought  us  small  supplies 
of  news  and  newspapers;  but  thousands  of  persons, 
separated  from  all  whom  they  loved,  were  weeks 
and  months  without  knowing  where  wives,  child- 
ren, and  friends  were,  or  whether  they  were  alive 
or  dead.  The  agony  suffered  may  be  conceived, 
but  defies  description.  A  single  case,  which  came 
to  our  personal  knowledge,  will  supply  a  striking 
instance.  A  lady  whose  husband  was  in  Algeria 
received  news  of  his  dangerous  illness;  she  started 
from  Paris,  but  was  soon  met  by  the  news  of  his 
death;  she  had  left  her  daughter,  a  young  wife,  in 
Paris  in  a  critical  condition,  but  was  unable  to  get 
back  within  the  city,  and  after  weeks  of  torture, 
heard  of  the  confinement  and  death  of  her  beloved 


child  !  Multiply  such  cases  mentally  by  thousands, 
and  you  may  attain  to  something  like  a  concep 
tion  of  the  sufferings  entailed  on  millions  of  men, 
women,  and  children,  utterly  innocent  of  any  share 
in  the  cause  of  this  frightful  war. 

The  employment  of  pigeons  to  bring  us  in  news 
was  naturally  thought  of  at  the  first  moment  of  the 
siege,  and  fortunately  the  supply  of  birds  for  the 
purpose  was  considerable,  amounting,  in  fact,  to 
more  than  four  thousand.  They  were  carried  in 
cages  attached  to  the  balloon  cars,  and  being  taken 
to  Tours,  Orleans,  and  other  places,  were  sent  in 
with  governmental  and  private  despatches.  The 
arrival  of  these  winged  postmen  created  the 
greatest  excitement,  but  unfortunately  they  were 
few  and  rare;  but  they  brought  us  more  consolation 
than  anything  else  did  during  the  siege,  and  every 
one  who  was  shut  up  in  Paris  will  regard  a  carrier 
pigeon  with  affection,  or  at  least  with  gratitude, 
as  long  as  he  lives,  or  his  nature  must  be  very 
hard  and  prosaic. 

The  poetic  notion  of  a  pigeon  messenger,  a 
beautiful  bird  with  a  billet  doux  suspended  to  its 
neck  or  tied  beneath  the  wing,  did  not  meet  the 
requirements  of  Paris.  Our  wants  were  sentimental 
as  the  gentlest  love  passage,  but  large,  pressing, 
absorbing  as  hunger  or  thirst;  we  yearned  for 
news  with  the  most  intense  longing;  no  traveller 
in  the  Arabian  desert  ever  looked  forward  to  the 
next  oasis  with  more  eagerness  than  we  for  the 
arrival  of  the  next  pigeon.  An  admirable  system 
of  despatches  was  conceived,  and  by  successive 
improvements  was  carried  to  great  perfection. 
This  plan  has  been  explained  and  illustrated  in 
♦articles  and  lectures — the  most  complete  account, 
perhaps,  will  be  found  in  the  London  Engineer 
newspaper  of  the  7th  of  April,  1871;  but  an 
outline  of  the  mode  adopted  and  of  the  results 
will  be  interesting  to  all  and  sufficient  for  most 
readers. 

The  first  despatches  sent  were  written  on  the 
thinnest  paper  manufactured,  in  ordinary  writing 
or  cypher;  secondly,  photography  was  called  in 
aid,  and  the  manuscript  despatches  were  reduced 
to  a  very  small  compass,  so  that  one  pigeon  could 
carry  an  immense  number  of  messages;  next,  the 
despatches  were  set  up  in  type  and  printed,  so  that 
they  could  be  still  further  reduced  by  photography, 
and  yet  be  more  legible  than  the  former;  and 
lastly,  these  microscopic  photographs  were  sent  on 
films  of  collodion,  which  were  ten  times  lighter 


318 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


and  thinner  than  the  thinnest  foreign  post  paper 
made.  The  despatches  were  placed  in  quills  and 
attached  in  the  usual  manner  to  one  of  the  cen- 
tral tail  feathers  of  the  pigeon.  The  photographic 
part  of  the  operation  was  first  executed  in  the 
ordinary  way  by  means  of  apparatus  existing  at 
Tours,  but  superior  instruments  were  afterwards 
sent  off  by  ballcon  from  Paris,  part  of  which,  after 
incurring  great  danger,  reached  its  destination, 
and  did  valuable  service.  The  fact  of  these  instru- 
ments being  made  available  seems  almost  miracu- 
lous, for  the  balloon  in  which  they  were,  like 
another  which  left  Paris  at  the  same  time,  was 
fired  at  by  platoons  of  infantry  for  an  hour,  and 
pierced  by  the  enemy's  balls.  The  latter  was 
captured  immediately,  and  the  former  also,  after  a 
portion  of  the  instruments  had  been  placed  in  safety. 

The  first  photographic  reductions  on  paper 
measured  2^-  inches  by  1^-,  and  contained  240 
ordinary  despatches;  the  collodion  films  carried 
much  more,  each  small  page  of  print,  containing 
15,000  characters  or  about  200  despatches,  being 
reduced  to  a  mere  speck,  in  fact,  a  parallelogram 
measuring  superficially  about  one  twenty-fifth  of 
a  square  inch;  on  an  average,  a  collodion  film 
measuring  2-L  by  1-^-  inches,  and  weighing  the  six- 
hundredth  part  of  an  ounce,  carried  sixteen  of  the 
small  printed  pages  or  3200  despatches.  Finally, 
15,000  ordinary  messages  and  500  pages  of  official 
despatches  were  contained  in  a  small  quill  attached 
to  the  tail  feather  of  the  pigeon ;  some  carrying  as 
many  as  twenty-three  films  of  collodion.  Numerous 
copies,  sometimes  as  many  as  fifty,  were  sent  by 
different  birds.  In  all,  nearly  100,000  despatches 
were  sent  to  Paris,  but  the  proportion  received  was. 
very  small;  many  of  the  birds  had  a  long  way 
to  fly,  and  a  great  number  were  doubtless  shot 
or  killed  by  birds  of  prey. 

The  deciphering  of  the  despatches  when  re- 
ceived in  Paris  was  a  matter  of  great  difficulty, 
but  after  several  improvements  it  was  accom- 
plished perfectly.  The  quill  having  been  split 
open  with  a  pen  knife,  the  collodion  films  were 
placed  in  water  containing  a  little  ammonia,  which 
caused  them  to  unroll  almost  immediately;  they 
were  then  dried,  placed  between  sheets  of  glass, 
and  the  despatches  transcribed  by  clerks,  with 
the  aid  of  powerful  microscopes;  the  next  step 
was  to  magnify  the  collodion  despatch  by  means 
of  the  megaroscope,  or  microscope  with  the  elec- 
tric light,  throwing   the   characters  on  a   screen, 


and  so  large  as  to  be  read  off  with  ease  by  hall 
a  dozen  transcribers  at  the  same  time;  the  last 
improvement  was  to  reproduce  the  despatches  of 
the  original  size  on  collodion,  to  separate  the 
messages  one  from  the  other  by  scissors,  and  to 
send  to  each  of  the  persons  to  whom  they  were 
addressed  a  perfect  reproduction  on  collodion, 
stuck  on  a  piece  of  gummed  paper,  of  the  ori- 
ginal photographed  despatch,  thus  avoiding  all 
copying  and  transcription,  and  saving  an  im- 
mense amount  of  time. 

The  sensation  caused  by  the  arrival  of  the  first 
parcel  of  letters  and  the  first  telegraphic  despatches, 
after  the  armistice  had  been  signed,  was  indescrib- 
able. In  spite  of  pigeon  posts  there  were  thou- 
sands of  families  who  had  not  received  a  scrap  of 
news  from  without  for  more  than  five  months; 
great  was  the  excitement  also  of  those  who  wished 
to  fly  to  their  wives,  children,  and  friends,  while 
the  means  of  communication  were  limited  on 
account  of  the  necessity  for  the  transport  of 
provisions,  the  destruction  of  bridges,  the  want 
of  horses,  and  the  regulations  of  the  German 
authorities. 

People  shuddered  at  the  idea  of  encountering 
the  victorious  enemy,  now  masters  of  the  whole 
district  around  Paris,  with  headquarters  amid  the 
ruins  of  Saint  Denis  and  the  cathedral,  or  rather 
abbey  church  (which  is  a  prominent  object  from  the 
western  outskirt  of  Paris),  and  in  complete  com- 
mand of  the  railways  and  of  the  whole  country 
around;  they  dreaded  the  great  cost  of  a  journey 
which  was  sure  to  be  extended  to  two  or  three 
times  its  usual  length;  they  feared  to  face  the 
dangers  of  the  road,  partly  on  account  of  the 
swarms  of  German  soldiers,  but  still  more  on 
account  of  the  numerous  bands  of  marauders 
which  it  was  known  infested  the  country,  laid 
every  one  under  contribution,  and  feasted,  like 
the  horrible  vulture,  on  what  the  war  had  left 
behind.it.  But  the  yearnings  of  affection,  the  cruel 
anxiety,  the  thirst  for  freedom  from  the  unhappy 
city,  so  long  a  sad  prison  to  its  inhabitants,  over- 
came in  most  cases  all  other  feelings,  and  many 
thousands  had  but  one  thought — how  they  were 
to  get  out  of  Paris. 

In  the  first  place  permission  was  necessary,  and 
the  prefecture  of  police  was  densely  crowded  from 
morning  to  night  by  applicants  for  passes  to  enable 
them  to  leave  the  city;  and  when,  after  many  visits 
and  tedious  waitings,  these  had  been  obtained,  the 


AND   AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


319 


difficulties  were  far  from  overcome.  The  railway 
offices  and  stations  were  as  densely  thronged  as 
the  prefecture  of  police,  but  the  officials  could 
give  little  or  no  information  about  the  trains  ;  the 
German  authorities  had  their  own  necessities  to 
supply,  and  when  the  rails  were  left  free  by 
them  the  convoys  of  provisions  and  fuel  blocked 
all  the  lines. 

Young  active  men,  and  many  women,  trusting 
to  their  own  physical  powers,  set  out  on  foot, 
and  walked  till  they  could  find  some  kind  of  con- 
veyance; others  who  possessed,  or  could  buy  or 
hire  vehicles  at  exorbitant  rates,  fared  perhaps  the 
best ;  but  in  several  instances  the  travellers  were 
stopped  and  robbed  of  all  they  possessed.  When 
trains  first  began  to  leave  Paris,  passengers  were 
only  carried  short  distances,  and  then  were  de- 
pendent on  the  Germans  for  their  further  progress, 
which  became  inexpressibly  tedious,  and  often  ex- 
tremely expensive,  for  the  railways  were  destroyed 
in  many  places,  and  vehicles  of  any  description 
very  scarce.  When  the  direct  lines  of  railway 
were  nominally  open,  travelling  was  far  from  being 
agreeable;  and  those  who  quitted  Paris  were  com- 


pelled to  carry  nothing  more  with  them  than  the)1 
could  hold  conveniently  in  their  hands ;  for  noble 
bridges  over  broad  rivers  were  broken  down,  and 
at  certain  places  the  whole  of  the  passengers  had 
to  descend  from  the  carriages,  shoulder  their  lug- 
gage, trudge  a  considerable  distance  on  foot,  cross 
the  river  by  a  temporary  bridge  of  boats,  and 
remount  a  long  hill  on  the  other  side  to  regain  the 
railway.  No  matter  what  was  the  weather,  there 
was  not  the  slightest  shelter,  not  the  faintest  hope 
of  assistance;  all  were  compelled  to  tramp  along 
amid  masses  of  German  soldiery,  rough  navvies, 
and  peasants,  with  the  fear  haunting  every  one 
that  the  train  on  the  other  side  would  be  chock- 
full  before  he  reached  it.  Many,  women  especially, 
were  unable  to  keep  up  with  the  throng,  and  were 
left  behind  to  pass  a  miserable  twenty-four  hours 
before  another  train  should  appear.  This  state  of 
things  continued  till  the  middle  of  the  month  of 
March,  or  later,  by  which  time  the  greater  portion 
of  those  who  had  connections  abroad,  or  the  means 
of  escaping  from  the  long-beleaguered  city,  had 
quitted  the  capital,  little  dreaming  what  would 
happen  there  ere  they  saw  it  again. 


CHAPTER      II. 

PARIS    UNDER    THE    COMMUNE. 

The  State  of  Affairs  in  Paris  after  the  Departure  of  the  Germans — Origin  and  Real  Meaning  of  the  Term  Commune — Ultimate  Aims  of  the  Com- 
munists— M.  Jules  Favre  unfairly  hlamed  for  having  agreed  at  the  Capitulation  that  the  National  Guards  should  retain  their  Arms — 
Universal  Delusion  as  to  the  Insignificance  of  the  Communist  Rebellion — The  Mistake  of  not  removing  the  Seat  of  Government  to  Paris 
Immediately  after  Peace  had  been  agreed  to — Sympathy  of  the  Troops  with  the  Rebels — The  Government  reduced  to  a  State  of  Inac- 
tivity or  compelled  to  besiege  the  City — Suppression  of  Revolutionary  Newspapers  in  reality  proves  a  Source  of  Strength  to  the 
Insurgents — Complete  Absence  of  Agitation  on  March  16 — Proclamation  of  the  Government  on  the  Following  Day — The  Attempt  to  put 
down  the  Rising  on  March  18  completely  frustrated,  and  Two  Generals  brutally  murdered  by  the  Communists — Proclamation  of  the  Com- 
munist Leaders  and  seizure  of  the  Official  Journal  for  their  Purposes — Decree  for  a  Municipal  Election — Honourable  Attitude  assumed  by 
the  Parisian  Press  against  the  Assumptions  of  the  Communists — Election  of  the  most  Violent  Republicans  as  Mayors — An  Attempt  to 
stem  the  Torrent  of  Rebellion  leads  to  a  Massacre  in  the  Streets — Terrible  State  of  Affairs  under  the  Communal  Regime — Great  Want  of 
Money — Assassination  openly  advocated  in  the  Official  Journal — Seizure  of  some  of  the  Forts  by  the  Communists,  and  Preparations  for 
Action  against  the  Government  at  Versailles — Paris  again  cut  off  from  the  Outside  World — Extraordinary  Decrees  of  the  Commune — The 
"Pales"  and  the  "Reds" — Engagement  between  the  Communists  and  the  Versailles  Troops — An  Attempt  on  Versailles  defeated  and 
Flourens  killed — Decrees  of  the  Commune  abolishing  the  Payment  of  Rent  and  other  Interferences  with  Private  Affairs — The  Difficulties  of 
Living  in  the  City — Effects  of  the  Commune  on  Trade — Formation  of  New  Barricades  and  Mines  within  the  City — Decrees  handing  over 
Workshops  to  the  Workmen — The  Artists  and  the  Commune — The  Commune  and  the  Press — Suppression  of  Opposition  Journals — Dis- 
sensions in  the  Commune — Seizure  of  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  and  other  Dignitaries  of  the  Church — Letter  from  M.  Thiers  to  the  Arch- 
bishop denying  that  the  Communists  Prisoners  were  shot  or  ill  treated,  and  offering  a  Pardon  to  all  who  wonld  lay  down  their  Arms — The 
Students  at  the  Medical  School  decline  to  join  the  Commune — Important  Letter  of  M.  Louis  Blanc — Marshal  MacMahon  placed  in 
Command  of  the  Versailles  Troops — Continual  Fighting — Curious  Combination  Outside  Paris — Fearful  Scenes  at  Les  Ternes  and  Neuilly — 
Truce  in  order  to  allow  the  Inhabitants  to  leave. 


The  occupation  of  a  portion  of  Paris  by  the 
Germans — fortunately  shortened  by  the  activity  of 
the  government  in  making  the  first  payment  of 
the  indemnity — had  happily  given  rise  to  no  dis- 
turbances of  the  slightest  importance.  The  appeals 
of  the  press  and  of  other  bodies  had  a  good  effect; 
the  great  mass  of  the  people  had  closed  their 
shops,  and  regarded  the  day  as  one  of  mourning  ; 
but  the  public  had  been  disturbed  by  rumours  of 
the  intention  of  some  of  the  national  guards  to 
fire  upon  the  Germans,  and  some  fear  was  enter- 
tained that  they  would  keep  their  word.  This 
fear  was  increased  by  an  act  that  occurred  on  the 
27th  of  February.  A  portion  of  the  Avenue 
Wagram,  in  which  no  houses  have  yet  been  built, 
although  the  avenue  itself  has  been  formed  for 
nine  or  ten  years,  had  been  converted  into  an 
artillery  park  for  the  national  guard;  and  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  armistice  a  large  number  of  the 
new  bronze  pieces  of  eight  had  been  placed  there 
under  the  care  of  the  artillery  of  the  guard,  whose 
quarters  were  in  the  wooden  huts  erected  on  a 
large  space  of  ground  close  at  hand.  On  the  day 
mentioned,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Place  Wagram 
adjoining,  of  whom  the  writer  was  one,  saw  that 
the  guns  were  being  removed;  at  first  four  horses 
mounted  by   artillerymen   of  the  national  guard 


were  brought  for  each  gun,  and  the  work  went 
on  in  the  most  quiet  and  regular  manner  possible; 
presently  no  more  horses  appeared,  but  men  and 
boys,  and  even  women,  attached  themselves  to  the 
guns  and  trotted  off  with  them.  Still  no  suspicion 
was  entertained  that  a  rebellious  act  was  being 
performed  in  broad  daylight  under  our  eyes,  till, 
after  seventy  or  more  of  the  guns  had  been 
abstracted,  we  saw  a  squadron  of  cavalry  enter 
the  park  and  take  charge  of  the  remainder. 
Soon  we  found  that  the  guards  favourable  to  the 
Commune  had  arrived  in  considerable  numbers  at 
the  park,  and  acting  in  spite  of  the  artillerymen, 
who,  however,  offered  very  little  resistance,  had 
taken  first  the  horses  from  the  pickets  in  the  rear, 
and  finally  the  guns  themselves  from  the  park. 
The  reason  given  out  for  the  act  was,  that  in 
spite  of  the  assertions  of  the  government  the 
artillery  of  the  national  guard  was  to  be  given  up 
at  night  to  the  enemy.  Few  people  believed  in 
such  an  act  of  deception ;  but  it  was  not  difficult 
to  imagine,  in  the  excited  state  of  the  popular 
mind,  that  the  leaders  of  the  Communist  guards 
might  truly  believe  what  they  asserted. 

The  principal  fear  which  seized  upon  the  author- 
ities— who  were  totally  unable  by  threats  or  other- 
wise to  get  the  men  to  give  up  the  guns — seems 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING,    AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


321 


to  have  been  that  they  would  be  used  against  the 
Germans  entering  Paris,  and  consequently  the 
national  guards  that  were  still  loyal  were  called 
out;  cartridges  were  served  out  for  the  mitrailleuses 
belonging  to  those  troops;  and  these  and  other 
guns  were  placed  at  many  points  commanding 
the  great  boulevards,  and  other  places  where 
imeutes  were  feared.  The  guards  in  opposition  to 
the  government  made  a  demonstration  against 
this  movement,  but  happily  no  collision  occurred. 
Squadrons  of  cavalry,  principally  gendarmerie, 
patrolled  the  streets  in  all  directions  at  a  trot. 
Fortunately  the  temporary  occupation  by  the 
Germans  did  not  give  rise  to  any  offensive  act 
against  them;  in  fact,  the  city  was  remarkably 
calm  during  the  two  days  of  the  occupation.  It 
was  said  that  the  conduct  of  General  Vinoy  had 
inspired  confidence,  and  that  the  national  guard 
had  no  intention  of  opposing  the  government. 

When  the  conditions  of  peace,  which  had  been 
agreed  to  at  Bordeaux  by  the  overwhelming  majority 
of  546  against  107  votes  of  the  Assembly,  were 
known  in  Paris,  the  consternation  was  terrible. 
The  war,  which  had  commenced  with  the  view 
to  wrest  the  Khenish  provinces  from  the  Germans, 
and  throw  a  new  halo  of  military  glory  around 
the  dictature  of  the  Napoleons,  had  ended  in 
the  loss  of  most  important  provinces,  with  an 
immense  indemnity  in  addition  to  be  paid  to  the 
conqueror ;  the  cry  of  a  Berlin  had  been  converted 
into  the  dreadful  reality  of  a  Paris.  The  effect  of 
the  publication  of  the  conditions  in  the  Official 
Journal  cannot  be  described;  it  was  felt  through- 
out Europe,  though  not  of  course  in  the  same 
intensity.  The  terms  seemed  to  the  unfortunate 
people  of  Paris  to  include  the  utter  ruin  and  pros- 
tration of  the  country;  and  the  outcry  against 
those  who  had  negotiated  such  a  contract  of  peace 
was  general,  except  with  the  few  who  saw  clearly 
enough  that  they  had  only  done  so  in  the  utter 
impossibility  of  obtaining  any  better  conditions. 
One  effect  of  the  action  of  the  Assembly  was  the 
sudden  termination  of  the  German  occupation,  and 
this  had  naturally  a  tranquillizing  effect,  and  the 
danger  of  an  insurrection  seemed  to  be  passing 
away.  The  gendarmerie  still  paraded  the  streets, 
the  abstracted  guns  were  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
recalcitrant  national  guards,  who  persistently  de- 
clared that  they  held  them  to  prevent  their  being 
given  up  to  the  enemy;  yet  when  the  Germans 
evacuated  Paris  in  the  morning  of  the  3rd  of 
Y0L.  n. 


March,  we  fondly  hoped  that  the  poor  city  would 
return  to  something  like  its  ordinary  life.  The 
weather  became  splendid,  and  people  said  that 
the  sun  of  Paris  was  rising  anew;  the  gas  was 
lighted  again  in  the  streets  on  the  departure  of  the 
enemy,  and  it  was  taken  as  a  promising  token 
of  the  return  of  industry  and  all  the  occupations 
of  peace.  These  pleasant  hopes  were  strengthened 
by  the  complete  re-establishment  of  the  postal 
service;  letters  began  to  reach  us  in  due  course 
from  London,  with  many  dated  previously  to  the 
investment;  even  newspapers,  which  had  been 
accumulating  at  the  various  ports  and  provincial 
towns,  came  in  upon  us  in  floods  of  twenties  and 
thirties.  It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  what 
we,  who  had  been  shut  up  for  nearly  half  a  year, 
felt  when  the  doors  of  our  prison  were  fairly 
thrown  open ;  we  came  back  as  it  were  to  life,  we 
believed  at  last  that  we  were  still  of  this  world. 
Letters,  old  as  well  as  new,  were  devoured  with 
painful  eagerness  or  tearful  delight,  and  old  news- 
papers were  opened  and  arranged,  and  smoothed 
out,  and  cut  with  infinite  care,  and  finally  read 
as  if  they  had  been  Sibylline  leaves  or  Cupid's 
delightful  literature.  No  wonder  that  we  dis- 
believed in  rumours  of  coming  danger,  or  even 
difficulties;  no  wonder  that  we  refused  to  believe 
that  after  all  we  were  not  at  peace:  and  when  at 
last  the  truth  was  forced  upon  our  minds,  when 
it  became  known  that  the  rebellious  national 
guards  had  established  batteries  on  the  heights 
of  Montmartre  and  Belleville,  and  had  taken  and 
kept  possession  of  many  other  important  positions, 
we  rather  laughed  at  the  folly  and  hopelessness 
of  the  insurrection  than  feared  for  the  result. 
Barricades,  it  is  true,  were  beginning  to  make 
their  appearance,  but  40,000  more  soldiers  had 
been  sent  for;  the  brave  and  experienced  General 
Aurelles  de  Paladine  was  announced  to  take 
command  of  the  national  guard  of  Paris;  the 
mounted  gendarmerie  kept  order  in  the  main 
streets  and  boulevards  of  the  city ;  and  it  was  almost 
universally  felt  by  those  not  in  the  secrets  of  the 
Communists,  that  if  the  insurrectionists  did  not 
lay  down  their  arms  immediately,  they  would  be 
quickly  dispersed  by  the  shells  of  Mont  Valerien 
or  the  forces  from  Versailles.  How  we  waked 
from  our  pleasing  delusion  is  but  too  well  known, 
and  how  Paris  was  a  second  time  fortified,  and  a 
second  time  besieged  within  six  months,  is  now 
matter  of  history. 

2s 


322 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


Before  entering  upon  the  account  of  Paris 
under  the  Commune,  it  is  necessary  to  say  a  few 
words  about  the  term  itself.  When  first  it  was 
uttered  at  the  Hdtel  de  Ville,  while  the  enemy  was 
at  the  gates,  very  few  had  any  notion  of  what  it 
meant.  "Cry  Vive  la  Commune!"  said  a  fellow 
to  a  passer  by.  "What  is  the  Commune?"  said 
the  other.  "  Oh !  I  don't  know ! "  was  the  rejoinder ; 
"  but  I  was  told  to  cry,  Vive  la  Commune!  and  to 
tell  every, one  else  to  do  the  same." 

The  word  communism  would  naturally,  at  first 
sight,  be  taken  in  its  old  meaning  of  property 
divided  in  common,  but  this  would  be  an  error; 
the  word  is  derived  from  the  French  word  com- 
mune, a  district  or  subdivision  of  a  department 
which  has  a  municipal  council  of  its  own.  Each 
commune  is  supposed  to  elect  its  own  council,  and, 
with  certain  precautions,  such  is  generally  the 
case;  but  during  the  whole  of  the  period  of  the 
reign  of  Louis  Napoleon,  Paris,  Marseilles,  and 
Lyons  were  utterly  deprived  of  all  municipal  rights 
whatever;  the  government  not  only  appointed  the 
prefects  and  sub-prefects,  but  the  municipal  coun- 
cillors, and  even  the  maires,  of  whom  there  are 
twenty  in  Paris,  their  adjoints,  or  assistants,  down 
to  the  lowest  official.  Thus  these  three  great 
cities  were  deprived  of  all  municipal  freedom,  and 
the  inhabitants  had  no  voice  in  the  management 
of  their  local  affairs.  Such  a  state  of  things  was 
anomalous  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  the  fact 
of  its  existence  was  proof  positive  that  the  govern- 
ment felt  that  it  was  opposed  to  the  opinions  and 
the  desires  of  the  most  populous  cities  in  the 
country.  Unfortunately,  M.  Thiers  and,  perhaps, 
the  Assembly  were  no  more  favourable  to  munici- 
pal liberty  than  former  governments ;  and  therefore 
the  adoption  of  the  Commune,  and  the  term  Com- 
munist, afterwards  changed  to  Communalist,  was 
a  happy  one;  and  had  the  object  of  the  Com- 
munalists  been  merely  to  obtain  for  Paris — and 
consequently  other  great  towns— municipal  self- 
government,  they  would  have  deserved,  and  would 
have  obtained,  the  support  of  all  true  liberals. 

The  Communalists  had  adopted  a  clever  cry, 
and  thus  drew  around  them  sufficient  adherents  to 
enable  them  to  carry  out  their  designs ;  but  when 
once  in  power  it  was  soon  manifest  that  the 
commune,  or  municipal  rights,  was  not  their  ulti- 
mate aim,  but  the  complete  destruction  of  all 
general  government,  and  the  establishment  in  its 
place  of  a  federation  of  free  communes  somewhat 


after  the  model  of  the  Swiss  republic.  It  is  im- 
possible to  say  what  may  occur  in  the  progress 
of  political  science  and  the  growth  of  civiliza- 
tion; but  in  the  present  state  of  Europe  such  a 
splitting  up  of  France  into  a  mass  of  little  inde- 
pendent states,  which  would  be  eternally  jealous 
of  and  pulling  against  each  other,  would  be  nothing 
less  than  the  annihilation  of  the  nation  proper,  and 
the  reduction  of  France  to  a  third-rate  power. 

Another  object  of  the  Commune  was  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  church.  The  hatred  of  the  people  of 
Paris  and  other  great  towns  in  France  for  the 
clergy  proves  that  the  church  has  not  been  more 
fortunate  than  the  government  in  acquiring  the 
love,  or  even  the  respect,  of  the  nation  at  large; 
and  the  Communalists  aimed  at  overthrowing  all 
religion  as  well  as  all  general  government. 

It  is  but  just,  however,  to  say  that  the  leaders 
of  the  Commune  declared  that  had  the  Assembly 
listened  to  their  appeals,  and  granted  municipal 
liberty  to  Paris,  the  insurrection  would  have  been 
put  an  end  to  on  the  instant. 

Lamentable  as  such  a  programme  as  that  of  the 
Communalists  was,  extraordinary  as  it  appears  to 
Englishmen,  accustomed  to  representative  govern- 
ment and  political  as  well  as  religious  discussion, 
is  it  very  surprising  that  ignorant  men  should  be 
led  by  demagogues  who  preach  such  doctrines, 
when  we  consider  how  long  the  great  cities  of 
France  have  been  completely  deprived  of  municipal 
freedom,  and  that  a  well-known  member  of  the 
present  French  Assembly  did  not  hesitate  to  make 
in  his  place  the  ludicrously  illogical  assertion, 
that  the  "  republic  was  above  universal  suffrage?" 
When  would-be  teachers  of  the  people  and  sharp 
critics  of  others  descend  to  clap-trap  expressions 
like  the  above,  which  was  equivalent  to  declaring 
that  the  tree  was  above  its  roots,  or  that  the  effect 
was  totally  independent  of  its  cause,  can  we 
wonder  at  the  madness,  the  folly,  the  criminality 
of  the  ignorant  masses,  or  at  the  conduct  of  those 
who  fancied  they  could  reconstruct  the  govern- 
ment of  a  country  according  to  their  own  childish 
notions? 

The  Communal  insurrection  was  rendered  pos- 
sible by  the  fact  of  the  national  guards  having 
been  allowed,  by  the  terms  of  the  convention  with 
the  Prussian  authorities,  to  retain  their  arms;  and 
M.  Jules  Favre  was  blamed  for  not  having  taken 
the  opportunity  of  getting  the  arms  out  of  such 
dangerous   hands,  just  as  he  was  blamed  for  not 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


323 


having  concluded  a  peace  immediately  after  the 
disaster  of  Sedan.  The  conduct  of  those  who  so 
calmly  utter  their  prophecies  after  the  fact,  calls  to 
mind  the  stinging  expression  of  the  poet — 

"  The  juggling  fiend,  who  never  spoke  before, 
But  cries,  4 1  warned  you,'  when  the  mischief's  o'er." 

It  is  impossible  to  deny,  we  think,  that  if  Jules 
Favre  or  any  one  else  had  accepted  Count  von 
Bismarck's  conditions  at  that  time,  and  thus  put 
an  end  to  the  war,  there  would  have  been  an  indig- 
nant scream  from  one  end  of  the  nation  to  the 
other,  and  especially  from  the  capital,  that  France 
had  been  sold,  betrayed,  disgraced;  and  that  the 
miserable  traitor  must  have  known  that  the  grande 
nation  only  required  a  few  weeks  to  rally  its 
forces,  to  place  arms  in  the  hands  of  every  man 
and  boy,  and  drive  the  enemy  at  the  bayonet's 
point  to  the  Rhine,  and  perhaps  beyond  it.  Such 
language  was  in  fact  used,  such  hopes  were  nursed, 
and  to  those  shut  up  in  Paris,  as  well  as  to  some 
other  people,  they  did  not  seem  absurd.  It  is 
equally  impossible,  we  think,  to  deny  that  the 
condition  that  the  national  guard  should  retain 
not  only  their  small  arms,  but  also  their  artillery, 
was  one  for  which  M.  Jules  Favre  deserves  grati- 
tude, and  has  been  loaded  with  abuse.  The  national 
guard  was  greatly  pleased  at  the  time  ;  its  self- 
esteem  was  thus  spared  a  deep  wound ;  and  to 
convert  this  into  a  reproach  against  the  minister 
is  surely  an  act  that  comes  under  the  poet's  lash. 

France  appears  to  have  been  the  victim  of  every 
form  of  deception ;  every  act  seemed  to  turn 
against  her.  Her,  or  perhaps  we  should  say,  her 
late  ruler's  ambitious  schemes,  have  turned  to  the 
glory  of  Germany;  the  snatch  at  the  Rhenish 
Provinces  has  ended  with  the  loss  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine,  just  as  the  dog  in  the  fable  lost  his  meat 
by  snatching  at  its  shadow;  the  honourable  pre- 
servation of  the  arms  of  the  national  guard  enabled 
the  Commune  to  rebel  against  the  government, 
which  had  prevented  their  being  delivered  to  the 
enemy;  and  the  government  was  kept  at  bay  for 
six  weeks  by  the  very  ramparts  and  forts  which 
its  chief,  M.  Thiers,  erected  at  enormous  expense 
against  foreign  enemies  thirty  years  before. 

When  in  March  the  heights  of  Montmartre  and 
Belleville  were  crowned  with  revolutionary  bat- 
teries, when  numbers  of  the  national  guards  were 
in  arms  against  the  government,  even  those  who 
knew  well  the  seething  mass  of  discontent  in  Paris, 


made  light  of  the  fact;  they  were  wrong,  but  they 
erred  in  good  company;  all  the  world,  or  nearly 
so,  was  of  the  same  opinion.  It  was  almost  uni- 
versally believed  that  the  first  shot  from  Mont 
Valerien  would  put  to  flight  the  rebellious  artillery 
of  Montmartre  and  Belleville ;  and  that  the  only 
reason  why  that  shot  was  not  fired,  was  that  the 
government  knew  perfectly  well  that  it  could  put 
an  end  to  the  emeute  whenever  it  pleased,  and  only 
held  its  hand  because  it  felt  confident  in  the 
good  sense  of  the  better  portion  of  the  population, 
and  desired  to  spare  bloodshed.  As  in  every  case 
from  July,  1870,  to  the  moment  to  which  we  refer, 
these  views,  though  shared  by  nearly  all  who 
expressed  any  opinion,  turned  out  erroneous. 

The  total  absence  of  anything  deserving  the 
name  of  public  opinion,  of  political  life,  left  Paris, 
as  usual,  a  prey  to  ignorance  and  mad  fury.  The 
press,  occupied  almost  solely  with  the  advocacy  of 
party  views  or  the  vilification  of  opponents,  took, 
as  usual,  no  care  to  ascertain  what  was  actually 
going  on  close  around  it;  second-rate  writers  filled 
what  are  called  newspapers,  but  which  are  really 
little  more  than  satirical  squibs  in  a  daily  form, 
with  long  frothy  articles  pretending  to  be  political, 
but  intended  to  be  comic  while  they  were  simply 
weak  and  ridiculous,  and  the  Commune  was  thus 
enabled  to  carry  on  its  manoeuvres  without  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  knowing  anything  about 
them.  Rochefort,  Pyat,  and  others  put  forth 
revolutionary  arguments  of  the  most  atrocious 
character  in  their  journals,  managed  to  persuade 
the  ignorant  that  the  views  of  the  Commune  were 
full  of  wisdom  and  justice,  and  that  the  political 
millennium  was  really  at  hand,  while  the  better 
informed  passed  over  their  lucubrations  with  con- 
fident contempt.  The  mistake  was  a  serious  one 
for  Paris  ;  it  consisted  in  this,  that  no  one  under- 
stood how  completely  all  classes  were  demoralized, 
high  as  well  as  low,  civilians  as  well  as  soldiers. 
The  proofs  came  with  fearful  rapidity,  bearing  upon 
their  faces  the  unquestionable  mark  of  authenticity. 

Another  mistake,  in  which  nearly  all  the  world 
participated,  was  brought  to  light  at  the  same 
time:  this  was  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment from  Paris.  When  the  Assembly  met  at 
Bordeaux  the  expression  of  approval  seemed  all 
but  universal,  and  when  it  was  removed  to  Ver- 
sailles there  was  scarcely  a  dissentient  voice  raised 
against  it.  Some  deputies  recommended  Fontaine- 
bleau ;  but  it  is  clear  that  that  would  have  been  no 


324 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


improvement.  The  absence  of  the  government 
and  of  the  army  gave  the  Communalists  the  very 
opportunity  they  required ;  the  effect  of  thus  aban- 
doniii'  Paris  was  to  frighten  the  timid  out  of  it, 
and  to  give  up  the  city  to  the  revolutionists,  who 
soon  took  advantage  of  the  occasion  thus  offered 
to  them. 

This  fact  allowed  the  disorganization  of  society 
to  appear  in  all  its  horrible  nakedness.  The 
Commune  determined  to  have  recourse  to  universal 
suffrage ;  it  was  far  wiser  than  M.  Louis  Blanc, 
who  had  declared  in  public  that  the  republic  was 
above  that  and  everything  else;  it  knew,  though 
he  ignored  the  fact,  that  popular  government  must 
have  a  popular  vote,  or  the  appearance  of  it,  for 
its  base,  and  accordingly  it  determined  to  elect  the 
maires  of  the  twenty  arrondissements,  or  districts, 
of  Paris.  Some  few  of  the  newspapers  denounced 
the  proposed  election  in  bold  terms,  and  at  first 
nearly  all  the  press  declared  the  claims  and  the 
doings  of  the  Communalists  to  be  ridiculous  and 
mischievous  ;  and  if  at  that  moment  there  had 
been  a  spark  of  political  life  in  Paris,  it  would 
have  been  easy  to  blow  it  into  a  flame  and  destroy 
the  nascent  revolutionary  government.  But  the 
mass  of  the  middle  classes,  the  men  of  educa- 
tion and  the  men  of  substance,  who  might  have 
stemmed  the  growing  torrent,  had  either  fled  at 
its  approach  or  cowered  in  helpless  silence.  The 
elections  took  place ;  no  one  had  the  courage  of 
opposition  :  abstention,  the  proof  of  weakness,  was 
the  only  weapon  used,  and  of  course  it  was  utterly 
ineffectual.  Two  men,  M.  Desmarest  and  M.  Albert 
Leroy,  well-known  liberals,  but  utterly  opposed  to 
Communalism  of  the  Pyat-Blanqui  pattern,  had  the 
courage  to  refuse  to  accept  the  mandate  which  the 
voters  had  attempted  to  force  upon  them,  and  we 
never  heard  that  they  suffered  for  their  patriotism. 
Had  other  liberals  taken  a  manly  course,  the  shame 
of  the  Communist  domination  would  have  been 
spared  to  Paris.  As  it  was,  the  Communalists  were 
left  to  vote  alone,  and  the  result  was  the  installa- 
tion, as  members  of  the  government,  of  the  most 
violent  demagogues,  men  who  were  avowed  oppo- 
nents of  all  that  was  decent  and  holy.  Such  was 
the  effect  of  the  absence  or  the  cowardice  of  the 
middle  classes  of  the  Parisian  population.  "When 
the  elections  had  been  accomplished,  some  of  the 
respectable  journals  still  wrote  in  opposition,  and 
the  Commune  used  against  them  the  old  means  of 
punishment,  suppression   or  suspension.     Others, 


the  Siicle  amongst  the  number,  turned  towards 
the  rising  sun  that  was  so  soon  to  set  in  blood, 
and  supported  the  Commune  in  equivocal  though 
effective  terms.  These,  like  the  men  of  the  middle 
classes,  bowed  down  before  the  demagogues. 

This  absence  or  disorganization  of  the  middle 
classes  left  the  ground  clear  to  the  Commune ;  there 
was  neither  government  nor  popular  opinion  to 
restrain  it;  there  remained  nothing  to  depend  upon 
for  its  suppression  but  force  of  arms.  The  first 
attempt  showed  that  the  demoralization  of  the 
army,  or  of  a  portion  of  it,  was  more  complete  than 
even  the  experience  of  the  previous  months  had 
led  the  world  to  suspect.  Led  against  the  rebels  at 
Montmartre,  one  or  more  regiments,  either  sym- 
pathizing with  the  insurgents  or  cowed  by  their 
determination,  threw  up  the  butt  end  of  their 
muskets  in  the  air  and  shouted  for  the  Commune. 
What  was  the  government  to  do  under  such 
circumstances  ?  To  repeat  the  attempt  was  to 
run  the  risk  of  another  disgraceful  scene  of  the 
same  kind,  and  to  expose  such  of  the  regiments 
as  might  remain  true  to  their  colours  to  almost 
certain  death.  The  consequence  of  this  was  that 
the  government,  forced  to  retire  and  reorganize 
its  forces,  to  wait  for  reinforcements  of  soldiers 
upon  whom  they  could  depend,  was  shut  out 
from  Paris,  and  M.  Thiers  was  placed  in  the 
predicament  of  doing  nothing,  or  of  besieging 
the  forts  and  ramparts  which  he  himself,  nearly 
thirty  years  before,  had  erected  against  possible, 
but  then  not  probable,  enemies  from  abroad.  He 
may  probably  infer  from  the  difficulties  which 
they  gave  him,  that  these  fortifications  deserve  the 
admiration  of  the  world.  Although,  in  a  previous 
chapter,  the  belief  has  been  stated  that  they  were 
of  inestimable  advantage  to  France,  many  think 
that  much  of  her  sufferings,  and  especially  those 
of  Paris,  were  caused  by  these  very  forts  and  walls ; 
that  but  for  them  peace  might  have  been  made 
earlier  and  upon  better  terms  ;  but  for  them  the 
population  of  Paris  could  not  have  been  starved 
into  submission,  its  people  decimated  and  its  rising 
generation  impoverished  by  disease  and  suffering  ; 
that  the  flight  within  the  walls  and  the  closing  of 
the  gates  took  the  place  of  bold  attempts  at  reor- 
ganization in  the  field,  which  might  possibly  have 
changed  the  course  of  events  ;  and  we  know  now 
from  General  Trochu's  own  admission,  that  not  a 
hope  existed  of  the  garrison  of  the  city  triumphing 
over  the  enemy.      During  the  existence  of  the 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


325 


Commune,  the  walls  of  Paris  might  have  enabled 
the  Versailles  government  to  starve  out  the  insur- 
rection, as  the  Prussians  had  starved  down  the 
resistance  (it  is  to  the  credit  of  M.  Thiers  that 
he  did  not  resort  to  this  atrocious  expedient)  ; 
but  they  certainly  caused  that  same  government 
to  bombard  the  city,  to  rouse  all  the  ferocity  of 
the  Communalists,  to  give  them  time  to  exhaust 
the  resources  of  the  place,  to  inflict  enormous  suf- 
fering upon  the  quiet  portion  of  the  population, 
and  finally,  cause  the  destruction  of  many  of  the 
finest  monuments  of  the  city,  and  of  an  immense 
amount  of  private  property.  To  a  population  that 
has  not  the  force  to  defend  its  country  in  the 
field,  fortifications,  with  the  present  system  of 
warfare,  simply  offer  the  chance  of  being  starved 
into  submission  at  enormous  cost,  which,  event- 
ually, the  survivors  have  to  defray.  The  fortifica- 
tions that  make  a  people  strong  against  enemies 
from  within,  as  well  as  from  without,  are  freedom 
and  self-dependence — forts  of  which  M.  Thiers,  and 
all  the  emperors,  kings,  and  presidents  in  France 
to  the  present  time,  have  never  been  able  to  learn 
the  value.  The  doings  of  the  Commune  were  so 
atrocious,  that  most  men  looked  upon  the  leaders 
as  wild  beasts  ;  but  had  they  simply  demanded  free 
municipal  government  they  would  have  deserved 
and  obtained  the  support  of  all  liberal-minded 
men ;  for  in  that  case  they  would  simply  have 
been  asking  for  that  which  was  their  birthright, 
and  of  which  they  had  been  deprived  for  years 
by  rulers  for  their  own  ends.  The  final  acts  of 
the  Commune  or  of  the  mob  were  infamous,  and 
infamously  carried  out ;  but  the  leaders  of  the 
Commune  were  not  a  set  of  thieves  and  bandits, 
any  more  than  were  the  concocters  and  agents  of 
the  atrocious  massacres  of  the  coup  d!itat  in  1852. 
The  Commune  was  the  natural  child  of  govern- 
mental incapacity,  and  the  selfishness  of  vulgar 
speculators,  just  as  the  crowd  of  vagabonds  that 
fill  our  jails,  infest  our  streets,  and  from  time  to 
time  endanger  the  peace  of  our  community,  are 
the  result  of  the  culpable  neglect  of  government, 
the  indolence  of  wealth,  and  the  selfish  and  vain 
squabbling  of  parties  and  sects.  Perhaps  now 
that  such  a  fearful  drama  has  been  played  before 
the  world,  we  may  pay  more  attention  to  the  means 
of  education  and  the  demands  of  morality. 

The  course  of  events  from  the  beginning  of 
March  to  the  end  of  May  is  extremely  difficult  to 
explain.     We  have  already  said  something  of  the 


commencement  of  the  insurrection.  The  following, 
taken  from  a  journal  published  on  the  9th  of  March, 
will  give  an  idea  of  the  small  impression  events 
had  then  made  on  the  public  mind: — 

"  Tranquillity  is  likely  soon  to  be  restored;  sleep 
quietly,  people  of  Paris. 

"  General  d'Aurelles  de  Paladine  (commandant 
of  the  national  guard)  met  the  officers,  and  the 
maire  of  Montmartre,  at  a  private  audience. 

"  The  meeting  was  a  long  one,  and  the  negotia- 
tions were  well  advanced  by  the  discussion. 

"  M.  Clemenceau  especially  exhibited  great 
moderation,  and  we  are  happy  to  record  the  fact. 

"  The  men  of  Montmartre  admitted  that  they 
began  to  weary  of  their  watch  over  the  cannon  in 
their  possession. 

"  One  more  good  movement  to  counteract  a  bad 
one,  and  all  will  go  well." 

The  red  flag  of  the  insurrection  had  been  placed 
in  the  hand  of  the  figure  at  the  top  of  the  column 
of  July.  Admiral  Pothueu  went  to  the  Place  de 
la  Bastille,  and  sent  a  young  sailor  up,  who,  after 
some  hesitation,  took  down  the  hateful  flag  and 
replaced  it  by  the  tricolor. 

An  incident  of  a  different  kind  occurred  on  the 
boulevards.  A  paper  signed  Blanqui  had  been 
stuck  upon  a  column  calling  the  people  to  rise, 
and  attracted  a  crowd  of  idlers,  when  a  man,  one 
who  truly  deserved  the  name  of  Citizen,  advanced 
and  said — "  Messieurs,  I  have  too  much  respect 
for  universal  suffrage  to  stand  by  quietly,  and  see 
appeals  made  to  violence  in  a  country  in  which  it 
is  not  legally  permitted  to  appeal  by  any  other 
means  but  the  voting  paper."  Then  quickly 
tearing  down  the  placard,  he  went  his  way  amid 
the  surprise  of  all,  and  the  acclamations  of  a  por- 
tion of  the  bystanders.  Had  that  man  been  a  fair 
example,  instead  of  an  exception,  of  the  people  of 
Paris,  the  Commune  might  have  been  strangled  in 
its  birth.  Unfortunately,  the  great  mass  of  the 
writers  and  talkers  were  far  too  much  occupied 
with  abuse  and  ridicule  of  the  existing  govern- 
ment— which  certainly  deserved  neither — to  bestir 
themselves  and  stop  the  operations  of  the  Com- 
mune, which  at  the  outset  had  not  the  sympathy 
of  the  people. 

At  this  very  time  M.  Louis  Blanc,  in  his  place 
in  the  Assembly  at  Bordeaux,  presented  a  pro- 
position, signed  by  Victor  Hugo  and  others,  for 
the  impeachment  of  the  government  of  the  Na- 
tional Defence.      In  this  precious  document  the 


326 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


provisional  government  was  charged  with  having 
brought  about  the  capitulation  of  Paris,  "which 
the  heroism  of  the  people,  if  left  to  their  own 
inspirations,  would,  according  to  all  probability, 
have  saved."  It  is  due  to  the  Assembly  to  add 
that,  while  a  few  members  applauded  this  nonsense, 
the  great  majority  received  it  as  it  deserved  to  be 
received. 

While  the  commander  of  the  national  guard  was 
doing  his  best,  by  constant  interviews  with  the 
officers  under  his  command,  to  assure  them  that 
the  government  was  true  to  the  republic,  and  that 
he  would  never  destroy  it;  while  every  one  seemed 
convinced  that  an  amicable  arrangement  would 
soon  be  brought  about,  the  attention  and  time  of 
the  Assembly  was  diverted  by  the  complaints  of 
the  extreme  Left ;  while  M.  Victor  Hugo  found  time 
to  vilify  all  Europe  as  cowardly  (lache)  in  not 
rendering  assistance  to  France  during  the  war,  and 
finding  himself  impatiently  listened  to  gave  in  his 
resignation;  while  the  Assembly  itself  was  pre- 
occupied with  the  question  of  its  removal  from 
Bordeaux  to  Versailles — the  government  had  the 
unhappy  idea,  which  generally  crowns  all  difficul- 
ties in  France,  of  suppressing  half  a  dozen  of  the 
revolutionary  papers.  It  could  not  have  easily 
taken  any  step  more  calculated  to  aid  the  leaders 
of  the  insurrection,  and  to  strengthen  their  cause 
with  the  masses.  Prevented  from  acting  in  broad 
daylight  through  the  press,  the  secret  action 
became  at  once  more  energetic  and  more  deadly. 
There  was  a  review  on  the  same  day  at  the 
Champ  de  Mars — it  was  some  time  before  another 
review  took  place  there — and  between  the  two 
reviews  Paris  had  been  besieged  a  second  time, 
her  palaces  ruined,  and  her  streets  again  sullied 
with  the  blood  of  Frenchmen. 

On  the  16th  of  March  Paris  was  remarkably 
quiet;  the  government  was  praised  for  having  met 
the  difficulty  with  firmness,  and  the  best  writers 
in  the  journals  were  hopeful.  The  guns  on  Mont- 
martre  were  only  guarded  by  four  national  guards, 
and  Belleville,  the  other  stronghold  of  the  insur- 
rection, was  almost  as  quiet.  The  crowd  that  had 
surrounded  the  column  of  July  had  dwindled 
down  to  forty  or  fifty  idlers  and  hucksters,  who 
were  selling,  or  trying  to  sell,  medals  and  biogra- 
phies of  Garibaldi;  the  cold  was  severe,  snow  was 
falling,  and  almost  everybody  kept  within  doors. 

A  simple  incident  will  illustrate  the  condition, 
or  rather,  it  should  be  said,  the  apparent  condition, 


of  Paris  on  the  day  in  question.  A  small  body  of 
marines,  about  to  quit  Paris  for  the  coast,  marched 
up  the  Eue  Kivoli  to  lay  an  offering  at  the  base  of 
the  July  column  in  the  Place  de  la  Bastille ;  they 
made  no  demonstration  whatever,  except  placing  a 
small  flag  and  a  wreath  at  the  foot  of  the  repub- 
lican monument.  No  one  took  any  notice  of  the 
act,  there  was  no  crowd;  and  when  they  had 
accomplished  their  patriotic  act  they  marched 
straight  to  the  railway  station  and  set  off  on  their 
journey. 

This  same  week  several  of  the  rooms  of  the 
Museum  of  the  Louvre  were  opened.  The  great 
mass  of  the  works  of  the  old  masters  were  still 
absent,  but  those  of  the  French  school,  the  draw- 
ings and  several  other  collections,  were  open  as 
usual  to  the  public ;  and  this  fact  gave  a  feeling  of 
security  which  can  only  be  understood  by  those 
who  know  what  an  important  position  art  occupies 
in  Paris,  and  how  completely  the  Louvre  stands 
as  its  representative.  To  complete  the  picture,  it 
may  be  mentioned  that  the  opening  of  the  school 
of  the  Beaux  Arts  was  officially  announced  for  the 
20th  of  March,  and  the  dates  fixed  for  the  compe- 
titions for  the  annual  prizes. 

By  this  time  the  Assembly  had  quitted  Bor- 
deaux; and  the  theatre  in  the  Chateau  of  Versailles, 
where  the  brilliant  throng  of  courtiers  were  accus- 
tomed, during  the  reigns  of  Louis  XIV.  and  XV., 
to  flutter  round  the  sovereign,  gay  and  buzzing 
as  the  insects  that  swarm  about  the  rose,  though 
far  less  innocent  in  their  occupations,  was  being 
fitted  to  receive  the  deputies  of  the  third  French 
republic  on  the  20th  of  the  month.  The  ministers 
had  already  arrived,  and  on  the  17th  M.  Thiers 
had  a  formal  reception  of  all  the  officers  of  state, 
civil  and  military.  After  the  reception  there  was  a 
council  of  ministers,  and  the  report  afterwards  was 
that — "  Decisions  had  finally  been  arrived  at  to 
put  an  end  to  the  irregular  state  of  things  which 
existed  at  Montmartre  and  Belleville."  Such  was 
the  aspect  of  affairs  on  the  17th  of  March.  On 
the  following  morning  appeared  a  proclamation, 
signed  by  all  the  members  of  the  government, 
calling  upon  the  population  to  support  the  authori- 
ties, and  put  an  end  to  the  state  of  anarchy  caused 
by  a  handful  of  men  who  had  coerced  others  and 
threatened  to  bring  about  a  civil  war ;  the  govern- 
ment informed  the  people  that  it  had  taken  means 
to  put  an  end  to  the  insurrection,  and  trusted  that 
it  would  have  the  support  of  all  well-disposed  citi- 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


327 


zens.  True  to  its  promise,  two  forces  were  directed 
on  that  same  morning,  one  against  Montmartre, 
the  other  against  Belleville.  The  exact  truth  re- 
specting what  took  place  there  is  known  to  few, 
and  will  never  be  known  to  the  world  at  large; 
but  we  all  know,  and  in  Paris  it  was  known  in 
an  hour  or  two,  that  the  government  had  utterly- 
failed,  and  that  the  Commune  was  master  of  the 
position.  It  would  be  impossible  to  describe  the 
disappointment,  the  disgust,  the  terror,  that  seized 
upon  the  well-inclined  portion  of  the  people  of 
Paris  when  the  deplorable  truth  became  known. 
The  accounts  were  at  first  most  contradictory,  but 
all  agreed  as  to  the  main  point,  namely,  that  the 
government  had  met  with  a  very  serious  defeat. 
The  most  terrible  facts  that  came  to  light  at  the 
very  outset,  were  the  refusal  of  more  than  one 
regiment  to  act  against  the  insurgents,  and  the 
fraternization  of  a  considerable  number  of  the 
regulars  with  the  rioters.  One  regiment  seems 
positively  to  have  refused  to  act;  another  gave  way 
at  the  first  attack  of  the  rebels,  who  effectually 
prevented  the  guns  which  were  in  the  possession 
of  the  soldiers  from  being  carried  off;  while  a  third 
is  said,  apparently  with  truth,  to  have  openly 
declared  against  the  government,  and  to  have  gone 
over  at  once  to  the  Commune. 

An  atrocious  act,  perpetrated  at  Montmartre, 
completed  the  horrors  of  the  day.  General  Le- 
comte,  who  commanded  the  attack,  was  made 
prisoner,  and  taken,  it  is  said,  before  a  band  of 
men  called  the  central  committee;  at  this  moment 
General  Thomas,  a  soldier  of  high  reputation,  who 
commanded  the  national  guard  during  the  siege, 
appeared  in  plain  clothes,  and  was  also  made  pri- 
soner. What  actually  occurred  is  involved  in 
some  mystery,  but  the  horrible  truth  remains, 
that  about  a  hundred  ruffians  seized  the  generals, 
dragged  them  into  a  garden,  and  then  having 
pinioned  them,  shot  them,  and  afterwards  muti- 
lated their  bodies  with  bayonet  wounds.  One  of 
the  unfortunate  officers,  at  the  moment  the  rifles 
were  levelled  at  them,  looked  full  in  the  faces  of 
their  murderers, and  with  his  last  breath,  and  throw- 
ing all  his  force  into  the  expression,  flung  the  word 
laches  (cowards)  at  the  teeth  of  the  miserable 
assassins.  The  two  aides-de-camp  of  General  Le- 
comte,  very  young  men,  were  also  about  to  be 
shot,  but  were  saved  by  a  brave  young  fellow  of 
seventeen,  who  threw  himself  between  the  officers 
and  the  wretches  who  were  prepared  to  murder 


them,  declaring  that  what  had  already  been  done 
was  infamous,  and  that  nobody  knew  the  men  who 
had  given  orders  for  the  execution  of  the  generals. 
The  central  committee  of  the  Commune  declared 
afterwards  that  it  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
the  assassination  of  the  generals,  who  were  killed 
by  an  enraged  group,  headed  by  a  serjeant.  The 
rebels  at  the  same  time  made  prisoners  of  several 
officers  and  130  gendarmes  and  gardiens  de  Paris 
enrolled  as  soldiers. 

Complete  was  the  victory  of  the  Commune. 
Before  the  day  had  ended  the  whole  of  Paris 
was  in  its  possession  ;  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  the 
Luxembourg,  and  all  the  barracks  in  its  hands; 
barricades  thrown  up  in  all  the  principal  streets; 
and  the  members  of  the  government,  the  soldiery, 
and  all  the  officials  in  flight.  The  defection  of  a 
portion  of  the  army,  the  want  of  determination  of 
the  rest,  the  connivance  of  one  part  of  the  national 
guards,  the  indifference  of  the  others,  and  the  unac- 
countable absence  of  anything  like  public  spirit, 
made  the  Communalists  masters  of  the  capital  of 
France  almost  without  a  struggle.  Paris  has  seen 
other  revolutions ;  government  has  before  now  been 
overthrown  in  France :  but  never  in  the  history  of 
the  world  did  a  handful  of  men,  scarcely  three  of 
whom  were  known  to  the  Parisian  public,  van- 
quish the  whole  force  that  a  government  could 
bring  against  it  in  a  few  hours,  and  remain  masters 
of  the  field. 

On  the  day  after  their  victory  the  leaders  pla- 
carded Paris  to  the  following  effect : — 

"  Citizens, — The  people  of  Paris  have  thrown  off 
the  yoke  which  it  was  attempted  to  fasten  upon 
their  necks. 

"  Calm  and  immovable  in  its  strength,  Paris 
awaited  without  fear  as  without  provocation,  the 
insolent  fools  who  would  have  dared  to  touch  the 
republic. 

"  This  time  our  brothers  of  the  army  would  not 
lay  hands  on  the  holy  ark  of  our  liberties.  Our 
thanks  to  all!  and  may  Paris  and  France  together 
lay  the  foundation  of  a  republic  proclaimed  with 
all  its  consequences,  the  only  government  which 
can  for  ever  close  the  era  of  civil  wars. 

"  The  state  of  siege  is  raised. 

"  The  people  of  Paris  are  convoked  to  elect  com- 
munal representatives  in  the  several  sections. 

"  The  safety  of  all  citizens  is  assured  by  the 
co-operation  of  the  national  guard. 


328 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


"  The  central  committee  of  the  national  guard. 
"  (Signed),   Assi,  Billioray,  Ferrat,  Babick,  E. 

MoREAU,   C.   DuPONT,   VaELIN,  BOUR- 
SIER,  MORTIER,  GoUHrER,  LaVALLETTE, 

Fr.  Jourde,  Rousseau,  Ch.  Lullier, 
Blanchet,  J.  Grollard,   Barroud; 
H.  Geresme,  Fabre,  Pougeret. 
"Hotel  de  Ville,  Paris,  19th  March,  1871." 

Another  proclamation,  signed  by  the  same  per- 
sons and  issued  on  the  same  day,  ran  thus : — 

"  To  the  National  Guards  of  Paris. 

"You  have  intrusted  us  with  the  defence  of 
Paris  and  of  your  rights. 

"We  feel  that  we  have  fulfilled  that  mission; 
aided  by  your  generous  assistance  and  admirable 
sang  froid,  we  have  driven  out  the  government 
which  betrayed  us. 

"  We  have  fulfilled  your  mandate  and  we  return 
it  to  you,  for  we  have  no  pretension  to  take  the  place 
of  those  whom  the  popular  breath  has  driven  away. 

"  Prepare  then  your  communal  elections  without 
delay,  and  make  us  the  only  recompense  we  have 
ever  hoped  for,  that  of  seeing  you  establish  a  verit- 
able republic. 

"  In  the  meantime,  we  retain  the  Hotel  de  Ville 
in  the  name  of  the  people." 

It  will  be  perceived  that  not  a  single  fact  is  here 
stated  proving,  or  even  intended  to  prove,  that  the 
government  and  the  Assembly  had  betrayed  the 
republic ;  the  proclamations  of  the  Commune  were 
not  peculiar  in  their  style;  each  reader  was  left 
to  construe  the  meaning  for  himself.  The  argu- 
ments of  the  Commune  were  such  as  we  have 
heard  before:  it  had  the  power,  and  invented  the 
offence  to  be  punished. 

On  the  17th  of  March  the  Communalists  had 
taken  possession  of  a  number  of  guns  in  the  old 
Place  Royal  and  other  places,  and  carried  them  off 
to  Belleville.  It  was  stated  that  they  had  in  their 
possession  in  all  448  cannons,  mortars,  and  mitrail- 
leuses; this  formidable  artillery  consisted  princi- 
pally of  breech-loading  brass  guns  throwing  a 
sixteen  pound  shell,  subscribed  for  during  the 
siege,  and  for  the  production  of  which  all  the 
skill,  science,  and  energy  of  the  military  and  civil 
engineers,  the  founders  and  machine-makers  of 
Paris,  had  been  called  into  play.  A  very  small 
number  of  these  pieces  had  ever  been  fired  against 
the  invadine;  Germans. 


In  vain  did  the  government  make  appeals  by 
proclamations  and  in  the  Official  Journal,  to  arouse 
the  population  against  the  rebels.  Paris  was  fairly 
cowed,  had  no  faith  in  itself  or  any  body  else,  and 
the  communal  leaders  had  everything  in  their  own 
hands.  The  central  committee  at  once  seized  upon 
the  Official  Journal,  appointed  a  delegate  to  super- 
intend its  publication,  and  thus  communicated  with 
the  people. 

On  the  20th  of  March  an  announcement  appeared 
in  that  Journal,  to  the  effect  that  the  election  of 
the  municipal  and  communal  council  of  Paris 
would  take  place  on  the  22nd  of  that  month  ; 
one  representative  was  to  be  elected  for  every 
20,000  inhabitants.  The  "  new  government  of 
the  republic  "  took  possession  of  all  the  ministerial 
and  other  public  offices;  all  political  prisoners 
were  released,  and  full  amnesty  granted  for  political 
offences.  The  Assembly,  on  the  other  hand,  had 
removed  all  its  ministries  to  Versailles,  which 
was  declared  to  be,  pro  tern.,  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment. The  army  had  been  withdrawn  by  General 
Vinoy;  its  force  was  announced,  in  a  letter  to 
the  maire  of  Rouen  by  M.  Thiers,  to  number 
40,000  men,  and  to  have  arrived  in  good  order  at 
Versailles.  The  Commune  put  forth  a  proclama- 
tion, in  which  the  demands  of  the  people  of  Paris 
were  thus  set  forth.  Starting  with  the  assertion 
that  "  Paris,  since  the  18th  of  March,  had  no  other 
government  but  that  of  the  people,  the  best  of 
all,"  the  document  went  on  to  declare  Paris  "  a 
free  city,  in  which  every  one  had  the  right  of 
freedom  of  speech,"  and  to  state  that  her  demands 
were  "  the  election  of  the  maires  and  their  assist- 
ants, as  well  as  the  municipal  council,"  and  "  the 
election  of  all  the  chiefs  of  the  national  guard, 
without  exception."  "  Paris,"  said  this  document, 
"  has  no  intention  to  separate  itself  from  the  rest 
of  France;  far  from  it.  It  has  borne  for  her  the 
empire,  the  government  of  the  National  Defence, 
all  kinds  of  treason  and  rascalities.  It  has  no 
intention  to  abandon  her  now,  but  only  to  say,  in 
the  character  of  an  elder  sister,  '  Support  yourself, 
as  I  support  myself;  put  down  oppression,  as  I 
have  put  it  down.'" 

The  former  portion  of  this  document,  that 
which  referred  to  the  elections  of  the  maire  and 
municipal  council,  as  well  as  of  all  the  officers  of 
the  national  guard,  was  echoed  by  the  deputies 
representing  the  department  of  the  Seine.  A 
placard  to  that  effect,  signed  by  MM.  Louis  Blanc, 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


329 


Schoelcher,  and  ten  other  deputies,  was  posted  in 
Paris,  and  some  few  days  later  a  motion  with 
the  same  object  was  made,  without  success,  in  the 
Assembly  at  Versailles. 

The  press  at  last  assumed  a  very  honourable 
attitude.  A  declaration,  signed  on  behalf  of 
thirty-four  political  journals,  including  nearly  all 
the  well-established  journals  and  several  new  ones 
— the  Steele  being  one  of  the  few  exceptions — 
declared  that  the  pseudo-government  installed  at 
the  Hotel  de  Ville  had  no  right  whatever  to  call 
upon  the  electors  to  vote  for  representatives;  that 
the  attempt  to  dominate  was  the  act  of  a  minority 
against  universal  suffrage;  that  it  was  not  Paris 
acting  against  France,  for  the  chiefs  of  the  insur- 
rection did  not  represent  the  capital  any  more 
than  they  did  the  nation ;  and  called  upon  the 
population  not  to  give  any  countenance  to  an 
anti-social  usurpation.  The  moires  of  Paris  also 
met  and  passed  an  address  to  the  Assembly,  urging 
that  body  to  decide  on  the  question  of  the  muni- 
cipal elections.  At  length,  therefore,  something 
like  public  spirit  was  evoked,  but  the  act  was  all 
too  late ;  the  capital  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Commune,  which  had  no  intention  to  listen  to 
reason.  If  the  press,  the  maires,  and  the  majority 
of  the  people  of  Paris  had  always  acted  as  they 
now  did,  unfortunately  at  too  late  a  moment,  no 
body  of  men,  however  powerful,  reckless,  and 
unscrupulous,  no  party,  however  violent,  could 
have  succeeded  in  trampling  upon  the  rights  of 
the  people. 

All  protests  and  arguments  were  ineffective 
now;  the  ball  had  been  fired  from  the  gun,  and 
neither  voice  nor  declaration  could  arrest  its 
progress.  The  Commune  declared  that,  not  being 
able  to  make  a  satisfactory  arrangement  for  the 
elections  with  the  maires — the  only  power  left 
but  itself — it  had  determined  to  proceed  without, 
or  in  spite  of  them ;  and  the  elections  accordingly 
took  place  on  the  26th  of  March,  nearly  all  the 
maires  in  the  end  aiding  in  the  work.  The 
warning  of  the  press  was  effective  in  some  parts 
of  the  city,  but  not  in  others.  In  some  districts 
nearly  two-thirds  of  the  voters  on  the  list  went 
to  the  poll ;  in  others  not  a  quarter  of  the  whole ; 
the  average  was  about  half.  But  it  must  be 
remembered  that  a  large  number  of  the  voters  had 
left  Paris  by  this  time.  The  result  is  well  known; 
men  suoh  as  Pyat,  Blanqui,  Assi,  Flourens,  and 
Delescluze  were  carried  with  overwhelming  major- 
vol.  n. 


ities.  Only  two  men  belonging  to  the  true 
liberal  party  were  elected,  without  their  cog- 
nizance, and  they  lost  no  time  in  sending  in 
their  resignations.  What  did  that  matter  to  the 
Commune?  It  had  between  eighty  and  ninety 
men  returned  by  universal  suffrage;  and  the  new 
government  was  declared  to  be  firmly  established. 

The  efforts  of  the  Left  in  the  Assembly  produced 
little  effect.  M.  Thiers  energetically  opposed  the 
project  of  allowing  the  people  of  Paris  to  elect 
their  maires  and  the  national  guards  their  officers. 
The  only  concession  made  was  that  they  should 
elect  the  municipal  council.  Had  this  been  con- 
ceded a  month  earlier,  the  insurrection  might  have 
been  prevented ;  for  every  one  who  has  lived  long  in 
Paris  knows  that  the  appointment  of  the  municipal 
council  by  the  government  was  an  arbitrary  act 
of  absolutism,  which  rankled  most  deeply  in  the 
breast  of  every  one  deserving  the  name  of  a 
politician.  Now,  the  resolution  of  the  Assembly, 
like  nearly  all  its  acts,  was  fatally  too  late! 
The  condition  of  affairs  at  this  moment  was  well 
expressed  by  a  writer  in  the  Temps  of  the  23rd 
March: — "With  pain  and  discouragement  in  the 
soul  we  take  up  the  pen.  To  the  last  moment 
we  hoped  that  the  conciliatory  disposition  of  the 
government  and  the  Assembly,  and  the  courageous 
firmness  of  the  maires  of  Paris,  would  have  helped 
us  to  avoid  the  catastrophe.  It  seemed  impossible 
that  criminal  hands  could  hurl  the  country  into 
the  abyss,  upon  the  edge  of  which  she  was  already 
struggling.  We  were  mistaken :  blood  has  flowed, 
and  we  dare  not  measure  the  extent  of  the  misfor- 
tunes which  overwhelm  or  which  threaten  us." 

On  the  21st  March  a  number  of  private  indi- 
viduals, headed  by  a  Kussian  gentleman  long 
resident  in  Paris,  made  a  most  praiseworthy  at- 
tempt to  stem  the  torrent  of  rebellion.  They  met 
in  front  of  the  new  opera  house ;  one  of  their 
number,  a  soldier  of  the  line,  carrying  a  flag  with 
the  inscription,  Reunion  des  Amis  d'Ordre.  Num- 
bering not  more  than  twenty  persons  at  starting, 
the  procession  swelled  as  it  passed  along  the  main 
boulevards  to  a  thousand  or  more.  It  was  received 
by  the  people  with  acclamation,  and  no  attempt 
was  made  to  interrupt  its  course,  except  by  a 
captain  of  the  national  guard  at  the  head  of  his 
company  at  the  Place  de  la  Bourse  ;  but  the  men 
saluted  the  flag  of  the  friends  of  order,  and  the 
drummers  beat  the  rataplan.  In  the  Eue  Drouot 
was  stationed  a  battalion  of  the  national  guard 
2t 


330 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


attached  to  the  Commune ;  there  was  some  fear  of 
collision,  but  none  occurred;  the  men  of  the  guard 
thronged  to  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  mairie 
and  saluted  the  flag.  Some  one  suggested  that 
there  was  danger  of  the  manifestation  being  looked 
upon  as  reactionary,  so  the  words  Vive  la  Re'pub- 
lique  were  written  with  chalk  beneath  the  in- 
scription on  the  flag.  The  procession  set  out 
again  on  its  way  amid  the  acclamations  of  men, 
women,  and  children,  and  cries  of  Down  with 
the  Commune  !  Vive  V  Ordre !  Vive  V  AssembUe 
Nationale  !  Vive  la  Hipublique  I  The  procession 
entered  the  Place  Vendome,  where  the  insurgent 
national  guards  had  established  their  headquarters. 
A  deputy  of  the  Commune  addressed  it  from  the 
balcony;  but  when  he  pronounced  the  words  "  In 
the  name  of  the  central  committee,"  the  crowd 
hissed  furiously  and  he  disappeared,  while  the 
friends  of  order  marched  without  opposition  around 
the  column — afterwards  thrown  down — and  pro- 
ceeding on  its  course,  crossed  the  Seine  into  the 
revolutionary  quarter  of  the  schools,  and  returned 
to  the  Place  de  l'Opera  still  amid  the  cheers  and 
friendly  cries  of  the  population.  On  the  following 
day  the  friends  met  again  at  the  same  place, 
again  paraded  the  boulevards,  swelling  in  numbers 
as  they  went,  and  finally  proceeded  up  the  Rue 
de  la  Paix  towards  the  Place  Vendome.  Why  it 
selected  that  place  again  for  a  visit  is  incompre- 
hensible, and  what  happened  to  lead  to  the 
catastrophe  that  followed  is  not,  and  probably 
never  will  be,  known;  but  suddenly  firing  was 
heard,  the  crowd  rushed  madly  down  the  street, 
men  and  women  fell  killed  or  wounded,  and  the 
friends  of  order  were  dispersed  never  to  reappear 
again. 

The  leaders  declared  that  they  were  fired  upon 
without  notice  or  provocation;  while  the  Commun- 
ists asserted  that  the  foremost  men  were  armed 
with  revolvers,  and  fired  first.  On  the  face  of  it 
this  assertion  is  false;  it  is  inconceivable  that  the 
leaders  of  such  a  movement  could  have  committed 
the  atrocious  folly  of  attacking  a  mass  of  insurgent 
guards  with  a  few  revolvers.  The  probability  is 
that  some  scoundrels  fired  a  shot  or  two  from 
the  side  of  the  procession,  simply  as  a  means  of 
bringing  about  the  conflict. 

Like  the  government,  the  Assembly,  and  the 
maires,  the  friends  of  order  were  too  late.  Their 
success  in  the  streets  and  boulevards  was  great, 
and  had  they  pursued  their  object  with  judgment 


as  well  as  energy,  there  is  no  telling  what  may 
have  been  the  happy  result.  Had  the  respectable 
people  of  Paris  acted  as  some  of  the  national 
guards  and  the  Breton  mobile  acted  against  the 
Communists  on  the  31st  of  October,  and  made 
a  strong  manifestation  in  the  interest  of  order 
before  the  government  had  been  driven  out  of 
Paris,  there  is  little  doubt  about  the  result;  but 
the  population  had  been  for  nineteen  years  told, 
nay  forced,  to  leave  everything  to  the  government; 
it  had  been  terrified  by  imprisonment,  persecution, 
and  hosts  of  police  spies;  it  had  been  constrained 
to  act  the  part  of  the  humble  bee,  and  that  only  ; 
and  it  felt  perhaps  that  the  fighting  bees  might 
be  left  to  battle  alone  with  the  hornets  that  had 
come  upon  the  scene.  Besides,  it  is  difficult  for 
a  population  purposely  retained  in  political  igno- 
rance to  act  like  men  accustomed  to  think  and 
speak  their  thoughts,  to  take  care  of  and  to 
act  for  themselves  ;  so  the  people  stood  by  and 
looked  on  while  the  conflict  was  proceeding,  and 
the  friends  of  order  did  not  make  their  appearance 
till  all  order,  and  all  hope  of  it  for  the  moment, 
had  disappeared.  The  impression,  that  with  a 
little  more  energy  even  at  the  last  moment  order 
might  have  been  restored,  is  strengthened  by  the 
fact,  that  as  the  friends  of  order  were  marching 
along  the  boulevards,  another  procession,  with  a 
flag  which  bore  the  inscription  "  Vive  V AssembUe 
Nationale,  met  and  joined  it.  If  ten  good  stalwart 
standard-bearers  had  appeared  in  ten  different  parts 
of  the  city,  and  roused  the  sluggard  population 
by  a  few  energetic  appeals,  surely  the  organization 
of  the  Communal  forces  might  have  been  nipped 
in  its  bud,  and  Paris  spared  the  infliction  and  the 
disgrace  of  the  second  siege. 

The  discomfiture  of  the  friends  of  order  was 
final.  No  more  attempts  were  made  to  arrest  the 
Commune,  which  was  now  undisputed  master  of 
the  field.  The  new  terror  had  set  in :  a  man  dare 
scarcely  speak  to  his  neighbour  for  fear  of  being 
denounced  as  an  enemy  of  the  "new  government." 
All  the  members  of  the  national  guard  were  sum- 
moned to  join  the  ranks,  and  those  who  did  not 
obey  had  to  hide  themselves  with  the  utmost  care: 
any  one  discovered  in  hiding  was  a  lost  man. 
The  officials  in  their  retreat  to  Versailles  had 
carried  off  all  the  money  and  documents  they 
could.  The  able  director  of  the  post  office  had 
cleverly  sent  away  all  the  carts  and  vans  belonging 
to  the  establishment,  with  the  clerks  and  postmen. 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


331 


All  the  public  services  were  thus  abruptly  put  an 
end  to,  and  the  Commune  had  to  reorganize  every- 
thing, which,  it  must  be  admitted,  it  accomplished 
with  much  ability.  But  the  re-establishment  of 
the  post  office  outside  the  walls  was  beyond  its 
power;  for  fifteen  or  sixteen  days  no  letters,  or 
scarcely  any,  came  in  or  went  out  of  Paris,  and  for 
some  days  before,  the  only  means  of  communication 
was  by  sending  to  Saint  Denis,  Versailles,  or  else- 
where. Milkwomen,  washerwomen,  and  special 
messengers  were  employed  to  carry  out  and  bring 
in  letters,  but  for  the  great  mass  of  the  population 
the  post  was  suppressed.  Those  who  passed  in 
and  out  did  so  at  the  risk  of  their  lives,  and  had 
it  not  been  for  the  fact  that  the  Northern  Railway 
was  worked  under  the  Prussian  flag,  ingress  and 
egress  would  have  been  nearly  impossible.  The 
city  was  again  almost  a  prison,  and  had  not  the 
Versailles  government  and  the  Germans  allowed 
provisions  to  pass  in,  the  famine  of  the  siege  might 
have  been  repeated;  as  it  was,  the  supply  of  pro- 
visions was  irregular,  and  sometimes  these  were 
dear  and  bad,  but  there  was  no  actual  scarcity; 
the  Commune,  fortunately,  did  not  reduce  Paris 
to  sawdust  bread  and  ounces  of  horse  flesh. 

The  grand  difficulty  of  the  Commune  was  the 
want  of  money ;  in  one  or  two  instances  it  had  not 
the  means  of  paying  the  national  guards  their 
daily  stipend  of  fifteen  pence  a  head,  and  serious 
trouble  seemed  imminent.  The  Bank  of  France 
was  in  great  danger;  reports  were  set  afloat  that 
not  a  penny  was  left  in  the  bank-cellars,  and  that 
all  the  notes  had  been  destroyed.  This  was  not  the 
case;  the  bank  was  saved  by  the  good  general- 
ship of  one  of  the  members  of  the  Commune,  M. 
Ch.  Beslay,  who,  after  the  suppression  of  the 
revolt,  was  allowed  to  go  free  in  consideration  of 
the  great  services  he  thus  rendered.  The  chiefs 
found  a  quantity  of  unissued  bonds  at  the  H6tel 
de  Ville;  these  they  naturally  put  in  circulation. 
They  obtained  two  or  more  large  sums  from  the 
bank  and  from  the  private  bankers  of  Paris ;  they 
made  large  draughts  on  the  railway  companies; 
they  forced  the  chests  of  the  insurance  and  other 
offices,  and  of  some  notaries  and  private  persons; 
and  they  were  in  consequence  denounced  as  thieves 
and  bandits — which  they  were  not.  Some  of 
them  were  brutal  and  ferocious  enough,  but  that 
was  not  their  general  character.  Anything  more 
deplorably  wicked  and  foolish  than  the  conduct 
of  the  Commune  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive;  but 


there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  leaders  were 
actuated  by  any  worse  spirit  than  wild  political 
fanaticism,  the  kind  of  madness  that  at  various 
epochs  of  the  world  has  seized  upon  the  best,  as 
well  as  the  worst,  of  men,  and  that  self-esteem 
which  stands  for  patriotism,  and  in  presence  of 
which  all  considerations  of  danger  and  disgrace 
seem  to  be  utterly  set  aside.  And  there  was  this 
excuse  for  the  conduct  of  the  leaders  of  the  Com- 
mune, that  other  leaders,  better  known  to  the 
world,  preached  doctrines  which  almost  naturally 
led  to  Communism,  while  very  many  more  exhibited 
very  moderate  admiration  indeed  for  true  liberalism 
in  government. 

The  tardy  act  of  the  Assembly  in  according  the 
people  of  Paris  the  right  of  electing  its  municipal 
council,  was  a  tacit  admission  that  it  had  done 
wrong  in  not  granting  it  before;  and  surely  the 
claim  to  elect  the  maires  cannot  be  considered 
very  unreasonable.  If  the  appointment  of  muni- 
cipal officers  cannot  be  accorded  to  the  great  towns, 
such  as  Paris,  Marseilles,  and  Lyons,  it  is  a  proof, 
as  we  have  before  said,  that  the  government  that 
withholds  the  right  has  not  the  sympathy  of  the 
people  of  those  cities. 

If  the  Commune  did  not  seize  upon  private 
property  for  its  own  purposes,  it  certainly  made 
improper  requisitions  in  other  ways.  Men  in 
power  rarely  pay  much  attention  to  the  rights  of 
individuals,  when  their  own  necessities  are  press- 
ing; and  the  men  of  the  Commune  being  often 
hard  up,  did  as  most  men  under  the  circumstances 
would  have  done,  they  helped  themselves ;  in  other 
words,  they  visited  the  restaurants  and  shops,  took 
what  they  wanted,  and  paid  in  paper  that  certainly 
was  not  a  legal  tender,  and  would  not  be  rated 
A  1  in  any  money  market  in  the  world. 

In  the  Official  Journal  of  the  28th  of  March 
there  appeared  a  letter  written  by  M.  Ad.  Vaillant, 
in  which  assassination  was  openly  advocated.  It 
was  written  in  reference  to  the  asserted  appearance 
of  the  Duke  d'Aumale  at  Versailles.  "  If  this  be 
true,"  says  the  writer,  "  the  duke  did  not  meet 
a  citizen  between  Bordeaux  and  Versailles.  We 
see  by  such  facts  how  much  the  moral  and  civic 
sense  is  weakened  with  us.  In  the  ancient  re- 
publics tyrannicide  was  the  law.  Here  pseudo- 
morality  calls  this  act  of  justice  and  necessity 
assassination.  To  the  corrupt  who  are  happy  in 
monarchical  rottenness,  and  the  intriguants  who 
live  by  them,  is  added  the  group  of  sentimental 


332 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


fools."  The  letter  concludes  with  the  following 
paragraph: — "  Society  has  only  one  duty  towards 
princes — Death.  There  is  but  one  formality  to 
be  observed — Identification.  The  Orleanists  are  in 
France;  the  Bonapartists  want  to  return:  let  good 
citizens  be  on  the  alert."  The  delegate  of  the 
Commune  in  command  of  the  Official  Journal  says, 
in  introducing  the  letter,  that  "  it  appears  to  meet 
satisfactorily  the  difficulties  of  the  movement ! " 

It  is  true  that  acknowledged  patriots,  as  well 
as  many  others,  more  or  less  honest,  have  joined 
and  taken  the  horrible  oaths  of  secret  societies 
of  assassins,  and  have  afterwards  moved  in  the 
world,  and  been  accepted  by  honest,  respectable 
men;  but  the  crime  of  assassination,  whether  by 
plain  "citizen"  or  prince,  and  whether  of  a  single 
individual  or  of  a  thousand,  or  the  incitement 
to  it,  should  never  be  allowed  to  pass  without 
the  author  being  branded  as  he  deserves.  The 
Commune  made  a  lame  attempt  to  disown  the  act 
of  one  of  its  members  in  this  case  some  days  later. 

Having  secured  the  command  of  the  city,  the 
Communalists  closed  the  gates  of  the  fortifications, 
took  possession  of  the  forts  on  the  south  side  of 
the  town,  and  prepared  for  action  against  the 
government  at  Versailles;  they  also  seized  upon 
Vincennes,  or  rather  it  was  given  up  to  them  by 
the  disgraceful  treachery  of  the  artillerymen,  who 
sawed  through  the  bars  of  the  windows  and  let 
down  the  drawbridge.  The  governor  himself  was 
made  prisoner,  and  it  was  several  days  before  he 
could  escape  and  inform  the  government  of  what 
had  happened.  The  insurgents  of  the  southern 
forts  now  began  to  move  to  Clamart,  Bagneux, 
and  Chatillon,  the  site  of  so  much  bloodshed  during 
the  Prussian  siege.  Kegular  military  establish- 
ments were  formed,  with  tents  and  canteens,  pro- 
visions being  furnished  from  the  stores  of  preserved 
meats,  &c,  found  in  the  building  of  the  new 
opera  house.  Every  night  reconnoitring  parties 
were  sent  out  in  various  directions,  and  on  that 
of  the  26th  March  one  of  these  parties  met  an 
unpleasant  surprise.  General  Ducrot,  who  was 
said  to  have  been  killed,  appeared  with  the  Mar- 
quis de  Gallifet  and  a  body  of  cavalry  at  Chatillon. 
This  appearance  of  the  forces  of  the  government 
so  near  the  city  cooled  terribly  the  ardour  of  the 
Federals ;  and  there  was  a  report  all  over  Paris  that 
a  conciliation  was  on  the  point  of  being  effected. 
Admiral  Saisset  had  put  forth  a  proclamation 
which  caused  much  satisfaction  in  the  quarters  of 


the  insurgents;  and  even  the  women,  who  had 
exhibited  the  utmost  rancour  against  the  Assembly, 
and  had  done  as  much,  if  not  more,  than  the  men 
in  maintaining  the  insurrectionary  movement, 
appeared  satisfied.  It  was  said  that  the  admiral 
had  promised  a  complete  amnesty,  and  that  order 
would  soon  be  restored.  This,  however,  was 
evidently  not  the  object  of  the  ringleaders  of  the 
rebellion;  and  it  was  soon  discovered  that,  while 
they  had  the  power  to  influence  a  large  portion  of 
the  national  guards,  and  money  and  ammunition 
lasted,  they  had  no  intention  of  yielding;  unless, 
indeed,  they  obtained  their  own  terms,  which  it 
was  not  in  the  power,  if  it  had  the  will,  of  the 
Assembly  to  accord.  To  adopt  tlie  absolute  unity 
of  Paris  would  have  been  to  strike  France  out  of 
the  list  of  nations. 

The  result  of  the  late  elections  gave  the  Com- 
mune new  force;  the  leaders  redoubled  their 
activity,  and  those  able  to  bear  arms  had  the 
greatest  difficulty  to  keep  themselves  out  of  the 
insurgent  ranks;  reconnoitring  parties  were  mul- 
tiplied day  and  night  on  all  sides  of  the  town, 
and  particularly  between  Paris  and  Versailles ;  and 
it  was  evident  that  each  party  expected  some 
important  movement  to  take  place  on  the  part  of 
the  other.  The  appearance  of  the  city  itself  was 
extraordinary:  the  Hotel  de  Ville  was  completely 
encircled  by  barricades  and  artillery ;  the  air  of 
the  Place  Vendome  became  more  ferocious  than 
ever;  small  reviews  took  place  at  Montmartre;  the 
barricades  were  reconstructed  and  extended  in  the 
great  quarter  of  the  Batignolles;  the  Faubourg 
Saint  Antoine  was  all  up  in  arms;  every  gate  of 
the  city,  or  nearly  so,  was  guarded  by  guns  against 
the  approach  of  the  enemy;  the  railway  stations 
were  all  in  the  power  of  the  insurgents,  who  were 
enabled  to  overhaul'  every  train,  and  arrest  all 
whom  they  suspected.  The  obedience  of  the 
great  mass  to  the  Commune  seemed  all  but  abso- 
lute, and  the  few  who  attempted  to  escape  from 
the  disagreeable  duty  imposed  upon  them  found 
themselves  treated  with  small  consideration. 

On  the  29th  of  March,  after  the  election,  the 
Commune  put  forth  a  characteristic  proclamation, 
of  which  the  following  are  the  most  remarkable 
passages: — "  A  cowardly  aggressive  power  has 
seized  you  by  the  throat;  you,  in  your  legitimate 
defence,  have  repulsed  this  government,  which 
would  have  dishonoured  you  by  imposing  a  king 
upon  you.     Now  the  criminals,  whom  you  dis- 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


33: 


dained  even  to  pursue,  abusing  your  magnanimity, 
are  organizing  a  monarchical  conspiracy  at  the 
very  gates  of  the  city.  They  invoke  civil  war; 
they  make  use  of  all  kinds  of  corruptions;  they 
accept  all  the  accomplices  who  offer  their  aid; 
they  have  even  dared  to  make  an  appeal  to  the 
foreigner." 

The  impudent  falsehood  of  the  assertions  in  this 
precious  proclamation  is  glaring;  but  the  mass 
must  be  treated  to  some  kind  of  reasoning,  and 
the  exhibition  of  the  spectre  of  a  king  was  sure  to 
have  its  effect. 

A  string  of  decrees  followed  the  above  proclama- 
tion. The  conscription  was  abolished;  no  military 
force  but  the  national  guard  was  ever  again  to  enter 
Paris,  and  every  hale  citizen  was  to  be  enrolled  in 
the  civic  corps ;  no  rent  was  to  be  paid  for  the  nine 
months  ending  with  April ;  all  sums  paid  within 
that  period  were  to  go  to  the  future  account;  every- 
body was  free  to  throw  up  his  lease  during  the 
coming  six  months;  and  all  notices  to  quit  were 
to  be  void  for  three  months.  Finally,  all  the 
employes  of  the  government  who  did  not  im- 
mediately adhere  to  the  Commune  were  to  be 
dismissed  forthwith  ;  fortunately  for  them,  they 
had  already  dismissed  themselves  to  Versailles. 

The  red  flag  waved  over  the  palaces  and  public 
offices;  the  Commune  was  master  of  the  situation, 
caused  Paris  to  be  effectually  shut  off"  from  the 
rest  of  France,  and  seemed  to  be  assured  that  all 
the  other  great  towns  would  follow  the  example  of 
the  capital,  and  thus  bring  about  the  Communal 
dream  of  federation  without  a  central  government. 
The  horror  of  the  word  government  amongst  the 
French  republicans  is  almost  ludicrous.  A  story 
is  current  of  a  hot-headed  ultra  in  1848,  who, 
having  visited  the  Hotel  de  Ville  and  seen  the 
new  ministry  at  work,  said  to  his  friends  afterwards 
— "Kepublic!  why,  that  is  not  a  republic;  it  is  a 
government /"  It  must  be  admitted,  on  behalf  of 
the  republicans,  that  the  governments  which  have 
successively  ruled  over  France  have  done  all  in 
their  power  to  give  the  word  a  bad  name,  and  to 
produce  the  catastrophe  that  happens,  proverbially, 
to  the  dog  who  is  so  treated.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  Commune  was  amaz- 
ingly like  a  government. 

On  the  1st  of  April  Paris  found  herself  fooled 
into  the  position  of  a  beleaguered  city;  all  com- 
munication, except  what  was  winked  at  by  the 
Versailles  authorities,  was  cut  off,  and  for  sixteen 


days  from  that  period  the  post  did  not  bring  in 
or  take  out  any  mails;  the  interruption  was  as 
complete  as  during  the  Prussian  siege.  "  Why 
does  not  the  army  at  Versailles  put  an  end  to 
such  a  state  of  things?"  was  now  the  indignant 
cry  of  those  lukewarm  friends  of  order  who  had 
stood  with  their  hands  in  their  pockets  and  lips 
sealed  during  the  whole  time  that  the  Communal- 
ists  were  completing  their  work,  trusting  in  Provi- 
dence to  deliver  them;  or  rather,  we  should  say, 
considering  what  must  have  been  the  quality  of 
their  minds,  waiting  like  Mr.  Micawber,  in  the 
hope  that  "  something  would  turn  up." 

During  the  night  of  the  31st  of  March  the  fol- 
lowing proclamation  was  posted  all  over  Paris: — 

"  Ex-PEEFECTUKE    OF    POLICE. 

"  The  greater  part  of  the  public  services  having 
been  disorganized  in  consequence  of  the  man- 
oeuvres of  the  government  of  Versailles,  the  national 
guards  are  invited  to  send  any  information  which 
may  interest  the  committee  of  public  safety,  in 
writing,  to  the  municipal  police. 

"(Signed)  A.  DUPONT, 

"Chief  of  the  Municipal  Police." 

The  imperial  government  itself  could  not  have 
penned  a  more  diplomatic  document — the  allusion 
to  the  "  manoeuvres  of  the  Versailles  government " 
is  superb  in  its  way  ! 

On  the  morning  of  the  2nd  of  April  the  guns 
of  Mont  Valerien,  the  only  one  of  the  forts  in 
the  hands  of  the  Versailles  government,  were 
thundering  away  for  hours,  and  a  report  was 
spread  that  the  Prussians  were  aiding  the  govern- 
ment, and  that  there  would  soon  be  an  end  of  the 
Commune  ;  the  middle  classes,  who,  however, 
scarce  dared  speak  above  a  whisper,  were  in  a  state 
of  great  delight.  Within  the  city  the  rappel  was 
beaten  everywhere;  whole  battalions  in  full  march- 
ing order  passed  and  repassed  in  all  directions; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  numbers  of  fuyards,  dirty 
and  footsore,  came  in,  and  a  report  was  current  that 
a  serious  engagement  had  taken  place  near  Montrc- 
tout.  The  omnibuses  were  crowded  with  national 
guards  hurrying  to  or  from  the  enceinte,  and  as 
there  were  scarcely  any  cabs  in  the  streets  and  no 
carriages  to  be  hired,  he  who  had  not  a  horse  of 
his  own  had  great  difficulty  in  getting  from  one 
part  of  the  city  to  another,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
fact  that  every  man  and  boy  between  the  age  of 


334 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


sixteen  and  fifty  was  liable  to  be  arrested  as  a  traitor 
unless  he  wore  the  uniform  of  the  national  guard. 

One  of  the  most  disgraceful  sights  was  that  of 
the  appearance  of  a  considerable  number  of  men 
of  the  regular  infantry  of  the  fine  marching  in  the 
ranks  of  the  Communists — marching  under  the  red 
flag  with  music  at  their  head.  This  is  another  and 
a  striking  instance  of  the  utter  demoralization  of 
the  mass  of  the  people. 

The  reports  of  a  conflict  turned  out  to  be  correct, 
and  the  Communist  accounts  appeared  in  the 
Official  Journal.  The  executive  committee  in- 
formed the  national  guards  by  proclamation,  that 
"  the  royalist  conspirators  had  commenced  the 
attack.  Yes !  in  spite  of  the  moderation  of  our 
attitude  they  have  attacked  us!  Not  being  able 
to  count  on  the  army  of  France,  they  have  attacked 
us  with  pontifical  zouaves  and  the  imperial  police" 
(incorporated  in  the  army  by  the  government  of 
the  National  Defence).  "  Not  content  to  cut  off 
correspondence  with  the  provinces,  and  with 
making  vain  efforts  to  reduce  us  to  famine,  these 
furies  have  dared  to  imitate  the  Prussians  and 
bombard  the  capital.  This  morning  the  chouans 
of  Charette,  the  Vendeans  of  Cathelineau  . 
covered  the  inoffensive  village  of  Neuilly  with 
shot  and  shell,  and  commenced  the  civil  war  with 
our  national  guards.  There  were  killed  and 
wounded." 

A  little  later  we  were  told  that  Bergeret  was  at 
Neuilly;  that  the  fire  of  the  enemy  had  been 
silenced;  that  the  spirits  of  the  Communists  were 
excellent;  that  soldiers  of  the  line  who  had  come 
in  from  the  enemy  declared  that,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  superior  officers,  no  one  would  fight. 
This  was  followed  by  another  sensational  para- 
graph, in  which  it  was  asserted  that  "a  school  of 
young  girls,  coming  out  of  the  church  of  Neuilly, 
had  been  literally  cut  to  pieces  by  the  bullets  of 
the  soldiers  of  Favre  and  Thiers." 

It  was  soon  found  out  that  this  cry  of  triumph 
covered  the  rage  of  defeat ;  and  as  to  the  destruction 
of  the  school,  that  was  shown  to  be  a  deliberate 
and  infamous  invention.  But  the  people  must  be 
kept  in  heart,  the  national  guards  must  be  kept 
in  good  spirits.  The  above  announcements  were 
followed  by  a  string  of  decrees.  The  first  of  these 
declared  that  the  crime  of  civil  war  had  been  com- 
mitted, and  soldiers,  women,  and  children  killed, 
with  premeditation  and  snares,  against  all  right 
and  without   provocation.      MM.   Thiers,  Favre, 


Picard,  Dufaure,  Simon,  and  Pothuau  were 
charged  to  appear  before  the  justice  of  the  people, 
and  their  property  would  be  immediately  seized 
and  placed  under  sequestration,  &c. 

The  Commune  announced  that  it  adopted  the 
families  of  all  citizens  who  should  succumb  in 
repulsing  the  "  criminal  aggression  of  the  roy- 
alists," &c. 

Following  these  came  a  series  of  decrees  of 
another  character,  which  are  so  characteristic  that 
it  is  proper  to  give  them  in  full,  with  the  preamble 
which  introduced  them  to  public  attention: — 

"  Considering  that  the  first  principle  of  the 
French  republic  is  liberty ;  considering  that  liberty 
of  conscience  is  the  first  of  liberties;  considering 
that  the  budget  for  the  religious  establishments  is 
contrary  to  principle,  because  it  lays  a  charge  on 
the  citizens  against  their  faith;  considering,  in  fact, 
that  the  clergy  have  been  the  accomplices  of  the 
crimes  of  monarchy  against  liberty — It  is  decreed, 

"  1.  That  the  church  is  separated  from  the  state. 

"  2.  That  the  budget  des  cultes  is  suppressed. 

"  3.  The  property  called  mortmain  belonging  to 
religious  congregations,  whether  real  or  personal, 
is  declared  to  belong  to  the  nation. 

"  4.  An  inquiry  will  be  immediately  made  re- 
specting this  property,  in  order  to  ascertain  its 
nature  and  place  it  at  the  disposition  of  the  nation. 

"(Signed)      THE  COMMUNE  OF  PAEIS." 

Long  and  passionate  appeals  were  made  to  the 
people  in  Communal  journals,  intended  to  show 
how  calm  was  the  attitude  of  the  Commune,  and 
that  the  sole  object  of  the  "  people  at  Versailles," 
was  the  defeat  of  the  republic  and  the  re-erection 
of  some  new  and  odious  tyranny.  These  appeals 
were  constant,  and  their  object  was  to  draw  away 
the  attention  of  the  population  from  what  was 
going  on  without  the  walls.  They  failed  in  that 
object;  the  unfortunate  middle  and  decent  classes, 
many  of  whom  had  been  silly  enough  to  believe 
in  the  Commune,  and  all  of  whom  had  been  almost 
criminally  neglectful  of  their  duties,  in  remaining 
inactive  and  leaving  the  coast  clear  for  dema- 
gogues and  fanatics,  now  saw  their  error,  but  as 
usual,  they  saw  it  too  late.  The  die  was  cast,  they 
were  again  prisoners,  and  might  again  be  brought 
to  the  verge  of  starvation  as  in  January. 

"  Les  Francais  peints  par  eux  memes  "  was  the 
title  of  a  famous  satirical  book  of  sketches;  the 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


335 


"  Commune  painted  by  itself"  would  make  another 
curious  work.  A  writer  in  the  Official  Journal, 
M.  J.  B.  Clement,  treated  us  with  a  long  sketch 
of  "  Les  Rouges  et  les  Pales,"  which,  of  its  kind, 
is  a  gem.  M.  Clement  says,  "  The  Reds  are  men 
of  quiet  and  peaceful  manners,  who  place  them- 
selves at  the  service  of  humanity  when  the  affairs 
of  the  world  are  embroiled,  and  who  return  and 
take  up  the  hammer,  the  pen,  or  the  plough, 
without  pride  and  without  ambition.  .  .  .  " 
Veritable  patriots  every  one !  "  The  Pale  are 
men  of  frivolous  and  noisy  habits,  who  intrigue, 
accumulate  offices,  and  embroil  the  affairs  of  the 
world.  Inflated  with  pride  and  ambition,  they 
wrap  themselves  in  their  infamy,  and  roll  along 
on  the  soft  cushions  of  emblazoned  carriages,  which 
transport  them  from  the  court  of  assize  to  the 
gaming  house.  They  do  not  dress  themselves 
because  the  weather  and  decency  require  them  to 
do  so;  they  costume  themselves  in  order  to  dazzle 
you,  and  to  make  you  believe  that  they  are  not 
flesh  and  bone  like  yourselves;  their  life  is  an 
eternal  masquerade;  they  have  knee-breeches  for 
such  and  such  a  ball,  pantaloons  with  gold  bands 
for  another;  they  have  coats  of  apple-green  cloth 
embroidered  on  all  the  seams,  and  cocked  hats 
with  plumes.  I  ask  you  whether  all  this  is  not 
pure  comedy?     ..." 

"  They  do  not  reside,  they  stay  in  hotels  in 
which  all  is  gold,  marble,  and  velvet;  all  is  gilt- 
edged.  .  .  .  Their  horses  are  better  dressed 
than  you"  (the  Reds,  whom  M.  Clement  addresses 
in  an  affectionate  way  as  Miserables!  after  Vic- 
tor Hugo);  "their  dogs  are  better  fed  and  taken 
more  care  of  than  your  children "  (not  compli- 
mentary this  to  the  Reds).  "  There  are  100,000 
poor  in  Prance,  who  would  be  happy  to  live  in 
their  stables  and  dog  kennels.  .•  .  .  The  Pale 
do  not  eat  to  live ;  no !  They  are  the  gourmets 
for  whom  exist  the  Chabots,  who  are  decorated 
for  having  found  out  the  art  of  seasoning  a  truffle, 
and  the  Vatels,  who  blow  out  their  brains  because 
the  sauce  is  not  quite  of  the  right  golden  colour." 
Poor  Vatel,  who  fell  like  Cato  on  his  own  sword, 
to  be  accused  of  such  a  coarse  conduct  as  blowing 
out  his  brains  !  But  M.  Clement  knew  his  readers. 
What  was  fact  to  him  in  comparison  with  brutal 
sensation  ? 

"  The  Reds  will  not  have  to  pay  taxes  any  longer 
to  support  others;  they  will  have  no  more  barracks 
full  of  soldiers,  because  not  being  the  enemies  of 


the  people  they  have  no  fear  of  them;  they  know 
that  the  people  will  arm  themselves  when  our 
frontiers  are  menaced."  Then  we  have  the  fra- 
ternity and  equality  of  Tom  Paine  tossed  up  afresh 
with  Clement  sauce,  which  is  not  too  piquant. 

"  The  Pale  want  their  infants  to  come  into  the 
world  with  the  look  of  a  drop  of  milk  fallen  from 
the  lips  of  the  virgin,  while  yours  should  be  but 
vulgar  bales  of  flesh. 

"  They  will  not  have  equality,  because  of  their 
little  white  hands  and  little  rosy  feet,  which  are 
not  adapted  for  working  and  walking.  I  am  aston- 
ished that  these  gentry  do  not  place  themselves  in 
niches,  and  call  upon  us  to  fall  down  and  adore 
them  three  or  four  times  a  day.     .     .     . 

"  They  oppose  equality  because  they  are  the 
apostles  of  war,  of  despotism,  of  discord;  because 
it  is  amidst  our  troubles  and  our  calamities  that 
they  collect  their  parchments,  cover  their  seams 
with  gold,  fabricate  coronets,  and  cut  out  mantles 
of  purple  and  erniine — colour  of  the  blood  and  the 
innocence  of  their  victims.  ..."  Such  is  the 
kind  of  writing  by  means  of  which  the  silly  people 
are  led  out  to  seek  equality,  and  find  misery  and 
death.  What  is  the  exact  nature  of  the  crime  an 
educated  man  commits  who  thus,  as  it  were,  flirts 
petroleum  on  the  flames  of  revolution  from  his 
pen?  Does  it  differ  in  kind  from  assassination  and 
incendiarism  ? 

Up  to  the  last  moment  it  was  hoped  that  attempts 
would  be  made  by  prudent  men  within  and  without 
Paris  to  prevent  actual  civil  war;  but  the  hope 
proved  delusive,  blood  had  already  flowed,  and  all 
Paris  seemed  up  in  arms ;  battalions  tramped  along 
the  Champs  Elysees  and  the  Boulevards  unceas- 
ingly; 50,000  men  were  reviewed  in  the  Champ  de 
Mars  before  going  out  to  meet  the  hated  Versail- 
lais.  The  news  that  a  conflict  had  taken  place 
soon  reached  us,  and  was  found  to  be  only  too 
true;  but  with  it  came  that  of  the  success  of  the 
Commune,  which  turned  out  to  be  utterly  false. 
When  the  truth  began  to  ooze  out  the  fury  of  the 
insurgents  was  excessive;  their  leaders  had  lied  to 
them  and  they  would  not  be  undeceived.  Two 
youths  arriving  near  the  Place  Vendome  were 
telling  the  people  of  the  rout  of  the  Communal 
guard,  when  they  were  pulled  out  of  their  chaise 
and  in  danger  of  their  lives,  which  were  saved  by 
a  vivandiere,  who  at  the  same  time  expressed  her 
indignation  by  spitting  in  their  faces  ! 

The  fact  of  the  failure  of  the  first  attempt  of 


336 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


the  Communal  forces  being  known,  there  was  a 
furious  scene  at  the  headquarters  of  the  national 
guards;  but  the  leaders  acted  with  great  energy, 
made  light  of  the  defeat,  called  all  their  forces 
to  arms,  and  were  answered  with  an  amount  of 
promptitude  and  determination  that  certainly  were 
rarely  exhibited  by  the  national  guards  during 
the  German  siege.  The  sight  struck  terror  into 
the  souls  of  the  friends  of  order,  who  saw  in  this 
obstinate  determination  nothing  but  the  promise 
of  enormous  bloodshed  and  savage  recrimination. 
When  amid  the  din  that  arose  just  without  the 
city,  shells  were  seen  to  burst,  at  first  at  some 
distance,  then  nearer,  and  at  last  actually  within 
Paris,  till  the  great  avenue  leading  from  the  Arc 
de  Triomphe  was  rendered  untenable,  then  the 
sad  truth  broke  upon  the  unfortunate  people  of 
Paris  that  the  capital  was  being  bombarded  for 
the  second  time  within  a  few  weeks — bombarded 
by  Frenchmen  fighting  against  Frenchmen ! 

But  even  danger  did  not  inspire  resolution. 
The  friends  of  peace,  all  but  the  Communists, 
disappeared  utterly  from  public  view;  thousands 
fled  at  the  first  report  of  the  insurgent  arms,  and 
every  day  added  to  their  number.  As  the  respect- 
able classes  had  abstained  from  voting  at  the 
municipal  elections,  and  so  left  the  government  of 
Paris  in  the  hands  of  the  Communists,  so  after- 
wards they  abstained  from  all  the  rest  of  their 
duties  by  carrying  themselves  off.  Never  was  an 
unfortunate  nation  left  so  utterly  a  prey  to  dema- 
gogues and  fanatics.  A  passage  in  Sir  Henry 
Bulwer's  "  Life  of  Lord  Palmerston  "  may  perhaps 
throw  light  upon  this  national  annihilation.  In 
his  journals  dated  1829,  Lord  Palmerston  says:* 
"  The  difficulties  are  great  from  the  dearth  of 
eminent  public  men.  Bonaparte  crushed  every- 
body both  in  politics  and  war;  he  allowed  no  one 
to  think  and  act  but  himself,  and  has  left,  there- 
fore, nothing  but  generals  of  division  and  heads  of 
departments,  no  man  fit  to  command  an  army 
and  govern  a  country."  Twenty  years  more  of 
imperialism  completed  the  work,  and  resulted  in 
the  state  of  things  lately  seen  in  France. 

Mont  Valerien  astonished  the  Communists  by  a 
very  warm  cannonade,  and  killed  and  dispersed  a 
large  body  of  men.  The  Communist  leaders  had 
bought  over,  or  thought  they  had  bought  over, 
the  commandant;  and  when  they  found  they  had 
been  out-tricked  by  the  Versaillais  their  rage  was 

*  Bulwer's  Life  of  Palmerston,  vol.  i.  p.  316. 


terrible,  and  cries  of  "treason"  arose  as  usual 
amongst  them.  This  every-day  charge  of  treason 
is  very  lamentable,  and  was  lampooned  most  cleverly 
in  a  piece  that  was  played  some  three  or  four  years 
since  at  the  Gymnase.  A  gambler  being  seen  to 
secrete  a  pack  of  cards  in  his  hat,  the  cards  were 
adroitly  exchanged  for  others,  and  the  party  sat 
down  to  play.  In  a  few  minutes  the  face  of  the 
would-be  trickster  began  to  exhibit  the  most  lugu- 
brious expression ;  in  a  few  minutes  more  he 
had  lost  what  little  money  he  had,  when,  quitting 
the  table  and  coming  close  to  the  foot-lights,  he 
said  to  the  house,  "I  am  robbed!"  The  hit  was 
palpable  and  most  effective;  but  still,  after  the  fail- 
ure of  every  manoeuvre  our  friends  here  persist  in 
exclaiming,  "  We  are  betrayed ! " 

The  Communalist  leaders  were  determined  not  to 
let  the  grass  grow  under  their  feet;  they  planned 
a  regular  attack  on  Versailles.  The  army  was 
divided  into  two  divisions,  one  commanded  by 
Bergeret,  a  printer,  the  other  by  Flourens,  the 
maddest  Communalist  of  them  all.  They  marched 
off  with  flying  colours,  persuaded  that  the  men  of 
the  line  would  join  them  on  the  road,  and  that  Mont 
Valerien  would  not  fire  upon  them.  They  were 
"betrayed"  as  usual!  Mont  Valerien  cut  one  of 
the  corps  up  sadly;  the  men  from  Versailles  did 
not  join  them:  on  the  contrary,  the  two  forces 
were  allowed  to  advance,  completely  entrapped, 
Flourens  killed,  an  immense  number  taken  pris- 
oners, the  rest  flying  back  to  Paris,  to  find  the 
gates  shut  against  them  by  their  own  enraged 
comrades. 

The  news  of  this  defeat  brought  joy  to  the 
hearts  of  the  friends  of  order;  but  the  joy  was 
soon  overcast,  the  hope  which  it  raised  sadly  dc 
ferred.  The  sad  drama  was  not  nearly  played 
out  yet. 

War  was  not  the  only  difficulty  with  the 
Commune.  It  had,  in  the  first  place,  the  terribly 
onerous  task  of  finding  money  to  pay  its  200,000 
guards,  and  to  keep  up  some  necessary  public 
services;  it  had,  moreover,  to  meet  the  demands  of 
its  own  supporters.  It  performed  the  last-named 
duty  in  a  very  trenchant  manner.  It  declared  all 
arrears  of  rent  to  be  sponged  out,  and  any  sums 
paid  on  the  old  to  go  to  the  new  account;  it  de- 
clared all  leases  void,  if  the  tenant  should  desire  it, 
and  all  landlords'  notices  to  quit,  null;  and  these 
decrees  were  acted  upon.  Instances  came  within 
our  own  knowledge  of  persons  who  moved  out 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


337 


their  goods  in  defiance  of  their  landlords,  and  under 
the  protection  of  Communist  bayonets.  Of  course 
the  proprietors  of  houses  were  placed  in  the 
greatest  straits ;  they  were  compelled  to  pay  taxes 
and  cut  off  from  their  rents.  One  of  these  unfor- 
tunate small  proprietors,  a  man  who  lived  upon 
the  rent  of  a  small  house  in  a  poor  neighbourhood, 
about  £36  a  year — there  are  lots  of  such  petits 
rentiers  in  Paris — hit  upon  the  happy  idea  of 
taking  a  stool  and  an  accordion,  seating  himself 
on  the  bridge  called  the  Pont  des  Arts,  and 
soliciting  alms  as  a  man  ruined  by  the  Commune. 
The  dodge  told  well,  and  the  man  became  a  public 
character;  and  capital  tales  were  invented  about 
him,  of  which  the  following  is  the  most  amus- 
ing:— "Fortunately  one  of  the,  now,  beggar's 
tenants  was  a  man  well  off,  and  possessed  a  grand 
and  noble  soul.  He  visited  his  landlord  and  said 
to  him,  I  will  not  pay  you  your  rent  because  Saint 
Commune  has  forbidden  it,  but  I  will  pension 
you.  He  kept  his  word,  and  the  following  morn- 
ing, on  passing  over  the  bridge,  he  paid  the  first 
instalment  of  the  pension — one  penny ! " 

The  position  now  began  to  be  extremely  un- 
comfortable. Provisions,  though  not  absolutely 
scarce,  were  often  dear  and  generally  bad;  the 
streets  and  all  waste  ground  were  filthy  in  the 
extreme,  and  the  danger  of  epidemics  breaking 
out  was  considerable;  and  added  to  all  this,  the 
difficulty  of  escaping  from  the  toils  of  the  Com- 
mune were  great,  in  the  case  of  any  one  capable  of 
bearing  arms.  The  railways  had  been  closed  for 
a  day  or  two,  when  the  Prussians  sent  a  message 
to  the  managers  of  the  Eastern  line  to  say,  that  if 
the  service  were  not  recommenced  they  would 
take  possession  of  it;  this  was  awkward,  and  the 
Commune  was  compelled  to  yield.  A  picket  of 
guards  was,  however,  placed  at  the  terminus,  and 
the  "  new  government "  revenged  itself,  not  only 
by  seizing  any  arms  or  provisions,  but  also  by 
making  itself  very  disagreeable  to  all  who  wanted 
to  leave  Paris.  This  was  not,  however,  general, 
for  there  was  scarcely  any  interruption  of  the 
Northern  and  Western  lines,  but  great  difficulty 
in  procuring  French  passports.  As  to  the  chance 
of  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life  being  allowed  to 
pass  the  gates  of  the  city,  that  was  all  but  hope- 
less; hundreds  tried  it,  but  were  turned  back. 
Some  of  them  at  last  hit  upon  the  happy  expedient 
of  entering  the  service,  going  out  with  the 
battalions,  and  deserting  on  the  first  opportunity. 

TOL.   II. 


There  is  no  doubt  that  this  course  was  adopted 
in  many  cases,  and  such  conduct  may  account  for 
some  of  the  noisy  enthusiasm  evinced  on  marching 
out  of  the  city,  and  for  the  routs  that  followed. 

As  to  correspondence,  the  only  letters  that  got 
out  of  Paris  for  many  days  were  taken,  as  already 
stated,  by  the  milkwomen  or  other  "  special 
couriers,"  but  none  came  in  that  we  heard  off;  that 
business  might  have  been  regarded  by  the  robust 
laitieres  as  rather  too  dangerous. 

It  will  give  some  idea  of  the  effect  of  events 
on  ordinary  trade  to  state  the  following  facts 
respecting  one  of  the  great  ladies'  shops  in  Paris. 
In  the  spring  of  1870,  260  young  men  and  women 
were  employed  there,  and  the  receipts  amounted  to 
40,000  francs,  or  £1600,  a  day;  now  there  were  but 
fifty  persons  to  serve,  and  the  takings  had  dwindled 
down  to  £60  a  day.  And  yet  this  amount  under  the 
circumstances  seems  large,  for  nobody  bought  any- 
thing he  could  do  without,  and  dress,  instead  of 
being  sedulously  cultivated,  as  usual,  was  as  care- 
fully avoided;  the  worst-dressed  person  was  most 
secure  against  annoyance. 

By  the  middle  of  April,  when  Marshal  MacMahon 
had  assumed  the  command,  Paris  began  to  hope 
that  the  reign  of  the  Commune  was  nearly  at  an 
end,  and  the  operations  around  gave  fair  ground 
for  such  hope;  the  roar  of  cannon  and  the  crash 
of  mitrailleuses  were  continuous,  and  being  closer 
home,  the  noise  was  much  louder  than  at  any  time 
during  the  siege.  Every  day  engagements  took 
place  so  near  the  city  that  the  smoke  and  flash  of 
musketry  were  distinctly  seen  from  houses  con- 
siderably within  the  circle  of  the  fortifications; 
the  constant  shower  of  shot  and  shell  came  nearer 
and  nearer,  till  the  few  inhabitants  who  resided  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  city  either  fled  into  their 
cellars  or  to  some  less  dangerous  roof.  Many 
rjeople  who  had  left  Paris  had  placed  their  apart- 
ments at  the  disposal  of  their  friends,  who  gladly 
availed  themselves  of  them,  and  fled  into  the  in- 
terior of  the  city.  In  many  places  the  cellars  were 
the  only  resort,  and  cases  occurred  in  which  whole 
families  were  confined  to  them  for  weeks,  while  the 
shells  were  flying  almost  without  cessation  over 
their  heads. 

The  conflict  went  on  perpetually ;  and  the 
struggle  was  maintained  with  bravery  by  both 
sides.  May-day  came,  and  still  there  was  little 
change  in  the  aspect  of  affairs,  although  the  end 
was  evidently  approaching. 
2u 


338 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


One  of  the  most  curious  combination  of  cir- 
cumstances that  could  well  be  imagined  was  to 
be  seen,  just  outside  Paris,  at  this  period.  The 
Germans  were  in  possession  of  St.  Denis,  as  they 
had  been  long  before ;  the  Communists  were  in 
possession  of  Asnieres  and  Bois-Colombes,  and  the 
Versailles  troops  of  the  little  town  of  Colombes 
close  at  hand.  Constant  conflicts  were  going 
on  between  the  Versailles  and  the  federal  forces, 
under  the  eyes  of  the  Germans,  who  had  adopted 
the  island  of  St.  Ouen,  near  St.  Denis,  as  their 
observatory;  and  the  bridge  being  broken  down 
they  had  established  a  ferry  boat,  which  carried 
them  backwards  and  forwards  for  a  few  sous. 
From  this  spot  they  watched  with  their  glasses  the 
conflicts  going  on  amongst  their  late  opponents. 
To  complete  the  picture,  St.  Denis,  almost  utterly 
ruined,  and  in  possession  of  the  enemy,  is  only 
seven  miles  from  Paris,  and  many  Parisians 
passed  the  day  in  Paris  and  went  to  St.  Denis  for 
safety  for  the  night;  here  they  were  under  the 
military  police  regulations  of  the  German  authori- 
ties, and  were  compelled  to  be  within  doors  at  ten 
o'clock ;  and  if  found  infringing  any  of  the  regula- 
tions were  clapped  in  the  guard-house,  and  let  out 
the  next  morning  on  paying  ten  francs  for  the 
smallest  offence. 

The  destruction  at  St.  Denis  was  terrible,  and 
the  isle  of  St.  Ouen  was  cleared  of  everything  that 
was  on  it,  and  now  Asnieres,  Neuilly,  and  all  the 
villages  and  hamlets  around  seemed  doomed  to 
destruction.  There  is  but  one  consoling  fact, 
namely,  that,  with  the  exception  of  Neuilly,  they 
were  amongst  the  ugliest  and  most  uninteresting 
suburbs  that  ever  lay  around  a  chief  city.  While 
the  poorest  hamlet  in  England  has  its  flower- 
gardens,  and  even  the  commonest  inn  has  some- 
thing of  a  rural  and  ornamental  character,  nearly 
all  the  French  suburban  villages  consist  of  hide- 
ously ugly  houses  without  an  atom  of  forecourt, 
much  less  garden,  and  the  rural  inn  is  replaced 
by  a  miserable  wineshop,  and  a  cafe  which  can 
only  be  described  as  a  dirty  barn  reeking  with 
stale  tobacco.  St.  Denis  was  a  place  of  large  busi- 
ness, and  possessed  one  or  two  pretentious  restaur- 
ants, but  not  one  decent  inn  or  cafe.  The  contrast 
between  Paris  and  its  immediate  surroundings  is 
one  of  the  most  curious  that  can  be  imagined. 

In  the  winter  we  had  watched  the  growth  of 
the  barricades  within  Paris;  we  had  seen  every 
open  place  and  salient  corner  converted  into  a 


redoubt,  and  the  railway  within  the  walls  fortified 
and  crenelated  throughout  its  entire  length  ;  we 
had  seen  some  of  these  fortifications  removed, 
wondering,  as  we  watched  them,  what  effect  this 
grand  lesson  in  barricade -making  might  have 
upon  the  population  at  some  future  period  of 
difficulty.  We  little  thought  how  soon  our  specu- 
lations were  to  be  carried  into  practice.  The 
feelings  of  peaceful  people  in  Paris  may  be  im- 
agined when  a  long  official  document  appeared, 
of  which  the  following  is  a  very  condensed 
analysis : — 

"  The  barricade  commission  "  (of  which  many 
have  since  obtained  unenviable  notoriety,  and  not 
a  few  have  gone  to  their  account)  "  met  under 
the  presidency  of  Citizen  Rossel,  delegate  of  war. 

"The  president  laid  the  existing  system  of 
barricades  before  the  meeting,  and  these,  as  well  as 
the  new  plans,  having  been  discussed  at  length,  it 
was  resolved  that  two  lines  of  barricades  should 
be  formed  along  the  whole  line  open  to  the  attacks 
of  the  troops  of  Versailles,  and  that  those  lines 
should  be  continued  around  the  whole  town. 

"  Citizen  Gaillard,  senior,  proposed  that  the 
sewers  should  be  cut  in  the  fosses  of  the  forti- 
fications, and  mined  in  front  of  the  barricades. 
He  pointed  out  that  the  principal  object  of  the 
latter  was  to  show,  both  to  the  enemy  and  the 
population  of  Paris,  that  to  take  the  city  it  must 
be  destroyed  house  by  house.  It  was  necessary, 
therefore,  to  collect  behind  the  barricades  all  the 
means  of  defence  most  likely  to  act  on  the  moral 
of  the  enemy.  It  is  not  probable  that  they  will 
require  to  be  used,  for  the  attack  will  not  be 
energetic  enough  to  reach  so  far;  but  with  such 
an  organization  Paris  may  defy  treason  and  sur- 
prises. 

"  The  commission  decided  that  the  gas  and 
water  pipes  should  be  preserved  intact  until  the 
moment  of  attack,  and  also  such  sewers  as  were 
necessarily  opened  for  mines. 

"  It  resolved  to  abandon  the  construction  of 
subterranean  mines  as  too  slow  an  xindertaking, 
but  decided  that  mines  should  be  formed  below 
and  at  the  sides  of  sewers,  and  laid  down  the 
following  rules  on  the  subject: — The  first  series 
of  mines  to  be  twenty  yards  in  advance  of  the 
fosses,  and  to  be  charged  with  100  pounds  of 
powder;  the  second  series  to  be  twelve  yards 
beyond,  and  to  contain  200  pounds  of  powder ; 
the  third  series  to  be  at  the  same  distance  further 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


339 


in  advance,  and  to  contain  the  same  quantity  of 
powder  as  the  second;  and  so  on,  in  addition 
where  necessary.  Each  mine  to  have  a  separate 
train  to  fire  it. 

"  The  general  plan  to  be  made  known  to  the 
public  by  placards  and  lithographic  sketches. 

"  Lastly,  every  one  of  the  gates  of  the  enceinte 
was  ordered  to  be  barricaded  on  each  side,  and 
that  all  the  roads  leading  thereto,  and  every  corner 
house  near  a  gate,  should  be  barricaded  and  occu- 
pied by  soldiers." 

Such  was  the  prospect  laid  open  to  us.  As 
regards  the  barricades,  they  were  immediately 
commenced  and  carried  out  with  great  rapidity 
and  ingenuity ;  every  one  was  forced  to  aid  in  the 
work,  and  two  formidable  rings  of  barricades  were 
erected  around  the  city.  In  important  positions 
these  barricades  assumed  the  character  of  veritable 
redoubts,  and  were  armed  with  the  excellent  new 
bronze  breech-loaders  in  the  possession  of  the 
Commune;  never  was  an  insurrection  mounted  on 
such  a  scale  or  provided  with  such  means. 

We  know  less  about  what  was  done  with  respect 
to  the  mines,  but  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  the  work  was  pretty  thoroughly  carried  out; 
certainly  wires  were  discovered  in  many  places, 
and  cut  by  the  Versailles  troops  on  entering  Paris. 
Bands  of  men  were  told  off  for  this  dangerous 
duty,  the  men  wearing  bands  round  one  arm  to 
assure  the  inhabitants  of  their  peaceful  intentions. 
Some  of  these  men  fell  by  accidents  in  thus  foiling 
the  plans  of  the  Federals  ;  but  no  clear  or  trust- 
worthy account  of  the  whole  expedients  that  were 
prepared  for  the  last  struggle  has  appeared. 

Other  matters  also  engaged  the  leaders  of  the 
Commune  at  this  period,  especially  the  means  of 
carrying  on  necessary  works,  and  a  document  to 
the  following  effect  was  issued: — 

"  Commune  of  Paius. 

"  Seeing  that  many  workshops  have  been  aban- 
doned by  those  who  directed  them,  who  have 
escaped  from  their  civic  obligations  without  any 
consideration  for  the  interest  of  the  working  classes ; 
seeing  that  in  consequence  of  this  cowardly  flight, 
many  works  essential  to  the  ordinary  life  of  the 
masses  have  been  abandoned,  and  the  existence  of 
the  workmen  compromised — It  is  decreed: — ■ 

"  That  the  synodical  chambers  of  the  workmen 
be  convoked,  in  order  to  establish  a  commission 
of  inquiry  with  the  following  objects: — 


"  1.  To  draw  up  a  list  of  the  works  abandoned, 
with  an  account  of  the  exact  state  of  the  machinery, 
tools,  and  plant  which  they  contain. 

"  2.  To  present  a  report  on  the  practical  means 
of  placing  these  workshops  in  condition  for  work- 
ing, not  by  the  deserters  who  have  abandoned 
them,  but  by  the  co-operative  association  of  the 
workmen  who  were  employed  there. 

"  3.  To  draw  up  a  plan  for  the  constitution  of 
such  co-operative  associations. 

"  4.  To  form  an  arbitration  jury,  which  shall, 
on  the  return  of  the  employers,  settle  the  condi- 
tions on  which  the  workshops  shall  be  definitely 
ceded  to  the  workmen's  associations,  and  upon  the 
quotas  of  indemnity  to  be  paid  to  such  employers." 

Doubtless  some  of  the  workshops  referred  to 
were  taken  possession  of  by  the  Communal  author- 
ities; but  this  wonderful  decree  can  scarcely  have 
come  into  anything  like  general  operation.  Arms 
and  food  were  the  principal  requisites  in  demand  ; 
the  former  were  found  in  large  quantities,  and  the 
workshops  in  the  Louvre  established  by  the 
government  of  September  supplied  all  the  neces- 
sary means  of  repair;  as  to  food,  that  existed,  and 
when  not  to  be  had  in  the  ordinary  way,  was 
simply  requisitioned,  and  sometimes  paid  for  in 
paper  money  of  the  Commune — I  0  Us  of  which 
the  current  value  was  about  the  same  as  that  of 
a  button  top. 

A  commission  of  artists  was  formed,  the  objects 
of  which  were  that  artists  should  have  the  manage- 
ment of  everything  in  the  world  of  art;  namely, 
the  preservation  of  the  works  of  the  past,  the 
bringing  before  the  attention  of  the  world  the 
works  of  the  present  day,  and  the  regeneration  of 
the  future  by  education :  in  short,  the  care  of  the 
public  galleries  of  art,  the  management  of  the 
exhibitions  of  modern  art,  and  the  education  of 
future  artists — free  trade  in  art,  in  its  fullest 
acceptation.  The  publication,  under  the  commis- 
sion, of  an  official  journal  of  art,  formed  one  of 
the  special  objects  mentioned. 

Liberty  of  the  rjress  seems  to  be  a  plant  that  can 
not  flourish  in  French  soil.  The  Bourbons  would 
not  have  it;  the  Orleanists  liked  it  not,  and  gave  it 
little  chance.  Imperialism  detested  it,  fought  against 
it  in  every  way  by  repression,  suspension,  fine,  and 
imprisonments  without  end;  half  the  journalists 
were  inmates  of  prisons  during  the  reign  of  Napo- 
leon III.     Latterly  the  imperial  government  set 


340 


PAEIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


to  work  stealthily  and  steadily  to  circumvent  what 
it  could  not  absolutely  eradicate,  by  starting  at  its 
own  cost  false  liberal  and  opposition  journals,  and 
trying  to  corrupt  existing  ones ;  in  which  it  suc- 
ceeded to  a  certain  extent,  but  with  no  practical 
result  but  the  loss  of  its  money  and  the  ruin  of  the 
credit  of  the  papers  which  listened  to  the  charmer. 
The  government  of  September  could  not  bear  such 
a  power  as  the  press  near  the  democratic  throne ;  it 
also  tried  its  hand  at  suppression  and  coercion,  and 
fairly  burnt  its  fingers.  The  Commune  adopted 
much  the  same  course  as  most  of  its  predecessors, 
and  although  it  did  not  arrive  at  the  slaughter  of 
imperial  times,  it  made  its  arm  felt  in  like  manner. 
It  suspended  and  suppressed  half  a  dozen  or  more 
journals;  the  Bien  Public  was  absolutely  suppressed 
on  the  21st  of  April.  M.  Dubisson,  who  printed  the 
Figaro  and  many  other  papers,  was  forbidden  to 
use  his  type  and  presses,  and  an  attempt  was  made 
by  the  Commune  to  take  possession  of  them;  but 
M.  Dubisson's  printers  stood  by  their  master,  and 
although  almost  starved  out,  they  refused  to  submit 
to  the  tyrannical  demand.  The  printing  office  of 
the  Opinion  Nationale,  an  old  liberal  paper,  the 
editors  of  which  declined  to  accept  the  Commune, 
was  forcibly  taken  possession  of.  All  this  was  dis- 
graceful, especially  so  in  a  government  pretending 
to  be  founded  on  liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity. 

M.  Rochefort  cannot  be  quoted  as  having  done 
much  for  his  country,  except  adding  fuel  to  the 
flames  and  aiding  civil  war  by  puerile  violence; 
but  in  this  case  of  the  interference  of  the  author- 
ities with  the  press  he  behaved  well,  and  deserves 
credit  for  it.  In  his  paper,  the  Jlfot  d'Ordre,  he 
addressed  stinging  articles  against  a  liberal  govern- 
ment interfering  with  a  liberal  press;  he  said,  the 
members  of  the  Commune  were  editors  of  papers, 
and  insulted  honest  republicans  who  could  not 
use  reprisals  and  suppress  the  Communal  journals 
in  their  turn. 

The  Affranchi,  which  was  edited  by  Paschal 
Grousset,  caused  bitter  smiles  by  announcing 
that  the  Commune  was  well  off'  for  cash,  and  that 
the  financial  committee  was  in  a  position  to  pay 
a  thousand  millions  of  francs,  or  forty  millions 
sterling,  as  the  share  of  Paris  in  the  Prussian 
indemnity,  and  to  spread  that  sum  over  ten  years, 
and  still  be  able  to  diminish  the  octroi  dues;  these, 
adds  the  writer,  are  acts  to  which  neither  the 
empire  nor  the  government  of  the  4th  of  Septem- 
ber have  habituated  us. 


This  was  all  lamentably  ridiculous;  the  Com- 
mune had  money  then,  but  how  did  it  obtain 
it?  By  confiscating  the  bonds  of  the  Hotel  de 
Ville  and  the  cash  of  the  bank  to  a  certain  extent, 
and  by  levying  contributions  on  the  railway  com- 
panies, the  insurance  offices,  the  notaries,  and 
others.  After  all,  there  remained  the  query:  Was 
not  the  whole  statement  a  mendacious  tissue  of 
absurdities?  But  the  Commune's  supporters  must 
be  kept  in  hope,  and  tickled  and  pleased ;  what 
mattered  a  few  more  falsehoods  for  such  a  purpose? 

Amongst  other  decrees,  the  Commune  issued 
one  ordering  all  cafes  to  be  closed  at  midnight; 
there  was  little  cause  for  this,  for  there  was 
scarcely  any  one  in  them  long  before  that  hour. 
Another  decree  caused  some  amusement;  bakers 
were  ordered  not  to  work  at  night,  because  it  was 
bad  for  the  health  of  the  men,  and  Paris  can  do  very 
well,  it  said,  with  stale  bread  in  the  morning! 

Reports  were  rife  at  this  time,  that  the  members 
of  the  Commune  were  all  at  sixes  and  sevens  with 
one  another.  Cluseret  was  charged  with  all  kinds 
of  crimes  and  offences,  and  if  his  dear  colleagues 
could  have  found  any  better,  or  worse,  man  to  put  in 
his  place,  he  would  soon  have  had  a  safe  lodging. 
M.  Cluseret  demanded  the  arrest  of  M.  Felix  Pyat, 
which  it  is  said  was  agreed  to;  and  the  latter 
attacked  M.  Vermorel  violently  in  Le  Vengeur, 
for  having  opposed  him  in  the  Communal  councils. 
M.  Pyat  tendered  his  resignation,  and  this,  like 
the  rats  quitting  a  ship,  was  looked  upon  as  proof 
that  the  end  was  near.  His  resignation  was  based  on 
an  absurdity.  He  took  his  seat  there  at  the  end  of 
March,  when  the  law  about  the  number  of  votes  at 
an  election  was  arbitrarily  set  aside;  and  now  he 
would  quit  it  on  the  ground  that  the  same  illegality 
was  to  be  practised  with  respect  to  the  election  of 
supplementary  members  to  fill  vacancies.  Logical 
M.  Pyat!  Three  urgent  appeals  were,  however, 
made  to  M.  Pyat  to  withdraw  his  resignation ; 
one  from  ladies,  to  whose  decree  the  amiable  Felix 
declared  he  must  submit. 

The  court-martial  established  to  judge  all  acts 
threatening  the  public  safety,  had  been  dissolved 
after  a  great  row  in  the  Communal  council,  by 
which  General  Cluseret  was  said  to  have  been  very 
rudely  treated.  M.  Assi  was  arrested  for  the 
second  time. 

When  the  Commune  was  elected,  the  central 
committee  of  the  national  guard,  the  original 
revolutionary  body,  was  to  dissolve  itself;  but  it 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


341 


had  done  nothing  of  the  kind.  It  had  adopted 
M.  Louis  Blanc's  dictum,  and  maintained  itself 
above  and  in  spite  of  universal  suffrage,  and  in 
spite  of  its  own  declaration  to  the  contrary  before 
the  elections  took  place.  What  power  it  exercised 
actually,  no  one  exactly  knew;  but  it  represented 
the  200,000  bayonets,  and  that  was  enough  for  a 
power  to  place  itself  "  above  universal  suffrage." 
As  might  have  been  expected,  these  two  con- 
flicting bodies  did  not  pull  well  together ;  like 
the  Siamese  twins,  they  were  united,  yet  not  of 
one  mind.  The  schism  between  the  two  was 
becoming  wider  every  day;  and  there  was  an 
idea  abroad,  that  the  central  committee  was  not 
unlikely  to  arrest  the  whole  of  the  members  of 
the  Commune,  and  then  try  to  make  terms  with 
Versailles.  All  this  showed  that  the  Commune 
felt  itself  hopelessly  lost,  which  few  regretted, 
although  a  week  or  two  before  one  was  almost 
inclined  to  believe  that  nearly  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  the  capital  was  with  it. 

Proposals  for  an  amicable  settlement  were  put 
forth  on  all  bands,  especially  by  the  Temps,  which 
journal  declared  that  nothing  could  be  settled  by 
the  victory  of  either  party  over  the  other.  The 
Temps  is  a  sensible,  well-written,  really  liberal 
journal,  which  had  never  bowed  down  before  the 
Commune;  but  in  this  case  its  judgment  was  not 
accepted  by  any  one  that  we  knew;  on  the  con- 
trary, the  general  opinion  was  that,  painful  as 
was  the  necessity,  the  government  had  no  other 
course  but  to  force  the  Communists  to  submission, 
or  fight  it  out;  and  such  proved  to  be  the  case. 

The  most  infamous  act  of  which  the  Commune 
was  guilty,  was  the  seizure  of  the  archbishop  of 
Paris  and  more  than  a  hundred  priests  and  dig- 
nitaries of  the  church;  the  excuse  given  was  that 
prisoners  taken  by  the  government  forces  had 
been  barbarously  murdered,  and  that  the  priests 
and  prelates  were  merely  seized  as  hostages  in  case 
any  such  conduct  should  be  pursued  in  future. 

The  archbishop  of  Paris  wrote  from  his  prison 
to  M.  Thiers,  probably  at  the  instigation,  or  in 
consequence  of  the  declarations,  of  the  Commune. 
The  authenticity  of  this  letter  was  not  believed 
in,  but  M.  Thiers  has  shown  that  it  was  perfectly 
authentic  by  the  following  reply: — 

"  Versailles,  April  14. 

Monseigneur, — I  have  received  the  letter  from 
you    brought    by  the   cure   of  Montmartre,    and 


hasten  to  reply  with  that  sincerity  from  which  I 
shall  never  depart.  The  facts  to  which  you  call 
my  attention  are  absolutely  false,  and  I  am  really 
surprised  that  so  enlightened  a  prelate  as  you, 
Monseigneur,  should  for  a  single  instant  have  im- 
agined them  true.  The  army  never  has  committed, 
and  never  will  commit,  the  odious  crimes  imputed 
to  it  by  men  who  are  either  calumniators  or  are 
misled  by  the  atmosphere  of  lies  which  surrounds 
them.  Our  soldiers  have  never  shot  their  pris- 
oners, or  sought  to  dispatch  the  wounded.  That 
in  the  heat  of  combat  they  may  have  used  their 
arms  against  men  who  assassinate  their  generals, 
and  do  not  hesitate  to  accumulate  the  horrors  of 
civil  upon  those  of  foreign  war,  is  possible;  but 
once  the  fighting  over,  they  act  with  the  gener- 
osity of  the  national  character;  and  the  proof  of 
this  is  patent  to  everybody  here  in  Versailles.  The 
hospitals  contain  very  many  insurgent  wounded, 
who  are  treated  in  precisely  the  same  way  as  the 
defenders  of  order.  This  is  not  all.  We  have 
made  in  all  1600  prisoners,  who  have  been  trans- 
ported to  Belle  Isle  and  other  maritime  stations, 
where  they  are  treated  just  like  ordinary  prisoners, 
and  much  better  than  any  of  our  men  would  be 
who  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  insurrection. 
I  therefore,  Monseigneur,  repudiate  altogether  the 
calumnies  which  have  been  repeated  to  you.  I 
affirm  that  our  soldiers  have  never  shot  any  pris- 
oners; that  all  the  victims  of  this  wretched  civil 
war  have  fallen  in  the  heat  of  battle;  that  our 
soldiers  have  never  ceased  to  be  guided  by  those 
humane  principles  which  animate  all  of  us,  and 
which  are  alone  worthy  of  the  freely  elected  gov- 
ernment that  I  have  the  honour  to  represent.  I 
have  already  declared,  and  I  declare  again,  that  all 
the  misguided  individuals  who  may  repent  of  their 
errors  and  lay  down  their  arms,  will  have  their 
lives  spared,  unless  they  be  judicially  convicted  of 
participation  in  those  abominable  assassinations 
which  all  honest  men  deplore;  that  necessitous 
workmen  shall  receive  for  some  time  yet  to  come 
the  subsidy  which  enabled  them  to  live  during 
the  siege,  and  that  once  order  re-established,  all 
shall  be  forgotten.  Such  are  the  declarations  I 
have  already  made,  which  I  renew,  and  to  which 
I  shall  remain  faithful  whatever  happens;  and  I 
give  the  most  positive  denial  to  everything  con- 
trary to  these  declarations.  Receive,  Monseigneur, 
the  expression  of  my  respect,  and  of  the  pain 
I   feel  at   finding  you  a  victim  of  this  frightful 


342 


PAKIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


system  of  hostages,  borrowed  from  the  reign  of 
terror,  and  which  we  might  have  hoped  would 
never  re-appear  amongst  us. 

"  The  President  of  the  Council, 

"A.    THIERS." 

The  countless  stories  of  the  assassination  of 
prisoners  did  much  to  inflame  the  minds  of  the 
Communistic  national  guards  and  the  rabble  against 
the  government;  but  we  were  too  much  accustomed 
to  deliberate  falsehoods  of  this  kind  to  be  aston- 
ished at  anything,  and  few  doubted  the  sincerity 
of  M.  Thiers'  express  denial  of  any  such  atrocities 
having  been  committed.  The  letter  produced  a 
great  impression,  as  it  was  calculated  to  do. 

Of  these  unfortunate  prisoners  sixty  were  con- 
fined in  the  prison  of  the  Conciergerie,  and  others 
at  Mazas,  La  Eoquette,  and  elsewhere.  It  is  asserted 
that  they  were  treated  with  the  greatest  rigour, 
fed  on  the  commonest  and  scantiest  prison  diet, 
confined  in  cells  which  they  were  never  allowed 
to  quit;  and  as  many  of  the  prisoners  were  old  men 
accustomed  to  every  comfort,  the  punishment  fell 
most  severely  upon  them.  But  the  torture  of  any 
one  in  a  religious  garb  seemed  to  give  intense 
pleasure  to  the  Communists. 

The  "new  government"  commenced  the  manu- 
facture of  balloons;  it  formed  a  body  of  balloonists, 
with  a  captain  and  other  officers.  The  object  of 
the  balloons  was  said  to  be,  first,  military  observa- 
tion, and  secondly,  correspondence  with  the  depart- 
ments. They  also  seized  upon  the  arm-shop 
established  at  the  Northern  Railway  Works,  and 
finished  a  number  of  brass  guns  that  were  left  in 
an  imperfect  state  at  the  time  of  the  armistice. 

The  want  of  money  was,  in  spite  of  all  the  asser- 
tions to  the  contrary,  pressing,  and  all  means 
were  tried  to  fill  the  exhausted  coffers  of  the 
Commune.  One  day  600  national  guards  sur- 
rounded the  offices  of  the  great  Paris  gas  company, 
and  forcing  the  iron  chest,  took  away  70,000  francs ; 
the  money  was,  however,  afterwards  returned  with 
an  apology. 

An  incident  which  told  decidedly  against  the 
Commune  occurred  at  the  medical  school.  The 
students  were  convoked  to  appoint  ten  delegates  to 
confer  with  the  government  on  the  reorganization 
of  the  medical  schools;  but  by  a  majority  of  two- 
thirds  they  refused  to  go  into  the  question  with 
the  Commune,  and  dispersed  with  cries  of  Vive 
la  Republique!     This  incident  was  the  more  im- 


portant, from  the  fact  that  the  medical  schools  as 
a  body  are  radical  in  the  extreme.  In  September, 
when  nearly  all  the  world  was  content  to  write 
up  "  Liberty,  Equality,  Fraternity,"  the  medical 
school  added  the  words  "or  Death;"  and  within 
the  walls  on  which  this  Robespierrean  motto 
appeared,  met  one  of  the  most  violent  clubs  in 
Paris.  The  fact  was,  we  believe,  that  many  of  the 
students  hailed  the  Commune  with  great  zeal  at 
first,  but  that  they  had  had  enough  of  it.  In  our 
own  country,  the  opinions  of  a  school  of  young 
men  and  boys  would  not  go  for  much;  but  in 
Paris,  where  almost  every  well-educated  man 
seems  to  shrink  from  public  life  the  moment  he 
leaves  college,  it  has  decided  importance.  The 
Commune  lost  something  by  the  defection  of  the 
radical  medicals. 

Another  proof  of  the  difficulties  of  the  Com- 
mune was  shown  in  the  closing  of  a  well-known 
cafi  near  the  Bourse,  on  account  of  the  too  free 
conversation  concerning  the  disastrous  effects  of 
the  revolution. 

M.  Louis  Blanc  has  filled  an  important  place  in 
the  public  mind,  and  in  some  respects  deservedly 
so.  We  have  felt  obliged  to  say  what  we  believe 
to  be  truth  respecting  the  harm  some  of  his  acts 
and  speeches  have  done,  and  we  therefore  think 
it  right  to  let  his  own  account  of  his  views  appear 
here,  in  the  form  of  a  letter  addressed  to  M. 
Cernuschi,  the  editor  of  the  Siecle. 

"  Versailles,  April  20,  1871. 

"  Sir, — You  wish  to  know  if  I  have  remained  a 
Socialist.  Upon  this  point  your  curiosity  must  be 
very  great,  since  this  is  the  second  time  you  have 
publicly  asked  me  the  question.  Be  assured,  I 
have  remained  a  Socialist.  Permit  me  to  add,  that 
if  you  are  ignorant  of  this  it  is  not  my  fault,  for  in 
my  letters  to  the  Temps  I  have  never  missed  an 
opportunity  of  declaring  my  political  and  social 
convictions;  and  again  quite  recently  I  explained, 
developed,  and  defended  them  in  a  book  published 
in  France  under  the  title  of  '  The  Revolution  of 
February.'  True,  from  the  moment  I  returned  from 
exile  to  shut  myself  up  in  besieged  Paris,  my 
thoughts  and  my  mind  were  completely  occupied  by 
poignant  anxiety  for  the  misfortunes  of  my  country. 
But  what  I  was,  I  still  am.  At  the  present  moment 
I  feel  myself  drawn  as  powerfully  as  ever  towards 
the  study  of  the  problem  long  since  laid  down  in 
these  terms:  The  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


343 


amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  class  the  most 
numerous  and  the  poorest,  by  the  co-operation  of 
efforts  instead  of  their  antagonism,  and  by  associa- 
tion instead  of  conflict.  If  with  regard  to  the 
practical  means  to  be  employed  for  arriving 
gradually  at  the  solution  of  this  great  problem, 
twenty  years  of  observation  and  sincere  study  had 
led  me  to  modify  my  ideas,  so  far  from  concealing 
this,  I  should  consider  myself  bound  in  honour  to 
declare  it.  I  have  not  this  duty.  Perhaps  the 
reason  is  that  the  wrong  means  have  been  taken  to 
convince  me,  my  opinions  having  been  calumniated 
or  burlesqued  rather  than  discussed.  As  to  the 
reproach  you  address  to  me,  of  belonging  to  a 
party  which,  to  quote  your  words  '  fears  to  injure 
the  millennial  edifice  of  royal  unity,  and  dreads  the 
apparition  of  a  federal  constitution,  by  which  the 
chain  of  the  past  would  be  broken,'  let  us  come 
to  an  understanding.  To  break  the  chain  of  the 
past  I  believe  to  be  neither  desirable  nor  possible, 
for  the  simple  and  very  well-known  reason  that 
the  past  is  the  parent  of  the  present,  which  in  its 
turn  is  the  parent  of  the  future.  And  I  should 
deem  it  deplorable,  provided  that  the  chain  of  the 
past  could  be  broken,  that  it  should  be  broken  for 
the  profit  of  the  federalism  which  you  appear  to 
wish  for.  If  the  only  thing  at  issue  were  to  '  in- 
jure the  millennial  edifice  of  royal  unity,'  an  old 
republican  like  me  would  not  be  terrified  by  such 
a  result.  But  the  principle  for  which  I  will  fight 
as  long  as  I  can  hold  a  pen,  is  that  which  the 
Revolution  proclaimed;  that  from  which  it  derived 
the  strength  to  crush  the  coalition  of  the  kings; 
that  expressed  by  these  words,  which  explain  so 
many  victories  and  recall  so  many  grand  deeds — 
1  Republic,  one  and  indivisible !'  France  advancing 
united  and  compact  to  the  pacific  conquest  of  its 
liberty  and  that  of  the  world,  with  Paris — the 
immortal  Paris — for  capital,  is  a  prospect  which 
tempts  me  more,  I  admit,  than  France  reverting, 
after  being  torn  in  pieces,  to  that  Italian  federal- 
ism of  the  middle  ages,  which  was  the  cause  of 
continual  intestine  contentions  in  Italy,  and  which 
delivered  her,  lacerated  by  herself,  to  the  blows 
of  every  foreign  invader.  Not  that  I  am  for  cen- 
tralization carried  to  extremes.  Far  from  it.  I 
consider  that  the  commune  represents  the  idea  of 
unity  not  less  truly  than  the  state,  although  under 
another  aspect.  The  state  corresponds  with  the 
principle  of  nationality,  the  commune  corresponds 
with  the  principle  of  association;  if  the  state  is 


the  edifice,  the  commune  is  the  foundation.  Now, 
upon  the  solidity  of  the  foundation  that  of  the 
edifice  depends.  Hence  it  follows  that  in  recog- 
nizing the  right  of  the  commune  to  govern 
itself,  to  elect  its  magistrates,  beginning  with  the 
mayor,  to  control  their  ofEce,  to  provide,  in  a  word, 
for  everything  which  constitutes  its  own  life,  for 
everything  which  its  autonomy  realizes,  the  cause 
of  national  unity  is  really  served.  But  just  as  it  is 
necessary  that  the  municipalities  should  be  free  in 
their  movements — in  everything  which  specially 
concerns  each  of  them — so  is  it  necessary  that  the 
bond  which  unites  them  one  to  the  other,  and 
attaches  them  to  a  common  centre,  should  be  vigor- 
ously fastened.  Just  as  decentralization  is  neces- 
sary in  everything  affecting  local  interests,  so  would 
it  be  dangerous  if  extended  to  general  interests. 
Suffocation,  no;  unity,  yes.  Assuredly  no  one 
will  deny  that  it  is  in  conformity  with  good  sense 
to  attribute  what  is  personal  to  the  individual, 
what  is  communal  to  the  commune,  what  is  na- 
tional to  the  nation.  The  difficulty  would  be  to 
trace  a  well-defined  line  of  demarcation  between 
these  various  classes  of  interests,  were  not  the 
means  of  distinguishing  one  from  the  other  almost 
always  furnished  by  the  very  nature  of  things,  and 
inherent  in  the  laws  of  evidence.  Under  any  cir- 
cumstances, this  is  a  matter  for  free  investigation 
and  free  discussion.  But,  alas !  how  distant  the  day 
seems  still  in  which  that  maxim  which  so  much  soph- 
istry has  obscured  will  be  received  as  an  axiom — 
'  Force  founds  nothing  because  it  settles  nothing.' 
What,  in  fact,  is  taking  place?  The  cannon  roars; 
the  abyss  opens;  Ave  slay;  we  die;  and  such  is  the 
fatality  of  the  situation,  that  those  within  the  As- 
sembly, and  those  without,  who  would  give  their 
lives  to  see  this  sanguinary  problem  solved  in  a  pa- 
cific manner,  are  condemned  to  the  torture  of  being 
unable  to  perform  a  single  act,  to  utter  a  cry,  to  say  a 
word,  without  running  the  risk  of  provoking  mani- 
festations contrary  to  the  object  they  propose,  or 
without  rendering  themselves  liable  in  this  manner 
to  irritate  the  malady,  to  envenom  the  wound.  Was 
ever  misery  to  be  compared  with  this?  And  when 
the  return  of  civil  peace  depends,  on  the  one  hand, 
upon  the  formal  recognition  of  the  sovereignty  of 
the  people  which  abides  in  universal  suffrage,  that 
will  express  it  in  a  more  and  more  intelligent  man- 
ner in  proportion  as  the  organization  is  improved; 
and  on  the  other  hand,  upon  the  ungrudging  conse- 
cration of  everything  which  constitutes  municipal 


344 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


freedom,  is  it  conceivable  that,  instead  of  seeking 
an  issue  from  so  many  evils  in  a  policy  of  pacifica- 
tion, of  conciliation,  and  of  forgetfulness,  French- 
men should  continue  to  cut  each  other's  throats 
under  the  eyes  of  the  enemy,  whom  our  discords 
strengthen,  and  of  the  world,  which  is  scandalized? 
Oh,  civil  war,  grafted  so  lamentably  upon  foreign 
war;  frightful  struggle  pursued  amid  an  intellec- 
tual night,  that  a  single  ray  of  thought  ought  of 
itself  to  dissipate,  there  is  one  thing  which  equals 
thy  horrors,  it  is  thy  madness ! 

"  LOUIS  BLANC." 

If  the  above  letter  does  not  show  very  clearly 
what  M.  Louis  Blanc's  exact  opinions  are — half 
the  number  of  lines  would  have  served  that  pur- 
pose, had  he  desired  to  have  been  explicit — it  is 
quite  clear  that  he  repudiates  the  Communal 
notion  of  federation ;  but  the  blame,  or  rather  the 
dissension,  therein  expressed  is  so  mild,  that  it  can 
scarcely  be  said  to  have  shut  the  door  in  the  face 
of  the  Commune,  but  rather  to  have  kept  it  ajar, 
in  case  of  possible  eventualities. 

With  respect  to  the  finance  of  the  Commune,  it 
was  asserted  that  its  daily  expenses  amounted  to 
between  700,000  and  800,000  francs,  or  £28,000 
to  £32,000,  while  the  receipts  fell  something  like 
£8000  below  that  sum;  the  difficulty  of  making  up 
such  a  deficit  by  means  of  loans,  bills,  &c,  must  have 
been  great.  It  must  be  stated,  however,  that  on 
other  hands,  such  a  deficit,  or  any  deficit,  was 
strenuously  denied.  One  fact,  however,  is  worth  a 
hundred  assertions,  especially  in  Paris,  and  here  is 
a  striking  one — the  Commune  demanded  from  the 
railway  companies  the  payment  of  2,000,000  francs, 
£80,000,  within  forty-eight  hours.  This  was  the 
sum  of  the  arrears  of  taxes  due  by  the  companies 
to  the  government;  they  were  also  called  upon  to 
pay  their  dues  regularly  for  the  future. 

The  two  adjoining  quarters  of  Paris,  Les  Ternes 
and  Neuilly,  were  reduced  to  a  deplorable  state. 
All  the  inhabitants  not  retained  by  force  or  a  sense 
of  duty  had  left;  and  the  poor,  who  had  nowhere 
else  to  go  to,  were  living  in  the  cellars,  half  starved, 
with  shells  from  Valerien  and  Courbevoie  falling 
incessantly.  The  stories  that  we  heard  were  horrible ; 
for  example,  a  child's  funeral  was  passing  through 
a  bye  street,  when  a  shell  fell  amongst  the  mourn- 
ful party,  all  of  whom  fled  but  the  father  and 
mother  of  the  deceased,  who  flung  themselves  on 
the  ground:  when  they  rose  they  found  the  coffin 


and  remains  cut  to  pieces.  A  poor  woman  in  a 
cellar  saw  her  husband  dying  of  a  wound  and  of 
starvation  before  her  eyes;  she  begged  for  aid,  for 
food,  for  a  doctor,  but  all  her  appeals  were  useless; 
the  poor  man  died.  She  implored  the  few  passers-by 
to  get  the  remains  buried;  but  the  shells  threatened 
the  living  too  seriously  to  allow  them  to  think  of 
the  dead.  The  poor  woman  at  length  made  a  hole 
in  the  floor  of  the  cellar  and  interred  the  body ;  but 
she  could  not  bear  the  neighbourhood  of  the  corpse, 
and  becoming  half  frantic  rushed  out  into  the  street, 
and  declared  that  she  would  go  out  and  meet  her 
deatli  at  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  rather  than  starve 
in  a  vault.  The  poor  creature  found  at  last  some 
aid.  This  was  only  one  of  a  hundred  such  cases, 
and  the  least  miserable  seem  to  be  those  whom  a 
friendly  shell  or  bullet  snatched  away  from  such 
fearful  tortures. 

At  last  a  cessation  of  hostilities  was  agreed 
upon,  in  order  that  the  miserable  inhabitants  of 
these  districts  might  get  away,  and  save  their 
lives  and  what  little  else  was  left  to  them. 

THE   TRUCE. 

The  question  of  a  truce  with  rebels  was  a  diffi- 
cult one  for  M.  Thiers,  but  he  agreed  to  it  at 
the  request  of  a  masonic  delegation  which  waited 
upon  him  under  a  flag  of  truce  at  Versailles. 
The  delegates  asked  for  an  armistice  for  the  poor 
inhabitants  of  Neuilly,  to  which  M.  Thiers  agreed ; 
but  when  they  talked  of  conciliation  with  the 
Commune,  and  a  recognition  of  the  municipal 
franchise  of  Paris,  the  chief  of  the  executive  was 
adamant,  and  declared  that  for  the  present  he 
adhered  to  the  municipal  law  voted  by  the  Assem- 
bly. No  one  can  blame  M.  Thiers  for  not  yield- 
ing to  the  demands  cf  a  tyrannical  rebellion;  but 
sooner  or  later  Paris  will  have  municipal  liberty, 
or  the  whole  life  will  be  crushed  out  of  her  in  the 
struggle.  The  position  of  two  millions  of  people 
without  power  over  their  own  affairs,  is  only  pos- 
sible in  presence  of  a  forest  of  bayonets.  This  is 
the  only  document  of  the  kind  that  passed  between 
the  "  governments  "  of  Paris  and  Versailles,  and 
we  therefore  quote  it  entire  as  a  curiosity : — 

"  An  armistice  for  the  benefit  of  Neuilly,  Tues- 
day, 25th  April,  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning 
until  five  o'clock  in  the  evening,  has  been  agreed 
to,  subject  to  the  following  conditions: — 

"  The  troops  of  Versailles  and  Paris  will  main- 
tain their  respective  positions. 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


345 


"  Sufficient  notice  will  be  given  to  the  people 
of  Neuilly,  during  which  they  can  abandon  the 
scene  of  mutual  conflict. 

"  In  no  case  must  they  pass  the  bridge  of 
Neuilly  or  the  lines  of  the  Versailles  troops. 

"  Persons  residing  within  the  said  lines,  who 
may  not  be  permitted  to  enter  Paris,  will  go  to- 
wards St.  Ouen  and  St.  Denis. 

"  The  road  will  be  made  practicable  by  the  cessa- 
tion of  fire  on  both  sides  from  Neuilly  to  St.  Ouen. 

"  During  the  armistice  no  movement,  either  of 
the  Paris  or  Versailles  troops,  is  to  take  place. 

"  Citizens  Loiseau-Pinson  and  Armand  Adam, 
present  within  the  limits  occupied  by  the  troops 
of  Versailles  and  Paris,  will  remain  there  during 
the  armistice,  and  if  necessary,  be  warned  that  all 
emigration  is  suspended  and  hostilities  about  to 
recommence. 

"  Citizens  Bonvalet  and  Hippolyte  Stupuy,  pre- 
sent within  the  same  limits  occupied  by  the  troops 
of  Paris  and  Versailles,  will  in  turn  be  warned  by 
Citizens  Loiseau-Pinson  and  Armand  Adam. 

"  These  conditions  are  approved  and  accepted  by 
the  generals  commanding  the  first  corps  d'armee, 
and  by  the  Commune  of  Paris." 

[Here  follow  the  signatures.] 

"  A  system  for  supplying  the  starving  inhab- 
itants of  Neuilly  with  food  has  been  organized 
by  the  delegates,  who  will  remain  on  the  bridge 
of  Neuilly  throughout  the  whole  duration  of  the 
armistice." 

The  armistice  was  announced  for  the  24th  of 
April,  but  by  some  inexplicable  blundering  this 
was  an  error.  The  consequence  was  that  crowds  of 
people  went  down  to  the  gates  as  near  as  they  could 
without  coming  within  range  of  the  fire,  to  bring 
away  their  friends  and  such  of  their  own  property 
as  was  still  undestroyed  the  moment  the  hostilities 
were  suspended ;  but  to  their  surprise  and  rage,  at 
noon,  when  the  armistice  was  to  commence,  the  fire 
increased  instead  of  ceasing.  Shells  fell  in  great 
numbers  in  reply  to  the  fire  of  the  insurgents,  and 
then  it  came  out  that  the  Commune  had  not  yet 
agreed.to  the  terms  proposed;  if  this  were  true,  as  it 
appears  to  have  been,  the  conduct  of  General  Clus- 
eret  in  announcing  the  armistice  was,  to  say  the  least 
of  it,  culpable.  No  suspension  of  hostilities  took 
place  on  that  day,  and  the  whole  of  the  people  who 
went  to  Neuilly,  in  expectation  of  the  armistice, 
were  greatly  enraged.  The  whole  of  the  ground 
from  Neuilly  to  the  Arc  de  Triomphe  was  covered 

VOL.    II. 


with  shells,  and  no  one  could  cross  that  quarter 
without  running  great  danger ;  several  persons, 
in  fact,  were  killed,  and  more  wounded. 

The  armistice  really  took  place  on  the  25th ;  an 
immense  collection  of  cabs,  carts,  and  vehicles  of 
all  kinds  were  collected  at  the  Palais  de  1'Industrie, 
the  headquarters  of  the  association  in  aid  of  the 
wounded  during  the  siege,  provided  by  the  delega- 
tion to  assist  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  and  refu- 
gees to  clear  out  of  Neuilly — a  considerate  act  which 
deserves  notice.  In  spite  of  all  this,  many  of  the 
inhabitants  remained,  having  probably  no  other 
place  to  go  to,  for  they  are  the  poorest  of  the  poor. 
Still,  it  was  difficult  to  imagine  any  one  remaining 
to  face  almost  certain  death  by  projectiles,  or  what 
is  far  worse,  starvation.  Half  Paris  flocked  to  the 
spot  on  the  occasion,  many  in  order  to  see  the 
devastation  which  had  been  caused  in  and  around 
the  village,  which  was  even  greater  than  that 
created  at  St.  Cloud  during  the  siege. 

The  suspension  of  arms  was  completely  respected 
on  both  sides  during  the  armistice.  No  firing  took 
place  from  either  the  Versailles  or  Paris  lines,  but 
both  sides  proceeded  with  their  barricades  and 
redoubts  almost  in  sight  of  each  other.  General 
Okolowicz  afterwards  made  a  formal  complaint  on 
the  part  of  the  Federals,  that  the  Versailles  troops 
broke  the  terms  of  the  truce  by  carrying  on  their 
works  during  the  armistice;  but  the  charge  is  men- 
dacious in  the  extreme,  for  trustworthy  witnesses 
saw  barricades  and  ditches  being  proceeded  with 
on  the  insurgent  side,  and  were  even  compelled  to 
lend  a  hand  to  the  works.  So  much  for  General 
Okolowicz's  complaint ! 

The  armistice  ceased  at  one  in  the  morning,  and 
at  about  three  Mont  Valerien  opened  fire  with 
great  vigour,  and  the  Versailles  troops  were  in  full 
activity  on  all  sides.  The  damage  done  to  this 
quarter  is  immense.  As  to  the  Avenue  de  la 
Grande  Armee,  there  is  not  a  house  that  has  not 
been  hit,  and  most  of  these  fine  new  mansions 
are  seriously  injured,  while  the  shells  fell  like 
hail  all  the  way  to  the  Champs  Elysees.  The 
smaller  buildings  in  the  avenues  and  streets  lead- 
ing to  the  two  gates  of  Porte  Maillot  and  Ternes 
are  utterly  ruined  ;  not  merely  chipped  and 
pierced,  but  roofs,  corners,  and  walls  shot  away. 
To  give  an  idea  of  the  devastation,  and  of  the 
number  of  projectiles  which  have  fallen  in  this 
quarter,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  scarcely  a 
tree  or  a  lamp-post  escaped,  the  former  being  cut 
2  s 


346 


PARIS,   BEFORE,  DURING,    AND   AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


to  pieces,  and  the  latter  bent  or  snapt  off.  Add  to 
this  that  the  pavements  or  roads  were  ploughed 
up  by  the  shells,  or  covered  in  many  places  with 
the  rubbish  of  the  fallen  houses,  and  some  idea 
may  be  formed  of  the  condition  of  this  quarter  of 
the  town,  which  a  few  months  since  was  the  favour- 
ite resort  of  the  English  residents  and  of  many 
well-to-do  Frenchmen,  who  were  beginning  to 
understand  the  benefit  of  the  English  arrangement, 
living  away  from  the  dusty,  stifling,  gas-polluted 
air  of  the  city.  The  more  remote  parts  of  Neuilly 
are  less  injured,  but  it  will  be  a  long  time  before 
that  .favourite  suburb  can  assume  its  tranquil  um- 
brageous aspect,  and  its  promenades  become  filled 
again  with  troops  of  laughing  children  under  the 
charge  of  their  white-capped  French  bonnes,  or 
spruce  English  nursery  governesses.  The  horrors 
of  a  foreign  war  are  bad  enough,  but  those  of  a 
fiendish  conflict  between  members  of  the  same 
nation  surpass  anything  that  misguided  human 
nature  brings  upon  its  own  head. 

Some  serious  accidents  happened  through  the 
eagerness  of  the  poor  people  in  trying  to  save 
their  remaining  goods;  staircases  and  floors  gave 
way  under  foot,  and  loss  of  life  and  serious  injuries 
were  the  result;  and  amongst  the  very  worst  effects 
of  this  frightful  conflict  was  the  apathy  with 
which  such  calamities  were  regarded.  Death  and 
suffering  had  become  so  common,  that  scarcely 
any  one  seemed  to  have  any  thought  except  for 
himself  and  those  who  were  nearest  and  dearest 
to  him.  The  French  are  noted  for  the  transient 
effect  produced  upon  them  by  disaster,  but  nothing 
more  revolting  can  be  imagined  than  the  callous- 
ness with  which  the  great  mass  regarded  the  scenes 


of  havoc  and  the  sufferings  which  were  enacted 
hourly  before  their  eyes.  War  may  have,  and 
assuredly  has,  at  times  a  noble  aspect  and  a  worthy 
cause;  but  civil  war  is  a  crime  against  nature  and 
a  disgrace  to  mankind. 

One  had  scarcely  the  heart  to  listen  to  anecdotes 
or  trivial  incidents  at  such  a  time,  but  they  existed 
and  formed  the  staple  of  much  small  talk.  In  this 
quarter  of  the  town  there  was  a  man,  an  Englishman, 
famous  for  his  breeds  of  dogs  and  other  animals. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  siege  he  had  a  litter  of 
famous  bull  pups ;  a  lady  wanted  one  of  the  queer 
little  balls  of  fat,  and  he  asked  her  twenty  pounds 
for  it.  Upon  her  exclamation  at  the  price,  he 
declared  that  in  three  months  they  would  be  worth 
double  that  sum  each.  Poor  man,  in  much  less 
than  three  months  food  and  fuel  had  become 
almost  worth  their  weight  in  gold;  the  half-mad 
starving  people  broke  down  his  palings  to  warm 
themselves  with,  burst  into  his  house,  and  all  the 
dogs,  including  the  little  twenty  pound  puppies, 
were  mercilessly  gobbled  up.  The  Commune 
finished  what  the  siege  marauders  had  commenced ; 
his  farm  outside  the  walls,  and  his  house  just 
within  them,  were  soon  in  ruins;  his  losses  were 
so  serious,  that  he  may  be  excused  for  declar- 
ing that  the  French  are  the  "  stupidest,  thick- 
headedest,  and  vain-gloriousest  people  as  he  ever 
knowed.'"  Alas!  that  such  should  be  said  of  a 
nation  which  calls,  and  believes  itself,  the  most 
glorious,  unselfish,  and  logical  people  on  the  face 
of  the  earth,  and  in  a  city  which  claims  to  be 
the  very  kernel  of  the  universe,  the  admira- 
tion, the  envy,  and  the  despair  of  the  civilised 
world  ! 


CHAPTER     III. 


ance  of  the  Versailles  Army — Severity  of  the  Struggle  in  the  Asnieres  Road — Destruction  of  the  Villages  of  Mendon  and  Belleville — Life  in 
the  City  and  Suburbs  during  the  Second  Siege — Distress  amongst  the  Market  Gardeners — Case  of  Special  Hardship — Dissensions  within 
the  Commune  — Proclamation  of  M.  Thiers  strongly  condemning  the  Proceedings  of  the  Commune,  but  promising  that  the  Lives  of  all  whu 
laid  down  their  Arms  should  be  spared,  and  asking  for  the  Assistance  of  all  Orderly  Citizens — Small  Effect  produced  by  the  Proclamation 
— Life  in  Paris  towards  the  End  of  the  Communal  Regime — Absurd  Legislation — Fruitless  Acts  of  the  Freemasons  and  others  with  the 
View  of  bringing  about  a  Reconciliation — Violent  Article  of  M.  Rochefort  against  the  Release  of  the  Hostages — A  Committee  of  Public 
Safety  appointed — New  Reign  of  Terror — Arrest  of  the  Governor  of  the  Invalides — Rumour  of  Prussian  Intervention,  and  Feeling  in  the 
City  on  the  Subject — State  of  the  Provision  Market  and  General  Health  of  the  City — Further  Efforts  to  bring  about  a  Truce — Grand 
Concert  at  the  Tuileries — Horrible  Scenes  in  Churches — Bombardment  of  the  Forts  and  Western  Part  of  the  City— Extensive  Conflagra- 
tions and  Exciting  Scenes— Appointment  of  Rossel  as  Communal  Commander-in-Chief — Biographical  Notice  of  him — Balance  Sheet  of  the 
Commune  and  Ability  of  Jourde,  the  Finance  Delegate — Construction  of  Inner  Barricades — Summons  to  the  Commander  of  Fort  Issy  to 
surrender,  and  Characteristic  Reply  of  Rossel — Statement  of  the  Communal  Forces— Capture  of  Fort  Issy  and  Attack  on  the  Ramparts — 
Rossel's  Indignation  at  the  Acts  of  his  Colleagues  and  Resignation — Appointment  of  a  New  Committee  of  Public  Safety — Rossel  proposed 
as  Dictator  by  Rochefort — Counsel  of  Felix  Pyat — Arrest  of  Rossel — Destruction  of  M.  Thiers'  Parisian  Residence,  by  order  of  the  Com- 
mune— State  of  the  Press  at  this  Period — Terror  in  the  City — Desertions  from  the  Communal  Ranks— Financial  Difficulties—  Bombard- 
ment of  the  Gates,  of  the  Fortifications,  and  the  Barricades— Capture  of  Fort  Vanves  by  the  Government  Troops— Wretched  Appearance 
of  the  Garrison  on  their  Return  to  Paris — Increasing  Severity  of  the  Attack  on  the  City  and  Desperate  Position  of  the  Communists — 
Extraordinary  Legislation  by  them — Determination  to  burn  or  blow  up  the  City  rather  than  Surrender — Demolition  of  the  Vendome 
Column — Disgraceful  Scene — Proclamation  of  Marshal  MacMahon  on  the  Subject — Cowardice  of  some  of  the  Communist  Leaders. 


During  the  week  previous  to  the  truce  of 
Neuilly  the  Versailles  army  had  been  gradually 
making  advances  against  the  Communists.  On  the 
17th  April  the  chateau  of  Becon  was  taken  by  a 
regiment  of  the  brigade  Lefebvre;  the  park  was 
immediately  placed  in  a  state  of  defence  and  bat- 
teries constructed.  On  the  following  day  the  Ver- 
sailles troops  continued  to  advance,  dislodged  the 
insurgents  from  all  the  houses  in  the  Asnieres 
road,  took  the  railway  station,  and  established 
themselves  there.  The  condition  of  the  houses 
around  after  the  fight  showed  how  sharp  was 
the  struggle  here:  many  of  them  were  reduced 
to  mere  heaps  of  ruins ;  others  had  only  the  back 
walls  left  standing,  with  the  staircases  in  some 
instances  hanging  suspended  to  them,  nothing 
else  remaining  but  the  fireplaces  in  their  niches, 
a  clock,  a  lamp,  or  a  few  ornaments  on  the  mantel- 
pieces, and  the  paper-hangings  on  the  wall,  torn 
and  blackened,  making  together  as  terrible  a 
picture  of  the  material  ravages  of  war  as  could  well 
be  imagined.  All  around  was  desolation  and  ruin; 
the  houses  that  were  not  utterly  destroyed  had 
their  walls  pierced  in  every  direction,  piers  knocked 
away  from  between  the  windows,  roofs  destroyed, 
the  floors  in  most  cases  burnt,  or  fallen  in.  The 
railway  station  suffered  almost  as  much  as  the 
houses  around. 

On  the  same  day  a  regiment  of  the  Gremelin 
brigade,  with  a  battalion  of  the  brigade  Pradier, 


took  the  village  of  Bois-Colombes,  an  important 
position.  The  attack  was  then  continued  against 
the  blocks  of  houses  which  were  occupied  by  the 
insurgents  at  Neuilly.  At  the  same  time  General 
Cissey  advanced  against  Fort  Issy  by  parallels 
between  Clamart  and  Chatillon,  the  insurgents 
making  constant  but  ineffective  attempts  to  pre- 
vent the  advance.  Batteries  were  also  established 
on  the  heights  at  Chatillon,  Meudon,  and  Belleville; 
and  Bagneux,  where  the  conflicts  between  the 
French  and  Prussians  had  been  so  sharp,  was 
wrested  from  the  insurgents. 

On  the  23rd  of  April  it  was  decreed  that  two 
new  corps  d'armee  should  be  formed,  principally 
of  prisoners  returning  home  from  Germany ;  this 
was  immediately  carried  out,  and  the  command 
of  the  new  corps  given  to  Generals  Douay  and 
Clinchant. 

On  the  25th  the  batteries  on  the  right  opened 
fire;  those  at  Breteuil,  Brimborion,  Meudon,  and 
Moulin  de  Pierre,  covered  Fort  Issy  with  their 
shells,  while  those  of  Bagneux  and  Chatillon 
attacked  Fort  Vanves;  these  two  forts  were,  how- 
ever, well  armed  and  manned,  and  replied  vigor- 
ously, and  were  aided  by  the  guns  on  the  fortifica- 
tions of  the  city  at  the  Point  du  Jour.  A  quarry 
near  the  cemetery  of  Issy  was  taken  from  the 
insurgents,  and  a  trench  was  cut  all  along  the 
road  from  Clamart  to  Moulineaux  to  command  the 
last-named  village.      Preparations  were  now  made 


348 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


to  carry  out  the  approaches  to  the  right  and  left  of 
Fort  lssy,  and  to  isolate  it  as  far  as  possible;  for 
this  purpose  it  was  necessary  to  take  Moulineaux, 
an  advanced  post  of  the  insurgents,  and  this  was 
effected  in  the  evening  of  the  26th  of  April  by 
General  Vinoy.  On  the  following  day  the  village 
was  fortified,  and  a  second  parallel  established 
between  Moulineaux  and  the  road  called  the  Voie- 
Verte  to  within  300  yards  of  the  glacis  of  the 
fort,  works  being  pushed  forwai'd  at  the  same  time 
in  the  direction  of  the  railway  station  at  Clainart. 
These  operations  enabled  the  government  forces  to 
debouch  upon  the  positions  which  the  Communists 
still  held  to  the  west  of  the  fort,  on  the  plateau,  in 
the  cemetery,  on  the  slopes,  and  in  the  park,  in 
advance  of  lssy;  these  positions  were,  however, 
strongly  entrenched,  and  the  insurgents  maintained 
a  vigorous  and  constant  fusillade  from  redoubts, 
houses,  and  crenelated  walls. 

The  taking  of  lssy  was  not  such  an  easy  matter 
as  some  people  imagined ;  six  hours  was  the  time 
talked  of  by  the  governmental  organs,  but  it  really 
took  twice  that  number  of  days,  and  the  opera- 
tions completed  the  destruction  of  the  villages  of 
Meudon  and  Belleville.  All  the  slopes  around 
these  places  were  studded  with  little  chateaux  and 
cockney  boxes,  nestling  in  charming  gardens  and 
amongst  noble  trees,  and  commanding  some  of 
the  most  beautiful  views  around  Paris;  these  were 
nearly  all  laid  in  ruins,  and  the  appearance  of 
the  whole  neighbourhood  rendered  desolate  in  the 
extreme.  Within  the  fortifications  on  the  city  side 
of  the  river  the  destruction  was  equally  or  even 
more  terrible.  The  Germans  reduced  the  Point 
du  Jour  and  parts  of  Auteuil  to  ruins;  and  as  the 
insurgents  were  strongly  entrenched  there,  the 
governmental  batteries  completed  the  work.  Hun- 
dreds of  houses  were  levelled  with  the  ground, 
the  railway  station  destroyed,  and  the  beautiful 
compound  bridge  over  the  Seine,  over  which  the 
railway  passes  on  a  viaduct,  was  seriously  disfigured, 
although  the  structure  was  not  materially  injured. 

It  must  be  difficult  for  those  who  have  not  been 
within  a  besieged  city  to  picture  exactly  to  them- 
selves the  state  of  the  case.  So  long  as  the  conflict 
was  confined  to  the  outlying  forts  it  was  ex- 
tremely difficult  for  one  not  engaged  in  the  oper- 
ations to  see  what  was  going  on.  Many  persons, 
some  from  curiosity  only,  volunteered  to  aid  the 
wounded  within  the  forts,  and  they,  of  course, 
had  good  opportunities  of  seeing,  and  feeling,  the 


effects  of  the  Versailles  artillery;  but  those  who 
remained  within  the  city, however  near  to  the  fortifi- 
cations, or  made  their  way  to  the  outlying  villages, 
saw  nothing  but  smoke,  with  an  occasional  flash 
at  night,  and  heard  nothing  but  the  thunder  of 
the  guns.  From  the  plains  lying  between  St. 
Denis  and  Versailles,  however,  all  the  scene  of 
the  conflict  was  visible,  but  of  course  at  too  great 
a  distance  to  make  out  much  more  than  rude 
outlines  and  smoke.  In  these  plains  the  poor 
peasants  continued  their  work  in  the  fields,  but 
all  their  labour  brought  them  only  a  miserable 
pittance;  their  cottages  had  been  destroyed;  their 
cattle  and  horses,  if  they  had  any,  eaten;  their  tools 
stolen,  lost,  or  burnt;  the  usual  means  of  convey- 
ance being  all  cut  off,  it  was  always  difficult  and 
often  impossible  for  them  to  get  into  the  city,  where 
their  vegetables  would  have  been  most  welcome. 
The  people  of  the  villages  around  were  themselves 
too  seriously  impoverished  to  be  good  customers. 
They  had  no  resource  but  to  carry  their  products 
to  Versailles,  which  compared  to  Paris  was  a  very 
poor  market  for  such  a  large  tract  of  cultivated 
ground  as  that  referred  to.  These  difficulties, 
however,  were  not  all  with  which  they  had  to 
contend.  The  whole  neighbourhood  had  become 
demoralized;  the  government  was  too  much  occu- 
pied to  attend  to  police  regulations ;  the  gendarmes 
were  all  in  the  army:  and  consequently  the  unem- 
ployed workmen  and  labourers,  together  with 
vagabonds  of  all  classes  from  the  neighbouring 
villages,  spent  a  part  of  the  night  generally  in 
foraging  on  their  own  account.  They  went  to 
gather  wood  in  the  forest  of  Saint  Cloud,  but 
on  their  road  men,  women,  and  children  filled 
their  pockets  with  whatever  vegetables  they  could 
lay  their  hands  on,  and  the' unfortunate  gardeners 
had  no  remedy.  As  to  the  pillagers,  they  were 
shameless;  shouted  loudly  for  the  Commune  or 
for  the  Republic,  according  as  they  were  near  the 
troops  or  the  insurgents,  and  made  the  whole 
district  which  they  infested  unsafe  for  any  one 
but  themselves. 

It  was  not  only  the  little  cultivators  and 
labourers  who  were  reduced  to  the  verge  of 
starvation,  but  men  formerly  of  considerable 
means,  and  many  of  the  instances  were  most  dis- 
tressing; one  case  may  be  mentioned  by  way  of 
illustration.  A  market  gardener  and  proprietor 
of  some  houses  at  Bagneux,  a  respectable,  well- 
educated  man,  fled  like  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


349 


of  that  harassed  village  on  the  approach  of  the 
Germans,  having  been  lucky  enough  to  save  some 
part  of  his  property.  His  houses  were  destroyed 
during  the  siege,  and  a  battery  was  erected  on  the 
site  of  his  garden.  He  went  with  his  family  to 
Chateaudun,  where  his  wife's  family  had  some 
property  and  she  herself  possessed  a  few  houses 
as  her  portion;  these  were  completely  destroyed 
when  the  Germans  fired  the  town.  Immediately 
after  the  armistice  the  person  in  question  returned 
to  Paris,  and  with  the  little  money  left  them  he 
and  his  brother-in-law  settled  at  Neuilly,  under 
the  shadow  and,  as  they  supposed,  the  protection 
of  Mont  Valerien,  and  opened  a  shop.  Here  the 
house  was  half  burnt,  his  stock  in  trade  scat- 
tered by  shells;  some  of  his  money  had  been 
taken  by  the  Communists,  and  some  had  been 
stolen  ;  his  furniture  was  either  destroyed  or 
had  to  be  abandoned;  and  he  came  into  Paris 
with  his  wile  and  a  troop  of  other  fugitives, 
with  all  that  was  left  to  him,  a  bed,  a  few  clothes, 
and  a  bag  of  valuable  seed  in  a  wheelbarrow. 
His  case  is  doubtless  but  one  amongst  thousands 
equally  lamentable. 

Although  Issy  did  not  fall  in  six  hours,  or  in 
six  days,  the  government  was  making  head,  and 
the  fact  was  evident  in  more  ways  than  one.  On 
the  29th  April,  in  the  evening,  the  cemetery, 
the  trenches,  and  the  park  of  Issy  were  taken 
by  three  columns  of  Versailles  troops.  The  park 
was  defended  by  barricades  armed  with  mitrail- 
leuses, but  the  conflict  did  not  last  long,  and  the 
loss  on  the  side  of  government  was  not  serious. 
A  great  many  of  the  Communists,  who  fought 
bravely,  were  killed,  and  a  number  of  prisoners 
were  taken.  At  about  the  same  time  another 
small  victory  was  gained  near  Fort  Vanves. 

The  dissensions  within  the  Commune  itself,  and 
the  reluctance  of  the  national  guards  to  be  killed 
for  an  idea,  became  now  very  evident.  The  cen- 
tral committee  and  the  councils  quarrelled  amongst 
themselves  and  with  each  other ;  the  decrees  began 
to  lose  their  importance,  and  were  openly  dis- 
obeyed. A  court-martial  was  appointed  to  try 
prisoners  or  offenders.  It  tried  one  and  passed 
sentence  of  death;  the  council  first  commuted 
the  sentence,  and  then  dissolved  the  court-martial. 
General  Dombrowski  on  an  important  occasion 
asked  for  large  reinforcements,  and  when  the  bat- 
talions.were  called  upon  for  service,  not  a  hundred 
men  appeared  in  place  of  some  thousands;  where- 


upon a  battalion  was  disbanded,  and  a  number 
of  men  condemned  to  ignominious  punishments. 
This  proceeding  created  a  very  bad  impression 
in  Paris;  yet  it  is  difficult  to  see  that  a  commander 
could  have  acted  more  leniently  with  troops  that 
had  voluntarily  joined  the  Commune  and  after- 
wards refused  to  fight.  The  truth  was,  the  rats 
were  quitting  the  sinking  ship. 

On  the  last  day  of  April  it  was  declared  that 
Fort  Issy  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Versailles  gov- 
ernment, but  the  rumour  turned  out  to  be  incor- 
rect. It  appeared  that  there  had  been  some  sign  of 
capitulation,  but  on  a  flag  of  truce  being  sent  to 
the  insurgents  they  refused  to  lay  down  their  arms ; 
and  on  the  following  day  General  Eudes  reached 
the  fort  with  reinforcements,  and  having  taken 
the  command,  refused  to  listen  to  any  propositions; 
the  siege  operations,  which  had  for  a  moment  been 
suspended,  were  therefore  recommenced  with  re- 
newed vigour.  For  another  week  the  conflict 
was  maintained  with  determination,  the  batteries 
opposite  to  Issy  and  Vanves  continually  pouring 
shot  and  shell  into  the  two  forts  from  seventy 
guns,  and  destroying  all  the  buildings  around  them. 

On  the  8th  of  May  a'  proclamation,  signed  by 
M.  Thiers,  appeared  in  Paris;  it  was  addressed  to 
the  Parisians,  and  opened  with  the  declaration 
that  "  France,  freely  consulted  by  universal  suf- 
frage, had  elected  a  government,  which  was  the 
only  legal  one,  the  only  one  which  could  command 
obedience,  unless  universal  suffrage  were  a  vain 
expression."  It  then  went  on  to  say,  this  govern- 
ment had  given  to  Paris  the  same  rights  which 
were  enjoyed  by  Lyons,  Marseilles,  Toulouse,  and 
Bordeaux,  and  that  without  offence  to  the  prin- 
ciple of  equality  the  Parisians  could  not  ask  for 
more  rights  than  all  the  other  towns  of  France  pos- 
sessed. This  was  a  most  unfortunate  commence- 
ment; for  all  the  world  knew  that  the  denial  of 
municipal  rights  to  Paris  and  the  great  towns  was 
a  breach  of  that  very  principle  of  equality,  as  such 
rights  remained  to  all  the  smaller  towns;  a  little 
concession  on  this  head  at  that  moment  would 
have  disarmed  the  Commune  utterly,  but  that  con- 
cession M.  Thiers  would  not  make.  The  docu- 
ment proceeded  as  follows:  — 

"In  presence  of  this  government,  the  Commune, 
that  is  to  say,  the  minority  which  oppresses  you, 
which  dares  to  cover  itself  with  the  infamous  red 
flag,  has  the  pretension  to  impose  its  will  upon 
France. 


350 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


"  By  its  acts  you  may  judge  of  the  rigime  it 
would  impose  upon  you.  It  violates  property, 
imprisons  citizens  as  hostages,  transforms  your 
streets  and  public  places,  where  the  commerce  of 
the  world  was  installed,  into  deserts,  suspends 
work  in  Paris,  paralyzes  it  in  the  whole  of  France, 
arrests  the  prosperity  which  was  ready  to  revive, 
retards  the  evacuation  of  the  country  by  the  Ger- 
mans, and  exposes  you  to  a  new  attack  on  their 
part,  which  they  declare  themselves  ready  to  effect 
without  mercy,  if  we  ourselves  are  unable  to  put 
down  the  insurrection.  We  have  listened  to  all 
the  delegations  which  have  been  sent  to  us,  and 
not  one  of  them  has  offered  conditions  which  did 
not  include  the  abasement  of  the  national  sove- 
reignty before  revolt,  the  sacrifice  of  all  liberty 
and  of  all  interests. 

•  "We  have  repeated  to  these  delegations  that 
the  lives  of  all  who  lay  down  their  arms  will  be 
spared,  and  that  we  will  continue  the  subsidies  to 
distressed  workmen.  We  have  promised  this,  we 
promise  it  again;  but  the  insurrection  must  cease, 
for  France  will  perish  if  it  be  prolonged. 

"  The  government  which  addresses  you  would 
have  wished  that  you  should  have  emancipated 
yourselves  from  a  few  tyrants  who  are  playing 
with  your  liberties  and  lives.  But  as  you  cannot, 
it  has  collected  an  army  before  your  walls,  an 
army  which  comes,  not  to  conquer,  but  to  deliver 
you  at  the  cost  of  its  blood. 

"  Up  to  the  present  time  it  has  confined  its 
attack  to  the  outer  works;  the  moment  is  now 
arrived  when,  in  order  to  abridge  your  sufferings, 
it  must  attack  the  enceinte  itself.  It  will  not  bom- 
bard Paris,  as  the  Commune  and  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety  will  not  fail  to  assert. 

"  A  bombardment  menaces  the  whole  city,  ren- 
ders it  uninhabitable,  and  its  object  is  to  intimi- 
date the  citizens  and  force  them  to  a  capitulation. 

"  The  government  will  not  fire  a  cannon  except 
to  force  one  of  your  gates,  and  will  do  all  in  its 
power  to  limit  to  the  point  attacked  the  ravages 
of  a  war  of  which  it  is  not  the  author. 

"  It  knows,  it  would  have  known  even  if  it  had 
not  heard  so  from  all  parts,  that  as  soon  as  the 
soldiers  have  crossed  the  enceinte  you  will  rally 
around  the  national  flag,  in  order  to  aid  our  valiant 
army  to  destroy  a  sanguinary  and  cruel  tyranny. 

"  It  depends  upon  you  to  prevent  the  disasters 
which  are  inseparable  from  an  assault.  You  are  a 
hundred  times  more  numerous  than  the  supporters 


of  the  Commune.  Be  united ;  open  for  us  the  gates 
which  are  now  closed  against  law  and  order,  against 
your  prosperity  and  that  of  France.  Once  the  gates 
open  the  cannon's  voice  will  cease  to  be  heard ; 
peace,  order,  and  abundance  will  enter  within  your 
walls ;  the  Germans  will  evacuate  our  territory, 
and  the  traces  of  your  misfortunes  will  be  rapidly 
effaced;  but  if  you  do  not  act,  the  government 
will  be  compelled  to  take  the  most  prompt  and 
surest  methods  for  your  deliverance.  It  is  due  to 
you,  but  it  is  above  all  due  to  France,  on  account 
of  the  evils  which  beset  her,  because  the  enforced 
idleness  which  is  ruining  you  extends  to  her, 
and  is  ruining  her  also;  because  she  has  the  right 
to  save  herself,  if  you  do  not  know  how  to  save 
yourselves. 

"  Parisians,  reflect  seriously  that  in  a  few  days 
we  shall  be  in  Paris.  France  is  determined  to  put 
an  end  to  this  civil  war;  she  will,  she  ought,  she 
can ;  she  is  marching  to  deliver  you.  You  can 
contribute  to  your  own  deliverance  by  rendering 
assault  unnecessary,  and  by  taking  your  place, 
from  the  present  moment,  amongst  your  fellow- 
citizens  and  your  brothers." 

This  proclamation  did  but  little  good,  as  far  as 
appeared;  the  peaceably  inclined  citizens  seemed 
to  have  been  struck  with  apathy,  to  have  no  bond 
of  union,  no  capacity  for  action;  but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  Commune  took  all  possible 
means  to  prevent  the  circulation  of  the  document ; 
that  even  those  who  were  against  the  Commune 
were  very  lukewarm  friends  indeed  of  M.  Thiers 
and  the  Assembly;  and,  lastly,  that  the  press,  with 
few  exceptions,  had  not  the  courage  to  speak  out 
boldly. 

At  the  period  at  which  we  are  now  arrived  it 
was  evident  to  all  the  world,  and,  doubtless,  recog- 
nized by  the  Commune  itself,  that  its  fall  must 
occur  shortly;  and  it  is  somewhat  surprising  that 
the  quarrels  which  now  were  constant  amongst 
the  leaders  did  not  lead  in  one  way  or  other  to 
capitulation.  The  mass  was  evidently  only  kept 
from  declaring  against  further  struggle  by  the 
severe  measures  which  were  put  in  force  against 
offenders.  People  were  seized  in  the  streets,  forced 
to  enter  the  ranks,  and  in  some  cases  sent  off  at 
once  to  the  forts;  an  instance  occurred  in  which 
a  young  man  was  sent  to  Fort  Issy,  although,  or 
perhaps  because,  he  had  a  brother  in  the  Versailles 
army.  Atrocious  as  was  the  conduct  of  many 
of  the  leaders,  they  exhibited  wonderful  personal 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


351 


courage  and  devotion  to  the  cause  they  had 
espoused;  and  had  all  been  like  the  leaders,  the 
task  of  the  government  in  putting  down  the  Com- 
mune would  have  been  far  more  difficult  than  it 
proved  to  be.  In  its  administration  the  Commune 
often  committed  great  absurdities,  passing  laws 
which  were  either  ridiculous  in  themselves  or 
impracticable  for  the  time,  and  consequently  were 
disregarded.  One  day  a  decree  was  issued  that  the 
Official  Journal,  which  is  private  property,  should 
be  sold  for  one  sou  instead  of  three;  but  of  course 
it  continued  to  be  sold  at  the  old  price.  The 
most  absurd  decree  of  all,  perhaps,  was  that  in 
future  no  wo'rkman  should  be  fined  for  arriving 
late  at  his  work.  In  the  first  place,  when  this 
decree  was  issued  there  were  scarcely  any  artizans 
at  work  anywhere ;  and,  secondly,  the  whole 
nation  is  so  wanting  in  punctuality,  that  business 
would  be  impossible  but  for  fines  and  positive 
regulations.  The  idea  of  manufacturers  and  com- 
panies not  being  able  to  enforce  the  attendance  of 
their  workmen  and  assistants  is  absurd  enough, 
in  a  general  way,  but  amongst  the  Parisians  half 
an  hour  would  soon  grow  to  an  hour,  and  the 
hour  perhaps  to  two;  and  the  acme  might  at  last 
be  reached  by  the  workmen  merely  looking  in 
once  a  week  for  their  wages,  unless,  indeed,  they 
should  insist  on  having  the  money  sent  home 
to  them. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  proposal  first  ap- 
peared, for  destroying  the  front  portion  of  the 
Tuileries,  so  as  to  throw  the  inner  court,  known 
as  the  Place  de  Carrousel,  open  to  the  Place  de  la 
Concorde  and  the  Champs  Elysees.  The  effect  of 
such  an  arrangement  would  be  excellent;  but  it 
is  very  questionable  whether  the  destruction  of 
the  old  portion  of  the  Tuileries  was  not  desired 
more  on  account  of  its  royal  history  than  with  a 
picturesque  view.  The  destruction,  as  is  well 
known,  afterwards  took  place,  but  the  fire  effected 
more  than  was  contemplated  in  the  above  proposal; 
not  only  the  front,  but  one  side  of  the  building- 
being  completely  burnt  out.  It  should  be  noted, 
however,  that  the  portions  burnt  did  not  include 
any  of  the  art  galleries;  the  whole  of  the  destroyed 
portion  being  devoted  to  government  offices  and 
official  residences,  with  the  exception  of  the 
library  of  the  Louvre,  which  was  rich  in  works 
on  art. 

The  freemasons  of  Paris  made  an  attempt  to 
bring  about  a  reconciliation,  but  they  set  about  it 


in  a  very  odd  way.  About  120  masons  went  outside 
with  flags  and  ensigns,  in  spite  of  the  fire  from 
the  guns  of  the  batteries;  they  then  proceeded  in  a 
body  towards  Versailles.  Five  of  the  number  were 
killed,  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  rest  turned 
back,  only  three  being  allowed  to  proceed  to. 
Versailles  and  see  M.  Thiers.  It  appeared  that 
the  proposed  plan  of  conciliation  included  the 
dismissal  of  all  the  ministers  who  formed  part  of 
the  government  during  the  siege  of  Paris;  that 
Paris  should  elect  not  only  its  municipal  council, 
but  also  its  twenty  maires;  and  that  the  police 
should  be  entirely  under  the  orders  of  the  municipal 
government.  Of  course  such  a  proposal  was  not 
accepted.  It  is  said  that  many  of  the  venerables 
of  the  masons  protested  against  this  step,  admitting 
that  it  was  the  duty  of  masons  to  strive  for  peace 
and  goodwill,  but  that  they  had  no  right  to  join 
a  political  party.  It  never  seems  to  have  struck 
these  freemasons,  that  their  work  should  have 
begun  earlier  and  at  home;  had  they  in  March 
thrown  all  the  influence  they  possessed  into  the 
scale  of  law  and  order,  they  might  have  done  some 
good ;  but  the  notion  that  their  banners  and  pro- 
tests would  stop  the  action  of  the  government 
when  the  rebellion  which  they  supported  was  in 
full  force  was  certainly  rather  puerile.  It  appears 
that,  as  soon  as  the  nature  of  the  deputation  was 
understood,  the  government  batteries  ceased  firing; 
and,  as  already  stated,  the  deputation  was  received 
by  M.  Thiers,  so  that  there  was  no  disinclination 
to  receive  proposals  for  terminating  the  conflict. 

Other  attempts  were  made  with  the  same  view. 
The  republican  union  of  Havre  had  the  curious 
idea  of  sending  a  delegation,  inviting  M.  Thiers 
and  the  Assembly  to  put  an  end  to  civil  war  by 
the  recognition  of  the  Commune !  It  is  needless 
to  say  what  was  the  reply  in  this  case.  Petitions 
were  sent  in  from  many  other  places  with  similar 
proposals,  but  they  were  unceremoniously  shelved 
by  the  Assembly;  and  upon  one  occasion  a  tre- 
mendous sensation  was  produced  by  a  deputy,  who 
rose  in  his  place  and  declared  that,  sooner  or  later, 
the  Assembly  would  be  forced  to  accept  a  com- 
promise; and,  strange  to  say,  many  journals  and 
well-informed  persons  took  the  same  view,  even  at 
this  time,  when  the  back  of  the  Commune  was 
nearly  broken.  This  mistaken  view  of  the  case 
arose,  as  did  most  of  the  errors  during  the  siege, 
and  as,  indeed,  the  majority  of  the  popular  errors 
in  France  and  elsewhere  do   arise,  namely,  from 


352 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


false  news  and  imperfect  information.  The  Com- 
munists believed  that  all  France  would  eventually 
rise  and  declare  for  the  Commune;  the  freemasons 
of  Paris  believed  that  all  the  lodges  in  France 
would  respond  to  their  appeal;  while,  in  truth, 
with  few  exceptions,  France  was  waiting  with 
much  coolness  to  see  whether  Paris  would  suc- 
ceed or  not,  and  to  act  accordingly  afterwards. 

In  spite  of  the  critical  situation  of  the  Commune 
at  this  time,  in  spite  of  the  financial  difficulties 
with  which  they  had  to  contend,  which  crippled 
their  action  and  did  not  allow  them  to  buy  friends, 
it  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  leaders  main- 
tained the  rebellion  by  the  force  of  their  own 
talents  and  energy  alone;  they  had  the  support 
of  a  large  number  of  the  Parisians  then  present  in 
Paris.  A  monster  meeting  was  held  in  the  great 
court  of  the  Louvre,  when  the  unusual  spectacle 
of  public  speaking  in  the  open  air  was  exhibited. 
A  resolution  was  passed,  without  any  dissentient 
voices,  approving  of  the  programme  of  the  Com- 
mune. There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Communal 
party  was  kept  together  principally  by  the  false 
statements  and  atrocious  arguments  of  the  Com- 
munal press;  and  to  give  an  idea  of  these  it  may 
be  mentioned  that  the  moderate  journals,  having 
protested  against  the  arrest  of  the  archbishop  of 
Paris  and  the  other  unfortunate  hostages,  Roche- 
fort,  in  the  Mot  d'Ordre,  wrote  a  violent  article 
protesting  against  the  proposed  release  of  the 
prelate.  There  had  been  many  reports  current  of 
the  release  of  the  hostages,  which  proved  false; 
and  this  article  in  the  Mot  d'Ordre  made  the 
blood  run  cold  in  honest  men's  veins,  though  few 
believed  that  the  threatened  assassinations  would 
ever  be  carried  into  effect. 

It  must  also,  in  justice,  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  friends  of  order  were  seriously  menaced,  and 
had  little  chance  of  expressing  their  opinions. 
In  one  day,  at  this  period,  the  Commune  sup- 
pressed one  journal,  the  Pays,  tried  to  arrest  the 
editor,  caused  the  disappearance  of  a  second  paper, 
the  Messager,  and  attacked  a  third.  On  the  next 
day  the  last-named  paper,  the  Soir,  and  La  Paix, 
were  also  suppressed.  This  was  the  work  of 
Raoul  Rigault,  the  procureur-gen^ral,  one  of  the 
most  violent  of  the  Communists. 

The  difficulties  of  the  Commune  had  now 
reached  a  climax,  and  the  natural  effect  in  such 
cases  —  internal  quarrels — occurred  constantly. 
When   severe  reverses   are   suffered   generals    are 


often  charged  with  treason,  and  General  Clusered 
was  no  more  fortunate  than  his  colleagues.  He 
was  arrested,  charged  with  being  a  Bonapartist, 
and  with  designs  of  making  himself  dictator.  But 
the  Commune  did  not  stop  there.  It  dismissed  the 
whole  cabinet,  or  rather  the  executive  commis- 
sion, which  consisted  of  one  delegate  from  each 
of  the  ministries,  and  handed  the  power  over  to 
a  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  consisting  of  five 
members — Antoine  Arnaud,  Leo  Meillet,  Rau- 
vier,  Jules  Girardin,  and  Felix  Pyat. 

The  title  of  this  new  authority  was  alone  enough 
to  make  people  shudder.  Committees  of  public 
safety  have  always  characterized  the  most  lawless 
and  dangerous  periods  of  revolution  and  tyranny. 
People  felt  and  said  that  a  new  reign  of  terror  had 
been  inaugurated,  and  unfortunately  the  ill-sound- 
ing epithet  turned  out  to  be  only  too  appropriate. 
The  following  sketch  by  an  English  correspondent 
who  had  an  interview  with  Reynard,  the  second 
in  power  at  the  prefecture  of  police,  supplies  an 
illustration : — "  He  seemed  to  me  the  very  em- 
bodiment of  the  legendary  revolutionist — a  tall, 
handsome  man,  with  a  pale  face,  long  flowing  hair, 
almost  hanging  over  his  shoulders,  a  menacing 
moustache,  a  determined  frown,  and  hands  which 
grasped  nervously  at  any  document  or  paper  likely 
to  assist  the  cause  he  loves.  Round  his  waist  he 
wore  a  broad  band  of  blue  silk,  surmounted  by  a 
narrow  scarf  of  red.  The  blue  tunic  of  the  national 
guard,  and  a  collar  embroidered  with  gold  lace, 
completed  the  costume,  which  impressed  me  with 
the  idea  that  the  days  of  1793  had  returned." 

The  appointment  of  this  Committee  of  Public 
Safety  was  not  made  without  a  violent  conflict 
within  the  Commune,  and  twenty-three  of  its 
members  voted  against  the  proposal,  so  that  the 
former  commenced  its  career  with  a  most  dangerous 
body  of  enemies  close  at  its  elbow. 

That  a  reign  of  terror  had  already  set  in  was 
scarcely  an  exaggeration  ;•  the  arrest  and  imprison- 
ment of  General  Martimprey  helped  to  prove  it. 
The  general  was  governor  of  the  Invalides,  and  a 
man  of  ninety  years  of  age,  paralytic,  and  for  some 
time  almost  bedridden ;  this  poor  man  was  brutally 
arrested  and  confined  in  a  cell  in  the  Conciergerie 
("in  a  cold,  damp  cell,"  say  the  accounts,  but  that 
is  doubtless  a  mere  bit  of  newspaper  phraseology), 
for  the  simple  reason  that  he  was  the  brother  of 
General  Martimprey  who  took  an  active  part  in  the 
massacre  of  2nd  December,  1851.     The  destruction 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


353 


of  a  chapel  erected  to  the  memory  of  General 
Brea,  who  was  basely  shot  in  1848  when  entreating 
a  body  of  revolutionists  already  surrounded  by 
the  troops  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and  whose 
fall  created  a  great  sensation  at  the  time,  is  another 
instance  of  the  violent  spirit  of  the  Commune. 
This  chapel  was  declared  to  be  a  "  permanent 
insult  to  the  conquered  of  June,  1848,  and  to 
the  men  who  fell  for  the  cause  of  the  people." 
The  man  who  killed  the  general,  a  fellow  named 
Nourri,  who  should  have  been  shot,  was  sent  to 
Cayenne,  and  the  Commune  said,  "  He  has  been 
kept  there  twenty-two  years  for  the  execution  of 
the  traitor  Brea,"  and  ordered  with  characteristic 
swagger  that  he  should  be  set  at  liberty  as  soon 
as  possible.  It  was  remarked  at  the  time  that 
some  of  the  Commune  were  far  more  likely  to  join 
Nourri  at  Cayenne  than  to  welcome  him  to  Paris. 

The  relations  of  the  Communist  leaders  are  not 
badly  illustrated  by  what  is  probably  a  mere  news- 
paper story,  namely,  that  when  Cluseret  arrived  in 
his  cell  at  Mazas  he  found  the  following  inscrip- 
tion on  the  wall: — "  Citizen  Cluseret,  you  have 
confined  me  here;  I  expect  you  will  follow  me  in 
a  week. — General  Bergeret."  Another  member  of 
the  Commune,  Colonel  Boursier,  was  also  arrested. 
Amidst  all  the  violence  and  recrimination  it  is 
pleasant  to  find  one  example  of  conscientiousness 
and  liberality ;  all  kinds  of  charges  had  been  made 
against  Cluseret,  but  his  successor  Colonel  Kossel 
wrote  to  one  of  the  papers  clearing  Cluseret  of 
the  imputation  of  having  tried  to  provoke  a 
rebellion  against  the  Commune  when  he  found  he 
had  lost  popularity.  This  trait  adds  to  the  pain 
that  one  feels  that  such  a  man  as  Bossel  should 
have  thrown  away  his  life  in  such  a  cause. 

One  of  the  most  absurd,  painfully  comic  an- 
nouncements appeared  about  this  time,  to  the  effect 
that  as  soon  as  a  convenient  place  of  meeting  could 
be  found  the  sittings  of  the  Commune  would  take 
place  in  public. 

A  rumour  was  afloat  at  this  period  that  the 
Prussian  General  Fabrice  had  declared  to  M.  Jules 
Favre  that  the  prolonged  occupation  would  add 
seriously  to  the  German  costs;  and  that  Prussia 
would  be  compelled  to  enter  Paris  and  put  an  end 
to  the  existing  state  of  things,  either  with  or  with- 
out the  concurrence  of  the  French  government.  It 
does  not  appear  that  there  was  any  truth  in  this 
rumour,  but  it  was  widely  credited,  and,  strange  to 
say,  the  great  mass  of  respectable  people  seemed  to 
tol.  n. 


regard  the  possibility  of  such  an  event  with  satis- 
faction rather  than  the  reverse,  so  much  had  the 
feeling  altered  within  a  few  weeks;  so  much  worse 
than  foreign  occupation  is  intestine  war !  It  must 
be  remembered,  however,  that  the  peaceful  portion 
of  the  population  was  worn  out,  impoverished, 
subdued;  and  no  wonder,  considering  that  it  had 
been  shut  in,  almost  constantly,  for  seven  months. 
It  would  have  subdued,  or  maddened,  almost  any 
nation,  and  it  was  torture  to  the  impatient  Pari- 
sians; they  had  been  half  starved  for  months,  and 
now,  though  provisions  were  not  actually  wanting, 
their  means  of  life  had  been  terribly  diminished; 
there  was  little  trade  going  on,  no  foreign  or  pro- 
vincial money  coming  in,  no  gaiety,  and  no  repose. 
No  wonder  if  the  entering  Germans  had  even  been 
hailed  by  all  but  the  "  reds  "  with  gratitude,  con- 
cealed, if  not  expressed. 

Provisions  were  running  rather  scarce,  and  fears 
were  at  one  time  entertained  that  the  supplies  would 
be  cut  off  altogether;  the  number  of  head  of  cattle 
at  the  market  was  not  half  the  usual  amount,  and 
the  entrance  of  600  bullocks  by  the  German  lines 
created  quite  a  sensation.  There  never  was  any 
actual  scarcity  during  the  Commune  as  during  the 
siege,  but  vegetables  and  many  other  things  were 
dear  and  sometimes  scarce;  milk  failed  early,  the 
cows  being  few  and  fodder  rare;  the  condensed 
milk  was  eagerly  bought  up,  and  the  stock  as 
quickly  exhausted;  it  all  went,  Anglo-Swiss,  Irish, 
and  Aylesbury.  It  was  the  same  in  the  case  of 
preserved  meats,  extractum  carnis,  and  all  the  pre- 
served, potted,  pickled  meats  and  vegetables  from 
all  quarters  of  the  world;  and  the  siege  and  the 
Commune  will  have  madi,  more  people  acquainted 
with  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  stores  than  twenty 
years  of  free  trade,  free  intercourse,  and  the  freest 
puffing  would  have  done:  so  true  is  it  that  the 
nearest  way  to  a  man's  heart  is  through  his  stom- 
ach. Sheridan,  or  some  other  wit,  said,  "Give  us 
our  luxuries,  and  we  will  take  care  of  the  necessa- 
ries of  life;"  but  in  Paris  the  necessaries  had  become 
luxuries,  and  doubled  the  force  of  the  demand. 
When  the  Commune  was  at  an  end,  and  we  once 
more  met  at  well-furnished  tables,  and  could  com- 
mand any  delicacy  within  our  means,  the  sensa- 
tion was  quite  curious.  We  had  had  a  lesson  in 
social  science,  which,  let  us  hope,  we  may  not  soon 
forget.  While  on  this  phase  of  the  subject,  it  may 
be  remarked  how  little  illness  there  was  in  Paris 
and  Versailles,  except  in  the  military  hospitals ; 
2i 


354 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


we  had  been  terrified  by  prophecies  of  pesti- 
lence after  famine,  but  there  was  nothing  of  the 
kind;  the  health  of  the  city  was  peculiarly  good. 
There  was,  however,  one  painful  explanation  of 
the  fact,  namely,  that  the  aged,  the  ailing,  the 
weak,  and  the  young  had  fallen  during  the  last 
months  of  the  siege  at  a  frightful  rate;  disease  had 
tougher  materials  to  deal  with  than  usual,  and, 
moreover,  when  the  incubus  disappeared  men  were 
compelled  to  exert  themselves,  and  exertion  was 
positive  recreation  after  the  dull  monotony  of  the 
past  months. 

We  have  spoken  above  of  some  of  the  absurd 
decrees  of  the  Commune;  let  us  in  fairness  note 
one  of  the  follies  of  the  government  and  the 
Assembly.  M.  Dufaure,  the  minister  of  Justice, 
introduced  a  bill  for  punishing  as  receivers  of 
stolen  goods  any  person  who  should  purchase 
property  confiscated  by  the  Commune.  Some  few 
only  of  the  deputies  protested  against  what  is 
equivalent  to  setting  aside  the  orders  of  the  House 
of  Commons  on  the  score  of  "  urgency,"  on  the 
ground  that  laws  of  exception  passed  on  the  spur 
of  the  moment  were  generally  unjust;  but  the  mass 
adopted  the  useless  project  almost  unanimously. 
While  the  Assembly  was  passing  the  above  law, 
the  Commune  on  its  part  decreed  the  entire  aboli- 
tion of  all  political  oaths. 

About  the  same  period  General  Rossel  pub- 
lished an  order  that  no  horses  should  be  allowed 
to  leave  Paris,  except  for  military  duty.  The 
preceding  acts  of  authority  troubled  few  people, 
but  Rossel's  order  produced  a  panic.  "  Are  we 
to  be  rationed  on  horse  flesh  again?"  was  the 
universal  inquiry. 

Numerous  appeals  were  now  made  both  to  the 
Assembly  and  the  Commune  for  an  armistice  or 
truce.  The  Union  Republican  League  sent  ad- 
dresses to  both  parties,  imploring  them  to  agree 
to  a  truce  for  twenty  days,  during  which  time 
arrangements  might  be  made  to  put  an  end  to 
the  fratricidal  struggle.  The  women  of  Paris 
placarded  the  streets  to  the  same  effect,  and  the 
freemasons  of  Havre  and  Fecamp  drew  up  ad- 
dresses to  M.  Thiers  and  the  Commune,  imploring 
them  in  the  name  of  humanity  to  suspend  hos- 
tilities and  open  negotiations.  These  appeals 
were  supported  by  the  most  respectable  journals 
in  Paris,  and  even  M.  Felix  Pyat  wrote  to  M. 
Thiers,  stating  that  he  was  ready  for  conciliatory 
steps.     The   only  effect  all  this  produced  was  a 


violent  article  in  the  Official  (Communal)  Journal, 
and  a  declaration  of  Paschal  Grousset  that  it  was 
high  time  for  the  Commune  to  have  done  with 
conciliation  and  conciliators,  that  it  had  had 
enough  of  both.  As  the  temper  of  the  govern- 
ment and  the  Assembly  was  much  the  same  as 
that  of  the  Commune  and  M.  Grousset,  the  advo- 
cates of  conciliation  were  silenced.  This  was 
effected  in  part  by  the  suppression  of  mojre  jour- 
nals; the  whole  number  put  down  by  the  Com- 
mune were  said  at  this  period  to  approach  twenty. 
It  seems  very  curious  to  talk  of  a  grand  concert 
at  the  Tuileries  amid  such  scenes  as  were  going 
on  around,  yet  such  an  entertainment  really  took 
place  on  Sunday,  the  17th  of  May;  and  the  state 
apartments,  the  court,  and  the  gardens  were 
thronged  with  a  dense  mass  of  people.  The 
concert  was  not  classical,  far  from  it;  but  the 
music  was  lively,  and  the  Parisians  made  a  fete 
of  the  affair,  which  was  for  the  benefit  of  the 
sufferers  in  the  war.  The  proceeds  amounted  to 
nearly  £500,  which,  under  the  circumstances, 
must  be  regarded  as  a  grand  success.  It  was  a 
great  thing  for  the  Commune  to  find  amusement 
for  the  people.  The  music  was  heard  well  in 
what  used  to  be  the  emperor's  private  garden,  and 
the  thousands  outside  the  building  thus  had  their 
part  in  the  concert.  With  the  same  view,  the 
leaders  of  the  Commune  patronized  the  theatres, 
sat  in  the  late  imperial  box,  some  dressed  in  irre- 
proachable evening  costume,  others  in  republican 
finery,  and  others  again  in  glaringly  vulgar 
clothes,  perhaps  assumed  for  the  sake  of  popu- 
larity. The  Park  of  Monceaux  and  some  other 
gardens,  long  closed,  were  also  reopened,  to 
the  great  delight  of  nurses,  children,  and  old 
people.  These  were  not  all  the  amusements 
offered  to  the  people;  the  churches  of  Saint 
Eustache  and  Saint  Germain  l'Auxerrois  were 
devoted  to  public  meetings,  and  from  the  pulpits 
of  these  two  fine  old  edifices  were  uttered  some 
of  the  most  horribly  blasphemous  discourses  that 
ever  escaped  from  human  lips,  while  amongst  the 
most  violent  of  the  speakers,  and  the  most  tur- 
bulent in  the  audiences,  were  troops  of  women. 
The  scenes  in  these  churches  surpassed  descrip- 
tion; hundreds  of  filthy,  dissipated  wretches  of 
both  sexes,  smoking,  singing,  swearing,  drink- 
ing, and  sometimes  dancing  together,  presenting 
orgies  that  could  scarcely  be  surpassed  by  any 
of  the  descriptions  of  Eugene  Sue,  or  other  able 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


351 


delineator  of  the   foulest  assemblages  of  bygone 
times. 

In  order  further  to  please  the  million,  the 
Commune  ordered  that  all  pledges  at  the  Mont  de 
Piete — the  governmental  and  only  pawnshop  in 
Paris — not  exceeding  twenty  francs  in  amount, 
should  be  restored  to  the  owners  upon  their 
proving  their  identity. 

A  very  ominous  announcement  appeared  in 
the  Official  Journal  over  the  signature  of  the 
prefect  of  police,  to  the  effect  that  no  anony- 
mous denunciations  would  be  attended  to.  This 
went  far  to  show  that  the  infamous  system  of 
secret  accusation  had  been  resorted  to,  and  it 
was  well  known  that  the  prisons  were  crowded 
with  "  hostages "  and  "  suspects,"  or,  in  other 
words,  political  opponents;  but  the  announcement 
was  read  in  the  worst  sense,  as  all  official  notices 
are  in  Paris,  whether  under  Dictator,  King,  or 
Commune,  and  was  construed  into  an  invitation 
of  signed  accusations.  Such  a  hint  gave  to  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  a  hideous  resem- 
blance to  its  predecessors,  which  were  as  inquisi- 
torial as  the  secret  council  of  Venice  or  the 
dreadful  Spanish  tribunal.  It  was  asserted  that 
General  Cluseret  had  succeeded  in  obtaining  the 
liberation  of  the  unhappy  archbishop  of  Paris;  but 
this  was  found  to  be  incorrect,  and  it  was  known 
that  the  number  of  so-called  hostages  had  been 
increased,  so  that  the  significance  of  this  notice 
assumed  a  very  terrible  character.  In  connection 
with  the  persecution  of  political  opponents,  it  may 
be  mentioned  that  at  this  period  it  was  declared 
and  pretty  generally  believed  that  the  Commune 
had  the  intention  of  suppressing  nil  the  political 
journals  except  the  Official,  which  was  in  their 
hands.  Such  an  act  might  be  excusable  under 
certain  circumstances,  and  would  be  far  less  unjust 
than  the  suppression  of  opposition  journals  only; 
but  the  Commune,  like  all  French  governments, 
kept  to  the  latter  system  to  the  end. 

During  the  beginning  of  the  month  of  May  the 
Versailles  generals  gradually  perfected  their  plans, 
and  drew  the  line  around  the  city  tighter  and 
closer.  Failing  to  silence  the  forts  of  Issy  and 
Vanves,  and  repulsed  in  an  assault  on  the  former, 
powerful  batteries  were  formed  on  the  heights 
commanding  the  forts,  generally  on  the  very  spots 
selected  by  the  Germans,  and  often  partly  con- 
structed with  the  fascines  and  gabions,  of  which 
they  had  left  an  immense  stock  unused.     Some 


of  these  batteries  contained  seventy  and  even 
eighty  guns,  many  being  ship  guns  of  great 
calibre.  As  many  as  ten  of  these  batteries  poured 
their  converging  fires  into  the  fort  of  Issy. 
In  addition  to  this,  several  gun-boats  made  their 
appearance  on  the  Seine.  The  Commune  had  also 
a  few  gun-boats  on  the  river,  and  one  of  these  was 
sunk  by  shells  from  a  battery.  The  positions  of 
the  insurgents  around  Issy,  as  already  stated,  were 
taken  at  the  end  of  April,  and  subsequently  several 
other  redoubts  and  positions  were  wrested  from 
them,  either  by  force  or  stratagem.  In  some  cases 
considerable  numbers  of  prisoners  were  secured,  and 
it  was  declared  on  the  part  of  the  Commune  that 
they  were  shot  without  mercy.  Some  cases  of  sum- 
mary execution  undoubtedly  happened;  but  there 
is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  assertion  officially  made 
afterwards,  that  with  the  exception  of  acts  commit- 
ted in  the  heat  of  the  moment,  no  prisoners  were 
executed  otherwise  than  by  the  order  of  properly 
constituted  courts-martial.  It  is  notorious,  however, 
that  masses  of  prisoners  were  marched  to  Ver- 
sailles in  the  most  lamentable  condition,  wounded, 
footsore,  and  without  food,  and  that  they  were 
grossly  insulted  by  ferocious  crowds,  who  heaped 
all  kinds  of  indignities  upon  them:  but  civil  war 
is  always  the  most  horrible,  and  the  exasperation 
of  the  people,  although  to  be  regretted,  can  scarcely 
be  blamed  severely.  On  the  1st  of  May  the  Ver- 
sailles troops  had  advanced  to  within  200  yards  of 
the  entrenchments  of  Fort  Issy,  although  at  the 
same  time  they  had  suffered  repulses  at  other 
points.  Fort  Issy  was  in  a  very  dilapidated  condi- 
tion, the  casemates  and  nearly  all  the  constructions 
around  destroyed,  and  half  the  guns,  originally 
sixty  in  number,  dismounted.  The  case,  in  fact, 
was  so  bad  that  the  garrison,  which  numbered  300, 
was  seized  with  panic,  declared  that  it  could  no 
longer  hold  the  fort,  refused  to  obey  the  orders 
of  the  Commandant  Megy,  spiked  some  of  the 
guns,  and  quitted  the  place.  Had  this  state  of 
things  been  known  to  the  government  generals, 
they  might  at  once  have  marched  in  and  taken 
possession,  but  this  was  not  to  be.  Megy  pro- 
ceeded to  Paris,  and  surrendered  himself  a 
prisoner.  General  Cluseret,  advised  of  this  state 
of  things,  sent  fresh  troops  into  the  fort,  and 
the  firing  recommenced.  Strange  to  say,  im- 
mediately after  this  occurrence  Cluseret  himself 
was  arrested,  as  already  stated,  and  the  afterwards 
famous  Rossel  was  appointed  delegate  for  war,  with 


356 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


La  Cecilia  as  commandant  of  Fort  Issy.  One  way 
of  accounting  for  the  fort  not  being  assaulted  as 
soon  as  the  firing  ceased  was,  that  the  Versaillais 
believed  the  place  had  been  mined,  and  that  the 
retreat  of  the  Communists  was  only  a  trap;  but 
this  could  hardly  have  been  the  case. 

As  Colonel  Eossel  from  this  time  was  the  most 
prominent  figure  in  the  Commune,  and  in  fact  the 
only  man  of  real  mark  that  the  insurrection  pro- 
duced, it  will  be  well  to  give  a  few  particulars 
respecting  him.  He  was  born  at  Saint  Brieue  in 
Brittany  in  1844,  and  was  consequently  only 
twenty-seven  years  of  age ;  his  mother's  maiden 
name  was  Campbell,  so  that  he  was  half  Scotch  in 
blood.  Bossel  was  a  slight  man  of  middle  height, 
with  fair  hair  and  small  beard,  wore  glasses,  had  a 
very  deliberate,  reserved,  yet  self-confident  air,  and 
had  altogether  far  more  the  air  of  an  English, 
Scotch,  or  Prussian  officer  than  a  French  one;  in 
fact,  he  was  as  unlike  the  common  type  of  the  last 
as  possible.  He  had  a  hatred  of  show  and  cere- 
mony, dressed  in  the  simplest  manner,  and  was 
altogether  a  man  of  decided  mark.  He  spoke  Eng- 
lish perfectly,  and  was  well  acquainted  with  British 
history,  habits,  and  opinions.  About  twelve  years 
ago  he  graduated  at  the  Ecole  Polytechnique,  being 
second  in  a  long  list  of  candidates  for  commissions, 
and  on  leaving  that  establishment  joined  the  en- 
gineers, in  which  he  obtained  the  rank  of  captain. 
When  Gambetta  became  the  virtual  dictator  of 
France,  Rossel  went  to  Tours  and  asked  for  a 
command.  The  delegate  minister  of  War  was 
pleased  with  Rossel's  republican  notions,  and  at 
once  promoted  him  to  the  rank  of  colonel,  intrust- 
ing him  with  an  important  and  delicate  mission  on 
the  Loire.  When  peace  was  proclaimed  Bossel 
sought  an  interview  with  M.  Thiers,  and  asked 
him  for  employment,  offering  to  resign  the  rank 
he  held  as  colonel  if  the  new  government  would 
promote  him  to  be  chef  de  bataillon,  or  major,  in 
his  own  corps.  But  those  who  had  been  favoured 
by  Gambetta  were  not  looked  upon  with  much 
love  by  M.  Thiers,  and  Kossel's  request  was  re- 
fused. His  pride  was  wounded  at  the  idea  of 
having  to  go  back  to  the  rank  o:  captain,  so  he 
resigned  the  service,  and,  happening  to  be  in  Paris 
on  the  18th  March,  offered  his  sword  to  the  Com- 
mune. He  was  accepted,  and  at  once  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  colonel. 

The  young  Bonaparte  once  offered  his  sword  to 
Great  Britain ;  had  it  been  accepted,  what  a  change 


might  have  been  produced  in  the  history  of 
Europe!  Had  M.  Thiers  accepted  young  Rossel's 
services  the  Commune  would  have  lost,  and  the 
government  gained,  a  well  instructed  and  clever 
officer,  and  poor  Rossel  himself,  perhaps,  would 
have  risen  to  an  eminent  position. 

Had  the  Commune  ever  a  chance  of  success  this 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  would  have  ruined  it. 
One  of  its  acts  was  the  appointment  of  one  Moreau 
civil  commissioner  to  the  delegate  of  war,  or,  in 
other  words,  a  person  of  their  selection  to  look 
after  Rossel,  who,  however,  does  not  seem  to  have 
troubled  himself  about  him. 

Another  member  of  the  Commune  who  showed 
much  ability  was  the  delegate  of  finance,  Jourde, 
whose  balance  sheet  to  the  end  of  April  showed 
that  in  forty  days  the  expenditure  had  amounted 
to  rather  more  than  £l  ,000,000  sterling,  or  £28,000 
a  day.  The  revenue  from  octroi  duties,  tobacco, 
stamps,  and  other  sources,  was  more  than  £300,000 
less  than  the  expenditure,  and  this  deficiency  was 
made  up  by  loans  from  the  Bank  of  France.  The 
balance  sheet  only  shows  about  £357  for  seizures, 
all  of  which  was  taken  from  priests  and  religious 
bodies.  After  the  1st  of  May  Jourde  obtained 
more  than  £40,000  from  the  railway  companies. 
The  balance  sheet  surprised  everybody,  and  cer- 
tainly showed  great  ability  on  the  part  of  the  dele- 
gate Jourde.  He  showed  his  force  of  character  by 
resigning  his  position  on  the  appointment  of  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety,  declaring  that  he 
would  not  consent  to  be  the  servant  of  that  com- 
mittee, as  the  finance  minister  was  a  member  of, 
and  only  responsible  to,  the  executive  committee. 
The  consequence  was  that  his  resignation  was 
accepted,  but  he  was  immediately  re-elected,  almost 
unanimously,  and  assured  that  the  new  committee 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  finance. 

About  this  time  batteries  opened  at  Montmartre, 
and  the  cannonading  became  more  terrible  and 
continued  than  had  before  been  witnessed.  The 
thundering  of  the  guns  was  constant  night  and 
day.  The  government,  on  its  side,  attacked  the 
western  portion  of  the  city  with  great  determina- 
tion; half  Neuilly  was  burnt,  and  all  that  part  of 
Paris  within  reach  of  the  Versailles  batteries  pelted 
with  shot  and  shell  without  cessation;  M.  Thiers' 
promise  not  to  bombard  the  city  had  been  for- 
gotten ! 

One  of  the  terrible  features  of  the  second  siege 
of  Paris  was  the  frequency  of  the  fires  caused  by 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


357 


the  shells  from  Versailles  batteries.  In  the  midst 
of  the  horrid  monotony  of  the  cannonading,  sud- 
denly the  people  would  be  startled  by  a  noise  of 
a  different  kind,  or  by  the  sky  becoming  vividly 
illuminated.  The  general  impression  was — that 
which  was  generally  hoped  for — namely,  that  the 
assault  had  taken  place  at  last,  and  that  delivery 
was  at  hand.  Frequently  these  explosions  and 
fires  were  the  result  of  a  shell  having  entered  a 
powder  magazine,  but  more  often  the  lurid  glare 
was  caused  by  some  large  factory  or  other  estab- 
lishment being  in  a  blaze.  It  was  not  uncommon 
to  see  two  or  more  fires  raging  at  once;  in  one 
case,  at  least,  there  were  three  large  conflagrations 
going  on  at  the  same  moment.  When  these 
occurrences  took  place  the  scene  was  terrible.  As 
the  flames  mounted  in  the  air  dense  masses  of 
smoke  would  hang  over  the  city,  the  smoke  of 
one  being  lighted  up  most  fantastically  by  the 
flames  of  another.  Drums  and  bugles  were  heard 
to  sound,  the  bells  of  the  churches  rang  out  the 
tocsin  in  discordant  notes,  masses  of  soldiers  and 
firemen  tramped  past  for  the  scene  of  the  disaster ; 
and  amid  all  this,  regardless  of  the  accident, 
regardless  of  the  danger  to  human  life,  as  of  day 
or  night,  week-day  or  Sunday,  the  cannon  con- 
tinued to  roar,  and  the  balls  and  shells  to  rain 
upon  the  devoted  city.  Horrible  comment  on  the 
civilization  of  the  nineteenth  century  of  the  Chris- 
tian era !  The  month  of  May  rose  brightly  on 
Paris,  and  such  were  the  scenes  with  which  the 
coming  spring  was  welcomed  ! 

The  government  forces  having  obtained  posses- 
sion of  all  the  positions  around  Issy,  set  to  work 
systematically  to  cut  it  off  from  Paris  by  means  of 
a  trench,  while  a  second  trench  was  formed  for 
the  assault.  On  one  occasion  the  Communist 
soldiers  surprised  eighty  of  the  sappers  and 
miners,  and  made  prisoners  of  them.  Their  fate 
was  never  known,  but  it  is  scarcely  doubtful. 
It  must  be  remembered  with  regard  to  the  de- 
fence of  Fort  Issy,  that  the  insurgents  still  pos- 
sessed the  next  fort,  that  of  Vanves,  which 
constantly  shelled  the  men  employed  in  the 
trenches. 

When  Eossel  assumed  the  chief  military  com- 
mand, a  decree  was  issued  which  divided  the 
national  guards  into  two  armies,  one  commanded 
by  'General  Dombrowski,  the  other  by  General 
Wroblowski,  both  Poles.  From  this  moment  a 
great  change  took   place.     Dombrowski   ordered 


the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  to  quit  Neuilly,  and 
took  up  a  strong  position  there ;  and  Rossel  im- 
mediately commenced  the  formation  of  the  last 
lines  of  defence,  inner  barricades,  which  were 
constructed    with    singular    ability    and   rapidity. 

The  following  summons,  with  Rossel's  reply, 
will  serve  to  give  a  fair  idea  of  the  character  of 
the  man : — 

"  In  the  name  and  by  order  of  the  field-marshal 
commanding-in-chief,  we  summon  the  command- 
ant of  the  insurgent  forces  at  present  in  Fort  Issy 
to  surrender  himself  and  all  his  troops  in  the  fort. 
A  delay  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  will  be  granted  to 
answer  the  summons.  If  the  commandant  of  the 
insurgent  forces  declares  in  writing  for  himself, 
and  in  the  name  of  the  entire  garrison  of  Fort 
Issy,  that  he  obeys  the  present  summons,  without 
other  conditions  than  that  of  saving  their  lives 
and  liberties  on  condition  of  not  residing  in  Paris, 
this  favour  will  be  granted.  If  the  commandant 
fails  to  reply  in  the  space  of  time  indicated,  the 
whole  garrison  will  be  shot." 

To  which  Rossel  replied: — 

"  My  Deae  Comrade, — Next  time  you  permit 
yourself  to  send  us  a  summons  so  insolent  as  that 
in  your  handwriting  yesterday,  I  will  have  your 
parlementaire  shot,  in  accordance  with  the  usages 
of  war. — Your  devoted  comrade, 

"  ROSSEL." 

As  an  element  in  the  history  of  the  Commune, 
it  will  be  well  to  state  what  was  the  force  at  its 
command  at  this  period;  the  muster  roll  was  pub- 
lished in  the  Official  Journal,  and  included  twenty- 
four  marching  and  twenty-five  sedentary  legions; 
the  real  fact,  however,  was  stated  by  a  well- 
informed  person  to  be  that  there  were,  except  on 
paper,  no  more  than  twenty  legions  of  each  class. 
The  marching  legions  consisted  of  3655  commis- 
sioned officers,  of  whom  only  3413  answered  to 
the  call;  and  96,325  non-commissioned  officers  and 
privates,  of  whom  only  84,986  answered  the  call 
at  this  time.  The  real  force  for  duty  outside  the 
walls  of  Paris  was  therefore  at  this  period,  in  round 
numbers,  not  much  more  than  88,000  in  all.  The 
total  number  of  available  sedentary  guards  was 
about  77,600.  The  value  of  these  forces,  except 
for  service  behind  walls,  was  admitted  by  the  Com- 
munists themselves  to  be  very  various;  many  of 
the  corps  were  unsteady,  while  some  who  behaved 


358 


PARIS,  BEFORE,   DURING, 


well  one  day  would  exhibit  great  want  of  discip- 
line on  another;  it  was,  however,  recognized  on 
all  hands  that  the  new  commandant,  Colonel  Rossel, 
thoroughly  understood  the  nature  of  the  troops 
with  which  he  had  to  deal,  and  was  reorganizing 
the  whole  with  extraordinary  ability. 

Issy  fell  at  last  into  the  hands  of  the  govern- 
ment troops  on  the  9th  of  May,  and  on  that  same 
evening  M.  Thiers  issued  a  circular  on  the  sub- 
ject, the  purport  of  which  was  as  follows: — The 
able  direction  of  the  army  and  bravery  of  the 
troops  have  obtained  a  brilliant  result.  After  only 
eight  days'  attack  Fort  Issy  was  occupied  by  us. 
We  found  a  quantity  of  ammunition  and  artillery. 
Fort  Vanves  cannot  resist  much  longer ;  and, 
moreover,  the  conquest  of  Fort  Issy  is  alone 
sufficient  to  assure  the  plan  of  attack  laid  down. 
Fort  Vanves  did,  however,  hold  out  for  nearly 
another  week. 

In  the  same  circular  we  have  an  account  of 
the  commencement  of  the  actual  attack  of  the 
fortifications.  It  appears  that  General  Douay  on 
the  same  night,  under  cover  of  the  batteries  of 
Montretout  and  the  darkness,  crossed  the  Seine 
and  established  himself  in  front  of  Boulogne, 
opposite  the  fortifications:  1400  men  from  several 
corps  commenced  a  trench  at  ten  o'clock  and 
worked  all  night  till  daylight.  At  four  in  the 
morning  they  were  covered  from  the  fire  of  the 
enemy,  and  at  a  distance  of  only  300  yards  from 
the  fortifications,  where,  if  necessary,  a  breaching 
battery  could  be  established.  M.  Thiers  completed 
his  circular  in  the  following  terms,  intended  as 
a  warning  to  the  departments  to  which  it  was 
addressed : — 

"  Everything  makes  us  hope  that  the  cruel 
sufferings  of  the  honest  population  of  Paris  are 
drawing  to  their  close,  and  that  the  odious  reign 
of  the  infamous  faction  which  has  taken  the  red 
flag  for  its  emblem,  will  very  soon  cease  to  oppress 
and  dishonour  the  capital  of  France. 

"  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  passing  events  will  serve 
as  a  lesson  to  the  miserable  imitators  of  the  Com- 
mune of  Paris,  and  will  prevent  their  exposing 
themselves  to  the  legal  severities  which  await  them 
if  they  dare  to  push  further  their  criminal  and 
ridiculous  enterprises." 

When  the  attack  on  the  ramparts  commenced 
the  guns  of  Mont  Valerien  and  Montretout  opened 
a  tremendous  bombardment  on  the  Point  du  Jour 
and  Auteuil;  the  guns  on  the  ramparts  answered 


sharply,  until  they  were  silenced  by  the  superior 
weight  of  metal  on  the  other  side.  The  most  fear- 
ful excitement  now  occurred ;  the  inhabitants  of 
Auteuil  fled  into  Paris  in  the  utmost  consterna- 
tion, with  what  little  of  their  property  they  could 
carry,  feeling  convinced  that  the  district  would 
very  shortly  be  in  the  hands  of  the  government 
troops;  at  the  same  time  many  battalions  of  Com- 
munist guards  were  marched  to  the  support  of 
those  on  the  ramparts.  The  scene  was  one  of  the 
direst  confusion  and  terror,  and  everyone  was  sur- 
prised when  the  bombardment  suddenly  ceased  ; 
it  was  explained  afterwards  that  the  Versailles 
authorities  caused  the  firing  to  be  stopped,  in 
order  to  see  the  effect  on  the  Parisians  of  the 
proclamation  addressed  to  them  by  M.  Thiers  on 
May  9,  and  which  is  given  above.  But  there 
was  no  organization  of  the  lriends  of  peace  and 
order;  no  one  dared  to  bell  the  cat,  and  so  the 
work  of  destruction  recommenced  and  was  carried 
on  to  its  bitter  end.  It  must  be  repeated  also, 
in  addition,  that  there  were  few  in  Paris  who 
had  any  love  for  M.  Thiers'  government;  the 
chief  did  not  profess  to  be  republican,  and  the 
acts  of  the  Versailles  authorities  were  generally 
regarded  as  neither  liberal  nor  energetic,  and 
as  usual,  party  feeling  shut  out  political  common 
sense. 

The  Commune  had  apparently  no  fear  of  the 
effect  of  M.  Thiers'  address,  for  it  published  it  in 
the  Official  Journal,  and  although  copied  into  all 
the  other  papers,  and  backed  by  the  fact  of  the 
taking  of  Fort  Issy,  it  produced  no  impression  but 
that  of  its  own  weakness  and  glaring  misrepre- 
sentations. 

When  Issy  fell  the  committee  tried  to  deny  the 
fact  for  a  day  or  two;  but  Eossel  wrote  a  letter 
to  the  Commune  in  which  he  denounced  with  the 
utmost  bitterness  the  mischievous  interference  of 
different  authorities,  and  tendered  his  resignation. 
He  commenced  by  stating  that  he  could  not  any 
longer  endure  the  responsibility  of  commanding 
where  every  one  discussed,  but  no  one  obeyed. 
Xothing  was  yet  organized  in  the  military  services, 
and  the  management  of  the  guns  rested  upon  a 
few  volunteers,  the  number  of  whom  was  insuffi- 
cient. The  central  committee  forced  upon  him  its 
co-operation  in  the  organization  of  the  guards, 
which  he  accepted,  but  nothing  had  been  done  by 
it.  He  said  he  would  have  punished  the  enemy 
for  his  adventurous  attacks  upon  Issy,  had  he  had 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


359 


even  the  smallest  force  at  his  disposal.  The 
garrison  were  bad  and  badly  commanded,  and  the 
officers  drove  away  Captain  Dumont,  an  energetic 
man  who  had  come  to  command  them.  He  con- 
tinued as  follows: — "  Yesterday,  when  every  one 
ought  to  have  been  working  or  under  fire,  the 
chiefs  of  the  legions  were  discussing  the  substi- 
tution of  a  new  system  of  organization  for  mine. 
My  indignation  brought  them  to  their  senses,  and 
they  promised  me  that  they  would  not  again  take 
a  similar  course.  An  organized  force  of  12,000 
men  with  which  I  engaged  to  march  against  the 
enemy  was  to  have  been  summoned  at  11  a.m., 
and  now  1.30  p.m.  has  come,  and  there  are  only 
about  1000  men  ready.  Thus,  the  incapacity  of 
the  committee  has  hindered  the  organization  of 
artillery,  the  vacillation  of  the  central  committee 
stops  the  organization  of  men,  and  the  petty  pre- 
occupations of  the  chiefs  of  the  legions  paralyze 
mobilization.  I  am  not  a  man  to  recoil  before 
repression;  and  yesterday,  while  the  chiefs  were 
discussing,  an  execution  party  awaited  them  in 
the  yard.  I  have  two  lines  to  choose — to  break 
throuj  h  the  obstacles  impeding  my  course  of 
action,  or  to  retire.  I  cannot  break  through  the 
obstacles,  because  the  obstacles  are  your  weakness. 
Nor  will  I  attack  the  sovereignty  of  the  people. 
I  retire,  and  I  have  the  honour  to  demand  of  you 
a  cell  in  Mazas." 

This  is  the  language  of  a  man ;  and  every  one 
applauded,  except  M.  Felix  Pyat,  who  declared 
in  his  paper,  that  if  Rossel  had  not  sufficient  power 
to  confine,  nor  intelligence  to  keep  the  central 
committee  to  its  purely  administrative  functions, 
it  was  not  the  fault  of  the  Committee  of  Public 
Safety.  But  M.  Pyat  was  one  of  that  very  com- 
mittee! All  that  can  be  deduced  from  the  above 
is,  that  the  whole  of  the  affairs  of  the  Commune, 
military  and  civil,  were  in  a  hopeless  condition. 
One  result  of  Rossel's  letter  was  that  the  Com- 
mittee of  Public  Safety  was  requested  to  resign, 
which  it  did,  and  a  new  one  was  elected,  consisting 
of  Jauvier,  Antoine,  Arnaud,  Gambon,  Eudes, 
and  Delescluse. 

On  the  other  hand,  Rochefort  and  others  openly 
advocated  the  appointment  of  Rossel,  or  some 
other  person,  as  dictator.  The  salvation  of  the 
Commune  depended  on  it,  they  said,  and  there  was 
not  a  day  to  lose.  True  enough :  but  what  difference 
would  the  appointment  of  a  dictator  have  made? 
Rochefort  was  one  who  was  clever  at  destruction, 


but  his  advice  and  attempts  at  construction  were 
always  utterly  worthless. 

The  League  of  the  Republican  Union  still  tried 
to  bring  about  reconciliation.  It  asked  the  Com- 
mune to  recognize  the  republic,  and  it  implored 
the  government  to  grant  Paris  full  municipal 
rights.  It  was  evident  that  the  appeal  was  now 
too  late,  yet  every  approach  towards,  or  exhibition 
of  a  desire  for  reconciliation,  tended  to  appease 
the  violence  of  party  feeling  and  helped  to  break 
the  fall;  but  M.  Pyat,  again,  was  of  a  different 
opinion,  and  in  his  paper  denounced  every  attempt 
of  the  kind.  Next  to  Rochefort,  Pyat  has  per- 
haps contributed  more  than  any  other  man  to 
render  liberal  government  almost  impossible  in 
France;  but  he  exceeded  even  him,  in  the  mis- 
chievous lolly  which  he  exhibited  during  the 
last  days  of  the  Commune,  when  nothing  was  to 
be  gained,  and  much  injury  could  be  and  was 
done  by  such  journals  as  that  of  Pyat's.  They 
helped  to  blind  the  leaders  as  well  as  the  Com- 
munists in  general,  and  led  them  on  to  absolute 
destruction. 

Rossel's  resignation  led  to  his  arrest;  he  was 
accused  of  treachery  to  the  Commune,  in  having 
publicly  announced  the  capture  of  Fort  Issy  with- 
out the  permission  of  the  Committee  of  Public 
Safety.  He  was  given  in  charge  to  Girardin,  one  of 
that  very  body ;  but  strange  to  say,  prisoner  and 
keeper  escaped  together  from  the  H6tel  de  Ville. 
Bergeret  was  ordered  to  arrest  them.  Here  we 
have  an  example  of  the  extraordinary  doings  of 
the  Commune.  Bergeret,  Cluseret,  and  Rossel,  fol- 
low each  other  in  command  of  the  forces,  and  as 
prisoners;  and  the  first  is  set  to  catch  the  last, 
who  has  run  off  with  his  keeper,  who  was  formerly 
one  of  the  very  body  against  which  he  specially 
complained. 

Rigault  furnished  his  enemies  with  another 
proof,  or  at  least  good  reason  for  believing,  that 
the  prisons  had  been  filled  in  a  very  irregular 
manner,  by  the  publication  of  an  order  to  the 
effect  that  no  one  was  to  be  confined  unless  an 
official  report  detailing  the  alleged  offences  of  the 
accused,  with  the  names  and  addresses  of  the  wit- 
nesses, were  lodged  at  the  clerk's  office  of  the  prison 
by  the  citizen  making  the  arrest.  Such  documents 
gave  point  to  epigrams  like  the  following :  "  The 
Commune  consists  of  a  number  of  violent  persons 
who  are  always  arresting  one  another." 

The  Committee  of  Public  Safety  was  the  body 


360 


PAEIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


that  ordered  M.  Thiers'  house  to  be  destroyed, 
and  this  act  was  drawn  up  in  a  perfectly  regular 
manner.  The  precious  document  ran  as  follows: 
"  The  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  considering  that 
the  proclamation  of  M.  Thiers  declares  that  the 
army  will  not  bombard  Paris,  while  every  day 
women  and  children  fall  victims  to  the  fratricidal 
projectiles  of  Versailles,  and  that  it  makes  an 
appeal  to  treason  in  order  to  enter  Paris,  feeling 
it  to  be  impossible  to  vanquish  its  heroic  popula- 
tion by  force  of  arms,  orders  that  the  goods  and 
property  of  M.  Thiers  be  seized  by  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Domains,  and  his  house  in  the  Place 
St.  Georges  be  razed  to  the  ground.  Citizens 
Fontaine,  delegate  of  the  Domains,  and  Andrieux, 
delegate  of  the  Public  Service,  are  charged  with  the 
immediate  execution  of  the  present  decree."  This 
order,  as  it  is  well  known,  was  duly  carried  out. 
The  property  within  the  house  was  not  destroyed. 
The  books  were  conveyed  to  one  of  the  public 
libraries;  the  collection  of  works  of  art,  which 
was  of  considerable  value,  was  housed  at  the  Tuil- 
eries;  the  linen  was  handed  over  to  the  army 
surgeons  to  be  used  in  the  hospitals,  and  the  fur- 
niture was  ordered  to  be  sold.  As  to  the  house 
itself,  it  was  proposed  to  set  fire  to  it;  but  as  it 
did  not  stand  alone  the  commissaire  of  the  police 
of  the  quarter  pointed  out  the  danger  of  such  a 
project  in  a  rather  dense  part  of  the  city,  and 
accordingly  it  was  systematically  pulled  down. 
Kochefort  was  one  who  saw  the  folly  of  this 
proceeding,  and  he  said  in  his  journal  that  the 
Assembly  would  of  course  compensate  M.  Thiers 
for  the  loss.  But  the  Communists  knew  that  the 
latter  set  great  store  by  his  collections — who  at 
the  age  of  seventy  does  not  worship  his  lares  et 
penates  ? — and  that  the  destruction  would  give  him 
and  his  wife,  and  her  sister,  who  lived  under  the 
same  roof,  great  pain;  so  the  well-known  modest 
hotel  was  destroyed.  As  to  the  treasures,  they 
were,  as  we  have  said,  deposited  in  the  Tuileries, 
which  fact  would  go  towards  proving  that  M. 
Courbet,  the  artist  who  had  the  charge  of  the 
artistic  property,  did  not  intend,  although  he  had 
advocated  it,  to  destroy  the  palace.  When  the 
fire  happened  there,  these  treasures  were  destroyed 
with  the  rest.  Only  one  single  object  is  known 
to  be  saved,  and  to  that  a  curious  interest  attaches. 
It  is  a  small  Etruscan  urn  of  terra-cotta,  which 
in  spite  of  its  brittleness  remains  intact,  and  the 
surface  of  which  has  become  glazed  by  the  lead 


or  other  substance  melted  upon  it  during  the 
conflagration.  A  curious  relique  of  M.  Thiers' 
collection  of  objects  of  art ! 

The  condition  of  the  press  in  Paris  at  this 
period  was  very  curious.  Only  two  or  three  of 
the  old  established  journals  continued  to  appear 
in  their  ordinary  form,  and  some  of  these  exhi- 
bited curious  internal  changes;  but  in  spite  of 
all  the  suppressions,  in  spite  of  the  danger  of 
saying  a  word  against  the  grand  philosophic 
government  of  the  people,  'the  Commune,  the 
number  of  newspapers  was  not  decreased;  on 
the  contrary,  they  seemed  to  multiply.  Sup- 
pression became  a  farce  in  most  cases.  If  you 
asked  for  one  paper  the  newswoman  presented 
you  with  a  similar  one,  kindly  informing  you 
that  the  Bien  Public,  or  some  other  paper,  was 
suppressed,  and  that  the  one  she  offered  you 
came  from  the  same  office;  it  was,  in  fact,  the 
same  paper  with  the  title  changed,  and  this  went 
on  for  some  time,  the  Commune  having  far  too 
much  else  to  attend  to,  to  look  sharply  after  the 
slippery  journalists.  It  is  always  remarkable  with 
what  apparent  ease  new  journals  are  started  in 
Paris,  and  it  was  more  than  usually  so  during 
the  siege  and  the  Commune.  It  was  simply  a 
question  of  supply  and  demand.  People  had  very 
little  to  do,  were  thirsty  for  news,  and  had  little 
money  to  spend;  so  dozens  of  halfpenny  journals 
sprang  up  and  found  tens  of  thousands  of  readers. 
These  literary  mushrooms  will  certainly  form  one 
of  the  most  curious  collections  of  materials  for 
the  history  of  France,  such  as  they  are,  for  future 
students.  They  will  not  add  much  to  the  repu- 
tation of  the  Paris  press;  but  they  will  supply  a 
collection  of  the  most  vituperative  and  scandalous 
libels  and  atrocious  calumnies  that  have  appeared 
in  the  present  century. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  give  a  few  extracts 
from  these  ephemeral  journals,  but  they  would 
lose  half  their  character  in  an  English  dress, 
and  many  of  the  most  characteristic  are  totally 
unfit  for  reproduction.  The  proposals  of  some 
of  the  writers  would  seem  to  have  emanated  from 
the  brain  of  fiends  rather  than  men.  The  Pere 
Duchesne,  a  paper  named  after  one  of  the  most 
sanguinary  of  the  old  revolutionary  prints,  was 
foremost  of  its  class.  Its  gods  seem  to  have 
been  Robespierre  and  Marat,  the  hideous  wretch 
who  fell  by  the  hand  of  Charlotte  Corday;  and 
it  recommended  strongly  the  guillotine  and  reign 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


361 


of  terror  as  the  best  means  of  bringing  about 
liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity  !  These  incendiary 
writers  took  great  care  of  their  own  carcases  when 
the  crash,  or  rather  before  the  actual  crash  arrived, 
and  many  of  them  are  now  haunting  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Leicester  Square  and  Soho,  and 
vainly  striving  to  earn  bread  and  cheese,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  revolutionize  England  with  their 
disgusting  journals,  in  which  honourable  men, 
because  they  are  of  a  different  way  of  thinking 
to  the  writers,  are  stigmatized  by  the  most  filthy 
epithets  in  every  article.  These  dirty  little  sheets 
will  meet  the  fate  they  deserve,  but  they  will  do 
good  during  their  short  lives.  They  will  make 
known  the  wretched  animus  of  the  scribes  who 
hounded  thousands  on  to  their  death  or  destruc- 
tion, and  were  the  first  to  fly  from  the  dangers 
they  had  helped  to  create.  To  repress  these 
wretched  prints  would  indeed  be  a  mistake,  for 
they  are  of  real  value  as  mirrors  to  show  people 
what  class  of  men  these  would-be  Marats  of  the 
nineteenth  century  are,  and  how  they  would 
construe  liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity. 

The  terror  which  is  recommended  by  the  writers 
above  mentioned  had  actually  begun  to  hover  over 
Paris.  The  arrests  had  become  numerous  and 
constant,  the  search  for  members  of  the  national 
guard  who  declined  to  serve  the  Commune  was 
now  pursued  with  energy,  and  every  unfortunate 
man  who  was  caught  was  immediately  sent  off  to 
one  of  the  forts  or  other  dangerous  position.  Of 
course,  all  who  could  manage  it  deserted  immedi- 
ately, and  thus  the  numbers  of  the  Communal 
forces  were  constantly  dwindling,  in  spite  of  the 
impressment.  The  deserters  were  not,  however, 
confined  to  the  pressed  men;  many  others  also 
went  over  to  Versailles.  One  instance  may  be 
specially  mentioned.  A  young  officer  was  sent  by 
Rossel  with  a  flag  of  truce  and  a  despatch.  On 
delivering  it  he  declared  that  he  had  no  knowledge 
of  the  contents,  and  that  he  preferred  being  kept 
as  a  prisoner  to  being  sent  back  to  Paris.  All  this 
shows  how  near  the  cause  of  the  Commune  was 
to  its  end.  In  the  meantime  the  terror  was 
increased.  Cournet,  who  had  been  at  the  head 
of  the  police,  was  found  too  easy,  and  therefore 
Ferre"  was  appointed  in  his  place.  The  ferocious 
character  of  this  man  is  well  known,  and  he  has 
paid  the  penalty  of  his  crimes.  His  great  friend, 
the  fierce  Eaoul  Eigault,  once  gave  proof  of  a 
less  sanguinary  nature  than  has  been  attributed 
tol.  n. 


to  him.  Schcelcher,  one  of  the  deputies  of  Paris, 
had  been  arrested,  but  was  set  free  after  two  days' 
confinement;  Rigault  announcing  to  him  in  a 
letter  that  he  was  free,  and  adding  that  he  had 
thought  of  detaining  him  as  hostage  against  Ed- 
ward Lockroy,  who  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Versailles  authorities,  but  on  second  thoughts  did 
not  see  that  one  absurdity  could  be  properly 
answered  by  another.  The  unfortunate  archbishop 
of  Paris  and  the  other  hostages  found  no  pity  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Ferres  and  the  Eigaults. 

Another  act  of  the  Commune  was  the  establish- 
ment of  a  police.  It  was  one  of  their  grand  prin- 
ciples that  "  the  safety  of  the  city  was  to  be  left  for 
evermore  in  the  hands  of  the  national  guards;" 
now  they  found  out  that  a  police  was  necessary, 
and  a  decree  was  issued  in  which  it  was  stated  that 
the  Jews,  the  Athenians,  the  Spartans,  and  the 
Romans  all  found  police  necessary,  and  so  the 
great  French  Federal  Communal  government  must 
also  have  its  police !  In  connection  with  police 
regulations,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  all  citizens 
were  obliged  to  provide  themselves  with  cards,  in 
imitation  of  the  cartes  civiques  of  1790,  on  which 
was  to  be  inscribed  the  name  and  address  of  the 
bearer,  with  full  particulars,  attested  by  the  muni- 
cipal authorities.  Any  national  guard,  or  appar- 
ently, any  one  else,  had  the  right  to  demand  to 
see  any  one's  card  on  any  occasion.  All  this  was 
said  to  be  in  consequence  of  a  great  secret  con- 
spiracy; biit  more  probably  it  was  simply  the 
result  of  the  terror  of  the  Communists  them- 
selves, who  felt  that  every  honest  man  must  be 
their  enemy,  and  thoroughly  mistrusted  each  other. 
Arrests  were  made  in  all  directions.  Colonel 
Masson,  lately  appointed  chief  of  the  staff  of  the 
war  office,  and  dozens  of  other  officials,  were 
thrown  into  prison. 

The  financial  question  also  began  to  press  most 
seriously  upon  the  Commune.  The  offices  of  more 
than  one  of  the  financial  societies  were  invaded, 
and  the  seal  of  the  Commune  affixed  to  the  safes 
in  which  the  cash  was  deposited.  It  did  not 
appear  that  any  of  the  property  was  removed. 
Next  the  Bank  of  France  was  invaded  by  the 
national  guards,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  M. 
Beslay,  who  was  -the  Communist  delegate  to  the 
bank,  and  who  had  very  cleverly  managed  to  pre- 
vent its  treasuries  being  ransacked.  No  money 
was  taken,  but  M.  Beslay  immediately  gave  in 
his  resignation  as  a  member  of  the  Commune. 
2z 


362 


PARIS,   BEFORE,  DURING, 


The  bank  at  this  time  contained  three  milliards 
(£120,000,000)  in  securities,  a  milliard  in  metal 
belonging  to  the  state,  a  milliard  composing  the 
fortune  of  ninety  families,  and  a  milliard  in 
bank-notes.  M.  Jourde,  the  Communist  Finance 
Minister,  also  exercised  the  full  weight  of  his 
influence  to  prevent  the  bank  from  being  pillaged. 

As  soon  as  the  government  had  got  possession 
of  Fort  Issy,  in  which  were  a  hundred  guns  and 
loads  of  ammunition,  the  guns  were  turned  against 
its  neighbour,  Fort  Vanves,  which  suffered  greatly; 
rockets  were  also  thrown  into  it  and  set  the  build- 
ings on  fire;  the  barracks  were  thus  destroyed. 
A  vigorous  bombardment  was  then  maintained 
all  along  the  lines;  not  only  were  all  the  gates 
of  the  fortification  shelled,  but  also  the  barricade 
in  advance  of  the  Arc  de  Triomphe.  This  and 
other  barricades,  such  as  one  by  the  arch  itself, 
and  others  in  the  Place  Vendome,  the  Rue  de  la 
Paix,  by  the  Tuileries,  &c,  were  constructed  with 
uncommon  care  in  the  manner  adopted  by  the 
engineers  during  the  siege  of  Paris.  They  were 
composed  of  fascines  and  small  sacks  filled  with 
sand,  and  everything  was  finished  off  in  the  most 
elaborate  manner,  giving  the  barricades  almost 
a  theatrical  air.  It  must  not,  however,  be  under- 
stood from  this  that  they  were  toy-works;  it  was 
only  the  outward  appearance  that  was  toy-like. 
On  the  contrary,  they  were  admirable  earthworks, 
designed  and  executed  in  the  best  manner;  and 
armed  as  they  were  with  beautiful  breach-loading 
bronze  guns  and  mitrailleuses,  might  have  given 
the  troops  immense  difficulty.  But  in  a  large  city 
like  Paris,  at  least  on  the  outer  circle,  the  number 
of  such  barricades,  to  be  of  any  service,  must  be 
immense;  the  line  must  be  almost  continuous,  or 
they  are  easily  turned.  When  this  is  not  the 
case  the  enemy  can  choose  his  mode  of  attack, 
and  circumvent  obstacles. 

On  the  night  of  the  13th  of  May  Fort  Vanves 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  government  troops.  In 
the  case  of  Fort  Issy  the  insurgents  had  abandoned 
the  place  so  secretly,  that  the  Versailles  generals 
were  not  aware  of  the  fact  until  they  approached 
and  found  it  empty.  The  garrison  of  Vanves 
found  its  way  back  into  Paris  through  subterranean 
passages  leading  to  the  Catacombs.  A  miserable 
spectacle  they  presented,  worn-out  with  long  ser- 
vice in  the  fort,  having  spent  the  night  in  their 
subterranean  retreat,  without  arms  or  caps,  their 
clothes  torn,  their  hands  and  faces  begrimed  with 


dirt,  frequently  mixed  with  blood,  foot-sore  and 
famished,  they  were  indeed  objects  of  pity,  and 
all  the  more  so,  from  the  fact  that  their  escape 
was  not  to  freedom,  but  into  a  trap;  they  merely 
dragged  their  wearied  bodies  from  a  lost  fort  into 
a  barred  city,  with  no  prospect  but  death  or 
imprisonment.  As  an  instance  of  the  tactics  of 
the  Commune,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  for  two 
days  the  Official  Journal  tried  to  hide  the  fact  of 
the  fall  of  Vanves,  and  declared  that  the  Versailles 
troops  had  made  an  attack  and  been  repulsed  with 
great  loss,  on  the  night  after  that  in  which  it  had 
been  abandoned  by  the  Communists !  However, 
the  Communists  were  not  the  inventors  of  false 
reports.  Fort  Vanves  was  boldly  defended,  but 
the  shelling  and  burning  of  the  buildings  created 
a  terrible  panic,  and  it  was  said  that  all  the  garrison 
except  150  men  abandoned  the  place;  these  fought 
gallantly  for  a  long  time,  but  were  at  last  com- 
pelled to  retire.  When  the  Versailles  troops  suc- 
ceeded in  establishing  themselves  there,  on  the 
14th  of  May,  they  found  only  a  few  insurgents 
and  thirty  corpses.  There  were  in  the  fort  fifty 
guns  and  eight  mortars,  some  provisions,  and  an 
electric  wire  by  which  the  fort  was  to  have  been 
blown  up.  A  place  called  the  Seminary,  near 
Issy,  was  taken  on  the  previous  day,  when  a  hun- 
dred of  the  insurgents  were  killed  and  several 
hundreds  more  taken  prisoners. 

As  already  stated,  the  shelling  of  the  ramparts 
began  as  soon  as  Fort  Issy  was  taken,  and  after 
Vanves  fell  and  the  trenches  were  opened  around 
theBoisde  Boulogne  the  effects  soon  became  serious, 
and  could  no  longer  be  concealed.  The  bastions  at 
the  Point  du  Jour  and  Auteuil  had  become  un- 
tenable; the  casemates  were  destroyed  by  shells, 
which  also  began  to  fall  a  mile  within  the  fortifica- 
tions, so  that  the  neighbourhood  was  soon  deserted 
by  the  Communists,  as  well  as  by  the  unfortunate 
inhabitants.  The  attack  was  carried  on  simul- 
taneously on  two  sides  of  the  city,  by  Auteuil 
and  Passy,  and  by  Clichy,  where  a  pontoon  bridge 
was  thrown  across  the  river;  several  of  the  barri- 
cades just  outside  Paris  were  also  taken.  Squadrons 
of  cavalry  had  been  stationed  all  round  the  city, 
and  fighting  was  going  on  at  a  dozen  points  near 
the  walls. 

In  order  to  meet  this  state  of  things  the  Com- 
munists formed  more  barricades.  One  behind  the 
Arc  de  Triomphe  was  guarded  by  six  cannons 
and  four  mortars;  a   large   number  of  guns   and 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


363 


mitrailleuses — more  than  sixty,  it  is  said — were 
placed  in  battery  on  Montmartre.  The  most 
feverish  excitement  was  evident  everywhere.  De- 
tachments of  guards  paraded  all  the  streets  of 
Paris;  and  such  was  the  distrust  of  the  seden- 
tary national  guards,  that  the  battalions  were 
ordered  to  do  duty  at  a  point  far  away  from  the 
quarter  of  the  city  to  which  they  belonged,  lest 
they  should  desert,  which  they  had  commenced 
doing  to  a  large  extent.  The  quarters  which 
were  mistrusted  were  watched  by  franc-tireurs ; 
every  person  was  suspected;  no  one  could  pass  into 
or  out  of  Paris  without  being  examined ;  and  even 
omnibuses  and  cabs  were  stopped  in  the  streets  and 
their  occupants  interrogated.  Never  were  distrust 
and  anxiety  more  plainly  evidenced.  Numerous 
arrests  took  place  every  day;  and  although  many 
of  the  prisoners  were  released  on' examination,  the 
prisons  were  filled  to  overflowing.  The  Commune 
itself  was  torn  by  intestine  quarrels,  and  threatened 
to  fly  to  pieces  like  one  of  its  own  bombs;  the 
prudent  were  disappearing,  the  desperate  were 
quarrelling,  and  men  of  a  lower  cast  than  most  of 
the  old  members  made  their  way  to  power,  so 
sweet  it  seems  to  be,  although  on  the  verge  of  a 
precipice.  Twenty  of  the  most  moderate  and 
able  men  in  the  Commune  protested  against  the 
existence  of  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety ;  but 
it  was  maintained  that  it  was  necessary  that  there 
should  be  some  body  above  the  ministers,  in  fact, 
an  imperialism,  so  strangely  do  all  extremes,  all 
non- constitutional  governments,  resemble  each 
other  in  their  modes  of  thought  and  action! 

The  Central  Committee,  which  still  existed  in 
spite  of  the  appointment  of  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety,  and  which  seemed  indeed  to  have 
set  aside  the  general  government  of  the  Commune, 
now  openly  advocated  and  put  in  practice  the 
plan  of  the  old  republic  and  the  consulate,  and 
appointed  a  civil  commissary  to  watch  over  each 
military  commander.  A  man  named  Dereure  was 
appointed  to  be  by  the  side  of  Dombrowski,  one 
Johannan  by  that  of  La  Cecilia,  and  one  Milist  by 
that  of  Wroblowski.  Cluseret,  who  had  escaped 
his  persecutors,  wrote  a  letter  to  Rochefort,  in 
which  he  dwelt  bitterly  on  the  faults  committed, 
and  declared  that  nothing  remained  to  be  done 
but  to  make  good  their  position  by  barricades. 
Newspapers  that  had  supported  the  Commune 
all  along  now  gave  it  up  as  a  delusion,  and 
wrote    against    it,    showing    the    conviction    of 


the  writers  that  the  hour  of  deliverance  was 
very   near. 

Misfortunes  are  said  never  to  come  alone;  in 
truth,  they  have  fallen  on  Paris  in  crowds.  Just 
it  this  moment  a  cartridge  factory,  in  which  500 
women  were  employed,  near  the  Champ  de  Mars, 
exploded,  and  caused  the  destruction  of  a  post  of 
national  guards  close  at  hand.  At  least  200  of 
the  poor  women  were  killed,  and  a  number  of  the 
guards.  Of  course,  in  the  state  of  affairs  at  the 
period,  no  exact  account  could  be  obtained. 

A  movement  having  occurred  at  this  time 
amongst  the  German  troops,  it  was  given  out 
that  they  were  about  to  join  the  French  outside, 
storm  the  city,  and  massacre  the  people.  It  was 
evidently  only  a  Communist  trick,  to  arouse  the 
spirit  of  the  people  and  throw  odium  on  the 
Assembly ;  but  instead  of  producing  the  intended 
effect  it  simply  terrified  the  timid  nearly  out  of 
their  senses,  and  did  not  certainly  strengthen  the 
Commune's  hands.  This  rumour  was  made  the 
occasion  for  the  declaration  that,  in  presence  of 
such  infamous  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  Assem- 
bly, they  would  burn  and  destroy  every  public 
building  in  Paris.  One  man,  who  must  have  had 
a  good  deal  more  money  than  wit,  offered  a  sum 
equal  to  £8000  to  any  man  who  should  succeed 
in  bringing  M.  Thiers  into  Paris.  Certainly  the 
chance  of  his  having  to  pay  the  reward  was  a 
small  one,  so  he  obtained  a  day  or  two's  cheap 
notoriety. 

So  desperate  had  the  position  become  that  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  having  been  blamed 
in  a  manifesto,  threatened  to  imprison  the  minority, 
and  carried  out  the  threat  in  the  case  of  one  mem- 
ber named  Clement.  It  also  ordered  that  no  one 
in  prison  should  be  released  except  by  the  express 
order  of  the  committee  itself.  In  spite  of  all  the 
difficulties  which  surroi  nded  the  Commune,  how- 
ever, it  could  not  refrain  from  playing  at  legisla- 
tion ;  the  love  of  power  was  so  sweet,  that  even 
when  all  was  crumbling  beneath  its  feet,  it  devoted 
itself  to  reform  the  code  for  future  generations ; 
and  as  the  time  was  evidently  short,  a  vast  deal 
of  work  was  done  on  paper  in  the  smallest  possible 
time.  Amongst  the  rest  of  the  propositions,  that 
of  suppression  of  a  part  of  the  city  octroi  dues  was 
sure  to  be  most  popular,  and  was  made  prominent. 
More  than  a  hundred  millions  of  francs  were  to  be 
presented  to  the  people  under  this  head,  to  be  made 
up  by — 1st,   Saving  thirty  millions  on  police  and 


364 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


religion,  which  was  declared  to  be  only  another 
name  for  espionage;  2nd,  By  a  tax  amounting  to 
fifteen  millions  on  railways;  3rd,  By  the  profits  on 
assurance,  which  the  city  was  to  undertake  on  its 
own  account.  In  addition  to  this,  there  was  a 
proposition  to  declare  at  once  all  titles,  arms,  liv- 
eries, and  privileges  of  nobility  illegal,  and  con- 
sequently abolished;  the  Legion  of  Honour  was  to 
be  suppressed ;  all  children  were  to  be  considered 
legitimate;  and  every  man  and  woman  after  the 
age  of  eighteen  (a  royal  majority)  were  to  be  mar- 
ried by  simply  declaring  the  fact  before  the  proper 
authority,  without  any  parental  or  other  consent 
being  required.  The  Commune,  however,  could 
not  agree  on  these  and  similar  points ;  there  was  a 
tremendous  scene  in  the  council,  and  the  minority 
seceded,  and  were  not  imprisoned.  The  Commit- 
tee of  Public  Safety  proceeded  alone  with  its  work, 
and  issued  its  decrees  in  the  Official  Journal.  One 
of  these  suppressed  at  a  single  blow  ten  journals, 
including  the  Patrie,  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes, 
and,  singularly  enough,  the  Commune.  Ominous 
fact  !  Another  ordered  that  no  new  journal  or 
review  should  be  allowed  to  appear  until  after  the 
war  was  ended;  that  all  articles  must  be  signed 
by  the  writers  (the  imperialist  condition) ;  that 
offences  against  the  Commune  should  be  submitted 
to  a  court-martial,  and  that  printers  contravening 
this  decree  should  be  tried,  with  their  accom- 
plices, and  their  presses  seized !  Such  are  the 
kindly  and  considerate  feelings  towards  the  press 
and  its  liberties  left  on  record  by  the  Committee 
of  Public  Safety  of  1871. 

The  Commune  seemed,  in  fact,  as  its  last  hour 
approached,  to  be  endowed  with  supernatural 
powers  of  legislation  and  diabolical  work,  and 
amongst  other  matters  it  discussed  the  mode 
of  dealing  with  the  unfortunate  hostages.  Some 
proposed  that  the  victims  should  be  drawn  by 
lots,  others  that  the  most  culpable  only  should 
at  first  be  shot,  and  the  rest  reserved  for  a  later 
period.  A  well-known  man  named  Wolff,  for- 
merly secretary  to  Mazzini  and  president  of  the 
Universal  Republican  Alliance  of  London,  was 
accused  of  being  a  secret  agent  of  M.  Pietri,  pre- 
fect of  police  under  the  empire,  of  receiving  from 
him  a  salary  of  £20  a  month,  and  of  furnishing 
him  with  reports  of  the  doings  of  the  Commune ; 
silver  candelabra  and  other  plate  and  ornaments  in 
the  churches  were  seized;  and  it  was  announced 
in    many  journals,    and    notably   in    the    Cri  du 


Peuple,  that  rather  than  capitulate  the  committee 
had  resolved  to  blow  up  and  burn  the  city.  This 
fact  is  important,  as  it  has  been  strenuously  denied 
that  the  Commune  caused  the  destruction  that 
afterwards  occurred;  at  any  rate,  they  had  recom- 
mended it  in  one  of  their  favourite  journals.  As 
to  the  destruction  itself,  that  commenced  some 
days  before  the  government  troops  had  made 
their  way  into  Paris.  The  demolition  of  the 
expiatory  chapel,  erected  in  memory  of  Louis 
XVI.  and  Marie  Antoinette,  was  commenced 
though  not  accomplished;  and  every  one  knows 
of  the  demolition  of  the  Column  Vendome, 
which  was  accomplished  in  a  very  systematic 
manner  by  a  builder  who  undertook  the  job  at  a 
given  sum.  In  the  first  place  the  column  was  sawn 
through  just  above  the  square  base  upon  which 
it  stood;  an  immense  bed  of  dung  covered  with 
faggots  was  prepared  in  the  place,  so  as  to  deaden 
the  shock  of  the  fall  of  such  a  huge  mass;  a  mast 
had  been  erected  to  which  were  attached  pulleys, 
through  which  ropes,  fastened  to  the  statue  on  the 
top  of  the  column,  passed  and  were  tightened  by 
a  windlass,  while  other  ropes  were  pulled  by  hun- 
dreds of  shouting  fiends  until  the  proud  memorial 
of  Napoleon's  victories  tottered,  fell,  and  broke 
into  fragments,  amid  the  shouts  and  mad  rejoicings 
of  all  the  scum  of  Paris,  who  crowded  in  thou- 
sands round  the  spot,  and  it  is  marveUous  that  no 
accident  happened.  In  consequence  of  the  prepara- 
tions that  had  been  made,  the  crowning  statue  was 
uninjured;  but  the  bronze  plates  which  surrounded 
the  column  and  which  were  covered  with  bas 
reliefs  commemorating  Napoleon's  greatest  vic- 
tories, were  parted  and  some  of  them  broken. 

Marshal  MacMahon  made  good  use  of  the 
occasion  in  an  address  to  the  army,  in  which  he 
said  : — "  The  foreigner  respected  it — the  Com- 
mune of  Paris  has  overthrown  it.  Men  calling 
themselves  Frenchmen  have  dared  to  destroy, 
under  the  eyes  of  the  Germans  who  saw  the  deed, 
this  witness  of  the  victories  of  our  fathers  against 
Europe  in  coalition.  The  Commune  hoped  thus  to 
efface  the  memory  of  the  military  virtues  of  which 
the  column  was  the  glorious  symbol.  Soldiers ! 
if  the  recollections  which  the  column  commemo- 
rated are  no  longer  graven  upon  brass,  they  will 
remain  in  our  hearts.  Inspired  by  them,  we  know 
how  to  give  France  another  proof  of  bravery, 
devotion,  and  patriotism." 

By  this  time  a  large  number  of  the  Commune 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


365 


became  terrified  at  their  position,  and  twenty  or 
more  are  said  to  have  suddenly  ceased  to  attend 
the  meetings.  We  know  now  that  these  fierce 
leaders  were,  many  of  them,  intent  on  their  own 
safety  only;  and  that  having  led  thousands  to 
destruction  and  shown  the  example  of  demolition, 
they  exhibited  their  heroism  by  running  away 
from  their  victims,  and  some  of  them  succeeding 
are  now  exiles,  trying  to  make  the  world  believe 
that  they  are  victims  of  their  patriotism.  The 
most  honourable  and  brave  of  the  Communists 
fell  fighting  in  a  hopeless  cause  or  by  the  bullets 
of  the  victorious  army. 

While  these  latter  events  were  passing  in  Paris, 
the  bombardment  of  the  city  was  proceeding  with 
terrible  intensity.  The  Versailles  and  Auteuil 
gates  were  the  first  that  were  demolished,  and 
the  bastions  around,  as  well  as  the  Point  du 
Jour,  were  soon  untenable  :  the  bombardment 
of  Porte  Maillot  and  the  Champs  Elysees  to  the 
arch,  and  farther,  was  continuous  and  most  violent; 
and  the  destruction  of  the  houses  from  the  gate 
in  question  to  the  arch  was  frightful.  Few 
parts  of  Paris  have  suffered  more.  The  Auteuil 
Railway  passed  across  beneath  the  road,  close 
to  the  Porte  Maillot;  not  only  was  the  station 
there  utterly  destroyed,  but  the  tunnel  was  blown 
up,  and  the  railway  traffic  stopped  for  a  con- 
siderable time  afterwards.  Not  a  vestige  remained 
of  gate  or  station.       Trees  and   lamp-posts    had 


disappeared;  and  the  whole  quarter  presented  a 
scene  of  desolation  which  it  is  impossible  to 
exaggerate.  A  severe  struggle  took  place  at 
Clichy,  not  far  from  Saint  Denis,  on  the  Seine: 
it  was  taken  by  the  Versailles  troops  on  the  17th 
of  May.  It  was  a  very  important  point,  as  it 
covered  the  road  to  Neuilly;  in  fact,  there  was 
constant  fighting  and  cannonading  along  the  whole 
line,  not  only  at  the  ramparts,  but  at  many  points 
outside,  the  Federals  answering  the  Versailles  bat- 
teries from  Montmartre,  the  Trocadero,  the  fort  of 
Montrouge,  and  many  sections  of  the  ramparts. 
The  fire  was  not,  however,  well  sustained.  On 
the  18th  or  19th  a  breaching  battery  was  opened 
in  front  of  the  village  of  Boulogne,  which  fired 
rapidly  and  continuously,  and  was  replied  to  vigor- 
ously by  the  guns  on  the  ramparts  at  Vaugirard; 
but  on  the  latter  day  the  gates  of  Auteuil  and 
Point  du  Jour  were  completely  destroyed,  and  this 
was  the  beginning  of  the  end.  At  this  time  the 
Communists  established  a  powder  magazine  in  the 
palace  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  and  considering 
the  short  distance  that  this  building  is  from  the 
Louvre,  and  the  fearful  fires  that  raged  in  that 
quarter  of  the  city  afterwards,  it  is  surprising  that 
a  greater  catastrophe  than  any  that  occurred, 
namely,  the  burning  of  the  Louvre,  with  all  its 
precious  treasures  in  pictures,  sculpture,  engrav- 
ings, and  antiquities,  did  not  crown  the  work  of 
the  Commune. 


CHAPTER      IV. 


The  Beginning  of  the  End — False  Communal  Announcements — The  Communists  at  bay — M.  Rochefort  attempts  to  escape,  but  is  captured  and 
taken  to  Versailles — Abominable  Threat  of  the  Communists — All  Communication  with  Paris  cut  off — Condition  of  the  Interior  of  the  City — 
Perpetual  Arrests,  Domiciliary  Visits,  and  Robberies — Entrance  of  the  Versailles  Troops —An  Army  of  Amazons — Speech  of  M.  Thiers  in  the 
Assembly  on  May  22 — Fighting  i  ehind  the  Barricades — Description  of  the  Barricades — The  Communists  set  fire  to  the  City — Continued 
and  Severe  Fighting — Use  of  Petroleum  Bombs — Convoys  of  Prisoners  to  Versailles — Merciless  Treatment  of  them — Circular  of  M.  Thiers 
— Massacre  of  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  and  other  Hostages  by  the  Communists — Reasons  assigned  by  the  Communists  for  arresting  them 
— End  of  the  Struggle— Severe  Lesson  for  the  Middle  Classes — The  Buildings  partially  or  totally  burnt — Were  there  any  Petroleuses? — 
Retribution — Fearful  Scenes  in  the  City  and  at  the  Camp  of  Satory,  near  Versailles — The  Women  of  the  Commune — Trials  of  the 
Prisoners — Sketches  of  the  most  Notorious  and  their  Sentences — Rochefort  and  his  Sentence — Trial  of  the  Alleged  Petroleuses — Ground- 
less Accusation  as  to  the  Number  of  Englishmen  in  the  Communal  Ranks — Ducatel  the  "Saviour  of  Paris,"  and  his  Reward — Estimates 
of  Value  of  Buildings  Destroyed — All  the  Registers  of  Births,  Deaths,  and  Marriages  Burnt — Proceedings  of  the  Assembly  after  the  Sup- 
pression of  the  Commune — Present  Position  of  France,  and  her  Prospects  for  the  Future. 


Notwithstanding  its  desperate  position  the  Com- 
mune worked  hard  to  keep  up  appearances.  It 
declared  in  the  Official  Journal  on  the  20th  of 
May  that  the  position  was  in  every  respect  good 
and  strong  ;  that  their  organization  was  much  im- 
proved, and  confidence  was  strengthened !  At 
this  very  time  crowds  of  Communists  were  flying 
into  Paris  in  the  most  disorderly  manner.  It 
condemned  to  death  four  individuals  found  guilty 
of  being  concerned  in  the  firing  of  the  great 
cartridge  factory  in  the  Champs  de  Mars.  General 
Cluseret  was  to  be  tried  on  the  22nd.  On  the 
21st  a  decree  appeared  abolishing  all  the  grants 
made  to  the  theatres  by  the  government,  and  all 
monopolies  connected  with  the  theatres,  which  were 
to  be  placed  under  the  management  of  associa- 
tions. On  the  same  day  the  Official  Journal  con- 
tained accounts  of  successes  of  the  Commune 
nearly  all  round  Paris,  repulses  of  the  Versailles 
troops  at  half  a  dozen  spots,  successful  recon- 
naissances here  and  there  on  the  part  of  the 
Communists,  "  defeat  of  Versailles  troops  by  Gari- 
baldians  at  Petit  Vanves,"  "  everything  going  on 
well  at  Neuilly."  The  previous  day's  results  had 
been  "very  satisfactory  to  the  Commune;  the 
battery  at  Montmartre  had  dismounted  its  oppo- 
nent at  Gennevilliers."  The  reports  of  Generals 
Dombrowski  and  Wroblewski  confirmed  all  the 
pleasing  reports  of  the  Commune,  and  declared 
their  belief  that  the  approaches  of  the  Versailles 
troops  had  been  destroyed.  La  Cecilia  had 
12,000  men  with  him  at  Petit  Vanves;  the  Cen- 
tral Committee  had  sent  forward  large  reinforce- 
ments of  troops,  with  materiel,  to  all  the  threatened 
points ;  seven  times  were  the  Versailles  forces 
repulsed  in  attempting  to  storm  the  ramparts,  and 


were  compelled  to  give  up  the  attempt ;  several 
members  of  the  Commune  had  gone  to  the  ad- 
vanced posts  among  the  troops — they  must  have 
taken  the  wrong  way,  for  some  ol  them  were 
found  a  good  way  off,  and  some  found  themselves 
in  London  not  long  afterwards — all  the  members 
who  left  the  Commune  had  been  replaced,  &c, 
&c.  Such  were  the  announcements  put  forth  to 
amuse  the  deluded  followers  of  the  Commune. 
It  is  true  that  the  notices  in  the  Official  Journal 
were  without  date,  vague,  and  to  a  careful  reader 
significant.  But  the  mask  was  cunningly  worn 
to  the  end;  it  was  often  awry,  to  be  sure,  and  the 
audience  should  have  observed  this,  hut  did  not. 
Thousands  still  allowed  themselves  to  be  led  out 
to  slaughter,  and  false  reports  of  success  laid  the 
way  for  more  bloodshed. 

An  order  of  the  barricade  commission  put 
the  true  complexion  on  the  state  of  things, 
by  ordering  the  inhabitants  of  all  the  houses  at 
the  corners  of  the  streets,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  ramparts  on  the  south  side  of  the  city,  to 
leave  their  houses,  which  would  be  occupied  by 
the  national  guards,  and  the  walls  loopholed  for 
defence.  The  Communists  were  at  bay;  and  it 
is  but  just  to  say  that  some  of  the  leaders  behaved 
heroically,  though  the  sacrifice  of  their  own  lives 
was  but  a  poor  recompense  for  the  lives  of  thou- 
sands upon  thousands  that  lay  at  their  door. 

The  legislative  farce  was  still  being  played  with 
wondrous  face.  On  the  19th  or  20th  of  May  the 
Commune  decreed  that  a  superior  commission  of 
accounts  should  be  appointed,  to  consist  of  four 
members,  who  should  report  monthly ;  that  all 
contractors  and  accountants  guilty  of  theft  or 
malversation  should  be  punished  with  death ;  that 


PARIS,   BEFORE,  DURING,    AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


367 


all  pluralities  of  salaries  should  be  prohibited. 
Then,  amongst  a  dozen  other  matters,  we  have  a 
resolution  to  the  effect  that  the  corps  of  marines 
is  to  be  dissolved !  A  report  was  ordered  to  be 
made  on  the  reform  of  the  prison  system.  One 
member  of  the  Commune  proposed  the  abolition 
of  religious  worship  in  all  churches,  which,  he 
further  proposed,  should  be  devoted  in  future  to 
lectures  on  atheism,  the  absurdity  of  old  preju- 
dices, &c.  M.  Pyat,  in  the  Vengeur,  said,  in  an 
article  that  bore  his  signature,  that  if  the  minority 
of  the  Commune  should  persist  in  abstaining,  new 
elections  should  be  ordered  to  replace  them.  About 
the  same  time  M.  Pyat  disappeared !  At  almost 
the  same  moment  as  the  above  remarkable  coin- 
cidence occurred,  M.  Henri  Eochefort  announced 
in  the  Mot  oTOrdre,  his  journal,  that  in  conse- 
quence of  the  measures  taken  by  the  Commune 
against  the  press  the  Mot  d'Ordre  would  cease 
to  appear.  Curiously  enough,  on  the  same  day  or 
the  day  previously,  M.  Rochefort  did  not  appear 
in  Paris,  but  was  found  at  Meaux,  and  conducted 
to  Versailles  in  an  omnibus  guarded  by  chasseurs. 
Rochefort  had  tried  to  disguise  himself  by  hav- 
ing his  hair  cut  short  and  his  beard  shaved  off, 
but  his  peculiar  and  well-known  physiognomy 
gave  him  little  chance  of  escape. 

One  by  one  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion  disap- 
peared from  the  scene.  Several  were  lucky  enough 
to  escape  into  Belgium;  others  secreted  them- 
selves in  Paris  and  were  afterwards  taken.  But 
we  must  not  forestall  events,  but  confine  ourselves 
at  present  to  what  was  actually  going  on  in  Paris. 
The  two  following  documents,  the  former  issued 
on  the  night  of  the  20th  and  the  latter  published 
on  the  21st  of  May,  present  a  curious  contrast. 
M.  Thiers  addressed  a  circular  to  the  prefects  of 
the  departments,  in  which  he  says:  "Those  who 
have  misgivings  are  wrong.  Our  troops  are  work- 
ing at  the  approaches;  we  are  breaking  the  walls 
with  our  batteries.  At  the  moment  I  am  writing 
never  have  we  been  nearer  the  end.  The  members 
of  the  Commune  are  occupied  in  saving  themselves 
by  flight.  Henri  Rochefort  has  been  arrested  at 
Meaux."  The  proclamation  of  the  Commune 
says:  "  All  inhabitants  of  Paris  who  are  absent 
from  the  city  must  return  to  their  houses  within 
forty-eight  hours,  otherwise  their  stock,  bonds, 
shares,  and  ledgers  will  be  burnt."  This  abom- 
inable threat  was  all  the  more  infamous  from  the 
fact  that  no  one  could  at  that  time  enter  Paris, 


the  Versailles  troops  having  complete  command 
of  the  gates,  and  having  already  stopped  a  number 
of  persons,  including  English  and  Americans.  It 
was  said  afterwards  that  the  order  was  a  mistake, 
and  would  be  cancelled;  but  it  formed  a  part  of 
the  system  which  we  now  know  was  attempted  to 
be  carried  out,  if  not  by  the  Commune,  by  indi- 
viduals, of  burning  all  the  documents,  public  and 
private,  that  were  deposited  in  the  H6tel  de  Ville 
and  other  edifices. 

The  preparations  for  what  afterwards  happened 
were  now  being  made.  The  well-known  bronze 
bas-relief  of  Henri  IV.,  which  was  over  the  central 
door  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  was  taken  down,  and  it 
was  asserted,  had  been  cut  up  into  pieces  and  dis- 
tributed. The  truth  was,  however,  that  the  bas- 
relief  was  taken  down  and  stowed  away,  and 
afterwards  found  intact,  that  it  might  not  be 
destroyed  with  the  beautiful  Hotel  de  Ville,  which 
it  had  so  long  decorated.  This  bas-relief  was 
not,  however,  the  original;  that  was  destroyed  at 
the  first  Revolution  and  replaced  by  a  new  one. 
When  its  place  was  laid  bare  there  appeared  a 
square  hole  in  the  wall,  in  which  originally, 
it  is  supposed,  were  deposited  the  coins  and  other 
things  placed  there  at  the  time  of  the  building; 
but  the  hole  was  empty,  and  may  now  be  seen 
in  the  vacant  space  of  calcined  stones. 

On  the  22nd  of  May  all  communication  whatever 
with  Paris  was  systematically  cut  off;  on  the  north, 
the  trains  were  stopped  at  St.  Denis  and  none 
allowed  to  leave  Paris ;  numberless  arrests  were 
made,  Assi  being  amongst  the  number  of  prisoners. 
The  Germans,  who  had  remained  completely  neu- 
tral, except  when  the  conditions  of  the  peace 
'seemed  in  danger,  now  prevented  the  fugitives 
from  quitting  the  city.  The  advanced  corps  were 
doubled  and  exercised  the  greatest  vigilance;  every 
one  was  driven  back,  no  matter  what  was  his 
condition;  wounded  officers  and  men,  including 
one  general,  were  forced  to  retrace  their  steps  and 
return  to  the  desolation  they  had  helped  to  create. 

The  condition  of  the  interior  of  Paris  at  this 
moment  was  wretched  in  the  extreme;  as  usual, 
the  cry  of  treason  was  up,  and  every  one  suspected 
his  neighbour  of  being  an  agent  of  Versailles  or 
of  Louis  Napoleon.  Men,  and  women  too,  were 
arrested  on  the  slightest  pretence;  cafts  which 
exhibited  more  animation  than  the  majority  were 
constantly  visited ;  cordons  of  soldiers  would 
suddenly  be   drawn  across  a  street  or   boulevard; 


368 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


a  commissary  of  police  would  appear  in  the  door- 
way of  the  establishment,  and  order  every  one 
within  to  remain  there  on  pain  of  death.  The 
visitors  would  be  severely  scrutinized,  and  gener- 
ally a  few  suspected  individuals  would  be  arrested, 
and  the  rest  dismissed.  But  on  more  than  one 
occasion  hundreds  of  men  and  women,  old  and 
young,  respectable  or  otherwise,  were  thus  en- 
trapped in  a  mass,  marched  off  to  the  Hotel  de 
Ville,  and  examined  by  police  or  other  communal 
authorities.  Most  of  them  were  released  in  a  few 
hours,  but  the  arrests  were  sufficient  to  fill  all  the 
prisons  to  overflowing. 

Another  cause  of  intense  terror  and  suffering 
was  the  domiciliary  visits  of  the  national  guards ; 
these  had  a  double  object,  the  finding  of  arms,  and 
also  of  national  guards,  or  of  any  young  able-bodied 
-men,  in  hiding.  Woe  to  any  who  were  found, 
especially  in  uniform;  they  were  immediately 
marched  off  to  the  forts  or  the  advanced  posts,  and 
their  chance  of  escape  was  small.  Every  kind  of 
arm  that  was  found  was  taken  away;  and  when 
the  house  or  apartment  belonged  to  a  late  senator, 
or  other  marked  Bonapartist,  all  the  valuables 
were  seized,  and  frequently  the  furniture  and 
other  things  destroyed.  In  other  instances  there 
was  not  much  mischief  done,  though  of  course, 
as  in  all  such  cases,  there  was  a  number  of 
black  sheep  who  took  advantage  of  the  state 
of  things,  and  helped  themselves  to  whatever 
came  within  their  reach.  When  the  Commune 
had  fallen  some  curious  scenes  occurred;  those 
who  had  helped  themselves  to  their  neighbours' 
goods  began  to  feel  uneasy,  knowing  that  if  dis- 
covered the  retribution  would  be  swift  and  heavy, 
and  the  conduct  of  every  man  in  Paris  would  be 
known  to  his  neighbours  through  the  concierges. 
A  single  instance,  which  will  serve  as  an  example, 
came  within  our  knowledge;  a  very  handsomely 
furnished  suite  of  rooms  in  the  Place  Wagram 
had  been  divested  of  every  portable  valuable,  but 
it  seemed  that  the  possessors  of  some  of  the 
goods  got  uneasy;  for  one  evening  at  a  late  hour 
a  ring  came  at  the  gate,  and  a  man  called  out, 
"  Here  are  your  clocks,"  and  ran  off.  At  the  gate 
were  found,  not  only  six  time-pieces,  which  had 
been  stolen  from  the  apartments  referred  to,  but 
another  which  had  doubtless  been  taken  from  some 
neighbouring  house.  A  quantity  of  money  and 
jewellery,  stolen  at  the  same  time,  was  not  returned 
with  the  clocks. 


On  the  night  of  the  20th  the  siege  batteries 
maintained  an  incessant  fire  for  eight  hours  against 
Porte  Maillot  and  Auteuil,  and  on  the  following 
day,  Sunday — nearly  all  important  military  en- 
gagements seem  to  take  place  on  Sunday — General 
Douay  with  his  corps  d'armee  entered  Paris  by 
a  breach  in  the  walls,  and  occupied  positions  near 
Auteuil,  whereupon  a  flag  of  truce  was  hoisted 
at  the  Saint  Cloud  gate,  and  the  Versailles  batteries 
immediately  ceased,  by  signal,  to  fire  on  that  part 
of  the  city.  At  the  same  time  another  corps 
d'armee,  under  General  Dubarrail,  had  occupied 
Choisy-le-Eoi,  and  a  third  had  entered  at  Porte 
d'Issy;  the  first  and  third  here  joined,  and  the 
whole  prepared  to  march  against  the  Communist 
forces,  who  still  held  their  ground  with  obstinacy. 
To  meet  the  attack,  one  of  the  largest  guns  in 
Paris,  a  huge  naval  breech-loader,  had  been  re- 
mounted on  the  ramparts,  and  on  one  day  destroyed 
the  roof  of  the  barracks  of  Mont  Val^rien,  and 
on  another  did  great  damage  to  the  Chateau  de 
Becon.  This  gun,  called  Josephine,  was  the  same 
which  during  the  siege  sent  a  shell  from  the 
fortifications  to  Saint  Germain,  and  caused  the 
Germans  to  shift  the  position  of  then-  hospital. 
The  insurgents  placed  twelve  heavy  guns  on  the 
bastions  at  Clichy  and  Gennevilliers,  to  prevent  the 
troops  crossing  the  Seine  at  that  part.  They 
also  set  up  some  large  guns  on  the  Arc  de  Triomphe, 
which  caused  the  Versailles  gunners  to  fire  at 
that,  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  architectural 
monuments  in  Paris.  Fortunately  they  did  it  but 
little  harm;  but  the  houses  around  were  consider- 
ably injured,  and  many  men  and  horses  were  killed 
in  and  around  the  Place  de  l'Etoile.  This  caused 
the  shells  to  come  further  than  ever  into  Paris. 
The  Pont  de  Jena  was  struck  several  times,  and 
on  one  occasion  a  carriage  close  by  the  bridge  was 
cut  to  pieces  by  two  shells,  which  struck  it  at 
once,  and  three  passengers  were  badly  wounded. 

The  success  of  the  government  troops  was  not 
uniform ;  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Issy  and  Vanves, 
the  insurgents  were  driven  in,  but  at  the  Dauphine 
gate  the  attacking  force  was  kept  back  by  the 
steady  fire  of  the  mitrailleuses.  In  the  evening 
of  the  same  day,  however,  the  Versailles  troops, 
as  already  stated,  entered  Paris  by  the  gates  of 
Saint  Cloud  and  Montrouge,  the  insurgents  quit- 
ting the  ramparts.  The  corps  of  fusiliers  and 
marines,  headed  by  a  captain  in  the  navy  named 
Treves,  had  the  honour  of  first  entering  the  city. 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


369 


They  immediately  cut  the  telegraph  wires  and 
stopped  the  communications  of  the  Commune. 
The  resistance  on  the  road  by  Auteuil  to  Paris 
was  not  great.  The  Federalists  fled  into  the  city, 
generally  in  the  wildest  disorder — as  most  beaten 
armies  do;  and  the  shells  from  the  Versailles 
batteries  now  falling  well  within  the  ramparts 
added  to  the  confusion.  The  inhabitants  were 
stricken  with  terror,  and  a  large  number  of  lives 
were  lost  amongst  the  civilians. 

Even  at  this  eleventh  hour  the  Commune  con- 
tinued to  arrest  all  the  men  capable  of  bearing 
arms,  and  on  the  very  day  before  the  entry  of  the 
government  troops  it  was  said  that  2000  were 
impressed. 

A  sad  smile  was  brought  up  on  the  face  of 
those  who  were  on  the  boulevards  on  the  20th 
of  May,  when  a  regiment,  or  rather  a  mass,  of 
women,  all  armed  and  wearing  something  more 
or  less  military  about  them,  and  commanded  by 
several  grey-headed  old  men,  appeared  and  marched 
along.  This  army  of  amazons  never  faced  the 
enemy.  Many  women,  however,  exhibited  the  ut- 
most courage,  not  to  say  ferocity;  for  instance,  on 
the  last  day  of  the  defence  of  the  enceinte  a  vivan- 
didre  of  one  of  the  battalions,  who  had  just  joined,' 
and  was  not  even  equipped  in  the  usual  short  skirt, 
trousers,  and  military  cap,  but  who  carried  a 
Chassepot,  sat  down  behind  the  ramparts  by  the 
Bois  de  Boulogne  and  deliberately  fired  twenty 
rounds  at  the  enemy ;  preparing  to  fire  her  twenty- 
first  cartridge,  she  was  struck  by  a  piece  of  a  shell 
and  her  head  shattered  in  the  most  frightful  manner. 

On  the  21st  and  22nd  May  two  very  short  but 
important  proclamations  appeared  with  M.  Thiers' 
signature;  the  first  merely  stated  that  "the  Saint 
Cloud  gate  had  been  destroyed,  that  General  Douay 
was  entering  with  his  troops,  and  that  two  other 
generals  were  hastening  after  him."  The  second 
was  still  more  curt: — "  Half  the  army  is  already 
in  Paris.  We  have  possession  of  the  gates  of 
Saint  Cloud,  Passy,  and  Auteuil,  and  we  are 
masters  of  the  Trocad^ro." 

The  work  went  on  fiercely  on  both  sides;  on 
the  22nd  thousands  of  prisoners  were  taken,  men, 
women,  and  children,  and  sent  off  to  Versailles; 
the  troops  were  pouring  into  Paris  through  the 
crushed  gates  and  walls ;  the  Saint  Germain 
quarter  was  occupied  by  General  Cissey  with 
20,000  men,  and  other  corps  reached  the  entrance 
of  the  Champs  Elysees,  and  the  barricades  at  the 
vol.  n. 


Place  de  la  Concorde  were  now  brought  into  play 
against  them.  In  a  few  hours  more  there  were 
80,000  Versailles  troops  in  Paris,  and  the  barri- 
cades were  being  shelled  by  the  forts  and  batteries. 
The  army  advanced  towards  the  centre  of  Paris; 
they  occupied  on  the  22nd,  amongst  other  places, 
the  Champ  de  Mars,  the  place  in  front  of  the  new 
opera  house,  -and  the  esplanade  of  the  Invalides ; 
but  the  insurgents  had  placed  guns  on  the  terrace 
of  the  Tuileries,  and  swept  the  whole  of  the  Champs 
Elysees.  The  fighting  was  serious  round  about 
the  terminus  of  the  Western  Railway,  which  is 
not  very  far  from  the  Madeleine;  conflagrations 
and  explosions  took  place  in  a  dozen  places  at 
once,  and  a  funereal  pall  of  smoke  seemed  to  hang 
over  the  city.  Few  imagined  how  much  more 
sombre  and  lurid  that  pall  was  to  become  before 
the  Commune  was  entirely  subdued  ! 

On  the  22nd  of  May  M.  Thiers  made  a  state- 
ment in  the  Assembly,  of  which  the  following 
were  the  most  important  passages: — "  The  cause 
of  justice,  order,  and  civilization  has  triumphed, 
thanks  to  our  brave  army.  The  generals,  officers, 
and  soldiers,  especially  the  latter,  have  all  done 
their  duty.  I  congratulate  the  army  for  having 
generously  shed  its  blood  to  accomplish  its  duty." 
M.  Thiers  then  alluded  to  the  powerful  effect 
of  the  Versailles  artillery,  which  had  enabled  the 
engineers  to  advance  rapidly  with  the  works 
against  the  forts  of  Issy  and  Vanves,  and  subse- 
quently against  the  enceinte.  He  then  added : 
"  We  did  not  expect  to  enter  Paris  for  two  or 
three  days,  and  then  only  at  the  cost  of  painful 
efforts  and  sacrifices.  We  have  been  spared  this 
cruel  task.  Yesterday  General  Douay  perceived 
that  the  gate  of  St.  Cloud  was  approachable.  His 
army  soon  penetrated  into  the  interior  of  the  city, 
and  advanced  as  far  as  the  Arc  de  Triomphe. 
General  LAdmirault  entered  simultaneously  on  the 
left,  and  occupied  the  avenue  of  the  Grand  Army 
and  the  Arc  de  Triomphe;  while  General  Vinoy 
communicates  with  General  Cissey,  who  rests  his 
left  wing  upon  Mont  Parnasse,  and  his  right  upon 
the  Invalides.  General  Clinchant  for  his  part  has 
entered  by  the  Faubourg  St.  Honored  and  reached 
the  Opera  House.  Such  was  the  position  of  affairs 
at  two  o'clock  yesterday  afternoon.  We  are  dis- 
posed to  believe  that  Paris  will  soon  be  restored 
to  her  rightful  sovereign,  namely  France." 

The  Assembly  at  once  voted  thanks  to  M.  Thiers 
and  the  army;  and  M.  Jules  Simon  brought  in  a 
3A 


370 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


vote  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  Column  Ven- 
dome  and  the  restoration  of  other  public  monu- 
ments. Alas!  they  little  thought  what  a  much 
longer  list  of  restorations  and  reconstructions  the 
morrow  would  give  rise  to ! 

During  the  course  of  the  following  day,  the 
23rd  of  May,  the  army  made  great  progress;  there 
were  nearly  100,000  men  in  Paris  ;  Generals 
Douay  and  Vinoy  surrounded  the  Place  Ven- 
d6me,  the  staff  quarters  of  the  Communists, 
Neuilly,  the  Northern  Eailway  station,  and  Mont- 
martre.  The  last-named  hill  had  been  armed 
with  a  large  number  of  guns,  and  great  fear  was 
entertained  of  the  mischief  that  they  would  do 
to  the  interior  of  the  city ;  but  they  were  silenced 
with  comparatively  little  trouble,  and  by  a  sort  of 
retributive  justice,  by  batteries  placed  close  to  the 
spot  where  the  artillery  was  seized  and  carried  off 
by  the  Communists  in  March.  The  government 
troops  arranged  a  number  of  guns  on  the  Place 
Wagram,  and  those  of  Montmartre  facing  the 
other  way,  the  batteries  were  taken  in  flank  and 
rear  and  immediately  silenced.  Many  thousands 
of  the  insurgents  were  taken  prisoners  and  a 
large  number  killed,  but  the  rest  still  fought 
behind  the  barricades  with  great  energy,  and  kept 
the  entering  army  at  bay  for  a  time;  but  it  was 
soon  found  that  barricades  could  be  turned,  as 
Montmartre  had  been,  and  thus  the  army  took 
the  Place  de  l'Etoile  and  obtained  possession  of 
the  Elysees  and  all  that  neighbourhood.  Thus 
one  by  one  all  these  barricades  fell,  and  the  con- 
flict was  confined  to  the  centre  and  the  north-east 
side  of  the  city.  Here,  however,  the  insurgents 
made  a  desperate  stand,  and  held  the  army  at 
bay  for  two  days  longer  ;  the  barricades  were 
guarded  with  numerous  guns  and  mitrailleuses, 
and  in  the  streets  of  the  centre  of  the  city  they 
could  not  be  turned. 

Of  these  barricades,  those  who  have  never  seen 
a  siege  or  a  revolution  can  scarcely  form  an  idea. 
They  were  not  heterogeneous  heaps  formed  of 
omnibuses,  cabs,  carts,  furniture,  and  paving  stones, 
but  were  very  carefully  constructed  on  military 
principles.  The  first  of  them  was  in  fact  a 
wall  all  round  the  city,  at  a  very  short  distance 
from  the  fortifications,  constructed  of  earth,  about 
three  feet  thick  and  six  feet  high,  and  crowned 
with  sand -bags.  Behind  this  rampart  was  a 
ledge,  also  of  earth,  on  which  the  men  stood  and 
fired  over  or  between  the  sand-bags,  so  that  those 


not  actually  engaged  in  firing,  stepping  down, 
were  well  covered.  In  forming  this  outer  ring 
of  barricades  good  advantage  was  taken  of  the 
circular  railway  which  runs  round  just  within  the 
walls.  In  those  parts  where  the  railway  is  in  a 
cutting,  as  it  is  during  the  greater  portion  of  its 
length,  the  barricade  was  raised  against  the  inner 
railings,  which  thus  became  themselves  a  portion 
of  the  work.  Every  station  on  the  line  in  these 
parts  was  converted  into  a  small  fortress,  the 
windows  being  built  up  with  stones  and  mortar, 
or  filled  with  sand-bags,  and  pierced  everywhere. 
At  the  foot  of  the  stairs  at  each  station  there 
was  a  second  work  of  the  same  kind,  in  case  of 
the  former  proving  untenable.  On  the  line  itself, 
here  and  there,  were  strong  oak  gates,  with 
numerous  holes  for  riflemen,  which  could  be 
shut  and  firmly  fastened  on  the  approach  of  the 
enemy;  and  lastly,  the  whole  of  the  shrubs  on 
the  slopes  of  the  cuttings,  and  they  were  thick 
and  fine,  were  cut  off  at  a  foot  or  so  from  the 
ground,  and  every  stump  cut  to  a  sharp  point. 
In  places  where  the  railway  cutting  was  inter- 
rupted by  a  tunnel,  the  street,  boulevard,  or 
place  above  was  converted  into  a  strong  bastion, 
arranged  for  artillery  as  well  as  riflemen.  Some 
of  these  were  truly  formidable  works.  In  addi- 
tion to  all  this,  the  road  which  skirts  the  railway 
along  the  entire  length  was  protected  by  loop- 
holed  walls,  built  half  across  the  road,  and  each 
alternately  covering  the  space  left  open  by  the 
side  of  the  preceding  one.  Thus  an  advancing 
army  would  at  every  point  meet  with  a  strong 
wall,  behind  which  were  dozens  of  riflemen. 
Where  the  railway  dipped  below  the  surface  the 
same  principle  was  followed;  only,  in  the  absence 
of  the  cutting  and  rails,  the  barricade  being  self- 
sustaining,  had  to  be  much  more  substantially  con- 
structed. The  second  ring  of  barricades  being  much 
nearer  the  centre  of  the  city  (the  Arc  de  Triomphe 
was  one  of  its  links),  was  necessarily  not  con- 
tinuous, but  consisted  of  isolated  barricades  and 
redoubts  across  the  streets  and  boulevards.  Against 
infantry  only  they  would  have  been  extremely 
formidable,  but  the  shells  which  fell  upon  and 
within  them  soon  rendered  the  inner  ring  also 
untenable.  When  the  army  under  the  Ver- 
sailles generals  got  within  this  inner  ring,  the 
strategic  value  of  the  great  new  boulevards  was 
well  demonstrated.  Cannon  and  mitrailleuses 
were  brought  to  the  intersections  of  these  broad 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


371 


thoroughfares,  including  the  Champs  Elyse"es 
(which  were  thus  swept  down  their  whole  length, 
and  the  road  cleared  of  the  insurgents  down  to 
the  very  heart  of  Paris),  the  Rue  Royale,  the 
place  in  which  the  new  opera  house  stands,  and, 
finally,  the  Place  Vendome,  the  Place  de  la  Con- 
corde, the  Place  de  la  Bastille,  and  many  other 
important  positions.  The  artillery  thus  placed 
poured  a  crushing  fire  of  time  fuse  shells  on  the 
barricades  around  the  Tuileries,  the  Bourse,  the 
Palais  Eoyal,  and  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  on 
the  boulevards,  to  which  was  added  a  murderous 
cannonading  from  batteries  placed  on  the  Troca- 
d^ro,  a  most  commanding  situation. 

It  was  impossible  for  the  insurgents  to  maintain 
their  position  after  this.  The  men  were  demoral- 
ized, no  generals  were  to  be  found ;  half-drunk 
and  half-mad,  their  companions  falling  around 
at  every  instant,  they  raised  the  usual  cries  of 
"  Treason!"  "  We  are  betrayed!"  &c;  and  then 
came  the  common  street  fighting,  without  order 
or  hope.  Barricades  were  now  formed,  or  tried  to 
be  formed,  of  whatever  could  be  seized  upon — the 
military  bedsteads  and  bedding  of  the  barracks  in 
the  Louvre,  goods  out  of  private  houses,  vehicles, 
and  whatever  came  to  hand.  The  courage  of 
many  of  the  insurgents  was  beyond  all  question, 
but  the  carnage  was  frightful  and  the  end  was 
inevitable.  The  last  stand  in  this  central  part  of 
Paris  was  made  whilst  the  public  buildings  around 
were  blazing  in  the  midst  of,  perhaps,  the  most 
fearful  combat  that  even  the  streets  of  Paris  have 
ever  witnessed;  for  the  Communists,  now  in  utter 
despair,  had  carried  out  their  threat  as  far  as  lay 
in  their  power,  and  had  set  fire  to  some  of  the 
most  valuable  public  edifices. 

At  first  it  was  impossible  to  ascertain  the  extent 
of  the  mischief.  When  the  Tuileries  were  set  on 
fire  the  Communist  guards  were  in  possession  of 
the  site,  and  kept  off  all  who  would  have  attempted 
to  stop  the  conflagration,  and  it  was  believed,  and 
the  supposed  fact,  telegraphed  all  over  Europe, 
that  the  Louvre  was  destroyed.  This  fortunately 
proved  not  to  be  the  case.  The  army  obtained 
possession  of  the  spot  before  the  ruin  was  con- 
summated, and  managed  to  stop  the  fire  by  iso- 
lating the  buildings  on  both  sides.  The  grand 
collections  of  pictures,  sculpture,  antiquities,  and 
objects  of  art  of  all  kinds,  were  saved.  The  truth, 
when  known,  was,  however,  sad  enough. 

The  effect  of  the  fire  can  never  be  described ;  the 


whole  mass  of  the  Tuileries,  front  and  side,  was  in 
flames,  as  were  the  Palais  Eoyal  and  the  great 
building  occupied  by  the  ministry  of  Finance  just 
opposite.  On  the  island  close  at  hand  the  fire 
was  darting  up  from  amidst  the  quaint  old  towers 
of  the  remains  of  the  Palace  of  Charlemagne;  the 
Palace  of  Justice,  the  Prefecture  of  Police,  and 
the  Sainte  Chapelle,  were  all  supposed  to  by 
doomed.  On  the  opposite  quay,  the  great  build- 
ings occupied  by  the  Council  of  State  and  the 
Court  of  Accounts  were  blazing  furiously;  and 
somewhat  later  the  fire  appeared  further  east;  the 
Hotel  de  Ville  was  also  in  flames.  Add  to  this 
that  dozens  of  private  houses  and  other  buildings 
around  these  edifices  were  included  in  the  con- 
flagration, while  fires,  caused  no  one  can  say  how, 
occurred  in  all  parts  of  the  city,  and  imagination 
may  draw  something  like  a  picture  of  the  scene. 
Over  the  city  hung  a  huge  canopy  of  smoke, 
almost  shutting  out  the  light  of  heaven;  and  this 
was  illuminated  in  the  most  extraordinary  manner 
by  the  flames,  the  pyramids  of  fire,  which  sprung 
up  from  the  petroleum-saturated  floors.  Further 
on  we  shall  speak  of  the  actual  damage  done; 
for  the  present  our  object  is  to  sketch  as  clearly 
as  we  can  the  progress  of  the  Versailles  army  and 
the  extinction  of  the  Commune. 

Wliile  this  tremendous  fire  was  raging,  the 
fighting  was  furious  around  the  Tuileries  and 
the  Hotel  de  Ville,  at  Montmartre  and  Belleville: 
the  Versailles  batteries  cannonaded  the  parts  of 
the  city  still  in  the  hands  of  the  insurgents 
without  cessation;  while  the  Communists  on  their 
side  bombarded  the  city  from  the  southern  forts, 
and  threw  petroleum  bombs  from  batteries  on  the 
heights  around.  During  the  last  struggle  this  was 
continued  during  the  whole  night,  and  it  was  in 
vain  that  firemen  and  others  attempted  to  make 
their  way  through  the  serried  masses  of  now 
infuriated  Communists,  who  guarded  every  ave- 
nue. It  is  admitted  that  the  insurgents  fought  in 
the  streets  with  great  bravery;  while  independent 
observers  mostly  agreed  that  the  Versailles  troops 
were  remarkably  cautious.  The  generals,  or  the 
soldiers,  may  have  taken  a  lesson  from  the  Ger- 
mans, and  have  found  out  at  last  that  rashness  is 
far  more  likely  to  lead  to  reverses  and  panic  than 
to  success.  In  this  terrible  case  of  street  fighting 
especially,  discretion  was  the  better  part  of  valour, 
as  the  unfortunate  population  had  to  be  considered. 
At  every  important  point,  by  the  Madeleine,  the 


372 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


Bourse,  the  New  Opera,  the  Rue  Royale,  and  the 
Rue  St.  Honored  the  struggle  was  desperate;  and 
as  the  Communists  are  proved  to  have  fought  like 
wild  beasts  at  bay,  the  soldiers  who  conquered 
them  must  have  had  valour  as  well  as  discretion. 
Thousands  of  the  insurgents  fell,  and  many  more 
escaped  to  hiding. 

From  the  moment  that  the  army  made  its  way 
fairly  into  Paris,  commenced  one  of  the  most 
painful  phases  of  the  insurrection,  namely,  the 
convoy  of  prisoners  to  Versailles.  The  resistance 
of  the  Commune  and  the  burning  of  Paris  seemed 
to  have  almost  extirpated  the  sentiment  of  pity 
from  the  mind.  The  miserable  prisoners  (men, 
women,  and  children),  sore-footed,  half-starved, 
and  often  wounded,  were  driven  like  wild  beasts. 
Their  guards  were,  as  a  rule,  utterly  merciless, 
and  only  laughed  at  their  sufferings ;  while  the 
populace,  even  educated  men  and  women,  insulted 
the  fallen  wretches  in  the  coarsest  manner.  Cer- 
tainly one  of  the  worst  points  in  the  French 
character  is  the  savage  bitterness  exhibited  towards 
an  enemy,  whether  victorious  or  prostrate. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  treatment  of  the  prison- 
ers, it  was  said  that  Rochefort,  although  guarded 
by  three  detachments  of  gendarmes  and  chasseurs, 
was  handcuffed,  and  in  such  a  manner  that  one 
of  his  wrists  was  hurt.  If  a  man  fell  out  of  the 
ranks  from  fatigue,  he  stood  a  good  chance  of  being 
shot.  Many  instances  are  recorded  of  summary 
execution  on  the  road.  The  following  was  related 
by  an  English  correspondent: — "  The  whole  way 
to  Sevres  the  road  was  crowded  with  trains  of 
waggons,  ambulance  vans,  policemen,  and  cavalry 
escorting  prisoners.  To  show  the  bitterness  of 
feeling  among  military  men  at  Versailles,  I  may 
mention  that  when  one  of  four  field-officers  in 
conversation  expressed  a  wish  to  see  the  prisoners 
handed  over  for  the  benefit  of  science  to  the  pro- 
fessors of  vivisection,  the  other  three  applauded 
the  idea.  While  talking,  a  young  captain  entered 
the  cafe  to  refresh  himself  with  a  glass  of  beer. 
He  was  in  command  of  a  convoy  of  prisoners 
going  to  Satory,  and  said  he  had  ridded  his  coun- 
try of  some  of  the  scoundrels.  One  from  fatigue, 
one  from  weakness,  and  two  who  were  sidky,  had 
sat  on  a  bank.  He  ordered  them  to  get  up  directly 
if  they  did  not  want  to  be  shot.  '  Shoot  us,' 
replied  one  of  the  prisoners.  '  I  will  take  you 
at  your  word,  my  good  fellow,'  the  captain 
answered,    '  and   I   shall   consider   those   who  do 


not  get  up  directly  to  be  of  the  same  mind  as 
you.'  No  one  moved.  The  firing  party  was 
quickly  told  off,  and  the  four  men  were  corpses 
in  another  instant.  The  captain  was  highly  com- 
mended by  his  brother  officers  for  his  firmness, 
and  when  he  had  gone  all  fell  to  praising  him." 

Amongst  the  prisoners  were  many  women, 
"  Amazons  of  the  Seine,"  vivandieres,  and  others. 
Many  of  these  were  wounded,  some  had  children 
in  place  of  knapsacks,  nearly  all  were  fatigued, 
famished,  miserable;  but  they  were  compelled  to 
march  at  a  good  quick  pace  by  mounted  gend- 
armes, who  were  evidently  quite  prepared  to 
enforce  obedience  to  their  orders;  and  in  their 
condition,  and  under  a  hot  sun,  they  must  have 
suffered  horribly.  When  they  arrived  at  Ver- 
sailles the  jokes  and  ribaldry  of  the  spectators  was 
enough  to  madden  them;  but  generally  they  kept 
a  firm  and  defiant  countenance,  and  in  some  cases 
answered  insult  with  its  own  coin.  The  women  and 
the  boys  bore  themselves  far  more  bravely  than 
the  men ;  but  then,  they  had  not  suffered  so  severely, 
and  they  had  less  to  dread.  As  to  the  boys,  many 
of  them  little  imps  of  ten  or  eleven  years  of  age, 
who  were  in  some  cases  attached  to  battalions  of 
national  guards,  and  in  others  belonged  to  special 
corps,  "  Infants  of  the  Commune,"  or  something 
of  the  kind,  but  all  either  dressed  in  the  uniform 
of  the  guard  or  wearing  a  scarf  or  belt  over  their 
blouse,  they  strutted  along  with  their  noses  in 
the  air,  as  if,  to  use  the  stereotyped  phrase  of 
French  politicians,  the  "  eyes  of  all  Europe  were 
upon  them."  To  be  a  revolutionist  is,  as  it  were, 
a  profession  with  numbers  of  Frenchmen.  The 
number  of  old  men  amongst  the  prisoners  was 
surprising.  These  were  the  patriarchs  of  Saint 
Antoine,  the  men  of  the  Faubourgs,  who  had 
taken  part  in  every  revolution  and  t'meute  since 
they  were  children,  who  hailed  a  struggle  against 
any  authority  as  the  highest  treat  in  their  lives; 
these  men  appeared  under  the  Commune,  as  usual, 
in  order  to  give  courage  to  the  younger,  and 
threw  the  weight  of  their  experience  into  the 
Federal  scale.  When  there  was  an  inclination 
towards  panic  it  was  they  who  stemmed  it ;  and 
when  the  Commune  was  on  its  last  legs  they 
came  out  by  hundreds,  perhaps  by  thousands,  and 
steadily  blew  the  embers  again  into  a  fierce  flame. 
These  men  marched  like  martyrs  to  their  fate,  and 
had  they  fought  in  a  better  cause  they  would  have 
been  true  heroes.     They  are  the  rank  and  file  of 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


373 


the  army  of  which  Blanqui  and  Pyat,  and  others, 
are  the  chiefs;  but  unlike  these  men  they  dared  to 
fight,  disdained  to  fly,  and  were  ready  for  death; 
and  many  of  them  met  the  grim  monster  unflinch- 
ingly. It  was  principally  due  to  the  steadiness 
of  these  men,  no  doubt,  that  the  last  struggle 
was  so  severe  ;  all  hope  had  vanished,  but  the  old 
revolutionary  blood  was  at  boiling  point,  and 
hundreds  faced  certain  death  with  unflinching 
countenances. 

On  the  25th  of  May  M.  Thiers  issued  the  fol- 
lowing circular: — 

"We  are  masters  of  Paris,  with  the  exception 
of  a  very  small  portion,  which  will  be  occupied 
this  evening.  The  Tuileries  are  in  ashes,  the 
Louvre  is  saved.  That  part  of  the  Ministry  of 
Finance  which  skirts  the  Rue  de  Rivoli  is  burnt, 
the  Palais  d'Orsay,  where  the  Council  of  State  and 
Cour  des  Comptes  were  lodged,  is  also  burnt. 
Such  is  the  state  in  which  Paris  is  delivered  to  us 
by  the  wretches  who  oppressed  and  dishonoured 
it.  They  have  left  12,000  prisoners  in  our  hands, 
and  we  shall  have  18,000  to  20,000;  the  ground 
is  strewed  with  their  dead.  The  fearful  spectacle 
will  serve  as  a  lesson  to  those  madmen  who  dared 
to  declare  themselves  partizans  of  the  Commune; 
justice  will  soon  satisfy  the  outraged  human  con- 
science for  the  monstrous  acts  of  which  France 
and  the  whole  world  have  been  witnesses.  The 
army  has  been  admirable.  We  are  happy  in  the 
midst  of  our  misery  to  be  able  to  state  that,  thanks 
to  the  wisdom  of  our  generals,  it  has  suffered  but 
small  loss." 

When  that  circular  was  despatched  the  whole 
extent  of  the  evil  was  not  consummated;  on  the 
same  day  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  with  an  immense 
building  connected  with  it,  but  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  way,  the  Lyrique  Theatre,  and  all  their 
contents  were  destroyed,  and  the  crowning  horror 
of  the  Communists'  crimes,  the  massacre  of  the 
hostages,  was  perpetrated. 

The  unfortunate  men  who  were  incarcerated 
as  hostages  consisted  almost  entirely  of  priests, 
monks,  gendarmes,  and  municipal  guards  who 
had  been  gardiens  de  ville  under  the  empire. 
The  pretext  for  arresting  them  was,  in  the  first 
place,  that  the  Versailles  authorities  had  put 
many  Communists  to  death  in  cold  blood,  and 
that  these  hostages  were  seized  in  order  to  pre- 
vent, by  the  fear  of  retaliation,  such  summary 
executions  in  future.      The   precise  truth   of  the 


accusation  against  the  government- will  never  be 
known.  M.  Thiers,  or  another  influential  member, 
declared  in  the  National  Assembly  that  no  such 
executions  had  taken  place;  and  that  except  those 
who  had  been  sacrificed  by  the  enraged  soldiery 
on  the  field,  no  man  had  been  executed  except 
after  a  fair  trial  by  court  martial.  This  denial 
leaves  the  question  much  where  it  was;  some  very 
gross  cases  have  undoubtedly  been  proved  against 
officers,  to  say  nothing  of  the  soldiery,  but  whether 
the  Commune  had  good  ground  for  retaliation  of 
the  kind  threatened,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  As 
stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  the  unfortunate  arch- 
bishop wrote  to  M.  Thiers  from  prison  on  the 
subject,  and  the  latter  denied  the  accusation. 

Why  so  many  ecclesiastics  had  been  arrested 
was  explained  by  a  member  of  the  Commune  in 
this  way,  that  all  Catholic  priests  must  be  enemies 
of  the  Communal  movement  by  profession;  that 
they  had  kept  up  communication  with  the  govern- 
ment at  Versailles,  and  had  done  all  they  could 
against  the  Commune  by  their  preaching  and 
arguing;  and  that  in  time  of  war  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  to  put  down  such  intrigues.  But 
another  ground  was  alleged,  namely,  that  it  had 
been  discovered  that  the  priesthood  had  secreted 
large  numbers  of  arms;  2000  it  was  declared  bad 
been  found  at  Notre  Dame,  and  a  great  many  also 
in  a  Jesuit  establishment;  that  it  was  evident  that 
these,  and  many  other  arms,  had  been  secreted  in 
order  to  furnish  their  disciples  with  the  most 
approved  weapons  against  the  Commune.  These 
arms  had  come  into  their  hands  in  the  various 
ambulances  under  their  charge,  and  should  have 
been  returned  into  the  government  stores,  instead 
of  being  hidden  away  for  future  use.  It  was 
further  declared  that  only  in  case  of  the  Communal 
prisoners  being  shot  would  any  harm  be  done  to 
the  hostages;  and,  lastly,  that  instead  of  being 
treated  with  severity,  the  archbishop  received  the 
greatest  consideration.  These  statements  cannot 
be  accepted  as  of  much  value.  The  Communists 
may  have  had  cause,  or  believed  they  had  cause, 
for  reprisals,  and  they  seized  as  hostages  the  men 
whom  they  most  hated,  namely,  ecclesiastics  and 
policemen — the  agents  of  the  church  and  empire, 
which  they  detested. 

The  unfortunate  hostages,  232  in  number,  were 
confined  at  Mazas;  not  like  prisoners  of  war,  but 
like  felons  in  separate  cells.  About  this  there  is 
no  question.     They  were  first  taken  to  the  Con- 


874 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


ciergerie,  thence  to  Mazas,  and  finally  to  the 
criminal  prison  of  La  Roquette. 

On  the  entrance  of  the  Versailles  troops  into 
Paris  the  unfortunate  hostages  were  ordered  for 
execution;  and  on  the  24th  of  May  the  unhappy 
archbishop,  with  the  Abbe  Deguerry,  of  the 
Madeleine,  the  apostolic  protonotary,  and  other 
priests,  two  Jesuit  fathers,  M.  Bonjean,  the  pre- 
sident of  the  Cours  des  Comptes,  and  senator 
under  the  empire;  M.  Jecker,  the  banker  who 
was  the  agent  for  the  Mexican  loan,  which  was 
one  of  the  causes  of  the  war  against  that  country ; 
and  some  other  victims  not  named — were  butchered 
in  the  most  cruel  and  insulting  manner  in  the 
outer  court  of  the  prison,  under  the  eye  of  a 
delegate  of  the  Commune.  Two  days  later  thirty- 
eight  gendarmes  and  sixteen  priests  were  murdered 
at  the  cemetery  of  Pere  la  Chaise.  The  unfortunate 
gendarmes,  gardes  de  Paris,  and  gardiens  de  la 
paix  left  behind  them  a  large  number  of  widows 
and  children  without  provision,  and  a  public  sub- 
scription in  their  favour  was  afterwards  raised,  and 
produced  more  than  £.10,000. 

When  the  government  troops  reached  La  Ro- 
quette they  found  there  and  saved  169,  according 
to  one  account,  and  according  to  another,  132 
other  hostages,  all  of  whom  had  been  ordered  for 
execution. 

The  archbishop  of  Paris  is  the  third  who,  within 
a  few  years,  has  met  a  violent  death.  Archbishop 
Affre  fell  in  1848,  when  making  an  appeal  to  the 
insurgents ;  and  Archbishop  Sibour  was  assas- 
sinated in  church  by  an  unfrocked  priest  named 
Verger.  The  victim  of  the  Commune,  George 
Darboy,  was  a  man  of  high  attainments,  and  had 
held  several  professorships.  In  1850  he  was  ap- 
pointed bishop  of  Nancy;  he  attached  himself  to 
the  empire,  and  in  1863  was  made  archbishop 
of  Paris  and  grand  chaplain  to  the  empire,  and 
senator,  and  thus  was  an  object  of  popular  hatred. 
It  should  be  recorded  of  him,  that  during  the 
siege  he  was  one  of  the  very  few  ecclesiastics  who 
made  any  public  appeal  to  the  people  in  favour 
of  order  and  toleration.  He  published  an  admirable 
letter,  in  which  he  implored  the  more  violent 
polemical  writers  to  set  aside  their  discussions  and 
party  quarrels,  and  give  all  the  assistance  they 
could  to  the  then  government.  His  appeal  was 
totally  ineffectual,  but  the  act  should  not  be  for- 
gotten. M.  Darboy  had  the  misfortune  of  being 
too  imperialist  for  the  people,  and  too  liberal  in 


his  views  for  the  ultramontanes  and  the  pope, 
with  whom  he  was  not  in  favour. 

Unhappily,  these  were  not  the  only  victims  of 
the  Commune.  It  was  reported  that  many  of  the 
gendarmes  taken  were  shot  on  the  instant;  but 
there  is  no  proof  of  this.  One  case,  however,  is 
beyond  all  question,  that  of  a  well-known  liberal 
and  republican  journalist,  named  Chaudey,  who 
was  charged  with  intriguing  with  the  Versailles 
authorities;  He  was  shot  in  the  prison  yard  with- 
out, as  is  asserted,  any  form  of  trial.  M.  Chaudey 
was  a  man  much  esteemed,  and  his  execution — 
assassination  we  should  rather  say — created  a  deep 
sensation  against  the  Commune. 

After  the  army  had  possession  of  the  central 
portion  of  the  town,  the  eastern  and  other  quar- 
ters, and  several  of  the  forts,  were  still  in  the 
hands  of  the  Communists,  and  desperately  though 
hopelessly  they  fought.  A  circular,  signed  by 
M.  Thiers  and  issued  on  the  evening  of  the  27th 
of  May,  tells  how  sharp  was  the  conflict.  After 
speaking  of  preceding  events,  and  stating  that  the 
prisoners  taken  amounted  at  the  above  date  to 
25,000,  the  document  narrates  the  proceedings 
outside  the  city,  the  taking  of  three  of  the  forts, 
one,  curiously  enough,  by  cavalry,  the  attack  and 
taking  of  the  barricades  on  the  left  side  of  the 
Seine,  and  then  proceeds  :  —  "  General  Vinoy, 
following  the  course  of  the  Seine,  made  his  way 
towards  the  Place  de  la  Bastille,  which  was 
defended  by  formidable  intrenchments  ;  took  the 
position  with  the  divisions  Bruat  and  Faron, 
and  made  himself  master  of  the  Faubourg  Saint 
Antoine  to  the  Place  du  Trone.  The  efficacious 
and  brilliant  aid  given  to  the  troops  by  the  flotilla 
of  gunboats  must  not  be  forgotten.  The  troops 
have  this  day  taken  a  strong  barricade  at  the 
corner  of  the  Avenue  Philippe-Auguste  and  the 
Rue  Montreuil.  This  has  brought  them  to  the 
foot  of  the  heights  of  Belleville,  the  last  asylum 
of  this  insurrection,  which  in  its  fall  has  committed 
its  last  act  of  monstrous  vengeance  in  incendiarism. 

"  From  the  centre  towards  the  east  the  corps 
of  General  Douay  followed  the  line  of  the  boule- 
vards, resting  its  right  on  the  Place  de  la  Bastille, 
and  its  left  on  the  Cirque  Napoleon.  The  corps 
of  General  Clinchant,  in  joining  that  of  General 
L'Admirault,  met  with  violent  resistance  at  the 
Magazins-Reunis,  which  it  gallantly  overcame; 
finally,  the  last-named  corps,  after  having  seized 
with  great  vigour  the   stations  of  the   Northern 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


375 


and  Eastern  railways,  proceeded  to  Villette,  and 
took  up  a  position  at  the  foot  of  the  Buttes- 
Chaumont. 

"  Thus  two-thirds  of  the  army,  after  having 
successfully  conquered  all  the  right  bank  of  the 
Seine,  are  now  stationed  at  the  foot  of  Belleville, 
which  they  will  attack  to-morrow  morning." 

The  circular  concluded  with  a  high  eulogium 
on  the  army,  and  with  regrets  for  the  fall  of 
General  Leroy,  and  "  the  Commandant  Seboyer 
of  the  chasseurs-aux-pied,  who,  having  advanced 
too  far,  was  taken  by  the  scoundrels  who  defended 
the  Bastille,  and  was  shot  against  all  the  laws  of 
war.  This  act  was  indeed  in  accordance  with  the 
conduct  of  those  who  burnt  our  cities  and  our 
monuments,  and  mixed  liquids  to  poison  our  sol- 
diers almost  instantaneously." 

This  last  passage  seems  to  allude  to  an  asserted 
fact,  that  in  some  of  the  forts  poisoned  wine  or 
spirits  were  found. 

Another  circular,  published  on  the  following 
day,  records  the  actual  conclusion  of  the  struggle. 
It  states  that  during  the  night  all  difficulties  were 
overcome.  A  young  officer  named  Davoust  took 
the  barricades,  and  the  corps  of  General  L'Admir- 
ault  occupied  the  heights  of  Belleville.  At  the 
same  time  General  Vinoy  took  the  cemetery  of 
Pere  la  Chaise,  the  mairie  of  the  twentieth  arron- 
dissement,  the  headquarters  of  the  insurgents  of 
Belleville,  and  the  prison  of  La  Roquette,  where, 
as  already  stated,  the  169  hostages  were  found 
and  set  at .  liberty.  The  following  passage  con- 
cludes this,  the  last  of  the  Versailles  circulars 
relating  to  the  insurrection : — "  The  remaining 
insurgents,  now  driven  to  the  extremity  of  the 
city,  between  the  French  army  and  the  Prussi-ans, 
who  have  refused  to  let  them  pass,  will  expiate 
their  crimes,  having  no  choice  but  to  surrender 
or  die.  The  too  guilty  Delescluze  was  found 
dead ;  Milliere,  not  less  guilty,  was  shot  for  firing 
a  revolver  three  times  at  a  corporal  who  was 
ordered  to  arrest  him.  .  .  .  The  insurrection, 
confined  to  a  space  of  a  few  hundred  metres,  is 
now  definitely  crushed.  Peace  is  established,  but 
it  cannot  drive  from  honest  breasts  the  grief  which 
has  so  deeply  penetrated  them." 

The  last  place  in  the  hands  of  the  insurgents 
was  the  fort  of  Vincennes,  and  the  garrison  sur- 
rendered on  the  morning  of  the  29th  of  May. 
"  The  army  collected  at  Versailles,"  said  an  offi- 
cial summary,  "has  in  six  weeks  vanquished  the 


most  formidable  insurrection  that  France  ever 
witnessed.  The  military  works  amounted  to  more 
than  twenty  miles  of  trenches,  and  eighty  bat- 
teries armed  with  350  guns.  It  had  to  take  five 
forts,  with  formidable  armaments  and  obstinately 
defended,  besides  numerous  earthworks.  The 
enceinte  of  the  city  was  forced,  and  the  army 
advanced  to  the  heart  of  Paris,  in  spite  of  all 
obstacles,  and  after  eight  days'  of  incessant  fight- 
ing the  whole  of  the  fortresses,  redoubts,  and 
barricades  of  the  Commune  fell  into  its  hands. 
It  took  25,000  prisoners,  1500  guns,  and  400,000 
Chassepots.  Street  fighting  is  generally  exces- 
sively murderous  for  the  assailants,  but  all  the 
positions  and  barricades  were  turned,  and  the 
losses  of  the  army  were  comparatively  small." 
The  following  are  the  official  numbers  given:- — - 
Killed,  5  general  and  staff  and  78  other  officers; 
and  wounded,  10  of  the  former  and  420  of  the 
latter.  Privates:  killed,  794;  wounded,  6024; 
missing,  183.  The  casualties  of  the  army  amounted 
then,  in  all,  to  more  than  7500,  and  the  losses  on 
the  side  of  the  insurgents  must  have  been  three 
or  four  times  as  numerous.  This  statement  is 
from  the  report  of  Marshal  MacMahon,  comman- 
der-in-chief of  the  army. 

The  final  struggle  had  brought  the  cannon  into 
the  heart  of  Paris,  and  taught  the  middle  classes, 
and  especially  the  proprietors  of  houses  and  shop- 
keepers, a  fearful  lesson,  which  it  is  to  be  hoped 
will  not  be  lost  upon  them.  During  the  siege 
they  gave  little  encouragement  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  National  Defence,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, criticized  its  every  act,  as  though  the  position 
were  not  one  of  the  greatest  possible  difficulty, 
with  an  enemy  surrounding  the  city  and  famine 
within.  When  the  Commune  seized  upon  the 
Hotel  de  Ville  and  installed  itself  master  of  Paris 
the  population  scarcely  raised  voice  or  hand  against 
it;  and  when  for  a  time  there  seemed  to  many  a 
chance  of  success  for  the  so-called  Federal  govern- 
ment, the  conduct  of  the  great  mass  was  such  as 
to  give  the  idea  that  such  a  prospect  was  not  dis- 
agreeable. After  a  few  weeks  of  imprisonment, 
when  private  houses  were  searched  for  men  and 
arms,  when  perquisitions  were  made  in  all  direc- 
tions, when  goods  were  demanded  and  paid  for 
with  worthless  scraps  of  paper,  then  they  found 
out,  too  late  as  usual,  the  mistake  they  had  made; 
and  when  the  cannon  and  mitrailleuses  began  to 
roar    and    hiss   in  the   fine  new  boulevards,  the 


376 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


punishment  fell  directly  upon  their  unthinking, 
irresolute  heads.  The  Versailles  gunners  did  not 
intentionally  fire  upon  the  houses,  but  barricades 
had  to  be  demolished  and  streets  cleared  of  the 
enemy;  and  when  the  shells  and  bullets  were  once 
let  loose  many  of  them  took  vagrant  directions, 
and  much  destruction  and  suffering  were  the  con- 
sequence. 

Even  now  the  marks  are  not  obliterated;  the 
front  of  the  church  of  the  Madeleine,  although 
not  materially  injured,  is  one  mass  of  blotches 
and  spots,  which  mark  the  ravages  by  shot 
and  shell;  in  the  Eue  Eoyale,  which  extends 
from  the  church  to  the  Champs  Elysees,  several 
large  houses  were  utterly  destroyed,  and  the  gaps 
are  only  now  being  gradually  filled  up.  On  the 
boulevards,  especially  near  the  new  Grand  Opera, 
hundreds  of  houses  were  struck  by  shell,  and 
dozens  of  huge  plate-glass  windows,  for  some 
time  after  patched  all  over  with  paper,  showed  how 
freely  the  bullets  flew  about  in  that  neighbour- 
hood. Nor  was  the  destruction  of  property  the 
worst  that  occurred ;  in  some  of  the  streets  strewed 
with  corpses,  the  gutters  actually  ran  blood. 
Death  entered  the  houses  in  its  most  fearful 
aspect;  a  poor  woman  was  sitting  at  the  counter 
in  her  own  shop,  near  the  Porte  Maillot,  when  a 
shell  entered  and  severed  her  head  from  her  body; 
an  English  publican  was  putting  up  his  shutters 
in  the  Champs  Elysees,  when  a  soldier  deliber- 
ately took  aim  at  the  man,  whose  little  boy  gave 
him  warning  when  too  late ;  he  fell  a  corpse  at  his 
own  door.  These  are  but  instances  from  hundreds 
of  similar  cases.  There  was  scarcely  a  house  or  a 
shop  in  any  part  of  Paris  in  which,  at  one  moment 
or  other,  life  was  not  in  danger.  Cases  of  extra- 
ordinary escapes  were  numerous.  In  one  case  the 
dame  de  comptoir  of  a  cafi  not  far  from  the  Arc  de 
Triomphe  had  just  quitted  her  seat  at  the  marble 
table,  where  she  superintended  the  service  and  took 
money,  when  a  huge  shell  pierced  the  wall  behind 
her  chair  and  went  crushing  into  the  marble  slab 
of  the  counter;  in  a  private  house  in  one  of  the 
new  boulevards  another  shell  entered  through  the 
front  wall,  passed  across  the  first  room,  through  a 
second  wall,  reducing  the  whole  contents  of  a 
bookcase  nearly  to  powder,  and  without  exploding, 
half  buried  itself  in  the  seat  of  an  arm  chair  which 
the  lady  of  the  house  occupied  almost  constantly. 
This  will  give  some  slight  idea  of  the  state  of  Paris 
during  the  last  days  of  the  Commune. 


In  the  consternation  which  came  over  all  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  fires,  the  exaggeration  of  the  mis- 
chief was  naturally  great.  It  was  supposed  that 
the  Louvre,  with  all  its  contents,  was  lost ;  this 
was  happily  not  the  case.  The  galleries  of  the 
Louvre,  the  beautiful  water-side  front  built  by 
Henri  III.,  the  old  and  the  new  squares,  and 
even  that  part  of  the  great  gallery  recently  rebuilt, 
which  connects  the  Louvre  on  that  side  with  the 
Tuileries,  are  completely  untouched ;  the  only  por- 
tion of  the  Louvre  collections  destroyed  was  the 
library,  which  contained  some  very  rare  manu- 
scripts and  books,  and  a  valuable  general  collec- 
tion of  works  relating  to  art  (about  90,000  in 
number),  the  large  majority  of  which  may  be 
replaced.  The  ruin  of  the  Tuileries  was,  how- 
ever, almost  total ;  the  old  central  portion,  built 
by  Catherine  de'  Medicis,  with  the  wings  and  one 
of  the  corner  pavilions,  which  completed  the  front 
towards  the  Champs  Elysees,  were  utterly  destroyed, 
the  roofs  and  floors  annihilated,  and  the  bare  walls 
calcined,  and  ready  to  crumble  at  the  first  shock. 
Never  was  devastation  more  complete.  The 
pavilion  at  the  corner  by  the  river,  which  had 
lately  been  rebuilt,  was  scarcely  injured.  The  side 
of  the  palace  in  the  Rue  Rivoli  was  in  almost  as 
bad  a  state  as  the  front,  the  walls  alone  standing. 

The  injury  done  to  the  Palais  Royal  was  far  less 
than  was  at  first  supposed.  This  famous  building, 
originally  the  palace  of  Cardinal  Richelieu,  after- 
wards the  scene  of  the  fearful  orgies  of  the  Regency 
and  of  the  wild  financial  schemes  of  John  Law, 
was  composed  of  a  palace,  the  front,  and  a  square 
of  houses  in  the  rear,  with  a  garden  in  the 
midst;  the  restaurants,  jewellers'  and  other  shops 
of  the  Palais  Royal  are  known  to  all  who  have 
visited  Paris.  The  palace  alone  was  burnt, 
and  principally  that  portion  of  it  which  was 
occupied  by  Prince  Napoleon,  who,  seeming  to 
have  had  a  pretty  clear  presentiment  of  what  was 
to  happen,  had  removed  his  pictures  and  other 
valuables;  he  had,  in  fact,  disposed  of  a  portion 
of  them  by  public  auction  some  time  previously. 

The  other  public  buildings  destroyed  in  this 
portion  of  the  city  were  the  immense  range  of 
offices  which  belonged  to  the  ministry  of  Finance, 
the  front  of  which  is  in  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  and 
one  side  in  the  Rue  Castellane.  It  was  one  of  the 
largest  public  offices  in  Paris.  Nothing  remained 
of  it  but  the  walls,  and  not  all  of  them.  A  larger 
and  more  stately  building  was,  however,  destroyed 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


377 


on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  This  was  gene- 
rally known  as  the  Palais  d'Orsay,  being  on  the 
quay  of  that  name.  This  building  was  the  result 
of  one  of  the  whims  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon.  It 
was  constructed  for  the  residence  of  all  the  foreign 
ambassadors  in  Paris,  who  the  emperor  was  vain 
enough  to  suppose  would  live,  as  it  were,  in  a  kind 
of  diplomatic  barrack  at  his  invitation.  In  the 
time  of  Louis  Philippe  the  building  was  used  for 
industrial  exhibitions.  Lately  it  was  tenanted  by 
the  Council  of  State  and  the  Cour  des  Comptes, 
or  Board  of  Audit.  Near  this  is  a  pretty  little 
classic  building,  the  -  Palace  of  the  Legion  of 
Honour,  with  a  semicircular  Corinthian  front; 
this  was  only  partially  burnt. 

The  Prefecture  of  Police,  which  was  burnt,  was  a 
handsome  new  building  at  the  back  of  the  Palais 
de  Justice:  the  latter  was  but  little  injured.  Imme- 
diately adjoining  these  buildings  is  one  of  the  most 
elegant  and  curious  edifices  in  France,  the  Sainte 
Chapelle,  erected  by  Saint  Louis  to  contain  a  mass 
of  relics  brought  from  Jerusalem.  One  or  two 
shells  would  have  reduced  this  architectural  gem 
to  a  heap  of  ruins:  but  fortunately  it  escaped 
both  bombardment  and  fire.  The  famous  Gobelins 
manufactory,  with  its  historic  collection  of  tapestry, 
one  of  the  great  sights  of  Paris,  was,  however, 
completely  destroyed. 

But  the  crowning  misfortune  of  all  was  the 
destruction  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  This  was  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  examples  of  French  Eenais- 
sance,  and  its  historical  reputation  was  even  greater 
than  its  architectural  beauty.  From  the  time  of 
the  bold  Henri  Quatre  it  had  been  the  scene  of 
the  most  stirring  incidents  in  French  history;  and 
lastly,  it  was  the  theatre  of  the  civic  festivities  on 
every  joyful  occasion.  A  few  statues  and  busts, 
a  few  battered  pieces  of  plate,  and  a  few  mural 
paintings,  were  all  that  remained  of  this  noble  old 
edifice.  Opposite  to  it  was  a  very  large  auxiliary 
building,  in  which  were  other  offices  belonging  to 
the  city;  this  also  was  a  complete  ruin,  together 
with  a  mass  of  houses  around  it. 

The  churches  fared  better.  An  attempt  to 
burn  Notre  Dame  was  frustrated  by  the  Ver- 
sailles soldiery,  who  entered  just  in  time  to  save 
this  fine  structure.  The  chairs,  benches,  and 
wood  work  had  all  been  heaped  around  the 
high  altar,  and  fire  actually  applied;  but  in  this 
case  the  design  of  the  destroyers  was  frustrated. 
Several  other  fine  churches  were  injured  by  shot 
vol.  n. 


and  shell,  but  none  of  them  were  destroyed. 
Two  theatres,  the  Porte  Saint  Martin  and  the 
Theatre  Lyrique,  were  completely  burnt,  and 
some  damage  was  done  to  two  others.  As  to 
private  buildings,  the  number  destroyed  was  enor- 
mous. Some  streets  in  the  very  heart  of  the  town 
had  huge  gaps,  which  are  now  being  filled  up 
slowly ;  but  in  the  distant  quarters,  where  the 
shells  from  the  Versailles  batteries  took  most 
effect,  and  in  those  parts  where  the  Communists 
made  their  last  stand,  the  havoc  was  fearful.  When 
forced  to  quit  a  position  they  generally  tried  to 
fire  the  houses,  and  in  too  many  cases  they  suc- 
ceeded. Much  has  been  said  about  the  use  of 
petroleum,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  used 
in  the  case  of  the  Tuileries  and  other  large  build- 
ings. The  smoke  was  of  a  most  peculiarly  suffo- 
cating description,  and  the  burnt  stone  of  the 
walls  is  of  a  red  colour;  but  the  stories  relative  to 
the  women  called  pitroleuses,  who  were  said  to  be 
employed  by  the  Commune  to  throw  the  villainous 
stuff  into  the  cellars  of  private  houses,  with  lucifers 
or  lighted  rags,  were  probably  pure  invention — 
the  French  press  being,  unfortunately,  far  more 
celebrated  for  originality  than  accuracy.  This 
petroleum  pouring  has  not,  we  believe,  been  proved 
in  any  one  case,  and  therefore  it  is  but  just  to  give 
the  Commune  the  benefit  of  the  doubt  that  hangs 
around  the  subject.  The  destruction  of  the  public 
buildings  was  bad  enough,  but  a  systematic  and 
general  plan  of  destroying  the  whole  city  is  too 
fiendish  to  be  attributed  to  any  one  without  far 
clearer  evidence  than  we  have  in  this  case.  Several 
women  have  been  condemned  to  death,  (though 
none  executed),  three  of  them  for  having  used 
petroleum ;  but  there  was  nothing  in  the  evidence 
as  printed  to  bear  out  the  accusation. 

A  very  prompt  offer  of  assistance  in  extinguish- 
ing the  fires  was  received  from  the  chief  officer  of 
the  London  Fire  Brigade.  A  force  of  100  men 
and  12  engines — towards  the  expense  of  which 
the  British  government  voted  £1000 — was  on  the 
point  of  starting  from  Dover,  when  a  telegram  was 
received  from  Jules  Favre,  thanking  the  brigade, 
but  stating  that,  owing  to  the  exertions  of  the  Paris 
pompiers,. further  help  was  not  urgently  needed. 

During  the  previous  twenty  years  the  demolitions 
and  constructions  in  Paris  had  formed  a  new  won- 
der of  the  world — street  after  street  and  boulevard 
after  boulevard  of  palaces  had  sprung  up.  Vari- 
ous were  the  views  expressed  concerning  the 
3b 


378 


PARIS,  BEFOEE,  DURING, 


policy  of  many  of  the  changes  made;  but  all 
expressed  their  astonishment  at  the  amount  of 
work  done  and  the  grandeur  of  some  of  the  edi- 
fices; yet  in  three  days  more  public  buildings 
were  destroyed  by  the  Commune,  and  through  its 
acts,  than  all  those  twenty  years  produced.  So 
much  more  easy  is  it  to  destroy  than  to  build  up ! 
As  all  the  so-called  glories  of  the  empire  ended 
in  the  loss  of  provinces  wrested  200  years  before 
from  a  neighbour,  so  the  epoch  of  what  was 
called  the  "  rebuilding  of  Paris "  closed  with 
the  destruction  of  the  Tuileries  and  the  Hotel  de 
Ville,  its  two  most  famous  palaces  and  most  re- 
nowned monuments. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  fortunate  accident 
by  which  the  Sainte  Chapelle  escaped  destruction. 
We  may  here  mention  another  which  is  equally 
remarkable,  although  the  building  is  far  less  im- 
portant. Visitors  to  Paris  will  not  have  forgotten 
the  expiatory  chapel  of  St.  Ferdinand,  erected 
by  order  of  Louis  Philippe  to  the  memory  of  his 
eldest  son,  the  duke  of  Orleans,  who  was  killed  by 
a  carriage  accident.  When  the  Germans  drew 
their  iron  belt  around  Paris,  the  houses  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  and  outside  the  fortifications 
were  demolished  by  thousands,  lest  they  should 
afford  cover  for  the  enemy.  It  was  proposed  to 
take  down  the  little  chapel  and  mark  the  stones, 
so  that  it  could  be  readily  reconstructed.  Other 
and  more  pressing  matters  caused  this  project  to 
be  set  aside,  and  the  chapel  stood  alone  in  a  plain 
strewed  with  ruins.  Towards  the  close  of  the 
Commune  it  was  ordered  to  be  destroyed,  but  it 
still  stands,  apparently  untouched;  and  near  it 
is  a  tree,  the  only  one  left  amidst  the  desolation. 
This  is  a  cypress  which  marks  the  spot  where 
the  prince  met  his  death.  In  a  country  where 
fatalism  is  entertained  by  many  minds,  it  would 
not  be  surprising  were  the  Orleanists  to  look 
upon  this  lonely  chapel  and  tree  as  omens  of  the 
future  fortunes  of  the  family. 

The  Commune  was  no  more.  It  was  estimated 
that  more  that  40,000  had  been  killed  (of  whom 
about  10,000  fell  in  Paris,  after  the  Versailles 
troops  had  made  their  way  into  the  city),  and 
about  35,000  were  made  prisoners.  The  total 
number  of  insurgents  in  arms  had  been  reckoned 
at  about  165,000;  but  it  is  very  questionable  if 
so  many  actually  took  part  in  the  conflict:  but 
supposing  the  total  to  have  been  smaller,  the 
carnage    was    almost,    if    not    absolutely,    unpre- 


cedented. Dombrowski,  Delescluze,  Gambon,  and 
some  other  leaders,  fell  the  heroes  of  a  hopeless 
cause;  but  the  great  mass  of  them  took  to  flight, 
or  lay  in  hiding,  hoping  to  escape  the  doom 
that  hung  over  them.  For  those  in  power  two 
balloons  were  provided,  and  although  it  was  never 
known  who  went  away  in  them,  or  where  they 
fell,  it  is  believed  that  they  escaped  capture. 
Eossel  was  discovered  in  the  disguise  of  a  railway 
engineer;  Okolowitch  was  found  in  an  ambulance, 
and  shot  in  the  Pare  Monceaux;  Pilotell,  Napias 
Piquet,  Brunei,  Milliere,  and  some  others,  met 
with  summary  execution  by  the  troops.  Piquet 
was  shot  in  the  presence  of  his  daughter.  Milliere, 
it  is  said,  had  the  day  before  his  death  caused 
thirty  refractory  Communists  to  be  shot.  The 
fate  of  many  is  unknown,  and  will  probably  never 
be  discovered.* 

While  some  of  the  leaders — who,  when  real 
danger  came  had  proved  arrant  cowards,  and 
thought  of  nothing  but  their  own  safety — were 
doubtless  laughing  at  their  cleverness  and  luck, 
their  poor  deluded  victims  were  being  slaughtered 
in  the  streets  of  Paris,  or  driven  like  wild  beasts 
into  the  prisons  of  Versailles ;  men,  many  of 
them  probably  innocent,  were  dragged  out  of 
shops  and  houses  and  shot  like  dogs.  Several 
hundreds,  it  is  declared  on  good  authority,  who 
had  sought  refuge  in  the  church  of  the  Madeleine, 
were  bayoneted  in  sight  of  the  altar.  Not  one 
came  out  alive  !  Men  and  women  accused  of  pour- 
ing petroleum  on  the  floors  of  public  buildings, 
and  of  throwing  petroleum  bombs,  were  dragged 
into  the  streets  and  shot ;  or  in  some  cases  battered 
to  death  with  the  butt  ends  of  guns.  Human 
beings  seemed  to  be  turned  to  fiends,  taking  plea- 
sure in  denouncing  each  other.  No  one  was  safe, 
and  it  is  dreadful  to  think  how  many  innocent 
lives  were  thus  sacrificed. 

The  stream  of  prisoners  on  the  road  to  Ver- 
sailles was  continuous;  men,  women,  and  children 
driven  by  the  swords  of  the  cavalry  or  the  bayonets 
of  the  infantry.  A  party  of  1500  deserters  from 
the  army,  about  whose  fate  there  could  be  no 
question,  were  greeted  by  the  mob  with  fiendish 
derision.  If  a  man  stumbled  or  fell  out  of  the 
ranks  a  bullet  was  the  only  argument.  A  woman 
tried  to  slip  out  of  the  ranks,  when  an  officer 
drew  his  sword  and  inflicted  a  deep  wound  on  her 

*  The  Prince  de  Bagratian,  a  RussiaD,  a  Federal  commandant,  was 
executed  at  Vincennes. 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


379 


face  and  shoulder.  At  Satory,  the  camp  near 
Versailles,  the  executions  were  incessant;  the 
number  was  so  great  that  after  a  day  or  two  they 
attracted  no  attention.  The  name  of  Dereure, 
a  leading  member  of  the  Commune,  was  one  of 
the  very  few  that  transpired.  The  condition  of 
the  prisoners  was  frightful;  the  numbers  were 
so  great  that  the  government  scarcely  knew  what 
to  do  with  them,  half  starved,  many  of  them 
wounded,  all  worn  out  with  fatigue.  Men  and 
women  were  huddled  together  like  cattle  in  pens, 
with  nothing  but  a  little  filthy  straw,  and  at  first 
not  even  that,  to  lie  upon;  and  nothing  but  hunches 
of  bread  to  sustain  them.  And  hundreds  of  these 
were  dismissed  as  soon  as  the  first  examination 
took  place,  as  having  been  arrested  by  mistake ! 

The  number  of  prisoners  was  at  first  far  larger 
than  that  of  their  guards,  and  fears  were  enter- 
tained of  an  insurrection;  so  large  numbers  of 
the  former  were  drafted  off  to  Cherbourg,  Brest, 
and  Toulon,  where  the  hulks  are  still  crowded. 
The  number  of  deaths  was  naturally  large;  the 
two  principal  causes  being  the  effects  of  previous 
intoxication  and  want  of  proper  food. 

As  in  the  first  revolution,  the  women  played 
a  hideous  part  in  the  insurrection;  their  leader 
was  said  to  be  a  Russian,  Olga  Demitrieff,  who, 
with  a  central  committee,  was  installed  at  the 
mairie  of  the  tenth  arrondissement.  Natalie  Duval, 
of  whom  we  shall  have  to  speak  presently,  was 
one  of  the  most  active  of  the  lieutenants.  These 
women  were  enrolled  in  what  was  called  a 
mystical  warlike  association;  and  on  the  23rd  of 
May  fifty  of  them  went  to  defend  barricades  which 
they  themselves  had  erected  in  various  parts. 
Several  of  these  viragoes  were  killed  and  many 
more  taken.  It  appears  that  they  were  exercised 
in  the  use  of  arms  every  day  in  the  court  yard  of 
the  mairie.  It  is  said  that  there  were  originally 
in  all  400  of  these  Amazons,  most  of  whom  were 
employed  in  hunting  up  and  denouncing  national 
guards  in  hiding  to  the  prefects  of  police,  a  work 
which  they  performed  with  fiendish  pleasure. 

Amongst  the  women  arrested  were  the  sister 
of  Delescluze,  described  as  a  most  dangerous 
woman;  Madame  Colleuil,  a  hideous  virago,  who 
made  herself  conspicuous  by  her  insane  violence 
at  certain  clubs;  Madame  Jaclard  and  Madame 
Andre1  Leo,  of  the  same  class. 

A  pamphlet,  published  concerning  the  doings 
of    General   Eudes,    a   druggist's    assistant    who 


reigned  for  a  time  at  the  Palace  of  the  Legion 
of  Honour,  brings  a  number  of  women  forward. 
Eudes'  wife,  aged  twenty-three,  is  accused  of  hav- 
ing carried  off  a  number  of  clocks  and  a  large 
quantity  of  linen.  She  had  a  carriage  at  her  dis- 
posal, and  constantly  took  away  linen  and  other 
articles.  The  wife  of  Captain  Hugo,  an  old  soldier, 
is  also  accused  of  helping  herself  in  like  manner. 
Captain  Megy,  long  notorious,  was  one  of  Eudes' 
companions  here.  On  the  22nd  of  May  he  caused 
a  concierge  to  be  assassinated,  broke  the  mirrors 
with  his  revolver,  and  ordered  the  building  to  be 
set  on  fire,  which  was  done.  Colonel  Collet  and 
his  wife  were  of  the  same  party.  He  acted  as 
judge  of  the  court-martial,  having  formerly  been 
a  huckster.  This  fellow  gloried  in  his  crimes. 
He  boasted  of  having  had  two  gendarmes  and  a 
gardien  shot  in  a  convent  at  Vaugirard,  having 
had  them  stripped  naked  first.  He  brought  the 
horses  of  the  gendarmes  to  the  palace  for  his 
own  use.  Madame  Collet  acted  as  second  in 
command  of  the  household  to  Madame  Eudes, 
had  charge  of  the  stables  and  of  the  kitchen,  and 
rode  out  in  her  carriage  every  morning  and  even- 
ing. This  precious  family  sent  all  the  silver  in 
the  palace  to  the  mint  to  be  melted,  while  the 
crosses  and  medals  they  wore  in  derision.  There 
were  eighteen  horses  in  the  stables.  The  horses 
were  named  Thiers,  Favre,  Trochu,  and  so  on; 
and  over  each  stall  there  was  a  placard  bearing 
the  name  of  the  horse  and  of  his  master.  All  the 
pictures,  porcelain,  and  glass  were  destroyed. 

Much  has  been  said  about  the  time  allowed  to 
elapse  before  the  prisoners  were  brought  to  trial; 
but  it  is  forgotten,  in  the  first  place,  that  this 
is  quite  the  rule  in  France,  where  six  or  more 
weeks  often  elapse  before  a  prisoner  is  brought 
before  any  tribunal,  being  interrogated  in  secret 
by  a  juge  d'instruction — a  custom  which  is  the 
great  blot  in  French  jurisdiction ;  and  in  the 
second  place,  it  is  forgotten  that  the  government 
had  to  deal  with  an  unexpected  mass  of  prisoners, 
while  the  duty  of  magistrates  had  to  be  performed 
by  soldiers,  who  were  new  to  the  work.  It  was 
not  till  the  7th  of  August  that  the  first  trials 
commenced,  under  the  presidency  of  Colonel  Mer- 
lin, an  engineer  officer.  The  first  list  included 
Ferre,  a  clerk;  Assi,  working  engineer;  Urbain 
and  Verdure,  schoolmasters;  Billioray  and  Cour- 
bet,  artists;  Bastoul,  doctor,  and  Jourde,  medical 
student;    Trinquet,   shoemaker;   Champy,   cutler; 


380 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


R^gere,  veterinary  surgeon;  Grousset  and  Lis- 
bonne,  writers;  Lullier,  formerly  a  naval  officer; 
Clement,  dyer;  Parent,  designer;  and  Deschamp, 
bronze  worker.  Of  these  Ferre,  Assi,  and  Urbain 
were  the  most  notorious. 

Ferre,  as  the  coadjutor  of  the  infamous  Raoul 
Rigault,  was  the  instrument  of  the  assassination 
of  the  archbishop  and  his  unfortunate  fellow- 
prisoners  at  La  Roquette.  He  was  a  known  man 
in  1868.  At  the  funeral  of  Baudin  he  had  tried 
to  bring  about  an  entente  by  an  address  which 
commenced  with  the  following  expressions: — 
"  Vive  la  Re'publique!  The  convention  at  the 
Tuileries !  The  goddess  of  reason  at  Notre  Dame !" 
At  the  clubs  he  invariably  called  for  the  resus- 
citation of  the  revolution  of  1793.  He  was 
included  in  the  charges  tried  at  Blois  in  con- 
nection with  the  death  of  Victor  Noir  at  the 
hand  of  Pierre  Bonaparte,  but  was  acquitted, 
and  he  insulted  the  president  in  the  grossest 
manner.  On  the  present  occasion  he  refused 
to  answer  any  questions,  or  to  have  an  advo- 
cate to  defend  him.  He  was  accused  of  hav- 
ing caused  the  assassination  of  the  two  generals 
at  Montmartre.  As  delegate  of  police  he  sup- 
pressed newspapers  at  his  will.  He  was  accused 
of  superintending  the  execution  of  numbers  of 
prisoners,  and  even  of  having  himself  fired  the 
first  shot  from  a  revolver.  A  female  witness 
declared  that  she  heard  him  address  his  men  in 
the  following  terms: — "  All  the  sergents  de  ville, 
all  the  gendarmes,  all  the  Bonapartist  agents, 
will  be  shot  immediately;"  and  we  know  that  the 
threat  was  partially  carried  out.  He  seems  to  have 
been  one  of  the  principal  instigators  of  the  burn- 
ing of  the  public  buildings,  and  orders  to  that 
effect  in  his  handwriting  were  produced.  One 
of  these  related  to  the  offices  of  the  ministry  of 
Finance.  It  was  at  the  capture  of  six  men  of 
the  Communist  battalions  that  Ferre  appeared 
at  La  Roquette  and  said:  ''Citizens,  you  know 
how  many  of  ours  have  been  taken.  They  have 
taken  six.  We  have  six  to  execute."  And  the 
archbishop  of  Paris,  two  abbes,  two  monks,  and 
the  Judge  Bonjean  were  shot !  This  act  was  fol- 
lowed by  other  assassinations,  especially  those  of 
the  gendarmes,  already  alluded  to  in  the  letter 
of  the  cure  of  the  Madeleine.  Ferre  denied  none 
of  the  charges  against  him,  and  declared  that 
the  execution  of  the  hostages  and  the  burning 
of  the  public  buildings  were  perfectly  legitimate 


acts.  He  concluded  a  violent  and  characteristic 
address  as  follows : — "  I  was  a  member  of  the 
Commune  of  Paris,  and  I  am  now  in  the  hands 
of  my  conquerors.  They  demand  my  head;  let 
them  take  it.  Free  I  have  lived,  and  free  I  will 
die.  I  add  but  one  word.  Fortune  is  capricious. 
I  confide  to  the  future  my  memory  and  my  ven- 
geance." Ferre  and  Rigault  were  rather  wild 
beasts  than  men.  The  latter  met  his  death  in 
the  last  struggle;  the  former  was  condemned  and 
shot  at  Satory,  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  his 
fate  created  little  sympathy.  If,  however,  the 
conduct  of  Ferre'  had  alienated  almost  all  feeling 
from  him,  who  can  read  without  a  pang  the  fol- 
lowing painful  letter  written  by  one  of  his  brothers 
or  sisters  to  the  president  of  the  court: — 

"  Sir, — My  father,  Laurent  Ferre,  is  at  present 
a  prisoner  in  the  citadel  of  Fouras;  my  brother, 
Theophile  Ferre\  is  lying  under  sentence  of  death 
at  the  prison  of  Versailles;  my  mother,  driven 
out  of  her  mind  by  the  efforts  of  the  police  to 
wring  from  her  the  address  of  my  other  brothers, 
now  in  exile,  died  a  lunatic  at  the  Hopital  Ste. 
Anne  on  the  14th  of  July  last;  I  myself  was 
arrested  and  kept  a  prisoner  for  eight  days.  A 
fresh  misfortune  has  overtaken  me.  My  second 
brother,  Hippolyte,  was  transported  on  Thursday 
to  the  military  hospital  at  Versailles  suffering  from 
brain  fever,  caused  by  cellular  confinement  for 
three  months  at  Mazas,  and  afterwards  at  Ver- 
sailles. My  brother  Hippolyte  has  never  been 
tried.  He  is  accused,  but  nothing  more.  I  was 
denied  access  to  the  military  hospital,  but  they 
told  me  my  brother  was  in  a  cell.  I  ask  your 
permission  to  see  my  brother,  and  next  his  release 
on  bail.  He  is  only  twenty-four,  and  had  no  official 
employment  under  the  Commune.  Military  justice 
will  be  only  just  by  not  showing  itself  merciless. 
— I  am,  &c, 

"  A.  FERRE." 

What  a  fearful  picture !  Yet  hundreds  of  families 
must  have  such  sad  stories  to  tell.  One  came 
within  our  own  knowledge:  a  clever  and  respect- 
able watchmaker's  shop  being  closed  after  the  fall 
of  the  Commune,  we  were  told  on  inquiry  that 
the  man  had  been  shot  by  the  troops,  that  his 
three  sons  were  prisoners,  and  that  their  mother 
was  somewhere  in  a  madhouse ! 

Urbain  was  one  of  the  maires  of  Paris  during 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


381 


the  Commune;  and,  with  a  woman  named  Leroy, 
was  accused  of  spending  the  public  money  and 
stealing  jewellery.  He  was  proved,  moreover,  to 
be  one  of  the  most  urgent  advocates  of  violence, 
and  he  completed  his  guilt  by  a  demand,  which 
appeared  in  the  Official  Journal,  for  the  execution 
of  the  archbishop  and  the  other  hostages. 

Assi's  name  is  well  known  as  the  member  of 
the  Internationale  who  was  the  principal  mover  of 
the  strikes  at  Creusot.  After  these  events,  not 
being  able  to  find  employment,  he  set  up  for  him- 
self as  a  maker  of  military  equipments.  During 
the  siege  he  became  lieutenant  in  a  marching  regi- 
ment of  national  guards  ;  and  finally,  he  was  one 
of  the  central  committee  of  the  Commune.  He 
was  afterwards  governor  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
colonel  of  the  national  guard,  and  exhibited  the 
greatest  activity  and  much  talent  in  organization ; 
his  ambition  created  enemies,  and  he  was  arrested, 
and  passed  some  time  in  prison.  He  was  soon, 
however,  released,  and  became  the  director  of  the 
ammunition  manufacture,  in  which  he  showed 
great  ability.  The  petroleum  bombs  are  attributed 
to  his  ingenuity;  but  he  produced  an  immense 
sensation  in  court  when  he  declared  that  these 
were  made  after  a  model  which  had  been  prepared 
to  be  used  by  the  government  against  the  Prussians. 

Jourde,  who  acted  as  Finance  minister,  was 
admitted  to  have  shown  great  ability.  It  appeared 
that  he  had  received  in  all  from  the  Bank  of  France 
more  than  £640,000 ;  the  rest  of  the  treasure,  which 
amounted  to  £120,000,000  sterling,  was  saved  by 
the  energy  of  the  deputy-governor  of  the  bank  and 
the  Communist  Beslay,  of  whom  we  have  already 
spoken.  An  attempt  was  made  to  show  that 
Jourde  helped  himself  largely,  but  it  failed;  and 
the  general  impression  is  that  this  man  was  an 
honest  as  he  certainly  was  a  capable  minister  of 
Finance :  and  yet  he  is  a  mere  youth,  and  looked 
extremely  weak.  He  very  nearly  effected  his  escape 
with  a  false  passport,  but  was  tripped  up  by  a 
clever  agent.  Captain  Ossud,  who  first  examined 
Jourde,  declared  that  he  was  the  most  truthful 
of  all  the  prisoners,  and  that  he  believed  he  had 
spoken  the  whole  truth. 

Lullier,  who  was  formerly  in  the  navy,  but  was 
dismissed  for  striking  his  superior  officer,  and  who 
was  afterwards  involved  in  several  broils,  must  be  set 
down  as  a  madman.  He  belongs  to  a  respectable 
family,  but  with  the  exception  of  Ferre,  was  the 
most  forbidding  and  vulgar-looking  man  amongst 


the  accused.  He  behaved  in  the  most  theatrical 
manner  in  court,  declared  that  he  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  fires  or  the  assassinations,  but  explained 
how,  "  as  a  general,"  he  had  taken  Paris,  but  that 
not  agreeing  with  the  Commune  he  had  planned 
to  make  himself  dictator.  He  admitted  that  he 
had  placed  himself  in  communication  with  Thiers, 
but  that  he  did  not  mean  to  betray  the  Commune; 
only  he  meant  to  be  dictator,  and  in  extremis  to 
negotiate  with  Versailles.  He  spoke  for  an  hour 
and  a  half,  drew  a  bacchanalian  picture  of  the  life 
of  the  Commune  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  "  where 
beautiful  vivandieres  filled  high  in  their  glasses  the 
wine  of  triumph,"  which  another  prisoner  declared 
was  an  infamous  falsehood,  as  they  never  even  got 
a  glass  of  wine  and  water  there.  Like  Ferre, 
Lullier  was  condemned  to  death,  but  the  sentence 
was  afterwards  commuted. 

Clement,  the  dyer,  received  an  excellent  char- 
acter from  his  employer,  to  whom  he  had  been 
foreman  for  years.  He  had  aided  him  greatly 
during  the  siege,  had  bought  wine  for  the  hos- 
pitals out  of  his  own  money,  and  when  elected 
maire  under  the  Commune  he  dined  with  his  for- 
mer employer,  and  said  that  he  feared  the  Com- 
mune were  a  bad  lot,  a  set  of  jacobins,  and  would 
do  no  good;  and  wished  he  were  back  in  his 
wooden  shoes  again.  Several  witnesses  proved 
that  he  had  protected  priests,  nuns,  and  churches 
with  extraordinary  courage,  and  some  priests  spoke 
eloquently  in  his  favour.  When  the  Commune 
was  overthrown  he  deposited  the  balance  of  the 
funds  for  the  poor  in  his  late  master's  hands,  say- 
ing:— "  Heaven  knows  what  will  become  of  me, 
but  I  know  I  can  trust  you  to  place  the  money  in 
the  hands  of  the  proper  authorities."  The  em- 
ployer could  only  account  for  Clement's  joining 
the  Commune  by  supposing  that  his  head  had  been 
turned  by  the  socialist  theories  of  Proudhon.  Sad 
that  such  a  man  should  be  placed  in  a  dock  by  his 
own  imprudence ! 

Urbain  and  Trinquet  were  condemned  to  im- 
prisonment for  life,  with  hard  labour;  Assi  and 
another  to  imprisonment  in  a  fortress ;  Jourde, 
Grousset,  and  five  others,  to  transportation  for 
undefined  periods,  during  pleasure  ;  Clement 
escaped  with  three  months'  imprisonment;  and 
Descamps  and  Parent  were  acquitted.  Courbet 
was  let  off  with  six  months'  imprisonment  and 
a  fine  of  £20.  This  leniency  is  attributable  to 
two  causes;  first,  to  the  fact  that  Courbet  acted 


382 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


as  minister  of  the  Beaux  Arts,  and  did  all  he 
could  to  save  the  art  treasures  of  the  nation ;  and 
secondly,  to  the  daring  defence  of  his  advocate, 
M.  Lachaud,  who,  in  his  own  impassioned  manner, 
raised  his  client  to  the  very  pinnacle  of  greatness  as 
an  artist,  and  called  him  almost  an  idiot  in  politics. 
With  indomitable  visage  he  declared  that  Cour- 
bet's  published  letter,  in  which  he  recommended 
the  taking  to  pieces  of  the  Column  Vendome, 
meant  its  preservation,  and  not  its  destruction ! 

Two  curious  facts  were  brought  out  on  the 
occasion  of  these  trials,  which  will  doubtless  be 
new  to  English  readers;  first,  that  the  costs  are 
fixed  by  law,  and  did  not  exceed  one  pound  for 
each  prisoner;  and  secondly,  that  advocates  receive 
no  fees  in  political  cases.  What  would  British 
judges  and  barristers  say  to  such  regulations ! 

The  prisoner  who  attracted  the  largest  amount 
of  sympathy  was  the  Tin  fortunate  Rossel,  whose 
conduct  and  talents  have  made  him  almost  a 
martyr  in  the  opinion  of  the  world.  Rossel  was 
half  a  Scotchman,  his  mother  being  a  Campbell. 
He  was  a  highly-educated  soldier,  and  had  already 
made  his  name  known  as  a  military  writer  before 
the  war  between  France  and  Germany.  Of  his 
bearing  while  acting  as  War  delegate  under  the 
Commune  we  have  already  spoken ;  of  his  talents, 
his  determination,  his  courtesy,  and  his  dignity  as 
president  of  the  courts-martial,  all  who  came  across 
him  spoke  in  the  highest  praise.  Rossel  was  tried 
twice,  and  in  each  case  condemned  to  death  and 
military  degradation,  the  first  judgment  having 
been  quashed  on  a  point  of  law.  The  second  trial 
took  place  before  a  court  martial,  presided  over 
by  Colonel  Boisdenemetz,  whom  the  French 
reporters  nicknamed  "Lucifer  box;"  and  who 
seemed  determined  to  put  the  worst  construction 
possible  on  all  the  prisoner's  acts.  Rossel's  defence 
was  that  he  only  joined  the  Commune,  in  the  hope 
that  the  Parisians  intended  to  renew  the  struggle 
against  the  Prussians.  It  was  true  that  he  very 
soon  learned  that  the  Commune  had  no  intention 
of  fighting  the  Germans,  but  he  did  not  make  the 
discovery  until  it  was  too  late.  "  How  could  you 
hope,''  asked  the  President,  "  to  defend  Paris  against 
the  Prussians  when  they  held  the  northern  and 
eastern  forts,  and  the  Parisians  had  nothing  to 
defend  them  but  the  dismantled  enceinte  of  the 
city?"  "The  same  enceinte"  replied  Colonel 
Rossel,  "  kept  out  the  army  of  Versailles  for  two 
months  ;    why  should    it  not  have   repulsed    the 


Prussians?"  "  But  you  know  that  the  army  of 
Versailles  did  not  have  recourse  to  radical  meas- 
ures "  (les  grands  may  ens).  Those  among  us  who 
had  remained  in  Paris  during  the  reign  of  the 
Commune,  and  who  had  witnessed  the  daily  storm 
of  shells  in  the  Champs  Elysees,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  tremendous  bombardment  of  Auteuil  and 
Passy,  could  not  help  wondering  what  were  the 
means  which  Colonel  Boisdenemetz  would  have 
had  the  Versailles  army  employ  against  Paris. 
The  president  next  asked  Rossel  how  he  could 
believe  that  it  was  possible  to  carry  on  the  war 
against  Prussia  after  the  fall  of  Paris,  and  he 
called  on  the  prisoner  to  point  out  the  plan  of 
campaign  which  he  would  have  pursued.  Rossel 
answered,  modestly  enough,  that  the  time  had  not 
yet  come  to  judge  of  the  expediency  of  making 
peace  with  the  Germans  last  February,  but  that 
he,  as  a  matter  of  opinion,  still  held  that  French 
resistance  might  have  been  prolonged  after  the 
capitulation  of  Paris. 

The  result  of  the  trial,  as  had  been  foreseen 
from  the  first,  was  a  sentence  of  death;  but  so 
strong  was  the  feeling  in  favour  of  Rossel  that 
few  thought  it  would  be  carried  into  effect.  It 
did  take  place,  however,  on  November  28,  and  was 
certainly  one  of  the  most  unwise  or  unfortunate 
acts,  as  it  greatly  intensified  the  hatred  of  the  exist- 
ing Communists  for  the  government;  but  it  is 
admitted  by  most  people,  that  neither  by  military 
nor  civil  law  could  he  have  been  acquitted  or 
sentenced  differently.  And  M.  Thiers,  we  pre- 
sume, shrunk  from  the  responsibility  of  commut- 
ing a  sentence  which  had  been  confirmed  by  a 
second  trial  and  a  Commission  of  Pardons. 

The  following  extracts  from  the  unhappy  Rossel's 
posthumous  writings  will  have  a  melancholy  in- 
terest, and  should  inculcate  more  than  one  useful 
lesson: — "  There  is  one  point  on  which  I  consider 
the  Commune  as  a  complete  experiment;  that 
is,  the  incompetence  of  the  working  classes  for 
government.  It  is  necessary,  it  is  necessary  that, 
until  things  are  changed,  the  exercise  of  the  func- 
tions of  government  should  remain  in  the  hands 
of  the  instructed  classes ;  or  rather  it  is  necessary 
that  the  government  should  remain  in  the  hands 
of  the  bourgeoisie,  until  the  working  classes  are 
possessed  of  sufficient  instruction.  Let  the  people 
then  acquire  instruction,  if  they  wish  to  have  their 
legitimate  share  in  the  conduct  of  business  and 
the  distribution  of  fortunes.     But,  for  the  present, 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


383 


I  will  speak  the  word  without  mincing  it — the 
people  are  too  stupid  to  govern  us.  They  have 
not  sufficient  sound  ideas,  and  they  have  too  many 
false  ideas." 

"  The  greater  part  of  my  time,  when  I  was  chief 
of  Cluseret's  staff,  was  certainly  taken  up  by 
importunate  and  useless  individuals,  delegates  of 
every  origin,  inquirers  after  information,  inven- 
tors, and  above  all  officers  and  guards,  who  left 
their  posts  to  come  and  complain  of  their  chiefs, 
or  their  weapons,  or  of  the  want  of  provisions  and 
ammunition.  There  were  also  almost  everywhere 
independent  chiefs,  who  did  not  accept,  or  did  not 
carry  out,  orders.  Each  district  had  a  committee 
as  useless,  as  quarrelsome,  and  as  jealous  as  that 
of  the  17th.  The  artillery  was  sequestered  by  an 
analogous  committee,  also  dependent  upon  the 
federation,  and  who  formed  a  rare  collection  of 
incapables.  Every  monument,  every  barrack, 
every  guard-house,  had  a  military  commandant ; 
that  military  commandant  had  his  staff,  and  often 
his  permanent  guard.  All  those  spontaneous 
productions  of  the  revolution  had  no  other  title  or 
rule  than  that  of  their  own  pleasure,  the  right  of 
the  first  comer,  and  the  pretension  to  retain  the 
place  without  doing  anything.  You  might  see 
doctors  promenading  with  a  general's  gold  lace 
and  escort ;  barrack  door-keepers  equipped  like 
superior  officers;  and  all  those  fellows  had  horses, 
rations,  and  money." 

"  There  were  in  Paris,  on  the  18th  of  March, 
[this  is  an  account  for  the  accuracy  of  which  I  can 
vouch]  sixty  revolutionary  battalions.  The  re- 
mainder were  divided,  and  incapable  of  escorting  a 
decisive  action.  The  ninety  conservative  battalions 
were  of  older  standing,  better  equipped,  and  better 
armed  than  the  revolutionists  ;  they  were  equally 
numerous,  better  commanded,  and  better  discip- 
lined. But  those  unworthy  citizens  are  accus- 
tomed to  trust  entirely  to  the  army  and  to  the 
police,  whose  duty  it  is  to  get  killed  for  the  cause 
ot  order.  But  there  are  moments  when  the  police 
is  worn  out,  and  when  the  army  does  not  clearly 
understand  on  which  side  its  duty  lies,  or  whether 
it  be  not  its  duty  to  remain  quiet.  At  those 
moments  the  streets  of  Paris  are  at  the  mercy  of 
the  first  comer." 

The  trial  of  Henri  Rochefort  (Count  Henri  de 
Rochefort  de  Sercay  is  his  full  title)  excited  great 
interest;  but  he  was  ill,  broken  down,  and  said  not 
a  word  in  his  own  defence,  so  that  the  curiosity  of 


the  public  was  disappointed.  The  original  charge 
made  against  him,  of  complicity  in  the  assassina- 
tion of  the  hostages,  could  not  be  supported,  and 
was  withdrawn ;  and  it  was  clearly  shown  that  he 
had  protested  against  the  execution  of  prisoners 
and  incendiarism,  in  his  paper,  when  it  was  very 
dangerous  to  do  so.  His  attacks  against  the  exist- 
ing  government  were,  however,  violent  in  the 
extreme ;  and  the  judge  advocate  said  it  was 
necessary  to  enforce  the  utmost  rigour  of  the  law 
against  Rochefort  and  his  satellites,  whom  he  desig- 
nated as  a  pestilential  race  of  young  journalists, 
who  made  a  trade  of  sedition.  Rochefort  was 
defended  with  great  talent  by  the  same  advocate, 
M.  Albert  Joly,  whose  reputation  was  made  by 
this  and  Rossel's  trials ;  but  the  court  had  fully 
made  up  its  mind,  and  sentenced  the  prisoner  to 
transportation  to  a  fortress.  It  should  be  remem- 
bered that  Rochefort,  violent  as  his  writings  were, 
was  not  a  member  of  the  Commune,  and  was  not 
even  charged  with  any  overt  act  of  sedition. 

The  trial  of  the  petroleuses  was  looked  forward 
to  as  promising  great  excitement;  but  it  only  pro- 
duced disgust  in  some  minds  and  disappointment 
in  others.  The  prisoners  were  five  very  common- 
looking  women,  who  had  been  vivandiires.  Not  a 
single  case  of  the  use  of  petroleum  could  be  proved 
against  them,  and  these  miserable  women  were 
condemned  to  death  for  taking  part  in  the  Com- 
munal army,  and  "  attempting  to  change  the  form 
of  government."  The  sentence  created  a  positive 
feeling  of  shame  in  the  minds  of  honest  French- 
men ;  but  happily  it  was  not  carried  into  execution. 

The  trial  of  Madame  Leroy,  a  pretty  young 
woman  of  light  character,  who  had  lived  with 
Urbain,  whose  trial  and  conviction  has  been 
already  mentioned,  caused  some  interest.  She 
had  a  clever  counsel,  and  acted  her  part  with 
much  skill,  escaping  with  a  sentence  of  simple 
transportation. 

The  heroine  of  the  Commune,  however,  was 
Mademoiselle  Louise  Michel,  a  schoolmistress  of 
high  attainments  and  position,  thirty-five  years 
old,  and  very  handsome  ;  who,  when  the  insur- 
rection commenced,  had  sixty  pupils  belonging  to 
good  families  under  her  charge.  She  was  tried 
as  an  accomplice  in  the  acts  of  the  Commune,  as 
having  fought  in  uniform,  and  as  having  written 
articles  in  the  Cri  du  Peuple  inciting  to  the  assas- 
sination of  the  two  generals. 

Her   manner  was  calm,  modest,  and  unassum- 


384 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


ing ;  but  she  defied  her  judges,  saying  that  she 
gloried  in  the  social  revolution  ;  she  respected  the 
court  more  than  the  Committee  of  Pardons,  which 
judged  in  secret.  .  She  stood  face  to  face,  she  said, 
with  avowed  enemies,  who  she  knew  must  con- 
demn her.  She  admitted  that  she  attended  and 
took  part  in  almost  every  council  of  the  Com- 
mune, which  she  declared  was  honest  and  inno- 
cent, and  had  no  thought  of  murder  or  arson. 
She  would  have  shot  the  two  generals,  Clement 
Thomas  and  Lecornte,  with  her  own  hand  had  she 
seen  them  on  the  scene  of  action,  but  she  repudi- 
ated as  a  dastardly  deed  their  execution  when  they 
were  prisoners.  She  had  proposed  fire  as  a  stra- 
tegical means  of  opposing  the  advance  of  the  Ver- 
saillists.  She  had  exhorted  Ferre  to  invade  the 
Assembly,  and  regretted  that  he  had  not  done  so. 
She  meant  two  lives  to  be  sacrificed  at  Versailles, 
that  of  M.   Thiers  and  her  own. 

M.  Marchand,  the  counsel  assigned  to  her, 
declined,  by  express  order  of  the  prisoner,  to  speak 
for  the  defence.  She  said,  "All  I  ask  of  you  is  to 
send  me  to  Satory.  Shoot  me  there,  and  let  me 
sleep  by  the  side  of  my  beloved  Ferre.  The 
public  prosecutor  is  right ;  I  have  no  place  in  this 
world,  at  a  time  when  an  ounce  of  lead  is  the 
portion  of  the  lovers  of  liberty  and  right." 

The  president,  Colonel  Delaporte,  stopped  her 
harangue,  and  after  a  few  minutes'  deliberation 
the  court  sentenced  her  to  transportation  for  life 
in  a  fortress. 

The  trial  of  a  man  who  acted  as  jailor  under  the 
Commune,  with  others  charged  with  the  murder 
of  the  hostages,  did  not  take  place  till  January, 
1872  :  one  prisoner  only  was  condemned  to  death. 

On  the  18th  of  February  commenced  the  trial 
of  the  prisoners  charged  with  the  massacre  of  the 
Dominican  monks  at  Arcueil.  This  act  was 
marked  by  unusual  atrocities  ;  the  unfortunate 
monks  and  some  of  the  attendants  having  been 
tortured  with  such  refined  cruelty  that  the  Father 
Guerny,  a  missionary,  declared  that  no  savages 
had  ever  treated  missionary  martyrs  with  greater 
cruelty  than  the  Commune  had  treated  its  victims. 
The  Dominicans  had  no  fear  from  the  Communists, 
for  they  had  converted  their  house  into  an  hospi- 
tal, and  had  collected  the  wounded  and  dying  even 
on  the  battlefield.  But  the  13th  Communist 
legion  was  commanded  by  a  man  named  Seresier, 
who  been  noted  during  the  siege,  when  he  com- 
manded   the    101st   battalion,  for    his  implacable 


hatred  against  the  clergy,  and  for  having  profaned 
several  churches.  On  the  17th  May  a  fire  broke 
out  near  the  monastery  at  Arcueil,  and  the  monks 
were  accused  of  having  set  fire  to  the  place  by 
order  of  the  Versailles  government;  and  two  days 
later  the  house  of  the  Dominicans  was  surrounded 
by  two  companies  of  the  national  guards,  under 
the  command  of  L.e'o  Meillet,  who  was  then  gover- 
nor of  the  fort  of  Bicetre.  This  man  had  escaped, 
but  his  accomplice  Lucipia,  who  had  given 
Seresier  his  orders,  was  one  of  the  accused.  After 
the  pillage  of  the  house  the  monks  and  their 
servitors,  with  a  few  pupils,  were  transferred  to 
Fort  Bicetre,  and  afterwards  taken  to  the  niairie 
of  the  13th  arrondissement  near  the  Port  d'ltalie, 
which  was  used  as  a  military  prison.  A  Commu- 
nist captain  demanded  that  the  monks  should  be 
given  up  to  them,  and  said  that  they  should  have 
their  turn  at  the  barricades.  The  Dominicans 
refused  to  bear  arms,  declaring  that  their  duty 
was  to  succour  the  wounded  and  dying,  and  not 
to  fight.  "  You  promise  to  take  care  of  the 
wounded,"  cried  the  captain.  "Very  well!  then 
go  away ;  you  are  free,  but  go  out  one  at  a  time." 
The  unfortunate  Dominicans  did  as  they  were 
told,  and  the  men  under  Seresier's  orders  shot 
down  thirteen  of  the  victims.  This  atrocious  deed 
was  committed  at  the  moment  of  the  entrance  of 
the  Versailles  troops  into  Paris,  and  more  lives 
would  have  been  taken,  had  the  insurgents  not 
been  forced  to  fly. 

The  council  of  war  was  presided  over  by 
Colonel  Delaporte,  and  there  were  fourteen  prison- 
ers placed  at  the  bar.  The  first  on  the  list  was 
the  commandant  Seresier,  already  mentioned,  a 
currier  by  trade ;  the  second,  whose  name  was 
Boin,  was  also  a  currier;  the  third,  Lucipia,  a  law 
student  ;  the  others  were  Quesnot,  a  mechanic  ; 
Gironee,  an  architectural  draughtsman  ;  Pascal,  a 
miscellaneous  dealer ;  Annat,  a  bookseller's  assis- 
tant; Bouillac,  a  labourer  ;  Grapin  and  Busquant, 
cobblers;  Gambette,  a  labourer;  Boudaille,  a  cor- 
poral in  the  line;  Buffo,  a  stone  mason,  and  wife. 
Seresier,  the  commander  of  the  corps  who  assassi- 
nated the  Dominicans,  and  Boin,  who  had  been 
appointed  by  the  former  keeper  of  the  prison, 
declared  that  they  had  nothing  whatever  to  do 
with  the  massacre.  The  other  prisoners  declared 
that  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  assassination, 
and  some  laid  the  whole  to  the  account  of  Meillet, 
who   had    escaped,  and    Seresier,   who,    they   de- 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


385 


clared,  was  drunk  and  furious,  threatening  every- 
one around  him  with  his  revolver. 

The  evidence  of  one  of  the  Dominicans,  Father 
Rousselm,  who  had  escaped  the  fate  of  his  brethren, 
created  a  deep  sensation.  He  is  a  fine  energetic 
man,  and  dressed  in  the  long  white  robe  of  the 
order,  presented  a  commanding  appearance.  It 
appeared  that  he  had  exhibited  great  calmness  and 
courage  during  his  imprisonment.  He  recognized 
Seresier  and  several  others  amongst  the  prisoners, 
and  said  that  the  insurgents  behaved  well  until 
the  arrival  of  the  101st  battalion,  when  the  Domi- 
nicans were  accused  of  showing  lights  and  ringing 
bells  as  signals  to  the  Versailles  troops.  Meillet 
took  possession  of  the  college.  Seresier  was  also 
there,  and  said  to  the  witness,  "As  to  me,  I  be- 
lieve in  neither  God  nor  devil ;  not  even  in  con- 
fession." When  taken  to  Bicetre,  the  situation  of 
the  monks  was  described  as  horrible.  There  was 
a  crowd  of  the  lowest  rabble,  who  insulted  the 
prisoners  in  the  grossest  manner,  and  stripped 
them  of  everything  of  any  value,  as  well  as  of  all 
their  clothing.  The  witness  then  described  the 
manner  in  which  the  monks  were  told  to  leave 
one  by  one,  and  how  they  were  shot  down  amid  the 
grossest  insults;  the  witness,  who  had  been  sepa- 
rated from  the  rest  by  accident,  making  his  escape. 
A  day  or  so  later  he  saw  the  remains  of  his  unfor- 
tunate brethren,  and  declared  that  the  corpses 
were  horribly  mutilated.  Another  monk,  who 
also  had  the  good  fortune  to  escape,  gave  similar 
evidence,  and  declared  that  he  and  another  man 
were  found  by  Seresier  in  a  cellar,  and  were  actually 
about  to  be  executed,  the  pieces  being  pointed 
towards  them,  when  they  were  saved  by  the 
arrival  of  the  Versailles  troops. 

One  of  the  most  disgusting  features  of  this  and 
other  acts  of  the  Commune  was  that  to  which  all 
the  witnesses  deposed;  namely,  that  the  women 
were  the  most  violent,  and  constantly  urged  the 
men  to  greater  atrocities,  and  heaped  the  grossest 
insults  upon  the  prisoners. 

Seresier,  Boin,  Lucipia,  Boudaille,  and  Pascal 
were  condemned  to  death ;  Leo  Meillet,  dialer, 
and  Moreau  were  also  condemned  to  death  in  their 
absence.  The  rest  of  the  prisoners  were  sentenced 
to  imprisonment  and  hard  labour  for  life,  with  the 
exception  of  the  old  man  Gambette,  who  escaped 
with  two  years'  imprisonment,  and  the  woman 
Buffo,  who  was  acquitted.  Gambette  said  as 
he  left  the  court,  "  Is  it  possible  ?  Two  years' 
vol.  n. 


imprisonment  for  doing  nothing  but  beating  my 
drum !" 

The  trial  of  Blanqui,  "the  Nestor  of  revolu- 
tion," as  his  friends  delight  to  call  him,  caused 
great  interest.  The  charge  against  him  was  in 
connection  with  the  imeutes  of  the  31st  October, 
1870,  and  the  22nd  of  January,  1871.  A  number 
of  persons  had  been  tried  and  acquitted,  a  year 
before,  when  the  responsibility  seemed  to  be 
thrown  on  Blanqui,  who  was  condemned  to  death 
in  his  absence.  Ill  luck  had  thrown  him  into  the 
hands  of  the  authorities. 

Blanqui  is  a  little  spare  man,  sixty-seven  years 
of  age,  with  hair  and  beard  white  as  snow,  and  a 
pair  of  small  bead-like  eyes,  sunk  deep  in  their 
orbits,  but  full  of  feverish  energy.  He  has  spent 
three-fourths  of  his  life  in  Cayenne  and  other 
places  of  imprisonment,  and  has  been  four  times 
condemned  to  death.  He  had  refused  to  answer 
the  Juge  d 'Instruction — that  is  to  say,  the  interro- 
gatories put  to  him  in  prison ;  and  when  the  presi- 
dent of  the  court-martial,  Colonel  Robillard,  called 
upon  him  to  give  explanations  of  his  conduct  with 
respect  to  the  affair  of  La  Villette,  he  replied 
politely  but  triumphantly,  "  Pardon,  but  I  am  not 
accused  with  respect  to  the  affair  of  La  Villette." 
The  colonel  admitted  the  awkward  plea,  but 
added,  "  That  is  true  ;  but  in  virtue  of  our  autho- 
rity (pouvoir)  we  ask  you  for  information  respecting 
other  facts  than  those  which  are  included  in  the 
accusation."  To  this  extraordinary  ruling  Blanqui 
answered  coolly,  "  You  have  only  to  read  my 
journal,  La  Patrie  en  Danger.  You  will  find  the 
affair  in  detail  there,  and  much  more  complete 
than  I  can  give  it  you."  The  colonel  was  not, 
however,  to  be  turned  from  his  course,  and  the 
following  colloquy  took  place: — 

"  President — Nevertheless,  speak  about  it  your- 
self! 

"  Blanqui — Very  well !  The  La  Villette  affair 
was  the  4th  of  September,  three  weeks  too  early. 
It  was  an  attempt  to  overturn  the  government. 
It  was  a  4th  of  September  spoiled. 

"  President — But  who  gave  you  the  right  thus 
to  change  the  form  of  government? 

"  Blanqui — It  was  in  the  name  of  the  country 
in  danger  that  we  took  it  upon  ourselves.  You 
talk  of  right !  Who  gave  any  right  to  those  of 
the  4th  of  September  ? 

"  President — At  any  rate  they  were  the  elected 
of  the  nation.  .  .  ."  But  the  colonel  had  had 
3c 


386 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


enough  of  La  Villette,  and,  after  some  awkward 
hesitation,  added,  "Well,  let  us  go  to  the  affair  of 
the  31st  of  October,"  (when  the  Hotel  de  Ville  was 
invaded).  The  colonel  had  better  have  stuck  to 
the  record,  and  commenced  there. 

Blanqui  then  went  at  length  into  the  last-named 
affair.  MM.  Jules  Ferry,  Jules  Simon,  and  other 
members  of  the  September  government  were  exam- 
ined; but  this  portion  of  the  inquiry  is  not  in  place 
here,  and  besides,  the  facts  have  already  been  given 
at  sufficient  length.  Blanqui  maintained  that  the 
affair  ended  with  an  understanding  that  there 
should  be  no  prosecution,  and  this  was  certainly 
the  understanding  in  Paris  at  the  time;  the  fact  of 
M.  Jules  Favre  leaving  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  arm- 
in-arm  with  Blanqui,  being  universally  asserted. 
The  witnesses  were  not  at  all  unanimous  or  clear 
upon  this  subject,  and  Blanqui  certainly  had  the 
benefit  of  the  doubt  in  the  opinion  of  the  public. 
M.  Dorian,  member  of  the  Assembly,  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  declare  that  Blanqui  was  perfectly  right 
upon  this  point. 

The  prisoner  exhibited  the  most  perfect  coolness 
and  presence  of  mind,  and  gave  the  court  some 
sharp  retorts.  Amongst  others,  "  I  have  noted," 
he  said,  "  that  the  commissary  of  the  government 
[who  read  in  court  a  decree  of  M.  Thiers,  author- 
izing M.  Jules  Simon,  as  a  minister,  to  give  evi- 
dence], evoked  against  me  principles  which  existed 
before  our  first  revolution.  For  him  the  revolu- 
tions of  1789,  of  1830,  and  of  1848,  are  so  many 
crimes.  Well !  I  retain  this  fact  in  my  memory 
from  to-day,  that,  under  a  government  called  re- 
publican, I  have  been  prosecuted  in  the  name  of 
monarchial  principles."  And  having  no  more  to 
say,  he  calmly  took  up  his  cloak,  threw  it  over  his 
shoulders,  and  followed  his  guards  out  of  the  court, 
with  more  apparent  unconcern  than  was  shown  by 
any  one  there. 

The  court  only  deliberated  for  half  an  hour,  and 
sentenced  Blanqui  to  transportation  in  a  fortified 
place.  When  re-introduced,  the  prisoner  heard 
his  sentence  read  without  exhibiting  the  slightest 
emotion ;  and  it  is  said  that,  since  he  has  been  in 
prison,  he  has  devoted  himself  principally  to 
astronomy  and  mathematics. 

There  must  surely  be  something  rotten  in  our 
boasted  civilization,  when  a  man  of  such  intelli- 
gence and  self-reliant  power  can  find  no  better 
occupation  for  his  admitted  talents  than  that 
of  permanent  conspiracy  ;   or  are  we  to  attribute 


his  extraordinary  career  to  insanity,  monomania, 
or  mere  idiosyncrasy? 

The  trial  of  a  well-known  young  physician, 
named  Goupil,  created  some  sensation  from  the 
intelligence  and  respectability  of  his  appearance, 
and  in  some  measure  also,  from  the  fact  that  his 
young  wife  and  two  children  appeared  in  court. 
There  were  two  charges  against  Dr.  Goupil;  the 
first  being  that  he  had,  on  the  31st  October, 
the  day  of  the  first  communalist  e'meute,  seques- 
trated a  captain  of  the  national  guard,  who  was 
the  bearer  of  an  order  from  the  government. 
The  charge  was  proved  to  a  certain  extent, 
and  the  captain  had  been  detained  for  about 
half  an  hour,  but  solely,  as  the  prisoner  said, 
because  the  order  was  believed  to  be  a  forgery. 
Strange  to  say,  the  accused  was  charged  by  the 
court  with  having  had  to  do  with  a  certain  printed 
document,  of  which  no  mention  was  made  in  the 
charge  against  him;  it  appeared  that  this  paper,  an 
appeal  to  the  people  on  the  part  of  the  maire,  was 
very  violently  worded.  Goupil  made  some  altera- 
tions in  the  draft  for  the  printer,  and  declared 
that  he  was  thanked  at  the  mairie,  for  having  done 
so,  and  afterwards  charged  with  the  fact  as  a  crime. 
Goupil  was  condemned  to  two  years'  imprisonment 
and  costs.  The  second  charge  on  which  he  was 
tried  was  far  more  serious;  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Commune,  delegate  to  the  minister  of  Public 
Instruction,  and  was  charged  with  the  arrest  of  a 
M.  Magnabal,  and  the  sequestration  of  two  Lazarist 
monks.  It  was  clearly  proved  that  Goupil  had 
always  tried  to  protect  the  clergy,  and  had  pro- 
tested energetically  against  acts  of  brutality  un- 
worthy of  intelligent  men,  and  had  declared  that 
the  clergy  had  done  nothing  to  excuse  the  absurd 
and  cowardly  persecutions  of  the  Commune.  These 
declarations  had  made  him  suspected,  and  nearly 
caused  his  arrest,  and  when  ordered  to  search 
religious  houses  for  concealed  arms,  he  was  accom- 
panied by  agents  of  the  police,  to  force  him  to  act 
as  ordered.  He  was  so  disgusted  with  the  conduct 
of  the  Commune,  that  he  gave  in  his  resignation, 
and  on  the  6th  of  April  managed  to  escape  from 
Paris.  The  principal  of  the  Lazarists,  and  others, 
bore  testimony  to  the  truth  of  Goupil's  statement, 
and  said  that  when  Lagrange,  the  special  agent  of 
Goupil,  searched  the  house,  nothing  was  destroyed, 
broken,  or  damaged,  and  no  one  put  to  inconveni- 
ence. All  the  witnesses  gave  similar  testimony; 
but  Goupil  was  condemned  to  five  years'  imprison- 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


387 


ment,  by  a  majority  of  five  against  two  in  the 
council.  The  sympathy  in  favour  of  Dr.  Goupil 
and  his  unfortunate  family  is  very  general,  and  it 
is  not  likely  that  such  a  severe  sentence  will  be 
carried  out  to  the  full  extent. 

The  French  law  allows  of  appeal  in  case  of  con- 
demnation to  death,  and  nearly  all  the  prisoners 
sentenced  have  availed  themselves  of  the  privilege. 
Many  cases  stood  over  for  weeks,  and  even 
months,  in  consequence,  and  because  the  sen- 
tences are  finally  deliberated  upon  by  a  council  of 
mercy,  and  a  long  time  generally  elapses  between 
sentence  and  execution. 

On  the  22nd  of  February  the  execution  of 
Verdaguer,  Herpin-Lacroix,  and  Lagrange — con- 
demned for  the  assassination,  or  for  complicity  in 
the  assassination,  of  Generals  Lecomte  and  Clement 
Thomas  at  Montmartre — took  place.  The  culprits 
were  not  informed  of  the  decision  until  three 
o'clock  of  the  morning  of  the  execution.  Verda- 
guer had  been  ill,  and  subject  to  violent  convul- 
sions, and  was  at  first  terribly  affected  at  the  idea 
of  leaving  his  wife  and  children ;  but  he  soon 
rallied.  This  man  and  Lagrange  were  both 
deserters  from  the  army,  so  that  their  case  was 
doubly  bad.  The  three  men  exhibited  great 
calmness  and  resignation,  declared  their  respect 
for  the  law  and  for  their  judges  and  all  witli 
whom  they  had  come  in  contact  in  prison,  and 
embraced  the  director  and  all  the  attendants,  as 
well  as  each  other,  with  emotion. 

The  execution  took  place  in  presence  of  a  mass 
of  troops,  composed  of  detachments  from  all  the 
corps  in  the  army.  At  half-past  six  all  was  over, 
and  the  troops  left  the  grounJ,  according  to  cus- 
tom in  such  cases,  the  band  in  advance  playing 
gay  music !  The  custom  of  quitting  the  grave  of 
a  hero  with  lively  music,  although  it  grates  upon 
the  feelings,  is  comprehensible  from  a  military 
point  of  view:  the  deceased  has  died  the  death 
which,  to  a  soldier,  is  glory;  but  music  after  such 
a  scene  as  the  above  is  horrible  to 'think  of! 

On  the  14th  of  March  commenced  the  trial  of 
twenty -three  prisoners  implicated  in  the  "affair  of 
the  Rue  Haxo,"  which  was  the  most  considerable 
massacre  under  the  Commune,  no  less  than  forty- 
seven  hostages  having  been  shot  in  that  street  on 
May  26.  Some  of  the  prisoners  were  old  acquaint- 
ances of  the  frequenters  of  the  Versailles  Riding 
School  since  it  became  the  theatre  of  bloody  assizes. 
Francois,   the  Communal  gaoler  of  La  Roquette 


prison,  already  under  sentence  to  hard  labour  for 
life  for  participation  in  the  murder  of  the  arch- 
bishop of  Paris,  again  appeared  in  his  old  place. 
Next  to  him  was  Ramain,  the  turnkey,  let  off 
before  with  ten  years'  penal  servitude,  but  now 
once  more  put  upon  trial  for  his  life.  Several  of 
the  other  prisoners,  officers  of  the  Communal 
army,  were  respectable -looking  men.  One,  de- 
scribing himself  as  M.  de  Saint  Omer,  a  lieutenant 
of  the  74th  federal  battalion,  says  that  he  was  a 
merchant  in  Cuba ;  another,  named  Benot,  a 
journeyman  butcher,  who  was  one  of  General 
Bergeret's  colonels,  was  accused  of  having  insisted 
upon  the  execution  of  the  prisoners,  although  he 
had  received  orders  to  the  contrary  from  the  then 
Communal  delegate  for  war,  M.  Parent.  The 
indictment,  like  many  of  its  foregoers,  lamented 
that  justice  had  not  laid  hands  upon  the  principal 
criminals.  It  accused  Francois  and  Ramain  only  of 
having  given  up  the  forty-seven  hostages,  knowing 
that  they  were  going  to  be  executed,  but  antici- 
pated that  the  defence  to  be  made  by  these  prisoners 
would  be,  that  they  obeyed  the  order  of  an  officer 
who  represented  that  for  strategical  reasons  it  was 
necessary  to  evacuate  the  prison.  Francois  knew 
the  name  and  rank  of  this  officer,  but  would  not 
mention  them.  More  than  half  of  the  indictment 
laboured  to  show  that  Francois  must  have  known 
for  what  purpose  the  prisoners  were  taken  away 
from  La  Roquette.  Whatever  may  or  may  not 
have  been  the  complicity  of  Francois,  the  facts  were 
that  forty-seven  hostages,  consisting  of  thirty- 
five  gendarmes,  ten  priests,  and  two  laymen,  were 
marched  in  custody  from  the  prison  to  the  portals 
of  the  Pere  La  Chaise  cemetery,  and  then  along 
the  Boulevards  Menilmontant  and  Belleville,  and 
the  Rue  Puebla,  to  the  mayoralty  of  the  Rue 
Haxo,  which  was  the  headquarters  of  M.  Ranvier, 
a  member  of  the  Commune.  The  officer  (name 
still  unknown)  who  was  in  command  called  upon 
a  Major  Devarennes,  commandant  of  a  battalion  at 
a  barricade,  for  a  reinforcement  of  eight  men ;  and 
then  one  of  his  captains,  named  Dalivon,  and  his 
lieutenant,  St.  Omer  (both  prisoners  at  the  bar), 
came  forward  "  with  alacrity,"  and  brought  many 
more  men  with  them  than  were  asked  for.  The 
crowd  which  followed  the  cortege  was  at  first  only 
"  curious"  to  see  men  "  who,  it  was  boasted,  were 
prisoners  taken  from  the  Versailles  army  ;"  but 
gradually  they  became  bloodthirsty,  and  cried, 
"  Down    with   the    priests !  "       Their    "  hideous 


388 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


ferocity"  went  on  increasing  till  they  got  to  the 
Rue  Haxo.  Here  the  war  delegate,  Parent,  ironi- 
cally (as  the  indictment  alleged)  harangued  the 
members  of  the  Central  Committee,  saying,  "  Now, 
gentlemen,  is  the  time  to  show  your  influence,  and 
prevent  the  Commune  from  being  dishonoured." 
A  federal  officer  got  upon  the  top  of  a  cab  and 
made  a  speech.  Then  the  hostages  were  brought 
out,  one  by  one,  upon  a  bit  of  waste  land  appointed 
for  their  execution,  and  shot  down  with  the  muz- 
zles of  the  muskets  almost  close  to  them.  The 
trial  lasted  several  days,  and  ended  with  the  fol- 
lowing judgments: — Seven  of  the  accused  con- 
demned to  death;  seven  to  forced  labour  for  life; 
two  to  the  same  punishment  for  twenty  years  ; 
three  to  transportation  for  life;  and  four  others  to 
slighter  punishments. 

On  the  21st  March  a  man  named  Eouilhac  was 
condemned  to  death,  another,  named  Eoussion,  to 
hard  labour  for  life,  and  ten  others  to  various 
degrees  of  punishment,  for  an  infamous  murder 
which  was  perpetrated  on  the  24th  of  May.  A 
chemist  named  Dubois,  who  lived  at  the  Buttes- 
aux-Cailles,  had  the  hardihood  to  declare  against 
the  Commune,  and  when  his  house  was  about  to 
be  turned  into  a  fortress  against  the  troops  he  bar- 
ricaded the  door.  A  large  body  of  the  federals  fired 
cannon  at  the  house,  then  forced  open  the  door, 
and  finding  the  unfortunate  Dubois  in  the  garden, 
shot  him,  and  exhibited  the  body  for  a  whole  day 
in  the  front  balcony.  The  house  was  then  sacked, 
2000  francs  stolen,  the  wine  drunk,  and  the  ser- 
vant thrown  into  prison. 

Captain  Matusewitchz,  who  was  formerly  in  the 
134th  regiment  of  the  line,  was  condemned  to 
death.  He  was  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  federals, 
but  made  his  escape  from  Paris.  He  was  found 
guilty  of  participation  in  the  insurrection,  and  also 
of  having  stolen  the  money  intended  for  his  own 
men. 

One  ecclesiastic  only  was  charged  with  Com- 
munism, the  Abbe-  Perrin,  found  guilty  by  a 
Versailles  court-martial  of  exciting  to  civil  war, 
&c,  and  arresting  some  of  his  fellow-priests,  was 
sentenced  (extenuating  circumstances  being  ad- 
mitted) to  two  years'  imprisonment.  The  prisoner, 
who  was  vicar  of  St.  Eloi,  in  Paris,  exclaimed  in 
the  course  of  the  trial,  "  And  only  think  that  I 
once  refused  a  bishopric  ! " 

The  military  secretary  of  the  unfortunate  Rossel, 
an  intelligent  young  man  named   Jules   Renard, 


was  tried  by  court-martial.  He  took  honours 
a  few  years  ago  at  the  normal  school,  and 
afterwards  became  mathematical  professor  in  a 
large  school  at  Lagny.  When  the  war  broke 
out  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  17th  chasseurs 
and,  after  the  18th  March,  came  to  Paris  to 
take  service  with  the  Commune.  Rossel  made  him 
a  staff  colonel.  He  escaped  to  Belgium  after  the 
entry  of  the  Versailles  troops  into  Paris,  passed 
some  time  in  England,  where  he  was  almost  starv- 
ing, and  in  September,  187 1,  returned  to  Paris,  where 
he  obtained  a  place  in  a  school,  and  lived  quite 
unsuspected  by  the  police.  But  the  news  of 
Rossel's  execution  excited  him  so  much,  that  he 
went  to  Versailles  and  gave  himself  up.  The 
court-martial  sentenced  him  to  transportation  for 
life  in  a  fortified  place. 

An  extraordinary  scandal  occurred  at  Ver- 
sailles, before  the  sixth  court-martial.  An  obscure 
Communist,  named  Michel,  was  tried  for  bearing 
arms  under  the  Commune.  He  was  too  poor  to 
pay  an  advocate,  and  at  the  last  moment  he  wrote 
to  M.  Bigot,  who  acquired  a  certain  celebrity  as 
counsel  for  Assi,  to  defend  him.  M.  Bigot  came 
into  court,  knowing  nothing  whatever  of  the  matter; 
and  he  asked  the  president  to  be  good  enough  to 
hand  him  down  the  dossier,  or  brief  of  the  case, 
to  enable  him  to  see  what  the  charges  against  his 
client  were.  To  his  great  astonishment  he  saw  on 
a  margin  of  one  of  the  pages  a  minute,  in  the  hand- 
writing of  the  president,  of  the  verdict  which  had 
been  agreed  upon  before  the  defence  was  heard. 
Against  every  charge  was  written  the  words, 
"  Guilty  by  a  majority."  M.  Bigot  said  nothing 
of  this  in  his  speech,  merely  pleading  that  his 
client,  who  had  been  in  charge  of  the  powder 
magazine  at  the  fort  of  Vanves,  was  not  proved 
to  have  borne  arms.  But  after  Michel  had  been 
found  guilty  and  sentenced,  by  a  majority  of  five 
to  two,  to  two  years'  imprisonment,  M.  Bigot  rose 
and  moved  that  the  president  should  put  upon 
record  that  the  conviction  and  sentence  had  been 
agreed  upon  by  the  court-martial  before  the  trial 
was  over.  The  president,  in  an  angry  tone,  refused 
to  take  official  notice  of  the  objection,  and  accused 
M.  Bigot  of  an  "  abuse  of  confidence  "  in  making  it. 
The  defence  would  doubtless  be,  that  the  sketch 
of  the  probable  judgment  made  by  the  president 
was  merely  for  his  own  guidance,  and  did  not 
exclude  revision  if,  subsequently  to  his  memor- 
anda, new  light  should  be  thrown  upon  the  affair. 


AND   AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


389 


But,  making  the  best  of  it,  the  business  was  an  ex-  I 
tremely  awkward  one.      It  is  impossible  to  deny 
that  the  judges  ought  to  have  been  listening  to 
the  defence,  instead  of  drawing  up  their  judgment 
before  the  case  was  concluded. 

M.  Elisee  Reclws  was  a  lucky  man;  his  scien- 
tific friends  in  England  saved  him.  He  writes: 
— "  I  am  able  at  last  to  tell  you  that  I  am  free. 
After  having  been  kept  for  a  long  time  in  prisons, 
and  sent  from  one  prison  to  another,  I  left  Paris 
for  Pontarlier,  escorted  by  two  police  agents,  who 
left  me  on  the  free  soil  of  Switzerland.  While 
breathing  and  enjoying  the  pure  air  of  liberty,  I 
do  not  forget  those  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  my 
freedom.  Having  been  claimed  by  so  many  Eng- 
lishmen as  a  student  of  science,  I  shall  work  on 
more  than  ever  to  show  them  my  gratitude  by  my 
works  and  deeds." 

A  prominent  member  of  the  Commune,  M. 
Grelier,  who  for  a  time  filled  the  office  of  minister 
of  the  Interior,  was  arrested  in  a  peculiar  way.  He 
succeeded  for  many  months  in  eluding  the  search 
of  the  police,  and  was  all  the  time  a  cook  in  the 
house  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  at  Meudon.  What 
an  unlikely  place  for  a  Communist  to  have  found 
a  refuge  in !  The  police  had  long  had  their  eye 
upon  a  major  of  the  Commune,  who,  disguised  in 
rags  as  a  beggar,  made  frequent  visits  to  the 
Meudon  monastery.  The  ostensible  object  of  his 
appearance  there  was  to  get  a  share  of  the  kitchen 
scraps,  which  the  monks  are  in  the  habit  of  daily 
giving  away ;  but  in  reality  he  went  to  talk  politics 
with  Grelier.  The  false  beggar,  when  arrested, 
did  not  perhaps  exactly  betray  Grelier,  but  gave 
the  police  information  which  led  to  his  arrest.  It 
appears  that  when  it  was  all  over  with  the  Com- 
mune, Grelier  bethought  him  of  a  cousin  who  was 
a  servant  in  the  house  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers.  This 
relation  recommended  him  successfully  for  a  cook's 
place,  which  he  took  under  a  false  name,  and  which 
he  might  in  all  probability  have  filled  for  a  long 
while  to  come  unmolested,  had  he  not  yielded  to 
the  temptation  of  keeping  up  political  intercourse 
with  old  friends. 

The  council  of  war  condemned  to  death 
Colonel  Henry,  who  made  a  considerable  figure 
at  the  commencement  of  the  Commune  till  he 
was  made  prisoner,  so  that  he  was  more  than 
a  year  in  prison.  The  prisoner  was  deeply 
moved  at  the  trial,  and  pleaded  hard  for  mercy. 
Five  other  prisoners,  Girin,  Felix,  Leprince,  Ba- 


dinier  and  Lemare,  were  sentenced  at  the  same 
time  to  various  terms  of  imprisonment,  and  of 
hard  labour  for  life. 

The  Official  Journal  says  that  during  the  week 
ending  the  10th  of  February  the  councils  of  war 
tried  305  prisoners,  while  598  others  were  set 
free  for  want  of  evidence  against  them  ;  and  also, 
that  the  total  number  tried  to  that  date  was  4242, 
and  of  those  dismissed  on  the  preliminary  examina- 
tion 20,704. 

Of  those  found  guilty,  36  were  condemned  to 
death  ;  86  to  imprisonment  with  hard  labour  ; 
341  to  transportation  within  a  fortified  place — 
which  means  Cayenne  or  New  Caledonia  ;  1002 
to  simple  transportation  ;  470  to  imprisonment, 
and  21  to  confinement  in  penitentiaries.  All  the 
above  sentences  of  transportation  and  imprison- 
ment are  for  life,  or  during  pleasure.  In  addition, 
184  were  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  three 
months  or  less,  584  to  periods  exceeding  three 
months,  and  425  for  one  year  or  more  ;  80  were 
condemned  to  banishment,  and  1  to  labour  in 
public  works — an  unexplained  singularity.  Of 
those  tried,  1012,  or  nearly  one-fourth,  were 
acquitted. 

Of  the  whole  mass  tried,  twenty-five  per  cent, 
are  reported  as  having  undergone  previous  punish- 
ment for  some  crime  or  other  ;  and  three  to  four 
per  cent,  are  foreigners.  This  last  phrase  com- 
pletely nullifies  the  assertion  that  the  Commune 
was  the  work  of  foreigners,  rather  than  French- 
men. Eleven  prisoners,  one  of  whom  had  been 
condemned,  are  reported  as  having  escaped  from 
the  prisons  of  Versailles,  and  three  from  hospitals; 
while  213  died  in  jjrison.  The  report  concluded 
with  the  statement  that  all  the  prisoners'  cases  had 
undergone  preliminary  examination,  and  6000 
then  awaited  trial  before  the  councils  of  war! 
These  facts  exhibit  in  a  terrible  light  the  frightful 
evils  brought  upon  society  by  the  acts  of  the 
Commune:  25,000  persons  confined  for  periods 
varying  from  one  to  ten  months  ;  of  whom  more 
than  20,000  were  discharged  because  nothing 
could  be  proved  against  them,  3230  sentenced  to 
death  and  various  degrees  of  punishment,  and 
then,  more  than  ten  months  after  the  end  of 
the  Commune,  above  6000  remained  to  be  tried. 
A  later  return,  to  the  30th  of  March,  gave  the 
following  figures: — 21,092  discharged,  6887  con- 
demnations, and  4265  remaining  to  be  tried.  Add 
to   the    above   the  tens  of  thousands  killed  and 


390 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


wounded,  the  thousands  widowed,  rendered  orphans, 
driven  insane,  and  ruined,  and  you  have  before 
you  one  of  the  most  frightful  pictures  of  human 
folly  and  human  suffering  ever  presented  to  the 
imagination. 

The  great  majority  of  the  female  prisoners  were 
at  the  outset  transferred  to  the  prisons  of  Amiens, 
Arras,  and  Rouen,  and  few  of  them  had  been  tried 
by  the  middle  of  the  month  of  February,  when 
two  captains  were  charged  with  what  is  called  in 
France  the  instruction ;  that  is  to  say,  the  prelimi- 
nary examination  in  private,  which  stands  in  the 
place  of  the  inquiry  before  a  police  magistrate  in 
England.  The  result  of  this  examination  was  the 
dismissal  of  the  great  majority,  about  130  only 
being  retained  for  trial. 

The  large  number  of  prisoners  who  have  been 
set  at  liberty  from  time  to  time  create  much  un- 
easiness in  the  minds  of  many  Parisians,  and 
furnish  others  with  arguments,  honest  or  other- 
wise, in  favour  of  severe  measures ;  for  it  is 
urged  that  the  spirit  of  the  Commune  is  as 
lively  as  ever.  It  is  asserted  that,  since  the 
return  of  the  discharged  prisoners  commenced, 
there  have  been  many  signs  of  projected  revenge, 
which  naturally  terrify  the  peaceful  portion  of  the 
population.  At  the  commencement  of  February 
there  were  accounts  afloat  of  bombs  having  been 
thrown  and  exploded  in  the  Boulevard  Male- 
sherbes,  and  in  some  of  the  public  squares.  The 
only  acts  of  the  Communists  that  are  beyond 
question  are  the  posting  of  a  few  inflammatory 
placards  here  and  there;  and  even  this  may  have 
been  the  work  of  one  or  two  fanatics,  or,  which 
would  be  perfectly  consistent  with  the  Parisian 
character,  of  mischievous  farceurs,  on  whom  a 
horse  whip  might  have  a  salutary  effect.  What- 
ever truth  there  may  be  in  the  statements  and 
views  referred  to,  there  is  no  question  as  to  the 
effect  which  the  violence  of  the  Commune  has  had 
upon  liberalism.  The  journals,  remarkable  formerly 
for  their  true  liberalism  and  moderation,  have  lost 
all  hope  and  confidence.  The  following  short 
extract  from  such  a  journal  now  before  us  is  a  case 
in  point: — "For  our  part,  after  the  experience  of 
1871,  we  ardently  hope  that  the  political  and 
moral  sense  of  the  nation  will  remount  the  revolu- 
tionary stream,  The  current  destroys  everything 
and  reconstructs  nothing;  in  the  place  of  ideas  and 
principles  it  produces  baseness  and  cupidity. 
Never,   then,  was    firmness,   determination,   more 


necessary  on  the  part  of  the  Assembly  and  the 
Government." 

When  the  Commune  broke  down  it  was  declared 
that  there  were  masses  of  Englishmen  in  the  ranks. 
Prince  Bismarck  asserted  in  public  that  they  num- 
bered 4000.  Some  of  the  Paris  papers  cleverly 
seized  upon  this  fact,  and  on  the  names  of  three 
Polish  generals,  upon  which  to  found  an  argu- 
ment that  the  Commune  was  not  French,  but 
cosmopolitan.  This  was  smart,  but  like  many 
such  arguments,  too  smart  by  half.  The  Com- 
mune was  thoroughly  Parisian,  and  the  foreign 
element  a  mere  item  in  it.  As  to  the  4000  Eng- 
lishmen, where  Prince  Bismarck  got  his  informa- 
tion from  is  a  curiosity.  Lord  Lyons  tells  us 
that  only  thirteen  were  arrested  after  the  army 
had  entered  Paris ;  and  all  but  one  were  dis- 
charged. This  exceptional  Englishman  has  the 
un-English  name  of  Fabre  de  Lagrange;  but  he  is 
a  British  subject,  a  native  of  Jersey.  He  was  well 
known  as  an  expert  electrician,  and  was  charged 
with  having  managed  the  lighthouse  at  ilont- 
martre,  and  of  drawing  up  an  excellent  plan  of 
destroying  or  paralyzing  the  action  of  the  army, 
by  means  of  mines  fired  by  electricity.  He  asserted 
that  he  merely  obtained  employment  as  he  was 
without  means,  and  only  amused  the  Commune 
with  plans  that  could  not  have  been  carried  out. 

The  army  entered  Paris  on  the  information  of 
Ducatel,  one  of  the  keepers  of  the  Bois  de  Bou- 
logne, who  at  the  risk  of  his  life  jumped  down 
from  the  ramparts,  and  told  Captain  Treves,  a 
naval  officer,  that  the  ramparts  were  deserted. 
There  is  no  doubt  about  the  value  of  his  ser- 
vices, for  M.  Thiers  gave  him  the  cross  of  the 
legion,  and  presented  him  with  30,000  francs, 
equal  to  £.1200.  Ducatel  was  taken  up  by  the 
Opposition,  and  a  good  subscription  raised  for 
him,  so  that  he  was  provided  with  a  capital  of 
about  £4000.  The  secret  of  this  was,  that  his 
name  was  peculiarly  unpleasing  to  the  army, 
which  desired  people  to  believe  that  it  forced  the 
ramparts  and  rushed  into  'the  city  with  irresistible 
impetuosity;  and  the  royalists  and  others  took  up 
Ducatel  simply  to  annoy  the  government.  A  lucky 
man  is  Ducatel !  But  what  shall  be  said  of  party 
tricks  like  these,  at  a  time  when  France  wanted  the 
aid  of  all  her  sons  to  bind  up  her  wounds  and 
restore  her  vigour.  If  half  the  energy  wasted 
in  such  unworthy  manoeuvres  as  this  had  been 
employed    in    an    honest    direction,   the    case   of 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


391 


France  would  never  have  been  as  bad  as  it  is 
at  present. 

The  debts,  old  and  new,  of  the  city  of  Paris, 
are  fearfully  heavy,  and  must  for  a  long  period 
remain  a  sad  burden  on  the  people;  but  the  new 
prefect  and  municipal  council  do  not  exhibit  a 
desponding  feeling,  and  propose  to  devote  a  sum 
equal  to  nearly  £1,000,000  sterling  for  urgent 
public  works,  including  £120,000  towards  the 
rebuilding  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville. 

In  addition  to  the  immense  debt  which  weighs 
upon  the  city,  there  are  the  results  of  the  conflag- 
ration to  be  added.  The  destruction  of  buildings 
alone  has  been  estimated  at  £5,250,000  sterling. 
The  following  are  the  chief  items  of  this  estimate: 

Palace  of  the  Tuileries, £1,080,000 

Hotel  de  Ville, 1,200,000 

Treasury, 480,000 

Palais  Royal 120,000 

Palais  de  Justice, 120,000 

Prefecture  of  Police, 80,000 

Conciergerie, 20,000 

Public  Granaries, 200,000 

Arsenal 60,000 

The  Gobelins, 40,000 

Palace  of  the  Legion  of  Honour, 40,000 

Assistance  Public, 80,000 

Council  of  State,  &c, 356,000 

Entrepot  at  La  Villette, 120,000 

Two  Public  Tax  Offices, 260,000 

Barracks, 20,000 

besides  ninety-two  houses  in  Paris  proper,  and 
many  hundreds  in  the  outlying  districts.  When 
in  addition  to  the  above  we  consider  the  enormous 
quantity  of  grain,  wine,  and  spirits  burnt  in  the 
public  warehouses;  the  destruction  caused  by  shot 
and  shell ;  the  works  of  art,  furniture,  plate  glass, 
and  merchandise  burnt  or  otherwise  destroyed,  an 
estimate  which  places  the  total  material  losses  caused 
by  the  insurrection  at  more  than  £10,000,000  ster- 
ling, is  probably  not  exaggerated. 

A  commission  has  reported  on  the  burning  of 
the  docks  at  La  Villette  ;  the  total  loss  is  set  down 
at  £1,200,000,  of  which  sum  rather  less  than  half 
represents  wine,  brandy,  and  articles  of  food.  The 
destruction  of  the  great  government  corn  stores, 
called  the  Grenier  d'Abondance,  has  not  been  re- 
ported upon  officially ;  but  the  loss  in  this  case  is 
estimated  approximatively  at  nearly  one  million 
sterling. 

The  destruction  of  the  entire  registers  of  births, 
marriages,  and  deaths  of  any  city,  must  cause  im- 
mense inconvenience;  but  especially  so  in  Paris, 
where  the  formalities  respecting  births,  deaths, 
and  marriages  are  so  multitudinous  and  minute 


that  it  is  a  wonder  any  one  ventures  either  to 
be  born,  to  be  married,  or  to  die.  No  boy  can 
enter  any  of  the  public  schools,  no  man  enter  any 
public  office,  without  producing  the  certificate  of 
his  birth  ;  then  every  year  all  the  youths  of  the 
age  of  twenty  have  to  appear  and  draw  lots  for 
military  service,  when,  of  course,  certificates  of 
birth  are  required.  This  conscription  gives  rise 
sometimes  to  curious  scenes  ;  not  to  present  your- 
self at  the  proper  age  for  the  conscription  is  a  very 
serious  offence,  and  the  municipal  officers  take  care 
to  hunt  up  defaulters  very  sharply.  A  few  years 
since  an  inhabitant  of  Paris  received  a  peremptory 
summons  to  bring  up  his  son  to  draw  for  the  con- 
scription. The  reply  was  he  had  no  son,  but  a 
daughter  of  that  age  was  produced.  The  parents 
protested  that  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
blundering  of  an  official  clerk  (a  blunder  easily 
made,  as  the  French  words  for  son  and  daughter, 
jils  and  fille,  are  very  like  in  writing  and  sound). 
The  managers  of  the  conscription  declared,  that 
as  the  child  was  described  as  a  boy  on  the  register 
he  must  draw  a  number  out  of  the  urn;  therefore 
she  did  so,  and  fortunately  drew  a  high  one, 
which  gave  her  exemption.  Had  it  occurred 
otherwise,  she  would  have  been  enrolled  for  a  time 
amongst  the  recruits,  and  it  is  terrible  to  think 
of  the  formalities  that  would  have  been  to  go 
through  to  release  the  young  lady  from  military 
service.  Perhaps  it  would  have  ended  in  a  com- 
promise, and  she  would  have  been  enrolled  as  a 
vivandiere  ! 

Now  all  these  registers  are  burnt,  any  one  who 
does  not  happen  to  have  the  certificates  of  his 
birth,  &c,  in  his  possession,  is  placed  in  a  great 
difficulty.  The  authorities  have  appointed  a  com- 
mission to  act  in  the  matter,  and  every  one  is  called 
upon  to  deposit  all  the  certificates  in  his  possession 
relating  to  himself  or  his  relations,  and  all  these 
certificates  will  become  the  property  of  the  state. 
It  is  naturally  objected  to  this  arrangement  that 
many  people  regard  such  documents  with  almost 
superstitious  affection,  and  that  therefore  the 
authorities  ought  not  to  appropriate,  but  merely 
copy  and  return  them.  However  the  affair  may 
be  worked  out,  it  is  quite  certain  that  out  of  the 
million  and  three  quarters  of  inhabitants  of  Paris 
a  very  large  proportion  will  never  be  able  to 
prove,  legally,  that  they  were  ever  born  at  all; 
and  how  they  are  to  get  through  life  under  such 
circumstances  is  a  puzzle.     It  is  proposed  that  in 


392 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING,  AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


future  duplicates  of  such  registers  shall  always 
be  deposited  in  other  towns,  so  as  to  prevent  such 
another  accident.  This  suggestion  is  certainly 
applicable  to  other  cases  besides  the  registers  of 
Paris. 

This  loss  of  documentary  evidence  had  very 
nearly  been  accompanied  by  another,  namely,  the 
destruction  of  the  Grand  Livre  of  France,  which 
like  our  national  debt  books  consists  of  thousands 
of  folio  volumes.  This,  however,  was  in  dupli- 
cate, and  one  if  not  both  copies  were  saved, 
so  that  the  holders  of  government  stock  are 
spared  the  inconvenience  which  might  have  fallen 
upon  them. 

Some  of  the  acts  of  the  Commune  also  are  caus- 
ing similar  complications;  thus  all  the  marriages 
which  took  place  between  the  18th  of  March  and 
the  22nd  May  are  declared  void,  as  having  been 
solemnized  in  the  presence  of  revolutionary  func- 
tionaries. An  inquiry  has  been  made  into  the 
subject,  and  in  cases  where  both  parties  are  living, 
and  act  in  good  faith,  there  will  be  little  difficulty ; 
but  an  unprincipled  man  or  woman  may  seize  upon 
the  opportunity  to  set  aside  the  contract,  and  the 
other  party  would  have  no  remedy. 

But  this  is  only  one,  though  a  very  serious  one, 


of  a  series  of  difficulties.  When  we  reflect  that  from 
September,  1870,  to  the  end  of  May,  1871,  the  entire 
life  of  the  nation,  and  particularly  of  Paris,  was  as 
it  were  suspended,  that  trade  and  commerce  were 
laid  aside,  engagements  deferred,  in  too  many  cases 
sine  die,  and  that  everything  had  to  be  taken  up 
and  set  going  again,  with  obstacles  of  all  kinds  in 
the  way,  dearness  of  money,  loss  of  machinery, 
plant,  and  stock,  and  what  is  -still  worse,  a  dimi- 
nution by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
workmen,  who  will  never  more  labour  or  suffer, 
the  prospect  is  indeed  a  sad  one;  and  from  it  we 
obtain  something  like  a  notion  of  the  miseries 
which  ambition,  war,  and  revolution  are  capable 
of  inflicting  on  an  unhappy  nation. 

It  is  well  that  history  is  imperfect;  for  a  true 
summary  of  all  the  crimes  and  sufferings,  the 
mental  and  bodily  torture,  the  destruction  and 
devastation  which  were  crowded  into  that  short 
space  of  time,  would  form  one  of  the  most  dreadful 
accounts  that  was  ever  exhibited  against  poor 
human  nature.  May  the  events  of  1870  and  1871 
close  the  era  of  war  and  revolutions,  and  may  Paris 
grow  more  prosperous  and  more  glorious;  richer 
and  richer  in  art,  literature,  and  industry;  gayer, 
brighter,  more  beautiful  than  ever ! 


CHAPTER    V. 


Parliamentary  Inquiry  into  the  Facts  of  the  Communist  Insurrection — Evidence  of  M.  Thiers  with  regard  to  it  and  Subsequent  Events — 
Evidence  of  M.  Cresson  and  the  Communists  of  October,  1870 — Extraordinary  Leniency  to  Prisoners —  Unpatriotic  Conduct  of  a 
Paris  Mayor — Evidence  of  General  Trochn — Strange  Opinions  and  Statements — M.  Jules  Favre's  Views — Evidence  and  Opinions  of 
Jules  Ferry,  Picard,  General  Aurelles  des  Paladiue,  Adam,  General  Le  Flo,  General  Vinoy,  Admiral  Saisset,  Marshal  MacMahon,  Marquis 
de  Ploeuc,  Corbon,  General  Cremer,  and  others. 


A  LONG  report,  occupying  two  volumes,  and  con- 
taining the  evidence  of  a  large  number  of  important 
witnesses  upon  the  events  of  the  disastrous  year 
1871,  furnishes  the  world  with  a  mass  of  very 
important  facts,  and  throws  light  upon  many  points 
in  its  history. 

The  testimony  of  M.  Thiers  occupies  the 
first  place.  He  said  the  government  had  no 
confidence  in  the  success  of  the  steps  to  retake 
the  guns  from  Montmartre,  but  it  was  impos- 
sible to  refrain  from  making  the  attempt.  After 
the  failure  of  this  undertaking,  M.  Thiers  says  he 
did  not  for  a  moment  hesitate  about  withdrawing 
the  army  from  contact  with  the  revolution.  "  On 
the  24th  of  February,"  he  adds,  "  when  matters 
had  already  taken  a  bad  turn,  the  king  of  Prussia 
asked  him  what  was  to  be  done,  and  I  answered 
that  we  must  leave  Paris,  and  return  there  with 
Marshal  Bugeaud  and  50,000  men."  Attempts  were 
made  to  get  together  such  of  the  national  guards 
as  were  still  to  be  depended  on,  but  all  the  drum- 
beating  and  exhortations  only  produced  from  500 
to  600. 

All  the  forts  except  Mont  Vale'rien  had  to  be 
evacuated,  because  they  would  have  required  8000 
men,  which  the  government  could  not  furnish. 
M.  Thiers  went  on  to  say  that,  during  the  first  fort- 
night that  he  was  at  Versailles,  he  was  anything 
but  easy  in  his  mind  ;  for  "  had  we  been  attacked 
by  70,000  to  80,000  men,  I  would  not  have 
answered  for  the  stanchness  of  the  army."  The 
Communist  leaders  told  the  people  of  Paris  some- 
thing like  this  over  and  over  again,  but  they  were 
not  believed  ;  and  they,  by  the  accounts  of  their 
own  generals,  never  could  get  together  anything 
like  that  number  of  trustworthy  troops. 

The  president  of  the  republic  naturally  concluded 
with  a  few  sentences  relating  to  the  subsequent 
state  of  affairs,  and  thus  excused,  or  rather  justified, 
the  facts  of  the  Assembly  remaining  at  Versailles, 
and  Paris  being  kept  in  a  state  of  siege.  "  I  con- 
VOL.  n. 


tinue  to  believe,"  he  says, "  that  while  standing  upon 
our  guard,  and  being  always  prepared  for  resist- 
ance, there  should  be  constant  moderation  in  the 
general  conduct  of  the  government,  which,  how- 
ever, does  not  exclude  either  assiduous  vigilance 
or  invincible  firmness." 

One  of  the  most  important  witnesses  examined 
was  M.  Cresson,  who  was  prefect  of  police  from 
November,  1870;  and  having  collected  1200  ser- 
gents  de  ville,  or  gardiens  de  la  paix  publique,  as 
they  were  called,  and  having  selected  twenty-two 
commissaries,  proceeded  to  arrest  the  Communists 
who  had  created  the  insurrection  of  the  31st 
October.  A  man  named  Chatelain,  known  as  an 
agent  of  the  Internationale,  in  whose  possession 
were  found  some  very  important  documents,  was 
arrested  in  his  own  apartments;  but  M.  Jules 
Ferry,  a  member  of  the  Government,  denied  the 
political  power  of  the  Internationale,  said  that  it 
was  composed  of  very  honest  men,  that  he  knew 
them,  and  that  he  had  pleaded  for  them  as  advo- 
cate. Chatelain  was  therefore  released.  About 
the  same  time  a  man  named  Ranvier,  a  fanatic 
capable  of  anything,  was  also  arrested.  He  had 
two  interesting  daughters,  and  begged  the  favour 
of  going  to  see  them.  The  juge  ^instruction  and 
the  procureur  de  la  republic  gave  him  forty-eight 
hours'  leave,  but  without  informing  the  prefect 
of  police  of  the  fact.  Ranvier  departed,  and 
appeared  that  very  night  at  the  Belleville  clubs, 
at  one  of  which  he  said:  "They  had  not  the 
courage  to  shoot  me.  We  will  have  that  courage, 
and  shoot  them."  Of  course  he  did  not  return  to 
prison. 

The  history  of  Felix  Pyat,  as  told  by  M. 
Cresson,  is  still  more  strange.  He  was  taken 
prisoner,  and  immediately  wrote  to  M.  E.  Arago, 
then  minister  of  Justice,  "  What  a  misfortune 
I  am  your  prisoner.  You  ought  to  be  my 
advocate."  M.  Arago  immediately  called  on  M. 
Cresson,  and  demanded  the  liberation  of  Pyat  as 
3d 


394 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


"  one  of  the  veterans  of  the  democracy."  M. 
Cresson  refused  to  comply,  but  three  days  later 
the  prisoner  was  released  by  an  order,  on  the 
ground  that  there  was  no  case  against  him. 

M.  Cresson  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  if,  after 
the  31st  October,  the  Communists  had  been  taken 
before  a  court-martial,  it  would  have  been  an  act 
of  justice,  and  would  have  given  immense  con- 
fidence to  the  majority  of  half  a  million  who,  on 
the  2nd  of  November,  had  voted  the  act  of  con- 
fidence in  the  government,  and  would  have  im- 
posed silence  on  the  50,000  or  60,000  bandits — 
this  is  M.  Cresson's  exact  expression — who  were 
in  opposition,  and  whom  it  was  necessary  to  put 
down.  Of  the  mayors  of  Paris,  M.  Cresson  says 
some  of  these  were  good  men,  but  a  great  many 
of  them  were  animated  by  the  most  detestable 
spirit.  It  must  be  remembered  that  there  are 
twenty  mayors  in  the  city,  each  powerful  in  his 
arrondissement,  or  district,  so  that  their  influence 
is  considerable  for  good  or  evil.  Bombs,  he  adds, 
were  being  manufactured  at  Montmartre,  and  the 
individual  who  specially  interested  himself  in  their 
fabrication  was  the  mayor  of  Montmartre,  M. 
Clemenceau !  When  this  was  discovered  he  at 
once  gave  up  600,  but  a  still  larger  number  was 
afterwards  found  in  his  possession ! 

M.  Cresson  demanded  the  closing  of  the  clubs, 
but  this  measure  was  not  carried  out  till  after  the 
22nd  of  January,  and  they  were  soon  opened 
again  after  the  capitulation  on  account  of  the 
elections;  during  which  time  public  meetings  are 
legal.  M.  Cresson  thinks  the  principal  cause  of 
the  insurrection  was  the  revolutionary  spirit  which 
had  been  engendered  during  the  siege,  by  per- 
mitting "  mayors  and  assistant  mayors  to  be  elected 
in  Paris  who  did  not  recognize  the  government." 
Many  people,  on  the  contrary,  think  that  the  cause 
of  the  success,  for  a  time,  of  a  Commune,  was  the 
refusal  of  the  government  to  give  the  Parisians 
the  use  of  their  municipal  rights !  Who  shall 
judge  between  the  advocates  of  arbitrary  govern- 
ment and  of  free  institutions? 

General  Trochu,  the  ex-governor  of  Paris,  was 
re-examined  before  the  commission,  and  his  views 
of  the  causes  of  the  insurrection  were  read  with 
astonishment.  He  considered  that  one  of  the 
first  causes  of  this  insurrection  was  the  relations 
of  the  empire  with  the  demagogues.  "  For 
myself,"  he  says,  "politically  speaking,  the  empire 
and   the   demagogy  were    Siamese    twin    brothers, 


although  in  reality  enemies."  The  general  is 
also  convinced  that  the  hand  of  Prussia  was  in 
all  the  difficulties  that  the  government  had  to 
contend  with  in  Paris,  and  that  M.  Bismarck  had 
his  allies  and  his  accomplices  in  the  clubs  and 
the  radical  press.  "  The  demagogues,"  he  says, 
"  organized  themselves  during  the  siege  to  the 
cry  of  guerre  a  outrance — war  to  the  knife,  as  we 
should  say  ;  but  once  masters  of  Paris,  in  posses- 
sion of  2000  pieces  of  artillery,  with  considerable 
provisions  of  all  kinds,  they  hastened  to  come  to 
an  understanding  with  the  Prussians,  and  were 
full  of  politeness  and  complaisance  to  them."  The 
general  further  declared  his  belief  that  "Dom- 
browski  was  an  agent  in  the  pay  of  the  enemy." 
The  ex-governor  added  a  good  deal  more  in  the 
same  strain,  but  nothing  sufficiently  circumstantial 
to  demand  quotation. 

General  Trochu  agreed  with  all  the  witnesses 
that  to  have  disarmed  the  national  guards  at  the 
time  of,  or  after  the  capitulation,  would  have  been 
impossible  ;  and  he  added  that  had  the  army  re- 
tained their  arms  Paris  might  have  been  kept 
quiet,  but  "  in  spite  of  all  the  arguments  and 
pleadings  of  himself  (the  general)  and  M.  Jules 
Favre,  M.  Bismarck  persisted  in  disarming  it.  He 
only  exhibited  any  consideration  for  the  national 
guard." 

When  we  remember  the  congratulations  of  the 
then  government  respecting  the  retention  of  the 
arms  of  the  national  guard,  these  revelations  and 
assertions  from  the  mouth  of  a  member  of  that 
government  fall  strangely  on  the  ear. 

M.  Jules  Favre  was  the  next  witness,  and  said, 
that  the  government  of  September  found  itself  in 
presence  of  a  vast  political  conspiracy,  better 
organized  than  could  have  been  imagined ;  but  he 
did  not  regard  the  members  of  the  Internationale 
as  the  leaders  in  the  insurrection  of  the  Commune 
of  the  18th  of  March.  He  believed  the  causes  to 
be  various  ;  first,  there  were  the  fortifications, 
which  rendered  the  resistance  possible  for  a  time  ; 
next  to  that,  the  moral  condition  of  the  city. 
During  the  siege  the  upper  and  intelligent  classes 
behaved  admirably,  but  towards  the  end  of  Janu- 
ary their  generous  patriotism  ran  into  extrava- 
gance. As  to  the  intermediate  classes,  M.  Jules 
Favre  declared  them  to  have  been  most  ignorant 
and  dangerous ;  and  the  working-classes,  with  some 
admirable  exceptions,  lost  during  the  siege  all  ideas 
of  morality  and  economy,  and  were  prepared  for 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


395 


anything  that  should  change  the  face  of  society 
and  satisfy  their  political  and  social  passions.  The 
monster  that  the  government  had  to  contend  with 
was  sketched  with  much  vigour  : — 

"  Every  day  new  legions  were  organized  in 
order  to  obtain  the  pay;  the  expense  amounted  to 
600,000or  700,000  francs  (£24,000  to£28,000)  per 
day;  the  situation  was  horrible  !  I  felt  sure  that 
if  we  should  succeed  in  passing  the  crisis  without, 
we  should  have  to  contend  with  the  crisis  within; 
you  cannot  place  arms  in  the  hands  of  so  many 
vagabonds  (niauvais  sujets)  without  having  to 
think  some  day  how  you  are  to  get  them  out  of 
them  again." 

M.  Favre  struck  a  right  chord  when  he  enumerated 
amongst  the  probable  occasions  of  the  insurrection 
the  absence  of  the  best  men  in  the  national  guard. 
Fatigued  with  their  five  months'  imprisonment 
and  poor  fare,  eager  to  clasp  again  in  their  arms 
their  loved  ones,  who  had  been  sent  all  over  Europe 
out  of  harm's  way,  those  who  had  the  means  rushed 
out  of  Paris  at  the  opening  of  the  gates,  little 
suspecting  what  would  spring  up  and  occupy  the 
vacuum  they  had  left  behind  them.  Again,  the 
entry  of  the  Prussians  exasperated  people's  minds; 
and  here  M.  Jules  Favre  read  his  countrymen  a 
lesson  which  they  would  do  well  to  study  care- 
fully. He  said,  "A  proclamation  "  (a  placard  would 
have  been  the  proper  word),  "  with  the  following 
sentence,  '  the  barbarians  halt  at  the  gates  of 
the  holy  city,'  furnished  M.  Bismarck  with  the 
last  pretext  for  insisting  on  the  occupation."  It 
would  be  well  to  remember  for  the  future  that  no 
one  likes  to  be  insulted,  and  that  probably  the 
Prussians  argued,  that  if  they  did  not  enter  Paris 
the  French  would  at  once  have  proclaimed  that 
they  were  afraid  to  do  so. 

M.  Jules  Favre  thought  that  "the  Internationale 
was  not  first  in  the  breach  on  the  18th  of  March, 
but  that  it  organized  the  victory,"  and  he  did  not 
agree  with  General  Trochu  with  respect  to  the  re- 
lations between  the  Prussians  and  the  demagogues 
during  the  siege. 

M.  Jules  Ferry,  ex-mayor  of  Paris,  whose  cor- 
respondence has  been  published,  proving  that  he 
was  a  good  deal  more  clear-sighted  than  some  of 
his  colleagues,  gave  an  extraordinary  account  of 
the  Belleville  men. 

"  At  the  end  of  September,  or  the  commencement 
of  October,"  he  says,  "we  were  much  surprised 
to  find  superior  arms  in  the  hands  of  the  Belle- 


ville battalion.  We  inquired  into  the  matter, 
and  learnt  that  it  was  Flourens  who  had  purchased 
and  paid  for  these  arms,  amongst  which  were  some 
Chassepots."  These  arms,  it  is  said,  were  purchased 
before  the  4th  of  September — the  end  of  the 
Empire. 

M.  Jules  Ferry  gave  an  account  of  his  visit  to 
Belleville  with  a  flag ;  it  appears  that  the  flag  had 
been  asked  for  some  time  before,  and  evidently 
not  given.  Now,  some  one  on  the  staff  fancied 
that  if  it  were  sent  it  would  be  a  mark  of  con- 
fidence and  esteem  to  the  tirailleurs  of  Flourens 
— for  whom,  it  is  added  strangely  enough, 
General  Trochu  had  sympathy — and  the  govern- 
ment might  thence  draw  some  good  soldiers  for 
the  defence;  and  so  M.  Ferry  was  deputed  to 
deliver  the  flag  into  the  hands  of  the  legionnaires 
of  Belleville.  "  But,"  says  M.  Ferry,  "  I  was  very 
ill  received,  I  was  mistrusted  by  this  population. 
I  saw  there  men  who  only  thought  of  one  thing, 
namely,  to  explain  to  me  why  they  would  not  go 
out?  One  of  them  said  to  me,  'I  cannot  quit  the 
city,  for  the  reactionary  party  has  become  master 
of  it,'  and  he  went  into  his  house.  Do  you  know," 
said  M.  Ferry,  "what  was  done  with  that  flag  ?  The 
guards  tore  it  in  pieces  before  reaching  the 
trenches,  saying,  '  This  flag  which  they  have 
brought  to  us  is  intended  to  denounce  us  to  the 
Prussians ;  they  have  given  us  a  special  flag  to  show 
where    the    Belleville  men  are,  so  that  Bismarck 


may  massacre  us 


M.  Picard  exculpated  the  Communists  from 
the  crime  of  assassinating  Generals  Lecomte  and 
Clement  Thomas.  "  Bonapartist  agents  played  a 
great  part  in  the  insurrection  of  Montmartre.  The 
day  Generals  Lecomte  and  Clement  Thomas  were 
killed,  a  young  naval  officer  whom  I  know  inti- 
mately, and  who  had  a  narrow  escape  of  being  shot 
with  them,  came  to  tell  me  how  they  were  assassi- 
nated. It  was  the  regular  soldiers  who  were  the 
assassins.  A  person  wearing  the  uniform  of  an 
officer  of  marines  commanded  the  firing  party. 
Had  it  not  been  for  him,  the  generals  would  have 
been  released.  Nobody  knows  what  has  become 
of  this  officer.  The  naval  officer  of  whom  I  speak 
remained  in  Paris,  and  sought  in  all  directions 
to  find  out  where  the  murderer  was,  but  without 
success." 

This  is  very  horrible,  but  the  following  is  not 
less  so.  It  was  admitted  in  the  evidence  before 
this  commission,  that  the  government    was  very 


396 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


anxious  to  prepare  for  a  capitulation  and  guard 
against  a  civil  war  by  getting  the  Bellevillites 
slaughtered.  The  ill-starred  CMment  Thomas 
entered  into  this  patriotic  scheme,  which  Ducrot 
discountenanced.  This  warrior  told  Trochu  and 
his  colleagues,  when  they  asked  his  opinion,  that 
they  would  find  it  harder  than  they  supposed  to 
get  10,000  Nationals  slaughtered  in  battle. 

General  Aurelles  des  Paladine,  a  severe  soldier, 
very  accurate  as  to  fact,  and  having  a  rare  memory, 
made  an  excellent  witness.  He  gave  a  sketch  of 
the  councils  of  the  government  of  the  National 
Defence,  which  will  not  easily  be  forgiven  by 
those  who  are  there  shown  up.  He  says: — "  M. 
Thiers  was  at  Bordeaux,  where  he  arrived  on  the 
15th  March.  M.  Jules  Favre,  who  remained  in 
Paris,  had  the  direction  of  the  branch  of  govern- 
ment installed  there.  His  colleagues  were  M. 
Picard,  minister  of  the  Interior,  and  M.  Pouyer- 
Quertier,  minister  of  Finance.  All  the  other 
ministers  were  replaced  by  their  first  secretaries,  or 
heads  of  sections.  M.  Jules  Favre  informed  me 
that  the  cabinet  council  met  every  evening  towards 
nine  o'clock,  and  requested  me  to  be  present  at  its 
sittings.  I  went  every  evening  on  his  invitation. 
The  opinion  that  I  formed  from  what  I  saw  at 
the  council-board  was,  that  in  the  grave  and 
difficult  situation  in  which  the  country  found 
itself  little  was  to  be  hoped  from  the  efforts  of 
the  ministers.  Their  meetings  generally  began 
at  half-past  nine.  Sometimes  the  council  only 
opened  at  eleven  at  night,  because  the  members 
did  not  arrive  sooner.  The  proceedings  com- 
menced by  a  few  words  about  public  business,  or 
state  affairs.  The  rest  of  the  time  was  passed  in 
gay  conversation,  M.  Picard  laying  himself  out 
to  crack  jokes  and  tell  good  stories.  M.  Jules 
Favre  did  not  talk  much,  but  his  colleague  of  the 
Interior  was  hardly  ever  silent.  If  he  could  not 
keep  up  an  amusing  conversation  with  his  neigh- 
bour on  the  right,  he  tried  what  he  could  do  with 
the  one  on  the  left.  I  admit  this  was  not  business- 
like; but  what  I  say  is  literally  true.  The  talk 
and  fun  went  on  till  one  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Occasionally  a  despatch  was  brought  from  the  pre- 
fecture of  the  police,  from  a  ministry,  or  from  the 
staff,  to  keep  us  informed  of  the  situation.  General 
Vinoy  often  lost  patience.  He  sat  next  me,  and  we 
used  to  say  that  it  was  pure  loss  of  time  for  us  to 
attend  those  ministerial  councils.  As  commander  of 
the  national  guard,   I  chiefly  corresponded  with 


M.  Picard.  I  gave  him  a  daily  report  of  what  was 
going  on.  His  answer  generally  was,  '  Oh,  it's 
nothing.  We're  used  to  that  sort  of  thing.  You 
know  of  what  curious  stuff  the  population  of  Paris 
is  made.'  M.  Picard  was  incredibly  careless  in 
business  matters.  Here  is  an  instance.  The 
officers  of  the  national  guard  who  were  mobilized 
had  been  promised  a  rise  of  salary,  and  the  same 
pecuniary  advantages  as  the  officers  of  the  Line; 
that  is  to  say,  an  indemnity  for  their  outfit.  These 
advantages  were  formally  promised.  But  as  the 
siege  dragged  on,  the  government  began  to  repent 
of  saddling  the  state  with  such  a  heavy  expense. 
It  was  then  decided  that  no  allowance  for  outfits 
was  to  be  made.  However,  a  compensation  of 
some  sort  was  necessary,  and  it  was  finally  arranged 
that  two  months'  extra  pay  was  to  be  given  as 
a  remuneration  for  the  cost  of  uniforms,  &c. 
The  first  month  was  paid  in  February,  but  not 
the  second.  When  1  took  the  command  of  the 
national  guard,  I  was  overwhelmed  with  demands 
and  complaints.  I  understood  nothing  of  the 
matter,  and  asked  an  explanation  from  a  member 
of  my  staff,  who  gave  me  a  very  clear  one. 
In  consequence  of  what  he  told  me  I  at  once 
waited  on  M.  Picard,  to  demand  the  entire  fulfil- 
ment of  the  engagement  made  by  the  government. 
He  received  me  in  his  gay,  jaunty  way,  and  when 
I  told  him  on  what  errand  I  had  come,  he  said, 
'  Make  your  mind  easy,  and  pay  them  the  other 
month.'  '  But  I  must  have  the  order.'  '  Noth- 
ing easier,  I  shall  give  you  one.  Yes,  I  shall  see 
that  you  are  given  one.'  '  But,'  I  interrupted,  '  it 
must  be  a  written  order.'  'You  shall  have  one; 
go  and  tell  those  officers  that  the  matter  is  all 
settled.'  I  went,  as  I  was  authorized,  and  thought 
the  affair  was  arranged;  but  the  complaints  and 
demands,  I  found,  went  on.  Numbers  of  officers 
came  to  claim  what  was  due  to  them,  and  I  put 
them  off  with  quotations  from  M.  Picard.  At 
length  I  summoned  my  principal  staff  officer, 
Eoger  du  Nord,  and  instructed  him  to  prove  to 
the  duns  that  what  was  due  to  them  would  most 
certainly  be  paid.  He  objected,  telling  me  that 
the  shortest  way  was  to  pay  the  debt  at  once. 
I  positively  refused  to  do  this,  unless  furnished 
with  M.  Picard's  written  order,  for  the  sum  total 
amounted  to  900,000  francs.  M.  Roger  du  Nord 
then  went  to  expostulate  with  the  minister  of  the 
Interior,  and  to  inform  him  of  my  determination. 
Pressed  in  this  way,  M.  Picard  turned  round  and 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


397 


refused  plump  to  give  any  order.  '  Since  the 
money  is  not  paid,'  he  said  'let  them  wait  some 
time  longer  for  their  indemnity."  The  18th  of 
March  came  round  a  few  days  later,  and  from 
that  day  to  this  not  a  centime  of  the  indemnity 
has  been  paid." 

Mr.  Adam,  prefect  of  police  under  the  govern- 
ment of  the  National  Defence,  together  with  MM. 
Favre,  Ferry,  and  Arago,  denied  that  there  was 
any  connection  between  the  Communists  and 
the  enemy;  but  he  gave  the  following  sketch 
of  the  Bonapartist  machinations: — "Before  the 
31st  October  my  attention  was  called  to  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Bonapartists.  I  quietly  attended 
to  this  matter,  and  did  my  best  to  follow  the  con- 
spirators secretly.  It  was  difficult  to  track  them, 
owing  to  the  Bonapartist  composition  of  the  police. 
The  presence  of  General  Fleury  was  reported  to 
me.  I  am  unable  to  prove  it;  but  this  much  I 
know,  that  a  very  important  member  of  the 
imperialist  party  entered  Paris  in  October.  It 
was  only  at  a  later  period  that  I  understood  why 
he  came.  Towards  the  end  of  October  the  Bona- 
partists plucked  up  courage,  and  managed  to  send 
emissaries  backwards  and  forwards  through  the 
Prussian  lines  in  the  direction  of  Reims.  I  cannot 
affirm  in  how  far  these  movements  were  connected 
with  the  insurrection  of  the  31st  October.  Sub- 
sequent to  this  date,  the  Bonapartist  agents  who 
were  introduced  into  Paris  disappeared  as  if  by 
enchantment.  I  quitted  the  prefecture  shortly 
after,  and  it  was  only  when  I  heard  of  the  capitu- 
lation of  Metz  that  I  understood  the  gravity  of 
the  intrigues  which  had  been  signalized  to  me." 

A  very  important  witness,  General  Le  Flo, 
minister  of  War  during  the  siege,  went  to  Bordeaux 
in  February,  and  only  entered  Paris  on  the  17th 
of  March,  the  day  before  the  insurrection  broke 
out  openly.  He  found  the  government  occupied 
with  the  plans  of  the  attack  on  Belleville  and 
Montmartre.  The  army  then  numbered  about 
40,000.  After  the  failure  of  the  above  attack 
General  Le  Flo  went  to  M.  Thiers,  and  they 
together  went  to  see  General  Vinoy.  From  that 
time  the  president  of  the  council  thought  that 
if  the  situation  did  not  improve  in  the  afternoon, 
there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  evacu- 
ate Paris.  At  six  in  the  evening  the  minister 
of  War  and  General  Vinoy  were  of  opinion  that 
it  was  necessary  to  quit  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  the 
prefecture  of  police,  the  Luxembourg  palace,  and 


the  Palais  de  l'lndustrie  in  the  Champs  Elysees. 
The  government  was  much  opposed  to  such  a 
course.  A  discussion  then  took  place  respecting 
the  holding  of  the  Ecole  Militaire  and  the  Tro- 
cadero ;  but  General  Le  F16  maintained  that  there 
must  be  no  half  measures,  and  that  to  remain 
twelve  hours  longer  in  Paris  was  running  the 
risk  of  not  taking  one  single  regiment  back  to 
Versailles  entire.  Such,  though  General  Le  F16 
did  not  say  so  in  as  many  words,  was  the  small 
confidence  which  the  generals  entertained  towards 
the  army.  Finally,  General  Le  F16  gave  an  order 
in  writing  to  General  Vinoy,  to  abandon  all  the 
points  which  the  army  then  occupied  in  the 
interior  of  Paris.  "  It  was  I,"  says  the  general, 
"who  gave  this  order;  it  is  I  who  am  responsible 
for  it ;  I  am  glad  of  the  opportunity  of  asserting 
the  fact.  .  .  Consequently,  if  there  be  any 
merit  in  the  act,  I  am  glad  to  claim  it."  It  is 
added  that  M.  Thiers  had,  at  the  time  in  question, 
already  left  Paris  for  Versailles. 

With  respect  to  leaving  the  arms  in  the  hands 
of  the  national  guards,  General  Le  Flo  was  decidedly 
of  opinion  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
have  taken  them  from  them: — "If  we  had  at- 
tempted to  disarm  them  at  the  moment  of  the 
capitulation,  we  should  certainly  have  failed.  We 
should  have  had  to  fight  a  battle  in  Paris  which 
would  have  lasted,  perhaps,  three  days,  and  we 
had  but  three  days'  provisions;  the  consequence 
would  have  been  famine  at  the  end  of  that  period, 
with  250,000  Prussians  encircling  us."  The  gen- 
eral is,  however,  of  opinion  that  while  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  disarm  the  national 
guards,  a  great  fault  was  committed  in  allowing 
the  disarmed  troops  to  re-enter  Paris  during  the 
armistice;  they  became  perverted,  and  thus  aided 
the  demagogues  in  arms  to  carry  out  their  schemes. 
This  supposed  effect  of  an  enraged  and  demoralized 
army  sounds  like  truth. 

The  commission  of  inquiry  then  interrogated 
General  Le  Flo  concerning  the  evacuation  of  the 
forts,  and  if  he  assumed  the  responsibility  of  it. 
The  general  replied  : — "  The  forts  were  evacu- 
ated without  my  knowledge,  and  it  was  not  until 
five  or  six  days  after  the  fact  that  I  was  informed 
of  it.  It  had  never  entered  my  brain  that  such  an 
act  could  have  been  committed."  The  fact  of  such 
a  proceeding  remaining  unknown  to  the  minister 
of  War  for  nearly  a  week,  shows  what  a  state  of 
disorganization  must  have  existed  everywhere. 


398 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


In  conclusion,  General  Le  F16  attributed  the 
insurrection  of  the  18th  March  principally  to  the 
discontent  of  the  national  guards.  He  considered 
"it  was  a  grand  mistake  not  to  have  employed 
them  more,  for  they  would  have  fought  very  well. 
I  told  General  Trochu  twenty  times  that  he  was 
wrong  in  making  no  use  of  them  ;  that  he  would  be 
forced  to  do  so  some  day,  and  then  he  would  not 
have  the  credit  of  the  initiative.  General  Trochu 
was  not  disinclined  to  employ  them  ;  and  I  must 
add  that  the  man  who  was  absolutely  opposed  to  it 
was  General  Ducrot." 

General  Vinoy  who  was  commander-in-chief  of 
the  army  of  Paris  at  the  time  the  insurrection  broke 
out,  was  the  next  witness,  and  a  very  important 
one.  M.  Thiers,  it  appears,  before  quitting  Paris 
for  Versailles,  had  given  a  written  order  to  the 
effect  that  all  the  troops  then  in  the  south  forts 
should  be  collected  at  Versailles.  The  general 
said  he  was  opposed  to  the  attempt  to  take  the 
cannon  from  Montmartre ;  he  recommended  instead 
that  the  payment  of  those  who  had  them  in  their 
possession,  the  allowance  of  fifteen  pence  a  day, 
should  be  stopped  ;  but  he  could  not  get  the  govern- 
ment to  agree  to  this,  nor  could  he  get  the  leaders 
Henry,  Duval,  Razoua,  and  others,  arrested  as  he 
wished.  The  government  declared  that  it  had  not 
the  means,  and  suggested  that  the  troops  under 
him,  the  commander-in-chief,  should  do  it  ;  but  he 
replied  that  with  12,000  in  a  city  in  which  the 
national  guards  had  300,000  muskets  in  their  hands, 
it  was  impossible.  The  commission  asked  the 
general  whether  the  attempt  to  retake  the  guns  was 
not  compromised  by  the  unfortunate  delay  in  bring- 
ing up  the  necessary  horses  to  take  away  the  can- 
nons ;  he  admitted  the  delay,  but  said  that  there 
were  600  guns  to  be  taken  away,  and  that  each 
required  from  four  to  eight  horses.  Seventy  pieces 
were  got  away ;  but  it  would  have  taken  three  days 
to  have  removed  them  all,  and  the  insurrectionists 
might  have  taken  others  from  the  ramparts  during 
the  time. 

In  connection  with  this  question  of  removing  the 
guns,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  Communists 
took  them  away,  and  got  them  to  the  top  of  Mont- 
martre with  much  less  than  eight,  or  even  four, 
horses  to  each.  We  saw  many  of  them  taken  from 
the  Artillery  Park  in  the  Avenue  Wagram,  first 
by  two  or  four  horses,  but  afterwards  by  troops 
of  men,  women,  and  children,  who  made  quite  an 
amusement  of  the  affair.     It  would  seem  almost  as 


though  General  Vinoy  desired  to  shield  the  ill  will 
of  the  regulars  as  much  as  possible,  which  was  not 
unnatural ;  for  had  there  been  the  will,  it  does  not 
appear  that  the  way  to  get  the  guns  down  could 
not  have  been  found. 

Another  important  point  mentioned  by  the 
general  was  the  temporary  vacation  of  Mont  Val£- 
rien  ;  he  was  aghast  when  he  found  that  the  order 
to  withdraw  the  troops  from  the  southern  forts  had 
been  applied  to  Valerien,  and  he  immediately  went 
to  see  M.  Thiers  on  the  subject.  This  was  in  the 
morning  of  the  20th  of  March.  The  account  of 
the  interview  is  quite  dramatic ;  the  general  says  : 
— "  I  went  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  see 
M.  Thiers.  He  was  in  bed,  and  I  had  an  explana- 
tion with  him.  He  said,  '  But  what  troops  will 
you  put  in  Mont  Valerien  ? '  I  answered  :  '  You 
know  that  I  sent  you  the  119th  of  the  Line  to  Ver- 
sailles, to  clean  and  take  possession  of  the  town  ; 
this  regiment  is  well  commanded,  and  it  is  that 
which  should  be  sent  to  Mont  Valerien,  and  that 
immediately.'  M.  Thiers  agreed  to  sign  the  order 
which  I  asked  for ;  I  then  went  in  search  of  the 
colonel  of  the  119th,  and  asked  him  where  his  men 
were.  The  answer  was  that  they  were  distributed 
here  and  there  all  over  the  town."  Three  hundred 
men  were  soon  got  together  and  sent  off  with  an 
escort  of  cavalry  to  Mont  Valerien,  which  other- 
wise would  doubtless  have  been  occupied  by  the 
Communists,  thus  rendering  the  position  of  the 
government  infinitely  worse  even  than  it  was. 
It  will  not  be  forgotten  that  it  was  this  fortress 
which  afterwards  destroyed  the  Communist  forces 
marching  towards  Versailles  under  Flourens  (who 
fell  on  the  occasion)  and  other  leaders;  and  that  no 
second  attempt  was  ever  made  in  that  direction. 

With  respect  to  the  other  forts,  General  Vinoy 
was  of  opinion  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
abandon  them  on  account  of  the  disorganized  state 
of  the  army.  Besides,  it  was  impossible  to  revictual 
them  without  the  means  of  transport ;  and,  more- 
over, they  were  within  reach  of  the  fire  from  the 
cannon  on  the  ramparts  of  the  city. 

The  above  evidence  shows  what  a  condition  the 
army  was  reduced  to !  As  to  the  condition  at  head- 
quarters, it  is  shown  by  the  evidence  of  Generals 
Le  Flo  and  Vinoy,  that  the  order  to  evacuate  Paris 
emanated  from  the  minister  of  War,  and  that  for  the 
evacuation  of  the  forts  from  M.  Thiers ;  but  neither 
thought  it  worth  while  to  consult  the  council  of 
ministers  on  the  subject,  nor  was  the  commander- 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


399 


In-chief  informed  of  what  M.  Thiers  had  done  ;  he 
left  him  and  the  minister  of  War  to  find  it  out  for 
themselves ! 

Admiral  de  Saisset,  who  is  known  to  be  a  brave 
old  sailor,  was  one  of  the  worst  witnesses  possible; 
his  thoughts  were  confused,  and  his  assertions  loose 
and  careless  in  the  extreme;  he  contradicted  those 
with  whom  he  had  acted,  and  was  contradicted 
by  them.  He  said  that  Dombrowski,  Engel,  and 
Veysset,  all  dead,  were  traitors  in  the  Communist 
camp.  He  admitted  against  himself,  that  he  was 
sent  from  Versailles  to  amuse  the  Parisians  by 
promises,  which  he  knew  the  government  did  not 
intend  to  keep;  M.  Thiers,  said  the  Admiral,  never 
had  the  slightest  intention  of  making  any  com- 
promise with  the  Commune.  How  the  govern- 
ment could  have  chosen  such  an  agent  for  such  an 
employment  is  beyond  understanding;  and  how  it 
could  venture  to  send  him  before  the  commission 
to  be  examined,  is  equally  extraordinary. 

Marshal  MacMahon's  evidence  was,  of  course, 
almost  entirely  military;  he  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  conduct  of  matters  in  Paris  previous  to  the 
Commune,  as  he  only  returned  from  Germany  on 
the  17th  of  March,  the  very  day  before  the  out- 
break. He  was  immediately  offered  the  command 
of  the  government  troops;  he  only  accepted  it  on 
the  6th  of  April.  The  marshal's  description  of 
the  second  line  of  defence  within  the  fortifications 
at  Auteuil  and  Passy,  to  some  extent  confirms  the 
charges  of  treachery  made  by  others  against  Dom- 
browski. The  insurgents  had  made  themselves, 
he  says,  a  position  of  immense  strength,  by  cren- 
elating  the  railway  viaduct  near  Point  du  Jour, 
and  loopholding  all  the  houses  and  garden  walls 
around ;  they,  together,  formed  a  kind  of  fortress 
extending  from  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  to  the 
Seine.  The  evidence  of  the  marshal  seems  to 
prove  that  the  insurgent  troops  had  been  drawn 
by  their  leaders  from  this  strong  position,  so  that 
the  marshal  obtained  easy  access,  through  Auteuil 
and  Passy,  to  the  central  portions  of  the  city. 
But  turning  and  carrying  barricades  afterwards, 
he  lost  600  men,  killed,  and  had  7000  wounded. 
He  describes  the  struggle  as  far  more  serious  than 
generally  represented.  The  insurgents  profited 
by  all  the  defences  thrown  up  against  the 
Germans,  to  oppose  the  government  troops,  and 
cause  the  victory  to  be  sanguinary.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  struggle,  says  the  marshal,  the  in- 
surgents were  intensely  excited,  and  numbers   of 


them  fought  with  great  energy.  The  red  bags 
on  the  barricades  were,  in  some  cases,  defended 
to  the  last  man.  They  appeared  convinced  that 
they  were  fighting  in  a  sacred  cause,  and  for  the 
independence  of  Paris.  Their  enthusiasm  the 
marshal  believed  to  be  genuine.  Eight  days  after 
the  commencement  of  the  struggle,  the  case  was 
altered,  a  moral  collapse  had  occurred;  the  pris- 
oners declared  that  they  only  took  up  arms 
because  they  could  not  help  it,  that  they  served 
the  Commune  in  order  to  obtain  bread,  &c. 

When  Kossel  was  arrested,  he  was  taken  before 
Marshal  MacMahon,  who  says  that  he  denied  he 
was  Bossel;  he  seemed  confused,  broken,  bewil- 
dered. After  being  questioned  he  became  con- 
fused, and  at  length  said — "Well,  I  am  Col. 
Rossel,  I  am  tired  of  concealing  my  name;  I  am 
at  length  delivered  from  the  miserable  life  I  have 
long  been  leading."  From  that  moment  he  was 
himself  again,  and  recovered  his  natural  ease  of 
manner  and  self-possession.  He  was  under  the 
impression  that  he  would  be  shot  on  the  instant, 
and  said  to  the  commissary  of  police  charged  to 
interrogate  him,  "  All  I  ask  is,  that  they  will 
allow  twenty-four  hours  to  elapse  before  my  exe- 
cution." 

The  president  asked,  "  Did  the  women  par- 
ticipate in  the  wild  excitement  of  the  men  ?  " 

"  Yes,  near  Montmartre  especially,  they  insulted 
and  reviled  the  soldiers." 

"  After  the  taking  of  Paris,  were  there  many 
cases  of  assassination?" 

"Very  few.  All  the  time  I  was  in  Paris,  only 
four  soldiers  and  an  officer  were  fired  at. " 

"Is  it  true  that  there  were  many  cases  of  poi- 
soning?" 

"I  only  heard  of  one.  I  was  told  that  a  man 
was  taken  to  the  ambulance  in  the  Champs  Elys^es, 
directed  by  Dr.  Chenu.  He  had  violent  colics ; 
and  there  was  an  idea  that  he  had  been  poisoned. 
Doctors  Chenu  and  Larrey,  who  examined  him, 
were  of  this  opinion.  I  heard  that  the  man 
ultimately  died,  and  that  he  had  been  poisoned 
by  a  woman,  who  offered  him  a  drink.  Xo  other 
case  of  the  kind  ever  came  to  my  knowledge." 

"  Can  you  tell  us  the  number  of  insurgents  shot 
in  Paris?" 

"  When  men  surrender  their  arms  it  is  admitted 
that  they  should  not  be  shot.  Unhappily,  in 
different  places  my  instructions  to  this  effect  were 
forgotten.      I    believe,    however,    the    number    of 


400 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING, 


executions  in  cold  blood  lias  been  greatly  exag- 
gerated. " 

"How  many  were  killed  fighting?" 
"  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  say.     I  don't  know. " 
"A  general  tells  me  that   17,000  were  killed 
fighting  in  the  streets  and  on  the  barricades?" 

"I  don't  know  what  data  he  has  to  go  upon. 
But  it  appears  to  me  that  his  estimate  is  ex- 
aggerated. All  I  can  say  is,  that  the  insurgents 
lost  a  great  many  more  than  we  did." 

There  are  ample  proofs  on  record  that  Mac- 
Mahon's  orders  were  disregarded.  Major  Garcia, 
on  his  own  showing,  was  one  of  those  who  forgot 
Mac  Mali on's  orders  not  to  shoot  prisoners  in  cold 
blood.  He  gave  a  dramatic  account  of  Milliere's 
execution,  at  which  he  presided,  on  the  steps  of 
the  Pantheon.  "  He  (Milliere)  was  brought  to  us 
while  we  were  breakfasting  in  a  restaurant  in  the 
Rue  Tournon.  He  was  surrounded  by  an  infu- 
riated crowd,  which  threatened  to  tear  him  in  pieces. 
I  said  to  him,  'You  are  Milliere?'  'Yes,'  he 
answered,  '  but  you  are  aware  that  I  am  a  deputy.' 
'  Possibly.  And  it  also  happens  that  there  is  a 
deputy  here  to  identify  you.  M.  de  Quinsonas 
cannot  fail  to  recognize  you.'  I  then  told  him 
that  the  general's  orders  were  to  shoot  him. 
'Why?'  'I  don't  know  you  personally,  but  I 
have  read  your  articles  with  indignant  loathing. 
You  are  a  viper  on  whose  head  one  likes  to  tread. 
You  detest  society.'  He  cut  me  short,  saying, 
with  a  significant  expression,  '  Yes,  I  detest  this 
society.'  '  Very  good.  Society  in  her  turn  will 
cast  you  from  her  bosom.  I  am  going  to  have 
you  shot.'  '  Your  summary  justice  is  barbarous 
and  cruel.'  '  And  all  your  cruelties !  Have  you 
thought  of  them?  At  all  events,  you  say  you're 
Milliere,  and  that's  enough  for  us.'  Orders  were 
then  given  for  him  to  be  taken  to  the  steps  of  the 
Pantheon  (a  church !),  and  there  executed.  He 
was  commanded  to  go  on  his  knees,  and  demand 
pardon  of  society  for  the  evil  he  had  done ;  but  he 
refused  to  be  shot  kneeling.  I  then  said  to  him, 
'  It's  the  order;  you  mustn't  be  shot  in  any  other 
posture.'  He  attempted  to  go  through  the  farce 
of  opening  his  shirt  and  presenting  his  bare  breast 
to  the  firing  party,  on  which  I  called  out,  '  You 
want  to  show  off.  I  suppose  you  wish  it  to  be 
Baid  in  what  way  you  met  death.  Die  tranquilly, 
and  it  will  be  better  for  you.'  '  I  have  a  right  in 
my  own  interest,  and  in  the  interest  of  my  cause, 
to  die  as  I  have  a  mind.'      'With  all  my  heart; 


but  kneel,  I  command  you.'  '  Not  unless  I  am 
forced  by  two  men.'  Two  men  were  told  off  to 
put  him  on  his  knees.  The  firing  party  was  drawn 
out ;  Milliere  cried  out,  Vive  VliurnaniU.  He 
was  going  to  cry  out  something  else  when  he  fell." 
The  next  witness  examined  by  the  commission 
was  the  marquis  de  Plceuc,  the  under  governor  of 
the  bank  of  France,  who  gave  an  interesting 
account  of  the  difficulties  of  his  position  under 
the  Commune.  When  the  army  left  Paris  on  the 
18th  of  March  the  bank  had  in  its  possession,  in 
bullion,  notes,  deeds,  shares,  plate,  and  jewels, 
an  amount  equal  to  very  nearly  £97,000,000  ster- 
ling! The  bank  at  this  moment  represented, 
more  completely  than  it  had  ever  done,  the 
credit  of  the  country;  for  had  it  been  invaded 
and  pillaged  by  the  Commune,  it  is  difficult  to  say 
what  might  not  have  happened,  with  one-third  of 
France  in  the  occupation  of  foreigners,  and  an 
enormous  debt  to  be  paid  almost  immediately. 
M.  Rouland,  the  governor  of  the  bank,  went 
immediately  to  Versailles,  and  from  the  23rd 
March  M.  de  Ploeuc  acted  as  governor.  On  the 
evening  before  the  bank  had  paid  1,000,000 
francs  (£40,000)  to  Jourde,  Varlin,  and  Billioray, 
to  enable  them  to  pay  the  national  guard,  and  to 
assist  their  wives  and  children.  It  was  impossible 
for  the  bank  to  transfer  itself  to  Versailles,  and  it 
was  determined  to  accede  to  all  demands  actually 
necessary,  to  prevent  its  being  invaded  by  the 
Communists.  But  already  a  second  1,000,000 
francs  had  been  demanded  by  Jourde  and  Varlin, 
who  talked  about  taking  radical  measures  if  their 
demands  were  not  promptly  complied  with.  The 
second  million  was  paid.  After  the  proclamation 
of  the  Commune,  M.  Beslay,  who  had  first  been 
named  governor  of  the  bank,  but  who  finally 
declined  that  title,  was  named  delegate  of  the 
Commune  at  the  bank,  and  entered  into  possession. 
M.  Beslay  then  rendered  such  services  to  the  bank 
as  obtained  for  him  the  means  of  passing  into 
Switzerland  without  hinderance.  The  truth,  says 
M.  de  Plceuc,  demands  that  it  should  be  known 
that  it  was  by  the  influence,  energy,  and  acuteness 
of  M.  Beslay  that  the  bank  was  enabled  to  main- 
tain its  battalion  of  guards,  formed  of  its  own 
officers  and  servants,  for  its  defence.  From  the 
6th  of  April  there  were  fears  that  M.  de  Plceuc 
would  be  arrested,  so  that  he  was  compelled  to 
abstain  from  regular  attendance  at  the  bank,  and 
the  council  met  at  the  house  of  one  of  the  regents. 


AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


401 


The  situation  grew  worse  and  worse.  A  paper 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Communal  leaders  which 
led  them  to  suppose  that  the  crown  diamonds  were 
deposited  in  the  bank,  and  it  required  great  deter- 
mination and  patience  to  prove  to  them  that  this 
was  not  the  case.  By  about  the  12th  of  May  the 
difficulties  became  terrible.  Jourde  pretended 
that  the  bank  was  accused  of  being  used  as 
the  resort  of  Versailles  conspirators,  and  as  a 
magazine  for  arms.  It  was  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  that  the  occupation  of  the  establishment 
was  prevented ;  but  at  last  it  was  agreed  that 
previous  notice  should  be  given  to  M.  Beslay,  the 
delegate.  Had  the  Commune  got  possession,  it  is 
impossible  to  say  at  what  cost  they  could  have 
been  satisfied.  The  dangers  had  risen  to  the 
highest  pitch  on  the  23rd  of  May.  The  troops 
had  been  in  Paris  for  forty-eight  hours,  but  the 
bank  was  not  protected,  and  the  fires  which  sprang 
up  on  all  sides  approached  nearer  and  nearer  to 
the  building.  It  was  not  till  the  morning  of  the 
24th  that  General  l'H^riller  made  his  way  to  the 
bank,  and   there  established  his  head-quarters. 

The  finale  of  this  story  is  that  the  Bank  of  France 
managed  to  escape  by  paying  over  to  the  Commu- 
nal leaders,  in  all,  the  amount  of  7,290,000  francs 
or  £291,600,  not  more  than  a  three-hundredth 
part  of  its  stores. 

M.  Corbon,  another  witness,  gave  an  insight  into 
a  new  matter ;  he  was  formerly  one  of  the  maires  of 
Paris,  and  during  the  Commune  period  he  was  one 
of  the  principal  members  of  the  Republican  Union 
League,  which  is  mentioned  in  the  early  portion 
of  our  notice  of  the  Commune,  but  about  which  it 
was  next  to  impossible  to  get  fill  iher  information. 

The  republican  league  must  be  regarded  as 
representing  the  real  grievances  out  of  which  the 
Commune  sprang,  but  as  opposed  to  the  Com- 
munistic leaders ;  in  other  words,  the  league, 
according  to  M.  Corbon,  represented  the  ardent 
desire  of  the  Parisian  population  for  municipal 
franchise,  and  formed  a  sort  of  moral  shelter  for 
those  citizens,  who,  although  very  ill  pleased  with 
the  Versailles  government,  would  not  act  with  the 
Commune. 

The  first  idea  of  the  league  was  to  act  as 
intermediary  between  Paris  and  Versailles;  a 
deputation  from  amongst  its  members  placed 
itself  in  communication  with  M.  Thiers  to 
ascertain  on  what  conditions  he  would  consent 
to  treat.  These  conditions  were  stated,  and  M. 
vol.  n. 


Corbon  does  not  seem  to  consider  that  they  were 
exaggerated.  The  next  thing  was  to  ascertain 
those  of  the  Commune;  the  league  therefore  sent 
delegates  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  but  they  were 
very  ill  received,  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety 
declaring  the  members  of  the  league  to  be  its 
worst  enemies,  and  that  they  were  undermining  the 
defence  to  the  profit  of  Versailles.  Some  members 
of  the  Commune,  however,  Vermorel  and  others, 
took  a  different  view  of  the  matter,  exhorted  the 
League  not  to  lose  courage — "  Continue  your 
work,"  said  Vermorel ;  "  the  league  may  yet  save 
all,  may  save  Paris,  and  may  save  us  from  our- 
selves and  from  this  frightful  war." 

The  last  attempt  of  the  league  was  on  the 
23rd  of  May,  when  the  Commune  was  in  dissolu- 
tion, but  the  Central  Committee  still  sitting  at 
the  Hotel  de  Ville.  The  result  of  this  appeal 
places  the  committee  in  the  most  ludicrously 
painful  light.  The  ultimatum  of  these  men,  who 
must  have  known  by  this  time  that  they  were 
utterly  defeated,  was  to  the  effect  that  the  com- 
mittee would  consent  to  abdicate  and  resign  its 
powers  on  the  condition  that  the  army  should 
immediately  retire  far  from  Paris,  that  the 
assembly  should  be  dissolved  on  the  same  day 
as  the  Communal  government,  and  that  until  a 
constituent  assembly  could  be  formed  the  govern- 
ment should  be  carried  on  by  the  delegates  (of 
whom  is  not  stated)  of  the  great  towns.  This 
ridiculous  ultimatum  was,  of  course,  waste  paper. 

The  last  act  of  the  league,  if  M.  Corbon  is  to 
be  credited,  and  we  know  no  reason  why  he 
should  not  be,  had,  however,  a  most  important 
effect.  Three  of  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety, 
terrified  at  the  state  of  affairs  and  at  the  ruin 
already  caused,  revoked  the  order  that  had  been 
given  to  set  on  fire  the  Imperial  Printing  Estab- 
lishment, the  Archives,  and  the  Library  of  the 
Arsenal ;  and  these  three  public  edifices  were 
saved,  with  the  mass  of  public  records  of  the 
history  of  France,  the  valuable  books,  and  the 
splendid  founts  of  Oriental  and  other  type  for 
which  the  Imprimerie  is  famous  all  over  the  world. 

This  short  account  of  the  acts  of  the  Eepublican 
Union  proves  the  truth  of  the  opinion  advanced  in 
a  chapter  on  the  Commune ;  namely,  that  had  the 
mass  of  the  well-disposed  Parisians  exhibited  any 
kind  of  cohesive  action,  the  Commune  could 
never  have  gained  its  mischievous  power.  We 
have  seen  that  the  league  in  March  bearded  the 
3e 


402 


PARIS,  BEFORE,  DURING,    AND  AFTER  THE  SIEGE. 


Commune  and  exhibited  considerable  energy, 
finding  favour  with  the  people ;  that  it  was  able 
to  maintain  itself  and  attempt  to  bring  about  a 
conciliation;  and  that  at  the  last  it  was  still  in 
existence,  and  seems  to  have  done  some  service. 
That  it  did  not  do  more  must  be  attributed  to  the 
absence  of  many  of  the  most  influential  citizens 
after  the  siege,  and  to  the  culpable  apathy  of  the 
remainder. 

General  Cremer,  who  obtained  the  liberation  of 
General  Chanzy,  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the 
famous  central  committee  and  the  most  con- 
spicuous members  of  the  Commune  at  their  work, 
and  gave  a  graphic  description  of  them  before  the 
commission  of  inquiry.  He  found  that  there 
was  no  regular  president;  one  member  being  in 
the  chair  one  day,  and  another  on  another  day. 
"  It  was  a  deplorable  sight,"  he  says,  "  to  see  the 
salons  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville  full  of  drunken 
national  guards.  In  the  great  hall  there  was  a 
disgusting  orgie  of  drunken  men  and  women ;  the 
committee  met  in  a  room  at  the  corner  of  the 
building  by  the  quay,  and  here  there  was  more 
order  and  decency.  The  attendance  of  the 
members  of  the  committee  was  very  irregular, 
and  when  a  meeting  was  called  all  the  cabarets 
had  to  be  ransacked."  General  Cremer' s  account 
of  the  deliberations  of  the  committee  is  singular;  he 
says,  "  They  quarrelled  "  (literally,  '  took  each 
other  by  the  hair  ')  "  during  the  first  five  minutes 
of  their  sitting ;  no  pot-house  exhibits  such 
scenes  as  did  the  meetings  of  the  committee ;  all 
the  eccentric  doings  of  the  minor  theatres  of  our 
days  were  unsurpassed  by  what  I  saw  in  the 
committee.  Had  they  not  been  horrible,  they 
would  have  been  irresistibly  comic.  There  were 
never  more  than  six  or  seven  members  present  at 
once;  some  were  constantly  going  out  and  others 
coming  in ;  some  were  always  intoxicated,  and 
these  were  the  most  assiduous,  because  as  they 
were  it  was  not  easy  for  them  to  leave  the  room. 
There  was  one  of  middle  height,  well  built,  with 
long  greyish  hair,  ill-kept  beard,  who  invariably 
had  his  Chas«epot  in  hand ;  when  he  addressed  you 


he  pointed  it  at  you,  and  when  he  had  finished  he 
shouldered  it  again." 

The  publication  of  the  evidence  taken  before 
this  commission  caused  considerable  sensation, 
and  one  violent  quarrel.  It  is  understood  that  the 
various  witnesses,  or  some  of  them  at  least,  be- 
lieved they  were  merely  supplying  private  infor- 
mation for  the  use  of  the  government,  and  were 
thunderstruck  at  seeing  their  revelations  appear 
in  print.  This  belief  is  in  part  supported  by  the 
very  free  and  easy  manner  in  which  some  of  the 
witnesses  spoke  of  acts  and  communications  which 
were  certainly  and  necessarily  of  a  secret  nature. 
The  extraordinary  part  of  the  affair  is  that  the 
book  is  supposed  only  to  be  distributed  to  mem- 
bers of  the  Assembly,  and  not  to  be  sold  by  the 
booksellers  ;  but  any  one  can  obtain  it  for  about 
fifteen  shillings,  and  it  has  sold  largely.  It  is  said 
that  some  one  acting  for  the  Count  de  Chambord 
has  spent  hundreds  of  pounds  in  distributing  it 
in  the  large  towns  ;  the  revelations  contained  in 
it,  both  as  regards  the  imperialists  and  the  repub- 
licans, being  of  course  immensely  interesting  to 
the  royalists. 

Among  the  contradictions  to  the  evidence  that 
have  appeared  in  print  is  a  letter  from  the  Com- 
munist General  Cluseret,  who  denied  the  truth 
of  Admiral  Saisset's  assertion  that  the  former 
was  an  agent  of  Prussia.  Admiral  Saisset  was, 
as  we  have  said  before,  one  of  the  most  unhappy  of 
witnesses  ;  he  gave  evidence  which  did  himself 
little  credit,  and  his  assertions  respecting  others 
have  been  strenuously  denied,  and  in  some  cases 
disproved  ;  all  admit  that  his  mind  is  of  a  curi- 
ously illogical  mould.  In  reply  to  General 
Cluseret's  letter,  it  is  declared  that,  in  1870  at 
any  rate,  he  was  in  relation  with  the  German 
legation  at  Berne.  This,  however,  is  evidence  as 
loose  as  that  of  the  brave  but  blundering  admiral, 
who  was  challenged  by  the  ex-General  Cremer  for 
stating  that  the  latter  was  paid  heavily  for  securing 
the  release  of  General  Chanzy  from  the  Commun- 
ists. He  was  compelled  to  retract  this,  and  General 
Cremer  cleared  himself  of  any  such  imputation. 


CHAPTER      VII. 


GERMANY     AFTER     THE     WAR. 


Return  of  the  Emperor  to  Berlin — -Contrast  with  the  Arrival  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  as  an  Exile  in  England — Rewards  and  Honours  to  Counts 
von  Moltke  and  Bismarck — Meeting  of  the  First  Reichstag  of  the  New  German  Empire — History  of  the  Union  of  Germany,  and  Full  Descrip- 
tion of  the  Constitution  of  the  Empire,  with  its  similarities  to,  and  differences  from,  those  of  other  States — The  Ceremony  at  the  Opening 
of  the  First  Imperial  Parliament — Speech  of  the  Emperor  and  Address  in  Reply — Delay  on  the  part  of  the  French  in  concluding  the 
definite  Treaty  of  Peace — Sharp  Speech  of  Prince  Bismarck,  and  its  Effect  in  France — Differences  as  to  the  Meaning  of  some  of  the  Points 
Agreed  to  in  the  Preliminary  Treaty — Feeling  of  Exasperation  in  Germany — Meeting  of  MM.  Jules  Favre  and  Rouyer-Quertier  and 
Prince  Bismarck  at  Frankfort,  and  Settlement  of  the  Treaty — Its  Terms,  and  the  Slight  Alterations  made  by  it  in  the  Original  Draft — 
Reception  of  the  News  in  Germany  and  France — Grand  Military  Festival  at  Berlin — Full  Description  of  the  Proceedings — Legislation  of 
the  New  German  Parliament — Special  Act  for  the  Government  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine — Resistance  of  the  Population  to  the  new  order  of 
things — Seditious  Langunge  Forbidden  in  the  Pulpit — Severity  of  the  German  Regulations  as  to  Nationality  and  the  Conscription  for 
the  Army  — Payment  of  part  of  the  Indemnity  anticipated  by  the  French  with  Beneficial  Results  to  both  Countries — Arrangement  as  to  the 
Customs'  Duties  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine — Application  of  the  War  Indemnity  in  Germany— Increase  of  Pay  to  Disabled  Soldiers — Burying 
of  40,000,000  thalers  as  a  "  War  Treasury  " — Military  and  Naval  Preparations  to  provide  against  the  Contingency  of  another  War. 


Whilst  the  terrible  drama  described  in  the  previous 
pages  was  being  enacted  in  Paris,  very  different 
had  been  the  course  of  events  in  Germany. 

His  Majesty  the  emperor  returned  to  Berlin  on 
March  17,  and  met  with  a  very  hearty  reception; 
but  the  demonstration  from  beginning  to  end  bore 
a  civilian  impress,  and  in  the  most  military  capital 
of  Europe  there  was  no  military  show.  It  might 
almost  be  said,  indeed,  that  there  was  little  actual 
rejoicing,  or  rather  that  the  joy  of  the  people  was 
dashed  with  the  recollection  of  what  the  struggle 
had  cost  them.  Many  thousand  German  soldiers 
were  still  in  France  ;  many  thousands  more  lay  in 
French  graves.  The  recollection  of  these  losses, 
and  the  absence  of  so  many  countrymen  and 
friends  weighed  upon  the  minds  of  the  Prussians, 
and  saddened  even  their  looks  of  thanksgiving. 
Nevertheless  they  illuminated  their  capital,  and 
received  their  sovereign  with  the  grateful  loyalty 
due  to  his  achievements.  They  lelt  the  magni- 
tude of  their  success,  and  testified,  though  in  a 
comparatively  quiet  way,  the  depth  and  sincerity 
of  their  emotions.  The  emperor-king  met  his  wife 
and  children  once  more  after  a  separation  of  eight 
perilous  months ;  and  on  re-entering  his  palace, 
with  a  peaceful  promenade  of  the  population  under 
the  lamps  of  welcome,  the  eventful  day  concluded. 

Three  days  after  the  German  sovereign  re-entered 
his  capital  as  a  conqueror,  the  ex-emperor  of  the 
French  landed  as  a  refugee  at  Dover.  Since  the 
previous  10th  of  July  the  one  sovereign  had  gained 
a  new  title  and  an  exalted  position  in  Europe;  the 


other  had  lost  his  throne,  and,  after  being  for  six 
months  a  prisoner  of  war,  was  now  an  exile  in  a 
foreign  land. 

The  emperor  of  Germany  took  the  earliest  oppor- 
tunity of  showing  his  sense  of  obligation  to  his 
two  invaluable  servants  —  Counts  von  Moltke  and 
Bismarck.  The  former  was  created  a  field-mar- 
shal, and  received  the  grand  cross  of  the  Order  of 
the  Iron  Cross  ;  the  latter  was  raised  to  the  rank 
of  a  prince.  Subsequently  the  estate  of  Schwar- 
zenbeck,  in  Lauenburg,  was  conferred  upon  him 
by  the  emperor,  in  acknowledgment  of  his  services 
to  the  country.  It  had  a  rent-roll  of  40,000 
thalers  ;  the  capital  value,  according  to  German 
calculations,  being  equal  to  1,000,000  thalers — 
the  very  sum  the  emperor  intended  as  a  gift. 
That  sum,  however,  by  no  means  expressed  the 
full  extent  of  his  Majesty's  generosity.  The  lands 
had  been  crown  lands ;  the  rents,  even  at  the  time 
of  their  assessment  many  years  before,  had  been 
fixed  very  low ;  the  above  sum  therefore  repre- 
sented not  more  than  about  the  third  part  of 
the  real  value  ;  and  it  was  considered  that,  on  the 
expiry  of  the  leases  in  a  few  years,  the  rents 
would  easily  bear  to  be  tripled.  The  German 
chancellor  thus  practically  received  a  gift  of 
3,000,000  thalers. 

On  March  21  the  dream  of  generations  was  ful- 
filled, when  the  emperor  opened  the  first  Reichstag 
of  the  new  German  empire.  For  the  first  time  since 
the  beginning  of  the  century,  a  parliament  met 
representing  all  the  states  of  Germany.     It  was  no 


404 


GERMANY 


mere  Constituent  Assembly,  like  the  one  wrecked 
on  revolutionary  breakers  twenty-two  years  before ; 
nor  was  it  restricted  to  the  treatment  of  financial 
affairs,  as  was  the  Customs'  Parliament,  the  make- 
shift devised  in  1866.  It  was  a  recognized  body 
established  on  the  basis  of  a  new  constitution, 
ratified  by  all  the  local  sovereigns  and  parliaments 
of  the  land  ;  a  supreme  legislative  corporation, 
whose  jurisdiction  included  a  large  portion  of  the 
ordinary  political  business,  and  was  sure  in  the 
natural  course  of  things  to  extend. 

And  here,  as  we  have  hitherto  only  incidentally 
alluded  to  the  growth  of  the  "  United  States  of 
Germany,"  it  may  be  well  to  state  briefly  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  the  union  was  effected, 
and  to  glance  at  the  leading  features  of  the  new 
constitution. 

The  original  constitution  of  the  Xorth  German 
Confederation,  comprehending  the  Prussian  mon- 
archy and  the  small  northern  and  central  states, 
came  into  general  operation  on  the  1st  of  July, 
1867.  It  instituted  a  Federal  Council  of  forty- 
three  members,  and  an  Imperial  Parliament  of 
297,  which  bodies  were  to  form  the  Legislature  in 
all  matters  affecting  the  common  interests  of  the 
united  states — such  as  the  civil  rights  of  German 
subjects,  the  army  and  navy,  matters  of  trade  and 
finance,  railways,  posts,  and  telegraphs,  and  the 
administration  of  justice.  The  presidency  was 
assigned  to  the  king  of  Prussia,  with  power  to 
declare  war  and  make  peace,  to  conclude  treaties 
with  foreign  powers,  and  to  send  and  receive 
diplomatic  agents.  Where  such  treaties  affected 
matters  reserved  to  the  Legislature,  they  required 
the  sanction  of  the  Federal  Council  and  of  the 
Imperial  Parliament. 

The  victorious  progress  of  King  William  in  the 
war  with  France  could  hardly  fail  to  determine 
the  waverers  of  the  south  to  accede  to  the  union. 
First  came  Baden  and  the  southern  portion  of 
Hesse-Darmstadt,  by  a  convention  signed  on  the 
15th  of  November,  1870.  The  treaty  with  Wiir- 
temburg  was  concluded  on  the  25th,  that  with 
Bavaria  on  the  23rd,  of  the  same  month;  and  they 
severally  took  effect  on  the  31st  of  December,  just 
before  the  assumption  of  the  imperial  crown  by  the 
Prussian  king. 

Baden  and  Hesse  adopted  the  federal  constitu- 
tion with  very  few  alterations — Baden  reserving 
to  herself  the  taxes  to  be  raised  on  brandy  and 
beer.      By  the  treaty  Wiirtemburg  reserved   the 


same  taxes,  and  also,  for  the  present,  the  regula- 
tion of  her  own  posts  and  telegraphs.  Her  mili- 
tary relations  to  the  Confederation  were  settled  by 
a  separate  convention  bearing  the  same  date,  so 
that  her  army  corps  should  form  part  of  the  federal 
army,  under  the  supreme  direction  of  the  president 
of  the  Confederation. 

The  accession  of  Bavaria  was  not  so  easily 
effected.  The  Bavarian  government  reserved  to 
itself  the  right  of  separate  legislation  in  domestic 
matters,  the  settlement  of  political  rights  and  of 
marriage,  and  the  regulation  of  the  laws  of  assur- 
ance and  mortgage,  as  affecting  landed  property. 
It  further  reserved  the  administration  of  its  own 
railways,  posts,  and  telegraphs,  subject  to  the 
control  of  the  Confederation  in  so  far  as  the  gene- 
ral interests  might  be  concerned,  and  to  the  normal 
principles  which  the  Confederation  might  pre- 
scribe for  railways  to  be  used  in  the  federal 
defences.  A  committee  of  the  Federal  Council 
was  to  be  appointed  for  foreign  affairs,  consisting 
of  Prussia,  Bavaria,  Saxony,  and  Wiirtemburg, 
with  Bavaria  as  president.  At  those  foreign 
courts  where  there  were  Bavarian  envoys,  they 
were  to  represent  the  federal  body  in  case  of  the 
absence  of  its  envoy,  and  at  the  courts  where 
Bavaria  might  keep  envoys  the  federal  envoy 
should  not  be  charged  with  affairs  exclusively 
Bavarian;  Bavaria,  in  the  absence  of  Prussia,  to 
have  the  presidency  in  the  Federal  Council.  The 
taxation  of  Bavarian  brandy  and  beer  was  reserved. 
Bavaria  was  to  bear  the  costs  of  her  army,  as  a 
corps  belonging  to  the  federal  army,  such  corps 
to  be  regulated  in  time  of  peace  by  her  own 
government.  Her  fortresses  were  to  continue 
her  own,  subject,  however,  to  federal  supervision  ; 
and  the  important  stipulation  was  made,  that  in 
the  Federal  Council  fourteen  adverse  votes  should 
suffice  for  the  rejection  of  any  measure  affecting 
the  constitution. 

After  the  meeting  of  the  Reichstag  some  trifling 
amendments  were  made,  and,  as  finally  agreed 
upon,  the  constitution  of  the  German  empire  bears 
date  April  16,  1871.  By  its  terms  all  the  states 
of  Germany  "  form  an  eternal  union,  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Confederation  and  the  care  and  the 
welfare  of  the  German  people."  The  supreme 
direction  of  the  military  and  political  affairs  of  the 
empire  is  vested  in  the  king  of  Prussia,  who,  as 
such,  bears  the  title  of  Deutscher  Kaiser  (German 
Emperor).     According  to  article  two  of  the  con- 


AFTER  THE  WAR. 


405 


stitution,  the  Kaiser  represents  the  empire  inter- 
nationally, and  can  declare  war,  if  defensive,  and 
make  peace,  as  well  as  enter  into  treaties  with 
other  nations,  and  appoint  and  receive  ambassa- 
dors. To  declare  war,  if  not  merely  defensive, 
the  Kaiser  must  have  the  consent  of  the  Bundes- 
rath,  or  Federal  Council,  in  which,  together  with 
the  Reichstag,  or  Diet  of  the  Realm,  are  vested  the 
legislative  functions  of  the  empire.  The  Bundes- 
rath  represents  the  individual  states  of  Germany, 
and  the  Reichstag  the  nation.  The  members  of 
the  Bundesrath,  fifty-eight  in  number,  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  governments  of  the  individual 
states  for  each  session,  while  the  members  of  the 
Reichstag,  382  in  number,  are  elected  by  universal 
suffrage  and  ballot  for  the  term  of  three  years. 

The  Bundesrath  and  Reichstag  meet  in  annual 
session  convoked  by  the  Kaiser,  and  all  laws  for 
the  empire  must  receive  the  votes  of  an  absolute 
majority  of  both  Chambers.  The  Bundesrath  is 
presided  over  by  the  Reichskanzler,  or  Chancellor 
of  the  empire,  appointed  by  the  Kaiser,  but  the 
president  of  the  Reichstag  is  elected  by  the 
deputies.  The  payment  of  any  salary  or  com- 
pensation for  expenses  to  the  deputies  is  forbidden 
by  article  thirty-two  of  the  constitution. 

The  Bundesrath,  in  addition  to  its  legislative 
functions,  forms  a  supreme  administrative  and  con- 
sultative board.  It  prepares  bills  and  issues  such 
supplementary  provisions  as  may  be  required  to 
insure  the  enforcement  of  the  federal  laws.  The 
better  to  superintend  the  administrative  business 
of  the  empire,  the  Bundesrath  is  subdivided  into 
eight  standing  committees,  respectively  for  army 
and  naval  matters ;  tariff,  excise,  and  taxes ;  trade 
and  commerce;  railways,  posts,  and  telegraphs; 
civil  and  criminal  law;  and  financial  accounts  and 
foreign  affairs.  Each  committee  consists  of  repre- 
sentatives of  at  least  four  states  of  the  empire. 

The  common  expenditure  of  the  empire  is  de- 
frayed from  the  revenues  arising  from  customs, 
certain  branches  of  excise,  the  profits  of  the  post 
and  telegraphs.  Should  the  receipts  from  these 
various  sources  not  be  sufficient  to  cover  the 
expenditure,  the  individual  states  of  Germany 
may  be  assessed  to  make  up  the  deficiency ; 
each  state  to  contribute  in  proportion  to  its 
population. 

Viewed  in  connection  with  history,  the  new 
German  Confederation  is  a  curiosity.  Though  a 
confederation,  it  is  not  republican,  but  monarchic. 


Its  chief  is  a  hereditary  king,  who,  by  its  consti- 
tution, is  clothed  with  the  rank  of  emperor;  and 
its  other  members  are  mainly  monarchies  ruled 
by  kings,  dukes,  or  other  princes:  three  only  are 
free  cities,  whose  constitutions  are,  of  course,  re- 
publican. Now  for  ages  past  the  chief  federal 
systems  of  the  world,  Achaia,  Switzerland,  and 
America,  and  a  crowd  of  others  of  less  fame,  have 
all  been  republican.  For  a  union  of  princes  worthy 
to  be  called  federal  we  shall  look  in  vain  in  the  pages 
of  history,  unless  it  be  said  that  something  of  the 
kind  is  to  be  found  in  the  days  of  the  twelve 
kings  of  Egypt,  the  seven  lords  of  the  Philistines, 
or  among  the  tetrarchs  of  Galilee.  No  doubt 
under  the  old  German  Bund  the  presidency  was 
vested  in  Austria;  but  at  that  time  the  league 
was  so  much  laxer,  the  powers  which  it  gave  to 
the  federal  president  so  much  smaller,  that  the 
likeness  it  bears  to  the  present  is  not  great.  The 
rank  of  German  emperor,  with  the  federal  author- 
ity vested  in  that  office,  is  attached  by  the  con- 
stitution to  the  crown  of  Prussia;  and  the  really 
novel  and  important  point  is  that  the  hereditary 
chief  of  the  empire  is  also  the  hereditary  chief  of 
one,  and  incomparably  the  greatest,  of  its  states. 
It  is  as  if  the  governor  of  the  state  of  New  York 
should  be  ex  officio  president  of  the  United  States. 
The  absurdity  of  this  arrangement  would  be  ap- 
parent. Instead  of  seeking  the  good  of  the  Union, 
the  president  so  chosen  would  be  almost  sure  to 
consult  the  interests  of  his  own  particular  state, 
and  would  almost  certainly  be  appointed  for  that 
express  purpose,  which  would  not  the  less  con- 
sciously be  followed  that  New  York,  though  the 
greatest  state  in  the  Union,  is  by  no  means  so 
much  the  greatest  as  Prussia  is  greatest  among  the 
German  states.  But  hereditary  succession,  what- 
ever may  be  said  against  it,  is  likely  to  do  much 
to  lessen  evils  of  this  kind.  Succeeding  by  right 
of  birth  to  the  imperial  crown,  as  well  as  to  the 
crown  of  Prussia;  brought  up,  it  may  be  hoped, 
with  a  view  to  the  greater  post  as  well  as  to  the 
smaller — a  German  emperor  may  easily  learn  to  feel 
not  merely  as  a  Prussian,  but  as  a  German,  and 
learn  to  make  the  interests  of  the  lower  office, 
should  the  two  ever  clash,  yield  to  those  of  the 
higher ;  the  interests  of  his  kingdom  to  those  of 
his  empire. 

The  monarchic  nature  of  the  Confederation  is 
again  very  apparent  in  the  construction  of  the 
Bundesrath,  or  Federal  Council.    This  body  does 


406 


GERMANY 


not  answer  to  the  Swiss  Bundesrath,  which  is  the 
executive  of  the  league,  but  to  the  Swiss  Stande- 
rath  or  the  American  Senate.  All  these  bodies 
represent  the  states  as  states,  while  the  other 
house  of  the  Legislature  in  each  case  represents 
the  Confederation  as  a  nation.  But  the  consti- 
tution of  the  German  Bundesrath  differs  in  two 
important  points  from  that  of  the  Stiinderath  and 
the  Senate.  In  both  the  Swiss  and  the  American 
systems  the  true  federal  idea  is  carried  out;  each 
state,  great  and  small,  has  the  same  number  of 
votes  in  the  Upper  House  of  the  Federal  As- 
sembly. The  American  states  and  the  Swiss 
cantons  differ  widely  among  themselves  in  extent 
and  population.  In  one  house  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, therefore,  each  has  a  number  of  representa- 
tives in  proportion  to  its  population;  but  in  the 
other  house,  as  independent  and  sovereign  states 
united  by  a  voluntary  tie,  they  have  all  equal 
rights,  powers,  and  dignity,  the  smallest  state 
having  the  same  number  of  representatives  as  the 
greatest.  The  Swiss  and  American  confederations, 
however,  were  in  their  origin  voluntary  unions 
of  independent  states,  which  have  since  admitted 
others  to  the  same  rights  as  themselves.  In 
Switzerland,  indeed,  the  original  cantons  which 
formed  the  kernel  of  the  League  are  now  among 
the  smallest  of  them  all.  The  political  equality 
of  Berne  and  Uri,  of  New  York  and  Khode  Island, 
is  therefore  among  the  first  principles  of  the  two 
confederations.  It  would  be  childish  to  expect 
the  same  sort  of  equality  to  be  established  be- 
tween Prussia  and  the  conquered  enemies  or 
dependent  allies,  out  of  which  she  formed  a  nom- 
inal confederation  after  her  victories  in  1866.  The 
confederate  nation,  as  a  nation,  might,  just  as 
much  as  Switzerland  and  America,  have  equality 
of  representation  throughout  its  extent;  but  it 
could  not  be  expected  that  the  states,  as  states, 
should  have  the  same  privilege,  or  that  Prussia 
should  have  no  greater  voice  in  the  federal  body 
than  Schaumburg-Lippe  and  Schwarzburg  Son- 
dershausen.  Each  state,  therefore,  of  the  North 
German  League  kept  in  the  new  Bundesrath  the 
number  of  votes  which  it  had  held  in  the  Plenum 
of  the  old  German  League,  Prussia  adding  to  its 
own  number  those  of  Hanover  and  the  other  states 
which  it  absolutely  incorporated.  As  these  did 
not  amount  to  more  than  seventeen  votes  out  of 
forty-three,  the  proportion  could  hardly  be  called 
unfair;  and  by  the  accession  of  the  southern  states 


it  has  been  so  reduced,  that  Prussia  has  now  only 
seventeen  votes  out  of  fifty-eight. 

Compared  with  the  senates  of  the  Swiss  and 
the  American  confederations,  there  is  another  ob- 
vious difference  in  the  Senate  of  the  new  Confede- 
ration, directly  and  necessarily  arising  out  of  the 
monarchic  character  of  the  German  League.  The 
Swiss  constitution  provides  that  the  members  of 
the  Stiinderath  shall  be  chosen  by  the  cantons ;  the 
American,  that  the  senators  shall  be  chosen  by  the 
legislatures  of  the  several  states.  No  one  would 
have  thought  of  making  the  Stiinderath  consist  of 
the  chief  magistrates  of  the  several  cantons  or 
their  representatives.  But  in  a  confederation 
whose  states  are  monarchies,  it  would  hardly  be 
possible  to  shut  out  entirely  the  executive  govern- 
m  nts  of  the  several  kingdoms  or  duchies  from  a 
direct  place  in  the  federal  body.  The  German 
constitution,  therefore,  makes  the  Bundesrath  con- 
sist of  representatives  of  the  several  states,  who 
may  be  either  the  princes  themselves  or  their 
ambassadors.  Each  state  may  send  as  many  re- 
presentatives as  it  has  votes,  but  these  votes  must 
be  given  as  a  whole.  Bavaria,  for  instance,  may 
send  six  representatives;  it  has  in  any  case  six 
votes,  but  these  must  all  be  given  in  the  same 
way.  This  is  going  back  to  the  arrangements  of 
the  ancient  league  of  Lykia,  and  is  unlike  the 
system  of  America  and  Switzerland,  where  each 
member  of  the  Senate  or  the  Stiinderath  has  an 
independent  vote. 

Yet  another  peculiarity  of  the  new  Confedera- 
tion is  an  important  provision  in  the  constitution 
of  the  empire,  which  did  not  appear  in  that  of  the 
former  North  German  League.  In  the  latter  the 
president — that  is,  the  king  of  Prussia — had  the 
absolute  power  of  making  war  or  peace.  He  had 
to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  Legislature  only  when 
the  articles  of  a  treaty  concerned  matters  with 
which  that  body  had  to  deal.  By  the  new  con- 
stitution, the  emperor  cannot  declare  war  without 
the  consent  of  the  Bundesrath,  except  in  cases  of 
sudden  invasion.  His  power  with  regard  to  war 
is  thus  much  the  same  as  that  of  the  president  of 
the  United  States  with  regard  to  peace;  but  the 
powers  of  the  executive  with  regard  to  war  and 
peace  are  quite  different  in  the  three  confedera- 
tions. In  Switzerland  these  powers  are  vested 
wholly  in  the  Federal  Assembly.  In  America 
the  Congress  declares  war,  but  peace  is  made  by 
the  president,  with  the  assent  of  the  Senate.     In 


AFTER  THE  WAR. 


407 


Germany  the  emperor  makes  peace,  with  the  limita- 
tions above  mentioned  ;  but  he  can  declare  war 
only  with  the  consent  of  the  Bundesrath. 

The  constitution  of  the  new  German  empire,  with 
its  elected  but  not  elective  emperor,  its  Upper  House 
of  princes  reigning  by  divine  right,  and  its  Lower 
House  of  members  chosen  on  principles  the  most 
democratic,  thus  appears  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able ever  accepted  by  a  great  people.  The  new 
Kaiser  has  kings  among  his  subjects,  and  his  prero- 
gative is  curiously  limited  by  theirs ;  but  still  he  is 
in  a  sense  monarch  of  Germany,  a  centre  round 
which  all  Germans  may  legally  rally  if  they  please. 
Although  compelled  to  explain  his  foreign  policy 
to  the  council  of  kings,  as  the  president  of  the 
United  States  explains  his  to  the  Senate,  the  emperor 
still  dictates  that  policy,  appoints  and  receives  all 
diplomatists,  and  is  apparently  in  no  way  obliged 
to  alter  his  course  should  his  council  disapprove. 
He  cannot,  indeed,  declare  a  war  without  their 
consent,  unless  Germany  is  attacked  ;  but  then 
almost  any  war  may  be  described  as  one  of  self- 
defence,  and  in  extreme  cases  the  Kaiser  can  exert 
a  mighty  pressure  upon  the  councillors.  He  has, 
it  is  true,  on  behalf  of  his  hereditary  territories, 
only  seventeen  votes,  while  his  prince  vassals  have 
forty-one;  but  half  of  these  princes  are  independ- 
ent only  in  name,  and  of  the  remainder  the  king 
of  Bavaria  alone  retains  anything  like  a  solid  or 
defensible  position.  Even  he  could  not  resist  unless 
encouraged  by  foreign  aid,  which  his  people  would 
in  no  case  endure.  Of  the  twenty-four  sovereigns 
and  free  towns  in  council,. sixteen  have  only  one 
vote  each,  and  are  in  a  military  sense  powerless, 
mere  nobles  or  towns  of  Prussia;  while  the  chance 
that  Bavaria  with  her  six  votes,  Saxony  with  her 
four,  Wiirtemburg  with  her  four,  Baden  and  Hesse 
with  their  three,  and  Brunswick  and  Mecklenburg 
with  their  two  each,  should  all  unite  and  carry, 
moreover,  half  of  the  powerless  princes  with  them, 
is  so  small  as  to  be  not  worth  taking  into  account. 
Besides,  in  the  extreme  and  most  improbable  case 
of  a  vote  on  war  being  carried  against  the  emperor, 
he  could,  as  king  of  Prussia,  declare  war  for  him- 
self— a  separate  right  which  he  alone  has  as  head  of 
a  great  power — and  thus  compel  his  allies  either  to 
rise  against  him,  which  would  be  impossible,  or  to 
remain  neutral  and  see  the  representative  of  Ger- 
man military  honour  defeated  in  battle  with  the 
foreigner.  Except  in  Bavaria  the  emperor  is  com- 
mander-in-chief throughout  Germany;  appoints  all 


general  officers;  is,  in  fact,  military  service  being 
universal,  master  of  all  men  from  the  princes 
downwards.  Bavaria,  it  is  true,  retains  her  sepa- 
rate army,  and  may  appoint  diplomatists  if  she 
pleases  ;  but  that  state  excepted,  the  empire  is 
for  all  military  and  diplomatic  purposes  one  and 
indivisible. 

Had  the  unionists  secured  only  this  much,  they 
would  have  been  very  successful ;  but  they  secured 
a  great  deal  more,  and  framed  a  Legislative  Cham- 
ber, whose  powers  will  very  likely  prove  far  more 
potent  throughout  the  fatherland  than  any  ardent 
patriot  ever  contemplated.  The  local  parliaments 
of  the  separate  kingdoms  and  states  still  exist,  but 
they  have  absolutely  no  control,  either  in  theory 
or  fact,  over  external  politics  or  military  organiza- 
tion, and  are  sunk  into  mere  provincial  legislatures, 
with  less  power  than  belongs  to  each  of  the  sepa- 
rate states  of  America.  On  the  contrary,  the 
Reichstag,  elected  by  universal  suffrage,  and  com- 
pletely dominated  by  Prussia,  which  returns  almost 
two-thirds  of  its  members,  has,  when  in  harmony 
with  the  council,  entire  power  over  criminal  legis- 
lation, tariffs,  excise,  coinage  and  paper  issues, 
commercial  and  banking  laws,  copyright  laws, 
navigation  laws,  laws  of  judicial  procedure,  hygi- 
enic laws,  press  laws,  trades-union  laws,  and  laws 
affecting  intercommunication  ;  with  the  two  small 
exceptions,  before -mentioned,  that  Bavaria  and 
Wiirtemburg  fix  the  taxes  on  their  own  beer  and 
brandy,  and  Bavaria  can  still  compel  strangers 
from  other  provinces-  to  sue  for  a  permit  of  resi- 
dence. It  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  a  Parlia- 
ment, of  which  one  house  is  so  democratic  in  its 
mode  of  election,  so  closely  bound  up  with  the 
dominant  member  of  the  federation,  and  invested 
with  such  extensive  powers,  should  not  go  beyond 
the  paper  limits  of  its  authority,  especially  when 
its  legal  rivals  anxiously  wish  that  it  should  not 
remain  within  them.  The  Prussian  Liberals  would 
most  gladly  merge  their  Parliament  in  the  central 
one,  thus  getting  rid  at  once  and  for  ever  of  their 
tiresome  and  conservative  house  of  squires  ;  and 
Hesse  and  Wiirtemburg  are  equally  desirous  of 
being  freed  from  the  pressure  exercised  by  their 
courts.  In  fact,  except  in  Bavaria,  where  the 
Ultramontanes  are  powerful,  there  is  scarcely  a 
party  in  the  empire  disposed  to  stand  up  for  state 
rights.  The  drift  of  opinion,  of  events,  and  of 
material  interests,  is  towards  a  sovereign  Parlia- 
ment seated  in  Berlin — towards  a  legislative  unity 


408 


GERMANY 


which  would  in  a  year  or  two  reduce  the  states  to 
provinces  with  hereditary  lord-lieutenants  at  their 
head,  and  municipal  councils  to  manage  local 
affairs,  including,  it  may  be,  education  and  the 
control  of  religious  establishments.  Prussia  alone 
can  resist  this  tendency,  and  her  interest  is  to 
profit  to  the  uttermost  by  her  numerical  prepon- 
derance— to  widen  in  every  direction  the  attri- 
butes of  the  Legislature  in  which  her  children  are 
supreme. 

There  are,  however,  weak  points  in  the  new 
constitution,  which  in  course  of  time  may  pos- 
sibly involve  the  empire  in  serious  difficulties. 
In  the  first  place,  absolute  power  is  not  lodged 
anywhere,  either  in  the  Kaiser,  or  the  Parliament, 
or  the  subordinate  legislatures,  or  the  mass  of  the 
people,  while  the  necessity  for  such  power  is  per- 
petually recurring.  Had  it  existed  anywhere  in 
the  American  constitution,  the  civil  war  might 
very  likely  have  been  averted,  or  at  all  events  the 
obvious  illegality  of  the  insurrection  must  have 
cost  the  seceders  hosts  of  supporters.  It  may  be 
needful  yet,  in  unforeseen  contingencies,  to  over- 
ride the  Kaiser,  or  a  state,  or  a  combination  of 
states,  even  while  acting  on  their  legal  rights; 
but  nowhere  within  the  constitution  is  it  to  be 
found.  Nor  is  there  any  provision  for  the  recep- 
tion of  new  states  which  may  yet  come  in,  and 
may  fatally  derange  a  system  carefully  framed  to 
give  its  natural  ascendancy  to  the  state  which  has 
made  Germany. 

Again,  with  respect  to  the-Bundesrath,  or  Fede- 
ral Council,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  no  House  of 
Lords  so  powerful  was  ever  yet  constructed.  It  is 
a  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  central  legislature,  and 
is  filled  by  men  who  must  be  conservative,  who 
cannot  be  without  followings,  who  are  all  in  high 
military  command,  who  have  prestige  such  as  can 
never  belong  to  mere  nobles,  who  debate  in  secret, 
and  whose  number  cannot  be  increased.  Each 
member  is  protected  by  immunities  such  as  no 
noble  ever  possessed — is,  in  fact,  beyond  the  law, 
whether  local  or  imperial,  cannot  be  menaced 
without  treason,  or  severely  criticised  without 
danger  of  incurring  the  penalty  attached  to  in- 
sulting German  sovereigns.  The  immense  strength 
of  the  United  States  Senate,  when  opposed  to  the 
House  of  Representatives,  is  the  most  striking 
feature  in  American  politics,  and  its  power  is  de- 
rived from  the  fact  that  its  members  represent 
states  instead  of  districts.       So  will  the  imperial 


councillors,  while  they  will  have  the  further  ad- 
vantages of  their  royal  rank,  and  their  influence, 
necessarily  great,  over  local  elections.  Should 
they  rally  round  their  chief,  instead  of  quarrel- 
ing with  him,  as  they  are  very  likely  to  do,  they 
will  form  a  conservative  power  against  which  the 
tide  of  popular  feeling  may  break  for  years  in  vain. 
Considerable  interest  of  course  attached  to  the 
opening  of  the  first  imperial  German  Parliament; 
but  though  distinguished  by  somewhat  more  pomp 
and  circumstance  than  previous  openings  of  the 
Reichstag  had  been,  the  ceremony  was,  on  the 
whole,  imposing  rather  from  its  simplicity  than 
its  magnificence.  The  aristocracy  of  Prussia  and 
the  North,  who  in  other  circumstances  would  have 
flocked  to  Berlin  on  such  an  occasion,  kept  quiet 
in  their  country  houses  and  provincial  towns,  as 
there  were  few  who  had  not  cause  to  mourn  the  loss 
of  relatives  in  the  war.  The  "  Weisse  Saal,"  or 
White  Hall,  in  which  the  ceremony  took  place,  is 
a  magnificent  apartment  of  white  marble  attached 
to  the  Schloss  Chapel,  and  worthy  of  the  great 
historical  spectacle  of  March  21.  The  architec- 
ture and  decoration  display  a  blending  of  strength, 
austerity,  wealth,  and  grace.  Lighted  from  a  row 
of  deep-set  windows  on  one  side,  the  walls  between 
and  below  these  are  merely  whitewashed,  and  are 
plain  almost  to  meanness.  There  is  an  utter  ab- 
sence of  drapery ;  but  the  ceilings  are  richly  chased 
and  gilt,  and  the  compartments  of  the  roof  and 
side  panels  filled  with  frescoes  worthy  of  a  city 
where  poetry  and  high  art  conspire  to  adorn  the 
very  beer  cellars.  A  more  fitting  apartment  could 
not  have  been  chosen  to  witness  the  culminating 
glory  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern,  and  the 
triumph  of  the  Prussian  ascendancy.  Twelve 
electors  of  the  line  of  Brandenburg  look  down  in 
marble  from  the  walls,  and  there  are  eight  noble 
figures  representing  the  older  provinces  of  the 
Prussian  state.  The  vast  hall  below  wTas  bare  of 
all  furniture,  except  for  the  canopy  on  the  dais, 
and  a  few  chairs  arranged  on  either  side  of  it  for 
the  ladies  of  the  blood  and  the  representatives  of 
the  foreign  powers.  One  door  opposite  was  kept 
by  the  dismounted  cavalry  of  the  guard — with  the 
eagle  fluttering  open-winged,  in  old  Norse  fashion, 
over  the  golden  helmet,  the  white  tunic  with  the 
crimson  back  and  front  pieces,  embroidered  in 
enormous  stars  of  black  and  white  and  crossed 
with  broad  silver  bandoliers.  At  the  other  entrance 
were  posted  the  foot  guards  of  the  palace,  in  the 


AFTER  THE  WAR. 


409 


quaint  costume  they  had  worn  on  high 
ever  since  the  days  of  the  great  Frederick — a  long 
blue  frock  coat  laced  with  cross  bars  of  white,  and 
the  lofty  triangular  shield-like  shako,  faced  with 
polished  steel  and  backed  with  scarlet  cloth. 
Gradually  officers  in  multifarious  uniforms,  land 
and  sea,  horse  and  foot,  foreign  and  native,  came 
straggling  in,  slipped  nervously  on  the  polished 
floor,  or  withdrew  modestly  into  the  deep  bay 
windows. 

About  the  time  the  emperor  was  expected  no 
little  sensation  was  caused,  amidst  all  this  blaze  of 
gold  and  colour,  by  the  entrance  of  several  work- 
ing men  in  cloth  caps  and  coarse  fustian  jackets. 
As  the  more  respectable-looking  mechanic  of  the 
number  advanced  to  the  imperial  dais,  he  might 
have  been  taken  for  a  Cromwell  of  the  Prussian 
type,  determined  on  outdoing  "  Old  Noll "  by 
ordering  his  satellites  to  "  take  away  that  throne." 
They  at  all  events  did  take  it  away,  and  proceeded 
to  open  certain  dingy  bundles,  when  panels  of 
rusty  marble,  somewhat  like  the  compartments  of 
an  iron  garden  seat  long  exposed  to  the  weather, 
fell  out  on  the  crimson  velvet  of  the  dais.  Out 
of  these  materials  they  erected  a  very  ancient- 
looking  but  substantial  structure,  supported  by 
four  cannon  balls  ;  and  it  afterwards  transpired 
that  this  was  the  imperial  throne  of  the  Saxon 
emperors,  just  arrived  by  special  train  from  Goslar. 

Then  the  hall  began  to  fill,  first  with  uniforms, 
thickly  sprinkled  with  the  sombre  black  and 
white  of  the  civilian  members  of  the  Reichsrath. 
But  the  impression  which,  though  doubtless  erro- 
neous, might  have  been  produced  upon  a  stranger, 
was  that  this  constitutional  ceremony  was  a  mili- 
tary pageant,  in  which  arms,  once  in  a  way,  con- 
descended ostentatiously  to  the  gown.  It  was 
natural,  however,  for  the  moment,  that  the  martial 
element  should  be  in  the  ascendant.  Peace,  with 
her  attendant  blessings,  had  just  been  obtained  by 
the  sword,  and  she  had  to  bow  in  gratitude  to  the 
prestige  of  war. 

A  burst  of  distant  music  excited  general  expec- 
tation ;  and  very  soon  the  grand  entrance  was 
thrown  open.  As  the  guards  presented  arms  the 
Emperor  William  and  Empress  Augusta  entered, 
and  moved  slowly  down  the  hall,  bowing  to  the 
crowd  in  acknowledgment  of  the  loyal  shouts 
and  waving  of  hats  and  handkerchiefs.  The  old 
monarch,  in  his  stately  yet  homely  dignity,  looked 
every  inch  the  soldier — a  man  of  firm  mind  and 
vol.  n. 


fixed  ideas,  inheriting  the  force  of  character  and 
arbitrary  will  of  his  ancestors,  and  bent  on  being 
lather  of  his  people  in  his  own  way.  The  various 
great  officers  of  the  empire  now  took  their  places, 
according  to  rank,  around  the  Kaiser.  The  Crown 
Prince,  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  Bismarck, 
Moltke,  Von  Roon,  and  others  with  whose  names 
the  events  of  the  past  few  months  had  rendered 
the  whole  world  familiar,  occupied  places  imme- 
diately adjacent  to  the  throne,  and  were  each 
objects  of  special  interest.  The  white  banner  of 
the  empire  was  carried  by  Field- marshal  Von 
Wrangel,  who,  though  over  ninety  years  of  age, 
stayed  at  home  from  the  war  sorely  against  his 
the  will.  Three  vociferous  cheers  were  given  for 
German  emperor,  after  which  Prince  Bismarck 
stept  out,  and  bowing  profoundly,  handed  the 
speech,  printed  in  large  letters  in  a  bound  volume, 
to  his  august  master,  who  proceeded  to  read  it. 
Repeatedly  he  faltered ;  once  his  voice  broke  alto- 
gether from  emotion  as  the  cheers  rang  out  around 
him  ;  but  recovering  himself  he  finished  amid  a 
tempest  of  cheering,  and  handed  the  book  to  an 
aide-de-camp.  Taking  his  helmet,  he  bowed  low 
to  the  assembly,  and  retired  greeted  by  another 
chorus  of  cheering,  called  for  by  the  Bavarian 
representatives  in  the  Bund. 

The  speech  congratulated  the  Reichstag  upon 
the  victorious  termination  of  the  glorious  but 
trying  struggle  from  which  the  nation  had  just 
emerged — a  struggle  which  had  resulted  in  that 
unity  which,  although  veiled  for  a  time,  had 
always  been  present  to  the  mind  of  Germans,  who 
had  now  in  indelible  characters,  on  the  battle-fields 
of  France,  marked  their  determination  to  be  and 
to  remain  one  united  people.  Against  the  abuse 
of  the  power  thus  obtained  Germany  would  be 
guarded  by  that  amicable  spirit  which  pervaded 
the  culture  and  morals  of  the  people  ;  and  the 
emperor  regarded  with  special  satisfaction  the  fact 
that,  in  the  midst  of  a  terrible  war,  the  voice  of 
Germany  had  been  raised  in  the  interests  of  peace, 
and  a  London  Conference  for  settling  international 
questions  had  been  brought  about  through  the 
mediatory  endeavours  of  the  German  Foreign 
office.  The  first  task  of  the  Reichstag  would  be 
to  heal  as  far  as  possible  the  wounds  inflicted  by 
the  war,  and  to  mark  the  gratitude  of  the  father- 
land to  those  who  had  paid  for  the  victory  with 
their  blood  and  their  life.  The  war  indemnity 
to  be  paid  by  France  would,  with  the  approval  of 
3  f 


410 


GERMANY 


the  Reichstag,  be  disposed  of  in  conformity  with 
the  requirements  of  the  empire,  and  with  the  just 
claims  of  the  confederate  members.  The  speech 
indicated  the  leading  measures  which  would  have 
to  be  considered  in  the  current  session,  the  legis- 
lation required  for  the  territories  recovered  by 
Germany,  &c. ;  and  concluded  by  expressing  a 
hope  that  the  German  imperial  war  would  be 
followed  by  an  equally  glorious  and  fruitful  peace 
for  the  empire. 

An  address  in  reply  to  the  speech  was  drawn 
up  by  members  of  all  the  various  political  pirties 
in  the  Assembly,  and  one  or  two  of  its  most  remark- 
able passages  we  must  present  entire.  After 
reciprocating  the  emperor's  congratulations  on  the 
attainment  of  the  goal  so  long  desired  by  their 
ancestors,  and  so  ardently  hoped  for  by  the  present 
generation,  the  address  proceeded : — "  We  beg 
your  Majesty  to  accept  the  thanks  due  to  the 
illustrious  commander-in-chief  of  the  German  army, 
due  to  the  bravery  and  devotion  of  our  troops. 
We  are  fully  sensible  of  the  benefits  conferred 
upon  us  by  deeds  which  have  not  only  averted 
present  danger,  but  protected  us  from  the  recur- 
rence of  similar  troubles  in  the  future.  Defeat, 
and  still  more  the  strength  added  to  our  frontiers, 
will  henceforth  restrain  our  neighbour. 

"  The  dire  misfortune  France  is  suffering  now, 
in  addition  to  the  calamities  of  the  war,  confirms 
a  truth  which,  though  often  ignored,  is  never 
neglected  with  impunity.  In  the  iamily  of  civilized 
nations,  even  the  most  powerful  can  remain  happy 
only  by  prudently  confining  their  action  to  the 
improvement  of  their  own  domestic  affairs. 

"  In  times  past,  when  her  rulers  were  governed 
by  a  doctrine  imported  from  abroad,  Germany, 
too,  chose  to  meddle  with  the  concerns  of  other 
nations,  and  by  doing  so  undermined  her  own 
existence.  The  new  empire  is  based  upon  our 
own  views  of  national  and  political  life,  and,  armed 
for  defence,  will  be  entirely  devoted  to  works  of 
peace.  In  her  intercourse  with  foreign  nations 
Germany  claims  no  more  for  her  citizens  than  that 
respect  which  right  and  international  usage  accord. 
Unmoved  by  hostility  or  friendship,  she  is  well 
content  to  leave  other  nations  to  themselves,  and 
will  be  happy  to  see  them  regulate  their  own 
affairs  as  they  think  fit.  Interference  with  the 
internal  arrangements  of  other  nations  will,  we 
hope,  never  be  resorted  to  again  under  any  pretext 
or  in  any  form 


"  The  German  people  cherish  the  warmest 
feelings  of  brotherly  sympathy  for  the  inhabitants 
of  the  recovered  territories.  Alsace  and  Lorraine 
are  studded  with  monuments  commemorating  the 
most  glorious  phases  of  German  culture  and 
national  life.  Although  the  vestiges  of  the  past 
may  in  some  cases  have  been  obliterated  by  long 
estrangement,  Alsace  and  Lorraine  have  been  our 
own  for  a  thousand  years,  and  the  majority  of  their 
inhabitants  to  this  day  retain  our  language  and 
national  characteristics.  We  hope  that  legislation 
and  administration  will  unite  in  reviving  the 
German  nationality  in  those  splendid  provinces, 
and  in  strengthening  the  ties  which  bind  them  to 
us,  by  conciliating  their  feelings.  In  this  spirit 
we  shall  undertake  the  work  of  ordering  the 
rearrangements  to  be  introduced  in  Alsace  and 
Lorraine. 

"  Your  imperial  Majesty, — Germany,  to  be  satis- 
fied, and  Europe,  to  be  safe,  required  the  establish- 
ment of  the  German  Empire.  Our  national 
longings  for  unity  have  been  fulfilled  at  last,  and 
we  have  an  empire  protected  by  an  emperor,  and 
placed  under  the  safeguard  of  its  charter  and  its 
laws.  After  this,  Germany  has  no  more  ardent 
wish  than  to  achieve  victory  in  the  noble  strife 
for  peace  and  liberty  and  their  attendant  blessings. 

"  We  are,  the  most  faithfully  devoted  subjects  of 
your  imperial  Majesty, 

"  Dek  Deutsche  Reichstag." 

When,  soon  after  the  capitulation  of  Paris,  the 
required  preliminaries  of  peace  were  agreed  to,  it 
was  expected  that  a  definite  treaty  to  the  same 
effect  would  be  arranged  and  signed  with  little 
delay.  France,  however,  was  plunged  into  fresh 
troubles  by  the  Paris  Commune;  weeks,  in  fact, 
months,  passed  by,  and  up  to  the  beginning  of 
May  there  appeared  no  indication  of  a  desire  on 
the  part  of  the  French  government  to  conclude 
the  treaty.  The  inference  which  Prince  Bismarck 
drew  from  this  delay  may  be  gathered  from  a 
speech  made  by  him  in  the  German  Parliament. 
"  I  confess,"  said  he,  "  I  am  compelled  to  assume 
that  the  French  government  are  determined  to 
gain  time  by  unnecessary  delays,  and  that  they 
hope  they  will  be  able  to  obtain  more  favourable 
conditions  some  future  day,  when  their  power 
and  authority  have  been  re-established."  The 
chancellor  went  on  to  say  that  the  imperial 
government  were  determined  not  to  entertain  any 


AFTER  THE  WAR. 


411 


proposals  springing  from  such  a  motive.  Consent  ] 
had  been  given  for  the  return  of  all  the  prisoners 
to  France,  but  under  these  circumstances  the 
transfer  was  at  once  stayed,  and  about  250,000 
men  were  retained.  The  cost  of  this  measure 
to  Germany  was  all  the  larger,  that  the  French 
government  had  not  as  yet  been  in  a  condition  to 
defray  the  expense  of  provisioning  the  army  of 
occupation,  as  stipulated  in  the  preliminaries,  and 
which  alone  amounted  to  36,000,000  francs  per 
month,  besides  a  large  sum  due  as  interest  upon 
the  stipulated  indemnity.  Prince  Bismarck  ex- 
pressed considerable  surprise  at  the  remissness  of 
the  French  government;  and  said  that,  as  the 
Germans  could  not  be  expected  to  go  on  advancing 
money  in  this  way  to  the  French  exchequer, 
authority  would  be  given  to  return  to  the  practice 
of  requisitioning,  unless  the  amount  over  due  were 
shortly  forthcoming. 

Eespecting  the  policy  of  non-intervention  which 
the  Germans  so  strictly  observed  during  the 
troubles  of  the  Commune,  Prince  Bismarck  made 
some  remarks  which  will  serve  to  show  the  chaotic 
condition  into  which  France  had  by  this  time 
been  plunged.  "  It  has  been  observed,"  he  said, 
"  that  if  we  had  interfered  promptly  we  might 
have  prevented  France  from  lapsing  into  her  pre- 
sent lamentable  condition.  But,  gentlemen,  I 
shrank  from  the  responsibility  of  advising  his 
Majesty  to  meddle  with  the  domestic  concerns  of 
our  excitable  neighbours.  Had  we  offered  to  in- 
tercede, the  contending  parties  would  have  pro- 
bably shaken  hands,  and,  turning  round  upon  us 
in  the  French  emotional  fashion,  embraced  each 
other  with  the  enthusiastic  cry,  '  Nous  sommes 
Frangais;  gave  aux  Strangers!'  Besides,  we  have 
no  wish  to  deviate  from  the  programme  solemnly 
announced  by  his  Majesty,  which  renders  non- 
intervention in  the  domestic  concerns  of  other 
nations  a  principle  of  our  policy.  I  admit  that 
the  interest  we  have  in  securing  the  payment  of 
the  indemnity,  was  a  strong  temptation  to  take  an 
active  part  in  the  establishment  of  a  solid  govern- 
ment in  France.  I  also  allow  that  we  might  have 
succeeded  in  instituting  some  such  government. 
But  just  consider  what  the  position  of  such  a 
government  would  have  been.  A  government 
virtually  appointed  by  the  foreigner  might  have 
found  it  difficult  to  hold  its  own,  the  moment  we 
withdrew  our  protection;  even  if  strong  enough 
to  assert  its  authority,  it  might  have  thought  its 


position  so  disagreeable  as  to  resign  incontinently, 
and  leave  the  responsibility  of  settling  with  us 
to  its  successors.  But  is  there  any  one  in  this 
Assembly  who  could  tell  me  who  their  successors 
would  be?  Things  might  actually  have  come  to 
such  a  pass  that  we  should  have  had  to  look  out 
for  a  successor  to  M.  Thiers.  With  the  like  un- 
pleasant prospect  before  us,  I  think  I  may  hope 
for  the  approval  of  this  Assembly  and  the  nation 
at  large,  if  I  think  it  as  well  to  abstain  from  all 
interference  whatever.  At  the  same  time,  I  am 
not  at  liberty  to  give  a  promise  to  France  to  this 
effect.  We  must  reserve  to  ourselves  the  right 
of  protecting  our  interests,  and  while  leaving  the 
French  to  themselves,  we  must  guard  against 
guaranteeing  them  impunity  should  our  just  de- 
mands be  ignored." 

This  speech  had  an  immediate  effect.  Within 
a  very  short  time  France,  having  concluded  a 
temporary  loan,  at  seven  and  a  half  per  cent,  in- 
terest, with  certain  London  and  Frankfort  bankers, 
paid  the  whole  of  the  instalments  for  the  provi- 
sioning of  the  troops  due  up  to  the  1st  of  May. 
Communications  were  also  resumed  with  a  view 
to  the  definite  settling  of  the  treaty,  when  it  was 
found  that  the  French  put  a  very  different  con- 
struction from  the  German  government  upon  cer- 
tain important  points  in  the  preliminaries  signed 
at  Versailles.  First,  the  French  government  con- 
templated paying  the  greater  part  of  the  indemnity 
in  stock;  secondly,  they  insisted  upon  charging 
Alsace  and  Lorraine  with  a  portion  of  their 
national  debt;  thirdly,  they  raised  certain  pecu- 
niary demands  connected  with  the  cession  of 
railways  in  Alsace  and  Lorraine ;  and  they  claimed 
a  larger  strip  of  territory  round  Belfort  than  the 
Germans  were  disposed  to  concede. 

Concerning  the  first  of  these  disputed  points,  it 
will  be  remembered  that  France,  in  the  prelimi- 
naries of  peace,  engaged  to  pay  one  milliard  of 
francs  in  1871,  and  the  four  remaining  milliards 
within  three  years  of  the  date  of  the  ratification 
of  the  preliminaries.  But  no  sooner  were  nego- 
tiations for  the  definite  treaty  opened  at  Brussels, 
than  her  representatives  declared  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  pay  such  an  enormous  amount  in 
silver.  The  coin,  they  asserted,  could  not  be  col- 
lected in  all  Europe,  at  least  not  for  this  purpose, 
nor  by  them;  and  therefore  they  argued  that  the 
preliminaries  must  be  understood  to  imply  pay- 
ment in  stock.      The  German  negotiators  replied 


412 


GERMANY 


that  there  was  a  great  difference  between  paper 
and  bullion,  and  that  as  no  paper  had  been 
allowed  in  the  preliminaries,  the  natural  infer- 
ence was  that  cash  was  meant.  Upon  this  the 
French  negotiators  somewhat  modified  their  posi- 
tion, and  submitted  to  their  German  colleagues  a 
proposal  to  pay  one  milliard  in  cash  and  four 
milliards  in  stock.  The  cash  would  be  handed 
over  within  three  years  from  July  1,  1871  ;  the 
date  of  the  delivery  of  the  stock — -French  Five 
per  Cents. — being  left  to  special  agreement.  The 
German  plenipotentiaries,  however,  did  not  conceal 
that  they  looked  upon  this  proposal  as  an  attempt 
to  violate  the  preliminaries  ratified  by  the  French 
government  and  National  Assembly,  and  it  was 
plainly  intimated  that  Germany  would  insist  upon 
her  rights.  She  had  just  been  compelled  to  raise 
another  loan  in  consequence  of  the  prolonged 
maintenance  of  her  forces  on  the  war  footing, 
caused  by  the  insurrectionary  difficulties  in  France, 
and  to  meet  the  unforeseen  necessity  of  retaining 
the  prisoners  of  war  in  Germany.  That  under 
these  circumstances  the  French  should  throw 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  final  settlement,  with 
the  view,  as  was  considered,  of  gaining  time  and 
strength  to  make  better  terms,  excited  in  Germany 
a  feeling  approaching  to  exasperation  ;  and  to  pre- 
vent the  unpleasant  complications  which  seemed 
impending  the  French  ministers  of  Finance  and 
Foreign  Affairs,  M.  Pouyer-Quertier  and  M.  Favre, 
were  despatched  to  Frankfort,  where  they  were 
shortly  joined  by  Prince  Bismarck. 

Before  going  thither  the  imperial  chancellor 
had  determined  that,  if  the  result  of  his  interview 
was  not  satisfactory,  the  German  army  should  at 
once  occupy  Paris  either  by  an  arrangement  with 
the  Commune  or  by  force;  and  that  the  French 
government  should  be  required  to  withdraw  its 
troops  behind  the  Loire,  and  then  resume  negotia- 
tions. Perhaps  there  was  some  foreboding,  in  the 
minds  of  the  two  French  ministers,  that  this  was 
the  alternative  awaiting  them  if  they  adhered  to 
the  views  they  had  formed.  At  all  events,  Prince 
Bismarck  found  little  difficulty  in  inducing  them 
to  abandon  their  proposal  respecting  payment  in 
French  stock,  or  the  handing  over  of  French  debts 
with  the  ceded  territory.  A  perfect  understanding 
having  been  arrived  at  with  regard  to  these  mat- 
ters, it  was  further  agreed  to  settle  at  once  the 
terms  of  the  treaty.  With  regard  to  the  indemnity 
of  five  milliards,  it  was  decided  that  the  payment 


should  be  made  either  wholly  in  specie,  or  in  notes 
of  English,  Dutch,  Prussian,  or  Belgian  banks,  or 
in  first-class  bills.  The  first  half  milliard  was  to 
be  paid  within  thirty  days  of  the  occupation  of 
Paris  by  the  Versailles  army;  a  second  payment  of 
one  milliard  was  to  be  made  by  the  end  of  1871, 
and  the  fourth  half  milliard  by  May  1,  1872. 
The  French  negotiators  demanded  800,000,000 
francs  for  the  Alsatian  and  Lorraine  railroads, 
which  however,  was  reduced  to  325,000,000 
francs,  and  even  that  sum  was  allowed  only  on 
condition  of  the  German  government  obtaining 
possession  of  the  line  from  Thionville  to  Luxem- 
burg. The  purchase-money  of  the  railways  was  to 
count  as  part  payment  of  the  first  two  milliards  of 
the  indemnity,  and  it  was  stipulated  that  the  whole 
of  the  last  three  milliards  should  be  paid  by  the  1st 
of  March,  1874.  Interest  at  the  rate  of  five  per 
cent,  was  to  be  paid  upon  the  indemnity  until  its 
entire  liquidation,  and  in  the  meantime  the  German 
army  of  occupation  in  eastern  France,  consisting 
of  at  least  50,000  men,  was  to  be  maintained  at 
the  cost  of  the  French  government.  The  East 
of  France  Railway  Company  received  2,000,000 
francs  for  the  portion  of  St.  Louis  and  Basle  line 
on  Swiss  territory. 

With  regard  to  the  extended  area  demanded  by 
the  French  round  Belfort,  Prince  Bismarck  offered 
to  give  up  the  whole  arrondissement  of  Belfort  on 
condition  of  his  acquiring  for  Germany  a  strip  of 
territory  along  the  Luxemburg  frontier,  comprising 
the  communes  of  Redingen  and  Moyeuvre,  where 
German  was  almost  entirely  spoken;  and  this 
proposal  was  ultimately  agreed  to  by  the  Assembly. 
Respecting  commercial  relations,  it  was  agreed 
that  Germany  should  be  treated  on  the  same  foot- 
ing as  the  most  favoured  nations — namely,  Eng- 
land, Belgium,  &c;  and  further,  that  the  Germans 
who  had  been  expelled  from  France  should  be 
restored  to  the  possession  of  their  property  and 
to  their  rights  of  domicile  on  French  territory. 
Permission  was  granted  that  the  prisoners  might 
return,  and  the  garrison  towns  be  again  occupied ; 
the  force  before  Paris,  however,  was  not  to  exceed 
80,000,  and  the  remainder  of  the  army  was  to 
remain  behind  the  Loire. 

In  Germany  the  news  of  the  peace  of  Frankfort 
was  received  with  enthusiasm,  and  was  justly 
regarded  as  a  new  and  brilliant  jewel  in  the 
princely  coronet  with  which  the  emperor  had 
rewarded   the    services  of   his    chancellor.       The 


AFTER  THE  WAR. 


413 


success  of  Prince  Bismarck  surpassed,  in  fact,  the 
most  sanguine  expectations.  While  thousands  of 
his  countrymen  were  prepared  to  hear  that  he 
had  made  financial  concessions  in  order  to  obtain 
guarantees  for  the  punctual  payment  of  the  rest 
of  the  sum,  and  no  one  ventured  to  hope  that  the 
amount  stipulated  in  the  preliminaries  would  be 
exceeded — all  were  surprised  by  the  news  that  a 
definite  peace  had  been  concluded,  without  any 
reduction  having  been  made  in  the  sum  demanded; 
that  the  interval  between  the  dates  fixed  for  the 
payment  of  the  instalments  had  been  shortened; 
and  that  far  better  security  had  been  obtained  by 
Germany. 

The  reading  of  the  treaty  in  the  French 
Assembly  at  Versailles  naturally  caused  very  great 
emotion.  It  was  proposed  to  receive  and  ratify  it 
in  silence,  as  a  lamentable  but  inexorable  neces- 
sity. To  this  the  single  dissentient  was  General 
Chanzy,  who  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of 
pointing  out  the  strategical  advantages  Germany 
obtained  by  the  cession  of  the  strip  of  Luxemburg 
frontier;  and  also  of  blaming  the  French  negotia- 
tors for  submitting  to  burdensome  and  humiliating 
conditions  while  the  Prussians  might  have  been 
conquered,  had  it  been  wished.  Such  language 
might  have  been  understood  had  it  come  from  a 
Communist,  who,  ready  enough  to  fight  his  own 
government,  could  never  be  induced  to  face  a 
Prussian;  but  it  is  rather  surprising  as  coming 
from  one  who,  having  failed  in  spite  of  his  pre- 
eminent courage  and  skill,  had  thus  clearly 
exemplified  the  utter  inutility  of  resistance.  In 
announcing  the  signature  of  the  treaty,  M.  Thiers 
dwelt  mournfully  upon  the  onerous  conditions 
involved,  but  found  comfort  in  the  thought  that 
"  all  Frenchmen  will  be.  restored  to  their  country, 
and  we  shall  be  able  to  fill  up  the  ranks  of  our 
glorious  and  brave  army  in  far  greater  numbers 
than  we  were  at  first  permitted  to  do  by  the 
preliminaries  of  peace.  Our  army,  besides,  has 
again  raised  the  high  fame  of  the  French  name 
and  the  power  of  France  in  the  eyes  of  Europe, 
and  the  world  once  more  renders  it  justice." 
These  observations  were  received  with  great  ap- 
plause by  the  Assembly;  though,  looking  at  the 
events  of  the  previous  twelve  months,  it  is  not 
easy  to  see  on  what  grounds. 

On  May  20  the  treaty  was  ratified  at  Frank- 
fort amidst  great  public  rejoicing,  and  immediate 
arrangements  were  made  for  disbanding  the  huge 


assemblage  with  which  the  conquest  of  France 
had  been  achieved.  The  celerity  with  which  this 
was  carried  out  was  little  less  remarkable  than  the 
extraordinary  rapidity  with  which  the  German 
armies  were  brought  together  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  war.  At  that  time  a  fortnight  sufficed 
to  place  upon  the  war  footing  a  force  sufficient  to 
take  the  initiative  and  carry  the  hostilities  into 
French  territory;  and  only  about  the  same  time 
was  required  to  send  back  to  their  quiet  dwellings 
army  and  corps'  commanders  whose  names  had 
become  famous  in  history,  and  to  restore  to  the 
peaceful  avocations  of  the  spade  and  mattock  vast 
hosts  who  had  proved  themselves  such  adepts  in 
the  use  of  the  sword  and  field-gun. 

Previous,  however,  to  the  final  disbandment  of 
the  troops,  it  was  arranged  that  their  return  home 
and  entry  into  Berlin  should  be  the  occasion  of 
a  grand  war  festival,  a  fitting  celebration  of  the 
great  achievements  of  the  past  few  months.  The 
triumphal  entry  was  the  seventh  recorded  in  the 
history  of  the  city,  and  those  which  preceded  it 
mark  well  the  gradual  rise  of  the  successful  state. 
On  the  first  occasion  of  the  kind  Berlin  was  only  " 
the  capital  of  Brandenburg,  the  duchy  of  Prussia 
not  having  reverted  to  this  dynasty.  TheAustro- 
German  Emperor  Ferdinand  had  summoned  the 
Brandenburg  Elector,  Joachim  I.,  to  assist  him 
against  the  Turks.  The  elector  sent  his  son  with 
a  force  of  6000  men  from  various  parts  of  northern 
Germany,  or  Saxony,  as  it  was  then  called.  With 
these  the  prince  defeated  an  army  of  15,000  Turks, 
and  was  triumphantly  received  by  his  father  on  his 
return  in  May,  1532.  Between  this  and  the  second 
entry  there  was  an  interval  of  nearly  150  years. 
In  December,  1678,  the  great  Elector,  Frederick 
William,  chased  the  Swedes  from  the  island  of 
Rugen,  having  effected  a  landing  in  350  small 
vessels,  only  eleven  of  which  belonged  to  the 
government.  To  commemorate  this  the  Berliners 
erected  triumphal  arches,  and  placed  two  clumsy 
imitations  of  men-of-war  on  either  side  of  the  via 
triumphalis.  The  most  extraordinary  entry  of  all 
was  that  of  Frederick  the  Great,  after  defeating 
Austria,  in  1763.  Though  victorious  in  the  end, 
the  hero-king  was  so  distressed  by  the  terrible 
losses  sustained  in  a  seven  years'  war,  that  he 
slunk  into  the  capital  unseen  by  his  citizens,  who 
were  awaiting  his  appearance  with  all  due  pomp 
and  circumstance.  The  year  1814  witnessed  the 
entry  of  King  Frederick  William  III.,  the  father 


414 


GERMANY 


of  his  reigning  Majesty.  So  conscious  was  the 
king  of  having  had  no  immediate  share  in  the  war 
which  led  to  the  fall  of  Napoleon  I.,  and  so  strictly 
honest  was  he  in  word  and  deed,  that  when  his 
subjects  received  him  at  the  Brandenburg  Gate 
he  uttered  these  memorable  words; — "  Personally 
I  have  no  right  to  accept  your  thanks.  But  if 
this  honour  is  offered  to  Field-marshal  Blucher, 
and  to  the  guards  and  my  sons,  who  alone  deserve 
it,  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  join  them,  and  enter 
Berlin  in  their  company."  This  was  tho  first  time 
that  the  procession  passed  along  the  Linden,  and 
the  culminating  point  of  the  day  was  the  perform- 
ance of  divine  service  in  the  open  square  before 
the  Old  Palace.  During  the  offering  up  of  the 
Thanksgiving  Prayer  the  king,  the  princes,  and  the 
entire  army  there  assembled,  knelt,  and  remained 
in  this  devout  posture  for  nearly  ten  minutes.  To 
his  son,  the  Emperor  William  I.,  two  triumphs 
were  vouchsafed  before  the  late  crowning  event. 
His  first  entry  was  made  in  December,  1864,  after 
the  defeat  of  the  Danes ;  the  second  in  September, 
1866,  when  Austria  had  succumbed  to  his  arms. 

The  troops  detailed  to  take  part  in  the  triumphal 
procession  in  1871  numbered  more  than  45,000 
men,  consisting  of  the  Prussian  guards,  some 
southern  detachments,  a  certain  number  out  of 
every  regiment  that  had  taken  part  in  the  cam- 
paign, a  "  combined "  artillery  battery,  and  the 
second  West  Prussian  regiment.  The  latter 
formed  part  of  the  corps  which  carried  the  heights 
of  Weissenburg,  captured  the  first  French  colour, 
and  also  specially  distinguished  itself  at  Woerth. 
It  was,  however,  selected  to  accompany  the  proces- 
sion, particularly  as  the  regiment  in  which  the 
emperor  served  his  term  before  promotion  to  the 
rank  of  officer.  Previous  to  their  first  appearance 
in  Berlin  the  troops  were  quartered  in  various 
neighbouring  towns  and  villages,  each  of  which 
celebrated  a  triumphal  entry  of  its  own  on  a  small 
scale,  and  treated  the  gallant  warriors  with  profuse 
hospitality. 

By  the  municipal  authorities  no  expense  or 
trouble  was  spared  to  render  the  capital  itself, 
and  the  approaches  by  which  the  troops  were  to 
enter,  worthy  of  the  magnificent  historical  spec- 
tacle it  was  to  witness.  From  the  Halle  Gate  to 
the  Schloss — about  five  miles — two  rows  of  orna- 
mental fiagstaffs  were  placed,  fifteen  paces  apart, 
on  the  top  of  each  of  which  was  fixed  a  Prussian 
standard,  with  two  German  flags  suspended  half- 


way up  over  the  escutcheon  of  one  or  other  Federal 
state.  Occasionally  amidst  this  armorial  exhibi- 
tion might  be  seen  the  quartering  of  the  Austrian 
two-headed  eagle — a  graceful  remembrance  of  for- 
mer alliance,  and  of  the  many  eventful  years  in 
which  the  two  countries  went  hand  in  hand.  All 
the  flagstafls  were  connected  by  a  continuous  gar- 
land of  fir,  the  symbolical  tree  of  Brandenburg, 
which  furnished  many  miles  of  festoons  for  the 
occasion.  Amidst  these,  at  various  intervals,  were 
more  imposing  decorations,  consisting  of  gigantic 
pictures  (some  allegorical,  others  representing  dif- 
ferent scenes  in  the  war),  and  of  immense  trophies 
commemorative  of  the  leading  battles,  generally 
surrounded  by  the  artillery  and  other  spoil  captured 
in  the  engagements.  The  way  on  both  sides  from 
the  Tempelhof  Field  to  the  Palace  were  also  lined 
with  captured  cannon  and  mitrailleuses,  each  having 
inscribed  upon  it  the  name  of  the  place  at  which  it 
was  taken.  The  mitrailleuses  particularly  were  a 
source  of  endless  curiosity  to  the  youth  of  Berlin, 
who,  by  grinding  their  handles,  extracted  a  faint 
echo  of  the  reality  of  their  grunting;  rode  on  the 
top  of  them  as  if  they  had  been  ponies;  or  examined 
with  wonderment  the  intricacies  of  the  spirals. 

The  Unter  den  Linden  of  Berlin,  with  the 
magnificent  squares  touching  it  at  each  end,  is 
a  justly  famous  locality.  Running  from  east  to 
west,  a  fine  avenue  extends  3000  feet  long  and 
70  feet  wide.  On  each  side  is  a  paved  way  for 
horsemen,  flanked  by  a  broad  carriage  road  with 
adjoining  foot  pavement.  The  houses  on  both 
sides  are  amongst  the  finest  in  the  capital,  and 
contain  a  brilliant  row  of  shops.  To  do  honour 
to  the  occasion  the  centre  avenue  was  lined  with 
French  cannon,  and  pillars  exhibiting  the  official 
war  telegrams,  connected  by  festoons  and  garlands 
of  fresh  flowers.  At  five  points  the  line  of  cap- 
tured artillery  was  broken  by  triumphal  arches, 
equally  simple  and  tasteful  in  style.  Between  two 
columns  placed  on  each  side  of  the  avenue,  was 
suspended  a  gigantic  display  of  canvas,  like  an 
ornamental  carpet,  covered  with  choice  paintings 
in  wax  colours.  These  exquisite  hangings  were 
twenty  feet  by  fifteen  ;  and  on  one  of  them,  Ger- 
mania,  in  the  attitude  of  an  exalted  priestess  leaning 
against  the  national  oak,  sword  in  hand,  while 
lightning  flashed  from  the  lurid  sky,  called  her 
people  to  arms.  Bavarians,  Prussians,  and  Saxons, 
were  all  thronging  forward  to  obey  the  summons. 
On  the  painting  were  words  taken  from  the  em- 


AFTER  THE  WAR. 


415 


peror's  first  proclamation  on  the  outbreak  of  the 
war;  and  lines  from  Becker's  "  Rhein-Lied,"  com- 
posed in  1840,  when  M.  Thiers  seemed  inclined 
to  do  as  Napoleon  did  in  1870,  were  inscribed 
upon  the  back  of  the  canvas,  which  formed  a 
splendid  purple  silk  standard,  vandyked  at  the 
bottom.  A  couple  of  hundred  feet  further  on,  the 
next  painting,  whose  subject  was  again  explained 
by  extracts  from  the  emperor's  proclamations 
during  the  war,  exhibited  genii  bridging  over  the 
Main,  on  the  banks  of  which  the  Bavarian  and 
Prussian  at  length  united  shaking  hands.  On  the 
third  picture,  Germania,  a  blue-eyed  virgin  of 
mild  maidenly  type,  standing  erect  in  a  gold 
chariot,  rushed  into  battle,  with  her  fierce  stal- 
wart sons  crowding  around  her.  While  they  were 
cutting  their  way  through  death  and  flame,  the 
German  eagle  in  the  sky  swooped  down  on  her 
Napoleonic  colleague.  In  the  fourth  and  fifth 
pictures,  devoted  to  the  apotheosis  of  Peace,  Ger- 
mania was  represented  as  advancing  liberty,  indus- 
try, and  science,  under  the  shadow  of  the  Imperial 
crown.  As  another  little  by-play,  the  genii  of 
Concord,  at  a  vast  elevation  in  the  sky,  were 
performing  celestial  music,  and  urging  by  their 
harmony,  the  scholar,  the  manufacturer,  and  the 
merchant  to  fresh  efforts.  The  unfortunate  suf- 
ferers through  the  war  were  not  forgotten  amid 
all  the  rejoicing.  The  roads  on  each  side  of  the 
avenue  were  appropriated  to  the  wounded  and 
their  attendants,  and  some  thousands  were  here 
seated  on  the  "  tribunes  "  prepared  for  them. 

At  the  western  extremity  of  the  Linden  is  the 
Paris  Square,  an  open  area  nearly  as  large  as 
Trafalgar  Square,  London,  and  surrounded  by 
palatial  mansions.  The  opposite  end,  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Park,  is  closed  by  the  Brandenburg 
Gate,  that  celebrated  pile,  so  often  called  the 
Prussian  Propylsea.  It  consists  of  six  double 
columns  connected  by  a  flat  ceiling,  on  the  raised 
centre  of  which  stands  the  celebrated  Victory  in 
her  iron  car.  On  this  auspicious  day  Victory  had 
her  attendants ;  for  hundreds  of  bold  Prussians 
clambered  to  her  aerial  heights  to  see  the  entry 
under  the  auspices  of  the  protecting  divinity  of 
their  land.  The  colossal  proportions  of  the  gate 
were  enlivened  by  a  profusion  of  green  garlands 
of  fir  and  oak. 

Where  the  Linden  abuts  on  the  monument  of 
Frederick  the  Great  the  Opera  Square  begins.  It 
is  2500  feet  long,  about  1500  feet  wide,  and  one 


of  the  handsomest  places  in  the  world.  The  king's 
palace,  the  Crown  Prince's  palace,  the  university, 
the  opera,  the  arsenal,  and  in  the  background  the 
ancient  castle,  with  the  town-hall  tower  overlook- 
ing the  whole,  form  a  cluster  of  monumental 
buildings  such  as  are  rarely  seen  together  any- 
where. The  way  of  the  troops  into  the  interior 
of  the  city  lay  through  the  Brandenburg  Gate, 
along  the  central  avenue  of  the  Linden,  and  down 
the  Opera  Platz,  where  in  front  of  Bliicher's  statue 
was  held  the  concluding  parade. 

Most  of  the  public  buildings  were  decorated 
with  festoons,  flags,  and  pictures  commemorative 
of  events  of  the  war,  or  with  well-executed  statuary 
designs;  and  every  open  space  contained  memo- 
rials, trophies,  or  allegorical  representations  in 
many  forms.  Perhaps  the  best  and  most  signifi- 
cant of  these  were  in  the  Opera  Square  and 
Potsdamer  Platz.  In  the  latter,  on  a  lofty  pedestal 
surrounded  by  a  circular  platform,  a  colossal  statue 
of  Victory — a  jubilant  angel  in  a  short  tunic — 
soared  into  the  air  to  a  height  of  seventy  feet. 
The  platform  at  the  base  was  graced  by  about 
thirty  French  cannon,  the  substantial  harvest  of 
the  conqueror;  and  the  significant  word  "  Sedan" 
shone  forth  in  golden  letters  from  the  supporting 
pillar,  itself  a  model  of  beauty  and  taste.  In  front 
of  Cannon-hill,  as  this  exhibition  was  jocularly 
termed,  were  seated  two  immense  and  rather  morose- 
looking  Amazons,  the  one  on  the  right  side 
representing  Metz,  the  other  on  the  left,  Strass- 
burg.  Strassburg,  lugubrious  in  mien,  sank  the 
torch  with  which  she  so  long  combated  her 
countrymen;  Metz,  like  a  pert  vixen,  had  one 
arm  combatively  akimbo,  and  seemed  to  look  down 
defiantly  upon  her  captors.  That  Herr  Begus, 
the  renowned  artist  to  whom  the  city  was  indebted 
for  these  remarkable  ornaments  of  the  via  trium- 
phalis,  should  have  modelled  the  two  cities  so  true 
to  things  as  they  were,  was  one  proof  among  others 
that  the  Germans  had  no  wish  to  deceive  them- 
selves or  others  as  to  the  nature  of  their  position 
in  the  new  provinces. 

In  the  Opera  Platz,  close  to  the  castle,  was  a 
gigantic  group  representing  Germania  with  Alsace 
and  Lorraine.  On  the  circular  base,  sixty  feet 
in  circumference,  appeared  in  alto-relievo  no  less 
than  thirty  figures  the  size  of  life,  representing 
German  soldiers  hurrying  to  the  strife.  Bavarians 
mingled  with  Prussians,  and  the  Wiirtemburg 
forage  cap  was  conspicuous  beside  the  landwehr 


416 


GERMANY 


shako  of  the  north.  Girls  were  taking  leave  of 
their  sweethearts,  and  as  the  strong  and  the  fair 
clung  in  mute  embrace,  boys  threw  up  their  caps, 
each  contending  who  should  carry  his  father's 
gun.  A  lower  frieze  allegorized  the  German  rivers, 
and  the  whole,  as  a  work  of  art,  deserved  to  be 
executed  in  a  more  permanent  substance  than 
plaster  of  Paris.  Between  this  group  and  the 
Museum,  in  the  large  area  known  as  the  Lustgarten, 
stood  the  statue  of  King  Frederick  William  III., 
father  of  the  emperor,  the  unveiling  of  which  was 
to  form  the  grand  closing  feature  of  the  day's 
festivities. 

To  witness  the  spectacle  Germans  and  repre- 
sentatives of  nearly  every  other  nationality  crowded 
in  immense  numbers  to  Berlin,  the  population  of 
which  was  for  the  time  almost  doubled.  The 
aspect  of  the  city,  from  an  early  hour  on  the 
morning  of  the  16th,  may  be  compared  to  Fleet- 
street  and  Holborn  in  London  on  the  well-remem- 
bered Thanksgiving  Day  in  February,  1872;  and 
large  as  were  the  sums  paid  on  that  occasion  for 
eligible  windows  from  which  to  view  the  procession, 
it  is  doubtful  if  they  exceeded  those  offered  in 
Berlin  on  June  16,  1871,  for  sites  commanding 
favourable  views  of  the  military  triumph.  Very 
early  in  the  day  the  burgomaster  received  tele- 
grams from  the  German  societies  at  Vienna, 
Marburg,  Graatz,  and  other  Austrian  towns,  con- 
gratulating Berlin  on  her  successes,  and  dwelling 
with  significant  emphasis  upon  the  fact  that  the 
senders  belonged  to  the  nation  of  the  fatherland, 
and  regarded  its  victories  as  their  own — a  fact 
the  more  significant  that,  only  a  week  or  two 
before,  a  thousand  Germans  from  Hungary  had 
asked  permission  to  take  part  in  the  entry  and 
march  behind  the  troops.  From  regard  to  their 
sovereign's  feelings  the  request  was  refused,  but 
many  nevertheless  came,  and  joined  the  gratified 
Berliners  in  drinking  to  fatherland. 

The  auspicious  morning  dawned  with  beautiful 
weather.  Business  was,  of  course,  entirely  sus- 
pended, and  from  the  early  hour  of  five  o'clock 
the  streets  streamed  with  people,  who,  in  a  con- 
tinuous line,  crowded  the  road  the  troops  were  to 
take.  Gradually  rising  from  the  level  streets,  and 
often  reaching  to  a  considerable  height,  they 
formed  so  many  artificial  slopes,  gorgeously  decked 
out  with  scarlet  cloth  and  overtopped  by  banners 
and  standards,  like  trees  shooting  up  from  a  hill 
side.     By  eight  o'clock  the   roads  were   crowded 


with  a  vast  array  of  civilians  awaiting  the  army 
of  soldiers,  who  after  many  dangers  and  vicissitudes 
enjoyed  the  supreme  blessing  of  seeing  home  once 
more.  The  citizens  who  had  not  the  privilege  of 
a  tribune  ticket,  took  time  by  the  forelock  in  such 
portions  of  the  thoroughfares  as  were  open  to 
them.  The  numerous  city  guilds  paraded  the 
streets  in  their  quaint  semi-military  insignia  and 
ensigns,  each  accompanied  by  its  band;  and  had 
there  been  an  individual  in  all  the  city  not  con- 
versant with  the  "  Watch  on  the  Rhine,"  he  would 
on  that  day  have  had  the  opportunity  of  thoroughly 
making  its  acquaintance. 

The  arrival  of  a  long  and  melancholy  file  of 
wounded,  who  seated  themselves  on  the  tribunes 
along  the  Linden  avenues,  was  the  signal  for  the 
first  grand  outburst  of  cheering,  while  the  guild 
bands  struck  up  with  renewed  vigour.  At  length 
there  were  indications  that  the  great  event  was 
about  to  take  place.  Like  a  herald  announcing 
his  master's  approach,  a  vehement  hurrah  arose 
along  the  procession.  There  was  reason  for  joy 
For  the  first  time  in  history  it  was  not  a  Prussian, 
but  a  Pan-Germanic  army,  that  entered  Berlin  in 
triumph.  For  the  first  time  for  centuries,  the 
nation  had  grounded  its  political  unity  upon  the 
rock  of  a  united  army.  To  accomplish  this  end, 
many  a  disaster  had  to  be  endured,  many  a  bitter 
draught  swallowed ;  but  the  full  time  was  now 
come,  and  victory  and  comparative  safety  were,  to 
the  great  joy  of  the  people,  the  reward  of  preju- 
dices conquered  and  interests  more  firmly  secured. 

The  first  glimpse  the  townspeople  caught  of  the 
procession  was  as  it  swept  down  Belle-Alliance 
Street,  and  through  Koniggratz  Street,  towards  the 
Halle  Gate.  "  Belle  Alliance"  is  the  Prussian 
designation  for  Waterloo,  and  "  Koniggratz"  for 
Sadowa.  The  army  which  was  now  returning 
after  accomplishing  the  crowning  achievement  of 
Sedan,  were  thus  significantly  reminded,  by  the 
route  they  followed,  of  the  two  other  most  im- 
portant battles  of  the  century,  which  had  paved 
the  way  for  German  unity.  At  the  Halle  Gate  a 
noble  and  gigantic  statue  of  Berlin  extended  a 
cordial  hand  to  the  victors;  and  here  the  civic 
dignitaries  stood  to  welcome  them  on  their  entrance 
into  the  capital.  To  remind  them  of  Paris  incidents 
a  flight  of  diminutive  balloons  was  let  loose  by  an 
adept  of  the  aeronautic  art.  Marching  on  to  the 
Anhalt  Gate  the  soldiers  found  themselves  saluted 
by  the  lusty  hurrahs   of  3000  boys  placed  on  a 


AFTER  THE  WAR. 


417 


large  platform,  flanked  by  trophies.  Proceeding 
between  the  flagstaff's  marking  its  course,  the  gallant 
array  reached  the  Potsdam  Gate  with  its  imposing 
embellishments.  Here  the  statue  of  Victory  looked 
down  upon  them  from  her  terrace  bristling  with 
cannon.  The  two  captured  ladies,  Strassburg  and 
Metz,  were  seated  at  her  feet.  The  king  stopped 
his  charger,  and  looked  up  admiringly  at  the 
beautiful  group.  Many  a  soldier  as  he  passed 
along  sadly  remembered  the  sacrifices  by  which 
the  two  western  fortresses  of  the  enemy  had  been 
won,  and  how  much  more  easy  it  was  for  the 
sculptor  to  represent  them  as  they  now  were,  than 
it  proved  for  the  army  to  reduce  them  to  this 
position. 

An  expectant  flutter  pervaded  the  multitudes 
crowding  Unter  den  Linden  as  the  thunder  of 
drums  and  clashing  of  brass  bands,  mingled  with 
the  lusty  cheers,  told  that  the  brilliant  cavalcade 
was  drawing  near  the  Brandenburg  Gate.  The 
national  anthem  was  suddenly  drowned  by  the 
deafening  huzza  which  resounded  from  the  square 
inside  the  portico,  and  told  that  the  head  of  the  army 
had  entered  the  city.  The  gallant  Marshal  Wrangel 
led  the  van;  and  the  veteran  warrior,  who  won 
his  spurs  against  Napoleon  I.,  was  in  his  place  at 
the  head  of  a  generation  whom  he  had  taught  the 
way  to  victory.  Alone  the  old  man  rode,  and 
was  lustily  cheered  by  the  people.  Behind  him 
were  his  staff,  composed  of  generals  like  himself 
superannuated  from  active  work,  or  who  from  other 
causes  were  not  in  the  war.  Then  came  the 
officers  of  the  central  staff,  and  of  the  staffs  of  the 
various  armies  in  the  field — an  intellectual  elite, 
with  many  a  famous  name  among  them.  Lieuten- 
ant-colonel Verdy,  Moltke's  assistant  and  another 
Prussian  Clausewitz,  rode  close  by  Colonel  Lesz- 
czynski,  Werder's  chief  of  the  staff,  and  the  hero 
of  the  three  days'  battle  before  Belfort;  Blumenthal, 
who  served  under  the  Crown  Prince  at  Woerth; 
Stosch,  who  assisted  the  grand-duke  of  Mecklen- 
burg at  Orleans  and  Le  Mans:  and  Stiehle,  who 
advised  Prince  Frederick  Charles.  These  were 
followed  by  the  leaders  who  had  served  as  civil 
governors  during  the  war — Bettenfeld,  Falkenstein, 
Bonin,  and  Fabrice.  Behind  them  rode  the  great 
generals  of  the  campaign — the  duke  of  Mecklen- 
burg-Schwerin,  Prince  George  of  Saxony,  Field- 
marshal  Steinmetz,  and  Manteuffel,  Werder,  Von 
der  Tann,  Hb'ben,  Fransecki,  Kamecke,  &c. 

After  a  slight  interval  there  followed  the  illus- 
VOL.  n. 


trious  trio  who,  under  the  emperor,  had  the  direc- 
tion of  the  war — Moltke,  Eoon,  and  Bismarck. 
As  the  three  became  visible  the  cheering  rose  to 
a  tempest,  and  the  shower  of  laurel  wreaths,  which 
had  been  pouring  down  all  the  while  from  the 
grand  stand  and  the  windows,  became  all  but 
overpowering.  They  looked  as  characteristic  as 
ever.  Moltke  was  the  abstracted  sage,  caring  little 
for  anything  under  his  immediate  observation, 
unless  it  happened  to  be  a  hostile  army  or  two, 
and  seemingly  fighting  out  some  imaginary  battle 
in  his  own  mind.  Bismarck  in  his  cuirass,  taller 
than  tall  Moltke,  and  twice  as  stout,  appeared  the 
stern  representative  of  sovereign  common  sense 
he  had  proved  in  his  rare  career.  Neither  he  nor 
Roon,  in  whose  grim  warrior  face  every  ploughed 
furrow  pointed  to  administrative  precision  and 
energy,  appeared  to  care  much  for  the  jubilant 
shouts. 

Behind  them,  the  solitary  centre  of  the  splendid 
picture,  on  his  dark  bay  war-horse,  rode  the  em- 
peror and  king' — of  truly  royal  aspect,  beaming 
with  dignity  and  good-nature.  No  welcome  could 
be  heartier  than  that  given  him ;  no  acknowledg- 
ment more  gracious.  Behind  him  rode  the  field- 
marshals  of  the  royal  house — the  Crown  Prince 
of  Germany,  looking  every  inch  a  prince  and  a 
soldier,  on  a  chestnut  horse;  and  Prince  Frederick 
Charles,  heavy-browed,  stalwart,  and  square,  with 
his  firm,  strong  seat  on  the  bright  bay  charger. 
Following  these  came  a  great  company  of  German 
sovereigns  and  princes,  who  had  come  to  rally 
round  their  emperor  as  in  days  of  yore.  Imme- 
diately behind  came  nearly  a  hundred  non-com- 
missioned officers  of  varied  German  nationalities 
bearing  the  spoils  of  war — the  eagles  and  the 
colours.  As  he  wheeled  under  the  gate  Kaiser 
Wilhelm  looked  back  significantly  at  these  prizes, 
about  to  pass  under  a  structure  once  despoiled  by 
the  armies  of  the  nation  from  which  they  had 
been  taken.  Having  bowed  repeatedly  to  the 
stands  encircling  the  square,  his  Majesty  ad- 
vanced towards  a  platform  on  which  stood  sixty 
young  ladies,  who  had  been  selected  to  greet  him 
by  a  poetical  recitation,  and  the  presentation  of  a 
laurel  wreath — a  time-honoured  usage  imperatively 
required  by  German  custom  on  such  occasions.  As 
was  the  ceremony,  so  was  the  costume  traditional. 
The  fair  band  were  clad  in  white,  trimmed  with 
blue — the  colours  of  Innocence  and  Faith — with 
bare  heads  and  beautiful  bouquets.  Two  matrons 
3g 


418 


GERMANY 


chaperoned  the  girls,  and  Fraulein  Blascr,  the 
sculptor's  daughter,  advancing  with  six  of  her 
companions,  had  the  honour  of  addressing  an  ap- 
propriate poem  to  the  emperor — all  ahout  the  war 
which  had  been  so  terrible,  and  the  peace  which 
was  so  soothing.  Having  received  the  laurel 
wreath,  he  placed  it  on  the  hilt  of  his  sword, 
kissed  the  speaker,  and  thanked  the  blushing 
donors  in  fatherly  terms.  "  It  is  very  kind  of 
you,"  he  said,  "  to  come  and  welcome  me.  But 
do  not  forget  those  who  are  coming  behind  me. 
I  can  assure  you,  they  are  more  worthy  of  your 
notice  than  I  am.  Receive  my  reiterated  thanks." 
The  Crown  Prince  likewise  accepted  a  wreath, 
which  he  kept  in  his  right  hand  during  the  rest 
of  the  march.  At  the  head  of  the  Linden  the 
emperor  was  received  by  the  burgomaster  and 
town  council,  who  presented  to  him  a  municipal 
address,  which  having  been  duly  responded  to,  the 
procession  moved  on. 

And  now  for  the  troops.  Horse,  foot,  and  artil- 
lery, they  came  on — a  glorious  sight  as  they  poured 
through  the  historical  gate.  With  the  brilliant 
sun  reflected  on  their  arms,  and  the  air  filled  with 
martial  music,  eye  and  ear  were  alike  gratified. 
With  steady  tramp  came  the  laurel-crowned  stal- 
wart infantry  men  of  the  Prussian  guard,  followed 
by  deputations  from  all  other  regiments  of  the 
united  army — picked  men,  well  fitted  to  be  the 
representatives  of  a  renowned  force.  Strong  in 
limb,  tall  in  stature,  and  manly  in  countenance, 
they  were  uncommonly  fine  and  soldierly-looking 
troops.  There  was  no  very  marked  difference  in 
type  between  Northerners  and  Southerners,  only 
the  Bavarians  looked  a  little  more  elastic  and  had 
a  rollicking  dash  in  their  gait,  while  the  Prussians 
were  somewhat  more  solid  and  precise.  Heavy 
grenadiers  and  light  fusiliers  alternated  in  dark- 
blue  columns.  In  the  moving  panorama  brisk 
hussars  in  red  tunics  succeeded  to  gigantic  cuiras- 
siers in  white  uniforms.  Of  course  the  lancers 
were  not  absent,  and  the  multitude  of  sight-seers 
had  the  pleasure  of  passing  in  review  many  a 
squadron  of  those  ubiquitous  uhlans  whose  swift- 
ness and  daring  struck  terror  into  the  enemy. 
Every  now  and  then  the  rumble  of  artillery  was 
heard;  and  gunners,  who,  in  keeping  with  their 
sombre  work,  wore  the  darkest  blue  of  the  service, 
passed  in  through  the  gate.  The  seemingly  in- 
terminable current  swept  continuously  along,  in 
undiminished  strength  and  rapidity. 


The  spectators  shouted,  and  the  soldiers  recip- 
rocated the  greeting  with  hand  and  sword.  If 
popular  sympathy  was  more  warmly  expressed 
towards  one  part  of  the  army  than  another,  per- 
haps the  Wiirtemburgers  and  Bavarians  received 
a  heartier  welcome  from  their  northern  country- 
men. Along  the  whole  route  the  people  studiously 
evinced  their  joy  at  the  re-union  at  last  effected 
between  themselves  and  their  brethren  of  the 
south.  As  may  be  imagined,  the  French  colours, 
or  rather  their  German  bearers,  likewise  elicited  a 
tribute  of  applause  ;  and  it  was  remarked  that 
many  of  them  were  new,  and  had  evidently  seen 
little  service.  Artillery  and  commissariat  waggons 
closed  the  warlike  train,  which  included  all  branches 
of  the  service,  the  military  clergy  and  vivandiires 
not  excepted.  They  were  about  45,000  strong, 
and  took  three  hours  and  a  half  to  defile. 

Having  reached  the  Opera  Platz,  the  emperor, 
with  the  princes,  the  royal  guests,  and  generals, 
took  up  their  station  before  the  Bliicher  statue, 
the  Reichstag  rising  in  a  bank  behind.  It  is  the 
point  from  which  the  kings  of  Prussia  have  wit- 
nessed festive  reviews  for  the  last  fifty  years.  The 
troops  formed  in  broad  fronts  as  they  arrived,  and 
executed  the  ceremonial  march  of  the  Prussian 
service.  As  an  exhibition  of  the  precision  and 
regularity  attained  by  the  first  military  nation  in 
the  world,  this  part  of  the  day's  proceedings,  which 
occupied  about  two  hours,  was  perhaps  the  most 
remarkable  and  interesting.  Like  a  moving  wall, 
the  broad  front  stepped  forward.  Though  extend- 
ing over  nearly  the  whole  width  of  the  wide 
square,  there  was  a  cohesive  force  in  the  ranks 
which  made  the  living  unit  disappear  in  the  one 
animated  whole. 

All  being  ready  for  the  occasion,  the  emperor, 
with  his  suite  of  sovereigns  and  princes,  entered 
the  square,  and  took  up  a  position  under  an  awn- 
ing between  the  two  fountains.  As  the  Kaiser 
advanced  the  troops  presented  arms,  and  the  bear- 
ers of  the  trophies  laid  them  down  at  the  feet  of 
the  statue.  As  a  loud  and  sustained  roll  of  drums 
died  away,  the  cathedral  choir  burst  out  into  a 
liymn,  after  which  the  chaplain-general,  standing 
on  the  steps  of  the  monument,  offered  up  a  short 
prayer.  Von  Bismarck  then  approaching  the  em- 
peror, asked  and  obtained  his  permission  to  unveil 
the  statue.  As  the  canvas  fell  from  it,  the  drums 
rolled,  the  trumpets  blared,  the  standards  of  the 
guards  were  lowered,  the  troops  presented  arms 


AFTER  THE  WAR. 


419 


and  cheered,  a  salute  of  101  cannon  was  fired,  and 
the  church  bells  rang  all  over  the  town.  The 
national  air  was  performed,  while  the  emperor, 
helmet  in  hand,  approached  his  father's  statue, 
walked  slowly  round  it,  and  not  without  emotion 
addressed  those  around  him  as  follows: — "  What 
we  projected  amid  the  most  profound  peace  is 
completed;  what  we  had  hoped  to  unveil  in  the 
profoundest  peace — this  statue — has  now  become 
a  memorial  of  the  close  of  one  of  the  most  glori- 
ous, though  one  of  the  most  sanguinary,  wars 
of  modern  times.  If  the  king  to  whom  we  erect 
this  statue  could  see  us  now,  he  would  be  well 
satisfied  with  his  people  and  his  army.  May 
the  peace  which  we  have  achieved  by  so  many 
sacrifices  be  lasting.  We  must  all  do  our  part 
that  it  may  be  so.  God  grant  it!"  u  Unn  danket 
alle  Got "  was  then  played  from  the  museum,  the 
troops  joining  in  the  grand  Te  Deum  of  Germany; 
and  the  pageant  of  the  day  closed. 

In  the  evening,  beneath  a  sky  of  Italian  clear- 
ness, a  magnificent  illumination  took  place.  Every- 
where a  profusion  of  coloured  lamps  was  ranged  in 
symmetrical  figures  over  the  house  fronts.  Strings 
of  Chinese  balloons  lined  the  Linden  and  other 
streets,  shedding  a  soft  lustre  on  the  green  boughs 
and  leaves,  and  contrasting  finely  with  the  flaring 
torches  above  them.  Crowns  and  eagles,  adorning 
the  exchange  and  many  other  buildings  by  coloured 
lampions  placed  inside  a  surrounding  of  gas,  added 
to  the  general  splendour.  No  jewel  ever  possessed 
a  softer  radiance  than  the  variegated  glass  repre- 
senting ruby  and  sapphire  in  these  mimic  crowns; 
while  at  intervals  the  warm  effulgence  of  electric 
light  burst  forth  at  various  points  along  the  via 
triumphalis. 

During  the  illuminations  merrymaking  in  the 
old  German  style  was  carried  on,  and  an  al  fresco 
entertainment  was  given  to  the  soldiers  in  a  square 
in  the  centre  of  the  town.  A  portion  of  the 
Domhofs  Platz,  opposite  the  House  of  Parliament, 
had  been  inclosed  and  converted  into  an  impromptu 
saloon,  in  which  dancing  was  kept  up  until  the 
dawn.  All  round  the  square  refreshment  tents 
were  erected,  and  the  wearing  of  a  military  cap 
gave  a  claim  to  unlimited  beer  and  sausage.  In 
nearly  every  other  district  of  the  city  the  inhabit- 
ants clubbed  together  to  provide  feasts  for  certain 
numbers  of  soldiers,  and  at  most  of  these  entertain- 
ments the  various  dishes  were  prepared  and  served 
up,  not  by  hired  attendants,  but  by  young  ladies 


of  the  middle  class — an  arrangement  natural  in  a 
country  where  all  classes  indiscriminately  are 
represented  in  the  rank  and  file.  For  days  and 
nights  together  were  these  entertainments  and 
rejoicings  kept  up;  the  extraordinary  nature  of 
the  occasion  having  roused  the  usually  sober  and 
impassive  nature  of  German  townspeople  to  such 
a  festive  pitch  that  it  seemed  difficult  to  reduce  it 
to  the  work-a-day  level.  Amidst  all  the  merry- 
making, however,  there  was  no  drunkenness,  no 
oaths,  no  indecorum  of  any  kind.  The  general 
behaviour  of  the  men  indicated  that  they  felt  they 
had  a  real  stake  in  their  country;  that  the  success 
which  was  being  celebrated,  and  the  results  it  had 
produced,  could  be  maintained  only  by  hard  work, 
both  of  body  and  mind;  and  that  the  exciting 
influence  of  these  festive  days,  should  not  be 
allowed  to  vitiate  the  moral  resources  of  the  nation. 
However  mighty  Germany  may  become,  geo- 
graphically placed  as  she  is  between  three  military 
powers,  she  will  need  all  her  energy  to  protect 
house  and  home;  and  this  fact  of  her  political  life 
was  felt,  and  served  to  modify  many  a  triumphant 
speech  and  writing  during  the  Berlin  rejoicings. 

As  in  the  chief  city  of  Prussia,  but  of  course 
on  a  smaller  scale,  Bremen,  Hamburg,  Munich, 
Dresden,  and  other  towns,  in  then:  turn  had  a 
public  holiday  and  iestivities  on  the  return  of  the 
soldiers  of  their  respective  states. 

The  legislation  of  the  Parliament,  the  opening 
of  which  in  March,  1871,  we  have  already  described, 
was  devoted  principally  to  questions  directly  raised 
by  the  new  organization  of  Germany,  to  the  disposal 
of  claims  upon  the  indemnity  levied  from  France, 
and  to  the  settlement  of  the  new  Alsace-Lorraine 
province.  It  is  tolerably  certain  that  immediately 
after  Sedan  the  acquisition  of  Strassburg  would 
have  satisfied  the  territorial  demands  of  the  Ger- 
mans ;  but  when  it  was  seen  that  the  united  armies 
could  hold  Paris  with  such  a  grasp  that  its  fall 
was  a  mere  question  of  time,  the  claims  of  the 
fatherland  were,  as  a  matter  of  course,  extended 
to  the  restoration  to  Germany  of  the  territory 
which  by  force  or  fraud  had  been  wrested  from  her 
by  Henry  II.,  Louis  XIV.,  and  Louis  XV  The 
only  matter  of  doubt  was  as  to  the  party  to  whom 
the  new  province  should  revert,  and  the  invest- 
ment of  Paris  had  not  long  been  complete  before 
Bavaria  expressed  a  desire  to  appropriate  a  good 
share  of  the  conquered  territory.  To  her  it  seemed 
just  that  she  should  receive  a  special  reward  for 


420 


GERMANY 


supporting  the  North  at  a  crisis  when  the  defalca- 
tion of  the  South  might  have  been  fatal  to  all  the 
fatherland.  So  strongly,  indeed,  was  the  desire  of 
the  Bavarian  government  expressed,  that  the  Prus- 
sian cabinet  deemed  it  injudicious  to  resist  the 
demand  of  so  important  and  faithful  an  ally.  It 
was  obvious,  however,  that  if  Bavaria  had  a  right 
to  claim  a  gratuity  of  this  kind  for  adhering  to 
treaty  obligations,  so  had  the  other  states;  and 
it  was  equally  certain  that  if  unity  was  to  be  estab- 
lished on  a  firm  basis,  territorial  acquisitions  must 
not  be  portioned  out  amongst  the  allied  states  as  in 
former  centuries,  but  kept  together  and  placed  as  a 
whole  under  the  central  government  of  the  land. 
Public  opinion,  anxiously  wishing  to  promote 
unity,  at  once  pronounced  against  the  scheme  of 
the  Munich  ministry,  and  the  Bavarian  press  re- 
jected it  even  more  decidedly  than  the  Prussian. 
A  considerable  party  in  Prussia  claimed  the  terri- 
tory for  themselves,  on  the  plea  of  not  further 
multiplying  the  divisions  of  Germany;  but  the 
voice  of  the  nation  pronounced  unmistakably  in 
favour  of  retaining  the  new  province  as  a  "  monu- 
ment of  the  common  victory."  Accordingly  the 
Alsace  bill,  framed  by  the  Federal  Council,  entirely 
ignored  the  claim  of  Bavaria  and  all  other  indi- 
vidual states,  and  made  the  central  government 
paramount  in  the  recovered  lands.  The  bill 
provided  that  Alsace  and  Lorraine  should  become 
the  common  property  of  the  various  states  forming 
the  German  empire,  and  should,  until  January 
1,  1874,  be  governed  by  the  emperor  and  minor 
sovereigns  assembled  in  Federal  Council;  but  their 
prerogative  after  that  date  was  to  be  restricted  by 
the  German  Parliament,  which  in  addition  to  its 
other  functions  was  to  act  as  Legislative  Assem- 
bly for  Alsace  and  Lorraine.  To  reconcile  the 
Alsatians  to  this  plan  and  to  the  want  of  a  local 
Parliament,  they  were  to  have  the  right  to  send 
deputies  to  the  German  Parliament  as  soon  as  it 
began  to  legislate  for  them. 

For  some  time  after  the  incorporation  of  the 
province,  two  classes  of  its  population  offered 
active  resistance  to  the  new  state  of  things — the 
lower  orders  and  the  priests.  The  former 
frequently  attacked  the  sentinels  and  soldiers 
sauntering  about  in  the  by-streets  and  public 
promenades  of  the  larger  towns;  while  the  priests 
lost  no  opportunity  of  instilling  French  feeling 
into  the  minds  of  the  country  people.  These 
manifestations    of    dissatisfaction     were    met    by 


characteristic  discretion.  The  civil  and  military 
authorities  in  Alsace  were  ordered  to  treat  the 
people  with  the  greatest  leniency,  and  to  take  no 
notice  of  the  petty  provocations  so  frequently 
offered.  In  case,  however,  of  open  resistance  or 
serious  attack,  the  culprits  were  to  undergo  the 
full  rigour  of  the  law.  Boys  and  mill-hands,  for 
instance,  might,  without  being  called  to  account, 
indulge  in  the  harmless  diversion  of  saluting 
policemen  with  the  favourite  cry  of  Vive  la 
France,  a  has  la  Prime;  but  if  a  blow  was  dealt, 
or  even  aimed  at  the  representative  of  the  law, 
prompt  punishment  was  to  follow.  At  the  same 
time  the  people  were  given  to  understand,  that 
any  one  opposing  the  rulers  would  not  improve 
the  chance  of  having  his  losses  in  the  war  made 
up  to  him — an  announcement  strictly  in  accord- 
ance with  the  law,  which,  while  it  empowered, 
did  not  oblige  the  government  to  accord  damages 
to  the  new  citizens  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine.  With 
the  priests  there  appeared  great  reluctance  to 
interfere,  and  only  the  strongest  reasons  of 
expediency  ultimately  induced  the  government 
of  Berlin  to  depart  from  its  established  policy  of 
religious  toleration.  It  was  found,  however,  that 
the  Ultramontane  clergy  were  endeavouring  to 
excite  the  utmost  hostility  to  German  unity  as 
established  under  the  supremacy  of  Prussia — a 
leading  Protestant  power.  The  Diet  therefore 
passed  a  bill  for  the  repression  of  seditious  lan- 
guage in  the  pulpit,  and  the  law  was  of  course 
operative  in  Alsace,  as  well  as  throughout  the 
other  portions  of  Germany. 

It  was  stipulated  by  the  Treaty  of  Peace  that 
an  "  option  "  should  be  accorded  to  the  Alsace- 
Lorrainers  as  to  their  future  nationality,  and  it  has 
been  charged  against  the  German  government 
that  the  rules  which  affect  those  who  declined  to 
become  Germans  were  made  tyrannically  narrow 
and  severe.  Every  Alsatian  was  compelled  to 
make  up  his  mind  to  accept  German  citizenship, 
with  all  its  consequences,  or  part  with  the  property 
and  the  civil  rights  which  had  been  his  inherit- 
ance. It  was  argued  that,  were  concession  made 
on  this  point,  there  would  be  nothing  to  pre- 
vent the  whole  population  from  remaining  on 
the  soil  as  aliens,  and  sheltering  itself  under  its 
French  nationality.  This  argument  is  no  doubt 
logical,  but  to  an  impartial  observer  it  would  seem 
that  German  statesmen  would  have  acted  wisely 
in  interpreting  the  "  option  "  in  the  widest  sense  ; 


AFTER  THE    WAR. 


421 


that  there  should  have  been  no  attempt  to  force 
the  people  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  into  compulsory 
exile  ;  that  they  should  have  been  permitted  to 
call  themselves  French  subjects,  and  to  have  a 
French  domicile,  whilst  quietly  carrying  on  their 
usual  business,  and  not  urged — at  all  events  till 
the  breaking  out  of  a  fresh  war — to  strike  their 
tents  and  go.  But  the  German  government  not 
only  refused  to  allow  this  intermediate  state  of 
affairs,  and  compelled  all  born  Alsatians  and  Lor- 
rainers  to  reside  in  whichever  country  they  chose 
to  abide  by,  but  it  added  to  the  pain  of  this  choice 
by  making  all  who  did  not  decide  on  going  into 
France  before  the  30th  of  September,  1872,  liable 
to  the  German  law  of  conscription,  unless  they 
had  already  served  in  the  French  army  and  navy. 
In  other  words,  before  that  date  all  inhabitants  of 
Alsace-Lorraine  had  to  choose  either  exile  from 
their  homes,  or  to  see  their  sons  and  brothers 
incur  the  liability  to  be  drafted  into  an  army 
which  will,  in  all  probability,  have  to  fight  against 
the  country  of  their  birth  and  of  all  their  tradi- 
tions. These  terms  made  the  "  option  "  a  choice, 
on  the  one  hand,  between  exile,  and  the  sacrifice 
of  all  indemnity  for  the  heavy  private  losses 
caused  by  the  war  (which  the  Germans  promised 
to  those  who  remained) ;  and  on  the  other,  not 
merely  alienation  of  nationality,  but  the  bitterness 
of  seeing  sons  and  brothers  pouring  out  their  blood 
for  what  they  regard  as  the  wicked  cause  of  the 
conqueror  of  their  land.  To  many,  of  course, 
the  choice  was  merely  nominal,  for  they  could 
not  leave  the  little  they  possessed  and  go  forth 
as  outcasts  ;  and  in  their  case  the  acceptance  of 
German  nationality  was,  therefore,  a  necessity. 
The  decree,  however,  resulted  in  a  great  and 
steady  stream  of  middle -class  emigration  from  the 
conquered  provinces  into  France,  including  many 
war  propagandists,  who  had  the  great  advantage 
of  pointing  to  their  own  sacrifices  as  guarantees 
of  their  sincerity.  This  rigour,  as  it  seems  to  us, 
can  scarcely  fail  to  create  even  more  bitterness  in 
the  hearts  of  those  who  stay  than  of  those  who  go, 
for  it  will  mingle  with  their  grief  the  poison  of 
a  certain  amount  of  humiliation  and  self-condem- 
nation. If  Prince  Bismarck  were  bent  on  inter- 
preting the  "  option "  in  this  severe  sense,  we 
think  he  should  have  exempted  Alsace-Lorraine 
for  another  five  years  from  all  military  conscrip- 
tion. To  impose  on  the  inhabitants  that  liability 
as  the  immediate  corollary  of  the  option  to  stay  in 


the  province  of  their  birth,  was  hard  indeed;  and 
the  regulation  by  which  minors  were  denied  any 
choice,  and  were  compelled  to  follow  the  decision 
of  their  parents,  seems  certain  to  produce  much 
stubborn  resistance  on  one  side,  and  to  necessitate 
a  harsh  discipline  on  the  other.  Conquest  must 
always  be  hard  and  stern  work;  but  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  superfluous  rigour.  The  French 
already  abound  in  legends  of  German  atrocities 
in  Alsace,  notable  examples  of  which  are  to  be 
found  in  MM.  Erckmann-Chatrian's  fiction  "  Le 
Plebiscite.''  Why  lend  colour  to  such  stories,  by 
pursuing  a  policy  which  will  certainly  furnish 
numbers  of  unoffending  citizens  with  a  far  more 
reasonable  ground  for  vindictiveness  than  the 
plunder  of  their  cellars  or  the  seizure  of  their 
cattle  ? 

In  the  Treaty  of  Peace  a  passage  had  been 
introduced  relative  to  the  eventual  substitution 
of  financial  guarantees  for  the  right  conceded  to 
German  troops  to  occupy  a  portion  of  French 
territory,  as  it  had  been  anticipated  that,  under 
certain  circumstances,  such  an  arrangement  might 
be  for  the  advantage  of  both  parties.  The  German 
army  of  occupation  found  it  a  most  wearisome  task 
to  keep  guard  over  a  country  in  which  they  were 
universally  hated,  and  had  to  protect  their  lives 
by  stern  measures,  which  in  turn  provoked  new 
complaints  and  new  plots  of  vengeance.  In  a  short 
time  the  relations  between  the  conquerors  and 
conquered  in  the  occupied  provinces  became  very 
unpleasant;  industry  was  greatly  fettered  by  re- 
strictions which  the  occupying  force  imposed  on 
communication  and  exchange;  and  the  dissatis- 
faction and  irritation  thus  kept  alive  shook  public 
confidence  so  profoundly,  that  M.  Thiers,  taking 
advantage  of  the  financial  provision  in  the  treaty 
to  which  we  have  referred,  conceived  the  idea  of 
buying  the  Germans  out  of  at  least  six  depart- 
ments. According  to  the  treaty  of  Frankfort  the 
departments  of  the  Aisne,  Aube,  Cote  d'Or,  Haute 
Saone,  Doubs,  and  Jura  would  in  any  case  have 
been  evacuated  on  the  1st  of  May,  1872,  on 
payment  of  the  half  milliard  then  due;  and  had 
the  payment  been  made  at  once,  the  evacuation 
might  have  been  demanded  directly.  But  France 
was  at  this  time  unable  to  meet  such  a  draught 
on  her  resources.  It  was  not  that  she  was  not 
rich  enough  to  get  credit  for  twenty  millions 
more  in  the  markets  of  the  world,  but  she  could 
not  procure  the  specie  requisite  for  so  large  and 


422 


GERMANY 


sudden  a  payment  without  producing  a  ruinous 
crisis  in  the  money  market.  Trusting  that  a 
promise  to  pay  in  the  May  following,  if  backed 
by  the  guarantee  of  a  number  of  great  mercantile 
houses,  might  be  satisfactory  to  the  Germans,  the 
French  government  made  the  proposal.  Prince 
Bismarck  agreed  to  it,  but  at  the  same  time  would 
not  pledge  himself  not  to  discount  the  bills  given 
him  as  guarantee ;  and  as,  by  retaining  the  power 
of  discounting  bills  of  twenty  millions  sterling 
whenever  he  pleased,  he  would  have  been  the 
financial  master  of  Europe,  the  bankers  to  whom 
an  appeal  had  been  made  refused  to  run  the  risk. 
The  proposed  arrangements  thus  appeared  to  have 
failed;  but  M.  Thiers,  persuaded  that  some  other 
basis  of  negotiation  might  be  devised,  despatched 
M.  Pouyer-Quertier  on  a  tentative  mission  to 
Berlin. 

Finding  the  French  government  thus  anxious 
to  come  to  a  financial  arrangement  so  as  to  release 
the  six  departments,  Prince  Bismarck  speedily 
devised  one.  The  bankers  who  had  undertaken 
to  guarantee  the  payments  in  May,  were  to  have 
received  a  commission  of  10,000,000  francs;  and 
it  occurred  to  the  astute  minister  that  if  France 
was  willing  to  pay  such  a  commission,  it  were 
better  it  should  go  into  the  pocket  of  his  imperial 
master.  He  accordingly  agreed  to  accept  the 
word  of  M.  Pouyer-Quertier  and  M.  Thiers  on 
behalf  of  the  French  government,  without  any 
further  guarantee.  But  as  by  the  Frankfort  treaty 
the  twenty  millions,  or  half  milliard,  was  not  due 
until  May,  nor  the  six  millions  interest  on  the 
unpaid  portion  of  the  indemnity  until  March,  he 
proposed  that  the  twenty-six  millions  should  be 
paid  by  nine  equal  fortnightly  instalments,  begin- 
ning loth  January,  1872.  On  M.  Pouyer-Quertier 
acceding  to  this  arrangement,  Prince  Bismarck 
undertook  that  the  German  troops  should  at  once 
evacuate  the  six  departments;  on  the  distinct 
stipulation,  however,  that  they  should  not  be 
occupied  by  the  French,  but  should  for  the  time 
be  declared  neutral  ground,  in  which  no  French 
soldiery  should  appear,  except  such  as  might  be 
necessary  for  police  purposes.  In  other  words, 
the  departments,  though  evacuated,  were  really  to 
be  held  in  pawn  by  Germany,  in  case  France  failed 
in  any  of  the  money  payments,  when  the  Germans 
were  immediately  to  re-enter — a  course  which 
their  strong  position  on  the  borders  of  the  depart- 
ments  would   render   extremely  easy.      Germany 


was  clearly  the  gainer  in  every  way  by  the 
transaction,  as  it  was  freed  from  the  burden  of 
providing  an  occupying  force,  and  as  considerable 
pecuniary  advantage  was  secured  by  obtaining 
payment  in  advance.  France,  on  the  other  hand, 
paid  less  money  for  the  evacuation  than  she  would 
have  had  to  give  the  bankers  in  purchasing  their 
good  offices.  That  her  own  soldiers  might  not  go 
into  six  French  departments  until  a  certain  sum 
of  money  had  been  paid,  was  no  doubt  humiliating ; 
but  the  only  alternative  was  the  presence  of  Ger- 
man troops.  In  another  way  the  arrangement  was 
beneficial  to  France.  Stability  to  the  government 
in  the  then  unsettled  state  of  the  country,  was  of 
inestimable  value ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
very  frank  and  respectful  manner  in  which  the 
Germans  recognized  in  the  cabinet  of  M.  Thiers 
the  centre  of  real  power  in  France,  tended  largely 
to  consolidate  its  authority.  On  the  whole,  there- 
fore, the  treaty  of  evacuation  was  not  purchased 
at  more  than  it  was  worth  ;  but  the  Germans,  as 
usual,  took  remarkably  good  care  of  themselves  in 
the  negotiations.  Prince  Bismarck  saw,  with  his 
usual  perspicacity,  that  provided  he  got  all  he 
really  wanted,  the  more  he  strengthened  the  hands 
of  the  government  of  France,  the  greater  would 
be  the  security  that  Germany  would  receive  in  due 
time,  and  that  she  would  be  paid  even  with  some 
acceleration,  the  enormous  sums  to  which  she  had 
become  entitled  by  the  fortunes  of  war. 

When  the  time  for  payment  of  the  first  instal- 
ments of  the  half  milliard  arrived,  the  French 
minister  of  Finance  declared  himself  ready  to  pay 
the  whole  amount  at  once,  which,  by  an  arrange- 
ment between  him  and  the  German  ambassador, 
Count  Arnim,  was  accordingly  done.  By  this 
arrangement  France  obtained  a  discount  of  five 
per  cent,  on  the  amount,  effected  a  saving  of 
£800,000,  and  was  relieved  from  any  further 
payment  till  March  1,  1873.  Whatever  fault, 
indeed,  may  be  found  with  the  government  of 
M.  Thiers  in  other  respects,  it  certainly  set  about 
the  liquidation  of  the  German  indemnity  with  a 
singleness  of  purpose,  a  zeal  and  ability,  above 
all  praise. 

In  negotiating  the  terms  of  evacuation  Prince 
Bismarck  contended,  that  as  France  wanted  some- 
thing from  Germany  she  must  give  something  in 
return;  and  Germany  required  such  a  temporary 
arrangement  as  to  Customs  duties  as  would  mitigate 
to  Alsace  and  Lorraine  the  immediate  evils  of  their 


AFTER  THE  WAR. 


423 


separation  from  the  French  commercial  system. 
It  was  therefore  agreed  that  for  eighteen  months 
specific  manufactures  of  Alsatian  produce  should 
be  admitted  into  France  at  a  very  reduced  duty. 
The  National  Assembly,  not  comprehending  the 
nature  of  the  agreement,  voted  as  an  amendment 
which  seemed  only  fair,  that  the  arrangement 
should  be  reciprocal,  and  that  France  should  be 
permitted  to  export  into  Alsace  and  Lorraine  on 
the  same  advantageous  terms  as  these  provinces 
might  be  allowed  to  export  into  France.  The 
National  Assembly  failed  to  see  that,  while  the 
beneficial  concession  claimed  by  Bismarck  applied 
only  to  purely  Alsatian  produce,  to  throw  Alsace 
open  to  the  admission  on  similar  terms  of  all 
French  goods,  would  have  been  equivalent  to  the 
throwing  open  of  all  Germany,  of  which  Alsace 
was  now  become  a  portion.  As  the  only  alterna- 
tive, the  Germans  would  have  had  to  re-establish 
Custom-houses  on  the  eastern  frontier  of  the  new 
province;  but  as  this  would  clearly  have  consti- 
tuted it  a  separate  country  which,  commercially  at 
least,  would  have  belonged  to  France  rather  than 
to  Germany,  Prince  Bismarck  refused  to  admit  the 
amendment  of  the  French  Assembly.  At  the 
instance  of  M.  Thiers,  M.  Pouyer-Quertier  agreed 
to  set  aside  the  vote  if,  to  justify  this  course  at 
home,  Prince  Bismarck  would  consent  to  the 
restoration  of  two  or  three  small  communes  ad- 
joining Luxemburg,  which  had  been  included  in 
the  recent  transfer  of  territory,  and  to  the  reduction, 
from  eighteen  to  twelve  months,  of  the  exceptional 
privileges  allowed  to  Alsace.  The  concessions 
were  granted,  and  some  paltry  slices  of  territory 
again  reverted  to  France;  but  the  minute  care 
exercised  by  Prince  Bismarck  on  behalf  of  his 
country  did  not  fail  him  even  here.  The  smallest 
details  did  not  escape  him,  for  like  the  Jew  of 
story-books,  he  was  equally  at  home  whether 
selling  seven  oranges  for  sixpence,  or  arranging 
for  a  loan  of  millions  sterling.  He  subsequently 
explained  to  the  Eeichstag  that  he  gave  up  two 
parishes  because,  lying  on  the  western  slope  of 
the  Douron  hills  they  were  only  accessible  from  the 
French  side;  the  one  thing  valuable  in  them,  the 
only  one  thing,  was  a  forest,  crown  property :  so  he 
excepted  the  forest  from  the  cession;  the  parishes  j 
were  to  belong  to  France,  but  the  woods  to  Ger- 
many. In  the  other  instance,  the  frontier  line 
had  been  so  drawn  as  to  oblige  the  inhabitants  of 
a  petty  place,  in  order  to  reach  the  quarter  with 


which  all  their  dealings  were  connected,  to  go 
from  Germany  into  France.  By  conceding  their 
small  strip  of  land,  Prince  Bismarck  allowed  the 
inhabitants  to  remain  French;  but  he  made  the 
French  government  undertake  to  build  a  new 
station  at  the  point  where  the  railway  became 
German — an  obligation  which,  imposed  on  a  great 
power  like  France,  furnishes  a  curious  example  of 
what  the  tempers  of  her  statesmen  had  in  this 
crisis  to  endure,  and  of  the  class  of  minute  affairs 
to  which  Prince  Bismarck  found  time  to  give  his 
mind.  It  may  be  observed,  however,  that  this 
matter  was  conceived  exactly  in  the  vein  of 
German  commerce,  which  seems  destined  to  push 
its  way  over  the  world  by  attending  to  sixteenths, 
where  other  nations  concern  themselves  with 
eighths  per  cent.,  and  it  was  certain  therefore  to 
be  highly  relished  and  approved  by  the  chancellor's 
audience. 

M.  Pouyer-Quertier,  throughout  his  stay  at 
Berlin,  was  treated  in  the  most  friendly  manner  by 
the  emperor,  and  as  the  result  of  his  negotiations 
there  were  signed  on  the  12th  of  October — first,  a 
territorial  convention,  relating  to  certain  ratifica- 
tions of  frontier;  secondly,  a  financial  convention, 
involving  the  evacuation  of  six  departments  in  the 
east;  and,  thirdly,  a  convention  bearing  upon  the 
temporary  Customs  system  in  Alsace  and  Lorraine. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  war  indemnity, 
1,500,000,000  francs,  having  been  paid  by  France, 
measures  were  taken  by  the  Reichstag  for  the 
allotment  of  it.  The  total  disposable  sum  was, 
however,  less  than  a  milliard  and  a  half  by 
325,000,000  francs,  the  amount  allowed  lor  the 
purchase  of  the  Alsatian  railways.  This  left 
I;  175, 000,000  francs,  or  313,000,000  thalers,  of 
which  sum  4,000,000  thalers  were  reserved  to 
endow  the  generals,  and  another  4,000,000  to 
assist  those  members  of  the  landwehr  and  reserve 
who  had  suffered  in  their  pecuniary  circum- 
stances by  the  war.  Towards  indemnifying  the 
Germans  expelled  from  France  2,000,000  thalers 
were  allotted;  but  it  may  be  mentioned  that  these 
amounts  mostly  represented  only  the  first  instal- 
ments of  what  was  intended  to  be  devoted  to  the 
various  objects,  the  full  sums  being  made  up  as 
the  indemnity  flowed  in.  To  indemnify  expelled 
German  subjects,  for  instance  required,  at  least 
15,000,000  thalers,  to  be  made  up  by  8,000,000 
out  of  the  war  indemnity,  of  which  the  2,000,000 
was  the  first  allotment,  and  by  7,000,000  thalers 


424 


GERMANY  AFTER  THE  WAR. 


previously  levied  in  France.  To  shipowners  whose 
vessels  were  seized  or  detained  in  harbour  by  the 
blockade  7,000,000  thalers  were  voted,  and  about 
20,000,000  were  set  apart  for  the  inhabitants  of 
Alsace  and  Lorraine,  for  damages  sustained  and 
provisions  supplied  both  to  French  and  Germans 
in  the  course  of  the  campaign.  Add  to  this 
5,000,000  thalers  required  for  repairs  and  rolling 
stock  of  the  Alsace-Lorraine  railways,  and  there 
was  a  total  of  42,000,000  thalers  laid  out  in 
compensating  some  of  the  evils  inflicted  by  the 
war,  on  parties  who,  according  to  old-world  usages, 
would  very  generally  have  been  left  without  any 
redress. 

The  very  flourishing  condition  of  the  finances 
also  enabled  the  government  to  pass  a  Military 
Pensions  Bill,  which  rendered  disabled  German 
soldiers  the  best  paid  in  Europe.  Thus,  whereas 
invalids  who  leave  the  service  in  consequence  of 
their  wounds,  without  being  actually  disabled  for 
work,  receive  in  Austria  a  monthly  pay  of  1^ 
thaler,  in  Italy  7  thalers,  in  France  7i,  and  in  the 
United  States  11-^,  they  were  by  this  bill  hence- 
forth to  receive  12  thalers  in  Germany.  Invalids 
partially  disabled  receive  in  Austria  4-|,  in  France 
10-Jj-,  in  Italy  12,  in  England  15,  in  the  United 
States  21,  and  in  Germany  from  15  to  18  thalers 
per  month.  Totally  disabled  men  are  paid  7-g 
thalers  per  month  in  Austria,  13-^-  in  France,  15 
in  Italy,  15  to  25  in  England,  28  to  35  in  the 
United  States,  and  24  in  Germany.  The  payment 
between  1866  and  1871  was  rather  below  this 
standard,  but  still  very  liberal;  and  it  must  be 
rememDered  that  a  thaler  goes  much  further  in 
Germany  than  its  equivalent  does  in  England. 
To  the  provision  made  for  invalids  and  compensa- 
tion to  widows  and  orphans,  the  Prussian  authori- 
ties ascribed  much  of  that  readiness  to  brave  the 
dangers  of  battle  displayed  by  their  reserves  and 
landwehrmer  in  the  late  war. 

This  liberal  measure  of  the  government  absorbed 
31,000,000  of  the  271,000,000  thalers  remaining. 
They  had  the  power  to  devote  240,000,000  thalers 
for  the  purpose;  but  as  the  whole  sum  was  not 
required  at  once,  and  as  the  individual  states 
desired  to  have  a  portion  of  their  war  expenditure 
reimbursed,  only  the  above  instalment  was  then 
set  aside  for  the  pension  list,  leaving  exactly 
240,000,000  thalers,  which  were  divided  according 
to  the  number  of  men  supplied  by  each  state.      In 


other  words,  Prussia,  or  rather  the  late  North 
German  Confederacy,  received  five-sixths  of  the 
whole,  the  remaining  sixth  being  portioned  out 
between  Bavaria,  Wiirtemburg,  Baden,  and  the 
southern  half  of  Hesse,  which  before  the  war  had 
a  separate  contingent.  The  200,000,000  thalers 
thus  accruing  to  North  Germany  were  employed 
in  replenishing  the  war  treasury,  and  canceling  a 
portion  of  the  war  debt. 

The  war  treasury  is  one  of  the  "  peculiar  insti- 
tutions "  of  Prussia,  and  consists  of  a  certain  sum 
which  is  deposited  in  gold  and  silver  in  the  cellars 
of  a  citadel,  where  it  remains,  without  yielding 
interest,  till  the  sound  of  the  war  trumpet  again 
calls  it  into  use.  Previous  to  the  war  with 
France  it  consisted  of  30,000,000  thalers;  but 
when  Southern  Germany  was  included  in  the 
empire,  it  was  proposed  to  augment  the  sum  to 
40,000,000.  Some  few  members  remonstrated 
against  the  burying  alive,  as  it  were,  of  such  an 
enormous  sum,  and  the  Finance  minister,  Herr 
Camphausen  did  not  deny  that  40,000,000  thalers 
was  a  large  sum  to  lock  up,  and  a  small  one  with 
which  to  carry  on  a  war;  but  he  insisted  that  in 
these  times  it  was  of  the  last  importance  not  to  be 
taken  by  surprise,  and  to  be  able  to  complete  the 
national  armaments  with  the  least  possible  delay. 
"  It  was  for  the  purpose  of  making  these  prelimir- 
nary  armaments  with  the  greatest  despatch  that 
the  government  required  the  sum  demanded  ;  it 
was  to  prevent  a  fall  in  the  price  of  public 
securities,  which  must  result  from  large  sales  on 
the  eve  of  war,  that  government  wanted  cash,  not 
stock;"  and  he  observed  that  if  the  rate  of  exchange 
on  London  sank  only  2-^rf.  after  the  declaration 
of  war  in  1870,  it  was  owing  mainly  to  the  fact 
that  Prussia  was  in  possession  of  a  war  fund. 
The  proposal  was,  of  course,  ultimately  carried, 
and  the  40,000,000  thalers  were  duly  consigned 
to  that  dormancy  in  which  we  wish  there  were 
any  good  grounds  for  hoping  they  may  lie,  until 
the  world  becomes  wise  enough  to  justify  their 
being  brought  forth  to  the  light  for  a  more 
beneficent  purpose  than  that  contemplated  in 
their  burial.  We  fear,  however,  that  for  the 
present  such  a  hope  is  vain.  Already  the  war- 
like preparations  in  France,  described  in  the  next 
Chapter,  have  produced  a  settled  conviction  in 
Germany  that  a  "  war  of  revenge "  will  be 
undertaken  at  the  earliest  favourable  opportunity. 


CHAPTER     VIII. 


FRANCE    AFTER    THE    COMMUNE. 


The  Question  of  the  Future  Constitution  for  France — Repeal  of  the  Law  exiling  the  Bourbons,  in  spite  of  the  Opposition  of  M.  Thiers — Failure 
of  an  Attempt  to  form  a  Coalition  between  the  Monarchists  in  consequence  of  an  Extraordinary  Manifesto  of  the  Comti?  de  Chamboid— 
Prolongation  of  the  Executive  Powers  vested  in  M.  Thiers  for  three  years,  and  the  Title  of  "President  of  the  French  Republic"  conferred 
on  him — The  Due  d'Aumale  takes  his  seat  in  the  Assembly — The  Financial  Position  of  France  and  the  Total  Cost  of  the  War— Peremp- 
tory Refusal  of  M.  Thiers  to  impose  an  Income  Tax— Wonderful  Success  of  a  Loan  for  £100,000,000 — The  Budget  for  1872-73  and  the 
Future  Expenditure  of  the  Country — Return  to  Protection  in  France  and  withdrawal  from  the  Treaty  of  Commerce  with  England — 
Abolition  of  the  Passport  System — Reorganization  of  the  French  Army — Adoption  of  the  Principle  of  Universal  Military  Service  and 
Abolition  of  Substitutes — Full  Explanation  of  the  New  System  and  Comparison  of  it  with  that  of  Germany. 


As  soon  as  the  Communist  insurrection  of  Paris 
had  been  suppressed,  and  the  first  stern  outcry  for 
the  punishment  of  its  guilty  authors  had  been 
appeased  by  reprisals  of  extreme  severity,  the 
question  of  the  future  constitution  most  suitable 
for  the  country  excluded  consideration  of  all  others. 
The  Assembly  elected  in  February  contained  a 
large  majority  of  members  pledged  to  monarchical 
principles;  and  their  first  act  would  probably  have 
been  the  proclamation  of  a  monarchy,  had  not  M. 
Thiers  advised  them  to  suspend  all  questions  of 
internal  reorganization  until  peace  should  be  con- 
cluded. During  the  reign  of  the  Commune,  with 
the  capital  of  the  country  in  their  hands,  no  steps 
could  be  taken  in  favour  of  monarchy.  When  the 
revolt  was  put  down,  M.  Thiers,  who  had  hitherto 
been  regarded  as  the  champion  of  constitutional 
monarchy,  and  who  on  May  11  demanded  a 
vote  of  confidence  from  the  Assembly,  which  was 
granted  by  495  to  10,  seemed  ready  to  exert  all 
his  influence  as  head  of  the  administration  to 
secure  the  indefinite  prolongation  of  the  Republic, 
with  himself  as  president. 

The  monarchists,  on  their  part,  were  determined 
to  bring  the  matter  to  an  issue.  On  June  8  the 
Assembly,  by  484  votes  to  103,  passed  a  resolution 
repealing  the  laws  under  which  the  House  of 
Bourbon  had  been  exiled,  and  another  declaring 
valid  the  elections  of  the  Due  d'Aumale  and  the 
Prince  de  Joinville,  who  had  both  been  returned 
to  the  Assembly  in  the  previous  February.  Know- 
ing that  resistance  was  vain,  M.  Thiers  assented 
to  the  resolutions.  But  he  professed  no  sympathy 
with  the  party  by  which  they  had  been  carried. 
On  the  contrary,  he  plainly  told  his  audience  that 
the  act  was  not  one  of  clemency  to  individuals, 
vol.  n. 


but  of  political  intrigue.  He  insisted  that  a  state 
had  the  right  to  exclude  royal  pretenders  from  its 
territory,  and  that  there  could  be  no  injustice  in 
maintaining  a  decree  of  exile  against  those  who 
would  return,  not  as  French  citizens,  but  with 
the  avowed  intention  of  conspiring  against  the 
government  and  subverting  the  commonwealth. 
"  You  think,"  he  said  to  the  Assembly,  "  that  you 
are  doing  a  great  act  of  generosity.  You  are 
doing  something  quite  different.  The  laws  it  is 
proposed  to  abrogate  are  not  laws  of  proscription, 
but  laws  of  precaution."  He  referred  as  an 
illustration  to  what  he  still  deemed,  as  formerly, 
the  mistaken  clemency  of  the  republicans  of  1848, 
in  allowing  the  Bonapartes  to  enter  France.  Louis 
Napoleon  came,  and  the  Republic  was  overthrown. 
M.  Thiers  thus  cleared  himself  from  the  suspicion 
of  complicity  with  the  purposes  of  the  Assembly, 
by  avowing  that,  though  he  did  not  oppose,  he  yet 
did  not  approve,  the  act  on  which  the  majority 
had  determined.  He  was,  no  doubt,  sincerely  of 
opinion  that,  under  all  the  circumstances,  the 
time  was  inopportune  for  changing  the  form  of 
government  and  plunging  the  country  into  political 
controversy.  He  did  not  pretend  to  be  a  repub- 
lican in  principle,  an  opponent  of  every  government 
which  had  an  hereditary  chief;  he  had  striven,  he 
said,  for  forty  years  to  procure  for  France  a  con- 
stitutional monarchy  after  the  English  pattern,  and 
he  expressed  a  preference  for  English  institutions 
over  those  of  the  United  States.  But  this,  he 
argued,  was  not  the  present  question.  The  Republic 
existed,  and  could  not  be  overthrown  but  by  a 
revolution,  and  at  the  cost  of  political  struggles 
which  would  inflict  new  calamity  on  France.  He 
reminded  the  Assembly  that  it  had  been  agreed 
3h 


42(3 


FRANCE 


at  Bordeaux  to  set  aside  all  questions  which 
could  divide  the  country.  "  I  have,"  he  said, 
"  accepted  the  Republic  as  a  deposit,  and  I  will 
not  betray  the  trust.  The  future  does  not  concern 
me;  I  merely  look  at  the  present." 

He  also  told  his  audience  of  the  suspicions 
which  the  royalist  tendencies  of  the  Assembly 
had  excited  in  the  great  towns.  All  the  cities 
of  France  had  sent  deputations  to  complain  that 
the  Assembly  wished  to  get  rid  of  the  Republic. 
He  had  presumed  to  deny  the  allegation,  and  to 
declare  that  though  there  were  members  who 
favoured  monarchical  principles,  they  had  the 
wisdom  to  waive  their  preferences.  But  a  royalist 
movement  would  convert  these  suspicions  into 
certainty.  The  public  mind  was  still  excited;  the 
insurrection  was  put  down,  but  not  extinguished. 
One  of  the  great  weapons  of  the  Commune  was 
the  cry  that  the  Republic  was  in  danger.  Could 
there  be  a  worse  time  for  changing  the  govern- 
ment? "I  do  not  desire,"  said  M.  Thiers,  "to 
discuss  the  possibility  of  a  monarchy  at  some 
future  time;  but  in  order  that  it  may  be  durable, 
it  is  necessary  that  it  should  not  be  said  that  the 
Republic  had  not  had  a  fair  trial."  He  further 
argued  in  favour  of  the  political  states  quo  from 
the  necessity  of  dealing  at  once  with  the  German 
occupation.  "We  have  500,000  Germans  to  feed. 
We  have  a  deficiency  of  400,000,000  francs  in 
the  revenue  derived  from  taxation.  We  must  have 
recourse  to  credit,  and  in  order  to  this  we  require 
the  confidence  of  Europe.  No  one  doubts  the 
resources  of  France,  but  it  is  feared  that  our  union 
will  be  broken  up."  Speaking  of  the  House  of 
Orleans,  he  said  he  had  been  the  minister  of  that 
House ;  he  had  been  attached  to  it  in  exile,  and  he 
felt  a  warm  friendship  for  it.  But  his  friendship 
for  his  country  was  stronger  still. 

These  powerful  arguments  might  have  been 
thought  to  have  had  considerable  influence  on  the 
Assembly,  and  that  the  royalists  would,  at  all 
events,  have  reckoned  the  cost  before  they  at- 
tempted to  carry  into  effect  the  plans  which  they 
had  projected.  Such,  however,  was  not  the 
case,  for  the  different  sections  of  the  monarchi- 
cal party  —  the  Legitimists  and  Orleanists  — 
agreed  to  support  the  candidature  of  Henri  V. 
(the  Comte  de  Chambord,  grandson  of  Charles 
X.);  and  as  he  is  childless,  and  upwards  of  fifty 
years  of  age,  they  also  fixed  upon  his  cousin,  the 
Comte  de  Paris  (grandson  of  Louis  Philippe),  as 


his  natural  successor.  The  Comte  de  Chambord 
returned  to  France  for  the  first  time  since  his 
boyhood;  but  the  hopes  of  the  coalition  which 
bad  been  agreed  upon  with  the  view  of  placing 
him  upon  the  throne  were  dispelled  by  a  manifesto, 
in  which  he  avowed  that  he  could  only  consent 
to  be  made  king  upon  principles  at  variance  with 
the  ideas,  associations,  and  prejudices  of  modern 
France.  This  document  has  such  an  historical 
importance,  as  it  seems  to  have  settled  for  ever 
the  question  of  any  future  legitimist  government 
in  France,  that  we  give  it  entire: — "  Frenchmen  ! 
I  am  in  the  midst  of  you.  You  have  opened  the 
gates  of  France  to  me,  and  I  could  not  renounce 
the  happiness  of  again  seeing  my  country.  But 
I  do  not  wish  by  a  prolonged  sojourn  to  give 
new  pretexts  to  stir  up  men's  minds,  already  so 
disturbed  at  this  moment.  I  therefore  leave  this 
Cbambord,  which  you  gave  me,  and  of  which  I 
have  with  pride  borne  the  title  for  these  last  forty 
years  in  the  land  of  exile.  As  I  depart,  I  am 
anxious  to  tell  you  that  I  do  not  separate  myself 
from  you.  France  is  aware  that  I  belong  to  her. 
I  cannot  forget  that  the  monarchical  right  is  the 
patrimony  of  the  nation,  nor  can  I  forget  the 
duties  which  it  lays  upon  me  with  respect  to  it. 
I  will  fulfil  these  duties,  you  may  take  my  word 
as  an  honest  man  and  as  a  king  for  it.  By  God's 
help  we  shall  establish  together,  whenever  you 
may  wish  it,  on  the  broad  basis  of  administrative 
decentralization  and  of  local  franchise,  a  govern- 
ment in  harmony  with  the  real  wants  of  the 
country.  We  shall  give,  as  a  security  for  those 
public  liberties  to  which  every  Christian  people  is 
entitled,  universal  suffrage,  honestly  exercised,  and 
the  control  of  the  two  Chambers,  and  we  shall  re- 
sume the  national  movement  of  the  latter  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  restoring  to  it  its  true  character. 
"  A  minority  rebellious  against  the  wishes  of 
the  country  has  taken  that  movement  as  the 
starting-point  of  a  period  of  demoralization  by 
falsehood,  and  of  disorganization  by  violence. 
Its  criminal  excesses  have  forced  a  revolution  on 
a  nation  which  only  asked  for  reforms,  and  have 
driven  it  towards  the  abyss  in  which  it  would 
lately  have  perished,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
heroic  efforts  of  our  army.  And  it  is  upon  the 
labouring  classes,  upon  the  workmen  in  the  fields 
and  in  the  large  cities,  whose  condition  has  been 
the  subject  oi  my  most  earnest  solicitudes  and  of 
my   dearest  studies,  that  the  evils  of  this  social 


AFTER  THE  COMMUNE. 


427 


disorder  have  fallen  most  heavily.  But  France, 
cruelly  disenchanted  by  unexampled  disasters,  will 
perceive  that  it  is  not  by  going  from  error  to  error 
that  one  can  reach  truth,  that  it  is  not  by  shifts 
that  one  can  escape  eternal  necessities.  She  will 
call  me,  and  I  will  come  to  her  tout  entier  with 
my  devotion,  my  principles,  and  my  flag. 

"  With  respect  to  this  flag,  conditions  have 
been  put  forward  to  which  I  must  not  submit. 

"  Frenchmen  !  I  am  ready  to  do  all  in  my  power 
to  lift  up  my  country  from  its  ruins,  and  to  restore 
it  to  its  proper  rank  in  the  world.  The  only 
sacrifice  that  cannot  be  expected  from  me  is  that 
of  my  honour.  I  am  and  wish  to  be  the  man  of 
my  own  age.  I  sincerely  do  homage  to  all  its 
greatness,  and  under  whatever  colours  our  soldiers 
marched  I  have  admired  their  heroism,  and  given 
thanks  to  Heaven  for  all  that  their  valour  has 
added  to  the  treasure  of  the  glories  of  France. 
There  must  be  no  misunderstanding,  no  conceal- 
ment or  reticence,  between  us.  Whatever  charges 
about  privileges,  absolutism,  and  intolerance — or, 
what  do  I  know? — about  tithes,  about  feudal 
rights,  the  most  audacious  bad  faith  may  lay 
against  me,  whatever  phantoms  it  may  conjure  up 
to  prejudice  you  against  me,  I  shall  not  suffer  the 
standard  of  Henry  IV.,  of  Francis  I.,  and  of  Joan 
of  Arc  to  be  torn  from  my  hands.  It  is  by  that 
flag  that  national  unity  was  established,  it  is  by 
it  that  your  fathers,  led  by  mine,  have  conquered 
that  Alsace  and  that  Lorraine  whose  fidelity  will 
be  the  consolation  of  our  misfortunes.  It  is  that 
flag  which  conquered  barbarism  in  that  land  of 
Africa  which  saw  the  earliest  deeds  of  arms  of 
the  princes  of  my  House:  it  is  that  flag  which 
will  overcome  the  new  barbarism  by  which  the 
world  is  threatened.  I  will  intrust  this  flag  with 
confidence  to  the  bravery  of  our  army.  The 
army  well  knows  that  the  white  flag  has  never 
followed  any  other  path  than  that  which  leads  to 
honour.  I  received  it  as  a  sacred  deposit  from  the 
old  king,  my  grandfather,  who  died  in  exile. 
It  has  always  been  inseparably  associated  in  my 
mind  with  the  remembrance  of  my  distant  coun- 
try. It  has  waved  over  my  cradle,  it  will  over- 
shadow my  grave.  In  the  glorious  folds  of  this 
stainless  flag  I  will  bring  you  order  and  freedom. 

Frenchmen  !  Henry  V.  cannot  forsake  the  white 
flag  of  Henry  IV. 

»  HENRY. 

"Chamboed,  July  5,  1871." 


The  proclamation  took  the  country  completely 
by  surprise,  and,  especially  in  the  Chamber,  did 
more  to  extinguish  the  aims  of  the  legitimist  party 
than  could  have  been  done  by  months  of  political 
indiscretion  on  their  part.  It  is,  however,  due  to 
the  Comte  de  Chambord  to  say,  that  if  he  threw 
away  his  chances  as  a  king,  he  stood  higher,  if 
possible,  in  the  estimation  of  his  countrymen  as 
an  honourable  man;  and  with  all  the  sharp  criti- 
cism to  which  the  proclamation  gave  rise  in  the 
newspapers,  there  was  mingled  a  feeling  of  kind- 
liness for  him,  and  appreciation  of  the  honesty  and 
nobility  of  his  character,  which  at  the  moment, 
when  the  cause  which  he  represented  was  at  such 
a  discount,  reflected  credit  on  all. 

Disappointed  in  the  Comte  de  Chambord,  the 
Assembly  could  not  agree  upon  the  choice  of  a 
monarch,  and  on  August  12  a  motion  was  made 
to  prolong  for  three  years  the  executive  powers 
vested  in  M.  Thiers.  In  the  event  of  the 
National  Assembly  breaking  up  before  that  period, 
it  was  proposed  that  his  powers  should  continue 
during  the  time  necessary  for  constituting  a  new 
Assembly,  which  would  then  have  to  decide-  upon 
the  question  of  the  executive  power. 

M.  Thiers,  in  reply,  said  he  was  deeply  moved 
by  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  the  Assembly. 
The  task  laid  upon  him  was  heavy,  but  he  was 
ready  to  submit  to  the  will  of  the  country.  He 
believed  all  must  acknowledge  that  the  proposals 
had  been  made  without  any  participation  on  his 
part,  but  since  they  had  been  brought  forward, 
he  must  call  upon  the  Chamber  to  decide  upon 
them  both  with  the  briefest  possible  delay. 

The  matter  was  accordingly  at  once  taken  into 
consideration,  and  on  August  31  the  Assembly, 
with  assent  of  the  government  and  by  a  majority 
of  480  to  93,  agreed  to  the  following  bill,  by 
which  it  will  be  seen  that  M.  Thiers  exchanged 
the  title  of  chief  of  the  Executive  Power  for  that 
of  "President  of  the  French  Republic:" — "The 
Assembly,  considering  the  necessity  of  acquiring 
for  the  government  of  France  a  degree  of  stability 
adapted  to  the  present  state  of  affairs,  and  strongly 
to  unite  together  the  public  authorities  by  a  fresh 
proof  of  confidence  accorded  to  the  chief  of  the 
Executive  Power  for  the  eminent  services  which 
he  has  rendered  to  the  country,  and  for  those 
which  he  may  still  render,  decrees: — 

"Art.  I.  M.  Thiers  shall  continue,  under  the 
title  of  President  of  the  Republic,  to  exercise  those 


428 


FRANCE 


functions  which  were  conferred  upon  him  Dy  the 
decree  of  the  17th  of  February,  1871. 

"  Art.  II.  The  powers  conferred  upon  M.  Thiers 
shall  have  the  same  duration  as  those  of  the 
Assembly. 

"  Art.  III.  The  President  of  the  Republic  shall 
be  responsible  for  all  his  decrees,  which  are  to  be 
countersigned  by  a  minister  ;  and  the  president  has 
the  right  to  speak  in  the  Assembly  whenever  he 
shall  deem  it  expedient. 

"  The  ministers  will  likewise  be  responsible,  and 
render  account  of  all  their  acts  to  the  Assembly." 

Notwithstanding  the  vote  of  the  Assembly, 
already  noticed,  repealing  the  laws  of  proscription 
against  the  Bourbons,  the  Due  d'Aumale  was 
warned  that  his  appearance  would  embarrass  the 
progress  of  public  business,  then  in  a  most  critical 
condition,  and  pledged  himself  to  M.  Thiers  and 
a  committee  of  the  Assembly  not  to  take  his  seat. 
This  pledge  he  religiously  observed  until  December, 
when,  deeming  circumstances  much  changed  by 
the  elevation  of  M.  Thiers  to  the  presidency,  and 
hearing  his  own  inaction  ascribed  to  irresolution, 
he  in  a  personal  interview  desired  the  president 
to  release  him  from  his  engagement.  M.  Thiers, 
thinking  that  the  moment  the  duke  entered  the 
Chamber  the  majority  would  regard  him  as  the 
alternative  man,  but  embarrassed  perhaps  by  his 
old  relation  to  the  House,  at  first  refused,  then 
hesitated,  and  finally  declared  that  the  decision 
of  such  a  matter  rested  with  "  a  power  above 
himself" — the  "sovereign"  Assembly.  On  this 
the  duke,  through  one  of  his  followers,  requested 
an  opinion  from  that  body,  and  on  December  18 
the  Chamber  after  a  fierce  debate  decided,  though 
in  a  very  singular  and  hesitating  manner,  in  his 
favour.  The  original  mover,  M.  Desjardins, 
proposed  that  the  Assembly  should  "  invest  the 
deputies  for  the  Oise  and  Haute  Marne — Prince 
de  Joinville  and  the  Due  dAumale — with  the 
plenitude  of  their  rights,"  and  the  government 
suggested,  as  a  counter  proposal,  that  it  should 
pass  on  to  the  order  of  the  day.  This  suggestion 
was  rejected  by  358  to  273,  but  the  motion  of  M. 
Desjardins  was  also  lost  by  360  to  294;  the 
majority  shrinking,  apparently,  from  a  vote  which 
would  be  interpreted  in  the  country  as  distinctly 
monarchical.  Before  the  vote  was  taken,  M. 
Fresneau,  moderate  Orleanist,  introduced  another 
motion,  that  "  the  Assembly,  considering  that  it 
has  no  responsibility  to  assume  nor  advice  to  offer 


on  engagements  in  which  it  had  no  part,  and  of 
which  it  cannot  be  a  judge,  passes  to  the  order 
of  the  day."  As  the  words  "  of  which  it  cannot 
be  a  judge "  were  distasteful  to  the  personal 
supporters  of  the  Due  dAumale,  as  implying  a 
reproof,  they  were  withdrawn  by  the  mover;  and 
the  revised  motion  was  then  put  and  almost 
unanimously  accepted  by  the  Assembly,  only  two 
members,  in  a  house  of  648,  opposing.  The  effect 
clearly  was,  that  as  the  government  claimed  no 
pledge  (a  point  strongly  reaffirmed  in  debate  by 
the  minister  of  the  interior,  M.  Casimir  Perier), 
nor  was  any  claimed  by  the  Assembly,  which  even 
declined  to  consider  whether  there  was  one,  the 
duke  stood  released  from  pledges  and  accordingly 
took  his  seat  on  December  19.  The  members  in 
the  train  from  Paris,  by  which  he  reached  Ver- 
sailles, fell  back  respectfully  to  allow  him  and 
his  brother  to  walk  on  alone;  in  the  Assembly  he 
was  received  with  considerable  agitation. 

The  two  other  matters  which  have  chiefly 
engrossed  the  attention  of  France  since  the  war, 
are  the  state  of  her  finances  and  the  reorganization 
of  her  army. 

On  June  20,  M.  Thiers  fully  explained  the  finan- 
cial position  to  his  fellow-countrymen.  He  calcu- 
lated that  the  war  had  cost  France  £340,000,000 
in  actual  money,  including  the  German  indemnity, 
but  excluding  the  loss  sustained  by  the  inhabitants 
of  the  departments  ravaged  by  the  enemy.  Taking 
the  most  moderate  estimate  of  the  damage  inflicted 
by  requisitions  and  the  destruction  of  property, 
the  cost  to  France  was  about  two  millions  sterling 
a  day  as  long  as  the  war  lasted !  a  pecuniary 
expense  unprecedented  in  history,  besides  the  loss 
of  two  great  provinces.  M.  Thiers  severely  con- 
demned the  dethroned  emperor  for  having  permitted 
Sadowa,  and  for  having  subsequently  attempted  to 
redress  that  error  under  circumstances  which  made 
success  impossible;  but  foreign  observers,  antici- 
pating as  we  may  believe  the  judgment  of  posterity, 
cannot  lay  exclusively  upon  Napoleon  III.  the 
guilt  of  a  war  for  which  M.  Thiers  himself  was, 
perhaps,  more  than  any  other  man  primarily 
responsible.  He  it  was  who  revived  the  Napoleonic 
legend,  who  excited  the  people  to  demand  the 
Rhine  frontier,  and  who  never  ceased  to  heap 
reproaches  upon  the  emperor  for  having  assisted 
in  the  unification  of  Italy,  and  kept  the  peace 
while  Prussia  was  engaged  with  Austria  in  1866. 
M.  Thiers  was,  unquestionably,  the  foremost  apostle 


AFTER  THE  COMMUNE. 


429 


of  that  selfish  policy  which  demanded  that  all 
the  rest  of  Europe  should  be  weak,  in  order  that 
France  might  be  the  mistress  of  the  Continent. 

The  actual  expenditure  of  France  itself  in  1870 
M.  Thiers  estimated  at  £132,000,000,  of  which 
about  £47,000,000  was  spent  by  the  successive 
governments  of  the  country  in  prosecuting  the 
war  up  to  the  end  of  December.  The  balance  of 
£85,000,000  represented  the  normal  expenditure 
of  France  under  the  later  years  of  the  empire. 
The  actual  income  from  taxation  was  not  above 
£70,000,000;  but  the  loans  authorised  by 
the  Corps  Legislatif  before  the  revolution  of 
the  4th  of  September,  and  the  loan  subsequently 
raised  in  England  by  M.  Gambctta,  added  to  the 
receipts  from  taxes,  produced  a  total  income  of 
£106,240,000.  This,  compared  with  an  expen- 
diture of  £132,000,000,  left  an  uncovered  balance 
of  £25,760,000.  The  deficiency  for  1871  was  as 
great  as  that  of  1870,  for  not  only  had  the  cost 
of  the  war  to  be  met,  but  the  receipts  from  taxes 
and  the  other  sources  of  national  income  had  very 
much  declined.  The  excess  of  expenditure  over 
income,  independently  of  the  German  indemnity, 
was  £39,440,000;  and  this, added  to  the  uncovered 
balance  of  the  previous  year,  made  a  total  of 
£65,200,000  against  the  treasury. 

In  order  to  meet  this  deficiency  and  the  payment 
of  the  portion  of  the  indemnity  due  to  Germany  in 
1871,  a  loan  of  £100,000,000  at  five  per  cent,  was 
proposed  to  be  issued  at  eighty-three,  which  would 
give  investors  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent. 
M.  Thiers  said,  that  after  studying  the  subject  he 
was  fully  persuaded  that  France  was  well  able 
to  meet  the  additional  taxation  which  must  be 
demanded  of  her;  no  country  in  the  world 
possessed  such  recuperative  power.  No  new  loan 
would  be  required  for  three  years,  within  which 
time  France,  if  she  acted  wisely,  might  reorganize 
herself,  and  lay  the  foundation  for  future  pros- 
perity and  glory.  Referring  to  the  new  taxes 
proposed,  he  said  he  had  been  much  pressed  not 
to  impose  any  on  raw  materials  used  by  textile 
manufacturers.  "  But  I,"  he  added,  amidst  the 
laughter  of  the  Assembly,  "  am  an  old  protectionist, 
and  with  me  anything  old  is  not  likely  to  change." 
He  hoped  that  all  classes  would  cheerfully  submit 
to  necessary  sacrifices,  and  disclaimed  any  inten- 
tion of  levying  fiscal  duties  to  the  extent  of 
prohibition. 

At  the  conclusion   of  M.   Thiers'   speech,    M. 


Germain  created  much  excitement  by  suggesting 
an  income  tax  as  the  proper  remedy  in  the  present 
crisis.  From  the  Left  the  proposal  called  forth 
applause  ;  but  it  had  a  very  different  effect  on  the 
wealthy  country  gentlemen  on  the  Eight.  The 
speaker  in  vain  quoted  the  example  of  England, 
and  urged  with  great  vehemence  that  the  best 
way  to  oppose  Communism  was  voluntarily  to  tax 
themselves  for  their  country's  good. 

M.  Thiers  replied  with  much  warmth  and  energy, 
describing  the  income  tax  as  a  "disorderly  tax." 
He  had  never  in  his  life  flattered  popular  passions, 
and  would  not  now.  The  income  tax  was  utterly 
unsuited  to  Frenchmen,  who  would  never  bear  its 
inquisitorial  nature.  The  attempt  to  impose  it 
would  set  class  against  class  and  produce  horrible 
disasters.  He  begged  all  who  had  any  confidence 
in  him  to  understand,  once  for  all,  that  he  would 
never  consent  to  it.  Now  the  Eight  in  their  turn 
vehemently  applauded  ;  the  Left  were  silent. 

The  subscriptions  for  the  loan  were  received  on 
June  27,  and  in  less  than  six  hours  amounted  to 
more  than  double  the  sum  required — a  fact  with- 
out parallel  in  history.  A  people  crushed  by  a 
foreign  invasion,  with  the  enemy  still  on  its 
territory,  without  settled  institutions,  torn  by 
recent  civil  war,  and  still  in  dread  of  future 
disturbance,  subscribed  within  a  few  hours  for 
the  largest  sum  ever  borrowed  by  any  govern- 
ment. The  total  amount  raised  in  France  was 
three  and  a  half  milliards — two  and  a  half  in 
Paris,  and  a  milliard  in  the  provinces.  The 
hoarded  bullion  of  the  country  was  poured  into 
the  public  treasury  when  the  gates  were  opened, 
with  a  force  like  that  of  water  seeking  its  level. 
There  was  as  much  eagerness  to  lend  money  to 
the  government  as  there  had  been  to  obtain 
bread  during  the  famine.  Public  loan  offices 
were  thronged  like  bakers'  shops,  and  the  clamor- 
ous multitude  of  capitalists  swayed  to  and  fro  at 
the  doors  for  the  turn  of  each  subscriber. 

The  success  of  the  loan  proved  that,  though 
industry  was  for  the  time  disorganized,  the  actual 
savings  of  the  country  were  sufficient  to  carry  it 
through  its  most  pressing  difficulties.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  know  from  what  class  these  immense 
sums  of  money  were  drawn,  and  in  what  form 
they  were  previously  held.  They  came  chiefly 
from  those  possessed  of  moderate  fortunes,  includ- 
ing numbers  of  subscribers  from  the  country 
districts.       This    stratum    of    French    society    is 


430 


FRANCE 


essentially  penurious.  Tn  the  provinces  economy 
degenerates  into  parsimony,  and  in  the  north 
especially  the  people  are  hard  and  griping.  But 
niggardliness,  though  in  itself  an  unamiable 
quality,  is  useful  in  a  state ;  and  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  among  the  more  active  and  adventurous 
people  in  England  half  as  many  of  the  lower 
middle  class  would  be  found  able  to  invest  in  a 
loan.  Notwithstanding  the  extravagant  style  of 
living  which  prevailed  in  Paris  under  the  Empire, 
it  is  estimated  that  in  the  country  savings  to  the 
amount  of  £100,000,000  a  year  were  put  by ;  for 
the  great  mass  of  the  middle  class  retained  their 
old  habits  of  prudence,  economy,  and  regular, 
though  not  hard  work.  Small  families,  small 
establishments,  small  expenditure  in  entertain- 
ments, and  hardly  anything  spent  on  travelling 
and  junketing — such  were  the  features  of  citizen 
life  in  town  and  country.  The  consequence  was 
that  the  most  enormous  sum  ever  demanded  by 
a  government  was  speedily  forthcoming  from 
thousands  of  modest  hoards.  The  little  purse  was 
the  mainstay  of  France  in  her  calamity.  From 
every  quarter,  from  the  districts  still  occupied  by 
the  Prussians,  as  well  as  from  those  which  the 
enemy  had  never  trodden,  money  in  abundance 
was  placed  at  the  service  of  the  state.  But  per- 
haps the  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  transaction 
was  not  the  amount  of  money  contributed,  but 
the  promptitude  with  which  it  was  given.  The 
French  people  had  evidently  an  absolute  belief 
in  the  security  of  the  state — a  belief  so  manifestly 
universal  as  to  expose  the  real  numerical  insig- 
nificance of  those  desperate  factions  which  pretend 
to  revolutionize  society.  The  socialist  members 
of  the  International  were  certainly  not  among  the 
subscribers  to  the  government  loan,  for  one  of 
their  absurd  doctrines  is  that  there  should  be  no 
public  creditors  ;  but  we  may  be  equally  sure  that 
the  millions  who  came  forward  with  their  money 
had  not  the  smallest  fear  of  these  fanatical  con- 
spirators. Confiding  in  the  good  faith  and  the 
permanence  of  society,  they  eagerly  embraced  the 
opportunity  of  lending  their  money  on  the  security 
of  the  nation,  especially  on  terms  a  little  more 
favourable  than  before.  The  French  really 
borrowed,  all  things  considered,  on  very  easy 
conditions.  They  did,  for  instance,  materially 
better  in  the  money  market  than  the  Americans, 
notwithstanding  the  superior  resources  of  the 
United    States.       The    Americans    were    unwise 


enough,  not  indeed  to  propose  repudintion,  but  to 
talk  about  and  discuss  it  as  a  political  "question," 
whereas  the  public  credit  of  France  has  never  been 
suspected.  That  was  the  secret  of  her  success,  and 
when  she  offered  to  pay  six  per  cent,  for  money, 
her  own  people  were  ready  with  it  to  any  amount. 
A  love  of  hoarding  truly  Asiatic  was  found  com- 
patible with  an  astonishing  readiness  to  lend. 
One  word  from  government  unlocked  all  the  little 
repositories  of  money  in  the  country,  turned  every 
available  franc  into  the  coffers  of  the  state,  made 
the  terrible  spectre  of  finance  disappear  as  M. 
Thiers  approached  it,  and  enabled  him  to  proceed 
in  all  confidence  to  buy  the  Germans  out,  and 
to  stop  the  drains  caused  by  their  protracted 
presence  on  French  soil. 

The  manner  in  which  this  was  done  is  described 
in  the  previous  chapter,  and  in  order  to  complete 
the  picture  of  the  financial  condition  of  the 
country,  it  will  here  only  be  necessary  to  give 
some  particulars  of  the  budget  proposed  for 
1872—73,  which  was  submitted  in  December, 
1871. 

Of  the  £340,000,000  which  the  war  cost, 
£213,649,000  had  then  been  provided  from  the 
following  sources: — 

The  war  loan  of  August,  1870 £32,183,000 

The  loan  raised  in  England 8,356,000 

The  sale  of  the  Rentes  belonging  to  the  dotation  of  the 

army,  of  surplus  stores  for  the  supply  of  Paris,  &c,  4,510,000 

The  advances  made  and  to  be   made  by  the  Bank  of 

France, 61,200,000 

The  allowances  made   by  Germany  for  the  transfer  of 

the  part  of  the  Eastern  Railway  which   lies  within 

the  annexed  territory 13,000,000 

The  tax  for  the  cost  of  the  garde  mobile 5,400,000 

The  last  loan, 89,000,000 

Total, £213,649,000 

The  balance  remaining  to  provide  was  therefore 
£126,351,000. 

The  estimated  receipts  of  1872  amounted  to 
£97,174,500,  and  the  expenses  to  £96,613,400. 
The  budget  consequently  showed  an  expected 
surplus  of  £561,100.  The  receipts  consisted 
of  the  product  of  taxes  which  existed  before 
the  war,  £72,620,500,  and  of  new  taxes, 
£24,554,000.  This  latter  sum  does  not,  how- 
ever, correctly  represent  the  increase  of  annual 
expenditure  brought  about  by  the  war ;  that  in- 
crease really  amounts  to  nearly  £29,000,000,  but 
the  actual  addition  to  the  budget  was  reduced 
to  £22,529,000  by  the  savings  effected  on  other 
items.      Notwithstanding  the  dryness  of  a  long 


AFTER  THE  COMMUNE. 


431 


array  of  figures,  it  seems  worth  while,  in  a 
chapter  dealing  with  the  consequences  of  the 
war,  to  give  the  list  of  additions  and  diminutions, 
as  otherwise  the  position  could  not  be  clearly 
understood. 

The  savings  on  the  last  budget  of  the  Empire 
appear  to  have  been  as  follows  : — 

The  suppression  of  the  civil  list  of  the  emperor  and  his 

family  and  of  the  dotation  of  the  Senate,      .      .      .      .£1,385,000 
Ministry  of  Justice :  reductions  in  the  Council  of  State  and 

suppression  of  several  law  courts, 100,600 

Ministry  of  Foreign  Affiirs:  suppression  of  legations  aud 

consulates  and  diminution  of  salaries, 33,200 

Ministry  of  the  Interior :  diminution  of  salaries,  &c,       .  110,500 

Economies  in  Algeria, 31,400 

Reductions  in  the  cost  of  collecting  taxes, 440,800 

Reductions  in  the  expenses  of  the  Ministry  of  Finance,    .  24,400 

Reductions  in  the  cost  of  the  Navy, 1,253,000 

Reductions  in  subventions  to  theatres  and  various  works 

dependent  on  the  Ministry  of  Fine  Arts,       ....  79,800 
Reductions  in  subventions  to  various  institutions  depend- 
ent on  the  Ministry  of  Commerce,  including  race  prizes,  50,800 
Public  works, 2,809,800 

Total  of  reductions, £6,328,300 

The  augmentations  were  as  follows  : — 

Interest  on  the  loan  of  £30,000,000  issued  in  August, 

1870, £1,584,000 

Interest  on  the  English  loan  of  £10,000,000,     .      .      .  600,000 

Interest  on  the  last  loan  of  £80,000,000 5,555,800 

Interest  on  the  £lL'0,000, 000  still  due  to  Germany,     .         6,000,000 
Interest  on  the  £13,000,000  credited  by  Germany  for 
the  annexed  portions   of  the   Eastern  Railway  (the 
French  government  keeps  the  money  and  pays  interest 

on  it  to  the  railway  company) 650,000 

Interest  on  the  advances  made  by  the  Bank  of  France,  367,200 

Repayment  on  account  of  the  advances  made  by  the 

Bank  of  France, 8,000,000 

Increase  on  the  budget  of  the  Ministry  of  War,  which 

stands  for  1872  at  £18,000,000, 3,025,100 

Increase  of  soldiers'  pensions, 148,000 

Increase  of  civil  pensions, 66,200 

Increase  of  pensions  to  aged  persons, 24,000 

Dotation  of  the  president  of  the  Republic,      ....  30,500 

Cost  of  the  present  Assembly  over  and  above  that  of  the 

former  Chamber, 127,200 

Extra  dotation  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  in  consequence 
of  the   large   number  of    crosses  distributed  during 

the  war, 106,900 

Cost  of  naval  pensioners,  in  consequence  of  the  absorp- 
tion of  the  special  resources  hitherto  employed  to  pay 

them, 280,000 

Sundries 8,009 

Augmentations  in  various  Ministries,  including  repairs 
of  damages,   cost  of  collecting  the  new  taxes,  new 

telegraphs,  rebuilding  bridges,  &c,        756,500 

Payment  on  account  of  the  repayment  to  the  Depart- 
ments and  Communes  of  the  cost  of  the  garde  mobile,        1,288,000 
War  expenses  incurred  by  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  240,000 

Total  of  augmentations, £28,857,400 

In  addition  to  the  £96,613,400  of  state  ex- 
penditure, the  budget  showed  a  further  sum  of 
£12,825,000  for  departmental  outlay  ;  the  general 
total  therefore  amounted  to  £109  438,000,  which 
was  to  be  employed  as  follows  : — 


Interest  and  dotations, £44,393,500 

Ministry  of  War, 18,002,000 

Ministry  of  Marine, 5,906,700 

Ministry  of  Justice, 1,343,000 

Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs, 499,400 

Ministry  of  Interior, 5,975,300 

Ministry  of  Finance, 811,600 

Ministry  of  Public  Instruction,  Worship,  and  Fine  Arts,  3,815,500 

Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce, 642,400 

Ministry  of  Public  Works 5,225,000 

Cost  of  collecting  taxes, 9,533,500 

Deductions  and  repayments  of  taxes, 465,100 

Departmental  expenditure 12,825,000 

Total, £109,438,000 

This  enormous  budget,  it  must  be  admitted,  re- 
presented the  worst;  there  was  nothing  more  behind. 
It  included  interest  not  only  on  the  loans  then 
brought  out,  but  also  on  those  to  be  afterwards 
raised :  for  £6,000,000  shown  as  interest  at  five 
per  cent,  on  the  £120,000,000  then  due  to  Ger- 
many, will  probably  suffice  to  cover  the  cost  of 
further  issue  of  Rentes  to  the  same  amount.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  does  not  seem  to  be  any  pro- 
bability of  reductions ;  the  £8,000,000  payable 
annually  to  the  bank  of  France  will  have  to  be 
maintained  during  nearly  eight  years  ;  with  the 
exception  of  the  cost  of  the  army,  all  the  items  of 
current  expenditure  were  apparently  cut  down  to 
the  lowest  point ;  the  sum  allotted  to  public  works 
was  insufficient ;  and  even  if  any  margin  should 
arise,  either  from  an  increase  of  receipts  above  the 
estimates,  or  from  diminutions  of  outlay  on  certain 
heads,  there  will  be  urgent  employment  for  it. 
France  must,  therefore,  look  forward  to  a  lasting 
annual  taxation  of  £110,000,000,  or  £40,000,000 
more  than  England  ! 

In  order  to  provide  for  this  enormous  expendi- 
ture many  of  the  old  imposts  which  correspond 
with  the  English  excise  duties,  as  well  as  the 
house,  land,  and  other  taxes,  were  increased,  and 
the  government  proposed  to  obtain  the  balance  by 
the  augmentation  of  the  existing  import  duties, 
and  by  imposing  a  tax  on  certain  raw  materials. 
A  great  number  of  French  economists  desired  that 
for  the  latter  proposal — which  was  truly  regarded 
as  a  return  to  the  old  protective  system — an  in- 
come tax  should  be  substituted  ;  but  the  sugges- 
tion was  again  strongly  opposed  by  M.  Thiers,  and 
rejected  in  the  Assembly  by  a  large  majority. 

Before  any  material  alteration  could  be  made  in 
the  import  duties  it  was  necessary  to  set  aside 
the  celebrated  treaty  of  commerce,  which  was 
negotiated  in  1860  by  the  late  Mr.  Cobden,  M.P., 
and  the  Emperor  Napoleon.  By  it  the  duties  on 
silks   and  velvets  and   kid   gloves   imported  into 


43: 


FRANCE 


England  were  entirely  repealed,  and  those  on 
wines  very  much  reduced  ;  whilst,  on  their  side, 
the  French  agreed  to  admit  English  manufactures 
at  much  lower  rates  than  before,  although  still 
very  high  according  to  free-trade  principles.  In 
fact,  the  treaty  was  objected  to  by  some  in  Eng- 
land on  the  ground  that  its  advantages  were  chiefly 
on  the  side  of  France.  In  ten  years  it  increased 
French  exports  to  England  by  175  per  cent.,  and 
English  exports  to  France  by  only  139  per  cent. 
The  so-called  "  balance  of  trade  "  was  largely  and 
constantly  against  England.  Though  the  trade 
with  England  forms  about  one-fourth  of  the  whole 
foreign  trade  of  France,  while  English  trade  with 
France  forms  only  about  one-tenth  of  the  whole 
foreign  trade  of  England,  no  considerable  agita- 
tion against  the  treaty  ever  prevailed  in  this 
country.  But  in  France  it  was  more  than  once 
"denounced,"  by  M.  Thiers  and  others,  in  the 
interests  of  those  who  were  supposed  to  have  been 
injured  by  it.  When  the  treaty  was  negotiated 
it  was  hoped,  that  through  the  introduction  of 
the  leaven  of  free  trade  into  the  minds  of  the 
French  people,  they  would  ultimately  be  con- 
verted to  the  principle  altogether.  Every  year, 
it  was  supposed,  Avould  show  them  more  plainly 
the  wisdom  of  the  policy  into  which  they  had 
been  forced  by  a  ruler  more  clear-sighted  in  this 
respect  than  his  subjects,  and  that  complete  and 
unconditional  abolition  of  all  remaining  restrictions 
on  commercial  intercourse  would  follow.  The 
treaty  was,  in  fact,  concluded  at  the  desire  of  the 
emperor,  in  order  that  principles  which  he  knew 
to  be  salutary  might  be  recommended  to  his  sub- 
jects by  the  example  of  foreign  concessions. 

The  treaty  might  have  had  to  sustain  a  very 
formidable  attack,  even  had  the  imperial  power  not 
been  overthrown.  It  was  initiated  when  the 
authority  of  the  emperor  was  at  its  height,  within 
a  few  months  after  his  splendid  victories  in  Italy, 
and  when  the  idea  of  uniting  what  are  called  the 
Latin  nations  under  French  leadership,  maintain- 
ing a  beneficial  alliance  with  England,  and  thus 
constituting  something  like  a  confederation  of 
Western  Europe,  opened  the  minds  of  Frenchmen 
for  the  time  to  larger  political  theories.  But  the 
chief  movers  in  the  treaty  were,  undoubtedly,  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  himself,  who  had  formed  clear 
views  in  adversity  and  exile,  and  his  personal 
followers,  who  entered  readily  into  the  ideas  of 
their   master.      The   treaty    was    negotiated    and 


put  in  operation  without  resistance  from  the 
protectionists,  but  not  without  many  murmurs, 
and  a  resolution  on  the  part  of  that  numerous  and 
powerful  class  to  fall  back  upon  the  old  system  as 
far  as  possible,  whenever  an  opportunity  should 
offer.  That  opportunity  might  have  occurred, 
even  if  the  Empire  had  lasted.  As  the  emperor's 
energies  declined,  as  the  old  companions  who  had 
stood  by  him  in  support  of  an  English  alliance  and 
a  free-trade  system  passed  away,  it  is  probable  that 
the  interests  which  were  aggrieved  in  1860  would 
have  regained  sufficient  power  to  modify  legisla- 
tion. The  argument  that  France  could  abrogate 
the  treaty  without  losing  the  English  trade  which 
had  grown  up  under  it,  dates  from  before  the  war. 
It  was  said,  with  some  plausibility,  that  England 
would  not  retaliate  by  imposing  high  duties ;  that 
she  wanted  the  wines  and  the  silks  and  fancy 
goods  of  France,  and  must  have  them  whether 
France  took,  or  did  not  take,  anything  from  her  ; 
in  short,  that  these  productions,  by  their  special 
and  unique  character,  were  indispensable  to  Eng- 
land, as  to  all  foreign  nations,  while  France  might 
be  independent  if  she  wished  it,  and  had  the 
greatest  interest  in  becoming  so. 

The  five  milliards  of  indemnity  hastened  the 
consummation.  No  free-trader  has  ever  disputed 
that  duties  may  be  imposed  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
venue; for  though  direct  taxes  may  be  theoretically 
preferable,  it  must  also  be  admitted  that  they  cause 
much  irritation,  are  largely  evaded,  and  cannot 
practically  be  increased  beyond  certain  limits.  If 
France  be  condemned  for  many  years  to  raise  a 
sum  immensely  larger  than  sufficed  for  her  neces- 
sities in  1860,  and  if  those  acquainted  with  the 
feelings  and  habits  of  the  people  agree  that  direct 
taxes  cannot  be  safely  increased,  it  is  not  for  us 
to  blame  the  French  government  for  desiring  to 
regain  absolute  freedom  in  dealing  with  the  national 
finance.  It  may  indeed  seem  strange  that  a  nation 
so  acute  and  logical  as  the  French  should  reject  prin- 
ciples which  in  England  are  held  proved  to  demon- 
stration. Many  will  hardly  believe  that  amongst 
a  people  who  have  produced  some  of  the  best  and 
clearest  expositors  of  free  trade,  and  in  whose 
literature  its  doctrines  are  even  more  popularly  set 
forth  than  in  our  own,  should  still  cling  to  the 
high  duties,  and  even  the  prohibitions,  which 
were  in  favour  thirty  years  ago.  The  most 
eloquent  speakers,  and  the  writers  most  influential 
in    their   manner    and    style,   are,   as   a  rule,  free 


AFTER  THE  COMMUNE. 


433 


traders  ;  the  notice  to  terminate  the  English  treaty 
was  almost  universally  condemned  by  the  best 
part  of  the  French  press  as  a  retrograde  step  ; 
while  the  protectionists  say  little,  and  say  it  very 
indifferently.  But  late  events  have  clearly  proved 
that,  after  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  controversy 
— for  the  free-trade  contest  has  been  going  on  in 
France  ever  since  the  repeal  of  the  English  corn 
laws — the  principles  on  which  English  legislation 
is  based  have  not  been  cordially  accepted  in  France. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  under  any 
financial  system,  the  country  is  in  every  way  able 
enough  to  supply  the  wants  of  its  government; 
but  a  wise  policy  may  make  all  the  difference 
between  an  easy  and  an  oppressive  taxation. 

As  early  as  August,  1871,  M.  Thiers  told  Lord 
Lyons  that  the  treaty  of  commerce  had  always 
been  regarded  by  his  present  colleagues  and  him- 
self as  disadvantageous,  not  to  say  disastrous,  to 
France.  He  should  prefer  getting  rid  of  the 
treaty  altogether,  as  commercially  it  had  been 
advantageous  to  England  only.  From  her,  as  the 
most  formidable  competitor  in  commerce,  con- 
cessions which  might  safely  be  made  to  other 
countries  ought  to  be  withheld.  Nevertheless, 
apparently  for  political  reasons,  he  did  not  wish 
to  abrogate  the  treaty  altogether,  and  should 
England  consent  to  the  modifications  he  desired 
the  convention  might  be  maintained.  Giving  in 
to  these  would  not,  he  contended,  be  a  retrograde 
step,  or  a  departure  from  the  principles  of  free 
trade ;  the  really  retrograde  policy  would  be  to 
reject  them,  thus  abandoning  the  principle  of  the 
treaty  and  sacrificing  the  numerous  liberal  com- 
mercial arrangements  which  would  remain.  Lord 
Lyons  told  him  that  it  would  be  a  painful  task  to 
communicate  these  views  to  her  Majesty's  govern- 
ment ;  and  it  must  have  been  painful  to  listen 
to  them. 

A  long  correspondence  on  the  subject  ensued 
between  the  two  governments,  and  M.  Thiers 
referred  to  it  very  pointedly  in  his  message  to  the 
Assembly  in  December.  The  treaty,  he  com- 
plained, had  been  concluded  without  consulting 
the  nation,  and  absolute  free  trade  had  been 
introduced  without  any  preparation,  causing  deep 
injury  to  the  trade  in  iron,  woven  fabrics,  agri- 
cultural products,  and  the  mercantile  marine.  He 
reported  that  the  government  proposed,  as  a  basis 
of  negotiation  with  England,  an  increase  of  from 
three  to  five  per  cent,  in  the  duties  on  woven  fabrics, 

VOL.  II. 


with  twelve  or  eighteen  per  cent,  on  mixed  wool ; 
that  these  overtures  met  with  an  unfavourable 
and  dilatory  response  ;  that  England  objected  to 
the  change  as  a  retrocession  from  free  trade  prin- 
ciples; and  that  the  government  therefore  intended 
to  give  notice  to  terminate  the  treaty,  continuing 
the  negotiations  during  the  twelve  months  which  it 
had  then  to  run.  In  any  case,  the  existing  friendly 
relations  with  England  would  remain  unaffected, 
and  the  tariffs  would  be  altered  only  on  the  points 
specified. 

Official  notice  to  terminate  the  treaty  was  given 
on  March  15,  1872.  The  French  government 
asserted  to  the  last  that  it  had  no  desire  to  effect  an 
economic  revolution  of  a  nature  tending  to  disturb 
the  commercial  relations  of  the  two  countries,  but 
that  it  only  wished  to  provide  in  the  best  manner 
for  the  pressing  wants  of  French  finance  and 
industry.  It  recognized  with  satisfaction  not  only 
the  courtesy  manifested  by  Lord  Granville  in  his 
communications  on  the  subject,  but  also  his 
acknowledgment  of  the  difficulties  against  which 
France  was  struggling,  as  encouraging  the  hope 
that  a  resumption  of  negotiations  might  yet  lead 
to  a  satisfactory  compromise.  Finally,  it  heartily 
reciprocated  the  declaration  of  her  Majesty's 
government  that,  whatever  might  be  the  issue 
of  the  discussion,  England  would  not  regard  it 
as  a  proof  of  hostility,  or  as  affecting  the  entente 
cordiale  which  the  commercial  treaty  was  designed 
to  strengthen. 

The  negotiations  published  in  the  Blue  Book  on 
the  subject  prove  that  the  French  government 
never  exactly  understood  the  English.  Up  to  the 
last,  M.  Thiers  did  not  believe  we  should  go  the 
length  of  accepting  a  "denunciation"  of  the  treaty, 
but  persuaded  himself  that  it  would  be  modified  in 
the  sense  he  desired.  It  was  in  vain  Lord  Gran- 
ville again  and  again  declared,  that  we  could  be 
party  to  no  treaty  involving  an  increase  of  protec- 
tion, especially  when  it  was  stated  on  the  other 
side  that  our  consent  was  most  earnestly  sought 
for  the  purpose  of  inducing  other  nations  to  follow 
our  example.  M.  Thiers  was  so  convinced  that, 
if  he  only  held  out  long  enough,  he  must  lure  us 
back,  that  at  one  time  he  proposed  to  send  over 
M.  Pouyer-Quertier  to  remove  the  slight  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  a  settlement;  and  he  could  hardly  be 
persuaded  that,  without  some  preliminary  agree- 
ment on  principles,  the  visit  of  the  finance  minister 
would  end  in  nothing  but  disappointment  and 
3i 


434 


FRANCE 


vexation.  M.  de  Remusat,  the  foreign  minister, 
appears  to  have  seen  a  little  more  clearly  than  his 
chief  the  bearing  of  Lord  Granville's  notes  and  the 
conversations  of  Lord  Lyons  ;  but  even  he  could 
not  be  made  to  perceive  that  an  import  duty  on 
wool  or  raw  silk  would  be  a  protection  to  French 
producers  of  these  articles,  even  though  it  were 
accompanied  by  import  duties  on  cloths  and  manu- 
factured silk.  All  that  could  be  got  from  him 
when  driven  hard  was,  that  if  it  were  a  protection 
it  was  very  small ;  that  Frenchmen  were  now 
heavily  taxed  ;  and,  lastly,  that  small  protective 
duties  were  not  at  variance  with  the  spirit  of  the 
treaty.  Correspondence  thus  conducted  could  end 
only  in  the  "denunciation"  of  the  treaty,  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  in  future  nothing  will  be  done 
to  enable  him  or  any  successor  of  his  to  allege 
afterwards  that  we  have  made  a  gain,  and  that 
France  has  suffered  a  loss,  through  a  bargain 
between  us. 

With  regard  to  another  matter  in  which  English- 
men took  a  special  interest,  M.  Thiers  adopted 
a  much  more  satisfactory  course.  For  many 
years  Englishmen  had  been  allowed  to  travel  in 
France  without  any  restriction  whatever ;  but 
during  the  war  the  old  system  of  passports  was 
revived,  and  it  was  ultimately  made  more  strin- 
gent than  ever.  Remonstrance  from  the  English 
government  was  for  some  time  useless,  although 
it  was  clearly  shown  that  the  revival  of  the  wanton 
and  tyrannical  restriction  was  quite  inoperative  for 
the  purpose  of  preventing  and  detecting  crime,  and 
acted  merely  as  an  impediment  to  honest  travellers. 
At  last,  however,  M.  Thiers,  somewhat  unexpec- 
tedly, gave  way  on  the  subject,  and  the  intercourse 
of  the  two  countries  was  practically  restored  to 
the  freedom  which  existed,  to  their  common  ad- 
vantage, in  the  days  of  the  Empire.  It  is  not  often 
that  a  veteran  statesman,  arrived  at  the  height  of 
power,  and  fixed  in  his  own  opinions  by  the  defer- 
ence he  receives,  is  willing  to  abandon  anything 
on  which  he  has  set  his  mind  ;  but  in  the  present 
instance  M.  Thiers  wisely  gave  in  to  the  views 
which  he  found  to  prevail  among  men  younger 
and  holding  inferior  places,  and  in  so  doing  he 
gave  a  better  proof  of  capacity  to  govern  than 
would  have  been  afforded  by  any  display  of  suc- 
cessful obstinacy. 

The  other  subject  to  which  M.  Thiers  chiefly 
directed  his  energies  after  the  suppression  of  the 
Communist  insurrection,  and  to  which  he  seemed 


to  pay,  if  possible,  even  more  attention  than  to 
the  financial  condition  of  the  country,  was  the  re- 
organization of  the  French  army. 

The  war  had  been  so  disastrous  to  France  that 
it  had  destroyed  her  military  power,  materially  as 
well  as  morally.  It  emptied  the  arsenals,  exhausted 
the  stock  of  the  arm  manufactories,  left  vast 
stores  in  the  enemy's  hands,  and  shattered  or  dis- 
mantled such  of  the  strongholds  as  were  not  irre- 
parably lost.  The  first  steps  to  be  taken  were,  of 
course,  with  the  men.  It  became  necessary  not 
only  to  reunite  scattered  fragments  of  regiments, 
to  provide  cadres  for  them,  to  re-arm,  clothe,  equip, 
and  train  them,  and  to  re-establish  the  health  of 
the  returned  prisoners,  but  to  collect  in  the  centre 
of  the  country  a  force  strong  in  numbers  and 
quality,  capable  of  overawing  disorder,  and  of  ex- 
hibiting to  Europe  visible  proof  of  the  reconstitu- 
tion  of  the  French  army  with  all  its  old  merits. 
In  his  speech  to  the  Assembly,  in  December,  1871, 
M.  Thiers  was  able  to  state  that  this  project  had 
been  almost  completed,  permitting  the  incorpora- 
tion of  600,000  infantry  into  150  regiments  of 
3000  in  the  field,  and  1000  at  the  depot,  and  se- 
curing the  constant  "  feeding  "  of  the  acting  army, 
whatever  the  ravages  of  battles,  marches,  and 
diseases.  Under  the  Empire,  there  were  only  128 
or  129  regiments,  including  the  guards  and 
zouaves  ;  but  with  150  regiments  thirty-seven  to 
thirty-eight  divisions  could  always  be  organized, 
dispensing  with  the  appointment  of  new  cadres  at 
the  moment  of  taking  the  field,  when  every  one  so 
made  was  worthless.  The  increase  of  pieces  of 
artillery  from  scarcely  two  and  a  half  to  four  per 
thousand  men,  would  also  remedy  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal causes  of  the  recent  disasters.  The  threatened 
feud  between  the  old  officers,  owing  their  advance- 
ment to  length  or  distinction  of  service,  and  the 
new,  owing  it  in  part  to  the  course  of  events,  had 
been  prevented  by  a  spirit  of  moderation  and 
good  sense,  and  the  deference  of  the  juniors,  so 
that  the  reconciliation  was  complete  in  most  of  the 
regiments  ;  experience  and  the  spectacle  of  a  rigor- 
ous obedience  in  Germany  having  shown,  both  to 
soldiers  and  officers,  that  discipline  was  the  life  of 
armies.  Hence  order  and  respect  for  superiors 
prevailed.  Destroyed  or  dispersed  cadres,  owing 
to  the  return  of  a  large  number  of  prisoners,  would 
soon  be  reorganized,  the  troops  were  well  armed, 
but  their  equipment  and  clothing  were  less  ad- 
vanced.     As   to  recruiting,   too  much  stress  had 


AFTER  THE   COMMUNE 


435 


been  laid  on  the  numbers,  instead  of  on  the  quality 
of  soldiers,  and  the  Prussian  victories  had  been 
attributed  to  compulsory  service.  On  this  point 
M.  Thiers  said  :  "  If  by  compulsory  service  it  is 
meant  that  the  French  should  be  imbued  with  the 
patriotic  thought  that  amid  great  perils  they  all 
owe  their  lives  to  the  country,  it  is  right,  and  we 
applaud  it ;  but  if  it  is  meant  that  in  peace,  as  in 
war,  all  Frenchmen  should  belong  to  the  active 
army,  this  is  pursuing  the  impossible,  threatening 
the  disorganization  of  civil  society  by  the  absolute 
ruin  of  the  finances,  and  preparing  an  army, 
numerous  without  doubt,  but  incapable  of  really 
making  war.  There  is,  moreover,  an  impossibility 
of  fact  which  you  will  at  once  appreciate.  The 
class  which  every  year  attains,  at  twenty-one  years, 
the  age  of  service  consists  of  300,000  men.  If 
these  were  enrolled  there  would  be,  with  three 
years  of  service,  three  contingents,  making  about 
900,000  men,  which  would  constitute,  doubtless,  a 
very  imposing  force  ;  but  the  budget,  pushed  to 
the  utmost,  could  not  pay  more  than  450,000,  so 
that  half  would  successively  have  to  be  relegated 
to  their  homes  in  the  middle  of  their  time  of  ser- 
vice, to  give  place  to  the  new  comers." 

Urging  that  in  eighteen  months  soldiers  could 
not  be  formed,  much  less  sub-officers,  and  that 
Prussia  owed  its  success  to  the  persistent  struggle 
of  the  king  and  his  principal  minister  for  the  pro- 
longation of  the  period  of  training,  the  president 
proposed,  as  adequate  to  every  necessity,  to  make 
service  compulsory  on  all  in  time  of  war,  but  to 
enrol  annually  by  lot  during  peace  90,000  men, 
clear  of  all  deduction.  The  term  of  service  would 
be  eight  years — five  under  the  colours,  and  three 
in  renewable  furloughs ;  thus  furnishing  eight 
contingents  of  90,000  each,  which,  added  to  the 
120,000  otherwise  recruited,  would  give  a  total  of 
840,000,  or  800,000,  making  allowance  for  deaths, 
and  the  annual  draught  for  the  marine.  A  force 
would  thus  be  secured  which,  in  1870,  would 
certainly  have  won  or  disputed  the  victory,  and 
saved  provinces  and  milliards.  Five  years'  active 
service  would  not  be  too  heavy  for  the  population, 
and  the  power  of  substituting  one  man  for  another 
would  tend  to  mitigate  it ;  while  those  not 
drawn  could  be  intrusted  with  the  protection 
of  the  towns,  and  in  war  with  that  of  fortresses 
and  frontiers. 

This  proposal  of  M.  Thiers,  which  showed  that, 
as  in  some  other  respects,  he  was  yet  untaught 


by  the  lessons  of  the  past,  and  failed  to  see  that 
the  chief  cause  of  the  demoralization  of  the  French 
army  was  the  combination  of  conscription  with 
paid  substitutes — met  with  a  firm  and  steady  resist- 
ance from  the  National  Assembly.  The  differ- 
ence between  him  and  them  was  fundamental.  M. 
Thiers  wanted  an  army  formed  on  the  same  basis 
as  that  which  capitulated  at  Sedan.  He  argued 
that  the  disasters  which  overtook  the  imperial 
troops  reflected  no  discredit  on  the  principles  on 
which  they  were  recruited  and  trained,  but  were 
due  to  the  systematic  neglect  of  those  principles. 
Had  the  army  been  in  fact  what  it  was  on  paper, 
all  might  have  gone  well.  What  other  motives 
M.  Thiers  might  have  had  for  wishing  the  princi- 
ple maintained,  or  why  he  pronounced  so  decidedly 
against  universal  service,  and  in  favour  of  a  limited 
conscription,  it  is  perhaps  scarcely  lair  to  surmise. 
But  a  general  impression  certainly  existed  that  he 
was  eager  to  hurry  forward  the  day  when  France 
should  be  once  more  in  a  position  to  play  an 
independent  part  in  the  affairs  of  Europe,  and 
saw  that  a  shorter  time  would  suffice  to  put  an 
existing  system  into  thorough  repair  than  to 
organize  one  entirely  new.  But  his  reasons, 
whether  expressed  or  unexpressed,  had  no  weight 
with  the  Assembly.  They  referred  the  matter  to 
a  well-selected  committee,  by  whom  it  was  most 
closely  investigated,  and  through  whose  influence  the 
government  proposal  was  completely  recast;  while 
the  shape  in  which  it  was  presented  showed  how 
deep  was  the  impression  left  by  the  war  on  the 
minds  of  Frenchmen.  Both  the  Bight  and  the 
Left  in  the  Assembly  would  naturally  be  opposed 
to  a  large  military  establishment  ;  but  the  desire 
to  give  France  the  power  to  measure  herself  again 
with  Germany  was  stronger  than  any  dread  of 
domestic  tyranny,  and  without  a  single  dissentient 
vote  the  committee  recommended  as  the  basis  of 
their  scheme,  that  every  Frenchman  between  the 
ages  of  twenty  and  forty  should  be  not  only  liable  to 
military  service,  but,  with  a  few  exceptions,  should 
actually  serve  in  the  army  or  navy.  The  proposals 
of  the  committee  were  adopted  by  the  Assembly, 
with  very  few  alterations,  June,  1872,  and  the  new 
system  will  come  into  operation  on  the  lstof  January, 
1873.  France  will  be  divided  into  twelve  military 
regions,  each  with  a  corps  d'armee  to  which  will 
be  attached  all  soldiers  found  in  the  region, 
whether  they  have  been  liberated  by  anticipation, 
not  having  completed  their  period  of  active  service, 


436 


FRANCE 


or  belong  to  the  reserve,  or  have  been  allowed  to 
return  home,  on  no  matter  what  pretext. 

A  corps  d'armee  will  comprise  two  divisions  of 
infantry  of  three  brigades,  one  brigade  of  cavalry 
of  three  regiments,  two  regiments  of  artillery  of 
fourteen  batteries,  a  battalion  of  engineers  with 
military  train,  &c.  Each  brigade  of  infantry  will 
be  uniformly  composed  of  two  regiments;  the 
battalions  of  chasseurs  h,  pied  will  be  abolished  as 
a  constituted  body,  and  will  reappear  as  companies 
d'elite;  and  the  battalion  of  infantry  will  be 
composed  of  five  companies,  including  one  of 
chasseurs,  recruited  from  among  the  best  shots 
in  the  corps.  One  of  the  three  regiments  of  the 
cavalry  brigade  will  be  parcelled  out  between  the 
two  divisions  for  divisional  service,  for  furnishing 
escorts,  estafettes,  &c,  and  the  commander  of  the 
corps  d'armee  will  have  only  two  regiments  of 
cavalry  at  his  disposal  for  reconnoitring.  This  is 
hardly  considered  sufficient,  but  in  addition  to 
these  two  regiments  there  will  be  the  cavalry  of 
the  reserve. 

Each  of  the  regiments  of  artillery  will  comprise 
fourteen  batteries — ten  field  batteries,  two  foot, 
and  two  in  the  depot.  Out  of  the  ten  field  batteries 
there  will  be  eight  mounted,  and  two  of  horse 
artillery.  The  artillery  o:  a  corps  d'armee  will 
thus  be  composed  of  twenty  batteries  —  eight 
attached  to  each  division,  two  to  the  cavalry 
brigade,  and  two  in  reserve. 

Each  corps  d'armee  will  detach  a  brigade  for 
service  in  Paris  or  Lyons,  and  the  twelve  brigades 
thus  obtained  will  form  two  corps  d'armee  for  Paris 
and  one  for  Lyons.  By  this  combination  a  garrison 
easily  moved  and  renewed  will  be  kept  up  in  these 
two  troublesome  centres  of  France,  without  the 
normal  condition  of  the  corps  d'armee  in  the 
interior  being  greatly  affected.  The  brigades  thus 
detached,  though  forming  a  variable  corps  as  far 
as  regards  the  source  from  which  they  are  drawn, 
will  be  under  the  command  of  a  permanent  staff" 
and  permanent  generals,  and  so  be  ready  to  march 
at  once  in  the  event  of  war.  This  combina- 
tion has  been  rendered  necessary  by  the  impos- 
sibility of  garrisoning  Paris  with  Parisians  and 
Lyons  with  Lyonese,  on  the  principle  of  territorial 
recruitment.  The  normal  force  of  a  corps  d'armee 
upon  a  war  footing  will  therefore  consist  of  only 
five  brigades,  as  the  sixth  brigade  will  be  detached 
for  service  in  Paris  and  Lyons. 

In    Algeria    a   permanent    corps    d'armee    will 


always  remain,  composed  of  three  divisions,  one 
for  each  province.  In  the  event  of  war,  there 
will  therefore  be  ready  for  service  the  twelve 
regional  corps  d'armee,  the  three  of  Paris  and 
Lyons,  and,  in  addition,  a  division  of  marines  and 
three  brigades  borrowed  from  Algeria;  in  all, 
sixteen  corps  d'arme'e. 

Independently  of  the  twenty-four  regiments  of 
regional  artillery,  there  will  be  ten  others  for 
supplying  Paris,  Lyons,  and  Algeria,  as  well  as  the 
general  reserves  of  the  army. 

Such  is  a  brief  sketch  of  the  plans  adopted  by 
the  Assembly  for  the  distribution  of  the  force  of 
1,200,000  men  now  considered  requisite  for  the 
defence  of  the  country,  and  which  will  be  divided 
into  an  active  army,  reserve  of  the  active  army,  a 
territorial  army,  and  territorial  reserve. 

The  new  military  law,  as  regards  recruitment, 
is  based  on  the  following  general  dispositions.  As 
before  stated,  it  lays  down  the  principle  of  personal 
military  service,  not  allowing  substitutes;  and 
consequently  every  Frenchman  from  twenty  to 
forty  years  of  age  will  be  forced  to  serve.  It 
also  modifies  the  provision  by  which  certain 
citizens,  such  as  eldest  sons  of  widows,  &c,  used 
to  be  entirely  exonerated. 

Although  the  contingents  will  in  future  comprise 
all  the  young  men  capable  of  military  service,  the 
old  tirage  au  sort,  or  drawing  of  lots,  will  be  main- 
tained; but  the  men  who  draw  good  numbers, 
instead  of  being  exonerated  as  heretofore,  will  only 
escape  service  in  the  marines,  and  be  placed  in 
the  second  instead  of  the  first  part  of  the  con- 
tingent of  the  active  army. 

Definite  exemption  will  in  future  be  accorded 
only  to  young  men  whose  infirmities  render 
them  unfit  for  all  active  or  auxiliary  service. 
The  exemption  for  insufficient  height  is  done 
away  with,  and  the  lads  below  the  standard  will 
be  employed  as  auxiliary  troops.  The  same  law 
will  be  applied  to  youths  of  t'eeble  constitution, 
who  will  have  to  present  themselves  three  suc- 
cessive years  before  the  Council  of  Revision  before 
being  told  off  to  any  special  duty  in  hospitals,  &c. 
The  other  cases  of  exemption  specified  in  the 
law  of  1832  will  also  be  modified;  in  future  the 
eldest  son  of  a  widow,  the  eldest  lad  of  a  family 
of  orphans,  and  the  young  men  who  have  brothers 
on  active  service,  will  not  be  exempted,  but  will 
receive  a  temporary  dispensation,  and  be  called  upon 
to  serve  only  in  case  of  absolute  necessity.     In 


AFTER  THE  COMMUNE. 


437 


regard  to  youths  destined  for  holy  orders  and  for 
public  instruction,  the  law  of  1832  is  very  slightly 
changed,  but  the  new  law  accords  no  special 
favour  to  young  men  carrying  off  the  first  prizes 
at  the  Institute  and  the  University.  In  the  case 
of  young  men  studying  for  a  profession  at  the 
time  of  being  drawn,  the  authorities  may  allow 
them  to  postpone  serving  until  their  studies  are 
completed.  In  all  cases  the  ecclesiastical  student 
must  take  orders  before  he  is  twenty-six  years  of 
age.  The  exemption  of  priests  was  one  of  the 
great  grudges  which  the  Communists  had  against 
the  whole  body  of  the  ecclesiastics;  and  during  the 
siege  of  Paris  several  attempts  were  made  to  force 
the  government  to  call  on  the  seminarists  to  fall 
into  the  ranks  of  the  national  guard.  In  the  early 
days  of  French  history  the  clergy  were  obliged 
to  serve  like  other  vassals.  When  a  bishop  or  an 
abbot  renounced  the  profession  of  arms,  he  was 
forced  to  place  himself  under  the  protection  of  an 
advocate  or  vidame,  to  whom  he  paid  so  much  a 
year,  and  it  was  probably  this  mediasval  custom 
which  the  Communists  wished  to  revive. 

A  certain  number  of  men,  deemed  indispensable 
for  the  support  of  their  families,  will  get  temporary 
and  renewable  dispensations;  but,  as  in  most  other 
cases,  they  will  be  called  upon  to  serve  in  the 
event  of  danger. 

The  most  important  regulation  in  the  new 
military  law  is,  without  doubt,  the  rendering  it 
imperative  that  every  Frenchman  capable  of  bearing 
arms  must  form  part  of  the  active  army  for  a  period 
of  five,  and  of  the  reserve  of  the  active  army  for 
four  years.  On  the  expiration  of  these  nine  years' 
service  the  soldier  will  pass  five  years  in  the  ter- 
ritorial army  and  six  in  the  reserve  of  that  army. 
In  the  marines,  where  the  service  is  considered 
harder,  its  duration  will  not  be  so  long,  and 
exchanges  will  be  permitted. 

All  the  youth  of  the  class  called  out,  who  are 
found  fit  for  service,  will  be  at  once  incorporated 
into  one  of  the  corps  of  the  active  army,  but  they 
will  not  all  have  to  serve  the  same  length  of  time 
in  the  effective.  The  minister  of  War  will  make 
known  each  year  the  number  of  men  he  requires, 
and  those  drafted  into  the  active  army  to  fill  up 
its  ranks  will  constitute  the  first  portion  of  the 
contingent.  The  young  men  not  comprised  in 
that  portion  will  only  pass  six  months  under  the 
flag.  It  will  be  thus  seen  that  when  once  the 
system  comes  into  complete  operation  the  reserve. 


forces  of  France  will  be  continually  in  process  of 
recruitment  through  two  distinct  channels.  Every 
year  a  certain  number  of  troops  who  have  served 
their  full  time  with  the  colours  will  pass  back  into 
the  civil  population,  and  every  year  a  certain 
percentage  of  the  civil  population  will  learn  as 
much  soldiering  as  six  months  in  camp  can  teach 
them.  When  this  system  has  been  completely 
carried  out,  the  active  army  can  be  reinforced  in 
case  of  need  by  all  the  trained  soldiers  who  have 
already  served  their  full  time,  and  by  as  many 
of  the  civil  population  who  have  served  for  six 
months  as  it  proves  necessary  to  call  up. 

The  soldiers  of  the  second  portion  of  the 
contingent,  though  allowed  to  return  home  at 
the  time  stated,  will  be  subjected  to  reviews 
and  exercises  ;  and  so  with  the  men  of  the 
reserve,  who  will  be  liable  to  be  called  out  twice 
in  the  year,  for  four  weeks  at  a  time.  Those 
belonging  to  these  categories  will  be  allowed  to 
marry  without  authorization,  and  any  man  becom- 
ing the  father  of  four  living  children  will  pass  by 
right  into  the  territorial  army. 

As  regards  volunteers,  it  is  laid  down  that  they 
must  be  able  to  read  and  write,  and  that  in  the 
event  of  hostilities  any  Frenchman,  having  com- 
pleted his  time  in  the  active  army  and  the  reserve, 
will  be  allowed  to  volunteer  for  the  duration  of 
the  war.  Soldiers  in  the  second  portion  of  the 
contingent  will  be  permitted  to  volunteer  to 
complete  their  five  years'  service  in  the  active 
army,  and  will  have  the  right  of  objecting  to 
being  sent  home  before  serving  out  their  time. 

On  the  subject  of  engagement  and  re-engage- 
ments, a  large  portion  of  the  law  of  1832  is 
unaltered;  but  one  clause  in  the  present  law  is 
an  entire  novelty  in  France  (although  a  somewhat 
similar  plan  has  been  long  in  operation  in  Prussia), 
and  will  allow  young  men  who  have  taken  out 
diplomas- — who  are  bachelors  of  letters,  arts,  or 
sciences,  or  who  are  following  one  of  the  faculties 
of  the  University,  the  Central  School  of  Industry 
and  Commerce,  the  School  of  Arts  and  Trades, 
the  Conservatory  of  Music,  the  veterinary  or  agri- 
cultural schools,  &c. — to  contract  a  conditional 
engagement  for  one  year.  They  will  be  required 
to  pass  a  certain  examination  before  the  War 
minister,  and  will  then  be  permitted  to  join  the 
army  for  the  short  period  stated,  provided  they 
equip  and  keep  themselves.  If  at  the  expiration 
of  a  year  they  pass  a  military  examination,  they 


438 


FKANCE 


will  be  freed  from  service  and  allowed  to  retire 
with  the  grade  of  sous-offieier.  Should  a  young 
man  of  this  class  desire  to  finish  his  studies  before 
serving,  he  will  be  allowed  to  remain  free  until 
he  is  twenty-three  years  old,  when  he  must  pass 
his  year  in  the  ranks. 

An  important  clause  in  the  new  law  sets  forth 
that  any  soldier  who  has  passed  twelve  years  under 
the  flag,  and  has  served  as  sous-offieier  for  four 
years,  will  be  entitled  to  a  certificate  giving  him 
the  right  of  claiming  a  civil  or  military  employ- 
ment, in  accordance  with  his  capacity.  A  special 
law  is  to  settle  the  status  of  these  employe's  in  the 
public  service. 

As  soon  as  the  recommendations  of  the  com- 
mittee were  made  known,  M.  Thiers  withdrew 
the  opposition  which  he  originally  offered  to  the 
principle  of  universal  service,  and  agreed  to  accept 
the  increased  strength  of  the  army  in  the  future 
as  compensation  for  the  greater  delay  in  attain- 
ing it.  The  only  point  upon  which  any  serious 
difference  of  opinion  then  existed  was  the  question 
of  substitutes.  M.  Thiers  pleaded  that,  without 
allowing  these,  it  would  be  impossible  to  satisfy 
the  requirements  of  a  civil  career ;  but  the  com- 
mittee replied  that  these  were  provided  for  by  the 
clauses  introduced  into  the  bill  to  meet  the  case 
of  students  and  young  men  preparing  for  profes- 
sions. It  is  clear  that  the  prohibition  of  substitutes 
is  essential  to  the  success  of  a  system  of  compul- 
sory service.  So  long  as  they  are  allowed,  the 
army  is  not  a  really  national  force,  but  one 
composed  of  men  who  serve  because  they  cannot 
help  it,  or  who  have  been  bribed  by  those  who 
wish  to  avoid  the  duty  which  has  devolved  on 
them.  The  particular  difficulty  started  by  M. 
Thiers  is  disposed  of  as  soon  as  service  becomes 
really  universal.  It  cannot  be  maintained  that  a 
year  of  camp  life  interposed  between  the  prepara- 
tory study  and  the  practice  of  a  profession  would 
be  any  real  injury  to  a  young  man,  unless  it  were 
exacted  from  him  and  not  from  his  rivals.  When 
it  is  imposed  upon  all  alike,  it  simply  interferes 
with  the  preparation  for  civil  life  by  one  year. 
M.  Thiers  would  create  a  real,  on  the  plea  of 
doing  away  with  an  imaginary,  hardship.  Nothing 
could  make  military  service  more  unpopular,  or 
bring  the  government  into  greater  discredit,  than 
a  provision  allowing  a  student  of  law  or  medicine 
who  could  afford  to  buy  a  substitute,  to  set  up  as 
a  barrister  or  a  physician  a  year  earlier  than  one 


of  equal  capacity  and  education,  but  by  whom, 
from  his  limited  circumstances,  a  substitute  was 
unattainable. 

Having  thus  given  an  outline  of  the  French 
scheme,  it  may  be  interesting  to  compare  it  briefly 
with  the  military  organization  of  Germany.  The 
French  Assembly  has  so  fully  adopted  the  prin- 
ciple of  universal  liability  to  military  service  with- 
out substitutes,  that  their  system  is  even  more 
thorough  than  that  of  Prussia,  where  anything 
beyond  slight  bodily  defects  disqualifies  a  man 
for  enrolment,  or  even  the  Ersatz  reserve. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  France  the  period  of 
service  extends  from  the  age  of  twenty  to  forty, 
while  in  Prussia  a  man  is  free  after  he  has  attained 
the  age  of  thirty-two,  or  has  served  twelve  years. 
It  is  evident,  there  lore,  that  in  France  the  service 
will  press  nearly  twice  as  hard  upon  the  nation  as 
it  does  in  Prussia.  In  Prussia  also,  in  the  case  of 
the  educated  classes,  the  burden  is  much  lightened 
by  allowing  young  men  to  enter  the  army  at 
seventeen,  and  to  commute  their  three  years' 
service  with  the  colours  and  four  years  in  the 
reserve,  for  one  year  with  the  colours  and  six 
years  in  the  reserve,  provided  they  give  proof  of 
their  education,  and  consent  to  provide  their  own 
clothing,  equipment,  and  subsistence.  In  France 
neither  the  educated  nor  the  uneducated  man  can 
enter  before  he  is  twenty. 

With  regard  to  organization,  the  first  point 
observable  is,  that  the  picked  shots,  instead  of 
forming  a  third  sub-division  to  each  company,  as 
in  Prussia,  are  formed  into  a  fifth  company.  There 
is  something  to  be  said  for  each  arrangement,  but 
on  the  whole  the  Prussian  system  seems  prefer- 
able, as  it  renders  each  company  an  independent 
tactical  sub-unit.  In  the  English  army  the  marks- 
men are  mixed  up  with  the  worst  shots,  and  of 
their  superior  skill  no  advantage  whatever  is  taken. 
The  abolition  of  the  battalions  of  chasseurs  is  a 
measure  the  wisdom  of  which  is  not  very  clear, 
for  it  is  always  convenient  to  possess  in  each  division 
or  corps  d'armee  battalions  trained  for  the  special 
duties  of  the  advanced  guard.  The  distribution 
of  the  cavalry  in  the  French  system  seems  open 
to  serious  objections.  In  reconnoitring,  a  bri- 
gade of  two  regiments  will  not  suffice  to  perform 
the  duties  of  so  large  a  body  as  a  corps  d'armee. 
Moreover,  the  employment  of  cavalry  en  masse  is 
obsolete,  and  to  withdraw  them  from  the  corps 
d'armee  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  grand  reserve, 


, 


AFTER  THE   COMMUNE. 


43'J 


is  to  ignore  the  progress  of  the  science  of  war. 
In  future,  we  conceive  that  on  the  battle-field 
cavalry  will  only  be  able  to  act  in  comparatively 
small  bodies,  such  as  a  regiment,  or,  at  most,  a 
brigade  of  two  regiments.  To  form  a  corps  of 
two  or  three,  or  even  of  one  division,  would  there- 
fore seem  to  deny  that  arm  all  opportunity  of 
combining  effectually  its  action  with  that  of 
infantry  and  artillery.  Cavalry  ought  to  be 
chiefly  attached,  but  not  chained,  to  the  divisions 
of  infantry,  in  order  to  be  able  to  take  prompt 
advantage  of  the  quickly  passing  opportunities 
which  offer  themselves. 

The  completeness  of  the  localization  in  the 
French  scheme,  and  the  principle  of  keeping  every 
corps  d'armee  in  a  state  of  continual  readiness  for 
active  service,  cannot  be  too  much  praised.  The 
great  distinction  between  the  two  systems  here 
compared  is,  that  service  with  the  colours  is  in 
France  to  be  five  years,  while  in  Prussia  it  is  only 
three.  The  French,  from  natural  insubordination 
and  want  of  education  and  intelligence,  probably 
require  longer  military  training  than  the  Prussians. 
But  even  the  Prussian  authorities  would  prefer  a 
longer  period  of  service,  did  circumstances  admit 
of  its  being  introduced.  We  are  not,  therefore, 
disposed  to  find  fault  with  that  portion  of  the 
French  plan.  We  do,  however,  think  that  two 
trainings  yearly,  each  of  four  weeks,  to  which  the 
French  reserve  man  is  to  be  subjected,  will  impose 
an  unnecessary  hardship  on  the  nation  What 
master  will  care  to  employ  a  workman  liable  to 
be  called  away  so  often,  and  for  so  long  a  time? 
Further,  a  person  once  thoroughly  trained  could 
well  keep  up  his  military  proficiency  by  means  of 
a  much  less  time.  In  Prussia  the  men  on  furlough, 
corresponding  to  the  army  reserve  of  the  French, 
are  only  liable  in  four  years  to  take  part  in  two 
manoeuvres,  neither  of  them  exceeding  eight 
weeks.  Practically  they  are  not  kept  out  for 
half  that  time. 

As  a  whole,  the  French  may  be  pronounced  an 
exaggerated  copy  of  the  Prussian  system,  but 
it  wants  its  practical  character  and  its  com- 
pleteness. Imperfect,  however,  though  it  be  in 
some  respects,  it  is  a  great  improvement  on 
the  old  organization.  It  raises  the  status  of 
the  army,  and  adds  enormously  to  the  material 
strength  of  the  country,  while  at  the  same 
time  it  promises  to  contribute  largely  to  its  moral 
regeneration. 


Under  the  new  system  it  is- intended  that  France 
shall  be  able  to  bring  into  the  field  an  army  of 
1,185,000,  armed  with  the  best  weapons  that 
science  can  invent  and  money  procure.  It  is 
further  designed  that  the  fortifications  of  Paris 
shall  be  so  extended  as  to  embrace  the  heights 
which  the  Germans  occupied  in  the  late  siege, 
and  that  the  eastern  frontier  shall  be  covered  with 
a  line  of  fortresses. 

The  reform  of  the  military  schools  also  formed 
a  part  of  the  programme  of  the  government  and 
of  the  Assembly.  The  war  brought  out  clearly  the 
inadequacy  and  vices  of  the  instruction  given  in 
them.  The  pupils  of  the  Polytechnic  were  too 
often  theorists,  who  retained  in  the  colleges  to 
which  they  were  afterwards  sent — the  military 
engineer  college,  the  artillery  and  staff  colleges — 
the  faults  of  their  training.  Over-instructed  in 
some  branches,  ignorant  in  others  which  are 
indispensable,  they  showed  themselves  especially 
incompetent  on  the  staff.  Under  the  most  favour- 
able circumstances,  however,  it  must  take  a  con- 
siderable time  and  no  little  effort  of  administrative 
ingenuity,  before  the  armed  power  of  France 
can  be  considered  materially  a  match  for  that  of 
Germany. 

On  June  29  a  new  treaty  was  concluded  between 
Germany  and  France,which  was,  on  the  whole,  bene- 
ficial to  the  latter  Under  previous  arrangements 
no  more  money  was  to  have  been  paid  until  March 
1,  1874,  and  the  six  departments  were  all  to  con- 
tinue to  be  occupied  till  that  time  ;  £120,000,000, 
with  interest,  were  then  to  be  paid,  and  the  Ger- 
mans were  forthwith  to  evacuate  France  Under 
the  new  arrangement  £20,000,000  were  to  be  paid 
within  two  months  o  the  ratification  o  the  treaty, 
and  two  departments,  comprising  the  finest  parts  of 
Champagne,  were  to  be  evacuated  It  was  also 
agreed  that  £20,000,000  more  should  be  paid  on 
February  1,  187'3,  and  £40,000,000  more  on  1st 
March,  1874 ;  and  on  these  £80,000,000,  or  two 
milliards,  being  paid,  two  more  departments,  those 
of  Ardennes  and  the  Vosges,  are  to  be  evacuated. 
The  last  £40,000,000  are  to  be  paid,  with  all 
interest  then  due,  on  March  1,  1875,  and  then  the 
last  of  the  six  occupied  departments,  those  of 
Meuse  and  Meurthe,are  to  be  evacuated,  and  Belfort 
is  to  be  handed  over  to  France.  The  main  features 
of  this  new  treaty  were,  therefore,  that  by  an  im- 
mediate payment  of  £20,000,000  France  purchased 
the  liberation  of  two  departments,  and  she  had  a 


440 


FKANCE  AFTER  THE  COMMUNE. 


year  more  given  her  before  she  made  a  final  settle- 
ment with  Germany.  The  French  government 
tried  hard  to  obtain  the  further  concession,  that  in 
proportion  as  the  area  of  occupation  was  diminished 
the  numbers  of  the  occupying  army  should  be 
diminished  also.  But  the  Germans,  for  military 
reasons,  would  not  agree  to  this.  They  insisted  on 
being  at  liberty  to  keep  50,000  men  in  France, 
so  long  as  they  were  there  at  all. 

Immediately  after  this  treaty  had  been  ratified 
by  the  Assembly,  preparations  were  made  for  con- 
tracting a  new  loan  in  order  to  carry  its  provisions 
into  effect.  The  amount  asked  for  was  three  and 
a  half  milliards,  or  £140,000.000,  at  five  per  cent., 
and  as  it  was  issued  at  eighty-three  it  promised 
investors  about  six  per  cent,  interest.  The  success 
of  this  loan  was  almost  beyond  the  power  of 
imagination.  More  than  twelve  times  the  amount 
required  was  offered  !  Of  this  enormous  sum  France 
of  course  subscribed  the  greater  part.  The  eager- 
ness of  the  people  there  transcended  everything 
which  had  been  observed  in  connection  with  the 
imperial  loans.  Not  fewer  than  250  places  for 
subscription  were  opened  in  Paris  alone,  and  at  all 
of  them  the  tradesmen  and  workmen  pressed  to 
make  their  demands  (in  many  cases  they  waited  all 
night  in  order  to  obtain  a  good  place),  and  to  hand 
in  the  deposit  which  should  entitle  them  to  their 
allotment.  Abroad  the  loan  was  hardly  less 
attractive,  and  Germany  alone  more  than  covered 
the  whole  amount  required.  In  England,  too,  the 
subscriptions  were  very  large — far  exceeding  any 
which  had  ever  been  offered  to  any  foreign  country, 
or  even  to  our  own.  Of  course  the  offer  was  to 
some  extent  unreal,  as  many  subscribers,  anticipa- 
ting that  they  would  only  be  alloted  a  portion  of 
the  amount  asked  for,  sent  in  requests  for  much 
larger  sums  than  they  would  have  been  prepared  to 
take.  But  the  deposit  required  to  guarantee  good 
faith,  the  fourteen  per  cent,  actually  sent  in  to  the 
Mairies  and  the  Treasury  in  gold,  silver,  bank- 
notes, and  immediately  available  securities,  was 
£240,000,000,  or    £100,000,000   more  than  the 


amount  required — an  amount  nearly  four  times 
the  sum  ever  asked  for  in  a  single  loan  in  the  whole 
history  of  finance. 

The  great  moral  lesson  of  this  marvellous  suc- 
cess was,  as  it  seems  to  us,  that  it  clearly  proved 
that  the  people  of  France — the  six  or  seven  million 
male  adults  who  plant  and  plough,  and  build  and 
trade  within  her  borders — are  not  disenchanted 
by  her  reverses,  are  not  distrustful  of  her  future, 
and  are  not  fearful  lest  she  should  be  eaten  up  by 
Communists,  or  should  cease  to  be  a  state.  All 
accounts  testify  alike  that  subscriptions  came  from 
the  very  lowest,  that  the  queue  of  persons  wait- 
ing to  subscribe  in  Belleville,  the  Communist 
stronghold,  was  one  of  the  longest  in  the  capital. 
The  conservative  power  of  confidence  such  as  this 
could  scarcely  be  overrated,  even  were  the  pos- 
session of  means  to  subscribe  in  itself  not  so 
conservative  an  influence  ;  but  as  it  is,  the  sub- 
scription was  of  itself,  in  our  opinion,  almost  a 
guarantee  for  France.  A  nation  in  which  industry, 
patience,  self  denial,  and  habits  of  saving  arc  so 
conspicuous  as  in  France,  and  in  which  the  masses 
so  trust  the  state,  cannot  be  dead  or  dying,  or 
even  weak.  There  must  be  vitality  in  it,  even 
if  misdirected  ;  force,  even  if  the  force  has  not  yet 
accumulated  itself  in  the  hand  most  competent  to 
guide  it.  What  nation,  at  any  height  of  pros- 
perity, could  give  a  more  decisive  and  unanswer- 
able proof  of  its  belief  in  itself,  of  its  own 
intention  to  live,  of  that  confidence  in  its  own  con- 
tinuance which  is,  after  all,  the  best  security  that 
it  will  continue,  and  continue  great  ?  Money  is  not 
all,  either  in  war  or  peace,  though  both  have  been 
made  so  expensive;  but  the  nation  which,  with 
the  victorious  foreigner  camped  on  her  soil,  with 
an  openly  expressed  determination  to  "  revindi- 
cate "  two  of  her  provinces  at  the  earliest  oppor- 
tunity, and  with  all  her  institutions  to  re-arrange, 
can,  at  a  word,  command  £120,000,000  to  be 
paid  away  in  tribute  to  an  invader,  is  and  must 
remain,  both  for  war  and  peace,  one  of  the  greatest 
of  nations. 


WILLIAM    MACKENZIE.    I  ONDON.    EDINBURGH.    AND    GLASGOW. 


PART     III. 


THE    EHINE    VALLEY. 


A  thousand  battles  have  assailed  thy  banks, 
But  these  and  half  their  fame  have  passed  away, 
And  slaughter  heaped  on  high  his  slaughtering  ranks 
Their  very  graves  are  gone,  and  what  are  they? 
Thy  tide  washed  down  the  blood  of  yesterday, 
And  all  was  stainless;  and  on  thy  clear  stream 
Glanced  with  its  dancing  light  the  sunny  ray ; 
But  o'er  the  blackened  memory's  blighting  dream, 
Thy  waves  would  vaiuly  roll,  all  sweeping  as  they  seem. 


Adieu  to  thee,  fair  Rhine.     .     .     . 
The  negligently  grand,  the  fruitful  bloom 
Of  coming  ripeness,  the  white  city's  sheen, 
The  rolling  stream,  the  precipice's  gloom, 
The  forest's  growth,  and  Gothic  walls  between 
The  wild  rocks  shaped  as  they  had  turrets  been. 
In  mockery  of  man's  art ;  and  these  withal, 
A  race  of  faces  happy  as  the  scene, 
Whose  fertile  bounties  here  extend  to  all, 
Still  springing  u'er  thy  banks,  though  empires  near  them  fall. 

Byron's  Childe  Harold. 


CHAPTER    I.— -Introductory. 


FROM  THE  SOURCES  OF  THE  RHINE  TO  STHASBORG. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Nile  and  the  Jordan, 
there  is  no  river  in  the  world  which  has  exercised 
so  great  an  influence  on  the  fortunes  of  nations,  or 
produced  so  powerful  an  impression  on  the  minds 
of  men,  as  the  Rhine.  We  know  all  that  can  be 
said  in  favour  of  the  mighty  Mississippi,  and  its 
turbid  roll  of  waters;  of  the  Amazon,  and  its  forest- 
clad  banks;  of  the  "sacred  Ganges,"  and  its 
traditions  dating  far  back  into  the  twilight  of 
human  history;  of  the  Indus,  which  marked  at  one 
time  the  frontiers  of  Western  civilization;  of  the 
Thames,  which,  comparatively  insignificant  in  its 
course  and  volume,  has  nevertheless  gathered  to 
its  ample  bosom  the  commercial  navies  of  the 
world:  but  of  none  of  them  can  so  much  be 
advanced  to  interest  and  astonish  and  attract  the 
thinker,  as  of  the  "exultant  and  abounding" 
Rhine.  The  great  German  river  possesses  every 
charm  which  can  fix  our  attention;  it  is  rich  in 
the  graces  of  scenery,  in  historical  associations,  in 
those  songs  and  legends  which  naturally  spring 
from  the  fertility  of  the  popular  imagination.  It 
flows  through  a  succession  of  landscapes  which 
vary  from  grave  to  gay,  from  the  sublime  to  the 
beautiful ;  it  is  haunted  by  memories  of  heroes,  of 
warriors,   princes,  and  poets;  by  the  shadows  of 


terrible  battles  which  have  been  fought  upon 
its  banks;  by  the  immortal  music  of  the  Lorelei, 
who,  as  old  poets  tell  us,  frequents  its  liquid 
depths,  and  incessantly  raises  her  sweet  but 
melancholy  strains.  It  is  the  river  of  the  grand 
epic  of  the  Nibelungen-lied ;  it  is  the  river  of  the 
faithful  Roland,  of  the  two  brothers  of  Lieben- 
stein,  of  the  white-bearded  and  imperial  Charle- 
magne, of  the  mighty  Barbarossa.  From  the 
earliest  ages  it  has  borne  that  singularly  impressive 
character  which  is  still  its  dower.  Long  before 
the  Teuton  settled  on  the  slopes  of  its  fertile  hills 
it  was  called,  as  it  is  still  called,  the  Rhine  (hren, 
rhenus) ;  and  the  word  thrilled  in  the  ears  of  the 
Celts  of  old,  as  it  now  thrills  in  the  ears  of  Frank 
and  German.  Two  thousand  years  ago,  as  now, 
it  was  "  the  river,"  the  river  of  rivers,  the  king 
of  rivers,  for  the  great  German  race;  and  mailed 
warriors  sang, as  well-armed  veterans  sing  to-day: — 

"Am  Rhein,  am  Rhein-.  du  wacbsen  unsere  Reben, 
Gesegnet  sie  der  Rhein !  " 

The  people  prayed  on  its  banks — for  it  was  as 
sacred  to  them  as  the  Ganges  to  the  Hindu — 
and  lighted  their  tapers,  and  offered  their  offerings 
in  honour  of  the  noble  river.  And  through  the 
course  of  succeeding  generations,  the  popular 
devotion  has  never  failed,  and  you  can  stimulate 
1 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


the  dullest  brain  and  coldest  heart  into  enthusiasm 
by  whispering — the   Rhine. 

There  are  rivers,  says  a  German  writer,  whose 
course  is  longer;  there  are  rivers  whose  volume 
of  water  is  greater:  but  no  other  unites  in  the 
same  degree  almost  everything  that  can  render 
an  earthly  object  magnificent  and  attractive.  As 
it  descends  from  the  remote  ridges  of  the  Alps, 
through  fertile  regions  into  the  open  sea,  so  it 
comes  down  from  remote  antiquity,  associated  in 
every  age  with  momentous  events  in  the  history 
of  the  neighbouring  nations.  A  river  which 
presents  so  many  historical  recollections  of  Roman 
conquests  and  defeats,  of  the  chivalrous  exploits 
of  the  feudal  age,  of  the  wars  and  negotiations  of 
modern  times,  of  the  coronations  of  emperors, 
whose  bones  repose  by  its  side ;  on  whose  borders 
stand  the  two  grandest  monuments  of  the  noble 
architecture  of  the  mediaeval  days ;  *  whose  banks 
exhibit  every  variety  of  wild  romantic  rocks,  dense 
forests,  smiling  plains,  vineyards,  sometimes  gently 
sloping,  sometimes  perched  among  lofty  erases, 
where  industry  has  won  a  domain  among  the 
fortresses  of  nature  ;  whose  banks  are  ornamented 
with  populous  cities,  flourishing  towns  and 
villages,  castles  and  ruins,  with  which  a  thousand 
legends  are  connected,  with  beautiful  and  pic- 
turesque highways,  and  salutary  mineral  springs; 
a  river  whose  waters  offer  choice  fish,  as  its  banks 
produce  the  choicest  wines  ;  which,  in  its  course  of 
900  miles,  affords  630  of  uninterrupted  navigation, 
from  Bale  to  the  sea,  and  enables  the  inhabitants 
of  either  side  of  its  fertile  valley  to  exchange  its 
rich  and  luxurious  products  ;  whose  cities,  famous 
for  commercial  enterprise,  science,  and  military 
strongholds  which  furnish  protection  to  Germany, 
are  also  famous  as  the  seats  of  Roman  colonies 
and  of  ecclesiastical  councils,  and  are  associated 
with  many  of  the  most  important  events  recorded 
in  the  history  of  mankind ; — such  a  river,  says 
our  authority,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  Germans 
should  regard  with  a  kind  of  reverence,  and 
frequently  call  it  in  poetry  Father,  or  King  Rhine. 

GENERAL    STATISTICS. 

The  Rhine,  in  its  earliest  stage,  consists  of  three 
branches,  the  Front,  the  Middle,  and  the  Back 
Rhine,  and  in  these  branches  absorbs  nearly  all 
the  drainage  of  the  northern  basin  of  the  Alps. 

*  The  cathedrals  of  Strasburg  and  Cologne. 

2 


Each  branch  has,  of  course,  its  own  fountain- 
head. 

The  Front  Rhine  (  Vorder  Rhein)  rises  from  the 
Toma  Lake,  which  is  7460  feet  above  the  sea 
level,  and  coated  with  ice  for  the  greater  part  of 
the  year,  in  a  region  of  dreary  rocks  and  steel-blue 
glaciers. 

The  Middle  Rhine  (Mittel  Rhein)  springs  from 
the  Cadclrhin  glacier,  and  descends  abruptly  into 
the  Medelsee  valley. 

The  Back  Rhine  (Hinter  Rhein)  issues  from  the 
icy  solitudes  of  the  Rheinwald  valley,  at  the  base 
of  the  Moschelhorn,  Adula,  and  Piz  Vol  Rhein, 
about  six  miles  above  the  little  village  of  Hinter 
Rhein  (4800  feet  above  the  sea),  where  it  is 
crossed  by  a  stone  bridge  with  three  arches;  and 
thence  traversing  the  Via  Mala  and  Trou  Perdu, 
swollen  by  thirty  torrents,  it  winds  through  the 
fair  valley  of  Domleschg,  where  it  receives  the 
Xolla,  the  Albula,  the  Davos,  and  the  Rhine  of 
Oberhalbstein.  » 

The  Front  Rhine,  near  the  pastoral  hamlet  of 
Chiamont,  is  augmented  by  two  streams,  one  com- 
ing down  from  Crispalt  and  the  other  from  the 
Corvera  Valley.  At  Dissentis,  where  the  traveller 
may  see  the  remains  of  a  fine  old  Benedictine 
abbey,  it  receives  the  Middle  Rhine,  and  the  united 
stream  then  proceeds  to  join  the  more  important 
current  of  the  Back  Rhine  at  Reichenau. 

Such  is  the  origin  of  the  great  German  river. 
Fed  by  the  snows  of  the  Swiss  mountain  glaciers, 
it  strikes  eastward  from  Reichenau  to  Coire.  Then 
it  takes  a  northerly  direction,  and  flows  through 
the  beautiful  valley  which  bears  its  name,  as  far 
as  the  Lake  of  Constanz.  At  Constanz  it  issues 
from  the  lake,  and  proceeding  westward  traverses 
a  second  lake,  which  it  quits  at  Stein;  then  it 
runs  to  Schaffhausen,  to  form  the  magnificent 
cataract  known  as  the  Falls  of  the  Rhine.  From 
Schaffhausen  to  Bale  it  keeps  a  westerly  course. 
Near  Waldshut  it  receives  the  Aar,  which,  with  the 
Limmat  and  the  Reuss,  brings  to  it  the  waters  of 
the  Swiss  cantons  of  Friburg,  Lucerne,  Unter- 
walden,  Uri,  Schwyz,  Zug,  and  Glarus,  and  no 
inconsiderable  portion  of  those  of  Vaud,  Xeu- 
chatel,  Berne,  Soleure,  Argovie,  Zurich,  and  Saint- 
Gall  ;  for  its  basin  extends,  west  to  east,  from  the 
Lake  des  Rousses  to  the  frontier  of  the  Grisons; 
and  south  to  north,  from  the  massive  ridge  of  St. 
Gothard  to  its  own  borders. 

Beyond  Bale,  the  Rhine,  receding  from  rugged 


THE  TERRITORY  OF  THE  ORISONS. 


Helvetia,  takes  a  northerly  direction,  and  forms  as 
far  as  Strasbnrg,  one  of  the  great  fortresses  in  the 
French  outer  line  of  defence,  the  boundary  line 
between  the  grand  duchy  of  Baden  (right  bank) 
and  the  empire  of  France  (left  bank). 

From  Strasburg  our  river  flows  northward,  or 
more  correctly  speaking  north-eastward,  to  Mann- 
heim, where  it  receives  the  Neckar.  At  Mainz  it 
turns  to  the  west,  then  to  the  north-west,  and  flows 
past  Coblenz  (where  it  is  augmented  by  the  Moselle), 
Bonn,  Koln,  and  Dusseldorf,  to  Arnhem,  where 
it  strikes  westward  to  Utrecht,  and  dividing  into 
two  channels,  the  Waal  and  the  Lek,  which  again 
unite  near  Arnhem,  sluggishly  meanders  through 
a  flat  and  deltoid  country,  to  empty  its  waters, 
amid  shallows  and  mud  banks,  into  the  German 
Ocean  at  Catwyck,  below  Leyden. 

Its  length  of  course  may  be  thus  estimated: 
From  its  extreme  source  to  the  city  of  Constanz, 
135  miles;  from  Constanz  to  Basel  (Bale),  80  miles; 
from  Basel  to  Lauterberg,  110  miles;  from  Lauter- 
berg  to  Bingen,  90  miles;  from  Bingen  to  its 
mouth,  270  miles:  total,  685  miles.  Its  average 
velocity  is  ninety-one  metres,  or  99-5  yards,  per 
minute.  Its  basin  includes  an  area  of  82,000 
square  miles,  inhabited  probably  by  18,000,000 
inhabitants.  Of  this  area  a  ninth  part  belongs  to 
Switzerland,  an  eighth  to  France,  a  seventh  to 
Belgium  and  Holland,  and  the  remainder,  with  the 
exception  of  a  small  Austrian  territory,  to  Ger- 
many, as  represented  by  Prussia,  Bavaria,  Baden, 
and  Wurtemburg. 

The  breadth  of  the  Rhine  at  the  principal  points 
on  its  banks  is  as  follows: — 


Near  Reichenau,  .  . 
At  Stein,  .  .  .  . 
Schaffbausen,  .  .  . 
The  Falls  of  the  Rhine. 
Rheinfelden,         .     .     . 


English  Feet. 
250 
280  to  330 


Near  Strasburg, 
Mannheim,      .     . 
Mainz,       .     . 
Biberich, 

Eltville,     .     .     . 
Near  Bingen, 
Near  Coblenz, 
Near  Neuwied, 
Bonn,        .      .     . 
Cologne  (Koln), 
Hittorf,      .      .     . 
Dusseldorf, 
Kaiserswerth, 
Wesel,        .     .     . 
Below  Wesel, 
Near  Emmerich, 


330 
660 
750 
1090 
1350 
1350 
1650 
1950 
1020 
1380 
1530 
1360 
1400 
1750 
1350 
1510 
1650 
1950 
2350 


The    Rhine    is    navigable   from   its   mouth   to 


Schaff  hausen,  a  distance  of  500  miles.  Its  average 
depth,  from  the  sea  to  Koln  (160  miles),  is  ten 
to  twelve  feet;  from  Koln  to  Mainz,  five  to  six 
feet ;  but  the  depth  is  affected  by  the  character 
of  the  seasons,  being  greatest  when  a  very  warm 
and  genial  spring  has  largely  melted  the  mountain 
snows. 

The  Rhine,  says  Victor  Hugo,  combines  the 
characters  of  all  other  rivers.  It  is  swift  as  the 
Rhone,  broad  as  the  Loire,  shut  in  like  the  Meuse, 
tortuous  as  the  Seine,  green  and  lucent  as  the 
Somme,  historic  as  the  Tiber,  regal  as  the 
Danube,  mysterious  as  the  Nile,  gold-spangled 
as  a  river  of  America,  haunted  with  fables  and 
phantoms  as  a  river  of  Asia. 

TO    REICHENAU. 

Having  furnished  the  reader  with  these  general 
particulars— with  an  itinerary,  as  it  were,  of  the 
district  he  has  to  traverse — we  now  proceed  to  a 
detailed  description  of  the  course  of  the  great 
German  river. 

The  fountains  of  the  Back  Rhine  are  roman- 
tically situated.  They  issue  from  the  bosom  of 
the  Rheinwald  glacier — a  torrent  of  ice  fully 
four  and  twenty  miles  in  height — thirteen  or 
fourteen  in  number,  and  fall  over  the  ridge  of 
the  Moschelhorn  into  a  dark  blue  pool  at  the  base 
of  the  glacier,  which  is  fed  by  inexhaustible  but 
concealed  streams.  This  pool  is  about  four  feet  broad 
by  one  and  a  half  deep.  Receiving  tributes  of  melted 
snow  and  ice  on  either  hand,  the  infant  river  pours 
through  a  chasm  or  crevasse,  called  the  Gulf  of 
Hell ;  passing  the  spot  where  a  "  Temple  of  the 
Nymphs"  once  consecrated  the  silent  mountain 
solitudes ;  and  hurries  onward  to  Reichenau,  to 
receive,  as  we  have  already  said,  the  united  stream 
of  the  Front  and  Middle  Rhine.  The  distance 
is  about  forty-five  miles,  and  in  this  distance 
the  river  has  a  fall  of  nearly  4000  feet,  a  fact 
which  attests  the  impetuosity  of  its  current,  and 
the  steep  rugged  character  of  the  valley,  or  suc- 
cession of  valleys,  through  which  its  hurrying 
waters  swirl  and  foam. 

The  chief  town  in  this  wild  and  picturesque 
region  is  Spliigen,  lying  in  the  shadow  of  the 
densely  wooded  mountain  of  that  name.  It  boasts  of 
a  quaint  little  church  and  a  grey  old  timber  bridge, 
of  a  decent  inn,  and  of  several  houses  of  such 
fantastic  design,  that  they  would  delight  the  soul 
of  an  artist.  Its  chief  importance  lies  in  its  position 
3 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY 


at  tlie  commencement  of  the  great  Spliigen  Pass,  one 
of  the  main  channels  of  communication  between 
Switzerland  and  Lombardy. 

We  are  now  in  the  territory  of  the  Grisons; 
a  territory  which  comprehends  within  its  limits 
the  elements  both  of  the  grand  and  beautiful,  the 
sublime  and  terrible.  The  Ehine  traverses  it  from 
end  to  end,  and  in  so  doing  traverses  a  series  of 
landscapes  wholly  unequalled  in  Europe;  land- 
scapes which  combine  the  rock  and  the  torrent,  the 
forest  and  the  ravine,  the  pastoral  meadow  and  the 
sylvan  glen.  We  can  well  believe  that  they  kindle 
an  almost  divine  enthusiasm  in  the  soul  of  the 
poet.  Certain  we  are  that  not  even  the  dullest  can 
look  upon  them  without  an  emotion  of  sympathy. 

The  territory  of  the  Grisons,  anciently  forming  the 
Republic  of  the  Three  Leagues  in  Rhsetia  Superior, 
consists,  in  the  main,  of  the  upper  valley  of  the 
Rhine,  and  occupies  an  area  of  130  German  square 
miles.  It  is  the  largest  canton  included  in  the 
Swiss  Confederacy;  but  in  point  of  population  only 
the  eighth,  its  inhabitants  not  exceeding  100,000 
in  number.  These  are  divided  between  the  Lu- 
theran and  Roman  Catholic  creeds  in  the  proportion 
of  60,000  to  40,000,  and  are  of  German,  Romansh, 
and  Italian  origin.  The  chief  town  is  Chur,  or 
Coire. 

The  character  of  the  country,  and  especially  of 
the  Engadine,  which  is  its  most  beautiful  and 
pastoral  portion,  has  been  described  with  singular 
force  and  effect  by  Michelet,  in  his  book  on  "  The 
Mountain."  But  on  its  icy  plains  and  snowy 
wastes,  its  broken  masses  of  rock,  its  precipices, 
its  wild  awful  ravines,  its  foaming  torrents,  its 
deep  shadowy  forests  of  murmurous  pine,  its  bold 
mountain  terraces,  and  its  occasional  bursts  of 
Arcadian  loveliness — where  some  crystal  stream 
winds  through  a  quiet  and  leafy  vale,  sheltered, 
tranquil,  and  genial,  and  enhanced  in  its  still  beautv 
by  the  mystic  horror  of  the  frowning  heights 
beyond — we  are  forbidden  to  dwell.  Nor  can  we 
speak  of  the  180  ruined  castles,  which,  planted  on 
their  rocky  eminences,  form  so  curious  an  object 
in  the  most  attractive  landscapes,  and  of  each 
of  which  some  legend  might  be  told,  or  some 
historical  fact  narrated. 

After  leaving  Spliigen,  the  Rhine  increases  in 
width,  and  its  waters  assume  a  blue-green  tint,  as 
they  enter  upon  the  dark  and  desolate  ravine  of 
the  Rofla — die  Felsengallerie  (or  tunnel  gallery), 
darch  die  Roffler — and  plunge  under  arching  crags, 
4 


and  down  steep  descents,  with  a  deafening  din 
and  a  ceaseless  whirl  and  eddy.  The  rocks  on 
either  hand  are  gaunt  and  precipitous,  relieved 
only  by  the  brushwood  growing  from  their  fissures, 
or  the  rows  of  tall  spectral  firs  which  stand  like 
wardens  on  their  summits.  The  Rofla  defile  is 
about  half  a  league  in  length,  and  a  road  was 
first  formed  tlirough  it  in  1470,  at  the  same  time 
that  the  Via  Mala  was  constructed. 

Into  the  dark  deep  gulf  the  Rhine  plunges  with 
a  mighty  bound.  It  is  spanned  by  the  Rofla 
bridge,  4140  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Here 
it  is  joined  from  the  south  by  the  Averse  water, 
or  the  Avner  Rhine,  the  two  streams  meeting 
together  with  a  wild  clash  and  tumult,  like  two 
warrior-foes,  and  hurtling  from  rock  to  rock,  and 
dashing  from  side  to  side,  as  if  in  the  throes  of  a 
mortal  combat,  while  the  echoes  resound  with  the 
din,  and  the  living  spray  flashes  far  up  the  rugged 
precipices  which  confine  and  limit  their  struggles. 
He  who  gazes  on  the  scene  may  understand  the 
full  force  of  Byron's  powerful  expression,  "  a  hell 
of  waters ;"  for  the  deep  shadows,  and  the  boiling 
currents,  and  the  roar  and  crash  that  cease  not 
day  nor  night,  seem,  in  very  truth,  infernal ! 

But  swift  as  the  change  in  a  child's  heart  from 
agony  to  joy,  is  the  change  which  operates  in  the 
character  of  our  river  as  it  passes  from  the  Rofla 
into  the  gentle  valley  of  Schams,  or  Schons;  so 
named,  it  is  said,  from  the  six  mountain  streams 
which  here  descend  into  the  all-absorbing  Rhine. 
It  is  the  central  of  the  three  terraced  basins 
through  which  the  Back  Rhine  traces  its  course, 
and  forms  the  natural  transition  between  the 
snow-clad  Rheinwald  and  the  sunny  Domleschg. 
The  transformation,  says  one  authority,  is  magical; 
all  at  once  we  find  ourselves  in  quite  a  different 
world.  The  blue  sky  is  no  longer  hidden  by  lofty 
menacing  rocks;  the  mountains  on  either  side 
stretch  down  into  the  lowlands  with  a  more  gradual 
slope;  the  Rhine  winds  more  tranquilly  and  deli- 
berately through  green  meadows,  studded  with 
farm-house  and  cottage;  while,  on  the  wooded 
heights,  the  ancient  ruins  of  many  a  deserted 
stronghold  stand  like  the  monuments  of  a  bygone 
age. 

The  valley  of  Schams  is  nearly  fourteen  miles 
in  length,  from  Thusis  to  the  borders  of  the 
Rheinwald,  that  is,  from  north  to  south;  but  its 
central  and  inhabited  portion,  the  vale  within  the 
valley,  docs  not   exceed  a  couple  of  leagues  in 


DEFILE  OF  THE  VIA  MALA. 


length.  Its  form  is  oval,  and  there  are  geological 
indications  that  it  was  once,  like  the  other  valleys 
of  this  romantic  district,  the  bed  of  a  lake. 

The  principal  village  in  the  valley  is  Andur, 
situated  3000  feet  above  the  sea.  Its  inhabitants 
speak  the  Eomansh  language,  and  profess  the 
Lutheran  religion.  They  are  chiefly  employed 
in  the  iron  furnaces  and  smelting-houses  which 
fill  this  countryside  at  night  with  a  score  of 
blazing  fires. 

We  next  come  to  the  bridge  of  Pigneu,  (Pigne\ 
or  Pignel),  a  place  whose  chief  reputation  is  founded 
on  its  thermal  springs,  which  have  a  temperature 
of  50°  K.,  and  are  described  as  alkaline  chaly- 
beate waters. 

The  next  village  is  Zillis  or  Ciraun,  where  there 
stands  a  large  church,  the  oldest  in  the  valley. 
In  540  it  was  bestowed  by  Otto  I.  on  Bishop 
Waldo  of  Chur,  to  compensate  for  the  injury  the 
see  had  sustained  by  the  invasion  of  the  Saracens. 

Two  bridges  are  here  thrown  across  the  river, 
and  lead  up  a  gentle  and  pleasant  ascent  to  the 
picturesquely  situated  villages  of  Donat,  Pazen, 
Fardun,  Casti,  and  Clugien.  On  the  high  ground 
above  Donat,  to  the  right,  moulder  the  ruins  of 
Fardun. 

The  rocky  strongholds  of  the  barons,  says  a 
judicious  writer,  were  nearly  all  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Rhine,  near  the  old  high  road  which  wound 
over  the  heights  towards  the  Heinzenberg,  before 
the  defile  of  the  Via  Mala  was  opened,  and  that 
highway  rendered  available.  Near  the  hamlet  of 
Casti,  and  almost  opposite  Andur,  is  the  castle  of 
Castellatsch,  from  whose  hoary  height  you  can 
enjoy  a  superb  panorama  of  the  entire  landscape. 
Both  names  indicate  their  derivation  from  the 
Roman  Castellum,  or  from  Castel. 

Not  far  from  the  hamlet  of  Mathon,  which  is 
built  on  the  table-land  above  Donat,  one  weather- 
beaten  ruinous  tower  of  the  old  castle  of  Ober- 
stein  overlooks  the  valley.  Near  the  adjoining 
village  of  Bergenstein  also  stood  a  stronghold 
bearing  the  same  name.  And  thus,  as  the 
eagles  build  their  eyries  among  the  rocks,  so 
did  the  old  feudal  barons  erect  their  towers  on 
the  difficult  heights,  prepared  to  swoop  down  on 
wealthy  burgher  or  opulent  priest  as  he  passed 
unwarily  beneath. 

At  Zillis  a  bold  mountain-ridge,  extending  from 
the  Piz  Beverin  to  the  Mutnerhorn,  cuts  across  the 
fair  meadow-valley  of  Schams,    and  separates  it 


from  the  luxuriant  Domleschg.  Ages  ago  it 
undoubtedly  blocked  up  the  waters  of  the  Rhine, 
and  confined  them  within  the  hollow,  which  they 
converted  into  a  silent  lake  ;  but  in  the  course 
of  generations  these  waters  have  broken  through 
the  barrier,  assisted,  perhaps,  by  some  violent  sub- 
terranean convulsion,  and  excavated  the  grand 
majestic  defile  of  the  Via  Mala,  or  Evil  Way. 

The  cliffs  on  either  side  of  this  defile  rise  from 
400  to  500  feet  in  height,  but  approach  so  closely 
together  that,  in  several  places,  the  distance 
between  them  does  not  exceed  thirty  feet. 

The  lower  part  of  the  Via  Mala  is  called  the 
"  Lost  Hole."  Here  the  road  skirts  the  margin 
of  an  awful,  brain-dizzying  chasm,  and  enters  a 
gallery  216  feet  long,  ten  to  fourteen  feet  high, 
and  fifteen  to  eighteen  wide,  which  it  was  found 
necessary  to  cut  through  the  projecting  mass  of 
perpendicular  rock. 

The  two  banks  of  the  river  are  here  connected 
by  bridges  of  bold  and  airy  span.  The  first  at 
which  we  arrive,  2622  feet  above  the  sea,  was 
erected  in  1731.  The  second,  built  in  1739, 
lies  300  yards  farther  south.  It  is  between 
the  two  that  the  traveller  gazes,  with  mingled 
awe  and  admiration,  on  the  most  romantic  and 
impressive  portion  of  the  great  Via  Mala.  Grandly 
wild  is  the  dark  abyss,  lying  400  feet  deep  in 
shadow,  where,  at  the  second  bridge,  the  mad  tor- 
rent foams,  and  boils,  and  rushes  over  crag  and 
boulder.  The  rocky  declivities  start  up  so  abrupt 
and  sheer,  that  the  width  of  the  cleft  at  the  top 
scarcely  exceeds  that  at  the  bottom.  So  narrow  is 
the  gap,  that  huge  fragments  of  rock,  or  trunks  of 
venerable  pines,  hurled  over  the  parapet  of  the 
bridge,  never  reach  the  water,  but  lie  wedged 
between  the  sides.  The  mighty  roar  of  the  tor- 
rent; the  ghastly  white  spray  which  mantles  its 
darkling  waves  ;  and  the  rugged  black  acclivities, 
with  their  numerous  projections  and  pinnacles 
rising  far  above  the  mist  of  the  abyss,  cannot 
but  produce  a  strong  impression  on  the  mind 
which  rightly  appreciates  the  various  features  of 
the  scene. 

Close  to  the  mouth  of  the  Via  Mala  stands  the 
gray  old  castle  of  Realt,  on  a  precipitous  rock  960 
feet  in  height,  and  guarding  the  defile  like  some 
veteran  knight  of  the  "brave  days  of  old."  It 
occupies  the  site  of  the  ancient  Hohenrhaetien — 
the  Hoch-Royalt,  or  Rhaetia  alta— whose  erection 
belongs  to  so  remote  an  antiquity  that  the  peasants 
5 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


are  fain  to  connect  it  with  one  Rhaetus,  the  leader 
of  the  Etruscans  in  their  war  against  the  Gauls, 
587  B.C. 

From  the  early  days  of  the  Frank  supremacy  to 
the  close  of  the  eighth  century,  Realt  belonged 
to  a  powerful  Rhaetian  family,  the  counts  of 
Victorinz  or  Realt,  who  encouraged  the  diffusion 
of  Christianity  in  their  territory,  and  founded  the 
convent  of  Katzis. 

In  the  eleventh  century  the  knights  of  Hoch- 
realt  again  figure  upon  the  scene,  and  one  of  them, 
Sir  Heinrich,  received  the  episcopal  mitre  in  1213. 
The  castle  continued  to  be  inhabited  down  to  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

It  must  once  have  been  of  considerable  size,  to 
judge  from  the  extent  of  its  ruins;  and  of  great 
strength,  owing  to  its  formidable  and  almost  in- 
accessible position.  The  only  pathway  to  the 
summit  climbs  the  northern  side;  elsewhere,  the 
cliff  descends  straight  into  the  narrow  gulf  watered 
by  the  Rhine. 

Here,  according  to  an  old  legend,  the  last  gover- 
nor of  Hohen-realt  precipitated  himself  on  horse- 
back into  the  chasm.  The  fort  was  surrounded  by  a 
large  body  of  malcontent  peasantry;  the  servants 
and  men-at-arms  of  its  captain  had  been  slain  or  put 
to  death.  Instead  of  surrendering,  he  set  fire  to  the 
castle,  mounted  his  steed,  rode  to  the  loftiest  peak, 
and  spurred  the  animal  with  a  swift  bound  into 
air — and  destruction ;  exclaiming,  "Death,  rather 
than  the  people's  tyranny  ! " 

The  chivalrous  spirit  of  the  knight,  mounted  on 
a  phantom  white  horse,  is  believed  still  to  gallop 
to  and  fro  among  the  mouldering  ruins  at  "dark 
midnight." 

After  passing  Hohen-realt,  we  enter  the  valley 
of  the  Domleschg,  where  the  Rhine  receives  a 
turbid  rivulet  called  the  Nolla.  The  valley  (vallis 
domestical  is  a  broad  and  fertile  district,  lying  at 
an  elevation  of  2250  to  1870  feet  above  the  sea, 
and  running  due  north  and  south  for  about  ten 
miles.  The  mountains  on  either  side  are  from 
7000  to  8000  feet  high,  and  with  their  glittering 
crests  of  snow,  and  bare  sides  and  bold  rugged 
forms,  present  a  striking  contrast  to  the  smiling 
scene  through  which  the  Back  Rhine  carries  its 
emerald  waters ;  a  panorama  of  meadow,  orchard, 
and  vineyard,  of  green  hills  and  rich  deep  forests, 
of  gray  old  castles  and  church-spires,  with  villa, 
castle,  and  farm  enlivening  the  whole.  The  vine 
is  here  met  with  for  the  first  time  on  the  banks  of 
G 


the  Rhine,  and  the  chestnut  and  mulberry  thrive 
in  the  open  air. 

The  mountains  on  the  east  are  of  a  very  rugged 
character,  especially  the  Three  League  and  the 
Malix.  Not  less  formidable  are  the  Mutterhorn 
and  Piz  Beverin  to  the  south.  But  the  terraced 
range  of  the  Heinzenberg  on  the  west  bears  a  more 
genial  aspect,  and  its  amphitheatre  is  studded  with 
numerous  smiling  villages. 

The  principal  town  in  the  Domleschg  is  Tosana, 
or  Thusis,  which  lies  sequestered  in  a  kind  of  rockv 
hollow,  overshadowed  with  walnut  trees,  chest- 
nuts, and  fruit  trees,  and  pleasantly  distinguished 
in  the  distance  by  its  white  church-steeple.  Wolf- 
gang Musculus,  a  scholar  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
was  born  here. 

After  crossing  the  limpid  Albula,  which  empties 
itself  into  the  Rhine  near  a  toll-bridge,  at  an  eleva- 
tion of  2240  feet  above  the  sea  level,  we  come  to 
Katzis,  a  small  Romansh  and  Roman  Catholic  town, 
literally  embowered  in  orchards.  Its  Dominican 
nunnery  was  founded  in  the  seventh  century  by 
Paschalis,  bishop  of  Chur. 

On  the  opposite  bank  stands  Flirstenau,  and  its 
Episcopal  castle,  built  in  1270  by  the  bishop,  Henry 
of  Chur,  to  protect  the  surrounding  country  from 
the  inroads  of  the  robber  knights.  It  is  by  no 
inharmonious  consequence  that  it  is  now  used  as 
a  prison. 

The  castles  of  the  Domleschg  are  numerous. 
Near  that  of  Flirstenau  stands  the  fastness  of  the 
barons  Von  Planta.  Close  at  hand  may  be  seen 
the  ruins  of  Husensprung ;  those  of  Campi  remind 
the  spectator  of  the  gallant  race  of  Campobello,  or 
Campbell,  to  which  belonged  the  historian  and  re- 
former Ulrich  Campbell.  On  the  opposite  side  of 
the  valley  is  Baldenstein ;  Jagstein  and  Schauenstein 
may  also  be  mentioned;  and  along  the  right  bank 
of  the  river  we  arrive,  in  due  succession,  at  the 
mouldering  battlements  of  Paspelo,  Alt-Sins,  and 
Neu-Zinsenberg,  which  were  once  associated  with 
many  a  hope  and  fear,  many  a  proud  ambition 
and  dark  despair  and  tender  love,  but  are  now 
desolate  and  silent,  save  for  hooting  owl  and 
whirring  bat.  The  reflections  which  yonder  gray 
old  walls  awaken  are  necessarily  trite,  for  what 
is  more  commonplace  than  the  mutability  of 
worldly  things  ?  Yet  in  such  scenes  as  these  they 
naturally  rise  to  the  mind,  and  demand  expression; 
and,  at  all  events,  the  traveller  will  do  no  harm 
if,  sparing  himself  elaborate  apostrophes  and  pro- 


CASTLES  IN  THE  DOMLESOHG. 


found  meditations,  he  chants  the  well-known  lines 
of  Coleridge — 

"  The  old  knights  are  dust, 
Their  swords  are  rust, 
Their  souls  are  with  the  saints,  I  trust." 

They  had  God's  work  to  do  in  their  time,  and 
nobly  and  loyally  some  of  them  did  it. 

The  castle  of  Ortenstein  is  spoken  of  as  in  ex- 
cellent preservation.  Its  position  is  so  picturesque 
that  whoever  sees  it  once  will  remember  it  always; 
but  it  has  no  historical  associations  to  seize  upon 
the  memory,  and  endow  it  with  a  vital  interest. 
It  is  still  inhabited  by  the  descendants  of  its  old 
lords,  the  Travers,  who  formerly  played  a  con- 
siderable part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Grisons,  though 
in  no  wise  connected  with  European  history.  John 
Travers  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  Lutherans. 

The  castle  of  Rhaziins,  near  the  village  of  the 
same  name,  is  the  finest  in  the  Domleschg,  perhaps 
in  the  whole  countryside  of  the  Grisons.  It  lies 
romantically  in  the  turbulent  stream,  says  Gaspey, 
enthroned  on  a  high  rock,  with  its  weather-beaten 
towers,  still  firm  and  strong,  overlooking  the  valley 
whose  entrance  it  commanded.  According  to  a 
local  tradition,  it  was  formerly  a  Roman  fort.  In 
the  earliest  times  a  powerful  family  dwelt  at 
Rhaziins;  when,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  it  be- 
came extinct,  the  castle  and  lordship  passed  to  the 
Baron  of  Brun,  who  was  one  of  the  earliest  mem- 
bers of  the  Upper  League. 

In  the  year  1459  died  Ulrich  von  Brun,  the 
last  of  his  race.  The  castle  and  lordship  were  in- 
herited by  the  counts  of  Zollern,  who  sold  them  to 
the  archducal  house  of  Austria.  The  Hapsburgs 
bestowed  them  as  a  fief  on  the  Von  Marmels ;  next 
on  the  Von  Plantas ;  and  finally,  on  the  Travers. 
Early  in  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  the  residence 
of  the  Austrian  ambassadors  in  the  Grisons,  and  of 
the  stewards  of  the  estate,  who  were  entitled  to 
a  seat  and  vote  in  the  conferences  of  the  Upper 
League.  By  the  peace  of  Vienna,  in  1805,  it  was 
given  to  Bavaria;  by  that  of  Presburg,  in  1805,  to 
France;  and  in  1815,  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna, 
Austria  relinquished  her  claim  on  the  castle  in 
favour  of  the  Grisons,  though  she  took  care  to 
retain  all  the  lands  included  in  its  seignory. 

Traversing  the  rich  corn-fields  of  Bonnaduz 
(Ponnad'oz  =  Pan-a-toto,  or  "Bread  for  all"),  a 
Romansh  village,  built  of  stone,  we  reach  at  last 
the  confluence  of  the  two  arms  of  our  great  river 
at  Reichenau. 


At  the  point  of  junction  stood,  six  centuries  ago, 
a  watch-tower,  like  the  border  peels  of  south- 
eastern Scotland,  called  La  Punt ;  which  was 
afterwards  converted  into  a  castle  by  one  of  the 
bishop  of  Chur,  and  re-named  Reichenau — in 
compliment  to  the  abbot  of  the  island  of  Reichenau, 
in  the  Lake  of  Constanz,  with  whom  the  good 
bishop  had  frequently  "  crushed  a  cup  of  wine." 
It  suffered  terribly  at  successive  epochs,  and  losing 
its  castellated  character,  figured  towards  the  close 
of  the  last  century  as  a  school,  where  no  less  a 
man  than  Heinrich  Zschokke,  the  moralist,  was 
tutor,  and  Benjamin  Constant,  afterwards  so  eminent 
a  French  savant,  pupil. 

With  this  educational  establishment  a  curious 
incident  is  connected,  not  without  interest  at  a 
time  when  the  crown  of  imperial  France  has 
suddenly  fallen  from  the  astute  brow  which  for 
so  many  years  had  worn  it.  We  shall  tell  it 
nearly  in  the  language  employed  by  the  author  of 
•'  The  Upper   Rhine." 

It  was  growing  dark  one  afternoon  in  October, 
1793 — an  epoch  like  the  present,  when  Europe 
shook  with  the  tread  of  armed  men,  and  the  spirit 
of  Revolutionary  France  was  all  aflame — it  was 
nearly  dark  when  a  young  man,  carrying  a  bundle 
over  his  shoulder  at  the  end  of  a  stick,  and  who, 
from  his  wayworn  appearance,  had  evidently  tra- 
velled far  on  foot,  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  house. 
In  indifferent  German  he  inquired  for  the  director, 
Herr  von  Jost,  and  on  being  ushered  into  his 
presence  handed  him  a  letter  of  introduction  from 
General  Montesquiou,  which  ran  as  follows  : — 

"  Sir, — In  the  bearer  of  this  note  I  bring  you 
acquainted  with  a  young  man  who,  pursued  by  the 
French  assassins,  is  anxious  to  obtain  a  secure 
asylum  in  your  quiet  Reichenau.  He  resided  for 
awhile  in  Zug ;  afterwards  with  me  in  Bremgarten ; 
and  hopes  now  to  meet  with  shelter  for  a  longer 
period  in  the  highlands  of  Rhsetia.  His  great 
acquirements  in  mathematics  and  in  French  render 
him  eligible  for  the  situation  as  teacher,  which,  as 
I  perceive  from  the  newspapers,  is  now  vacant  in 
your  establishment. 

"  Receive  him,  brave  fellow-soldier,  who  have 
valiantly  fought  in  the  Swiss  guard,  and  in  my 
army  in  Savoy.  You  will  do  so  with  the  greatest 
satisfaction  when  I  communicate  the  secret  of  his 
rank.  He  is  the  young  duke  of  Chartres,  the  son 
of  the  duke  of  Orleans.  As  you  are  aware,  he 
served  honourably  in  the  army  of  the  Republic, 
7 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


under  the  name  of  the  younger  Egalite,  but  was 
forced  to  fly  from  the  blood-thirsty  Committee  of 
Public  Safety,  and  now  seeks  shelter  in  neutral 
Switzerland.     I  trust  you  will  be  able  to  afford  it 

t0  him-  "  MONTESQUIOU." 

After  consulting  his  partner,  Herrvon  Tscharner, 
and  his  head-master,  Professor  Vesemann,  the  direc- 
tor willingly  complied  with  General  Montesquiou's 
request,  and  under  the  assumed  name  of  Chabaud* 
the  young  duke  of  Chartres  entered  the  establish- 
ment as  an  usher.  For  eight  months  he  taught 
mathematics  with  patience  and  success,  boarding 
at  the  common  table  with  the  pupils  and  other 
teachers,  none  of  whom  suspected  that  a  Bourbon 
was  among  them. 

Here  the  duke  learned  of  the  execution  of  his 
father,  who,  instead  of  swimming  with  the  fierce 
current  of  the  revolution,  as  he  had  hoped,  was 
overwhelmed  by  its  violence.  Here,  too,  he  heard 
of  his  mother's  exile  to  Madagascar.  At  length  he 
ventured  from  his  concealment  to  make  a  tour  in 
the  north  of  Europe,  and  finally,  in  1796,  to  sail 
to  America. 

Years  passed  away.  The  star  of  the  first  Napo- 
leon rose  above  the  horizon  like  a  terrible  meteor, 
portending  ruin  to  nations,  and  sunk  in  blood  and 
ruin  on  the  well-remembered  field  of  Waterloo. 
The  Bourbons  regained  the  throne  of  their  ances- 
tors, to  prove  that  they  had  forgotten  everything, 
and  learned  nothing.  Charles  X.,  in  1830,  was 
driven  into  exile,  and  the  former  teacher  of  mathe- 
matics at  Reichenau  became  Louis  Philippe,  king 
of  the  French. 

In  his  prosperity  he  was  not  unmindful  of  his 
days  of  adversity,  and  he  caused  a  painting  to  be 
executed  in  which  he  was  represented,  surrounded 
by  his  pupils. 

In  1847  it  was  announced  that  the  grandson 
of  his  old  director,  Herr  von  Jost,  who  through 
political  troubles  had  been  driven  from  Switzerland, 
had  been  appointed  to  a  lieutenancy  in  the  French 
army,  and  presented  with  a  handsome  outfit  by 
King  Louis  Philippe.  A  twelvemonth  later,  and 
under  the  assumed  name  of  Mr.  Smith  the  mon- 
arch was  hurrying  to  a  safe  retreat  in  England; 
leaving  his  throne  to  be  occupied,  after  a  brief 
interval,  by  the  third  Napoleon,  who,  after  twenty 
years  of  rule,  has  been    compelled   to   surrender 

*  Crtrlyle,  in  his  "  History  of  the  French  Revolution,"  sends  the 
youug  Egalite'  to  Coire,  and  calls  him  Corby,  a  double  error. 


himself  to  a  Prussian  king.  Such  are  the  vagaries 
of  Fortune!  May  we  not  learn  a  lesson  from 
them? 

There  are  two  timber  bridges  at  Reichenau: 
one  over  the  Front  Rhine,  of  comparatively  small 
dimensions;  the  other  below  the  junction  of  the 
stream,  237  feet  long,  and  80  feet  above  the 
surface  of  the  water.  It  was  constructed  by  a 
self-taught  architect. 

The  valley  of  the  Front  Rhine  is  usually  called 
the  Oberland,  and  is  deservedly  famous  for  the 
bold  and  romantic  character  of  its  scenery.  It  is 
forty-eight  miles  in  length,  and  the  descent  from 
Chiamict  to  Reichenau  is  3420  feet.  Besides  the 
Middle  or  Medelser  Rhine,  the  Front  Rhine  re- 
ceives about  sixty  brooks  and  mountain  torrents, 
of  which  the  Somvix,  the  Glcnner,  and  the  Savien 
are  the  chief.  It  therefore  contributes  no  in- 
considerable augmentation  to  the  volume  of  the 
Back  Rhine.  The  principal  points  of  interest 
arc : — 

Ilanz,  or  Ylim,  2240  feet  above  the  sea;  a 
picturesque  but  decayed  little  town,  embosomed 
among  the  mountains.  It  seems  shut  out  from 
the  world,  and  wholly  unconnected  with  the 
living  present ;  but  the  artist  would  find  in  its 
vicinity  many  of  those  things  of  beauty  which, 
from  the  thoughts  they  inspire  and  the  emotions 
they  awaken,  are  so  much  more  precious  than  the 
most  coveted  idols  of  society. 

Dissentis  is  scarcely  less  remarkable  for  the  in- 
finite romance  of  its  isolated  position.  Its  Bene- 
dictine abbey  was  formerly  one  of  great  influence, 
as  well  as  of  high  antiquity.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  erected  about  614  by  the  devout  and  enthu- 
siastic St.  Sigisbert,  a  disciple  of  the  Irish  apostle, 
St.  Columbanus.  Here  was  buried  the  body  of  the 
martyr  Placidus. 

The  Devil's  Bridge  {die  Teufekbrucke)  lies  away 
from  the  beaten  route,  but  is  worth  a  visit.  It 
spans  the  mountain  torrent  of  the  Reuss,  which 
roars  and  welters  in  a  rugged  defile,  100  feet 
beneath  its  mossy  arches. 

Another  place  to  which  the  traveller  may  make 
a  detour,  on  his  way  to  Reichenau,  is  the  beautiful 
little  village  of  Andermatt.  It  is  situated  4446 
feet  above  the  sea,  at  the  mouth  of  the  fair  valley 
of  Unsem,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  St.  Anna  moun- 
tain, whose  piny  slopes  are  rich  in  living  verdure, 
while  its  crest  is  crowned  with  a  diadem  of  snow 
and  ice. 


FROM  REICHENAU  TO  CHUR. 


FROM  REICHENAU  TO  CHUB. 

"We  shall  henceforth  follow  the  united  stream 
of  the  Rhine,  and  as  we  trace  its  winding  course, 
shall  traverse  a  country  widely  differing  in  the  char- 
racter  of  its  scenery  from  that  which  has  hitherto 
engaged  us. 

But  it  cannot  be  said  that  any  great  change 
occurs  in  the  six  miles  between  Reichenau  and 
Chur:  Chur,  or  Coire,  the  time-honoured  capital 
of  the  Grisons.  On  either  side  the  mountains  rear 
theii  black  wooded  acclivities,  whose  summits,  for 
several  months  in  the  year,  are  covered  with 
glittering  snow.  The  valley  between  is  sufficiently 
iertile,  and  romantic  little  glens  descend  to  the 
green  bank  of  the  Rhine,  which  now  sweeps 
onward  with  a  moderately  rapid  current,  now 
dashes,  hurries,  foams,  and  thunders  over  a  bed 
of  rugged  rock. 

On  the  left  runs  the  long  bold  ridge  of  the 
Kalanda,  with  the  quaintly  shaped  and  quaintly 
named  peaks  of  the  Men's  Saddle  and  the  Women's 
Saddle  towering  in  its  rear.  On  the  right,  the 
mountain  of  the  Three  Leagues,  and  the  Spontis- 
kopfen,  present  an  admirable  diversity  both  of 
form  and  colour. 

This  part  of  the  Rhine  Valley,  that  is,  from 
Reichenau  to  Chur,  varies  in  elevation  above  the 
sea  level  from  1550  to  1850  feet.  Its  fertility  is 
considerable ;  and  agriculture  on  the  Swiss  method, 
which  possesses  a  certain  undeniable  simplicity,  is 
carried  on  with  some  success.  It  contains  two 
towns  and  eleven  villages,  and  the  population 
exceeds  20,000. 

Of  the  villages  Ems  is,  perhaps,  the  largest  and 
wealthiest ;  the  inhabitants  are  Catholics.  The 
appearance  of  Ems  is  squalid-looking  and  dirty. 
This,  indeed,  is  the  character  of  many  of  the 
villages  of  the  Grisons  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  traveller  is  not  less  struck  with  the  cleanliness 
and  orderliness  by  which  others  of  them  are  dis- 
tinguished. 

Felsberg  is  situated  on  the  lower  bank  of  the 
Rhine,  nearly  two  miles  lower  down,  and  at  the 
foot  of  the  Kalanda,  which  hangs  above  the  village 
a  stupendous  piece  of  overhanging  rock,  threatening 
at  some  not  far  distant  time  to  crush  into  shapeless 
ruin  the  houses  and  church  below.  It  is  an  awful 
"sword  of  Damocles,"  which  no  stranger  can  regard 
without  an  emotion  of  terror.  Its  downfall,  says  a 
German  writer,  will  occur  sooner  or  later,  for  the 
9 


water  flowing  in  the  gaping  clefts  undermines 
the  foundation,  and  must  inevitably  provoke  the 
destruction  of  the  entire  mass.  Aware  of  this 
fact,  the  Felsenbergers  have  of  late  years  founded 
a  new  settlement  near  the  margin  of  the  Rhine ; 
where,  indeed,  they  are  not  liable  to  be  crushed, 
but  run  the  hazard  of  being  drowned  in  the  frequent 
inundations  of  the  river. 

It  is  possible  from  Felsberg  to  ascend  the 
Kalanda;  but  as  its  summit  is  only  7877  feet  above 
the  sea,  and  its  sides  are  not  broken  up  with  any 
fathomless  chasms  or  frightful  precipices,  it  would 
certainly  be  despised  by  the  most  timorous  member 
of  the  Alpine  Club.  The  view  from  its  white  crest, 
however,  is  very  beautiful  and  extensive;  one  of 
those  views  which  make  the  joy  of  the  spectator's 
later  life.  Who  can  conceive  of  aught  more 
beautiful  than  a  fairy  ring  of  snowy  peaks,  whose 
sides  are  richly  diversified  with  masses  of  forest, 
and  at  whose  base  the  green  pastures  smile  with  an 
inexhaustible  verdure? 

CHUR,  OR  COIRE. 

Chur,  the  ancient  capital  of  the  Grisons,  is  the 
Curia  Rhsetorum  of  the  Romans.  It  is  situated  at 
an  angle  of  the  Rhine,  where  the  river  abruptly 
strikes  to  the  northward,  and  the  plateau  on  which 
its  high-gabled  houses,  and  grotesque  spires  and 
steeples  cluster,  is  hemmed  in  on  three  sides  by  the 
ranges  of  the  Three  League  Mountains,  the  Parpfran 
Highlands,  and  the  Hochwang.  At  the  foot  of  the 
heights,  and  at  the  moutli  of  a  ravine  from  which 
the  Plessaur  brings  down  its  glacier  waters,  it  takes 
its  stand,  like  a  venerable  monument  of  ancient 
civilization;  and  far  across  the  valley  it  seems  to 
cast  its  gaze,  until  bounded  in  the  blue  distance  by 
the  "  silver-glancing  ice  peaks"  of  the  Oberland. 

Chur  is  fully  1800  feet  above  the  sea.  It  is 
distant  ninety-seven  miles  east  from  Bern,  and 
fifty-eight  miles  east-south-east  from  Luzern.  As 
it  lies  on  the  high  road  to  the  great  Alpine 
passes  of  the  Splugen  and  Bernardin,  it  still 
retains  a  considerable  trade.  Surrounded  by  lofty 
walls,  which  are  strengthened  with  massive  towers, 
and  divided  into  close  narrow  alleys  and  streets, 
whose  houses  bear  the  venerable  impress  of  an- 
tiquity, Chur  presents  peculiar  attractions  for  the 
traveller.  It  is  divided  into  an  Upper  and  a  Lower 
Town.  The  former  contains  the  Episcopal  palace 
and  its  appendages,  a  canonry,  a  Capuchin  mon- 
astery, the  ancient  convent  of  St.  Lucius,  and 
b 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


the  cathedral,  a  Byzantine  edifice  of  the  seventh 
century.  In  the  Lower  are  to  be  found  the  govern- 
ment house,  the  Schwarz  house,  St.  Margaret's 
castle,  and  St.  Martin's  church. 

The  population  of  Chur  numbers  about  5500, 
who  are  nearly  all  Calvinists.  The  doctrines  of 
the  Reformation  were  early  and  enthusiastically 
embraced  here,  and  have  been  maintained  with 
steadfastness.  They  were  first  preached  by  John 
Comander,  from  the  old  wooden  pulpit  of  St. 
Martin's. 

Chur  can  boast  of  one  artistic  celebrity,  Angelica 
Kaufmann,  born  on  the  30th  of  October,  1741. 
She  once  enjoyed  some  reputation  as  a  portrait 
painter,  but  her  works  have  long  passed  into  com- 
parative oblivion. 

Having  thus  briefly  specified  the  general  charac- 
ter of  the  town,  we  may  proceed  to  notice  some  of 
its  more  interesting  details.  Let  us  pass,  then, 
into  the  Bishop's  Quarter. 

The  Emperor  Maximilian  was  accustomed  to 
describe  the  bishoprics  which  formerly  ruled  all- 
powerful  over  the  valley  of  the  Rhine  in  some 
such  epigrammatic  terms  as  these :  Constanz  was  the 
largest,  Basel  the  blithest,  Strasburg  the  noblest, 
Speyer  the  devoutest,  Mainz  the  most  dignified, 
Worms  the  poorest,  and  Koln  the  richest.  He 
might  have  added  that  Chur  was  the  oldest.  It  is 
certain  that  the  see  was  in  existence  as  early  as 
452,  and  ecclesiastical  tradition  asserts  that  St. 
Asimo  was  its  first  occupant.  However  small  its 
beginnings,  it  soon  rose  into  importance,  and  waxed 
fat  and  wealthy.  Its  territories  were  enlarged  by 
the  gifts  of  the  pious,  no  less  than  by  judicious 
exchanges;  and  the  bishop  of  Chur  became  a  power 
in  the  Grisons,  helping  to  make  the  history  of  that 
remarkable  province.  Though  shorn  of  his  ancient 
privileges,  he  is  still  a  considerable  prelate,  and 
since  1824  has  been  the  clerical  administrator  of 
the  cantons  of  Uri,  Schwyz,  and  Unterwalden. 
He  is  elected  by  a  chapter,  consisting  of  twelve 
prebendaries,  six  of  whom  live  at  Chur.  His 
country  seat,  Molinara,  is  situated  near  Zizers, 
where  there  is  a  railway  station. 

The  bishop's  palace,  or  hof,  is  an  ancient  edifice, 
crowning  a  steep  hill  in  the  Roman  Catholic  quar- 
ter of  the  town.  Its  staircase  and  halls  are  quaintly 
decorated  with  devices  in  stucco.  The  private 
chapel  is  located  in  an  old  Roman  tower  called 
Marsol  (corrupted,  it  is  said,  from  Mars  in  oculis), 
attached  to  the  north-east  side  of  the  palace.  In 
10 


this  tower  St.  Lucius  suffered  martyrdom.  In 
another  wing  is  a  much  mutilated  fresco  of  a 
"  Dance  of  Death."  A  second  Roman  tower, 
Spinb'l  (Spina  in  oculis),  strengthens  the  south- 
western angle  of  the  walls. 

In  the  rear  of  the  palace  runs  an  abrupt  hollow, 
planted  with  vineyards,  and  leading  by  a  pictur- 
esque winding  path  to  the  Roman  Catholic  semin- 
ary. From  this  point  a  fine  view  of  the  town,  the 
Rhine,  and  the  Schalfik-thal,  may  be  obtained. 

The  church  of  St.  Lucius,  or  the  Dom,  is  a  note- 
worthy example  of  the  early  Gothic,  including 
some  fragments  of  an  earlier  building,  erected 
by  Bishop  Tello  in  the  eighth  century.  The  outer 
gate  is  flanked  by  the  statues  of  the  four  evangel- 
ists, resting  upon  lions.  Their  position  at  the  outer 
gate,  according  to  Beda,  indicates  that  they  point 
the  way  to  our  Saviour,  while  the  principal  gate 
is  the  symbol  of  Christ  himself,  who  leads  the 
devout  worshipper  to  the  Father  and  the  com- 
munion of  saints. 

The  choir  is  raised  upon  steps,  leaving  open  to 
the  nave  the  crypt  beneath,  whose  roof  rests  upon 
a  single  pillar.  The  high  altar  is  enriched  with 
quaint  old  timber  carving,  supposed  to  have  been 
executed  by  Holbein  the  elder.  In  the  sacristy 
are  preserved  the  bones  of  St.  Lucius,  a  British 
king,  and  the  supposed  founder  of  St.  Peter's 
church,  Cornhill.  There  are  also  an  episcopal 
crozier,  a  chasuble  with  raised  work,  a  fourteenth 
century  pyx,  and  several  other  curiosities  and  relics. 

The  paintings  are  numerous  and  interesting. 
The  names  of  their  artists  being  unknown,  they 
are  freely  attributed  to  Holbein  or  Albert  Diirer, 
Nor  are  old  monuments  wanting.  A  sarcophagus 
of  red  marble  is  that  of  the  Bishop  Ortlieb  of 
Brandis;  and  in  an  adjacent  vault  lies  the  dust  of 
many  of  the  bishops  of  Chur. 

On  entering  the  nave  you  will  do  well  to  look 
attentively  at  the  first  pillar  on  the  left,  in  which, 
according  to  an  old  tradition,  some  huge  bones  are 
built  up;  reputed  to  be  those  of  a  certain  gigantic 
robber,  named  Long  Kuhn,  or  Long  Conrad  of 
Schwyz,  who,  after  plundering  the  Grisons  in  1251, 
was  overtaken  and  slain  by  the  inhabitants  near 
Tavanusa  on  the  Upper  Rhine. 

11 1  know  not  if  the  tale  be  tme, 
As  told  to  me  I  tell  it  you.*' 

Chur,  or  Coire,  is  the  terminus  of  the  United 
Swiss  Railway,  which  leads  to  Rorschach  on  the 
Lake  of  Constanz,  with  branches  to  Glarus,   St. 


RUINED  CASTLES  AND  THEIR  LEGENDS. 


Gall,  Winterthur,  Rapperschwyl,  and  Zurich.   The 
distance  to  Rorschach  is  sixty-two  miles. 

From  Coire  the  traveller  may  visit  Samaden,  and 
the  grand  and  romantic  Julier  Pass,  opening  up 
the  finest  scenery  of  the  Engadine.  Or  he  may 
proceed  to  Spliigen  by  the  Via  Mala,  or  to  Chia- 
venna  by  the  Spliigen.  Klosters,  in  one  direction, 
and  Siis  in  another,  are  also  accessible  from  this 
point.  The  traveller  will  find  Michelet's  "  La 
Montagne"  an  excellent  guide  to  this  part  of 
Switzerland.  He  has  described  the  Engadine 
with  remarkable  fervour  and  brilliancy. 

FROM   COIRE    TO   EAGATZ. 

After  quitting  Coire,  we  continue  to  traverse 
a  rich  and  ample  valley,  inclosed  between  the 
Kalanda,  or  Galanda-berg,  on  the  west,  and  the 
Falkniss,  on  the  north-east.  Almost  every  ridge 
and  projecting  crag  are  crowned  by  the  ruins 
of  "  chiefless  castles,"  so  gray  and  weather-worn 
that  they  can  scarcely  be  distinguished  from  the 
rock  on  which  they  stand ;  while  the  sides  of  the 
mountains  are  marked  with  the  deep  furrows  of 
the  winter  torrents. 

Of  one  of  these  ruined  fortalices,  that  of  Ober- 
Ruchenberg,  the  following  legend  is  told.  It  is 
all  that  men  seem  to  know  or  imagine  about  it : — 

When  the  fairy  queen,  who  dwelt  in  the  silent 
heart  of  the  great  mountains,  was  giving  birth  to 
one  of  her  elfin  progeny,  she  was  generously  assisted 
by  the  then  lady  of  Ruchenberg.  As  a  reward,  the 
dame  received  a  set  of  golden  ninepins,  with  which 
she  could  at  all  times  obtain  the  faithful  service 
of  the  mountain  sprites.  They  were  handed  down 
as  precious  heirlooms  to  her  descendants ;  one  of 
whom,  a  great  grandson,  and  a  turbulent  dissolute 
rake,  abused  the  fairy  gift  by  lavishing  on  un- 
worthy objects  the  treasures  it  placed  at  his 
disposal.  At  last  his  summons  was  answered  by 
nine  living  giants,  who  suddenly  rose  from  the 
earth  with  a  sound  as  of  thunder,  and  as  they  rose 
the  castle  crumbled  into  ruin,  and  its  profligate 
lord  was  carried  off  from  the  eyes  of  men.  This 
evil  man,  however,  had  a  daughter  who  was  as 
devout  as  he  was  blasphemous.  The  fairies  saved 
her  from  the  general  desolation,  and  thenceforth 
she  spent  her  life  in  the  haunted  caverns  of  the 
mountains.  Once  every  hundred  years  she  is 
permitted  to  revisit  the  glimpses  of  the  moon,  and 
standing  on  the  shattered  ramparts  of  the  old 
baronial  stronghold,  she  waits  the  coming  of  the 


fortunate  knight  who  is  to  restore  her  to  her  kind, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  to  win  from  the  fairy  queen 
the  dangerous  but  valuable  gift  of  the  golden 
ninepins. 

Nearly  opposite  Coire  stands  the  castle  of 
Haldenstein,  with  a  village  of  the  same  name.  The 
castle,  sumptuously  rebuilt  by  the  French  ambas- 
sador to  the  Grisons,  in  1548,  suffered  severely 
from  fire  on  several  occasions,  but  was  restored 
in  the  last  century  by  the  family  Von  Salis,  to 
whose  posterity  it  still  belongs.  The  ruins  of  the 
ancient  fortress  are  situated  on  a  rocky  height  at 
some  distance  from  the  more  modern  erection. 

To  the  north  of  the  village  some  shattered  walls 
mark  the  site  of  the  ancient  castle  of  Lichtenstein. 

After  passing  the  point  where  the  Landguart, 
nr  Langaurs,  rolling  down  from  the  valley  of 
Priittigau,  pours  its  noisy  waters  into  the  Rhine, 
we  diverge  a  little  from  the  right  bank  of  the  river 
to  visit  the  old  and  tranquil  town  of  Mayenfeld, 
said  to  be  the  Roman  Lupinum.  Its  modern 
name  is  probably  derived  from  the  "  May-fields," 
or  May  courts  of  jurisdiction,  held  here  under  the 
spreading  boughs  of  a  lime  tree  during  the  Car- 
lovingian  era.  It  boasts  of  a  Roman  tower,  erected 
by  the  Emperor  Constantius  about  340;  and  of  an 
excellent  wine  made  from  prolific  vineyards  of 
modern  growth.  The  valley  of  the  Rhine  from 
this  point  presents  a  noble  prospect,  in  which  the 
peak  of  the  Falkniss,  rising  on  the  north-east  to 
an  elevation  of  7824  feet,  is  necessarily  a  con- 
spicuous and  impressive  object.  The  view  also 
comprehends  the  summits  of  "  the  Seven  Electors," 
and  the  villages  of  Malans,  Jenins,  and  Sargans. 

From  Mayenfeld  we  may  visit  the  fortified 
Lucian  pass,  named  after  the  martyr,  St.  Lucius, 
and  2180  feet  high,  which  commands  the  road  from 
Germany  to  Italy.  Territorially  it  is  included 
in  the  old  principality  of  Lichtenstein-Vaduz. 

Continuing  our  route  along  the  valley,  we  call 
at  the  romantic  town  of  Malans,  lying  at  the  foot 
of  the  Augustenberg  (7356  feet.)  Here,  at  Castle 
Bodmer,  was  born  the  poet  Von  Salis,  whose  lyrics 
breathe  so  tender  and  melancholy  a  spirit.  "  The 
Silent  Land,"  one  of  his  most  pathetic  strains,  is 
well  known  in  England  by  Professor  Longfellow's 
admirable  translation  of  it. 

At  fourteen  miles  from  Coire  the  traveller 
reaches  Ragatz,*  a  village  of  between  600  and  700 

*  Principal  inns:  —  Hof  Ragatz,  formerly  the  summer  residence  of 
the  abbots  of  Pfeffers;  Hotel  de  la  'lamina ;  and  the  Krone. 

11 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


inhabitants,  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  gorge 
(tobel)  through  which  the  foaming  waters  of  the 
Tamina  rush  down  to  join  the  Khine.  It  depends 
for  its  prosperity  on  its  vicinity  to  the  hot  mineral 
springs  of  Pfeffers,  and  its  position  at  the  junction 
of  the  great  roads  from  Zurich,  St.  Gall,  Feldkirch, 
Coire,  and  Milan.  It  contains  a  small  English 
chapel. 

At  Eagatz  a  victory  was  gained  by  the  Swiss 
confederates,  under  Itel  von  Eeding  and  Fortu- 
natus  Tschudi,  over  the  partizans  of  Hans  von 
Eechberg  (March  6,  1446). 

A  road  tunnelled  through  the  rugged  defile  of 
the  Tamina,  for  about  two  miles  and  a  half,  leads 
to  the  old  baths  of  Pfeffers  (or  Pfaffers),  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  and  wildly  romantic  spots  in 
Switzerland.  The  walk  thither  is  undoubtedly 
picturesque  and  impressive.  "At  the  edge  of  the 
narrow  path,  which  ascends  gradually  and  not  too 
abruptly,  and  which  occasionally  passes  under 
the  tunnelled  rocks,  the  foaming  torrent  rushes 
onward,  bounding  impetuously  over  every  impedi- 
ment, and  scarcely  deigning  to  greet  the  melan- 
choly rocks  in  its  rapid  course.  After  a  walk  of 
three  miles,  a  narrow  slope,  clothed  with  pine  trees, 
is  seen  wedged  in  under  the  face  of  the  rock,  only 
a  few  feet  above  the  raging  Tamina,  on  which  is 
built  a  tolerably  large  and  straggling  massive 
edifice.  Nothing  more  dreary  can  be  conceived 
than  its  situation  in  the  cool  dark  glen,  almost 
buried  beneath  the  rocks  that  tower  above  it  to 
the  height  of  six  or  seven  hundred  feet ;  in  the 
height  of  summer,  in  the  months  of  July  and 
August,  the  sun  manages  to  find  his  way  into  this 
singular  retreat  from  about  ten  o'clock  in  the 
morning  till  four  in  the  afternoon.  This  is  '  Bad 
Pfaffers.'" 

The  hot  springs  of  Pfeffers  were  not  known 
to  the  Eomans.  The  story  runs  that  they  were 
discovered  by  a  hunter,  Karl  von  Hofenhausen, 
who,  having  penetrated  into  the  gorge  of  the 
Tamina  in  the  pursuit  of  game,  was  attracted  by 
the  columns  of  vapour  rising  from  them.  In 
authentic  documents  they  are  first  mentioned  in 
1050,  when  they  were  conferred  by  the  Emperor 
Henry  III.  on  the  monks  of  Pfeffers.  Centuries 
passed,  however,  and  nothing  was  done  to  facilitate 
access  to  their  wonder-working  waters.  Patients 
who  had  faith  in  their  curative  properties  were  let 
down  to  the  spring  from  the  cliffs  above  by  ropes ; 
and  with  an  admirable  desire  to  benefit  by  them 
12 


as  much  as  possible,  were  wont  to  spend  a  week 
together,  both  day  and  night ;  not  only  eating 
and  drinking,  but  sleeping,  "under  hot  water  in- 
stead of  blankets."  In  1629,  however,  the  ravine 
was  enlarged,  and  a  bathing-house,  on  the  site  now 
occupied  by  the  present  establishment,  was  erected 
by  the  Abbot  Jodvens.  The  healing  waters  were 
conveyed  from  the  spring  in  wooden  conduits,  and 
the  work  duly  celebrated  at  Whitsuntide,  in  1630, 
by  a  service  of  thanksgiving.  The  present  baths 
were  completed  in  1716,  but  are  now  very  scantily 
patronized ;  most  visitors  preferring  the  conve- 
niences and  liveliness  of  Eagatz. 

An  excursion  to  the  source  of  the  waters  (whose 
temperature  is  97°  to  98°),  has  a  perilous  air  about 
it,  well  calculated  to  terrify  weak  nerves. 

Proceeding  through  the  bath-house,  you  cross 
the  Tamina  on  a  bridge  of  planks,  which,  in  the 
shape  of  a  scaffolding,  is  prolonged  into  the  dark 
dim  gorge  above  the  contracted  but  noisy  torrent. 
It  is  carried  all  along  the  abyss  as  far  as  the  hot 
spring,  and  furnishes  the  only  means  of  access  to 
it,  as  the  sides  of  the  gorge  are  vertical,  and  there 
is  not  an  inch  of  space  between  them  and  the 
Tamina  for  the  sole  of  the  foot  to  rest.  A  few 
yards  from  the  entrance  the  air  is  darkened  by  an 
overhanging  mass  of  rock.  "  The  sudden  chill," 
says  a  writer,  "  of  an  atmosphere  never  visited 
by  the  sun's  rays,  the  rushing  and  roaring  of  the 
torrent  thirty  or  forty  feet  below,  the  threatening 
position  of  the  rocks  above,  have  a  grand  and 
striking  effect;  but  this  has  been  diminished  by 
modern  improvements,  which  have  deprived  the 
visit  to  the  gorge  of  even  the  semblance  of  danger. 
In  parts  it  is  almost  dark,  where  the  sides  of  the 
ravine  overlap  one  another,  and  actually  meet 
overhead,  so  as  to  form  a  natural  arch.  The  rocks 
in  many  places  show  evident  marks  of  having  been 
ground  away,  and  scooped  out  by  the  rushing 
river,  and  by  the  stones  brought  down  with  it. 
For  several  hundred  yards  the  river  pursues  an 
almost  subterranean  course,  the  roof  of  the  chasm 
being  the  floor,  as  it  were,  of  the  valley.  In  some 
places  the  roots  of  the  trees  are  seen  dangling 
through  the  crevice  above  your  head,  and  at  one 
particular  spot  you  find  yourself  under  the  arch 
of  the  natural  bridge  leading  to  the  staircase 
mentioned  further  on.  Had  Virgil  or  Dante  been 
aware  of  this  spot,  they  would  certainly  have  con- 
ducted their  heroes  through  it  to  the  jaws  of  the 
infernal  regions. 


4& 


1±= 


=3g 


THE  CONVENT  OF  PFEFFEES. 


"  After  emerging  from  the  gorge  at  the  bath- 
house, the  traveller  may  ascend  the  valley  above 
it  by  a  well-marked  track ;  ascending  the  steep  left 
bank,  and  then  keeping  to  the  left,  and  descending 
a  little,  he  will  in  about  half  a  mile  cross  by  a 
natural  bridge  of  rock,  beneath  which  the  Tamina, 
out  of  sight,  and  heaving  from  above,  forces  its 
way  into  the  gorge  of  the  hot  springs.  A  steep 
path  or  staircase  (steige),  formed  of  trunks  or 
roots  of  trees,  on  the  right  bank,  is  then  met  with, 
ascending  which  you  reach  an  upper  stage  of  the 
valley,  formed  of  gentle  slopes,  and  covered  with 
verdant  pasture  on  one  side,  and  with  thick  woods 
on  the  other.  The  two  sides  are  separated  by  the 
deep  gash  and  narrow  gorge  along  the  bottom  of 
which  the  Tamina  forces  its  way.  This  is,  perhaps, 
the  best  point  for  obtaining  a  general  view  of  the 
baths,  and  the  singular  spot  in  which  they  are 
sunken.  On  looking  over  the  verge  of  the  preci- 
pice you  perceive,  at  the  bottom  of  the  ravine,  at 
the  depth  of  300  feet  below,  the  roofs  of  the  two 
large  buildings,  like  cotton  factories  in  size  and 
structure.  The  upper  valley,  also,  with  its  carpet 
of  bright  green,  its  woods,  and  the  bare  limestone 
cliffs  which  border  it  on  either  hand,  and  above 
all,  the  huge  peak  of  the  Falkniss,  rising  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  Rhine,  form  a  magnificent 
landscape." 

The  traveller's  attention  will  next  be  directed  to 
the  convent  of  Pfeffers,  an  edifice  of  considerable 
extent,  but  by  no  means  remarkable  for  architec- 
tural excellence.  As  in  all  Benedictine  convents, 
a  church  occupies  the  centre  of  its  enceinte.  The 
position  is  admirable:  from  its  lofty  mountain- 
platform  it  looks  out,  in  one  direction,  on  the  rich 
Rhine  valley,  backed  by  the  lofty  summit  of  the 
Falkniss;  in  another,  it  commands  the  lake  of 
Wallenstadt,  and  the  peaks  of  the  Seven  Electors 
(Sieben  Kurfurster.) 

The  foundation  of  the  convent  dates  from  713, 
when  its  erection  was  commenced  by  S.  Pirminius, 
bishop  of  Meaux,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Land- 
guart.  While  felling  timber  for  the  building  a 
carpenter  accidentally  wounded  himself.  Some 
drops  of  blood  fell  on  a  chip,  which  was  straitly 
picked  up  by  a  white  dove,  and  carried  across  the 
Rhine  to  the  forest  on  the  opposite  heights.  On 
seeing  the  dove  let  fall  the  chip  from  the  top  of  a 
larch  tree,  S.  Pirminius  exclaimed,  "  There  the 
Lord  wills  that  his  house  should  be  built."  And 
thus  the  convent  came  to  be  raised  on  its  present 


site,  and  to  assume  for  its  device  a  flying  dove 
with  a  chip  in  its  beak. 

The  convent  lasted  for  ten  centuries,  but  its 
financial  affairs  becoming  hopelessly  involved,  a 
majority  of  the  brethren  requested  the  govern- 
ment of  the  canton  (St.  Gall)  to  suppress  it,  and 
it  was  therefore  abolished  in  1838.  The  building 
has  since  been  converted  into  a  lunatic  asylum. 

We  continue  our  route  to  Rorschach  by  way 
of  Sargans;  Sevelen  (where,  on  the  left,  across  the 
Rhine,  lies  Vaduz,  capital  of  the  miniature  prin- 
cipality of  Lichtenstein);  Werdenberg,  formerly  the 
seat  of  a  patriotic  line  of  nobles  of  the  same  name; 
Sennvald,  a  village  at  the  foot  of  the  Kamor ; 
Altstetten,  a  town  of  7000  inhabitants,  in  a  fertile 
country;  S.  Margarethen,  near  the  Austrian  ferry, 
an  English-like  village  surrounded  by  groves  and 
orchards;  and  Rheineck,  a  hamlet  at  the  foot  of 
vine-clad  hills. 

Between  Rorschach  and  Rheineck  the  Rhine 
enters  the  Boden  See,  or  Lake  of  Constanz.  The 
flat  delta  is  covered  with  morass,  and  presents 
no  beauty  to  attract  the  traveller's  eye.  Rorschach 
(inns:  Hirsch,  and  Post)  is  a  quiet  town,  the 
principal  station  of  the  lake  steamers,  and  a  large 
corn  market.  The  grain  required  for  the  supply 
of  the  Alpine  district  of  North  Switzerland  is  im- 
ported from  Suabia  in  boats  across  the  lake,  and 
temporarily  stored  in  spacious  warehouses.  There 
are  several  thriving  muslin  manufactories. 

The  only  noteworthy  buildings  are  the  ruined 
keep  of  the  castle  of  St.  Anne,  and  the  dilapidated 
palace  of  the  abbots  of  St.  Gall,  now  known  as  the 
Statthalterz. 

LAKE    OF   CONSTANZ,    OR   BODEN   SEE. 

Steamers  navigate  the  lake  between  Constanz, 
Schaffhausen,  Ueberlingen,  Meersburg,  Friedrichs- 
hafen,  Rorschach,  Ludwigshaien,  Romanshorn, 
Lindau,  and  Bregentz.  The  voyage  from  Rors- 
chach to  Constanz  occupies  three  hours,  and  from 
Constanz  to  Lindau  about  five  hours.  Printed 
bills  of  fares,  hours,  and  places  of  starting  will  be 
found  at  all  the  principal  inns  in  the  above- 
named  towns. 

The  Lake  of  Constanz,  called  by  the  Germans 
Boden  See,  and  known  to  the  Romans  under  the 
name  Lacus  Brigantinus  (from  Brigantia,  the 
modern  Bregentz),  is  bounded  by  the  territories  of 
five  different  states,  Baden,  Wurtemberg,  Switzer- 
land, Bavaria,  and  Austria.  A  portion  of  its 
13 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


shores  belong  to  eacli  state.  Its  elevation  above  tbe 
sea  is  estimated  at  1385  feet.  Its  length  is  about 
forty-four  miles  from  Bregentz  to  Constanz,  and 
thirty  miles  from  Bregentz  to  Friedrichshafen. 
Its  maximum  width  is  nine  miles;  its  maximum 
depth,  964  feet.  It  is  full  of  fish,  and  as  many 
as  twenty-five  species  have  been  distinguished. 
Locally  it  is  divided  into  four  sections:  the  Lake 
of  Bregentz,  the  Lake  of  Constanz,  the  Lake  of 
Ueberlingen,  and  the  Lower  Lake.  Its  waters 
are  clear,  of  a  greenish  tint,  and  an  agreeable 
flavour.  Their  surface  is  never  smooth;  a  ripple 
is  always  upon  it,  even  when  no  breath  of  air  is 
felt  in  the  "blue  serene;"  this  constant  agitation 
is  probably  due  to  some  under-currents. 

Its  main  tributary  is  the  Rhine,  which  enters  at 
its  eastern  extremity;  but  it  also  receives  upwards 
of  fifty  brooks  and  torrents.  It  is  frequently  visited 
by  storms,  when  its  billows  roll  with  crested 
heads,  like  those  of  a  tempest-stricken  sea.  Though 
its  shores  present  no  very  attractive  panorama 
of  scenery,  they  are  exuberantly  fertile ;  and 
on  the  south  the  landscape  assumes  a  certain 
picturesqueness  of  character  from  the  numerous 
ruined  forts  which  crown  each  conspicuous  height. 

On  an  average  the  waters  of  the  lake  are  lowest 
in  February,  and  highest  in  June  and  July,  when 
the  snows,  melting  on  the  distant  mountains,  swell 
every  brook  and  torrent  which  flows  into  its  basin. 

The  lower  section  of  the  lake  is  generally  frozen 
every  winter,  but  only  a  small  part  of  the  upper 
is  ever  "bound  in  chains  of  ice."  The  Swiss 
chroniclers,  however,  record  several  occasions 
when,  if  they  may  be  credited,  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  lake  was  frozen;  as  in  1277,  1435,  1560, 
1573,  1587,  1695,  1785,  1788,  and  1830.  But 
the  entire  surface  was  not  iced  over  in  the  three 
last-named  years  ;  navigation  was  still  possible  in 
the  centre. 

The  following  tradition  is  connected  with  the 
freezing  of  the  lake  in  the  sixteenth  century 
(1587): — 

During  the  winter,  which  was  one  of  extraor- 
dinary severity,  a  horseman,  bent  on  visiting  the 
lake,  descended  from  the  rugged  mountains  and 
rode  forth  into  the  deep  snowy  plains.  Wherever 
he  gazed,  the  hard  whiteness  met  his  eye  ;  not  a 
tree,  not  a  house,  relieved  the  monotony  before 
him.  For  leagues  he  pressed  forward  his  weary 
horse,  hearing  no  sounds  but  the  screams  of  the 
wild  water-fowl,  or  the  shrieks  of  the  wind  across 
14 


the  echoing  waste.  At  length,  as  the  darkness  of 
night  spread  over  the  sky,  he  descried  in  the  dis- 
tance the  faint  glimmer  of  a  taper;  trees  sprang 
out  of  the  low  creeping  mist ;  the  welcome  sound 
of  dogs  broke  on  his  ear;  and  the  wanderer  stopped 
his  horse  before  a  farm-house.  He  saw  a  fair 
maiden  at  the  window,  and  courteously  inquired 
how  far  it  might  yet  be  to  the  lake. 

"  The  lake  is  behind  you,"  she  answered  in 
exceeding  surprise. 

"  Nay,  not  so,  for  I  have  just  ridden  across 
yonder  plain." 

"Mary,  Mary,  save  us!  You  have  ridden  across 
the  lake,  and  the  ice  has  not  yielded  under  you ! " 

The  villagers  had  by  this  time  gathered 
round  the  stranger  horseman,  and  uttering  loud 
exclamations  of  surprise  and  wonder,  they  bad^- 
him  be  thankful  for  the  great  mercy  Heaven  had 
vouchsafed  him.  But  they  spoke  to  ears  that 
could  not  hear.  When  he  realized  the  full  extent 
of  the  peril  he  had  so  narrowly  escaped,  both  brain 
and  heart  gave  way,  and  he  fell  from  his  horse 
lifeless. 

CIRCUIT  OF  THE  LAKE. 

We  now  propose  to  notice  briefly  the  interest- 
ing points  on  either  shore  of  the  Boden  See. 

On  the  west,  two  leagues  from  Rorschach,  lies 
the  ancient  town  of  Arbon  (the  Arbor  Felix  of 
the  Romans),  a  quiet  little  settlement  of  some  750 
inhabitants.  The  Romans  built  a  fort  here,  which, 
in  the  fifth  century,  they  were  compelled  to 
abandon  to  the  Allemanni.  On  its  site,  in  1510, 
were  reared  the  present  castle  (except  the  tower, 
which  is  three  or  four  centuries  older)  and  the 
church,  which  dates  from  the  same  epoch.  Its 
belfry  is  detached,  and  boarded,  not  walled,  on  the 
side  nearest  the  castle,  in  order  that  no  besiegers 
might  be  able  to  use  it  as  a  point  of  vantage. 

From  Arbon  to  Constanz  the  south  shore  of  the 
lake  is  occupied  by  the  canton  of  Thurgovia,  one 
of  the  most  fruitful  districts  in  Switzerland.  Gar- 
dens, orchards,  and  villages  remind  the  traveller  of 
some  of  the  midland  scenery  of  England. 

Following  the  sweep  of  a  noble  bay  for  eight 
or  nine  miles  we  arrive  at  Romanshorn  or  Romis- 
horn,  which  clusters  somewhat  irregularly  on  the 
low  peninsula  forming  the  northern  boundary  of 
the  bay.  The  peninsula  curves  like  a  horn ;  hence 
the  name  of  the  village,  which  is  populous  and 
thriving,  and  stands  in  a  land  of  vines.     A  fine 


m 


=sg 


CONSTANZ  AND  ITS  COUNCIL. 


view  of  the  lake,  and  of  the  white  peaks  of  the 
distant  Alps,  may  be  obtained  from  this  point. 

At  Eomanshorn  is  the  terminus  of  the  North- 
Eastern  Eailway.  It  is  fifty-one  miles  distant  from 
Zurich.  The  steamers  from  Bregentz,  Lindau, 
and  Friedrichshafen  call  here. 

Of  the  valleys  of  Utwyl  and  Kuswyl  we  have 
nothing  to  record,  nor  of  Giittingen,  except  that  it 
possesses  an  ancient  castle,  pleasantly  situated  on  a 
little  promontory.  Soon  after  passing  the  latter, 
the  industrious  traveller  reaches  the  Benedictine 
nunnery  of  Miinsterlingen,  founded,  it  is  said,  by 
Angela,  the  daughter  of  Edward  I.  of  England,  in 
commemoration  of  her  escape  from  a  great  storm  on 
the  Lake  of  Constanz.  Whether  this  be  true  or  not, 
it  is  certain  that  the  convent  was  largely  endowed 
by  Queen  Agnes  of  Hungary,  and  that  the  Em- 
peror Sigismund  and  the  outlawed  duke  of  Austria 
were  reconciled  here  in  1418.  A  new  building 
was  erected  for  the  nuns  in  1715,  but  in  1838  the 
nunnery  was  converted  into  an  hospital. 

Just  before  entering  Constanz  we  reach  the 
Augustinian  abbey  of  Kreuzlingen,  now  sup- 
pressed, like  the  nunnery,  and  adapted  to  the 
purposes  of  an  agricultural  school,  with  between 
ninety  and  one  hundred  pupils.  The  foundation 
dates  from  1120,  when  it  was  established  by  Bishop 
Ulrich  I.;  but  the  ancient  monastery,  standing 
near  the  city  gate,  was  frequently  exposed  to  the 
hazards  of  war,  as  in  1450,  when  it  was  set  on 
fire,  and  during  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  when  the 
Swedes  plundered  and  destroyed  it.  A  new  con- 
vent was  therefore  erected  on  its  present  site,  at  a 
greater  distance  from  the  city.  When  the  famous 
Council  of  Constanz  was  held  in  1414,  Pope 
John  XXIII.,  on  his  way  thither,  spent  the  night 
at  the  abbey  of  Kreuzlingen,  and  was  so  well 
pleased  with  his  reception  that  he  presented  the 
abbot  with  a  superb  vest  richly  set  with  pearls. 
The  papal  donation  is  still  preserved  at  the  abbey, 
along  with  a  curious  piece  of  wood  carving,  by  a 
Tyrolese  artist,  which  represents  our  Saviour's 
Passion,  and  consists  of  several  hundreds  of  well- 
executed  figures. 

Our  survey  of  the  lake  has  thus  conducted  us 
to  the  old,  decayed,  but  historical  city  of 

CONSTAJIZ, 

Nine  miles  from  Schaffhausen ,  twenty-six  miles 
from  Rorschach.  Population,  4500.  Inns:  Brochet, 
Post,  and  Hotel  Delisle. 


The  most  interesting  associations  connected 
with  Constanz  are  those  of  its  great  council,  held 
in  1414-18,  and  the  martyrdom  of  the  Bohemian 
reformers,  John  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague, 
the  apostles  and  heirs  of  Wycliffism;  and  who, 
in  spite  of  the  safe-conduct  granted  to  the  former 
by  the  Emperor  Sigismund  as  president  of  the 
assembly,  were  seized,  accused  of  heresy,  tried, 
condemned,  and  executed. 

The  avowed  object  of  the  Council  of  Constanz  was 
the  reformation  of  the  church;  but  the  question 
which  secretly  agitated  the  minds  of  its  members 
was,  the  supremacy  of  a  general  council  over  the 
pope,  or  of  the  pope  over  a  general  council.  It 
was  the  first  council  which  had  represented  Latin 
Christianity;  and  it  was  called,  not  by  the  papal 
volition,  but  at  the  instigation,  or  rather  by  the 
command,  of  the  Emperor  Sigismund.  The  pope, 
John  XXIII. ,  had  made  it  a  condition  that  it 
should  not  be  held  within  the  dominions  of  the 
emperor;  but  when  the  latter  named  Constanz  as 
the  place  of  meeting,  he  was  compelled  to  yield. 
And  in  truth  no  city  could  have  been  better  suited 
for  such  a  purpose.  It  was  pleasantly  and  health- 
ily situated  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps  ;  accessible 
from  Italy  and  from  all  parts  of  Christendom  ;  on 
the  fertile  shores  of  a  spacious  lake,  so  that  an 
abundant  supply  of  provisions  might  be  readily 
obtained  ;  and  inhabited  by  an  orderly  and  peaceful 
population. 

To  Constanz,  therefore,  in  the  summer  of  1414, 
bishops  and  princes,  patriarchs  and  professors, 
abbots  and  priors,  laymen  and  clerics,  began  to 
make  their  way  from  every  country  in  Europe; 
and  with  these  were  mingled  merchants  and 
traders  of  every  kind  and  degree,  and  every  sort  of 
wild  and  strange  vehicle.*  It  was  to  be,  appa- 
rently, not  only  a  solemn  Christian  council,  but 
an  European  congress  ;  a  vast  central  fair,  where 
every  kind  of  commerce  was  to  be  conducted  on 
the  largest  scale,  and  where  chivalrous,  histrionic, 
or  other  common  amusements,  were  provided  for 
the  idle  hours  of  idle  people.  In  its  conception  it 
was  a  grand  concentrated  outburst  of  mediaeval 
devotion,  mediaeval  splendour,  mediaeval  diver- 
sions: all  ranks,  all  orders,  all  pursuits,  all  pro- 
fessions, all  trades,  all  artizans,  with  their  various 
attire,  habits,  manners,  language,  crowded  to  one 
single  city. 

*  The  following  account  is  condensed  from  Dean  Milman's  History 
of  Latin  Christianity,  b.  viii.  c.  8. 

15 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


Down  the  steep  slope  of  the  Alps  wound  the 
rich  cavalcades  of  the  cardinals,  the  prelates,  the 
princes  of  Italy,  each  with  their  martial  guard  or 
their  ecclesiastical  retinue.  The  blue  waters  of 
the  ample  lake  were  studded  with  boats  and  barks, 
conveying  the  bishops  and  abbots,  the  knights  and 
burghers  of  the  Tyrol,  of  eastern  and  northern 
Germany,  Hungary,  and  from  the  Black  Forest 
and  Thuringia.  Along  the  whole  course  of  the 
Rhine,  from  Koln,  even  from  Brabant,  Flanders, 
or  the  furthest  north,  from  England  and  from 
France,  inarched  prelates,  abbots,  doctors  of  law, 
celebrated  schoolmen,  following  the  upward  course 
of  the  stream,  and  gathering  as  they  advanced  new 
hosts  from  the  provinces  and  cities  to  the  east  or 
west.  Day  after  day  the  air  was  alive  with  the 
standards  of  princes,  and  the  banners  emblazoned 
with  the  armorial  bearings  of  sovereigns,  nobles, 
knights,  imperial  cities ;  or  glittered  with  the  silver 
crosier  borne  before  some  magnificent  bishop  or 
mitred  abbot.  Night  after  night  the  silence  was 
broken  by  the  pursuivants  and  trumpeters  announc- 
ing the  arrival  of  each  high  and  mighty  count  or 
duke,  or  the  tinkling  mule-bells  of  some  lowlier 
caravan.  The  streets  were  crowded  with  curious 
spectators,  eager  to  behold  some  splendid  prince 
or  ambassador,  some  churchman  famous  in  the 
pulpit,  in  the  school,  in  the  council,  it  might  be  in 
the  battle-field,  or  even  some  renowned  minnesinger 
or  popular  jongleur.  Yet  with  all  these  multitudes 
perfect  order  was  maintained,  so  admirable  had 
been  the  arrangements  of  the  magistrates.  Constanz 
worthily  supported  her  dignity,  as  for  a  time  the 
chosen  capital  of  Christendom. 

And  the  pope,  who  had  some  cause  to  fear 
the  council,  was  received  with  every  outward  sign 
of  respect  and  spiritual  loyalty.  The  magistrates 
and  clergy  attended  him  through  the  streets,  and 
to  the  venerable  Minster  (October  28).  Nine 
cardinals  and  about  six  hundred  followers  formed 
his  retinue.  But  on  the  3rd  of  December 
another  arrival  caused  still  greater  excitement. 
There  entered  the  city  a  pale  thin  man,  in  mean 
attire,  yet  escorted  by  three  nobles  of  his  country, 
with  a  great  troop  of  other  followers  from  attach- 
ment or  curiosity.  He  came  under  a  special  safe- 
conduct  from  the  emperor,  which  guaranteed  in 
the  fullest  terms  his  safe  entrance  into  and  safe 
departure  from  the  imperial  city.  This  was  the 
famous  Bohemian  "heretic,"  John  Huss. 

In  these  pages  any  chronicle  of  the  proceedings 
16 


of  the  great  council  would  be  out  of  place.  But  we 
must  briefly  trace  its  dealings  with  the  Bohemian 
reformer,  from  the  imperishable  association  of  his 
name  with  the  city  whose  history  we  are  sketching. 
He  appeared  before  the  council  not  so  much  as  a 
preacher  of  dogmas  as  a  reformer  of  abuses.  He 
was  provided  with  the  imperial  safe-conduct,  with 
testimonials  to  his  orthodoxy  from  the  highest 
authorities;  yet  he  did  not  enter  Constanz  withoul 
dark  misgivings.  In  a  farewell  address  to  his 
followers  he  said,  "  I  expect  to  meet  as  manv 
enemies  at  Constanz  as  our  Lord  at  Jerusalem ;  the 
wicked  clergy,  and  even  some  secular  princes,  and 
those  Pharisees  the  monks." 

His  misgivings  were  speedily  justified.  A 
charge  of  heresy  was  brought  against  him.  The 
emperor  abandoned  him,  and  basely  consented  to 
violate  his  royal  word.  It  was  soon  understood 
that  he  was  to  be  tried  by  the  council,  condemned 
by  the  council,  and  that  whatever  might  be  the 
sentence  of  the  council  it  would  be  carried  into 
execution  by  the  secular  arm.  Huss  was  thrown, 
a  prisoner,  into  the  castle  of  Gottlieben,  outside 
the  city  walls.  He  was  called  upon  to  retract  his 
errors.  "  I  will  retract,"  he  answered,  "  when  con- 
vinced of  them."  On  the  5th  of  June,  1416,  he  was 
brought  before  the  council ;  again  on  the  7th  and  the 
9th  ;  but  in  the  presence  of  his  many  accusers  he 
maintained  a  calm  and  unmoved  composure,  and 
the  serenity  of  a  mind  at  ease.  On  the  9th, 
after  he  had  been  carried  back  to  prison,  the 
emperor  rose,  and  addressed  the  council: — "You 
have  heard  the  charges  against  Huss  proved  by 
trustworthy  witnesses,  some  confessed  by  himself. 
In  my  judgment  each  of  these  crimes  is  deserving 
of  death.  If  he  does  not  forswear  all  his  errors, 
he  must  be  burned.  If  he  submits,  he  must  be 
stripped  of  his  preacher's  office,  and  banished  from 
Bohemia;  there  he  would  only  disseminate  more 
dangerous  errors.  The  evil  must  be  extirpated, 
root  and  branch.  If  any  of  his  followers  are  in 
Constanz,  they  must  be  proceeded  against  with 
the  utmost  severity,  especially  his  disciple,  Jerome 
of  Prague." 

Huss  calmly  refused  the  recantation  demanded 
from  him;  and  on  tbe  1st  of  July  was  led  forth 
from  his  prison  to  undergo  the  sentence  which 
had  been  passed  upon  him  as  having  swerved  from 
the  true  Catholic  faith.  Having  been  degraded 
from  the  priesthood  in  the  sacred  shades  of  the 
cathedral,  he  was  delivered  over  to  the  secular  arm. 


EXECUTION  OF  JOHN  HUSS. 


The  emperor  gave  him  up  to  Louis,  Elector  Palatine, 
the  imperial  vicar ;  the  elector  to  the  magistrates 
of  Constanz  ;  the  magistrates  to  the  executioners. 

With  two  of  the  headsman's  servants  before  him, 
and  two  behind,  he  went  forth  to  the  place  of  exe- 
cution. Eight  hundred  horsemen  followed,  and 
the  city  poured  out  its  whole  population.  The 
bridge  was  narrow  and  frail ;  so  they  went  in 
single  file,  lest  it  should  break  beneath  their  weight. 
They  paused  before  the  episcopal  palace,  that 
Huss  might  see  the  pile  on  which  his  books  lay 
burning.  He  only  smiled,  for  he  knew  that  the 
right  or  wrong  in  matters  of  belief  cannot  be 
determined  by  brute  force.  As  he  went  along  he 
addressed  the  people  in  German,  protesting  against 
the  injustice  of  his  sentence  ;  his  enemies,  he  said, 
had  failed  to  convince  him  of  error. 

The  place  of  execution  was  a  meadow  outside 
the  city  walls.  Here  he  knelt,  and,  kneeling, 
recited  several  psalms,  with  the  perpetual  burthen, 
"  Lord  Jesus,  have  mercy  upon  me.  Into  thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit."  "  We  know  not," 
exclaimed  the  people,  "  what  this  man  may  have 
done,  but  we  do  know  that  his  prayers  to  God  are 
excellent."  His  attendants  demanded  if  he  would 
have  a  confessor.  A  priest,  mounted  on  a  stately 
horse,  and  richly  clad,  declared  that  no  confessor 
should  be  accorded  to  a  heretic.  But  others  were 
more  charitable,  and  one  Ulric  Schorand,  a  man  of 
piety  and  wisdom,  was  summoned  from  the  crowd. 

Ulric  insisted  first  that  Huss  should  acknow- 
ledge the  errors  for  which  he  was  condemned. 
Unawed  by  the  prospect  before  him,  he  refused  to 
confess.  "I  have  no  need  of  confession,"  he  said; 
"I  am  guilty  of  no  mortal  sin."  He  turned  round, 
and  made  an  effort  to  address  the  people  in  Ger- 
man, but  the  elector  caused  him  to  be  interrupted. 
Then  he  prayed  aloud,  "Lord  Jesus,  for  thy  sake 
I  endure  with  patience  this  cruel  death.  1  be- 
seech thee  to  forgive  mine  enemies."  As  he  spoke 
the  paper  mitre  with  which  his  head  had  been 
crowned  in  derision  fell  to  the  ground.  The  rude 
soldiery  replaced  it,  saying,  "He  shall  be  burned 
with  all  his  devils  !"  In  reply  he  said  gently, 
but  firmly,  "I  trust  that  I  shall  reign  with  Christ, 
since  I  die  for  his  holy  gospel. " 

With  an  old  rusty  chain  he  was  now  bound  to 
the  fatal  stake.  The  Elector  Palatine  and  another 
again  urged  him  to  recant  ;  but  firm  in  faith  and 
hope,  Huss  assured  them  that  the  testimony  he 
had  borne  was   true,  and  that  he  was  willing  to 


seal  its  truth  with  his  blood.  All  he  had  taught 
and  written  was  with  the  view  of  saving  the  souls 
of  men  from  Satan's  snares,  and  from  the  power  of 
sin.  The  fire  blazed  up  ;  an  aged  crone  busied 
herself  in  piling  up  the  wood  :  0  sancta  sim- 
plicitas  ! — "  0  holy  simplicity  !"  cried  Huss,  in  the 
spirit  of  tenderness  and  compassion.  Then  the 
flames  crackled,  and  the  smoke  went  up  in  thick 
wreathing  clouds,  while  he,  with  his  last  gasping 
breath,  continued  to  pray  to  the  Saviour,  and  to 
commend  his  spirit  into  his  hands.  All  the 
remains  of  his  body  were  torn  in  pieces ;  even 
his  clothes  were  flung  upon  the  fire ;  the  ashes 
were  gathered  and  cast  into  the  lake,  lest  his  dis- 
ciples should  make  reliques  of  them.  But  their 
loyalty  defied  this  precaution  ;  they  scraped  to- 
gether the  earth  around  the  pile,  and  carried  it  to 
Bohemia. 

Huss  was  born  in  1369,  or,  according  to  other 
accounts,  in  1373,  at  Husinec  in  Bohemia,  and 
studied  philosophy  and  theology  at  the  university 
of  Prague.  He  became  bachelor  of  theology  in 
1394,  and  in  1396,  master  of  arts.  He  commenced 
teaching  in  the  university  in  1398;  and  the  year 
following  he  took  part  in  a  public  academic  dis- 
putation, in  which  he  defended  several  of  the 
tenets  of  Wickliffe,  with  whose  writings  he  had, 
so  early  as  1391,  become  acquainted.  Along  with 
the  office  of  teacher  in  the  University,  he  had  held 
that  of  preacher  in  the  Bethlehem  chapel  at  Prague. 

A  few  months  after  the  death  of  Huss,  Jerome 
of  Prague,  his  follower  and  companion,  expiated 
his  deviation  from  the  doctrines  or  the  spirit  of  the 
Catholic  faith,  by  undergoing  a  similar  fate.  Like 
Cranmer,  he  at  first  recanted  ;  but  like  Cranmer 
he  grew  ashamed  of  his  recantation,  and  his  soul 
rose  to  the  fiery  heights  of  martyrdom.  In  spite 
of  the  earnest  protest  of  Robert  Hallam,  bishop 
Salisbury,  that  God  willeth  not  the  death  of  a 
sinner,  but  that  he  should  be  converted  and  live, 
Jerome  was  condemned  to  be  burnt  alive,  and  the 
sentence  was  carried  into  effect  on  the  1st  of 
June,  1416. 

It  is  said  of  him  that  at  the  place  of  execution 
his  countenance  was  not  only  composed,  but 
cheerful.  When  bound,  and  bound  naked,  to  the 
stake,*  he  sang  his  hymns  of  thanksgiving, 
with  a  voice  -whose  clear  loud  accents  never 
trembled.    The  executioner  offered  to  light  the  fire 

*  The  stake  was  a  wooden  block,  cut  into  a  rough  figure  intended 
as  a  likeness  of  Huss. 

17  c 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


behind  him,  that  he  might  not  see  it.  "  Light  it 
before  my  face,"  he  exclaimed;  "  were  I  the  least 
afraid,  I  should  not  be  standing  here." 

Constanz  is  full  of  memorials  of  the  two  martyrs, 
but  more  especially  of  the  elder  and  more  famous 
one,  John  Huss.  The  house  in  which  he  lodged 
on  first  reaching  the  city  stands  in  the  Paul's 
Strasse,  near  the  Schnetzthor,  and  is  distinguished 
by  a  rude  stone  bust.  He  was  afterwards  confined 
in  the  Dominican  convent  (December  6,  1414,  to 
March  24,  1415),  which  is  now  a  cotton  manu- 
factory. Its  church,  a  thirteenth  century  build- 
ing, is  in  ruins,  and  these  ruins  are  picturesque, 
while  the  adjacent  cloisters  will  attract  the  visitor's 
attention  from  their  singular  character.  The 
chapter-house  is  probably  older  than  the  church. 
The  little  island  occupied  by  this  interesting 
edifice  was  formerly  fortified  by  the  Komans,  and 
a  portion  of  the  wall,  towards  the  lake,  still  bears 
witness  to  the  solidity  of  Roman  masonry. 

The  council,  to  whose  zeal  for  the  Catholic 
faith  Huss  and  Jerome  fell  victims,  held  its 
sittings  in  the  Hall  of  the  Kaufhaus,  which  was 
built  in  1388  as  a  warehouse,  but  afterwards  used 
as  the  town-hall.  The  council  was  composed  of 
thirty  cardinals,  four  patriarchs,  twenty  arch- 
bishops, two  hundred  professors  of  universities 
and  doctors  of  theology,  besides  princes,  ambas- 
sadors, ecclesiastical  dignitaries,  abbots,  priors,  and 
distinguished  civilians.  The  place  of  meeting 
was  a  large  room,  divided  by  two  rows  of  wooden 
pillars  into  three  aisles. 

In  a  small  apartment  at  the  north  extremity  of 
the  building  are  shown  some  curious  relics,  more  or 
less  interesting  according  as  they  are  more  or  less 
authentic.  The  principal  are  : — 1st.  The  ancient 
fauteuil  of  Pope  Martin  V.,  whom  the  council 
elected  in  place  of  John  XXIII.,  and  the  throne 
of  the  Emperor  Sigismund.  2nd.  On  a  platform 
in  front  of  the  throne,  the  three  effigies  of  Huss, 
Jerome  of  Prague,  and  Father  Celestine.  3rd.  A 
model,  and  some  original  fragments,  of  the  dun- 
geon in  which  John  Huss  was  imprisoned  at  the 
Dominican  convent.  4th.  The  beautiful  gilded 
casket,  ornamented  with  bas-reliefs,  in  which  were 
deposited,  in  1417,  the  votes  for  the  election  of 
Pope  Martin  V.  5th.  The  Gothic  altar,  the  gilded 
and  illuminated  parchment  missal,  and  the  cross 
of  the  same  pope.  6th.  A  life-size  statue  of 
Abraham,  which  supported  the  cathedral  pulpit, 
and  being  mistaken  by  the  populace  for  a  figure 
18 


of  Huss,  was  grievously  defaced.  7th.  An  old 
Germanic  urn,  with  a  patera,  and  images  of  idols. 
8th.  A  stone  idol  of  great  antiquity,  worshipped, 
it  may  be,  by  one  of  the  old  Teutonic  tribes.  9th. 
Small  statues  of  stone  and  metal  discovered  in  the 
neighbourhood.  10th.  A  collection  of  painted 
glass.  11th.  A  collection  of  various  sculptured 
objects.  12th.  A  collection  of  indifferent  oil 
paintings.  13th.  A  well-executed  view  upon 
the  lake. 

Another  memorial  of  the  martyrs  is  the  field 
outside  the  town,  in  the  suburb  of  Briihl,  where 
they  passed  through  their  fiery  trial.  Eude  images 
of  Huss  and  Jerome,  moulded  in  clay  excavated 
from  this  very  spot,  are  here  offered  for  sale  to  the 
much-enduring  stranger. 

The  ancient  bishopric  of  Constanz,  occupied 
in  due  succession  by  eighty-seven  bishops,  was 
abolished  in  1802.  Happily,  the  noble  cathedral 
in  which  they  played  their  part  has  survived  the 
ravages  of  time,  the  storms  of  war,  and  the  changes 
from  the  old  order  to  the  new,  of  which  Constanz 
has  witnessed  so  many.  It  is  true  that  it  has 
suffered  from  the  "pestilent  heresy"  of  "restora- 
tion ;"  but  its  main  features  remain  unaltered. 

It  was  begun  in  1052  ;  but  the  work  of  com- 
pletion was  very  protracted,  and  occupied  from 
early  in  the  thirteenth  to  the  middle  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  The  ground  plan  is  cruciform, 
with  very  beautiful  open-work  turrets  at  the  west 
end.  The  tower,  rebuilt  in  1511,  after  the  de- 
struction of  an  earlier  one  by  fire,  was  crowned 
(1850-1857)  by  an  open  spire  of  limestone,  under 
the  direction  of  Herbsch.  The  doors  of  the  main 
portal  are  of  oak,  and  quaintly  carved  with  a 
representation  of  our  Lord's  passion,  executed  in 
1470  by  one  Simon  Baider.  The  workmanship 
is  admirable  for  boldness  and  decision.  The  nave 
is  supported  by  sixteen  pillars,  each  of  a  single 
block,  and  dates  from  the  thirteenth  century. 
Here,  at  sixteen  paces  from  the  entrance,  you  may 
see  the  stone  on  which  Huss  stood,  while  under- 
going the  ceremonial  of  "degradation." 

In  front  of  the  high  altar  stands  the  tomb  of 
Robert  Hallam,  bishop  of  Salisbury,  who  died  at 
Constanz  on  the  4th  of  September,  1417.  He  was 
a  man  of  great  ability  and  moderation,  and  as  the 
head  of  the  English  deputation  to  the  great 
council  secured  the  confidence  of  the  Emperor 
Sigismund.  It  further  deserves  to  be  remem- 
bered that  he  alone,   or  almost  alone,    protested 


THE  CATHEDRAL  AT  CONSTANZ. 


against  the  sentence  of  death  delivered  upon  John 
Huss.  His  tomb,  as  the  workmanship  proves,  is 
of  English  brass,  and  was  probably  sent  over  from 
England  by  his  executors. 

The  organ  dates  from  1520,  but  was  restored  in 
1680  in  the  style  of  the  Renaissance. 

In  a  chapel  on  the  south  side  may  be  seen 
a  carving  of  the  Entombment  of  Christ,  by  the 
sculptor,  Hans  Morinz ;  in  a  chapel  on  the  north, 
the  tombs  of  the  Weller  family,  and  of  Bishop  Otto 
von  Sonnenberg.  In  one  to  the  left  of  the  choir 
are  some  striking  half-length  figures,  the  size  of 
life,  grouped  round  a  dying  Virgin,  sculptured  in 
sand-stone,  and  painted  ;  apparently  the  work  of  a 
fifteenth  century  sculptor.  The  elegant  winding 
staircase,  close  at  hand,  is  ornamented  with  sculp- 
tures and  statues.  In  a  chapel  to  the  east  may 
be  seen  the  tomb  of  Bishop  Otto  III.,  margrave  of 
Hochberg-Roetaln,  who  died  in  1432,  and  above  it 
an  altar  picture  on  glass  of  six  of  the  apostles.  The 
tombs  of  bishops  Burkhard  and  Henry  von  Ho  wen 
are  situated  in  the  transept. 

The  sacristy  contains  some  curious  relics ; 
an  old  painting  of  The  Crucifixion,  date  1524, 
erroneously  ascribed  to  Holbein  ;  and  the  armorial 
shields  of  all  the  prelates  who  have  occupied  the 
episcopal  throne  of  Constanz.  In  the  vestry  room 
above  it  is  shown  a  range  of  curious  cupboards, 
or  presses  of  carved  oak,  none  of  a  later  date  than 
the  fifteenth  century. 

Two  sides  of  the  ancient  cloisters,  with  their 
richly  sculptured  arches,  are  still  standing.  At- 
tached to  them  is  a  chapter-room  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  in  whose  centre  rests  a  thirteenth  century 
work,  in  the  Italian  Gothic  style,  representing  the 
Holy  Sepulchre ;  it  consists  of  an  open  rotunda, 
decorated  by  arches  resting  on  small  columns. 
Externally  are  placed,  against  the  piedroits,  certain 
finely  executed  statues,  half  human  size,  represent- 
ing the  Annunciation,  the  Birth  of  Christ,  the 
Adoration  of  the  Magi,  and,  underneath,  the  twelve 
Apostles.  In  the  interior  is  quite  a  cluster  of  sta- 
tues— an  angel,  and  the  three  holy  women  visiting 
the  tomb  of  our  Lord  ;  two  groups  of  Roman  sol- 
diers sleeping,  and  a  man  attired  in  the  dress  of  a 
physician,  seated  at  a  table,  with  two  vessels  before 
him,  in  one  of  which  he  is  stirring  some  drug  or 
potion  ;  in  his  left  hand  he  holds  a  large  round 
spoon,  on  his  head  he  wears  a  kind  of  square  cap. 
Next  comes  a  female  pointing  with  her  finger  to 
two  others,  who  carry  a  couple  of  vases.     All  these 


figures,  like  those  on  the  outside  of  the  structure, 
are  half  the  size  of  nature. 

There  is  little  else  to  be  seen  in  Constanz.  St. 
Stephen's  church,  however,  is  not  without  interest. 
It  was  founded  in  the  ninth  century,  rebuilt  in  the 
thirteenth,  and  completed  in  the  fifteenth  by  Bishop 
Otto  III.  von  Hochberg.  It  contains  some  good 
ancient  coloured  glass,  and  some  new  (in  the  choir) 
by  Dr.  Stanz,  of  Berne.  The  high  altar-piece  is 
by  Memberger.  The  sculpture  of  the  choir,  of  the 
door  of  the  sacristy,  and  the  tomb  of  his  own  wife, 
is  by  Hans  Morinz  (1560-1610),  and  well  worthy 
of  a  careful  examination.  You  can  see  that  the 
artist  wrought  at  his  work  with  a  conscientious 
devotion  to  his  art ;  the  execution  is  everywhere 
honest,  careful,  and  vigorous. 

Some  portions  of  the  old  walls  and  towers  are 
still  extant.  The  bridge  across  the  Rhine,  which 
here  flows  from  the  Upper  into  the  Lower  Lake, 
is  roofed  over,  and  protected  by  some  military 
defences  dating  from  the  fifteenth  century.  The 
moats  may  also  be  traced  by  the  inquisitive 
stranger. 

EXCURSIONS    FROM    CONSTABZ  :     REICHENAU. 

The  Isle  of  Reichenau  is  worth  a  visit.  It  lies  in 
the  broad  part  of  the  Rhine,  where  the  river  still 
retains  something  of  a  lacustrine  character,  and 
contains  the  church  and  treasury  of  a  Benedictine 
abbey  founded  by  Charlemagne. 

The  island  is  low  but  pleasing,  and  from  its 
highest  point,  the  Hochwacht,  commands  a  fine 
view  of  the  river,  and  of  the  upper  and  lower 
lakes.  It  measures  one  league  and  a  quarter  in 
length,  and  about  half  a  league  in  breadth.  The 
principal  villages  are  Reichenau,  or  Mittelzell, 
Oberzell,  Niederzell,  and  Unterzell.  The  popula- 
tion (1500)  are  chiefly  occupied  in  the  cultivation 
of  the  vine. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  abbey  as  founded  by 
Charlemagne.  More  strictly  speaking  it  origin- 
ated in  an  ecclesiastical  colony  planted  by  St. 
Pirminius,  which  the  great  emperor  of  the  Franks 
afterwards  endowed  with  ten  towns.  It  throve 
mightily,  and  met  with  numerous  wealthy  and 
liberal  benefactors.  Thus,  Genla,  duke  of  Suabia, 
conferred  upon  it  Tuttlingen,  Wangen,  Stettin,  and 
five  and  twenty  villages.  It  obtained  from  King 
Carloman  four  towns  on  the  lake  of  Como  ;  from 
Charles  III.,  Zurxach  ;  from  Louis  the  Pious,  Alt- 
heim,  Riedlingen,  and  five  villages  ;  and  from 
19 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


Duke  Berthold  of  Suabia,  thirty  villages.  It 
must  be  confessed  that  the  monks,  if  at  all  grate- 
ful, had  good  reason  to  celebrate  masses  continually 
for  the  repose  of  the  souls  of  men  so  generous  and 
devout!  The  abbey  had  upwards  of  300  noble 
vassals,  1600  dependent  monks  and  priests,  and  of 
its  superior  it  was  proverbially  said,  that  he  could 
ride  to  Rome  and  yet  dine  and  sleep  every  day  on 
his  own  land.  Hence  came  the  present  name  of 
the  island,  Eeichenau. 

Rapid  and  astounding  as  was  the  rise  of  this  cele- 
brated foundation,  not  less  rapid  and  astounding 
was  its  fall.  In  the  tenth  century  it  had  already 
begun  to  decline.  In  1175  its  annual  revenue  had 
sunk  from  60,000  to  1600  florins ;  in  1384  it  had 
decreased  to  three  silver  marks;  and  the  abbot 
was  so  poor  that,  instead  of  entertaining  princes 
and  nobles  at  his  table  like  his  predecessors,  he 
was  compelled  to  ride  on  his  white  pony,  every 
morning  and  evening,  to  sit  at  the  frugal  board  of 
the  priest  of  Niederzell.  It  was  the  old  story; 
profusion  and  ostentation  and  luxurious  living 
had  wasted  the  resources  of  the  monastery,  and 
as  might  have  been  anticipated,  the  result  was, 
that  those  ecclesiastics  who  had  kept  a  court 
equalling  a  king's  in  splendour,  were  succeeded 
by  others,  who  lived  upon  the  scanty  alms  of  the 
charitable. 

In  the  course  of  time  the  abbey  was  incorpo- 
rated with  the  see  of  Constanz  (1541),  whose 
bishops  assumed  the  title  of  abbots  of  Reichenau, 
and  restored  its  former  glories.  Since  1799  the 
services  of  the  church  have  been  conducted  by 
three  secular  priests. 

Of  the  various  conventual  edifices,  once  so 
celebrated  for  their  extent  and  magnificence,  the 
church  and  the  treasury,  as  already  stated,  are  all 
that  remain. 

The  church  was  built  in  806  by  Abbot  Hatto, 
but  was  thrice  destroyed.  The  tower  is  probably 
a  portion  of  Abbot  Hatto's  work,  and  is  Roman- 
esque in  style.  Here  was  buried  Charles  the  Fat, 
in  887,  as  an  inscription,  carved  in  1728,  duly 
records.  His  grave,  however,  can  no  longer  be 
recognized.  The  treasury  contains  some  remark- 
able relics,  such  as  the  silver-gilt  shrine  of  St. 
Fortunatus,  an  ivory  ciborium,  a  cope,  a  crozier, 
a  missal  of  the  tenth  century;  a  so-called  emerald, 
weighing  twenty-eight  pounds,  which  is,  however, 
only  coloured  glass ;  and  the  waterpot  used  by  our 
Lord  in  his  miracle  at  the  marriage  of  Cana — a 
20 


marble  urn  of  simple  design,  presented  to  the  con- 
vent by  Simon  Wardo,  the  general  of  Leo  the 
Byzantine  emperor. 

The  valuable  manuscripts  which  the  convent 
formerly  possessed  have  been  removed  to  the 
libraries  of  Carlsruhe  and  Heidelberg. 

At  Niederzell  the  church  has  two  small  towers 
in  the  Byzantine  style.  It  was  built  in  the  ninth 
century  by  Bishop  Egino,  of  Verona,  who  lies  buried 
here.  Persons  suffering  from  fever  were  accus- 
tomed, down  to  a  very  recent  date,  to  offer  up 
their  prayers  in  this  quaint  old  church,  and  then 
lie  down  on  the  grass  which  covers  the  good 
bishop's  grave,  in  the  hope  or  belief  their  devotion 
would  be  rewarded  by  a  cure. 

At  Oberzell  the  Byzantine  crypt  of  its  little  but 
ancient  church  is  spoken  of  as  a  remarkable  monu- 
ment in  an  architectural  point  of  view. 

Near  this  village  moulder  the  ivy-clad  rums  of 
an  ancient  castle,  that  of  Schoppeln,  which  for- 
merly belonged  to  the  abbots  of  Reichenau,  but 
was  destroyed  in  a  popular  insurrection  in  1382. 
The  abbot  Mangold,  who  was  also  bishop  of  Con- 
stanz, had  arrested  some  Constanz  fishermen  for 
casting  their  nets  within  the  limits  of  his  jurisdic- 
tion, and  had  deprived  them  of  sight  with  his  own 
hands.  The  fishermen  then  rose  in  open  revolt, 
invaded  the  island,  set  fire  to  several  farms,  and 
demolished  Schoppeln. 

THE  ISLAKD  OF  MEDJAU. 

The  island  of  Meinau,  situated  about  four  miles 
north  of  Constanz,  is  of  a  more  attractive  appear- 
ance than  that  of  Reichenau,  and  with  its  terraces 
and  vine-clad  hills,  its  groves  and  gardens,  might 
be  held  to  realize  a  poet's  dream  of  an  enchanted 
isle,  frequented  by  wood-nymphs,  and  haunted  by 
celestial  music.  "  Nature,"  says  a  topographical 
writer  who  does  not  ordinarily  grow  enthusiastic, 
"  nature  has  lent  it  every  charm  (and  lent  them 
apparently  in  perpe.tuo),  and  all  the  sweet  sunny 
visions  of  blest  isles  and  floating  gardens,  of  which 
the  poets  sing,  are  here  realized.  It  rises  from  the 
smiling  lake  in  the  form  of  terraces.  The  gently 
sloping  green  banks  are  decked  with  fruit  trees, 
gardens,  vineyards,  and  meadows ;  old  masonry 
looks  picturesquely  forth  from  the  green  foliage, 
and  the  summit  is  crowned  with  a  stately  castle, 
from  whose  terrace  a  most  splendid  view  is  afforded 
of  the  lake  and  the  surrounding  landscape.  Its 
loveliness  °;ave  rise  to  the  name  of  Maien-aue,  or 


THE  LEGEND  OF  PETER'S  HOUSE. 


'  May-meadow.' "  It  is  connected  with  the  main- 
land by  a  wooden  bridge,  630  paces  long,  and  by 
the  bridge  belonging  to  the  railway.  Its  circum- 
ference is  estimated  at  forty-three  miles. 

Anciently  the  island  belonged  to  the  barons  of 
Langenstein,  and  they  erected  a  castle  on  it,  which, 
with  the  island,  was  handed  over  to  the  Teutonic 
order,  in  1282,  by  Arnold  von  Langenstein  and 
his  four  sons,  the  five  chivalrous  knights  having 
taken  upon  themselves  the  Teutonic  vows.  A 
commandery  was  then  established  here,  and  Herz 
von  Langenstein,  one  of  Arnold's  sons,  was  the 
first  of  a  series  of  sixty-five  "  commanders,"  who 
maintained  the  repute  of  the  order  in  this  beautiful 
island.  He  seems  to  have  been  the  beau-ideal  of 
a  knight ;  not  only  a  warrior  but  a  poet,  for  a  col- 
lection of  his  poems  has  been  discovered — one  of 
which,  dated  1293,  and  devoted  to  a  glorification 
of  the  life  of  St.  Martina,  consists  of  30,000  verses. 
We  may  be  permitted  to  hope  he  did  not  compel 
his  knights  to  listen  to  their  recital. 

On  the  11th  of  February,  1647,  the  Swedes, 
under  their  great  general,  Wrangel,  landed  in  the 
island  a  detachment  of  1000  musketeers,  with  four 
cannon,  and  drove  out  the  imperialist  garrison.  It 
is  said  that  they  found  a  great  booty  here,  valued 
at  5,000,000  florins.  When  the  Swedish  army, 
and  the  French  under  Turenne,  retired  from  the 
shores  of  the  lake,  the  imperialists  made  a  bold 
attempt  to  recover  Meinau;  but  the  attack  was 
defeated  by  the  Swedes,  who  held  possession  of 
the  island  until  September  30,  1648,  when  they 
evacuated  it  in  compliance  with  the  provisions  of 
the  treaty  of  Westphalia. 

In  1805  the  island  was  annexed  to  the  grand 
duchy  of  Baden.  Afterwards  it  was  sold  to  a 
natural  son  of  Prince  Esterhazy,  who  in  his  turn 
sold  it  in  1839  to  the  Countess  von  Langenstein, 
the  morganatic  wife  of  the  Grand  Duke  Louis  of 
Baden.  In  1854  it  was  purchased  by  Prince 
Frederick,  regent  of  Baden.  The  castle  is  an 
eighteenth  century  building,  and  uninteresting. 

PETEKSHAUSEN. 

Petershausen  skirts  the  right  bank  of  the  Bhine, 
nearly  opposite  Meinau,  and  forms  a  village  suburb 
of  Constanz.  It  derives  its  name  from  the  old 
Benedictine  abbey,  Domus  Petri,  or  Peter's  House, 
and  is  inhabited  by  about  250  to  300  Catholics, 
who  depend  for  their  support  on  the  breeding  of 
cattle  and  the  cultivation  of  the  vine. 


The  founder  of  the  Domus  Petri  was  Gebhard, 
bishop  of  Constanz,  and  the  work  was  begun  in  983. 
The  following  legend  is  connected  with  it  : — 
The  bishop,  who  himself  superintended  the  erection 
of  the  abbey,  happened  on  one  occasion,  while  the 
interior  was  in  course  of  decoration,  to  be  absent. 
The  knavish  painters  seized  the  opportunity  to 
bury  their  best  colours  in  the  neighbouring  forest, 
and  on  the  bishop's  return  demanded  a  fresh 
supply  of  materials.  But  the  holy  prelate  was 
fully  equal  to  the  task  of  coping  with  dishonest 
workmen.  Endowed  with  the  gift  of  second  sight, 
or  some  faculty  not  less  useful  and  wpnderful,  he 
conducted  them  to  the  wood,  and  said,  "  Let  us 
see  if  the  grace  of  the  Lord  will  not  furnish  us 
with  what  we  require!"  Striking  his  staff  in  the 
ground  he  exclaimed,  "  Dig ! "  They  dug,  and  the 
hidden  treasures  were  revealed.  "  Now,  my  dear 
children,"  said  the  bishop,  slily  smiling,  "  let  this 
miracle  strengthen  your  energies,  and  I  pray  ye 
resume  your  work."  On  the  following  day,  how- 
ever, the  deceitful  painters  suddenly  fell  to  the 
ground  as  if  they  were  dead.  The  bishop  touched 
them  with  his  pastoral  staff  and  said,  "  I  will  not 
reward  you  by  permitting  you  to  lie  here  and  take 
your  rest.  Up,  up,  and  persevere  in  well-doing." 
The  dead  then  arose,  and  by  their  redoubled 
industry  showed  the  miraculous  character  of  the 
episcopal  exhortation. 

So,  at  length,  the  abbey  was  completed.  The 
church  was  dedicated  to  St.  Gregory,  whose  bones 
were  sent  hither  from  Rome  by  the  pontiff ;  and 
the  new  foundation  was  richly  endowed  by  its 
founder,  and  afterwards  by  Otho  III.  and  the 
Duchess  Hadewig. 

For  some  centuries  it  prospered  exceedingly, 
but  about  1489  a  cloud  came  over  its  fortunes  ; 
it  fell  into  a  wretched  poverty,  and  all  its  monks 
deserted  it,  except  John  Meek  of  Lindau,  who  in 
1518  became  abbot,  and  energetically  laboured  to 
effect  its  restoration.  When  the  people  of  Con- 
stanz embraced  the  doctrines  of  Luther,  its  then 
ruler,  Gebhard  III.,  took  to  flight,  and  the  abbey 
was  destroyed.  On  the  success  of  the  Catholic 
league,  however,  the  city  was  compelled  to  re- 
build it,  the  monks  returned,  and  it  regained  much 
of  its  ancient  prosperity.  In  1803  the  convent 
was  finally  dissolved. 

We  must  now  return  to  Rorschach,  in  order  to 
complete  our  circuit  of  the  Lake  of  Constanz,  by 
exploring  its  north-eastern  shore. 
21 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


From  Rorschach  we  may  proceed  by  rail  to 
Lindau,  passing  Bregentz. 

Lindau,  with  the  villages  of  Nonnenhorn  and 
Wassenburg,  constitutes  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
Bavarian  territory  on  the  shore  of  the  lake.  It  is 
the  terminus  of  the  Bavarian  Railway,  and  distant 
about  five  hours'  journey  from  Augsburg.  Built 
on  three  islands,  it  has  sometimes  been  called  the 
"  Bavarian  Venice,"  but  the  points  of  resemblance 
are  not  visible  to  the  unprejudiced  eye  of  the 
stranger.  It  contains  about  4000  inhabitants,  has 
two  good  inns,  is  quiet  and  orderly,  and  wholly 
destitute  of  animation,  except  when  the  pilgrim- 
ages to  Einsiedeln  commence.  It  has  a  consider- 
able transit  trade  and  a  good  fishery,  which  might 
easily  be  made  better  if  the  Lindauers  were  less 
inclined  to  take  tilings  easily. 

Lindau  is  agreeably  situated:  exactly  opposite 
it  may  be  seen  the  broad  extensive  valley  through 
which  the  Rhine  descending  from  the  Rhaetian 
Alps,  hurries  to  the  lake.  The  rocky  mountain 
chain  of  Switzerland  runs  along  the  whole  of  the 
right  side  of  this  valley  as  far  as  the  lake,  and  then, 
extending  along  the  same  in  a  chain  of  fertile 
hills,  forms  its  southern  shore.  The  left  side  of 
the  valley  is  bounded  by  the  sterile  summits  of  the 
Vorarlberg,  which,  continuing  towards  the  east, 
terminate  in  a  range  of  steep  and  lofty  cliffs, 
washed  by  the  dark-blue  waters  of  the  Boden 
See.  All  that  portion  of  the  latter  which  lies  to 
the  east  of  Lindau  forms  a  fine  large  oval  basin, 
two  leagues  wide,  and  nearly  as  long,  at  whose 
western  extremity  stands  the  little  town  of  Bre- 
gentz. Towards  the  west  and  north  the  lake  stretches 
out  into  a  bright  and  magnificent  expanse.  From 
Lindau  to  Constanz,  as  the  crow  flies,  measures 
thirty-three  miles,  and  to  the  end  of  the  Upper 
Lake,  forty-eight  miles.  The  western  and  northern 
shores,  though  much  indented,  preserve  on  the  whole 
a  straight  line,  and  the  eye  is  therefore  enabled  to 
range  unobstructed  over  a  sheet  of  water,  whose 
area  is  not  less  than  forty  German  square  miles. 
When  the  atmosphere  is  not  too  transparent,  the 
views  are  bounded  only  by  the  horizon,  and  it  is 
easy  to  understand  why  the  lake  was  once  called 
the  Suabian  Sea. 

The  three  islands  on  which  our  Bavarian  Venice 
takes  its  stand  boast  of  an  area  of  102  acres.     The 
foremost  is  the  largest,  and  communicates  with  the 
22 


mainland  by  a  timber  bridge,  290  paces  in  length. 
The  principal  part  of  the  town  is  erected  on  this 
island;  the  second,  connected  with  it  by  draw- 
bridges, is  given  over  to  fishermen  and  vine- 
growers.  The  third,  called  the  Burg,  is  linked 
to  Lindau  by  a  stone  bridge.  It  contains  the  old 
church  of  St.  James,  and  some  remains  of  ancient 
walls,  supposed  to  be  Roman.  The  town  itself  is 
strongly  fortified. 

In  its  earlier  history  the  great  enemy  of  Lindau 
seems  to  have  been  fire,  and  we  read  of  conflagra- 
tions destroying  it  in  948,  1264,  1339,  and  1347. 
Its  position,  however,  was  admirably  adapted  for 
defence  in  time  of  war,  and  commercial  enterprise 
in  time  of  peace.  Thus,  it  rose  again  from  its  ashes 
with  unabated  vigour,  and  in  1496  had  acquired 
so  much  importance  that  the  Emperor  Maximilian 
I.  selected  it  as  the  seat  of  the  Imperial  Diet.  It 
may  further  be  mentioned,  that  it  was  one  of  the 
first  towns  which  embraced  the  doctrines  of  Luther; 
with  the  cities  of  Constanz,  Strasburg,  and  Mem- 
mingen,  it  was  represented  at  Schmalkalden  when 
the  great  Protestant  League  was  formed,  and  sub- 
scribed to  the  famous  Confession  of  Augsburg. 

When,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  a  crusade  was  preached  against  the  German 
Protestants,  the  gallant  burghers  of  Lindau  pre- 
pared to  defend  their  principles  with  the  sword. 
They  fortified  their  town,  under  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  count  of  Solms,  but  were  unable  to 
resist  the  overwhelming  force  sent  against  them 
by  the  emperor;  and  as  a  punishment  for  their 
disaffection  a  garrison  was  quartered  upon  them 
for  twenty  years. 

In  1647  Lindau  was  unsuccessfully  besieged  by 
the  Swedes  under  Wrangel.  After  the  French 
Revolution  it  several  times  changed  masters;  but, 
by  the  Peace  of  Presburg  in  1806,  was  finally 
given  to  Bavaria,  to  which  it  still  belongs. 

Its  public  buildings  are  unimportant.  St.  Mary's 
church  formerly  belonged  to  the  nunnery  of  Lin- 
dau, which  consisted  of  an  abbess  and  twelve  nuns, 
all  of  noble  family.  The  abbess  possessed  a  singular 
privilege;  namely,  she  was  allowed  to  rescue  a 
criminal  from  the  gallcrws  by  cutting  the  rope  from 
his  neck  with  her  own  hands.  "  This  act  of  mercy 
took  place  at  the  corner  of  the  so-called  'Kerwatzen ; ' 
the  knife  destined  to  sever  the  cord  was  borne  after 
the  abbess  in  solemn  procession  on  a  silver  salver. 
The  individual  delivered  from  the  executioner  was 
then  regaled  in   the  convent,  and  the  rope  tied 


FROM  MARSBURG  TO  UEBERLINGEN. 


about  his  middle,  to  remind  him  of  his  fortunate 
escape.  Each  abbess  exercised  the  privilege  once 
only;  it  was  actually  carried  into  effect  in  the  years 
1578,  1615,  1692,  and  as  late  as  1780." 

In  Trinity  church,  which  once  belonged  to 
the  Franciscans,  but  has  been  disused  for  many 
years,  the  town  library  is  preserved.  It  contains 
two  manuscript  chronicles  of  the  town,  some  black- 
letter  bibles,  block-books,  and  interesting  ancient 
MSS.    The  Lutheran  church  is  of  great  antiquity. 

From  Lindau  we  proceed  to  Friedrichshafen, 
the  terminus  of  the  Stuttgard  and  Ulm  Railway. 
Langenargen  and  Friedrichshafen  are  in  the  lake 
territory  of  Wiirtemburg ;  the  former  a  small  market 
town,  which  formerly  belonged  to  the  Counts  de 
Montfort,  and  contains  the  ruins  of  a  strong  castle, 
built  on  a  jutting  peninsula  by  Count  William  in 
1332;  the  latter  a  busy  and  thriving  port,  with 
a  harbour  constructed  by  Frederick,  king  of 
Wiirtemburg.  The  imperial  town  of  Buchhorn, 
to  the  north-west,  and  the  convent  of  Hofen,  now 
converted  into  a  royal  chateau,  are  situated  within 
its  boundaries,  and  are  connected  by  a  long  street 
which  skirts  the  shore  of  the  lake.  The  views 
from  the  palace  are  very  beautiful  and  extensive. 

From  1632  to  1634  Buchhorn  was  occupied  by 
the  Swedes  under  General  Horn,  who  successfully 
resisted  an  imperialist  attack,  delivered  both  by 
land  and  water. 


Soon  after  entering  the  Baden  territory  we 
reach  the  ancient  town  of  Marsburg,  clustering 
on  the  slope  of  a  considerable  hill,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  castle  which  crowns  the  summit.  It 
is  surrounded  by  vineyards  and  orchards,  and  its  in- 
habitants deal  in  wine,  fruit,  cider,  corn,  and  fish. 
Its  history  is  crowded  with  episodes  of  strife  and 
turbulence,  so  that  one  would  be  tempted  to  be- 
lieve its  burghers  lived  in  armour,  and  slept  with 
sword  and  crossbow  by  their  side.  Its  inhabitants 
evinced  a  disposition,  at  an  early  date,  to  embrace 
Lutheran  opinions  ;  and  by  way  of  warning  the 
bishop  of  Constanz  burnt  an  heretical  priest  here, 
on  the  10th  of  May,  1527.  John  Hiiyli,  the  victim, 
died  with  a  courage  which  the  fear  of  torture  and 
death  could  not  shake.  Having  arrived  at  the 
place  of  execution,  he  publicly  thanked  the  bishop 
for  the  indulgence  shown  to  him  during  his 
imprisonment.  As  the  pile  was  lighted,  he  ex- 
claimed, "Alas,  my  good  people,  may  God  forgive 


ye,  for  ye  know  not  what  ye  do  1"  And  while 
the  flames  wreathed  around  him,  he  continued  to 
sing  aloud,  "Gloria  in  excel  sis  Deo  !  Te  Deum 
laudamus  !"  His  death  did  not  arrest  the  spread 
of  his  opinions ;  the  cause  for  which  he  died 
thenceforward  progressed  rapidly  in  Constanz  and 
Lindau. 

The  old  castle  of  Marsburg  is  an  interesting 
specimen  of  mediaeval  military  architecture.  The 
main  building,  flanked  by  four  circular  turrets, 
was  erected  in  1508  by  Hugo  von  Breitenlanden- 
burg,  bishop  of  Constanz.  The  outer  wall  is  more 
ancient,  and  probably  of  Frankish  architecture. 
A  new  castle,  separated  from  the  old  by  an  arti- 
ficial ravine,  was  built  by  Bishop  Antony  von 
Siggingen  of  Hohenburg,  and  continued  to  be 
occupied  as  a  residence  by  the  prelates  of  Constanz 
until  their  see  was  suppressed.  It  commands  a 
magnificent  prospect  from  its  stately  terrace. 

In  the  cemetery  chapel  of  Marsburg  lies  the 
dust  of  that  extraordinary  man,  half-enthusiast, 
half-impostor — Antony  von  Mesmer,  the  inventor 
of  Mesmerism.  He  was  born  in  1734  at  Itznang, 
on  the  Lower  Lake,  and  died  at  Marsburg  in 
1815.  His  monument  was  erected  at  the  cost  of 
the  Society  of  Naturalists  of  Berlin. 

TJEBKRLINGEN. 

Passing  New  Bcrnau  and  its  picturesque  chapel, 
which  lies  embowered  in  vineyards,  and  the  chateau 
of  Maurach,  we  arrive  at  the  ancient  imperial  town 
of  Ueberlingen,  situated  on  a  creek  or  narrow  bay 
of  the  lake,  which  is  named  after  it  the  Ueber- 
lingen See,  or  Lake  of  Ueberlingen.  "  The  place 
has  a  venerable  appearance,  looking  precisely  as 
it  did  after  its  recovery  from  the  ravages  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  It  is  situated  close  to  the  lake,  which  is 
here  very  deep,  on  a  rocky  soil,  surrounded  by 
vineyards  and  corn-fields;  it  still  boasts  of  walls 
and  moats,  has  eight  gates,  sixteen  towers,  an  old 
minster,  and  four  other  churches.  It  is  particularly 
animated  in  the  suburb,  where  there  are  many 
fishermen's  cottages.  A  considerable  corn  market 
is  held  here  every  week." 

The  following  summary  of  events  is  borrowed 
from  Dr.  Gaspey: — 

As  early  as  the  commencement  of  the  seventh 

century  the  place  (then  called  Ibriungae,  not  being 

mentioned  as  Ueberlingen  till  1257)  was  a  central 

point  of  the  Frankish  dominion,  and  a  nursery  of 

23 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


Christianity.  Gunzo,  a  Christian  Frankish  duke 
of  Allemannia,  had  his  seat  here.  Frideburg,  the 
beautiful  and  only  daughter  of  the  duke,  was  the 
betrothedof  theFrankish  king Sigebert,  Theodoric's 
son ;  she  was  smitten,  however,  with  severe  illness, 
so  that  her  father  and  all  the  people  believed  her 
possessed  of  an  evil  spirit.  She  was  restored  by 
the  prayers  of  St.  Gallus,  who,  at  her  desire,  was 
fetched  from  the  wilderness,  but  had  at  first 
refused  to  obey  the  mandate  of  the  prince,  and  had 
fled  into  the  valley  of  the  Rhine.  According  to 
an  old  tradition,  the  evil  spirit  departed  from  Fride- 
burg in  the  form  of  a  black  raven,  which  flew  out  of 
her  mouth.  The  duke,  grateful  for  his  assistance, 
was  desirous  of  conferring  on  him  the  episcopal 
dignity,  the  see  of  Constanz  being  just  then  vacant; 
St.  Gallus,  however,  declined  the  proffered  favour, 
and  desired  it  might  be  awarded  to  the  dean  of 
Juaradaves,  named  John,  who  had  been  instructed 
by  him  in  the  word  of  God. 

In  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  when 
the  country  was  devastated  by  the  great  plague  of 
the  so-called  "Black  Death,"  and  certain  zealots 
wandered  from  place  to  place,  pursuing  the  Jews 
with  fire  and  sword,  many  of  the  Hebrew  per- 
suasion were  also  sacrificed  here.  The  mutilated 
corpse  of  a  boy  who  had  been  missed  by  his  parents 
was  found  in  a  brook;  as  the  body  was  borne  past 
the  houses  of  the  Jews  the  wounds  broke  out 
afresh.  In  accordance  with  the  old  superstition 
that  the  wounds  of  a  murdered  man  bled  in  the 
presence  of  his  murderer,  this  circumstance  was 
held  to  be  a  satisfactory  proof  of  their  guilt. 
Under  the  pretence  of  rescuing  them,  the  terrified 
Jews  were  removed  to  a  tall  stone  house,  in  the 
lower  story  of  which  a  quantity  of  faggots  had 
been  collected.  As  soon  as  the  victims,  over  300 
in  number,  had  been  enticed  into  this  supposed  re- 
treat, the  faggots  were  lighted.  The  hapless  Jews 
were  driven  by  the  flames  from  story  to  story, 
and,  at  last,  got  out  upon  the  roof.  But  there  was 
no  chance  of  escape.  The  whole  house  was  con- 
sumed, and  with  it  every  living  creature.  In  their 
desperation,  the  Jews  hurled  down  knives  and 
stones  and  burning  rafters  on  the  crowd  of  per- 
secutors who  stood  below  and  mocked  at  their 
agonies;  some  precipitated  themselves  from  the 
windows,  but  were  quickly  seized  and  massacred. 

As  a  reward  for  its  heroic  conduct  in  the  Pea- 
sants' War,  Charles  V.  bestowed  upon  it   many 


privileges.  It  suffered  greatly  during  the  Thirty 
Years'  War;  was  besieged  by  the  Swedes  in  1634, 
but  forced  them  to  retire.  Five  years  later  it  was 
attacked  by  the  Bavarians,  and  after  an  obstinate 
resistance  compelled  to  capitulate.  In  1802 
Ueberlingen  was  attached  to  the  grand  duchy 
of  Baden. 

The  only  public  edifice  in  the  town  worthy  of 
notice  is  the  Minster,  or  Cathedral,  which  presents 
some  Gothic  features,  and  whose  interior  is  both 
spacious  and  majestic.  The  tower  is  upwards  of 
200  feet  in  height. 

The  mineral  springs  of  Ueberlingen  seem,  of  late 
years,  to  have  risen  in  repute. 

The  northern  section  of  the  Lake  of  Constanz 
is  divided  into  two  basins,  as  a  glance  at  a  map 
will  show  the  reader,  by  a  long  narrow  peninsula 
jutting  out  from  the  mainland  in  a  south-westerly 
direction,  and  terminating  opposite  Constanz.  Here, 
at  its  extremity,  is  situated  the  suburb-village  of 
Petershausen,  connected  with  Constanz  and  the  left 
shore  of  the  lake  by  the  bridge  of  the  Strasburg 
Railway.  The  island  of  Meinau,  already  described, 
lies  between  this  peninsula  and  the  right  shore  of 
the  lake;  that  of  Reichenau,  between  the  penin- 
sula and  the  left  shore  of  the  lake,  in  the  north- 
western basin  (or  Unter  See),  which  strikes  inland 
as  far  as  Rudolfzell. 

In  our  preceding  descriptions  we  have  been  as 
brief  as  was  consistent  with  our  duty  to  the  reader, 
because  the  upper  course  of  the  Rhine,  however 
beautiful  may  be  its  scenery,  is  not  much  visited 
by  the  British  tourist;  nor  has  it  proved  of  any 
great  strategic  importance  in  the  principal  Euro- 
pean wars.  Moreover,  with  the  exception  of  Con- 
stanz, we  have  met  with  no  city  of  eminent 
historical  importance,  nor  with  any  of  those  ex- 
quisite landscapes  which  song  and  fable  have 
endowed  with  undying  attractions.  But  now  we 
enter  upon  "  hallowed  ground."  The  river  whose 
descending  wave  we  accompany  will  carry  us  past 
cities  and  towns  indissolubly  associated  with  the 
great  men  and  deeds  of  bygone  times,  and  with  the 
stirring  events  of  the  present  epoch;  as  well  as 
through  scenes  of  the  highest  interest  and  the 
most  admirable  beauty.  We  must  proceed,  there- 
fore, at  a  slower  pace  ;  but  not,  we  trust,  to  the 
dissatisfaction  of  the  reader,  who  will  find  food 
for  meditation  and  objects  of  curiosity  abundantly 
supplied  in  every  page. 


24 


CHAPTER      II. 


THE  RHINE,  FROM  CONSTANZ  TO  STRASBURG. 


Backward,  in  rapid  evanescence,  wheels 

The  venerable  pagean:ry  of  Time, 

Each  beetling  rampart,  and  each  town  sublims, 

And  what  the  dell  unwillingly  reveals 

Of  lurking  cloistral  arch,  through  trees  espie  1 

Near  the  bright  river's  edge. —  Wordsworth. 


RIGHT   BANK   OF   THE    RTVER    TO    SCHAFFHAUSEN. 

The  Rhine  issues  from  the  Boden  See  in  a 
westerly  direction,  between  the  towns  of  Stein,  on 
the  right  bank,  and  Steckhorn,  on  the  left. 

Stein,  on  the  right  bank,  is  in  German  territory, 
and  picturesquely  situated  among  vine-clad  hills. 
A  wooden  bridge,  forty-four  metres  in  length,  con- 
nects it  with  a  suburb  on  the  left  bank.  It  contains 
a  population  of  1500. 

In  the  eighth  century  it  was  already  a  consider- 
able village.  In  945  it  was  raised  to  the  rank  and 
privileges  of  a  town  by  Duke  Burckhardt  II.,  of 
Suabia;  and  in  1005  a  further  impetus  was  given 
to  its  prosperity  by  the  removal  hither  of  the 
Benedictine  abbey  of  St.  George,  from  Hohentwiel. 
The  barons  of  Klingen,  lords  of  the  abbey,  gra- 
dually crept  into  possession  of  the  town  ;  one 
moiety  of  which,  in  1359,  they  sold  to  the  duke 
of  Austriaf  and  receiving  it  again  as  a  fief  in  1415, 
sold  it  a  second  time,  with  the  other  moiety,  to 
the  barons  of  Klingenberg.  Prom  the  latter  the 
town  succeeded  in  purchasing  its  freedom,  in  1459, 
for  1500  florins,  and  it  then  entered  into  an  alli- 
ance offensive  and  defensive  with  the  towns  of 
Zurich  and  Schaffhausen.  In  1484  its  heavy 
debts,  and  the  exactions  of  the  abbot  of  St.  George, 
compelled  it  to  place  itself  under  the  protection  of 
Zurich,  then  a  powerful  and  influential  city;  and 
so  it  remained  until  1798,  when  it  was  formally 
incorporated  with  the  canton  of  Schaffhausen. 
The  abbey  of  St.  George  had  previously  been  sup- 
pressed, having  fallen  before  the  sweeping  whirl- 
wind of  the  Reformation. 

The  artist  will  find  in  the  town  many  old  houses 
well  worth  a  place  in  his  sketch-book,  such  as  the 
Red  Ox  and  the  White  Eagle.  Near  the  bridge  is 
25 


a  mansion  of  venerable  antiquity,  bearing  the  sign 
"  Zum  Klu,"  and  reputed  to  have  been  formerly 
the  house  of  assembly  for  the  nobles.  It  is 
enriched  with  some  very  fine  specimens  of  the 
best  painted  glass,  perfectly  wonderful  in  their 
depth  and  glow  of  colour.  In  the  town  hall  hangs 
the  portrait  of  a  citizen  of  Stein,  Rudolph  Schydt, 
Baron  von  Schwarzenhorn,  born  in  1590,  who  after 
having  been  carried  into  slavery  by  the  Turks, 
was,  by  a  strange  revolution  of  the  wheel  of 
fortune,  to  become  Austrian  ambassador  at  the 
Turkish  court.  The  large  and  profusely  orna- 
mented silver  goblet  is  shown  which  he  presented 
to  his  native  town,  and  which,  on  the  occasion  of 
a  wedding,  figures  always  among  the  decorations 
of  the  feast. 

In  the  old  abbey  of  St.  George  the  visitor  will 
find  a  really  noble  hall,  profusely  ornamented  with 
quaint  frescoes  and  some  good  wood-carving. 

On  the  rocky  height  above  the  town  stands 
what  time  has  left  of  the  ancient  castle  of  Hohen- 
klingen,  or  the  Steiner  Klinge.  To  the  family 
which  formerly  occupied  this  fortress  belonged 
Walter  von  Klingen,  a  minnesinger  of  great  cele- 
brity, and  the  friend  of  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg, 
whose  future  greatness  he  predicted.  He  lies 
interred,  with  Iris  three  daughters,  near  Bale, 
in  the  convent  of  Klingenthal,  which  was  founded 
by  his  pious  generosity.  From  the  topmost  roof 
of  Hohenklingen  was  precipitated  the  burgomaster 
Ezweiler,  in  1758,  for  having  treacherously  plotted 
to  deliver  up  the  town  to  the  Austrians. 

About  three  miles  to  the  east,  at  an  elevation 
of  650  feet  above  the  Rhine,  and  on  the  southern 
slope  of  the  Schienenberg,  are  situated  the  quarries 
of  ffihningen,  remarkable  for  their  abundant  store 
of  fossil  remains  of  terrestrial  and  fresh-water  ani- 
d 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


mals,  as  well  as  plants,  discovered  in  their  marl 
and  limestone  rocks.  The  most  curious  discovery 
was  that  of  a  fossil  fox,  made  by  Sir  Koderick  Mur- 
chison.  The  strata  lie  immediately  above  the 
formation  called  Molasse,  and  in  their  organic 
contents  differ  from  all  fresh-water  beds  previously 
discovered. 

Continuing  our  oourse  along  the  left  bank*  of 
the  river  we  next  reach  Hemmishofen,  lying  in  a 
pleasant  gap  or  hollow  between  the  hills.  Then 
we  come  to  the  mouth  of  the  little  river  Biber, 
which  winds  past  the  cMteau  of  Eamson,  and  in 
the  shadow  of  luxuriant  "  beechen  groves  "  make 
our  way  to  Gailingen,  a  hamlet  embowered  among 
vines,  and  chiefly  inhabited  by  Jews.  Near  this 
point  the  French  army,  on  the  1st  of  May,  1800, 
effected  that  passage  of  the  Rhine  which  enabled 
Moreau  to  gain  his  great  victory  of  Hohenlinden. 

Passing  through  the  glades  of  the  Schaschenwald 
we  next  arrive  at  Biisingen ;  and  soon  afterwards, 
at  Paradies,  a  nunnery  of  the  order  of  St.  Clara 
(Clarisses),  founded  in  1214  at  Constanz,  and 
thence  transferred  to  its  present  site.  In  the 
neighbouring  marshes  many  rare  plants  are  found. 

The  imperial  army,  under  the  archduke  Charles, 
crossed  the  Rhine  at  Paradies  in  1799. 

LEFT   BANK   OF   THE    RIVER   TO    SCHAFFHAUSEN. 

On  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  after  leaving 
Constanz,  the  first  point  of  interest  at  which  the 
traveller  arrives  is  Gottlieben,  and  here  he  will 
regard  the  hoary  castle  with  curious  eyes,  from  its 
imperishable  associations.  It  was  the  temporary 
prison  in  1414  of  John  Huss  and  Jerome  of 
Prague,  who  were  confined  in  its  dungeons,  in 
gross  violation  of  the  imperial  safe-conduct,  at  the 
instigation  of  Pope  John  XXII.  By  a  strange 
turn  of  fortune,  the  latter,  a  few  months  later,  was 
himself  a  prisoner  at  Gottlieben,  by  order  of  the 
Council  of  Constanz,  and  was  here  compelled  to 
sign  the  bull  by  which  he  virtually  abdicated  the 
papal  throne.  In  1454  Felix  Hammerlin,  the 
canon  of  Zurich,  better  known  by  his  Latinized 
name  of  Malleolus,  the  most  learned  scholar  and 
generous  philanthropist  which  Switzerland  in  the 
fifteenth  century  could  boast  of,  was  also  im- 
prisoned here.  He  was  afterwards  removed  to  the 
convent  of  Luzern,  where  he  was  buried  alive. 

*  The  tourist  may  proceed  from  Constanz  to  Schaffhausen  by  the 
Baden  Railway,  in  which  case  he  loses  sight  of  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  Rhine  j  or  he  may  descend  the  river  by  steamboat  (three  hours). 
The  railway  station  for  the  Falls  of  the  Rhine  is  Neuhausen. 

26 


During  the  siege  of  Constanz,  in  1633,  the 
Swedish  general,  Horn,  established  here  his  head- 
quarters. The  castle  was  purchased  in  1837  by 
Prince  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte — now  Napoleon 
III. — who  demolished  a  part  of  it,  and  recon- 
structed it  on  a  more  extensive  scale. 

The  Rhine  now  broadens  into  the  north-western 
section  of  Lake  Constanz — an  ample  basin,  known 
as  the  Zeller  See  north  of  Reichenau,  and  the 
Unter  See  south  of  that  island.  The  shores  of 
the  ZeUer  See  are  studded  with  several  picturesquely 
situated  villages — Heyne,  Allensbach,  Markel- 
fingen,  Rudolfzell  (already  mentioned),  Moos, 
Itznang,  Weiler,  Horn,  and  Gaienhofen.  The 
Baden  Railway  skirts  its  north-western  shore  from 
Rudolfzell  to  Petershausen,  where,  as  before  stated, 
it  crosses  the  Rhine  and  enters  Constanz. 

On  the  left  or  southern  shore,  our  exploration 
brings  us  to  Ermatingen,  a  small  town  of  1500  in- 
habitants— agriculturists,  traders,  and  fishermen — 
dominated  by  the  castles  of  Hind  and  Wolfsberg, 
the  latter  belonging  to  an  English  family. 

The  chateau  of  Arenenberg  (formery  Narren- 
berg)  we  regard  with  peculiar  interest  as  the  resi- 
dence and  death-place  of  the  duchess  of  St. 
Leu,  ex-queen  of  Holland — Hortense  Beauharnais, 
daughter  of  Josephine,  and  the  mother  of  Napoleon 
III.,  who  purchased  and  restored  the  chateau  in 
1855.  The  emperor  resided  here  previous  to  his 
mock-heroic  descent  upon  Strasburg. 

In  this  neighbourhood,  to  the  south  of  the 
village  of  Maunenbach,  are  situated  the  chateau  of 
Solmstein,  built  in  the  twelfth  and  rebuilt  in  the 
fourteenth  centuries;  and  nearer  the  village,  that 
of  Eugensberg,  which  was  inhabited  for  a  time  by 
Queen  Hortense. 

The  castle  of  Sandegg,  which  belonged  to  Count 
Eugene  de  Leuchtenberg,  was  destroyed  by  fire 
in  1834. 

Passing  Berlingen,  we  next  arrive  at  Steckhorn, 
an  ancient  town  of  about  1500  inhabitants,  situ- 
ated at  the  point  where  the  Rhine  issues  from  the 
lake-like  expanse  of  the  Zeller  Zee.  The  old  castle 
has  been  converted  into  a  manufactory. 

On  a  promontory  covered  with  fruit  trees  stands 
the  Cistercian  monastery  of  Feldbach,  founded  in 
1252.  Its  chapel  contains  a  statue  of  Walter  von 
Klingen,  the  feudal  superior  of  the  lords  of  Feld- 
bach, and  a  bounteous  benefactor  to  the  abbey. 

The  chateau  of  Clansegg  is  comparatively  un- 
interesting.    Through  a  broken  and  picturesque 


GENERAL  ASPECT  OF  SOHAFFHAUSEN. 


country,  and  passing  the  chateau  of  Neufturg,  we 
proceed  to  the  village  of  Mammern,  occupying  a 
tongue  of  land  which  juts  boldly  into  the  river. 
On  the  opposite  bank  are  Wangen  and  Oehringen. 

The  chateau  of  Oberstad  has  undergone  that 
process  of  transformation  which  so  signally  marks 
the  rise  of  a  "new  order"  of  things  upon  the  ruins 
of  the  old.  It  has  been  converted,  like  that  of 
Steckhorn,  into  a  factory.  Strigen  and  Katten- 
horn  are  still  famous  for  their  vines. 

At  Eschenz  the  tourist,  if  he  have  time,  may 
reasonably  spend  a  few  hours  in  examining  the 
Roman  and  Germanic  antiquities  which  render  its 
neighbourhood  so  full  of  interest.  On  the  hills 
above  are  planted  the  chateaux  of  Frendenfels  and 
Liebenfels,  the  latter  recently  restored. 

The  channel  of  the  Rhine  has  considerably  nar- 
rowed at  Burg,  where  it  is  divided  into  two  con- 
tracted branches  by  the  small  island  of  Woerd. 
The  chapel  so  conspicuous  on  this  little  islet — 
which  was  anciently  connected  with  Burg  by  a 
Roman  bridge,  whose  piles  were  visible  as  late  as 
1766 — was  erected  in  memory  of  Sidonius,  bishop 
of  St.  Gall.  He  was  for  some  time  confined  here 
a  prisoner,  and  perished,  in  759,  the  victim  of  a 
false  accusation. 

The  small  hamlet  of  Rheinklingen  need  not 
delay  our  progress.  Diessenhofen  is  a  town  of 
1650  inhabitants.  From  1640,  when  it  was  con- 
quered by  the  Leaguers,  until  1798,  it  formed  a 
small  republic  under  the  protection  of  SchafF- 
hausen  and  the  eight  ancient  cantons  of  Switzer- 
land. The  Rhine  is  here  spanned  by  a  substantial 
bridge.  The  town  has  some  large  tanneries,  and  a 
considerable  fair,  especially  for  cattle. 

St.    Katharinenthal    is   a   Dominican   convent, 
founded  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  still  in- 
habited by  a  prioress  and  four  nuns. 
We  now  enter  the  town  of 

SCHAFFHAUSEN. 

Population,  8711.  Sixty-four  miles  from  Bale; 
twenty-nine  miles  from  Constanz.  Hotels  in  the 
town,  Falke,  Krone,  Loewe;  and  at  the  Falls, 
Schweizerhof  and  Bellevue.  On  the  left  bank, 
Schloss-hauffen,  Witzig,  and  Schiff. 

Schaffhausen,  the  chief  town  of  a  canton  of  the 
same  name,  has  a  population  of  8711  inhabitants, 
and  stands  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  at  an 
elevation  of  1270  feet  above  the  sea,  in  the  valley 
of  Durach  or  Taunerbach.  It  is  situated  just  above 
27 


the  commencement  of  the  falls  or  rapids  which 
render  the  Rhine  unnavigable  as  far  as  Basel.  An- 
ciently it  was  a  landing-place  and  customs-town, 
where  all  goods  brought  from  the  south  or  north 
had  to  be  embarked  for  conveyance  up  the  river; 
and  it  owes  its  name  to  the  boat  or  skiff-houses 
erected  for  this  purpose.  But  the  introduction  of 
railways  has  year  by  year  diminished  its  importance, 
and  it  chiefly  depends  at  present  on  its  limited 
manufactures  of  soap,  candles,  silk,  cotton,  iron ; 
its  tanneries,  potteries,  and  breweries ;  and  the 
influx  of  tourists  attracted  by  its  vicinity  to  the 
celebrated  Falls. 

Though  it  does  not  merit  a  long  visit,  yet  it 
possesses  many  features  of  interest  for  the  culti- 
vated traveller.  No  other  town  in  Switzerland — 
perhaps  none  in  Germany,  with  the  single  exception 
of  Nuremberg — has  so  faithfully  preserved  a  me- 
diaeval characterand  physiognomy.  If,  like  Pompeii, 
it  had  been  buried  under  the  ashes  of  a  volcanic 
eruption,  and  only  recently  exhumed,  it  could  not 
more  thoroughly  have  retained  the  sentiment  and 
aspect  of  antiquity.  It  is  an  old-world  place,  and 
in  passing  through  its  streets  you  feel  suddenly 
transported  back  to  the  sixteenth  century,  when 
it  was  a  city  of  influence,  wealth,  and  power. 
Many  of  its  houses  are  remarkable  for  their  antique 
architecture,  for  the  turrets  and  projecting  oriel 
windows  which  relieve  their  facades,  and  for  the 
quaint  carvings  and  mouldings  in  wood  and  stucco 
with  which  they  are  embellished.  It  is  unfortunate 
that  few  of  them  now  exhibit  any  traces  of  the 
fresco  paintings  with  which  they  were  originally 
covered;  and  the  antiquary  will  regret,  though  the 
sanitary  reformer  will  rejoice,  that  the  muncipality 
have  of  late  years  been  inspired  with  a  spirit  of 
improvement,  and  have  begun  to  widen  the 
ancient  streets  and  to  substitute  blooming  gardens 
for  grim  but  useless  fortifications.  The  wall  and 
six  turreted  gateways  of  the  town  are,  however, 
as  yet  extant,  and  will  furnish  the  artist  with 
many  picturesque  subjects  for  his  pencil.  The 
house  called  Zum  Ritter,  opposite  the  Krone 
Hotel,  is  a  "bit"  worthy  of  Prout. 

The  celebrated  wooden  bridge,  which  was  for- 
merly the  glory  of  Schaffhausen,  and  the  most 
perfect  specimen  of  that  species  of  architecture 
in  the  world,  was  burned  by  the  French,  under 
Oudinot,  in  1799,  after  their  defeat  by  the  Aus- 
trians  at  Stockach.  It  consisted  of  a  single  arch, 
365  feet  in  span,  and  was  built  by  a  carpenter 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


from  Appenzell,  named  Grubenmann.  A  model 
of  it  is  preserved  in  the  town  library  (20,000  vols.), 
which  also  contains  the  collection  of  books  made 
by  the  great  Swiss  historian,  Johannes  Mliller,  a 
native  of  Schaffhausen  (1752-1809). 

"  At  Schaffhausen,"  wrote  Montaigne,  on  passing 
through  the  town  in  1580,  "we  saw  nothing  rare; " 
and  nothing  rare  is  to  be  seen  there  to-day.  On  the 
hill  above  it,  the  Emmersberg,  however,  is  planted 
the  singular  fort  or  castle  called  Annoth  (that  is, 
ohne  Noth,  or  "  the  Needless  "),  because  it  was 
erected  in  order  to  provide  the  poor  of  the  town 
with  food.  It  was  built  in  1560.  The  walls  are 
upwards  of  eighteen  feet  thick,  and  its  vaults  are 
bomb-proof.  There  are  subterranean  passages 
under  it.  From  the  summit  of  the  tower  may  be 
enjoyed  a  prospect  of  singular  beauty  and  variety. 

Frederick  duke  of  Austria,  in  1415,  having 
assisted  Pope  John  XXIII.  in  his  escape  from 
Constanz,  provided  him  with  an  asylum  in  the 
castle  of  Schaffhausen.  To  effect  his  purpose,  he 
had  proclaimed  a  splendid  tournament  without 
the  gates  of  Constanz.  All  the  city  poured  forth 
to  the  spectacle  ;  the  streets  were  wholly  deserted. 
Pope  John,  in  the  dress  of  a  groom,  with  a  gray 
cloak,  and  a  kerchief  wrapped  closely  over  his  face, 
then  mounted  a  sorry  and  ill-accoutred  steed,  with 
a  cross-bow  on  the  pommel  of  his  saddle  (March 
20).  Unperceived  and  unchallenged  he  passed 
the  gates,  and  in  about  two  hours  reached  Erma- 
tingen.  A  boat  was  ready,  he  glided  down  the 
rapid  stream  to  Schaffhausen,  and  took  refuge  in 
the  ducal  castle. 

The  emperor  and  the  Council  of  Constanz  were 
quick  in  their  punishment  of  the  pope's  abettor 
and  assistant.  The  ban  of  the  empire,  and  the 
excommunication  of  the  council,  were  both 
launched  against  him  on  the  7th  of  April.  "  All 
his  vassals,"  says  Milman,  "  were  released  from 
their  sworn  fealty;  all  treaties,  contracts,  oaths, 
vows,  concerning  the  man  excommunicated  alike 
by  the  church  and  the  empire,  -were  declared  null 
and  void.  Whoever  could  conquer,  might  possess 
the  territory,  the  towns,  the  castles  of  the  outlaw. 
The  Swabian  princes  fell  on  his  possessions  in 
Alsace  ;  the  Swiss  Cantons  (they  only  with  some 
reluctance  to  violate  solemn  treaties)  seized  his 
hereditary  dominions,  even  Hapsburg  itself.  Be- 
fore the  month  had  expired  this  powerful  duke 
was  hardly  permitted  to  humble  himself  in  person 
before  the  emperor,  whose  insatiate  revenge  spared 
28 


nothing  that  could  abase  his  ancient  foe.  It  was 
a  suppliant  entreating  pardon  in  the  most  abject 
terms,  a  sovereign  granting  it  with  the  most  hard 
and  haughty  condescension.  Frederick  surren- 
dered all  his  lands  and  possessions  to  be  held  at 
the  will  of  the  emj:>ire,  until  he  should  deign  to 
reinvest  the  duke  with  them  under  the  most  de- 
grading tenure  of  allegiance  and  fealty.  The  pope 
then  fled  from  Schaffhausen  to  Fribourg,  and 
thence  to  Brisach  ;  but  he  was  quickly  pursued, 
overtaken,  and  thrown  into  prison  in  the  strong 
castle  of  Gottlieben." 

The  Minster,  anciently  the  abbey  of  All  Saints 
(Allerheiligen),  was  founded  in  1052,  and  com- 
pleted in  1101.  In  1753  it  was  restored,  but  with 
a  pitiful  want  of  taste.  It  retains,  however,  the 
principal  features  of  its  ancient  style,  the  Roman- 
esque, and  its  round  arches  and  massive  construc- 
tion will  interest  the  stranger.  The  arches  of  the 
nave  rest  upon  single  circular  pillars  ;  those  of  the 
central  transept  on  square  columns  of  such  solidity 
that  they  seem  intended  to  outlast  the  world. 
Prior  to  the  Reformation,  the  great  boast  of  the 
minster  was  a  colossal  figure,  called  the  "  Great 
Good  God,"  which  attracted  numerous  pilgrims. 
It  was  a  figure  of  Christ  twenty-two  feet  in  height, 
and  occupied  the  site  of  the  present  pulpit.  The 
story  runs  that  an  irreverent  jester,  boasting  that  he 
was  the  brother  of  the  Madonna  of  Einsiedeln, 
was  cast  into  prison  for  blasphemy.  On  being 
brought  next  day  before  the  magistrate,  he  said, 
"  Yes,  the  Madonna  at  Einsiedeln  is  my  sister, 
and  what  is  more,  the  Devil  at  Constanz  and  the 
Great  God  at  Schaffhausen  are  my  brothers ;  for 
my  father,  who  is  a  sculptor,  made  them  all  three, 
and  therefore  we  must  be  akin." 

The  great  bell  of  the  cathedral,  founded  in 
1486,  bears  the  celebrated  inscription  which  sug- 
gested to  Schiller  his  "  Song  of  the  Bell:" 

"  Vivos  voco,  mortuos  plango,  fulgnra  frango." 

The  Gothic  cloister  contains  numerous  white- washed 
and  plaster-daubed  monuments  of  the  magistrates 
and  principal  families  of  Schaffhausen. 

The  church  of  St.  John  is  the  largest  in  Switzer- 
land; but  its  spaciousness  is  its  sole  distinction. 
It  was  built  in  1120. 

On  the  public  promenade  near  the  casino  garden, 
a  well-executed  marble  bust  on  a  pedestal  of  gray 
marble,  which  is  enriched  with  some  bas-reliefs  in 
bronze,  perpetuates  the  memory  of  Schaffhausen's 


t=3 


MORE  ABOUT  SCHAFFHAUSEN. 


most  famous  citizen.     The  inscription  on  it  runs 
as  follows: — 

"JOHANNES      VON      MULLER, 

Von  Schaffhausen, 

Geb.  8  Jan.  1752.      Gest.  29  May,  1809. 

Nie  war  ich  von  Einer  Partie, 

Sondern  fiir  Wahrheit  unci  Recht 

Wo  ich's  erkannte." 

That  is,  "  I  was  never  of  any  particular  party, 
but  for  Truth  and  Light,  wherever  I  recognized 
them." 

Schaffhausen  is  a  place  of  great  antiquity. 
Annual  fairs  were  held  in  the  village,  which  then 
belonged  to  Count  Ebenhard  III.,  of  Nellenburg, 
as  early  as  the  eleventh  century.  It  increased  so 
rapidly,  that  in  the  next  century  it  claimed  the 
rank  and  enjoyed  the  privileges  of  a  town,  and 
was  taken  by  the  Emperor  Henry  VI.  under  his 
protection  and  that  of  the  Empire.  The  neigh- 
bouring nobility  thought  it  an  honour  to  obtain 
its  freedom,  and  Schaffhausen  having  thrown  off 
the  supremacy  of  its  abbot  was  received,  in  1246, 
among  the  number  of  free  cities.  Its  burghers 
having  been  greatly  favoured  by  the  house  of 
Hapsburg,  always  loyally  supported  it,  and  at  the 
battle  of  Morgarten  fought  bravely  in  the  Austrian 
ranks.  It  attained  the  climax  of  its  prosperity 
early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  when  it  had  a 
population  of  12,000,  and  was  the  great  com- 
mercial depot  of  Upper  Swabia.  Its  administration 
was  then  in  the  hands  of  an  elective  burgomaster, 
and  its  citizens  were  mustered  in  twelve  guilds, 
one  of  which  was  restricted  exclusively  to  persons 
of  noble  birth. 

When  Duke  Frederick  the  Penniless  was  placed 
under  the  Imperial  ban  in  1415,  for  his  share  in 
the  escape  of  Pope  John  XXIII.,  Schaffhausen 
found  itself  in  a  position  of  extreme  peril,  and  only 
escaped  the  vengeance  of  the  emperor  by  payment 
of  a  fine  of  30,000  ducats.  The  duke,  who  had 
deserted  it  in  its  difficulties,  then  attempted  to 
recover  possession  of  it ;  but  the  burghers  gallantly 
maintained  the  independence  they  had  so  dearly 
purchased.  For  this  purpose  they  concluded  an 
alliance  with  the  Swiss,  who  nobly  came  to  their 
aid  when,  in  1451,  the  Austrian  forces  under  Yon 
Hendorf  had  nearly  succeeded  in  their  investment 
of  the  town.  In  return  for  such  loyal  service, 
Schaffhausen  supported  the  League,  of  which  it 
became  a  member  in  1501,  in  its  wars  with  Bur- 
gundy and  Swabia.  Meantime,  it  continued  to 
increase  its  territory  by  buying  up  the  lands  of 
20 


the  neighbouring  nobles,  whose  profligacy  forced 
them  to  raise  money  at  any  cost. 

In  1529  Schaffhausen  declared  itself  Protestant. 
It  was  afterwards  somewhat  disturbed  by  the 
outbreaks  of  the  Anabaptists;  but  the  course  of 
its  history  ran  with  tolerable  smoothness  until 
the  European  convulsions  caused  by  the  French 
Revolution.  In  the  great  struggle  between  revo- 
lutionary France  and  Austria  it  was  ultimately 
occupied  by  both  armies;  and  from  the  7th  to  the 
10th  of  October  by  the  Russians. 

The  canton  of  which  it  is  the  capital  lies  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  occupies  a  superficial 
area  of  117  square  miles,  and  has  a  population 
of  37,000,  of  whom  34,000  are  Protestants  and 
3000  Roman  Catholics.  The  surface  is  hilly  and 
irregular,  with  many  picturesque  valleys,  one  of 
which,  the  Klettgau,  is  famous  for  its  vineyards. 
The  principal  products  are  grain,  flax,  hemp,  and 
fruits.  The  canton  contains  the  two  small  towns 
of  Neunkirch  and  Stein,  the  latter,  in  reality,  a 
suburb  of  Schaffhausen;  the  five  market  towns 
of  Unter-Hallau,  Schleitheim,  Wilchingen,  Thiiin- 
gen,  and  Ramsen ;  twenty-eight  to  thirty  villages ; 
and  about  forty  castles  and  farms. 

THE    FALLS   OF   SCHAFFHAUSEN. 

The  course  of  the  Rhine  from  the  suburb  of 
Stein  to  the  little  village  of  Obernid,  where  it 
quits  the  canton  of  Schaffhausen,  measures  about 
nine  Swiss  leagues.  In  this  distance  it  descends 
210  feet;  and  such  is  the  rapidity  of  its  current 
that  in  the  severest  winter  it  never  freezes. 
Nowhere,  in  the  whole  extent  of  its  manifold 
windings,  is  the  river  brighter  or  more  transparent; 
its  deep  blue  waters,  with  their  emerald  gleam, 
flow  onward  with  many  a  crest  of  pearly  foam, 
but  are  never  unclean  or  turbid.  The  depth 
varies,  but  between  Stein  and  the  Falls  attains  a 
maximum  of  thirty  feet. 

About  a  mile  and  a  half  below  Schaffhausen 
the  river,  for  a  distance  of  1000  feet,  whirls 
and  foams  and  eddies  over  a  succession  of  broken 
calcareous  rocks.  It  is  here  called  the  "  Lachen," 
or  "  Pools,"  from  the  countless  basins  into  which 
the  waters  are  pent  up.  On  the  left,  just  below 
these  pools,  a  huge  crag  juts  forward  like  a  pro- 
montory, and  contracts  the  channel  of  the  river 
into  a  space  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet. 
With  a  fall  of  eight  or  ten  feet,  the  current  dashes 
headlong  through  this  narrow  throat,  and  then 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


suddenly  expands  to  a  breadth  of  560  feet,  darts 
off  at  a  right  angle  towards  the  south,  and  for  half 
a  league  is  content  to  mitigate  its  fury,  and  flow 
with  some  degree  of  moderation  through  sloping 
banks  covered  with  luxuriant  vineyards.  But 
the  shores  gradually  grow  steeper,  and  draw 
nearer  together ;  and  the  river,  confined  between 
the  heights  of  Bohnenberg  on  the  one  hand,  and 
of  Kohlfurt  on  the  other,  and  broken  up  into  three 
channels  by  two  isolated  masses  of  projecting  rock, 
leaps  a  descent  of  forty-five  to  sixty  feet  with  inde- 
scribable violence  and  boundless  fury. 

In  front  of  the  Falls,  on  the  right  bank,  stands 
the  castle  of  Woerth,  and  nearly  opposite  it,  on 
the  left,  the  chateau  of  Lauffen  (i.e.,  the  "  rapids"), 
from  either  of  which  a  fine  view  of  the  "  hell  of 
waters"  may  be  obtained.  Immediately  above  the 
Falls  the  river  is  spanned  by  the  stone  bridge  of 
the  Schaff  hausen  and  Zurich  Railway,  and  the  rocks 
on  the  right  bank  are  occupied  by  some  iron-works, 
whose  hammers  are  worked  by  the  waters,  but 
whose  dingy  buildings  considerably  detract  from 
the  beauty  of  the  scene. 

Perhaps,  after  all,  the  best  point  of  view  is 
from  the  chateau  of  Lauffen.  Here  a  wooden 
gallery  projects  to  the  very  edge  of  the  rapids, 
so  that  you  can  touch  the  water  with  your  hand. 
You  see  the  emerald-tinted,  azure-shining  mass 
swirling  impetuously  downward,  almost  over  your 
head,  with  a  roar  like  the  thunder  of  battle. 
Hurled  against  the  rocks,  like  a  stone  from  a  cata- 
pult, part  rises  in  a  cloud  of  dense  and  flashing  spray, 
part  sweeps  onward  in  a  boiling  rush  of  foam, 
while  the  main  volume  of  water,  descending  into 
the  semi  circular  basin  beneath,  again  is  partly  dis- 
sipated into  foam  and  spray.  But  the  great  charm 
of  the  picture  is  its  variety.  At  times  it  is  dark  and 
dim,  and  then  the  heart  of  the  spectator  is  troubled 
with  its  infinite  suggestions  of  terror;  but  when 
the  sun  shines  it  is  lit  up  with  a  myriad  shifting 
hues,  and  brightened  into  beauty  by  an  endless 
succession  of  rainbows. 

No  ancient  or  classical  writer  mentions  these 
rapids.  The  first  author  who  refers  to  them  is  the 
Florentine  Poggio: — "  The  river,"  he  says,  "pre- 
cipitates itself  among  the  rocks  with  so  much  fury 
and  so  terrible  a  roar,  that  one  might  almost  say  it 
bewailed  its  fall." 

They  are  thus  described  by  Montaigne: — "Be- 
neath Schaffhausen  the  Rhine  encounters  a  hollow 
full  of  great  rocks,  where  it  breaks  up  into  many 
30 


streams,  and  further  on,  among  these  same  rocks, 
it  meets  with  a  declivity  about  two  pike-staves 
in  height,  where  it  makes  a  huge  leap,  foaming 
and  roaring  wildly.  This  arrests  the  progress 
of  the  boats,  and  interrupts  the  navigation  of  the 
river."  In  such  cold  and  passionless  language  does 
the  great  essayist  describe  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
scenes  in  Europe ! 

Madame  Roland  is  more  enthusiastic: — "  Figure 
to  yourself,"  she  says,  "  the  river  in  all  its  majesty 
sweeping  headlong  like  a  sea  of  leaping  foam; 
until  the  rocks,  crowned  with  verdure,  interrupt 
the  course  of  its  vast  sheet  of  water,  of  this  torrent 
of  snow.  The  irritated  river  lashes  its  inclosing 
banks  in  furious  wrath,  undermines  them,  en- 
croaches upon  them,  and  multiplies  its  falls  by  the 
gaps  it  cleaves  in  them ;  it  crashes  down  with  a  tur- 
moil which  spreads  horror  on  every  side,  with 
which  the  whole  valley  re-echoes,  and  the  shat- 
tered billows  soar  aloft  in  vapours  richly  adorned 
by  shining  rainbows." 

Dr.  Forbes  speaks  of  the  scene  as  being  singu- 
larly impressive  by  moonlight.  No  sound  is  then 
heard  but  the  one  continuous  roar  of  the  water, 
softened  by  the  distance,  and  seeming  to  fill  the 
whole  air,  like  the  moonshine  itself.  There  is 
something  both  wild  and  delightful  in  the  hour 
and  its  accompaniments.  The  mind  yields  pass- 
ively to  the  impressions  made  on  the  senses.  A 
host  of  half-formed,  vague,  and  visionary  thoughts 
crowd  into  it  at  the  same  time,  giving  rise  to  feel- 
ings at  once  tender  and  pathetic,  accompanied  with 
a  sort  of  objectless  sympathy  or  yearning  after 
something  unknown.  The  ideas  and  emotions  most 
definite  and  constant  are  those  of  Power  and 
Perpetuity,  Wonder  and  Awe. 

But  we  must  be  careful  to  avoid  exaggera- 
tion in  our  pictures  of  natural  phenomena.  The 
language  in  which  some  writers  speak  of  the 
Falls  of  the  Rhine  is  grotesque  in  its  extra- 
vagance. Dr.  Forbes  honestly  confesses  that, 
after  all,  they  impress  the  intellect  much  less 
than  the  feelings.  The  first  view,  in  truth,  is 
somewhat  disappointing,  particularly  as  to  the 
dimensions  of  the  Falls,  both  in  breadth  and 
height;  and  as  you  gaze,  you  feel  a  sort  of  critical 
calculating  spirit  rising  within  you;  but  this  is 
speedily  subdued  by  something  in  the  inner  mind 
above  reasoning,  and  you  are  overpowered  by  a 
rush  of  conflicting  emotions.  Milton  makes  his 
Adam  and  Eve  tell  us  that  they   "  feel  they  are 


THE  CRADLE  OF  THE  HAPSBURGS. 


Eng.  Miles. 

9 
12J 


happier  than  they  know:"  the  spectator  of  the 
Rhine  Falls  feels  they  are  grander  than  he  thinks. 
For  the  convenience  of  the  tourist  we  may  add 
that  the  distance  between  Constanz  and  Schaff- 
hausen  is  three  posts  and  a  quarter,  or  twenty-nine 
one-fourth  English  miles. 

Posts. 

Constanz, 

Steckhom, ] 

Diessenhofen, 1# 

Schaffhausen, £ 

From  Constanz  to  Lauffen  is  three  miles.  The 
tourist  can  take  the  railway  if  he  pleases,  stopping 
at  Dachsen  station;  or  he  may  go  down  by  boat, 
or  travel  by  road. 

DESCENT    OF    THE     RHINE     CONTINUED:    SCHAFFHAUSEN 
TO   BASEL. 

(Railway  from  Schnjfhnusen.') 
Schaffhausen  to  Waldshut, 
Waldshut  to  Lauffenburg, 
Lauffenburg  to  Sackingen,    . 
Sackingen  to  Kheinfelden,    . 
Rheinfelden  to  Basel, 10     " 

Total  distance, 64  miles. 

We  shall  first  pursue  the  right  bank  of  the 
Rhine  from  Schaffhausen  to  Basel,  and  then, 
returning  to  Schaffhausen,  follow  up  the  left 
bank. 

Below  the  Falls,  the  Rhine  "  nobly  foams  and 
flows "  through  a  fertile  and  attractive  country. 
At  first  it  takes  a  southerly  direction;  then  it 
strikes  towards  the  west  and  north ;  and,  after 
awhile,  bends  round  with  a  southerly  inclination. 
Here  two  narrow  tongues  of  land  confine  the 
channel  of  the  river,  which  is  further  impeded  by 
a  little  islet.  On  one  of  these  tongues,  or  penin- 
sulas, stands  the  small  town  of  Rheinau,  belonging 
to  the  canton  of  Zurich;  and  on  the  island,  con- 
nected with  the  mainland  by  a  substantial  stone 
bridge,  stands  the  Benedictine  abbey  of  the  same 
name,  conspicuous  with  its  towers.  It  was  founded 
in  778,  and  contains  the  marble  tomb  of  its  sup- 
posed founder,  an  Allemannic  prince,  named  Wolf- 
hard. 

Just  above  Rheinau  our  river  receives  the  Thur, 
and  just  below  it  the  Toss.  Neither  rivulet  contri- 
butes any  great  augmentation  of  volume.  A  more 
considerable  tribute  is  furnished  by  the  Aar,  which 
flows  into  the  Rhine  opposite  Waldshut,  and  near 
the  little  village  of  Coblence  (Confluentia).  The 
Aar  rises  in  the  two  huge  glaciers  of  the  Ober 
and  Unter-Aar  Gletscher,  near  the  Hospice  of  the 
Grimsel.  The  Unter-Aar  glacier  divides  into  two 
31 


branches,  the  Lauter  Aar  and  the  Finster  Aar  ; 
and  from  these  the  river  draws  its  ice-cold  emerald 
waters,  which,  swollen  by  their  transit  through 
various  Swiss  lakes,  and  by  the  junction  of  the 
Reuss  and  the  Limmat,  wind  through  valley  and 
glen  to  feed  the  great  German  river. 

It  was  near  this  point  of  junction,  and  on  the 
deltoid  tongue  of  land  between  the  Aar  and  the 
Reuss,  that  the  Romans  raised  their  mighty  fortress 
of  Vindomissa,  the  most  important  settlement  they 
had  in  Helvetia.  Its  name  is  preserved  in  the 
little  modern  village  of  Windisch,  but  notwith- 
standing the  immense  extent  of  the  Roman  settle- 
ment, which  stretched  twelve  miles  from  north  to 
south,  its  remains  are  inconsiderable.  In  the 
Barlisgrube  vestiges  of  an  amphitheatre  have  been 
discovered,  and  on  the  road  from  Brauneck-berg  to 
Konigsfelden  the  ruins  of  an  aqueduct. 

When  Christianity  was  introduced  into  Helvetia, 
Vindomissa  became  the  seat  of  the  first  bishopric, 
which  was  afterwards  removed  to  Constanz.  In  the 
third  and  fourth  centuries  the  town  was  ravaged 
by  the  Vandals  and  Allemanni,  and  in  the  sixth 
it  was  destroyed  by  Childebert,  king  of  the  Franks. 

Near  its  ancient  site  was  erected  the  monastery 
of  Konigsfeld,  and  about  two  miles  westward,  on 
a  wooded  height,  moulder  the  ruins  of  the  castle  of 
Habsburg  or  Habrichtsburg  (Hawk's  Castle),  the 
cradle  of  the  imperial  house  of  Austria.  The  town 
of  Bruegg,  or  Bruck,  lies  further  to  the  south. 

"  Thus,"  as  Gibbon  says,  "  within  the  ancient 
walls  of  Vindomissa,  the  castle  of  Habsburg,  the 
abbey  of  Konigsfeld,  and  the  town  of  Bruck  have 
successively  arisen."  The  philosophic  traveller 
may  compare  the  monuments  of  Roman  conquests, 
of  feudal  or  Austrian  tyranny,  of  mediaeval  mon- 
asticism,  and  of  industrious  freedom.  "  If  he  be 
truly  a  philosopher,"  says  Gibbon,  "  he  will  applaud 
the  merit  and  happiness  of  his  own  time." 

If  he  be  truly  a  philosopher,  we  may  add,  he 
will  certainly  contemplate  with  interest  the  ruined 
castle  which  witnessed  the  dawn  of  the  fortunes  of 
the  Hapsburgs;  of  the  great  family — often  defeated 
but  never  wholly  crushed — who  wore  so  long  the 
imperial  crown  of  Germany,  the  inheritance  ot 
Roman  empire,  and  maintained  for  centuries  so 
bitter  a  struggle  with  the  rising  Hohenzollerns  for 
the  retention  of  the  imperial  power.  At  last  they 
seem  to  have  been  worsted  in  the  fight,  and  the 
fatal  field  of  Sadowa  has  handed  over  the  supremacy 
of  Germany  to  the  Prussian  dynasty. 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


The  castle  of  Hapsburg  was  built  by  Werner, 
bishop  of  Strasburg,  son  of  Kanzeline,  count  of 
Altenburg,  early  in  the  eleventh  century.  His 
successors  increased  their  family  inheritance  by 
marriages,  donations  from  the  emperors,  and  by 
becoming  prefects,  advocates,  or  administrators  of 
the  neighbouring  abbeys,  towns,  or  districts.  His 
great  grandson,  Albert  III.,  was  owner  of  ample 
territories  in  Suabia,  Alsace,  and  that  part  of 
Switzerland  which  is  now  called  the  Aargau,  and, 
moreover,  held  the  landgraviate  of  Upper  Alsace. 

Albert's  son,  Rudolph,  was  the  true  founder  of  the 
family.  The  emperor  bestowed  upon  him  the 
town  and  district  of  Lauffenberg,  and  his  astute- 
ness and  perseverance  gained  him  great  influence 
in  Uri,  Schwytz,  and  Unterwalden.  Dying  in 
1232,  his  two  sons,  Albert  and  Rodolph,  divided 
their  inheritance.  The  former  obtained  Aargau 
and  Alsace,  with  the  castle  of  Hapsburg;  the 
latter  Cleggow,  the  Brisgau,  and  the  counties  of 
Rheinfelden  and  Lauffenberg.  He  fixed  his  resi- 
dence in  the  latter  city,  and  thus  established  the 
branch  of  Hapsburg-Lauffenberg. 

Albert  married  Hedwige,  daughter  of  Alice, 
countess  of  Baden,  and  by  her  had  three  sons, 
Rudolph,  Albert,  and  Hartinau.  The  former,  born 
in  1218,  displayed  a  surprising  sagacity  and  heroic 
prowess,  and  after  a  stirring  career  was  elected 
emperor  of  Germany,  and  successor  of  the  Caesars, 
in  1273. 

From  this  point,  as  Dr.  Bryce  remarks,  a  new 
era  begins  in  European  history.  In  A.d.  800  the 
Roman  empire  was  revived  by  a  prince  whose  vast 
dominions  gave  ground  to  his  claim  of  universal 
monarchy;  it  was  again  erected,  in  a.d.  962,  on 
the  narrower  but  firmer  basis  of  the  German  king- 
dom. During  the  three  following  centuries  Otto 
the  Great  and  his  successors,  a  line  of  monarchs  of 
unrivalled  vigour  and  abilities,  strained  every  nerve 
to  make  good  the  pretensions  of  their  office  against 
the  rebels  in  Italy  and  the  ecclesiastical  power. 
Those  efforts  failed  signally  and  hopelessly.  Each 
successive  emperor  continued  the  strife  with 
resources  scantier  than  his  predecessors ;  each  was 
more  decisively  vanquished  by  the  pope,  the  cities, 
and  the  princes.  Still,  in  the  house  of  Hapsburg 
the  Roman  empire  lived  on  600  years  more ;  and 
the  crown  of  the  Csesars  and  of  Charlemagne  and 
of  Otto  was  transmitted  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion of  the  descendants  who  sprang  from  the  loins 
of  Werner,  the  founder  of  the  castle  of  Hapsburg. 
32 


That  castle  is  now  in  ruins.  The  keep,  tall, 
square,  and  built  of  rough  stones,  with  walls  eight 
feet  in  thickness,  is  the  only  portion  entire.  The 
view  from  its  summit  is  justly  described  as  both 
picturesque  and  interesting  ;  picturesque  from  the 
variety  it  includes  of  wood,  and  savage  glen,  and 
mountain  height,  and  rolling  rivers  ;  interesting, 
because  it  sweeps,  as  it  were,  over  a  wide  historic 
field.  Yonder  lie  the  ruins  of  Vindomissa;  yon- 
der, those  of  Konigsfelden:  to  the  south  rises  the 
desolate  keep  of  Braunegg,  which  formerly  belonged 
to  the  sons  of  the  tyrant  Gessler;  below  it,  in  the 
quiet  shades  of  Beir,  Pestalozzi,  the  educational 
reformer,  died  and  lies  buried.  But  more;  at  a  glance 
you  take  in  the  entire  Swiss  patrimony  of  the 
Hapsburgs — an  estate  inferior  in  size  to  that  of 
many  an  English  peer — from  which  Rudolph  was 
called  to  wield  the  sceptre  of  Charlemagne.  The 
house  of  Austria,  130  years  later,  were  deprived 
by  Papal  ban  of  their  ancient  Swiss  domains  ;  but 
the  ruined  castle,  the  cradle  of  that  house,  was 
purchased  not  long  ago  by  the  present  occupant  of 
the  Austrian  throne. 

The  abbey  of  Konigsfelden  ("  King's- field")  was 
founded  in  1 3 1 0  by  the  Empress  Elizabeth  and  Agnes 
queen  of  Hungary,  in  memory  of  the  murder  of 
the  husband  of  the  one  and  the  father  of  the  other, 
the  Emperor  Albert,  just  two  years  previously. 
The  convent,  "  a  group  of  gloomy  piles,"  was  sup- 
pressed in  1528.  Parts  of  it  have  been  occupied 
successively  as  a  farm-house,  an  hospital,  and  a 
lunatic  asylum  ;  a  portion  now  serves  as  a  maga- 
zine, but  divine  service  is  still  celebrated  in  the 
choir.  Other  parts  are  falling  rapidly  into  a  decay 
which  threatens  to  be  irretrievable.  There  is 
much  excellent  painted  glass  in  the  church  ;  and 
the  visitor  will  not  fail  to  gaze  with  compassionate 
interest  on  the  sculptured  stones  which  mark  the 
last  resting-places  of  a  long  train  of  knights  and 
nobles  slain  in  the  fatal  field  of  Sempach  (1386) 
■ — Austria's  "  Sadowa"  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

The  high  altar,  it  is  said,  indicates  the  spot 
where  the  Emperor  Albert  fell  beneath  the  swords 
of  his  murderers. 

The  emperor  at  the  time  was  preparing  to  lead 
a  formidable  army  into  Switzerland,  with  the  view 
of  suppressing  the  revolt  which  had  broken  out 
in  the  cantons  of  Uri,  Schwytz,  and  Unterwalden. 
His  nephew  John,  having  attained  his  nineteenth 
year,  had  demanded  the  possession  of  his  inheri- 
tance, which  the  emperor  had  seized  during  his 


MM 


i 


m 


ae 


ASSASSINATION  OF  THE  EMPEROR  ALBERT. 


minority.  Angered  by  repeated  denials,  and  in- 
stigated by  some  discontented  nobles  of  Aargau 
and  Kyburg,  he  entered  into  a  conspiracy  against 
his  uncle  with  four  confidential  adherents  of  illus- 
trious birth,  namely,  his  governor,  Walter  von 
Eschenbach,  Rudolph  von.  Wart,  Kudolph  von 
Balne,  and  Conrad  von  Tegelfeldt. 

The  emperor,  accompanied  by  his  family  and  a 
numerous  train,  among  whom  were  the  conspira- 
tors, set  out  on  the  road  to  Kheinfelden,  where  his 
consort,  Elizabeth,  had  gathered  a  considerable 
force.  As  he  rested  at  Baden  for  the  purpose  of 
refreshment,  the  young  prince  once  more  demanded 
to  be  installed  in  his  estates  and  dignities  ;  but 
Albert  flung  to  him  a  wreath  of  flowers,  observing 
that  it  better  became  his  youthful  years  than  the 
cares  of  government.  Stung  by  the  insulting  jest, 
John  burst  into  tears,  threw  the  chaplet  on  the 
ground,  and  retired  to  concoct  a  scheme  of  imme- 
diate vengeance. 

Arriving  on  the  banks  of  the  Reuss,  opposite 
Windisch,  the  conspirators  were  the  first  to  pass 
the  ferry,  and  were  followed  by  the  emperor  with 
a  single  attendant,  his  son  Leopold  and  the  re- 
mainder of  the  suite  waiting  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river.  As  he  rode  slowly  through  the  meadows 
which  lay  at  the  foot  of  the  bold  rock  crowned 
by  the  frowning  towers  of  Hapsburg,  conversing 
familiarly  with  his  nephew,  he  was  suddenly 
attacked  by  the  conspirators,  one  of  whom  seized 
the  bridle  of  his  horse.  His  nephew,  exclaiming, 
"  Will  you  now  restore  my  inheritance  ?"  wounded 
him  in  the  neck  with  his  lance.  Balne  ran  him 
through  with  his  sword,  and  Walter  von  Eschen- 
bach clove  his  head  at  one  tremendous  blow. 
Wart,  the  other  conspirator,  stood  aghast,  unwil- 
ling at  the  last  to  share,  yet  afraid  to  prevent  the 
terrible  crime  ;  the  attendant  fled,  and  the  emperor, 
falling  from  his  horse,  lay  weltering  in  his  blood. 

The  atrocious  deed  was  witnessed  by  his  son 
Leopold  and  all  his  suite,  but  they  were  unable 
to  cross  the  river  in  time  to  arrest  the  murderers. 
Their  conduct,  in  truth,  is  inexplicable,  for  they 
left  their  dying  master  to  breathe  his  last  in  the 
arms  of  a  compassionate  peasant  woman,  who 
chanced  to  appear  on  the  scene. 

"  A  peasant-girl  that  royal  head  upon  her  hosom  laid, 
And,  shrinking  not  for  woman's  dread,  the  face  of  death  survey'd  : 
Alone  she  sate.     From  hill  and  wood  low  sunk  the  mournful  sun; 
Fast  gushed  the  fonnt  of  noble  blood,  Treason  his  worst  had  done. 
With  her  long  hair  she  vainly  pressed  the  wounds  to  staunch  their  tide, 
Unknown,  on  that  meek  humble  breast,  imperial  Albert  died." 

— Mrs.  Hemans. 


Near  the  mouth  of  the  Aar  occur  the  rapids  of 
the  Bhine  known  as  the  "Little  Lauffen."*  A 
ridge  of  rocks  is  thrown  across  like  a  weir;  but 
a  gap  in  the  centre,  eighteen  feet  wide,  admits 
of  the  passage  of  small  vessels.  When  the  waters 
are  high  they  overflow  the  ridge,  and  produce  a 
miniature  fall;  when  low,  the  rocks  lie  bare  and 
exposed,  and  with  the  help  of  a  plank  you  might 
cross  the  river  dryshod  from  the  Swiss  bank  to 
the  Baden. 

Swollen  by  the  accession  of  the  glacier-born 
Aar,  onward  flows  the  Rhine  with  a  bold  and 
impetuous  current,  passing  Waldshut  on  the  left, 
and  near  Lauffenberg  executing  another  abrupt 
descent  of  about  twenty  feet.  Here  a  bridge,  306 
feet  in  length,  connects  Lauffenberg  with  Klein 
Lauffenberg;  the  two  containing,  perhaps,  a  popu- 
lation of  1000.  On  the  hill  above  the  former  town 
are  the  ruins  of  the  stronghold  of  the  Lauffenberg 
branch  of  the  Hapsburgs. 

We  pass  onward  to  Bheinfelden,  a  picturesque 
place,  with  a  pleasant,  suggestive  name.  It  has 
high  hills  at  its  back,  and  open  meadows  on  either 
side,  and  a  foaming  river  in  its  front;  so  that  an 
artist  will  be  glad  to  enshrine  its  principal  features 
in  the  amber  of  his  memory.  And  the  archaeologist 
will  be  pleased  to  know  that  it  occupies  the  site  of 
the  Roman  station  Augusta  Rauracorum,  which 
was  founded  by  Munatius  Plancus  in  the  reign  of 
Augustus,  and  destroyed  by  the  Huns  in  450 ;  while 
the  historian  will  recollect  that  Rheinfelden  itself 
has  many  associations  of  storm  and  strife.  Did  it  not 
stand  on  the  debatable  frontier-line  of  the  Holy 
Roman  empire,  and  was  it  not  frequently  fought 
for  by  contending  armies?  Especially  was  this 
the  case  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  when  the 
celebrated  Lutheran  leader,  good  Duke  Bernard 
of  Saxe  Weimar,  sheltered  his  battalions  under  its 
massive  battlements  and  defeated  Johann  von 
Werth  and  the  Catholic  army.  In  1744  it  was 
captured  and  razed  to  the  ground  by  the  French, 
under  Marshal  Belleisle;  but  it  contrived  to  raise 
its  head  again  from  the  ashes,  and  its  future  safety 
was  secured  in  1801  by  its  annexation  to  neutral- 
ized Switzerland. 

Its  prosperity  now  depends  upon  its  extensive 
salt-works,  and  on  the  visitors  who  seek  relief  in 
its  saline  baths  from  some  of  the  many  ills  which 
"  flesh  is  heir  to." 

*  It  was  in  descending  these  rapids  in  a  small  boat  that  Lord  Mon- 
tague, the  las',  of  his  line,  was  drowned.  On  the  same  day  his  family 
mansion,  Cowdray,  in  Sussex,  was  burned  to  the  ground. 

33  e 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


Here,  almost  in  the  centre  of  the  river,  lies  a 
large  mass  of  rock,  precipitous  on  either  side,  but 
with  a  sufficiently  level  area  on  its  summit  for  the 
erection  of  a  strong  fortress.  This,  we  are  told,  is  the 
celebrated  "  Stone  of  Eheinfelden ;"  anciently  occu- 
pied by  a  formidable  castle,  but  now  by  nothing 
more  terrific  than  the  house  of  a  customs  officer. 

At  this  point  occur  the  Hollenhallen  rapids, 
where  the  seething  and  swirling  river,  and  the 
rugged  rocks,  form  a  spectacle  of  singular  and 
romantic  interest. 

Between  Rheinfelden  and  Basel  (Basle,  or  Bale), 
only  two  villages  remain  to  be  noticed,  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  those  of  Basel- Augst  and 
Kaiser- Augst.  The  Roman  ruins  in  their  vicinity 
mark  the  westward  limits  of  the  once  wealthy  and 
powerful  Augusta  Rauracorum.  An  encampment 
at  Kaiser- Augst,  of  which  some  remains  exist,  was 
probably  the  outwork  or  advanced  post,  designed 
to  protect  the  city  from  any  sudden  incursion  of 
the  turbulent  Germans. 

RIGHT   BANK   OF  THE   RHINE. 

Returning  to  Schaff  hausen,  we  cross  to  the  right 
bank  of  the  river,  which  is  traversed  by  the  Baden 
Railway,  and  proceed  to  indicate  its  points  of  in- 
terest as  far  as  Basel. 

The  first  town  of  importance  is  Eglisau,  where 
the  river  is  crossed  by  a  timber  bridge.  The  val- 
ley here  is  narrow  but  fertile,  and  blossoms  with 
orchards  and  vineyards. 

Opposite  Eglisau  the  Glatt,  which  rises  at  the 
foot  of  the  Almann,  pays  its  tribute  to  the  Rhine. 

A  broad  rock,  just  below  Kaiserstuhl  (the 
ancient  Tribunal  Ccesaris),  is  crowned  by  a  grace- 
ful chateau,  fancifully  named  Schwarz-Wassertels 
("Black  Water-Wagtail").  Weiss- Wassertels,  on 
the  Baden  bank,  is  in  ruins. 

Waldshut,  situated  on  the  slope  of  the  Black 
Forest,  is  a  walled  town,  small  but  pleasant,  with 
a  population  of  1200.  It  lies  at  a  considerable 
elevation  above  the  river,  and  commands  some 
magnificent  prospects,  bright,  varied,  and  romantic. 
It  owes  its  foundation  to  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg; 
was  unsuccesfully  besieged  by  the  Swiss  in  1462 ; 
at  the  epoch  of  the  Reformation  became  the 
headquarters  of  the  Anabaptist  leader,  Balthasar 
Hubmeier;  and  on  his  flight  was  captured  by 
the  Austrians. 

About  two  miles  to  the  north  is  situated  Hb'ch- 
cnschward,  3314  feet  above  the  sea-level,  and  the 
34 


highest  village  in  the  Black  Forest.  It  is  unne- 
cessary to  say,  that  the  tourist  who  climbs  to  this 
natural  watch-tower  will  be  able  to  satisfy  himself 
with  some  of  the  finest  pictures  in  all  this  romantic 
region.  How  grand  they  are  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  a  great  part  of  the  snow-covered 
chain  of  the  Alps,  with  their  bold  peaks,  like  a 
combination  of  colossal  spires,  towers,  and  pyra- 
mids, sharply  defined  against  the  azure  sky,  may 
be  seen  from  this  point.  For  an  Alpine  panorama 
it  can  hardly  be  surpassed. 

Passing  the  mouth  of  the  Meng  we  arrive  at 
Siickingen,  a  considerable  town,  traditionally  cele- 
brated as  "the  first  seat  of  Christianity  on  the 
Upper  Rhine."  Here  a  chapel,  monastery,  and 
nunnery  were  founded  by  St.  Fridolin  in  the 
seventh  century.  The  bones  of  the  saint  are 
preserved  in  the  ancient  abbey-church,  a  quaint 
edifice  distinguished  by  two  towers. 

Between  Siickingen  and  Basel  there  is  nothing 
to  interest ;  but  if  we  travel  by  rail  we  pass  through 
a  fertile  country,  and  pause  at  the  stations  of 
Breunet,  Rheinfelden,  Wyhlen,  and  Grenzach. 
The  Rhine  here  flows  through  a  narrow  but  deep 
valley. 

BASEL,  BASLE,  OB  BALE. 

Population,  45,000  (of  whom  19,697  are  Roman 
Catholics).  Hotels:  Three  Kings,  Schweizerhof, 
Cigogne,  Sauvage,  Couronne,  Kopf,  and  Hotel  de 
la  Poste.  The  Central  Railway  station  is  on  the 
south  side  of  the  town ;  the  Baden  station  in  Klein 
(or  Little)  Basel,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river. 
Post  and  Telegraph  offices  in  the  Freien  Strasse. 
English  Church  service  in  the  church  of  St. 
Martin. 

Basel  is  happily  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine,  at  an  elevation  above  the  sea  of  730  feet, 
in  an  open  and  sunny  plain,  surrounded  at  a 
sufficient  distance  by  verdurous  hills  and  wooded 
mountain  slopes.  It  is  the  point  of  junction  of 
three  very  different  countries — France,  Germany, 
and  Switzerland — a  circumstance  to  which  its  pro- 
verbial wealth  and  prosperity  are  undoubtedly  due; 
and  of  each  it  seems  to  exhibit  some  characteristic 
feature.  It  is  connected  with  its  suburb,  Klein 
Basel,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  by  a  wooden 
bridge  840  feet  in  length,  which  was  originally 
constructed  in  1285.  Basel  is  the  chief  town  of 
the  old  canton  of  the  same  name,  and  of  the  new 
canton  of  Bale-Ville. 


- 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  BASEL. 


"  The  first  tiling  which  strikes  the  stranger  on 
entering  Basel,"  says  Emile  Souvestre,  "is  the  ex- 
pression of  melancholy  and  solitude  which  every- 
where encounters  his  eye.  At  the  sound  of 
carriage-wheels  the  shutters  fly  forward,  the  doors 
are  closed,  and  the  women  hide  themselves.  All 
is  dead  and  desolate.  It  looks  like  a  town  to  let. 
You  must  not  think,  however,  that  the  voluntary 
imprisonment  of  the  good  people  of  Basel  denotes 
any  want  of  curiosity  ;  for  they  have  found  a 
means  of  satisfying  both  that  and  their  primitive 
savageness.  Mirrors  fixed  to  hinges  of  iron,  and 
skilfully  arranged  at  the  windows,  enable  them  to 
desciy,  from  the  shades  of  their  apartment,  every- 
thing which  transpires  without,  while  sparing 
themselves  the  annoyance  of  being  scrutinized 
in  their  turn. 

"  But  if  there  is  a  certain  gloom  in  the  appear- 
ance of  the  streets  of  Basel,  we  must  own  that 
their  cleanliness  is  exquisite.  Every  house  looks 
as  if  it  had  been  finished  off  last  evening,  and  was 
waiting  for  its  first  tenant.  Not  a  cranny,  not  a 
scratch,  not  a  spot  on  all  those  oil-painted  walls; 
not  a  crack  in  all  those  marvellously  wrought 
railings  which  protect  the  lower  windows.  The 
summer  benches,  placed  near  the  threshold,  are 
carefully  raised,  and  let  into  the  wall,  to  shelter 
them  from  the  sun  and  rain.  If  the  street  be 
on  too  abrupt  a  descent,  hand-ropes,  fixed  to 
the  walls,  arrest  the  tottering  steps  of  old  age,  or 
of  the  peasant,  bowed  beneath  his  heavy  burden. 
Everywhere  you  meet  with  this  minute  thought- 
fulness,  this  anxiety,  this  attention,  which  is  that 
of  the  proprietor,  and,  at  the  same  time,  of  the 
head  of  a  family." 

It  is  some  years  ago  since  this  graceful  sketch 
was  written,  and  Basel,  while  retaining  its  clean- 
liness, has  lost  much  of  its  sadness.  Its  hotels 
are  conducted  with  as  much  vivacity  and  polite- 
ness as  the  best  in  France;  its  inhabitants  are  as 
frank  and  honourable  as  those  of  an  unadulterated 
German  town.  There  are  few  cities  on  the  Bhine 
where  an  English  tourist  can  more  pleasantly 
spend  a  summer  holiday. 

Basel  is  the  ancient  Basilia,  which  is  first  men- 
tioned by  Ammianus  Marcellinus  in  a  passage  of 
much  perplexity  to  antiquaries.  He  speaks  of  a 
fortress,  Bobur,  as  erected  near  Basilia  by  the 
Emperor  Valentinian  I.  The  exact  site  of  this 
ancient  fortress  is  an  archaeological  puzzle  which 
has  had  a  strong  attraction  for  many  inquisitive 


Dryasdusts,  but  scarcely  seems  worth  our  formal 
discussion.  When  Bobur  disappeared  we  know 
not,  but  it  is  certain  that  Basilia,  though  not 
mentioned  in  any  of  the  Itineraries,  became  a 
town  of  considerable  importance  ;  and  after  the 
ruin  of  Augusta  Bauracorum  it  would  seem  to 
have  been  the  chief  town  in  this  part  of  Switzer- 
land (Bauracia).  The  episcopal  seat  was  removed 
to  it ;  an  episcopal  palace  was  erected  ;  and 
houses  rapidly  sprang  up  in  the  shelter  of  the 
ecclesiastical  power. 

Though  plundered  by  the  Barbarians  in  the 
fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  and  by  the  Huns  in  the 
tenth  (a.d.  917),  it  rose  on  each  occasion  with  re- 
newed vigour.  In  1032  it  was  transferred  from  the 
kingdom  of  Burgundy  to  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Holy  Boman  Empire  ;  but  it  still  continued  under 
the  immediate  control  of  its  bishops,  whom  Char- 
lemagne had  elevated  to  the  rank  of  princeps  auLs 
nostra.  For  this  reason  it  ranked  as  a  tree  town, 
like  Batisbon  or  Worms,  and  never  laboured  under 
the  incubus  of  a  provincial  governor.  But  as  it 
waxed  strong  and  wealthy  it  grew  impatient  even 
of  episcopal  jurisdiction,  and  from  1200  the  efforts 
of  its  citizens  to  throw  off  the  yoke  were  resolute 
and  unceasing. 

Meanwhile,  churches,  palaces,  and  convents  had 
multiplied  in  the  prosperous  town.  A  cathedral 
was  built,  and  richly  endowed,  by  the  Emperor 
Henry  II.  in  1010-1019.  In  1061  it  was  the 
seat  of  a  general  council,  where  the  anti-pope, 
Honorius  II.,  was  elected,  and  Henry  IV.  crowned 
by  Boman  ambassadors.  To  protect  it  from  Bu- 
dolph  of  Suabia  it  was  fortified  with  walls  and 
ditches  in  1080.  In  1247,  relying  on  its  virtual 
independence,  it  joined  the  League  of  the  Bhenish 
Towns. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  its  tranquillity  was 
greatly  disturbed  by  the  quarrels  of  its  patrician 
families,  as  was  Florence  by  the  feuds  of  Guelph 
and  Ghibelline,  and  Borne  by  those  of  the  Colonnas 
and  Orsinis.  The  two  great  families  of  Schaler 
and  Monche  were  accustomed  to  meet  and  car- 
ouse at  the  hostelry  of  the  "  Sigh,"  and  as  they 
carried  a  banner  emblazoned  with  the  figure  of 
a  parrot  ("  Fsittich"),  they  were  known  as  the 
Psitticher.  Another  company  of  knights  and 
burghers  held  their  revels  at  the  "  Fly,"  and  bore 
a  star  as  their  emblem.  All  the  town  in  due  time 
was  divided  into  two  houses,  like  ancient  Verona; 
and  every  inhabitant  belonged  to  either  the  Stars 
35 


THE  KHINE  VALLEY. 


or  the  Psitticlier.  The  two  factions  were  con- 
stantly engaged  in  open  warfare,  which  became 
more  serious  still  when  Count  Eudolph  of  Haps- 
burg  and  the  bishops  intervened  in  it ;  the  former 
siding  with  the  Stars,  the  latter  with  the  Psitticher. 
Count  Rudolph,  assisted  by  the  Stars,  was  laying 
siege  to  the  town,  when  he  received  the  news  of 
his  election  as  king  of  Rome.  The  siege  was 
immediately  raised ;  and  the  bishop  threw  open 
the  gates  of  Basel  without  demur  to  the  successor 
of  Charlemagne.  This  prompt  obedience  led  to 
the  entire  reconciliation  of  the  two  parties.  The 
emperor  frequently  visited  the  faithful  town,  and 
both  he  and  his  successors  endowed  it  with  many 
privileges.  The  "wife  and  two  of  the  sons  of 
Rudolph  were  interred  in  the  cathedral. 

The  history  of  Basel  is  curious  in  many  respects, 
and  especially  in  the  illustrations  it  affords  of  the 
surprising  vitality  of  a  great  town.  Its  tenacity 
of  life  was  truly  wonderful.  In  1312  it  was 
literally  desolated  by  the  "  Black  Death,"  which 
carried  off  on  this  one  occasion  14,000  persons; 
and  each  time  that  it  visited  Basel,  which  it 
too  frequently  did  during  the  next  three  cen- 
turies, it  was  not  satisfied  except  it  counted  its 
victims  by  tens  of  hundreds.  In  1356,  on  the  18th 
of  October,  the  town  was  overwhelmed  in  ruins  by 
a  terrible  shock  of  earthquake.  Not  a  tower  or 
spire  escaped,  and  scarcely  one  hundred  houses, 
while  upwards  of  300  lives  were  lost,  and  the 
whole  neighbourhood,  for  miles  around,  was  fear- 
fully ravaged.  Yet  it  survived  these  disasters. 
In  a  few  years  it  was  populous  and  prosperous 
again.  It  rebuilt  its  cathedral,  reared  anew  its 
churches  and  public  edifices,  purchased  the  village 
of  Klein  Basel,  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river, 
and  the  lordships  of  Liestal,  Waldenburg,  and 
Homburg. 

Meantime  its  burghers  grew  more  and  more 
sensible  of  their  power.  They  defied  Austria,  and 
they  defied  the  church.  The  patricians  retaining 
some  privileges  dangerous  to  the  commonwealth, 
they  were  summarily  deprived  of  them;  and  the 
clergy  launching  the  bolts  of  excommunication, 
were  bidden  to  sing  and  pray,  or  remove  them- 
selves from  the  town.  They  entered  into  a  con- 
federacy with  other  cities,  and  surrounded  their 
own  with  new  walls.  They  were  active  in  trade 
and  commerce,  encouraged  mechanics,  and  estab- 
lished the  first  paper  mills  of  Germany. 

The  great  (Ecumenical  Council  of  Basel  was 
36 


held  from  1431  to  1438.  It  commenced  on  the 
14th  of  December,  1431,  and  consisted  of  eleven 
cardinals,  three  patriarchs,  twelve  archbishops,  one 
hundred  and  ten  bishops,  six  temporal  princes, 
and  a  large  number  of  doctors,  besides  ambassadors 
from  England,  Scotland,  France,  Arragon,  Portu- 
gal, Sicily,  and  Denmark,  from  the  princes,  cities, 
and  universities  of  Germany.  It  was  presided 
over  by  the  emperor,  who  submitted  for  the  con- 
sideration of  the  Fathers  the  all-important  question 
of  the  marriage  of  the  clergy.  John  of  Lubeck,  says 
Milman,  was  authorized  to  demand  in  the  emperor's 
name,  the  abrogation  of  celibacy.  John  of  Lubeck 
is  described  as  a  man  of  wit,  who  jested  on  every 
occasion.  But  on  this  subject  jesting  was  impos- 
sible ;  it  was  of  a  nature  so  -grave  and  important 
that  a  serious  treatment  of  it  was  imperative.  The 
celibacy  of  the  clergy  is  practically  so  interwoven 
with  the  framework  of  Catholicism,  that  the  ques- 
tion of  abandoning  the  system  could  not  be 
expected  even  by  its  advocates  to  obtain  from  the 
council  a  unanimous  response  to  it.  It  furnished, 
indeed,  the  subject  of  no  small  debate,  and  facts 
and  reasons,  for  and  against  it,  were  urged  and 
rebutted  by  the  spokesmen  in  the  council,  in 
accordance  with  the  views  which  reflection  and 
observation  had  led  them  to  espouse.  The 
Greek  Church,  it  was  urged,  admitted  marriage. 
The  priests  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  were 
married.  It  is  said  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
council  were  favourable  to  the  change;  but  the 
question,  as  unsuited  to  the  time,  was  "  eluded, 
postponed,  and  dropped." 

The  most  important  act  of  the  council  was  the 
deposition  of  Pope  Eugenius  IV.,  and  the  election 
of  Duke  Amadeus  of  Savoy,  under  the  title  of 
Felix  V.  (1440).  In  the  interval  Basel  was  again 
visited  by  the  Black  Death.  The  mortality  was 
terrible.  The  ordinary  cemeteries  were  wholly 
insufficient;  huge  charn el-pits  were  dug  to  receive 
the  dead.  The  Fathers,  however,  stood  nobly  to  their 
post,  and  refused  to  quit  the  blighted  and  sorrowing 
city.  When  the  plague  passed  the  pope  was 
solemnly  crowned  at  Basel,  his  two  sons,  the  duke 
of  Savoy  and  the  count  of  Geneva  (an  unusual 
spectacle  at  a  papal  inauguration),  standing  by  his 
side;  50,000  persons  were  witnesses  of  the  mag- 
nificent ceremony.  The  train  worn  by  the  new 
duke-pope  was  of  surpassing  splendour,  and  worth, 
it  is  said,  30,000  crowns. 

After  this  event  the  influence  of  the  council 


BASEL  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 


gradually  declined,  and  they  had  the  good  sense 
to  consummate  their  own  dissolution,  at  the  insti- 
gation of  iEneas  Sylvius  Piccolomini,  afterwards 
Pius  II.  He  officiated  as  secretary  to  the  council, 
and  has  left  on  record  a  graphic  description 
of  the  coronation  of  Felix  V.  He  speaks  in 
enthusiastic  terms  of  the  pope's  gravity,  majesty, 
and  ecclesiastical  demeanour;  "the  demeanour  of 
him  who  had  been  called  of  God  to  the  rule  of  his 
universal  church."  Of  the  50,000  spectators  many, 
he  says,  wept  for  joy;  all  were  excited.  Nor  does 
iEneas  forget  his  own  part  in  the  ceremonial. 
"  The  cardinal  of  Santa  Susanna  chanted  the  service; 
the  responses  were  given  by  the  advocates  and 
notaries  in  such  a  dissonant  bray  that  the  congre- 
gation burst  into  roars  of  laughter.  They  were 
heartily  ashamed  of  themselves.  But  the  next  day, 
when  the  preachers  were  to  make  the  responses, 
.ZEneas,  though  quite  ignorant  of  music  (which 
requires  long  study),  sung  out  his  part  with 
unblushing  courage  (cantilare  meum  carmen  non 
erubui).  iEneas  does  not  forget  the  tiara  with 
30,000  pieces  of  gold,  the  processions,  the  supper 
or  dinner  to  1000  guests.  He  is  as  full  and 
minute  as  a  herald,  manifestly  triumphing  in  the 
ceremonial  as  equalling  the  magnificence,  as  well 
as  imitating  to  the  smallest  point,  that  of  Rome." 

In  1444,  on  the  26th  of  August,  the  battle  of 
St.  Jacob  was  fought  beneath  the  walls  of  Basel; 
and  1400  Swiss,  who  had  hastened  to  protect  the 
city  from  the  Armagnacs,  were  slain  after  a  desper- 
ate defence  of  ten  hours  against  30,000  enemies. 

In  1460  Pope  Pius  II.  granted  Basel  a  bull  for 
the  foundation  of  an  university,  which  was  solemnly 
opened  in  the  same  year,  and  rapidly  rose  into  high 
repute.  In  1501  the  thriving,  busy,  opulent, 
learned  city,  was  received  as  a  member  into  the 
Swiss  confederacy.  No  sooner  was  the  treaty  of 
alliance  signed  than  the  good  burghers  of  Basel 
immediately  threw  open  their  gates.  Hitherto, 
the  dangers  to  which  they  had  been  incessantly 
exposed  from  the  neighbouring  nobility,  had  not 
only  compelled  the  citizens  to  guard  them  day 
and  night,  but  also  to  keep  them  constantly  closed. 
From  this  date,  instead  of  an  armed  guard,  they 
stationed  there  a  single  woman  with  a  distaff  to 
levy  the  toll. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  Basel 
reached  the  climax  of  its  prosperity,  and  its  fame 
as  a  centre  of  learning  spread  over  all  Europe.  It 
was  the  rendezvous  of  men  of  science  and  letters, 


the  gathering  place  of  a  host  of  scholars,  empirics, 
professors,  physicians,  philosophers,  and  fools.  Not 
one  of  the  least  famous  was  that  singular  character, 
half-impostor,  half-philosopher,  Aureolus  Philippus 
Theophrastus  Paracelsus.  He  was  not  a  native  of 
Basel,  he  had  not  studied  at  its  university,  but  on 
his  arrival  there  was  warmly  welcomed.  For  the 
learned  of  that  age  formed  a  compact,  freemason- 
like guild,  whose  sympathies  were  not  with  the 
world,  and  whom  the  world  hated  as  well  as  feared. 
At  first,  therefore,  the  much-travelled  philosopher, 
who  shook  off  the  dust  of  Italy  and  Denmark, 
Hungary  and  Muscovy,  at  the  gates  of  Basel ;  who 
had  visited  the  rose  gardens  of  Persia,  fallen  a 
prisoner  to  the  Tartars,  and  been  despatched  by 
their  Cham  on  a  mission  to  Constantinople,  was 
well  received  by  the  Illuminati  of  Basel.  But 
Paracelsus  was  a  man  of  original  intellect  and 
aggressive  character.  Almost  immediately  on  his 
arrival  he  provoked  the  jealousy  of  his  brothers 
in  science  by  a  bold  stroke  of  medical  practice. 
The  celebrated  printer  of  Basel,  Jacob  Froben, 
had  long  suffered  from  an  intense  pain  in  the 
right  foot,  which  not  all  the  doctors  of  Basel  could 
relieve,  and  which  permitted  its  victim  neither  to 
eat  nor  sleep.  He  summoned  to  his  aid  this  new 
physician  as  a  last  desperate  chance;  for  as  Para- 
celsus boasted  that  he  had  turned  over  the  leaves 
of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  it  might  reasonably 
be  supposed  that  he  had  gathered  some  useful 
hints  out  of  so  vast  a  volume. 

Paracelsus  obeyed  the  summons,  prescribed 
fomentations,  and  administered  a  specific  which  he 
had  brought  back  from  the  East  in  the  shape  of  three 
black  pills  (tres  pilulas  nigras);  the  said  specific 
being  opium,  previously  unknown  in  Europe.  The 
printer  quickly  tasted  that  luxury  of  repose  which 
had  so  long  been  denied  to  him.  Sleep  restored 
strength  and  energy  to  worn-out  nature.  He 
speedily  recovered,  and  everywhere  sounded  the 
praises  of  his  able  physician,  who  was  soon  after- 
wards unanimously  elected  to  the  chair  of  medicine 
at  the  Basel  University  (a.d.  1526). 

As  a  professor,  Paracelsus  attained  the  very 
summit  of  popularity,  and  from  all  parts  of  Chris- 
tendom students  flocked  to  attend  his  lectures. 
They  were  characterized  by  much  originality,  no 
little  talent,  an  unconscionable  amount  of  self- 
praise,  and  an  uncompromising  denunciation  of  all 
other  teachers  but  himself.  "  There  is  more  know- 
ledge," he  would  say,  "  in  my  shoe-strings  than  in 
37 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


the  writings  of  all  the  physicians  who  have  pre- 
ceded me !  I  am  the  great  reformer  of  medical 
science.  You  must  all  adopt  my  new  and  original 
system — you,  Avicenna,  Galen,  Rhazes,  Monta- 
cnana,  Miseri ;  you  must  and  shall  follow  me, 
gentlemen  of  Paris,  of  Montpelier,  of  Vienna,  and 
Koln !  All  you  who  dwell  on  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine  or  the  Danube,  who  inhabit  the  islands  of 
the  seas — you,  too,  Itabans,  Turks,  Sarmatians, 
Greeks,  Arabs,  Jews — you  shall  follow  me!  If 
you  do  not  freely  enlist  under  my  banner,  it  is 
because  you  are  but  as  the  stones  which  the  very 
dogs  defile !  Rally,  then,  to  me  as  your  leader;  for 
the  kingdom  shall  be  mine,  and  sooner  or  later  you 
must  swallow  the  bitter  draught  of  obedience ! " 

Then  the  splendid  charlatan  brought  forward  a 
vase  of  fire,  upon  which  he  flung  handfuls  of  nitre 
and  sulphur.  And  as  the  lurid  flames  shot  up- 
wards, he  flung  into  them  the  ponderous  tomes  of 
Galen  and  Avicenna,  and  while  his  audience  gazed 
in  astonishment  at  this  novel  act  of  incremation, 
he  exclaimed: — "Thus,  0  ye  doctors,  shall  ye 
burn  in  everlasting  fire !  Get  thee  behind  me, 
,  Sathanas  !  Get  ye  behind  me,  Greek,  Latin,  Arab  ! 
ye  have  taught  nothing  but  absurdities  ;  the  secret 
of  nature  is  known  only  to  myself!" 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  cordiality  with  which 
Paracelsus  had  been  received  by  the  learned  of 
Basel,  was  soon  replaced  by  jealousy,  suspicion, 
and  dislike.  It  may  be  that  his  ability  and  success, 
quite  as  much  as  his  ostentatious  vanity,  worked 
his  downfall;  but  it  must  be  owned  that  his  mode 
of  life,  intemperate  and  licentious,  was  calculated 
to  disgust  his  friends  and  embolden  his  enemies. 
His  pupil,  Oporinus,  says  of  him,  that  he  never  put 
off  his  clothes  at  night  for  the  two  years  he  was 
with  him,  but  with  his  sword  hanging  by  his  side, 
would  fling  himself  on  his  bed,  filled  with  wine, 
towards  the  hour  of  dawn.  And  in  the  darkness 
of  night  he  would  start  up  suddenly,  and  deal 
blows  all  around  him  with  his  naked  sword;  now 
striking  the  floor,  the  bed,  the  doorposts,  and 
striking  so  furiously  that  Oporinus  often  trembled 
lest  he  should  be  unwittingly  decapitated. 

Meanwhile  he  effected  numerous  cures,  and,  at 
length,  one  of  so  brilliant  a  description  that  it 
ought  to  have  consummated  his  fortune.  Un- 
happily, it  cut  short  his  career  at  Basel. 

One  of  the  canons  residentiary  lay,  as  was  sup- 
posed, at  the  point  of  death.  In  his  extremity 
he  had  recourse  to  Paracelsus,  promising  him  a 
38 


splendid  recompense  if  his  treatment  should  be 
successful.  Paracelsus,  like  Caesar,  venit,  vidit, 
vicit.  He  administered  his  favourite  specific,  and 
the  canon  recovered.  But  with  a  shameful  ingrati- 
tude he  then  refused  to  fulfil  his  contract,  asserting 
that  his  illness  could  not  have  been  serious  if  it 
could  be  so  easily  cured.  Paracelsus  summoned 
him  before  the  magistrates,  but  they  decided  that 
the  patient  could  only  be  required  to  pay  the  usual 
fee.  In  a  tempest  of  rage  the  discomfited  philo- 
sopher poured  out  his  indignation  on  the  heads  of 
the  purveyors  of  the  law,  and  the  next  morning 
secretly  quitted  Basel  to  avoid  being  thrown  into 
prison. 

A  man  of  greater  eminence,  the  celebrated  Eras- 
mus, whose  work  in  promoting  the  Reformation 
was  scarcely  inferior  to  that  of  Luther  himself, 
lodged  with  the  printer  Froben,  in  the  house 
"  Zum  Luft,"  from  1521  to  1529,  and  again  in 
1536,  in  which  year  he  expired  at  Basel.  It  was 
here  he  undertook  and  carried  out  his  "  enormous 
labour  "  of  editing  and  translating  selections  from 
the  writings  of  the  Fathers.  While  the  art  of 
printing  was  young,  the  New  Testament  was  little 
known  by  the  body  of  the  people  ;  all  that  they 
knew  of  the  Gospels  and  the  Epistles  were  the 
passages  more  immediately  connected  with  the 
services  of  the  church.  Erasmus  published  the 
text,  and  with  it  a  series  of  paraphrases  containing 
bold  innovations  on  the  system  of  doctrine  which 
had  previously  been  maintained,  and  thus  sub- 
jected himself  to  the  censures  of  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities.  Erasmus,  however,  had  little  of  the 
spirit  of  the  martyr.  He  courted  fame ;  but  he 
held  not  his  opinions  with  such  earnestness  as  to 
prompt  him  to  expose  himself  to  suffering  for 
their  sake,  and,  indeed,  was  not  fully  trusted  by 
either  Catholics  or  Lutherans. 

It  should  be  noted  that  this  was  the  earliest 
published  New  Testament,  and  the  printing  press 
of  Basel  had  the  honour  of  giving  it  to  the  world. 

Here,  too,  appeared,  in  1524,  his  "Colloquies," 
a  book  of  keen  and  lively  satire,  in  which  he 
ridiculed  many  of  the  tenets  and  observances  of 
the  Romish  Church.  Here  he  made  his  attack 
on  Luther,  in  his  treatise  "  De  Libero  Arbitrio  " 
(on  Free  Will),  which  led  to  a  controversy  be- 
tween them ;  indeed,  he  went  so  far  as  to  write 
to  the  elector  of  Saxony,  urging  bun  to  punish 
Luther  for  his  opinions.  In  1529  he  left  Basel 
and   retired    to    Freiberg   in   the    Brisgau  ;    but 


ANECDOTES  OF  HANS  HOLBEIN. 


the  quiet  and  learned  city  on  the  Rhine,  with  its 
literary  circle  and  university  and  printing-office, 
had  an  overmastering  attraction  for  hirn,  and  he 
returned  to  it  in  August,  1535. 

His  edition  of  "  Ecclesiastes "  was  printed  at 
Basel,  and  here  he  commenced  his  edition  of 
Origen.  Confined  to  his  house  by  an  attack  of 
gout,  he  employed  his  leisure  in  writing  a  com- 
mentary on  the  15th  Psalm,  "  De  Puritate  Taber- 
naculi."  It  was  the  last  effort  of  his  clear  and 
vigorous  intellect.  An  attack  of  dysentery  brought 
him  to  the  verge  of  the  grave,  and  he  prepared  to 
meet  his  end  with  firmness.  Without  absolution 
or  extreme  unction,  or  any  sacerdotal  ceremonies, 
but  with  the  words  "  Lieber  Gott"  on  his  lips,  he 
died,  on  the  12th  of  July,  1636,  at  the  age  of 
seventy.  He  was  buried  with  great  pomp  in  the 
cathedral,  where  his  tomb  is  as  a  sacred  shrine  to 
every  lover  of  learning. 

A  contemporary  of  Erasmus,  and  a  man  whose 
fame  is  inseparably  associated  with  Basel,  Hans 
Holbein  the  younger,  deserves  a  longer  notice 
than  our  limited  space  permits  us  to  dedicate  to 
his  memory.  Whether  he  was  born  at  Basel  is 
uncertain  ;  most  probably  his  birth-place  was 
Augsburg ;  but  he  must  have  come  to  this  city  at  a 
very  early  age,  as  his  father  was  engaged  in 
decorating  its  town-house  in  1499,  and  the  year  of 
Hans'  birth  is  invariably  stated  to  have  been  1498. 
His  great  artistic  capacity  showed  itself  in  his 
youth,  and  at  fourteen  he  painted  two  admirable 
portraits  of  his  father  and  himself.  About  1523 
he  became  acquainted  with  Erasmus,  whose  portrait 
he  painted,  and  for  whose  works  he  executed  many 
splendid  wood-engravings.  The  scholar  recom- 
mended him  to  visit  England,  and  thither  the 
artist  repaired  in  1526,  with  a  letter  of  introduc- 
tion to  Sir  Thomas  More,  who  welcomed  him  with 
the  most  delicate  and  generous  kindness.  The 
chancellor  having  embellished  his  apartments  with 
Holbein's  pictures,  became  anxious  to  introduce 
him  to  Henry  VIII.  in  the  manner  best  adapted 
to  secure  the  royal  favour  and  protection.  Accord- 
ingly, he  arranged  his  pictures  in  the  most  advan- 
tageous order  in  the  great  hall,  and  invited  the 
king  to  an  entertainment.  When  the  latter  entered , 
he  was  delighted  with  the  excellence  of  the  artist's 
works,  and  so  warmly  expressed  his  admiration  that 
Sir  Thomas  begged  him  to  accept  of  the  one  he 
most  affected.  But  the  king  inquired  anxiously 
after  the  artist,  and  when  the  latter  was  introduced, 


received  him  graciously,  observing,  "  that  now  he 
had  got  the  painter,  Sir  Thomas  might  keep  his 
pictures."  Holbein  died  in  England  in  1554,  of 
the  plague. 

Some  of  the  houses  were  formerly  adorned 
with  his  frescoes,  but  these  were  unhappily  de- 
stroyed when  the  edifices  were  rebuilt.  A  well- 
known  anecdote  is  related  in  connection  with  a 
painting  which  formerly  "glorified"  the  house  of 
an  apothecary  in  the  Fishmarket.  When  Holbein 
was  employed  upon  this  task  it  was  summer 
time,  and  the  days  were  so  hot  that  he  found 
himself  compelled  to  resort  very  frequently  to  the 
"  Flower  "  inn.  A  merry  company  of  roysterers 
was  wont  to  assemble  there,  and  a  shady  room 
with  a  bottle  of  sparkling  wine,  to  say  nothing  of 
lively  jest  and  joyous  song,  proved  so  much  more 
attractive  than  a  hot  scaffolding,  that  Master  Hans 
spent  almost  the  whole  day  at  the  hostelry.  His 
employer  remonstrated  with  him  for  his  idleness : — 
"  I  do  not  pay  you  to  drink,"  he  said,  "but  to 
paint  my  house.  You  must  leave  off  revelling  and 
drinking,  or  I  will  have  none  of  you."  The  artist 
promised  amendment,  and  thenceforth,  whenever 
the  owner  of  tire  house  took  up  his  watch,  he 
found  Hans  Holbein  at  work.  But  alas,  on 
one  occasion  after  convincing  himself  of  the 
painter's  diligence,  he  chanced  to  cross  over  to 
the  tavern.  What  was  his  surprise  to  find  him 
seated  at  the  table  with  his  glass  and  his  ■  long 
pipe!  Hastily  returning  home  and  ascending 
the  scaffold,  he  found  that  what  he  had  supposed 
to  be  Holbein  was  only  a  pair  of  legs  which  he 
had  painted  with  the  most  wonderful  exactness  to 
imitate  the  real  limbs. 

It  is  said  that  Holbein's  wife  was  a  shrew,  and 
that  he  went  to  England,  not  so  much  to  please 
his  friend  Erasmus,  as  to  escape  her  vixenish  tongue. 
But  as  Mrs.  Jameson  remarks,  those  who  look 
upon  the  portraits  of  Holbein  and  his  wife  at 
Hampton  Court,  will  reasonably  doubt  wdiether 
the  former  black- whiskered,  bull-necked,  resolute, 
almost  fierce-looking  personage  could  have  had 
much  to  endure,  or  would  have  permitted  much, 
from  the  poor  broken-spirited  and  meek-visaged 
woman  opposite  to  him,  and  will  give  the  story 
a  different  interpretation. 

Among  the  mediajval  celebrities  of  the  old  city 

we  may  mention  John  Wessel ;  Sebastian  Brunei ; 

the  scholar  and  reformer  Beuchlin,  who  taught 

Latin  and  Greek  at  Basel  from  1474  to  1478 ;  and 

39 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


Johannes  Hussgen,  or  CEcolampadius,  one  of  the 
supporters  of  the  Reformation.  The  latter  was  born 
at  Weinsburg  in  1482.  His  father  was  a  merchant 
in  moderate  circumstances,  who  destined  hixn  for 
his  own  vocation;  but  his  mother,  a  woman  of 
energy  and  talent,  recognizing  the  abundant  pro- 
mise of  her  son's  childhood,  succeeded  in  obtaining 
for  him  the  boon  of  a  superior  education.  He 
learned  Latin  in  the  grammar-school  of  Heilbronn ; 
studied  law  in  the  university  of  Bologna;  but  not 
liking  the  law,  betook  himself  to  Heidelburgin  1499, 
where  he  studied  theology  and  the  Uteres  humaniores, 
acquiring  such  a  reputation  for  scholarship  that 
the  Elector  Palatine  Philip  appointed  him  tutor  to 
his  son.  His  heart,  however,  was  in  his  theologi- 
cal studies,  and  returning  to  Weinsburg,  he  entered 
zealously  and  perseveringly  on  the  duties  of  a 
parish  priest.  His  sermons  on  the  "  Seven  Words 
of  the  Cross,"  published  in  1512,  are  remarkable 
for  their  earnestness,  and  show  that  his  energies 
were  all  enlisted  in  his  Master's  service. 

To  improve  his  knowledge  of  Greek  he  visited 
Tubingen  and  Stuttgard,  availing  himself  of  the 
lessons  of  Melanchthon  at  the  one  place,  and  of 
those  of  Keuchlin  at  the  other,  and  imbibing 
from  both  a  strong  sympathy  with  the  scheme  of 
doctrine  proclaimed  by  Luther.  In  1519  we  find 
him  studying  Hebrew  at  Heidelburg  ;  and  soon 
afterwards  the  bishop  of  Basel  invited  him  to  be- 
come a  preacher  in  its  cathedral.  There  he  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Erasmus — whom  he  assisted 
to  prepare  his  edition  of  the  "  New  Testament " — 
and  of  the  other  men  of  letters  who,  in  the  first 
half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  shed  so  great  a 
lustre  upon  the  ancient  Swiss  city. 

In  1519  he  published  some  writings  of  a  decided 
Lutheran  tendency ;  but  the  doubts  which  possessed 
him  were  so  strong,  and  the  struggle  between  the 
traditions  of  his  youth  and  the  new  sympathies 
which  had  risen  in  his  mind  became  so  violent, 
that  he  suddenly  took  refuge  in  a  monastery  near 
Augsburg  in  1520.  Carrying  on  his  studies  in 
tranquillity,  his  views  gradually  underwent  such  a 
change  that  he  resolved  to  abandon  the  church 
with  which  he  had  hitherto  been  connected ;  and 
returning  to  Basel  openly  appeared  as  a  teacher  of 
the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation.  Having  been  ap- 
pointed by  the  municipality  in  1523  to  a  lectureship 
in  the  university  on  biblical  criticism,  he  chose  the 
prophecies  of  Isaiah  for  his  theme,  and  denounced 
the  doctrines  of  Romanism  with  a  degree  of 
40 


vehemence  which  had  a  stirring  effect  on  the 
minds  of  the  citizens.  It  is  needless  to  trace  any 
further  his  career ;  the  work  which  he  had  set 
himself  to  do,  he  did  uncompromisingly.  In  1529 
the  Reformation  was  formally  adopted  in  Basel, 
and  two  years  later  he  closed  in  peace  a  fife  of 
unceasing  labour. 

Basel,  however,  was  slow  in  the  adoption  of 
new  ideas  and  new  practices  ;  and,  as  Mr  Mayhew 
remarks,  it  stoutly  resisted,  throughout  the  Middle 
Ages,  every  attempted  innovation  in  the  manners 
and  customs  of  its  citizens.  It  was  called  in  these 
days  "  the  reverend  city  of  Basel,"  and  its  councillors 
were  honoured  with  the  title  of  "  the  noble,  dread, 
pious,  resolute,  prudent,  wise,  and  honourable 
lords."  Whether  they  always  deserved  these  epi- 
thets may  reasonably  be  doubted;  assuredly  they 
could  not  often  be  applied  to  the  members  of  mun- 
icipalities nearer  home !  They  were  so  "  reso- 
lute "  in  the  maintenance  of  their  dignities,  that  in 
1501  the  council  issued  a  decree,  declaring,  that 
if  it  so  happened  that,  either  through  scorn  or 
through  envy,  any  person  should  curtail  their 
civic  title  in  any  manner  whatsoever,  and  neglect 
to  address  them  as  their  ancestors  had  been  always 
addressed,  every  letter  and  message  would  be  incon- 
tinently dismissed  without  receiving  the  slightest 
notice. 

Even  as  late  as  the  end  of  the  last  century,  it  was 
the  custom  in  the  city  of  Basel  for  the  clocks  to  be 
set  one  hour  in  advance  of  all  others  in  Europe. 
Tradition  explains  this  practice  by  ascribing  the  de- 
liverance of  the  town  from  a  conspiracy  to  surrender 
it  to  the  enemy  at  midnight,  to  the  circumstance 
that  the  minster  clock  struck  one  instead  of  twelve. 
We  do  not  ask  the  reader  to  accept  this  tradition 
as  authentic;  but  to  the  practice,  at  all  events,  the 
citizens  clung  so  pertinaciously,  that  when  in  1778 
the  "noble,  dread,  pious,  resolute,  prudent,  wise, 
and  honourable  lords  "  of  the  corporation  issued 
an  edict  to  the  effect  that  all  the  clocks  of  Basel 
should,  after  the  1st  day  of  January  next  ensuing, 
be  regulated  by  solar  time,  the  alteration  was  so 
unfavourably  received,  that  the  town  council  was 
compelled,  a  fortnight  afterwards,  to  issue  a  second 
decree  repealing  the  first.  And  the  clocks  of 
Basel  were  kept  one  hour  before  the  sun  until  the 
present  century  began. 

After  the  Reformation,  a  singular  rigidity  of  spirit 
took  possession  of  the  town,  which  became  as 
violently  fanatical  as  the  straitest  of  Scotch  sects 


LATER  HISTORY   OF   BASEL. 


during  the  most  flourishing  times  of  Calvinistic 
supremacy.  The  burgomasters  regulated  the  dress 
and  viands  of  their  fellow-citizens  by  the  severest 
sumptuary  edicts,  and  enforced  upon  all  a  sober 
economy  in  table  and  wardrobe.  They  would 
not  allow  women  to  have  their  hair  dressed  by 
males,  nor  a  dinner-party  to  take  place  whose  bill 
of  fare  had  not  been  revised  by  the  civic  authorities. 
All  persons  going  to  church  were  compelled  to  wear 
black ;  and  no  carriage  was  allowed  to  pass  through 
the  gates  during  Sunday  morning  service — a  rule 
still  enforced,  or  at  all  events  enforced  down  to  a 
very  recent  period. 

This  rigid  devotion  is  too  frequently  unaccom- 
panied by  a  spirit  of  Christian  charity  ;  and  Mr. 
Mayhew  points  out  that  for  years  a  violent  feud 
prevailed  between  the  two  quarters  of  the  town — 
Basel  east  and  Basel  west,  Klein  Basel  and  Grosse 
Basel.  A  curious  memorial  of  this  antipathy  exis- 
ted in  the  image  called  Lallen  Konicj,  or  the  "  Stut- 
tering King."  A  tower  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine  was  so  situated  as  to  command  the  bridge 
which  connects  the  two  towns.  Here,  near  the 
summit,  was  placed  a  clock,  with  a  giant's  head 
skilfully  carved  in  wood  projecting  from  the  wall 
above.  A  long  tongue  was  thrust  from  the  open 
mouth  of  this  monstrous  figure  at  every  beat  of  the 
pendulum,  and  made  to  roll  about  derisively  in  the 
face  of  the  people  of  the  Klein  Stadt  on  the  oppo- 
site bank.  To  avenge  this  insult,  the  people  of  Klein 
Basel  also  set  up  a  wooden  image  at  their  end  of 
the  bridge :  a  huge  carved  dummy,  which  turned  its 
back  on  the  Lallen  Konig  in  a  manner  more  signi- 
ficant than  graceful.  This  singular  specimen  of 
local  humour  was  not  removed  until  1830. 

The  later  history  of  Basel  does  not  present  many 
features  of  interest.  Yet  in  1795  the  Lutheran 
city  was  associated  with  an  event  which  the  tragic 
drama  that  has  recently  passed  before  our  eyes  ren- 
ders peculiarly  significant.  The  coalition  which 
had  been  formed  against  revolutionary  France  had 
been  shaken  to  its  foundation  by  the  vast  successes 
of  her  arms;  and  Prussia,  deserting  her  allies,  opened 
conferences  at  Basel  with  the  representatives  of  the 
French  government,  and  in  January,  1795,  con- 
cluded a  peace.  It  was  a  fatal  step  on  the  part  of 
Prussia,  and  opened  the  way  to  those  changes  in 
Europe  which  brought  humiliation  and  disaster 
on  her  head.  By  signing  the  treaty  of  Basel, 
says  Prince  Hendenberg,  the  Prussian  king  aban- 
doned the  house  of  Orange,  sacrificed  Holland,  and 
41 


laid  open  the  empire  to  French  invasion.  Accident 
alone  prevented  the  treaty  of  Basel  from  being 
followed  by  a  general  revolution  in  Europe. 
Had  Frederick  William  possessed  the  genius  and 
resolution  of  Frederick  the  Great,  he  would  have 
protected  Holland  against  the  arms  of  France,  and 
included  it  in  the  line  of  military  defence  of  Prussia. 
By  the  treaty  of  Basel  he  entered  upon  a  policy 
of  neutrality,  which  alienated  from  Prussia  every 
European  power,  so  that  when  she  was  compelled 
to  descend  into  the  arena  to  fight  for  her  national 
existence  she  fought  alone,  and  was  prostrated  on 
the  field  of  Jena.  Eighty  years  have  passed  away, 
and  Jena  is  at  length  avenged.  In  1795  Prussia 
concluded  with  a  French  Republic  a  peace  which 
involved  her  in  dishonour  and  disgrace;  in  1871 
she  may  again  be  called  upon  to  sign  a  treaty  with 
another  French  Republic,  but  on  this  occasion, 
under  very  different  conditions,  and  with  very 
different  aims.  The  next  treaty  at  Paris,  under 
whatever  form  of  government,  will  rest  on  other 
principles  than  those  of  the  treaty  of  Basel  in  1795. 

In  1830  the  democratic  spirit  of  the  second 
French  Revolution  made  itself  felt  in  Basel,  and 
fierce  and  even  sanguinary  struggles  took  place 
between  the  peasantry  who  adhered  to  the  old 
constitution,  and  the  townsmen,  who  sought  to 
establish  a  socialistic  and  communistic  republic. 
The  townsmen  having  been  defeated  near  the  vil- 
lage of  Prattelen,  on  the  3rd  of  August,  1833, 
Basel  was  occupied  by  Federal  troops  for  eleven 
weeks,  and  until  the  peace  of  the  town  was  fully 
insured.  The  result  was  the  division  of  the  canton 
of  Basel  into  two  independent  cantons,  Basel-town 
and  Basel-country ;  the  former  retaining  only  three 
communes,  or  rural  districts,  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Rhine.  Each  canton  has  its  separate  con- 
stitution. 

In  addition  to  the  literary  worthies  already 
mentioned,  Basel  can  boast  of  an  ecclesiastical 
historian  of  great  merit,  Karl  Rudolf  Hagenbach, 
born  in  1801,  and  of  two  illustrious  mathematicians, 
Leonard  Euler  and  John  Bernoulli.  It  is  worth 
noting  that  the  latter  came  of  a  family  which  pro- 
duced, in  all,  eight  distinguished  mathematicians. 
The  first  of  the  series  was  James  Bernoulli, 
1654-1705,  professor  of  mathematics  in  the  uni- 
versity of  Basel.  His  brother  was  the  celebrated 
John  Bernoulli,  born  at  Basel  in  1667;  he  was  the 
friend  and  correspondent  of  Leibnitz:  died  in 
1748.  Nicholas,  the  nephew  of  the  two  brothers, 
i 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


■was  born  at  Basel  in  1687,  and  died  in  1759. 
Another  Nicholas,  the  eldest  son  of  John,  born  in 
1695,  was  not  only  an  eminent  mathematician,  but 
an  able  jurist  and  an  expert  linguist;  he  died  in 
1726.  Daniel,  the  second  son  of  John,  and  the 
most  distinguished  of  the  family,  was  born  at 
Groningen,  but  he  was  educated  at  Basel,  did  the 
best  of  his  work  at  Basel,  and  died  at  Basel  in  1782. 

John,  the  third  and  youngest  son  of  John 
Bernoulli,  succeeded  his  father  as  professor  of 
mathematics  at  Basel,  and  held  that  position  until 
his  death,  in  his  eighty-first  year,  in  July,  1790.  He 
was  a  foreign  associate  of  the  French  Academy  of 
Sciences;  and  it  should  be  noted,  that  from  the 
election  of  his  father  and  uncle  to  that  body  in 
1699,  to  his  own  death  in  1790,  the  name  of 
Bernoulli  continued  in  the  list  of  members  for  one 
and  ninety  years. 

John,  elder  son  of  the  foregoing,  born  in  1744, 
worthily  maintained  the  reputation  of  this  remark- 
able family.  He  obtained  the  degree  of  doctor  of 
philosophy  at  the  age  of  thirteen ;  and  at  nineteen 
was  appointed  astronomer-royal  at  Berlin.  He 
died  in  1807. 

We  close  this  extraordinary  list,  which  affords 
so  strong  a  proof  of  Mr.  Galton's  theory  of  here- 
ditary genius,  with  James  Bernoulli,  brother  of 
the  preceding,  who  was  born  at  Basel  in  1759,  and 
died  at  the  premature  age  of  thirty,  in  1789. 

Thus  much  have  we  thought  it  necessary  to  say 
of  the  historical  associations  and  literary  glories  of 
Basel.     Now, 

"Let  us  satisfy  our  eyes 
With  the  memorials  and  things  of  fame 
That  do  renown  this  city." 

Foremost  amongst  these  stands  the  Cathedral  or 
Mtinster,  the  former  cathedral-church  of  the  bishop- 
ric of  Basel.  It  is  built  of  red  sandstone,  with  two 
towers,  one  200,  the  other  205  feet  high;  and 
though  not  magnificent  in  aspect,  nor  chaste  in 
style,  is  eminently  picturesque,  and  pleases,  if  it 
docs  not  promptly  attract,  the  spectator's  eye.  It 
was  begun  in  1010  by  the  Emperor  Henry;  conse- 
crated in  1019;  greatly  injured  by  fire  in  1185; 
almost  destroyed  by  an  earthquake  in  1356;  rebuilt 
immediately,  and  completed  to  the  very  top  of  the 
towers  in  1500.  Its  architecture  is  a  mixture  of 
the  Romanesque  and  Pointed  styles,  the  latter  pre- 
vailing. The  interior  was  restored  in  1859,  and 
restored  with  much  care;  though  the  zealous 
archaeologist  will,  perhaps,  regret  that  the  chisel 
42 


was  so  freely  used.  Externally,  the  most  striking 
features  are  the  porch  of  St.  Gallus,  in  the  north 
transept  (thirteenth  century),  with  its  curious,  very 
curious,  statues  of  Christ,  John  the  Baptist,  the 
Evangelists,  and  the  Ten  Virgins;  and  the  western 
part,  with  its  tower  and  carving,  and  its  figures 
of  the  Virgin  and  Holy  child ;  the  emperor  Henry 
I.  (or  Conrad  II.  ?);  the  empress  (Helena  or  Cuni- 
gunda?),  and  their  two  daughters;  and  the  eques- 
trian statues  of  St.  Martin  and  St.  George. 

Within,  the  objects  of  interest  are  not  very 
numerous,  but  the  artist  may  find  some  entertain- 
ment in  studying  the  fantastic  masks  which  ter- 
minate the  corbels.  The  stone  pulpit,  dating 
from  the  fifteenth  century,  is  also  worth  examina- 
tion; the  font  (1465)  is  curious;  and  he  must  not 
omit  to  notice  the  four  columns  of  the  choir,  which 
are  formed  of  groups  of  detached  pillars.  Observe, 
too,  the  tomb  of  the  Empress  Anne  (1281),  wife 
of  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  from  whom  the  imperial 
house  of  Austria  sprang;  and  that  of  Erasmus 
(dated  1536),  in  red  marble.  The  stone  carvings 
inserted  in  the  wall  are  peculiarly  mediaeval  in 
character. 

The  windows  are  filled  with  modern  stained 
glass,  which  lacks  depth  and  delicacy  of  colour. 

A  staircase  leading  out  of  the  choir  conducts 
us  to  the  chapter-house,  or  Concilium's  Saal,  a 
small  low  Gothic  chamber,  with  four  windows, 
which  remains  in  the  same  condition  as  when 
the  Council  of  Basel  held  some  of  its  seances 
here,  between  1436  and  1444.  Two  clepsydra;,  or 
water-clocks,  which  the  princes  and  prelates  will 
often  have  gazed  upon  during  the  tedious  harangue 
of  some  merciless  orator,  are  still  suspended  to  the 
wall;  and  the  room  also  contains  several  plaster 
casts,  more  or  less  interesting,  the  famous  Lallen 
Konig  (removed  here  in  1837),  some  pieces  of 
mediaeval  furniture  reported  to  have  belonged  to 
Erasmus,  a  few  quaint  old  chests,  and  the  six 
remaining  fresco  fragments  of  the  original  "Dance 
of  Death  "  (Danse  Macabre),  which  once  enriched 
the  walls  of  the  Dominican  church,  and  a  set  of 
coloured  drawings  of  the  whole  series  of  figures. 

From  the  researches  made  by  certain  archaeol- 
ogists it  seems  evident  that  the  custom  of  painting 
on  the  walls  of  the  cloisters  and  churches  a  succes- 
sion of  images  illustrative  of  Death  wheeling  away 
in  a  mad  wild  dance  persons  of  all  "  sorts  and 
conditions,"  existed  before  the  fourteenth  century. 
Some  authorities  are  of  opinion  that  the  idea  of 


THE  "DANCE  OF  DEATH." 


these  paintings  was  suggested  by  the  puppet-shows ; 
others,  by  the  terrible  depopulation  of  Europe 
through  the  frequent  visitations  of  the  plague. 
Fabricius  asserts  that  they  received  the  name  of 
the  "  Danse  Macabre"  from  the  poet  Macaber, 
who  was  the  first  to  treat  this  fantastic  subject 
in  some  German  verses,  translated  into  Latin  by 
Desrey  de  Troyes,  in  1460.  The  Latin  version  is 
still  frequently  reprinted,  with  the  blocks  of  the 
ancient  woodcuts,  under  the  title  of  "La  grande 
Danse  Macabre  des  Hommes  et  des  Femmes."  The 
"Dance  of  the  Dead"  at  Basel  was  painted,  it  is 
said,  by  order  of  the  council,  to  commemorate  the 
mortality  occasioned  by  a  pestilence  in  1439. 

As  the  elder  D'Israeli  observes,  the  prevailing 
character  of  all  these  works  is  unquestionably 
grotesque  and  ludicrous;  not,  indeed,  that  genius, 
however  barbarous,  could  refrain  in  so  large  a 
picture  of  human  life  from  inventing  scenes  often 
characterized  by  great  delicacy  of  feeling  and  depth 
of  pathos.  Such,  says  D'Israeli,  is  the  newly- 
married  couple,  whom  Death  is  leading,  beating  a 
drum,  and  in  the  rapture  of  the  hour  the  bride 
seems  with  a  melancholy  look  not  insensible  of 
his  presence;  a  Death  is  seen  issuing  from  the 
cottage  of  the  widow  with  her  youngest  child,  who 
waves  his  hand  sorrowfully,  while  the  mother  and 
the  sister  vainly  answer;  or  the  old  man,  to  whom 
Death  is  playing  on  a  psaltery,  seems  anxious  that 
his  withered  fingers  should  once  more  touch  the 
strings,  while  he  is  carried  off  in  calm  tranquillity. 
The  majority  of  the  subjects,  however,  are 
purely  ludicrous,  and  could  only  awaken  risible 
emotions  in  the  minds  of  their  spectators.  There 
is  no  question  of  teaching  or  impressing;  they 
amuse,  and  nothing  more.  What  was  their  object? 
To  excite  a  contempt  of  death  ?  We  think  not. 
Life  was  but  little  valued  in  the  middle  ages,  for 
the  conditions  under  which  the  millions  lived  were 
so  harsh  and  rigid,  that  the  grave  must  have  ap- 
peared to  them  in  the  light  of  a  place  of  blessed 
repose  and  felicity.  We  believe  that  these  Dances 
of  Death,  like  so  many  of  the  carved  caricatures  in 
church  and  cathedral,  were  a  kind  of  protest  on 
the  part  of  the  weak  against  the  strong ;  the  silent 
yet  significant  satire  by  which  the  oppressed 
avenged  themselves  on  the  oppressors.  They  seem 
to  say,  "You  lord  over  us  now;  you  are  our 
masters  and  tyrants;  but  see  you  the  Master  and 
Tyrant  in  whose  presence  you  will  be  as  powerless 
as  we  arc?"  It  is  in  the  same  spirit  that  the  old 
43 


French  poet,  Jacques  Jacques  of  Ambrun,  repre- 
sents Death  as  proclaiming  triumphantly  the  uni- 
versality of  his  dominion : — 

u  Egalement  je  vay  regneant, 
Le  counseiller  et  le  sergeant, 
Le  gentilhomme  et  le  berger, 
Le  bourgeois  et  le  boulanger, 
Et  la  maistresse  et  la  servante, 
Etla  mere  comme  la  tante; 
Monsieur  l'abbe',  monsieur  son  moine, 
Le  petit  clerc  et  le  chanoine ; 
Sans  choix  je  mets  dans  mon  butin 
Maistre  Claude,  maistre  Martin, 
Dame  Luce,  dame  Perrette,"  &c,  &c. 

The  cloisters,  in  whose  sacred  shades  Erasmus 
probably  may  have  often  walked  and  meditated, 
were  erected  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  cen- 
turies (1332,  1400,  and  1487).  They  extend  to 
the  brow  of  the  hill  overlooking  the  river,  and 
to  those  who  are  fond  of  "  meditations  among  the 
tombs"  offer  a  very  agreeable  retreat.  The  monu- 
ments of  three  of  the  Reformers  deserve  a  passing 
notice:  (Ecolanqjadius,  who  died  in  1531,  Mayer, 
and  Grynaeus,  who  also  died  in  1531. 

Behind  the  cathedral  extends  the  terrace  called 
the  Pfalz.  It  is  seventy  feet  above  the  river,  and 
planted  with  chestnut  trees,  which  in  the  May 
month  hang  the  entire  walk  with  blossom.  The 
view  which  it  opens  up  is  very  picturesque  and 
extensive,  including  the  broad  sweep  of  the  Rhine, 
the  roofs  and  towers  of  the  city,  and  the  green 
slopes  of  the  hills  of  the  Black  Forest. 

From  the  remains  of  ancient  walls  and  other 
ruins  discovered  in  1786  and  1836,  it  has  been 
conjectured  that  the  Minster  stands  within  the 
area  of  the  old  Roman  fortress  of  Robur  or  Basilia. 
Here,  in  an  open  space,  is  erected  a  monument  to 
the  reformer  (Ecolampadius.  In  one  corner  of  the 
square  stands  a  building  called  "  Zur  Mticke,"  of 
which  nothing  more  need  be  said  than  that  it  was 
the  meeting  place  of  the  conclave  which,  in  1436, 
converted  Duke  Amadeus  into  Pope  Felix  V. 

Before  proceeding  further,  we  may  as  well  glance 
at  the  other  churches  of  Basel,  none  of  which 
are  characterized  by  any  remarkable  architectural 
beauty.  In  that  of  St.  Martin,  fficolampadius 
preached  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation,  address- 
ing his  hearers  in  their  native  German.  In  St. 
Peter's,  restored  in  1851,  are  the  tombs  of  many  of 
the  Basel  worthies,  Zeillenden,  Offenburg,  Seevogel, 
Froben,  and  Bernoulli.  St.  Elizabeth's  is  a  new 
and  spacious  edifice,  erected  within  the  last  twenty 
years  at  the  cost  of  an  opulent  citizen. 

Passing  into  the  streets,  which  are  remarkable 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


for  their  tall,  narrow,  and  vari-coloured  houses, 
we  direct  our  steps  towards  the  Spahlen  Thor  (un- 
less, indeed,  the  spirit  of  iconoclasm  abroad  in  Basel 
shall  have  accomplished  its  destruction),  a  narrow 
square  tower,  with  two  turrets  and  a  pointed  roof. 
The  exterior  of  the  gateway  is  adorned  with  a  good 
statue  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  to  which  the  Catholic 
peasantry  of  the  neighbourhood  ascribe  a  peculiar 
sanctity,  and  certain  traditional  wonder-working 
powers.  When  the  reformers  attempted  to  destroy 
it,  she  struck  her  assailants  dead  with  her  sceptre 
of  stone. 

Under  the  scalloped  cornice  of  the  barbican, 
which  covers  the  entrance  to  the  town,  a  row  of 
quaint  little  figures  demands  and  deserves  examin- 
ation. "What  a  queer  fancy  must  have  been  his 
who  sculptured  them  !  The  Fischmarkt  Brunnen, 
or  "  Fishmarket  Fountain,"  which  has  been  recently 
restored,  is  a  graceful  little  structure,  dating  from 
the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth  century.  We  find 
a  description  of  it  done  to  our  hand  ;  it  consists, 
says  a  recent  writer,  of  a  kind  of  telescopic  prism- 
shaft,  ornamented  with  fretted  Gothic  canopies  for 
the  statues  which  enrich  its  sides.  The  sculpture 
is  excellent ;  the  pinnacles  canopying  the  figures 
are  of  the  most  delicate  open  tracery-work,  and 
the  little  notched  spire  at  the  top  of  the  column 
is  crested  with  a  miniature  golden  angel,  so  that 
the  details  are  exquisitely  varied,  and  the  effect 
of  the  whole  is  as  light  and  graceful  as  the  lines 
formed  by  the  glancing  and  shining  water. 

As  we  are  not  writing  a  guide-book,  but  simply 
endeavouring  to  seize  the  salient  features  of  each 
place  that  interests  us,  we  shall  pass  over  unnoticed 
the  new  hospital,  the  new  fountain,  near  the  said 
hospital,  the  summer  casino,  customs-house  and 
post-office,  the  missionary  institute,  and  the  botan- 
ical garden.  With  all  these  cannot  the  reader 
become  acquainted  in  the  pages  of  Baedeker, 
Murray,  and  Joanne? 

But  let  us  not  be  forgetful  of  the  Spahlen 
Brunnen.  Its  sculptured  figures  are  most  feli- 
citous. They  were  designed,  it  is  said,  by  Albert 
Diirer,  and  represent  the  Dudelsack-pfeiffer,  or 
bagpiper,  playing  to  a  group  of  dancing  peasants. 

In  the  house  "  Zum  Seidenhof "  lodged  strong- 
handed  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg  when  he  first  visited 
Basel  as  emperor;  his  statue  is  shown  there.  That 
of  "  Zum  Luft"  was  the  dwelling-place  of  Eras- 
mus, and  the  printing-office  of  Frb'ben;  let  every 
lover  of  letters  reverently  doff  his  cap  as  he  passes 
44 


by  it.  In  the  Burkhard'sche  (formerly  Ochsische), 
the  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  in  1795  between 
Prussia  and  France.  And  in  the  house  This'sche, 
near  St.  John's  Gate,  the  duchess  of  Angouleme 
was  exchanged,  in  1795,  for  certain  members  of  the 
National  Convention.  The  "  Hotel  of  the  Three 
Kings "  has  been  so  called,  it  is  said,  since  the 
year  1026,  when  the  Emperor  Conrad  II.,  his  son 
and  chosen  successor  Henry  III.,  and  Rudolph  of 
Burgundy,  met  under  its  ancient  roof. 

In  the  Arsenal  is  a  small  but  not  particularly 
valuable  collection  of  arms  and  armour.  The 
only  thing  of  interest  is  the  coat  of  mail  worn 
by  Charles  the  Bold  at  the  battle  of  Burgundy. 

We  have  dwelt  at  some  length  on  the  history 
and  historical  buildings  of  Basel,  but  we  have  yet 
to  notice,  before  resuming  our  voyage,  the  New 
Museum,  the  Eathhaus,  and  the  University. 

The  Museum,  which  contains  all  the  art-trea- 
sures and  science-treasures  formerly  scattered  over 
various  collections,  is  situated  in  the  street  of  the 
Augustincs.  It  contains  at  least  seven  different 
departments.  As  lovers  of  art  we  shall  first  visit 
the  Museum,  properly  so  called;  that  is,  the 
Kunstammberg,  which  is  under  the  direction  of 
Herr  Wackernagel. 

The  frescoes  in  the  Entrance  Hall  are  by  Cor- 
nelius, designed  for  the  church  of  St.  Louis,  at 
Merneil. 

In  the  Vestibule  are  the  paintings  of  Holbein, 
to  which  we  have  already  alluded. 

We  next  enter  the  Salle  des  Dessins,  where, 
besides  etchings  and  engravings  by  Brant  and 
Jacques  Callot,  we  may  see  some  eighty-six  pen 
and  ink  sketches  by  the  immortal  Holbein;  the 
Death  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  by  Hans  Grlin,  from 
sketches  by  Albert  Diirer;  and  the  Last  Judg- 
ment, by  Cornelius. 

We  count  no  fewer  than  thirty-six  pictures  in 
the  Salle  de  Holbein,  from  the  pencil  of  that  inde- 
fatigable artist.  Here  are  the  Schoolmaster,  por- 
traits of  Ammerbach  and  Erasmus,  the  Dead  Christ 
(painted  with  ghastly  fidelity),  the  Burgomaster 
Meyer,  a  Lais  and  a  Venus,  the  printer  Fro'ben, 
and  the  eight  tableaux  of  our  Lord's  Passion,  for 
which  the  Elector  Maximilian  had  the  magnificent 
good  taste  to  offer  30,000  florins. 

We  have  little  admiration  left  for  anything  after 
dwelling  so  long  on  the  masterpieces  of  a  great 
and  conscientious  artist,  but  the  Salle  Allemande 
is   not   without   attractions.     The  Eleven   Thou- 


OBJECTS  OF  INTEREST  AT  BASEL. 


sand  Virgins  of  Lucas  Cranach  exhibits  a  certain 
amount  of  rough  but  genuine  power ;  and  there 
is  much  to  study  in  Albert  Diirer's  Adoration 
of  the  Magi.  Observe,  too,  Peter  Breughel's  St. 
John  preaching  in  the  Wilderness  (how  gaunt 
and  laidly  frowns  the  great  Precursor !),  and  the 
fragments  of  the  Dance  of  the  Dead,  removed 
from  the  Dominican  convent,  and  restored  by 
Klander. 

We  pass  quickly  through  the  Salle  Suisse  and 
Salle  Baloise.  In  the  Quatrieme  Salle  are  two 
specimens  of  Jean  de  Mabuse  ;  one  of  Teniers' 
cabaret-interiors,  coarse  but  vigorous;  a  Quintan 
Matsys,  and  an  Annibale  Caracci. 

In  the  Cinquieme  Salle  the  pictures  best  worth 
notice  are  Nicolas  Poussin's  Landscapes  ;  a  Birth 
of  Christ,  by  Annibale  Caracci  ;  an  Adoration 
of  the  Magi,  by  Jean  de  Mabuse,  which  may  be 
profitably  compared  with  Albert  Diirer's  presenta- 
tion of  the  same  subject  in  the  Salle  Allemande  ; 
a  Landscape,  by  Ruysdael  ;  a  jovial  group  of 
Smokers,  by  David  Teniers  ;  and  two  landscapes, 
with  figures,  by  E.  van  Heimskerk. 

The  library  is  under  the  superintendence  of 
Professor  Gerlach  ;  it  contains  80,000  volumes 
and  4000  MSS.  Among  the  latter  the  enthusiast 
will  know  how  to  estimate  an  unique  manuscript 
of  Velleius  Paterculus  ;  the  Acts  of  the  Council  of 
Basel  in  three  great  volumes,  with  chains  attached 
to  their  covers,  so  as  to  secure  them  from  felonious 
hands  ;  the  original  Greek  Testament  of  Erasmus; 
and  a  copy  of  his  "Encomium  Morias,"  with 
marginal  notes  in  his  own  writing,  and  charming 
pen  and  ink  vignettes  by  Holbein. 

To  the  attention  of  the  archaeologist  we  may 
commend  the  collection  of  Roman  antiquities  dis- 
covered at  Angst,  and  the  collection,  scarcely  less 
interesting,  of  Mexican  and  Egyptian  antiquities. 

The  Cabinet  of  Medals  contains  about  12,000. 
The  Museum  of  Natural  History  is  abundantly 
rich  in  minerals,  fossils,  and  in  birds  from  the 
Guinea  coast.  There  are  also  a  cabinet  of  Natural 
and  Physical  History,  and  a  gallery  of  portraits  of 
the  most  celebrated  professors  of  the  university. 

The  university  was  founded  on  the  4th  of 
April,  1460,  by  a  bull  of  Pope  Pius  II.  (the 
ingenious  and  astute  iEneas  Sylvius,  who  as 
secretary  to  the  great  council  had  worked  out 
his  manoeuvres  for  his  advancement  with  singular 
skill),  and  has  always  enjoyed  a  high  and  deserved 
reputation.  It  was  re-organized  in  1817,  and  again 
45 


in  1835.  Among  its  most  eminent  professors 
we  may  name  Erasmus,  CEcolampadius,  Grynaeus, 
Ammerbach,  Frobenius,  Paracelsus,  Plater,  the  two 
Bauhins,  Daniel  and  John  Bernoulli,  and  Euler. 

The  Rathhaus  stands  at  the  bottom  of  the  Freie 
Strasse  (the  principal  street),  opposite  the  pinnacles 
of  the  Fischmarkt-brunnen.  It  was  erected  in 
1508,  and  offers  a  pleasing  example  of  the  Bur- 
gundian  or  French  Gothic.  It  was  restored  in 
1825-27.  The  walls,  of  which  the  upper  part  is 
castellated,  the  lower  part  arched,  are  decorated 
with  frescoes  ;  and  along  the  top  runs  a  frieze, 
embellished  with  the  arms  of  Basel,  and  of  the 
cantons  of  Uri,  Schwytz,  and  Unterwalden.  The 
frescoes  of  the  facade  are  descriptive  of  a  hawking 
party,  with  groups  of  armed  knights,  and  a  charac- 
teristic figure  of  Justice  carrying  her  sword.  It 
is  traditionally  reported  that  they  were  designed 
by  Holbein,  and,  at  all  events,  their  merit  is  such 
that  their  gradual  decay  cannot  but  be  deplored. 
In  the  interior  the  artist  cannot  fail  to  admire 
some  good  old  wood  carvings,  some  painted  glass, 
a  picture  of  the  Last  Judgment,  and  a  statue  of 
Munatius  Plancus,  the  traditional  founder  of  Basel, 
and  of  the  "colony"  of  Augusta  Rauracorum. 

The  character  of  a  city  may  be  said  to  depend,  in 
some  measure,  on  the  character  of  its  immediate 
neighbourhood.  For  this  reason  we  shall  glance 
at  some  points  in  the  environs  of  the  towns  we 
successively  describe. 

The  village  of  St.  Jacob  by  the  Birs  is  situated 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  Basel,  on  the  Berne 
road.  Here  a  Gothic  column,  thirty-six  feet  high, 
marks  the  last  resting-place  of  the  dead  who  fell 
in  the  great  battle  of  St.  Jacob,  on  the  26th  of 
August,  1444,  when  a  small  Swiss  force,  not 
exceeding  1300  in  number,  heroically  attacked  the 
French  army  under  the  dauphin  (afterwards  Louis 
XL),  though  the  latter  were  20,000  strong. 

Again  and  again,  says  Zschokke,  the  Swiss 
threw  themselves  upon  the  countless  battalions  of 
their  enemies.  Their  little  force  was  broken  and 
divided,  yet  still  they  fought:  500  maintained  the 
unequal  struggle  in  the  open  field;  the  remainder 
behind  the  garden  wall  of  the  Siechenhaus  at  St. 
Jacob.  Fierce  as  lions  they  fought  in  the  meadow, 
until  man  after  man  fell  dead  on  the  heaps  of 
slaughtered  foemen.  The  dauphin  won  the  vic- 
tory by  sheer  preponderance  of  numbers,  but  it 
taught  him  a  lesson.  "  I  will  provoke  this  obsti- 
nate  people   no    further,"    said   he,   and    full   of 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


admiration  for  such  heroic  courage,  he  met  their 
representatives  at  Ensisheim,  and  concluded  peace. 

The  young  men  enrolled  in  the  various  "  Singing 
Unions"  and  "Federal  Kifle  Clubs"  in  this  dis- 
trict, commemoiate  their  Swiss  Thermopylae  yearly 
with  vocal  and  rifle  festivals.  And  the  vineyard 
of  Wahlstadt,  not  far  from  the  battlefield,  yields 
a  red  wine,  which  the  people  delight  to  call 
Schweizerblut,  or  "  Swiss  blood." 

A  marble  tablet  in  the  church  of  St.  Jacob  (a 
plain  and  unpretending  edifice)  bears  an  inscrip- 
tion to  the  following  effect: — 


here  died,  unconquered, 

but  exhausted  with  victory, 

tiiirtfen  hundred  confederates  and  ali  ies, 

in  conflict  with  french  avd  austrian*, 

26th  august,  1444. 

We  now  take  our  leave  of  Basel.  A  few  paces 
and  we  enter  upon  the  French  province  of  Alsace, 
which  has  figured  so  conspicuously  in  the  present 
war,  and  which,  at  the  time  we  write,  seems  fated 
to  become  a  portion  of  the  spoil  of  the  conquerors. 

Alsace,  or  Alsatia  (in  German,  Ellsass),  is 
supposed  to  derive  its  name  from  the  Ell  or  HI 
(Alsa),  which  waters  two-thirds  of  the  country, 
and  constitutes  its  principal  artery,  and  the  German 
Sass,  or  "  settlers."  It  formerly  belonged  to  Ger- 
many, but  by  the  treaty  of  Westphalia  in  1648, 
and  as  a  result  of  the  victories  of  Turenne, 
was  annexed  to  France,  of  which  it  forms  the 
easternmost  province.  To  the  west  lies  Lorraine, 
separated  from  Alsace  by  the  mountain-range  of 
the  Vosges,  through  whose  defiles  the  Prussian 
Crown  Prince  so  successfully  carried  his  numerous 
battalions  at  the  outset  of  the  war  of  1870.  Its 
southern  boundary,  dividing  it  from  Switzerland, 
is  the  chain  of  the  Jura;  to  the  south-west  it 
borders  on  Upper  Burgundy;  to  the  east  the  Ehine 
separates  it  from  Baden;  and  to  the  north  the 
Lauter  from  Rhenish  Bavaria. 

Its  surface  being  broken  up  by  lofty  mountains 
and  deep  valleys,  and  watered  by  numerous  rivers,  it 
is  necessarily  rich  in  bright  and  romantic  landscapes. 
The  slopes  of  the  Vosges  are  covered  with  the 
ruined  strongholds  of  the  feudal  barons;  and  an  old 
saying  is  still  popular,  that  in  Alsace  three  castles 
are  to  be  found  on  every  mountain,  three  churches 
in    every  churchyard,  and  three  towns  in  every 


valley. 


46 


The  rivers  of  Alsace  are  many  and  charming, 
and  the  glens  or  hollows  through  which  they 
trail  their  dark  waters,  present  a  succession  of 
pictures  bold  in  outline  and  rich  in  colour.  The 
111  is  the  largest  and  longest;  it  traverses  a  great 
part  of  the  province,  which  is  further  intersected 
by  the  Monsieur  or  Napoleon  Canal,  connecting 
the  Rhine  with  the  Rhone,  and,  consequently,  the 
North  Sea  with  the  Mediterranean.  From  the 
"bosom  infinite"  of  the  Vosges  descends  many 
a  rippling  river  and  tumbling  torrent.  In  the 
department  of  the  Upper  Rhine,  the  Leber,  which 
flows  into  the  111  near  Schlettstadt;  the  Weiss, 
issuing  from  the  Black  and  White  Lake,  and 
emptying  its  tribute  into  the  Fecht;  the  Fecht, 
winding  through  the  Miinster  valley,  and  after 
a  course  of  thirty  miles,  falling  into  the  111;  the 
Thur,  which  brightens  and  enriches  the  vale  of  St. 
Amarin;  the  Doller,  or  Tolder,  rising  in  a  lake 
above  the  village  of  Dobern,  and  flowing  into  the 
111  below  Miihlhausen.  In  the  department  of  the 
Lower  Rhine,  the  Lauter,  a  Bavarian  affluent,  falls 
into  the  Rhine  at  Neuburg;  the  Moder,  the  Zorn, 
the  Morsig,  the  Zunts,  the  Scher,  the  Andlau,  the 
Ischer,  and  the  Mayet  are  comparatively  unim- 
portant streams. 

Alsace  contains  the  important  cities  of  Stras- 
burg,  Colmar,  and  Miihlhausen.  In  Caesar's  time 
it  was  occupied  by  Celtic  tribes;  who,  towards 
the  decline  of  the  Roman  empire,  were  con- 
quered by  the  Alemanni,  and  completely  Ger- 
manized. For  centuries  it  formed  a  part  of  the 
German  empire.  At  the  peace  of  Westphalia, 
some  portions  of  it  were  ceded  to  Vienna,  and  the 
remainder  was  annexed  by  Louis  XIV.,  whose 
seizure  of  Strasburg,  in  1681,  during  a  time  of  peace, 
was  one  of  the  most  iniquitous  acts  of  a  reign  in 
which  the  only  recognized  law  was  the  law  of  might. 
By  the  peace  of  Ryswick  in  1697,  the  cession  of 
the  whole  to  France  was  unwisely  confirmed,  and 
Germany  had  the  misfortune  to  see  one  of  its  finest 
provinces  yielded  to  an  aggressive  and  powerful 
neighbour,  at  a  time  when  her  arms  were  crowned 
with  victory.  At  the  downfall  of  the  first  Napo- 
leonic empire,  in  1815,  an  opportunity  arose  for  the 
restoration  of  Alsace  to  Germany;  but  the  Treaty 
of  Vienna  did  nothing  to  redress  an  undoubted 
wrong  in  all  its  over-ingenious  attempts  to  establish 
the  European  balance  of  power.  Mr.  Matthew 
Arnold  has  keenly  remarked  that  the  great  object 
of  the  statesmen  who  concluded  that  famous  treaty 


FROM  BASEL  TO  STRASBURG. 


■was  to  erect  barriers  against  Fiance.  How  did 
they  proceed  to  carry  out  this  object  ?  "  Instead 
of  creating  a  strong  Germany,  they  created  the 
impotent  German  Confederation;  placing  on  the 
frontiers  of  France  the  insignificant  Duchy  of 
Baden  and  an  outlying  province  of  Bavaria,  and 
dividing  the  action  of  Germany  so  that  her  two 
chief  powers,  Prussia  and  Austria,  must  necessarily 
be  inferior  to  France.  They  created  the  inco- 
herent kingdom  of  Holland  and  the  insufficient 
kingdom  of  Sardinia;  they  strengthened  Austria 
against  France,  by  adding  to  Austria  provinces 
which  have  ever  since  been  a  source  of  weakness 
to  her.  They  left  to  France  Alsace  and  German 
Lorraine,  which  unity  of  race  and  language  might 
with  time  have  solidly  re-attached  to  Germany. 
In  compensation  they  took  from  France  provinces 
which  the  same  unity  may  one  day  enable  her  to 
re-absorb.  The  treaties  of  Vienna  were  eminently 
treaties  of  force,  treaties  which  took  no  account 
of  popular  ideas;  and  they  were  unintelligent  and 
capricious  treaties  of  force." 

Of  late  years,  however,  we  have  grown  accus- 
tomed to  see  these  treaties  openly  disregarded; 
and  in  spite  of  them  Italy  has  become  an  united 
kingdom,  and  the  isolated  states  of  the  Germanic 
Confederation  have  been  welded  "by  blood  and 
iron "  into  a  compact  and  homogeneous  empire. 
If  at  the  close  of  the  present  war,  victorious  Ger- 
many puts  forward  a  demand  for  the  restoration 
of  Alsace,  it  is  difficult,  say  the  pro-Prussian  party, 
to  see  on  what  grounds  the  demand  can  be  opposed 
by  the  neutral  powers.  Alsace,  they  tell  us,  is  a 
German  province,  wrested  from  Germany  by  force 
and  fraud  ;  and  the  very  principle  of  nationality  to 
which  so  much  prominence  has  been  given  since 
the  war  of  1856,  would  justify  its  annexation  to 
the  empire  founded  by  Bismarck  and  Von  Moltke. 
The  German  language  is  still  spoken  by  many  of 
its  inhabitants,  notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the 
French  to  extirpate  it,  and  in  the  smaller  towns 
and  villages  German  customs  still  prevail. 

Alsace  has  given  birth  to  some  worthies  who 
have  attained  an  European  reputation.  Among 
these  we  may  mention  General  Kleber,  who  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  the  French  expedition  to 
Egypt  in  1798,  and  was  left  by  Napoleon  in  com- 
mand of  the  French  army ;  Kellermann,  and  Bapp, 
two  of  Napoleon's  favourite  and  most  trusted 
lieutenants;  Sebastian  Brandt,  of  Strasburg,  the 
author  of  the  "  Ship  of  Fools,"  well  known  in 
47 


England  through  Barclay's  vigorous  but  quaint 
translation  of  it;  the  poets  Augustus  and  Adolphus 
Stober,  whose  lyrics  breathe  a  genuine  German 
spirit;  and  the  pious  village  pastor  and  enthusiastic 
philanthropist,  Johannes  Friedrich  Oberlin  (born 
at  Strasburg  in  1740,  died  in  1826).  It  is  needless 
to  say  that  in  history  it  has  played  a  conspicuous 
part,  the  thunder  of  battle  having  frequently 
resounded  among  its  mountains,  and  the  blood-red 
tide  of  war  poured  devastatingly  over  its  fertile 
plains. 

FROM  BASEL  TO  STRASBURG. 

On  the  Alsace  bank  of  the  Rhine. 

A  railway  running  parallel  to  the  bank  of  the 
Rhine  connects  Basel  with  Strasburg.  It  was 
opened  in  1841.     The  distance  is  89  miles. 

Soon  after  leaving  Basel  we  perceive,  on  the 
right,  the  village  of  Grosse-Hiiningen,  so  called  to 
distinguish  it  from  Klein-Hiiningen,  on  the  Baden 
bank  of  the  river.  In  1680,  by  command  of  Louis 
XIV.,  it  was  converted  into  a  strong  fortification 
by  Vauban,  the  great  military  engineer;  but  the 
defences  were  razed  in  September,  1815,  at  the 
instance  of  the  Swiss  Confederation,  and  by  the 
second  treaty  of  Paris,  France  bound  herself  never 
to  restore  them. 

We  next  arrive  at  the  important  and  thriving 
town  of  Miihlhausen,  situated  on  the  Rhone  and 
Rhine  Canal,  and  famous  for  its  extensive  calico 
manufactories.  The  surrounding  country  is  level 
but  fertile,  and  its  pastures  are  pleasantly  refreshed 
by  the  windings  of  the  111. 

Miihlhausen,  or,  as  the  French  call  it,  Mulhouse, 
owes  its  origin,  as  its  name  indicates,  to  a  mill 
erected  here  on  the  bank  of  the  111.  We  can 
easily  imagine  that  in  course  of  time  other  houses 
would  spring  up  around  the  centre  thus  provided, 
until  the  hamlet  grew  into  a  village,  and  the  village 
into  a  town.  As  early  as  the  eighth  century,  this 
town  was  surrounded  by  walls.  Having  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  it  was 
elevated  to  the  rank  of  an  imperial  free  town  in  1273. 
From  succeeding  emperors  it  received  many  pri- 
vileges, and  in  1293  Adolph  of  Nassau  bestowed 
upon  it  a  charter,  in  keeping,  indeed,  with  the 
spirit  of  the  times,  though  the  superiority  of  its 
citizens  over  strangers  or  foreigners  was  pushed 
to  the  extent  of  waiving  their  responsibility  for 
even  the  most  criminal  acts.  Thus,  no  citizen 
could  be  summoned  before  a  foreign  magistrate. 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


No  citizen  was  required  to  defend  himself  against 
the  accusation  of  an  alien,  nor  was  he  allowed  to 
render  assistance  to  a  foreigner  against  a  fellow- 
citizen.  All  goods  of  which  a  citizen  could 
prove  that  they  had  been  in  his  possession  for  a 
year,  were  thenceforth  to  be  regarded  as  his  own 
property.  If  a  citizen  killed  a  foreigner,  and  it 
could  be  proved  that  provocation  had  been  offered 
him,  he  was  not  condemned  even  to  pay  a  fine. 
And  lastly,  no  citizen,  of  whatever  crime  accused, 
could  be  arrested  in  his  own  house;  a  privilege 
surpassing  the  Englishman's  proud  boast,  that  his 
house  is  his  castle ;  for  the  Englishman's  house  has 
always  been  open  to  the  ministers  of  the  law. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  existence  of  such 
extraordinary  immunities  was  altogether  favour- 
able to  the  prosperity  of  the  town.  They  certainly 
attracted  to  it  a  numerous  population  ;  but  what  a 
population  !  Miihlhausen  became  the  "  Alsatia  " 
of  the  surrounding  country;  the  asylum  of  robbers 
and  thieves,  who  were  admitted  to  the  rights  of 
citizenship  on  taking  an  oath  that  they  had  not 
voluntarily  committed  a  crime.  As  might  be 
expected,  its  population  was  not  deficient  in 
energy,  and  it  always  evinced  a  marked  hostility 
towards  the  nobles.  In  1338  it  joined  the  league 
of  Alsace  against  them.  In  1437,  after  gallantly 
repulsing  an  attack  of  the  Armagnacs,  it  drove  the 
seigneurs  from  its  walls.  Thenceforth  it  flourished 
as  a  democratic  republic,  and  with  undaunted 
intrepidity  maintained  its  liberties,  even  ventur- 
ing, in  1474,  to  resist  Charles  the  Bold,  who  had 
threatened  it  with  annihilation. 

In  its  endless  feuds  with  the  nobles  it  had  fre- 
quently demanded  and  received  the  support  of 
the  Swiss,  with  whom  it  was  allied.  In  1515  it 
renewed  its  treaty  of  perpetual  union,  and  under- 
took, as  a  guarantee  of  its  fidelity  to  the  confeder- 
ation, that  it  would  enter  upon  no  war,  nor  accept 
any  foreign  succour,  without  their  consent.  From 
these  close  relations  sprung  the  natural  result  of 
the  adoption  of  the  Lutheran  doctrines  by  the 
people  of  Miihlhausen,  and  this  adoption,  towards 
the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  leading  to  the 
interference  of  the  house  of  Austria,  a  Swiss  garri- 
son was  stationed  in  the  town  to  protect  it  from 
attack. 

In  1648  the  treaty  of  Westphalia  handed  over 

to  France  the  Austrian  possessions  on  the  Rhine, 

and  the  towns  in  the  government  of  Haguenau. 

Miihlhausen  was  at  the  same  time  declared  inde- 

48 


pendent,  like  the  Swiss  cantons,  and  having  no 
longer  to  arm  against  external  power,  was  free  to 
cultivate  the  arts  of  peace.  A  century  elapsed, 
however,  before  it  came  to  the  front  in  the  ranks 
of  material  progress.  In  1746  the  first  manufac- 
tory of  printed  calicoes  was  established  here  by 
three  worthies,  whose  names  are  still  held  in 
honour  at  Miihlhausen,  Samuel  Kcechlin,  J.  J. 
Schmaltzer,  and  Johannes  Heinrich  Dollfus. 
Twenty-five  years  later,  and  eleven  new  factories 
had  been  planted  on  the  ruins  of  the  palaces 
of  the  old  nobility. 

The  busy  city  now  throve  amazingly.  But  its 
wealth  attracted  the  greedy  eyes  of  France,  and 
though  for  some  years  it  gallantly  defended  its 
freedom,  in  1798  it  was  compelled  to  vote  for  its 
own  extinction  as  an  independent  city.  Under 
the  influence  of  French  bayonets,  it  gave  666 
votes  against  fifteen,  in  favour  of  its  annexation  to 
France.  Whether  the  whirligig  of  fortune  will 
once  more  wrest  it  from  France,  and  with  the  rest 
of  Alsace,  hand  it  over  to  victorious  Germany,  it 
is  at  present  too  early  to  conjecture. 

Miihlhausen  is  distinguished  by  its  great  indus- 
trial resources;  it  is  also  distinguished  by  its  noble 
benevolent  institutions.  It  presents  almost  the 
only  example  in  Europe  of  a  Workman's  City,  of 
an  independent  community  of  operatives.  No- 
where else  has  trade  unionism  been  developed 
under  such  favourable  auspices,  and  with  such 
satisfactory  results.  Between  Miihlhausen  and 
Dornach,  says  Jules  Simon,  extends  an  ample  plain 
traversed  by  the  canal  which  winds  round  the  city. 
Here,  in  a  singularly  healthy  situation,  and  on  both 
banks  of  the  canal,  the  Societe  des  Cites  Ouvrieres  has 
traced  the  plan  of  its  new  town.  The  ground  is 
perfectly  level;  the  streets,  broad  and  spacious,  are 
laid  out  at  right  angles.  As  each  house  stands  in 
its  own  little  garden-plot,  the  eye  is  everywhere 
greeted  with  trees  and  flowers,  and  the  pure  air 
circulates  as  freely  as  in  the  open  country. 

On  the  Place  Napoleon,  an  open  area  in  the  very 
centre  of  this  interesting  town,  and  the  point 
where  the  main  thoroughfares  terminate,  are 
erected  two  houses  of  dimensions  superior  to  the 
others  ;  one  of  which  is  appropriated  to  the  public 
baths  and  lavatory ;  the  other  to  the  restaur- 
ant, store-rooms,  and  library.  On  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  canal,  in  the  square  formed  by  the  Bue 
Lavoisier  and  the  Bue  Napoleon,  is  located  an 
asylum  for  the  reception    of  150  children;   it    is 


BENEVOLENT  INSTITUTIONS  AT  MUHLHAUSEN. 


excellently  managed,  clean,  and  comfortable. 
There  is  no  private  school,  because  the  managers 
have  rightly  judged  that  it  could  not  surpass,  or 
even  equal,  the  communal  school,  which  is  one  of 
the  most  admirable  institutions  in  Miihlhausen. 

At  the  restaurant  and  bakery  every  article  is 
sold  at  wholesale  prices.  The  restaurant  is  con- 
ducted on  a  most  admirable  plan.  The  charges 
are  moderate,  and  differ  greatly  from  those  of  the 
ordinary  establishments.  The  dishes,  too,  are  of  a 
better  quality,  and  sufficiently  varied. 

The  conditions  on  which  the  houses  become 
the  property  of  the  workmen  are  thus  plainly 
stated  by  M.  Simon. 

The  society,  he  remarks,  makes  no  mystery  about 
them.  It  says — "  You  see  my  houses  are  wide 
open;  enter,  and  inspect  them  from  the  garret  to  the 
cellar.  The  ground  cost  me  one  franc  twenty  cen- 
times per  metre  (about  three  yards  three  inches); 
including  the  architect's  fees,  purchase  of  materials, 
expense  of  erection,  the  houses  cost  2400  to  3000 
francs;  I  sell  them  to  you  at  the  same  price.  You 
are  not  in  a  position  to  pay  me  3000  francs ;  but  I, 
the  society,  can  wait  your  convenience.  You  will 
deposit  in  my  hands  a  sum  of  300  or  400  francs  to 
begin  with ;  this  will  defray  the  legal  and  pre- 
liminary expenses.  Afterwards,  you  will  pay  me 
eighteen  francs  (about  13s.  lOd.)  per  month,  for  a 
house  worth  2400  francs;  or  twenty-three  francs 
(about  18s.  3d.)  for  a  house  worth  3000  francs. 
That  is,  you  will  pay  about  four  or  five  francs 
more  than  you  would  for  hired  apartments.  By 
continuing  this  payment  for  fourteen  years  you 
will  have  reimbursed  the  price  of  your  house;  it 
will  be  paid  for,  you  will  be  its  owner.  Not  only 
will  you  thenceforth  live  rent-free,  but  you  will  be 
able  to  leave  it  to  your  children  or  to  sell  it.  By 
setting  apart  five  francs  monthly,  which,  if  put  in  the 
savings  bank,  would  not  have  realized  1400  francs, 
you  will  have  acquired  a  house  now  worth  3000 
francs,  but  which,  in  fourteen  years,  will  probably 
be  worth  double  that  amount,  and  meanwhile,  you 
will  have  been  completely  housed,  without  run- 
ning any  risk  from  a  landlord's  whims.  You  will 
have  enjoyed  the  use  of  a  garden,  whose  produce 
cannot  be  valued  at  less  than  thirty  or  forty  francs 
per  annum.  We  do  not  take  into  account  the 
broad  healthy  streets,  the  tree-planted  squares,  the 
children's  asylum — in  a  word,  all  the  public  and 
useful  institutions  which  have  been  open  to  you, 
and  which  are  not  in  anyway  included  in  your  rent." 


It  must  be  admitted  that  such  terms  as  these 
present  no  ordinary  attraction  for  the  intelligent 
operative,  and  we  are  not  astonished  to  find  that 
out  of  the  560  houses  belonging  to  the  Societe 
des  Cites  Ouvrieres  in  1860,  403  had  been  sold. 
Something  of  the  same  kind  has  been  accomplished 
in  London,  and  some  of  the  larger  towns  of  Eng- 
land and  Scotland,  but  not,  as  it  seems  to  us,  on  so 
liberal  a  scale  or  so  enlightened  a  plan;  and  we 
commend  the  example  of  Miihlhausen  to  our  Bri- 
tish philanthropists  in  their  efforts  to  promote  the 
well-being  and  advance  the  interests  of  the  work- 
ing-classes. Fourierism  and  Owenism  appear  the 
empty  theories  of  credulous  philosophers  when  com- 
pared with  the  practical  work  so  nobly  conceived, 
and  so  admirably  carried  out,  at  Miihlhausen. 

This  enlightened  town  boasts  also  of  a  Socie'te' 
Industrielle,  which  carefully  examines  into  the 
merits  or  demerits  of  every  project  brought  forward 
for  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  work- 
ing-classes. Then  there  are — a  Societe  d'Encour- 
agement  a  l'Epargne  (for  the  encouragement  of 
economy),  a  Societe  Alimentaire,  a  Societe  de 
Saint  Vincent  de  Paul,  a  Societe  des  Amis  des 
Pauvres,  and  a  Societe1  de  Charite\  In  fact, 
Miihlhausen  has  become  the  arena  where  philan- 
thropic designs  are  tested  before  the  eyes  of  the 
public,  and  where  those  which  possess  intrinsic 
merit  are  immediately  adopted,  and  energetically 
carried  into  execution. 

Such  a  place  will  necessarily  be  provided  with 
good  schools.  In  addition  to  a  college,  a  profes- 
sional school,  and  an  upper  school,  it  possesses  an 
admirable  primary  school,  which  the  town  sup- 
ports by  a  yearly  grant  of  70,500  francs,  and 
which  has  no  equal  in  France,  no  superior  on 
the  Continent.  The  work  of  supervision  and 
tuition  is  intrusted  to  a  director,  a  sub-director, 
and  forty-two  masters,  mistresses,  and  assistants, 
who  take  charge  on  an  average  of  3000  children 
of  both  sexes.  The  children  of  the  operatives 
are  admitted  free.  The  educational  course  com- 
prises French,  German,  English,  Drawing,  Geo- 
graphy, History,  Arithmetic,  and  the  Elements  of 
Geometry. 

France  has  a  right  to  be  proud  of  its  radiant 
and  intellectual  Paris,  of  historic  Tours,  of  regal 
Rheims,  of  sunny  Bordeaux,  and  of  many  other 
towns  and  cities  scattered  over  its  fair  and  fertile 
land ;  but  of  none  can  it  boast  with  greater  justice 
than  of  industrious  and  philanthropic  Mulhouse. 
49  g 


THE  EHINE  VALLEY. 


A  few  words  will  be  sufficient  to  satisfy  the 
reader's  curiosity  respecting  its  public  edifices. 
Here,  as  in  the  preceding  pages,  we  shall  follow 
the  guidance  of  Adolphe  Joanne. 

The  new  Catholic  church,  built  in  the  ogival 
or  pointed  style  of  the  thirteenth  century,  is  a 
really  graceful  and  yet  majestic  building,  which 
we  think  would  meet  with  the  approval  of  the 
architectural  purist,  both  in  its  general  conception 
and  principal  details.  It  is  above  270  feet  in 
length  by  1 10  in  width  at  the  transept,  and  seventy- 
five  at  the  nave  and  aisles.  Its  height  in  the 
interior  is  seventy-five  feet.  The  roof  of  the  nave 
and  transepts  is  of  timber,  and  the  general  effect 
is  very  grand  and  impressive. 

A  new  Protestant  church,  designed  by  the  same 
architect,  M.  Schaere,  has  recently  been  erected. 
It  measures  145  feet  long,  seventy-five  feet  wide, 
and  sixty-five  feet  high. 

M.  Schaere  is  also  the  architect  of  the  Jewish 
synagogue,  which  is  built  in  the  Oriental  style,  of 
red  sandstone,  and  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram. 
The  interior  is  divided  into  three  aisles;  in  the 
central,  which  is  of  great  width,  sit  the  men;  in 
the  narrow  lateral  aisles,  the  women. 

The  town-hall  is  situated  in  the  Place  de  la 
Reunion,  in  the  oldest  part  of  the  town.  It  dates 
from  1551  to  1553.  Its  most  original  feature  is 
its  external  double  staircase.  To  the  left  of  the 
entrance  is  a  wall-painting,  very  striking  and 
vigorous,  of  an  old  man  in  magisterial  robes;  on 
the  right,  a  figure  of  a  woman  of  the  handsomest 
German  type,  crowned  with  roses,  and  bearing  a 
crown  of  laurel  in  her  hand.  The  great  hall  is 
adorned  with  three  pictures  representing  the  shields 
of  the  burgomasters  or  maires  of  Mulhouse.  Above 
them  is  a  row  of  the  armorial  bearings  of  the 
Swiss  cantons.  The  glass  windows  are  ancient 
and  curious. 

A  lively  and  agreeable  promenade  is  furnished 
by  the  long  line  of  well-built  quays  which  skirt 
the  basin  formed  here  by  the  Rhone  and  Rhine 
Canal.  In  most  of  the  streets,  however,  the  visitor 
will  find  much  to  amuse,  and  more  to  interest. 
The  signs  of  rapid  industrial  progress  are  every- 
where. To  these,  indeed,  he  may  be  accustomed 
in  other  towns;  but  in  few  towns  will  he  find 
them  accompanied  by  such  abundant  and  satisfac- 
tory indications  of  moral  advancement  and  artistic 
culture.  Mlihlhausen  is  French  in  aspect,  Ger- 
man in  character,  English  in  spirit.  In  many 
50 


respects  it  is  a  model  of  what  a  great  manufacturing 
town  ought  to  be. 

The  Industrial  Museum  is  worth  a  visit.  It  is 
situated  in  the  triangle  of  colonnaded  mansions, 
which  looks  like  a  bit  of  Belgravia,  erected  in  1828. 

Mlihlhausen  was  entered  by  the  Prussians  in 
September,  1870. 

The  next  station  on  our  route  is  Dornach,  a 
manufacturing  town  of  about  4000  inhabitants. 
Here  is  the  well-known  establishment  of  Messrs. 
Dolfus-Mieg  and  Company,  whose  printed  calicoes 
are  noted  for  their  excellence. 

At  Dornach  we  cross  the  111,  which  formerly 
served  as  the  boundary  line  between  the  Sundgau 
and  Alsace,  and  the  Rhone  and  Rhine  Canal. 

At  Lutterbach  the  railway  strikes  further  inland, 
and  opens  up  some  striking  views  of  the  rugged 
peaks  and  deep  ravines  of  the  Vosges.  A  branch 
line  diverges  from  this  point  to  Thann  (the  ancient 
Pineturri),  another  manufacturing  town,  with  a 
population  of  about  5000,  partly  Catholics  and 
partly  Protestants,  as  is  the  case  in  most  of  the 
towns  of  Alsace.  Its  situation  is  eminently  pic- 
turesque, for  it  lies  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Amarin 
Valley,  while  huge  summits  dominate  over  the 
foreground,  and  far  away  spreads  a  seemingly  end- 
less stretch  of  fair  and  fruitful  country.  Its  special 
pride  is  its  minster,  dedicated  to  St.  Theobald;  a 
structure  in  the  finest  style  of  the  German  archi- 
tecture of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  not  unworthy 
of  the  genius  of  Master  Erwin  of  Strasburg,  who 
is  reported  to  have  furnished  the  design.  The 
spire,  however,  was  erected  by  the  architect 
Rumiel  Vatel.  The  whole  work,  begun  in  1430, 
was  completed  in  1516.  An  old  tradition  runs 
that  the  latter  was  an  excellent  year  for  the  vintage, 
and  that  the  beauty  of  the  spire  is  owing  to  the 
circumstance  that  the  mortar  was  mixed  with  wine. 

The  western  gateway  is  magnificent.  It  is  en- 
riched with  statues  in  decorated  niches,  and  with 
a  variety  of  ornamentation,  which  is  not  less  grace- 
ful in  design  than  conscientious  in  execution. 

From  Thann,  following  the  course  of  the  Thur, 
we  return  to  Ensisheim,  situated  at  the  confluence 
of  the  Thur  and  the  111.  The  latter  river,  it  should 
be  observed,  from  Miihlhausen  to  a  point  below 
Strasburg,  incloses,  in  conjunction  with  the  Rhine, 
a  long  and  narrow  peninsular  strip  of  land,  which 
is  low,  level,  fertile,  and  well-cultivated. 

Ensisheim  is  a  town  of  about  3000  inhabitants. 
Jacob  Balde,  a  Latin  poet,  whose  odes  have  been 


HOW  THE  EMPEROR  WAS  DEFEATED  AT  ROUFFACH. 


translated  by  the  German  Herder,  -was  born  here 
in  1603.  In  its  church  is  preserved  a  large  aerolite, 
which  fell  in  the  neighbourhood  on  the  7th  of 
November,  1492.  It  originally  weighed  280  lbs., 
now  only  about  170  lbs.;  portions  having  been 
gradually  broken  off  by  inquisitive  curiosity- 
mongers. 

Continuing  our  course  at  a  distance  of  about  ten 
miles  from  the  Rhine,  with  the  Vosgcs  on  our  left 
hand,  we  reach,  in  succession,  the  town  of  Sultz, 
(3989),  and  Gebweiler  (10,680),  both  inhabited 
by  an  industrial  population.  Near  the  latter,  the 
Vosges  culminate  in  the  bold  peak  of  the  Belchen 
(4410  feet),  or  "balloon  of  Gebweiler." 

We  next  arrive  at  Eouffach  (the  Rubeacum  of 
the  Eomans),  a  busy  and  interesting  town  of  a  de- 
cidedly German  aspect,  with  a  population  of  3917. 
Here  was  born  Marshal  Lefebvre,  duke  of  Dantzig, 
one  of  Napoleon's  safest  and  most  skilful  lieutenants, 
on  the  25th  of  October,  1755.  He  was  the  son  of 
a  miller,  who  had  formerly  served  in  the  army,  and 
at  the  age  of  eighteen  entered  the  Gardes  Franchises, 
rising  to  the  post  of  premier  sergent  in  the  year 
preceding  the  outbreak  of  the  French  revolution. 
In  those  stirring  times  every  soldier  carried  a  mar- 
shal's baton  in  his  knapsack.  His  rise  was  rapid. 
In  1793  he  was  a  general  of  brigade.  For  some 
years  he  served  under  Hoche,  was  appointed  gene- 
ral of  division,  distinguished  himself  at  Lamberg 
and  Giesberg,  and  more  especially  at  Stockach, 
March  25,  1799,  where  he  kept  at  bay  a  greatly 
superior  Austrian  force.  Afterwards  he  offered 
his  services  to  Napoleon,  and  when  the  latter  estab- 
lished the  first  empire,  Lefebvre  was  made  a  marshal. 
At  Jena,  in  1806,  he  earned  the  imperial  praise  by 
his  splendid  valour,  and  in  the  following  year  was 
appointed  to  the  command  of  the  army  besieging 
Dantzig.  The  city  capitulated,  and  Lefebvre  was 
created  a  duke.  In  1808  he  served  in  Spain,  in 
1809  in  Austria  and  the  Tyrol.  In  the  disastrous 
invasion  of  Russia  he  commanded  the  imperial 
guard,  and  during  the  terrible  retreat  from  Mos- 
cow his  intrepidity  and  wonderful  powers  of 
endurance  were  strikingly  displayed.  He  fought 
with  equal  courage  and  skill  in  the  brilliant  but 
unsuccessful  campaign  of  1814.  It  proved  the 
close  of  his  military  career.  After  the  restoration 
his  services  were  not  required,  but  he  accepted  the 
Bourbon  rule  with  honourable  loyalty,  and  was 
permitted  to  retain  his  hard-won  honours.  He 
died  in  1820.      A  bust  of  the  marshal,  by  David 


of  Angers,  is  the  principal  ornament  of  the  town- 
hall  of  his  native  place. 

Eouffach  grew  up  round  the  old  castle  of  Isen- 
burg,  one  of  the  oldest  in  Alsace,  where  Dagobert 
II.  frequently  resided.  At  a  later  period  it  be- 
longed to  the  bishops  of  Strasburg.  It  was  seized 
by  the  Emperor  Henry  IV.,  whose  men-at-arms, 
enjoying  here  an  uncontrolled  license,  were  guilty 
of  the  most  abominable  excesses.  One  day,  the 
feast  of  the  Passover,  the  governor  of  the  castle 
carried  off  a  young  maiden  of  noble  birth,  while 
she  was  proceeding  to  church  in  her  mother's 
company.  The  citizens  heard  with  emotion  the 
shrieks  and  exclamations  of  the  distracted  mother, 
but  a  craven  dread  of  the  imperial  lances  kept 
them  silent.  Their  wives  and  daughters,  however, 
more  courageous,  and  more  easily  aroused  to  enthu- 
siasm, hastened  to  the  castle,  broke  through  the 
gates,  drove  out  the  surprised  garrison,  and  the 
emperor  himself,  who  was  at  the  time  a  resident 
within  its  walls.  Terrified  by  the  unexpected 
attack  of  the  Alsatian  heroines  he  fled,  half-naked, 
to  his  harem  at  Colmar,  leaving  behind  him  his 
crown,  his  sceptre,  and  his  imperial  mantle,  which 
his  victorious  assailants  immediately  offered  up  at  the 
altar  of  the  Virgin.  In  memory  of  this  event,  says 
Eouvrois,  in  his  "Voyage  Pittoresque  en  Alsace," 
the  magistrates  of  the  town  conceded  the  right  of 
precedence  to  the  women  in  every  public  ceremony, 
and  this  proud  prerogative  they  still  enjoy. 

Ashamed  of  his  defeat,  and  furious  at  its  dis- 
grace, the  emperor  laid  siege  to  the  town  with  an 
army  of  30,000  men,  which  he  had  collected  for  a 
campaign  in  Italy.  It  was  now  the  turn  of  the 
men  of  Eouffach  to  come  to  the  front,  and  they 
fought  with  so  much  resolution  and  intrepidity 
that  the  emperor  was  completely  baffled.  Unable 
to  satisfy  his  vengeance  by  force,  he  had  recourse 
to  fraud.  He  demanded  permission  for  his  troops 
to  pass  through  the  town  (1106),  and  when  the 
citizens  unsuspectingly  opened  their  gates,  he 
ordered  it  to  be  set  on  fire,  and  handed  it  over  to 
the  greed  and  lust  of  his  mercenaries. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the 
men  of  Colmar  seized  upon  Eouffach  and  plundered 
it.  After  this  disaster,  it  was  surrounded  by  strong 
walls,  but  the  defence  prcved  useless  against  the 
Armagnacs,  who  sacked  it  in  1444.  Finally,  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  it  was  three  times  occu- 
pied by  an  enemy;  on  the  first  occasion  by  the 
Landgrave  Otho;  on  the  second  by  the  Due  de 
51 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


Rohan;  and  on  the  third  by  Marshal  Turenne,  after 
his  victory  at  Turckheim. 

One  cannot  but  pity  the  fate  of  these  frontier 
towns,  so  frequently  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  war; 
nor  can  one  help  feeling  some  surprise  at  the  vitality 
they  have  exhibited  in  surviving  so  many  and  such 
deplorable  misfortunes. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  Rouffach  became  un- 
happily distinguished  by  its  cruel  persecution  of 
the  Jews,  many  of  whom  were  burned  at  the  stake 
in  a  meadow  still  called  Judenfeld.  And,  even  at 
this  day,  not  a  single  Jew  inhabits  Rouffach,  or 
owns  any  property  within  it. 

The  church  of  Rouffach,  dedicated  to  St.  Arbo- 
gast,  is  an  interesting  monument  of  twelfth  century 
date. 

Its  design  and  its  decorative  work  refer  it,  ac- 
cording to  M.  de  Rouvrois,  to  the  second  period  of 
the  Gothic  style.  The  choir,  with  its  remarkable 
boldness  of  construction,  appears  much  more 
ancient  than  the  remainder  of  the  edifice.  One  of 
the  baptismal  fonts  in  a  side-chapel  on  the  right, 
arrests  special  attention  as  a  masterpiece  of  subtle 
and  delicate  sculpture,  in  which  every  line  seems 
informed  with  genius.  Persons  afflicted  with  epi- 
leptic fits  are  in  the  habit  of  resorting  to  the  chapel 
of  St.  Valentine. 

We  must  take  the  reader  to  Pfaffenheim  (1700 
inhabitants),  situated  at  the  very  foot  of  the  Vosges, 
in  a  sheltered  and  sunny  land  of  vineyards,  famous 
for  the  excellence  of  their  vintage.  The  church  is 
ancient,  with  a  remarkable  spire.  Above  the  town 
rises  the  striking  hill  of  the  Schaumburg  (1780 
feet),  from  whose  summit  a  view  of  the  valley  of 
the  111  may  be  obtained,  which  presents  some  strik- 
ing features. 

Gueberschwir  (1500  inhabitants)  was  formerly  a 
walled  town,  with  a  castle,  the  Mittelburg,  of  some 
celebrity.  Its  church,  in  the  so-called  Roman  style, 
is  an  edifice  of  more  than  ordinary  pretensions. 

A  line  may  be  given  to  Huttstadt  (1000  inhabit- 
ants) to  refer  the  visitor  to  the  romantic  ruins  of 
the  old  castle  of  Barbenstein. 

Crossing  the  Lauch,  a  small  swift  stream,  clear 
as  a  mountain  torrent,  and  sparkling  with  an  azure 
gleam  in  a  dell  of  luxuriantly  leafy  character,  we 
observe  the  stately  castle  of  Hurlisheim  (1100  in- 
habitants), erected  in  the  last  century  on  the  site 
of  an  old  robber  fastness.  Then  we  come  to  the 
interesting  town  of  Eynisheim  (1953  inhabitants), 
the  birthplace,  in  1049,  of  Pope  Leo  IX. 
52 


Of  the  casde  in  which,  according  to  tradition, 
the  pope  was  born,  and  which  was  built  by  the 
Count  Eberhard,  son  of  Duke  Athic,  the  only 
remains  are  a  grey  hexagonal  tower,  gaunt  and 
weatherworn,  and  some  trace  of  the  fosses  which 
supplied  the  castle  with  water.  To  the  west,  on 
the  cone-shaped  mountain  above  the  town,  rise  the 
three  shattered  towers  of  an  ancient  fortalice,  called 
Drei-Exon.  Each  tower  was  severally  named: 
thus,  on  the  south  stood  the  Wahlenburg  ;  on  the 
north,  Dagsburg;  in  the  middle,  Weekmund.  One 
of  them  is  still  some  125  feet  in  height;  the  others 
are  in  ruins. 

This  palace  was  erected  by  the  first  Count  von 
Eynisheim,  grandson  to  Duke  Athic,  and  founder 
of  several  princely  and  royal  dynasties,  in  whose 
successive  generations  our  readers  would  take  no 
interest.  But,  at  least,  it  may  be  as  well  to  note 
that  among  the  number  are  included  the  princes  of 
Teck,  now,  through  the  marriage  of  the  Princess 
Mary  of  Cambridge,  closely  connected  with  our  own 
royal  house.  Bruno  of  Eynisheim,  son  of  Count 
Hugues  IV.,  became  bishop  of  Toul,  and  after- 
wards Pope  Leo  IX.  His  life  has  been  written 
by  his  disciple  and  partisan,  Archdeacon  Wibert, 
with  a  credulity  which  leaves  little  to  be  desired. 
Whoever  has  a  taste  for  the  legendary  and  marvel- 
lous should  turn  to  this  narrative,  as  it  appears  in 
the  valuable  collection  of  Muratori.  As  a  bishop, 
Bruno  was  notable  for  his  fervent  piety,  his  gentle- 
ness to  those  below  him  (he  constantly  washed  the 
feet  of  the  poor),  his  boundless  charity,  his  elo- 
quence as  a  preacher,  and  his  knowledge  of  music. 
As  pope,  he  showed  a  great  talent  for  organization, 
an  intense  devotion,  and  an  unwearied  zeal  for  the 
interests  of  the  church.  Both  as  pope  and  bishop, 
however,  he  evinced  a  curious  feature  of  character : 
he  discovered  reliques  of  saints  wherever  it  was 
necessary  to  find  them,  he  worked  miracles,  and 
he  "  saw  visions."  He  died  on  the  13th  of  April, 
1059,  closing  a  saintly  life  with  a  sublime  death. 
He  ordered  his  coffin  to  be  carried  into  St.  Peter's ; 
and  laid  himself  down  on  a  couch  by  its  side.  Then, 
having  bestowed  his  last  advice  and  admonitions 
on  those  around  him,  he  received  the  last  sacra- 
ments, and,  rising  with  difficulty,  looked  stedfastly 
upon  his  future  resting-place.  "  Behold,"  he  said, 
"  my  brethren,  the  mutability  of  human  things. 
The  cell  which  I  dwelt  in  as  a  monk  expanded  into 
yonder  spacious  palace;  it  shrinks  again  into  this 
narrow  coffin."      The  next  morning  he  was  dead. 


A  JOURNEY  THROUGH  ALSACE. 


Of  his  miracles  we  can  but  record  a  single  exam- 
ple. A  costly  cup,  presented  to  him  by  the  arch- 
bishop of  Ko'ln,  fell  to  the  ground  and  was  broken 
to  pieces.  At  the  bidding  of  Leo,  these  pieces 
came  together,  the  cup  was  made  whole,  and  the 
fracture  was  marked  only  by  a  thin  thread  (capillo). 
But  the  most  wonderful  thing  was,  that  all  the  while 
not  a  drop  of  the  wine  which  it  contained  was 
spilled ! 

The  following  account  of  the  destruction  of  the 
pope's  birthplace  we  borrow  from  the  "  Voyage 
Pittoresque  en  Alsace  :" — 

"  It  was  in  1466.  The  year  before,  the  nobles, 
whose  oppressions  the  towns  did  not  bear  so 
patiently  as  in  the  preceding  century,  had  been 
expelled  from  the  senate  of  Miihlhausen.  Enraged 
at  this  bold  act  of  rebellion,  they  waited  only  for  a 
pretext  to  re-assert  their  ancient  domination,  and 
avenge  themselves  on  the  presumptuous  burghers. 
A  miller's  boy  of  Miihlhausen  furnished  them  with 
the  excuse  they  needed.  Driven  out  by  his  master, 
and  pretending  that  he  was  in  great  distress  for  a 
paltry  sum  of  six  oboli,  which  the  latter  refused  to 
pay  him,  he  carried  his  complaint  before  the  nobles ; 
and  one  of  them,  Peter  of  Eynisheim,  purchased 
from  him  his  debt. 

"  Strong  in  his  legal  title,  and  putting  himself 
forward  as  a  redresser  of  wrongs,  he  seized  upon 
several  citizens,  and  flung  them  into  the  lowest 
dungeon  of  his  castle. 

"  Miihlhausen  appealed  to  its  allies,  and  a  war, 
known  as  the  Plappert-Krieg,  or  'War  of  the  Six 
Oboli,'  broke  out  on  this  insignificant  cause.  The 
nobles,  summoning  to  their  aid  all  their  friends 
and  kinsmen,  retired  to  the  castle  of  Eynisheim, 
which  they  strongly  fortified,  and  appointed  Her- 
mann Kliv,  the  miller,  who  had  been  the  original 
cause  of  strife,  to  the  chief  command. 

"  The  allied  towns  resolved  to  attack  the  castle, 
and  under  the  leadership  of  a  certain  Stiitzel,  they 
carried  it  by  assault  on  the  day  of  the  Fete-Dieu 
(1466),  and  burned  it  to  the  ground.  Then  they 
crowned  their  victory  by  hanging  up  the  miller 
and  three  of  the  most  tyrannical  nobles. 

"  It  would  seem  to  be  tolerably  certain  that 
these  three  fortresses  were  never  rebuilt,  or  in- 
habited after  this  event;  for  in  1568  a  pretended 
sorceress,  accused  of  having  married  her  daughter 
to  the  devil,  and  celebrated  the  nuptial-feast  among 
the  ruins  of  Eynisheim,  was  brought  to  trial. 
The  details  of  the  evidence  brought  against  this 


unfortunate  victim  of  superstitious  ignorance  are 
very  curious,  very  extravagant,  and,  as  persons 
knowing  anything  of  the  history  of  witchcraft 
will  readily  believe,  are  frequently  disgusting. 
We  may  mention,  however,  that  it  was  stated  as 
a  fact,  before  a  properly  constituted  court  of  judi- 
cature, that  the  wedding-feast  had  consisted  of 
bats — cooked,  we  suppose,  in  a  variety  of  ways — 
and  that  the  concluding  dance  had  been  performed 
by  imps  and  devils  ! 

11  What  thronging,  dashing,  raging,  rustling ! 
What  whispering,  babbling,  hissing,  bustling! 
What  glimmering,  spirting,  stinking,  burning, 
As  heaven  and  earth  were  overturning ! " 

It  is  needless  to  add  that  the  poor  sorceress  was 
put  to  death. 

We  resume  our  route.  The  Hoh-Landsberg, 
which  rises  above  the  chateau  of  Plixburg — the 
latter  a  thirteenth  century  building,  with  a  cylin- 
drical keep — was  formerly,  as  its  remains  very 
plainly  indicate,  a  fortress  of  great  strength,  and 
almost  impregnable  in  the  days  before  rifled  can- 
non and  mitrailleuses.  In  the  history  of  Alsace  it 
played  an  important  part,  as  early  as  the  thirteenth 
century.  In  1281  it  was  captured  by  an  imperial 
army,  and  thenceforth  it  remained  a  fief  of  the 
house  of  Austria.  The  Swedes  took  possession 
of  it  in  1638.  It  was  dismantled  by  order  of 
Louis  XIV. 

Logelbach,  on  the  left,  is  famous  for  its  large 
cotton  mills,  weaving,  and  calico-printing  estab- 
lishments. Wintzenheim,  another  manufacturing 
town,  has  a  population  of  4000. 

Almost  opposite  the  railway  station  of  Colmar 
lies  Turckheim  (2946  inhabitants),  where  Marshal 
Turenne,  on  the  5th  of  January,  1675,  gained  a 
great  victory  over  the  imperialists. 

Colmar  is  the  principal  town  in  the  department 
of  the  Upper  Rhine,  and  was  the  seat  of  the  im- 
perial court  for  the  departments  of  the  Upper  and 
Lower  Rhine. 

This  ancient  and  quaint  old  town  is  situated  in 
the  immediate  shadow  of  the  Vosges,  on  the  small 
rivers  Lauch  and  Fecht,  and  in  a  plain  of  great 
fertility,  watered  by  innumerable  rills  which  sup- 
ply the  motive  power  of  many  important  mills  and 
factories,  and  are  carried  through  the  busy  streets  of 
the  town  itself.  In  some  they  are  reduced,  how- 
ever, to  the  modest  dimensions  of  gutters.  Its  prin- 
cipal manufactures  are  cottons  and  printed  goods. 

Founded  hi  the  sixth  century,  it  was  called 
53 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


Columbaria,  or  Colmaria,  when  the  sons  of  Louis 
the  Debonnair  encountered  in  its  vicinity  their 
father,  against  whom  they  had  rebelled,  and  forced 
him  to  surrrender  the  crown  he  had  received  from 
Charlemagne  (a.d.  833).  The  three  brothers  after- 
wards met  in  council  at  the  royal  vill  of  Colmar, 
and  Lothair  conveyed  his  father  from  thence  to 
the  monastery  of  Soissons,  and  treated  him  with 
the  most  shameful  indignities.  He  was  compelled 
to  perform  public  penance  in  the  church  of  St. 
Medard.  There  the  father  of  three  kings  laid 
down  upon  the  altar  his  armour  and  his  imperial 
robes,  and  clothing  himself  in  black,  read  the  long 
and  enforced  confession  of  his  crimes.  Next,  he 
laid  the  parchment  on  the  altar,  was  stripped  of  his 
military  belt,  which  was  likewise  placed  there; 
and  having  put  off  his  secular  dress,  and  assumed 
the  garb  of  a  penitent,  was  thenceforth  deemed 
incapacitated  from  all  civil  acts. 

The  field  where  the  emperor  had  been  deserted 
by  his  courtiers  and  army,  was  ever  afterwards 
named  Liigenfeld,  Campus  Mentitus,  or  "  the  field 
of  falsehood." 

In  1 106  Colmar  suffered  severely  from  fire,  but 
was  soon  rebuilt.  In  1226  it  was  raised  to  the 
rank  of  a  town  by  the  Emperor  Frederick  II.,  and 
in  1282  declared  an  imperial  town.  In  1474  it 
was  attacked  by  the  French  under  Charles  the 
Rash,  but  successfully  repulsed  its  assailants.  In 
1552  it  had  grown  so  wealthy  and  prosperous,  that 
it  was  thought  advisable  to  fortify  it  with  ramparts 
and  towers.  In  1632  it  was  taken  by  the  Swedes; 
the  majority  of  the  citizens  having  embraced 
Lutheranism,  compelled  the  imperialists  to  capitu- 
late. Two  years  later  it  was  annexed  to  France, 
and  in  1673  Louis  XIV.  dismantled  the  fortifi- 
cations, whose  site  is  now  occupied  by  pleasant 
boulevards,  agreeably  planted  with  trees,  and 
surrounding  the  old,  quaint,  and  obscure  town 
with  a  belt  of  leanness. 

Colmar  has  given  birth  to  three  eminent  men, 
Pfeffel,  Rewbell,  and  General  Rapp. 

Gottlieb  Conrad  Pfeffel  was  born  in  1736.  He 
became  blind  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-one,  while 
pursuing  his  studies  in  the  university  of  Halle. 
By  dint  of  unwearied  perseverance  he  conquered 
the  numerous  obstacles  which  loss  of  sight  throws 
in  the  way  of  the  man  of  letters,  and  as  a  writer 
of  fables  attained  a  great  and  deserved  distinction. 
He  died  in  1809,  having  for  several  years  conducted 
with  success  a  Protestant  military  academy. 
54 


Rewbell  was  one  of  the  many  whom  the  surg- 
ing waves  of  the  French  Revolution  carried  into 
power.  Having  attained  an  influential  position 
in  the  National  Assembly,  he  had  the  courage  to 
denounce  the  sanguinary  excesses  of  the  Jacobins, 
and  was  appointed  one  of  the  five  directors  to 
whom  the  government  of  France  was  intrusted  by 
the  constitution  of  1795. 

His  character  is  concisely  sketched  by  Alison: 
— An  Alsatian  by  birth,  and  a  lawyer  by  pro- 
fession, he  was  destitute  of  either  genius  or  elo- 
quence; but  he  owed  his  elevation  to  his  habits 
of  business,  his  knowledge  of  forms,  and  the 
pertinacity  with  which  lie  represented  the  feelings 
of  the  multitude,  often  in  the  close  of  revolutionary 
convulsions  envious  of  distinguished  ability. 

For  ourselves,  we  think  that  Alison  does  not 
do  him  justice.  He  was  a  man  of  principle,  and 
advocated  moderation  at  a  time  when  to  do  so 
required  considerable  intrepidity.  He  was  at  all 
events  a  sincere  republican,  and  had  the  sagacity 
to  fathom  the  designs  of  Napoleon,  and  the  courage 
to  oppose  them  as  long  as  opposition  was  possible. 
In  1799  he  retired  from  the  Directory,  and  thence- 
forth made  no  sign. 

Jean  Rapp  was  born  at  Colmar  on  the  26th  of 
April,  1772,  of  obscure  parentage.  He  enlisted  at 
the  age  of  sixteen,  served  in  the  army  of  the  Rhine, 
was  four  times  wounded,  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
lieutenant,  and  as  aide-de-camp  to  Dessaix  accom- 
panied "  General  Bonaparte's"  expedition  to  Egypt. 
Still  following  the  fortunes  of  Dessaix,  he  stood 
by  his  side  at  the  battle  of  Marengo,  and  supported 
him  in  his  arms  after  he  had  received  his  mortal 
wound.  It  was  probably  his  friendship  with  the 
one  man  whom  Napoleon  pre-eminently  loved  and 
trusted,  that  recommended  him  to  the  great  con- 
queror's favour  At  the  battle  of  Austerlitz  he 
led  one  of  the  most  dashing  and  successful  cavalry 
charges  ever  made,  and  was  rewarded  with  pro- 
motion to  the  rank  of  general  of  division.  Hence- 
forward he  was  admitted  to  Napoleon's  special 
confidence,  and  was  employed  on  several  difficult 
and  delicate  missions.  After  serving  throughout 
the  disastrous  Russian  campaign,  he  was  appointed 
military  governor  of  Dantzig,  and  gained  great 
distinction  by  his  brilliant  defence  of  that  city  in 
1813;  not  surrendering  until  two-thirds  of  the 
garrison  had  perished.  Being  made  a  prisoner  of 
war,  he  did  not  return  to  France  until  the  restora- 
tion of  Louis  XVIII.,   to  whom  he  offered  his 


THE  MINSTER  AT  COLMAR. 


services.  When  Napoleon  returned  from  Elba 
he  could  not  refuse  the  claims  of  his  old  leader, 
and  he  took  the  command  of  the  garrison  at 
Strasburg,  which  city  he  held  even  after  the 
crushing  defeat  of  Waterloo.  In  spite  of  his 
tergiversation,  he  secured  the  forgiveness  of  the 
Bourbons,  and  was  made  a  peer  of  France  in 
1818.  He  died  in  1821,  in  his  fiftieth  year; 
leaving  behind  him  the  reputation  of  a  gallant 
and  trusty  soldier,  who  was  inferior  to  none  in  all 
the  qualities  which  make  an  excellent  lieutenant. 
He  had  no  genius,  but  he  had  military  talent;  and 
he  had  a  knack  of  doing  whatever  he  had  to  do  in 
a  very  sufficient  and  effective  manner. 

We  can  easily  see  all  that  is  to  be  seen  at  Col- 
mar  in  a  few  hours.  A  ramble  along  its  streets  will 
open  up  to  us  some  quaint  examples  of  domestic 
architecture ;  and  if  it  be  market  day,  we  cannot 
but  be  amused  by  the  no  less  quaint  costumes  of 
the  peasants  who  stream  into  the  town  from  the 
neighbouring  villages. 

The  Minster,  or  St.  Martin's  church,  is  an  admir- 
able Gothic  edifi.ee,  begun  in  1265  and  completed 
in  1360.  Completed,  that  is,  so  far  as  the  original 
design  seems  likely  ever  to  be  carried  out;  but  of 
the  two  towers  the  southern  one  only  has  been 
commenced,  and  this  rises  but  a  little  above  the 
body  of  the  building.  A  spire  has  been  erected  in 
the  place  of  the  ancient  spire,  destroyed  by  fire  in 
1572.  The  grotesque  figures  which  decorate  the 
portico  and  nave  are  worth  examining;  their  car- 
vers must  have  been  men  of  a  sly  satiric  humour ! 
Not  less  notable  is  the  altar-piece,  by  Martin  Schon, 
or  Schongauer,  a  native  of  Colmar  (died  1488),  of 
the  Virgin  Mary  with  the  Holy  Child  resting  in 
a  bower  of  roses,  and  attended  by  angels.  The 
figures,  larger  than  life,  are  set  off  by  a  background 
of  gold. 

Each  window  in  the  choir  consists  of  three  lancet 
lights  with  two  mullions.  They  are  filled  with  the 
remains  of  the  superb  painted  glass  which  formerly 
adorned  tlie  ancient  church  of  the  Dominicans.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  speak  too  highly  of  its  depth 
and  transparency  of  colouring. 

The  old  Dominican  convent  (that  of  the  Unter- 
linden)  has  undergone  a  deplorable  transformation; 
the  principal  building  being  used  as  a  corn-mart. 
The  conventual  church  has  been  more  fortunate;  it 
contains  the  town  museum  and  library,  the  latter 
numbering  about  40,000  volumes.  There  are  some 
interesting  paintings  in  illustration  of  the  life  of 


Christ,  by  Martin  Schongauer;  six  subjects  from 
the  Passion,  and  an  Annunciation  and  Adoration 
of  the  Magi,  by  the  same  artist;  also  various  pic- 
tures attributed,  with  more  or  less  foundation,  to 
Albert  Diirer  and  Grunewald.  Here,  too,  are 
some  fine  specimens  of  mediaaval  carving,  from  the 
convent  of  Isenheim;  the  head  of  Peter  of  Hagen- 
bach,  embalmed,  and  preserved  under  glass;  an 
aerolite  which  fell  near  Colmar  in  1492 ;  a  Gallo- 
Eoman  mosaic  from  the  choir  of  the  minster;  speci- 
mens of  armour,  and  certain  instruments  of  torture; 
besides  many  other  things  both  rich  and  rare,  and 
some  which  are  neither  rich  nor  rare. 

The  treasures  of  the  library  are,  the  first  book 
printed  in  German,  at  Strasburg,  by  Eggenstein,  in 
1466;  namely,  a  "TractatusRationisetConscientise," 
either  printed  by  Guttenberg  himself,  or  by  his 
successor,  Nicolas  Becklermunze;  and  collections 
of  medals  (10,000  in  number),  ethnography,  and 
natural  history. 

A  bronze  statue,  by  Bcrtholdi,  to  General  Eapp, 
was  erected  on  the  Champ  de  Mars  in  1855;  and 
one  in  stone,  by  Friederich,  to  the  fabulist  Pfeffel, 
was  placed  beside  the  museum  in  1859. 

From  Colmar  a  visit  may  be  paid  to  Freiburg,  in 
the  Brisgau,  and  Neuf-Brisach  (3456  inhabitants), 
on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine.  The  latter  is  one  of 
Vauban's  fortified  towns.  In  its  vicinity  is  planted 
the  Fort  Mortier,  a  constant  menace  to  Alt-Brisach, 
which  suffered  greatly,  as  well  as  the  fort,  in  the 
Franco-Prussian  War. 

At  four  miles  from  Colmar  we  reach  Bennwihr 
(1000  inhabitants),  whence  we  proceed,  by  way  of 
Ostheim,  on  the  Fecht,  to  the  Kaiserberg,  and  Rap- 
poltsweiler  (8000). 

Kaiserberg  is  situated  in  a  pleasant  little  valley 
at  the  foot  of  the  ruined  mountain  fortress  of  the 
same  name.  Both  fortress  and  town  sprung  into 
existence  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  under  the  Emperor  Frederick  II. 

A  short  distance  from  the  railway,  and  at  the 
mouth  of  a  vine-clad  valley,  lies  Rappoltsweiler, 
better  known  by  its  French  name  of  Ribeau- 
ville  (population,  6081,  of  whom  about  one- 
seventh  are  Protestants).  This  town  was  the 
cradle  of  the  once  powerful  family  of  Rappolt- 
stein,  who,  after  the  annexation  of  Alsace  to 
France,  changed  their  name  to  Ribeaupierre.  It 
was  one  of  this  family  who,  on  the  summit  of 
the  mountain  above  the  town,  erected  the  castle, 
now  in  utter  ruin,  of  Hoh-Rappolstein,  besieged 
55 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


in  turn  by  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg  and  Adolph  of 
Nassau.  It  is  distinguished  by  its  cylindrical 
tower.  Lower  down  are  the  remains  of  two 
other  castles,  the  Giersberg,  and  Niederberg,  or 
St.  Ulrich. 

The  parish  church,  dedicated  to  St.  Germain, 
which  contains  the  tombs  of  the  lords  of  Ribeau- 
pierre,  and  the  town-hall,  are  the  only  two  build- 
ings of  any  particular  interest  or  merit. 

Along  the  crest  of  the  foremost  line  of  the 
Vosges  runs  the  singular  rampart,  of  unknown 
antiquity,  called  the  Heidenmauer,  or  "  Pagans' 
Wall."  Its  remains  extend  over  an  area  of  two 
leagues.  It  is  composed  of  unhewn  stones,  unce- 
mented,  and  about  eight  to  ten  feet  high. 

Philipp  Jacob  Spener,  an  eminent  divine,  who 
may  justly  be  considered  the  founder  of  the  Piet- 
ists, was  born  at  Rappoltsweiler  in  1635.  He 
studied  successively  at  Strasburg,  Basel,  and 
Geneva,  imbibing  the  principles  of  the  strictest 
Lutheranism,  with,  however,  a  strong  attachment 
towards  the  Calvinistic  ideal  of  church  govern- 
ment and  discipline.  From  1666  to  1686  he 
laboured  at  Frankfort-on-the-Maine  as  senior  pas- 
tor, with  an  enthusiasm  and  devotedness  which 
revived  in  Germany  the  decaying  spirit  of  evan- 
gelical piety.  In  1675  he  published  his  "  Pia 
Desideria,"  which,  according  to  Tholuck,  is  one 
of  the  most  important  productions  in  the  whole 
theological  literature  of  Germany.  As  a  remedy 
for  the  religious  lukewarmness  then  too  prevalent, 
he  urged  that  the  laity  should  be  taught  to  co-oper- 
ate in  the  work  of  the  Christian  church,  and  that 
all  the  faithful,  whether  clerics  or  laics,  should 
realize  their  spiritual  priesthood  by  union  in 
prayer,  and  by  efforts  for  the  well-being  of  their 
fellows.  Hence  arose  the  collegia  pietatis,  or  pri- 
vate meetings  for  prayer  and  bible-reading,  which 
originated  the  nickname  of  "  pietists,"  bestowed 
on  those  who  attended  them. 

From  1686  to  1691  Spener  officiated  as  chap- 
lain, or  chief  preacher,  at  the  court  of  the  Elector 
George  III.  of  Saxony,  but  discharged  his  trust 
with  a  faithfulness  which  princely  ears  were  unable 
to  endure,  and  the  connection  was  terminated 
abruptly,  to  the  relief  of  both  parties.  Removing 
to  Berlin,  he  filled  the  offices  of  provost  of  the 
church  of  St.  Nicholas,  and  consistorial  councillor, 
until  his  death  in  1701.  His  influence  extended 
over  all  Lutheran  Germany,  and  he  formed  a 
school  of  zealous  and  able  disciples,  Breithaupt, 
56 


Lange,  Anton,  Franck,  and  Freylinghausen,  who 
took  up  and  continued  the  movement  which 
Spener  had  inaugurated,  and  infused  a  new  life 
and  inspiration  into  the  German  church. 

According  to  Tholuck,  and  no  man  is  better 
acquainted  with  the  whole  religious  history  of 
that  age,  Spener,  of  all  who  have  attained  to 
eminence  in  the  Lutheran  church,  was  the  purest 
and  most  unblemished  in  personal  character,  and 
of  all  God's  instruments  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury the  most  signally  blessed. 

RAPPOLTSWEILER    TO    TUSENBACH. 

A  road  lined  with  poplars  conducts  from  Rap- 
poltsweiler to  a  place  of  pilgrimage  in  much  favour 
before  the  French  Revolution,  Tusenbach,  so  called 
from  the  noise  (tosen)  of  a  "brawling  stream" 
which  rushes  past  it.  St.  Mary  of  Tusenbach 
was  the  patroness  of  the  musicians  in  all  Alsace. 
These  musicians  formed  a  guild,  which  dated  from 
the  romantic  era  of  the  troubadours,  when  the 
singers  and  jongleurs  wandered  from  castle  to 
castle,  and  relieved  the  dull  life  of  feudalism  with 
flashes  of  poetry  and  song.  The  area  over  which 
the  guild  extended  their  operations  lay  between 
the  Hauenstein  and  the  Haguenau  Forest,  and 
from  the  extremity  of  the  Wasgau  to  the  Rhine. 
They  placed  themselves  under  the  immediate  pro- 
tection of  the  lord  of  Rappoltstein,  who  assumed 
the  title  of  King  of  the  Jongleurs,  constituting  it 
a  separate  office,  in  subordination,  at  first  to  the 
Imperial,  and  afterwards  to  the  French  crown. 

As  late  as  the  10th  of  March,  1785,  we  find  the 
royal  council  renewing  the  statutes  which  Eber- 
hard  von  Rappoltstein  had  bestowed  on  his  musical 
subjects  in  1606. 

Certain  privileges,  we  had  almost  said  prero- 
gatives, belonged  to  the  king  of  the  jongleurs,  and 
thej  ongleurs,  in  their  turn,  could  claim  certain  rights. 
The  former  appointed  a  viceroy,  or  "  piper  king," 
who  presided  at  the  annual  court.  As  the  guild 
was  very  numerous,  it  was  subdivided  into  three 
bodies,  each  of  which  had  its  separate  rendezvous. 
Thus,  the  musicians  from  Hauenstein  to  Ottmens- 
biihl  assembled  at  Alt-Thann  on  the  8th  of  Sep- 
tember ;  those  from  Ottmensbuhl  to  Eppil  came, 
with  pipe  and  drum,  to  Rappoltsweiler  on  the 
same  day ;  while  those  from  Eppil  to  the  Haguenau 
met  at  Bischweiler  on  the  feast  of  Assumption. 

On  the  8th  of  September  the  musicians  of  the 
Rappoltsweiler  district  gathered  together  as  early 


TOWNS    OF  ALSACE. 


as  nine  in  the  morning,  and  set  out  from  the  Sun 
tavern,  in  a  radiant  procession,  with  music  and 
banners,  and  the  piper  king  at  their  head,  and 
each  man  carrying  a  silver  medal  in  his  button- 
hole, to  hear  mass  at  the  parish  church.  Thence 
they  marched  to  the  castle,  played  a  symphony 
in  honour  of  their  king,  and  drank  his  health  in 
good  red  wine.  Returning  to  the  inn,  a  court  of 
justice  was  held;  complaints  were  heard,  and  in 
cases  of  the  infraction  of  the  brotherhood's  statutes, 
suitable  fines  inflicted.  The  ceremonies  of  the  day 
concluded  with  dances  and  songs. 

TO   HOH-KoNIGSBUKG. 

After  leaving  Ribeauvilld,  we  pass  Gue'mar 
(population,  1400)  on  the  right,  and  Bergheim 
(population,  3100)  on  the  left,  and  cross  several 
streams,  before  arriving  at  St.  Hippolyte  (popu- 
lation, 2241),  the  point  whence  travellers  frequently 
ascend  the  steep  slopes  of  the  Hoh-Konigsburg. 

On  the  summit  are  situated  the  extensive  ruins 
of  a  castle  of  great  antiquity.  It  was  erected  in 
1469  by  the  Counts  Oswald  and  Wilhelm  von 
Thierstein.  The  view  from  the  battlements  is 
very  fine.  It  is  not  often,  even  in  the  Rhine 
Valley,  that  so  grand  and  striking  a  panorama, 
one  so  bold  in  its  grand  outlines  and  so  rich  in 
its  details,  is  unfolded  before  the  traveller. 

At  four  miles  from  St.  Hippolyte  we  reach 
Schlestadt ;  an  important  and  prosperous  town  of 
10,184  inhabitants. 

Schlestadt  was  anciently  a  free  town  of  the 
German  empire,  but  did  not  receive  its  full  civic 
privileges  until  the  thirteenth  century.  The  Frank 
kings,  according  to  an  old  tradition,  had  a  palace 
here,  erected  by  Frederick  II.  In  775  Charle- 
magne spent  his  Christmas  tide  at  Schlestadt.  In 
the  fourteenth  century  it  was  twice  besieged  by 
the  warrior  bishops  of  Strassburg.  Alternately 
occupied  by  the  Swedes  and  Imperialists  during 
the  Thirty  Years'  War,  it  fell,  in  1634,  into  the 
hands  of  the  French.  At  the  peace  of  Westphalia 
it  was  again  acknowledged  as  an  imperial  city ; 
but  in  1673  it  was  again  captured  by  the  French, 
and  Louis  XIV.  ordered  its  walls  to  be  razed,  and 
new  fortifications  to  be  erected  by  Vauban.  It  is 
a  place  of  considerable  strength,  and  both  in  1814 
and  1815  successfully  resisted  the  attacks  of  the 
allied  armies.  In  the  campaign  of  1870  it  was 
besieged  and  captured  by  a  Prussian  army. 

Above  the  small  town  of  Dambach  rises,  hoary 
h 


and  massive,  the  ruined  castle  of  Bernstein,  whose 
rapid  decay  Nature  seeks  to  conceal  with  her 
freshest  luxuriance.  On  the  right  is  Ebersmiinster, 
a  village  of  930  inhabitants,  where  Duke  Athic 
founded,  in  667,  the  Apri  Monasterium,  or  Mon- 
astery of  the  Wild  Boar,  in  place  of  a  chapel 
built  by  King  Dagobert. 

And  next,  we  arrive  at  Ebersheim  (1900  inhab- 
itants) the  explanation  of  this  Apri  Monaster  ium. 
Here,  according  to  tradition,  Sigebert,  the  son  of 
Dagobert,  was  mortally  wounded  by  a  wild  boar 
(eber) ;  but  through  the  potency  of  the  prayers  of 
St.  Arbogast,  then  bishop  of  Strassburg,  was  re- 
stored to  life.  In  grateful  acknowledgment  of 
the  miracle,  Dagobert  erected  in  the  vicinity  the 
Chapel  of  the  Boar,  or  Ebersmiinster. 

Benfeld  is  eleven  miles  from  Schlestadt.  It  has 
a  population  of  2745  inhabitants,  and  is  situated  on 
the  111.  It  appears  to  have  risen  on  the  ruins  of 
the  ancient  Elcebus,  the  Hellkebos  of  the  geogra- 
pher Ptolemy,  which  the  Goths  destroyed  in  the 
fifth  century.  Here  were  interred  the  remains  of 
St.  Materne,  the  apostle  and  evangelizer  of  Alsace. 
It  was  one  of  the  most  ancient  demesnes  of  the 
bishops  of  Strassburg. 

From  Benfeld  we  proceed,  by  way  of  Matzen- 
heim — leaving,  on  our  right,  the  beautiful  sixteenth 
century  castle  of  Osthausen,  belonging  to  the  Zorn 
de  Brulach  family — to  Erstein. 

This  quiet,  old-world  little  town  (population, 
3705),  pleasantly  planted  on  the  banks  of  the  111, 
was  anciently  of  some  importance.  The  Frankish 
kings  had  a  palace  here,  in  which  at  a  later  date 
resided  the  two  emperors,  Otho  I.  and  Otho  II. 
It  was  at  that  time  surrounded  by  walls,  which, 
together  with  the  castle,  were  destroyed  by  the 
stout  citizens  of  Strassburg  in  1333. 

From  Erstein  the  reader  will  permit  us  to 
diverge  to  Oberwin  (population,  5150),  an  irre- 
gularly built  but  picturesque  town,  situated  on 
the  Ehn,  with  a  fine  background  formed  by  the 
green  acclivities  of  the  Holienburg.  Formerly  it 
was  a  royal  demesne,  belonging  to  the  Merovingian 
kings ;  afterwards  it  became  an  imperial  free  town, 
of  the  sixth  rank.  It  has  four  gates ;  but  the  only 
relics  of  its  ancient  importance  are  the  remains 
of  the  strong  towers  that  formerly  flanked  its  walls. 
The  town-hall,  built  in  152S,  is  rich  in  curious 
wood  carving  and  ancient  pictures. 

From  this  point  we  proceed  to  ascend  the  Otti- 
lienberg,  or  "Mountain  of  St.  Odille;"  the  scene 
57 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


every  year,  on  Pentecost  Monday,  of  a  pilgrimage 
famous  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
Alsace.  The  Ottilienberg,  apart  from  its  associa- 
tions, is  worthy  of  a  visit ;  its  scenery  is  more  than 
ordinarily  picturesque  and  varied,  and  the  prospect 
from  its  summit  might  fill  the  heart  of  a  poet  with 
gladness!  To  the  left  rise  the  ruins  of  the  Rath- 
samhausen,  which  formerly  belonged  to  a  powerful 
Alsatian  family,  and  the  Liitzelburg,  which  was 
built  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  whose  two  shat- 
tered towers  are  surrounded  by  a  girdle  of  dark- 
green  forest.  To  the  south  lies  the  Landsburg, 
which  was  occupied  by  a  family  of  the  same  name 
down  to  the  great  Revolution  of  1789.  Its  remains 
consist  of  two  noble,  cylindrical,  five-storied  towers, 
at  the  angles  of  the  western  enceinte;  a  mass  of 
ruins  on  the  eastern  side ;  and,  in  the  centre,  the 
old,  square,  sandstone  keep,  with  its  grim  eyeless 
walls,  looking  blankly  out  on  a  changed  world. 

From  Erstein  a  journey  of  two  miles  brings  us 
to  Limersheim,  a  village  with  500  inhabitants,  and 
another  two  miles  to  Fegersheim,  which,  with  a 
population  of  1800,  is  situated  at  the  confluence 
of  the  Little  Andlau  with  the  III.  It  is  said  to 
possess  a  spring  whose  waters  are  beneficial  in 
ophthalmic  diseases.  Almost  opposite  it,  above 
the  old  town  of  Rosheim  (population,  3910),  where 
there  is  a  remarkable  Byzantine  church  dating  from 
the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century,  rise  the  ruins  of 
the  stately  pile  of  Guirbaden,  the  ancient  castle  of 
the  Rohans,  destroyed  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

As  we  draw  close  to  Strassburg  we  see  on  our 
right,  between  the  .railway  and  the  Rhine,  which 
here  flows  with  a  broad  and  noble  current,  the 
agricultural  settlement  of  Ostwald,  founded  in 
1839  by  the  city  of  Strassburg;  and  on  the  left  the 
town  of  Entzheim  (population,  1700),  in  whose 
vicinity,  on  the  4th  of  October,  167-4,  the  Impe- 
rialists were  defeated  by  the  French  under  Turenne. 
The  mountains  of  the  Vosges,  when  seen  from  this 
point,  assume  a  character  of  singular  beauty,  and 
the  surrounding  country  is  diversified  by  many 
rich  and  agreeable  landscapes.  In  several  villages 
the  houses  are  decorated  with  double  rows  of 
tobacco-leaves  drying  in  the  sun ;  tobacco  being 
cultivated  here  to  a  considerable  extent. 

THE  BADEN  BANK  OF  THE  RHINE. 

Basel  to  Kehl. 
Having  thus  conducted  the  patient  reader  along 
the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  and  the  valley  of  the 

58 


111,  to  the  city  of  Strassburg,  we  now  retrace  our 
steps  to  Basel,  cross  the  "  exultant  and  abounding 
river,"  and  proceed  to  carry  him  with  us  along 
its  right  or  German  bank,  a  route  not  inferior  in 
interest  or  in  beauty  to  the  former. 

The  Rhine,  in  this  part  of  its  course,  is  fre- 
quently encroached  upon  by  hills.  It  receives  the 
Dreisam,  the  Elz,  the  Scbutter,  and  the  Kinzig. 
Its  surface  is  literally  strewn  with  islands,  more  or 
less  wooded,  of  various  outline,  and  frequently  very 
charming  in  aspect. 

About  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Basel,  on  the  so- 
called  Leopoldshohe,  or  Leopold's  Height,  stands 
the  Basel  custom-house,  to  indicate  that  we  have 
quitted  the  territories  of  republican  Switzerland. 
Passing  Hattingen  and  Efringen,  through  very 
bright  and  beautiful  scenery,  and  crossing  the 
small  stream  of  the  Kander,  where  we  obtain  a 
glorious  view  of  the  islanded  river  and  the  moun- 
tainous landscapes  of  Alsace,  with  the  snow-peaks 
of  the  Jura  rising  beyond  Basel,  we  penetrate  the 
limestone  cliff  of  the  Isteiner  Klotz  in  a  succession 
of  tunnels,  and  drawing  near  the  river  arrive  at 
Schliengen. 

Continuing  our  course  along  the  vine-clad  slopes 
of  the  Black  Forest,  we  arrive  at  Mtihlheim  (popu- 
lation, 3000),  the  seat  of  an  "amstadt"  or  juris- 
diction, and  the  nearest  station  for  Badenweiler. 
Muhlheim  is  celebrated  for  the  "  Markgrafler " 
wine  produced  by  the  neighbouring  vineyards. 
It  is  a  town  of  great  antiquity,  the  abbey  of  St. 
Gall  having  had  possessions  here  as  early  as  758. 

Badenweiler  lies  about  three  miles  to  the  east. 
Its  springs  were  known  to  the  Romans,  and  the 
baths  erected  by  them  were  discovered  in  1748,  in 
a  state  of  excellent  preservation.  They  consist  of 
four  large  and  eight  smaller  baths,  including 
dressing  and  anointing  rooms,  a  sudatorium,  and 
other  appurtenances.  They  are  probably  the  most 
complete  now  in  existence  (out  of  Rome),  and 
measure  324  feet  in  length  by  100  feet  in  breadth. 
Badenweiler  is  now  frequented  by  as  many  as 
1500  visitors  every  season,  and  boasts  of  a  hand- 
some Cursaal.  The  water  is  impregnated  to  a 
large  extent  with  common  salt  and  gypsum,  and 
reputed  beneficial  in  cases  of  gout,  consumption, 
rheumatism,  hysteria,  hypochondriasis,  and  in- 
termittent fever.     The  temperature  is  20°  R. 

About  six  miles  from  Badenweiler  is  the  Bel- 
chen  or  Hochblewan  peak,  whose  summit,  3597 
feet  above  the  sea,  commands  a  fine  view  of  the 


53 


ALT-BRISACH  AND  FREIBURG. 


course  of  the  Rhine  as  far  as  Strassburg,  and 
of  the  country  inclosed  by  the  mountain  chains 
of  the  Black  Forest  on  the  east,  of  the  Vosges 
on  the  west,  and  the  Jura  on  the  south.  Beyond 
the  latter,  on  a  clear  day,  may  be  seen  the  white 
crests  of  the  Bernese  Alps. 

To  the  west  of  Miihlheim,  at  a  distance  of  one 
mile  and  a  half,  and  close  to  the  rocky  bank  of  the 
Rhine,  lies  Neuenberg,  besieged  by  the  chivalrous 
Duke  Bernhard  von  Weimar,  in  1633  to  1634. 

Near  Heitersheim,  once  the  seat  of  the  master 
of  the  Maltese  Knights,  are  the  ruins  of  Staufen- 
burg  castle,  which  can  also  be  reached  from  Krot- 
zingen.  It  was  formerly  the  seat  of  a  race  of 
powerful  nobles,  whose  line  became  extinct  in 
1602.  From  this  point  we  may  carry  the  reader, 
for  a  moment,  to  a  town  already  mentioned — Alt- 
Brisach.  Here  the  isolated  volcanic  mountain  of 
the  Kaisersstuhl  throws  out,  as  it  were,  a  buttress 
of  basalt,  rising  almost  perpendicularly  from  the 
waters  of  the  rolling  river  to  a  height  of  758  feet. 
On  the  highest  point  of  this  singular  eminence 
is  planted  the  Gothic  minster  of  St.  Stephen,  a 
notable  example  of  thirteenth  century  architecture. 
The  town  of  Alt-Brisach  lies  on  the  sides  of  the 
hill  and  in  the  valley  beneath  it.  A  flying  bridge 
connects  it  with  the  opposite  bank.  Though  now 
a  quiet,  lifeless  place,  with  less  than  4000  inhab- 
itants, it  was  once  a  most  important  frontier  fort- 
ress, and  the  key  of  Germany  on  the  west. 

As  late  as  the  tenth  century,  the  Rhine  is  said 
to  have  flowed  round  the  town,  and  isolated  the 
rock  on  which  it  stands.  From  1331  it  belonged 
to  Austria;  but  in  1638  was  captured  by  Duke 
Bernhard  of  Saxe  Weimar,  after  a  blockade  of 
twelve  months,  which  inflicted  the  most  dreadful 
sufferings  on  the  garrison  and  citizens.  After  his 
death  it  was  held  by  the  French,  to  whom  it  was 
formally  made  over  by  the  treaty  of  Westphalia 
in  1648.  But  it  was  impossible  for  Germany  to 
rest  contented  with  this  important  fortress  in  the 
hands  of  a  hostile  nation,  and  at  the  Peace  of 
Ryswick,  in  1700,  it  was  recovered  by  the  Aus- 
trians.  In  1703  it  was  again  taken  by  the  French 
under  Tallard  and  Vauban,  nor  was  it  restored 
until  1715.  The  Emperor  Charles  VI.  greatly 
improved  the  defences,  and  erected  a  new  fort. 
In  1743,  when  a  new  French  invasion  was  appre- 
hended, the  Empress  Maria  Theresa  ordered  the 
Leopold  and  Charles  forts  to  be  destroyed,  and  the 
military  stores  removed  to  Freiburg.     These  steps 


were  not  taken  too  soon.  In  the  following  year 
the  irrepressible  banner  of  the  fleur-de-lis  once 
more  crossed  the  Rhine,  captured  Alt-Brisach, 
and  destroyed  the  remaining  fortifications.  Sub- 
sequently the  bridge  was  removed.  An  Austrian 
garrison  was  not  replaced  in  the  town  until  1768. 

At  the  epoch  of  the  French  revolution  the  French 
once  more  attacked  Brisach.  On  the  bank  of  the 
river,  opposite  the  unfortunate  town,  they  had 
erected  Fort  Mortier,  and  from  this  position  they 
bombarded  the  defenceless  German  town,  on  the 
15th  of  September,  1793.  A  portion  of  the 
buildings  having  been  restored,  they  again  occu- 
pied it  in  1796.  In  1805  Napoleon  resolved  on 
converting  it  into  a  strong  fortress,  and  the  works 
were  already  in  a  forward  condition  when  the 
treaty  of  Presburg  gave  Brisach  to  Baden. 

About  two  leagues  to  the  north  of  Brisach,  on 
a  spur  of  the  Kaisersstuhl,  which,  projecting  into 
the  river,  breaks  up  its  regular  flow  into  a  swift 
and  whirling  current,  are  the  ruins  of  Castle 
Sponeck.  These  owe  more  to  their  romantic  posi- 
tion than  to  their  extent  or  character,  which  is 
comparatively  insignificant;  but  they  command  a 
fine  view  of  the  Rhine,  the  opposite  bank,  and  the 
undulating  sweep  of  the  Vosges. 


Freiburg,  the  ancient  capital  of  the  Breisgau,  is 
situated  about  twelve  miles  from  the  Rhine,  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  Black  Forest,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
romantic  Hollenthal,  or  Valley  of  Hell,  and  upon 
the  Dreisam,  whose  manifold  ramifications  extend 
into  all  the  principal  streets.  It  is  elevated  about 
860  feet  above  the  sea,  so  as  to  enjoy  an  unbounded 
view  of  the  surrounding  country,  which  is  as  bright, 
goodly,  and  diversified  as  eye  can  desire.  The  rich 
vale  of  the  Dreisam,  the  boldly  broken  ground  of 
the  Black  Forest,  the  fertile  plain,  which  carries 
its  stores  of  wealth  and  beauty  up  to  the  very  foot 
of  the  vine-clad  Kaisersstuhl,  and  the  picturesque 
mountains,  which  raise  their  vapour-loaded  crests 
against  the  horizon,  form  a  picture  of  infinite  light 
and  loveliness. 

Freiburg  is  the  seat  of  a  "jurisdiction"  of  the 
Imperial  Court  of  the  Upper  Rhine  Circle,  of  a 
university,  and  of  the  archbishop  and  chapter  of 
the  Upper  Rhine  ecclesiastical  province.  It  has 
a  population  of  17,000,  and  is  a  busy  and  flourishing 
town ;  its  prosperity  being  due  in  part  to  its  posi- 
tion on  the  great  German  highways,  and  partly  to 
59 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


its  forming  the  centre  to  which  the  commercial 
and  manufacturing  industry  of  the  Black  Forest 
converges. 

The  history  of  Freiburg  extends  over  about 
eight  centuries.  As  late  as  1008,  and  probably 
fifty  years  later,  the  area  now  covered  by  its  well- 
thronged  streets  was  a  dense  luxuriant  forest. 
Gradually  a  clearing  was  made,  and  a  few  hunters 
and  fishermen  planted  their  huts  on  the  bank  of 
the  Dreisam.  The  neighbouring  hill  was  speedily 
seized  upon  as  a  suitable  site  for  a  castle,  and  the 
infant  settlement  began  to  extend  under  its  pro- 
tection. Then  came  an  auspicious  patron  in  the 
person  of  Duke  Berthold  III.,  of  Zaringia,  who, 
having  visited  Koln,  and  learned  to  admire  its 
splendour,  desired  to  establish  a  rival  on  the  Upper 
Bhine.  Accordingly,  he  raised  the  village  to  the 
rank  of  a  town.  From  his  brother  and  successor, 
Conrad,  the  new  town  received  a  charter  of  rights 
and  privileges.  It  was  under  the  rule  of  this 
energetic  prince  that  the  minster  was  commenced, 
and  so  diligently  was  it  prosecuted  that  within  its 
walls,  in  1146,  St.  Bernard  was  able  to  deliver  an 
eloquent  harangue  in  favour  of  the  Crusades. 

In  1218  the  male  line  of  the  dukes  of  Zaringia, 
who  had  done  so  much  for  the  prosperity  of 
Freiburg,  became  extinct.  The  town  was  then 
claimed  as  an  imperial  fief,  but  soon  afterwards 
surrendered  to  Egon  I.,  count  of  Hohenberg,  who 
had  wedded  Agnes,  the  sister  of  Duke  Berthold 
V.,  of  Zaringia.  His  son,  Egon  II.,  called  himself 
von  Freiburg,  and  for  the  defence  of  the  town 
erected  the  strong  castle  of  Burghalden. 

About  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century 
Freiburg  became  involved  in  a  life  and  death 
struggle  with  Count  Egon  IV.  She  conquered, 
but  the  tax  on  her  resources  was  so  heavy,  that  to 
avoid  any  similar  disaster  she  voluntarily  parted 
with  her  independence,  and  surrendered  her  rights 
and  liberties  to  the  imperial  house  of  Hapsburg. 
Some  of  her  bravest  sons  afterwards  followed  the 
Austrian  standard  to  the  field  of  Sempach,  and 
perished  in  that  murderous  battle.  In  1457  the 
line  of  the  counts  of  Freiburg  ceased  to  exist. 

In  1468  the  Archduke  Sigismund,  whose  extra- 
vagance had  had  its  natural  result,  mortgaged  all 
his  possessions  in  Alsace,  Sundgau,  Breisgau,  and 
the  Black  Forest,  to  Charles  the  Bold  of  Burgundy, 
for  the  sum  of  80,000  florins.  Freiburg  then  did 
homage  at  Ensisheim,  and  Peter  von  Hagenbach,  a 
man  of  unbridled  lust  and  cruelty,  was  appointed 
60 


its  governor.  He  was  soon  guilty  of  the  most 
abominable  excesses.  In  vain  the  towns  complained 
to  Charles ;  he  listened  to  them  with  indifference. 
They  then  collected  a  sum  sufficient  to  defray  the 
mortgage,  and  encouraged  Duke  Sigismund  to  take 
up  arms  against  the  Burgundian  tyrant.  Hagen- 
bach retired  to  Brisach  with  a  considerable  force ; 
but  continuing  his  exactions,  the  citizens  rose 
against  him,  expelled  his  mercenaries,  seized  him, 
tried  him  according  to  the  law  of  the  empire,  and 
beheaded  him  at  night  by  torchlight.  The  towns 
then  made  common  cause  against  their  oppressor, 
who  invaded  Switzerland  with  a  powerful  army, 
but  was  defeated  at  Granson  and  Morat,  and  killed 
under  the  walls  of  Nancy,  on  the  5th  of  January, 
1477. 

During  the  famous  Peasants'  War,  Freiburg  was 
surrounded  with  twenty  thousand  insurgents,  who 
were  bribed  to  retire  by  a  gift  of  3000  florins  and 
several  pieces  of  artillery.  In  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  the  Swedish  army  appeared  before  the  gates 
of  Freiburg  on  the  19th  December,  1632.  They 
were  at  first  repulsed,  but  on  the  26th  of  the  same 
month  their  compact  battalions  once  more  gathered 
in  front  of  the  town,  and  Colonel  Bernhard  Schaffa- 
litzki  demanded  its  surrender  in  the  name  of  Field- 
marshal  Horn.  In  this  extremity  the  citizens 
displayed  no  ordinary  resolution.  Supported  by 
the  students  and  country  people,  they  manned  the 
walls.  For  forty-eight  hours  the  unfortunate  town 
was  bombarded  with  red  hot  balls,  effecting  so 
terrible  a  desolation  that  the  Freiburgers  found 
themselves  compelled  to  surrender.  On  the  29th, 
Field-marshal  Horn  made  his  public  entry,  and 
immediately  proceeded  to  levy  a  requisition  of 
30,000  florins. 

After  a  brief  interval  of  peace,  Duke  Bernard 
of  Weimar  appeared  before  the  town  (March  20, 
1638).  Under  Escher  von  Buhningen  it  made  a 
gallant  defence ;  but  on  the  11th  of  April  Freiburg 
surrendered.  The  Swedish  colonel,  Kanoffsky  von 
Langendorff ,  was  appointed  governor.  He  treated 
its  citizens  with  the  utmost  moderation ;  but  in 
1644,  on  the  approach  of  the  imperial  army, 
ordered  two  of  the  suburbs  to  be  razed.  The 
Imperialists,  15,000  strong,  under  Field-marshal 
Mercy,  invested  the  place,  while  Turenne,  with 
10,000  men,  hastened  to  its  relief.  Mercy,  how- 
ever, delivered  his  attacks  so  incessantly  and  so 
furiously,  that  on  the  28th  of  July  the  garrison 
was  forced  to  yield.     In  recognition  of  its  gallant 


FREIBURG. 


defence,  however,  it  was  allowed  to  march  out 
with  all  the  honours  of  war,  and  retire  to  Brisach. 

Turenne,  reinforced  by  10,000  men  under  the 
famous  Cloude",  arrived  on  the  scene  soon  after  the 
capitulation  had  been  concluded.  On  the  2nd  of 
August  he  attacked  the  entrenchments  which  Mercy 
had  raised  along  the  neighbouring  mountain,  the 
Schinberg,  but  was  repulsed  with  so  severe  a  loss, 
that  he  retired  upon  Denzlingen  during  the  night 
of  the  5th  of  August.  Mercy  maintained  himself 
in  the  town  for  several  days,  and  then,  leaving  a 
strong  garrison  behind  him,  marched  towards  the 
Black  Forest. 

Freiburg  now  enjoyed  a  period  of  peace.  By 
the  treaty  of  Westphalia  it  was  restored  to  Austria; 
but  Louis  XIV.,  in  pursuance  of  his  scheme  of 
European  supremacy,  resolved  to  seize  it.  In  the 
autumn  of  1677,  its  garrison  having  been  impru- 
dently reduced,  Marshal  Crequi  suddenly  crossed 
the  Rhine  on  the  10th,  and  made  himself  master 
of  the  place  on  the  16th,  of  November. 

By  the  treaty  of  Nimeguen,  in  the  following 
year,  the  city,  so  craftily  won,  was  formally  ceded 
to  France.  Louis  XIV.  proceeded  to  convert  it 
into  a  fortress,  after  the  plans  of  Vauban.  In 
1697  the  treaty  of  Ryswick  restored  Freiburg  to 
Austria ;  but  in  the  condition  of  the  town  no 
improvement  took  place.  On  the  21st  of  Sep- 
tember, 1713,  Marshal  Villars,  with  an  army  of 
150,000  men,  advanced  against  Freiburg,  which 
was  garrisoned  by  only  10,000  men  under  Field- 
marshal  von  Harscli.  In  little  more  than  a  week 
Von  Harsch  was  forced  to  retire  into  the  citadel, 
leaving  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  to  take  what 
steps  they  chose  for  their  own  protection.  Villars 
had  given  orders  to  storm  the  town,  but  at  the 
representations  of  the  citizens  he  consented  to 
accept  terms  of  capitulation.  An  armistice  was 
agreed  upon  until  the  garrison  had  communicated 
with  Prince  Eugene,  and  on  the  17th  of  November 
the  garrison  marched  out  with  all  the  honours  of 
war,  while  the  town  paid  a  sum  of  1,000,000 
francs  as  an  indemnity.  Freiburg,  however, 
quickly  returned  to  its  former  allegiance,  being 
restored  to  Austria  by  the  treaty  of  Rastadt,  in 
September,  1714.  Harassed  by  these  continual 
sieges,  it  declined  more  and  more  rapidly,  until, 
with  an  expenditure  exceeding  its  income  by  5000 
florins  yearly,  it  owed  a  debt  of  300,000  florins. 

On  the  17th  of  September,  1740,  Marshal 
■Coigny,    with    a   French   army    of  56,000   men, 


crossed  the  Rhine,  moved  rapidly  on  Freiburg, 
and  invested  it.  The  town  was  at  that  time 
garrisoned  by  8000  men  under  General  von 
Damnitz,  and  its  bombardment  took  place  under 
the  eye  of  Louis  XV.  The  operations  of  the 
besiegers  were  pressed  so  vigorously,  that  on  the 
26th  of  October  a  breach  had  been  effected,  and 
on  the  5th  of  November  the  garrison  abandoned 
the  town  to  the  French,  and  withdrew  into  the 
castles.  These,  however,  soon  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  French,  who  captured  212  guns,  besides 
eighty  mortars  and  howitzers.  They  then  razed 
the  fortifications,  and  blew  up  the  three  castles. 

The  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  again  restored 
Freiburg  to  Austria,  when  prosperity  returned  to 
the  town,  and  it  has  since  persevered  annually  in 
increasing  its  wealth  and  population.  During  the 
French  Revolution  it  suffered  comparatively  little. 
By  the  peace  of  Presburg,  in  1801,  Freiburg  was 
annexed  to  the  grand  -  duchy  of  Baden,  whose 
government  used  every  exertion  to  promote  its 
interests.  In  1848  it  was  once  more  exposed  to 
a  partial  bombardment.  A  body  of  revolutionists 
marched  into  the  town  during  Passion  week,  pro- 
claimed the  republic,  and  barricaded  the  town 
gates.  But  on  Easter  Monday  it  was  invested  by 
the  grand-ducal  troops,  by  whom  the  insurgents 
were  speedily  put  to  flight. 

Freiburg  consists  of  the  town,  properly  so  called; 
of  the  Stephanie,  formerly  called  the  Schnecken  (or 
Snail)  suburb;  and  of  a  new  district  dating  from 
1826,  which  seems  to  be  generally  known  as  the 
Zaringian  suburb.  The  cathedral,  in  boldness  of 
design  and  perfectness  of  execution,  in  solemnity 
and  grandeur  of  aspect,  is  inferior  only  to  that  of 
Strassburg.  We  are  speaking,  be  it  understood,  of 
German  cathedrals.  Religious  art  has  here  pro- 
duced a  masterpiece,  which  seems  to  be  informed, 
if  we  may  venture  on  a  somewhat  fanciful  expres- 
sion, with  the  enthusiasm  of  a  devout  and  lofty 
genius.  It  is  surprising  that  an  edifice,  whose 
gradual  erection  spread  over  a  couple  of  centuries, 
should  everywhere  exhibit  so  fine  a  harmony.  It 
was  begun  between  the  years  1122  and  1152,  in 
the  reign  of  Conrad,  duke  of  Zaringia.  The  nave, 
the  west  aisle,  the  tower,  and  the  porch  date  from 
1236-72.  The  new  choir  was  begun  in  1354,  and 
not  completed  until  1513.  In  1561  a  portion  of 
the  spire  was  destroyed  by  lightning,  but  it  was 
soon  restored. 

Built  of  red  sandstone,  which  time  and  atmos- 
61 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


plieric  influences  have  toned  down  sufficiently,  the 
cathedral  of  Freiburg  is,  unquestionably,  a  struc- 
ture of  surpassing  beauty.  Its  ground  plan  is 
cruciform,  and  it  occupies  the  centre  of  an  open 
area,  in  the  direction  of  west  to  east.  Its  tower, 
crowned  by  a  pyramidal  spire,  is  340  feet  in  height. 
The  first  stage  forms  a  square  ;  the  second,  above 
the  gallery,  a  dodecagon,  which  quickly  passes 
into  an  octagon,  the  whole  ending  in  an  "octagonal 
pyramid  "  of  the  most  exquisite  open  work.  The 
western  entrance,  at  the  base  of  the  tower,  which 
is  of  the  same  width  as  the  nave,  is  enriched  with 
eight  and  twenty  columns,  each  adorned  with  a 
statue  of  admirable  design  and  execution.  The 
gateway  is  divided  into  two  by  a  solid  column, 
ornamented  with  a  fine  statue  of  the  Virgin,  and 
covered  with  remarkable  sculpture.  Finally,  a 
bas-relief,  inserted  above  the  gate,  represents,  in 
four  tableaux,  some  Biblical  incidents  and  scenes 
from  the  life  of  our  Saviour.  The  interior  of  the 
minster,  from  end  to  end,  is  460  feet  in  length. 
The  nave  is  divided  from  the  aisles  by  six  pillars 
(each  about  six  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter)  on 
either  side;  and  against  these  are  erected,  on 
pedestals,  statues  of  the  Twelve  Apostles.  Nave 
and  aisles,  taken  together,  measure  ninety-five 
feet  across.  These  dimensions  alone  will  enable 
the  reader  to  form  some  dim  notion  of  the  magni- 
ficence of  the  coup  oVceil  which  bursts  upon  the 
spectator  as  he  passes  through  the  entrance  door ; 
but  to  realize  the  scene  he  must  fill  the  windows 
with  richly  painted  glass,  which  sheds  a  "  dim 
religious  light "  on  pavement  and  statue  and 
column,  and  embellishes  each  carved  capital  and 
the  sculptured  balustrade  carried  along  the  side- 
walls,  with  the  rarest  dyes,  "gules  and  emerald 
and  amethyst." 

The  exterior  of  the  cathedral,  especially  on  the 
south,  is  not  less  impressive  than  the  interior.  Its 
flying  buttresses,  its  balustrades,  its  statues,  its 
niches  and  their  Gothic  dais,  its  curious  and  very 
various  spouts,  its  side  doors,  its  atriums,  its  inter- 
minable rows  of  windows,  its  Gothic  rosaces,  its 
carved  pedestals,  its  abounding  wealth  of  strange, 
quaint,  monstrous,  and  beautiful  sculpture,  all  so 
completely  original,  and,  if  we  may  use  the  ex- 
pression, individual,  would  furnish  the  stranger 
with  material  for  a  whole  day's  investigation. 

Worth  visiting  also,  as  Mr.  Mayhew  tells  us,  is 
the  Munster  Platz,  or  Cathedral  Square,  for  the 
peculiarity  of  the  costumes  one  sees  congregated  at 
62 


the  spot.  This,  continues  our  authority,  is  the 
principal  market-place,  and  the  head-dresses  of  the 
peasants  here  are  of  the  most  peculiar  character. 
Most  of  the  women  wear  two  huge  black  ribbon 
bows  perched  right  on  the  crown  of  the  head, 
each  bow  being  spread  out  fan-shape,  and  the 
two  together  seeming  like  the  enormous  wings  of 
a  gigantic  black  butterfly  that  has  settled  on  the 
top  of  the  skull.  This  is  the  time  Margravia, 
or  Breisgau  fashion ;  the  Catholics  wearing  the 
bows  embroidered  with  gold  at  the  back,  and  the 
Protestants  preferring  them  plain.  Other  women, 
again,  have  straw  hats  of  a  most  masculine  shape, 
poised  as  it  were  on  the  head,  and  bright  red  hand- 
kerchiefs tied  over  their  ears,  while  long  Swiss 
tails  hang  down  the  back  in  double  Chinese 
fashion,  and  are  tied  with  ribbon  that  reaches 
literally  down  to  the  heels. 

After  the  Cathedral,  there  are  few  buildings  in 
Freiburg  which  the  visitor  cares  to  see.  The 
Minster  dwarfs  as  it  were,  and  humiliates  them. 
Still  the  Ludwigs  (Protestant)  Church,  built  in 
1827-38,  is  worth  a  visit.  It  occupies  the  summit 
of  a  gentle  elevation  at  the  north  end  of  the  town, 
in  the  Zaringian  suburb. 

Then,  among  the  sights  of  the  town  are,  the 
archiepiscopal  palace,  east  of  the  Kaufhaus;  the 
fifteenth  century  fountain,  in  the  Kaiser-strasse;  the 
fountain  in  the  Fish  Market,  built  in  1807,  and 
adorned  with  a  statue  of  the  founder  of  Freiburg, 
Berthold  III.;  the  university,  erected  in  1454, 
and  containing  a  valuable  library  of  upwards  of 
120,000  volumes;  the  blind  asylum;  and  the 
palace  of  the  grand  duke.  The  university  has 
been  rendered  illustrious  by  the  names  of  Capiiton, 
Erasmus,  and  Philip  von  Engen ;  and  in  our  own 
day  by  those  of  Hug  the  orientalist,  Kotteck  the 
historian,  Welker  the  jurisconsult,  and  Beck  and 
Baumgarten  the  physicians.  It  has  thirty-five 
professors,  and  228  students. 

By  way  of  the  Hollenthal  the  traveller  may  pro- 
ceed from  Freiburg  to  the  Schauinsland  or  Erdkas- 
ten,  whose  summit,  4200  feet  above  the  sea-level, 
commands  the  finest  view  in  Baden;  a  view  includ- 
ing not  only  the  heights  of  the  Black  Forest,  the 
Kandel,  the  Feldberg,  and  the  Belchen,  and  the 
dim  shadowy  valleys  which  penetrate  into  their 
recesses,  but  the  rich  plain  of  the  Khine,  fertile, 
sunny,  and  radiant,  the  Vosges,  the  mighty  masses 
of  the  Jura  and  the  Alps,  from  the  Glcernisch  and 
the  Tcedi  to  the  Dent-du-Midi  and  the  "  monarch 


FREIBURG  TO  STRASSBURG. 


of  the  mountains,"  Mont  Blanc.  The  centre  of 
this  grand  mountain  chain  is  occupied  by  the  white 
peaks  of  the  Bernese  Alps. 

FREIBURG   TO   OFFENBURG. 

We  may  now  resume  our  journey  along  the 
Baden  bank  of  the  Rhine. 

About  three  miles  to  the  north  lies  the  ruined 
castle  of  the  dukes  of  Zaringia  or  Zahringen,  the 
founders  of  the  reigning  family  of  Baden.  It  com- 
mands an  attractive  picture  of  the  surrounding 
•district  of  the  Breisgau. 

Passing  Denzlingen,  we  soon  come  in  sight  of 
Emmendingen,  a  town  of  2170  inhabitants.  The 
■only  notable  fact  recorded  in  connection  with  it 
is  that  the  astronomer  Kepler,  and  the  antiquary 
Schcepflin,  were  educated  at  its  grammar-school. 

From  Emmendingen  we  make  a  detour  to  the 
Hochburg  or  Hochberg.  The  ruins  are  said  to  be 
the  most  extensive  in  Germany.  The  castle  was 
founded  by  a  family  of  the  same  name ;  sustained 
a  siege  during  the  Peasants'  War ;  was  occupied 
during  the  Thirty  Years'  War  by  the  Margrave 
George  Frederick,  fortified  after  the  peace  of  West- 
phalia by  Frederick  VI.,  and  dismantled  by  order 
of  the  great  French  war-minister,  Louvois,  in  16S9. 

Continuing  our  route,  we  leave  on  the  left  the 
volcanic  range  of  the  Kaisersstuhl,  and  on  the  right 
the  undulating  ridges  of  the  Black  Forest,  as 
we  draw  near  to  Riegel.  From  this  station  the 
Kaisersstuhl — so  called  because  the  Emperor  Ru- 
dolph of  Hapsburg,  in  his  hunting  expeditions, 
frequently  rested  on  its  summit — is  usually  visited. 
The  highest  point  is  indicated  by  nine  lime  trees 
(1950  feet).  It  lays  bare  to  the  eye  the  entire 
sweep  of  the  Rhine,  and  of  each  side  of  its  valley, 
from  Basel  to  Strassburg. 

Crossing  the  Elz,  we  reach  Kurzingen  (popula- 
tion, 2313),  which  formerly  belonged  to  Austria; 
and  crossing  the  Bleiche,  we  arrive  at  Herbolzheim 
(population,  2063).  Leaving  Ringsheim  on  the 
right,  we  come  to  Ettenheim  (population,  2931), 
at  the  mouth  of  the  valley  of  the  Undiz ;  a  place 
of  interest  as  the  scene  of  the  forcible  arrest  of  the 
young  Due  d'Enghien,  on  the  loth  of  March,  1S04. 

The  summit  of  the  steep  conical  Hohengerold 
is  crowned  by  the  ruins  of  a  castle,  destroyed  in 
1697  by  the  French  under  the  Marshal  de  Crequi. 
The  view  from  it  is  very  beautiful,  and  the  Rhine 


valley  is  seen  inclosed  between  the  Vosges  on 
the  west,  and  the  Black  Forest  on  the  east,  prior 
to  its  escape  into  the  fertile  plains  of  Baden,  Hesse 
Darmstadt,  and  Rhenish  Prussia. 

Offenburg  (with  a  population  of  4408),  is  situ- 
ated at  the  mouth  of  the  valley  of  the  Kinzig,  about 
three  miles  above  the  junction  of  that  river  with 
the  Rhine.  It  was  formerly  a  free  imperial  town, 
but  by  the  treaty  of  Presburg  was  ceded  to  Baden. 
At  the  end  of  the  principal  street  the  English 
visitor  will  be  surprised  to  see  a  statue  of  the  bold, 
bluff,  sturdy  Elizabethan  sea-king,  Sir  Francis 
Drake,  erected  in  1583,  apparently  to  commemorate 
his  introduction  of  the  potato  into  Europe. 

At  the  Appenweiler  station,  a  mile  beyond 
Offenburg,  a  branch  line  strikes  off  on  the  left  for 
Kehl  and  Strassburg  (we  adopt  the  German  ortho- 
graphy), while  the  main  line  descends  the  bank  of 
the  Rhine  to  Carlsruhe,  Mannheim,  and  Frankfort. 

Kehl  (population,  1903)  attained  a  melancholy 
celebrity  in  the  late  war,  having  been  laid  in 
ruins  by  the  batteries  of  Strassburg,  during  the  siege 
of  the  latter  by  the  German  army  under  General 
Werder.  It  is  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Kinzig  and  the  Schutter  with  the  Rhine,  and  was 
formerly  an  imperial  fortress  of  some  distinction. 

The  Rhine  at  this  point  is  divided  into  two 
branches  by  an  island,  on  which  stood  the  French 
custom-house,  and  still  stands  the  monument  to 
General  Desaix.  The  island  is  connected  with 
the  mainland  on  either  side  by  a  bridge  of  boats, 
blown  up  in  1870.  The  railway  is,  or  was,  carried 
across  the  river  from  Kehl  to  Strassburg  by  an 
iron  lattice  bridge  on  four  piers,  erected  in  1861. 

This  connecting  line  between  the  French  and 
German  railways  was  opened  on  the  6th  of  April, 
1861.  It  describes  an  immense  curve  around  the 
city,  for  it  first  proceeds  towards  Paris  for  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile,  then  connects  itself  with  the 
Baden  Railway  by  a  branch  of  800  yards  in  length, 
and  follows  up  that  of  Basel  for  2200  yards,  as  far 
as  Koenigshofen.  Beyond  this  village  it  assumes 
a  "  separate  existence,"  crosses  the  111  and  the 
Rhone  and  Rhine  Canal,  and  approaches  the  walls 
of  Strassburg.  Skirting  the  cemetery  of  St. 
Urbain,  and  passing  the  south  side  of  the  citadel, 
it  reaches  the  Porte  d'Austerlitz  station.  On  a 
light  girder  bridge  it  traverses  the  Little  Rhine, 
opening  up  a  view  of  the  monument  of  General 
Desaix  on  the  He  des  Epis. 
63 


CHAPTER     III. 


THE  CITY  OF  STRASSBURG,  OR  STRASBURG. 


STRASSBUEG,  like  most  of  the  Rhenish  cities,  is  of 
Roman  origin ;  like  Kbln  and  Coblenz,  Mainz, 
Bingen,  and  Speier.  It  was  the  old  Romano- 
Celtic  Argentoratum,  and  it  is  easy  to  understand 
that  to  the  warriors  of  Rome  its  position  would 
recommend  itself  as  possessed  of  peculiar  military 
advantages.  It  is  situated  at  the  confluence  of 
the  rivers  111  and  Brieusch,  about  half  a  league 
from  the  Rhine ;  so  as  to  hold  the  entrance  to 
the  valleys  of  both  rivers.  Hence,  its  possession 
has  at  all  times  been  fiercely  disputed  by  hostile 
armies  endeavouring  to  obtain  command  of  the 
Upper  Rhine. 

The  strength  of  its  fortifications,  which  were 
designed  by  Vauban,  may  readily  be  inferred 
from  the  resistance  they  offered,  in  1870,  to  the 
Prussian  arms.  The  siege  was  gallantly  main- 
tained ;  the  defence  was  equally  heroic ;  and  the 
inhabitants  suffered  terribly  before  General  Uhrich 
consented  to  relinquish  the  defence.  The  Prussian 
artillery  had  not  only  reduced  the  outworks  to  ruins, 
and  effected  a  breach  in  the  walls,  but,  at  one  time, 
had  poured  shot  and  shell  into  the  doomed  city, 
setting  on  fire  the  houses  of  inoffensive  citizens,  and 
slaying  women  and  children,  the  old  and  young, 
the  unarmed  civilian  as  well  as  the  soldier.  For 
six  weeks  Strassbnrg  held  out  bravely ;  but  in  the 
end,  General  Uhrich  having  done  enough  for  his 
own  fame,  acted  nobly  in  not  prolonging  a  defence 
by  which  the  unarmed  and  feeble  must  have  been 
the  principal  sufferers.  Happily,  this  terrible  siege, 
in  all  its  wide-spread  devastation,  has  left  compara- 
tively uninjured  the  great  pride,  and  boast,  and 
ornament  of  Strassburg ;  its  famous  Minster  has 
escaped  the  "  storms  of  battle." 

In  outline  as  in  details  the  cathedral  of  Strass- 
burg deserves  nearly  all  the  praise  that  has  been 
lavished  upon  it ;  and  it  is  certain  that  no  man  of 
taste  or  fancy  can  look  upon  it  without  a  very 
powerful  emotion  of  reverent  admiration.  The 
spire  rises  460  feet  above  the  pavement ;  that  is, 
one  foot  lower  than  the  great  Pyramid  of  Egypt, 
104  feet  higher  than  the  cross  of  St.  Paul's,  40  feet 
higher  than  the  steeple  of  St.  Etienne  at  Vienna, 
64 


28  feet  higher  than  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  and  258 
feet  higher  than  the  monument  of  London.  A 
doorway  in  the  south  side  of  the  truncated  tower 
leads  to  its  summit.  The  next  chief  point  of  inter- 
est is  the  western  facade,  whose  delicate  and  yet 
luxuriant  beauty  it  would  be  difficult  to  overpraise  ; 
though  we  think  it  inferior  to  the  corresponding 
parts  of  the  cathedrals  of  York  and  Exeter.  The 
effect  has  been  compared  to  that  of  a  netting  of 
detached  pillars  and  arches  thrown — we  had  almost 
said  spun — over  the  solid  mass  or  body  of  the 
cathedral.  And  delicate  as  are  the  mouldings  and 
sculptures,  such  is  the  hardness  and  excellent 
preservation  of  the  stone,  that  they  preserve  all 
their  original  sharpness,  and  look  "  like  a  veil 
of  the  finest  cast  iron."  The  window  is  circular, 
and  forty-eight  feet  in  diameter. 

After  the  spire  and  the  west  front,  the  principal 
object  of  interest  to  the  traveller  is  the  clock,  whose 
origin  dates  as  far  back  as  1352,  in  which  year  it 
was  set  up  in  its  place  in  the  south  transept,  under 
the  auspices  of  Berthold  de  Buchek,  then  bishop 
of  Strassburg.  It  was  divided  into  three  parts, 
of  which  the  lowest  exhibited  a  universal  calendar. 
In  the  middle  was  an  astrolabe,  and  in  the  upper 
section  might  be  seen  the  figures  of  the  Three 
Kings  and  the  Virgin,  carved  in  wood.  When  the 
hour  struck  the  three  kings  bowed  to  the  Virgin, 
while  a  carillon  chimed  a  lively  air,  and  a  cock 
crowed  and  clapped  his  wings.  In  course  of  time, 
however,  this  ingenious  mechanism  got  out  of  order, 
and  in  1547  its  repair  was  intrusted  to  Dr.  Michael 
Herr,  Chretei  Herlin,  and  Nicholas  Prugnor,  three 
distinguished  mathematicians.  They  died  before 
the  work  was  finished,  but  it  was  continued  by 
Conrad  Dasypodius,  a  pupil  of  Herlin,  and  com- 
pleted in  four  years.  Thenceforth  the  clock  went 
merry  as  a  marriage  bell  up  to  the  year  of  the 
great  French  Revolution,  when  it  struck  for  the 
last  time,  as  if  it  felt  it  had  been  created  in  accord- 
ance with  the  "  old  order  "  of  things,  and  was  not 
in  harmony  with  "  the  new." 

Nearly  fifty  years  passed  away  before  any 
attempt  was  made  to  restore  it  to  a  working  con- 


S  -TT  »  A  3 


STEASSBUEG  CATHEDEAL. 


dition.  During  this  time  it  fell  into  a  state  of 
pitiable  dilapidation,  and  wlien  the  mechanicians 
came  to  examine  it,  they  found  that  the  works 
were  eaten  up  with  rust  and  verdigris,  and  that 
nothing  could  be  done.  At  length,  one  Schwilgue", 
an  artist  and  mathematician  of  Strassburg — who 
is  still,  or,  at  all  events,  was  recently  living — 
undertook  to  repair,  modify,  and  reinstate  the  clock; 
which  task,  it  is  recorded,  he  commenced  on  June 
24, 1836,  and  completed  in  1840.  The  mechanism 
of  the  new  clock  was  set  up  in  the  old  framing, 
the  number  of  the  figures  having  been  increased, 
and  their  appearance  improved  by  jointed  limbs. 
The  quarter  chimes  are  struck  by  figures  repre- 
sentative of  the  Four  Ages  of  Man,  which  move  in 
a  circle  round  the  skeleton  Tfrne  and  his  sweeping 
scythe.  The  hour  bell  is  struck  by  a  winged 
Genius,  at  the  same  moment  that  a  figure  of  an 
angel  turns  an  hour-glass,  through  whose  narrow 
neck  the  sand  continuously  pours  year  after  year. 
Daily,  at  noon,  a  procession  of  the  Twelve  Apostles 
wheels  around  a  figure  of  the  Saviour.  Each  one 
in  passing  bends  towards  him,  and  he,  when  the 
circuit  is  complete,  extends  his  hands  as  if  in  the 
act  of  blessing.  During  the  procession  a  cock  claps 
his  wings,  opens  his  beak,  and  crows  three  times. 

This  singular  and  complex  piece  of  mechanism 
exhibits  the  month  and  the  day  of  the  month, 
the  sign  of  the  zodiac,  the  Dominical  letter,  the 
sidereal  time,  the  Copernican  planetary  system, 
and  the  precession  of  the  Equinoxes;  and  the 
works  are  elaborated  with  so  much  ingenuity,  that 
it  also  marks  the  29th  day  of  February  in  every 
leap  year.  Moreover,  the  various  phases  of  the 
moon  are  shown,  and  the  solar  and  lunar  equations 
for  the  reduction  of  the  mean  movements  of  the 
sun  and  moon. 

The  facade  of  the  cathedral  is  decorated  by  three 
porticoes.  The  central,  ornamented  with  columns 
and  with  fourteen  statues  of  the  Hebrew  prophets, 
is  both  the  grandest  and  the  most  beautiful ;  though 
its  gate  of  bronze,  covered  all  over  with  the  richest 
work,  was  melted  down  at  the  Eevolution,  converted 
into  coin,  and  is  now  replaced  by  one  of  wood. 
The  portico  on  the  right  hand  is  embellished  with 
statues  of  the  Ten  Virgins,  the  Bridegroom,  and 
Bride;  that  on  the  left,  with  figures  of  other 
virgins  treading  under  their  feet  the  capital .  sins. 
The  tympana  and  pediments  of  all  three  portals  are 
filled  in  with  the  most  exquisite  sculpture;  and 
above,  on  the  line  where  the  second  story  com- 


mences, are  set  the  spirited  equestrian  statues  of 
Clovis,  Dagobert,  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  and  Louis 
XIV.  The  latter  is  of  modern  workmanship,  and 
was  not  elevated  to  its  present  noble  position  until 
1828.  Also  of  modern  workmanship  and  recent 
erection  are  the  statues,  on  a  somewhat  higher 
level,  of  Pepin  the  Short,  Charlemagne,  Otho  the 
Great,  and  Henry  the  Fowler,  each  in  his  turn  a 
ruler  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire. 

Above  the  central  gateway  shines  the  glorious 
marigold  window,  which  measures  forty-three  feet 
in  diameter,  and  is  filled  with  glass  restored  by 
Messieurs  Ritter  and  Muller. 

The  north  and  south  towers  are  each  pierced 
with  a  noble  window,  enriched  by  numerous 
rosaces;  and  rosaces  likewise  embellish  and  beautify 
the  pediments  of  the  side  doors.  Statues  of  the 
apostles  occupy  a  gallery  raised  above  the  great 
central  rose.  Higher  still  stands  the  majestic 
figure  of  our  Lord,  holding  a  cross  and  banner. 
On  each  side  of  this  same  stage  may  be  seen  a 
lofty  ogival  window  behind  a  cluster  of  slender 
shapely  pillars. 

The  third  stage  is  occupied,  between  the  two 
towers,  by  a  massive  belfry  of  late  construction, 
inclosing  four  bells,  of  which  the  heaviest,  cast  in 
1427,  weighs  9000  kilogrammes.  This  portion  of 
the  facade  was  decorated  in  1849  with  a  colossal 
sculpture,  representing  the  Last  Judgment.  The 
entire  story,  except  so  far  as  the  noble  tower  is 
concerned,  is  surmounted  by  a  platform,  where  a 
small  hut  is  erected  for  the  keepers  charged  with 
ringing  the  bells,  and  raising  an  alarm  in  case 
of  fire.  From  the  north  tower  springs  the  mtin- 
ster,  as  it  is  called,  or  spire ;  this  is  supported  by 
an  octagonal  tower;  octagonal,  yet,  from  a  distance, 
apparently  square,  because  four  of  the  sides  are 
concealed  by  winding  staircases. 

The  spire  is  an  eight-sided  obelisk  of  the  most 
exquisite  open  work,  consisting  of  six  tiers  of  small 
turrets,  raised  one  above  another  in  pyramid-fashion. 
A  miracle  of  art,  from  its  surpassing  delicacy  and 
admirable  boldness!  On  the  sixth  tier  or  story 
rests  the  lantern,  to  which  eight  open  winding 
staircases  lead  up  ;  and  thence,  by  steps  constructed 
on  the  outside,  the  adventurous  climber  reaches  the 
crown.  Higher  still,  above  another  opening,  poeti- 
cally called  "  the  rose,"  shoots  the  graceful  spire  in 
the  form  of  a  cross,  five  and  a  half  feet  high  ;  finally, 
this  cross  terminates  in  a  bouton,  460  millimetres 
in  diameter,  surmounted  by  a  lightning-conductor. 
65 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


The  south  doorway  consists  of  two  semicircular 
doors,  and  is  ornamented  with  bas-reliefs  and 
statues.  Two  of  these  were  carved  by  the  firm 
hand  of  Sabina  von  Steinbach,  Erwin's  daughter. 
On  the  parvise  in  front  stands  a  statue  of  Erwin, 
executed  a  few  years  ago  by  M.  Grass,  the  statuary 
of  the  cathedral.  The  old  north  doorway  is  masked 
by  a  facade,  built  in  1492  by  Jacques  de  Landshut. 
The  nave,  covered  with  a  copper  roof,  which 
suffered  much  during  the  great  siege,  is  lighted  by 
great  pointed  windows,  ornamented  with  rosaces. 
Scarcely,  indeed,  is  there  a  foot  of  stone  which 
does  not  exhibit  some  more  or  less  conspicuous 
effort  of  the  carver's  skill  in  statues,  and  gargoyles, 
and  shapely  pinnacles. 

We  now  enter  the  interior ;  and  the  imagination 
recoils  overpowered  by  the  awful  impression  of 
that  lofty  aisle,  whose  vaulted  roof  soars  heaven- 
ward with  all  the  elasticity  and  strength  of  a  forest 
arcade,  and  scarcely  seems  to  lean  on  the  double 
row  of  clustered  columns  which  supports  it.  Rich 
glories  dye  the  pavement;  streaming  in  through 
many-coloured  windows,  which  immortalize  the 
names  of  John  of  Kirchheim,  John  Markgraf, 
Jacques  Vischer,  and  the  brothers  Link.  How 
soft  and  sweet  the  light  which  shimmers  through 
each  painted  pane,  and  weaves  a  fine  phantasma- 
goria of  colour  over  wall  and  column  !  The  pulpit 
is  a  masterpiece :  it  was  carved  in  stone  by  John 
Hammern  in  1406.  The  once-famous  organ,  built 
by  Andrew  Silbermann  in  1714,  was  destroyed  in 
the  siege  of  1870. 

One  of  the  columns  supporting  the  roof  of  the 
choir  is  composed  of  a  sheaf  or  group  of  pillars. 
It  is  known  as  the  Angel's  Column,  and  being  of 
comparatively  recent  date  is  popularly  attributed 
to  Erwin  of  Steinbach.  In  the  south  transept, 
opposite  a  statue  of  Bishop  Werner,  stands  the 
great  clock  which  we  have  already  described  so 
fully. 

The  apse,  intended  to  serve  as  a  sanctuaiy,  is, 
perhaps,  too  shallow.  It  is  ascended  from  the 
choir  by  a  flight  of  steps.  The  crypt,  restored 
about  eleven  years  since,  contains  a  nave,  a  choir, 
and  two  apses.  At  the  entrance  we  pause  to  con- 
template a  very  ancient  sculpture,  representing  our 
Saviour  seized  by  the  Roman  soldiers  on  the  Mount 
of  Olives.  The  form  of  the  pillars,  the  cubic  capi- 
tals, the  semicircular  arches  of  the  crypt,  may  be 
accepted  as  proofs  that  it  was  erected  early  in  the 
eleventh  century. 

66 


The  chapel  of  St.  Andrew,  in  the  south  aisle  of 
the  choir,  contains  the  tombs  of  several  bishops. 
Its  columns  and  ornaments  are  very  ancient. 

In  the  chapel  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  behind 
the  north  aisle,  is  the  superb  Gothic  monument 
erected  in  honour  of  Bishop  Conrad  II.,  of  Lich- 
tenberg,  who  died  in  1299.  Near  the  entrance 
to  this  chapel  our  attention  will  be  arrested  by  the 
baptistery,  in  stone,  of  Josse  Dotzinger,  of  Worms: 
died  1449. 

The  chapel  of  St.  Catherine,  in  the  right  wing, 
contains  the  tomb  of  a  chevalier  of  Strassburg, 
remarkable  for  the  number  and  excellence  of  the 
figures  which  decorate  it,  and  for  the  singular 
manner  in  which  they  are  grouped. 

The  cathedral  contains  several  paintings  by 
Strassburg  artists  ;  among  others,  the  Adoration  of 
the  Shepherds,  by  Guerin;  the  Entombment  of 
Christ,  by  Klein  ;  and  the  Ascension,  by  Heim. 

In  a  little  court  behind  the  chapel  of  St.  John 
is  the  tomb  of  the  sculptor  Erwin,  his  wife,  and 
son.  In  the  north  side  of  the  cathedral,  the  St. 
Lawrence  chapel  is  enriched  with  renovated  sculp- 
tures, representing  the  martyrdom  of  the  saints. 

We  now  direct  our  steps  to  the  Protestant 
church  of  St.  Thomas,  which  occupies  the  site 
of  a  palace  of  the  Frankish  kings.  After  being 
twice  burned,  and  twice  reconstructed,  it  was 
completely  rebuilt  by  Bishop  Henry,  in  1264. 
Externally,  its  characteristic  features  are  its  towers; 
the  west  is  partly  built  in  the  Byzantine  style ; 
the  east,  in  the  Gothic.  In  the  interior  we  shall 
find  some  admirable  painted  glass,  and  several 
curious  monuments ;  among  others,  the  celebrated 
monument  of  the  Mare'chal  de  Saxe,  the  master- 
piece of  the  sculptor  Pigalle,  erected  to  the  great 
soldier's  memory  by  Louis  XV.,  in  1777.  A 
monument  of  very  different  character  is  the  tomb 
of  Bishop  Adeloch,  with  its  curious  sculptures. 
It  bears  the  date  of  DCCCXXX  (830),  but  surely 
this  is  somewhat  apocryphal. 

The  other  churches  are  those  of  St.  Peter  the 
Elder  (the  most  ancient  in  Strassburg,  and  easily 
distinguished  by  the  graceful  Gothic  spire  which 
crowns  its  dome) ;  St.  Peter  the  Younger  (built  in 
1030,  restored  in  1290) ;  St.  William,  so  named  in 
honour  of  William  of  Aquitaine,  founder  of  the 
monastic  order  of  the  Guillelmites  (here  are  the 
tombs  of  Counts  Philip  and  Ulrich  of  Werden); 
the  Madeleine  (the  choir  is  surpassingly  beauti- 
ful);   and  St.   Stephen,  a  Byzantine  building  of 


STRASSBURG. 


the  eighth  century,  which  in  its  time  has  played 
many  parts,  having  been  a  church,  a  storehouse, 
a  theatre,  a  tobacco  manufactory,  and  again  a 
church. 

The  Academic  Royale  was  founded  in  1538  as 
a  Protestant  school.  In  1621  it  was  raised  to  the 
rank  of  a  university,  but  it  was  suppressed  at  the 
Revolution.  It  was  here  that  Goethe  completed 
his  studies,  and  took  his  doctor's  degree  in  1771. 
Indeed,  the  residence  of  the  great  German  poet  and 
philosopher  at  Strassburg  is  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting associations  of  the  place. 

The  offices  of  the  Prefecture  are  worth  a  word 
of  notice,  on  account  of  their  own  stately  archi- 
tecture, and  because  they  occupy  the  site  of  the 
funeral  pile  on  which  ten  thousand  Jews  were 
burned,  in  1349,  because  they  refused  baptism. 
The  founder  of  these  buildings  was  Francois  Joseph 
Klinglin,  and  the  date  of  their  erection,  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Between  the  111  and  the  south  side  of  the  cathe- 
dral stands  the  Chateau  Imperial,  formerly  the 
episcopal  palace,  and  one  of  the  stateliest  piles  in 
Strassburg.  Inthesameneighbourhoodwefind  a  rich 
and  striking  Renaissance  mansion,  the  Frauenhaus, 
built  in  1581.  The  chief  object  in  its  interior  is  a 
staircase  of  singularly  light  and  elegant  construc- 
tion. Here  are  preserved  the  ancient  plans,  on 
parchment,  of  the  cathedral :  the  works  of  the  old 
astronomical  clock ;  fragments  of  the  cathedral, 
secured  during  its  various  alterations  and  repairs; 
and  a  collection  of  plaster  casts  of  the  most  re- 
markable sculptures. 

Strassburg  has  long  and  deservedly  been  quoted 
as  a  brilliant  example  of  what  may  be  done  by 
a  liberal  city  for  the  education  of  its  children. 
Before  the  war  it  contained,  besides  its  Academy, 
an  Imperial  Lyceum,*  a  Protestant  gymnasium, 
thirty- six  primary  schools,  and  twenty-four  chari- 
ties, supported  by  the  town,  and  attended  by  8000 
pupils  of  both  sexes ;  a  normal  primary  school  for 
schoolmasters  ;  a  normal  primary  school  for  Protes- 
tant mistresses ;  a  municipal  industrial  school ;  a 
Jewish  school;  two  institutions  for  the  deaf  and 
dumb  ;    Catholic  seminaries ;   a  Protestant   semi- 

*  The  Lyceum  was  built  in  1756,  and  occupies  the  site  of  the 
hostelry  of  the  TMergarten,  where  Gutenberg  made  his  first  experi- 
ments in  the  art  of  printing. 


nary ;  schools  of  design  ;  a  school  of  artillery ;  two 
schools  to  prepare  young  ladies  for  the  work  of 
tuition ;  four  intermediate  schools,  into  which,  at 
a  suitable  time,  the  children  passed  from  the  char- 
itable asylums ;  two  evening  schools  for  young 
artisans  ;  a  school  of  medicine  ;  and  a  conservatory 
of  music. 

Our  last  journey  conducts  us  to  the  Platz  Kleber, 
where  the  convent  of  the  Cordeliers,  and  a  tower 
containing  the  archives  and  treasury  of  the  city, 
gave  way  in  1767-68  to  a  vast  public  edifice  of 
heavy  design,  formerly  occupied  by  the  governor's 
staff.  In  the  centre  of  the  open  area,  on  a  pedestal 
covered  with  inscriptions  and  vigorous  bas-reliefs, 
stands  a  bronze  statue  of  General  Kldber,  executed 
by  Philippe  Grass. 

Besides  Kleber,  Strassburg  gave  Marshal  Kel- 
lermann  to  the  French  army.  Francois  Christophe 
was  born  of  an  old  and  distinguished  family,  on 
the  30th  of  May,  1735.  Entering  the  army  in 
1752,  he  served  with  good  repute  in  the  Seven 
Years'  War,  and  in  1789,  when  the  French  revo- 
lution opened  a  career  to  men  of  talent,  was  a 
mare'chal  de  camp.  In  1790  he  obtained  the  mili- 
tary command  of  the  departments  of  the  Haut  and 
Bas  Rhin,  and  early  in  1792  attained  the  rank  of 
lieutenant-general. 

Dumouriez,  at  the  head  of  the  main  body  of  the 
French  army,  was  encamped  at  Grand  Pre",  in  the 
forest  of  Argonne,  and  gravely  threatened  by  the 
advancing  Prussians.  With  a  corps  of  twenty- 
two  thousand  men  Kellermann  hastened  to  his 
relief,  and  by  a  series  of  brilliant  forced  marches 
gained  Valmy,  a  strong  position  on  the  right  of 
Dumouriez.  Here  he  was  separated  by  a  valley 
or  ravine  from  the  heights  of  La  Lune,  on  which 
the  Prussians  were  posted  thrice  as  strong  in 
numbers.  About  eleven  o'clock  on  the  20th  of 
September  the  latter  assaulted  in  column,  sup- 
ported by  artillery,  Kellermann's  position.  A  fierce 
struggle  ensued,  but  the  brilliant  manoeuvres  of  the 
French  general  compelled  the  enemy  to  retire  with 
considerable  loss.  It  is  noticeable  that  this  victory 
was  won  on  the  day  that  monarchy  was  abolished 
in  France.  Its  importance  was  immense.  It 
saved  the  young  republic  from  annihilation,  and 
strengthened  the  heart  of  the  people  in  their  reso- 
lution to  defy  the  coalition  of  Europe. 
G7 


CHAPTER     IV. 


STRASSBURG    TO    SPEIER. 


LEFT  BANK   OF  THE   EHINE. 

There  are  no  steamers  navigating  this  portion  of 
the  Rhine.  The  road  from  Strassburg  is  good,  and 
very  agreeable.  The  railway  lies  further  inland, 
approaching  very  near  the  northern  prolongation 
of  the  Vosges,  and  connecting  Haguenau  and 
Weissenburg,  in  France,  with  Landau,  in  Rhenish 
Prussia.  From  Strassburg  to  Weissenburg  the 
distance  is  about  forty-one  miles. 

At  Vendenheim  (population,  1362)  we  branch 
off  from  the  Paris  Railway — which  proceeds  by 
way  of  Nancy,  Bar-le-Duc,  and  Chalons-sur- 
Marne,  to  the  "  capital  of  civilization" — and  strike 
in  a  northerly  direction ;  passing  Hasrdt  (popula- 
tion, 1700),  and  Bischwiller  (population,  8780),  on 
the  Moder.  The  latter  is  a  busy  and  animated 
town,  with  those  tall  shafts  rising  above  its  roofs 
which  invariably  tell  of  commercial  prosperity. 

Traversing  the  "leafy  shades"  of  the  forest  of 
Haguenau,  we  arrive  at  Walburg,  a  village  of  600 
inhabitants,  on  the  Eberbach.  Here  the  church 
is  of  great  architectural  interest.  It  belonged  to 
an  ancient  abbey  of  Benedictine  monks,  founded, 
it  is  said,  in  the  fifth  century,  and  destroyed  in 
1525. 

By  way  of  Hoffen  (population,  650)  and  Stunds- 
bach  (population,  750)  we  proceed  to  Wissembourg, 
or  Weissenburg,  a  town  of  5000  inhabitants,  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Lauter,  and  at  the  base  of  the 
last  buttresses  or  spurs  of  the  prolonged  chain  of 
the  Vosges.  It  was  anciently  one  of  the  ten  imperial 
free  towns  of  Elsass.  Captured  by  Louis  XIV. 
in  1673,  its  possession  was  formally  confirmed  to 
France  by  the  peace  of  Ryswick.  Here,  in  1870, 
the  Prussians  gained  one  of  their  earliest  victories 
over  the  French. 

Beyond  Weissenburg  the  railway  crosses  the 
Lauter,  an  affluent  of  the  Rhine,  the  "  clear  "  river 
which  marks  the  boundary  of  Alsace,  and  enters 
Germany  in  the  territory  of  the  Bavarian  Palatinate. 

Winden  is  the  station  for  Bergzabern,  a  town 
of  3000  inhabitants,  and  the  junction  point  of  the 
68 


branch-railway  to  Carlsruhe,  which  crosses  the 
Rhine  at  Maxau. 

Passing  Rohrbach,  we  quickly  arrive  at  Landau 
(population,  7500),  on  the  Queich,  a  fortified 
town  and  depot  on  the  Germanic  frontier.  In 
the  thirteenth  century  it  was  an  insignificant  village. 
In  1291  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg  elevated  it  to  the 
rank  of  a  town,  which  was  soon,  much  to  its  mis- 
fortune, surrounded  by  fortifications.  Thereafter 
it  became  a  military  position  of  importance,  and 
from  the  fifteenth  century  its  history  has  been  aptly 
described  as  a  "  succession  of  sieges,  blockades, 
bombardments,  captures,  and  surrenders."  During 
the  Thirty  Years'  War  it  was  captured  and  pillaged 
eight  times  by  the  troops  of  Count  Mansfeldt,  the 
Spaniards,  the  Swedes,  the  Imperialists,  and  the 
French.  By  the  treaty  of  Westphalia  it  was  made 
over  to  France,  who  kept  it  for  about  three  years. 
In  1678  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  duke  of 
Lorraine,  but  in  the  following  year  was  recaptured 
by  the  French,  to  whom  it  was  confirmed  by  the 
treaty  of  Ryswick.  In  the  interval  (1679-1691), 
its  fortifications  had  been  strengthened  by  the 
genius  of  Vauban,  and  the  town  nearly  destroyed 
by  fire  (1689).  During  the  profitless  War  of  the 
Spanish  Succession,  its  boasted  impregnability  was 
disproved,  and  it  capitulated  on  four  different 
occasions.  In  1796  it  was  blockaded  by  the 
allies;  but  the  victory  of  Weissenburg,  won  by 
Hoche  and  Pichegru,  compelled  them  to  raise  the 
siege,  and  thence,  until  1815,  it  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  French.  By  the  treaties  of  Vienna 
it  was  given,  first  to  Austria,  and  afterwards  to 
Bavaria.  Of  late  years  its  defences  have  been 
greatly  neglected.  The  view  from  the  church 
tower  is  extensive,  and  not  deficient  in  the  elements 
of  the  picturesque. 

From  Landau  we  proceed  to  Madenburg  and 
Trifels,  passing  Arzheim,  Ilbeseim,  and  Eschbach. 

The  Madenberg,  or  Madenburg,  is  the  most 
perfect  castle  in  the  Rheinpfalz,  and  notwithstand- 
ing its  ruined  condition  impresses  the  mind  of  the 
spectator  by  the  singular  dignity  and  magnificence 
of  its  aspect.  The  date  of  its  foundation  is  unknown, 


RUINS  OF  THE  MADENBURG. 


and  it  first  appears  in  history  in  the  thirteenth 
century  as  the  seat  of  the  count  of  Leiningen.  It 
was  besieged,  taken,  and  plundered  by  the  Emperor 
Frederick  the  Victorious  in  1470.  In  1516  Ul- 
rich,  duke  of  Wiirtemburg,  sold  it  to  the  arch- 
bishop of  Spires  (or  Speier),  but  its  ecclesiastical 
sanctity  did  not  protect  it  from  the  insurgent 
peasants  in  1525.  Though  almost  razed  to  the 
ground,  it  sprang  again  into  a  splendid  existence; 
again  to  be  given  up  to  the  flames  in  1552,  by  the 
margrave  of  Brandenburg,  surnamed  Alcibiades. 
Thrice,  in  less  than  a  century,  was  the  Madenburg 
ruined  and  rebuilt.  Next  came  the  horrors  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  and  we  read  of  it  as  alternately 
in  the  possession  of  the  troops  of  Mansfeldt  (1622), 
the  French  (1634),  the  Imperialists  (1636),  and 
the  French  again  (1644).  By  the  peace  of  West- 
phalia it  was  restored  to  the  archbishops  of  Speier. 
It  was  once  more  restored,  and  on  a  very  extensive 
scale;  but  in  1680  the  French  attacked,  captured, 
and  dismantled  it.  A  stately  ruin,  it  occupies  the 
crest  of  a  considerable  and  well-wooded  ascent, 
and  speaks  with  silent  eloquence  of  the  vicissitudes 
it  has  undergone  in  the  stormy  past.  From  its 
shattered  battlements  the  traveller  obtains  one  of 
those  wide,  bright,  varied,  and  historic  pictures 
which  are  met  with  nowhere  else  in  such  number 
and  splendour  as  along  the  banks  of  the  German 
river ;  a  picture  including  the  grim  mountains  of 
the  Odenwald,  the  peaks  of  the  Haardt,  the  irregu- 
lar summits  of  the  Vosges,  with  all  their  changing 
lights  and  shadows;  the  meanderings  of  the  Rhine, 
the  cathedral  spire  of  Strassburg,  and  the  old  his- 
toric cities  of  Mannheim,  Speier,  and  Worms. 

An  extension  of  our  journey  as  far  as  Trifels 
will  not  fail  to  be  of  interest.  The  castle  is  now  a 
complete  ruin  ;  it  occupies,  as  its  name  implies,  the 
summits  of  three  conical  heights,  the  Hauptberg 
(which  is  northernmost),  the  Anebos  (to  the  south), 
and  Trifels  (in  the  centre).  The  chief  remains 
now  extant  are  those  of  a  massive  tower  on  the 
Hauptberg,  in  whose  subterranean  dungeon,  ac- 
cording to  tradition,  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion  was 
imprisoned  by  Duke  Leopold  of  Austria.  In  1330 
the  castle  of  Trifels  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
Princes  Palatine.  It  is  situated  about  1422  feet 
above  the  sea-level.  Even  in  its  decay  it  is 
gravely  imposing,  and  it  commands  a  prospect  of 
the  richest  and  rarest  character.  On  the  adjoin- 
ing hill  of  Scharfenberg  rises  a  tower  of  100  feet 
in  height. 


After  leaving  Landau,  and  passing  the  stations 
of  Kerdningen  and  Edesheim,  we  arrive  at  Eden- 
koben,  an  industrial  town  of  4500  inhabitants. 
It  is  surrounded  by  extensive  vineyards,  but  the 
wine  is  of  inferior  quality.  On  an  adjacent  hill, 
in  the  heart  of  vines  and  chestnut-trees,  is  situated 
the  modern  royal  villa  of  Ludwigshohe,  and  above 
it,  on  a  higher  eminence,  bold  and  precipitous, 
moulder  the  ruins  of  the  old  castle  of  Rippburg, 
destroyed  in  the  thirteenth  century.  To  the 
north  of  the  town  wells  a  mineral  spring,  the 
Kurbrunnen. 

From  Edenkoben  the  traveller  may  repair  to 
the  Kropsburg,  the  Maxburg,  and  the  Kalmit ;  or 
may  ascend,  through  the  western  valley  of  the 
Modenbacher-thal,  to  the  Steigerkoff,  popularly 
designated  the  Schajnzel,  whose  summit,  elevated 
some  2100  feet  above  the  sea,  commands  what 
the  guide-book  calls  a  "  magnificent  panorama  " 
of  the  valley-plain  of  the  Rhine,  and  the  heights 
which  border  on  it. 

The  railway  skirts  the  base  of  the  Haardt 
Mountains,  whose  peaks  and  ravines  offer  many 
delightful  vistas.  On  the  opposite  side,  in  clear 
and  sunny  weather,  the  long  blue  line  of  the  sum- 
mits of  the  Black  Forest  may  be  traced,  like  the 
undulating  crest  of  a  distant  wave. 

Maikammer  is  a  town  of  3000  inhabitants.  On 
the  right  tower  the  massive  and  predominant 
bulks  of  the  Maxburg,  the  Kalmit,  and  the  Krops- 
burg. All  the  land  seems  burdened  with  their 
shadow,  like  a  people  lying  under  a  great  woe. 
But  as  their  noble  outlines  rise  more  and  more 
distinctly  upon  us,  our  heart  seems  to  go  forth 
towards  the  mountains,  and  we  become  sensible 
of  their  sublime  associations  of  infinite  silence  and 
solitude,  of  purity,  and  majesty,  and  power. 

From  St.  Martin,  a  village  about  two  miles 
from  Maikammer,  the  traveller  most  easily  mounts 
to  the  Kropsburg,  i.e.,  the  "fine  view,"  a  castle  of 
thirteenth  century  foundation,  whose  annals  may 
be  summed  up  in  a  few  pithy  phrases ;  it  was  fre- 
quently embellished  and  enlarged ;  it  escaped  the 
scourge  of  war;  it  did  not  escape  the  scourge  of 
fashion,  for  some  caprice  induced  its  ancient  lords 
to  abandon  and  sell  it,  early  in  the  present  century. 
Thereafter  it  was  partly  demolished  to  furnish 
materials  for  the  fortifications  of  Germersheim, 
and  now  it  is  occupied  as  a  workhouse  or  benevo- 
lent asylum. 

Above  Maikammer,  where,  let  us  note,  the 
69 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


church  contains  a  good  altar-piece  by  some  Ger- 
man artist,  rises  the  Kalmit  (2300  feet),  the  cul- 
minating point  of  the  mountains  of  the  Palatinate, 
the  Donnersberg  alone  excepted.  An  obelisk  on 
the  summit  was  erected  by  the  people  of  Maikarn- 
mer,  in  1824,  to  King  Maximilian  Joseph. 

The  ascent  of  the  wooded  height  of  the  Max- 
burg  (1020  feet)  may  be  made  either  from  Ober- 
hambach,  from  Mittelhambach,  or  by  a  path  which 
skirts  the  southern  acclivity. 

The  Maxburg,  anciently  known  as  the  Ham- 
bacher  Schloss,  the  Ksestelberg,  and  Kestenburg, 
is  a  stately,  castellated  pile,  surmounted  by  a 
square  turreted  keep,  which  owes  its  present  name 
to  the  circumstance  that  it  was  presented  to  King 
Maximilian  by  his  subjects,  on  the  occasion  of  his 
marriage  to  the  Princess  Mary  of  Prussia,  October 
12,  1842.  It  was  then  rebuilt  on  a  magnificent 
scale  by  the  architect  Voit,  of  Munich,  and  a 
more  splendid  marriage-gift  it  would  be  difficult 
to  imagine.  It  is  not  only  a  noble  and  majestic 
structure,  with  a  richly-decorated  interior,  but  it 
commands  a  wide  and  richly-coloured  view  of  the 
mountains  of  the  Haardt,  and  the  beautiful  valley- 
plain  of  the  Rhine. 

When  the  ancient  castle  of  the  Maxburg  was 
founded,  no  German  antiquary  seems  able  to  deter- 
mine. From  the  Roman  remains  which  have 
been  discovered,  it  is  allowable  to  suppose  that 
the  site  was  once  occupied  by  a  Roman  camp. 
The  castle  afterwards  erected  on  the  same  spot 
belonged,  from  the  year  1100  down  to  the  epoch 
of  the  French  Revolution,  to  the  cathedral-chapter 
of  Speier ;  an  instance  of  unbroken  possession 
very  unusual  in  Germany,  whose  castles  generally 
changed  hands  once  every  half  century.  It  was 
taken  and  plundered  by  the  peasants  in  1525 ; 
taken,  plundered,  and  burned  by  the  Margrave 
Albert  of  Brandenburg  in  1552.  The  bishop  of 
Speier  showed  no  inclination  to  rebuild  it,  but 
in  the  great  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession  the 
French  did  what  they  could  to  complete  its 
destruction.  At  the  date  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution it  became  national  property;  and  in  1823 
was  sold,  on  condition  that  the  purchaser  should 
not  attempt  to  remove  the  ruins  of  the  ancient 
pile.  Here,  on  the  25th  of  May,  1832,  was  held 
the  great  popular  demonstration  of  the  Hambacher 
Fest,  when  the  enthusiasm  of  a  crowd  of  German 
students  was  fired  by  wild,  vague  ideas  of  consoli- 
dating German  unity ;  a  task  only  to  be  success- 
70 


fully  accomplished,  as  we  have  seen,  by  "  blood 
and  iron." 

Returning  to  Maikammer,  we  continue  our  rail- 
way route  to  Neustadt,  sometimes  called  Neustadt 
an  der  Haardt,  to  distinguish  it  from  other  towns 
of  the  same  name.  It  is  a  busy  commercial  and 
agricultural  town,  pleasantly  situated  at  the  foot 
of  the  well-wooded  and  vine-clad  slopes  of  the 
Haardt  mountains,  and  on  the  Rehbach,  a  small 
affluent  of  the  Rhine.  It  forms  the  key  of  a 
valley  which  the  conical  bulk  of  the  Koenigsberg 
apparently  closes.  On  the  height  immediately 
above  the  town  rise  the  ivy-shrouded  ruins  of  the 
Castle  "Winzingen,  or  Haarsten  Schloss,  formerly 
the  residence  of  the  Electors  Palatine,  but  reduced 
to  decay  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War  and  the  War 
of  Succession.  The  ruins  are  now  attached  to  a 
handsome  villa,  and  surrounded  by  blooming  gar- 
dens, which  command  a  view  of  the  Rhine  as  far 
as  Heidelberg. 

The  church  of  Neustadt  is  a  stately  Gothic 
structure,  with  massive  towers,  completed  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  It  contains  some  interest- 
ing monuments  of  the  Pfalzgraves,  especially  of 
Rudolph  II.  and  Robert  I.,  and  some  remains  of 
ancient  mural  paintings  in  the  fore-court,  called 
the  "  Paradise. " 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  the  town  are  the  ruins 
of  several  castles,  bearing  mute  and  yet  eloquent 
testimony  to  the  desolation  which  a  long  series  of 
wars  effected  in  this  fertile  and  beautiful  region. 
The  Wolfsburg  was  destroyed  in  the  Peasants' 
War.  Elmstein  recalls  the  bitter  memories  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War.  Some  extensive  quarries  are 
here  excavated  in  the  Bunter  sandstein  and  Mus- 
chelkalk ;  the  latter,  it  is  said,  is  rich  in  fossils. 

LEFT     BANK     OF     THE     EHINE — LAUTERBURG     TO 
SPEIER,    BY    BAIL. 

The  reader  will  remember  that  the  route  we  have 
described  in  the  preceding  pages  lies  inland,  at 
some  miles  from  the  Rhine,  but  forming  the  direct 
railway  route  from  Strassburg  to  Neustadt.  We 
now  proceed  to  notice  briefly  a  course  that  hugs 
more  closely  the  bank  of  the  great  river. 

From  Strassburg  the  traveller  makes  his  way  to 
Lauterburg,  by  road,  passing  Germersheim,  Fort 
Louis,  Seltz,  and  Bernheim,  and  obtaining  many 
glimpses  of  the  broad  and  freely  flowing  Rhine, 
and  of  the  picturesque  wooded  islands  which 
occasionally  diversify  its  channel.     At  Fort  Louis, 


HANAUER-L^ENDCHEN. 


twenty-seven  miles  from  Strassburg,  a  fine  view 
of  the  celebrated  spire  of  the  cathedral  may  be 
obtained  in  clear  weather.  At  a  place  called 
Knielingen,  the  railway  to  Carlsruhe  is  carried 
across  the  Rhine  on  a  bridge  of  boats. 

Below  Lauterburg,  a  small  fortified  town  of  no 
great  importance,  and  of  less  interest,  the  Lauter 
enters  the  Rhine. 

A  little  lower  down  the  river  is  crossed  by 
another  bridge  of  boats,  and  we  arrive  at  Germers- 
heim,  a  town  of  even  less  interest  than  Lauterburg, 
squalid,  mean,  and  dirty,  but  surrounded  by  for- 
tifications of  great  strength,  which  have  been 
erected  since  1834.  This  town  was  founded  by 
the  Emperor  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  who  died 
here  in  1291. 

The  country  between  Germersheim  and  Speier 
calls  for  no  remark. 

RIGHT  BANK  OF  THE  RHINE. — KEHL  TO  SPEIER. 

From  Kehl  it  will  be  convenient  for  the  reader 
to  return  with  us  to  Offenburg,  and  thence  to 
descend  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine  by  railway, 
visiting  Rastadt  (and  Baden-Baden),  Carlsruhe, 
and  Philipsburg. 

Passing  the  Appenweiler  Junction,  and  the  sta- 
tion at  Renchen,  we  cross  the  Knisbis,  and  arrive 
at  Achern,  where  there  is  a  statue  of  Leopold, 
grand-duke  of  Baden,  in  the  market-place. 

At  Sarsbach,  two  miles  distant  on  the  left,  an 
obelisk  of  granite  was  erected  by  the  French  in 
1829,  to  mark  the  spot  where  Marshal  Turenne 
was  killed  by  a  cannon-ball,  while  reconnoitring 
the  imperial  army,  July  27,  1675.  Three  pre- 
vious monuments  erected  to  his  memory  had  been 
successively  destroyed. 

M.  Charles  Lallemand,  in  his  elaborate  work, 
"  Les  Paysans  Badois,"  says,  the  vast  plain  which 
extends  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Black  Forest,  from 
Kehl  to  Appenweiler,  has  preserved  its  traditional 
costume  and  ancient  manners.  The  Badish  Hanau, 
he  adds,  is  a  kind  of  preface  to  the  Black  Forest. 
On  quitting  Kehl,  and  speeding  along  the  branch 
line  which,  at  Appenweiler,  joins  the  great  Baden 
railway,  have  you  not  a  score  of  times  admired 
those  fertile  levels,  covered  with  crops,  and 
meadows,  and  woods,  which  stretch  afar  on  either 
hand,  some  with  pretty  villages  where  the  peasant 
inhabitants  move  to  and  fro  in  a  garb  so  picturesque 
and  so  elegant,  that  they  seem  the  actors  in  an 
immense  comic   opera  given   by  nature   on   this 


charming  stage?  And  on  Sunday  especially,  oh, 
then,  nothing  is  wanting !  neither  idylls,  nor  merry 
ballads,  nor  harmonious  choruses.  So  well  defined, 
so  distinct,  and  so  individual  is  this  picturesque 
country,  in  the  heart  of  the  uniformity  which  has 
crept  over  the  surrounding  plain,  that  the  Badish 
people  and  writers  preserve  to  it  its  ancient  name 
of  Hanauer-Lfendchen,  though  it  has  been  formally 
incorporated  into  the  Mittel-Rheinreis,  or  "  Middle 
Rhine -circle."  Hanauer-Lasndchen  (Laandchen 
being  the  diminutive  of  Land)  signifies,  the  "  little 
country  of  Hanau."  The  word  seems  to  breathe  an 
atmosphere  of  purity,  freshness,  and  tenderness ;  it 
testifies  to  a  love  of  country  which  is  worth  its 
weight  in  gold  to  artists,  authors,  and  tourists. 

We  now  come  to  Ottersweier,  a  town  of  nearly 
2000  inhabitants,  to  the  right  of  the  railway,  and 
close  to  the  mouth  of  the  Neusatzerthal,  a  pleasant 
and  picturesque  valley,  watered  by  the  Ambach. 
At  about  two  miles  from  Ottersweier  is  the  Hubbad, 
erected  in  1811,  after  the  plans  of  Weinbrenner. 
The  thermal  spring  here  is  said  to  be  efficacious  in 
certain  diseases  of  the  stomach  and  bowels,  in  gout 
and  rheumatic  affections.  In  the  neighbourhood 
lies  the  ruined  castle  of  Windeck. 

At  Buhl,  our  next  resting  place,  the  most  inter- 
esting object  is  the  venerable  church,  the  patriarch 
of  the  Badish  churches  in  this  part  of  the  plain. 
The  town  has  a  population  of  3000,  and  seems 
busy  and  prosperous ;  its  fertile  environs  have  been 
poetically  but  not  untruly  designated,  das  goldene 
Land.  A  stream  called  the  Buhlotbach  here  flows 
down  from  the  romantic  valley  of  Buhl,  which,  by 
way  of  Herrenweise,  communicates  with  the  not 
less  romantic  valleys  of  Geroldsau  and  the  Murz, 
and  is  famous  for  its  vineyards  and  the  "  brave  red 
wine  "  known  as  the  Affenthaler. 

Behind  Steinbach,  the  hill  of  Yburg  is  crowned 
by  the  ruins  of  an  old  castle. 

Leaving  Sinzheim,  a  town  of  2500  inhabitants, 
behind  us,  we  cross  the  Oos  rivulet,  and  speedily 
run  into  Oos  junction,  where  we  change  carriages 
for  one  of  the  liveliest,  gayest,  and  most  beautiful 
of  the  German  cities,  the  capital  of  the  grand- 
duchy,  Baden-Baden. 

BADEN-BADEN. 

The  population  of  Baden-Baden  is  about  8000 ; 
that  is,  the  permanent  population ;  for  the  visitors 
in  the  season  raise  the  total  to  50,000. 

Baden-Baden,  the  Aurelia  Aquensis  of  the 
71 


THE  KHINE  VALLEY. 


Romans,  the  queen  of  continental  watering-places, 
is  situated  in  a  fair  and  well-wooded  valley, 
watered  by  the  Oos,  at  a  distance  of  about  six 
miles  from  the  Rhine.  It  lies,  in  the  form  of  an 
amphitheatre,  on  the  slope  of  a  mountain,  whose 
summit  is  crowned  by  the  old  castle  of  Baden.  It 
may  not  be,  as  some  enthusiastic  travellers  assert, 
the  most  beautiful  spot  in  Europe;  but,  as  a 
French  writer  remarks,  it  offers  the  greatest  number 
of  pleasant  walks,'  especially  for  those  who  have 
eyes  to  see,  and  who  love  the  bright  long  vista  of 
fairy  landscape  and  the  deep  shadows  of  wooded 
masses.  If  the  forest  were  less  luxuriant,  and  the 
waters  more  copious,  the  most  enthusiastic  of  land- 
scape amateurs  would  find  nothing  to  displease 
them  in  this  delectable  region.  And  even  as  it  is, 
there  is  such  a  freshness  in  the  meadows,  such  a 
fulness  and  variety  of  vegetation,  such  a  wealth 
of  glowing  colour  in  the  picture,  such  a  splendour 
and  boldness  of  forms,  that  you  can  never  weary 
of  admiring  them.  Every  day  reveals  to  you 
a  charm,  a  beauty  previously  unsuspected.  In 
whatever  direction  you  bend  your  steps,  some 
secret  surprise  awaits  and  delights  you. 

And  now  for  a  glance  at  the  history  of  Baden- 
Baden. 

Note,  as  a  preliminary,  that  the  Oos  or  Oes 
(Oosbach),  the  comparatively  insignificant  stream 
which  waters  Baden,  formerly  separated  the  country 
of  the  Franks  from  that  of  the  Allemanni.  It  still 
gives  to  this  part  of  the  grand-duchy — now  a 
member  of  the  North  Germanic  Confederation — 
the  name  of  Oosgau  or  Usgau. 

The  origin  of  Baden,  we  are  told  by  a  learned 
authority,  is  referred  to  the  most  ancient  times ; 
and  of  all  the  towns  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Rhine  it  has  the  oldest  traditions,  extending  even 
as  far  back  as  the  days  of  the  Roman  king,  Tar- 
quinius  Priscus,  when  a  Celtic  colony  is  said  to 
have  settled  here.  At  all  events,  it  is  certain  that 
its  sanative  waters  were  soon  discovered,  and  that 
they  grew  into  repute  among  the  Romans.  Ac- 
cording to  an  ancient  monument  which  was  dis- 
covered some  years  ago,  its  Latin  designation  was 
Aurelia  Aquensis;  or,  more  correctly  speaking,  it 
would  seem  to  have  been  called  Civiias  Aquensis 
by  its  founder,  Augustus,  and  Aurelia  by  a  later 
benefactor,  Caracalla.  It  was  also  visited  by  Tra- 
jan (who  greatly  improved  it),  Hadrian,  and  An- 
toninus. It  was  connected  by  a  military  road 
with  Argentoratum  (Strassburg),  Salatio  (Selz), 
72 


and  Pforzheim ;  and  was  the  headquarters,  in  suc- 
cession, of  the  third,  fifth,  eighth,  and  fourteenth 
legions.  Wine  was  first  grown  here  in  the  reign 
of  the  Emperor  Probus. 

Having  been  destroyed  by  the  Allemanni,  Baden 
disappears  from  the  page  of  history  for  some  cen- 
turies. When  we  again  hear  of  it,  it  is  in  the 
reign  of  Dagobert  I.,  king  of  the  Franks.  From 
the  Franks  it  passed  to  the  monks  of  Weissen- 
burg,  the  duchy  of  Suabia,  the  house  of  Zrehringen, 
Henry  the  Lion  (by  marriage),  and  Frederick  Bar- 
barossa  (by  exchange).  The  red-bearded  emperor 
bestowed  it  as  a  fief  on  the  Margrave  Hermann 
III.  His  successor,  Hermann  IV.,  was  the  first 
who  resided  in  the  ancient  castle.  The  town  now 
rose  from  its  ruins,  became  the  capital  of  the 
margraviate,  and  in  1243  possessed,  as  we  read,  a 
church.  It  was  also  surrounded  by  fortifications, 
which  proved  of  sufficient  strength,  in  1330,  to 
repulse  the  troops  of  Berthold,  bishop  of  Strass- 
burg. In  1453  the  church  was  converted  into  a 
a  collegiate  foundation."  The  Margrave  Christo- 
pher forsook  the  residence  of  his  ancestors,  and 
in  1475  erected  the  new  castle  on  the  height 
immediately  above  the  town.  By  this  time  the 
mineral  waters  had  attained  so  great  a  renown, 
that  as  many  as  three  thousand  bathers  yearly 
visited  them.  It  is  recorded  that  during  the  pre- 
valence of  the  plague  in  1551,  the  wafers  were 
allowed  to  overflow  and  course  through  the  streets ; 
and  owing,  it  was  supposed,  to  the  beneficial  in- 
fluence of  their  vapour,  the  pestilence  never  smote 
the  town.  It  was  less  fortunate  in  its  efforts  to 
escape  the  plague  of  war.  During  the  protracted 
struggle  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  it  suffered 
severely.  In  1689  it  was  burned  by  the  French 
under  General  Duras ;  its  walls  were  dismantled, 
and  the  tombs  of  its  margraves  in  the  cloister 
church  sacrilegiously  broken  open.  After  this 
event,  the  margraves  retired  to  Rastadt,  where  they 
built  a  castle.  In  1771  the  branch  of  Baden-Baden 
became  extinct  in  the  person  of  the  Margrave 
Augustus,  and  the  line  of  Baden-Durlach  inherited 
the  ancestral  territories. 

The  prosperity  of  Baden  as  a  watering-place 
really  dates  from  the  epoch  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, when  numerous  wealthy  emigre's  settled  in  its 
pleasant  environs,  and  the  fame  of  its  baths  spread 
among  the  higher  classes  of  Europe.  It  was 
largely  benefited  by  the  Congress  of  Rastadt,  for 
during  the  eighteen  months  its  deliberations  lasted, 


BADEN-BADEN. 


the  different  ambassadors  gladly  quitted  the  grim 
fortress  to  take  up  their  abode  in  this  attractive 
town.  To  meet  the  ever-increasing  demand,  new 
edifices  sprung  "like  exhalations"  from  the  ground; 
bath-houses,  palaces,  theatres,  hotels.  In  1822 
was  built  the  new  "  Conversation-house."  At  this 
date  rouge-et-noir  began  to  flourish,  and  Chabert 
paid  25,000  florins  a  year  for  the  privilege  of 
keeping  a  gaming-table.  Purafit,  who  succeeded 
him  in  1838,  found  it  profitable  to  increase  this 
abominable  tribute  to  45,000  florins. 

For  the  idler  and  the  adventurer  Baden  will  lose 
its  principal  attraction  when  the  public  gaming- 
tables are  suppressed  throughout  the  new  German 
empire;  but  as  it  will  still  retain  its  delightful 
scenery  and  its  baths,  it  is  reasonable  to  expect 
that  its  prosperity  will  not  be  seriously  affected. 

The  first  visit  of  the  "stranger  in  Baden"  will 
be  paid,  we  doubt  not,  to  the  Conversations-Haus 
and  Trinkhalle.  This  splendid  edifice  is  situated 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Oosbach,  at  the  foot  of  the 
Bentig,  and  the  high  hills  of  the  Friesenberg,  whose 
shady  woods  and  verdant  leas  have  been  disposed 
in  a  kind  of  enchanted  garden  for  the  behoof  of 
visitors.  The  building  was  erected  in  1824  by 
Weinbrenner,  but  was  considerably  enlarged  and 
embellished  in  1854.  It  is  now  350  feet  in  length, 
and  has  a  portico  of  Corinthian  columns.  The 
interior  is  very  richly,  and  yet  elegantly,  decorated. 
From  the  hall  we  pass  into  the  assembly  room, 
which  is  150  feet  long  by  50  feet  wide.  Another 
magnificent  chamber  serves  as  the  ball  room  (the 
"  Salon  des  Fleurs  "),  and  on  either  side  are  several 
smaller  apartments,  all  decorated  by  Cielli  and 
Sechan,  and  splendidly  fitted  up.  The  two  wings 
are  occupied  as  follows  ;  on  the  right,  by  the  Res- 
taurant ;  on  the  left,  by  several  new  and  partly 
private  salons,  namely,  a  ball  and  concert  room,  a 
"  gallery  of  flowers,"  a  "  Louis  Quatorze  "  salon, 
and  a  boudoir  k  la  Loreis.  ...  At  the  end 
of  the  left  wing  are  Marx's  library  and  reading- 
rooms. 

In  front  of  the  Conversations-Haus,  beyond  a 
wide  and  open  area  reserved  for  promenades,  and 
furnished  with  seats,  extends  a  beautiful  verdurous 
lawn,  on  either  side  of  which  a  "  shady  lane," 
bordered  with  noble  trees,  leads  into  the  Lichten- 
thal  road.  The  appearance  of  a  fashionable  bazaar, 
or  fancy  fair,  is  given  to  this  agreeable  promenade 
by  the  numerous  shops,  supplied  with  all  kinds  of 
luxe  ou  de  necessite,  which  you  encounter 
k 


at  every  step.  Of  these  objets,  decidedly  the  most 
curious  and  the  most  artistic  are  the  wood-carvings 
executed  by  the  peasants  of  the  Black  Forest. 

The  Promenade,  properly  so  called,  stretches  in 
front  of  the  Conversations-Haus  as  far  as  the  left 
bank  of  the  Oosbach.  At  certain  hours  of  the 
day  all  the  fashionable  world  of  Baden  gathers  at 
this  rendezvous,  where  they  can  flirt  aud  gossip  to 
their  hearts'  content,  while  looking  out  upon  one 
of  the  fairest  prospects  imaginable.  The  "  season  " 
begins  on  the  1st  of  May,  and  ends  on  the  31st  of 
October,  but  even  during  the  winter  Baden  is  not 
wholly  deserted. 

North  of  the  Conversations-Haus,  and  nearer  the 
Oos,  rises  the  new  Trinkhalle  or  Pump-room,  be- 
gun in  1839,  from  the  plans  of  Hiibsch,  and  com- 
pleted in  1843,  at  a  cost  of  229,000  florins.  It 
consists  of  a  colonnade  or  portico,  about  270  feet 
in  length  by  40  feet  in  width,  and  of  a  main 
building  whose  entrance  is  situated  in  the  centre 
of  the  colonnade;  this  colonnade,  we  may  add, 
being  composed  of  sixteen  Corinthian  pillars  of 
white  sandstone.  Fourteen  commonplace  frescoes, 
by  Gcetzenberger,  the  director  of  the  Pinacotheca 
of  Munich,  form  the  principal  decorations.  They 
represent  certain  Black  Forest  legends,  but  are 
mean  in  conception  and  indifferent  in  execution. 
Over  the  main  entrance  is  a  good  sculpture,  by 
Reich  of  Hiifingen,  representing  the  nymph  of  the 
spring  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  eager  worship- 
pers. Above  the  north  and  south  doors,  inside, 
the  designs  are  intended  to  illustrate  the  subjuga- 
tion of  Germania  by  the  Romans,  the  Romans  at 
Baden,  and  their  expulsion  from  the  city;  the 
triumphal  entrance  into  Rastadt  of  the  Margrave 
Louis,  the  conqueror  of  the  Turks;  and  the  original 
sketch  of  Carlsruhe.  The  adjoining  apartment 
is  the  Pump-room  properly  so  called ;  the  mineral 
water  is  brought  here  in  pipes  from  the  natural 
springs. 

The  temperature  varies  from  37°  to  54°  R.  The 
springs,  thirteen  in  number,  emerge  from  rocks  at 
the  foot  of  the  castle  terrace,  called  Sclineckengarten, 
behind  the  parish  church  ;  this  part  of  the  town  is 
known  by  the  name  of  "  Hell,"  and  in  the  coldest 
weather  snow  never  rests  upon  the  ground.  A 
building  in  the  form  of  a  temple  covers  the  prin- 
cipal spring  ("Ursprung"),  one  of  the  hottest 
as  well  as  most  copious  sources.  The  vault  of 
masonry  inclosing  it  is  of  Roman  construction,  and 
in  the  temple  are  preserved  several  relics  of  ancient 
73 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


sculpture,  such  as  votive  tablets  and  altars  to  Juno, 
Mercury,  and  Neptune  (the  patron-god  of  Baden). 
The  Ursprung  yields  7,345,440  cubic  inches  of 
water  in  twenty-four  hours. 

The  other  springs  are  : — The  Hoellensprung,  or 
Hell-spring,  temperature,  52°  R. ;  the  Briihlquelle, 
or  Scalding-spring,  temperature,  50°  5' ;  the  Jews' 
spring,  temperature,  54°;  the  "  Ungemach,"  tem- 
perature, 52°  3';  the  Murrquelle,  temperature, 
50°  6' ;  the  Fettq-uelle  or  "  Fat  Spring,"  tempera- 
ture, 51°.  There  are  also  eight  hot  springs  called 
the  Butte ;  ten  springs  called  the  "  cool  fountain," 
37°  5'  and  43°  7 '  R. ;  and  a  chalybeate  spring. 

The  Baden  waters  are  recommended  as  beneficial 
in  rheumatic  and  neuralgic  affections,  diseases  of 
the  skin  and  stomach,  and  sores  and  old  wounds. 
They  are  both  diaphoretic  and  diuretic,  laxative 
and  tonic;  and  are  taken  both  externally  and 
internally. 

Of  late  years  a  new  attraction  has  been  added 
to  the  many  attractions  of  this  attractive  watering- 
place  ;  and  Baden  has  its  Races.  It  cannot  be  said 
that  the  course  is  very  good,  that  the  horses  are  of 
the  best  blood,  that  the  stakes  are  hotly  contested, 
or  that,  in  a  word,  the  glories  of  Ascot  and  New- 
market are  reproduced  in  this  little  German  town ; 
but  the  scenes  accompanying  or  originating  in 
them — the  outward  procession  and  the  homeward 
progress — are  singularly  characteristic  and  enter- 
taining, and  may  be  regarded  as  full-coloured 
pictures  of  "Life  in  Baden." 

The  Grand-duchess  Stephanie — that  is,  in  the 
Scottish  peerage,  the  dowager  duchess  of  Hamilton 
— has  a  superb  palace  near  the  Leopolds-platz ; 
it  was  erected  in  1809  from  the  designs  of  the 
architect  Weinbrenner.  In  the  Leopolds-platz 
was  raised,  in  1861,  the  bronze  statue  of  the  late 
Grand-duke  Leopold,  by  Xavier  Reich ;  here  com- 
mences a  street  called  the  Graben,  ornamented 
with  a  central  row  of  chestnut  trees,  and  lined  by 
splendid  hotels  and  mansions.  The  Graben  leads 
to  what  the  French  call  Vallee  des  Soupirs  (the 
Seufseraller),  and  to  the  old  Gernsbach  road. 

The  parish  church  (Pfarr-Kirche,  or  Stifts- 
Kirche)  was  reconstructed  in  1453,  destroyed  by 
the  French  in  1680,  rebuilt  in  1753,  and  restored 
in  1837  and  1861.  Here  are  buried  many  of  the 
margraves  of  Baden,  and  the  choir  contains  their 
monuments ;  most  of  them  in  the  rococo  style,  and 
covered  with  elaborate  but  unmeaning  ornaments. 
They  begin  with  Bernhard  I.,  who  died  in  1631. 
74 


To  the  left  of  the  high  altar  are  the  tombs  of 
EdVard  Fortunatus,  died  1600;  Bernhard  III., 
died  1537 :  Friedrich,  bishop  of  Utrecht,  died 
1515 ;  Leopold  William,  died  1671,  a  great  soldier 
in  an  age  of  great  soldiers,  and  the  comrade  of 
Montecuculi  and  Stahremberg.  Further  off  are 
those  of  Christopher  I.,  died  1527,  and  his  consort 
Ollibe;  and  of  Jacob  II.,  who  died  in  1511  as 
elector  of  Treves,  and  whose  corpse  was  removed 
hither  from  Coblenz  in  1808.  To  the  right  of  the 
altar  stands  the  tomb  of  the  Margrave  Louis 
William,  who  died  at  Rastadt  in  1707.  He  was 
a  fellow-soldier  of  Prince  Eugene,  Marlborough's 
companion-in-arms,  and  commanded  in  twenty- 
seven  campaigns  without  sustaining  a  single  defeat. 
The  monument  is  by  Pigalle,  the  sculptor  who 
executed  the  monument  of  Marshal  Saxe  we  have 
mentioned  at  Strassburg.  As  a  whole,  it  is  heavy 
and  tasteless. 

In  the  rear  of  the  Trinkhalle  stands  a  Russo- 
Greek  chapel,  built  by  Prince  Michel  Stourdza  as 
a  mausoleum  for  his  son.  The  interior  is  lavishly 
enriched  with  paintings.  The  building  is  rather 
quaint  than  graceful. 

Between  the  Conversations-Haus  and  the  Lich- 
tenthal  road  is  situated  the  massive  and  richly 
decorated  pile  of  the  theatre,  designed  by  Conteau, 
a  French  architect,  and  opened  in  1862.  Among 
the  ornaments  of  the  interior,  the  best  are  the 
busts  of  Auber  and  Rossini,  by  Dantan,  and  of 
Beethoven  and  Mozart,  by  Perrault.  The  theatre 
fills  an  important  place  in  Badish  sociology.  The 
representations  are  well  attended ;  the  company  is 
good,  the  music  excellent,  and  the  plays  are  well 
mounted. 

AVe  have  now  exhausted  all  the  sights  of  the 
town  but  one  :  the  Neue  Schloss,  or  New  Castle, 
the  summer  residence  of  the  grand-duke  of  Baden ; 
and  called  "new"  for  the  same  reason  that  America 
is  called  the  New  World,  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
Old.  The  more  ancient  pile,  which  was  inhabited 
down  to  1471,  is  situated  on  the  very  summit  of 
the  hill ;  the  new  castle  occupies  a  lower,  but  still 
commanding  level.  It  was  burnt  and  ruined  by 
the  French  in  1689,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that 
the  grand-duke  considered  it  necessary  to  rebuild 
so  hideous  a  structure. 

We  do  not  visit  it,  however,  from  any  architec- 
tural or  artistic  propensities,  or  with  any  intention 
of  enjoying  the  prospect  it  commands,  but  simply 
on  account  of  the  very  curious   and   remarkable 


CASTLE  OF  BADEN. 


dungeons  beneath  it.  To  these  we  slowly  and 
painfully  descend  by  a  stair  which  winds  under  a 
tower  on  the  right-hand  corner  of  the  inner  court, 
through  an  ancient  bath  of  Roman  construction. 
This  entrance  has  been  broken  through  in  modern 
times ;  originally,  the  dungeons  were  only  access- 
ible from  above,  by  a  perpendicular  shaft  running 
through  the  centre  of  the  building,  and  still  in 
existence.  The  visitor,  in  passing  under  it,  can 
scarcely  discern  the  daylight  at  the  top.  The  old 
tradition  asserts  that  prisoners,  bound  fast  in  a 
chair  and  blindfolded,  were  lowered  by  a  windlass 
into  these  dim,  chill,  mysterious,  and  appalling 
vaults  and  corridors,  which  it  is  not  improbable 
the  Romans  excavated  out  of  the  solid  rock.  Each 
cell  closes  with  a  massive  slab  of  stone,  nearly  a 
foot  thick,  and  twelve  to  twenty  hundred  pounds 
in  weight,  moving  on  a  pivot,  and  ingeniously 
fitted. 

In  one  chamber,  loftier  than  the  other,  and 
called  the  Rack  Chamber  (Fatter  Kammer),  stood 
the  dread  instruments  of  torture ;  and  a  row  of 
iron  rings,  still  rusting  in  the  wall,  suggests  most 
painful  recollections  of  those  dark  and  troublous 
times  when  the  power  of  the  oppressor  was  as  yet 
unbroken.  An  adjoining  passage  contains  the 
trap-door  called  the  "  Virgin's  Kiss  "  (baiser  de  la 
vierge).  The  condemned  was  forced  to  kiss  an 
image  of  the  Virgin,  when  the  trap-door  giving 
way  he  fell  headlong  to  a  great  depth  below,  on  a 
machine  armed  with  knives  and  spikes,  which, 
slowly  revolving,  tore  him  to  pieces.  Not  even 
the  Oriental  imagination,  we  think,  could  conceive 
of  a  punishment  more  diabolically  cruel. 

The  last  and  largest  of  these  vaults  is  the  "  Hall 
of  Judgment,"  where,  on  stone  benches,  sat  the 
members  of  the  terrible  Veiling  ericht,  or  Secret  Tri- 
bunal, and  pronounced  the  terrible  sentences  from 
which  there  was  no  appeal.  We  have  no  space 
to  dwell  on  the  dark  romantic  story  of  this  secret 
court ;  nor  is  it  necessary,  since  the  reader  will 
find  it  dramatically  related  by  Goethe  in  his 
"  Goetz  von  Berlichingen,"  and  Sir  Walter  Scott 
in  his  "  Anne  of  Geierstein." 

A  road  beginning  behind  the  new  castle  winds 
up  the  richly  wooded  hill  to  the  ruins  of  the  more 
ancient  pile  (das  Alte  Schloss),  the  earliest  residence 
of  the  margraves  of  Baden,  where  they  sat  secure, 
and  looked  down  contemptuously  on  the  toiling 
and  moiling  world  below.  It  is  a  complete  ruin, 
having  been  destroyed  by  the  French  during  their 


ravages  of  the  Palatinate.  The  view  from  the 
battlements  of  the  square  tower  is  simply  a  vista 
into  fairy  land  :  on  one  side  rise  the  darkly  wooded 
hills  of  the  Black  Forest,  contrasting  vividly  with 
the  bright  fresh  verdure  of  the  valleys  they  inclose  ; 
while  the  foreground  is  filled  up  with  innumerable 
villages,  whitely-gleaming  spires,  convents,  farms, 
and  mills,  clustering  on  the  banks  of  winding 
streams;  while,  on  the  other  side,  the  green  de- 
clivities slope  gently  into  the  plain  of  the  Rhine, 
and  against  the  dark-blue  sky  breaks  the  sharp 
irregular  outline  of  the  Vosges. 

Proceeding  from  the  Alte  Schloss,  it  is  usual  to 
visit  the  ruins  of  Ebersteinburg,  near  the  village 
of  the  same  name.  These  ruins  are  situated  on  a 
kind  of  rocky  promontory,  and  seem  to  occupy  the 
site  of  a  Roman  watch-tower,  built,  perhaps,  in  the 
third  century.  The  masonry  dates  from  the  time 
of  the  Frankish  emperors  to  the  fourteenth  century. 
From  this  castle  a  powerful  family  took  their  name, 
who  afterwards,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  removed 
to  Neu  Eberstein  (or  the  "Boar  Stone").  In  a 
feud  with  Eberhard  the  Weeper,  of  Wiirtemburg, 
in  1337,  the  castle  was  burnt.  Half  a  century 
later,  the  lands  of  the  Ebersteins  were  sold  to  the 
margraves  of  Baden. 

The  castle  was  then  rebuilt  and  enlarged,  and 
for  a  century  and  upwards  was  the  residence  of 
one  or  other  of  the  principal  vassals  of  the  mar- 
graves. But  since  1573  it  has  been  deserted,  and 
nature  has  been  left  to  embellish  the  ruined  strong- 
hold with  her  favourite  growth  of  ivy  and  wild 
flowers. 

The  prospect  from  the  ruins  is  bold,  extensive, 
and  animated ;  especially  towards  the  rich  and 
radiant  valley  of  the  lower  Murz,  and  the  pretty 
villages  of  Kuppenheim,  Bischweier,  Rothenfels, 
Gaggenau,  and  Ottenau. 

To  the  east  of  Baden  rise  the  Great  and  Little 
Staufenberg.  The  former,  2240  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  is  also  called  the  Mercury  moun- 
tain ;  on  its  summit  a  Roman  votive  stone  having 
been  discovered,  bearing  a  rude  sculpture  of 
Mercury  with  his  caduceus  and  ram. 

In  1837  a  prospect  tower,  seventy-five  feet  high, 
was  erected  here  by  the  Grand-duke  Leopold. 

From  Baden  some  agreeable  exclusions  may 
be  made  in  or  about  the  Rhine  valley,  to  which 
we  shall  briefly  refer. 

It  is  usual  for  the  stranger  at  Baden  to  wander 
as  far  as  Stephanienbad,  where  there  are  mineral 
75 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


waters  and  chalybeate  waters,  and  to  visit  the 
monument  to  the  poet  Schiller,  a  mass  of  rock, 
surrounded  by  a  pleasant  shrubbery.  He  will 
find  something  to  see  at  Lichtenthal.  In  the 
first  place,  its  situation  at  the  foot  of  the  Kloster- 
berg,  and  at  the  junction  of  the  Oos  with  the 
Grobach,  which  comes  sparkling  and  splashing 
down  the  pleasant  vale  of  Geroldsau,  is  very 
pleasant.  Next,  there  is  an  old  convent,  a  very 
old  convent,  of  Cistercian  nuns,  who  renew  their 
vows  every  three  years.  The  vicissitudes  which 
this  convent  has  survived  are  remarkable.  It 
was  founded  by  Ermengarde,  widow  of  Hermann 
V.,  in  1145  ;  endowed  by  her  sons  and  successors ; 
and  thus  was  raised  into  a  position  of  repute  and 
influence.  In  1689  the  French,  under  Duras, 
threatened  to  burn  it,  but  it  was  saved  at  the 
intercession  of  one  of  the  nuns.  When  the  total 
suppression  of  monastic  establishments  took  place, 
it  lost  all  its  fair  estates ;  but  a  small  annual 
pension  was  granted  to  its  nuns,  which  is  shared 
among  about  sixteen  recipients. 

There  are  two  churches,  and  each  has  something 
to  boast  of:  the  larger,  of  the  relics  of  the 
martyr-saints  Pius  and  Benedict,  with  their  skele- 
tons attired  in  the  most  magnificent  costume :  the 
smaller  (and  more  ancient),  which  was  restored 
some  fifteen  years  ago,  and  embellished  with  richly 
painted  windows,  of  the  tombs  of  several  mar- 
graves of  Baden-Durlach,  and  the  quaint  pictures 
of  Hans  Baldung  Griin. 

The  Baden  margraves  descend  to  Rudolph  VI., 
surnamed  the  Long,  who  lies  on  a  stone  bed  of 
state,  attired  in  full  armour,  in  the  middle  of  the 
chapel. 

On  the  Rastadt  road,  about  six  miles  from  Baden, 
"  in  the  green  obscurity  of  a  little  park,"  is  situ- 
ated the  grand-ducal  summer  palace, or  lodge,  called 
"  the  Favourite."  Dr.  Gaspey,  in  his  volume  on 
the  "  Upper  Rhine,"  thus  describes  it : — It  was 
built,  he  says,  at  a  very  considerable  expense,  in 
1753,  by  the  Margravine  Sybilla  Augusta,  a  prin- 
cess of  Lauenburg,  and  widow  of  Prince  Ludwig, 
renowned  for  his  successes  against  the  Turks.  In 
the  evening  of  her  days,  when  her  eldest  son  had 
attained  his  majority,  she  withdrew  from  the  pomp 
of  a  court  life  to  this  secluded  residence.  In  the 
centre  of  the  chateau  a  richly  ornamented  circular 
saloon,  several  stories  high,  is  surrounded  by  a 
gallery,  and  receives  its  light  from  above;  the 
design  is  not  unlike  that  of  the  reading-room  of 
76 


the  British  Museum.  The  various  apartments  are 
cumbrously  ornamented  in  the  style  of  Louis 
Quatorze.  In  one  of  the  side  rooms  the  walls 
exhibit  a  crowd  of  the  most  curious  fishes,  flowers, 
and  birds — you  would  suppose  them  to  have  sprung 
from  the  fancy  of  a  Chinese  artist! — and,  in  another, 
you  may  see  the  portraits  of  the  margravine  and 
her  husband  in  seventy-two  different  dresses ;  while 
a  third  is  more  sensibly  embellished  with  the  minia- 
tures of  artists  and  men  of  letters  of  every  country. 
A  fourth  apartment  is  wholly  and  truly  in  the 
Chinese  style,  with  mimic  pagodas  and  other  in- 
congruities ;  and  a  fifth  bears  witness,  in  its  abun- 
dant embroideries,  to  the  industry,  if  not  the  taste, 
of  the  margravine  and  her  ladies.  Most  remarkable 
of  all  is  the  so-called  "  Show  Kitchen,"  where  a 
vast  quantity  of  antiquated  culinary  apparatus,  and 
a  whole  succession  of  dinner-services  in  Dutch 
porcelain,  in  the  form  of  stags,  birds,  fishes,  and 
garden  fruits,  never  fail  to  interest  the  curious 
visitor. 

Opposite  the  villa,  in  the  densest  shades  of  the 
park,  stands  a  small  quaint  hermitage,  and  here, 
during  Lent,  the  builder  of  the  Favourite  was  wont 
to  withdraw  from  her  voluptuous  life  to  undergo 
her  self-imposed  penances.  She  wore  a  horse-hair 
chemise  and  a  prickly  belt ;  and  she  slept  on  a 
straw-mat.  The  peasants,  therefore,  looked  upon 
the  margravine  as  a  saint,  though,  in  truth,  she 
drank  of  the  cup  of  pleasure  to  the  dregs. 

V\Te  shall  now  carry  the  reader  to  the  south  of 
Baden,  and  around  the  steep  mountains  of  the 
Tburg  (1767  feet),  whose  summit  is  crowned 
by  the  ruins  of  an  old,  old  castle.  Oh,  what  a 
glorious  prospect  do  we  enjoy  from  this  lofty 
position !  Yonder  flows  the  noble  river,  winding 
through  what  is  truly  "enchanted  ground" — 
through  fields  and  groves,  orchards,  gardens,  and 
vineyards,  most  pleasant  to  the  eye,  and  dear  to 
the  memory  from  their  legendary  and  historical 
associations.  The  ramparts  of  the  castle  over- 
hang the  very  brink  of  the  abrupt  ascent ;  one  of 
the  towers,  and  a  gateway,  are  also  in  excellent 
preservation.  The  story  runs  that  the  Margrave 
Edward  Fortunatus  coined  bad  money  here,  a 
most  unprincely  occupation;  but,  mayhap,  the 
sole  foundation  for  the  story  is  the  fact  that  his 
chemists,  Pestalozzi  and  Muscaletta,  had  a  labora- 
tory in  the  castle,  for  the  investigation,  in  all  pro- 
bability, of  alchemical  mysteries.  Innumerable 
ghost  stories,  it  is  said,  are  connected  with  the 


RASTADT. 


ruins ;  originating,  most  likely,  in  the  circumstance 
that  all  the  storms  coming  from  the  direction  of 
Strassburg  pour  their  fury  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Yburg. 

Yonder  densely-wooded  mountain,  to  the  north 
of  the  Yburg,  is  known  as  the  Fremersberg,  and  is 
only  twelve  feet  lower  than  its  castle-crowned  rival. 
Some  years  ago  its  summit  was  occupied  by  a  con- 
vent ;  on  the  site  of  the  convent  now  stands,  or  did 
lately  stand,  a  small  inn. 

Many  other  places  and  buildings  of  interest, 
many  picturesque  villages,  and  beautiful  land- 
scapes, are  to  be  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Baden ;  but  as  they  mostly  lie  beyond  -the  valley 
of  the  Rhine,  we  shall  not  introduce  them  into  our 
present  description. 


We  now  proceed  to  Rastadt,  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  fortresses  on  the  German  frontier.  It  is 
by  no  means  a  lively  or  picturesque  town,  and 
unless  the  traveller  has  military  proclivities,  he 
will  find  in  it  but  few  materials  of  interest.  Its 
defensive  works  have  been  completed  since  1840, 
under  the  direction  of  military  engineers. 

It  is  situated  between  Oos  and  Carlsruhe,  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Oos  and  Murg,  and  on  a  kind  of 
table-land  which  slopes  gently  towards  the  north- 
east. It  is  built  with  great  regularity,  most  of  its 
streets  forming  compact  parallelograms,  and  has  a 
population  of  about  7000  souls. 

Rastadt  was  burned  by  the  French  in  1689,  and 
rebuilt  by  Louis  of  Baden  in  1 701 ;  it  continued 
to  be  the  residence  of  the  margraves  until  the  ex- 
tinction of  their  line. 

To  the  north  of  the  town,  and  on  a  commanding 
height,  rises  the  palace  or  castle  founded  in  1701 
by  the  Margrave  Louis  William,  the  conqueror  of 
the  Turks,  and  the  Margravine  Sybilla  Augusta, 
of  whom  we  have  already  spoken.  It  was  designed 
on  the  same  plan  as  Versailles,  but  never  completed ; 
and  a  portion  of  it  is  now  used  as  a  barracks,  while 
the  park  serves  as  a  parade  and  exercise  ground. 
It  formerly  contained  a  splendid  collection  of 
Turkish  arms,  housings,  saddles,  and  standards, 
but  this  was  pillaged  and  destroyed  by  insurgents 
in  1849.  The  apartments  are  decorated  in  the 
Louis  Quatorze  style.  Above  the  main  building 
rises  a  belvedere,  or  prospect  tower,  surmounted 
by  a  copper-gilt  statue  of  Jupiter. 

In  this  castle  were  held  the  two  celebrated  con- 


gresses of  Rastadt;  the  first  in  1713-14,  and  the 
second  in  1797-99.  The  former  brought  to  a  close 
the  great  War  of  Succession,  which  had  involved 
nearly  all  Europe  in  flames,  and  in  which  the 
military  glory  of  England  was  raised  to  a  pro- 
digious height  by  the  victories  of  Marlborough. 
The  second  congress  met  in  1797,  again  with  the 
view  of  negotiating  peace  between  France  and  the 
imperial  house.  It  began  on  the  9th  of  December, 
and  the  conference  was  protracted  all  through  1798, 
and  into  the  spring  of  1799  ;  but  with  the  lapse  of 
time  the  French  demands  increased  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  emperor  found  himself  unable  to 
satisfy  them.  At  length,  indeed,  the  two  contract- 
ing parties  waxed  less  and  less  inclined  to  an 
agreement,  and  the  congress  finally  declared  itself 
dissolved.  The  departure  of  the  diplomatic  body 
was  fixed  for  the  28th  of  April ;  but  the  commander 
of  the  Austrian  garrison  gave  them  orders  to  set 
out  on  the  10th,  as  the  town  on  the  following  day 
was  to  be  occupied  by  the  imperial  troops.  An 
escort  was  demanded,  but  refused  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  unnecessary.  Consequently,  on  the 
evening  of  the  10th,  the  French  plenipotentiaries, 
Jean  Debry,  Ponnier,  and  Roberjot,  set  out  for 
Strassburg;  but  scarcely  had  they  passed  out  of 
the  Rheinau  gate  when  they  were  attacked  by 
some  drunken  hussars,  who  seized  them,  dragged 
them  from  their  carriages,  murdered  Ponnier  and 
Roberjot,  in  spite  of  the  frantic  efforts  of  the  wife 
of  the  latter  to  save  her  husband,  and  flung  Jean 
Debry,  severely  wounded,  into  a  ditch,  where  he 
escaped  destruction  only  by  promptly  feigning  to 
be  dead.  The  assassins  carried  off  all  the  papers 
of  the  legation,  but  committed  no  other  robbery; 
and  satisfied  with  the  work  they  had  accomplished, 
disappeared  in  the  obscurity  of  the  night :  where- 
upon Jean  Debry,  though  suffering  severely  from 
his  wounds,  contrived  to  crawl  into  Rastadt,  and 
present  himself,  bleeding  and  exhausted,  at  the 
hotel  of  Herr  Goertz,  the  Prussian  ambassador. 

In  1849  Rastadt  was  again  the  scene  of  a  very 
sanguinary  event.  Here,  on  the  11th  of  May, 
began  the  Baden  insurrection,  and  when,  in  July, 
the  outbreak  had  been  in  a  great  measure  sup- 
pressed, the  rebels  still  held  possession  of  the  fort- 
ress, which  was  surrounded  by  the  Prussians.  The 
outrages  which  had  disgraced  the  town  in  May 
and  June  were  worthy  of  a  signal  punishment ; 
and  when  the  fortress  surrendered  on  the  23rd  of 
July,  the  Prussians  shot  the  leaders  Tiedermann 
77 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


aud  Micswoski,  and  a  number  of  their  principal 
followers. 

Passing  Muggensturm  (population,  1770)  and 
Malscli  (population,  3261),  we  arrive  at  Ettlingen, 
a  town  of  5100  inhabitants,  situated  on  the  Alb, 
and  famous  for  its  paper  manufacture.  Near  the 
bridge,  in  the  wall  of  the  town-hall,  is  inserted  a 
Roman  sculpture  of  Neptune,  and  other  Roman 
remains  have  been  discovered  in  the  vicinity. 

The  railway  here  leaves  the  mountains,  and  ap- 
proaches nearer  to  the  Eider,  which  in  this  portion 
of  its  course  is  remarkable  for  its  curves  and  angles, 
and  is  studded  with  numerous  islands.  We  leave 
the  little  town  of  Ruppen  on  the  right,  and  cross 
the  Alb  at  Baluch,  whose  twin-towered  church, 
built  by  Hiibsch  in  1S37,  is  adorned  in  the  inter- 
ior with  well-designed  and  well-executed  frescoes 
by  Dietrich  of  Stuttgard.  A  journey  of  nine  to 
ten  miles  from  Ettlingen,  and  of  eighteen  miles 
from  Rastadt,  brings  us  to  Karlsruhe  (Carlsruhe, 
or  "  Charles'  Rest "). 

CARLSRUHE. 

The  population  of  Carlsruhe  is  about  28,000. 
The  town  itself  is  distant  about  five  miles  and  a 
half  from  the  bank  of  the  Rhine,  which  is  crossed 
by  a  branch  line  of  rail,  connecting  the  town  with 
the  railways  to  Paris,  Strassburg,  and  the  west 
of  France. 

There  are  few  towns  in  South  Germany,  says 
Captain  Spencer,  which  present  a  more  cheerful 
appearance  than  Carlsruhe,  the  Liliputian  capital 
of  the  grand-duchy  of  Baden.  The  streets  are 
broad,  airy,  and  cleanly-looking,  and  being  here 
and  there  ornamented  with  public  buildings  of  no 
slight  architectural  pretensions,  it  bears  about  it 
all  the  characteristics  that  usually  distinguish  a 
metropolis  from  a  purely  commercial  town.  It  is 
the  youngest  capital  in  Germany,  dating  only  from 
the  beginning  of  the  last  century.  In  1717  the 
site  which  it  occupies  was  covered  by  the  leafy- 
masses  of  the  Hartwald.  In  the  depths  of  the 
woody  solitude  the  Margrave  William  erected  a 
hunting-lodge,  or  chateau,  which  he  appropriately 
christened  "  Charles'  Rest,"  or  Karlsruhe.  A 
town  soon  sprung  up  around  it,  and  the  forest 
annually  dwindled  in  its  proportions. 

The  present  castle  is  a  handsome  pile  of  stone, 

raised  by  the  Margrave  Karl  Friedrich  in  1750. 

To  this  prince  Carlsruhe  owes  its  prosperity,  if 

it  owes   its   foundation  to  his   grandfather.     He 

78 


encouraged  by  liberal  concessions  the  erection  of 
new  houses;  so  that  in  1793  his  little  capital 
numbered  630.  In  1806  the  margraviate  became 
a  grand-duchy,  aud  received  soon  afterwards  some 
accessions  of  territory,  so  that  in  1814  it  com- 
prised a  superficial  area  of  278  square  miles,  and 
a  population  of  1,000,000.  Necessarily,  its  capital 
exhibited  a  corresponding  increase  in  importance. 

Carlsruhe  is  the  very  model  of  a  quiet,  sleepy, 
monotonous  German  capital.  It  is  almost  wholly 
dependent  on  the  ducal  court  and  its  officials.  Of 
late  years  it  has  essayed  to  become  a  manufacturing 
town,  but  with  little  success. 

On  arriving  by  the  railway  from  Rastadt,  we 
pass  through  the  Ettlingen  Gate,  erected  by  Wein- 
brenner  in  1S03.  It  is  supported  by  twelve  Doric 
columns,  and  ornamented  with  sculptures  illus- 
trative of  the  union  of  Baden  and  the  Palatinate. 
Following  up  the  Carl-Friedrichs  Strasse,  we  come 
to  an  open  square,  the  u  Rondel,"  in  whose  centre 
stands  an  obelisk,  raised  to  the  memory  of  the 
Margrave  William.  To  the  right  rises  the  stately 
palace  of  the  margraves,  built  by  Weinbrenner ;  it 
has  a  Corinthian  portico  of  six  pillars,  and  is  two 
stories  high. 

Entering  the  market,  which  forms  a  kind  of 
oblong,  and  may  be  considered  "  the  handsomest 
part  of  Carlsruhe,"  we  may  glance  at  the  monu- 
ment of  Duke  Louis,  who  died  in  1830;  a  statue 
in  sandstone,  by  Raumer.  Beneath  a  small  pyra- 
mid rests  the  remains  of  the  founder  of  the  city, 
the  Margrave  Charles  William.  It  bears  the 
following  inscription:  —  "Here,  where  formerly 
the  Margrave  Charles  sought  repose  in  the  shades 
of  the  Hardt  Forest,  and  built  the  town  which 
perpetuates  his  name;  here,  on  the  spot  where 
he  found  his  last  resting-place,  this  monument, 
inclosing  his  ashes,  was  erected  in  grateful  remem- 
brance by  Ludwig  William  Augustus." 

In  front  of  the  castle  stands  the  statue  of  the 
Grand-duke  Charles  Friedrich,  who  died  in  1811, 
after  a  reign  of  sixty-five  years  in  duration.  It 
was  executed  in  bronze  by  Schwanthaler,  and  each 
angle  of  the  pedestal  is  enriched  by  a  female  figure, 
representing  one  of  the  four  circles  of  the  grand- 
duchy  ;  viz.,  the  Lake  circle,  the  Upper,  Middle, 
and  Lower  Rhine  circles. 

The  Schloss,  or  castle,  was  erected  about  1750, 
in  the  "  old  Frankish  "  style,  and,  externally,  is 
more  remarkable  for  size  than  architectural  splen- 
dour.    It   consists  of  a    main  building  of  three 


CAELSRUHE. 


stories,  with  right  and  left  wings  of  two,  and  is 
dominated  over  by  the  so-called  "  Lead  Tower," 
which  necessarily  commands  a  broad  and  richly 
varied  prospect.  This  tower,  in  the  last  century, 
was  of  scarcely  less  evil  repute  than  the  notorious 
Tour  de  Nesle  of  Paris  in  the  fourteenth ;  being 
the  seraglio  of  the  Margrave  Charles  William. 
Internally,  the  Schloss  is  fitted  up  with  a  luxury 
and  a  richness  not  unworthy  of  the  palace  of  a 
prince ;  but  strangers  wander  "  open-eyed,"  and 
with  admiring  looks,  through  a  series  of  superb 
apartments.  On  these  we  shall  refuse  to  dwell. 
There  is  matter  more  to  our  taste  in  the  court 
library  of  90,000  volumes,  situated  in  the  left 
wing;  in  the  small  but  admirable  cabinet  of 
natural  history  ;  and  in  the  theatre,  in  the  right 
wing,  erected  by  Hiibsch  in  1851-1853.  The 
portico  is  embellished  with  well-executed  busts  of 
Mozart,  Beethoven,  and  Gluck;  of  Goethe,  Schiller, 
and  Lessing  ;  and  an  allegorical  figure,  the  Genius 
of  Dramatic  Poetry. 

Through  an  arcade  in  the  right  wing  we  pass 
into  the  gardens,  where  a  graceful  little  monument 
commemorates  the  poet  John  Peter  Hebel,  born 
1760,  died  1826.  He  wrote  some  spirited  and 
popular  lyrics  in  the  Allemannic  dialect.  The 
botanical  garden  is  justly  considered  one  of  the 
most  extensive  in  Germany  ;  it  owes  its  excellence 
to  the  unwearied  care  of  the  celebrated  botanist, 
Charles  Christian  Gmelin. 

Let  us  next  conduct  the  reader  to  the  Academy, 
or  Kunsthalle,  unquestionably  the  finest  edifice  in 
Carlsruhe.  It  is  built  of  a  cool  gray  sandstone, 
relieved  by  horizontal  layers  of  red  brick-  The 
style  is  Byzantine,  and  the  details  have  been  well 
worked  out  by  the  architect  Hiibsch.  The  figures 
at  the  entrance,  Painting  and  Sculpture,  Raphael 
and  Michael  Angelo,  Albeit  Diirer,  Holbein,  and 


Vischer,  are  from  the  chisel  of  a  native  Badish 
artist,  Xavier  Reich. 

The  apartments  on  the  ground  floor  are  crowded 
with  statues  and  plaster  casts,  Etruscan  vases,  and 
Roman  and  German  antiquities ;  among  which  the 
eye  signals  out,  delightedly  the  exquisite  Hebe 
of  Canova,  the  very  embodiment  of  grace,  and 
mirth,  and  youth;  a  Nymph,  by  Sch  wan  thaler; 
and  a  Victory,  by  Rauch. 

The  grand  staircase  is  ornamented  by  the  boldly 
designed  frescoes  of  Schwind,  representing  the 
Inauguration  of  Freiburg  Cathedral,  by  Duke 
Conrad  of  Zaringia,  and  deriving  a  considerable  in- 
terest from  the  number  and  fidelity  of  the  portraits. 

Of  the  Finance  Office,  erected  by  Hiibsch  in 
1828,  enough  to  say  that  it  contains  110  rooms, 
and  has  292  windows.  The  Polytechnic  School, 
also  built  by  Hiibsch,  is  of  very  considerable  ex- 
tent; the  facade  extending  157  feet  in  length,  and 
measuring  55  feet  in  height.  Over  the  entrance 
are  two  statues  in  sandstone,  Kepler,  as  the 
representative  of  science,  and  Erwin  von  Stein- 
bach,  as  the  representative  of  art.  They  were 
executed  by  Remfer. 

The  school,  which  contains  about  500  pupils, 
was  enlarged  in  1863.  It  is  very  efficiently  and 
yet  economically  managed. 

The  only  place  of  importance  between  Carlsruhe 
and  Philipsburg  is  Bruchsal,  which  has  a  popula- 
tion of  9500  souls.  Philipsburg  is  a  strong  fortress 
on  the  bank  of  the  Rhine,  situated  at  an  abrupt  angle 
of  the  river,  in  a  line  almost  due  south  of  Speier. 

The  railway  from  Bruchsal  strikes  northward 
to  Heidelberg,  where  it  joins  the  Mannheim  and 
Frankfort  line.  But  we  have  now,  in  our  descent 
of  the  river,  arrived  at  a  point  nearly  opposite 
Speier,  and  before  we  continue  our  journey  that 
famous  historic  city  claims  the  attention. 
79 


CHAPTEB      V. 


SPEIER    AND    HEIDELBERG. 


Speiek  (the  Spire  of  the  French,  and  Spires  of  the 
English)  is  situated  in  a  fertile  plain,  near  the 
confluence  of  the  Speierbach  with  the  Khine.  "  The 
tomb  of  the  German  Emperors,"  and  formerly  a 
free  imperial  city,  it  is  one  of  the  oldest,  and,  his- 
torically, one  of  the  most  remarkable  towns  on  the 
great  German  river.  True  it  is,  that  of  its  pristine 
magnificence  few  traces  remain,  but  its  associations 
are  imperishable.  It  now  contains  a  population 
of  about  12,000,  and  it  is  still  the  capital  of 
the  Bavarian  Palatinate,  the  seat  of  the  provincial 
government,  and  of  a  cathedral  chapter. 

To  the  Romans  it  was  known  as  Spira,  and  as 
Augusta  Nemetum  or  Noviomagus.  It  remained 
under  the  sway  of  the  Eagle  until  the  breaking 
up  of  the  Empire,  when  it  was  twice  destroyed 
by  the  Northmen.  The  town  soon  sprung  again 
into  prosperity,  and  under  the  rule  of  the  Franks 
abundantly  flourished.  At  the  partition  of  Ver- 
dun, in  843,  it  was  awarded  to  Germany,  "on 
account  of  the  wine;"  and  passing  under  the 
supremacy  of  the  Salic  emperors,  who  resided 
at  the  castle  of  Limburg,  within  about  eighteen 
miles  of  the  city,  it  continued  to  was  strong  and 
wealthy. 

The  German  princes  seem  to  have  affected  it 
greatly;  and  it  was  so  adorned  and  aggrandized 
by  the  Emperor  Conrad  II.,  that  he  obtained  the 
surname  of  der  Speierer,  the  Speier-man.  One  of 
his  successors,  Henry  IV.,  bestowed  on  its  bishop, 
not  only  the  title  of  count  of  the  Speiergau,  but 
the  rank  and  power  of  a  secular  prince.  At  a  later 
date  Henry  V.  placed  the  administration  of  the 
town  in  the  hands  of  a  municipal  council,  com- 
posed of  twelve  burghers.  This  step  encouraged 
the  growth  of  a  spirit  of  independence  among  the 
citizens,  and  led  to  a  series  of  struggles  for  suprem- 
acy between  them  and  their  bishops,  terminating 
in  the  discomfiture  of  the  latter  in  1192.  The 
bishops  retired  to  Bruchsal,  and  Speier  became  a 
free  imperial  city. 

From  this  epoch  until  the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  its  prosperity  knew  no  check.  Its 
population,  like  that  of  some  of  the  old  Flemish 
80 


towns,  was  scarcely  less  versed  in  the  arts  of  peace 
than  of  war,  and  though  not  exceeding  30,000  in 
number,  were  able  to  set  on  foot  and  maintain  a 
well-equipped  force  of  6000  men.  Placed  at  the 
head  of  the  Confederation  of  Free  Rhenish  Cities 
which  was  formed  in  1247,  in  opposition  to  the 
feudal  nobility,  it  destroyed  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  the  strongholds  and  mountain-fastnesses, 
whence  mediaeval  knight  and  baron  were  accus- 
tomed to  sally  forth  to  pillage  the  defenceless 
merchant.  So  signal  was  its  success,  and  so  great 
its  wealth,  that  its  enmity  was  only  less  feared  than 
its  friendship  was  courted.  The  feudal  princes, 
in  1315,  in  1320,  and  again  in  1422,  armed 
against  it,  but  their  battalions  were  in  each  case 
repulsed  with  terrible  slaughter.  Protected  by 
the  martial  spirit  of  its  inhabitants,  its  commerce 
steadily  increased  ;  and  of  a  rich,  strong,  and  inde- 
pendent mediaeval  city  it  would  be  difficult  to  find 
a  more  felicitous  example  than  Speier.  When  the 
Diet  of  Worms  abolished,  in  1530,  the  atrocious 
right  of  private  war,  which  had  so  long  desolated 
the  fair  valley  of  the  Rhine,  the  Imperial  Chamber, 
or  BeichsJcammergeric7it,  instituted  to  watch  over 
the  full  execution  of  this  edict,  was  established  at 
Speier,  where  it  held  its  sittings  for  two  centuries. 
In  1689  it  was  transferred  to  Wetzlar. 

This  astonishing  course  of  prosperity  was  scarcely 
checked  by  the  Thirty  Years'  War;  for  though 
Speier  was  alternately  occupied  by  Swede  and 
Imperialist,  both  parties  seem  to  have  agreed  in 
treating  it  gently.  But  a  very  different  fate  befell 
it  in  the  War  of  the  Succession.  It  was  then 
completely  devastated  by  an  army  of  Frenchmen, 
in  the  name  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  under  the  immedi- 
ate order  of  his  minister,  Louvois.  For  two  years 
Speier  remained  a  heap  of  ruins ;  France  would 
not  suffer  it  to  be  rebuilt.  At  the  peace  of  Ryswick, 
however,  some  of  its  former  inhabitants  returned, 
and  rebuilt  their  shattered  houses ;  but  it  never 
recovered  its  former  splendour.  It  was  doomed, 
moreover,  to  new  misfortunes.  In  1716,  at  the 
instigation  of  Bishop  Hartand  of  Rollingen,  it  was 
plundered  by  a  body  of  armed  peasants.     In  1734 


eg 


THE  CATHEDRAL  AT  SPEIER. 


it  was  stormed  by  a  French  army;  and  in  1794, 
another  French  army,  commanded  by  the  revolu- 
tionary general  Custine,  repeated  the  scenes  of 
1689.  On  this  occasion  the  cathedral  was  again 
plundered,  and  the  tombs  of  the  Emperors  Rudolph, 
Albert,  and  Adolph  were  desecrated. 

By  the  peace  of  LuneVille  Speier  was  annexed 
to  France,  and  became  a  sub-prefecture  in  the 
department  of  Mont-Tonnerre.  By  the  treaty  of 
Paris  it  was  restored  to  Germany. 

The  chief  building,  in  truth  the  only  building  of 
interest  in  this  ancient  city,  is  the  Dom,  or  cath- 
edral, founded  by  the  Emperor  Conrad  II.  in  1030 ; 
continued  by  his  son,  Henry  III. ;  and  completed  in 
1061  by  his  grandson,  Henry  IV.  It  is  a  remark- 
able and  magnificent  example  of  the  Byzantine 
style  of  the  eleventh  century,  though  it  has  suffered 
severely  by  successive  fires,  as  in  1165,  12S9,  and 
1450,  and  by  the  depredations  of  the  French  in 
1689  and  1794.  The  principal  entrance  is  through 
a  porch  called  the  Kaisersaal,  or  "  Imperial  Cham- 
ber," on  account  of  the  eight  statues  of  the  emper- 
ors which  decorate  it — tbe  emperors  buried  under 
the  roof  of  the  ancient  Dom.  They  are  executed 
in  white  marble,  of  life  size,  and  distinguished  by 
an  aspect  of  sovereign  dignity.  They  represent 
Conrad  II.,  Henry  III.,  Henry  IV.,  Henry  V., 
Philip  of  Suabia,  Adolph  of  Nassau,  Albert  of 
Austria,  and  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg. 

The  architecture  of  the  interior  is  impressive, 
though  somewhat  overloaded  with  ornament.  The 
broad  and  lofty  nave  is  separated  from  the  north 
and  south  aisles  by  twelve  square  pillars.  Four 
stars  of  red  marble,  let  into  the  pavement,  indi- 
cate the  place  where  St.  Bernard  preached  a  new 
crusade,  in  1141,  before  the  Emperor  Conrad  and 
his  court. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  choir,  to  which  we  ascend 
by  a  flight  of  marble  steps,  two  statues  are  kneeling 
on  their  tombs ;  Rudolph  of  Nassau  and  Rudolph 
of  Hapsburg,  sculptured  in  Carrara  marble  by 
Sch  wan  thaler.  The  imperial  mausoleum,  which 
has  been  careiu'ly  restored,  forms  an  immense 
crypt.  With  torch  in  hand  the  visitor  gropes  his 
way  into  the  dim,  cool  shades;  a  score  of  columns, 
rudely  and  roughly  hewn,  seem  almost  bent  to  the 
ground  by  the  low  and  heavy  roof.  A  long  series 
of  arches  intersect  each  other  in  the  obscurity. 
Lamps  of  baked  clay,  of  ancient  form,  hang  sus- 
pended from  hooks  of  iron.  Stone  slabs,  serving 
the  purpose  of  altars,  are  planted  on  a  couple  of 
I 


pillars,  which  are  scarcely  cut  out  of  the  stone. 
The  mind  involuntarily  recalls  those  gloomy  cata- 
combs in  which  the  Early  Christians  worshipped 
during  the  bitter  days  of  persecution.  Every  year, 
on  Christmas  night,  the  crypt  grows  alive;  a  hun- 
dred torches  are  kindled ;  and  the  bishop  of  Speier 
repairs  hither  with  all  his  clergy  to  celebrate, 
according  to  the  rites  of  the  Romish  Church,  the 
Nativity  of  Christ. 

Over  the  crypt  is  the  Kosnigsdwr,  or  "  King's 
Choir;"  and  to  the  south  of  it,  the  Baptismal 
Chapel,  containing  the  coloured  sketches  and  draw- 
ings of  Schrandolph  for  the  frescoes  with  which 
he  has  decorated  the  cupola,  the  choir,  and  the 
aisles.  They  illustrate  biblical  personages  and 
biblical  scenes,  and  are  very  literal,  cold,  and 
inexpressive. 

The  Dom  measures  480  feet  in  length,  and  136 
feet  in  width. 

On  passing  from  the  Dom  by  the  southern  gate, 
we  enter  a  leafy,  shady  garden,  the  ancient  ceme- 
tery, where  the  only  conspicuous  object  is  a  pile  of 
stones,  called  the  Oelberg,  or  "Mountain  of  Olives." 
It  dates  from  the  sixteenth  century,  is  covered 
with  figmes  and  sculptures,  and  owes  its  curious 
designation  to  the  fact  that  it  was  formerly  part  of 
a  chapel,  whose  interior  represented  the  Garden  of 
Gethsemane  and  the  betrayal  of  our  Saviour.  It 
was  partly  destroyed  by  the  French  in  1689. 

To  the  east  of  the  cathedral  rises  the  Heiden- 
thiirmclien,  or  "  Pagans'  Tower,"  which,  with  other 
Cyclopean  ruins,  tradition  attributes  to  the  Roman 
general,  Drusus.  It  is  most  probable,  however, 
that  the  tower  was  buut  by  Bishop  Riidiger,  about 
1180,  and  was  included  in  the  fortifications  of  the 
city.  It  contains  some  antediluvian  fossils,  and 
various  mediaeval  relics.  A  staircase  leads  to  its 
summit,  from  which  a  very  bright  and  varied  pros- 
pect may  be  obtained. 

North  of  the  cathedral  stands  the  Hall  of  Anti- 
quities, containing  a  valuable  collection  of  Celtic, 
Roman,  and  Germanic  antiquities,  discovered  in 
the  Palatinate.  It  is  divided  into  three  sections, 
of  which  the  central  is  the  larger.  An  iron  grating 
reveals  a  number  of  milliaria,  statues,  altars,  and 
votive  tablets.  In  the  others,  which  are  closed, 
vases,  urns,  amphorae,  weapons,  medals,  and  a 
legionary  eagle,  speak  eloquently  of  the  "  brave 
old  times  "  of  Roman  domination. 

Opposite  this  treasure-house  of  curiosities  is 
situated  the  chapel  of  St.  Afra,  the  only  one 
81 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


extant  of  the  ten  chapels  which  formerly  surrounded 
the  cathedral.  It  is  connected  with  one  of  the 
most  pathetic  episodes  in  the  history  of  Speier. 
The  Emperor  Henry  IV.  having  died  in  profound 
distress,  and  under  the  ban  of  excommunication, 
his  remains  were  deprived  of  the  last  solemn  rites. 
Of  all  the  priests  who  had  flourished  through  his 
bounty,  not  one  durst  bury  him.  The  men  of 
Speier,  more  loyal  and  more  grateful,  collected  his 
bones,  deposited  them  in  this  chapel,  and  assidu- 
ously watched  over  them  until  the  pope  was  in- 
duced to  recall  the  terrible  sentence,  and  the 
unfortunate  emperor  was  permitted  to  sleep  with 
his  fathers  in  the  imperial  crypt. 

The  modern  edifices  of  Speier  are  deficient  in 
architectural  beauty,  and  necessarily  possess  no 
historical  interest.  The  reader  will,  therefore,  be 
content  with  a  simple  enumeration — the  Protes- 
tant church,  the  Episcopal  palace,  the  government 
house,  the  town-hall,  the  lyceum,  and  the  cavalry 
barrack. 

From  Speier  we  cross  to  the  right  bank  of  the 
Rhine,  and  by  way  of  Schwetzingen  proceed  to 
romantic  Heidelberg. 

Schwetzingen  is  a  comparatively  insignificant 
town  of  about  3500  inhabitants,  two-thirds  of 
whom  are  Protestants.  No  one  would  spend  an 
hour  here  but  for  the  superb  gardens,  constructed 
at  an  amazing  cost  by  the  Elector  Charles  Theo- 
dore, and  still  maintained  on  a  very  sufficient  and 
satisfactory  scale.  They  are  embellished  with 
fountains  and  statues,  Roman  ruins,  an  orangery, 
a  lake,  temples  to  Mercury,  Apollo,  and  Minerva ; 
and  a  seventeenth  century  chateau  contains  some 
richly  furnished  apartments.  A  mosque,  a  theatre, 
and  a  restaurant  are  among  the  very  varied  and 
somewhat  incongruous  attractions  offered  to  visitors. 

The  celebrated  university  town  of  Heidelberg  is 
situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Neckar,  at  the 
entrance  of  the  fair  Neckar  valley,  and  at  a  short 
distance  above  the  confluence  of  the  Neckar  with 
the  Rhine.  From  its  ruined  castle  a  fine  view  is 
obtained  of  a  position  almost  unequalled  in  pic- 
turesqueness  of  effect ;  while  the  prospect  extends 
westward,  across  a  plain  so  fertile  and  so  fair  that 
it  has  been  called  the  "  Garden  of  Germany,"  to 
the  blue  line  of  the  Haardt  Mountains  in  Rhenish 
Bavaria. 

The  town  is  about  one  mile  and  a  half  in  length 
(population,  18,000),  but  exceedingly  narrow  in 
proportion.  It  liea  between  two  wooded  emi- 
82 


nences,  "  higher  than  hills,  and  not  so  rugged  as 
mountains."  On  a  northern  spur  of  one  of  these 
acclivities,  the  Kcenigsstuhl,  on  the  left  bank,  rise 
the  grand  but  gloomy  ruins  of  the  old  electoral 
castle.  The  Kcenigsstuhl  is  1893  feet  above  the 
sea-level,  but  the  elevation  of  the  castle  does  not 
exceed  313  feet.  On  the  left  bank  soars  con- 
spicuous the  vine-clad,  "castled  height"  of  the 
Saint's  Mountain,  or  the  Heiligenberg,  whose 
summit  has  been  crowned  by  the  eagle  of  the 
Roman  legionaries.  Some  authorities  assert  that 
the  Romans  fortified  both  the  Heiligenberg  and 
the  Kcenigstuhl.  In  the  reign  of  Ludwig  III.  the 
Saint's  Mountain  was  made  over  to  the  convent 
of  Lorsch.  Such  Roman  structures  as  were  still 
extant  were  then  destroyed,  their  materials  being 
employed  in  the  erection  of  religious  edifices. 

First,  the  chapel  of  St.  Michael  was  built  (about 
863-870) ;  and  soon  afterwards  a  Benedictine 
cloister  was  added  to  it.  Next,  a  chapel  dedicated 
to  St.  Stephen  and  St.  Lawrence  was  built  lower 
down  the  mountain.  A  second  convent  sprang  up, 
whose  rights  and  privileges  were  confirmed  by 
Pope  Alexander  III.  and  by  the  Emperor  Henry 
IV.,  in  1103.  It  was  then  the  mountain  acquired 
its  present  designation. 

When  the  great  irruption  of  the  Germanic 
tribes  swept  away  the  Roman  garrisons,  their 
camp  afforded  an  asylum  and  a  stronghold  to  the 
barbarians.  It  is  possible  that  some  chieftain, 
weary  of  plunder  and  fighting,  planted  himself 
here  with  his  followers,  among  whom  he  divided 
the  surrounding  lands.  Then  was  heard  the  sound 
of  the  axe ;  the  old  patriarchal  trees  were  felled, 
and  golden  harvests  bloomed  in  the  clearings 
effected  by  the  industry  of  man.  Want  of  water 
and  of  "free  elbow-room"  eventually  brought  them 
down  to  the  banks  of  the  Neckar,  and  Heidelberg 
was  founded. 

One  day  about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury (1155-1157),  Conrad  of  Hohenstaufen,  the 
count  palatine,  in  the  course  of  a  journey  through 
his  dominions,  arrived  in  this  romantic  neighbour- 
hood, and  resolved  to  build  a  castle  here.  Under 
his  patronage  the  village  of  Heidelberg  grew  up 
into  a  town,  which  at  the  beginning  of  the  thir- 
teenth century  had  its  guild  of  citizens,  its  magis- 
trate, its  governor,  and  its  ramparts.  Eventually 
it  became  the  capital  of  the  rich  and  beautiful 
Palatinate  of  the  Rhine;  and  so  continued  until 
the  last  electors  preferred  to  reside  at  Mannheim. 


ANNALS  OF  HEIDELBERG. 


In  the  course  of  these  five  centuries,  however,  it 
passed  through  many  vicissitudes.  In  1248  it 
suffered  from  a  dreadful  famine:  in  1278  it  was 
devastated  by  an  inundation  of  the  Neckar,  and 
so  much  as  the  gathering  waters  spared  was  soon 
afterwards  swept  away  by  a  conflagration,  until 
only  one  edifice  remained  extant,  the  church  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin.  In  1288,  we  are  told,  the  town 
was  visited  by  another  conflagration ;  from  which 
we  must  conclude  that,  in  the  ten  years  intervening 
between  the  two  visitations,  the  town  had  been 
wholly  or  partially  rebuilt.  About  the  same  date, 
the  great  Neckar  bridge  broke  down  while  a  pro- 
cession was  passing  across  it,  and  upwards  of  300 
persons  were  killed.  About  1301,  in  the  war  with 
the  Emperor  Albert,  and  soon  afterwards,  in  the 
war  with  the  Emperor  Ludwig,  the  country  for 
many  miles  around  was  swept  with  fire  and  sword ; 
and  in  1313  or  1314  the  unfortunate  town  was 
again  blighted  by  plague  and  inundation. 

It  must  have  required  all  the  tenacity  and 
robustness  of  the  German  character  to  withstand 
such  a  series  of  misfortunes.  Withstood  they 
were ;  and  in  spite  of  all  its  sufferings,  Heidelberg 
grew  prosperous.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  the 
Elector  Robert  III.  commenced  the  erection  of 
a  feudal  chateau  on  the  very  site  of  the  ancient 
Roman  walls,  thus  inaugurating  that  love  of  stately 
buildings  which  became  a  characteristic  of  the 
Palatinate  family.  It  was  the  ambition  of  each 
elector  to  continue  and  surpass  the  work  of  his 
predecessor.  Frederick  the  Victorious,  Louis  the 
Pacific,  Otho,  Henry,  and  Frederick  V.,  were 
distinguished  by  their  generosity  and  their  love 
of  dignified  magnificence. 

In  1414,  on  his  way  to  the  great  Council  of 
Constanz,  the  Emperor  Sigismund  was  received 
at  Heidelberg  with  a  splendid  welcome.  In  its 
castle  the  deposed  pope,  John  XXIII.,  resided  as 
a  prisoner  until  1418. 

In  1461  the  first  mutterings  were  heard  of  the 
Palatine  War.  "  Wicked  Fritz,"  as  his  enemies 
called  him,  or  Frederick  the  Victorious,  as  he  was 
entitled  by  his  partizans,  when  placed  under  the 
ban  of  the  Empire,  erected  a  stronghold  on  the 
height  above  the  town,  and  boldly  named  it  Trutz- 
Kaiser,  or  "Defiance  to  the  Emperor."  The  sur- 
rounding country  was  ravaged  by  the  troopers  of 
Baden  and  Wurtemburg.  In  preparation  for  the 
gathering  storm  the  ramparts  of  Heidelberg  were 
strengthened,  and  its  garners  filled ;  but  the  town 


was  spared  the  horrors  of  a  siege.  Frederick  met 
and  completely  defeated  his  enemies  at  Friedrichs- 
feld,  between  Seckenheim  and  Schwitzingen,  on 
the  30th  of  June,  1462,  making  prisoners  the 
Margrave  Charles  of  Baden,  Count  Ulrich  of 
Wurtemburg,  and  Bishop  George  of  Metz,  whom 
he  conveyed  in  triumph  to  the  capital. 

In  1613  the  ill-fated  marriage  of  the  Elector 
Frederick  V.  (1610-1632),  with  Elizabeth,  the 
daughter  of  James  I.  of  England,  the  heroine 
of  Wotton's  beautiful  lyric,  and  one  of  the  most 
amiable  and  intellectual  of  the  Stuart  race,  was 
celebrated  with  unusual  magnificence.  Nine  years 
later  the  city  was  stormed  by  Tilly,  whose  fierce 
soldiers  committed  the  most  disgraceful  excesses. 
For  three  days  rapine  was  uncontrolled,  while 
several  of  the  public  buildings  and  upwards  of 
forty  houses  were  sacked  and  burned.  The  uni- 
versity library  was  sent  to  Rome.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  victorious  Bavaria  attained  the  electorate, 
declared  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  restored,  and 
expelled  the  Lutherans  from  the  country.  Both 
town  and  castle  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
Bavarian  soldiers  until  1633,  when  it  was  recap- 
tured through  an  ably-conceived  stratagem  of  the 
Swedish  colonel,  Abel  Moda.  Again  the  wheel 
of  fortune  revolved:  in  May,  1635,  the  Imperial- 
ists, under  Count  Clam  Gallas,  attacked  and  cap- 
tured the  town;  and  on  the  27th  of  July  the  castle 
also  surrendered,  after  an  obstinate  defence. 

Few  parts  of  Germany  suffered  more  severely 
during  the  last  five  years  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  than  the  Rhenish  Palatinate,  and  on  the 
conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Westphalia  the  Elector 
Charles  Ludwig  (1632-1680)  found  his  dominions 
in  a  condition  the  most  deplorable;  the  towns  half 
depopulated,  the  villages  burned,  the  vineyards 
and  corn-fields  destroyed,  commerce  extinct,  and 
industry  almost  at  a  standstill.  The  elector,  how- 
ever, was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  capacity, 
and  under  his  firm  and  enlightened  rule  the  Pala- 
tinate was  beginning  to  recover  somewhat  of  its 
former  prosperity,  when  it  had  to  endure  a  heavier 
storm  than  ever,  by  Louis  XIV.  The  French 
army  was  under  the  command  of  Melac,  who  ex- 
celled Tilly  in  cruelty,  and  whose  name  for  years 
was  so  hated  in  the  country  he  ruthlessly  ravaged, 
that  the  peasants  gave  it  to  their  dogs. 

On  the  26th  of  October  Heidelberg  was  cap- 
tured, and  occupied  until  the  spring  of  1689  by 
a  French  army.  The  arms  of  France  had  been 
83 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


everywhere  successful.  They  had  overrun  the 
entire  Palatinate,  and  from  Heidelberg  spread  even 
to  the  hanks  of  the  Danube.  But  an  event  more 
disastrous  to  the  French  fortunes  than  any  repulse 
in  the  open  field,  occurred  at  a  critical  moment. 
To  the  throne  of  England  succeeded  William  of 
Holland,  the  resolute  and  mortal  enemy  of  France; 
and  his  ability  and  steadfastness  united  all  Europe 
in  a  formidable  league  against  its  common  aggres- 
sor. France  found  itself  called  upon  to  combat, 
not  only  on  the  Rhine,  but  in  Holland,  in  Savoy, 
in  Spain,  wherever  the  coalition  formed  at  Augs- 
burg could  put  an  armed  force  in  the  field. 

The  French  government,  confronted  by  so  pow- 
erful a  league,  conceived,  as  a  French  writer  says, 
the  most  terrible  resolution  ever  dictated  by  the 
genius  of  war:  namely,  to  destroy  every  town  they 
were  compelled  to  evacuate,  and  to  harry  with  fire 
and  sword  the  territory  they  were  forced  to  restore 
to  the  elector.  This  atrocious  conception  is  gene- 
rally attributed  to  the  Marshal  de  Duras,  but  it 
was  sanctioned,  to  his  eternal  infamy,  by  Louis 
XIV.,  and  carried  out  with  savage  fury  by  the 
able  and  unscrupulous  Louvois.  The  French 
generals,  Melac,  Montclar,  Tessd,  Boufflers,  and 
a  score  of  others,  were  the  executants,  the  hands; 
but  Louvois  was  brain  and  soul.  It  is  to  the 
credit  of  the  former  that  they  occasionally  exper- 
ienced sentiments  of  remorse  and  pity;  that  they 
sometimes  halted  in  their  dreary  course,  and  re- 
fused to  proceed  except  under  new  and  stringent 
orders.  Duras  openly  cursed  the  fatal  counsel 
which  he  had  been  evilly  inspired  to  give,  and 
implored  the  king,  in  "  the  name  of  his  glory,"  to 
revoke  the  doom  he  had  pronounced,  and  refrain 
from  inspiring  all  Christendom  with  "  a  terrible 
aversion."  But  Louvois  would  not  suffer  him  ; 
not  for  one  minute  did  this  implacable  statesman 
relent. 

Heidelberg,  says  M.  Durand,  was  the  first  to 
experience  the  consequences  of  the  retreat  of  the 
French.  In  the  month  of  March  of  this  fatal 
year,  Montclar  received  orders  to  burn  the  town, 
and  expel  its  inhabitants.  He  selected  for  this 
mission  the  Count  de  Tesse",  one  of  the  heroes 
of  the  notorious  Dragonnades.  But  neither  the 
soldiers  nor  the  generals  were  yet  sufficiently 
hardened  for  the  proper  performance  of  their  bar- 
barous duties.  The  fire  was  not  half  kindled; 
and  Tesse"  hastened  to  quit  the  town  before  it  was 
more  than  partially  consumed.  Its  inhabitants 
84 


immediately  returned,  extinguished  the  flames,  and 
repaired  their  houses.  They  raised  some  palisades 
around  the  castle,  which  was  spacious  enough  to 
accommodate  1000  imperial  soldiers. 

Four  years  later,  and  on  the  22nd  of  May, 
Heidelberg,  which  had  been  hastily  rebuilt  and 
fortified,  was  stormed  by  the  Marshal  de  Lorges, 
and  this  time  it  was  utterly  destroyed.  The 
population  were  driven,  foodless,  without  clothes, 
without  shelter,  to  the  other  bank  of  the  Neckar. 
The  soldiery  broke  into  the  castle,  plundered  it 
of  its  treasures,  desecrated  the  tombs  of  the  elec- 
tors, and  scattered  abroad  their  remains.  Finally, 
several  thousand  pounds  of  gunpowder  were  de- 
posited in  the  cellars,  and  all  that  remained  of 
the  magnificent  work  of  four  generations  was 
blown  to  the  winds  of  heaven. 

Some  years  elapsed  before  any  attempt  was 
made  to  restore  this  unfortunate  city.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  however, 
the  ruined  buildings  were  rebuilt,  and  many  new 
ones  erected.  In  1712  the  first  stone  was  laid 
of  the  new  University;  soon  afterwards  St.  Anne's 
Chapel  and  the  Citizens'  Hospital  were  commenced. 

In  1735  Prince  Eugene  established  his  head- 
quarters here;  but  the  town  and  its  neighbourhood 
escaped  the  usual  ravages  during  the  war  of  the 
Bavarian  Succession,  in  consequence  of  the  cautious 
neutrality  observed  by  the  Elector  Palatine. 

The  Elector  Charles  Theodore  (1742-1799),  was 
desirous  of  returning  to  the  seat  of  his  ancestors. 
But  an  evil  fortune  pursued  the  chateau.  On  the 
23rd  of  June,  1764,  the  walls  being  completed, 
and  the  following  day  fixed  for  the  triumphant 
entrance  of  the  prince,  the  tower  was  struck  by 
lightning,  and  in  a  few  hours  three-fourths  of  the 
building  were  consumed.  Thenceforth,  the  skill 
of  man  has  turned  aside  from  what  seemed  and 
seems  to  be  "a  house  accurst;"  and  the  ruined 
pile,  standing  erect  on  the  desert  slope  of  the 
mountain,  reminds  the  traveller  of  those  ancient 
imperial  diadems  which  are  preserved  in  our  col- 
lections as  the  relics,  not  as  the  signs  of  royalty. 

In  the  winter  of  1784,  that  is,  on  the  18th  of 
January,  and  again  on  the  26th  and  27th  of  Feb- 
ruary, the  town  suffered  greatly  from  an  inunda- 
tion: the  bridge  was  carried  away  by  the  drifting 
ice;  thirty-nine  buildings  were  destroyed,  and  290 
greatly  damaged. 

During  the  long  war  of  the  French  Bevolution, 
this  unfortunate  city  was  frequently  visited   by 


S3> 

(§g 


MEMORABLE  BUILDINGS  IN  HEIDELBERG. 


hostile  forces.  The  Austrian  headquarters  were 
established  here,  at  frequent  intervals,  from  1794 
to  1800.  In  September,  1799,  it  was  occupied  by 
the  French,  under  Baraguay  d'Hilliers,  but  they 
retired  on  the  approach  of  the  Imperialists.  The 
French  afterwards  returned,  under  Nansouty  and 
Sabbatier,  and  on  the  16th  October  attempted  to 
carry  the  bridge,  but  were  beaten  off,  though  the 
approach  was  commanded  by  only  a  single  cannon. 

In  1803  Heidelberg,  with  the  Rhine  Palatine, 
was  annexed  to  Baden,  and  the  grand-duke, 
Charles  Frederick,  immediately  addressed  himself 
to  the  task  of  resuscitating  the  university,  which 
he  endowed  with  new  sources  of  revenue,  and 
whose  organization  he  remodelled  in  a  liberal  and 
enlightened  spirit.  Heidelberg  is  now  one  of  the 
most  prosperous,  one  of  the  brightest  and  most 
radiant,  of  the  Badish  towns ;  and  to  the  cultivated 
mind  its  romantic  beauty  and  historical  associa- 
tions will  ever  endow  it  with  the  gift  of  immortal 
youth. 

Modern  Heidelberg  stretches  along  the  left  bank 
of  the  Neckar,  and  at  the  base  of  the  final  escarp- 
ments of  the  Kcenigsstuhl,  for  a  mile  and  a  half, 
from  W.  to  E.,  or  from  the  Mannheim  to  the  Karl 
gate.  It  consists  in  the  main  of  two  parallel 
streets,  the  Haupt  Strasse,  or  principal  street,  and 
the  Plock  Strasse;  behind  which  are  found  the 
Anlagen.  On  this  promenade,  which  is  agreeably 
planted,  and  lined  with  charming  houses,  stands 
a  statue  of  bronze  (by  Brugger,  in  1860)  to  the 
Bavarian  Field-marshal  Wrede,  who  earned  con- 
siderable distinction  in  the  Napoleonic  wars.  He 
was  born  at  Heidelberg  in  1767,  and  died  at 
Ellingen  in  1 838.  The  railway  terminus  is  situated 
near  the  Mannheim  gate.  The  Haupt  Strasse, 
the  Plock  Strasse,  and  the  promenade,  all  lead  to 
the  castle,  which  is  the  great  object  of  attraction 
to  all  visitors. 

As  the  reader  will  suppose  from  our  historical 
sketch,  Heidelberg  is  a  completely  modern  city. 
Of  its  ancient  houses  man  and  the  elements  seem 
to  have  spared  but  one,  situated  in  the  market- 
place, opposite  the  church  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
This  was  built  by  a  Frenchman,  Charles  Belier, 
of  Tournay,  a  Huguenot  who  had  escaped  from 
the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew's-day.  It  is  now 
an  inn,  Zum  Hitter  Sanct  Georg. 

The  church  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  we  have 
spoken  of  as  near  this  ancient  mansion,  is  also  of 
great  antiquity.     In  truth,  who  built  it,  or  when 


it  was  built,  is  not  known ;  but  it  was  certainly 
raised  to  the  rank  of  a  cathedral  by  Rupert 
III.  in  1393,  and  completed  under  his  son  Lud- 
wig  early  in  the  fifteenth  century.  Here  were 
the  tombs  of  numerous  princes  and  electors 
palatine,  unfortunately  destroyed  by  the  French 
in  1793.  Divine  service,  after  the  Lutheran 
fashion,  was  first  celebrated  on  the  3rd  of  Jan- 
uary, 1546.  Both  Protestants  and  Catholics  now 
worship  under  the  same  roof. 

For  nearly  two  centuries  the  university  library 
was  kept  in  the  choir,  and  esteemed  the  finest 
in  Germany.  But  when  the  town  was  captured 
by  Tilly,  Duke  Maximilian  of  Bavaria  despatched 
the  books  to  Rome,  where  they  were  deposited 
in  the  Vatican. 

The  Jesuits'  Church  was  erected  from  1712  to 
1751.     It  is  a  spacious  and  imposing  edifice. 

The  oldest  church  in  the  town  is  St.  Peter's, 
also  called  the  University  Church.  It  suffered  no 
great  injury  in  the  wars,  but  in  1737  its  tower  was 
greatly  destroyed  by  lightning.  Architecturally 
the  interior  is  not  remarkable,  but  it  contains  some 
interesting  tombs ;  especially  those  of  Marsilius 
von  Inghen,  the  first  rector  of  the  university,  and 
the  noble  and  learned  lady,  Olympia  Fulvia  Morata, 
of  Ferrara,  who  was  appointed  professor  of  the 
Greek  language  at  the  university  in  1554  and 
died  soon  afterwards,  in  her  twenty-ninth  year. 

The  university,  the  celebrated  Ruperta  Carolina, 
owes  its  reputation  chiefly  to  its  faculties  of  medi- 
cine and  jurisprudence.  Not  a  few  of  its  professors 
have  acquired  a  European  reputation.  The  num- 
ber of  students,  prior  to  the  war,  varied  from  500  to 
600.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  universities  in  Germany, 
its  foundation  dating  from  1386.  Its  buildings, 
however,  are  but  of  moderate  extent,  and  of  no 
special  architectural  merit.  The  handsomest  edifice 
is  the  new  anatomy  school,  in  a  street  leading 
to  the  river.  The  laboratory  is  situated  in  the 
Academy  Street;  the  botanical  garden,  outside 
the  Mannheim  Gate.  Near  the  hospital,  that  is,  to 
the  east  of  the  university,  stands  the  library,  a 
three-storied  building,  which  now  contains  150,000 
volumes,  50,000  dissertations,  and  1880  MSS. 
Some  invaluable  MSS.,  which  from  Rome  had 
been  carried  to  Paris,  were  likewise  restored  after 
the  conclusion  of  peace.  Among  the  bibliographi- 
cal curiosities  we  may  enumerate : — a  Greek  An- 
thology ;  a  fine  MS.  of  the  eleventh  century ; 
MSS.  of  Thucydides  and  Plutarch,  of  the  tenth 
85 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


and  eleventh  centuries ;  a  translation  of  Isaiah, 
in  the  handwriting  of  Luther;  his  Exhortation 
against  the  Turks;  an  edition  of  the  Catechism, 
annotated  by  the  great  Keformer  ;  the  Electress 
Elizabeth's  Book  of  Prayers,  ornamented  with 
miniatures  by  Dentzel,  of  Ulm  (1499). 

Attached  to  the  university  is  a  mineralogical  col- 
lection, containing  more  than  15,000  specimens. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  pride  and  glory  of 
Heidelberg,  its  Castle,  which  from  the  distance 
appears  a  complete  mosaic  of  ramparts  and  towers, 
and  when  seen  more  closely  seems  to  deserve  the 
title  so  frequently  given  to  it,  "  the  Alhambra  of 
Germany."  The  story  of  its  vicissitudes,  recon- 
structions, and  demolitions  would  fill  a  volume. 
We  shall  content  ourselves  with  adding  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  storm  which  destroyed  the  upper  castle 
on  the  25th  of  April,  1537.  Its  violence  was  so 
great  that  it  tore  up  the  trees  in  the  neighbouring 
forests  by  the  roots ;  and  oaks  which  had  braved 
the  tempests  of  a  hundred  years,  were  dashed  with 
surprising  fury  into  the  valley.  The  clouds  from 
all  points  of  the  compass  seemed  whirling  to  a 
centre,  with  a  wind  which  swept  everything  before 
it,  and  drew  up  the  waters  of  the  Neckar  to  such 
a  height,  that  a  fearful  inundation  was  moment- 
arily expected.  Presently  the  most  awful  peals 
of  thunder  reverberated  among  the  mountains, 
followed  by  heavy  torrents  of  hail  and  rain,  which 
completely  deluged  the  earth.  Suddenly,  a  vivid 
flash  of  lightning  struck  the  tower  of  the  castle, 
whose  vaults  were  filled  with  many  tons  of  gun- 
powder. Then  it  seemed  as  if  the  earth  had  been 
violently  rent  asunder,  and  the  shock  was  like  the 
simultaneous  discharge  of  hundreds  of  cannons. 
The  doors  of  the  houses  were  lifted  from  their 
hinges  ;  the  windows  dashed  out  into  the  streets ; 
whilst  the  huge  stones,  the  beams,  and  the  entire 
roof  of  the  venerable  castle  were  precipitated  into 
the  town,  destroying  the  houses,  and  crushing 
many  of  the  wretched  inhabitants.  Even  the  valley 
was  strewn  with  rubbish.  The  lower  castle  also 
was  seriously  damaged  ;  and  the  Elector  Louis  V. 
narrowly  escaped  with  his  life.  Of  the  venerable 
pile  itself,  only  one  or  two  insignificant  walls 
were  left  standing. 

We  have  already  stated  that  the  lower  castle  is 
first  mentioned  in  the  year  1329,  in  the  treaty  of 
Pavia.  It  was  probably  erected  about  the  end 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  under  the  Palsgrave 
Ludwig  the  Severe,  son-in-law  of  Rudolph  of 
86 


Hapsburg,  who  died  in  1294.  The  palace  was 
afterwards  embellished  and  enlarged  by  successive 
electors,  especially  by  the  electors  Otto  Henry, 
Frederick  IV.,  and  Frederick  V.,  the  latter  having 
erected  the  so-called  "  English  Buildings,"  of  which 
the  remains  are  few.  Then  came  the  desolation 
of  1649,  1689,  and  1692,  and  the  splendour  of 
Heidelberg  vanished  for  ever.  For  ever,  because 
when  in  1764  the  Elector  Charles  Theodore  had 
resolved  on  restoring  the  ancient  castle,  it  was 
struck  by  lightning,  and  the  flames  seized  upon 
everything  that  would  burn. 

On  entering  through  the  principal  gate — the 
Elizabeth  Gate,  built  by  the  Elector  Frederick  V. 
in  honour  of  his  English  bride — we  pass  into  the 
Stuckgarten,  or  Cannon-garden,  so  named  because 
the  Heidelberg  artillerists  were  formerly  drilled 
within  its  precincts.  This,  the  westernmost  part 
of  the  castle,  commands  an  extensive  and  richly- 
coloured  picture  of  the  town,  the  Harst  Mountains, 
and  the  valley  of  the  Rhine.  "  Strictly  speaking, 
it  forms  a  large  terrace,  irregularly  planted  with 
tall  lime  trees." 

Close  adjoining  the  Cannon-garden  is  the  so- 
called  Theits  Tower,  of  which  only  one-half  is 
preserved.  It  was  erected  by  the  Elector  Louis 
V.,  completed  in  1533,  and  destroyed  by  General 
Melas  in  1685,  notwithstanding  the  thickness  of 
its  walls  (twenty-two  feet).  In  the  ivy-shrouded 
niches  may  still  be  seen  the  remains  of  the  stone 
statues  of  Frederick  V.  and  his  brother,  Ludwig  V. 

In  this  vicinage  stood  the  "English  Buildings," 
erected  in  1612  by  Frederick  V.,  in  honour  of 
his  consort,  Elizabeth  of  England.  It  was  noble 
and  majestic  externally,  and  internally  most  sump- 
tuous; but  in  1689  it  was  set  on  fire  by  the  French, 
and  reduced  to  a  heap  of  ruins. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  castle  court  rise  the  two 
lofty  triangular  pediments  of  the  sombre  palace  of 
Frederick  IV.,  with  its  boldly-projecting  entabla- 
tures, on  which  are  erected,  between  four  rows  of 
windows,  the  beautifully  executed  statues  of  nine 
electors,  two  kings,  and  five  emperors.  To  the 
right  stands  the  exquisite  Italian  structure  of  Otto 
Henry,  finished  by  that  elector  in  1566,  ruined  by 
the  French  in  1659,  restored  in  1718,  and  destroyed 
by  fire  in  1764.  The  plan  is  said  to  have  been 
furnished  by  Michel  Angelo. 

Above  the  entrance,  which  is  decorated  with 
four  statues,  are  the  name,  bust,  and  armorial 
bearings  of  the  architect.      The  entire  facade  is 


THE  CASTLE  OF  HEIDELBERG. 


adorned  with  niches,  and  these  niches  are  filled 
with  admirable  statues.  Thus,  in  the  first  stage 
we  see  Joshua,  Sampson,  Hercules,  and  David,  a 
motley  collection,  with  rhyming  inscriptions;  in 
the  second,  allegorical  figures  of  Strength,  Faith, 
Love,  Hope,  and  Justice;  and  in  the  third, 
Saturn,  Mars,  Mercury,  and  Diana.  The  gable- 
ends  are  protected  by  Pluto  and  Jupiter,  and  near 
the  pediments  of  the  first  tier  of  windows  are  the 
half-raised  busts  of  Vitellius,  Antoninus  Pius, 
Tiberius,  Nero,  and  four  more  Roman  emperors. 

The  oldest  part  of  the  ruins  is  probably  the 
Ruprechtsbau,  or  Rupert's  Building,  erected  in 
the  fifth  century  by  the  Palsgrave  Rupert,  restored 
by  Ludwig  V.  in  1540,  and  embellished  by 
Frederick  II.  Its  hall  contains  a  small  collection 
of  curiosities.  In  the  rear  rises  a  dilapidated 
structure,  which  is  considered  to  be  still  older; 
and  close  beside  it  stands  the  Old  Chapel,  which 
Rupert  I.  erected  in  1346,  and  amply  endowed. 
Under  Frederick  I.  it  was  restored;  but  the  new 
castle  chapel  having  been  built  by  Frederick  IV.  in 
1607,  the  former  was  converted  into  a  throne  room. 
More  recently  it  has  served  as  a  cooper's  shop. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  the  palace  of  Frederick 
IV.,  whose  facade  is  overloaded  with  a  profusion 
of  heavy  ornamental  sculpture.  It  was  commenced 
in  1603  by  Frederick  IV.,  and  completed  in  1607. 
On  the  inner  facade,  towards  the  court-yard,  are 
sixteen  statues,  several  of  which  bear  the  disfigur- 
ing traces  of  the  Swedish  bombardment  in  1633. 
On  the  ground-floor  stands  the  new  chapel,  already 
referred  to. 

The  first-floor  saloons  are  appropriated  to  the 
Graimberg  Museum,  containing,  among  other  trea- 
sures, numerous  specimens  of  the  porcelain  of  the 
Palatinate;  a  picture,  by  Lucas  Cranach;  a  manu- 
script diploma  of  Arnulph,  grandson  of  Charle- 
magne, dated  896 ;  a  manuscript  bull  of  Alexander 
IV.,  1255;  the  plaster  cast  of  the  face  of  Kotzebue, 
taken  immediately  after  he  had  fallen  beneath  the 
dagger  of  Sand;  the  portrait,  and  a  lock  of  hair,  of 
the  murderer;  portraits  of  Melanchthon,  Luther, 
and  Luther's  wife;  costly  enamels;  plans  and  draw- 
ings of  the  castle ;  a  sword  found  in  the  Neckar 
paintings  by  Wohlgemuth  and  his  school;  coins 
seals,  ornaments,  arms,  and  household  utensils 
There  is  also  an  elaborate  model  of  the  castle  in  cork 

We  now  step  into  the  broad  balcony,  raised  by 
the  same  elector  on  the  site  of  an  old  wall,  and 
opening  up  a  gorgeous  view  of  the  town  of  Heid- 


elberg and  the  valley  of  the  Neckar.  A  door  in 
the  west  corner  leads  to  the  cellar  containing  the 
Great  Tun,  one  of  the  most  widely-celebrated  of 
the  curiosities  of  Heidelberg. 

The  first  large  tun  seems  to  have  been  built 
about  1591.  It  contained  132  tuns,  or  nearly 
133,000  quarts  of  wine,  was  an  object  of  much 
popular  wonder,  and  destroyed  in  the  Thirty  Years' 
War.  In  1664  a  new  one  was  built,  by  order  of 
Charles  Ludwig,  to  hold  204  tuns,  or  upwards  of 
206,000  quarts. 

In  1751  the  present  monster  tun  was  constructed 
by  the  Elector  Charles  Theodore.  It  measures 
thirty  feet  five  inches  in  length,  and  twenty-three 
feet  in  height,  is  kept  together  by  eight  massive 
iron  and  eighteen  wooden  hoops,  and  contains 
236  tuns,  or  nearly  238,000  quarts.  It  was  filled 
with  wine  on  the  10th  of  November,  1752,  which 
was  subsequently  repeated  on  three  occasions,  but 
since  1769  has  remained  empty.  On  either  side 
a  flight  of  steps  leads  up  to  it,  while  on  the  sum- 
mit, and  round  the  bung-hole,  a  flooring  has  been 
constructed,  formerly  reserved  for  the  display  of 
the  light  fantastic  toe. 

With  a  few  brief  words  we  must  pass  over  the 
Octagonal  or  Bell  Tower,  completed  in  its  present 
form  by  Frederick  VI.,  about  1666 ;  the  Masted 
Tower,  forming  the  Powder  Magazine,  erected  by 
Frederick  the  Victorious  about  1455,  and  blown  up 
with  gunpowder  in  1689 ;  and  the  four  granite 
columns  supporting  a  portico  in  the  court-yard, 
which  the  pope  gave  to  Charlemagne;  which  in 
the  eighth  century  were  removed  from  Ravenna  to 
the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  and  in  the  fifteenth  from 
the  banks  of  the  Rhine  to  those  of  the  Neckar. 

The  castle  gardens,  at  one  time  scarcely  less 
famous  for  beauty  than  the  castle  itself  for  magni- 
ficence, were  laid  out  in  the  formal  French  style 
by  Solomon  von  Caux. 

The  finest  views  will  be  obtained  from  the 
Altau,  or  platform,  constructed  in  1346,  beneath 
the  chateau  of  Frederick  IV. ;  from  the  Stiickgarten; 
and  from  the  great  terrace  in  the  gardens. 

It  is  customary  for  every  visitor  to  pass  from 
the  castle  to  the  Wolfsbrunnen,  passing  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  river  the  monastery  of  Newburg, 
and  Zeigelhausen.  In  a  little  dell,  under  the 
shade  of  lofty  trees,  flows  the  Fountain  of  the 
Wolf:  preserving  the  memory  of  a  sorceress,  named 
Jetta,  who,  it  is  said,  was  torn  to  pieces  by  a 
wolf  while  walking  in  this  sequestered  retreat 
87 


CHAPTEK     VI. 


MANNHEIM  TO  MAINZ,  VIA  WORMS. 


Between  Heidelberg  and  Mannheim  there  is  a 
railway,  which  strikes  to  the  north-west,  following 
at  an  irregular  distance  the  .left  bank  of  the 
Neckar.  On  the  right  bank,  nearly  half-way,  lies 
the  small  town  of  Ladenburg,  in  a  plain  of  great 
fertility.  It  is  conspicuous  from  its  lofty  church 
tower,  the  venerable  church  of  St.  Julius. 

The  Romans  formed  a  settlement  here  under 
the  name  of  Lupodunum.  Next,  the  Franks  got 
possession  of  it,  and  their  kings  built  for  themselves 
a  palace.  In  636  both  town  and  palace  were  con- 
ferred by  King  Dagobert  on  St.  Peter's  Abbey  of 
Worms,  and  in  1011  the  bishops  also  obtained  the 
jurisdiction.  In  the  twelfth  century  the  bishops 
made  Ladenburg  their  place  of  residence. 

In  the  Thirty  Years'  War  it  suffered  severely : 
in  1621  it  was  occupied  by  Tilly;  in  1622,  by 
Mansfeldt;  then  came  the  Bavarians  and  Spaniards; 
and  in  1631,  Gustavus  Adolphus.  In  1641  it  was 
seized  by  the  French,  who  levied  a  heavy  requisi- 
tion ;  and  in  1693  it  was  despoiled  and  devastated 
by  Melac.  Towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century  the  bishops  of  Worms  quarrelled  with  the 
Elector  Palatine  about  Ladenburg.  Eventually  the 
former  gave  way,  and  Ladenburg  was  awarded  to  the 
Palatinate,  with  which  it  afterwards  fell  to  Baden. 

The  town  has  a  population  of  3000  souls,  who 
are  principally  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits, 
and  in  the  timber  and  tobacco  trade.  It  boasts  of 
a  venerable  Catholic  church,  which,  in  its  turn, 
boasts  of  numerous  sepulchral  memorials  of  the 
barons  of  Sickingen  and  Metternich.  A  charity 
founded  by  the  barons  of  Sickingen  exists  here. 
It  is  said  that  a  young  maiden  of  this  family  had, 
on  one  occasion,  lost  her  way,  and  must  have 
perished,  but  that,  in  her  extremity,  she  was  guided 
to  the  town  by  the  welcome  chime  of  a  bell.  The 
barons  determined,  therefore,  that  the  bell  should 
be  rung  every  evening,  and  bread  baked  every 
week,  so  far  as  a  bushel  of  corn  would  go,  and 
distributed  among  the  poor. 

Mannheim,  the  largest  town  of  the  grand-duchy 
of  Baden,  has  a  population  of  nearly  30,000 
inhabitants,  and  is  situated  on  the  right  bank  of 


the  Ehine,  opposite  Ludwigshafen,  at  the  point  of 
junction  between  the  stately  Rhine  and  the  rapid 
Neckar.  It  is  situated  in  a  flat,  fertile,  but  unin- 
teresting country.  It  has  a  circuit  of  about  three 
miles,  and  three  gates — the  Neckar,  the  Heidel- 
berg, and  the  Rhine  gates.  Like  Washington,  it 
is  laid  out  in  regular  blocks  or  parallelograms,  of 
which  there  are  about  110. 

Mannheim  was  founded  in  1606  by  the  elector, 
Frederick  IV.  Unhappily  for  the  town,  he  had 
scarcely  begun  to  build  it  before  he  began  to  fortify 
it,  and  by  so  doing  made  it  an  object  of  attack  in 
the  various  wars  which  have  desolated  Germany. 
Partly  destroyed  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  it  had 
risen  from  its  ruins  when  the  War  of  the  Succes- 
sion broke  out.  In  16S8,  when  the  French  again 
invaded  the  Palatinate,  it  was  under  the  command 
of  Baron  von  Seligenkron,  and  the  Lieutenant- 
colonels  Strupp  and  Schenck.  The  works  were 
put  in  good  condition,  and  a  force  for  their  defence 
collected  of  900  regulars,  with  cavalry  and  artillery, 
and  1050  militia. 

On  the  1st  of  November  the  enemy  appeared 
before  Mannheim.  In  less  than  a  fortnight  Seli- 
genkron found  himself  compelled  to  surrender. 
The  French  immediately  commenced  the  work  of 
destruction.  The  houses  were  set  on  fire,  the 
churches  were  blown  up,  and  nothing  w7as  left  of 
the  town  or  fortress  but  blackened  ruins.  Mann- 
heim seemed  to  have  been  swept  from  the  face  of 
the  earth ;  and  an  old  inhabitant,  returning  to  its 
former  site  after  the  departure  of  the  French,  could 
with  difficulty  recognize  the  former  position  of 
the  streets. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  the  Elector  John 
William  endeavoured  to  restore  the  town,  and 
caused  the  plan  of  the  new  fortifications  to  be 
drawn  up  by  the  engineer  Coehorn.  In  1700  a 
council-house  was  built ;  in  1701  the  Capuchin 
Church;  about  1715  the  Lutheran.  To  the  Elector 
Charles  Philip,  however,  Mannheim  is  principally 
indebted  for  its  restoration.  Had  he  not  moved 
thither  the  court  from  Heidelberg  in  1721,  it  would 
never  have  risen  out  of  its  insignificance. 


PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  MANNHEIM. 


Under  Charles  Theodore,  on  whose  court  enor- 
mous sums  were  lavished,  Mannheim  continued  to 
improve  in  appearance.  In  1746  the  Kaufhaus, 
or  Hall  of  Commerce,  was  completed ;  in  1754  the 
infantry  barrack;  in  1756  the  Jesuits'  Church;  in 
1772  the  Citizens'  Hospital  and  the  Observatory; 
in  1777  the  arsenal;  in  1779  the  theatre.  Charles 
Theodore  was  no  niggardly  patron  of  the  arts  and 
sciences,  but  spent  on  their  advancement  not  less 
than  35,000,000  florins.  In  1754  was  built  the 
Anatomical  Theatre;  in  1756  a  surgical  hospital; 
in  1765  a  maternity  hospital.  In  the  same  year 
was  commenced  a  cabinet  of  natural  history,  and 
in  1767  a  botanical  garden.  In  1763  the  Pala- 
tine Academy  of  Science  had  its  beginnings ;  and 
in  October,  1775,  was  founded  the  German  Society 
for  the  Culture  and  Advancement  of  Literature, 
including  among  its  members  Lessing,  Klopstock, 
Wieland,  Schiller,  Kastner.  At  this  epoch,  in 
truth,  Mannheim  was  the  Athens  of  Germany ; 
it  held  among  the  German  cities  much  the  same 
position  as  Weimar  afterwards  held.  It  had  its 
sculptor  in  Peter  von  Verschaffelt ;  its  actors  in 
Beck,  Biel,  and  Iffland ;  its  poet  and  dramatist  in 
Schiller. 

In  1777  Charles  Theodore  had  succeeded  to  the 
throne  of  Bavaria,  and  his  court  and  courtiers 
followed  him  to  the  Bavarian  capital,  Munich. 
The  prosperity  of  the  Badish  city  rapidly  declined. 
In  1784  an  inundation  caused  very  considerable 
injury.  Then,  to  complete  its  second  overthrow, 
came  the  horrors  of  the  French  Kevolutionary 
War.  The  Rhine  entrenchments  were  captured  by 
the  French  in  December,  1794 ;  and  in  September, 
1795,  a  French  army,  under  General  Pichegru, 
appeared  before  the  town.  It  was  surrendered  on 
the  20th,  through  the  infamous  treachery  of  the 
minister,  Count  Francis  Albert  von  Oberndorf,  and 
the  governor,  Baron  von  Belderbusch.  A  month 
later,  and  the  Imperialists,  under  Clairfait,  appeared 
before  the  city,  after  a  series  of  successful  actions 
along  the  Rhine,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Coblenz 
and  Mainz.  Pichegru  had  left  in  Mannheim  a 
garrison  10,000  strong,  and  taken  up  a  position 
which  enable  him  to  communicate  with  the  place 
by  his  right  flank.  So  long  as  this  communication 
was  maintained,  the  Imperialists  had  little  hope  of 
reducing  the  city,  and  they  resolved,  therefore,  to 
dislodge  the  French  from- their  position.  For  this 
purpose  Clairfait,  having  been  reinforced  with 
]  2,000  men  from  the  army  of  the  Upper  Rhine, 


attacked  Pichegru's  forces,  and  after  a  gallant 
action  compelled  them  to  retreat.  He  then  pro- 
ceeded to  press  the  siege  of  Mannheim,  covered 
by  the  main  Austrian  army  under  Wurmser.  The 
French,  under  Jourdan,  made  an  attempt  to  relieve 
it,  but  in  vain,  and  the  city  capitulated  on  the 
22nd  of  November. 

By  the  peace  of  LuneVille,  in  1803,  it  was  given 
to  the  grand-duchy  of  Baden.  Of  late  years  it  has 
grown  into  importance  as  a  commercial  town,  and 
the  Rhine  harbour  has  assisted  in  developing  its 
new-born  energies. 

The  castle,  or  palace,  formerly  the  largest  in 
Germany,  is  more  remarkable  for  its  proportions 
than  its  architectural  excellence.  The  facade  was 
1850  feet  long,  and  the  whole  building  contained 
500  apartments,  but  the  left  or  western  wing  was 
almost  entirely  destroyed  during  the  bombardment 
of  1795.  Strictly  speaking,  it  consists  of  three 
courts  or  squares,  of  which  the  central  and  largest 
opens  towards  the  town.  The  western  portion  was 
inhabited  until  her  death  by  Napoleon's  adopted 
daughter,  the  Dowager  Grand-duchess  Stephanie. 
The  east  wing  is  appropriated  to  the  governor.  Its 
picture  gallery,  since  the  removal  of  most  of  its 
treasures  to  Munich,  does  not  present  many  valu- 
able or  interesting  features. 

The  promenades  of  Mannheim  are  the  terrace  in 
the  castle  garden,  which  overlooks  the  excellent 
and  abounding  river ;  the  Rhine  jetty,  or  Rhein- 
damm ;  the  Neckarauer  Wald ;  and  the  public 
garden  of  Muhlhausschlasschen,  which  forms  a 
charming  pleasure-resort  on  an  island  in  the 
Rhine. 

We  cross  the  river  at  Mannheim  to  the  small 
town  of  Ludwigshafen,  whose  advantageous  posi- 
tion on  the  Rhine,  and  on  the  railways  from 
Strassburg,  Mainz,  and  Forbach,  seems  to  insure 
it  a  prosperous  future.  Prior  to  the  period  of  the 
French  devolution,  it  was  a  fortress  called  Rheins- 
chanze,  the  tete-du-pont  of  Mannheim.  In  1794, 
1795,  and  1798  it  was  the  object  of  desperate 
struggles,  as  it  commands  the  passage  of  the 
Rhine  at  an  important  point.  In  1798  it  was 
razed  to  the  ground,  but  the  French  reconstructed 
it  in  1813,  to  abandon  it,  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1814,  to  the  advanced  guard  of  the  Russian  army. 
Until  1823  it  held  rank  only  as  a  fortress;  but 
since  that  date  commercial  establishments  have 
been  founded  here,  new  lines  of  streets  erected, 
and  many  handsome  houses  built.  Its  rise  has 
89 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


been  carefully  watched  over  by  the  Bavarian 
government,  who  made  it  a  free  port,  and  gave 
it  the  name  of  Ludwigshafen.  Its  fortifications 
have  been  demolished. 

On  the  15th  of  June,  1S47,  and  for  several 
days,  it  was  cannonaded  by  the  Badish  insurgents, 
after  they  had  made  themselves  masters  of  Mann- 
heim, and  several  houses  were  set  on  fire. 

From  Ludwigshafen,  or  Mannheim,  there  are 
two  ways  of  reaching  Mainz ;  by  the  Rhine,  and 
by  railway. 

In  descending  the  river,  the  following  are  the 
principal  points  of  interest  on  either  bank : — On 
the  right,  Sandhofen,  which  possesses  two  churches, 
neither  of  any  peculiar  architectural  interest.  But 
the  situation  of  the  village  is  charming.  On  the 
left,  Frankenthal,  a  town  of  5000  inhabitants,  to 
which  we  shall  duly  refer.  On  the  right,  Lam- 
pertheim,  in  Hesse  Darmstadt,  a  small  sleepy  town 
of  3500  inhabitants,  with  vineyards  and  orchards 
all  about  it;  a  town  where  any  German  Rip  van 
Winkle,  returning  after  an  absence  of  fifty  years, 
would  find  nothing  changed.  On  the  left,  Rox- 
heim,  a  town  of  1000  inhabitants,  situated  on  the 
old  and  original  channel  of  the  Rhine,  which  here, 
while  winding  and  doubling  like  a  snake  in  pursuit 
of  its  prey,  preserves  the  broad  calm  aspect  of  a 
lake.  On  the  left,  the  old  historic  city  of  Worms, 
respecting  which  we  shall  have  much  to  record. 
On  the  same  bank,  Hernsheim,  about  two  miles 
from  the  river ;  an  old  and  lifeless  town,  encircled 
by  ramparts.  The  castle  belongs  to  the  Due  de 
Dalberg.  On  the  right,  Gernsheim,  a  town  of 
nearly  4000  inhabitants,  famous  as  the  birthplace 
of  Peter  Schoeffer,  one  of  the  first  three  printers. 
He  was  the  son-in-law  of  Faust,  and  in  1454 
invented  metallic  types.  A  statue,  by  Scholl,  was 
erected  to  his  memory  in  1S36. 

Below  Gernsheim  a  canal  has  been  excavated, 
to  avoid  one  of  the  longest  detours  made  by  the 
Rhine.  Here,  in  the  middle  of  the  elbow  formed 
by  the  river,  on  the  right  bank,  near  Erfelden, 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  the  "Lion  of  the  North," 
raised  a  monument  to  commemorate  his  successful 
passage  of  the  Rhine  on  the  7th  of  December,  1631. 

The  Rhine  approaches  the  railway  very  closely. 
We  have  on  the  left  Oppenheim  and  Nierstein ; 
then,  on  the  right,  Trebur  or  Tribur,  where  the 
Carlovingian  kings  had  a  palace,  of  which  no 
remains  are  extant ;  and  after  having  passed  (left 
bank)  Nakenheim,  Bodenheim,  Laubenheim,  and 
90 


Weissenau,  and  (on  the  right  bank)  Giersheim, 
near  which  point  the  Schwarz  empties  itself  into 
the  Rhine,  we  have  on  the  right  the  embouchure 
of  the  Main,  and  beneath  a  railway  bridge  of  very 
handsome  erection  sweep  into  Mainz. 

We  have  now  to  speak  of  the  railway  route  to 
Mainz.     The  first  town  we  meet  with  is — 

Oggersheim,  with  a  population  of  1500  souls, 
destroyed  in  the  War  of  the  Palatinate.  Here,  in 
the  inn  Zum  Viehhofe,  Schiller  wrote  his  "  Versch- 
worung  des  Fiesco."  At  the  time  he  was  living  in 
a  condition  of  much  distress,  under  the  name  of 
Schmidt ;  but  soon  afterwards  he  was  invited  to 
reside  with  the  sons  of  Madame  von  Wollzogen,  in 
her  estate  of  Bauerbach,  near  Meinungen. 

The  chapel,  or  rather  church  of  Loretto,  at 
Oggersheim,  is  a  centre  of  attraction  to  the  sur- 
rounding country  on  Ascension  Day.  A  convent 
of  Minorites,  endowed  by  the  king  of  Bavaria,  was 
founded  here  in  1845. 

Our  course  now  lies  to  the  northward,  across  the 
Isenach,  and  brings  us  to  Frankenthal  (population, 
4800),  which  is  connected  with  the  Rhine  by  a 
canal  about  three  miles  long.  Both  its  origin  and 
prosperity  are  due  to  sixty  families  of  Flemish 
Protestants,  who,  expelled  from  the  Low  Countries 
by  the  tyranny  of  the  Spaniards,  established  them- 
selves here  in  1562,  in  an  Augustinian  convent, 
founded  in  1119. 

When  the  Thirty  Years'  War  broke  out,  the 
industrious  little  colony  had  increased  to  the  num- 
ber of  S00  families,  who  introduced  into  this  part 
of  Germany  industrial  resources  hitherto  unknown, 
such  as  the  manufacture  of  silk  and  cotton.  It 
was  then  surrounded  by  walls,  but  its  fortifications 
did  not  prevent  it  from  being  successively  captured 
by  the  Spaniards,  the  Austrians,  the  Swedes,  and 
the  French.  It  was  occupied  for  some  months 
in  1622-23  by  a  small  English  force  under  Sir 
Horace  Vere,  despatched  by  James  I.  to  sustain 
the  failing  cause  of  his  son-in-law,  the  Elector 
Palatine.  But  the  troops  were  too  few  in  number, 
and  their  commander  too  deficient  in  military 
ability,  to  avail  anything  against  the  large  Spanish 
army  under  Spinola,  one  of  the  first  generals  of 
his  age,  and  accordingly  they  were  compelled  to 
surrender.  When  peace  was  re-established  the 
electors  rebuilt  the  town,  which  became  in  due 
time  the  great  industrial  depot;  but  it  has  since 
fallen  from  its  "  pride  of  place." 

On  the  site  of  the  ancient  convent,  and  after  the 


TWO  FAMOUS  CITIES. 


model  of  the  church  at  Karlsruhe,  was  built  the 
Protestant  church  in  1820-23.  The  town,  burned 
down  in  1844,  has  since  been  reconstructed.  The 
portico  of  the  ancient  conventual  church  is  still 
extant. 

Beyond  Bobenheim  we  cross  the  Leininger; 
then  we  take  leave  of  the  Bavarian  Palatinate,  and 
enter  into  the  grand-duchy  of  Hesse ;  cross  the 
Alt  and  the  Eis,  and  pass  near  the  cemetery  of 
"Worms,  where  we  may  distinguish  the  monument 
erected  in  1848  to  the  memory  of  the  old  soldiers 
of  the  Grand  Army  of  iSfapoleon. 

WORMS. 

The  present  population  of  Worms  is  about 
11,000;  it  formerly  numbered  40,000.  The  city 
is  situated  about  a  mile  from  the  Rhine,  which 
at  one  time  washed  its  walls. 

The  one  man  with  whom  Worms  is  inseparably 
connected,  and  through  whom  it  is  something  more 
than  a  decaying  and  dying  city,  is  Martin  Luther. 
The  associations  of  Worms  date  from  a  venerable 
antiquity.  A  Roman  fort  was  built  here  by  Drusus. 
Here,  too,  in  the  Frankish  era,  were  placed  the 
scenes  of  the  great  German  epic,  the  "  Nibelungen- 
lied."  Christianity  was  introduced  at  a  very  early 
period,  and  Worms,  in  the  fourth  century,  was  a 
bishop's  see.  In  the  fifth  century  it  was  taken 
and  plundered  by  Attila  and  his  Huns;  but  it  soon 
sprang  erect  from  its  ashes,  and  became  a  frequent 
residence  of  the  Frankish  kings.  Dagobert  I.  built 
a  palace,  whose  site  is  now  occupied  by  the  Trinity 
Church.  Here  Charlemagne  declared  war  against 
the  Saxons,  and  here,  from  770  till  790,  the  famous 
May  Assembly  was  held  nearly  every  year.  It 
was  succeeded  in  due  time  by  the  Imperial  Diet. 
At  the  Diet  of  Worms,  in  1122,  was  concluded 
the  treaty  between  the  Emperor  Henry  V.  and 
Pope  Calixtus  II.,  by  which  the  bishops  were 
thenceforth  allowed  to  assume  as  episcopal  insignia 
the  sceptre,  ring,  and  crozier.  At  the  diet  in  1495, 
under  the  Emperor  Maximilian  I.,  the  right  of 
private  warfare  was  abolished,  and  public  peace 
introduced  into  Germany.  And  it  was  the  Diet 
of  1521  that  summoned  Martin  Luther  to  answer 
the  charges  preferred  against  him  by  his  opponents. 
The  result  of  Luther's  appearance  before  the  Diet  is 
too  much  a  part  of  history  to  need  description  here. 

FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE. 

In    ancient   German  history   there  is  no  city, 


perhaps,  which  figures  more  conspicuously  than 
Frankfort.  It  was  an  imperial  city,  a  free  city, 
and  a  city  opulent  and  grave.  Its  gravity  in  those 
days  became  it,  and  was  worthy  of  the  sober 
burghers,  its  inhabitants,  who  played  the  game  of 
life  so  decorously.  And  while  it  has  lost  its  ancient 
renown,  it  still  retains  this  dull  and  decorous  air. 
At  least  so  it  seems  to  us,  in  spite  of  the  newness 
which  reigns  about  us ;  a  newness  due  to  its  rich 
hotels,  its  broad  bright  boulevards,  its  open  squares. 
But  ancient  Frankfort  is  no  more ;  the  narrow 
streets  through  which  Charles  V.  and  his  cavaliers 
took  their  way,  and  the  peaked  gabled  roofs,  and 
the  timber  fronts  of  the  houses,  with  all  their 
quaint  and  curious  carving,  have  vanished  before 
that  demon  which  reigns  in  every  European  town, 
and  does  its  work  not  wisely,  but  too  well — the 
demon  of  improvement.  Whoever  enters  Frank- 
fort, fresh  from  the  pages  of  the  old  chroniclers, 
will  be  astonished  how  completely  its  past  has 
disappeared ;  how  little  is  left  of  the  grand  old 
mediaeval  city. 

Almost  the  only  street  which  preserves  what  we 
may  suppose  to  be  its  original  characteristics  is 
the  Judengasse,  or  the  Jews'  Street.  It  has  been 
well  said  that  between  it  and  its  neighbours  inter- 
vene 500  leagues  and  500  years.  The  traveller, 
if  he  has  wandered  far,  will  be  reminded  of  the 
muddy  and  miry  Ghettos  of  Borne  and  Prague. 
It  consists  of  two  long  rows  of  houses,  black, 
gloomy,  lofty,  evil-looking,  parallel,  and  almost 
alike.  Between  them  runs  a  narrow,  dim,  and 
dirty  causeway.  On  either  side  there  is  little  to 
see  but  would-be  doors,  surmounted  by  an  iron 
trellis-work  fantastically  wrought ;  and  contiguous 
to  these  a  grated  judas  partly  opens  on  a  gloomy 
alley.  Wherever  you  turn  you  are  greeted  with 
dust,  and  ashes,  and  cobwebs,  and  worm-eaten 
crumbling  timber,  by  a  want  and  wretchedness 
more  affected  than  real.  But  improvement  has 
been  in  this  street  also — and,  for  once,  let  us  own 
it  was  just  necessary — and  its  ancient  character 
will  not  be  long  in  disappearing. 

Here,  on  the  right  hand  side,  and  in  the  house 
No.  118,  was  born  the  learned  writer,  Louis  Boerne. 
Farther  on,  at  No.  153,  we  come  to  the  birthplace 
of  the  Bothschilds.  As  they  grew  wealthy  they 
abandoned  the  old  nest  for  more  sumptuous  resi- 
dences ;  but  their  mother  clung  to  it  to  the  last, 
and  died  there  in  1849. 

The  old  synagogue  of  the  Jews  stands  at  the 
91 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


southern  entrance  of  the  street;  at  the  northern 
extremity,  in  the  Schiitzenstrasse,  a  new  one  has 
been  erected  in  the  Oriental  style,  and  on  a  most 
superb  scale.     It  was  inaugurated  in  1853. 

From  the  Judengasse  we  turn  to  the  quay  of 
the  Maine,  and  open  up  quite  a  different  picture 
of  the  past.  There  still  stand  erect  the  ancient 
towers  which  strengthened  the  city  walls,  remind- 
ing us  of  the  days  when  every  man's  hand  was 
against  his  neighbour.  The  two  banks  of  the 
river  are  connected  by  a  narrow  and  high-pitched 
bridge.  What  tales  its  stones  might  tell  if  they 
could  speak !  for  they  are  very  ancient ;  we  trace 
them  back  from  generation  to  generation.  The 
view  from  this  bridge,  and  from  the  whole  extent 
of  the  quay,  is  exceedingly  picturesque  and 
animated. 

From  the  Main-Kai  we  turn  up  Neue  Mainzer 
Strasse,  and  diverging  on  the  right  into  Grosse 
Gallen  Gasse,  we  soon  find  ourselves  in  the  Ross- 
markt,  the  largest  open  area  in  the  town.  Here  is 
placed  the  Gutenburg  denhnal,  or  memorial:  a 
group  of  colossal  statues  representing  the  three 
first  inventors  of  printing — Gutenburg,  Fust,  and 
Schoeffer;  the  medallions  along  the  frieze  repro- 
duce the  heads  of  the  thirteen  most  celebrated 
German  printers;  and  underneath  the  frieze  are 
carved  the  armorial  bearings  of  Mainz,  Frankfort, 
Strassburg,  and  Verney,  the  four  cities  which  most 
actively  devoted  themselves  to  the  improvement 
and  propagation  of  the  new  art ;  and,  finally,  the 
pedestal  of  the  fountain  is  surrounded  by  alle- 
gorical figures  of  Theology,  Science,  Poetry,  and 
Industry.  The  memorial  was  erected  in  1845,  and 
designed  by  Launitz. 

In  the  Grosse  Hirschgraben,  close  at  hand,  the 
house,  No.  74,  is  for  ever  memorable  as  the  house 
of  Goethe,  the  greatest  genius  which  Germany  has 
yet  produced.  There  he  was  born  on  the  28th  of 
August,  1749,  as  the  clock  sounded  the  hour  of 
noon. 

Frankfort  might  well  be  content  with  the  glory 
of  having  given  birth  to  Goethe;  but  she  has  had 
other  sons  and  daughters  not  unworthy  of  being 
remembered ;  as,  for  instance,  Goethe's  correspon- 
dent, Bettina  von  Arnim,  the  illustrious  drama- 
tist Oehlenschlager,  Vogt,  the  great  harmonist, 
Schlosser,  Buttmann,  and  Feuerbach. 

The  handsomest,  broadest,  and  liveliest  street 
in  Frankfort  is  the  Zeil,  where  are  situated  the 
post-office,  the  residence  of  the  grand-duke  of 
92 


Hesse,  the  house  of  De  Rothschild,  and  at  its  lower 
end  a  foundry  for  bells  and  cannons.  From  hence 
we  can  take  any  one  of  the  many  streets  leading 
into  the  other  quarters  of  the  town,  and  to  the 
Rcemer  (or  town-hall),  and  the  Dom  (or  cathedral). 

The  Rcemer  is  an  edifice  of  much  interest, 
though  it  is  difficult  to  say  how  much  antiquity  it 
retains,  so  frequently  has  it  been  repaired,  restored, 
and  reconstructed.  It  is  said  to  have  been  origin- 
ally used  (and  hence  its  name)  as  a  kind  of  mart, 
or  bazaar,  where  the  Lombard  merchants  from 
Italy  displayed  their  merchandise  during  the  great 
Frankfort  fairs.  Others  say  it  was  erected  on  the 
site  of  one  of  Charlemagne's  palaces.  At  all  events, 
the  city  purchased  it  in  1403,  and  transformed  it 
into  a  guildhall.  Its  facade  is  very  curious.  From 
a  vast  but  low  hall  of  the  fifteenth  century  we 
ascend  a  broad  staircase  with  a  balustrade  of  iron, 
h  la  Louis  XIII.,  and  a  lining  of  old  tapestries, 
which  are  unworthy  of  attention,  to  the  Kaiser- 
saal,  or  imperial  chamber.  This  is  an  irregular 
rhomboidal  apartment,  in  which  the  emperors 
banqueted,  with  kings  and  princes  acting  as  their 
attendants.  The  walls  are  covered  with  their  por- 
traits, fifty-two  in  number,  and  in  chronological 
order,  from  Conrad  I.  to  Francis  II.  These  have 
been  recently  painted  by  Lessing,  Burdeman, 
Rethel,  and  others,  and  are  agreeable  substitutes 
for  the  caricatures  which  formerly  aroused  the 
indignation  of  the  visitor.  Under  nearly  every 
one  is  the  motto  which  the  emperor  adopted  at  his 
coronation.  At  the  end  of  the  hall  is  the  Judg- 
ment of  Solomon,  by  Steinde.  In  the  Wahlzim- 
mer,  or  election  chamber,  the  senate  of  Frankfort, 
instead  of  the  electors  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
now  hold  their  sittings.  Here  is  preserved  the 
famous  Golden  Bull,  promulgated  partly  at  Frank- 
fort in  the  month  of  January,  1356,  partly  at 
Metz  on  Christmas  day  in  the  same  year,  by  the 
august  Emperor  Charles  IV.,  king  of  Bohemia, 
assisted  by  all  the  elector-princes  of  the  Holy  Em- 
pire, in  presence  of  the  reverend  father  in  God, 
Theodore,  bishop  of  Alba,  cardinal  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Church,  and  of  Charles,  eldest  son  of  the 
king  of  France,  the  illustrious  duke  of  Normandy, 
and  dauphin  of  the  Viennois. 

This  document,  whose  appearance  caused  in  its 
time  a  vast  amount  of  excitement,  is,  after  all,  of 
little  real  importance ;  regulating,  much  less  from 
a  political  than  from  a  ceremonial  point  of  view, 
the  reciprocal  relations  of  the  electors  and  the  head 


THE  GOLDEN  BULL. 


of  the  empire.  In  effect,  it  exalted  the  power  of 
the  seven  electors,  as  they  were  called,  at  the  cost 
of  the  imperial  authority.  It  gave  the  king  of 
Bohemia  a  place  among  the  said  seven ;  fixed 
Frankfort  as  the  place  of  election ;  named  the  arch- 
bishop of  Metz  convener  of  the  electoral  college ; 
gave  to  Bohemia  the  first,  to  the  Count  Palatine  of 
the  Rhine  the  second,  place  among  the  secular 
electors.  In  all  cases  a  majority  of  votes  was  to 
he  decisive. 

"Peace  and  order,"  says  Dr.  Bryce,  "appeared 
to  be  promoted  by  the  institutions  of  Charles  IV., 
which  removed  one  fruitful  cause  of  civil  war. 
But  these  seven  electoral  princes  acquired,  with 
their  new  privileges,  a  marked  and  dangerous  pre- 
dominance in  Germany.  They  were  to  enjoy  full 
regalian  rights  in  their  territories  ;  causes  were  not 
to  be  evoked  from  their  courts,  save  when  justice 
should  have  been  denied ;  their  consent  was  neces- 
sary to  all  public  acts  of  consequence.  Their 
persons  were  held  to  be  sacred,  and  the  seven 
mystic  luminaries  of  the  Holy  Empire,  typified 
by  the  seven  luminaries  of  the  Apocalypse,  soon 
gained  much  of  the  emperor's  hold  on  popular 
reverence,  as  well  as  that  actual  power  which 
he  lacked.  To  Charles,  who  viewed  the  German 
empire  much  as  Rudolph  had  viewed  the  Roman, 
this  result  came  not  unforeseen.  He  saw  in  his 
office  a  means  of  serving  personal  ends;  and  to 
them,  while  exalting  by  endless  ceremonies  its 
ideal  dignity,  deliberately  sacrificed  what  real 
strength  was  left.  The  object  which  he  sought 
steadily  through  life  was  the  prosperity  of  the 
Bohemian  kingdom  and  the  advancement  of  his 
own  house.  In  the  Golden  Bull,  whose  seal  bears 
the  legend — 

'  Roma  caput  mundi  regit  orbis  frena  rotundi,'  * 

there  is  not  a  word  of  Rome  or  of  Italy.  To  Ger- 
many he  was  indirectly  a  benefactor  by  the  foun- 
dation of  the  University  of  Prague,  the  mother  of 
all  her  schools ;  otherwise  her  bane.  He  legalized 
anarchy,  and  called  it  a  constitution." 

Since  the  days  of  Austerlitz  Charlemagne's 
crown,  until  the  present  remarkable  epoch,  has 
rested  on  no  imperial  brow.  Many  of  the  losses 
which  Austria  had  suffered  at  Napoleon's  hands 
were  repaired  by  the  treaties  of  1815 ;  but  the 
empire  of  Germany  was  not  restored,  and  the 
Hapsburgs  were  forced  to  be  content  with  the  new 

*  Rome,  the  head  of  the  world,  holds  the  reins  of  the  circular  sphere. 


imperial  crown  of  Austria.  In  August,  1863, 
however,  the  present  emperor  made  a  bid,  as  it 
were,  for  the  old  leadership  of  Germany,  which  for 
some  years  had  been  divided  between  him  and  the 
king  of  Prussia;  and  in  the  ancient  Germanic 
capital  he  convoked  all  the  German  kings  and 
princes,  to  discuss  with  him  the  future  interests  of 
their  fatherland,  and  the  reforms  required  in  her 
constitution.  But  the  hostility  of  Prussia  checked 
the  move,  and  foiled  the  designs  of  the  Austrian 
statesmen. 

But  at  all  events  Frankfort  could  rejoice  that 
for  a  moment  the  eyes  of  Europe  were  fixed  upon 
her,  as  in  the  old  historic  days.  And  she  had 
some  reason  to  be  proud  with  a  civic  pride  when, 
before  the  princes  assembled  at  the  banquet,  under 
the  imperial  roof  of  the  Rcemer,  the  emperor  of 
Austria  pledged  it  in  a  cup  of  wine.  The  wealth 
of  the  old  days  once  more  poured  into  the  treasuries 
of  the  Frankforters.  Fifty  thousand  strangers  were 
attracted  from  all  parts  of  Europe  by  this  gathering 
of  kings,  princes,  grand-dukes,  princelings,  states- 
men, soldiers,  and  courtiers.  It  was  an  imperial 
revival  on  a  grand  scale,  but  "for  this  occasion 
only."  The  emperor  was  lodged  in  the  Rcemer, 
as  was  the  custom  with  his  ancestors ;  but  he  was 
not  to  wield  the  sceptre  of  the  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire. It  was  a  glorious  dream,  a  dazzling  mirage. 
As  for  practical  result,  it  had  none,  unless  we  look 
for  it  on  the  field  of  Sadowa ! 

Amongst  the  ecclesiastical  buildings  of  Frank- 
fort, the  first  and  foremost  is  necessarily  the  Dom, 
or  cathedral,  also  called  the  church  of  St.  Bar- 
thelemy.  This  is  a  cruciform  edifice,  which  has 
been  erected  at  different  epochs — the  nave  about 
1238,  the  choir  between  1315  and  1338,  and  the 
aisles  somewhat  later.  The  effect  of  the  whole  is 
certainly  quaint  and  picturesque,  but  the  details  do 
not  harmonize  thoroughly.  The  Dom  was  restored 
in  1855.  It  measures  about  310  feet  in  length, 
and  270  in  width.  On  the  right  hand  side  of  the 
principal  entrance  is  conspicuous  an  enormous  clock, 
with  an  astrolabe  and  a  perpetual  calendar,  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  The  interior  contains  a  number 
of  objects  more  or  less  worthy  of  attention.  The 
ancient  tombs  of  the  Holzhausen,  with  their  re- 
mains of  colouring,  must  not  be  overlooked.  In 
the  choir  are  some  noteworthy  frescoes  of  the  sorrows 
of  St.  Bartholomew  and  the  graces  of  St.  Mary 
Magdalene,  besides  rude,  bold  wood-carving  of 
fourteenth  century  date.  In  the  chapel  on  the 
93 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


left,  a  fifteenth  century  sculpture,  representing  the 
Virgin  on  her  death-bed,  astonishes  by  its  singu- 
larity of  conception.  The  artist  will  find  matter 
for  criticism  in  a  Christ  on  the  Virgin's  knees, 
attributed  to  Durer ;  an  Assumption  (over  the  high 
altar),  by  Veit,  in  the  style  of  Rubens  ;  and  a  Holy 
Family,  after  Rubens.  For  the  simply  curious 
spectator  the  objects  of  interest  are  many  and 
varied ;  the  ancient  armour  hanging  from  the 
walls ;  the  painting,  on  leather,  of  the  interior  of 
St.  Cecilia's  tomb ;  some  fine  copper  lamps ;  and, 
among  other  tombs,  that  of  Gunther  von  Schwarz- 
burg,  elected  emperor  at  Frankfort  in  1349,  and 
shortly  afterwards  poisoned.  The  monument  was 
erected  in  1352.  It  stands  close  beside  the  door 
leading  to  the  old  chamber  of  election.  Observe, 
that  in  the  centre  of  the  Dom,  and  just  at  the 
entrance  to  the  choir — that  is,  at  the  point  where 
the  nave  intersects  the  transepts — the  emperors 
have  undergone  the  ceremony  of  coronation  since 
the  days  of  Maximilian  II. 

St.  Leonhard's  Church  is  memorable  as  occupy- 
ing the  site  of  the  ancient  palace  of  Charlemagne, 
who  assembled,  as  the  Chronicles  tell  us,  the 
bishops  and  princes  of  the  empire  here  at  Frank- 
ensfurd,  or  the  "  Frank's  ford."  In  the  interior 
are  some  interesting  objects.  The  altar-piece  is 
by  Stieler,  a  Bavarian  artist. 

The  Sachsenhausen,  founded  by  the  Saxons 
about  the  epoch  of  Charlemagne,  is  chiefly  in- 
habited by  gardeners  and  vineyard-labourers.  To 
the  left,  as  we  enter  it,  our  eye  rests  on  the  Deutsche 
Haus,  the  residence  of  the  knights  of  the  old 
Teutonic  order,  but  now  degraded  into  a  barrack. 
94 


The  quay,  which  from  the  bridge  runs  along 
the  right  bank  of  the  river,  as  far  as  the  Ober- 
mainthor,  is  called  the  Schcene  Aussicht,  or 
"  Beautiful  Prospect."  At  its  further  end  is  placed 
the  library,  built  in  1825.  Among  its  biblio- 
graphical curiosities  are  a  MS.  Bible,  purchased  at 
Rome  about  1350,  and  formerly  in  the  possession 
of  the  Gutenberg  family ;  the  Mainz  Bible  of 
1462,  on  parchment ;  and  Gutenberg's  Bible,  the 
so-called  Mazarin. 

The  Stadel  Museum  (of  pictures)  is  situated  in 
the  Neue  Mainzer  Strasse,  and  named  after  its 
founder,  a  Frankfort  burgher,  who  bequeathed 
all  his  paintings,  drawings,  and  engravings  to  the 
city,  besides  a  sum  of  £83,000  for  the  erection 
and  maintenance  of  a  public  gallery.  In  the  first 
room  there  is  Moretto's  admirable  Virgin  and 
Child,  with  the  four  Fathers  of  the  Latin  Church, 
purchased  at  an  expense  of  30,000  florins.  In  the 
second,  the  chef  cCceuvre  is  Lessing's  Huss  before 
the  Council  of  Constanz.  In  the  third,  we  re- 
member an  ancient  and  curious  altar-piece,  and 
a  tasteless  but  cleverly  composed  Triumph  of 
Christianity  in  the  Arts,  by  Overbeck.  In  the 
sixth  room,  Schnorr,  Schadow,  and  Steinle  are 
represented. 

The  Fresco-Saal  contains  an  allegorical  fresco 
by  Veit,  representing  Christendom  introducing  the 
Arts  into  Germany ;  and  a  terra-cotta  composition 
by  Andrioli  (1561)  of  the  Virgin  and  Saints. 

Sinkenberg's  Museum  of  Natural  History  is 
near  the  fine  old  Eschenheim  Gate,  and  contains  a 
tolerably  well-selected,  but  not  very  large,  cabinet 
of  natural  history  specimens. 


CHAPTER     VII. 


FROM    MAINZ    TO    COBLENZ. 


MAINZ. 

Mainz  (in  French  and  English,  Mayence),  one 
of  the  principal  towns  of  the  German  empire,  is 
situated,  at  an  elevation  of  ninety  to  ninety-five 
feet,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  almost  oppo- 
site the  mouth  of  the  Main.  Its  population 
exceeds  40,000.  With  the  left  bank  of  the  Ger- 
man river  it  is  connected  by  a  bridge  of  boats, 
and  by  a  strong  iron  bridge  at  some  slight  dis- 
tance from  the  city.  This  latter  bridge  was 
opened  in  December,  1862. 

The  circumference  of  Mainz,  including  its  mili- 
tary outworks,  may  be  computed  at  three  leagues 
and  a  half.  Three  main  gates,  without  including 
those  of  the  quay,  opening  on  the  Rhine,  provide 
a  communication  between  the  interior  of  the  city 
and  the  country;  namely,  Neuthor,  on  the  Oppen- 
heim  and  Worms  road;  Gauthor,  on  the  Paris 
road,  via  Algey  and  Kaiserslautern ;  and  Miinster- 
thor,  on  the  road  to  Bingen,  Coblenz,  Trier,  and 
Creuznach. 

Now  for  a  general  description  of  the  city. 

A  bird's  eye  view,  could  it  be  obtained — or  an 
aerostatic  voyage,  which  is  equivalent  to  it — would 
show  you  Mainz  in  the  form  of  a  perfectly-defined 
arc  of  the  circle,  the  chord  being  represented  by  the 
river,  and  the  circle  by  the  fortifications.  These 
fortifications  are  founded  on  Vauban's  system,  but 
with  many  modifications,  the  fruit  of  modern  engin- 
eering study.  They  are  considered  by  the  best 
judges  to  be  of  a  very  formidable  character;  and 
it  will  be  observed  that  the  river,  on  one  side, 
acts  as  a  deep,  broad,  and  comparatively  impass- 
able fosse.  In  addition,  a  very  powerful  citadel, 
in  front  of  the  town,  commands  its  passage,  and 
threatens  to  overwhelm  any  assailant.  Like  a 
gigantic  star,  it  projects  in  four  angles,  and  its 
four  bastions,  bristling  with  artillery,  bear  these 
heroic  or  sinister  names :  Drusus,  Germanicus, 
Tacitus,  and  Alarm.  The  latter,  partly  situated 
in  the  suburb  of  the  city,  is  strengthened  by  a 
mine,  and,  from  far  or  near,  seems  to  say  to  the 
passer  by,  "  Who  goes  there?  " 


Mainz  is  another  example  of  the  folly  of  con- 
verting populous  cities  into  great  military  posts. 
It  is  literally  choked  within  the  strong  grasp  of 
its  walls.  Hence  its  streets  are  narrow  and  muddy, 
and  its  houses  are  carried  to  a  great  height  to  com- 
pensate for  the  want  of  superficial  space.  A  busy 
and  numerous  population  seem,  in  their  marts  and 
markets,  to  shoulder,  to  jostle  one  another. 

The  history  of  Mainz  dates  back  to  a  period 
anterior  to  the  Christian  era.  Whether  the  Ger- 
mans had  a  settlement  here,  no  antiquary  seems 
able  to  determine;  but  thirty  years  before  the  birth 
of  our  Saviour,  Martius  Agrippa,  one  of  the  lieu- 
tenants of  Augustus,  constructed  here  an  intrenched 
camp.  This  fortress,  which  was  afterwards  known 
as  Moguntiacum,  was  rebuilt,  twenty  years  later, 
by  Agrippa's  successor,  Drusus  Germanicus;  who 
also  raised,  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river,  a 
castelhtm  (castle),  and  united  the  two  by  a  massive 
stone  bridge,  some  remains  of  which  are  visible 
to  this  day. 

In  A.D.  70  Moguntiacum  was  garrisoned  by  the 
twenty-second  legion,  which  had  conquered  Judea 
and  destroyed  Jerusalem,  under  the  orders  of  Titus. 
The  ancient  tradition  affirms  that  St.  Crescentius, 
who  was  one  of  the  first  to  preach  the  religion  of 
Christ  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  and  who  suffered 
martyrdom  in  103,  was  a  soldier  in  this  legion 
before  becoming  a  soldier  of  the  church  militant, 
and  first  bishop  of  Mainz. 

In  235  Alexander  Severus,  while  meditating  a 
campaign  against  the  Germans,  was  here  waylaid 
by  a  small  band  of  mutinous  soldiery,  incited,  it  is 
said,  by  his  rival  Maximinus,  and  murdered,  along 
with  his  mother,  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  age 
and  the  fourteenth  of  his  reign. 

After  the  crashing  downfall  of  the  Roman 
empire,  Mainz  successively  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Allemanns,  the  Vandals,  and  the  Huns. 
Destruction  had  swept  over  it,  and  it  was  but  a 
heap  of  ruins  when  its  bishop,  Sidonius,  with  the 
help  and  patronage  of  Dagobert  II.,  king  of  the 
Franks,  began  to  rebuild  it,  but  on  a  site  nearer 
the  river  bank.  It  was  surrounded  with  walls  in 
95 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


712  by  Bkhop  Sigebert.  Soon  afterwards,  by  a 
vicissitude  of  fortune  common  enough  in  those 
days,  it  was  seized  by  the  Burgundians.  These 
were  driven  out  in  720  by  the  hammering  blows 
of  Charles  Martel.  Then  it  seems  to  have  flourished 
apace;  and  in  745  the  two  kings,  Carloman  and 
Pepin,  in  agreement  with  Pope  Zacarias,  elevated 
its  bishop  to  archiepiscopal  rank,  and  made  him 
the  ecclesiastical  metropolitan  of  all  Germany. 
This  new  archbishop  was  no  other  than  the  sainted 
Wilfrid,  better  known  under  the  name  of  St. 
P>oniface.  Born  at  Crediton,  in  Devonshire,  of  a 
wealthy  and  distinguished  race,  he  became  a  monk 
in  the  Benedictine  abbey  of  Nutsall,  near  Win- 
chester, but  speedily  quitted  it  with  eleven  com- 
panions, to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  barbarous 
nations  of  Germany.  His  mission,  interrupted  by 
three  voyages  to  Pome,  lasted  thirty  years,  and  its 
influence  extended  from  the  Elbe  to  the  Rhine, 
and  from  the  Alps  to  the  ocean.  It  is  said  to  have 
accomplished,  as  its  glorious  result,  the  conversion 
of  upwards  of  100,000  pagans. 

Glancing  at  the  mediaeval  history  of  Germany, 
we  see  two  great  facts  standing  out  in  conspicuous 
relief,  both  of  importance,  and  one  of  them  destined 
to  exercise  a  social,  moral,  and  intellectual  influ- 
ence over  the  whole  civilized  world.  We  refer, 
in  the  first  place,  to  the  League  of  the  Rhine, 
founded  by  Arnold  von  Walboten  in  1247,  with 
the  view  of  liberating  commerce  from  the  iron 
fetters  imposed  upon  it  by  the  tyranny  of  feudalism ; 
the  other,  the  invention  of  printing  by  Gutenburg 
in  1440.  We  know  how  the  latter  invention  has 
affected  every  branch  of  our  general  life;  how  it 
has  upset  thrones  and  mitres  and  provoked  revo- 
lutions, but,  on  the  other  hand,  has  encouraged 
reforms,  and  built  up  the  fair  structures  of  con- 
stitutional liberty  and  religious  freedom. 

We  shall  be  right,  perhaps,  in  considering  that 
Mainz  attained  the  climax  of  its  prosperity  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  After  the  Reformation  its  his- 
tory was  one  long  course  of  vicissitude  and  disaster. 
It  was  captured  and  set  on  fire  in  1552  by  Albert, 
margrave  of  Brandeburg.  In  1631  the  "  Lion  of 
the  North,"  Gustavus  Adolphus,  appeared  before 
it  with  that  remarkable  army  of  his,  the  proto- 
type of  Cromwell's  "  Ironsides."  On  the  13th  of 
December,  1631,  the  king  made  his  entry  into 
the  conquered  town,  and  fixed  his  quarters  in  the 
elector's  palace.  In  1635  the  Imperialists  once 
more  gained  possession  of  the  city,  to  give  way  to 
96 


the  French  in  1644.  When  these  had  retired,  it 
enjoyed  some  years  of  peace  and  prosperity;  was 
rebuilt,  embellished,  and  aggrandized  by  the  Elec- 
tor John  Philip  the  Wise,  who  threw  a  bridge  of 
boats  across  the  Rhine.  But  in  1688  the  French 
once  more  captured  it,  committing,  according  to 
French  authority,  "abominable  excesses;"  and  in 
1689,  they  being  driven  out,  the  Imperialists 
resumed  possession.  The  Elector  Lothair  Francis, 
and  his  successors,  resumed  the  work  of  John 
Philip,  which  had  thus  rudely  been  interrupted, 
and  succeeded  in  effacing  every  sign  of  war  and 
its  ravages. 

Then  broke  out  the  French  revolution,  and 
Mainz,  as  one  of  the  great  advanced  posts  of  Ger- 
many, was  compelled  to  endure  a  succession  of 
calamitous  sieges.  It  was  taken  by  the  French 
under  Custine,  in  1792;  but  in  the  following 
year  they  were  forced  to  surrender  by  an  Austro- 
Prussian  army,  more  through  the  effect  of  famine 
than  through  the  military  skill  of  the  commander 
of  the  allies.  It  was  again  besieged  by  the  French 
in  1794,  who  were  defeated  under  its  walls.  In 
1795  they  were  also  repulsed.  In  1797,  however, 
it  was  ceded  to  the  French,  and  it  remained  a 
French  fortress  until  1814.  Afterwards,  and  down 
to  the  present  time,  it  belonged  to  the  German 
confederation,  and  was  garrisoned  by  an  equal 
number  of  Austrians  and  Prussians.  Now  it  is 
included  within  the  boundaries  of  North  Germany, 
and  is  solely  occupied  by  Prussian  troops.  Its 
fortifications  have  been  greatly  strengthened  and 
enlarged. 

At  Mainz  begins  the  Lower  Rhine. 

We  shall  pay  our  first  visit  to  the  Platz  Guten- 
berg, where,  opposite  the  theatre,  was  erected  in 
1837  a  bronze  statue  to  Gutenberg,  the  first 
printer,  executed  by  Thorwaldsen,  at  the  cost  of 
the  citizens  of  Europe.  Gutenberg  was  born  at 
Mainz,  about  1397,  of  a  noble  family,  named 
Sulgeloch  zum  Gutenberg.  The  house  where  he 
was  born  stands  at  the  corners  of  the  streets 
Pfundhausgasse  and  Emmeransgasse.  About  1424, 
having  discovered  the  principles  of  the  new  art 
with  which  his  name  was  to  be  associated,  he 
betook  himself  to  Strassburg,  where  he  carried 
theory  into  practice,  and  made  his  first  typo- 
graphical attempts  with  movable  types  cut  out  of 
wood.  He  did  not  return  to  Mainz  until  1443, 
when,  being  in  want  of  funds,  he  associated  with 
himself  Fust,  a  wealthy  goldsmith,  and  Schoeffer, 


CATHEDRAL  OF  MAINZ. 


a  man  of  talent,  and  in  the  house  Ilqfzum  Sungen, 
which  still  exists,  he  printed  his  Biblia  Latina. 

The  finest  building  in  Mainz  is  its  cathedral ;  a 
red  sandstone  pile  of  great  extent,  begun  in  the 
tenth,  and  completed  in  the  eleventh  century.  It 
has  gone  through  so  many  conflagrations,  however, 
and  suffered  so  much  from  the  Prussian  bombard- 
ment of  1793,  and  still  more  from  having  been 
used  as  a  barrack  and  magazine  by  the  French, 
that  little  is  left  of  the  ancient  edifice  except  the 
eastern  apse,  which  is  flanked  by  two  circular 
towers,  one  dating  from  978,  the  other  from  1137. 
The  Pfarrthurm,  at  the  east  end,  is  an  octagonal 
tower,  surmounted  by  a  cast-iron  cupola,  seventy 
feet  high,  designed  by  Moller.  Like  the  cath- 
edrals of  Worms,  Trier,  and  Speier,  the  church 
has  a  double  choir,  with  high  altars  both  at  the 
east  and  west  ends,  and  transepts. 

The  principal  entrance  is  a  low  door  in  the  side 
of  the  building.  But  the  leaves  of  the  door  are 
eight  centuries  old,  and  on  their  bronze  panels  may 
still  be  read  the  characters  of  the  charter  granted 
to  the  city  by  Bishop  Adalbert  I.,  who  ordered  it 
to  be  here  engraved. 

Two  domes,  of  different  styles  and  proportions, 
crown  the  edifice.  They  might  almost  be  called, 
in  allusion  to  their  form  and  ornaments,  two  papal 
tiaras.  The  older  is  the  more  severe  and  simple  in 
construction,  and  the  more  imposing ;  the  other, 
the  more  enriched,  the  more  elaborate,  and  "  per- 
haps "  the  more  pleasing. 

There  are  three  naves  in  the  interior,  or  rather 
a  nave  and  side  aisles,  of  which  the  central  is 
remarkable  for  the  boldness  of  its  lofty  arches. 
The  great  defect  internally  is  the  want  of  windows ; 
they  are  few  and  narrow,  and  placed  at  too  great 
an  elevation.  Hence  the  light  is  insufficient,  and 
what  there  is  falls  in  the  wrong  places,  and  injures 
the  general  effect.  This  has  been  not  unjustly 
designated  the  capital  vice  of  the  Romanesque 
style.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Gothic  architect 
delighted  to  open  up  windows  wherever  he  could, 
and  to  flood  his  buildings  with  light,  moderated 
and  varied  by  the  painted  glass. 

The  cathedral  was  the  place  of  sepulture  of  the 
electoral  archbishops  of  Mainz,  of  the  princes  of 
the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  and  of  many  other  illus- 
trious and  distinguished  personages.  We  cannot 
pretend  to  enumerate  all  these  monuments.  The 
most  interesting  are  those  which  belong  to  the  last 
years  of  the  fifteenth  and  the  earlier  part  of  the 


sixteenth  centuries.  Among  these  we  may  point 
out  Prince  Albert  of  Saxony,  1484 ;  the  Canon 
Bernard  of  Brudenbach,  1497 ;  Archbishop  Berth- 
old  of  Stenneberg,  1504 ;  Archbishop  Jacob  of 
Liebenstein,  1508;  and  Albert  of  Brandeburg, 
1545.  In  no  case  are  the  epitaphs  more  than 
pompous  and  verbose  descriptions  of  the  honours 
and  dignities  enjoyed  by  the  deceased.  A  frag- 
ment of  white  marble,  let  into  the  wall,  is  all  that 
remains  of  the  tomb  erected  by  Charlemagne  to 
Fastrada,  his  third  or  fourth  wife,  who  died  in 
a.d.  794. 

Another  monument  of  historic  interest  is  that 
of  St.  Boniface,  raised  to  his  memory  in  1357.  It 
consists  of  red  sandstone,  and  is  situated  on  the 
right  side  of  the  nave. 

To  the  artist  that  of  Frauenlob  will  also  be 
attractive.  Frauenlob  (that  is,  "praise  of  women") 
was  a  canon  of  the  cathedral,  named  Heinrich  von 
Meissen,  who  lived  towards  the  close  of  the  thir- 
teenth and  in  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth 
centuries.  He  was  one  of  the  first  Minnesingers, 
or  love-singers — the  German  troubadours ;  and 
he  devoted  his  poetic  genius  to  the  laudation  of 
women,  and  especially  of  the  Virgin. 

The  church  of  Saint  Stephen,  in  the  Gauthor, 
is  worth  a  visit.  From  the  summit  of  its  lofty 
tower,  which  is  situated  in  the  highest  part  of  the 
city,  the  view  is  rich,  extensive,  diversified. 

The  old  Electoral  Palace,  a  stately  red  sandstone 
pile  of  the  seventeenth  century,  was  down  to  1792 
the  residence  of  the  electors.  The  throne  room 
has  been  restored.  Here  are  now  collected,  under 
a  single  roof,  the  library,  the  picture  gallery,  the 
museums  of  coins,  antiquities,  and  natural  history. 
The  library  possesses  upwards  of  100,000  volumes. 
Among  these  may  be  particularized,  a  bible,  1462 ; 
a  catholicon,  1460 ;  and  a  psalter,  1457.  In  the 
collection  of  antiquities,  the  most  notable  featured 
are  the  Roman  altars,  the  votive  stone,  and  the 
inscriptions  discovered  in  the  town  and  its  envi- 
rons. But  the  gallery  of  pictures  contains  things 
of  beauty,  which  appeal  to  the  heart  and  fancy  of 
the  largest  number  of  visitors.  Among  about  270 
works  of  ancient  and  modern  artists,  there  are  good 
specimens  of  Jordaens,  Titian,  Giordano,  Albert 
Diirer,  Tintoretto,  Guido,  Domenichino,  Rubens, 
Murillo,  Snyders,  and  others. 

About  a  mile  beyond  the  Gauthor  are  the 
remains  of  a  Roman  aqueduct,  nearly  3000  feet 
long,  which  conveyed  water  to  the  Roman  garri- 
97 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


ton  from  a  spring  five  miles  distant.  Sixty-two 
piers,  still  extant,  are  admirable  specimens  of 
Roman  masonry. 

From  Mainz  to  Coblenz  extends  what  may 
aptly  be  called  the  "  steamboat  navigation  of  the 
Rhine,"  and  this  portion  of  the  river  is  certainly 
best  explored  "  by  water."  We  enter  now  on  the 
fertile  country  of  the  Rheingau,  whose  general 
aspect  has  been  very  faithfully  described  by  a 
recent  French  writer.  "  The  Rheingau,"  says 
Professor  Durand,  "  is  a  region,  half  plain  and 
half  mountain,  sheltered  from  the  rough  north  and 
biting  east  by  the  thick  masses  of  the  Taunus  and 
the  Niederwald,  while  facing  the  south  with  its 
Rhine-washed  hills.  It  is  the  vineyard  of  Ger- 
many. Places  more  poetical  we  may  see ;  but 
none  more  prosperous  or  more  flourishing.  The 
intervals  between  the  various  villages  are  exceed- 
ingly short ;  and  in  their  site,  their  structures,  and 
the  gleam  of  their  lime-washed  facades,  there  is  an 
air  of  gaiety  which  greatly  pleases  the  spectator. 
Most  of  them  are  planted  at  the  very  edge  of  the 
river,  and  are  separated  from  it  simply  by  a  path- 
way. Thus,  in  winter,  the  inhabitants  are  driven 
from  their  homes  by  the  floods.  But  as  these 
floods  are  of  periodical  occurrence,  no  one  seems 
to  be  disturbed  by  them.  Everybody  seems  to 
have  made  up  his  mind  to  live  on  good  terms  with 
their  regular  visitor  ;  and  rather  than  depart  from 
his  paternal  river,  is  willing  to  yield  up  to  him 
once  a  year  his  room  and  bed.  In  the  first  sixty 
years  of  the  present  century,  no  fewer  than  thirty- 
three  inundations  have  taken  place,  some  of  them 
of  a  terrible  character.  A  church  of  greater  or 
less  antiquity,  and  generally  of  a  pleasant  archi- 
tectural aspect,  forms  the  central  point  of  each 
village,  and  around  it  gathers  a  group  of  brick- 
built  houses,  adorned  with  vines." 

The  Rheingau's  surest  source  of  wealth  is  in 
the  bounty  of  the  vine,  and,  consequently,  its 
cultivation  has  spread  over  every  rood  of  ground. 
Rocky  precipices,  declivities,  and  precipices  where 
it  is  a  task  to  hold  oneself  erect,  have  been  dug, 
and  turned  over,  and  fertilized.  In  default  of 
vegetable  soil,  the  cultivators  have  pulverized  the 
friable  rock.  Far  out  of  sight  the  vines  extend 
their  regular  ranks,  and  all  the  outlines  of  the 
mountain  bristle  with  them.  Out  of  this  flood  or 
sheet  of  verdure  rise  at  intervals  large,  gleaming 
Italian  villas,  with  flat  roofs  and  square  walls,  or 
Neo-Gothic  castles,  with  crenelated  turrets.  These 
98 


are  the  pleasant  summer  resorts  of  the  opulent  wine 
merchants  of  Mainz  or  Frankfort,  erected  in  the 
midst  of  the  vineyards  to  which  their  proprietors 
owe  their  wealth.  Flags  bearing  the  national 
colours  float  from  every  summit,  and,  as  in  a  royal 
palace,  indicate  that  the  master  is  at  home.  But 
round  these  splendid  edifices  blooms  scarcely  any 
garden  ground  ;  the  ground  is  too  limited,  the  pro- 
duct too  precious,  for  the  agreeable  to  take  the 
place  of  the  useful.  An  oak,  or  a  larch,  gives  only 
a  little  shade ;  but  here,  each  foot  of  the  vineyard 
is  covered  in  autumn  with  pieces  of  gold.  At  the 
bottom  of  the  terrace  an  elegantly  decorated  skiff 
balances  on  the  waves.  To  have  an  estate  in  the 
Rheingau,  and  a  boat  on  the  Rhine,  are  the  two 
extreme  points  of  human  happiness  in  this  country. 
Of  all  the  vineyards  in  this  part  of  the  Rhine 
valley  the  most  celebrated  is  the  Johannisberg. 
After  having  belonged  for  some  centuries  to  the 
abbey  and  convent  of  St.  John,  the  original  passed, 
early  in  the  present  century,  into  the  hands  of  the 
prince  of  Orange ;  but  the  all-dividing  Napoleon 
presented  it  as  a  gift  to  Marshal  Kellermann.  At 
the  close  of  the  first  empire,  it  was  given  by  the 
emperor  of  Austria  to  Prince  Metternich  to  be  held 
as  an  imperial  fief.  "  The  ground  around  is  too 
precious  as  a  vineyard  to  be  laid  out  in  gardens :  no 
trees  are  allowed,  as  they  would  deprive  the  vines 
of  the  sun's  rays ;  but  on  the  north  side  of  the 
houses  there  is  a  sort  of  vineyard  planted  with 
trees.  The  best  wine  grows  close  under  the 
chateau,  and  indeed  partly  over  the  cellars.  The 
species  of  wine  cultivated  is  the  Riesling.  The 
management  of  it  at  all  seasons  requires  the  most 
careful  attention.  The  grapes  are  allowed  to  re- 
main on  the  vines  as  long  as  they  can  hold  together, 
and  the  vintage  usually  begins  a  fortnight  later 
than  anywhere  else.  The  vine-grower  is  not  satis- 
fied with  ripeness ;  the  grape  must  verge  on  rotten- 
ness before  it  suits  his  purpose ;  and  although  much 
is  lost  in  quantity  by  this  delay  in  gathering,  it  is 
considered  that  the  wine  gains  thereby  in  strength 
and  body.  So  precious  are  the  grapes,  that  those 
which  fall  are  picked  off  the  ground  with  a  kind  of 
fork  made  for  the  purpose.  The  extent  of  the 
vineyard  is  about  seventy  acres,  and  it  is  divided 
into  small  compartments,  the  produce  of  each  of 
which  is  put  into  separate  casks :  even  in  the  best 
years  there  is  considerable  difference  in  the  value 
of  different  casks.  Its  produce  amounts  in  good 
years  to  about  forty  butts  (called  stiicks),  and  of 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  RHEINGAU. 


7%  ohms,  and  has  been  valued  at  80,000  florins. 
The  highest  price  ever  paid  was  18,000  florins  for 
1350  bottles,  or  upwards  of  thirteen  florins  a 
bottle." 

THE   RHEINGAU. 

Generally  speaking,  the  course  of  the  Rhine, 
after  leaving  Mainz,  is  that  of  a  river  running  in  a 
deep  mountain  channel.  On  the  right  the  Taunus, 
and  on  the  left  the  Hundsriick,  have  neared  each 
other  as  if  they  would  absolutely  arrest  the  pro- 
gress of  the  waters.  To  the  most  superficial 
observer  it  is  evident  that,  in  ages  long  ago,  the 
solid  mountain  mass  must  have  been  disrupted  by 
some  formidable  convulsion ;  and  in  the  chasm 
then  created  now  flows  the  mighty  stream — far 
mightier,  it  may  be,  in  those  days  of  earth's  stir 
and  turmoil.  On  either  side  it  now  washes  a  wall 
of  rock,  its  narrow  banks  being  covered  with  a 
scanty  vegetation  of  firs  and  reeds,  whose  gloomy 
verdure  communicates  to  the  waters  the  colour  of 
bronze.  Here  and  there  some  persevering  labourer 
has  broken  up  the  obdurate  soil,  and  planted  the 
fruitful  vine.  The  live  rock,  wounded  by  the 
miner's  pick,  gnawed  at  by  the  waters,  eaten  by 
frost  and  rain,  exhibits  its  marvellous  strata  of 
red  and  blue ;  and  day  and  night,  says  a  French 
writer,  seem  to  encounter  one  another,  without 
ever  commingling,  in  the  cavernous  hollows  of 
their  declivities.  At  one  point  the  eye  is  lost  in 
a  deep  darkness;  at  another  it  rests  on  a  surface 
flooded  with  light. 

And  mark  how  the  river  murmurs  and  plashes, 
as  it  eddies  round  a  rock  rising  in  the  centre  of  its 
channel.  Mark  how  it  tumbles  in  a  miniature 
cascade  over  the  ledges  which  its  waters  have 
created.  And  now,  behold,  the  mountains  seem  to 
hem  it  in,  and  the  waters  rest  tranquilly  in  their 
sheltered  basin,  as  in  a  far-off  mountain  tarn  ?  We 
look  in  vain  for  its  point  of  issue.  When  did  it 
enter?  whence  will  it  escape?  Is  not  this  the 
termination  of  the  Rhine?  There  is  something 
attractive,  and  yet  melancholy,  in  this  deception. 
Were  the  heights  loaded  with  snow,  says  Durand, 
you  might  think  that  the  river  had  turned  back 
towards  its  Swiss  cradle,  and  had  poured  itself  into 
one  of  the  great  lakes  of  the  Alpine  regions. 

Thus,  then,  we  have  seen  the  Rhine  in  its  wilder 
and  gloomier  beauty.  There  are  no  more  villages 
after  Bingen,  few  human  habitations,  scarcely  any 
cultivation.     An  infinite  grandeur  is  given  to  the 


picture  by  their  silence  and  solitude;  and  as  we 
gaze  upon  it  our  thoughts  are  raised  to  its  own 
high  standard.  And  the  spectator,  carrying  his 
fancy  back  over  the  gulf  of  time,  readily  calls  up 
the  images  of  the  primeval  world,  and  traces 
through  the  ages  the  successive  fortunes  of  the 
stream. 

All  Christian  that  it  is,  and  though  the  spires 
and  towers  of  a  thousand  churches  are  mirrored 
in  its  waves,  the  Rhine  still  gives  birth  to  un- 
numbered pagan  fables,  unnumbered  phantoms,  of 
which  it  is  both  the  cradle  and  the  realm.  Sylphs, 
and  elves,  and  gnomes,  loreleys,  nixes,  and  ondines, 
spring  into  life  along  its  banks,  haunt  its  rocks, 
inhabit  its  crystal  caverns,  and  contend  with  the 
priest  for  the  empire  of  the  river.  The  devil  is 
on  their  side ;  the  devil,  who  was  ever-present  to 
the  mediaaval  imagination,  figures  in  at  least  one- 
half  of  the  legendary  history  of  the  Rhine.  There 
is  not  a  hermitage  whose  saint  he  has  not  tempted 
with  his  wiles ;  not  a  monastery  to  which  he  has 
not  done  some  evil  turn  ;  not  a  cathedral  but  he 
has  doomed  it  to  remain  unfinished  for  ever. 

Simultaneously  with  the  religious  life,  feudalism 
seized  upon  this  fair  countryside,  to  leave  the 
indelible  mark  of  its  iron  sway.  The  stir  and 
conflict  of  the  early  centuries  rendered  necessary 
those  innumerable  burgs  or  fortresses  which,  from 
Bingen  to  Coblenz,  form  along  the  Rhine  a  belt 
of  towers  and  battlements.  Each  summit,  each 
rock,  each  mountain  gorge,  had  its  master.  En- 
trenched behind  walls  six  feet  in  thickness,  separ- 
ated from  the  commerce  of  men  by  draw-bridges, 
and  bastions,  and  precipices,  these  warriors  only 
quitted  their  falcons'  nests  to  pounce  upon  a  prey 
or  to  attack  one  another.  It  was  an  age  of  un- 
restrained violence.  In  no  other  country  was 
mediasval  history  characterized  by  so  much  blood, 
and  rapine,  and  disorder ;  by  so  much  turbulence 
on  the  part  of  the  chief,  by  so  much  misery  on  the 
part  of  the  peasant.  And  nowhere  else  has  the 
image  of  those  times  been  preserved  with  so  much 
fidelity.  Yon  keeps,  yon  platform,  yon  shattered 
and  crumbling  walls,  which,  enthroned  upon  the 
rock,  have  so  valiantly  endured  the  weight  of 
centuries — all  these  are  the  past,  are  feudalism, 
are  history.  It  is  as  if  an  ancient  theatre  had 
remained  erect,  with  the  scenery  almost  uninjured 
of  the  drama  formerly  enacted  within  it.  But 
where  are  the  actors?  where  the  movement,  the 
sounds,  the  accents  of  human  speech  ?  Everything 
99 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


is  alive  in  the  past ;  everything  is  dead  in  the 
present.  * 

FROM   MAINZ  TO  COBLENZ  BY  THE   EIGHT  BANK  OF 
THE  RHINE. 

Passing  the  long  narrow  islands  of  Petersau  and 
Jugelheimerau,  we  arrive  at  Biberich,  a  small  but 
pleasantly  situated  town  of  5000  inhabitants,  whose 
single  attraction  is  the  chateau  of  the  duke  of 
Nassau,  a  handsome  structure  of  red  sandstone, 
built  towards  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  in 
the  Renaissance  style.  Its  richly  decorated  front 
faces  the  Rhine,  and  forms  a  conspicuous  feature 
in  the  landscape.  It  consists  of  two  main  buildings, 
terminated  by  a  couple  of  wings,  and  connected  by 
a  kind  of  circular  projection  or  rotunda,  ornamented 
with  a  group  of  statues.  The  interior  is  furnished 
with  much  taste  and  splendour,  and  the  windows 
open  up  a  number  of  beautiful  views  of  the  Rhine 
scenery. 

Elfeld,  or  Eltville,  bears  the  distinction  of  being 
the  only  town  in  the  Rheingau.  Its  name  is  a 
corruption  of  Alta  Villa,  and  indicates  its  con- 
spicuous and  elevated  position.  From  afar  it  may 
be  recognized  by  the  lofty,  four-turreted  watch- 
tower,  which  crowns  the  ridge  of  the  acclivity, 
and  is  a  part  of  the  castle  erected  here  in  the  four- 
teenth century  by  the  archbishops  of  Mainz.  These 
distinguished  prelates  were  often  glad  of  a  safe 
refuge  from  their  turbulent  citizens.  It  was  here 
that  in  1349  Gunther  of  Schwarzburg,  when  be- 
leaguered by  his  rival  Charles  IV.,  resigned  his 
crown,  and  died,  probably  of  poison.  The  castle 
was  destroyed  by  the  successive  efforts  of  the 
Swedes  and  French.  Of  the  town  it  may  be 
noted  that  it  possessed  a  printing  press  as  early  as 
1465,  and  that  its  environs  are  unusually  pictur- 
esque and  attractive.  There  is  a  beautiful  chapel  of 
St.  Michael  in  the  Kedriel  valley.  It  was  built  in 
1440,  and  of  the  later  Gothic  is  a  valuable  example. 

The  islands  which  here  stud  the  expansive 
bosom  of  the  river  are  named  Rheinau,  or  West- 
phadau,  Langwertherau,  and  Sandau.  Charlemagne 
often  resorted  to  them  to  fish,  when  he  was  resid- 
ing at  Jugelheim  (of  which  hereafter).  And 
upon  one  of  them,  probably  Sandau,  Louis  the 
Debonnair,  hunted  to  the  death  by  his  cruel  sons, 
ended  his  wretched  life  in  June,  840. 

*  Dnrand,  Le  Rhin  Allemand.  We  apologize  for  our  long  quotation, 
but  M.  Dnrand's  sketches  are  both  lively  and  accurate,  and  are  interest- 
ing to  English  readers  as  taken  from  a  French  point  of  view. 

100 


A  little  below  Hattenheim  the  Rhine  attains  its 
maximum  breadth,  2000  feet ;  and  in  the  vicinity 
of  this  town,  on  the  Strahlenberg,  grows  the 
celebrated  Marcobrunnen  wine,  so  named  from  the 
small  fountain  of  Markbrunnen.  Count  Schon- 
bom's  ch&teau,  Reich artshausen,  is  situated  further 
down  the  river,  in  a  pleasant  but  not  very  exten- 
sive park. 

Through  a  country  of  vineyards,  whose  radiant 
smiling  aspect  it  is  impossible  to  describe,  but  of 
which  one  can  never  grow  weary,  we  proceed  to 
Geisenheim,  distinguishable  from  a  distance  by  the 
open  Gothic  towers  recently  added  (1836)  to  its 
fifteenth-century  church.  Here  lies  the  dust  of 
John  Philip,  of  Schoarbom,  formerly  elector  of 
Mainz. 

Of  far  greater  interest  than  any  of  the  vintage 
towns  mentioned  is  Riidesheim  (sixteen  and  half 
miles  by  rail  from  Biberich),  a  place  of  great 
antiquity,  of  much  importance,  and  picturesque 
situation.  The  neighbouring  hills  blush  with  the 
vines  which  produce  the  famous  Riidesheim  liquor, 
the  essence  of  the  precious  grape.  Tradition 
ascribes  the  origin  of  these  vineyards  to  Charle- 
magne, who,  remarking  from  his  palace  at  Jugel- 
heim that  the  snow  disappeared  from  the  heights 
of  Riidesheim  sooner  than  elsewhere,  and  detect- 
ing the  advantageousness  of  the  locality  for  vine- 
growing,  ordered  suitable  plants  to  be  conveyed 
thither  from  Burgundy  and  Orleans.  And  the 
grapes,  we  may  add,  are  still  called  Orleans. 

The  great  antiquity  of  Riidesheim  is  the  pic- 
turesque quadrangular  keep,  seated  close  to  the 
bank  of  the  Rhine,  and  known  as  the  Bromserburg, 
which  dates  from  1100.  It  is  also  called  the 
Neiderburg  and  the  Oboeburg.  It  consists  of  three 
vaulted  stories,  and  its  walls  are  from  eight  to 
fourteen  feet  in  thickness.  It  dates  from  the  thir- 
teenth century,  and  measures  about  110  feet  in 
length,  ninety-five  feet  in  width,  and  seventy-five 
feet  in  height — a  formidable  mass  picturesquely 
adorned  with  ivy  and  shrubs.  "  What  an  admirable 
feudal  castle !  "  cries  Victor  Hugo.  "  Romanesque 
caverns,  Romanesque  walls,  a  hall  of  knights 
illuminated  by  a  lamp  resembling  that  in  Charle- 
magne's tent,  Renaissance  windows,  iron  lanterns 
of  the  thirteenth  century  suspended  to  the  walls, 
narrow  corkscrew  staircases,  frightfully  gloomy 
cells  or  oubliettes,  sepulchral  urns  ranged  in  a 
kind  of  ossuary — a  complete  accumulation  of  black 
and  terrible  things,  at  whose  summit  expands  an 


m 

=5 


RUINED  CASTLES  ON  THE  RHINE. 


enormous  crest  of  verdure  and  flowers,  whence  we 
may  contemplate  the  magnificence  of  the  Rhine." 

At  first,  the  Bromserburg  belonged  to  the  arch- 
bishops of  Mainz ;  next,  to  the  nobles  of  Riides- 
heim-Brornser  (a  family  which  died  out  in  1688) ; 
and  afterwards  it  passed  through  the  hands  of 
various  owners  into  those  of  Prince  Metternich, 
who  sold  it  to  the  Count  von  Jugelheim. 

From  Riidesheim  we  always  strike  inland  to  the 
beautiful  Niederwald,  or  Lower  Forest.  Here  are 
Lagdschloss,  a  small  hunting  box  ;  the  Bezaubertu 
Hajhle,  or  "  Magic  Grotto,"  affording  three  superb 
tableaux  of  the  castle  and  church  of  Falkenburg, 
Rheinstein,  and  the  Schweizerhaus.  Thence  we 
ascend  to  the  artificial  ruin  of  the  Rossel,  and  "  under 
the  shade  of  melancholy  boughs  "  to  the  Temple  ; 
which  is  situated  on  the  very  summit,  780  feet 
above  the  Rhine.  Both  from  the  Rossel  and  the 
Temple  the  views  are  grandly  impressive;  and 
though  many  others  equal,  few,  if  any,  surpass 
them.  They  have  a  character  of  their  own  which 
prevents  them  from  being  forgotten,  and  once  seen 
they  are  stamped  upon  the  memory  for  ever. 

Passing  the  confluence  of  the  Nahe  with  the 
Rhine,  we  mark  the  old  quartz  rock  which  rises 
in  the  middle  of  the  narrowing  river,  where  the 
latter  seeks  to  force  a  passage  between  the  Taunus 
and  the  Hundsriick.  The  rock  is  crowned  with 
the  ruins  of  an  old  tower,  the  Mseusethurm,  or 
Mouse  Tower,  or  Bishop  Hatto's  Tower.  Asso- 
ciated with  it  is  a  romantic  legend,  of  which 
Southey  has  given  a  version.  The  tower  was 
built  in  the  thirteenth  century,  by  Archbishop 
Siegfried,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  guards 
who  levied  the  tolls  inflicted  on  passing  vessels. 
Hence  it  was  called  the  Mauth  or  Maus,  that  is, 
the  Toll  tower.     It  was  restored  in  1856. 

Continuing  along  the  right  bank,  we  come  to 
Ehrenfels,  the  romantic  ruins  of  a  castle  built  in 
1210,  and  frequently  occupied  by  the  archbishops 
of  Mainz,  when  they  and  their  treasures  were  in 
danger  from  their  turbulent  subjects.  It  was 
captured  by  the  Swedes  in  1635,  and  destroyed 
by  the  French  in  1689.  The  most  delightful  and 
luxuriant  vineyards  embower  these  picturesque 
ruins. 

Below  Ehrenfels  we  cross  the  Bingerloch,  an 
artificial  canal  excavated  in  a  rocky  dyke  which, 
at  that  point,  obstructs  the  bed  of  the  Rhine. 
It  was  constructed  by  the  Prussian  government 
between  1830  and  1832. 


We  arrive  at  Lorch,  the  Laureacun  of  the 
Romans,  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the  Wisper 
with  the  Rhine.  In  mediaeval  times  it  was  in- 
habited by  numerous  nobles,  whose  mansions  are 
still  extant.  The  church  was  founded  in  the 
twelfth  century,  but  has  undergone  considerable 
reconstruction.  It  has  a  fine  chime  of  bells, 
whose  melody,  gliding  over  the  waters  and  echo- 
ing through  the  vineyard  alleys,  has  a  singularly 
impressive  effect. 

On  the  right  bank  of  the  Wisper  rises,  abrupt 
and  precipitous,  the  terraced  rock  known  as  the 
Devil's  Ladder — Teufelsleiter — crowned  by  the 
crumbling  ruins  of  the  castle  of  Nollicht  or  Nol- 
lingen.  Even  on  this  rude  rock  "  the  flower  of  a 
legend  blows." 

Below  Lorch,  a  fair  and  well-cultivated  little 
island  breaks  the  waters  of  the  Rhine.  Below 
Bacharach,  which  will  receive  attention  hereafter, 
the  river  plunges  into  a  mass  of  rocks,  with  inces- 
sant clouds  of  spray  and  foam,  and  would  be 
impassable  for  ships  but  for  the  canal  excavated 
by  the  Prussian  government  in  1850.  This  Wilde 
Gefiecht,  however,  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque 
points  on  the  river. 

At  a  bend  of  the  stream,  and  on  a  rocky  islet, 
stands  the  romantic  castle  of  Pfalz  or  Pfalzgra- 
benstein,  erected  in  the  fourteenth  century  by 
the  Emperor  Louis  the  Bavarian.  It  completely 
commanded  the  passage  of  the  Rhine,  and  levied 
a  toll  on  all  passing  vessels.  Here  Louis  le 
Hebonnair  died  in  840,  weary  with  the  fatigues 
of  empire,  .and  longing  only  for  a  thatched  lodge 
or  leafy  hut  to  shelter  him  in  his  last  home.  The 
"  soothing  music  of  the  gurgling  waters  "  lulled 
him  to  his  rest.  It  was  often  used  as  a  prison, 
and  its  dark  and  horrible  dungeons  lie  below  the 
level  of  the  river.  The  castle  is  accessible  by 
means  of  a  ladder,  and  the  solitary  entrance  is 
closed  by  a  portcullis.  The  well  which  supplied 
its  inmates  with  water  is  filled  from  a  source  far 
deeper  than  the  bed  of  the  Rhine.  According  to 
an  old  belief,  the  princesses  Palatine  always  came 
here  for  their  accouchements,  and  the  mother  and 
babe  took  their  first  airing  in  a  boat  on  the  sur- 
rounding waters. 

Opposite  Pfalz  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine, 
which,  let  us  remind  the  reader,  is  the  bank  we 
have  been  descending,  is  Caub,  with  its  important 
slate  quarries.  It  was  here,  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1814,  that  the  Prussian  army,  under  Blucher, 
101 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


crossed  the  river,  and  commenced  the  invasion  of 
France. 

To  the  north  of  this  little  but  remarkable  town 
rises  conspicuous  the  castle  of  Gutenfels.  We 
hear  of  it  as  early  as  1178,  when  the  lords  of 
Falkenstein  sold  it  to  the  Palatinate,  along  with 
Caub,  which,  as  was  customary  with  the  feudal 
towns,  had  grown  up  silently  at  its  feet.  It  is 
said  to  owe  its  name — Guta's  Rock — -to  the 
beautiful  Beatrix  Guta  or  Guda,  the  sister  of 
Philip  von  Falkenstein,  with  whom  our  Richard 
of  Cornwall,  king  of  the  Romans,  became  des- 
perately enamoured,  and  whom  he  afterwards 
married.  When  the  storm  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  raged  down  the  valley  of  the  Rhine,  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus  attempted  to  dislodge  a  Spanish 
garrison  which  had  previously  been  stationed  in 
it;  but  the  natural  and  artificial  strength  of  the 
position  foiled  all  his  efforts. 

As  we  descend  the  river  grows  narrower,  and 
runs  with  pent-up  waters  in  a  rocky  channel.  A 
rock  on  the  right  bank,  singularly  shaped,  arrests 
every  eye.  It  looks  as  if  giants  had  been  con- 
structing a  staircase,  and  had  failed  in,  or  grown 
weary  of,  their  task.  The  echo  here  is  turned  by 
the  inhabitants  to  some  account.  It  repeats  every 
sound  which  strikes  upon  it  seven  times.  As  the 
steamboat  passes,  a  man,  standing  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  river,  fires  a  few  pistol  shots,  that  the 
passengers  may  be  amused  with  their  repeated 
reverberations.  It  is  a  favourite  jest  with  the 
German  students  to  ask  the  hidden  nymph,  "Echo, 
what  is  the  burgomaster  of  Oberwesel?"  Echo 
answers,  Esel,  that  is,  "  an  ass." 

Much  of  the  poetry  of  the  Rhine  centres  in  this 
craggy  rock.  For  ley  means  a  rock,  and  lore  is 
an  old  word  for  song,  or  music.  Lurlei  or  Lore- 
lei is,  therefore,  the  "  rock  of  song;"  and  the  lore- 
leys  of  the  Rhine  are  singing  maidens  of  great 
beauty,  who,  like  the  sirens  of  old,  beguile  the 
listener  to  his  death.  One  legend  relates  that  the 
boatmen  sometimes  descry  on  the  summit  of  the 
rock  a  maiden  of  surpassing  loveliness.  She  begins 
her  enticing  chant.  In  spite  of  themselves  they 
are  constrained  to  listen;  and  while  they  listen 
their  boat  dashes  against  the  rocks,  is  shattered 
to  pieces,  and  they  are  carried  underneath  the 
waves  to  the  crystal  halls  of  the  Lurlei. 

A  Count  Palatine  was  desirous  of  seeing  this 
siren,  whose  charms  so  far  excelled  all  ordinary 
human  beauty.  He,  too,  fell  a  victim  to  her  arts. 
102 


His  father  immediately  ordered  his  soldiers  to 
bring  the  young  magician  to  him,  alive  or  dead. 
But  just  as  they  thought  themselves  on  the  point 
of  seizing  her,  she  called  upon  the  river  to  come 
to  her  rescue.  Immediately  it  obeyed.  From  its 
foamy  waves  sprang  two  white  horses,  removed 
the  stone  on  which  she  was  seated,  and  dragged 
it  down  to  the  river-depth.  On  their  return  to 
the  castle,  they  found  that  the  siren  had  restored 
the  young  count  to  his  home;  Since  this  epoch, 
she  has  ceased  to  show  herself;  but  her  soft  voice 
still  awakens  the  murmurs  of  the  evening  breeze, 
and  at  times  she  will  sport  with  the  boatmen  by 
mimicking  their  voices. 

A  small,  and  gradually  decreasing  fishery,  is 
carried  on  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Lurlei-bay. 

We  now  pass  by  the  fearful  whirlpool  of  the 
Baik  Bank,  and  the  narrow  and  dangerous  defile 
of  the  Gewirra — the  Scylla  and  Charybdis  of  the 
Rhine.  They  prove  no  obstacle,  however,  to  the 
progress  of  the  Rhine  steamers. 

Our  course  now  brings  us  to  Sanct  Goarshausen, 
opposite  Sanct  Goar.  It  is  situated  at  the  entrance 
of  the  beautiful  and  romantic  Swiss  valley,  between 
the  "  Cat"  and  the  "  Mouse." 

The  "Cat"  (die  Katze)  is  an  ancient  castle, 
founded  by  the  Counts  von  Katzenelnbogen  ("  cat's 
elbow")  in  1392.  It  derived  its  name,  perhaps, 
not  from  its  lords,  but  because  it  watched  the 
merchant  vessels,  in  order  to  levy  exactions  upon 
them,  as  a  cat  watches  a  mouse.  After  this  family 
died  out,  in  1470,  it  passed  into  the  hands  of 
various  Hessian  princes,  until  destroyed  by  the 
French  in  1806.  Its  ruins  command  a  view  both 
rich  and  rare. 

Opposite  to  it,  but  also  in  a  ruined  condition, 
stands  the  "  Mouse"  (die  Maus),  also  called  the 
Thurmberg  or  Kunoberg,  built  in  1363  by  Kuno 
von  Falkenstein,  in  order  to  keep  the  "  Cat"  under 
control.  "  Henceforth,"  said  he,  "  I  will  be  the 
mouse  which  frightens  the  cat!"  And  he  was 
right,  said  Victor  Hugo,  for  it  is  a  formidable  pile 
even  to  this  day. 

There  is  another  of  these  eloquent  memorials 
of  feudalism  far  up  the  Swiss  valley  (which  is 
by  no  means  Swiss,  though  very  picturesque  in 
character).  It  is  called  the  Reichenburg,  and 
its  history  is  easily  summed  up.  As  thus: — 
Built  in  1280  by  Count  Wilhelm  I.  of  Katzen- 
elnbogen; destroyed  in  1302;  reconstructed  by 
Baudoin  of  Trier  in  the  Oriental  style;  destroyed 


<tE) 


fa 
= 


:- 


a? 


m 

=3 


A  LOVELY  LANDSCAPE. 


by  the  ferocious  Tilly  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War  ; 
inhabited  until  1806;  sold,  for  purposes  of  demo- 
lition, in  1818;  and  now  in  possession  of  Herr 
Habel  von  Schierstein.  Such  are  the  phases 
through  which  a  feudal  castle  seems  generally  to 
pass. 

On  the  right  bank  we  pass  the  little  Gothic 
church  of  Wilmich,  at  the  foot  of  the  steep  and 
broken  rock  crowned  by  the  ruined  fortalice  of 
the  Mouse.  Lower  down  is  Ebrenthal,  with  its 
silver,  its  copper,  and  its  lead  mines ;  and  a  short 
journey  brings  us  to  one  of  the  "  hallowed  spots" 
of  the  Ehine — to  the  Castles  of  the  Brothers, 
Liebenstein  and  Stemfels,  whose  story  has  been 
several  times  told  by  the  poets. 

"  The  mountains  that  inclose  the  river,"  says 
Mr.  Mayhew,  "  are  finely  rugged,  and  ribbed  with 
the  schistose  rocks  that  in  some  places  protrude 
through  the  green  hill-sides,  and  that  in  others 
apparently  stream  down  from  the  top  like  a  cas- 
cade of  crags. 

"  Then  there  are  the  grand  old  ruins  cresting 
the  summits,  and  lending  a  hoary  historic  life  to 
the  neighbouring  mountains — and  the  little  bits  of 
vineyards,  crammed  in  among  the  stones  whereon 
the  sun  can  fall,  and  tinting  the  green-gray  crags 
with  many  a  golden  streak — and  the  lovely  repose 
of  the  valley  openings,  looking  soft  and  cool  in  the 
rich  '  clear-obscure '  of  the  shade  that  hangs  over 
them  like  a  veil  of  dusky  air,  and  with  the  steamy 
cloud  of  smoke  that  rises,  as  if  it  were  so  much 
morning  mist,  from  the  valley-hollows,  telling  of 
the  peaceful  homesteads  that  lie  cradled  within 
them;  and  the  white  frothy  brooks  streaming 
under  the  little  archways  beside  the  Rhine,  and 
whispering  of  the  many  mills  they  give  life  and 
motion  to  as  they  come  tumbling  down  the  steep 
rocky  dingles  behind,  and  potiring  over  the  walls 
of  crag  there  in  such  a  mass  of  foam  that  the  very 
water  seems  no  longer  liquid,  but  to  be  a  torrent  of 
powdery  particles,  like  snow,  showered  down  from 
one  ledge  to  another." 

At  Filzen  the  Rhine  bends  abruptly  eastward, 
and  washes  the  town  of  Ostersperg,  resting  in  the 
cool  green  shadow  of  the  Liebeneck.  Then  the 
Rhine  resumes  its  northerly  direction  at  Denk- 
hers,  famous  for  its  mineral  spring;  and  flows  past 
Brauback  and  the  grand  castle  of  Marxburg. 

Several  hundred  feet  above  the  town  of  Brau- 
bach, on  a  rugged  and  rocky  mountain  height, 
stands  its  noble  castle,  which  has  been  described 


as  bearing  some  degree  of  likeness  to  that  of  Dover, 
but  seems  to  us  more  closely  to  resemble  the  Scoto- 
Gothic  castles  of  northern  Britain.  At  all  events, 
it  is  one  of  the  most  complete  examples  of  a  feudal 
castle  along  the  whole  course  of  the  Rhine.  Seen 
from  the  river,  or  from  the  village  street,  it  pos- 
sesses an  indescribably  grand  effect,  and  one  may 
be  forgiven  for  fancying  it  the  work  of  some  ancient 
Titan,  who,  after  piling  rock  upon  rock,  erected  a 
stronghold  for  himself  on  the  wind-swept  summit. 

THE  MAR5BURG. 

Through  long,  narrow,  and  climbing  alleys  we 
reach  the  foot  of  the  castled  mountain,  and  then 
by  a  zig-zag  path  undertake  the  laborious  ascent. 
It  is  right  to  add  that  the  labour  is  much  sweetened 
by  the  delightful  glimpses  you  catch  ever  and  anon 
of  the  flowing  river  and  its  wooded  banks. 

The  first  object  to  which  your  attention  is 
directed  after  you  enter  the  castle  is  the  gloomy 
vault,  the  prison  of  the  German  Emperor  Henry 
IV.  The  walls  are  bare  and  ochred,  and  there  is 
only  a  "  rude,  little,  conical  chimney-place  sunk  in 
one  comer  of  the  apartment,"  while  opposite  a  loop- 
hole, rather  than  a  window,  is  inserted  in  a  very 
small  recess.  On  one  side  of  this  aperture  a  small 
stone  slab,  projecting  from  the  massive  wall,  serves 
as  a  rude  uncomfortable  seat.  Here  Henry  II. 
was  imprisoned,  after  the  rebellion  of  the  German 
princes  in  favour  of  Rudolph,  duke  of  Suabia. 

From  the  prison-chamber  you  wind  your  way 
through  dim,  dark,  and  mysterious  corridors,  and 
across  various  apartments,  and  up  steep  and  half- 
broken  steps,  to  the  gloomy  dungeon  called  the 
Hundloch,  or  "  dog-hole."  After  your  eyes  grow 
accustomed  to  its  semi-darkness,  you  make  out  a 
beam  slanted  up  on  end,  like  a  rude  crane  project- 
ing from  the  ground,  with  a  windlass  attached  to 
its  base.  This  is  the  apparatus  by  which  prisoners 
doomed  to  perpetual  captivity,  or,  more  truly  speak- 
ing, to  a  lingering  and  terrible  death,  were  lowered 
into  the  actual  dog-hole,  the  pit  below.  The  guide 
lifts  up  a  trap  in  the  floor,  and  standing  on  the 
edge  and  looking  over,  you  see,  by  the  glimmer  of 
light  let  in  through  a  chink  or  slit  in  the  wall, 
that  the  pit  resembles  a  well  about  thirty  feet  in 
depth.  Into  this  most  miserable  of  dungeons  the 
poor  wretch  was  lowered  by  the  crane  which  we 
have  spoken  of;  lowered,  perhaps,  with  a  crash 
which  happily  saved  him  from  further  suffering. 
Otherwise,  provisions  were  let  down  in  the  same 
103 


THE  EHINE  VALLEY. 


way,  as  long  as  the  doomed  man  dragged  on  his 
wretched  life. 

From  the  dog-hole  you  ascend  a  narrow  spiral 
staircase,  hewn  out  of  the  massive  masonry  of  the 
main  tower,  to  the  square  platform  which  serves  as 
roof;  and  from  this  elevated  position  you  enjoy  a 
picture  of  the  Ehine,  so  bright,  so  beautiful,  so 
rich  in  colour,  that  you  forget  at  once  the  gloom 
of  the  scenes  you  have  been  looking  upon.  From 
this  grand  observatory  we  descend  to  the  Fotter- 
kammer,  or  Kack-cliamber,  another  dark  and  dis- 
mal apartment,  from  which,  however,  the  instrument 
of  torture  to  which  it  owes  its  name  has  been  re- 
moved. Thence  we  pass  into  the  Speis-kammer, 
or  Dinner-chamber;  and  the  Kitter-saal,  or  the 
Knight's  Hall,  now  used  as  a  prison.  Adjoining 
these  another  strong  room  is  situated,  whose  white 
walls  are  covered  with  rude  frescoes,  drawn  by  the 
prisoners  who,  in  the  last  century,  were  inmates 
of  the  place.  Some  of  these  consist  of  figures  of 
warriors  and  princes,  while  others  possess  more 
of  a  grotesque  than  chivalrous  character :  such 
as  wooden-legged  fiddlers,  peasants  dancing,  inn- 
keepers carrying  frothy  cups  of  beer.  In  among 
these  are  scattered  numerous  inscriptions  in  prose 
and  verse. 

It  is  said  that  a  secret  passage  descends  through 
the  live  rock,  connecting  the  Marxburg  with  a 
tower  on  the  borders  of  the  river.  The  castle  is 
(or  was  until  very  lately)  garrisoned  by  a  corps  of 
invalids. 

Continuing  our  survey,  we  come  to  a  little  chapel, 
embosomed  among  trees,  and  nearly  opposite  the 
Konigsstuhl  (on  the  left  bank),  which  calls  for  our 
special  attention  as  the  place  where,  in  1400,  the 
four  electors  of  the  Rhine  declared  the  deposition 
of  the  Emperor  Wenceslaus,  and  elected  in  his  stead 
the  Count  Palatine,  Rupert  III.  This  incident  is 
a  signal  proof  of  the  decay  into  which  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire  had  by  this  time  fallen,  and  of  the 
virtual  usurpation  by  the  electors  of  the  imperial 
power.  The  chapel,  then,  is  literally  one  of  the 
landmarks  of  the  history  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire. 

We  nest  pause  at  Oberlahnstein  (Upper  Lahn- 
stein),  situated  on  a  long  bank  of  silted-up  deposit 
facing  the  Rhine,  its  shore  sanguine  with  heaps 
of  red  iron  ore  from  the  Nassau  mines.  'Tis  a 
picturesque  old  town,  with  stone  rampart  walls 
and  old  towers  and  turreted  gates,  and  at  the 
further  end  the  palace  of  the  electors  of  Mainz, 
104 


rebuilt  or  enlarged.  On  the  hill  above  moulder 
the  ruins  of  the  Lahneckburg,  a  castle  of  great 
antiquity,  which  figures  in  history  as  destroyed 
by  the  French  in  1688,  and  in  poetry  as  sung  of 
by  Goethe. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Lahn,  which  here  comes 
down  a  romantic  valley  to  join  its  waters  with 
those  of  the  Rhine,  is  Niederlahnstein  (or  Nether 
Lahnstein),  and  close  by  stands  the  structure  of 
Johannis-kirche  (St.  John's  church),  with  the  tall 
lonely  tower  looking  like  the  keep  of  some  ancient 
stronghold,  and  reflecting  its  gray  hoary  walls  in 
the  silver  mirror  of  the  Lahn.  It  was  destroyed 
by  the  Swedes,  and  after  remaining  for  many 
years  in  a  ruinous  condition,  was  restored  in  1857. 
Stolzenfels,  rising  so  grandly  on  the  opposite  bank 
of  the  Rhine,  will  hereafter  engage  our  attention. 

On  the  right  bank  we  pass  Storchheim,  the  island 
of  Oberwerth  (or  Upper  Island,  lying  in  a  sheltered 
bay),  and  the  village  of  Pfaffendorf.  Opposite 
Coblenz  rises  Ehrenbreitstein,  the  "  Gibraltar  of 
the  Rhine,"  the  "  Broad  Stone  of  Honour."  The 
best  view  of  the  steep  mountainous  rock,  and  the 
tremendous  fortress  which  crowns  it,  is  obtained 
from  the  opposite  bank,  just  below  the  bridge  that 
unites  Coblenz  with  the  Petersberg. 

We  now  proceed  to  describe  the  left  bank  of  the 
river  from  Mainz  to  Coblenz. 

TO  COBLENZ.      BY  THE  LEFT  BANK  OF  THE  EHINE. 

During  the  early  portion  of  our  course  from 
Mainz  to  Coblenz,  the  railway  closely  hugs  the 
romantic  bank  of  the  river,  which  is  here  studded 
with  numerous  islands.  On  the  opposite  shore  all 
the  beauties  of  Bieberich  and  the  Rheingau  are 
successively  opened  up  to  our  gaze.  Beyond  the 
small  village  of  Bredonheim,  the  iron  road  starts 
away  from  the  river,  and  through  a  wood  of  mur- 
murous pines  reaches  Heidesheim ;  of  which  I 
know  nothing  more  than  that  all  about  it  cluster 
prolific  vineyards  and  not  less  prolific  orchards. 

The  left  bank  is  neither  so  romantic  nor  so 
interesting  as  the  right  until  we  reach  Nieder 
Ingelheim,  which  lies  about  two  miles  inland  from 
the  river,  on  the  Seltz,  one  of  its  minor  affluents. 
It  is  a  town  to  look  at  with  curious  interest,  if  it 
be  true,  as  most  historians  assert,  that  Charle- 
magne, the  most  imperial  of  emperors,  was  born 
here.  He  seems  to  have  regarded  it  with  the  affec- 
tion one  generally  feels  for  one's  native  town ;  and 
he  erected  within  its  walls,  between  768  and  774,  a 


BINGEN  AND  BACHARACH. 


palace  of  more  than  usual  splendour ;  a  palace 
embellished,  it  is  said,  with  one  hundred  columns 
of  marble  and  porphyry  which  he  had  brought 
from  Rome,  and  with  the  costliest  mosaics,  which 
Pope  Hadrian  had  sent  to  him  from  Ravenna  as 
a  gift.  Not  a  vestige  of  its  ancient  magnificence 
now  remains. 

It  was  here,  on  the  30th  of  December,  1105, 
occurred  one  of  the  most  remarkable  incidents 
in  the  history  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  The 
bishops  of  Mainz,  Koln,  and  Wurms  pronounced 
the  deposition  of  the  Emperor  Henry  IV.  Ad- 
vancing towards  him,  they  removed  the  "  circle 
of  sovereignty  from  his  head,"  tore  him  from  the 
throne  on  which  he  was  seated,  and  stripped  off 
his  imperial  robes. 

To  conclude  our  catalogue  of  the  associations 
of  this  quiet  little  town,  let  us  point  to  the  small 
obelisk  at  its  extremity,  whereon  two  immortal 
names  come  into  strange  juxtaposition ;  both  of 
them  conquerors,  and  imperial  founders,  and  great 
administrators,  but  how  unlike  in  their  fate,  and 
in  the  fate  of  their  work  !  This  is  the  inscription 
on  the  obelisk : — 

"  Route  de  Charlemagne,  termine'e  en  l'an  ler 
du  regne  de  Napolebn,  empereur  des  Francais." 
(The  great  road  of  Charlemagne,  completed  in  the 
first  year  of  the  reign  of  Napoleon,  emperor  of  the 
French.) 

Through  a  beautiful  country  we  make  our  way 
to  Bingen,  where  the  Nahe  pours  its  waters  into 
the  Rhine.  Confined  on  the  left  by  the  Nahe,  on 
the  right  by  the  Rhine,  it  has  developed  itself  in  a 
triangular  form  around  a  Gothic  church,  set  back 
to  back  against  a  Roman  citadel.  In  the  direction 
of  Mainz  sparkles  the  famous  plain  called  Paradies, 
opening  up  the  rich  wine-garden  of  the  Rheingau. 
On  the  side  of  Coblenz  the  sombre  summits  of 
Leyen  rise  against  the  horizon. 

Bingen  is  the  Roman  Bingium,  and  its  bridge 
across  the  Nahe  is  still  called,  as  Tacitus  called 
it,  the  "  Bridge  of  Drusus."  It  was  built  by  the 
Archbishop  Wittigis  in  the  eleventh  century  (1013), 
probably  with  the  materials  and  on  the  site  of  the 
Roman  bridge,  which  the  Treviri  had  destroyed 
in  A.D.  70.  It  was  again  rebuilt  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  has  been  frequently  repaired.  The 
ruin  called  Klopp,  on  an  eminence  above  the  town, 
though  of  no  greater  antiquity  than  the  days  of 
feudalism,  was  probably  raised  on  the  site  of  one 
of  the  Roman  forts  built  by  Drusus.      Bingen, 


commanding  both  the  Nahe  and  the  Rhine,  was 
necessarily  a  military  post  of  much  importance 
before  the  invention  of  artillery.  In  the  middle 
ages  it  belonged  to  the  archbishops  of  Mainz  and 
Trier.  Its  prosperity  dates  from  its  colonization 
by  some  Lombard  merchants  from  Asti,  in  Pied- 
mont— the  Ottini,  Pomario,  Broglio,  and  others. 
In  1302  it  was  successfully  defended  against  the 
Emperor  Albert ;  but  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War, 
and  the  War  of  the  Succession,  its  position  having 
ceased  to  prove  formidable  in  defence,  it  passed 
from  one  of  the  belligerents  to  the  other  with 
admirable  facility.  It  was  included  in  the  French 
territories  from  1797  until  1813,  and  three  years 
later  was  annexed  to  Hesse  Darmstadt. 

There  is  not  much  to  be  seen  in  Bingen,  but 
around  it  the  interesting  features  are  very  numer- 
ous. One  of  these  is  the  Rochus  Kapelle,  or 
chapel  of  St.  Roch,  situated  high  up  the  hill — in 
truth,  on  its  very  crest,  almost  opposite  Riides- 
heim  on  the  other  bank.  The  ascent  to  it  is  neither 
very  long  nor  very  difficult ;  and  were  it  both  long 
and  difficult,  you  would  still  be  repaid  for  your 
labour  by  the  magnificent  prospect  from  the  sum- 
mit. The  completeness  of  its  beauty,  its  exquisite 
atmospheric  radiance,  its  ever-changing  effects  of 
light  and  shade,  its  combinations  or  contrasts  of 
colour,  render  the  spectacle  to  the  eye  as  if  seen 
through  a  kaleidoscope.  The  Sunday  following 
the  16th  of  August  is  St.  Roch's  day,  when  hun- 
dreds of  pilgrims  congregate  from  every  quarter  to 
pay  their  vows  to  the  saint,  who  is  famous  as  an 
averter  of  plague  and  pestilence. 

There  is  a  hill  called  the  Scharlachkopf,  which 
is  easily  accessible  from  Bingen  or  from  St.  Roch's 
chapel,  and  whose  declivities  are  thickly  planted 
with  vines  of  good  quality.  From  the  terrace  of 
this  hill,  too,  the  view  is  charming. 

We  resume  our  descent  of  the  river,  but  do  not 
halt  again  until  we  arrive  at  Bacharach,  the  medi- 
aeval Ara  Bacchi,  long  celebrated  for  the  superior 
excellence  of  its  wines.  The  true  Bacchi  ara  is  a 
rock  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  adjoining  the  island  a 
little  below  the  town.  Usually  it  is  covered  with 
water,  but  in  very  dry  seasons  its  bare  surface 
rises  above  the  river-level,  much  to  the  gratifica- 
tion of  the  lord  of  the  vineyard,  who  hails  it  as  a 
sign  of  an  auspicious  vintage.  It  is  said  that 
Bacharach  wine  was  of  so  delicious  a  flavour  that 
Pope  Pius  II.  imported  a  tun  of  it  to  Rome  every 
year,  and  that  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  Nurem- 
105 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


berg  was  purchased  by  the  annual  gift  of  a  few 
casks  of  it  to  the  Emperor  Wenceslaus. 

Victor  Hugo's  description  of  Bacharach  is  amus- 
ing. You  would  say,  he  remarks,  that  a  giant, 
who  dealt  in  bric-h-brac,  wishing  for  a  show-room 
on  the  Rhine,  seized  upon  this  mountain,  cut  it 
up  into  terraces,  and  piled  upon  these  terraces,  from 
top  to  bottom,  and  with  all  a  giant's  taste,  a  heap 
of  enormous  curiosities.  In  truth,  he  began  under 
the  very  waters  of  the  Rhine ;  for  there,  just 
beneath  the  surface,  lies  a  volcanic  rock,  according 
to  some  authorities,  a  Celtic  pulven,  according  to 
others,  and  a  Roman  altar,  according  to  the  few. 
There,  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  moulder  two  or 
three  old,  worm-eaten  hulls  of  ships,  cut  in  two,  and 
planted  upright  in  the  earth,  so  as  to  make  decent 
cabins  for  fishermen.  Next,  behind  these  cabins, 
we  come  to  a  portion  of  the  city  wall,  formerly 
crenellated,  and  supported  by  four  square  towers, 
the  most  ruinous  and  shot-battered  that  ever  human 
eye  beheld.  After  this,  against  the  very  enceinte 
itself,  where  the  houses  are  all  pierced  with  win- 
dows and  galleries,  and  beyond,  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  an  indescribable  pellmell  of  amusing 
edifices,  fantastic  turrets,  preposterous  facades, 
impossible  pignons,  whose  double  staircase  carries 
a  belfry  pushed  forward  like  a  holy-water  sprinkler 
on  every  stage,  heavy  timbers  designing  upon 
cottages  most  delicate  arabesques,  barns  in  volutes, 
balconies  open  to  the  day,  chimneys  fashioned  like 
trains  and  crowns  philosophically  full  of  smoke, 
extravagant  weather-cocks ;  but  why  need  we  con- 
tinue the  enumeration  ? 

Amidst  this  most  admired  disorder  there  is  an 
open  area,  a  twisted  space  or  place,  made  by  blocks 
of  mountains  which  have  fallen  from  the  sky  hap- 
hazard, and  which  has  more  bays,  islands,  reefs, 
and  promontories  than  a  Norwegian  gulf.  On  one 
side  of  this  place  stands  a  couple  of  polyhedrons, 
composed  of  Gothic  constructions,  overhanging, 
bent  forward,  grimacing,  and  impudently  holding 
itself  erect  in  defiance  of  all  the  laws  of  geometry 
and  equilibrium.  On  "the  other  side,  observe  the 
beautiful  Byzantine  Church  of  St.  Peter,  with  its 
handsome  gateway  and  lofty  belfry,  and  the  host 
of  tombs  in  the  Renaissance  style  which  crowd  its 
interior.  It  was  formerly  a  Templar  church,  and 
is  interesting  as  an  early  example  of  mixed  Round 
and  Gothic. 

Above  this  church,  and  on  the  road  to  the  old 
castle  of  Stahleck,  lie  the  ruins  of  St.  Werner's 
106 


church — windowless,  roofless,  doorless — yet  a 
magnificent  specimen  of  later  Gothic,  built  of  hard 
red  sandstone  in  1428.  "  It  was  demolished  by 
the  Swedes  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  but  still 
shows  in  its  east  end  a  lantern,  the  highest  and 
most  elegant  lancet  style  existing." 

We  come  next  to  Schcenberg,  the  cradle  of  the 
family  so  named,  whose  most  illustrious  offshoot 
seems  to  have  been  the  Marshal  Schomberg  who 
closed  a  long  military  career  at  the  Battle  of  the 
Boyne,  fighting  for  William  III.  Below  Schcen- 
berg is  situated  the  picturesque  town  of  Oberwesel, 
the  Vesalia  of  the  Romans,  with  its  ivy-shaded, 
crenellated  towers,  its  old,  narrow,  and  quaint 
streets,  and  its  two  superb  Gothic  churches.  The 
walls  are  in  many  places  curiously  romantic,  and 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  town  is  the  lofty  round 
tower  of  the  Ochsenthurm. 

The  church  of  Our  Lady  (Liebfrauenkirche),  at 
the  upper  end  of  the  town,  is  a  simple  but  grace- 
fully proportioned  church,  erected  in  1331-38. 
Its  roof  is  eighty  feet  in  height,  and  rests  upon 
plain  square  piers.  Its  porches  are  richly  sculp- 
tured, and  the  vaulting  of  the  cloisters  is  singular. 
In  a  side  chapel  are  many  monuments  of  the 
Schomberg  family,  bearing  rudely  carved  effigies 
of  knights  in  armour,  ladies  in  ruffs  and  stomachers, 
and  babies  in  swaddling  clothes,  like  mummies  or 
the  larvae  of  insects. 

The  church  of  Saint  Martin  is  still  older,  and 
its  architectural  details  are  full  of  interest.  The 
altar-piece  represents  the  Lowering  of  Our  Saviour's 
Body  from  the  Cross,  by  Diepenbeck,  one  of  the 
pupils  of  Rubens. 

Sanct  Goar  is  opposite  Sanct  Goarshausen.  The 
Hinter  Rhein-strasse,  which  is  the  High  Street  of 
St.  Goar,  and  the  principal  one  of  the  two  making 
up  the  long  narrow  town,  has  so  few  shops  in  it, 
that  you  would  almost  believe  the  simple  villagers 
dealt  with  one  another  according  to  the  primitive 
mode  of  barter.  The  church  here  is  not  a  very 
interesting  edifice,  but  the  Protestant  church  is  a 
well-looking  structure  near  the  centre  of  the  town. 
It  was  built  in  146S,  contains  some  monuments  of 
the  Hessian  princes,  and  stands  over  the  crypt  of 
the  ancient  church  of  St.  Goar.  It  was  restored  in 
1482.     In  this  crypt  Saint  Goar  was  buried. 

Above  Sanct  Goar  towers  the  lofty  castled  crag 
of  the  Rheinfels,  36S  feet  high,  the  most  extensive 
ruin  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine.  The  earliest 
stronghold  was   founded  by  a  Count  Diesher  of 


VIEW  FROM  THE  STOLZENFELS. 


Katzenelnbogen,  in  1245,  for  the  purpose  of  a 
residence,  and  as  a  toll-tower,  where  he  could  levy 
toll  on  passing  vessels.  The  appetite  grew  by 
what  it  fed  on,  and  the  bandit's  exactions  grew 
so  colossal,  that  the  citizens  of  the  neighbouring 
towns  plucked  up  spirit  to  rebel  against  him,  and 
finally,  to  besiege  the  robber  in  his  lair.  The 
struggle  was  prolonged  over  fifteen  months.  Then 
was  formed,  on  a  broader  base,  the  great  Confeder- 
ation of  the  Rhine,  which  destroyed  so  many  of 
these  robber-fastnesses,  and  set  free  the  navigation 
of  the  river.  Among  the  castles  which  the  con- 
federated burghers  captured  was  the  Rheinfels;  it 
afterwards  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Land- 
grave of  Hesse,  who  converted  it  into  a  modern 
fortress  of  such  strength  that,  in  1692,  it  suc- 
cessfully resisted  a  French  army  of  25,000  men, 
commanded  by  Marshal  Tallard,  though  the  latter 
had  promised  it  as  a  New  Year's  gift  to  his  sove- 
reign. In  1794,  however,  it  surrendered,  before 
a  shot  was  fired,  to  the  French  revolutionary  army, 
who,  about  three  years  later,  blew  up  its  formidable 
defences. 

Passing  Salzig  and  its  cherry  orchards,  we  come 
to  Boppard,  the  Roman  Baudobriga,  which  in 
medieeval  times  was  an  imperial  free  city.  In 
1312  the  Emperor  Henry  VII.  yielded  it  to  his 
brother  Baldwin,  archbishop  of  Trier,  who  united 
it  to  the  electorate.  An  attempt  was  made  by 
some  of  its  inhabitants  to  reconquer  their  liberties, 
but  it  failed.     It  now  belongs  to  Prussia. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  arrive  at  Rhense,  for  it  is 
one  of  the  most  picturesque  towns  on  the  Rhine, 
and  retains  its  mediaeval  character  with  delightful 
freedom  from  modern  improvements.  Few  of  its 
houses,  as  the  guide-book  tells  us,  are  newer  than 
the  sixteenth,  while  many  are  as  old  as  the  four- 
teenth century ;  a  statement  which,  in  itself,  is 
sufficient  to  stir  any  true  archseologist's  imagina- 
tion. But  Rhense  has  something  more  to  boast 
of.  Just  outside  of  it  is  the  Konigsstuhl,  or 
"King's  Seat." 

Here,  says  Victor  Hugo,  four  men,  coming  from 
four  different  directions,  assembled  at  intervals  near 
a  stone  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  and  at  a 
tew  paces  from  a  grove  of  trees  between  Rhense 
and  Kapellen.  These  four  men  took  their  seats 
upon  the  stone,  and  there  they  made,  or  unmade, 
the  emperors  of  Germany.  The  place  selected  by 
them,  Rhense,  is  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  Rhine 


Valley,  and  belonged  to  the  elector  of  Koln.  In 
an  hour,  each  elector  could  repair  from  Rhense  to 
his  own  territories. 

While  Napoleon  held  the  mastery  of  the  Rhenish 
provinces  the  Konigsstuhl  fell  into  decay.  In  1S07 
it  was  destroyed,  and  some  of  its  materials  used  in 
the  construction  of  a  new  road.  But  happily  it 
was  rebuilt  in  1843  on  exactly  the  same  plan  as 
the  original,  and  to  a  great  extent  the  original 
materials  were  employed. 

Still  pursuing  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  we 
arrive  at  Kapellen,  splendidly  dominated  over 
by  the  castle  of  the  Stolzenfels,  or  the  "  Proud 
Rock,"  as  it  is  appropriately  named.  The  rocky 
promontory  on  which  its  walls  and  towers  are 
planted  rises  about  330  feet  above  the  Rhine. 
Destroyed  by  the  French  in  1688,  the  Stol- 
zenfels remained  in  decay  until  1823,  when  the 
city  of  Coblenz,  which  had  become  its  owner, 
presented  it  to  the  present  emperor  of  Germany, 
then  crown  prince  of  Prussia.  From  1836  to  1845 
the  emperor  expended  upwards  of  £50,000  in 
restoring  it,  from  the  designs  of  Herr  Schenkil. 
Looking  southward  from  the  Stolzenfels,  at  our 
feet  we  see  the  ruined  Marxburg  and  the  red 
roofs  of  Braubach ;  near  Oberlahnstein,  the  white 
gleaming  chapel  of  Wenceslaus ;  directly  opposite, 
by  the  side  of  the  picturesque  town  of  Rhense, 
the  Konigsstuhl  is  barely  visible  through  its 
screen  of  trees.  Like  the  outstretched  wing3  of  a 
bird  of  prey,  the  shattered  battlements  of  Lahn- 
eck  still  dominate  over  the  ancient  town  of 
Oberlahnstein,  where  the  palace  of  the  elector  of 
Mainz  naturally  attracts  the  eye.  Farther  away, 
in  the  remote  and  lonely  valley  of  the  Lahn,  rises 
the  Mountain  of  All  Saints — the  Allerheiligen- 
berg — whose  chapel  is  visited  by  numerous  pil- 
grims. Before  Niederlahnstein,  and  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Nahe,  stands  conspicuous  the  church 
of  St.  John.  Northward,  the  woody  isle  of  Ober- 
werth  stretches  itself  at  full  length  on  the  bosom 
of  the  Rhine.  To  the  right,  in  the  green  cool 
shadow  of  verdurous  mountains,  rise  the  rocks 
of  Ehrenbreitstein,  or  the  "  broad  stone  of  honour," 
facing  the  formidable  walls  of  Fort  Alexander. 
Between  the  rocks  and  the  fort  a  bridge  of  boats 
serves  as  a  communication  between  Coblenz  and 
Ehrenbreitstein.  Finally,  against  the  remote 
horizon  are  outlined  the  heights  of  Vallendar, 
the  town  and  the  church  of  the  same  name. 
107 


CHAPTER     VIII. 


COBLENZ. 


Ehkenbreitstein,  a  lofty  rock,  steep  and  abrupt 
on  three  sides,  and  on  its  fourth,  or  weakest,  the 
north-western,  protected  by  no  less  than  three 
formidable  lines  of  defence,  is  armed  with  upwards 
of  400  heavy  guns.  To  the  non-military  observer 
it  seems  as  if  military  science  had  here  done  its 
best  and  worst ;  and  that  no  force  could  possibly 
advance  in  the  face  of  the  tremendous  fire  the 
garrison  could  pour  upon  them.  The  great  plat- 
form on  the  summit  of  the  rock  is  not  only  used  as 
a  parade  ground,  but  artfully  serves  as  a  roof  or 
cover  for  cisterns  of  immense  capacity,  which  can 
hold  a  supply  of  water  for  three  years,  furnished  by 
springs  without  the  walls.  Moreover,  there  is  a 
well,  sunk  400  feet  deep  in  the  rock,  which  com- 
municates with  the  Rhine  ;  but  then,  Rhine  water 
is  unwholesome,  and  would  quickly  lay  low  a 
garrison  with  disease. 

We  may  conclude  then,  that  Ehrenbreitstein 
could  never  be  reduced  by  ordinary  military  opera- 
tions, unless  Coblenz  was  in  the  hands  of  an 
enemy ;  but  that  it  might  possibly  surrender  to  a 
close  and  persistent  blockade. 

Ehrenbreitstein,  the  "broad  stone  of  honour," 
seems  to  have  been  occupied  for  military  purposes 
since  a  very  remote  period.  In  1631  the  Elector 
Philip  Christopher,  of  Scetern,  gave  it  up  to  the 
French,  who  retained  possession  of  it  for  five  years. 
In  1688  it  was  unsuccessfully  besieged  by  Marshal 
Boufflers  ;  in  1795  and  1796  by  General  Marceau; 
but  in  1799  it  surrendered  to  the  French  after  a 
long  and  rigorous  blockade.  By  the  treaty  of 
Luneville  the  French  were  compelled  to  restore  it 
to  Germany ;  but  before  abandoning  it  tbey  blew 
it  up,  and  converted  it  into  the  ruins  so  graphically 
commemorated  by  Byron. 

Through  the  town  of  Thal-Ehrenbreitstein,  and 
across  the  Rhine,  we  pass  into  Coblenz. 

Coblenz  owes  its  name  to  its  position  at  the 
confluence  of  two  great  rivers — the  Rhine  and  the 
Moselle.  The  Romans,  who  formed  a  camp  here 
about  30  B.C.,  called  it  Covfluentia ,  or  Confuentes. 
Coblenz  is  situated  on  a  triangular  or  wedge-shaped 
piece  of  land  between  the  Moselle  (north)  and  the 
108 


Rhine  (east).  It  may  be  divided  into  the  Old 
Town  and  New  Town.  The  former  lies  nearest  to 
the  Moselle;  its  streets  are  narrow  and  tortuous, 
and  not  unlike  the  wynds  of  Edinburgh.  The 
New  Town,  or  Clement's  Town,  lies  behind  the 
imperial  chateau,  built  in  1778-86  by  Clement 
Wenceslas,  last  bishop-elector  of  Trier ;  its  streets 
are  regularly  laid  out,  its  houses  of  good  size  and 
well  built. 

Here  is  a  lively  picture : — "  The  banks  of  the 
Moselle,  opposite  to  Coblenz,  are  low,  and  a  long 
plain  stretches  far  away  behind  them  towards 
Andemach,  that  has  been,  from  Caesar's  time,  the 
scene  of  many  a  fierce  battle ;  while  close  in  front 
of  them  the  river  is  floored  with  the  rafts,  which 
are  here  to  be  pieced  together  into  one  '  float ' 
before  descending  the  broader  part  of  the  Rhine 
on  their  way  to  Holland :  all  along  the  shore,  too, 
there  are  huge,  square  stacks  of  planks,  and  the 
air  pants  again,  as  it  were,  with  the  grating  of  the 
saws  from  the  neighbouring  timber  yards. 

"  The  Coblenz  houses  along  the  quay  beside  the 
Rhine  are  very  different  from  those  along  the  quay 
beside  the  Moselle ;  for  the  buildings  facing  the 
Rhein-atrom  are  parts  of  the  New  Town,  and  con- 
sist chiefly  of  large  white-fronted  hotels,  with  their 
names  painted  all  along  them  in  gigantic  letters ; 
and  the  banks  immediately  under  these  are  beset 
with  many  a  landing-pier,  beside  which  are  grouped 
the  steamers,  with  their  piebald  funnels;  while 
beyond  the  dumpy  round  tower,  with  the  Rhine 
crane,  like  a  giant  fishing-rod,  projecting  through 
its  roof,  and  the  square  yellow-ochre  turret  of  the 
Government  House  rising  behind  it,  at  the  end  of 
the  quay,  we  can  just  catch  sight  of  the  tall  red 
sandstone  of  the  palace  portico,  as  high  as  the 
building  itself,  and  breaking,  with  a  bold  simplicity, 
the  great  length  of  the  otherwise  plain  facade. 

"  The  buildings,  however,  on  the  side  of  the 
city  nest  the  Moselle,  are  all  of  an  antiquated 
character,  and  there  the  gables  of  the  narrow  houses 
are  huddled  together,  one  above  another,  till  the 
roofs  look  like  so  many  black  billows ;  and  beyond 
these,  the  odd,  old   Exchange  is  seen,  with  its 


m 


DESCRIPTION  OF  COBLENZ. 


battlement-like  turrets  projecting  from  the  upper 
corners  of  its  walls ;  while  farther  on  still,  at  the 
end  of  the  quay  next  the  bridge,  the  eye  rests  upon 
the  ancient  palace  of  the  archbishop  of  Trier,  with 
the  lighthouse-like  towers  at  either  angle  of  its 
ochre-coloured  front,  and  seeming  more  like  the 
gate  to  some  fortress  than  the  residence  of  a  Chris- 
tian prelate. 

"  Then  the  Rhine-stream  is  crossed  by  a  bridge 
of  boats  no  higher  than  a  floating  pier,  and  whose 
platform  stretches  along  the  line  of  barges  like  an 
enormous  lengthy  plank,  reaching  from  one  side 
of  the  river  to  the  other,  and  linking  the  valley 
village  with  the  city.  This  is  now  all  in  pieces, 
for  we  can  see  large  slabs  of  the  floating  roadway 
standing  out  in  the  river,  far  away  from  the  bridge 
itself,  and  with  two  or  three  white-hooded  peasant 
women  upon  them,  as  if  they  had  been  carried 
adrift  in  the  hurry  of  crossing.  Then,  at  either 
end  of  the  gap  in  the  " Schiff-briicke"  we  can  dis- 
tinguish the  crowd  of  passengers  dammed  up,  the 
brass-tipped  helmets  of  the  cluster  of  soldiers 
looking  as  if  on  fire  in  the  sun,  the  market-women, 
with  their  baskets  poised  upon  their  heads,  together 
with  the  white  awning  of  the  tilted  carts,  all 
brought  together  into  one  pretty  group ;  while 
between  the  glittering  opening  in  the  platform  we 
perceive  in  the  distance  some  heavy,  lazy-looking 
barge,  with  the  yellow  load  of  planks  stacked  high 
above  its  deck,  and  without  a  sail  set,  drifting 
down  with  the  stream  slowly  towards  the  bridge." 

In  the  Old  Town,  very  close  to  the  actual  junc- 
tion of  the  two  rivers,  is  the  church  of  Saint  Castor. 
The  church  is  associated  with  some  memorable 
events.  Beneath  its  roof  the  three  sons  of  Louis 
le  Debonnair — Lothaire  and  Louis  of  Germany 
and  Charles  the  Bold — met  to  divide  amongst  them 
the  grand  heritage  of  Charlemagne's  empire.  And 
here,  in  the  platz  in  front  of  the  building,  Edward 
III.  of  England,  in  1338,  had  an  interview  with 
the  Emperor  Lewis  of  Bavaria,  who  installed  him 
Vicar  of  the  Empire,  to  enable  him  to  secure  the 
assistance  of  the  imperial  vassals  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Rhine  in  his  campaign  against  France.  As 
a  pledge  of  his  honour,  Edward  deposited  his 
crown  in  the  church,  where  it  was  guarded  night 
and  day  by  an  equal  number  (fifty)  of  Teutonic 
and  English  knights.  To  few  Englishmen,  we 
imagine,  is  this  romantic  incident  known,  which 
links  English  history  with  a  quaint  old  church  in  a 
quaint  old  fortress-city  on  the  bank  of  the  Rhine ! 


In  the  New  Town  may  be  visited  the  Palace 
of  the  Government ;  the  Hauptsteueramt  (or  tax 
offices),  and  the  Royal  Palace  (Kbnigliche  Schloss), 
erected  in  1778-1786  by  the  last  elector  of  Trier, 
Clement  Wenceslas.  The  Prussian  government 
undertook  its  restoration  some  thirty  years  ago ; 
and  since  1845  it  has  frequently  been  inhabited 
by  the  present  emperor  of  Germany  and  his  wife. 
It  commands  a  fine  view  of  the  Rhine,  and  the 
interior  contains  some  really  precious  works  of  art. 
The  service  of  the  Church  of  England  is  performed 
here  twice  every  Sunday,  by  permission  of  the 
emperor  of  Germany. 

It  has  been  well  said  by  a  recent  French  travel- 
ler, and  must  be  apparent  to  every  visitor,  that 
Coblenz  plays  in  the  world  a  double  part.  Hap- 
pily situated  at  the  junction  point  of  two  rivers — 
the  central  ring  of  the  vast  chain  of  which  the 
two  extremities  are  formed  in  Koln  and  Mainz — 
it  necessarily  serves  as  the  focus  of  all  the  com- 
mercial industry  and  agricultural  wealth  for  thirty 
leagues  around. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally  destined  to  the 
role  of  a  military  city.  Its  position  is  not  less 
valuable  to  the  defenders  of  Germany  than  for- 
midable to  its  enemies ;  it  commands  the  valley 
of  the  Moselle,  it  overawes  the  passage  of  the 
Rhine.  It  is  one  of  the  keys  of  Germany,  and 
its  conquest  would  be  one  of  the  first  tasks  im- 
posed on  an  enemy  invading  the  Prusso-Rhenish 
provinces.  Hence  it  is  doomed  to  see  itself  con- 
fined and  imprisoned  within  a  threefold  line  of 
forts  and  bastions. 

There  are  many  pleasant  spots  in  its  vicinity. 
The  Petersberg  contains  within  its  wall  a  plain 
marble  slab,  with  four  corner  stones,  indicating 
the  grave  of  the  French  revolutionary  general, 
Hoche.  Near  at  hand  is  the  monument,  a  stone 
pyramid,  erected  to  the  memory  of  Marceau, 
another  of  the  heroes  of  the  Revolution.  Trans- 
lated into  English,  the  inscription  runs  thus  : — 

"Here  rests  Marceau,  born  at  Chartres,  in  the 
department  of  Eure-et-Loir,  a  soldier  at  sixteen 
and  a  general  at  twenty-two.  He  died  [at  Alten- 
kirchen]  fighting  for  his  country,  on  the  last  day 
of  the  fourth  year  of  the  French  Republic  [Sep- 
tember 21,  1796].  Whoever  thou  art,  friend  or 
foe  of  this  young  hero,  respect  his  ashes." 

THE   EIGHT   BANK   OF  THE   RHINE   TO   BONN. 

Along  this  bank  extends  a  range  of  "  smiling 
109 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


hills,"  never  of  any  considerable  elevation,  but 
always  of  a  very  pleasant  and  picturesque  aspect. 
Upon  their  slopes  and  at  their  feet  are  situated 
many  little  villages,  which  to  the  passer-by  seem 
perfect  Arcadias  of  peace,  prosperity,  and  loveliness. 

The  first  place,  of  any  considerable  importance 
in  regard  to  population,  at  which  we  arrive,  is 
Neuwied,  a  neat  and  cleanly  town,  with  streets 
crossing  each  other  at  right  angles ;  a  town  of 
10,000  inhabitants,  the  capital  of  the  principality 
of  Wied,  but  now  belonging  to  Prussia. 

A  writer  speaks  of  it  as  "  a  pretty  little  town 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  between  Mainz 
and  Bonn.  The  situation  is  agreeable,  the  air 
very  healthy,  and  the  country  fertile.  It  lies  in 
a  plain  of  considerable  dimensions,  terminated  by 
hills  arranged  in  the  fashion  of  an  amphitheatre, 
and  presenting  to  the  eye  a  charming  variety  of 
fields,  meadows,  vineyards,  and  well-cultivated 
orchards."  All  the  religions  of  Europe  (Moham- 
medanism excepted)  have  found  a  meeting-place 
in  this  little  town.  In  its  factories,  the  Quaker 
and  the  Moravian  work  side  by  side,  recognizable 
only  by  the  different  colour  of  their  vestments. 

The  next  place  of  interest  is  Andernach,  the 
Antenacum — that  is,  the  statio  ante  Nacum,  or 
"  advanced  post  of  the  Nette  " — of  the  Romans. 
During  the  supremacy  of  Napoleon,  Andernach 
was  annexed  to  the  French  ;  it  now  belongs  to 
Prussia.  The  neighbouring  plain  is  one  of  the 
great  historic  battle-fields  of  Germany.  Here 
Charles  the  Bold  was  defeated,  in  876,  by  his 
nephew  Louis  the  Younger.  Here,  after  a 
bloody  strife,  the  Franks  prevailed  over  the 
Normans  in  850.  Here  Otho  the  Great  success- 
fully withstood  the  freebooters  of  Duke  Eberhard 
and  Philip  of  Hohenstaufen.  Here  the  Arch- 
bishop Frederick  of  Koln  repulsed  the  soldiers  of 
the  Emperor  Henry  V.  in  1114.  And  here,  too, 
various  battles  were  fought  in  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  and  the 
French  Revolutionary  War.  At  present  it  is  the 
scene,  every  three  years,  of  the  manoeuvres  of  a 
portion  of  the  Prussian  army. 

The  streets  of  Andernach  are  narrow  and  dirty, 
but  these  demerits  are  of  little  importance,  as  they 
are  almost  unfrequented.  The  great  ornament 
of  the  town  is  its  parish  church,  the  Pfarr  Kirche. 
The  two  tall  towers,  at  the  end  of  the  nave,  are 
pierced  all  the  way  up  with  light  Romanesque 
arches,  while  in  other  parts  the  arches  are  Byzan- 
110 


tine.  There  are  in  all  four  towers,  with  Byzantine 
belfries,  which  from  a  great  distance  serve  as 
conspicuous  landmarks.  Beautiful  sculpture  en- 
riches the  south  entrance  to  the  transept.  A  bas- 
relief  of  curious  design,  but  exquisite  workmanship, 
represents  the  Adoration  of  the  Lamb;  another, 
the  death  of  "  some  lady  in  a  painted  green  dress, 
amid  a  crowd  of  priests  and  choristers,  with  arch- 
bishop-angels looking  down  upon  her  from  the 
clouds  above." 

The  shore  of  the  Rhine,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Crane  Tower — which  is  lower  down  the 
river  than  the  Watch  Tower,  and  was  built  in 
1554 — abounds  with  dark-gray  millstones,  made 
of  hard  porous  lava,  and  looking  not  unlike  u  so 
many  cheeses  "  piled  one  against  another.  These 
are  obtained  from  the  curious  basaltic  lava  quar- 
ries of  Nieder  Mendig;  were  well  known  to  the 
Romans ;  and  are  now  exported  in  considerable 
quantities  to  England,  Russia,  the  East  and  West 
Indies,  and  all  parts  of  the  world.  Andernach 
also  produces  a  volcanic  cement,  or  trass,  from  the 
quarries  of  Brohl  and  Krup ;  and  a  species  of 
pumice,  called  oven-stone,  from  the  Bell  quarries, 
about  five  miles  west. 

Our  course  next  brings  us  to  Linz,  a  busy  little 
town  of  3500  inhabitants,  surrounded  by  walls 
of  basalt,  and  lying  in  a  fruitful  vineyard  region. 
Charles  the  Rash  captured  it  in  1475,  the  Swedes 
in  1632,  the  French  in  1688.  The  tower  near 
its  Rhine-gate  was  erected  in  1365  by  the  arch- 
bishop of  Koln,  for  the  exaction  of  a  toll  from 
boats  ascending  or  descending  the  river ;  and 
also  to  defend  the  town  against  the  burghers  of 
Andernach,  who  cherished  a  bitter  hatred  against 
the  Linzites.  Linz  lies  opposite  the  mouth  of 
the  Ahr,  and  commands  a  charming  view  of  the 
Ahr  valley. 

Below' Linz  we  may  visit  the  singular  basaltic 
quarries  of  the  Drattenberg,  and  the  still  more  re- 
markable ones  of  the  Minderberg,  by  way  of  the 
copper  mine  of  the  Sternhiiter.  In  the  latter, 
the  columnar  arrangement  of  the  basalt  is  scarcely 
less  beautiful  than  in  Fingal's  Cave  or  at  the 
Giant's  Causeway.  The  summit  of  the  Minderberg 
is  1200  feet  above  the  Rhine,  and  the  prospect 
which  it  commands  is  magnificent  and  extensive. 
The  castle  of  Ockenfels,  on  the  river  side,  is  now 
a  picturesque  ruin. 

The  basalt  again  appears  on  a  grand  scale  in 
the  precipices  called  Erpeler  Lei,  which  rise  to  an 


=5g 


si 


<sg 


THE  SIEBENGEBIRGE. 


elevation  of  700  feet  above  the  river.  "The  in- 
genuity of  man  has  converted  those  barren  rocks, 
which  are  almost  inaccessible,  into  a  productive 
vineyard.  The  vines  are  planted  in  baskets  filled 
with  mould,  and  inserted  in  crevices  of  the  basalt. 
By  this  means  alone  can  the  earth  be  preserved  from 
being  washed  away  by  every  shower." 

Carrying  our  gaze  back  to  the  bank  of  the 
Rhine  which  we  are  traversing,  we  find  ample 
material  for  admiration  and  wonder.  Here,  at 
Konigswinter,  we  obtain  a  fine  view  of  the  Dra- 
chenfels. 

The  Drachenfels  (1056  feet)  which,  in  con- 
junction with  the  island  of  Nonnenwerth  and  the 
Rolandseck,  forms  the  most  celebrated,  and,  per- 
haps the  most  perfectly  beautiful  of  all  the  Rhine 
landscapes,  is  one  of  the  volcanic  group — remark- 
able not  for  height  but  for  variety  of  outline — 
called  the  Siebengebirge,  or  Seven  Mountains; 
the  other  six  of  which  are,  the  Stromberg,  1053 
feet;  Niederstromberg,  1066  feet;  Oelberg,  1453 
feet ;  Wolkenberg,  1055  feet ;  Lowenberg,  1414 
feet;  and  the  Hemmerich,  1210  feet.  There  are 
several  other,  but  less  elevated  and  less  conspicuous, 
summits.  The  general  aspect  of  the  whole  group 
is  singularly  impressive ;  and  seen  from  different 
points  they  break  up  into  the  wildest  combinations, 
which  fleeting  lights  and  shadows  invest  with 
a  mystical  kind  of  air.  Each  peak  is  crowned 
with  some  old  ruin,  and  commands  a  glorious 
prospect ;  but  the  view  from  the  Drachenfels  is 
considered  the  richest,  as  that  of  the  Oelberg  is 
the  most  extensive. 

As  you  ascend  the  broken  acclivities  of  the 
Drachenfels,  your  guide  takes  you  aside  to  see, 
first,  the  quarry  from  which  the  blocks  of  trachyte 
were  taken  to  build  the  cathedral  of  Koln,  and 
hence  called  Dombruch  ;  and,  secondly,  the  "  cave 
of  the  dragon"  (whence  the  mountain  is  named), 
killed,  according  to  the  legend,  by  Siegfried,  the 
hero  of  the  national  epic,  the  Niebelungen. 

LEFT   BANK   OF    THE   RHINE.       COBLENZ   TO   BONN. 

After  passing  the  "  castled  height "  of  Peters- 
berg,  and  the  pyramid  marking  the  resting-place 
of  Marceau,  we  traverse  the  plain  of  Andernach, 
and  visit  the  chateau  of  Schonbomhist,  which 
formerly  belonged  to  the  archbishop-elector  of 
Trier.  At  the"  epoch  of  the  great  French  Revolu- 
tion it  became  the  headquarters  of  the  Bourbon 
princes  and  their  partizans. 


The  village  of  Weissenthurm  is  so  called  from 
the  square  "  white  tower,"  erected  by  the  arch- 
bishops of  Trier  to  mark  the  boundary  of  their 
domains.  Here  the  French  forced  the  passage  of 
the  Rhine  in  1797,  in  the  face  of  an  Austrian 
army.  On  an  eminence  behind  it  an  obelisk  has 
been  raised  to  the  memory  of  General  Hoche,  who 
accomplished  the  passage  by  throwing  a  bridge 
across  to  the  island  in  the  middle  of  the  river. 

The  plain  of  Andernach  is  succeeded  by  a  belt 
of  undulating  ground  lying  between  the  mountains 
and  the  river,  which,  from  this  point  up  to  Bonn, 
forms  a  majestic  lake,  filling  nearly  the  whole  area 
of  its  valley. 

Passing  Oberbreisig  and  Niederbreisig  we  tra- 
verse the  low,  rich  plain  between  the  rail  and  the 
river,  known  as  the  "Golden  Mile."  We  pause 
at  Sinzig,  an  old  walled  town,  about  a  mile  and  a 
quarter  distant  from  the  Rhine,  in  one  direction, 
and  the  Ahr,  in  the  other.  It  was  the  Roman 
Sentiacum,  but  Roman  remains  are  scanty.  Here, 
according  to  a  more  than  doubtful  tradition,  Con- 
stantine  the  Great  saw  the  luminous  cross  in  the 
sky,  and  the  legend,  In  hoc  signo  vinces,  which 
indicated  his  coming  victory  over  his  rival  Maxen- 
tius,  and  finally  converted  him  to  Christianity.  A 
rough  painting  in  the  parish  church,  a  curious 
semi-Byzantine,  semi-Gothic  building  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  commemorates  the  event. 

Remagen  is  the  Regiomagum  of  the  Romans, 
and  a  valuable  collection  of  Roman  antiquities  has 
been  made  here.  The  well-wooded  hill  which 
rises  above  this  ancient  Roman  settlement  is 
called  the  Apollinarisberg.  Its  summit  is  crowned 
with  a  modern  church  of  very  indifferent  design, 
in  which  the  head  of  the  saint  after  whom  the  hill 
takes  its  name  is  duly  preserved. 

Below  Remagen  the  Rhine  makes  a  bold  and 
abrupt  curve.  As  we  descend,  and  its  course 
becomes  less  sinuous,  we  catch  our  first  glimpse 
of  the  Rolandseck  on  the  left,  and  the  Drachenfels 
and  its  sister  hills.  On  the  right  bank,  Unkel 
forms  the  centre  of  a  romantic  landscape,  which 
is  matched  on  the  left  bank  by  the  picturesque 
scenery  of  the  Unkelstein,  a  mass  of  beautiful 
basaltic  columns,  which  stretches  far  into  the  bed 
of  the  Rhine,  and  seriously  obstructed  its  naviga- 
tion, until  a  portion  of  the  rock  was  blown  up  by 
the  French.  The  current  here  flows  with  an 
almost  dangerous  rapidity. 

Passing  through  Oberwinter,  and  by  the  sweet 
111 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


wooded  island  of  Nonnenwerth,  we  arrive  at 
another  of  the  legend-haunted  spots  which  have 
given  so  enduring  a  celebrity  to  the  Rhine:  the 
basaltic  rock  of  Eolandseck,  340  feet  high,  with 
its  feudal  stronghold  securely  planted  on  its  rugged 
summit.  The  Rolandseck  is  an  everlasting  monu- 
ment to  the  memory  of  the  famous  nephew  of 
Charlemagne — the  Roland  of  song  and  story,  the 
Roland  of  many  a  tradition  and  many  a  myth.  In 
the  old  Frank  ballads  he  is  gay,  brilliant,  dashing, 
chivalrous ;  Germany  has  surrounded  him  with 
her  own  sentiment  and  mysticism. 

In  battle,  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  Roland 
fell  grievously  wounded,  and  the  rumour  of  his 
death  spread  far  and  wide  over  many  lands.  Hil- 
degund,  his  betrothed,  took  the  veil  in  a  monastery, 
feeling  that  she  could  never  love  again,  and  that 
the  sole  consolation  in  her  overwhelming  grief 
would  be  the  strict  performance  of  her  religious 
duties.  Meanwhile,  the  knight,  being  healed  of 
his  wound,  hastened  to  obtain  the  reward  of  his 
valour  from  the  sweet  lips  of  his  betrothed.  He 
found  her  dedicated  to  heaven,  and  out  of  grief  or 
emulation  turned  hermit.  With  a  robe  of  sage 
about  him,  and  his  loins  girt  with  a  rope,  he 
ascended  the  Rolandseck ;  not  that  he  might  be 
nearer,  so  to  speak,  to  heaven,  but  that  he  might 
gaze  from  thence  on  the  convent  walls  which  im- 
prisoned his  Hildegund.  And  so  his  life  flowed 
on  in  contemplation  and  earnest  prayer.     .     .     . 

But  one  day  the  convent  walls  are  covered  with 
black  ;  the  knell  resounds  ;  on  the  brink  of  a  new- 
made  grave  a  company  of  veiled  women  deposit  a 
coffin,  wherein  the  dead  is  lying,  with  face  un- 
covered, according  to  usage.  Roland  recognizes 
the  death-calm  features  of  his  beloved.  Falling 
on  his  knees,  he  follows  with  tearful  eye  every 
detail  of  the  mournful  ceremony ;  he  sees  the 
holy  water  sprinkled  on  the  corpse ;  hears  the 
ropes  creak  with  the  weight  of  the  bier ;  as  each 
spadeful  of  mould  is  thrown  upon  it  a  groan 
issues  from  hi3  bosom;  and  when  the  grave  is 
finally  filled,  he  himself  falls  prone  upon  the 
earth — dead ! 

Bonn  is  pleasantly  situated  on  the  side  of  a 
moderately  steep  hill,  which  slopes  down  to  the 
very  margin  of  the  Rhine.  Its  houses  are  built 
in  tiers,  the  lowest  of  which  is  washed  by  the 
waters,  while  the  highest  commands  a  magnificent 
perspective.  The  ascent  from  its  base  to  the 
summit  is,  however,  a  difficult  task  for  asthmatic 
112 


visitors ;  and  some  of  the  streets  are  so  steep  that, 
if  your  foot  slip,  you  must  roll  from  top  to  bottom 
without  hope  of  checking  yourself  in  the  fact/is 
descensus.  In  this  respect  the  town  resembles 
Clovelly,  in  Devonshire,  several  times  multiplied. 
Yet  carriages  ascend  and  descend,  by  some  miracle 
of  skill  on  the  part  of  their  Jehus.  Bonn  is  a 
delightful  place  of  residence.  Not  that  this  little 
city  of  20,000  souls  exhibits  any  extraordinary 
gaiety,  or  offers  many  objects  of  curiosity  or  interest. 
Its  monuments  scarcely  rise  above  mediocrity. 
But  its  environs  are  "  enchanting,"  and  its  walks 
are  things  of  beauty.  Life  at  Bonn  is  so  smooth 
and  easy;  it  glides  along  in  such  a  transparent 
flowing  stream.  The  good  people  of  Bonn,  more- 
over, are  good-tempered  and  hospitable.  Both 
mind  and  body  are  bewitched  .by  an  indefinable 
something  in  the  air,  the  aspect,  the  habits  of  the 
country.  Then,  again,  its  university,  the  second 
in  Germany  in  reputation,  renders  it  a  studious 
and  "  engaging  "  abode,  from  which  you  have  no 
desire  to  tear  yourself.  We  feel  almost  inclined 
to  say,  once  at  Bonn,  always  at  Bonn. 

One  thing  there  is  at  Bonn  which  every  Eng- 
lishman will  regard  with  pleasure;  the  care  with 
which  its  inhabitants  honour  the  memory  of  the 
celebrated  men  who  have  lived  within  its  walls. 
In  almost  every  street  a  marble  tablet  or  an 
inscription  calls  upon  us  to  do  homage  to  the 
illustrious  dead.  Would  so  good  an  example 
were  followed  in  London ! 

For  example :  in  the  Rheingasse,  and  close  upon 
the  quay,  a  tablet  attached  to  the  wall  of  an  old 
house  informs  us  that  it  was  Beethoven's  birth- 
place. Beethoven  has  sometimes  been  accused  of 
having  forgotten  his  country  and  his  native  city. 
It  is  true  that  three-fourths  of  his  life  were  spent 
outside  the  walls  of  Bonn;  but  the  following 
quotation  will  show  that  he  was  not  wanting  in 
patriotism : — "  My  country,  my  beautiful  country, 
in  which  I  first  saw  the  light  of  day,  is  always 
present  to  my  eyes,  as  full  of  life  and  beauty  as 
when  I  quitted  it.  Happy  will  be  the  moment 
when  I  can  see  it  again,  and  salute  our  father,  the 
Rhine!"  At  all  events,  Bonn  has  not  forgotten 
her  wild,  wayward,  but  Titanic  genius.  She  has 
raised  in  his  honour  a  statue  of  bronze. 

We  pass  on  to  another  house  of  interest  to  the 
English  traveller,  the  house  in  which  the  late 
Prince  Consort  resided  while  a  student  at  the 
university  of  Bonn. 


BONN  AND  ITS  ENVIRONS. 


It  stands  just  within  the  university's  gates,  near 
one  end  of  the  Minster  Kirche,  and  opposite  a  little 
grassy  oval,  called  Martin's  Platz.  It  is  a  homely- 
looking  building,  of  a  pale,  green  colour,  set  among 
tall  fir-trees,  and  inclosed  within  a  wall.  The 
most  noticeable  thing  about  it  is  its  steep  slate 
roof. 

You  cannot  help,  says  Mayhew,  as  you  gaze  at 
the  humble  dwelling,  thinking  of  the  wonderful 
change  which  occurred  in  the  fortunes  of  the  young- 
student  not  long  after  he  had  drunk  his  "  Bairioch 
Bier  "  (Bavarian  beer)  in  the  city  of  Bonn.  Little, 
too,  did  he  dream  that  a  life  of  great  usefulness  to 
his  adopted  country,  and  a  life  of  much  domestic 
happiness,  would  be  prematurely  cut  short  at  a 
moment  when  his  queen-wife  seemed  most  to  need 
his  counsel,  and  that  the  student  of  Bonn  would 
die  in  the  castle  of  our  English  kings. 

Bonn  is  a  clean  and  wholesome  town.  Its 
better  streets  and  houses  are  all  kept  in  excellent 
order.  The  present  prosperity  of  Bonn  is  due  to 
its  healthiness,  quietness,  and  agreeable  situation, 
which  draw  thither  a  large  number  of  English 
families,  and,  more  particularly,  to  its  university. 
The  university  buildings  occupy  an  area  of  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length.  On  the  east  they 
extend  to  the  Coblenz-thor ;  on  the  south  they 
occupy  or  include  the  palace  of  the  electors  of 
Koln,  built  in  1723  to  1761.  They  are  situated 
at  one  end  of  a  fine  and  well-wooded  park,  which 
originally  belonged  to  the  electoral  palace,  and 
where,  according  to  tradition,  Henry  "the  Fowler" 
was  found  bird-catching  in  the  year  919,  when 
the  ambassadors  arrived  to  announce  his  elec- 
tion to  the  imperial  throne.  The  palace  itself  is 
now  known  as  the  University  Museum  of  Natural 
History. 

The  various  buildings  comprise,  according  to 
the  Guide-books :— A  library  of  about  200,000 
volumes,  ornamented  with  a  great  number  of 
busts ;  a  Museum  of  Arts,  or  Plaster  Casts,  rich  in 
about  500  copies  of  statues  in  plaster,  bas  reliefs, 
medals,  and  the  like;  a  Gallery  of  Medals,  remark- 
able for  its  fine  Greek  and  Boman  specimens ;  a 
grand  Academical  Hall,  decorated  with  frescoes  by 
Cornelius,  and  his  pupils  Harmann,  Forster,  and 
Gotzenberger,  which  represent  the  four  faculties — 
Philosophy,  jurisprudence,  Medicine,  and  Theo- 

P 


logy ;  Anatomical  Theatre ;  and,  finally  a  Museum 
of  National  Antiquities,  discovered  on  the  banks 
of  the  Ehine  or  in  Westphalia,  and  comprising 
numerous  memorials  of  the  past. 

At  no  great  distance  from  the  University  Park 
blooms  the  magnificent  chestnut  avenue  called  the 
Poppelsdorfer  Alle'e,  leading  to  the  old  Electoral 
Palace,  Lustschloss  Klemensruhe,  which  King 
Frederick  "William  III.  presented  to  the  university, 
and  which  now  holds  the  University  Museum  of 
Natural  History. 

Hither  it  was,  we  are  told,  that  the  archbishop- 
elector  of  Koln,  Engelbert  von  Falkenberg,  re- 
moved his  electoral  court  when  the  Koln  burghers 
rebelled  against  his  rule  in  1268 ;  and  here  it  was, 
three  centuries  later,  that  a  very  different  prelate, 
Count  Gebhard  von  Truchsess-Waldburg,  cele- 
brated his  marriage  with  the  beautiful  nun,  Agnes, 
Countess  von  Mansfeldt,  whom  he  had  carried 
off  from  the  noble  convent  of  Gerresheim,  near 
Dusseldorff. 

Passing  the  village  of  Poppelsdorf,  we  proceed 
to  ascend  the  Kreuzberg,  a  finely  wooded  hill,  750 
feet  high,  whose  summit  was  formerly  occupied 
by  a  convent  of  Servites,  but  is  now  surmounted 
by  a  church,  erected  in  1627  by  the  Elector  Fer- 
dinand. The  pillared  portico  and  commonplace 
facade  are  due,  however,  to  the  Elector  Clement 
Augustus,  who  built  it  in  1725,  as  a  screen  or 
shelter  for  the  Scala  Santa,  or  Holy  Steps,  of 
Carrara  marble,  constructed  about  the  same  time. 
They  were  modelled  after  the  Scala  Santa  at 
Rome — the  sacred  stairs  (it  is  said)  up  which  our 
Saviour  was  conducted  into  the  presence  of  Pontius 
Pilate.  Their  ascent  is  permitted  only  on  your 
knees. 

Among  the  public  edifices  of  Bonn,  we  do  not 
feel  called  upon  to  direct  the  stranger's  attention 
to  any  other  than  the  Cathedral.  Its  foundation 
is  attributed  to  the  Empress  Helena,  mother  of 
Constantine  the  Great;  and  it  contains  a  bronze 
statue  of  the  saint,  characterized  by  no  special  . 
beauty  of  workmanship.  The  present  building 
was  erected  in  1270,  and  restored  in  1845.  The 
interior  is  very  plain  ;  but  there  are  two  bas-reliefs 
of  more  than  ordinary  merit;  a  Nativity  and  a 
Baptism  of  Christ  by  St  John.  Both  are  in  white 
marble. 

113 


CHAPTER      IX. 


COLOGNE. 


Feom  Bonn  to  Cologne,  as  the  French,  or  Koln, 
as  the  Germans  call  it,  the  banks  of  the  Rhine 
are  low,  flat,  and  devoid  of  the  picturesque.  The 
traveller  becomes  aware  of  the  fact  that  he  is 
drawing  close  to  the  frontiers  of  Holland;  the 
Rhine  has  entered  upon  a  plain  extending  to  the 
sea,  which  grows  duller  and  drearier  the  further 
you  advance,  and  finally  terminates  in  an  immense 
morass.  It  has  been  well  said,  or  it  may  be  said, 
that  the  mode  in  which  the  traveller  hurries  over 
the  latter  portion  of  his  Rhine-journey  is  a  striking 
indication  of  his  temperament  and  disposition.  If 
he  be  restless  and  impatient,  he  escapes  the  inflic- 
tion of  a  monotonous  navigation  by  taking  to  the 
train.  If  he  be  an  enthusiast,  he  continues  his 
protracted  voyage.  Well :  of  whatever  fatigue  he 
may  be  sensible  on  the  way,  he  feels  himself  amply 
repaid  when  he  arrives  in  the  magnificent  port 
of  Koln.  The  "  city  of  the  Eternal  Cathedral," 
as  a  poet  has  called  it,  is  accumulated,  so  to  speak, 
on  the  river  bank,  and  reflects  itself  in  the  broad 
mirror  of  the  Rhine,  which  curves  at  its  feet  in 
a  noble  basin,  incessantly  furrowed  with  the  tracks 
of  busy  keels. 

The  destiny  of  cities,  says  Durand,  is  singular. 
A  colony  of  Ubians,  situated  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Rhine,  being  unable  to  oppose  successfully  the 
incursions  of  their  predatory  neighbours,  sought 
the  assistance  of  Rome — an  assistance  always 
readily  given,  but  dearly  purchased.  Marcus 
Agrippa  invited  them  to  cross  the  river,  and  threw 
open  to  them  the  fortified  asylum  of  the  Roman 
camp.  The  change  decided  for  awhile  the  course 
of  history.  The  right  bank  fell  into  the  occupation 
of  barbarous  peoples,  and  possessed  neither  towns, 
nor  commerce,  nor  established  societies :  the  left 
touched  at  every  vantage  point  the  Romanized 
Gaul,  then  in  the  full  flush  of  civilization — a  posi- 
tion admirably  adapted  to  the  necessities  of  com- 
merce, and  the  interchange  of  so  much  as  was  then 
known  of  economical  relations.  Glance  at  the 
map,  and  you  will  see  that  nearly  all  the  great 
cities  of  the  Rhine  are  seated  on  its  left  bank. 

A  few  years  afterwards  a  daughter  of  Germanicus, 
114 


the  imperial  and  shameless  Agrippina,  who  lived 
to  become  the  mother  and  victim  of  Nero,  was 
born  within  the  walls  of  the  Ubians.  Their  city 
then  assumed,  as  a  politic  compliment,  the  name 
of  the  Roman  commander's  daughter;  it  called 
itself  Oolonia  Agrippina,  a  name  which  is  better 
preserved  in  the  French  Cologne  than  in  the  Ger- 
man Koln. 

Koln  preserved  for  several  generations  the  tra- 
ditions of  its  infancy;  they  were  effaced  neither 
by  the  fall  of  the  empire,  nor  the  great  flood  of 
barbarian  invasion,  nor  the  genial  influences  of 
Christianity,  nor  the  complicated  system  of  feudal- 
ism. For  many  centuries  it  called  its  nobles, 
patricians ;  its  magistrates,  senators ;  its  burgo- 
masters, consuls ;  its  huissiers,  lictors.  It  had 
even  its  capitol.  Its  inhabitants  preserved  the 
Roman  costume  as  well  as  the  Roman  manners, 
and  on  its  municipal  banners  were  long  inscribed, 
after  the  Roman  usage,  S.P.Q.C.,  Senatus  Populus- 
que  Coloniensis. 

Early  in  the  fourth  century  Koln  was  captured 
and  plundered  by  the  Franks.  Julian  the  Apostate 
(how  history  delights  in  nick-names!),  recovered 
it,  but  they  again  made  themselves  its  masters, 
and  took  care  to  keep  it.  Here  the  illustrious 
Clovis,  the  son  and  successor  of  Childeric,  was 
crowned  king.  When  at  his  death  the  empire  he 
had  laboriously  built  up  was  partitioned  among 
his  children,  Koln  remained  one  of  the  principal 
cities  of  Austrasia,  a  kingdom  of  which  Metz  was 
the  capital.  When,  in  their  turn,  the  sons  of 
Louis  le  Debonnaire  divided  the  mighty  realm  of 
Charlemagne,  it  was  comprised  within  Lotharingia, 
or  the  territory  of  Lothair,  whence  comes  the  well- 
known  word  Lorraine.  Passing  rapidly  down  the 
stream  of  Time,  we  find  it  ravaged  by  the  Nor- 
mans in  881  and  882.  But  escaping,  without  any 
serious  injury,  from  all  the  turmoil  of  these  early 
centuries,  it  was  reannexed  to  the  German  Empire 
by  Otho  the  Great,  was  endowed  with  extraordi- 
nary privileges,  and  placed  under  the  special  pro- 
tection of  his  brother  Bruno,  duke  of  Lorraine, 
archbishop  and  elector  of  Koln. 


ANNALS  OF  COLOGNE. 


Thenceforth  it  grew  rapidly  in  importance,  and 
increased  wonderfully  in  population.  Its  safety 
became  the  peculiar  object  of  the  German  em- 
perors, and  when  it  was  threatened  by  Frederick 
Barbarossa,  its  ruler,  the  Archbishop  Philip  of 
Heimsberg,  who  had  already  enlarged  it  consider- 
ably by  connecting  it  with  its  suburbs,  surrounded 
it  with  solid  walls,  and  with  moats  filled  by  the 
water  of  the  Rhine.  Its  present  fortifications  are  of 
a  later  date ;  belonging  to  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth, 
eighteenth,  and  even  nineteenth  centuries. 

In  1212  Koln  was  declared  a  free  imperial  city. 
At  this  time  it  was  one  of  the  largest,  most  popu- 
lous, and  most  opulent  cities  in  Northern  Europe 
and  the  Hanseatic  League.  She  could  put  into 
the  field,  and  maintain,  an  army  of  30,000  soldiers. 

In  1259  it  obtained  permission  to  levy  a  most 
extraordinary  impost.  Every  ship  entering  its 
waters  could  only  disembark  its  cargoes  through 
the  agency  of  boats  or  barges  belonging  to  its 
merchants.  These  same  crafty,  wealth-amassing 
burghers  enjoyed  very  great  privileges  in  England. 
Its  relations  were  scarcely  less  advantageous  with 
France,  Spain,  Portugal,  the  North  of  Germany, 
and  especially  with  Italy,  which  exported  thither, 
not  only  its  architecture  and  arts,  but  some  of  its 
characteristic  customs,  such  as  its  wild  gay  Carni- 
val, and  its  puppet  theatres.  Hence  it  acquired 
the  distinctive  name  of  the  "  Rome  of  the  North  " 
and  "Holy  Koln;"  and  hence  it  was  induced  to 
form  in  its  own  bosom  a  school  of  painting,  the 
first  with  which  Germany  was  enriched. 

A  traveller,  whose  Italian  birth  and  culture 
were  unlikely  to  dispose  him  to  deal  too  favour- 
ably with  the  Germans,  was  astonished  at  the 
splendour  of  Koln,  when  he  visited  it  in  1333. 
"  1  arrived  there,"  he  writes,  "  at  sunset,  on  the 
eve  of  the  Feast  of  St.  John  Baptist,  and  immedi- 
ately betook  myself,  in  obedience  to  the  advice  of 
my  friends,  to  the  bank  of  the  Rhine,  where  a 
curious  spectacle  awaited  me.  A  crowd  of  ladies 
had  assembled ;  oh,  such  a  gathering  of  beauties ! 
How  could  one  have  avoided  falling  in  love,  if 
one's  heart  had  not  been  already  captured?  I 
placed  myself  on  an  eminence  to  obtain  a  better 
view.  Their  heads  were  garlanded  with  fragrant 
branches;  their  sleeves  were  tied  back  to  the 
elbow ;  in  turn  they  dipped  their  white  arms  in 
the  waters,  uttering  some  words  which  had  a  sin- 
gular charm.  .  I  asked,  as  in  Virgil : — 

'  Quid  volt  concursus  ad  amuem  V 


(What  means  this  concourse  on  the  bank  of  the 
stream !)  I  was  told  it  was  an  old  national  cus- 
tom ;  that  the  populace,  and  especially  the  women, 
were  persuaded,  that  by  washing  themselves  in  the 
river  on  this  particular  day,  they  turned  aside,  they 
warded  off,  all  the  evils  which  threatened  them, 
and  secured  a  year  of  good  fortune.  The  answer 
made  me  smile.  '  Happy  people  of  the  Rhine ! '  I 
cried,  '  if  the  river  carries  away  all  your  sorrows ; 
oh,  that  the  Tiber  and  the  Po  would  do  as  much 
for  us ! '  " 

Koln  had  now  attained  the  climax  of  her  great- 
ness, and  thenceforth  her  wealth  and  power  began 
to  wane.  The  discovery  of  America  opened  up  a 
new  channel  to  the  commerce  of  the  East ;  but, 
perhaps,  the  chief  cause  of  its  decay  was  its  inces- 
sant civil  commotions.  The  Jews  of  Koln,  who 
had  done  so  much  for  its  opulence,  were  cruelly 
massacred ;  the  industrious  and  ingenious  Protes- 
tants were  banished ;  and  a  riot  breaking  out 
among  the  weavers,  they  were  hung  by  the  score, 
and  1700  looms  were  burned  in  the  public  place. 
The  survivors  carried  elsewhere,  to  more  tolerant 
and  equitable  countries,  the  precious  secrets  of  their 
industry;  and  so  the  harbour  was  no  longer  filled 
with  ships,  nor  did  the  hammers  ring  in  the  de- 
serted workshops.  Workmen,  without  employ- 
ment, wandered  begging  through  the  streets,  and 
finding  the  trade  of  mendicancy  productive,  never 
again  abandoned  it.  It  became  a  scourge;  one 
half  the  city  lived  on  the  alms  of  the  other  half, 
and  thus  they  preyed  upon  the  beautiful  city  which 
Petrarch  had  admired,  until  it  became  a  wreck  of 
what  it  was.  And  finally,  to  complete  its  ruin,  the 
Dutch,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  closed  up  the 
navigation  of  the  Rhine,  which  was  not  again  thrown 
open  until  1837. 

In  1794,  when  Koln  was  captured  by  the  French, 
it  still  held  the  rank  of  a  free  imperial  city,  but  its 
population  did  not  exceed  40,000  souls.  At  that 
time  a  third  of  its  population  still  lived  by  men- 
dicancy. The  French  government,  it  must  be 
owned,  took  prompt  measures  to  repress  this  abuse; 
it  secularized  the  convents,  suppressed  a  great 
number  of  churches,  and  opened  workshops  and 
factories  for  the  employment  of  the  poor. 

France  held  Koln  until  1814.  For  twenty 
years  it  was  the  chief  town  of  one  of  the  arron- 
dissements  of  the  department  of  the  Roer,  of 
which  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  the  capital.  The 
Russians  occupied  it  militarily  for  a  few  months, 
115 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


after  which  the  Treaty  of  Paris  handed  it  over  to 
Prussia.  Let  us  admit  that  if  the  rule  of  Prussia 
be  somewhat  rigorous,  it  is  also  healthy  and 
sagacious ;  and  Koln,  since  1815,  has  thriven 
greatly.  The  establishment  of  a  steam-boat  service 
on  the  Rhine,  the  reopening  of  the  navigation  of 
that  river,  and  the  construction  of  numerous  im- 
portant lines  of  railway  which  all  find  a  terminus 
at  Koln,  have  given  a  new  impetus  to  its  industry 
and  commerce. 

Koln  is  famous  as  the  birthplace  of  Agrippina 
and  St.  Bruno. 

The  electorate  of  Koln,  formerly  one  of  the 
states  of  the  German  empire,  and  one  of  the  three 
ecclesiastical  electorates,  was  included  in  the  circle 
of  the  Lower  Rhine,  and  comprised  numerous 
provinces  and  territories  now  belonging  to  Prussia. 
It  was  suppressed  in  1794. 

We  shall  borrow  a  general  description  of  the 
city  from  the  animated  pages  of  11.  Durand. 

He  will  not  allow  that  it  is  a  beautiful  city, 
at  least  in  its  present  condition.  It  has  all  the 
inconveniences  of  the  Middle  Ages,  but  none  of 
their  picturesqueness.  It  is  muddy,  irregular, 
dull,  badly  laid  out,  and  insufficiently  paved. 
The  best  view  of  it  is  obtained  from  the  river. 
There,  indeed,  its  aspect  is  fair  and  pleasant;  but 
both  the  fairness  and  pleasantness  vanish  when 
you  plunge  into  its  labyrinthine  streets. 

The  truth  is,  everybody  visits  it  for  the  sake  of 
its  cathedral,  that  immortal,  that  priceless,  relic  of 
the  loftiest  art. 

The  present  edifice  was  preceded  by  two  other 
cathedrals ;  one  erected  by  St.  Matema,  the  other 
founded  in  784  by  Hildebold,  the  first  archbishop 
of  the  city,  consecrated  in  S76,  and  set  on  fire  in 
1248.  On  the  14th  of  August  in  the  latter  year, 
Archbishop  Conrad  of  Hochstetten  laid  the  first 
stone  of  the  present  glorious  building  at  a  depth 
of  55  feet.  Even  before  this  event,  the  Archbishop 
Engelbert,  count  of  Altona  and  of  Berg,  assassin- 
ated in  1225,  had  formed  the  idea  of  constructing 
a  cathedral  of  unsurpassed  grandeur.  This  idea 
was  now  realized,  but  strange  to  say,  the  name  of 
the  architect  who  designed  the  building  and  who 
laid  down  the  plans  which  the  labour  of  six  cen- 
turies has  failed  to  carry  out,  is  wholly  unknown. 

This  labour,  however,  was  greatly  impeded  and 

delayed  by  the  constant  feuds  in  the  thirteenth 

and  fourteenth  centuries  between  the  city  and  its 

archbishops.     A  certain  degree  of  progress  was, 

116 


nevertheless,  accomplished,  and  on  the  27th  of 
September,  1322,  the  choir  was  consecrated  by  the 
Archbishop  Henry  II.,  count  of  Birnenburg.  In 
1437  the  south  tower  had  already  been  raised  to 
the  elevation  which  it  now  attains.  But  the  work, 
so  frequently  impeded  and  interrupted  for  two 
centuries  and  a  half,  ceased  completely  in  the 
year  1509. 

Long  forgotten  and  neglected,  the  cathedral  of 
Koln  was  shamefully  mutilated  in  the  eighteenth 
century  by  the  unintelligent  and  inartistic  canons 
who  then  composed  the  chapter.  For  its  beautiful 
altar  a  kind  of  Greek  pavilion  was  substituted ; 
its  four  bronze  angels  were  transformed  into  rococo 
candelabra ;  heavy  fauteuils  replaced  its  beautiful 
stalls  of  sculptured  stone ;  the  stone  chancel  was 
demolished,  that  the  choir  might  be  surrounded 
with  an  iron  railing;  common  glass  was  substituted 
for  exquisite  painted  windows,  which  the  canons 
pronounced  too  dark ;  and  finally,  the  tabernacle, 
a  masterpiece  of  sculpture,  was  destroyed  and  cast 
into  the  Rhine. 

The  French  Revolution  inflicted  further  injuries 
on  this  magnificent  building.  At  last,  the  ravages 
of  time  which  were  added  to  those  of  man,  not 
having  been  repaired  for  centuries,  the  general 
decay  and  dilapidation  began  to  inspire  serious 
fears  for  the  solidity  of  the  finished  portions. 
The  roof  sunk  in.  A  sum  of  40,000  francs  asked 
for  the  restoration  of  the  edifice  was  refused  by 
Napoleon.  The  French  bishop  of  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
Berthollet,  actually  on  one  occasion  congratulated 
the  citizens  that  they  possessed  so  fine  a  Gothic 
ruin,  and  advised  them  to  plant  it  round  with 
poplars  to  increase  the  effect.  When,  after  the 
events  of  1814,  Koln  was  annexed  to  Prussia,  a 
voice  was  raised  on  behalf  of  its  cathedral  in  the 
Mercure  du  BMn ;  no  one  listened  to  it.  At  last 
it  happened  that  the  old  crane  which  from  the 
summit  of  the  incomplete  tower  had  called  fruitlessly 
on  generation  after  generation  to  complete  the  work 
of  their  forefathers,  fell  to  the  ground  through 
sheer  decay.  The  incident  awoke  a  tender  interest 
in  the  heart  of  the  citizens,  who  had  not  even  been 
mindful  of  Berthollet's  suggestion  of  a  grove  of 
poplar  trees.  They  had  been  accustomed  to  see 
this  crane  every  day ;  they  could  not  dispense 
with  it;  and  the  municipal  council,  in  1819,  voted 
the  necessary  funds  for  its  re-establishment. 

Meantime,  the  then  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia, 
afterwards  Frederick  William  IV.,  visiting  Koln, 


CATHEDRAL  OF  COLOGNE. 


was  powerfully  impressed  by  the  spectacle  of  the 
ruined  cathedral.  At  his  request  the  Prussian 
monarch  resolved  to  undertake  the  most  urgent 
restorations,  which  between  1820  and  1840  ab- 
sorbed no  less  a  sum  than  300,000  thalers.  And 
after  Frederick  William  IV.  came  to  the  throne,  a 
society  named  the  Doinbauverein  was  formed  under 
his  royal  patronage,  not  merely  for  the  maintenance, 
but  for  the  completion  of  the  cathedral.  Donations 
for  an  object  so  laudable  flowed  in  from  every 
quarter.  The  king  promised  an  annual  subscription 
of  50,000  thalers ;  and  on  the  4th  of  September, 
1842,  the  second  foundation  of  the  cathedral  was 
celebrated  with  the  most  imposing  ceremonies. 
From  that  date  to  the  present  time,  the  works 
have  been  carried  on  under  the  direction  of  Herr 
Guirna  and  his  successors,  in  strict  harmony  with 
the  original  plan,  at  an  outlay  already  exceeding 
a  million  and  a  half  of  thalers.  To  sum  up :  the 
choir  is  completed ;  so  are  the  transepts ;  the  inner 
pillars  of  the  nave,  consecrated  in  1648,  have  been 
raised  to  their  full  elevation ;  and  strenuous  exer- 
tions are  being  made  to  finish  the  vaulted  roof  and 
lofty  towers,  each  of  which  will  be  about  500  feet 
from  base  to  capital. 

The  cathedral  is  built  on  a  cruciform  plan,  and 
rises  about  60  feet  above  the  Rhine,  on  an  em- 
inence, which,  since  the  days  of  German  supre- 
macy, has  formed  the  north-eastern  angle  of  the 
fortifications.  Its  total  length  is  511  feet,  its 
breadth  at  the  entrance  231  feet ;  the  former  corre- 
sponding with  the  height  of  the  tower  when  finished ; 
the  latter,  with  the  height  of  the  western  gable. 

The  choir  consists  of  five  aisles,  is  161  feet  in 
height,  and,  internally,  from  its  size,  height,  and 
disposition  of  pillars,  arches,  chapels,  and  beauti- 
fully coloured  windows,  resembles  a  poet's  dream. 
Externally,its  two-fold  range  of  massive  flying  but- 
tresses and  intermediate  piers,  bristling  with  airy 
pinnacles,  strikes  the  spectator  with  awe  and 
astonishment.  The  windows  are  filled  with  fine 
old  stained  glass  of  the  fourteenth  century ;  the 
pictures  on  the  walls  are  modern.  Round  the  choir, 
against  the  columns,  are  planted  fourteen  colossal 
statues :  namely,  the  Saviour,  the  Virgin,  and  the 
Apostles,  coloured  and  gilt;  they  belong,  like 
the  richly  carved  stalls  and  seats,  to  the  early 
part  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

The  fine  painted  windows  in  the  south  aisle  of 
the  nave  were  the  gift  of  King  Louis  of  Bavaria ; 
those  in  the  north  aisle  were  executed  in  1508. 


The  reredos  of  the  altar  of  St.  Agilolphus,  a  quaint 
old  combination  of  wooden  carving  and  Flemish 
painting,  is  worth  examination. 

The  apsidal  east  end  is  surrounded  by  some 
chapels.  In  the  chapel  immediately  behind  the 
high  altar  is  placed  the  celebrated  Shrine  of  the 
three  kings  of  Cologne,  or  the  Magi  who  were  led 
by  the  star,  loaded  with  Oriental  gifts,  to  worship 
the  infant  Saviour.  Their  supposed  bones  were 
carried  off  from  San  Eustorjis,  at  Milan,  by 
Frederick  Barbarossa  in  1162,  and  were  presented 
by  him  to  his  companion  and  counsellor,  Rainaldo, 
archbishop  of  Koln.  We  read  in  the  invaluable 
Murray :  "  The  case  in  which  they  are  deposited 
is  of  plates  of  silver  gilt,  and  curiously  wrought, 
surrounded  by  small  arcades,  supported  on  pillars, 
inclosing  figures  of  the  Apostles  and  Prophets. 
The  priceless  treasures  which  once  decorated  it 
were  much  diminished  at  the  time  of  the  French 
Revolution,  when  the  shrine  and  its  contents  were 
transported  for  safety  by  the  chapter  to  Amsberg, 
in  Westphalia.  Many  of  the  jewels  were  sold  to 
maintain  the  persons  who  accompanied  it,  and 
have  been  replaced  by  paste  or  glass  imitations; 
but  the  precious  stones,  the  gems,  cameos,  and 
rich  enamels  which  still  remain,  will  give  a  fair 
notion  of  its  riches  and  magnificence  in  its  original 
state.  The  skulls  of  the  three  kings,  inscribed 
with  their  names,  Gaspar,  Melchior,  and  Balthazar, 
written  in  rubies,  are  exhibited  to  view  through 
an  opening  in  the  shrine,  crowned  with  diadems 
(a  ghastly  contrast),  which  were  of  gold,  and 
studded  with  real  jewels,  but  are  now  only  silver 
gilt.  Among  the  antiques  still  remaining  are  two 
of  Leda,  and  Cupid  and  Psyche,  very  beautiful." 

Durand  describes  the  choir  as  the  consummate 
ideal  of  the  Christian  tabernacle.  Columns  slender 
as  lances  spring  aloft  to  the  very  roof,  where  their 
capitals  expand  in  flowers.  All  the  rest  is  a 
splendid  mass  of  glass-work  [verrilre),  whose 
lancets  are  tinted  over  their  whole  surface  with  a 
rich  colouring  of  azure,  gold,  and  purple.  The 
artist  who  constructed  this  magic  wall  must  have 
rememhered  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  "  My 
God,  Thou  art  clothed  with  light,"  and  has  made 
for  the  Holy  of  Holies  a  dwelling-place  not  less 
resplendent  than  Himself. 

There  are  numerous  archiepiscopal  tombs  in  the 

lateral   naves.      Like  those  of  Mainz,  they  are 

overloaded  with  cumbrous  epitaphs.      The  tomb 

of  Conrad   of  Hochstetten,   the   founder   of   the 

117 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


cathedral,  is  regarded  with  special  veneration. 
"  In  the  year  of  our  Lord  1248,  Bishop  Conrad 
finding  himself  superabundantly  rich  in  gold,  in 
silver,  and  precious  stones,  and  deeming  his  treasure 
inexhaustible,  undertook  the  construction  of  the 
cathedral  of  this  immense  and  costly  edifice,  on 
which  we  are  labouring  at  the  present  moment." 
I  take  this  extract  from  the  "Chronicle  of  Cologne" 
for  the  year  1499. 

Another  bishop  lies  in  a  tomb  fashioned  like  a 
fortalice,  with  a  laurel  at  each  angle.  He  reposes 
at  their  base  in  a  semi-military,  semi-ecclesiastic 
costume.  Each  archbishop  of  Koln  kept  his  grave 
open  throughout  his  archiepiscopate,  to  receive  his 
dust,  when  needed.  A  fantastic  custom,  more 
honoured  in  the  breach  than  the  observance,  de- 
manded that  every  year  of  his  rule  should  be 
marked  by  means  of  a  small  staff  of  white  wood 
suspended  to  an  iron  hold-fast. 

We  follow  M.  Durand  from  the  cathedral  into 
the  ancient  Romanesque  church  of  Saint- Martin ; 
a  church  to  be  visited  upon  market-day,  at  the 
hour  when  the  peasants  of  the  neighbourhood 
abandon  their  fruits  and  vegetables  to  hear  mass. 
In  their  temporary  seclusion  from  worldly  affairs, 
these  rude  and  angular  figures,  with  their  fixed 
serious  gaze,  and  solemn,  stiff,  and  almost  awkward 
air,  seem  to  have  stepped  out  of  some  old  wood- 
work, or  ancient  German  engraving,  like  those  of 
Martin  Schoen. 

Verily,  Koln,  metropolis  as  it  is  of-  the  banks  of 
the  Rhine,  is  still  the  city  of  the  apostles  and  the 
princes  of  the  Church,  and  even  in  these  days 
of  German  Rationalism,  the  capital  of  Roman 
Catholic  Germany. 

What  shall  I  say  of  its  town-hall,  which  is 
situated  between  the  Giirzenich  (custom-houses) 
and  the  cathedral?  I  cannot  do  better  than  imi- 
tate my  predecessors,  and  quote  from  Victor 
Hugo : — It  is  one  of  those  enchanting  harlequin- 
like edifices,  he  says,  built  up  of  portions  belonging 
to  all  ages,  and  of  fragments  of  all  styles,  which  we 
meet  with  in  the  ancient  communes,  the  said  com- 
munes being  themselves  constructed,  laws,  manners, 
and  customs,  in  the  same  manner.  The  mode  of 
formation  of  these  edifices  and  of  their  ciistoms  is 
curious  to  study.  It  is  an  agglomeration  rather 
than  a  construction,  a  successive  development,  a 
fantastic  aggrandizement,  or  encroachment  upon 
things  previously  existing.  Nothing  has  been  laid 
out  on  a  regular  plan,  or  digested  beforehand  ;  the 
118 


whole  has  been  produced  au  fur  et  h  inesure, 
according  to  the  necessity  of  the  times. 

The  general  effect  of  this  ancient  structure  is, 
however,  veiy  imposing.  It  was  begun  in  1250, 
and  terminated  in  1571,  and  is  therefore  a  record 
of  three  centuries  of  architectural  progress.  Its 
portico  is  in  the  Renaissance  style,  and  the  second 
story  is  embellished  with  small  triumphal  arches 
made  to  serve  as  arcades,  and  dedicated  by  quaint 
inscriptions  to  Cassar,  Augustus,  Agrippa,  Con- 
stantine,  Justinian,  and  Maximilian.  Among  the 
sculptured  bas-reliefs,  you  may  remark  a  man 
worrying  a  lion.  This  man,  named  Gryn,  was 
a  mayor  of  Koln.  The  archbishop  Engelbert  III. 
had,  to  rid  himself  of  a  troublesome  opponent, 
exposed  him  to  combat  with  a  lion.  His  courage 
brought  him  safely  through  the  perilous  experience. 
The  inhabitants,  rendered  furious  by  his  perfidy, 
avenged  their  mayor  by  hanging  to  a  gate,  which 
at  this  very  day  is  called  Pfajfai-thor,  or  the  Priest- 
gate,  the  first  priest  who  fell  into  their  hands. 

The  large  and  splendid  hall  in  the  interior, 
where  the  Hanseatic  League  formerly  held  its 
sittings,  is  adorned  with  nine  large  statues  of 
knights. 

Beside  the  town-hall  stands  the  "  Chapel  of  the 
Council,"  which  formerly  enshrined  the  Dombild, 
now  preserved  in  the  St.  Agnes  chapel  of  the 
cathedral.  The  Dombild,  I  may  remark,  repre- 
sents, when  thrown  open,  the  adoration  of  the 
three  kings,  in  the  middle,  and  on  the  flaps  (volets) 
St.  Geryon  with  his  companions,  and  St.  Ursula 
with  her  virgins  ;  when  shut  up,  the  Annunciation ; 
it  bears  the  date  of  1410.  The  author  of  this 
remarkable  picture  is  unknown  ;  but  it  is  generally 
attributed  to  Master  Stephen  Lotheren,  of  Koln, 
the  pupil  of  Master  William. 

The  "  Chapel  of  the  Council "  contains  a  fine 
Roman  mosaic,  discovered  when  digging  the  foun- 
dation of  the  new  hospital;  and,  also,  a  small 
collection  of  ancient  pictures.  In  its  fine  tower, 
ornamented  with  many  statues,  and  constructed  in 
1407,  the  municipal  council  was  wont  to  assemble ; 
at  present  it  meets  in  the  adjacent  building,  erected 
in  1850. 

Near  the  Jesuits'  church  and  not  far  from  the 
quays  of  the  Rhine,  stands  the  church  of  Saint 
Cunibert,  commenced,  and  consecrated  in  1 248,  by 
the  Archbishop  Conrad.  It  stands  on  the  site  of 
an  older  church,  built  in  633  by  the  prelate  whose 
name  it  bears.     In  its  architectural  character  it  is 


MEMORABLE  CHURCHES  OF  COLOGNE. 


Romanesque;  two  portions  only  belong  to  the 
ogival  style.  Its  small  side-door  presents  a  most 
remarkable  combination  of  Oriental  art  and  Gothic 
form.  The  front  has  been  restored.  The  two 
Romanesque  towers  in  the  rear  were  formerly  of 
a  much  greater  height.  The  principal  tower, 
having  fallen  into  ruins,  was  rebuilt  in  1850  in 
the  ogival  style ;  it  has  no  other  merit  than  that 
of  magnitude.  The  most  noticeable  feature  of  the 
church  is  the  thirteenth  century  stained  glass  in 
the  apex ;  this  is  very  rich  and  beautiful.  There 
are  also  several  small  pictures  on  wood,  by  artists 
of  the  early  German  school. 

Of  course,  no  visitor  to  Koln  fails  to  make  a 
pilgrimage  to  that  legendary  edifice,  the  church 
of  St.  Ursula.  From  an  artistic  point  of  view  it 
presents  very  little  that  is  interesting  or  remarkable ; 
except  in  the  choir,  the  tomb  of  St.  Ursula  (dating 
from  1668),  and  her  statue  in  alabaster  on  a 
pedestal  of  black  marble,  with  a  dove  at  her  feet. 

The  legend  runs  that  St.  Ursula,  daughter  of  a 
British  king,  set  sail  with  a  train  of  11,000  virgins, 
to  wed  the  warriors  of  an  army  which  had  migrated, 
under  Maximus,  to  conquer  Armorica  from  the 
Emperor  Gratian.  The  ladies,  however,  losing 
their  way,  were  captured  at  Koln  by  the  barbarous 
Huns,  who  slew  every  one  of  them  because  they 
refused  to  break  their  vows  of  chastity. 

This  story  is  told  in  a  series  of  most  indifferent 
pictures,  to  the  right  of  the  visitor  as  he  enters 
the  church. 

The  reliques  of  the  virgins  cover  the  whole 
interior  of  the  building ;  they  are  interred  under 
the  pavement,  let  into  the  walls,  and  displayed 
in  glass  cases  about  the  choir. 

As  in  St.  Ursula's,  so  in  St.  Gereon's  church, 
the  principal  ornaments  are  bones ;  its  walls  being 
lined  with  the  remains  of  the  6000  martyrs  of  the 
Theban  legion,  who,  with  their  leader  Gereon, 
perished  in  the  persecution  under  Diocletian,  be- 
cause they  refused  to  renounce  the  Christian  faith. 

The  church  itself  is  one  of  the  finest  in  Koln. 
The  nave  dates  from  1262;  the  other  portions, 
including  the  choir  and  crypt,  are  as  early  as 
1066-69.  Mr.  Hope  thus  describes  the  decagonal 
nave: — "  By  a  singular  and  theatrical  arrangement, 
arising  out  of  "these  various  increments,  its  body 
presents  a  vast  decagonal  shell  and  cupola,  the 
pillars  of  whose  internal  angles  are  prolonged  in 
ribs,  which,  centering  in  a  summit,  meet  in  one 
point,  and  lead  by  a  high  and  wide  flight  of  steps, 


rising  opposite  the  entrance,  to  an  altar  and  oblong 
choir  behind  it;  whence  other  steps  again  ascend 
to  the  area  between  the  two  high  square  towers, 
and  to  the  semi-circular  east  end,  belted,  as  well 
as  the  cupola,  by  galleries  with  small  arches  and 
pillars,  on  a  panelled  balustrade.  The  entrance 
door,  with  square  lintel,  low  pediment,  and  pointed 
arch,  is  elegant ;  and  the  crypts  show  some  re- 
mains of  handsome  mosaics." 

The  baptistery,  an  elegant  structure  of  the  same 
date  as  the  nave,  contains  a  font  of  porphyry,  said 
to  be  a  gift  of  Charlemagne. 

In  the  late  Gothic  choir  of  the  semi-Romanesque 
church  of  St.  Andrew  are  preserved  the  relics  of 
the  great  chemist  and  necromancer,  Albertus  Mag- 
nus. The  church  of  the  Jesuits  (1636)  contains 
the  crosier  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  and  the  rosary 
of  St.  Ignatius  Loyola. 

Our  space  forbids  us  to  dwell  at  any  length  on 
the  numerous  and  interesting  churches  of  this 
thrice-holy  (and  most  odoriferous)  city.  But  one  of 
the  most  ancient — nay,  I  believe  it  wears  the  palm 
of  unsurpassed  old  age — is  that  of  Santa  Maria  di 
Capitolio.  It  is  reputed  to  have  been  founded  in 
700,  by  Plectruda,  wife  of  Pepin  d'Heristal,  and 
mother  of  Charles  Martel,  who  erected  a  chanomy 
beside  it.  It  is  very  clear  that  Plectruda's  tomb 
belongs  to  an  earlier  date  than  the  edifice  which 
now  enshrines  it;  and  which,  judging  from  its 
Romanesque  style,  was  erected  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  eleventh  century.  It  was  restored  in 
1818  (the  porch  and  choir  in  1850),  and  enriched 
with  stained  glass  windows.  In  addition  to  the 
curious  tomb  of  its  foundress,  this  church  possesses 
an  object  of  interest  in  an  altar-piece  attributed  to 
Albert  Durer.  Painted  in  1521,  and  placed  in  a 
side  chapel,  left  of  the  choir,  it  represents  in  one 
compartment  the  Death  of  the  Virgin,  and,  in  the 
other,  the  Dispersion  of  the  Apostles.  In  the 
Hardenrath  Chapel  will  be  found  some  interesting 
mural  paintings,  portraits,  and  a  Miracle  of  St. 
Martin,  by  Lebrun.  The  Schwarz  Chapel  con- 
tains the  brass  font  (1594),  surmounted  by  a 
figure  of  St.  Martin  on  horseback. 

The  Church  of  St.  Peter  should  be  visited  for 
the  sake  of  the  great  picture  of  Rubens,  forming  its 
altar-piece,  of  the  Crucifixion  of  the  Apostle,  with 
his  head  downwards.  It  was  painted  shortly 
before  the  master's  death.  Wilkie  and  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds  both  criticise  it  adversely ;  but  the 
visitor  who  contemplates  it,  however,  without 
119 


THE  RHINE  VALLEY. 


any  foregone  conclusion,  will  be  powerfully  im- 
.  pressed  by  it,  and  will  pronounce  it,  we  think, 
not  unworthy  of  Rubens. 

The  artist  was  baptized  in  this  church,  and  the 
brazon  font  used  on  this  occasion  is  still  preserved. 

Until  he  was  ten  years  old  (1587),  he  lived  in 
the  house,  No.  10  Sternengasse  where  Maria 
de'  Medicis  died  in  1642. 

The  church  of  the  Minorites,  that  of  St.  Mauritus, 
those  of  St.  Pantaleon  and  St.  Andrew,  are  well 
worth  visiting.  The  same  may  be  said — I  wish 
that  I  had  space  to  say  more — of  the  double  iron 
bridge  (1352  feet  long),  across  the  Rhine;  the 
noble  quays ;  the  house  of  the  Templars,  No.  8 
Rheingasse  ;  the  new  Rathhause,  and  the  Wall- 
raff-Richartz  Museum  of  pictures,  founded  and 
enriched  by  the  two  citizens  whose  name  it  bears. 

So  much  for  Kbln.  But  stay,  how  can  we  lgave 
the  city  without  an  allusion  to  its  Eau  de  Cologne? 
To  that  celebrated  perfume,  which  is  nowhere  more 
necessary  than  in  Koln  itself,  though  its  evil  odours 
are  not  quite  so  overpowering  as  they  were  in  the 
days  of  Coleridge: — 

11  Ye  nymphs,  who  reign  o'er  sewers  and  sinks, 
The  river  Rhine,  it  is  well  known, 
Doth  wash  your  city  of  Cologne: 
But  tell  me,  nymphs,  what  power  divine 
Shall  henceforth  wash  the  river  Rhine?" 

"  My  eyes,"  says  a  traveller,  "  are  still  dazzled 
by  the  placards  announcing  in  gigantic  letters  the 
sale  of  this  precious  perfume.  Its  distillation  is 
the  most  important  industry  of  the  city.  There 
are  twenty- four  manufacturers  of  it,  and  upwards 
of  a  hundred  vendors.  The  annual  production  is 
estimated  at  from  eight  to  nine  million  litres,  worth 
about  £6,000,000.  But  what  a  display  of  charla- 
tanism for  such  a  sum  !  The  ancient  Colonia 
Agrippina  has  no  longer  its  consuls,  its  patricians, 
its  princes,  electors  of  the  Holy  Empire.  It  is 
Swayed  by  the  dynasty  of  the  Jean  Marie  Farinas, 
an  encroaching  dynasty,  swollen  by  usurpers  and 
pretenders,  who  flood  the  streets  with  their  pro- 
ducts, their  ensigns,  their  agents.  Every  wall  is 
plastered  over  with  provoking  bills,  which  would 
be  amusing  enough  if  we  were  not  weary  with  the 
'  posters '  of  other  cities.  All  the  crossways  are 
guarded  by  bill -distributors  and  touters,  who 
almost  take  you  by  the  collar  and  force  you  to 
120 


receive,  at  a  moderate  price,  a  flask  coquettishly 
invested  in  an  outer  garb  of  white  straw.  There 
are  upwards  of  thirty  rivals,  more  or  less  legiti- 
mate heirs  of  the  same  name,  sons  and  grandsons, 
nephews  and  great-nephews,  disciples  and  succes- 
sors of  the  illustrious  Jean  Marie  Farina,  inventor, 
in  1672,  of  the  Eau  de  Cologne,  sole  possessors  of 
his  secret,  sole  manufacturers  of  the  true  '  water,' 
sole  inheritors  of  his  genius.  Their  live3  are  spent 
in  decrying  one  another,  viva  voce  or  in  writing. 
In  fact,  the  question  of  whose  or  which  is  the 
genuine  Eau  de  Cologne  has  quite  a  literature  of 
its  own,  into  which  neither  reader  nor  writer  will 
be  desirous  of  plunging." 

We  have  now  brought  our  readers  to  the  point 
where  the  valley  of  the  Rhine  terminates,  and  the 
once  grand  and  rolling  river  enters  upon  the  low 
plains  of  Holland  to  creep  sluggishly  through 
winding  channels,  and  finally  mingle  with  the  sea 
in  two  dreary  estuaries.  Soon  after  entering  the 
Netherlands,  the  great  river  bifurcates  into  two 
arms — the  left,  called  the  Waal,  and  the  right,  the 
true  Rhine.  The  Waal,  near  Fort  Louvestein,  is 
joined  by  the  Maas,  and  forms  the  Merve  or  Mer- 
vede,  which,  below  Dordrecht,  takes  the  name  of 
the  Old  Maas.  The  Rhine  proper,  a  short  distance 
above  Arnheim,  throws  off  the  New  Yssel,  which 
was  anciently  a  canal,  cut  by  the  Roman  Drusus 
to  connect  the  Rhine  with  the  Old  Yssel.  At 
Wyk  by  Duerstede  the  Rhine  again  divides ; 
one  branch,  the  Lek,  uniting  with  the  New  Maas 
near  Ysselmonde;  the  other,  the  Kromme  Rhine, 
separating  at  Leyden  into  the  Vecht  and  the  Old 
Rhine,  the  latter  eventually  reaching  the  North 
Sea  to  the  north-west  of  Leyden.  The  delta  of 
the  Rhine  is  a  low  semi-inundated  level,  extend- 
ing from  lat.  N.  51°  35'  to  52°  20',  and  occupying 
nearly  50,000  square  miles.  It  is  protected  from 
the  ocean-floods  by  artfully  disposed  and  solidly 
constructed  dykes  or  embankments,  varying  from 
twenty  to  thirty  feet  above  the  river-level. 

Here,  then,  as  it  is  only  with  the  German 
Rhine  we  had  to  deal — with  that  romantic  and 
beautiful  Rhine  valley,  which  so  abounds  in  old 
associations  and  chivalrous  memories,  and  which 
has  been  so  frequently  the  cause,  the  scene,  and 
the  prize  of  sanguinary  wars — our  task  is  done,